Who Wants to Eat in Peace?

When my parents are in town, we try to get together for dinner on Sunday nights. We've always had Sunday night dinner, ever since I was in High School, but now that we are all grown up and my parents travel quite a bit, it's harder to keep it going. It's always nice though, to gather as a family when we can, especially since we're all so busy all of the time.
Tonight my parents graciously invited us to their country club for dinner. They, for our benefit, made the reservation at 5:45 so Kaitlyn and James wouldn't "hit the fan" before we ate dinner. It was fantastic, and we all enjoyed eating such great food.
My mom has always been the one to sacrifice/delay her hot meal for us newer parents, she takes the kids around and walks with them so we can eat in peace. She's a saint that way, thanks Mom. I do feel guilty, every time though, even though she always tells me that "that's what Grandmas are for".
Mom took James and Kaitlyn to walk around tonight after they had eaten, while Nathan and I continued to stuff our faces with great food. At one point I looked up and here is James with the biggest smile on his face, holding a peach rose up for me. I guess there had been a wedding yesterday at the CC, and there were flower arrangements that they were taking apart. How sweet, to see the glimmer in his eyes and giving his MOMMY a rose. So sweet. He was so proud of himself. It's times like this that I wish that kids that age remembered special moments, and I cross my fingers that I'll remember this moment forever.
Mom and the kids returned to the other room to look around some more, and the next time I looked over, James was running towards me. This time he didn't have a rose for me, but he did have something to tell me. James announces to our table and several tables around us, "Mommy! Kaitlyn is going poop! Kaitlyn is pooping!" Trying not to choke from laughing while trying to swallow, I look across the room at my Mom and she's beaming with a smile across her face. Just remember Mom, these people know who YOU are, not me. :) Ha ha ha. She even kindly brought Kaitlyn to me so I could change her. What a sweet Grandma! ;)

Happy Birthday Tobyn!

Tobyn McGlinn turned 1 yesterday, and today we're heading down to Lakeland for her party at the McGlinn residence. Trippi Szukis McGlinn is a friend of mine, and has been since first grade. FIRST GRADE. Of course we've had our times when we didn't talk for a while, but we can always just jump right back into our friendship. She is a wonderful person, a wonderful mom, and I'm excited to be able to celebrate her baby's birthday with them today.
Last night Nathan and I got to go on a date! WOOHOOOO! We went to dinner at The Ravenous Pig here in Orlando, a fabulous new restaurant. The head chef and owner, James Petrakis, is a class mate of mine from Bishop Moore High School. This restaurant is amazing, with gourmet food in a pub-like setting, called a gastropub. If you're here in Orlando, definitely try it, and if you're coming to visit, we'll take you there. Last night I had Grouper in a Greek Stew with orzo, and Nathan had Lobster Tacos. For our appetizer, we shared the shrimp and grits, which is one of the favorites that never leaves the menu. That's another great thing about TRP, is that they change their menu a lot, but always keep a few main staples that everyone loves. That way you get NEW things to try. Nathan said last night, "I could come eat here every time we have a date night because there is always something new to try!" :) Ha, me and food.
We went to see Iron Man last night at the movie theater, it was good, but not really something I would love to watch more than once. Ha. I've heard great reviews about the movie, and I'm glad other people enjoy it, but you can't really beat a good romantic comedy when it comes to my movie taste.
My mom, Grandma Kathy, watched the kids yesterday for the afternoon and then while Nathan and I went out. This morning when I walked into James' room to get him out of bed, he CRIED when he saw me. "I want Grandma Kathy!" he said, "I like her, and I want her!" It was very cute and pathetic, and melted my heart a bit at the same time. I hope my grandkids feel like that about me someday. Grandma Kathy is always a favorite with the grandkids, she sings to them, plays the piano, RARELY says no to them, and gives them pancakes for dinner. :) Grandma Kathy is the ONLY other person on the planet that can be holding Kaitlyn, and Kaitlyn not want to come to me. She pushes me away. It's so funny! Are my feelings hurt, no! I'm glad she loves her Grandma, and recognizes her even after she's been gone a month and comes home.
Kaitlyn has a new sound/word. She says, "WOOOOOOOOOW" in a whisper. Shock and awe. :) She's so cute. It's not perfect, and comes out sounding like 'ooow' a lot, but "wow" is what she means.

