Year in Review

Does anyone else feel like 2009 just started? Now I will have to remember to write 2010 on everything. It's usually February before I have that right.

It's been a busy year. Nolan has blossomed from a small baby into a very busy little boy. Sam has repeatedly shown he has wisdom beyond his 3 years. My inability to potty train him is bothering me more and more, but I don't know what to do about it...He is still terrified to actually pee in the potty!

TJ started kindergarten and has disproven my theory that I have perfect children. For Mrs. Marsh's sake, I hope he behaves for her after Christmas Break. He still needs to learn the world does not revolve around him!

We added one niece to our family this year. Charlotte Marie arrived on December 26 (see below for some adorable pictures!). My boys love her. I had Nolan repeating words while I changed his diaper yesterday (it helps him hold still), and this is how the conversation went:
Me: Say "Mama" Nolan: "Mama"
Me: Say "Daddy" Nolan: "Daddy"
Me: Say "Charlotte" Nolan: "Awwww"

When Nolan does say "Charlotte", it often sounds like "Sharpie". We'll keep working on it.

Next year, a new nephew will be joining our family. I was convinced Jared and Sarah were having a girl. I even did some shopping in advance. Guess I will save those items for some other niece and start looking for boy-appropriate gifts. Don't be mistaken, though, I love boys!

Happy New Year everyone!

The Birds and the Bees (According to TJ)

Tonight, TJ and Sam helped me 'cook' dinner. This means they both dragged bar stools over to the stove and took turns poking at the hamburger I was browning in the skillet. I eventually had to remove them from the kitchen, but before then I heard a rather fascinating bit of information from TJ.

TJ to Sam, "Hey Sam, did you ever think there would be more than us two brothers? I mean, there was you and me, and all of a sudden, there was Nolan! See, Mommy's tummy started getting really big. She thought she ate too much, but it turned out to be Nolan! And that's how we got another brother."

Sam's response? "Yeah!"

So much for all those discussions we had with TJ about the coming baby. He now sums it up that Mommy had weight issues.

Where did you come up with that?

My boys are full of wisdom today...

1. I wore a skirt to church this morning. I don't wear skirts very often, because I am not a fan of nylons. I also don't usually change my clothes in front of my boys (too many opinions and comments). But today, I decided I would change out of my skirt and into jeans, even though Sam was standing there yakking away at me. He watched me hang my skirt up and then remove my nylons. He said, "What are you doing, Mom?" I told him I was taking my nylons off. His response? "Those aren't nylons, those are stockings." Now, where did he hear that?

2. Bill and I went to Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle this morning. Bill helped their organist out by playing the prelude. Our boys went to Coopersville Reformed with my mom. So, we picked them up from her house on our way home. As we were getting their coats on, TJ turns to my mom and says, "When you die, you should think about selling this place." Say what?!

3. I decided I had earned a Sunday afternoon nap. I didn't sleep very long, but was enjoying being nice and warm in my bed when I heard a small person enter the room. It was Sam. He came over to my side of the bed and said, "Mom, are you awake?" I turned and looked right at him and said, "Nope. I'm asleep." He looked puzzled and said, "But I can see your face." I laughed. Do people who are asleep not have faces? He kept thinking it over and then informed me, "I think that you are awake." Oh, you caught me.

Funny Stuff

Nolan has a favorite phrase. "I do!" He will walk up to the cupboard, smile at it, and say "I do!". He is anticipating your question...."Nolan, did you want a cracker?". The answer, of course, is always "I do!"

Nolan loves hats. He can often be found playing with cars or trucks and wearing a hat on his head. Whether it is a plastic firefighter hat, or a Hanson Collision hat I got for free at a ballgame this summer, he is enamored with them. Oddly, he refuses to wear his winter hat outdoors and is forever removing it and throwing it in the van.

TJ had two winter hats. Now he has none. He knows he left one on the bus yesterday (great...last day of school before Christmas break, and he was on a different bus...what are the odds I'll get that one back?) and he has no idea what happened to the other hat. And we still have several months left of winter!

Now for something different...rather than a funny story about my kids, I'm going to tell one about my mom. Hopefully, she will enjoy it too!

My mom likes to buy the beer bread mix from Tastefully Simple. However, my parents do not drink, so whenever she makes some up, she has to have one of her kids track down a can of beer for her. This past week, she made a batch, but decided not to use beer this time. Nope, instead she used...Mountain Dew Live Wire! Bill thought this was one of the funniest things he had ever heard. He said he knows the alcohol cooks off when you use beer, but he highly doubts all that caffeine cooked off. So, have a slice of my mom's bread. You'll be wide awake the rest of the day!

Care and feeding of toddlers...

Things I learned this weekend:

1. Nolan loves bacon.
2. Nolan cannot chew bacon. Apparently, the fat in it is too much for his little teeth to handle.
3. Nolan will hold a piece of bacon in his mouth for about 10 minutes, then will start gagging.
4. I can run really fast into a hotel bathroom if I think my 20-month-old is about to puke in the lobby.

