Happy Birthday to Eleanor!

Hard to believe that our little girl turns 6 today! We had a big celebration on Sunday, Dec. 21 here at our house when we hosted her birthday party. Eleanor and I chose to have a "Nutcracker" theme; we gave each girl a jingle bell tutu, read the book, played the symphony, colored Nutcracker pictures, had the Sugar Plum Fairy come and teach the girls some ballet moves, and made gum drop trees. I think the girls had a ball and I know that I sure had fun watching them.

A picture of Eleanor and Hayes before the (chaos) party begins:
A shot of the girls dancing with the Sugar Plum Fairy:

Here some of the girls are making their gum drop trees:
Eleanor blowing out her cookie cake (her choice):
Another day of making wonderful memories!

Christmas 2008

I've finally mustered up enough energy to write about our Christmas whirlwind. I am still trying to put my arms around it all. The kids had the best time, got all they wanted and more, and might even have picked up a life lesson about giving (or at least E did). It was especially fun to watch Hayes this year. He really did not know what to expect because he could not recall prior Christmases. They all had an absolute ball! Now that Christmas is over, Hayes is already planning for next year and keeps asking us if "Santa is coming tonight?"

Speaking of next year, it will be even crazier with Ben moving around and getting his fair share of gifts. I can only imagine what BEFORE and AFTER pictures would look like . . . might be something I'll have to remember to try to capture next year! What did I come away with this year?

1. Our kids got WAY too much and I always say that I am going to cut back but never end up doing so. The big gift was the Wii and the kids started playing it first-thing.2. Eleanor looked beautiful as an angel in our church Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve. We love having a cherub for a daughter!3. Hayes LOVES being a boy and doing everything that typical boys do . . . from trains, trucks, and cars to Spiderman, Batman and Superman . . . not even mentioning his love of sports. His current obsession is football and every team, whether they are college or pro. He got this GT football helmet and pads (he's not wearing the jersey and pants) for Christmas at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's and did not want to take it off all night.4. Our big Christmas present came six months early with the arrival of Thomas Benjamin. My, how he has grown. With the new tooth and his ability to sit up on his own, he is turning into a big, happy boy. We love having him around!
Here are some more pictures from the day:
Ben before his Christmas morning bottlePutting that Ga Tech football uniform to work
The cheering section

Ben's 1st Tooth!

Finally! Ben's first tooth has broken through the skin!! Thomas noticed it this morning. It is his bottom right front tooth. I'm hoping that this break-through will improve his mood a bit, though we expect him to have a couple more break through soon. I'll post a picture when it is obvious enough to see . . .

A Trip to See the Nutcracker Ballet

I took Eleanor to the Nutcracker for her birthday present. She was dying to go after her Nutcracker-themed birthday party last weekend (more on that at a later date). We ventured down to the Fox Theater for what was probably E's second trip to see the ballet. She was very excited. We got there a little early and had to sit in our seats and wait for it to start. She kept asking me when it was going to start. Finally, the ballet began! She had forgotten that the ballerinas would not talk and seemed a bit perplexed by this. Halfway through Act 1, Eleanor informed me that she was STARVING. The people behind us were chomping away on their popcorn which was totally distracting Eleanor. I nicely reminded her that it was probably because she picked at both her breakfast and lunch! At the Intermission, I succumbed (because she was in near tears and I did not want to have her have a public breakdown) to a popcorn and drink. After that, she was in hog heaven. She said to me when we returned to our seats, "Mom, I have everything I need - popcorn and water." She also told me that she wishes Clara could talk so that she could tell us how it feels to turn into a princess. Toward the end of the second Act, E started to get very tired and kept asking me when we were going home. I kept telling her that we were almost to the end.

All in all, it was a great trip for E and me. On our walk back to the car, I asked her if she enjoyed herself. She said she did. I then asked her if she liked the ballet a lot or just a little and she responded, "A lot!" Even though she seemed a bit disinterested at times, I guess it was still worth it to her!

Christmas Tidbits

Hayes and Eleanor have been helping Mimi bring down all of her presents from their bedroom upstairs. Since we have two trees, the kids have decided to put their presents under their tree and the rest of the presents under ours. Hayes then informed me that their tree had more presents than ours. (As I might have said before, winning is everything to Hayes.) I took this as an opportunity to tell Hayes that Christmas was Jesus's birthday and that it was about giving and not getting. His response? "I wish Christmas was about Santa Claus."

The Kids Are Excited About Tomorrow!

I woke up this morning to find Eleanor and Hayes downstairs already, looking to see if Santa had visited our house. They were holding hands as they were heading back upstairs. I reminded them that Christmas morning was still one day away and that tomorrow was the big day! (Hayes has actually been down a couple of mornings over the last week, checking to see if Santa has come. It will be so interesting to see his reaction tomorrow morning after Santa really has visited our house!) We started talking about Christmas morning and what it was going to be like. Hayes then asked me, "Mom, are you Santa?" At first, I could not tell if he was serious or kidding. I just responded with a slightly nervous chuckle and said, "Of course not, silly!"

Eleanor then pointed out to me that Ted, our Elf on the Shelf, had not moved during the night. (Oops!) He should have returned to a new spot in the house after he had visited Santa last night to report on the Carroll children. Eleanor said that someone must have touched Ted and therefore, caused him to lose his magic. She then disclosed that she had actually touched him yesterday so it might have been her fault. :-)

Eleanor's Projects

Eleanor loves to do "projects". I rarely let her do them since they always seem to be such an undertaking. Mimi, who arrived with Papa late Sunday afternoon, always lets Eleanor do them so E knew to take full advantage of her time with Mimi! Since Monday morning (it is now Tuesday night), Eleanor has been hard at work. She (and Hayes on some projects) has made a gingerbread house, another gum drop tree, painted a tea set, taken a whole roll of film and had it developed, painted a scavenger hunt map, jeweled up a fairy picture (a birthday gift), learned to play Twister, and written many of her birthday party thank you notes by herself (even sealing them without my reading them first!). Phew! Its exhausting just to see her go. All I want to do is stop and rest, while she wants to move at 110 mph all day long.

