Finally!

It's no secret, that we've been challenged to get Nicholas to sleep.
I talk about it here, here, here, here, here, and here.
PHEW!
Last week, against my better wishes and pleas, Dan turned Nicky's crib into a Toddler Bed.
My argument has always been,

"If Nicky doesn't sleep in his contained crib, why would he sleep in an OPEN big boy bed??"

Dan did it anyways.
The first night, as expected, Nicky got up 2-3 times
The next day, I screamed and yelled and gave up
But Dan did not
And that was the first and last time Nicky got out of bed
It's been 6 nights now
the last 5 nights....not a peep
crickets from up in Nickyland
Dan is finally on the board
Dan  - 1 , Vicci -  202874654
That means I'm still winning :)

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A New Car?

Remember this picture?

Well, if you know me or been in my car recently

you know that it looks like bomb went off

Kinda like the PUFF explosion

but x's 20

with Thomas trains, books, crayons, cars, pool toys, socks, shoes, sippy cups,

and all sorts of food that B and N have thrown at each other

and got in the cracks

I'm not proud, I'm even grossed out at myself

and my lack of CARE for my beautiful car

I am even more terribly embarrassed because yesterday I had my car cleaned

and then I went to pick up Nicky (and Brandon) from school

Nicky climbed in

and he looked around the car - a couple times

he paused

looked at me very confused 

and said:

"Mommy, is this a new car?"

{Let me stop here...now maybe this is normal, maybe not. But he's TWO.  TWO!?! He surprises me everyday with his perception and mature thinking. You AMAZE me Nicholas! and I want to capture it all. Ok, Moving On}

I said:

"No Nicky, its not"

"Mommy, it smells yuck." 

{strong cleaners were used!}

nice.

But at least its clean.

For now...

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Nicky's First Picture

Nicky took his first picture. 

I was surprised. 

It was kinda GOOD!

{this isnt the actual picture of Nicky taking that picture on the right. I was behind the camera first. so then I had to take a pic of him, taking a pic of me, taking a pic..ok you get it.}

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Big Bottle News

Brandon isn't one to fuss over a horsey bay or blankie
but take away a Nini or Bottle and you will see the other side of my angel
a fiesty, strong, willful child.
The weaning of a bottle did not prove to be easy for either of us
Slowly the Dinner bottle disappeared
Then school Lunch bottle was replaced by a sippy cup
then at Breakfast.
The Nighttime Bottle was the last to go
And the worst one of all...
But he was a CHAMP
SO.................
Today I threw them away!
Poof. Gone. Buh-bye
No more sour, clumpy milk bottles
No more formula milk spilled in my purses
No more surprises under my car seat


NO MORE BOTTLES  = New Purse For Mommy!

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Big News Coming!

And it has to do with this!

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The Vicci Pout

Just as I posted those Banjo Pout pictures and I noticed a little similarity....

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The Perfect Pout

This is what happens when you yell
"NO Brandon!"
He pouts.
and looks adorable.

He sat there for a very long time.
Pouting.

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Happy 3rd Birthday Roxy Roo

THREE years ago a little bundle of joy was born

We call her Roxy

Today she is Three

Happy Birthday to our Roxy Roo

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Funny Face

Banjo makes the cutest faces

and he looks different every time

My little Funny Face

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Designer Diapers

First there were Jean Diapers by Huggies

You can "poo in blue" was the tag line.

I resisted the temptation to snag some

But I laughed with the rest of the world at this creepy, yet funny commercial.

Then Pampers {my personal fav} uped Huggies 

They got  fashion designer, Cynthia Rowley to design 11 new styles of baby diapers 

From pastels, stripes, madras and ruffles. 

I wish I was kidding! 

And they are CUTE!

So last week I plopped down $15 bucks for some of the desginer duds

{btw, the C H E A P E S T designer anything I've bought}

so Dan shouldn't be too MAD

After coercing Nicky with some mamos 

I got some "modeling" pics of the cool new fancy pants diapers

Now you can Poo in Stripes? 

Ruffles? 

Madras?

How about...

Now you can Pee on Cynthia Rowley!

Ha!

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From Treasured Memory to Art

I've mentioned this before. When I was a little girl, my Grandpa Mario sang me a lullaby. He called me "his baby" and sat me on his lap and sang about my rosy cheeks and how I will always be that little girl of his. Growing up, I asked him to sing that song at my wedding. He promised. Sadly, he passed away before I got married. I was crushed. Halfway through my wedding reception, a wonderful and treasured voice started singing. My mom had found an old recording of my Grandpa singing "A Tiny Turned Up Nose" and made a CD of it.

My Grandpa sang at my Wedding! 

And I danced to it, singing along. 

