Spider Pig

On Easter Sunday Joseph entertained the family with a rendition of "Spider Pig." A few days later Aunt Tracy posted The original clip of "Spider pig" from The Simpson's Movie on her blog and dedicated it to Joe. Today as Josh was playing with his toys I heard a familiar tune coming from his mouth. So this is for you Tracy. Love The Bummies.

This Two Shall Pass

At two a child is at a point where they understand a lot, and have more emotion and feelings, but they have not quite figured out how to express it so that the people around them will do what the child wants.

They are realizing that they can do many things on their own and that they have a choice (so they think) about how they want things. They start to try new things like helping mom water the plants and put soap in the dishwasher. The world becomes and even bigger place to explore and that can often result in big messes. No matter how baby proof your house is a two year old has learned to climb on things to get to the higher spots, they have learned to open the child locks and even use the DVD player. Your house is no longer safe.

If as a parent you tell them no or stop them from doing whatever it is they are doing then they will start to throw a fit. This unfortunately has also moved to the next level. Instead of just crying they throw themselves to the floor and scream as loud as they can no matter where you are. This can be triggered by simply putting their drink in the wrong cup, and if the child is tired these fits will come more often.

I started noticing signs of the terrible two's around 18 months, but we have definitely entered them now. All of my children have gone through this phase and it has not lasted too long. Emily and Joseph were a little cautious about where they threw them selves. Emily would usually just stomp her feet and scream, but Josh will throw himself down no matter where he is.

I thought after he threw himself down on the hard cement the other day that this might slow the fits down a little, but it has not. I try to just ignore them or pick him up and continue on our way, but sometimes I have no choice but to sit and wait for him to finish. Even though you cannot hear or really see it he is throwing a fit in this picture. It was one of those times where I just had to wait it out so I decided to document it with pictures. I got a few glares from other mothers while I did this, but the flash of the camera distracted Josh and the fit did not last long. This has to be my least favorite part of the terrible two's but like they say "This two shall pass."

Easter Weekend Highlights

Dying Eggs

Mom boiled 2 dozen eggs, but that was not enough. Grandma had to boil a dozen more to satisfy the artists at work. We used crayons to color designs on the eggs and then dyed them. We had to watch Josh because he liked moving the eggs from one color to the next. Joseph didn't mind getting his hands dirty, but Emily used the spoons to get her eggs out.

The Big Egg Hunt

Everyone was assigned eggs colors to find. Emily and Joseph stuck to their colors but Josh found one of Emily's eggs and got to it first. It was lucky for Joseph and Emily that their eggs were a little harder to find or Josh would have had them all.

Easter Goodies

Grandma got the kids each a new outfit and a towel.

Easter Morning the Easter Bunny left them each a new toy. The boys got transformers and Emily got a new Miley Cyrus Barbie, and lets not forget about the candy.

And a big bottle of bubbles for everyone.

The boys were wired form the sugar the entire day, but we did manage to get a little bit of real food in them from the yummy Easter dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The Discovery Museum

A Helicopter to fly!

Buildings to build!

Cars to drive!

Water to play in!

Being on a farm!

Playing together!

And sleeping until 8:30 the next morning!

We are definitely going back!

A Visit from The Cocas

Tamara, one of my favorite scrapbooking friends, came to visit me from San Diego yesterday. It was so fun to see her.

I used to babysit her kids while she worked and at the time she only had her two boys. I love the Coca Boys. I babysat them right before I had Joseph and they helped me learn that boys are so different from girls. I know that some people say that we train boys to be boys and girls to be girls, but I disagree. They definitely come pre programmed. The Cocas were a big part of our lives while we lived there and it is always fun to see them and see how much the boys have changed. They had just gotten their hair cut and I had to get a picture to put on my blog.

They now have two little sisters, and are growing up so fast, but it was also fun to see that some things about their personality stayed the same.

All of the kids played great together and Tamara and I were able to chat and stamp for a little bit, just like the old days.