Powells Visit Florida

My cousin Courtney Casey Powell came to visit us last week with her husband, Steve, and two amazing boys, Alex and Gabe. Courtney and I are related by blood, but are also great friends, and we are loving the fact that we're having kids at the same time. It's been so fun! The four kids had a great time playing with each other, and amazingly we didn't have any fights that were horrible. There WERE disagreements on who could play with which cars, but after a few naught spot visits and apologies, all was well.
We stayed at the condo over the weekend, and the Powells sure had fun at the beach. It was so fun to have them around for James' third birthday, Alex and Gabe sure wanted to help James open his presents. :)

James' 3rd Birthday Party!

On Tuesday, the 24th, we had James' party. What fun! Thank goodness naps were had by all kids in the Wilcke household, which included the Powell kids. We had such a good time, and if you haven't watched the video of James laughing when we sang to him, you MUST watch it. It's so funny! He was absolutely thrilled to have everyone there and to get a cake with CARS on it! Cameron Miller, my niece, made this cake. What a genius. Did I mention she's 10? Great job, Cam! You're hired for my next party! :)
The party was a great success, and we kept things moving rather quickly. Pizza, cake, presents, done. :) Two hours went by so fast though, and I'm so glad that everyone could come that made it. We missed some people, especially our Wilcke family members!
If you'll notice from the photos, James is dressed in a gladiator costume for one of the shots. That was the hit present of the night, voted best by adults and kids! Thanks to Kelly, Bennett and Anna for bringing that one! :)
Now if you ask James how old he is, he says, "free!" and holds up three fingers! What a cutie.
Thanks to the Powells for your help with the party!

Video of James' Birthday

Happy Birthday James!

James turned 3! We were at the condo for his actual birthday, so when he woke up, Nathan made him a birthday pancake! It was topped with a smiley face of M&Ms and a number 3 candle. We sang Happy Birthday to him and we started the birthday fiesta. Notice the photo of the mound of pancakes? Those were the LEFTOVERS! :) We doubled the recipe, silly us, and we had enough left to fee the Army.
Then came presents... Nathan and I gave him a new Radio Flier Big Wheel complete with a flag, and Kaitlyn (even had time to go shopping!) got him a new Go Diego Go Rescue Truck! WOW! Steve, Alex and Gabe gave him a Candy Land game... but it's different, it's awesome! You pull on the candy cane to eject a shape, and if you have that shape on your gingerbread man, then you put it on him. Each gingerbread man has four different shapes. Once you complete your gingerbread man decorating, you're done! My child is saying, "octagon!" and "oval!" it just cracks me up. Alex and Gabe also got James two cars... they're trying to get him into cars as much as they are. We'll see! ;) Those boys are so cute with those cars! Alex knows EVERY car and it's name. Gabe asks Alex, "What is this car called?" Ha.

We headed home just before lunch (not a good time) so we had to hit McDonald's on the way out of town. A birthday isn't complete without a Happy Meal, right? Right. Whatever. So after that binge feast, we got in the car and the kids were out within two minutes of leaving New Smyrna.

Twenty minutes into the car ride, we stopped to put a diaper on James keeping our fingers crossed that both kids would fall back asleep. They did NOT fall back asleep. Ugh, we live, we learn. Next time I'll take an accident on the car seat rather than waking them up... yes, disgusting, yes, I value their sleep that much.

I crashed when we got home since I'm struggling with some sort of a fever/head cold deal. I've been getting through the birthday party stuff though, so at least that's good.

The rest of James' birthday was pretty uneventful. The party was on the 24th, and boy do I have some good video and photos to put up!

One year ago...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

James and Nathan had a "ball" at the Rays vs. Cubs game last night in Tampa!

Cindy-Loo WHO?

