Feeling Better

Ev is feeling much better today...so much so that he decided to climb into his toy basket and just play in there...

Call Me Mimi

I'm not sure what is more strange, the fact that this is a Call Me Maybe video several months after everyone got sick of seeing Call Me Maybe videos or that it was the response to the question "What did you learn in school today?"

Tomorrow is a New Day

Days like today where Everett cries all night, throws up, has a fever, Meggan has to miss work again, I have to try to go back to work for the first time since surgery, I have to go have a woman nearly make me cry at physical therapy, and we find out we're at square one in terms of help while Meggan is in San Francisco make you 1) appreciate days where all that doesn't happen 2) make you appreciate Amelia for being a helpful big sister and 3) make you think REALLY?!?!? Why does this parenting thing seem so hard for two reasonable people??? Oh well, tomorrow is a new day and will bring new joys.  That is the beauty of this crazy thing called life.

Style

Everett actually has nice clothes. He has regular shirts, button downs, sweaters, etc. However, it seems like every time he's in a picture, he's wearing a funny shirt. I'm pretty sure the world must think we buy all his clothes at Spencer's Gift or Hot Topic. Sure, he's got a Chicks Dig Me shirts...and a shirt with a fake red tie on it...and yes, he accidentally wore a shirt with a giant pirate face and gold tooth to his school picture day...but, I promise, he also has some classy GQ attire as seen below....

...wait, monkeys dressed as tough cops AREN'T classy?!?

Princess Party

Amelia was lucky enough to receive a special invitation to a party just for princesses today. It was attended by the likes of Cinderella, Snow White, Tiana, Belle, and a few others. Given my knee surgery and Ev not having an invitation, she almost had to miss this stellar event. Thanks to the kindness of friends, she was able to hitch a ride to the ball....and the rest is (glowing-eyed) history....

Sitter for hire...or kid for sale

Due to some poor planning on our part, Meggan is heading to San Francisco in two weeks. While that sounds like an awesome trip, we didn't exactly factor in my surgery. So, I will be 1) on crutches 2) in physical therapy, and 3) majorly outnumbered in my house by little people. Trying to handle the kids was going to be enough of a challenge considering Everett's crazy adoration for his mother. That said, managing them when I can't lift him out of his crib, carry him into school, get him up and down the stairs, etc. is basically a disastrous proposition. So, the way I see it, we only have two options - we either find quality sitters to come help or we put the little guy up on Craigslist. Sophie has already offered to build the Craigslist ad the second I give her the go ahead....which explains why I saw her skimming old blog posts for best head shots.

Stir Crazy

After two days of being stuck on the couch, I am starting to get a little stir crazy.  I've already read the entire Internet, watched my entire DVR, and seen all the news on the Boston bombing that one man can take. Luckily, I have been able to get outside and see some of the beautiful landscaping in my neighborhood...

Surgery is easy

Compared to yesterday's surgery, today's rehab was about 100 times worse. I think they said today and tomorrow are the worst days...and that needs to be true because I don't think I can go through many more days like today. That said, Amelia gave me a big kiss when she got home, so I'm pretty far down the road to recovery.

Ouch

Sorry I haven't posted these last few days. I had to have ACL reconstruction surgery and just couldn't muster up the energy or coherent thoughts to write. If you ever find yourself deciding between doing the surgery or just going through life without an ACL, let me just tell you the hype on the pain is very, very, very real. Oh well, hopefully it will all be over soon and I'll be back to normal (jogging after 5 months, sports after a year)

Like Sister, Like Brother

While I can't say Everett and Amelia get along all the time, that little guy absolutely adores his big sister and tries to be exactly like her at every chance he gets....as you can see here....if she climbs up on the mulch to ride around Home Depot, he's going to be up on the mulch riding around home depot...

Life

If you were ever curious as to what it looks like in our house between dinner and bath time, this is a very accurate snippet .... toys everywhere, Pandora playing songs on the TV, impromptu dancing, Everett chasing Amelia around trying to do everything she does, Sophie wandering aimlessly, and on and on....




Oh, and by the way, Amelia is apparently 100000% recovered from whatever was making her feel bad last night.

Cool

Yesterday was awesome. Yeah, so maybe Amelia threw up in the car and in her bed, and Everett woke up several times screaming from teething pain, and I had to go to the hospital to get everything set up for my ACL surgery.....but, who cares because we got our new air conditioner...life is good.

Good Evening

If you can think of a better way to spend a sunny evening than helping your dad dig a small garden and teaching your little brother the joys of a Honey Bun ... you're a better person than me.

Spoon Fed

I suppose after hearing I posted about him trying to eat garbage, Ev wanted to show a more sophisticated side of himself.....here he is showing off some spoon skills we didn't know he had...

