Las Vegas Get Away!

Tom and I stole a few days away in Las Vegas over the weekend!  He had to go for a conference for work so I bought a ticket and went out while my Mother in law and our niece Laura stayed at the house and watched the boys for us.

It's amazing how much you take for granted before you have kids!  The flight there was so nice and peaceful.  I didn't have to entertain or feed anyone.  I actually read an entire book of about 800 pages or so!  I enjoyed just relaxing in the hotel room. We really enjoyed going out for meals like we used to.  We got to sit and talk and really "dine".  That's something you never to get to with the kiddos!

Tom had quite a bit of free time while we there so we got to lounge by the pool which was beautiful.  We got all the way down to the Stratosphere and rode the Bigshot on top of the tower.  We actually bought the picture that they took of us because we both look SOOOO funny (especially Tom) :)!  We had some amazing meals and did a little gambling.  Tom played black jack for the fist time and actually won a little bit!  It was so nice to be adults again for a little while!  We also got the chance to miss the boys!  Everytime we saw a baby we realized how much we missed Tyler and whenever we saw something that Zac would have liked, we realized how much we missed him!  

Grandma survived the experience and told me that she realizes once again how much I have to do in a day!  It's nice to be truly appreciated for all that you do!  And we are so thankful to her and to Laura as well for giving us this opportunity.

Night on the town with Dad!

Tyler has been sick for a few weeks now and I finally took him back to the Doctor on Wednesday.  Low and behold he had an ear infection and the Doc. gave us an antibiotic and I thought we were on the road to recovery.  As a rule of thumb when it comes to kids, I should have known better!  By Friday he had broken out in a full body rash and he was extremely fussy!  I called the Doc back and they figured he was allergic to the antibiotic so we stopped it and the Doc said he'd probably had enough of it to clear up the ear.  Saturday however he was even more fussy and pulling on his ear and we just couldn't take seeing him like that any more.  It's funny how these things always seem to happen on the weekends!  

Tom ended up taking him to Acute Kids and they did in fact confirm that he was allergic to the antibiotic and it wasn't just a viral rash.  His ear infection was still going strong so they prescribed another antibiotic and Tom had to chase down a pharmacy that was still open.    Tyler was a trooper through it all and I joked with Tom that he just wanted to spend a night out alone with his Dad!  

Tyler was still up crying a few times during the night but this morning he seems to FINALLY be in MUCH better spirits!  The rash is still there (not sure how well you can see it in the photo) and he's still itchy but at least he's happy and playing contentedly again!

Speeding!

Things have been insane lately!  Tyler has been sick for weeks now and I just found out yesterday that he has an ear infection and probably a cold along with it.  He may also have asthma but that's not for sure yet.  Tom has been working late and I haven't been feeling 100% so it's been crazy to say the least!

Yesterday Zac had a Tumblebugs class and then I was taking him to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch afterward.  Along the way, I was deep in thought while I was driving and feeling stressed as usual.  All of sudden Zac says "Are we going fast?"  This caught my attention - not that he doesn't say random things all the time.  I happened to look up and see a cop on a motorcycle in the median ahead.  Sure enough, he pulled me over and I sat there wondering what kinds of questions Zac would come up with for me!  He of course wanted to know what we were doing so I told him that a policeman wanted to talk to Mommy and that I needed him to be quiet for a minute.  The cop comes up to the window and I had been going 54 in a 40.  (Opps!  It was down a hill though!) 

 Zac is usually very friendly and charming when it comes to meeting new people but h took this gruff tone while the cop was talking to me and said "That's not your wife!"  Now where does a 3 year old come up such hostility and such a statement?!  He repeated it a couple of times until I told him to be quiet again.  I was just hoping that the cop couldn't understand him!  When he finished, the cop asked me how old Zac was so I'm afraid he may have been to understand him after all!

What will this kid come up with next?

The Bomb Shelter

You'll notice a new link over on the right side entitled the Bomb Shelter.  It's something funny I saw on a friends blog that shows how long you could survive trapped in your own home!  I found this funny because Tom is always picking on me about my stock pile of food in the pantry.  He loving calls it the Bomb Shelter so here's a tribute to my hard work!

Vacation Tour Continues...