James' Tag Lines

James has made us laugh since day 1, but when he started talking we really started laughing... with him of course, not at him. :) He's always been pretty dramatic with his sayings. He gets on a phrase and sticks with it for a while. One of the first ones that I remember is when someone would enter the room, he'd say, "Oh, HI!" Of course I can't represent the intonation of his voice on the blog, but it was very cheery and full of surprise.

The next one that I remember him saying would come out right after he got hurt. Since Mommy and Daddy were always asking, "What happened?" when he'd get hurt, he though he should say the same thing. "WHAAAAAT HAAAAPPENNNNED? WAAAAA!" Ha ha ha. My friend Ana and her boyfriend James came to visit when my James was going through this phase, and Ana told me that when they got home and she got hurt, she said, "WHAAT HAPPPEEEEENED?" I guess they had a pretty good laugh.

One that he says now is probably my fault. When he gets hurt now he says, "I'm having a bad day!" Ha ha ha.

Others that make the list:
-I so handsome! (after combing his hair and looking in the mirror)

-What's the big idea? (Donald Duck on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)

-It's a beautiful day!

-Why not? instead of Why?

-Mrs. Girl

-Vamos! (Go Diego, Go)

-Mommy, do you know where our home sweet home is?

-I'll NEVER get to (fill in the blank) again! (I have no idea where he got this!)

and finally, if we ask him why he has to do something,

-because I HAVE TO! ;)

Of course there are tons more, and I'll probably add some to this list when I think of them.

June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day! I wish I could be with my dad today, but he's in Utah. Rich is out there though, and they get to play at an amazing golf course, so I'm sure dad will have a great Father's Day. He mentioned too that they were going to eat lamb vindaloo, mmmmmm, even better.
Nathan woke up to blueberry pancakes this morning. James, Kaitlyn and I served them to him in bed with a nice big glass of juice. I tried to find a babysitter for this evening, but since all are wanting to spend the evening with their own fathers, we'll have to spend it all together at home. Fine by me, I love it.
We're outside now, kids are playing with the water table. Just a minute ago, James was watering Kaitlyn with his toy watering can. Surprisingly, she didn't object, just laughed and went along with the joke. :) Of course, when I suggested that James do it to himself, he pretended not to hear me. Ha.
Now it's later... I just posted the pictures and movies. We had a fun time at dinner tonight. Kaitlyn LOVES baked beans, the ones with the maple syrup in them. Can you tell? That's what's all over her "silly" face! Nathan has already named her, for tomorrow, "the incredible tooting baby". :)
During lunch yesterday, James and I were talking about his birthday coming up. I told him that instead of holding up two fingers now, he'd have to hold up three. We went to Publix today to get some groceries, and James made me giggle. He decided to tell the man at the deli
James and Nathan will be going to Tampa on Wednesday to see the Cubs play. I'm so jealous! We were going to go, just the two of us, but couldn't find a babysitter to watch both kids overnight, so he decided that he'd take James. They'll have so much fun... I can't wait to hear the stories of the trip there, the game and the trip back. I wonder if James will make it through the whole game... and I wonder how much money Daddy will have to spend keeping James entertained and fed the whole time. :) Good luck, sweetie.

Good luck!

James just told me, "Good luck Mom, I'm going surfing now!" Huh?
I think we're pretty fortunate to not have been flooded while spending our 3 years in Iowa. I can't help but wonder what I would have done with myself had that happened to me. I just can't imagine.
What is the language called that uses clicks? Kaitlyn is fluent in it now. When I ask her if she's hungry or wants a snack, she looks at me and clicks her tongue like she's got a glop of peanut butter on the roof of her mouth. So funny.
I need to start making notes to myself during the day about what I want to blog about, because I go to write and then I completely forget what I was going to write about.
Oh, well, you ask... how are swimming lessons going? Well, while trying to float, James keeps asking Miss Alisha, "Can you please pick me up Miss Girl? Please?" Poor thing, she doesn't know what to do- crack up or cry. Ha. Kaitlyn is swallowing pool water since she can't get the fact that she has to keep her mouth closed while under water. Alisha and the other instructor, Denise, seem to think that it's either the way she's entering the water or from teething. ? I don't know. So on Monday, they are going to start working on her floating, since that's the key safety part of Safe Start. Fine with me.
James' birthday is approaching... 3 whole years! I was just flipping briefly through his baby pictures to see if he was interested in looking at them... NOPE. Maybe next year. Ha. He makes me laugh every day with his enthusiasm for the silliest things. Especially when he sits at the edge of the pool cheering on Kaitlyn, and then when he figures out it's his turn, he runs away and cries. Cute, but makes me sick to my stomach to do that to him. I just keep it in my head that it's for his benefit.
Funny about Kaitlyn: she's learning to give kisses really well. Last night, or was it the night before, she was walking from me to Daddy giving us kisses. She kisses with her nose, though, it's either that or an open-mouthed slobber. I'll take the nose. ;)

