Birthday Boy, number TWO!

Kyren turned 2 on Tuesday...

But the celebration started on Sunday night with Party #1 with his cousins and Gia.

He wasn't sure what to make of all the hoopla...

he just wanted to touch the candles and eat the strawberries off the pie:

Each of the cousins had made him a special card and gave him little gifts that he absolutely loved opening. He had no problem ripping off the paper!

On Tuesday afternoon we celebrated with Gramsy/Poppy, Grampy and Gramma Peg...

and not until we pushed his cake in front of him did we realize that last year, for his first birthday, he wasn't even allowed to EAT cake yet... so this was kind of like his first (ever) birthday cake!

He wasn't sure quite what to do with it at first...

so he took off all the truck candles and played with them...

scooped some graham sand around with the dump truck...

and realized the frosting was indeed edible!

after that, he knew exactly what to do!

he's a very SERIOUS eater...

and never cracked a smile during the whole process...

but we know he definitely enjoyed every bite!

and then for some play time to burn off all that sugar!

It was a birthday to remember for sure! We are so thankful for how far he's come since his miraculous Birth Day 2 short years ago. It's hard to believe he's the same little guy. If not for the scars on his back, you could hardly tell there was a story behind this cute little guy that would amaze you!

Love you, Koo Bear!

Birthday Boy #1

Someone Turned 40 Yesterday....

and it wasn't me!

ready for an evening of surprises... he just doesn't know it yet...

we were all matchy/matchy ... not even on purpose!

On our way to The Orchard, a lovely way to ring in a new year.

Arriving in style in his new (surprise) aviators from his super awesome brother!

(just what he's ALWAYS wanted!...he was so surprised!)

On the porch of our little cottage

at Sweetwater Farm

Reading one of his surprise cards from a close friend....

Such a blessed man!

then off to coffee, lunch, and a movie...

the perfect way to celebrate a new decade!

Watch out MUM's-- Here he comes!

.




Just dropped off a VERY excited little boy at his new school, wearing Uncle Seth's old army backpack from 1st grade.
We went to orientation last week, and he got to see his classroom, meet his teachers, and his 5 new classmates (they're going to get to know each other realllly well, compared to the 15 he was with last year!). at his request, he even got to ring the big church bell, by pulling the long rope that hung down from the bell tower in the chapel! He was most interested, however, in taking inventory of how many trucks would be under his charge each time he goes to school. He fancied one in particular, a Hess tractor trailer with a little ramp inside that sort of doubles as a car carrier. Ever since that night that is all he's talked about when it comes to conversations about school. (hey, whatever works!)
He has been mostly positive all week, with a few hesitant remarks here and there, quickly followed by positive ones. All i had to do was remind him that that Hess truck was waiting for him, and his anxiety seemed to disappear!
Last night we prepared by reading Clifford Goes to School, Spot goes to School, and The Kissing Hand, for good measure. He was too excited to sleep! This morning he ran in my room and said, "is it New School dayyyyyy???" with a little lilt in his voice. . . and i knew we were good to go! as we were getting ready, he ran up to me and said, as if to test me: "School might be scaaaarrrryyy!" and stared at me, anticipating my response. "Nooo! It will be SO fun!" I said, and feeding off of my excitement, he giggled and ran down the hall.
We got to school in 6 minutes, which is one of the main reasons we are going to this particular school... it was such a nice commute compared to 25 minutes last year! My big boy ran up the ramp and opened the big door all by himself and said, "wow, this is what a real school looks like!" He walked right into his room, checked to be sure the Hess truck was where it should be, and to make sure it had new batteries like his teacher promised it would. Fortunately all was as it should be. He found his own personalized hook... washed his hands...

and turned around to find this little monkey smuggling said Hess truck outta the classroom!
Fortunately i pulled it out of his hands without too much drama, and Christian promptly returned it to it's proper place... but not before a kiss on the hand (for him AND for me). So sweet!! And off he went!
.... a refreshing change from the little boy i dropped off last year at his first day of school!

Can't wait to hear how it went--
In the mean time, i came home, put K down for the morning nap he still so often needs, and actually got my kitchen cleaned! hoorayyyy for school!

so long, summer!

