Girl Power

Dominic got some temporary tattoos in his easter eggs. I wasn't paying attention to them other than they were disney characters. So yesterday he asked me if he could wear one and I said sure. It was a pink and purple tattoo that said "Girl Power". I tried my best to convince him that he wanted a different one, but no such luck. He now proudly sports a Girl Power tattoo on his chest. =)

Today we came home to find our front yard full of chickens and one rooster. Not sure where they came from, but Dominic sure had fun chasing them. Tolkien just sat there and watched. I guess his attack mode only works for dogs and cats. He brings us dead birds every once in a while, but these were a bit big.

Just in case you think my child is perfect, or worse that I think he is, here is an example of my inperfect kid.

Yesterday I had a dental appt and left both kids with a friend. She has two kids about the same age as mine. I came back to find blood all over her and a band-aide on the boy's head. Dominic had chucked a die-cast train at his head and it bled everywhere. Needless to say he was punished and we had a huge discussion when I got back about not throwing things.

Later at supper Dominic informed me that he was David and his friend was Goliath and he'd used his sling to make him fall down. Sigh! Bible stories can be so violent. So we had another discussion about how Goliath was going to hurt David so God told David to use his sling. And Dominic wasn't to ever throw things even if he was pretending to be David.

"Mommy, will God EVER let me use my sling?" Another sigh! I, somehow, don't think he got the point.

Crossing the street

Today I looked back while driving to town and Dominic was holding Caitlin's hand and talking to her. He saw me looking at them and said "Mommy, I'm holding Caitlin's hand since we are in the street. You should always hold someone's hand when you're in the street so the cars don't hurt you." I guess we WERE in the street since I was driving in it. =)

Little Things

There are so many little things that happen every day that I could blog about. My kids are precious. They are also hilarious. But since they only sleep for short periods of time and my memory is horrible I don't get most of them down. But when I remember I make a note here by the computer so I can add it to a blog later. Here are some things from the notes.

Dominic hasn't acted jealous about Caitlin. But he does want to make sure he gets attention as well. When Jon got home I was showing him how Caitlin could roll over and Dominic got on the floor and showed us that he could roll over as well.

Sabbath we put Caitlin in the high chair by herself for the 1st time. She wasn't excited, but didn't seem to mind too bad. It was nice to have her join us for lunch.

The other day Jon and I were going somewhere in the car and we heard Caitlin and Dominic laughing and laughing. We looked back and he was holding her hand and making faces. I guess she thought it was funny and every time she laughed and squealed Dominic would laugh too. It was precious and I wish I'd had the camera w/ me to video it. I'm so amazed and blessed that my kids love each other so much.

On the way home today Dominic was telling me a story. "Once about a time. . . so the monster ated it all up. . . (10 minutes later) so Andy felled on his red skateboard and hurted his knee. . ." This story continued the whole 30 minutes home. Anything we were passing was included into the story. We hit some road construction and had to sit for a while, but this didn't stop the story. It was just included into the story line. Man alive, can my kid talk!!! Not a clue where he got that. =)

Dominic was really tired, but was resisting his nap. I had to go in several times to put him back in the bed. He'd emptied the bookcase, his stuffed animal bin, most of the clothes out of the dresser and some things from his time out box. This is the clear box you can see his feet against. It's full of sheets and blankets and it's where I send him for time out. He loves to empty everything and pile it on his bed. After about 30 minutes of this I told him that if I had to come in again I'd spank. I had to leave the door open because it was rather hot in his room and we don't have central air. I went into my bedroom w/ Caitlin and shut the door so he could go to sleep with out distractions. Once he's asleep I can do anything and he won't wake up.

When I came out to check on him to make sure he was still in his bed, this is what I saw.

Not sure why he's on the floor or how this could possibly be comfortable, but he slept for over 2 hours here.

Yesterday I heard him crying and found him under the crib w/ his foot stuck side ways in between the slates. It was a bit painful so I thought he'd learned his lesson about getting out of bed and being on the floor during nap time. Guess that didn't stop him.

Strawberries

Strawberries have been in season for about a week now. But the thought of taking both kids and going by myself has seemed a bit daunting. So on Friday I invited a friend who had never picked strawberries before. We got there and it was pretty hot. Her daughter is Dominic's age and her son is about 18 months. I found out it's just as hard w/ a friend. In her words "this isn't how I romanticized it on the way over here."

