the baby store

Carson was trying to play with his golf club, using it as a hockey stick and "scoring" on the cabinets with his squishy baseball. The game was fun and he was enjoying himself. Then over came Logan. He picked up the ball, and wrestled his way past Carson with it, screaming as he went by. Carson didn't even bother to try to get it back this time, he just came straight to me with his idea (which I think had been developing for a while in his little mind.)
"Mommy," he said, obviously trying to be mature and convincing in his tone of voice, "I think we should take Logan to the baby store."
"really?" I asked, wondering what this newest idea was about. "What happens at the baby store?"
"well," Carson said cheerfully, "Thats where babies go and get snacks and play games together. its fun."
"thats good," I answered, wondering what he was getting at. "and after Logan plays and eats snacks we take him home?"
"No." Carson said emphatically- his eyes conveying that this was the important part of his scheme- "Logan has to STAY there- we'll pick another baby, maybe one that is nice. Logan is just bad all of the time. We'll EXCHANGE him."
After covering my smile I was able to answer him, "Well, Carson, Logan is the baby that God gave us, and we have to try to help him grow up to be a good boy. I get to take care of him, and as his big brother, so do you."
"I don't think so." Carson said, the cheerfulness back in his tone, "we should just get a good baby."
The funny thing was that later that night, we put the kids to bed, and went into the kitchen to clean up... what we found was a 2 gallon puddle of water on the floor- apparently Logan had opened the spout of our water jug a little bit and let the entire thing drain on the floor quietly.
Five minutes into sopping up the mess I looked at Nathan and said "maybe the baby store was a good idea after all?" just kidding. we love our baby Logan, and hope that this terrible stage (and he's not even two yet) is almost over....

Bandits!

We decided to take the kids for a walk the other evening - it was a beautiful evening, the trees lining our street are all blossoming, in fact there are so many blooms outside at this time of year the air smells like honeysuckle. (or what I THINK honeysuckle smells like...)
So we loaded up in our double stroller and took a hike a few blocks up to Friendlies where we got chocolate brownie sundays, and shared with the kids. By the time we got back to the house, the kids were on the sugar high of their little lives! They ran around the backyard chasing each other and yelling for me to follow. Carson decided that he was a bandit and that I couldn't catch him. he yelled "yippi oh, yippi eh! I'm a BANDIT!" and laughed as he ran around the bush in our backyard for the 150th time. Pictured here is Logan, being himself eating Carson's "gun" stick, which led to another chase, tackle and wrestling match. good times. but it may be a while before we get them more ice cream!

so generous!

I gave Carson and Logan both drinks of apple juice (which is a favorite in my house) and they each had straws in their glasses. I was holding Logan's so he wouldn't spill (yes, all the sippy cups were dirty again, my kids eat and drink A LOT) and Carson was holding his own. Suddenly Carson looked at Logan and did something strange.
"here you go little buddy." he said as he gave his own straw to Logan. Logan looked warily at Carson, and then started drinking from the offered straw. Wanting to reinforce this nice (albeit odd behavior) I said "that's nice of you Carson" and gave him Logan's straw. Carson took a tiny sip, and returned to his own cup. 10 seconds later the same thing happened again. Logan drinks some of Carson's juice, and Carson sips Logan's. the third time this happened I was kind of baffled, but thrilled that my three year old was sharing so well- that is until Carson slurped up the last drop of his juice, jumped in the air with fists raised victoriously and shouted "YESS! I WIN! I beat you Logan!!" Logan didn't seem to care, as he finished up his own drink as well and smiled.
maybe that idea of racing at the dinner table to have everyone finish at the same time wasn't as brilliant as I had first imagined... but there aren't too many 2 hour dinners for Carson any more either... we'll just have to weigh the good and the bad before implementing any more of my plans. Leave it up to my little ones to take competitive EATING to a whole new level!

bowling

We went bowling today with some teenagers from the church we go to and brought the kids along. We didn't have gutter guards, so it was difficult for Carson to get the ball down to the other end. Logan tried one- but the ball was bigger than he is, so it didn't work out so well. We were pleased with the kids success at the sport - none of the balls actually stopped before making it to the end which was a good thing... I didn't realize that something moving so slowly could make it that far though. fun times. The kids ended up with a grand score of 9, which made the teenagers pretty happy because their scores were mostly in the low 40s.

Quotes for the week

"oh good. We've got Possibilities." - Carson upon finding our Campbels soup in the cabinet.

"yeah, my eyes- they're like vinoculars." - Carson upon spotting a really far away plane in the sky. (binoculars.)

"maybe you could put on some makeup or something?" - Carson upon taking a closer look at mom in the morning.

"if a dinosaur attacked me I would just do karate on him cause I'm not scared." - Carson upon being reminded that he should be thankful for parents that take care of him and protect him... he didn't quite catch the idea of it though.

"suck it up - you're a WOMAN." - Carson upon seeing mommy say "ouch" when Logan hit her with a stick outside.... yeah, we have a lot of refining to do with Logan!