Here are some pictures of a few of her "projects":

Here she is painting her tea set . . .
Here E and H are making some more gum drop trees . . . (we made them for E's birthday party but I'll write about that later)Here she is doing some new "method" Mimi was trying to teach her . . .
And finally, the gingerbread house E and H made with Mimi . . .

Christmas Wish List

Eleanor and Hayes both made Christmas Wish Lists earlier this month to take with them when they went to see Santa. Eleanor had no problem coming up with her choices while Hayes really could not think of anything. On Christmas Day, we will see how successful Santa was at fulfilling their requests!

Eleanor asked for the following:
1. Wii
2. Nail polish kit
3. High School Musical 3 CD (the movie isn't out yet but I bet that's what she's thinking of; could also be the HSM Barbies)
4. Princess Liana and Princess Alex of the Barbie Diamond Castle line
5. Polly Pockets
6. Bike

Hayes requested the following:
1. GT football helmet
2. GT baseball hat or UNC one
3. Spiderman, Batman & Superman stuff
4. Tarheel shirt or sweatshirt
5. Car wash (we have no idea what this is)
6. Puzzles
7. Spiderman sunglasses
8. Pretend fox (seriously)

Where Is That First Tooth?!

Poor Ben! I think we've been waiting and expecting his first tooth to show up since his four-month wellness check-up. Our pediatrician told me that his gums were showing all of the signs of the first tooth showing itself, in addition to his constant drooling and hand-sucking. (He has soaked through so many outfits with his drool that I just leave a bib on him all day.) Well, fast-forward another two months and still no teeth. Last Monday, I was certain that a tooth's arrival was imminent because he was unbearably fussy. I felt so sorry for him and tried to make him as comfortable as I possibly could. Now, almost two weeks later, still no tooth. I cannot remember Hayes teething like this (I was working while Eleanor went through this phase) and don't really know how to help him. We have his six-month appointment next Tuesday and I'm hoping Dr. Griffith has some wise words of advice for me!

Santa Claus Is Coming to 851 Beaverbrook . . . Or Is He?

To solicit good behavior from my two older children, I remind them that Santa is watching them. I'll even start singing, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" as reinforcement. Unfortunately, they are very skeptical. For example, Hayes said to me today when I told him that Santa was watching him pout, "He's too far away."

This year, we also introduced the Elf on the Shelf to the kids and went so far as to name him "Ted". The story goes that Ted sits in our house each day and watches our daily activities. Then, at night, he journeys back to the North Pole to share his daily report to Santa. The next day, he takes a new position in the house to observe the goings-on. Well, the kids have the theory that if Ted is not in the room in which they are misbehaving, then he cannot see them and therefore not report the bad behavior to Santa. Pretty clever. We counter that with telling them that Ted is omniscient and that shuts them up!

The Carroll Boys Hangin' In Our Bed

Each morning after I feed Ben and we get Eleanor to school, I bring the boys into our room while I get ready. Hayes usually watches TV (Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and Ben hangs out on the bed with him. Up until now, I would lay Ben down on some pillows or lean him against some so that he'd be a bit upright. Now that Ben is able to sit rather comfortably especially when propped, he seems to enjoy the time with his big bro. When I saw them together this morning, I thought that I had to capture the moment! Here they are on our unmade (!) bed.

Work Party at 851

Last night, we had Thomas's work party here at our house. Hayes could not figure out what was happening. First, he asked us what all of the plates were doing on our dining room table. We told him that we were having a party for Daddy's work. Later, when he and Eleanor were greeting guests at the front door, he turned to us and asked, "Dad, when are more of your customers coming?" Finally, when it was time for him to go to bed, he fought the idea and said, "But no. Its Daddy's birthday." He obviously thought that since Mommy had her party last week, that it was Daddy's turn this time.

Dad Phones Home

When Dad is gone, its always a mixed bag as to whether or not the kids want to talk to him on the phone. Sometimes, no one is interested, and he gets his feelings hurt. This week, while he was in Nashville, both kids were very eager to talk to him. Each time, Hayes was the first to reach for the phone. I'm not sure if Hayes even hears Thomas talking because half of the time, the ear part of the phone is down on his cheek. I did hear him tell Thomas this week, "Dad, you missed dinner," as if Thomas was on his way home and was just late. Eleanor, on the other hand, always talks to Dad using the speaker phone. Thomas gets annoyed by it (and I don't blame him) because then he can't hear the conversation very well from his end because all of the chaos here dominates the call. We do love talking to Dad when he travels, though, so that we can tell him about our day!

Musical Stockings

This morning, while I was feeding Ben in the family room, Hayes took a look at the stockings hanging by the chimney with care. He said to me, "Mom, whose stocking is by yours?" I know that it had been his so I said, "Yours." He then went running over to look and saw that his had been switched! Eleanor's stocking was now next to mine. He panicked, took hers down and moved it all the way to the other end of the mantle, and put his back next to mine. I can't wait to see how long this position lasts, because I'm sure his sister will notice it when she gets home from school. May the games begin!

Spin the Bottle (seriously!)

Eleanor's classmate, Wright, invited Eleanor over to play on Friday after school. Wright has a crush on Eleanor so I was not surprised by this invitation. What I did surprise me was when E asked me tonight at dinner, "Mom, do you know how to play "Spin the Bottle"?" I figured that she meant some basic kindergarten game that I was not familiar with. I gave her a curt "no", and she then continued on with her story. She said that Wright told her the following (and remember, they are in KINDERGARTEN!!): "To play, you get an empty bottle with the top off and spin it around. Whoever its pointing to when it stops spinning, you have to kiss." I tried to hide my shock that my poor, innocent, almost six-year-old already knew how to play "Spin The Bottle". Wright does have an older brother, but he's only in second grade. I'm sure that if E's teacher, Ms. Howell, heard that they were talking about "Spin the Bottle", she would have shut them up immediately.

What has the world come to?! I told E that this Christmas she could not play any reindeer games with her fellow reindeer, especially not "Spin the Bottle"! I look forward to hearing her report on the play date Friday afternoon . . . to be continued.