Tamara needed to make a couple of cards for things. So I decided it would be a good time to make my April card for my card group. (I have recently joined a card group with my friend Laura. Once a month we have to make eight of the same card and turn it in. Then the group leader divides them up and we end up with eight different cards.)
I had an idea for a card, (that I saw somewhere) So I started creating it. At first it was going to be a baby boy card, but after I started putting things together I decided I wanted to do something with my bug set. I was excited when it turned out better than it was in my head. It is always nice when that happens.

We had a great day, and it was a fun way to kick off Emily's Spring Break.

Why an Early Easter?

Easter has come so early this year that it made me question how the day is determined. I know that we have had Easter in March before, and sometimes it does not come until mid April, so why is this? Christmas is always on the 25th of December, Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday in November, so what about Easter. I thought there would be a religious reason, but I couldn't think of one. I asked Ryan and he didn't know either. My question was finally answered when I was watching the channel 5 news last night, and I found it to be kind of amusing so I thought I would share it with you.....


"Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the beginning of spring."

So because the first day of Spring is today and the first full moon will be tomorrow......

Happy Easter!!!

Catching a Leprechaun

As I took Joseph to preschool on Thursday we talked about the special day they were going to have because they were going to celebrate St Patrick's Day. Joseph was excited because at the last class party they had a fiesta with a pinata. He told me that maybe they would have a pinata of Patrick at school today. (Joseph thought St Patrick's Day was for Patrick on Spungbob.) I told him that it was more likely that they would try to catch a Leprechaun, and told him a little bit about the traditions of the day.

I always try to go help on the special party days so I got to see how they celebrated it. They talked about why we celebrate the day and red a story about a leprechaun. The class did go on a Leprechaun hunt. They did not find one, but when they returned to the classroom they discovered that a Leprechaun had been there.

There were little green footprints in the room. Joseph caught on that you should follow them to catch the Leprechaun but when he got to the end of the footprint trail he found something better.

The Leprechaun's pot of gold.

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

One good night

After changing the boys sleeping arrangement, everyone getting sick, and daylight savings time we finally had one good night last night. (everyone was in bed by 10:30pm) The biggest lesson I have learned is, before you move your toddler from a crib to his bed make sure that you don't have to "Spring Forward" a week later.

The Night Life

Joseph had been sleeping in a Thomas the Tank Engine toddler bed for the last two years and it was time to get him a bigger bed, and move Josh out of the crib. We have been talking to Joe about it since Christmas to get him ready for the change and excited about letting his little brother have his old bed. Joseph was not sure about the change, but when he got the insert that came with his transformer and it had a transformer bed on it he was totally on board, if he could have that bed. He carried around the picture for a whole week telling anyone who would listen that this was the bed he was going to get.


Saturday was the big day. Ryan and Grandpa picked up the bed first. We told Joseph that we would go get the transformer stuff a little later in the day. When Ryan started setting up the frame Joe got really excited because the metal bars had to be slid into the correct position. It really was a transformer bed.

After the bed was all set up we went to Target and found the Transformer bed set. Joseph was so excited. He told me that he would sleep in his own bed all night now because the scary monsters would be so afraid of the Transformers.

Josh was really excited to sleep in the Thomas bed and Grandma got him a new Thomas blanket for it.

Now the new night life begins....

Saturday night it took a little longer to get everyone to sleep. Especially Josh. But once they were asleep the night went OK until about 3:30am when Joseph did his usual walk into our bed. Josh slept through the night though and I thought that was a great sign.

But last night was a different story.....

Joseph slept in his own bed all night for the first time in a long time. YEA!!!!!

But Josh figured out that he could get out of his new bed WHENEVER he wanted, and unlike Joe who would just get out of bed and come sleep on my head, Joshua did not want to lay down and he was not tired.
At one point I got him to lay down in the Thomas bed with me (don't ask how I fit). He thought this was even better and began chatting and singing songs. I am hoping that Josh will be tired tonight and sleep since he didn't sleep at all last night. A new night life has begun. Hopefully it wont take Joshua too long to adjust, but next time you see Ryan and I and we look like we have not slept in weeks you will know why.