Hmmm

Good news....just in case Amelia's new Snow White costume doesn't work out for her on Halloween, she's been unknowingly working on her "UnaBomber" look...

Feeling Better

It looks like Everett is fully recovered from his surgery. In case you were wondering what our wild nights at home while Meggan has to work look like...here you go (except we normally aren't sideways, that's just because I'm an idiot with my cell phone)

The Good Patient

Everett is home from surgery and all went as well as could be expected. Apparently, his ears were in worse shape than we knew about. So, the surgery couldn't have been more timely and he is expected to make a full recovery.

Prayer

In case I wasn't emotional enough about Everett's surgery, Amelia decided to push me over the top.  She wanted to say a little prayer for Ev and it went as follows...

Dear Jesus,
        Thank you for my little baby brother. I love him. Please make him safe and please make his ears better so he can play. In Jesus pray, amen. 

Here We Go Again

Tomorrow morning, the little guy seen below (pictured in his only other stint in a hospital gown) will be blindly led to the doctor's office to have tubes put in his ears. I feel terrible that he doesn't see it coming.  I feel even worse that I won't get to go back to the prep area with him because I'll be hanging with Amelia.  I haven't felt this helpless as a father since they took him for his circumcision.  That turned out okay and I'm sure this will as well. But, just in case, if you have any spare prayers lying around, please send him his way.

Raining? Pouring?

For reasons that go against all odds and biology, Amelia has wet the bed roughly a billion times recently. Just yesterday, she consumed a single small juice box from the hours of 5pm until bedtime, pottied twice before bed, and still went Super Soaker 3000 on her sheets. I'm not even sure how that is possible.  A few nights prior to that, her bed was drenched and her pajamas weren't wet. Again, I'm not sure how that is possible unless she dropped trou and used her bed as some kind of really comfy urinal. Prior to this bad run, she had gone many, many months with no accidents at all. So, we're hoping it goes away as quickly as it came. Otherwise, we're going to have to replace her sheets with a rain tarp.

3 or 30

Amelia may still act like a baby very once in a while, but she talks like an adult.  Here is a small sampling that I can recall from what she's said recently...

The morning after Meggan worked late and didn't see the kids - "Mommy, you miss all the fun!"

After I mercilessly tickled her - " Daddy, I love you so much because you are so funny"

Tonight after I told her I went camping as a kid - " I don't know, Daddy. It sounds like you're just telling stories"

Man of Many Faces

It may only be me, but for some reason, I feel like Everett looks different in every picture I take of him (sometimes he has more hair than others, sometimes his eyes are big, sometimes his mouth is small, etc.)....and none of them seem to look like he looks to me in "real" life. 

So Close

Everett is getting closer and closer to crawling. I'm not sure why we are working with him on it as once he can crawl, we're in real trouble. That said, last night he was able to get on his hands and knees, fall forward on his face, get back on his hands and knees, fall forward on his face again, etc., etc. Ultimately, this isn't the most efficient means of travel...unless he wants to get around like this guy...

Well, That's One Way To Do It

One thing is for sure when it comes to Amelia and sleeping...you never know where she is going to be.  Aside from the general rule that three is a crowd, this is one of the main reasons I don't like her in my bed. Sure, she may come in and lay down all warm and cuddly. But, 20 minutes later, she'll be using your nose as a foot rest.  Last night, we actually captured photographic evidence of this wild animal in action... (photo taken from the foot of her bed)

Desperate Times

I suppose Amelia felt the desperate need she had for attention tonight required her to go for desperate measures. I have to give her credit. She actually found a way to be bad while not doing anything she could get in trouble for. While I was giving Everett a bath, she decided rather than using any of the three toilets in the house, she would pee in her tiny potty training potty we keep around as a stool. She thought it was hilarious to bring me what amounts to a bucket full of pee. Keeping in mind the fact that she never used those types of potties when she was actually potty training, I didn't find it as humorous as she did. That said, I couldn't really punish her for using the potty.  On a positive note, at least she didn't put up a fight about using the bathroom before bed.

2 vs. 1

Meggan is hosting an enormous event/dinner for hundreds of people....I am trying to get 2 small children to eat and take a bath...why do I feel like she is doing a better job at her task than I am?

First Bite

Everett tried his first taste of actual food tonight (as opposed to a bowl of mush).


Due to the graphic nature of this video, viewer discretion is advised...

Despite what happened on film, I assure you he started to come around by the end...

Phone Home

Tonight I have to post from my phone.  Why is that? Oh, because much like Rapunzel, I am trapped in my tower...only my tower is the stairs outside Amelia's room. She currently has one of her traditional coughing spells so the "cry it out" theory cannot be applied. That said, we have no interest in hitting the, reset button on any progress we have made. It looks like it may be a rough night, though, as she is randomly getting out of bed and claiming I am indeed a  stinky butt.

Homecoming

No matter how good the trip is, it is always nice to come home...especially when you have these two waiting to greet you...

I am fortunate enough to be on a "guys' weekend" with a group of friends from college...which means I've known them a LOOOONG time. 

Here is the view from my room...

Fine Line

There is a very, very fine line between lovingly giving your brother a hug and secretly putting him in a choke hold...

 Hug...

Choke hold...

Happy Birthday

Tomorrow is my mom's 69th birthday. I hope it is so awesome puts the other 68 birthdays to shame.

Laughing Matters

Everett finally found something worth laughing about - his sister's hula hoop.

 

Get the Gates Ready

On knees .... check
On hands.... check
Rocking back and forth enough to make picture blurry.... check
Looking around at things he wants to grab/climb/eat... check

Yep, this is the look of a man who will be mobile in the very near future...

What Weekends Were Made For

Today, I steam cleaned the carpets, the Gators won their game, Everett nearly crawled, Meggan got to go shopping without the kids, Sophie was treated to a piece of bacon and two pieces of smoked sausage at breakfast, and Amelia had her first day in her new tap/ballet class.  That's a damn fine Saturday.

These People are Weird

Judging by the look Everett has on his face in most family photos, I'd say he's already realized what it takes most of us a long time to get .... parents are lame, but in the most loving way possible.

Artist

While I was feeding Everett a bottle tonight, Amelia was doing her normal routine of trying to get affection and attention. Eventually, to distract her, I asked her to draw me a picture on the IPad. She asked what picture I wanted, so I said and apple. One minute later, this is what she showed me....

Which I thought was pretty damn good. 

Chillin

Ev might not always be the most smiley baby, but he already knows how to relax on the couch with his dad...

Little Things

Sometimes, it's the little things that brighten your day.

99 times out of 100, it is this...

. Today, it was probably the brightest rainbow I've ever seen.

Home Again

We rolled back into town around midnight last night. It was tiring leaving so late, but after the trip down where Ev cried so hard he threw up....forcing us to pull over and clean everything....twice, we opted for sleepy time travel.  As always, it was great to see my family. Also as always, I was emotional upon leaving. It certainly didn't help when Amelia kept asking why we couldn't stay with her family anymore. I've chronicled how badly we hate living away from family on here many times, so I won't do that again tonight. All I will say is I am thankful for having the weekend with them and I very much look forward to doing it again.

Missing in Action

We are still alive. We are just visiting Grandma's house, so blogging is hard to come by. We will see if we can get any posts up as time allows. In the meantime, Amelia and I are looking for chipmunks in the yard...so far, they are not answering to the names Alvin, Simon, or Theodore like Amelia hoped.