Happy Birthday Oliver!

the begining of messy winter activities...

getting coal this year...

i don't care how cute he is, stinkin' ol is only getting coal under the tree this year. beating his brother 2-0, oliver landed us in the ER again sunday night. we were at a friend's birthday party sunday afternoon, la-di-da, eating cookies, playing... when suddenly i notice oliver's lips looking a bit more angelina jolie than normal. i thought maybe he got bonked at first but little by little they started getting more and more puffy and it seems to me that he's having an allergic reaction. i check out the cookie he's been eating- NUTS! DAMN! i totally didn't notice and thought it was just chocolate chip. ack. we call the hospital to see if they think we should bring him in- he isn't breathing weird but he now has puffy lips and a rash on his face from where he touched it (with his hands that probably had nut oils on them). they say because he's so young, yadda yadda, i should bring him in. swing by to pick up mimi- he looks a lot like a puffer fish at this point- and head to condell ER. his lips already look a little better by the time we get there. they check us out almost immediately to make sure he's breathing fine (he is) so then they proceed to make us wait for an eternity. i tried to get them to let us leave after having about all we could take (it was a bit hellish at this point with jack running around like a wild banchee and oliver is obviously fine) but they insist the doctor really wants to see him. so... we hang out, they check him out, he is indeed fine. they say although it was a fairly mild reaction it could definitely be worse next time. hopefully there won't be a "next time" though as i will be paying MUCH closer attention!

please keep all nuts away from the vdm household! thanks for your cooperation. :)

The big boy.

jack has once again showed me the importance of waiting until a kid is ready to do something, rather than following some arbitrary time line. following the success of the binky cessation and potty training, i put the ball in jack's court and told him to let me know when he was ready to sleep in a big boy bed. i thought it would be a while because jack was quite content with his crib but he told me yesterday that he was ready. seeing as it was about an hour before nap time and i wasn't ready for a struggle, i suggested we wait until later on to set it up. no go. he was adamant, he wanted to nap in a big boy bed. ok, well, daddy happened to be home and didn't mind setting it up, so up it went. i thought for sure nap time would be a hellish nightmare. nope, he stayed put and even napped for a little while (something he doesn't do with much regularity any more). i thought for sure bed time would be when the struggle would begin... nope. climbed in, stayed in, went to sleep. hmmm.... i thought FOR SURE jack would be at my bedside at 5 AM, even though i told him that big boys have to stay in their beds until their moms come to get them in the morning. nope. at 7:30 (regular time) i woke to jack talking in his bed, where he stayed until i got him at 8.

my boy amazes me yet again...

now, if he could just wrap his mind around being ready to share and be nice to his little brother, THEN we would be in business!

My child is strange....

Since the very beginning Jack has been on his own schedule. At 8 months he decided that he no longer cared for breastfeeding and he stopped doing it (for those who say babies don't wean themselves this young, meet my son Jack). At one year he decided he no longer will drink from a bottle or drink the formula that he had been drinking contentedly for months. At 2.5 I started asking him if he was ready to be a big boy and get rid of his binky (which he LOVED and used at nap/bedtimes since he started teething!). After only about a week he decided that my idea would be an okay one and that trains seemed like a good trade.

Well, 3 days ago, the biggest loop yet was thrown at me. A good loop, but a loop nonetheless. Jack told me he was ready to start wearing his Thomas the tank engine underwear that have just been sitting in his closet gathering dust the last few months. Ummm, really, Jack? So, you're going to pee AND poo in the potty. "YEP." And that was that. 3 days and ONE accident later, Jack is potty trained. He's just the kind of guy who decides when he's ready to do something and then he does it.

Halloween!

surprise, surprise, jack went as thomas the tank engine... oliver re-used jack's halloween costume from when he was one which is a bat? liberaci? batman? we're not sure... it was $5 at kmart the day of halloween 10/31/06.

october is nuts...

i'm so behind in my reporting, i just don't even know where to start... october has consisted of my birthday, jack's THIRD birthday (and the 2 parties that went with it), oliver walking, trip to Oma and Opa's, trip to Prescott, photo shoots, playdates and today, HALLOWEEN. is it any wonder that i'm behind? well, perhaps november will bring some calm and i can actually catch up, until then, a pic of jack to hold you over...

mini- scott

jack has been imitating/repeating a lot lately (dangerous territory... i really need to watch what i say these days! "no jacky, i didn't say that i HATE the dog, please don't use that word"... oops).
he likes to imitate daddy most of all. like tonight after dinner he sighed heavily and said,
"i GOTTA go for a run tomorrow morning."
it's the best when he gets it just slightly off, like today...
"i gotta go to the dentist, my back is hurting". :)

love this kid...

can you believe this is the same guy??

Oliver, 9 month old heart breaker...

uh-oh, somebody is VERY interested in walking...

my jacky is so handsome...

too bad he doesn't want his photo taken anymore...

congratulations giselle and ed!

my best friend from high school was married on august 22nd. she looked stunning, as usual... and ed didn't look so bad himself. everyone made it through the catholic ceremony in one piece (it was quite hot in the chapel) and the reception was beautifully done and so much fun. here are some photos...

jack and BFF aiden throughout the years...

july 2006...

oct 2006...

july 2007...
oct 2007...august 2008...