Making Memories

Well, I'm still reeling from the surprise Thomas threw my way Friday night . . . and I mean SURPRISE! He shocked me with a 35th birthday party here at our house with about 35 of our close friends. It was so much fun and what made it even sweeter was that I had no idea. I am so proud of my hubby for pulling it off and really, for even trying to pull it off. It was a huge undertaking with little chance for success. To everyone's surprise though, it all worked out, and I think everyone had a blast. The kids were at their grandparents house for the night so they had no idea what was going on. On Saturday, we tried telling them what their dad had done for their mom, but they just did not get it, nor did they seem to care. Years down the road, as they grow tired of hearing that boring old story about Dad throwing Mom a surprise 35th, I hope they appreciate it more than they do now, for it is a GREAT story and a wonderful memory made!

Door Signs

E loves to make signs for doors around the house. She has hung them on the front door, the bathroom door downstairs, Hayes's door, Ben's door and her own door. I thought I'd show you an example of what is currently hanging on her door and on Hayes's door.

The sign to the left is hanging on E's bedroom door. It lists her two favorite teams and then has Rainbow Fairy (a series of books) stickers on it.


Here is the one on Hayes's door. It has butterflies on the top (she's into drawing butterflies right now) and then the message below. I think it is so sweet, though I'm not sure if Hayes has even noticed it.

Mom's Winning!

Tonight, after Thomas and the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me, Hayes said, "Dad, Mom's winning." Thomas and I both looked at each other, wondering what in the world he was talking about. Hayes then explained, "Mom has 35 and you only have 34." As I believe I mentioned in an earlier post, Hayes always is keeping score.

Hayes's Plans For My Birthday

Tomorrow is my birthday. I mentioned it to Hayes last night, and he had no idea what I was talking about. I asked him what he was going to get me for my birthday. At first, he gave me a blank stare and then you could see the light bulb go off in his head and he said, "I said a muffin (as if we had previously discussed this!). It is going to be your cake. Then, you will have to drive to your party, and I'll give you a present there." I said, "Hayes, where is my party going to be?" His response? "I think you'll have it at Chuck E. Cheese."

Two Trees

Well, this is our first year with two Christmas trees. We decided to let the kids have one of their own and we will decorate it with Christmas cards from friends and ornaments the kids have made. Their tree has colored lights and sits in the family room. The big tree is in the living room and has white lights. The "big" tree will serve as our more traditional Christmas tree.
We'll see how it all works out. We bought both trees yesterday in a cold rain and the kids were dying to start decorating immediately. Unfortunately for them, we first had to let the trees dry out and then Thomas had to do the lights. The lights ended up being a major project. Thomas had the lights up and running on both trees by 10pm last night. Shortly thereafter, one of the strands on the big tree blew and he re-lit the entire tree. This morning, when the kids came downstairs, he lit up both trees for them to see. They were so excited and seemed extra-excited about having their own tree. Eleanor wanted to start decorating then and there. We hope to do some of the decorating tonight after dinner, but it looks like Thomas has his work cut out for him . . .ALL of the lights on the big tree went out this morning for some unknown reason. Hopefully, he won't spend another entire night working on indoor Christmas lights!

Post Christmas comment: Throughout the month of December, Hayes liked to ask me which tree was my favorite. Since I knew where he was leading with his question, I always said, "Mine." He always responded that he liked his the best because of the pretty colored lights and great ornaments.

E's Art and H's Sports

Thomas and I commented early on in this trip about how Eleanor and Hayes spent much of their first day here playing separately. Eleanor did art while Hayes played sports (football, soccer, and baseball) outside in the backyard. Usually, at home, they play together almost all of the time so it was quite unusual but fun to see them do their own things!

Mimi and Papa's house is Eleanor's dream-come-true because art is ALL OVER! While here, she spends much of her free time doing art. She usually does it in the morning on the porch, before we get up. This trip she has painted, glittered, colored, cut, glued, painted tile, spray painted pine cones and sugar gum balls, and no telling what else! For Thanksgiving, she colored and cut out turkeys for everyone's table setting and then made place cards for all 14 of us with "Happy Thanksgiving" greetings. As I'm writing this, she's trying to convince Mimi to bake gingerbread cookies with her so that E can decorate them! (Usually, they bake something each visit and often it is cupcakes.) All to satisfy E's creative cravings . . .

Hayes, on the other hand, is 100% into sports. Football seems to be his absolute favorite. He loves playing football with anyone who is game, and it is definitely TACKLE football. He is more interested in the tackling part than worrying about where the ball goes. It does not matter who he is playing with; he tackles them with all of his might. I saw him yesterday clothesline his sister. Luckily, she got up laughing! He also enjoys watching football on TV and going to Georgia Tech games. He is super excited about the GT/UGA game today. He woke up expecting to go to the game (he's not) and then thought that it should be on first thing in the morning (it is not). Luckily, I packed his GT shirt so he is mentally preparing himself for the noon kickoff. He also enjoys baseball and has learned to make some pretty good contact with the ball. Unfortunately, he still thinks that every hit is a homerun, and we are struggling to teach him otherwise. In any sport he plays (this morning it was ping pong), what really matters to him is the score, and he wants to make sure that he or his team is winning!

Florida Sunshine for Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving yesterday. I'll blog about it if I get the energy up but right now, Thomas and I are both exhausted. Entertaining three kids non-stop is draining! Here are some pictures from the visit so far . . .

Ben and Papa enjoying the Florida sunshine
Roasting marshmallows in the fire pit
E getting the table ready for Thanksgiving dinner
Special ice cream treat after our Thanksgiving dinnerWe hit the beach this morning. The weather is absolutely beautiful. We waited until we put Ben down for his morning nap and then we headed out. Eleanor and Hayes requested that we build sandcastles. Hayes wanted a "Spiderman" one, then a beautiful sandcastle, then a cool one. (It would be very hard to live up to his sandcastle expectations! Luckily, by the time we got to the beach after a stop at the Blueberry Muffin for some chocolate chip muffins, he had already forgotten about his requests.) Eleanor planned on getting in the ocean. She had Papa blow up two floats so that she could "float" in the water. I told her that the water would be way too cold and that she most likely would not get in. They packed their snacks - Cheetos, Doritos and Cheez Its - but forgot drinks. They found the snacks to be too tempting and ended up eating them en route to the beach. The beach was great - very quiet but beautiful - and we spent a good hour down there just playing! I am very grateful to be here in sunny, warm Florida this Thanksgiving!