It was a most treasured gift. 

I keep a copy of the words he wrote down and gave me when I left for college in 1994, along with a picture of him and Grandma Ellie in my wallet. For years now, I have tried to find a way to save these words in a special way. Recently I stumbled upon Barn Owl Primitives on Little Miss Momma's blog.

I instantly fell in love with the rustic homemade feel the signs evoke and I knew I had to have one made with the words from that song. I immediately contacted Kristi and placed a custom order. It arrived last week.

I am in LOVE!!

It turned out perfect. I can not wait to have another one made...I am already thinking about what i want it to say.

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Happy F I R S T Birthday BLOG!

A year ago, I sat down and started to write

I write because of this

And at the end of every year I will make a book. 

I write because in 10, 20, 30 years I will be so glad I did. 

I hope in 10, 20, 30 years my boys will be glad I did.

Happy Birthday Blog!

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What do you do when it is 105 in Austin?

It's hot during the summer in Austin

Highs even at night are still in the 80's

This is the first summer since I have been in Austin

That I have not been pregnant 

Or had a newborn

Last year was ridiculous

Cabin fever was at an all time high 

This was the headlines all over the news

"2009 is already the hottest summer in Austin's history — shattering the previous record — but the sweltering city might not be done setting dubious milestones in 2009. Two more days of triple digits will tie the record for the most 100-degree temperatures in a year: 69 days of lawn-killing, air conditioner-straining heat. A typical year has 12 triple-digit days."


Because of the last 3 years...
I have sworn off making a {future?} baby during the months of August  -  November

Thankfully, this year has been relatively mild;
lots of rain, the lake levels full, our grass is still green
and the temperature has stayed in the high 90s.
We knew August would get hot though...
and this last week has been HOT, hitting 105, with a heat index of 110.

After school, the boys head straight outside.
This is what we do until dinner.
Clothes come off
Everyone is wet
Who doesn't love an Austin summer?!!

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Musical Beds

Last night Nicky was sick. 

He threw up all over me. 

He got to stay up late and eat a popsicle.

At 9:30pm he was asleep in our bed

at 1:30am, he made Daddy sleep with him on the couch

by 5:00 am he was asleep on the floor of our C L O S E T

Musical Beds

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13 Reasons Why I Love You, Banjo

Dear Brandon,

August 10th you celebrated your 13th month as part of our family, so here are 13 reasons why I love you:

1. I love how ticklish you are and your silly laughter
2. I love how you get goosebumps when I kiss your neck (just like me)
3. I love you you blow kisses and say "mwaah"
4. I love how you do your "lovefest dance" on top of me
5. I love watching you copy your brother and see how much you want to be like him
6. I love when you hug me and rest your head on my shoulder
7. I love you are when you climb to the top of everything with reckless abandon
8. I love how excited you are when we pick you up from school and run to greet us
9. I love your light blonde hair and stormy grey eyes, and how different you look than your brother
10. I love your chubby hands,  fat little toes, and your cute little butt
11. I love your temper and your concentration and your smile
12. I love how you subconsciously kick your leg when you are happy and content
13. I love you 13 hundred million trillion times to the moon and back

 At 13 months Brandon has conquered the word Hi, and mentioned in passing a handful of others, including, Mama, dada, bye, and up. he can sigh for more, wave hi and bye, blow kisses, and understand how to throw something away, ask for water/milk, and give us kisses. He has started to run on his little bow legs and wears a size 4 shoe. He is still in a size 6 - 12, but is starting to grow into 12 - 18. He is a very happy baby except when teething - he has 12 teeth in, and his incisors are coming in. And the last week, we've been successful having him sleep through the night. He is proving to be very difficult to wean off the bottle, and makes it known. He also has a penchant for the Nini, just like Nicholas. Still, he has not latched on to any toy, blanket, or bay like Nicky had at this time. He can play independently, but we are starting to see some separation anxiety and demanding behavior. He is very agile and has great balance and likes to stack blocks, play with puzzles and concentrates well.

I didn't have a blog when Nicky was 13 months, but this was what I wrote on my 13 month set in Flickr for Nicky.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nicholas is 13 months now. He is growing so fast. he is currently wearing 12 - 18 and 18 - 24 months and a size 5 shoe. He will have to get a size 6 soon. He has 12 teeth, the 4 front and 4 bottom, and the 4 back molars. He is getting a full head of hair and its staying a light brown for now. He can walk up and down the stairs with a little help and tries to feed himself. he can sign language more and says More for more. he also says, mamma, dadda, car, cat, dog, bubble, ball, cracker, peach, up, bye, duck. he is such a bog boy!