We were in Farmington Hills this weekend for Bill's work Christmas party. The party is really geared toward the kids, so his boss wanted us to bring the boys. They put us up in a Holiday Inn for the night, just to make it easier on us. It was nice to leave the party, go to the hotel, and put the boys in bed. The theory was that Bill and I would spend the rest of the evening relaxing in the living room part of our suite. However, it took the boys forever to fall asleep (Sam and TJ were wound up, Nolan was terrified). Then, they kept waking up. Nolan cried twice, Sam had a bad coughing fit, TJ couldn't find his stuffed puppy. I did not sleep much. But the boys had a grand adventure.

The bacon incident is really no big deal. I don't eat bacon, so we never have it in the house. By the time Nolan has an opportunity to eat it again, he'll probably chew it just fine. And he didn't puke. I did a finger sweep instead.

Other things I learned:
5. Santa is terrifying to Sam and Nolan. They didn't want anything to do with him. Sam told Santa he didn't want a present (because Sam didn't want to have to get close enough to accept a gift from Santa). I accepted it on his behalf.
6. Car washes are scary to Nolan. Very scary. We went through one on our way home yesterday, to try and remove several layers of salt and dirty snow. Nolan was literally shaking he was so scared. TJ got out of his seat (with my blessing) and hugged him while we went through. It was cute.

A few pictures:

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

At dinner tonight, Sam asked if it was dark out. I said yes, it was. He wondered if that meant it was nighttime. Bill explained that it just gets dark earlier in the winter, but it doesn't mean it's nighttime. Bill then informed me that at 5:08 p.m., the sun is now setting as early as it gets. From here on out, it starts to creep back. He then made the following profound statement: "The sunset keeps rising later faster."

I just sat there and looked at him with a little smile on my face. After a minute, he started smiling and said, "All right, what did I say?" I repeated his words of wisdom back to him, and he burst out laughing. He then tried to blame Sam and TJ, who, as always, were trying to interrupt us. He claims he can't think straight when he's being interrupted. Well, then he hasn't thought straight for six years!

In case you were wondering, Bill was trying to say that the sunrise will continue to get later for the next few weeks. Day or night, sunup or sundown, I guarantee you that if one of our kids is awake, they will be trying to tell us something. And Bill will be trying to think straight. And hopefully he will forgive me for posting this!

Sam and Nolan, my peas in a pod

I work short days most Fridays (I'm off one Friday a month, I work the other ones). Last Friday, I ran some errands after work and got home shortly before 4:00. I knew my mom had gone home for the day (she leaves during nap time), and I knew TJ was out playing with friends (it was his first snow day of the year), but I wasn't sure where I would find Sam and Nolan. I walked in the door and all was quiet. I wondered if Bill had given them something to do in the basement while he finished up his work for the week. I peeked into the living room and saw this:

Both boys were sitting very quietly in the recliner. Sam had gotten out a step stool and helped Nolan climb up. They were snuggling and waiting for me to come home. I went downstairs and asked Bill if he knew what his sons were up to. He said they had gotten up from nap about 15 minutes earlier, but didn't want snack or his attention. So, being Daddy, he went back to work. He knows they know where to find him.

Later that day, I was changing Sam's diaper (all attempts to train him have been a miserable failure, thus far). Sam suddenly looked up at me and said, "I know your name is Beth." I agreed that he was right and then I said, "But what are you supposed to call me?" Sam thought this over and finally said, "Baron". Heaven help me if my child ever starts calling me by my last name!

On Friday night we went to the Coopersville Christmas parade. All 3 boys received helium balloons. Nolan was in love with his and did not want to let it go, not even when it was bedtime.

Nolan has come down with a cold. It came out of nowhere and is really bothering him. He isn't sleeping well at night, which means we are both tired during the day. Apparently, Nolan was really tired at lunch today. He ate his food and then did this:

TJ and Nolan

TJ had his six-year well-child visit today. It's amazing to me how dumb he can get in public. He knows his full name, his address, his phone number, his right hand, his left hand. Yet would he tell any of that to Dr. Conner? Nope. Thankfully, she knows him well enough to realize he's a handful, not a dummy. The one thing he does need to work on (other than behaving in public) is tying his shoes.

TJ weighed in at 45.5 pounds (fully clothed) and 45 inches tall (with shoes on). That's about 3 1/2 inches and 4 pounds heavier than last year. Honestly, I was surprised he grew that much. He is finally just getting into size 5 pants. He is still only a couple pounds heavier than Sam.

Nolan now insists on having his afternoon snack in a little bowl, just like his big brothers. He gets 1/2 a graham cracker, a few mini marshmallows, and a few chocolate chips. I try to get him to eat his snack in the kitchen, but today he tried carrying it into the living room. But he didn't make it. He spilled the whole thing in the front hall. Rather than put everything back in the bowl, he plunked himself down on the floor and ate his snack as he picked it up. I suppose that is more efficient...

A few birthday pictures