Here is a small bit of why she was so disillusioned about strawberry picking -

Caitlin was hot and tired and so screamed the whole time. I had her in the car seat and the place has little wagons that you can use to carry the berries. So she was on the wagon w/ the buckets while my friend and I tried to keep the other kids from putting rotten and green berries in our buckets. Even worse was trying to keep them from eating these berries. Not much luck there. Then I heard a gasp and looked up to see Dominic's little friend w/ this very strange look on her face as she watched my son drop his pants and pee right there in front of her. Then we had to keep them from stomping in the "puddle". Needless to say we didn't get very many berries picked before the stress got to us and we both left. Something tells me I'll never be able to convince her to go again. Sigh!

On Sunday I left the kids w/ Jon and went and picked over 20 lbs of strawberries by myself. It's amazing what I can get done in a short time with no children. I'd almost forgotten what that was like. So now my freezer and frig are full of berries and we'll be having strawberry shortcake for supper tonight.

Green poop and other mommies

I'm not sure if it's all men or just mine that look at life from a totally different angle then I do. The other night we were eating supper and we had broccoli. Dominic doesn't hate broccoli, but he has to be coaxed to eat it. I normally give him one spear and after much convincing he'll eat it. Jon put three spears on his plate. Dominic was complaining about it and Jon told him that it would turn his poop green if he ate them. Dominic shoved that broccoli into his mouth with no complaints. Now I would have NEVER even thought to give him that incentive.

Dominic asked me to please play with him. When I asked him what we were playing he told me that I was to pretend to be his other mommy. Since I wasn't aware of another mom I asked him who that was. In a voice that said he couldn't believe I didn't know he said "It's yours and Daddy's mommies." Oh, yeah. I knew that! =)

Sabbath morning Jon and I were still getting ready for church when we sat Dominic down for breakfast. We hadn't gotten to the table ourselves and so Dominic called us "Please come to the table. I'm getting lonely."

A few days later he learned the word lazy. So at lunch he again asked me to come to the table because he was getting "lazy." I corrected him and now whenever he doesn't want to get up and do something he's asked he says it's because he's "soooo lazy!"

Caitlin rolled over for the 1st time today. We had gone to pick strawberries earlier and she had gotten pretty hot and fussy. So I undressed her down to her onsie and laid her on the cool floor. She liked that and in the process of scooting around she rolled over. She looked so pleased w/ herself. The cheering section inspired her to do it several more times before she got tired. I went to write it in her baby book and checked to see when Dominic rolled over. It was about the same time, but it was only once and then he waited until a week later to do it a 2nd time. Maybe he didn't have enough applause. =)

Dominic and Caitlin certainly love each other. I've been blessed w/ how gentle Dominic is with her and how much she adores him.

There's something about Caitlin

Unless you've seen the movie "There's Something About Mary" you won't understand the title. I had put Caitlin's hair up into two little pig tails. She got upset and pulled them out later in the day.This left two little "horns" so I pulled all of the hair back and fastened it w/ one bow.

When that came off, Jon commented that she looked like Mary in that movie. He took some pictures so I could blog about it. Poor little girl. The picture is a bit blurry because she wouldn't be still, but I think you can get the idea.

A friend gave us some peach trees and I was able to get a cute picture of Dominic "helping" Daddy. How Jon ever gets anything done is beyond me. Dominic has to be right in the middle of everything.

This picture is of Caitlin and Jon in the garage. I thought it was precious.

Caitlin is trying out Dominic's old swing. She seemed to like it. I'm so thankful that the weather is finally getting nice enough that we can play outside w/out needing several layers of clothing.

Dominic

Dominic was watching me change Caitlin's diaper this morning and he looked a little confused. "Mommy, Caitlin has two bums. See?!" Caitlin has so many rolls on her legs that the poor kid couldn't tell where bum ended and leg started. Just looked like she had several bums to him I guess. =)

I was trying to cook breakfast and Dominic was rolling around on the floor beneath me. I kept stepping over and around him trying to work. I accidentally stepped on his arm and he said "Mommy, don't step on me. I'm your very best friend."

Last week Dominic was getting a little antsy in his car seat on the way home so I started pointing out all of the flowers along the road and telling him the names. He can pronounce most of them very well. Although he was a little confused about why a dogwood was called that. His first attempt at wisteria was closer to "mysteria". On the way home today he was pointing out the jasmine, dogwood, etc. and he said something about a mustache. I thought he was being silly and asked him what a mustache was.

"You know mom, it goes with a beer."

Huh?

He meant beard.

Back to dial-up/More pictures

SIGH!!!!! I'm back to my dial-up internet. I was able to post blogs so easily and get months worth of pictures up loaded to shutterfly in only a few days. But now I'm back to a slow computer. But the benefits of living here far out weight the inconvenience of having a slow internet.