We then headed to Kure Beach, North Carolina where we shared a rental home with our friends the Ward's who now live in Ohio.  It was the first time the boys had ever been to the beach and they LOVED it!  Tom built sand around Zac so it looked like he was riding in a Lightning McQueen sand sculpture and the boys got to play with their daughter Lauren and her friend and their son Hayden.  We all got sick with some kind of cough/sore throat so everybody was a little low key and tired here and there.  I think we managed to have a great time anyway and we were there for the 4th of July fireworks on the beach!  It was SO great to see our friends and share a vacation with each of them!  Can't wait to do it again wherever we choose to go!

We actually drove the 19 hours back straight through starting Saturday afternoon and just got back into town this morning.  It's our 7th wedding anniversary today so it was good to get out of the car at least!  We're celebrating later this month in Las Vegas for a couple of days!  Tom has a business trip and I am tagging along while my mother in law watches the boys!  Can't wait!!!  Happy Anniversay Tom!

Summer Vacation 2008

Back in the good old days, Tom and I lived in Boston on an Air Force Base and we met some life long friends there.  It's been 5 years since we all moved away from Boston and we have all added to our families since then and live in different sections of the country so we don't get to see each other as often as we would like.  We decided to get brave - very brave this summer and drive ALL the way (19) hours to North Carolina with the boys!

First we made it to Atlanta, Georgia and got to see our friends the Vizurraga's and FINALLY meet their 15 month old daughter Eve!  We had a GREAT time there!  It was so nice to catch up and to see our kids playing together!  Zac got to play guitar hero - which being the game junkie that he is he loved!  We went to the playground, the pool and the Atlanta aquarium.

A Lesson In Sharing

Zac is not very good at sharing.  I know this is a common trait among 3 year olds but Zac takes it to an extreme!  Here is a rare video of him sharing willingly and food no less!  He does this every time with a popsicle and Tyler recognizes them and basically demands some every time he sees one.  I'm not really sure why he's giggling but it's cute! (Don't forget to scroll down and pause the music player!)

t 

Getting ready for vacation

We are leaving for Atlanta on Friday afternoon - driving - 12 hours!  We are staying with some friends for the weekend there and really looking forward to seeing their new place and finally meeting their 1 year old daughter!  Then on Sunday we are driving AGAIN - 7 more hours to Kure Beach North Carolina.  We are staying with some other friends there who live in OH for almost a week and looking forward to seeing them again as well!  I am a little nervous to say the least about the kids on a car trip of that length!  Should make for interesting posts and pics when we return so keep checking!

The first photo is the tent thingy that we got for Tyler at the beach (tried it out in the back yard) and the other two are pics of the boy on my birthday a few days ago because I got a NEW digital camera to play with!

Boys will be boys

Our boys have been testing the limitations of their little bodies lately!  Zac smacked the side of his face against the kitchen table and knocked his tooth loose!  This is a Hygienists nightmare and I didn't think I'd be dealing with it ALREADY!  Luckily by the next morning the tooth had firmed up in the socket again and we'll have to keep an eye on it.

Then there's Tyler!  He started crawling early and hasn't stopped since.  He now tries to pull up on everything as though crawling is no longer good enough.  Unfortunately I don't think his body is quite ready to keep up with him!  Last week, he slipped on the sill of the window and gave himself a nasty black eye.  He fell into our neighbors pool on Sunday.  Luckily we were right there and Tom grabbed him right away.  He didn't even cough or anything.  Monday night was when Zac had his run in with the table and in the middle of trying to help him feel better, Tyler pulled a kitchen chair over on top of himself and hit his head on the tile floor.  Tuesday morning I went up to get him in the morning and was in complete disbelief to find that he had ANOTHER black eye!  Somehow in the safety of his crib in the middle of the night he managed to fall and hit his other eye!  Is this really even possible?  Is this what the rest of toddlerhood and adolesence is going to be like with two boys?

The first picture is Tyler pulling himself up and underneath our end table trying to get into something.  I just thought it illustrated what I encounter all day long!  The second photo is Tyler's two black eyes and you can see his two top teeth there as well!  I was terrified to take him out in public today for fear of being arrested for child abuse!

Two of a kind!

The first photo is Zac at almost exactly 9 months.  He was very proud of himself because he had just started to stand up all by himself in the pack and play.

The second photo is Tyler - taken just this morning and he is just over 7 months!  He is doing this all by himself and pulling up on anything he possibly can already!