"excuse YOU" - Logan upon burping

"umm- juice? PLEASE?" - Logan, seemingly every minute of the day.

And that's all for this week... tune back in next week and I'm sure there will be many more silly quotes and views of life from the eyes of people a lot smaller than us.... sometimes its quite funny to take ourselves a lot less seriously and just enjoy the times that we have together!

POOR ME!

yeah... not surprisingly I caught what Logan had a few days ago, and I'm telling you it WASN'T fun!! I was up most of Thursday night sick with the flu, and of course, as is now normal for me, passing out at the worst times! So yesterday I went to the doctors to see what is going on and if there is something that I can do to prevent myself from fainting whenever I get sick. Apparently it is a nerve called the vegalvegal nerve that prompts people to pass out, and with my low blood pressure (its a healthy blood pressure, just on the low side) whenever I get sick I end up fainting on the floor. So after an EKG, and a hemoglobin count check, we found out that I'm fine... and the only thing that I was told that MAY help is for me to start drinking coffee and eating more salt... yeah I know- whaaatt? its been shown to work in some cases. So next thursday I am scheduled to go in and get some more tests done to make sure my heart is fine, I'm having a 24 hour harness on to monitor my heart activity, as well as having an eco-cardiogram performed... I'm sure everything is fine, but I'm still annoyed that there is nothing that can be done to prevent me from fainting on the floor every time I come down with the flu! Although, I do need to be thankful that there isn't something seriously wrong with me, I guess its all in our perspective of the situation isn't it?

Poor Logan...

Logan has been sick with a flu bug, and it is heartbreaking to watch him feel so terrible!!
Yesterday after a two hour nap, I finally woke Logan up, and discovered that he was so tired because he was feeling sick. from that moment on, it was one big cuddle for me until I put him to bed that night. He looked at me with his puppy eyes and said "I stuck" which I assume meant that he was feeling sick, and lounged on my lap for a few hours before falling asleep in my arms... I love watching babies sleep! I felt that this was quite a nice day even though Logan was sick, because he was so still and cuddly... and didn't destroy one thing that day! oh, the joys of having a brute of a 17 month old in the house!

Yogurt Raisins

once again, at the breakfast table, Carson and I were discussing the intricacies of life.
"what does raisins start with" he asked.
"R" I said.
"what does black raisins and yogurt raisins start with?" he asked. I answered him at first wondering about the yogurt raisins and then remembering that they are the coated ones that taste a little like white chocolate.
"when did you have yogurt raisins?" I asked him
"at Nana and Papa's house, Aunt Sarah bought them." he said, "and I ate all of them, a whole bunch. yeah, but they made me sick. they made me throw up. " to this he nodded his head with pursed lips reliving the pain of the experience. Then he sat straight up with a worried expression on his face and quickly added "It was the raisins that made me throw up- not the people. Not Nana and Papa and Sarah and Daniel. just the raisins. yeah." ... thanks for sharing, Carson... :)

gone fishin'

It was a gorgeous day on sunday, so we decided to go fishing. After searching out the nearest lakes online, we commenced on a car trip around our town, finding lakes, swamps, creeks, and finally, the perfect little fishing spot. On the other side of the street from where this picture was taken is a beautiful lake, but I forgot to bring my camera over there, and decided that this little creek was safer for the kids to play at anyways. Its amazing how entertained a little bit of water will keep two kids, they had an awesome time while Daddy and Asa were fishing. I was going to fish too, but its a little difficult with two children, so I ended up just watching them, and enjoyed my day just as much as they did!

just one at a time

My children have a favorite activity whenever near any body of water- including puddles. Tossing rocks into it and watching it splash. But this time we had some trouble teaching Logan how to do it properly. He started out like a champ, finding the biggest and best rocks and trying to beat Carson to it, but soon started grabbing entire handfuls of sand and rock mixed... and one minute into the adventure he had already nailed mom in the eye... sand doesn't go well in the eyes, as we all know, so mom wasn't so impressed. Carson took it upon himself at that moment in time to help mom remind Logan that "we only throw one rock at a time!" and he faithfully kept up his policing duties until the time we left. And, I am happy to report, Logan has learned well and did a dandy job of rock-tossing for the rest of the afternoon. Carson is now looking forward to the day that he'll be able to have his own fishing pole and catch a "big striped one, and a little one, and a really really big one" for grandma.
Oh, and Carson is pictured here, tossing "just one rock" that was aimed at the creek, and instead tagged Logan straight in the back... but he apologized profusely and Logan just laughed. I guess in some ways they do play extremely well together!!!

rubber boots don't really keep the water out...!

... at least not when you are knee deep in water.
Logan was so enthralled with the rocks and water, he would throw a rock out into the creek and then go to get it... by the time we were ready to leave and I took his little boots off there was about 2 cups of water in each one! he didn't seem to mind one bit though.