The Drive to Melbourne for Thanksgiving

Well, we made it to Melbourne late Tuesday night. It only took us 10 hours!! We left Atlanta around 1:45pm after watching Eleanor's Thanksgiving program at Morris Brandon. It took us three hours just to get to Macon. We got stuck in construction traffic just south of the I-75/I-285 intersection and sat for a LONG time. While sitting, Hayes asked, "Are we almost to Mimi and Papa's house?" He and Eleanor were quite content sitting in the way back of the Sequoia. I sat with Ben on the second row and Thomas drove much of the way. After dinner, around 7pm, the TV's battery died so the kids could no longer watch movies. Eleanor fell right to sleep but Hayes was convinced that the battery would start working again soon. We enjoyed looking out the car windows and seeing stars. Around 8pm, he started watching the clock. I told him that I thought we'd be at Mimi and Papa's around 11pm so he literally announced each time a minute passed. "8:20, Mom. . . . Now its 8:21!! . . . Mom, the 1 has turned to a 2 so its 22!" and on and on. He finally fell asleep around 9:50. Unbelievable. Eleanor woke up right as we were getting close on 95. She could not fall back asleep so she watched our final approach. When we pulled in the driveway, she was literally bouncing out of her booster seat. We were very grateful that we made it safely, even though it was a very long trip. I'm looking forward to some warm, salt air to make my miserable cold go away.

Hayes's Strong Opinions

Who would have thought that Hayes, at the ripe young age of 3, would care about what clothes he wears? Every night, I lay out both Hayes's and Eleanor's clothes for the next day so that Thomas can get them dressed without any issues. Well, Eleanor generally gets dressed without any complaints but with Hayes, we make many last-second wardrobe changes . . . and he's only3!!!

This morning, for example, I had out a Castles & Crowns long-sleeved t-shirt with a corduroy brown dog on it and his green cord pants that go with it. He is having his Thanksgiving feast at school today, and I wanted him to look cute. He started to cry when Thomas put the shirt on him. He said that he did not want to wear that shirt so Thomas told him he had to talk to me about it, which he did. In his whimpering voice, he told me that he did not like that shirt and that he wanted to wear a different shirt. He picked out a long-sleeved shirt from Boden that is too big and it has a mean face of a dinosaur on it. Not exactly what I had in mind for his Thanksgiving feast but he seemed much happier with it so I agreed.

Yesterday, when we were walking out of church, he told me that he did not want to wear the Polo plaid shirt to church any more. He says that he wore it every time we went to church. (This might be true. I have put it on him because I consider it to be Thanksgiving-y so he might have worn it every Sunday in November!) He informed me that he'd rather wear his Spiderman shirt to church. We then had a discussion about how we get dressed up to go to church and that the Spiderman shirt was a great shirt to play in but that he could not wear it to church. We'll see how it goes the next time we get dressed for church.

Sweet Dreams of Sleep

Unbelievable! It is 4:25pm on a Thursday afternoon, and I have all three children taking a nap. . . Let me say that again . .. I have all three kids taking a nap. I am shocked. Granted, it is 4:25 which means that the two oldest will probably be up until 11pm tonight, but right now, I don't care!

We had a fitful night last evening with the kids. Hayes started crying at 11pm for some reason and struggled getting back to sleep. Then, Eleanor came down around 3:30am to tell us that she had had a bad dream. We sent her back to bed thinking of good things - Walt Disney World, Thanksgiving at Mimi and Papa's, fairies, to name a few. Around 4:15am, she was at my side of the bed again, saying that she was still thinking about her bad dream (!!!). We told her that she could sleep on the sofa in the family room if that made her feel better (it often does). A few minutes later, we hear a frantic cry from Eleanor and she comes running into our room. Baxter had come down the stairs and scared her. I calmed her down, and we agreed that she should just to back to her room to sleep for the rest of the night. Then, at 6:08 am, I heard Ben for the first time. As terrible as it is, I turned the monitor off because I knew that he should not be getting up. (His usual wake-up time is around 7:30 but he has had a cold.) When our alarm finally went off at 6:35am, I must admit that it was difficult getting out of bed.

Given all of the action last night, I am grateful that they are all catching up on some sleep. I just wish I could join them!

Elnor

As I've mentioned in a past entry, Hayes has a cute way of talking. He struggles with some larger-syllabled words like lemonade. Another word he struggles with is Eleanor. He cannot say it. Instead, he calls his sister "Elnor". He just skips right over the middle syllable. He always does it when he's trying to get her to do something or calling her name to locate her. "Elnor, Elnor, where are you?" I can just hear it now as it resonates throughout the house. Luckily, she does not give him a hard time about it and he thinks he's saying it right. Maybe that's just the way its meant to be . .. that she'll forever be known to him as his Elnor . . .

A Thankful Girl

Every day at Morris Brandon, Eleanor's class practices their writing. Ms. Howell usually gives them the start of a sentence and they then finish it with their thoughts. They write it down on paper to practice their letters, and then they go over to the computer and type it. On November 11, Eleanor came home with her daily typed paper stating the following:

Eleanor
November 11, 2008
I am thankful for our homes. I am thankful for our familys I am thankful for our schools.

Well said, Eleanor!

Ben's Been Baptized!

Ben was baptized yesterday at PRUMC. We had all of the family there - all of the Roaches and all of the Carrolls. Ben wore the heirloom gown that Eleanor, Hayes and I had all worn for our baptisms. A note that sits in its box says that it was worn by Aunt Lou, Louise Slack Hooker, in 1898. I think Aunt Julia told me that it was made in New Orleans by nuns. Hard to believe that it is 110+ years old!! Ben had the added benefit of getting blessed by holy water from the River Jordan. The parents of the other baby baptized at the same service had had friends who had brought the water to them to use for their baby's baptism. We just got lucky enough to share it with them! Unfortunately for Daddy, after the baptism time in the service, Ben was ready to nap. He started fussing and Thomas had to take him out of church. (When the other two were baptized, they both fell asleep in the pew during the service, but they also might have been christened at the later 11:15 time.) Thomas ended up driving Ben around in the car for about 15 minutes and he fell right asleep. Thomas then decided to risk it and bring Ben back inside church. Once Thomas pulled the car seat out of the car, Ben immediately woke up. The two of them sat in one of the back pews for the remainder of the service.