Lucky

At the rate he is going, Everett will be lucky to see 2 years old.  I love him...but, seriously, the boy has no sense and more importantly, no fear. If you need examples, here are a few... He tried to eat a banana out of the garbage today. A banana...out of the garbage. He has attempted to stick his hand in either the fan or the portable air conditioner no less than 20 times. While he thought he was alone last night, I watched him climb all the way into the bathtub on his own. At least once a day, he beats the odds to stay out of the emergency room. Today was no exception as in a split second when we weren't looking, Amelia left the gate open at the top of the stairs and he held on to the wall,  took his little legs, and started walking down them. Now, keep in mind, we have never been described as anything but overprotective parents. So, if he can get into this kind of trouble in the cracks of time when we are hovering around him, it is saying something. I have no idea what to expect when he is actually old enough to really be on the go. For now, I'm just hoping he makes it that long.

Ev starting to stand up on his horse and ride it...his favorite way to show off

Flying By

Meggan and I were looking through some pictures I took today and we couldn't believe how grown up our kids looked. Sure, Everett is still a little ways from shaving, but he's no longer a baby either...and Amelia is closer to being in kindergarten than she is to being a toddler. Ouch. I don't want to think about it anymore.

Bad Habit

So, Amelia recently let me know she is going to keep sneaking into our bed until she is a "grown up". Last night, I offered to buy her a princess sleeping bag if she would sleep on my bedroom floor until the air conditioner was fixed. She promptly let me know she had no interest in a sleeping bag because she looooooves my bed.  Would you care to guess the identity of the only person in the house who doesn't want our A/C fixed....I will give you a hint....she's the 4 year-old that gets to sleep with her parents because they have a portable air conditioner in their room.

Too Fast

Where did my baby go?!? She's already test riding real bikes around the store...

The Heat of the Night

You know what is worse than waiting around from 8-11pm for an air conditioner repair guy? It is waiting until 11:05 just for him to call and say he will be there in 45 minutes.  You know what is worse than that? It is finding out you need a new unit for roughly 6-8 thousand dollars and they aren't willing to accept Everett or Amelia as a trade.

Hot Headed

If your air conditioner stops working on the first hot day of the year, take a few deep breathes and relax before deciding to call for help. Otherwise, you will agree to let the repairman come to your house that night "between 8 and 11 pm" with no regard to your own sleep habits, your children, or your neurotic dog.  Then, you will find yourself still waiting as 11 approaches with both kids jammed in your room to allow access to the attic (one child in a pack and play and another in your bed- both awaiting to wake and cry at the faintest sound) while you try to figure out how you are going to keep your Jack Russell from barking her head off and gnawing on the intruder repairman when he shows.   Take it from me, kids, save yourself from the barking dog, the crowded room, and the crying kids and just wait until tomorrow. After all, people went centuries without air conditioners, surely you are tough enough to make it one night. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to try to sneak out of my house and into a comfy hotel without Meggan and the kids noticing.

Take a Hike

As a mentioned in the last post, Amelia was able to go on her first mountain hike this past weekend. I'm not sure she's ready for Mount Everest, but she did seem to have a good time. If you are ever in the Atlanta area, Kennesaw mountain is a nice little hike/civil war monument ...and since she is only 4, I didn't even have to explain to her why there are cannons everywhere...or what a cannon is.

Home

It's always great to see family, but there are precious few things better than coming home.  This weekend included hiking, eating cake, bounce houses, watching basketball, and seeing loved ones I miss on a daily basis. So, in short, it was pretty damn good. That said, it was also pretty damn tiring. Ev kept waking up in the middle of the night, I got into 67 wrestling matches in the bounce house, Meg ran in a 5k, etc. I think you can safely say our agenda for tonight was to get the kids to bed peacefully and early and get some sleep....and we were sooo on pace for that until Meggan got sick, I remembered I hadn't paid any bills yet this month, and Everett felt like it would be a good night to wake up after an hour of sleep. Thus, here I am, up late again, getting ready to check on Ev one last time before I head into Amelia's bed to avoid germs and undoubtedly get kicked in neck a few times while goes into sleep/mosh pit mode. Ahhh, like I said, it's good to be home.

Finish Line

The Color Run was a smashing success....

Runnn, Meggan, Runnn

We are down in Atlanta visiting family so Meggan can run in the Color Run. I was supposed to run it with her, but a small detail like a torn ACL can influence things like fun runs. Oh well, maybe next year.  Until then, I'll have to wrestle the kids and wish Meggan and my sister well.

Get Down, Get Down

Everett and Amelia are clearly fans of Justin Timberlake's new song...

Buzz

Everett really enjoyed his first trip into the Disney store outside of the confines of his stroller....

If he were a little bigger, he would have climbed into the middle of the pile

The World's worst Buzz Lightyear helmet

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was Sophie's 7th birthday. We have no real idea if that is her real birthday, but based on us getting her as a puppy, it is a pretty good guess. In honor of her, here are some of my favorite Sophie pics from the years....

New puppy

What are you looking at?

Watching over her new sister

Trying out a new fashion choice

Halloween

Taking care of me when I had the flu 

Having a rough hair day a.k.a. Wolf Dog

After the stress of kids drove her to drink

Hanging with her new buddy

Still young at heart