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Thank you, Tiffani Fleming

T H A N K  Y O U Tiffani Fleming
Thank you for introducing me to the "car potty" almost 2 years ago
Thank you, because I bought one the last time I was at Target
for those "just in case" moments
Thank you because today I realized how awesome having a potable potty in your car is.
...stuck in traffic, Nicky was wearing his under pants, no D I A P E R, and about 15 minutes from  home...
Nicky was screaming to go poo poo.
So we pulled over.
And I thanked Tiffani Fleming for being a mom before me!

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27 months and counting

What our 2 year old says on a typical night at our house

I'm Nicholas Abeling Alexander
What do you have, Mommy?
Stop Mommy, I am talking to Daddy

Stop Mommy, I'm cleaning
Walk away Mommy
No Thank You Mommy
Daddy get Nicky, You get Brandon 
Daddy, please lay down with me

Stop crying Brandon, shhhhhhhhhh!

I have to go poo poo...

(followed by) 

Look, I went poo Daddy! I get a Poo Candy!
That sucks
That's yuck
That's funny
What's that?

Uno, dos, quattro, thank you.

{Ok the only said that once, but I still find it so funny}

 

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Grandma Booba SPOILS the boys.

Look what I just saw on Facebook today! 

The boys are going to be SO excited!!

Thank You Grandma Booba!

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My Bathing Boy Beauties - 6 Months Later

It's no secret that my boys love the water and are always naked. 

6 months ago was a big milestone for us as parents of two. 

Banjo was able to get in the bath with his big brother. 

Today, 6 months later, not much has changed. 

Except more hair.

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It's Not Fair!

Seriously Janie and Jack? So disappointing.
Cowboys  for boys AGAIN?
Been there done that...
moving on.
Sigh

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Getting Lucky

Brandon just started saying Hi.
So he picks everything up and says "Hi"
If he is lucky its a phone and it makes sense
but normally its a remote, a shoe, or granola bar
Here he is getting lucky.

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Working it out

So, I decided I better stop pretending that I am healthy, fit, and change the flabbysauraus rex-ness that I am
I need to take control over my destiny and start working out again.
I can't fall back on:

I just had a BABY, blah blah blah. 

It's been over a year now.

So last night I went for a 40 minute walk/run attempt
Then ate a handful of Nicky's Potty Candy
Feeling guilty  - about eating candy after I worked out, or that I ate Nicky's toilet training candy, not exactly sure- so emailed my sister for THE WORKOUT
a workout she made me do last time she was in town
{see below}

Below is the email she sent me. 

You are now under USA OLYMPIC NDA. this is copyrighted by Val and Shauna. (I think)

 

so you do 30 sec on then 20 sec off and then 1 min rest between sets.  we played with the time and ended up doing 45 sec on 30 sec off and then 1 minute between sets.

Squat in and outs

mountain climbers

lunge jumps

burpies

you can alter rest a bit but not too much.  you can also do as many sets as you want but we do 6 sets.  you can change to 3 or 4 during the 1st week you do it.

let me know if you have any questions

Val

Make sense? Riiight. 

I'll occasionally post my progress. 

Maybe.

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Rash, rash go away

Nicky's had a rash on his face for a while now

We avoid discussing it so Nicky doesn't get embarassed

We thought it was eczema so we got some calendula cream

It didnt go away

We thought it was a yeast infection and we did a combo steroid & yeast cream

It didnt go away

Finally we made another dermatology appointment

His appointment was during Nap Time at school

This is what I found...

You see, Nicky doesn't like his Rash either

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On a park bench...daydreaming

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The Worms Have Arrived

A couple weeks ago, a package that arrived on my front porch.
I picked up the box wondering what it was??
Was it Shoes? Kendra Scott earrings??
NO and NO
This is what was on the box...

It was a composting system...exactly as the box describes.
EXATLY.
Was this a joke?
NOPE.
Dan's new HOBBY complete with a worm guide.
My favorite chapter is called:
What if there are other "critters" in my Worm Bin?
Really? Critters? and define OTHER?!!
Fast forward to yesterday as we welcomed our new "pets".
All TWELEVE HUNDRED of them.

Dan is so HAPPY.
Nicky even blew them KISSES.
Like father like son.
I hope Eleanore gets them.

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OREO Faces

After dinner, I gave the boys an OREO for dessert. 

I added a dollop of Whip Cream.

POOF! 

they disappeared!

Just some remnants left on the face

OREO Faces

{Check out Nicky's first OREO here}

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Nicky Made Breakfast

a Picnic Breakfast!

For everyone but M O M

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SOOOOOOOOOOO far behind...

in blogging. I had a inspiration block. Here is a cute picture of Brandon I took last week to keep you going.
and OH MY GOD, he has big eyes!

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