We had a nice lunch afterwards at the Carrolls with a lot of food. Ben took a great nap and all was well. Now, all three children are officially children of God!

Recognizing Noises

I walked into Ben's room this morning, nearly an hour earlier than usual. He's woken up early (6:30 am vs. 7:30 am normally) the last two mornings, I think, due to his cold. He was screaming so I felt like I at least needed to turn his mobile on to buy me some time while I got the other two dressed. (Thomas is in Nashville at the CMAs.) As soon as he heard the door open, his crying turned into cooing. It was pretty funny! He's also learned what footsteps mean. Every night, while we try to eat dinner, I put him in the swing in our room. The swing faces the french doors overlooking the backyard so he can't see our bedroom door. If he hears the footsteps of anyone walking into the room, he strains his neck to turn around and see who it is. I worry he's going to pull a muscle with the way he contorts himself so that he can see who is making that noise. He certainly is changing and growing every day!

Halloween '09

In case you were wondering, both kids have already determined what they are going to be for Halloween in 2009 - Buzz Lightyear for Hayes and a ghost for Eleanor! (Ben might get stuck dressing as Mickey Mouse since that is another one of Hayes's prior costumes.) We'll have to wait and see over the next 345 days whether or not they change their minds . . .

My Shortened Walk

It is such the story of my life right now. Hayes had not gone #2 today and I was thinking that it was about time. I kept suggesting it to him but he did not pick up on my hints. We dropped E off at Art Class and had about an hour and fifteen minutes to spare. I had not worked out in at least a week and have been desperately wanting to. I've got a cold that I'm trying to beat and the no-exercise route has not helped. Anyway, I decided to take the plunge and try to take Hayes and Ben on a walk around the neighborhood - what we call the "Neighborhood Loop". I got Hayes in the stroller, then Ben, then H's drink, then Ben's hat, then the blanket because it was cold, then some grapes for Hayes to snack on, then about 15 books for Hayes to look at on our walk, then my phone, and finally my keys. Off we went . . . It was pretty rough because it was rather cold and Ben's blanket kept falling off onto the street. My other problem was that Hayes kept asking for new books and I was keeping them at the very bottom of the stroller. I was getting some exercise though, so I was trying to make the best of an ok situation. Right when we reach the top of the Brookview hill and turn the curve, I realize that Hayes probably needs to use the restroom to go #2. I ask him, "Hayes, do you need to go potty?" He quickly responds, "Yes." Wouldn't you know that we are as far away from our house as we would be on this route and I feel like I'm just getting into the groove of the walk. I cannot believe that I now have to go home and go home fast. So, home we head. At some point, Hayes asks when we are going to be on Beaverbrook because he "can't go poop in the road". It was just one of those afternoons .. .

Luckily, we made it home and Hayes took care of himself. Situations like this one arise when you have recently potty-trained and they drive you absolutely crazy but they are fun to remember years down the road!

Our Sweet Third Child

I remember during Ben's first few weeks, we were shocked at how challenging a baby he was. We kept thinking, "Aren't the third children supposed to be the easiest?" Poor Ben could not help his gas problems and that was the main reason for his difficult early weeks. I specifically remember one Sunday night, after he'd been screaming for at least an hour at home, loading him up in the car and driving him all over town. Literally. We went up 75 to 285 to Vinings and then back home. All in all, it was about an hour round-trip. He cried all of the way, if my memory serves. I felt terribly bad for him but must admit that my nerves were frayed!

We worked hard to resolve his gas issues and finally did shortly after he turned 7 weeks. What a changed baby he was! He seemed genuinely comfortable and content for the first time in his young life. Since this point, there has been no turning back. He is such a GREAT baby and sooo easy! He goes with the flow and never seems to be the worse because of it. He's slept through the night since he was 8 weeks old and has yet to regress. He LOVES being around us, but especially around Eleanor and Hayes as they seem to bring about an added sparkle to his eyes. I think he prefers it being loud and crazy around the house which it is quite often . .. This morning, it was just the two of us sitting here in the family room in peaceful quiet and he appeared bored!

He always brings a smile to my face and I love having him around. With this third and final time of having a baby in the house, I'm trying to cherish every moment we have with the little guy because these baby times are fleeting!

E got her arm back!

We went this afternoon to get Eleanor's cast taken off. At school, during their sentence-writing exercise, she had written, "I am getting my cast of(sic) today. I will be happy." She obviously was looking forward to it, but was a little fearful of the unknown. I could not prepare her for what was in store since I have not broken a bone myself. I think she was very nervous, though she walked into the doctor's office like a champ. Her demeanor changed once the doctor pulled out the vacuum with a saw attachment - she panicked. He tried showing her how it would not hurt but she flipped and started to bawl. I held her hand while he sawed off the red cast. She cried the entire time. I felt so sorry for her. After the cast came off, she got an x-ray of the arm and learned that it had healed well! Yeah! Now, we have to see how her movement returns over the next month. Hopefully, one day she'll wake up and start using it, without thinking that she shouldn't. On our drive home from Scottish Rite, she told me, "Mom, I'm so happy I have my arm back!"

Stations in the Front Yard

Remember how I talked, on Election Day, about how Eleanor was busy writing sentences even though she had no school? Well, the "academia" continued later that afternoon. She and Hayes started hauling a bunch of their toys down the steps and out the front door. What in the world were they doing, I asked. Her response? "Oh, we are making stations." Of course! In the preschool and kindergarten world, kids move around to various "stations" at school to work different manipulatives and lessons. Eleanor and Hayes were creating their own stations in our front yard. They had a Barbie station, a puzzle station, a walkie talkie station, a block station and a piano station (one of those books that have a piano keyboard on it). They went around together to the five stations to play. They later added soccer and baseball to the mix. Why they could not have done this inside, I don't know, but they had a lot of fun!