This is the sight that I usually see around the house. It is a bit cold outside so Dominic was wearing long sleeves and pants. As soon as we got home he put on the shorts. Not sure where the one croc on the wrong foot came from.

I'd had an appt today and left both kids with a friend. When I came back she'd put Caitlin's hair up in pig tails. It was so adorable. I hadn't realized how long her hair was getting. It makes her seem like a little girl instead of a baby. Too cute, in my opinion!

Here are a few random pictures left over from our Florida vacation.

This first one is of Dominic and Grammy playing in the ocean. The water was a bit cold, but that didn't seem to bother them.

Caitlin and Gramps talking about something. =)

Caitlin and I are enjoying the porch and the sound of the waves.

Gramps took this picture. I think it is one of the best I've seen. Isn't she cute!?! =)

In looking back over this blog I realized that most of the pictures are of Caitlin. So I went back through the pictures and now I know why. Most of the ones of Dominic are blurry because he's always moving. It is rare that I can get him to be still long enough to take a picture.

More Florida pictures

Dominic was trying on our shoes and wanted Jon to try his. As you can tell, Jon had a bit more trouble.

I think Gramps took as many pictures as I did.

Hanging out with Daddy.

I'll have more pictures later. I'm waiting on them to down load from the camera.

Florida Holiday/Easter Egg Hunt

We have had so much fun on our annual Florida vacation. I think Dominic has had the most fun. We will be leaving tomorrow. Dominic wasn't very happy when we told him.

Dominic was able to go on the boat twice this weekend. I wasn't able to go with him because Caitlin was needing to eat or sleeping both times. But he seemed to really enjoy it.

Last night I gave the kids a bath together. Our tub isn't large enough so they both enjoyed it. Caitlin didn't even mind the splashing.

This morning we dyed eggs. Everyone got in on the action.

While the real eggs were drying we went on an egg hunt outside. Dominic was the only kid with about six adults watching him. =) He would open each egg and put the egg in the basket and the contents in his bag.

1st time at the beach

Strangely enough both kids had their 1st experience at the beach here in Florida. We live near the beach and yet it has worked out that we were down here in Florida for Easter when they went the 1st time.It was still a bit too cold for Caitlin to put her little toes in, but Dominic ran in w/ Grammy and got his shorts a bit wet when a wave hit him. By the time he fed the birds and came home he was dry.The kids love being here w/ Grammy and Gramps. I think the grandparents are loving it as well. =) Dominic remembers them, of course, and so warmed up right away. But he's been a bit shy w/ everyone else.

1st plane ride

We flew to Florida yesterday. This was the back pack that Dominic got when Caitlin came home from the hospital. He was so excited to have a "suitcase" just like Daddy.

He was still a little tired from being sick this past week. I think he has allergies and so we ended up carrying it a little. But he had to keep checking to make sure he knew where it was.

The lighting wasn't great, but here is a picture of Caitlin right before her 1st plane ride. The plane is right behind us, but the sun washed it out.

As you can see, she missed the whole thing. She slept on Jon's lap the entire time. It was wonderful for us.

Dominic loved having his own seat. He played w/ the windows, the seat belt and the toys in his back pack. We'd hoped that he would sleep, but it was much too fun to look out the window or at the people behind us.

Pictures/Florida

I took the kids to Greenville today to get their spring pictures taken. The appt was for 11am and I'd hoped to be done and home by naptime (2pm). But the lady took over 30 pictures of the kids and then tried her hardest to get me to buy more than I had planned. It annoyed me and I didn't get any enhancements just because she pressured me. So if you ever want to get me to do something don't use pressure. I'm not sure if they aren't selling as many pictures right now or she was pushing for a bonus because she's not normally like this. By the time we got home it was after 3pm and Dominic was telling me he was tired and wanting a nap. I'm not sure it that's EVER happened. But for being so tired he was an angel. He obeyed and wasn't loud or hyper. I'm so proud of him.

Caitlin was a bit fussy, but she had shots yesterday. Last night she ran a fever and so the dr. told me to give her a little Tylenol and she would be better today. She doesn't have the fever, but I can tell she isn't feeling 100%.

We are going to Florida this weekend to visit family. I'm excited. Dominic is old enough to really enjoy the boat and the water and it is always so relaxing there. In looking at pictures of last year I can't believe how much Dominic has changed. He's turning into a little boy and not a toddler anymore. Sigh! I'm hoping that they still have high-speed internet so I can put some more pictures on here and possibly that video of the kids singing for Sabbath School.

