Comfortable?

We have rooms full of comfortable furniture. The kids even got their own super cute little chairs for Christmas. And yet, this is how they chose to watch TV the other day.

It doesn't look comfortable to me, but they were quite pleased with their seating arrangement. They stayed there for the entire 22 minutes.

Memories

Muenster cheese. My favorite Greenday sweatshirt. George Clooney. Some things get better with age. My memory, however, is not one of those things. I tell my dear hubby that if he needs something from the store he MUST write it on the list posted on the fridge so I don’t forget anything. Then I go to the store and forget to take the list. Brilliant! I’ve been struggling with my own stupidity for a while now. (Remember the Lost Marbles post from 2009?) And while it is completely annoying to forget such simple things, it never truly upset me until the other day.


I was trying to change Lexi’s diaper and she kept grabbing it and giggling like crazy. I called her the Diaper Swiper. And then I remembered that for the first three months of his life we called Brayden the Diaper Sniper because no matter how fast you were, there was a 90% chance you would get hit with a substance you really didn’t want to get hit with while changing him. How could I forget something like that? Wasn't it bad enough that I left my cell phone outside on the one and only day it rained in September and lost all of the cute pictures on it? Guess not. Now I am forgetting things I never thought I would forget. I immediately wanted to take a trip down memory lane and remember all of the fun things that the twins did. But in all of the chaos of the last three years I still haven’t finished their baby books; I am only on month seven. That is when I freaked out. What kind of a mother was I? Why hadn’t I made that a priority? How am I ever going to be able to accurately preserve such precious memories? HOW??

After a few deep breaths and a little bit of chocolate, I calmed down. I realized that my blog has acted of a journal of some sort (albeit not the best or most consistent). So all was not completely lost. And then as I watched Lexi kiss her Dad for the very first time, I had a revelation. My one-year old somehow reminded me that it is good to preserve memories, but life shouldn’t be spent looking in the rear-view mirror. If we do we will miss the magical moments happening right in front of us. Life can be fleeting. We need to live in the now and soak up everything around us. All will not be forgotten. Somewhere, somehow, something will trigger our memories when we least expect it. And like George Clooney, they will be even better with age.

Little Miss Photogenic

Our first attempt to get birthday pictures of Alexis did not go so well. Last week I decided to give Kiddie Kandids one more try. Huge mistake. HUGE! The photographer got her own head in the picture not once, but twice! How is that even possible? After ten minutes I could tell we weren't going to get any good pictures so I left. Today we went somewhere else. The photographer there was much better and got some great shots of our photogenic one-year-old! Here are some of my faves:

Lexi's First Birthday!

I can't believe it! Alexis turned one on Wednesday. The year flew by! In many ways she already seems like a toddler. She runs and climbs, points and pretends, and also throws tantrums and cries. Our pediatrician describes her as "a skinny kid with a big head." True, yes. She only weighs 17 lbs. 9 oz., putting her in the 4^th percentile while her head is in the 88^th percentile. But I like to think her head is so big because she is so smart!

Anyway, we started the celebration early in the day with a trip to the Treehouse Museum. Andy entertained the kids with puppets, they rode horses and bulls, milked cows, sat in a teepee, drove a firetruck, and much more. Of course, Brayden wanted to play with the trains the entire time, but we dragged him to other activities.

After that we had pizza for lunch and headed home for naps so everyone would be well rested for the party that night.

THE INVITATION

 THE GUESTS

Top: Brian, Grandpa & Grandma Mildon, Grandma & Grandpa Rhodes
Bottom: Brayden, Jen, Alexis, Mom & Dad, Makenzie

THE PRESENTS
Everyone spoiled little Lexi. She got lots of fabulous presents: cute outfits, shoes, toys, toys and more toys!

The twins seemed to think it was their birthday because they kept trying to open her presents and would steal her new toys to play with them. I realize they were just excited, but they were driving Andy & I nuts!

THE CAKE

I made Lexi a butterfly cake and cupcakes adorned with flowers and little flutterbies.

While trying to get a picture of the birthday girl with her cake, she decided it was time to dig in!

So I cut her a piece immediately and she wasted no time eating every last crumb.

While the rest of us were enjoying our cake and ice cream, Makenzie asked me why we didn't sing Happy Birthday to Lexi. Crap! I can't believe I forgot to light the candle and sing before we cut the cake. Blunder number one. Oh well, I stuck the candle on a cupcake and we sang. Better late then never.

Lexi wasn't as fond of the cupcake, however, and basically just mashed it to pieces. She was quite proud of her accomplishment.

THE BALOONS
After everyone left, I untied the balloons and let the kids play with them. Brayden told me that this was his favorite part of the day. He also informed me that I needed to buy more balloons for his birthday in July. He wants 2 green, 2 white and 2 blue. I'm sure I will forget this long before July, so will someone please remind me?

THE NEXT DAY
There were a few presents that didn't arrive via the mail and UPS until the next day. This actually worked out quite nicely, however, because the twins were still asleep. Lexi had a lot of fun opening them all by herself and playing with them without anyone swiping them. Hooray!