Big Night OUT...

... to IHOP!
Nathan asked me what was for dinner tonight, and I said, "Well I was going to bake that chicken, but forgot."
He replies with, "Let's go out... the four of us are going out!"
"Where to?"
"I really want to go to Denny's or IHOP... preferably IHOP."
"WHY?" I asked.
"I don't know, I just want to, and I don't even know what I want, but they'd have it."
Ha ha ha.
James' vocabulary is just getting funnier every day. While at IHOP the waitress asked him if he wanted a booster seat. He said, "No... but yes." Then proceeded to ask the waitress, "Mrs. Girl, will you get me the BLUE booster seat?" Ha ha ha. Note the blueberry syrup all over his face in the photo. :)
Swim lessons went okay today, but Kaitlyn threw up. Yuck. Luckily it was only liquids. She's swallowing a bunch of water because her diaper was SOAKED about two hours after her lesson. Hmmm... better work on keeping that mouth closed.
While at lessons today, James decided to tell his teacher Alisha that, "That was AMAZING." I think he was referring to how he swam and got the wall. :)

June 10, 2008

Wouldn't you like to wake up to this face every day?
We've had a few milestones in this house the last few days.
Kaitlyn and James both just started Safe Start yesterday, a swim lesson program at the YMCA for infants/toddlers to give them the necessary tools to stay alive if they fall into water. Beth was right in her most recent blog when she said that motherhood isn't for chumps. It's really hard to sit there and watch some stranger (kindly) dunking your child under water and then having them come up and almost throw up because they are crying so hard. BUT... yesterday was only the first day, and today went a little bit better. They both still cried the whole time (just like all the other kids do), but they did better on the whole. We have this every morning for the next 6 weeks. Our instructor said to me this morning that James might finish early since he's really doing well. Hooray! Does that mean I get some money back? Ha. RIGHT. I can't yet bring myself to take pictures of this "horrific" scene so you'll have to forgive me for that. I'm pretty sure you'll understand.
The other milestone is that James pee-peed on the potty like daddy does for the first time by himself. All by himself! And he didn't even make a mess. 'Atta boy! Be clean about it! ;) He told me that he had to go but he was mad enough at me for some reason that he didn't want any help so he said he could do it by himself. Well... I said, "SHOW ME!" and that got him over there really quickly. ha. Voilla! He did it!
Things for me have been a bit hectic lately between working and taking care of the kids and a sick husband. Nathan was only down for one day though, and his spirits were back up for his birthday (pics on June 8 blog). We had a good 'ol pizza party for him at my parent's house. Cameron, our niece, made him one of the best cakes I've eaten in a long time... butter cake with both chocolate and vanilla icing, and she decorated it with a football! How cute! Great job Cam!

Baby Cousin Love

New Water Table!

BETH!

She's one-upping me, but I'll happily oblige.
http://www.theneipertnarrative.blogspot.com/
I'm going to link it to my website list.

June 8, 2008

Nathan turns 29!
Happy Birthday Honey!

