Midlothian Parade

Every year in October, the village of Midlothian has "Midlothian Day." This includes a parade, craft, bazaar, food, vendors, and activities for the kids. This was our first year to go. It was a lot of fun.


Kale was really excited about the parade. He has been to other parades in the past, but this is the first one he really knew what was going on.


There was candy galore! We only made it throughout about half of the parade (it was really, really long) and the boys got so much candy!! Our bucket was full by the end of the parade.





They were all sugared up by the time we left the parade.
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Darn those Wooden Steps!!

So, I took a spill down the hardwood steps at our house on Saturday night. (I frequently manage to fall down these steps--I will NOT miss them when we move!!) There are 15 steps and I managed to fall down most of them. I ended up going to the ER on Saturday because I was in immense pain. I came home in a sling and with pain meds. I could barely lift my arm on Sunday, but it gets a bit better each day. It is rather challenging to do most things one-handed...changing Liam's diaper, fixing my hair, typing this post... Not to mention my entire body hurts from the fall--I have some awesome bruises on my arm and booty. :)
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Pumpkin Patch

Kale's class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch. I don't really consider it a "field trip" since parents are required to go and have to do most of the work...Kris took the day off and went with Kale.


The class rode a hay ride out to the middle of the pumpkin field and picked out their pumpkins. Then they went back and enjoyed a snack together.
Kale was so excited to spend the day with Kris. I had been telling him about it for a few days, so he was up at the crack of dawn--ready to go! Liam was none too happy to be left behind though.


Kale and his classmates had a grand 'ole time rolling down a big hill of dirt....



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After the pumpkin patch, Kale and Kris went to chic-fil-a for lunch, then to see a movie. Kale even got to skip nap!

Long story

Long story, short...the house we had been under contract for fell through due to inspection and appraisal issues. We literally had one week to find another home because of relocation benefits. (Talk about stress!) We did manage to find a home!



We like this home...not as much as the original one that we found, but it is still nice. The main thing is that the community does not have all of the same amenities of Charter Colony (which is where we live now and where the home we were going to move into was).


Kitchen is nice and has lots of storage space. I am ready to have countertop and cabinet space again!





The family room, breakfast nook and kitchen are all open


Family room





Dining room--I am going to have it painted. The red is a little TOO red for me.


Formal living room, which the current owners use as a playroom


Foyer


All of the bedrooms are on the second floor. There are a total of 4 bedrooms. We won't have to do much work to the house other than painting a few rooms. There is a third floor that is unfinished at this time. We hope to finish it shortly after moving in. It will add several hundred more square feet to our floorplan.   We are just relieved to have a place to live!! :)
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The Days are Long...but the Year are Short...

I have recently been thinking a lot about how quickly time is passing with my boys. I just can't believe how independent they are both becoming. Liam is no longer taking a paci...this is huge! We have had pacifiers floating around our house in some capacity for about the past 4 years. It is insane to me that we are done with that time in both the boys' lives.

I decided it about time to take the paci from Liam, and to be honest, I was really dreading it. Kale let the paci go with no problems, so I figured it was going to be very difficult with Liam. I actually borrowed a book from the library called, "Pacis aren't forever" and I had been reading this book to him for a few weeks. He HATED the book. He kept hiding it around the house so that I wouldn't read it. The morning I was planning to take the pacis, I took every one I could find and put them in the top drawer of his dresser (Kale is an enabler and I knew if Kale found them or could reach them he would give the paci to Liam.) Anyway-Liam managed to find a paci somewhere in my room under the bed. When I saw him walking around with it in his mouth, I made him throw it in the trash can. That afternoon at nap, he asked for the paci, but I just ignored him. He never cried and he never asked for the paci again...we are lucky he gave it up that easy. It got me to thinking about how close we are to potty training and moving him to a big bed...where did my baby go? Just last night, he woke up at about 11:15 screaming. This was about the time I was getting ready to head to bed. I went into his room and he was all worked up. I picked him up and he immediately put his head on my shoulder. I sat down in the chair and rocked him for a good 15 minutes....just because I could. Because in a short amount of time, just a few months, there will not be a rocker in his room anymore. And his crib will be replaced with a big bed.

And Kale...let me just say, he is actually turning into such a sweet spirit! He definitely has his moments (several times a day some days) where he is still strong-willed and difficult, but wow, he is so sweet too. And he loves his momma! The other day we were up in the playroom playing and I was sitting on the floor texting or playing on FB, which I do all too often sometimes. He said to me, "Momma, will you come sit by me." So, of course, I did. When I sat on the couch by him, he reached over and grabbed my hand and just held it. There are no words....sweetness. I know it is just a matter of time and it will not be "cool" to hold momma's hand anymore. This year he is in pre-k 3 days a week, plus we have speech, MOPs, and various other obligations, so I feel like we are not really home at all...it got me to thinking that next year, he will be in school 5 days a week. Wow! Where did the time with my sweet boy go?

These are some things I want to always remember about my boys. I think I will never forget, but I probably will:

Kale
always wants to hold Liam's hand and "help" him do things (Liam often doesn't like the help...)
is excellent at helping clean up around the house
loves to sit close to momma--frequently shows affection, lots of hugs, kisses, hand holding
loves to read books
gets up entirely TOO early (and always has--current rising is between 5-5:30; bedtime doesn't seem to matter)
is finally beginning to eat--pb & j is a favorite--consistently asks for a "big jelly."
calls my American family fit shirt my "nuggets" shirt (it has an arch that he apparently thinks looks like McDonald's)
is so, so tender with bear bear

Liam
always screams "wuv you" multiple times as I am leaving his room
has the worse fits--oh, I don't think I will EVER forget his fits; nothing and no one can calm him sometimes
also loves books
is becoming an increasingly picky eater; primarily eats mac and cheese and hot dogs at 22  months
calls his monkey his "baby"
mimics his brother constantly, even the way Kale interacts with other adults and children
has TERRIBLE separation anxiety--even with people he knows well (such as the sitter we have had for the past year and a half)

All of this just reminds me that the days seem long (so long sometimes), but the years truly do fly by. I honestly feel like I will blink and both of my little guys are going to be in school and these precious years that I got to spend with them at home will be over. The days are long...but the years are so, so short.

Fall

Can you guess who the boys are going to be for Halloween?




I actually kept a flower alive all summer and spring and it's still going strong! Normally I kill all growing things, so I feel extremely successful! I did have a Gerber daisy that was doing quite well but Kris overwatered it when I was visiting my family in Missouri back in August.




The weather here has been gorgeous! We have spent many afternoons outside. The boys, in particular Liam, love to drive their cars around the cul-de-sac. Kale is such a dangerous driver already. I am scared for when he is 16! He is too brave!
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Out-of-Control

I will be the first to admit...my children are OUT OF CONTROL!!! Especially this one! I just don't know what to do with them sometimes. Parenting is such hard work. I feel like it is never ending time-outs, threats, and consonant harping, and I hate it! One of the ladies that I work with told me that teenagers are not hard as long as you do the work with them when they are small. I am working--I am definitely working, but I still feel like my kids are crazy!

 

Liam is so dramatic. He is definitely already in the "terrible twos" and has been there for sometime. If he does not get his way, he goes into instant melt-down mode (as seen above). We normally take him and put him in his room to calm down, and that helps the current situation, but it doesn't stop him from melting down 10 other times during the day. What am I going to do with these two??!