Election 2008

I meant to write yesterday but did not have time to sit down. November 4th ended up being such a momentous election! I'm still on a high as are Eleanor and Hayes. With the election of Barack Obama as our President, we can walk a little taller.

Eleanor and Hayes were both very aware of the election and the two candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. For some reason, they both wanted Barack Obama to win. They stuck with their choice even after hearing how most of their friends "wanted" McCain. Thomas ended up taking them with him to the polling place so that they could witness Americans exercising one of their most important rights. (I voted two weeks early.) They patiently waited an hour and a half and spent much of the time playing with our neighbors, the Djurics and Tuckers. Michelle Djuric actually took this photo of the gang waiting to vote. They called to tell me when they were on their way home and I asked Thomas who he had voted for and Eleanor quickly responded in a low, sad voice, "McCain." Thomas was surprised that she knew that and she said that she saw who he voted for! They were both disappointed in their father who ended up choosing McCain at the last minute, but they recognized that it was his choice.

Yesterday morning, when we told them that Obama had won, they both let out a "Yeah!" Later, before he went to school, I overheard Hayes in the kitchen repeating over and over, "Obama won, McCain lose. Obama won, McCain lose." And, yes, he said lose rather than lost, but I thought it was too cute for me to correct him.

A Proper Kiss

Every night, both kids ask for a "huggie and a kissie" and I say their prayers with them. Well, both of them have had colds - E has had a sore throat and H has a green nose and is hoarse. I gave E her kissie on the cheek and she was very understanding. Hayes, on the other hand, was not satisfied with a kiss on the cheek. After I gave him a cheek kiss, he said, "No, Mom, that's not right. I want a kiss on the lips." That is what he got . . . and hopefully, I will not get a green nose!

Best Day Ever!

I just overheard Eleanor saying,"This is the best day ever because I'm writing a sentence and going to paint!" (We are soon heading to a pottery store to paint some Christmas presents.) How I wish I was so easily pleased. By the way, the sentence she wrote was "The crayola was white. The crayola was red. The crayola was blue and now they are best friends. The End." She is busy working because there is no school on this Election Day. (Thomas actually took both of them to vote with him this morning.) I wonder if she works this hard when she's really at school?!

Loving Halloween

Hayes had so much fun on Halloween that he asked me tonight, "How many more days until its Halloween again?" I hated to tell him that it is about 360 more!

Tricks of the Trade

Eleanor and Hayes have spent the last two days going through their candy. They dump it out of their pumpkin holders and then put it all back in. This occurs numerous times throughout the day. They will sort the candy by color, type, size and anything else they can come up with. One thing Thomas and I have noticed is that Hayes's candy supply has drastically dwindled over the weekend while Eleanor's has grown exponentially. They have been "trading" their candies and obviously, one of them has mastered the tricks of the trade!

Halloween '08

Well, we survived another Halloween. Eleanor dressed up as Glinda, the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz, Hayes was a Pit Crew Member for Lightening McQueen and Ben was a Frog.

We started off the morning going to Morris Brandon at 8:00 with Hayes and Ben to see Eleanor in the kindergarten Halloween parade. At Brandon, its the only year that the kids wear their costumes and walk around the school so its a big deal. Unfortunately for me, it was a lot of work to get us all there on time to see Eleanor parade by us in about 5 seconds. I was glad we were there though because she was thrilled to see us.After the parade, Hayes went to school and Ben came home for a quick nap. Then, Ben and I went to Hayes's class Halloween party. We watched as they paraded around school as well and took a bunch of pictures. One added bonus was that Hayes was the "Star of the Day" (which means he's the line leader) because he was the best listener that morning. I told him that made me very happy.Daddy came home from work early to carve our pumpkins. The kids had been very excited about picking out their designs and talking about carving, but once the time came to actually do it, they were more interested in playing baseball or throwing the frisbee in the front yard. Daddy also grilled 24 hot dogs that we took down to the annual Beaverbrook Halloween party. (Here we are before we head down the street.)There the kids played around, we ate some yummy chili and waited for it to get dark.
Once it was time for trick-or-treating, I went out with E and H while Thomas stayed home to keep Ben and welcome other trick-or-treaters to our house. This was my first year going out solo with the kids since Thomas has always done it in the past. Ricks Tucker and Nic Djuric, who I walked with, both commented on how this was the first year they did not have to go up to the doors of the houses with the kids. Eleanor (with her broken arm) and Hayes ran from house to house on Beaverbrook getting their pieces of candy and moving on. I tried to make sure that they said their "thank you"s but am not sure how effective I was. I did hear Hayes say at one house,"Thank you. Happy Halloween!" When we returned home, they were wired and it was only 7:20! Steven and Brandi showed up a little while later and took E & H down to Brookview for some more trick-or-treating before they crashed. When they returned, Hayes reported that there was a "spooky" house that they visited. He said that he was not scared but Eleanor was. He then proceeded to mention this "spooky" house every minute for the rest of the night. He definitely did not want to go back to the spooky house.

All in all, when we finally put them to bed at 9pm after they had both broken down, I asked Hayes if he had had fun on Halloween. His response is a typical one from him right now - "Just a little bit." I gave him a hard time about this answer and finally got him to say, "Maybe a lot."

E's Haircut

Sometime in July, Eleanor decided she wanted bangs. Unfortunately, she forgot to share this with me and just started cutting away one day in the family room. I walked in the room because she was being so quiet and found hair all over the floor. I freaked out on her. I was so mad! It takes FOREVER to grow out bangs and here she was with her bangs cut to her roots. Yes, that's right, her ROOTS! Luckily, early on, we could hide it since the hair was cut so short. Now that it is growing out, though, we are not so lucky. Here is a picture of E once the bangs started growing out during the first week of kindergarten in August:
Now, we are one day away from Halloween and here is how the bangs are progressing:
It might take us a good year to get them back where they were. Hopefully, next time she wants a style change, she'll consult me first!