THE OTHER BLUNDER
With Lexi's birthday following Christmas so closely, I really didn't know what to get her. I wasn't sure what others were going to give her and Andy & I were out of ideas.  I hemmed and I hawed and I waited too long. By the time we figured out that we wanted to give her this fun little doorway playhouse, all of the stores were out of stock. I found a bunch on the internet but even with expedited shipping there was no way it would arrive in time. So, Lexi still has one more present coming. Note to self: next year buy all her presents before Christmas. Sorry Lexi! I hope you don't need years of therapy to forgive me for screwing up your first birthday! :)

Something to Chew On

Lexi must be teething again. We have found her chewing on our wall a number of times recently. That's right. . .OUR WALL!

She stands on the stairs going to the basement and chews. She has gnawed through the paint and the plaster to expose the metal. (Don't worry, our paint isn't lead based and she didn't actually eat the paint. We found paint chips next to her on the stairs. I guess they don't taste so good.) We have tried giving her various teething toys, but she prefers this. I hope this phase is short lived! After all, she is a baby, NOT a dog!

2010 By the Numbers!

As we count down the hours until the New Year, I've been counting up some of the happenings of our family during 2010.

45

Consecutive minutes that I pushed Brayden on the swing one summer day.

2

Arms that were tired after that.

1.5 Million

Number of guests that visited Andy’s theater during 2010!

651

Movies released to theaters in 2010.

10

Number of those movies I watched in theaters in 2010.

2

Movies the twins saw in theaters this year.

39

Approximate number of miles we hiked with the kids this year.

12

Times I read In a People House to Makenzie in the same day.

4

Books that I read for my own pleasure during the year.

27

Average number of times we tell one kid or another “no” during any given day.

50

Percent of the time they actually heed the "no."

3

Number of NBA 3 pointers Andy made while playing basketball on the court at the ESA.

2

Pancakes swiped off our picnic table by this beautiful bird to feed her babies.

3

Kids who fit on my lap while eating breakfast.  

1

Amount of seconds it took us to fall in love with this girl!

Songs of the Day

I thought it would be fun choose a song to describe the lives of each member of our family at this moment in time. So here ‘ya go!


MAKENZIE
Hot and Cold by Katy Perry

Why? Makenzie has a little friend at My Gym named Caden. They always gravitate toward each other during free play and have a lot of fun together. One week, Caden decided to give Kenzie a goodbye hug. She refused to hug him back and screamed, “I don’t want to hug you!” I was a bit embarrassed. The next week when she saw him she excitedly yelled, “Mom, look, there’s Caden!” Then she ran up to him and gave him a HUGE hug. That same day when it was time to go, Caden tried to give her another hug and she turned her back and walked away. At the tender age of 3½ Makenzie has already learned to play the boys hot and cold!


BRAYDEN
Troublemaker by Weezer

Yes, I know we aren’t supposed to label our kids. I always tell Brayden that he is a good kid who sometimes makes bad choices and encourage him to make better choices. But while griping to my hubby in the privacy of my own home or to you on the oh-so-intimate internet, I’m allowed to call him a troublemaker. Right? It’s not enough that moves the stepstool over to pee in the tub instead of the toilet or bullies his twin sister. I am pretty sure that he also hid my wedding ring and lied about it. I searched for it for two entire days. Finally, I found it. . .IN THE HEATING VENT! At first I believed him when he said he didn’t hide it and thought Lexi had swiped it off the dresser and accidentally dropped it there. But a few days later, Makenzie came crying to me because Brayden had taken her tiny little Jessie doll from Toy Story and hidden it. . .IN THE HEATING VENT! Coincidence? I think not. Troublemaker? I think so.


ALEXIS
I Would Walk 500 Miles by The Proclaimers

This little girl is already on the move! She took her first steps on November 2 and hasn’t slowed down since! All she wants to do is walk. She almost runs to the door when she hears Andy come home. It is very cute!


MELINDA
Hum Hallelujah By Fall Out Boy

I chose this song for one specific line: The road outside my house is paved with good intentions. Hired a construction crew ‘cuz it’s hell on the engine. That pretty much sums up how I feel right now. I have so many projects that I have every intention of getting done, but something happens and I never have the time. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels and I’m exhausted. Of course, the fact that Lexi has been waking up anywhere from four to eight times a night for the past two months hasn’t helped my productivity. (The ear tubes only brought us two nights of sleep and then she was back to her old ways.) Which brings me to Andy’s choice for a song. . .


ANDY
Silent Night by Joseph Mohr and Franz Xavier Gruber

I’m almost afraid to type this for fear I might jinx it. But the last two nights Lexi finally slept for nine and eight hours straight, respectively. And a silent night is DEFINITELY a holy night. Andy (and everyone else in the house) is rejoicing in the fact that our holy infant is not waking up hourly, standing up in the crib, throwing her binky across the room and screaming at the top of her lungs. Here’s to hoping for ten hours tonight! Sleep in heavenly peace.


Now it’s your turn. I want to hear from EVERYONE! Which song describes your life right now?