The Wilckes and Neiperts visit Florida

I've been told that I need to blog... ha, hi Pat.
I haven't been able to do so because we've been super busy around here. Nathan's family arrived for a visit on Sunday night. We met them at the beach, and had a blast at the condo for a few days. Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Beth, Harrison and Bennett will leave tomorrow, and we're very sad about it.
I had a shoot on Sunday afternoon, and then the kids and I headed over to New Smyrna to our family condo to meet up with Nathan and his family. They had all been in Blacksburg, Virginia for a family wedding, and then drove back from there together in one van. Crazies.
During our time at the beach we swam, looked for shells, walked on the beach and laughed a lot. Marilyn found two whole sand dollars and a starfish. I have a TON of pictures of all of us on the beach, especially the kids, and I'll try to upload some of them later. Harrison is sleeping in the office. :)
James still doesn't like the beach much, he loves the condo and loves the pool, but takes after his Mommy and does NOT like the sand much. Things got better when Nathan got out the sand castle stuff and they were allowed to dig.
Kaitlyn loves the ocean, especially likes to sit in the shallow part, and watch the waves come up onto her belly. She was always very cautious too, when a wave would approach, she'd stop dead in her tracks and wait until it passed.
Bennett and Harrison did fabulously on the beach, both were content to just sit and dig. It was a lot of fun to see them on the beach, and they are so young- but it's not their first time on the beach!
One funny story.... We were all in the pool, and Aunt Beth was taking pictures of James and me. She said to James, "Say pizza!... and look at the camera!" So James says, "Pizza and look at the camera!" :)
Beth and I took Harrison and James to Sea World on Wednesday. What a day! We had so much fun. We got there around 9 when they opened, then first went to the sting ray area to touch the sting rays. James shocked me by actually putting his hands in the water and feeling the slick creatures. He loved it! "How 'bout again!" he'd say.
We fed the dolphins, saw penguins, sea lions, otters, whales, a polar bear, a walrus, and ORCAS! Harrison calls the Killer Whale an orca because that's what Diego says... so cute. The Shamu show was the last thing we did, but it was worth it for those kids. We had to sit there for 45 minutes waiting for the show to start... so we had Shamu Ice Cream bars (made in LeMars, IA), and Beth and I each thoroughly enjoyed a Bud Light. Ha. It was a very trying day, James wasn't feeling absolutely 100%, and made me carry him all over the place. Hind sight- RENT A STROLLER STUPID. :) It was a day that we'll never forget, and my first experience taking James to a theme park. It was 93 degrees that day. Whoa. Needless to say, both kids were passed out within 5 minutes of the car ride home.
We like the Wilckes because the come to visit bearing gifts. We all received our birthday presents... James got a T-ball set, and a croquet set. Kaitlyn got two ADORABLE dresses, I got two really cool magazine subscriptions dealing with families and crafts, and Nathan and I got a new ear piece for our phones. Very cool, thanks! The kids also got one of the coolest books I've ever seen called 'Gallop' that looks animated. Amazing.
While here in Orlando, the kids have had a lot of fun playing together. Amazingly enough, we haven't had many fights. Bennett started walking this week, taking about 10 steps before falling to the ground. Kaitlyn won't sit still, and laughs hysterically at Harrison. The kids have gotten to swim in the pool and play with James' new water table. The babies went to town on that while we were at Sea World. We have had so much fun, but now they need to leave so I can lose the 5 lbs. that I've put on in the last few weeks. Ha. They sure like their ice cream! Ha ha ha.

Sea World!

Since Beth hasn't posted pics of Sea World yet, I will. :)

May 31, 2008

Kaitlyn has really been trying to talk. It's still all babble at this point, but her intonation is getting better. She'll do this thing now where there's a long string of babble, and then she follows at the end with a higher pitch... a question. Da bababa da da ma, ah? It's so funny... and she does it all of the time.
In the car today, we were heading home from the farmer's market, and Kaitlyn was babbling away. James pipes up and says, "Mom! She said, 'easy'! SHE TALKS!" Ha ha ha. Reminds me of that old commercial for Life cereal... He likes it! He likes it!
I'm excited for the time when she really starts making sense with her words, not so she'll talk all of the time, just so she can tell me what she wants. Although I'm pretty sure I can read her mind, just like every other mom has that super-natural power when their little ones can't talk. :)