Power Outages

Eleanor and Hayes are obsessed with the power going out. It happens a good bit around here with all of the trees and the power lines above ground. We run through, "What if the power went out tonight?" scenarios a lot in our household. A power outage was a main topic of discussion tonight at dinner because Hayes spotted a flashlight sitting on the kitchen table (?). (The kids run around the house with them on all the time so someone must have put it there.) He said to me, "Mom, do you remember when the power went out?" I told him that yes, I do remember the power going out a bunch of times. He then responded, "We had to turn the flashlight on and look for glass." Hmmm . . . Not exactly what I was thinking . . . My mind was racing as I tried to figure out what he was talking about . . . Then I remembered! The last time the power went out, it lasted for about 10 hours. We lit a bunch of candles since the outage went well into the night. One of the votives that we lit ended up cracking and sort of popping all over the floor in the family room. It was not a good scene. Thomas and I tried to keep the kids and dog away from the area with shattered glass while we frantically searched for all of the pieces with the flashlight. Let me tell you, it was a lot of fun! All kidding aside, though, it is interesting how Hayes now associates flashlights and broken glass with power outages.

I've got to go potty!

Hayes is notorious for waiting until the very last minute to say, "I've got to go potty." With Hayes, this statement means that he really should have gone about 15 minutes ago and that he's about to go pee in his pants. He has a bad habit of saying this after I've loaded everybody up in the car, seatbelts buckled, like he did to me this morning. Since I've been burned in the past by thinking that I had a few minutes to spare, I now know that I HAVE to get him out and let him go potty ASAP. This is exactly what I did today. We had no time to go all the way upstairs, turn the alarm off, get to the bathroom, etc., because we had to get to school. Lucky for him, he's a boy so I took him to the edge of the garage, pulled his pants down, and let him go in the leaves. It was raining and cold, but he did his thing and we quickly got back in the car.

One of the drawbacks of letting Ben sleep on his belly . . .

At around six or seven weeks, we started letting Ben sleep on his tummy. He was so uncomfortable and had so much gas that we knew this was the only way he would get any sleep. He has been sleeping on his tummy quite successfully ever since! Flash forward to today, when he is nearly four-months-old . . . our problem now is that he does not know how to sleep on his back. In the middle of the night, he will somehow roll over onto his back and then start chatting away. Unfortunately for him and for us, he soon realizes that he can't sleep and eventually starts to fuss. One of us then goes upstairs to flip him over to his back and he falls asleep again. (We had to go up there 3 times two nights ago, though last night he did not need a visit from us.) Soon, we are going to have to let him cry it out so that he does learn (or remember!) how to sleep on his back or else he's going to have to figure out how to roll onto his belly. Who would have thought that this would have been a challenge we would face by letting him sleep on his tummy?! :-)

Party Crazy

Yesterday afternoon was spent going to birthday parties. I guess that happens when you have little ones! The party circuit started around 1:45pm and we finally made it home around 6pm. Eleanor and I began at Mackenzie Watson's sixth birthday party which was a cheerleading party. (We picked up Selle James, Martha Reavis and Margaret Evans and drove them to the party as well.) Then, we joined Thomas, Hayes and Ben at cousin Cate's 2nd birthday party at Imagym. Finally, we ended our run by walking over to the Djuric's rental house to sing Happy Birthday to Maddy. Luckily, Eleanor decided that 3 pieces of cake was 1 too many and only had a piece at her first two parties. At Maddy's house (her third party), she and Hayes played with their toys instead of eating cake and ice cream. We did get them to eat a few bites of their dinner (yummy flank steak) but not much! What an afternoon!

When will I be the Oldest?

Hayes asked me this morning, "Mom, will I be the oldest when I turn 4?" I had to break the news to him that this would not be the case. I said, "Hayes, unfortunately your sister will always be the oldest, no matter what your age." He immediately started crying and fell to the floor. I tried to make him feel better by telling him that he would always be older than Ben, but that did not seem to do the trick. I think his sister must have used the "because I'm the oldest" argument on him this morning, and that is why he had this response to my answer . . . he realized that she would always have a leg up on him!

First Taste of Coca-Cola

Eleanor always complains about how thirsty she is when she gets off the bus in the afternoons from school. I was worried that she would say the same thing as I picked her up early to go to the orthopedist yesterday. I looked around the car and all I had to offer her was some of my Coke Zero. Then, I thought about it for a minute . . . Eleanor had never tasted Coke! She lives in Atlanta, the hometown of Coca-Cola, and I had done too go a job of keeping the sugary soda away from her. I figured that now was as good as any to let her try it for the first time. After a few minutes in the car, I asked her if she wanted something to drink, specifically a taste of my Coke. She was not interested. I finally convinced her that it was a great opportunity for her to try something new. She had one taste and said, "Its not very good," and handed it right back to me. I was relieved that she did not love it, but a small part of me wanted her to at least like it on her first try. I'm sure, over the years, she'll develop a taste for it, but let the record show that her first impression was not positive.

Where To Keep Her Halloween Costume?

The kids' Halloween costumes arrived today in the mail. Eleanor is going to be Glinda, the good witch from the Wizard of Oz. Hayes is going dressed as a member of Lightning McQueen's pit crew from the Disney movie Cars. (Ben is going as a frog, using the costume Hayes wore when he was four-months-old.) They both immediately put the costumes on once we got the boxes opened, and then proceeded to wear them all afternoon. They were quite happy. Tonight, as we were getting ready for bed, Eleanor asked where she should keep her costume. I told her that, logically, I thought her costume should go in her costume drawer with all of her other costumes. She totally disagreed. She said, "Mom, if I put it there, I'm worried that I'm going to forget where it is." I reiterated that her costume drawer was the best place for her Halloween costume, and that I would remind her that it was there if she had trouble remembering!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Dance

One of Hayes's favorite shows is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. At the beginning and at the end of the show, all of the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto and Goofy) dance to the theme song. Each character has its own individual dancing style. Hayes loves to mimic Mickey and he shouts out to me what role I have to play. Some days its Minnie, others its Daisy and at times it has been Pluto or Goofy. Luckily, the dances are pretty easy to copy so I do my best! He gets a big kick out of his and my dancing.

Eleanor is starting to read . . .