Sleep of the innocent

We went to Greenville yesterday. It took a little longer than planned and so it was almost Dominic's bedtime when we headed home. I could tell he was tired because his eyes were so heavy. But he just couldn't seem to drift off. Caitlin woke up and started screaming. I looked back as she started crying and Dominic fell right asleep. I guess he needed Caitlin crying to make it seem more like regular nap and bedtime. =)

I took Caitlin to her 4 month check up today. I was leaving from there to go to a playdate so took Dominic with me. Usually I leave him with a friend or at Play Date. He was very curious and pulled a chair up to the table so he could watch everything that was going on. When it came time to give her the shots he started getting upset.

"Caitlin isn't sick. I don't think she wants a shot." I was rubbing his back and head to make him feel better and to distract him when I felt something. He had been in the woods several times this weekend and there was a tick on his head. Both Jon and I had checked him, but somehow missed this one. So after 20 minutes of the nurse working on it she finally got it out and I had two screaming kids.

They are both out cold right now. I brought them home after the play date and they fell asleep. Poor little munchkins are worn out.

Our garden

Jon plowed up the garden a couple of days ago and it promptly rained. So today was the first day w/out rain and after Dominic woke up from his nap we went out to start planting. I put Caitlin in the door way out of the sun, but where she could still see us and be in on the action.

Now I now know why my dad bought me so many seeds. It was because for every one that I planted my son planted 10 in one spot. He got a hold of the the corn, flowers and beans and put them all together in one spot and then buried them. So who knows what will come up there if anything. Our rows are crooked and our cat keeps digging in the garden. But we are having so much fun. =)

As soon as Jon got home, Dominic convinced him to "help" us in the garden. He was giving Jon instructions on how to use the shovel and where to "plant stuff".

Pictures

I had to take some pictures of my cute kids.

Caitlin seemed to enjoy it at first.

Several pictures later - "Ok, I'm getting annoyed now."

"Oh! Much better with Dominic here."

"Enough already. I'm beyond annoyed and just plain mad now."

Poop

Nothing every totally prepares a parent for the first time their kid blows out a diaper. And tonight Jon and I found out that not even a previous child could prepare us for Caitlin.

We were in the middle of worship when Caitlin, who hadn't pooped in 2 days, decided to clean herself out. She had on a fleece sleeper and we could see it coming up the front. By the time Jon got her to the bedroom to change her it was almost up to her neck in both directions. She's getting more curious about things and kept trying to put her hands in it.

It took 2 adults (with a bit of "help" from Dominic) to get her clean. We ended up putting her into the tub and taking everything off in there. Then we put the diaper and clothes in bags to transport to trash and laundry. Then she got a bath.

Jon thinks it's a conspiracy. No one tells you about the gross stuff until after the kids are born to keep you from not having children out of fright. So this post is for all of the people yet to have children. Beware! You will never be sorry that you had children. They are the biggest blessing of your life. But they are also the grossest thing that you will ever encounter!!!

Papis

Jon and I are having a bit of a dilemma. We've read and been told by everyone that we should get rid of Dominic's pacifier before he hits 3 yrs old. He only uses it while he's sleeping and we've had the dentist check his teeth and everything is fine. He doesn't have speech issues. So the only reason to get rid of it would be because it's "time". We had heard of people having a pacifier party to get rid of it. A party w/ friends where a big production of throwing away the pacifier is made and then the child is given a present to replace the pacifier.

I told Dominic about this and he agreed that he'd like a papis party and even requested the present that he wanted (Annie & Clarabel -Thomas trains).

His normal bedtime is 8pm. At 9:30pm, after several attempts to get up or calling to us he finally asked for papis. I explained that he wouldn't get a party or present tomorrow, but he tearfully told me he didn't care. "I just want my papis, mommy!" I didn't have the heart to deny him and he's been quiet ever since. Sigh!

Too Many

Dominic wanted some more of something today and I told him that he had too many already.

"No Mommy, I don't have two many, I have three many."

Caitlin has learned to scream. She will get this gleam in her eye and let loose an ear piercing scream. The first time that happened I thought she was being killed. Now if she wants something or I'm trying to do something she doesn't like she'll start screaming.

For the past couple of days she hasn't wanted to eat very often. Jon seems to think she could live off the rolls of fat on her legs. =) But I keep trying to feed her. She'll scream until I set her up so she can watch what is going on around her. Who has time for eating? She might miss something!