january, start the year off fine....

Welcome to 2012!!!

My calendar towards the end of 2011 was so packed, and my calendar now is so empty, and I have to say... it feels really nice to have some down time! 

I have been awful with taking pictures lately-- just haven't thought about getting out the camera. But I have taken some with my iPhone, so I thought I would do one of those updates with iPhone pics, with commentary in between, just because, well, why not?

The bounce house that Cal received for Christmas has proven to be a huge hit.  It fits in our garage perfectly and that way, we can play without getting cold!

the garage looks horribly nasty in this pic... we cleaned it out like crazy this weekend.  Looks great now!

 Andy is 7 and a half months and I could just cry.  Where is my little baby??  The kids in his play group are all having their first birthday parties and soon we will be thinking about Andy's (I mean, not any time soon, but you know what I mean...). 

He started inching his way out of his whale of a tub so I decided to try giving him a bath in the big boy tub.  The first time, we did it without Cal, just in case Cal got excited and tried to drown him. 

Andy LOVED it!!!  He had the best time splashing around and playing in the water.  He also loved to chew on the little alphabet stick on letter things.  The kid is one happy baby... so much fun
 to be around.  He literally is always smiling!

Cal is a ton of fun right now too.  He is talking in complete sentences and cracking me up.  He is a handful when he's melting, but I am quickly learning ways to divert the meltdown into something else (this is not easy....).  

who me? melt down? you crazy, woman.

 The above picture was taken while I was sitting on the toilet.  Yes, that's right.  That's the kind of privacy I get 'round these parts.  Cal is interested in the potty again and I think we will start training in the next few months (Lord, help me.).  Every time I go in there, he comes running in and stands next to the potty to ask what I'm doing. (Cal: "mommy, you going potty right now?" me: "yes, mommy has to peepee." Cal: "you going peepee in the potty?" me: "yes, I am peepeeing in the potty" Cal: "well, yay, mommy! woohoo! great job! mommy go peepee! yay!") This conversation is repeated every time I pee when he's awake. 

Also, funny thing... like any other male, Cal thinks tooting is hilarious.  It cracks him up.  I have the maturity level of a 7th grader, and they also make me giggle.  Can't help it.  If Cal hears you toot, he announces it-- loudly.

When my in-laws were in town after Christmas, I was holding Cal and my stomach rumbled.  He shouted, "MOMMY TOOTED!!!!" At the top of his lungs.  The only one in the room was my father-in-law.  AWWWWKKKKKKWWWWWAAAAARRRRRRDDDDDDD. 

Cal is still obsessed with Hank and loves to talk to him.  He has also started wanting to sit as close as possible to anyone sitting on the floor.  He will sit basically on Andy's lap when he's sitting on the floor playing, and he was trying to sit on Hank's lap the other day:

bless this dog's heart... good boy

 Cal still loves going in to get Andy every day:

On New Year's Day, we were getting ready to put the kids to bed and we were sitting on the floor reading a book.  Next thing I knew, we were all laying on top of each other laughing.  I tried to get a family shot... it was one of those super cheesy moments that I kinda never want to forget. 

Cal has a little fireman's hat that has an adjustable piece on the inside.  He took that part of it out and wanted to just wear the plastic part.  The whole day.  Wouldn't take it off.

Again, Andy is seriously a happy baby.  This was him waking up from his morning nap... all smiles, all the time! Also, he looks like he has a cone head in this picture.  His hair is really starting to come in... on the top...

 In other BIG news around here, Andy is no longer in a baby carseat!  We have moved him to a big boy carseat... so when we go to the grocery store, the boys are able to sit next to each other.  That was interesting.  Cal wanted to show Andy the wheel and how it worked, but he didn't want Andy to touch his wheel... "just look, andy! just look!"

 (doesn't andy look huge in this picture??!!)

All of that shopping really took its toll on Andy.  He fell fast asleep in his new car seat... but there wasn't a good place to put his head...

ANNND, since he is such a big boy now, I gave him his first MumMum... they are like little waffer type things that a lot of my friends have given their kids.  Andy sort of played with it and wasn't a huge fan of the taste.  He ended up passing it down to Hank. Oh well!

seriously: HUGE hands... he's going to be a biggin

 Let's play a game.  Can you guess which one is TWO??

 The funny thing is, he was happy and laughing until I got out the camera.  The he said "I no want you to take picture! NO camera!" wellllll.... excuse me!

Andy didn't mind one bit!

The challenge lately is only having 2 arms.  Ever since our trip to California, Cal has been realllly clingy to me.  Not all the time, but if he knows I am about to go get Andy out of his crib, or I am going to feed Andy, Cal becomes extremely clingy. 
Also, Hank has become very clingy too.  Since we were home when the neighbor's house was broken into and Hank and I heard it, I honestly think it has put us all on edge a little bit.  Hank does not leave my side during the day...

Yesterday, Cal woke up first, so we were playing, and then Andy woke up, so I went in to get him.  Cal started screaming and trying to climb up my legs.  Hank freaked out for whatever reason and ran in between my legs (he likes to "buck" like a horse).  He is a BIG dog, so there isn't a whole lot of room when he is standing/jumping in between your legs...especially with a two year old climbing on your legs too!  So you see why I need more arms!  Then, I tried to nurse Andy with Cal trying to climb on my lap with Hank nudging my arm with his nose 700 times. 

This picture sums it up.... all three of my boys, right on top of me!!! hahaha  I do love it though....

Another bath... this time for both boys... they did really well together!

Andy couldn't believe what a great book he found in there....

 And this morning, Cal kept saying "brrr, Andy is soo cold!" and brought every single blanket (burp cloth, swaddle, lovie, etc etc) from the house to put on him.  Andy thought it was funny, so I didn't mind... but that's a pain to clean up!

Hope your 2012 is off to a great start!