Hayes and I had Eleanor read to us tonight. (She's learning and picking it up now that she seems to "get it". She also has to keep track of the books she's read for school and turn in a reading sheet once she's read 10.) She read one of those Level 1 reading books that was about Dora and her Papi. In the middle of the book, Hayes whispered in my ear,"She's really doing a great job." She was doing a great job and we are proud of the progress she's making. Soon, she'll be reading to Hayes each night!

Eleanor Breaks Her Arm!

I got a phone call from Morris Brandon today around noon. Nurse Nancy told me that Eleanor had fallen off the monkey bars on the little playground. She was not sure if E's arm was broken, but she wanted me to come see for myself. Ben and I trekked to Brandon. Eleanor seemed to be holding up ok. She was not crying (though she was reportedly crying pretty hard after the fall) and seemed pretty excited to see Ben. Nurse Nancy and I agreed that it was worth getting an x-ray since she could not raise her left arm. Thomas came home to cover Ben and pick Hayes up from school, and the girls headed to Scottish Rite. She was very nervous about going to the "children's hospital" but I promised her that she'd not get a shot and that they would just work hard to make her feel better.

Eleanor really was very brave. We had to wait a bit to get the x-ray and once we did that, they had to move her arm a good bit to take some good pictures. Once the x-rays were done, they gave her a ballon that said "You're #1". "What does that mean, Mom?" she asked. I told her that she was tops.

When we got the results, we learned that she had a small fracture of her left humerus bone. She would have to be casted and we'd have to go see an orthopedist in a week to determine the severity of the fracture. Eleanor was pretty excited about getting a cast and starting planning everywhere she could go to have her friends sign it. A few other kindergarten girls have broken their arms on monkey bars during this school year so she knows what to expect, for good or bad. She talked about how she wants to go to her soccer game tomorrow to cheer on her team and get her teammates to sign her cast. She also wants to go to the Tech game to see Wages, Anna and Granddaddy and have them sign too.

After waiting about three hours, we got casted in a red cast. (She picked red over pink, blue and one other color I can't remember.) The nurses commented on what a great patient she was. She really never cried the entire time but did ask that I hold her good hand while they took the x-rays. I was pretty proud of her today and how well she held up given her situation.

Below is a picture of Eleanor with her red cast. Margaret Evans came over right when we got home and gave E a care package. She had us all sign her cast and then hit the street and had Francie Tucker and Maddy Djuric sign as well. Her cast is already pretty full and she has not even gone to school. Monday should be an interesting day. What a day! I'm ready for bed. :-)

Watch You Go

Whenever Thomas or I leave the house, Eleanor and Hayes make a request. "We want to watch you go, " they say. Whether I am heading to the grocery store or we are venturing out to a black-tie function, the kids ask to do this. We always oblige. So, they shuffle their little feet out to either the front steps or the steps at the mudroom door and sit. Then, they watch us go and wave good-bye (see picture below). What a send-off!

Hayes's "I Love You"

Hayes is very good at saying "I Love You". Often, he'll just walk up to me and say, "I love you, Mom," and its just the sweetest thing. Other times, its very intentional as he says it if I'm mad at him or upset about something else. If I have to yell at him about something, he'll say, "I love you, Mom" first and then he'll add on an "I'm sorry, Mom" and then give me this totally sad look. . . I will say, though, that every time he says it, it reminds me of how much I love him too!

Walk to School Day

Today was Walk to School Day for Brandon. It is a big deal at Morris Brandon as the kids wear "Walk to School" t-shirts and each class makes a sign that is placed somewhere on one of the walk routes. Eleanor was not going to miss it. . . rain or shine. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It rained for the first time in over 25 days. The debate was which parent would walk with her. Thomas, being the nice husband that he is, agreed to walk with Eleanor in the rain while I stayed home and fed Ben. The big question was whether or not Hayes would go. In Hayes's mind, he was always going and if we had told him otherwise, we would have had a total meltdown. So. .. Thomas walked with both E and H in the rain with NO stroller. I think walking up to Brandon was not the problem (other than the fact that E had a breakdown when she realized she had forgotten her red folder which she has to bring to school every day). Walking home after dropping E off was another story as Hayes started to get very tired. (It is nearly a 2 mile walk round-trip.) Thomas ended up having to carry Hayes most of the way with an umbrella in the pouring rain. Needless to say, his one comment when he walked in the mudroom door was, "That was absolutely miserable." :-)

Isle of Palms/Wake Forest Weekend

This past weekend, we took our first real car trip with Ben. We loaded everyone up in the Sequoia and drove the 5-hour-drive to Isle of Palms to meet 8 other Wake Forest families. Ben did well on the drive there. He really did not cry and seemed quite content being able to look back at his big sister and brother in the back seat. He smiled and cooed at them much of the time. Eleanor and Hayes sat in the way back and watched movies. Eleanor sometimes even pulled out her Leapster when Hayes picked a movie she did not want to watch. (We have them wear headphones so that we do not have to hear their movies . . . we actually think that we can listen to our own music in the car!) On the drive, Ben started fading to sleep a few times and was actually successful about half those times at really sleeping. The other times, right when his eyes closed, Hayes, with his headphones on his ears and while watching a movie, would scream, "Mom, Dad, Ben's asleep!", startling Ben awake. We tried telling Hayes to be quiet, but he just does not get the fact that he's yelling when he has his headphones on.

The kids had a great time at the beach and meeting some of the Wake Forest crowd. We stayed in an amazing house on Ocean Blvd and had half the crew staying in the house right next door. We swam in the heated pool, waded through the tidal pools, ventured into the ocean (though it was cold) and watched the adult males play horseshoes most of the day on the beach. In the early mornings, E & H played the Wii game system that they found at the house. They especially enjoyed playing baseball and going bowling. I got a kick out of watching them.

Saturday night, Jenny Commins put together a Pirate and Princess scavenger hunt for the kids. She came up with clues and prizes for all. The kids got dressed up and had a ball. Below are some pictures of the gang . . . (Notice, Hayes did not want to be in the first picture and he had already taken off the costume(see blue costume below) that Jenny and Cameron Weber had offered him.)

All in all, it was a fun weekend and will most likely become an annual tradition.