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Category Archives laughs

Human ducks, flooding basement and naps

Posted on July 24, 2008 5:22 pm by TheAngelForever

Please cue up the song "Be Like a Duck" by Sandra Boynton from Philadelphia Chickens!

This is the song that Nana, NHL, JSL and I were singing on our way home from BJ’s this afternoon.

Nana had the day off and watched JSL this morning when I went to take NHL to school and a doctor appointment. We all went to pick NHL up from school. We decided to go to BJ’s to get a few things. After we had checked out we heard what sounded like a herd of wild beasts on the roof. When we got to the door we knew it was not good.

The sky had opened up and the entire parking lot was a lake. The rain was coming down so heavy it was unreal. My mother and I decided to let NHL finish eating a pretzel. Then she got another box to put everything into and we decided to make a run for the car. I went first with JSL in his stroller.

Before I was even half way to my car I was soaked. Poor JSL was being sprayed and was crying. Finally we arrived at the car and I had puddles of water pouring off my head. JSL was now laughing as we were in the car. As I was putting the stroller away Nana and NHL arrived at the car. I put NHL in his seat while my mother loaded the boxes in. Then we all were in the car.

Imagine two adults, an almost 5 year old and a 14 month old sopping wet and laughing hysterically. That would have been us. As we drove home my mother was trying to get the boys to quack since we felt like ducks all wet. I decided to be a sport and put on "Be Like a Duck" and we quacked all the way home, carefully maneuvering by flooded roads.

We managed to make it back to my parent’s house and went back through the rain. Once inside we decided that we had to strip everyone of their soaking wet clothing. JSL had a spare outfit. I found a long t-shirt to wear as a dress that had been left in my old room. NHL had some clothes that were in the car and I was not going back out so I found an XL t-shirt that I had never worn and put it on him.

Voila . . . a dry little guy!

We are finally back home now and I cringe at going to the basement. JL went down there this morning and we had water come up again after the night. I can only imagine how horrible it will be now thanks to the last downpour.

This weekend we HAVE to buy a new dehumidifier – any suggestions out there? Our LG one did not last very long, so I doubt I would invest in that again.

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Update on nap time:

We started using a pom-pom behavior/reward system with NHL. We changed it up from last time when he had to fill a container. This time it is a lot more interactive for him. One of the items that helps him to receive pom-poms is the mandatory afternoon rest time. His "job" is to go into the boys room and rest on his bed. If he is in there JSL will calm down and rest on his pillow after 5 minutes or so. The result is a napping baby, proud big boy and relieved mommy.

Now I am off to sulk about a lost post that I started writing yesterday on a serious topic. I am so ticked off that it only saved the title and nothing else that I had written. Oh well, I will have to redo it again in the future when I calm down about it.

Categories:
house jsl laughs nhl photos weather

Lions, and Tigers and Bears . . . Oh My!

Posted on July 13, 2008 5:49 pm by TheAngelForever

On the 4th of July we were visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece for the long weekend. Uncle I had to work in the morning, so we decided to head to the zoo later in the day when he was done. We had a quick lunch at Moe’s and then went to the zoo.

When we arrived nearby the zoo and parked, NHL decided to lead the way. He has been to this zoo two other times (just a year ago when we went to Aunt M’s baby shower), so he knew the way. The stroller brigade followed with Cousin S sleeping for the start of her first time to the zoo. JSL was awake and curious about all of the fuss.

NHL was on a mission. He wanted to see the lions and tigers. He was a little upset that we missed the last giraffe feeding, but was fine with just going to view them. We made our way all around the zoo and saw a lot of animals. Here is a sampling of the photos that were taken by JL.

It was a very warm day, so many of the animals were resting in the shade, hanging out in their watering holes, or hiding completely out of view by this point in the afternoon. We did have an "interesting" educational moment. The bear area is a crowd favorite. First there were the grizzly bears that were lounging. They could have cared less that we were there watching them. Next the polar bear was pacing. He/she definitely seemed to be sizing up lunch on the other side of the barrier. I have to say it was a little unnerving. Then we saw the Spectacled Bear. This bear was smaller than the rest and was quite active. The spectacled bear put on quite a show of nature. He came over to the edge of the enclosure and proceded to empty his bladder and then do the rest of his business. No, no pictures of that. However, here is a picture when he was done and NHL’s priceless reaction to the event.