i managed to forget to blog the entire month of august-- partly because we've either been away or with out of town guests every day til today!
The first week we had with Maddy, playing in the pool and packing for the Lake. She brought us presents, took the boys on wagon rides, and played dominos with Christian, which basically made her his hero. She helped us clean and pack and get ready to leave, as always, giving up her vacation time to serve us! Such a special friend!
The second week was the long anticipated week at the Lake we've been looking forward to all year! The boys had a blast playing with their cousins and digging with their 5,000 sand toys and trucks! despite a fair amount of rain and choppy water, we managed to have a great time; hiking, boating, kayaking, swimming, and skiing. It was so good to reconnect with family friends, and just be in that place that feels like home... singing round the campfire and going to bed with a chill in the air... waking up to the smell of wet pine trees and woodsmoke... and a light mist on the lake. there's such a comfort in it, and such a joy, watching our kids experience it all through new and very wide eyes. we got to see several wonderful rainbows! christian climbed Baldy Mountain all by himself! Kyren loved that he could wade in the water all by himself! And there's nothing like watching your kid enjoy a s'more for the first time! UNfortunately i've been so busy ever since we returned, i haven't even looked at our pics or videos yet. hopefully i can post some soon!
The third week brought us home to Maddy again, and her birthday, which was a first! Sadly, it also brought us a nasty chest cold, and several scary almost-E.R. trips with K. . . and Dave suffered from a pinched nerve in his neck all week... and is still experiencing pain down his arm and numbness in his fingers...
The fourth week brought us Grandpop from Florida, accompanied by his Porsche Boxster! We got to have lots of fun bonding time with him, as well as the cousins, as we spent time playing, eating, swimming and even going on our first trip to the Phila. Zoo! The boys loved seeing the animals, and playing in the indoor treehouse. They didn't want to leave-- but alas, we were the only ones still there at 12pm on a saturday, thanks to the impending Hurricane Irene! (def. the best time to go to the zoo!). She brought us the heaviest rain i've ever heard on our skylights, a few tornado warnings, an inch or so of water in our basement, and a downed limb on our porch roof (which we've always hoped would happen), but other than that, we escaped pretty much unscathed.
This past weekend also brought us Danielle, in time for her birthday-- and she, mom and i got to go see The Help. It was so good!!!
Today we finally got to meet baby Ayriana-- just as Kate is being induced to deliver Baby T! So fun to be welcoming all these new little ones to the world! and NO it doesn't make me want another one :)
So, there goes August 2011! Just like that! I knew it would fly by, but that feeling of fall in the air is still a little bit of a surprise... after all the heat and humidity. i still get that pit of my stomach back to school feeling this time of year... and even tho no one here is really going back to school yet-- it hits me as if i were getting ready for my first day of middle school-- every time!

time for a little pick me up

i'm finally changing the blog picture to a bit more summery one... and giving the old blog a little tiny facelift. nothin cuter than a couple of nakey's playin in the water...

finally cool enough to play outside...

... but hot enough to climb INTO the water table!

july in a nutshell

{written July 19th...}

ok, so july is 3/4 over and i guess i should try to recap.

july 3rd, we finally got around (4yrs later) to hanging our American flag from Grampy (it was a housewarming present), on a tree in our front yard. Christian helped. i thought it'd be a good time to teach him the pledge of allegiance. he didn't seem interested.

we rang in the 4th of july with a super extended family party. aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents from both sides of our families came together for a splashing good time at Allison Wonderland.

Red, white, and blue popsicles were a hit with the kiddos:
And the desserts turned out mostly good. except for my stained glass jello stars that fell apart when i tried to cut them with the star cutter.

total fail.
a few spoonfulls were doled out, and enjoyed by some little people...

but the real crowd pleaser was the trifle

and the cookie dough balls:



the next day, christian had his first swim lesson with my parents' neighbor, who teaches at the Y. he was a little hesitant, but when i told him it was a mommy/christian date, he began to see

the advantage.

plus, if he did well, he could go out to the kids' pool afterward and use the froggy slide. which he did. i was so proud i almost shed a tear, watching him paddle around and float on his back, and even put his face in the water a couple of times (both voluntarily and un-, as the teacher let him go a couple of times, to teach him to reach for the wall).

i couldn't believe he handled that as well as he did. once we were down at the froggy pool, he continued to practice his new moves, and was pushing off the bottom of the pool (he could touch), and trying to swim to the steps. 'Wow', i mistakenly thought, 'this was so easy. he'll be swimming in no time.'

moments later it happened. his very first bee sting. a yellow jacket. floating in the water. bring on the trauma. between the flashbacks of that moment and the recollection that the teacher let go of him during the swimming lesson, he needed extreme bribery in order to go back the following week. which he did, but as soon as he got in the pool for his lesson, he started crying and screaming and begging for me to come get him out. which i finally did, had a little talk with him, bribed him with more treats, and he finally got back in (but only for a few more minutes, whimpering all the way). and just like he did the first time he wailed through sunday school, he got all dried off and started to recover, looked at the teacher and said, "That was fun!"

all in all, he's a trooper. we'll see what this week brings.

speaking of sunday school, drama, and bribery; we had to put our money where our mouths were(?) a couple of weeks ago, and skip the stop at Wawa after church for a treat. he just couldn't stop crying in sunday school (the week previous he was super brave, stayed in the whole time and had a blast, so we knew he was capable!). this time they called us half way through the service to come get him. he was beside himself. "i just really missed you guys!!" he said mournfully, through sniffles.

