Peter is 4!

I have so much catching up to do, but I decided it would be best to start with the most recent event and then I will go back about a month and catch up.
My baby is four years old.  Wow.  I can't believe it.
Peter is the most easy going, mild mannered child.  For the most part.
The other part of him is almost as stubborn as his father.
He has been dubbed 'Sammy safety' by Bryan and I. (I am sure he will appreciate that later in life)
He LOVES Disney's Cars and Thomas and Friends.  He plays for hours with both of them.
He is getting out of the picky eating, slightly.  There are still certain foods that he has never tried- like tomatos, pickles, olives, and jell-o.  (I have offered, believe me!)
He is super sweet to his sister, and also super mean as well.
If the TV is on, you can bet he is sitting in front of it. He is GLUED.
He is very particular about the way the world works.  For example- If I call his 'sandals', Shoes, I will get corrected.
He loves being outside, and the playground, but still has a fear of swings.  He goes super-hero style on them, but not upright just yet.
Still takes a nap almost every day.
Starting to help me with basic chores. (YEA!)  Putting his dishes away, setting the table, making his bed, and putting his laundry away.
Knows his ABC's, can count up to 20 and is starting to read basic three and four letter words.  

Stats- 50% for Weight, and 60% for Height. 

Peter requested a "Cars" party.  Big suprise right?  I was so proud of the cake, but he didn't like the Mater part on the bottom.  (What a punk!)

 We played a couple simple games, like "The worlds best Backwards Driver" and Peter and his friends became the "Pit Crew" and had a 'tire stacking contest' at "Luigi's Casa Della Tire Shop with chocolate mini doughnuts.  The cardboard cars were elegantly decorated by Bryan .

Naked and proud

I went to the mall with my mom to do some serious shopping at one of my favorite stores (I love Buckle!).  I took the kids and let me just say we had some serious fun. 
The best part of this store (in case you haven't been) is that the girls that work there revel in putting together fun outfits for you to try on, so if you get stuck in a rut, they can seriously help your wardrobe! 
Anyway, my mom and I were taking turns trying on clothes and watching the kiddos.  We had a slight lack of communication and the kids disappeared for a a short bit.  I came out of the fitting room and asked my mom, "uh, where are they?"  We combed the store and found them in the hand-i-capped room at the back of the store with about 20 different tops from random racks strewn all over the floor.
 And here is the best part- Brooke came out of the fitting room butt naked and was streaking across the store as fast as she could dragging a shirt she wanted to 'try on'.... 
I about died.  Of laughter.  I had to hunt down her diaper that was buried in about 4 feet of clothing and talk her into putting it back on.  Then she proceeded to put on a purple camisole and demanded her pink sunglasses to complete the look.

Ah.  I love my kids.  It was an unforgettable trip to the mall. 

P.S. I have an awesome picture I will post when I get back to my computer next week!

It would have been fine...except for the throw-up...

Everyone was telling me I was insane for travelling on a plane with 3 kids under the age of four by myself.  I just kind of shrugged it off and didn't think I was crazy at all.  I thought "I can handle it- its a 5 hour trip of sitting in a seat.  No biggie.  I will bring a DVD player and we will all be fine."

Here is the summery of my trip to Flagstaff from Pittsburgh:
Pack the kids up in the car.  Got all the crap together: 3 car seats, 2 strollers, a diaper bag, backpack, one piece of luggage to check, and 2 carry-ons for Peter and Brooke. 

Arrive at the airport.  Have Bryan with me until security.  He leaves.  So at this point I have checked 2 out of 3 car seats, and my big stroller along with my suitcase.  So I have Heath in the ergo on my front, a backpack on my back.  I pushed a stroller with the car seat on it along with the diaper bag and occasionally a kid suitcase. (Most of the time they wanted to be big kids and pull them all by themselves! Yea!)

Arrive at the gate with time to spare.  Going through Security must have made me look nuts, but it was alright.  The kids say they are thirsty, so I see a Micky'D's about 400 yards away so I suck it up and drag all of us over to buy 2 chocolate milks.  We get back to the gate, the kids drink the milk, and then Brooke pukes it all up.  All over her and her suitcase.  Awesome.  About 10 minutes before we were supposed to board.  I rush to the bathroom and change her clothes and rinse out the old ones the best I can.  Then we board the plane.  The flight attendants were amazing.  They put Brooke's car seat in the middle seat and strap it up for me.  I put the kids in and we take off.  I am thinking "this is OK.  we are ok'.  We watch a movie until the battery dies, about 1.5 hours into the 4.5 hour flight.  I am thinking, 'wow. I have alot of time left.  What am I going to do to occupy it?' 

Ask and ye shall receive. 

About 2 minutes later Peter tells me his tummy hurts.  Then he pukes.  All over.  In an airplane.  Smelly, nasty kid puke.  And he is hysterical because it got on his stuffed animal. (not to mention the seat, floor, diaper bags, his clothes, the car seat, my shoes, my favorite 'big star' jeans... ect ect.)  Well, this is a first for me.  I bet not many people get to experience a puking child on an airplane.  I have to hand Heath to a complete stranger sitting across the isle, and I leave Brooke by herself strapped in to the car seat so I could take my vomit covered 3 year old to the bathroom.  Oh, ya, I forgot to mention that one of the restrooms was out-of-service.  So there was a wait.  (And the people in front of me had no intentions of letting my poor sobbing child get in that bathroom before them.  How nice.)  So the flight attendants let us go in their little back room where they keep the food.  And then Peter pukes again.  Then I was finally smart enough to get a paper bag, and he did again in that. 

I am now thinking "wow.  Both kids?  Within 2 hours time?  Weird. They never get stomach bugs.  It must have been that milk..."

My thoughts are interrupted by a nice passenger coming to inform me that 'the other one' is throwing up now too.

WHAT?  I thought we were passed that.  She did her thing before we boarded.  I am now dealing with one covered in it, that is enough. 

I couldn't get back to Brooke for a couple more minutes because I was trying to get Pete cleaned up.  Poor kid had a breakdown on the way back to his seat and was just sobbing.  Some nice lady took him and sat him in her lap.  (at least the flight attendants gave her some gloves to spare her some of the puke-i-ness)

I get to Brooke and she is covered.  And so upset. (who wouldn't be?)  I get to clean up another mess.  And the poor flight attendants.  Whatever they were getting paid, it wasn't enough.  I felt so bad for them.  We did the best we could to clean up and moved the car-seat to the window because at this point it is almost time to land.  I look back and Peter is asleep in that nice lady's lap.  Heath is at least being an angel across the isle with my new best friends. Brooke couldn't sit in her seat due to the un-livable condition it was in.  So I had to hold her the rest of the trip and Peter had to be moved back to the middle seat for landing while Heath stayed with my new friends. 

Conclusion:  If you can avoid having your kids vomiting on an airplane, I would advise it.  The people sitting around you will like you more at the end of the flight.

P.S.  All my theories about how much McDonalds sucks were proven on this flight.  I will NEVER buy anything there again.

Happy Late Easter!

Photo Shoot

I had a friend let me talk her into taking some maternity pictures.  It was a first for me and SO fun.  Here are some of the pictures.

Messy and adorable.

 Keeping a house clean with little kids is like snow shoveling in a blizzard.  You can try as hard as you can, but you are no match for the forces of Mother Nature. 

I love it when Brooke reads to Heath

Our house lately = fighting over toys. Or making a BIG mess. Or, my preferred activity, a Tea Party.  (which happens quite often.)

 Messy?  Yes.  Stressful?  Yes.  But how can you not love this?