At the end of the visit JL asked NHL what his favorite animal was. Without missing a beat he quickly replied it was the spectacled bear. When asked why he immediately replied "Because he peed!" Yes, he is a boy of almost 5 you know so not a shocking response.

Eventually Cousin S woke up to see some of the animals. I believe she may have enjoyed her first bomb pop at the zoo more than the actual zoo itself. Of course it is always fun watching my little brother as a daddy. My question to you, who looks better in the pink hat?

NHL also enjoyed going on the merry-go-round and the zoo’s playground. I have to say the playground is rather impressive. They did an amazing job making it follow a zoo theme.

Fun on the zoo playground

Just before JSL fell asleep from the heat and lack of napping all day, I asked to have a picture of both of the boys. Of course try to get them to look at the camera. Nope, that did not happen. Instead each looked in a completely different direction!

Just before the zoo closed at 5:00 JSL was sleeping and everyone else went to look at the sea lions underwater. JL captured my little niece with her daddy watching them. Too cute!

A fun trip to the zoo. The only part missing was the elephants because their home was being redone and will not be open until August.

Categories:
animals family holidays interesting jsl kid talk laughs nhl photos road trip weekend

Wordless Wednesday – Swapped heads

Posted on June 4, 2008 8:03 am by TheAngelForever

Swapped Daddy and JSL

Can you tell JL had fun with this? Inspired by Manbabies website.

Categories:
family fun jl laughs Wordless Wednesday

Baked Beans + Baby = Bath

Posted on June 1, 2008 9:51 pm by TheAngelForever

So what happens to a sweet smelling one year old boy when he is given baked beans to eat?

A HUGE mess is created!

Lucky for us most of the mess was on JSL’s face and hands, the rest was on his bib and tray. Thank goodness he did not throw this part of dinner because it would have been very bad.

As mentioned baked beans was one of the items given to JSL for dinner last night. He also had a veggie dog (mainly pitched onto the floor and down the hall), corn off the cob and some crackers. He loved the baked beans and gobbled them up.

When it was time to take my camera out to capture the amazing baked bean display painted all over his face I received this reaction:

I guess he was a little shy. That or he wanted to make sure he got some baked beans on his eye lids too. Apparently that is the rage in the two and under crowd!

As JL and I were trying to figure out how to tackle the kiddo into the tub he just sat there smiling and giggling at us. He certainly had no clue what a frightening task this was for all involved.

Although his face, arms and hands were coated in the bean sauce, his hair was not involved THIS time. Thank goodness since it is getting a little long now. Mommy just can not make herself cut the super soft baby hair just yet. It is so nice and just starting to curl like so:

As we continued to draft our clean up plan JSL decided he wanted something. First he thought about it:

Finally he asked for a "crackah" and some "wah wah" to go with it.

While JL was off getting the bath ready I decided to feed the boys some chocolate pudding that NHL made. This was the first time JSL had pudding and he really seemed to enjoy it (seriously he did – this photo does not show him growling for more).

The layers of grime were starting to get crusty so it was since to get the boy into the tub. Here is a view of a clean part of the child.

Not everyone at the table was wearing their meal, well at least not most of it. NHL was definitely much cleaner than his little brother.

This photo almost made me cry – my baby is all grown up and going to kindergarten in the fall.

Finally the tub was ready for the little monkey, so one last photo of the mess before it was time to get all of the food off.

For some reason it looked a lot worse once he was sitting in the tub about to get cleaned. Thank goodness I only had the little guy in a onesie for dinner – it made stripping him a lot easier.

Here is one last photo of the little guy half clean:

The good news is he is still clean tonight and sleeping (for now at least thanks to major teething). The bad news – he loves baked beans and we will likely have a repeat performance eventually.

Categories:
food glorious food jsl laughs messy nhl photos weekend yummy

A sign of Mommy’s love for CVS

Posted on May 22, 2008 10:15 pm by TheAngelForever

Last Tuesday morning when NHL was getting ready for school he was playing with his Doodle Pro. He was writing some words and happened to call us over to see one. This is what he wrote out of the blue. . . .

Perhaps this is a sign that my CVS shopping bug has spread to NHL. He actually likes to go with me and gets upset when I go alone or he does not see a new store.

I am off to look at this weeks ad to see if there is anything I am going to go for. The Dial soap is intriguing, but I do not recall too many other items.