"when I grow up" by Carson

Another morning at the breakfast table discussing the intricacies of life with my talkative son, this time I was listening to every word. Over the weekend Carson had a great opportunity to spend time with his Grandma and Grandpa, and take a trip to New Jersey to see Aunt Rachael and Uncle Jeff, and together they all took a trip to NYC. (weird when your three year old son has seen more of the world than you have... !) So by the time I got to New Bedford to pick him up, Carson had had so much fun that he wanted to stay overnight just once more. So he ended up staying until Monday night. Now, four days away from your little one can seem like a lot, so I kind of expected him to feel the same way, but once again he cried to stay at Grandmas again. this time no one gave in, and he cried for about half an hour until we were alone in the car. Then he sang about 5 words to the song that was playing "Holy is the Lord God Almighty" okay, 6 words to be exact... and promptly fell asleep, and stayed asleep when I put him to bed after arriving home.
So by the time this morning came, I was excited to spend time with my oldest boy, and that's when we got on the topic of Cars. He found some stickers in a drawer that the doctor had given us the other day, and he proceeded to stick them on top of each other to save room on the paper on which they were sticking. They were pictures of race cars, and one of them was overlapping onto tigger's leg. "uhhoh," Carson said, "that sticker is on tigger's foot."
"Uhhoh." I repied, "I bet that hurts!"
"yeah, only its just a little car, and its just a sticker so I guess its okay." Carson said. My goodness, I think, have I already forgotten that his reasoning skills are more advanced than this? has it really only been four days? Then Carson says:
"little cars you can throw, but big cars crash and catch on fire. and if a big car gets on your foot it would hurt."
"yes" I said, noticing that Carson is reassuring me that my point was valid, "yes it would hurt. and it might even break your foot, so that's why we don't get too close."
"well," Carson thought for a second, "That's why I'm going to eat all of my food and GROW UP to be a big STRONG man, and then I can throw big cars and break THEM!"

how many times can kids run around the block?

Mom's house has a pathway around in a square "block" formation, and the kids had a ball running around it. I thought they would never stop! Here they are racing- Carson is about to leap an obstacle, and Logan is trying to push him into it I think... he's pretty cute but he is a bully!
oh, for all of you who haven't seen this house, its Mom and Dad's hallway in Sussex.

running and running...

and running

Our Trip to Sussex

we spent Easter at my parents house in Sussex, NB and had a great time while there. Thankfully we got in on saturday evening, because by the time sunday morning came, there was so much snow on the ground that we could barely get out of the driveway! Apparently snow tires really do work, because the car that had them on (dad's) made it to church and the one that didn't (ours) didn't even make it back in the driveway after a failed attempt to brave the streets. So, much to Carson's disappointment, we didn't make it to church- church is Carson's favorite place to be- instead we had a private bible study in mom's living room. We had a lot of fun while visiting Nana and Papa, my favorite part was getting to sleep in until 10 am, waking from time to time and hearing the kids play with their Nana. (she spoils me so much when I'm there... thanks mom! I LOVE it!)
I feel bad that we didn't get to see everyone that we had wanted to on our trip, but sometimes the days are just to short to fit everything in!! I guess that's why we've got phones and blog spots to keep in touch as well.

fish catching fun!

Carson had a great time at the creek, he was daring enough to get down by the water with daddy, but not quite daring enough to hold the fish when daddy asked him. Although as soon as we were in the car ready to leave he changed his mind and told me that he was sad that he didn't get to hold a fish. Carson changes his mind more often now, it is kind of funny to hear him say something you know that he hasn't thought about yet- like "no, I don't want to play with playdough," and then watch him cock his head to one side as he walks away as if to ask himself what he has just done... then three minutes later he reappears and says "Mommy, actually I do want to play with playdough, I changed my mind. is that okay?" funny little guy.

Not so little Logan

I had such a hard time catching Logan looking at the camera! Asa actually felt the need to direct his head in my general direction because there was so many more exciting things to see! Logan had a great time looking at the water and saying "yook! Wawa!" (translation: "look, water.") in his cute little man voice. I also let him walk on a trail, but Logan still has a terrible habit of trying to eat anything his hands touch, and there were a lot of "nature things" that I didn't want in his little mouth, so he was only allowed out of our arms for about 5 minutes of the hour plus that we were there. Logan is getting better at walking on uneven ground, but is still pretty unstable, hopefully his little feet will correct themselves soon. But he is doing great with his vocal skills, he tries to sing, and repeats almost anything we ask him to. we're having fun watching him grow up!

Fall fun in Boston

I have finally scanned in some of the pictures that I only had paper copies of, so I decided to post an older one- Logan is so bald here!! His hair didn't grow until a few months after his first birthday, but its so easy to forget just how bald he was... I'm glad I got some pictures
This picture was taken in a small park in Boston, just down the street where Nathan works, and just across from Quincey Market. My mom, Sarah myself and the boys all took the train into the city, and that was pretty much the highlight of the trip for Carson and Logan both, also more relaxing for us. I am still not a fan of Boston driving... unless its in the middle of the night when there aren't too many cars on the highway. I'll learn soon though!!

Sarah and Carson at the same park- both photogenic as always!