so this past sunday we upped the ante. or something like that. i never like to do this, but we were running late for church, and he was crying hysterically b/c he didn't want to go. what do you do in that moment? you either give in to his crying and sit through another service trying to entertain him in the lobby... or you think of the greatest possible bribe you can, and try to get him to go peacefully, and see that it really is a fun place to go. So we bargained a little and he ended up being allowed to have his binky in the car (not in church), a trip to Wawa for a treat, and a family fun trip to Longwood Gardens to see the fountains and bee-yoo-tee-ful flowers (his words). ... all if he went to sunday school bravely, and stayed the whole time. which he did. it was like flipping a switch.

did i feel played? not really. i think he really does convince himself that it's going to be scary and lonely there (not being with us). and there is no reasoning with him otherwise, in the moment. somehow the prospect of rewards for bravery really motivated him to be brave.
when he sets his mind to be/feel a certain way, he does great. like this morning when he had to go to the doctor for a well-visit. he had no qualms about going, no fears whatsoever, and when i broke the news to him that he had to get a shot, right before we left the office, he acted like it was no big deal. the nurse asked him if he wanted to sit in my lap. his response was a simple "no thanks". and he didn't bat an eye. sometimes i just don't get 3 year olds. it's all a matter of choice for him. he has total control over his attitude and emotions... except for when he doesn't. today i couldn't get him to go to the bathroom without a fight. go figure.

ok-- so back to the july recap.

on the 8th AND the 9th we celebrated our FIVE year anniversary! dave took off that friday and surprised me with dinner at La Famiglia in Philly, while the boys went to their cousins' house to play.

it was delightful atmosphere, and divine cuisine. we reminisced about our wedding and honeymoon, and tried to pick out the highlights from each year of our wedded bliss. we laughed about how flimsy 5 years sounds in relation to how LONG it feels (in a good way of course). mostly due to how much has changed in those 5 years. the merging of 2 completely separate lives into one, renting our first apartment, navigating our first year of life together, learning the ins and outs of conflict, communication, etc..., deciding big things together,like the purchaseof our first home, trying for a baby, getting a baby, adjusting to our thouroughly new lives WITH a baby, then surprise-- another baby-- and then surprise a very EARLY baby-- and well, you get the point. a lot has happened in 5 years. and we have loved being one through it all! the next day we went to see Tree of Life and then out for coffee, while the boys went to Gramsy/Poppy's. Not so much my kind of movie (though i found it unique and thought-provoking), but totally dave's. and i had to smile once again at how different we are, and how that is what marriage is all about-- learning to love and appreciate another person as yourself, only they are nothing like you!

That evening as we read our vows to each other, i marveled at how God, in His kindness, brought us together for so very many reasons. I especially marveled at how blessed I am to have married this gentle, loving, patient, selfless, easy-going man. He, unlike me, has done an incredible job at keeping each and every one of his vows almost all of the time :). i think i break at least one of mine a week. and he still loves me, and never picks up the framed vows and shoves them in my face. . . which he totally has the right to do. instead he is slow to anger, quick to forgive, and consistently considering my needs and wants above his own. he loves me. he loves me. he loves me. what a gift!

Kyren has been growing leaps and bounds (well, little ones) in his speech. he's been practicing his vowel sounds and imitating us more and more. he can now say "baa", "moo", "boo", "Hi", "Daddy", "Mama", "Dow" (for 'down'). ... as well as the long awaited "No, no!"
His speech therapist is thrilled with his progress, and thinks he is the cat's meow... a word we're also working on ;).

last week was our 'company' week. we had 3 couples over, on 3 different nights. this is wayyyyy more out of the ordinary for us than it should be... and it was so much fun. plus, i had way more motivation to actually clean the house every few days. and it was NICE to have it looking somewhat nice for a whole week. hoping to have this kind of social interaction on a more regular basis now... i think we're just coming into a season that is a tad easier than it was when our guys were really really little...and more needy.
this past weekend was a whirlwind of summer fun-- including the Malvern Fair (where K had his first amusement park ride, and C delighted us with his smiles on each ride, waving at every turn), Turks Head Music Festival, and Longwood. It's mid July, so we're mid-heatwave, but some things are worth facing the humidity for. and summer memories are definitely on that list!


oh, and p.s. Christian has been on antibiotic for a couple of weeks now thanks to one of our resident deer ticks, who left him this nice specimen of lyme:

p.s. we also got a sprinkler a few weeks ago, right as the heat wave of the decade was upon us. unfortunately i have no pictures of the incredible fun that followed-- because 2 out of 3 of the participants in the sprinkler running games are completely naked. the 3rd was me, and i was lacking a waterproof camera.