This time I'm really stuck

Ok, I'll admit it. In my last post, Kaden wasn't really stuck. He eventually figured out how to duck his head under the crib bar and crawl out. However today, while grocery shopping, he really did get stuck. In the cart. You know where the two holes are for your legs to dangle out? Well, he somehow got one foot stuck into the tiny slot next to the big slot and let me tell you I couldn't get his little foot out. How he got it in there in the first place is a mystery. I twisted and pulled, slid his little leg up and down trying to get it out. Kaden didn't like it. He screamed. Great. Of course my first thoughts are that I need something slippery. Oil, butter. I presented my problem to the Wal-mart greeter and he suggested soap. Well duh! Why didn't I think of that? I wheeled my cart into the women's bathroom. I got several funny looks from people because you're not supposed to bring the cart into the restroom...of course I knew this and I asked first because I'm such a rule follower... But the soap did the trick. His footed slipped right out. Gee, what would I have done had it not come out? Would they have had to get bolt cutters and snap the bars? Not sure! But really, how often do babies get their legs stuck in the carts? Maybe I should file a complaint! :-)

Help

Help me Mommy. I'm stuck!

Yep, I lost Kaden there for a few minutes. I always check the bathroom first when it gets too quiet. I hadn't thought to look under the crib. I guess that'll get added to the list of places that Kaden likes to hide.

Pure Joy

Can I just express how much I love the internet. I was able to renew my car registration on-line! It was fabulous. I didn't have to make the 1/2 hour trip into Denton and I didn't have to bring along 4 cranky kids to wait in a long line just to pick up a stupid little sticker...Important little sticker. That sticker cost me 120 dollars a while back because I didn't have a current one. What? Little Mary breaking the law by not having her car registration up to date? Yes, unfortunately it's true. Long story short, I didn't realize it was over due...but the police man noticed. Since then, I've been very careful. Enough so that I'm (although a little grudgingly) willing to pay the registration for the measly two more months that we'll be here. Don't want to risk another run in with the law.

But all in all, I was able to pay for my little sticker in my PJ's and life is good! Pure Joy!

The Big 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

We made it past the terrible 2's! And onto the wretched 3's. Oh wait. There isn't such a thing! Good thing too because Abby's just a sweet little thing...most of the time. :-) She had a wonderful birthday. Complete with "brown cake" aka chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. (I wonder where is learned to like that kind of stuff), a plethora of presents, going out to eat and plenty of attention. I think she was in heaven.

Daddy got tuckered out during all the festivities. How is it even possible that he can sleep right there on that hard floor? Not sure, but he does it all the time.

Princess Abby

Abby sporting her new crown that she got. She has yet to put on her dress-up princess dress that we bought her. I thought that she would like that the best. That and the Barbie. She's not quite sure what to do with that either. Can you tell she's grown up with all boys. I guess I have my work cut out for me.

Some of Abby's favorite things:
*Playing "fighting" with the boys
*Watching Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go and (gulp) Sponge Bob Square Pants
*Coloring (walls and herself included)
*Singing and dancing
*Reading stories with Mom and reading stories to Kaden
*Eating chocolate. Hmmm.

Thanks for all the calls and gifts that made Abby's day so special.

I guess it's official

I guess we're getting the boot. The landlords came this morning and put a for sale sign up in the yard. Okay, that's really not how it played out. We planned on moving back to Idaho in early October so that Ryan could start his business, and we gave the landlords the heads up about it two days ago. Talking it over, they decided they would rather sell than have more renters (I don't blame them. It's crazy to have to worry about 2 houses) so they put out the sign. (They were nice enough to ask first.) Now, of course I'm freaking out because I'll have to keep the house clean for potential buyers. Isn't that a perk of renting...you don't have the hassle of keeping everything in tip-top shape? Sigh. I'll do it though because I really like our landlords. They are a great family.

So there is the scoop. Moving back to Idaho. I'm excited about that. A little nervous about a new business and horrified of the upcoming move. I'd done that too many times already. So, I'm off to scrub toilets, wash walls, and to find a home for clutter that hasn't had a home in the almost 2 years that we've been here. Oh, and I have to take care of 4 rowdy kids in the process. How do people do it??? Wish me luck.

PS-doesn't the lawn look nice? I mowed it yesterday in preparation for the sign. I'm such a good little renter!

It just takes a minute

How is it even possible that I leave the room for one minute and then this happens? A room can go from fairly clean and organized to an instant fort. Of course they wait until I'm gone because they know most likely I'm going to nix the couch being flipped over. Sigh


This is what happened when I took a phone call and left an open jar of baby food on the table. Abby jumped right in and started where I had left off. Lucky for me, the jar was mostly gone so she couldn't make a huge mess. (notice the missing bib? That could have been scary) It was cute and Kaden just laughed at her. I think that he enjoyed being fed by his big sister.

Sea World Here We Come

Ryan is such a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy. He makes a decision about something and then we do it. This year, he had been talking about going to Sea World and the beach. I didn't really think that it would happen. Just a whole lot of talk. But about 3 weeks ago, he let me know that he was going to book hotel rooms and the trip went from just talk to offically on. We were excited. The boys talked about it for days. I can handle a 5 hour car ride to San Antonio! This would be good! The kids were great on the drive there. Much better than our trip out to Utah last year. Love you Grandma and Grandpa but that 20 hour drive is a killer!

First things first. A trip down to the hotel swimming pool. Very important. The kids loved every second of it.

Kaden loved the baby pool because he could push on the bottom of the pool with his feet and would glide everywhere in his little ring. A few times he got going so fast that I thought he would tip out of his floaty!

Abby has decided that she likes her water wings and wouldn't share when the boys asked if they could use them.

The boys being boys. Ryan took them both out into the deeper part of the pool and was working with them on their swimming. They both are getting much better.

I loved this picture because Abby insisted on carrying her own backpack. It's huge and the straps hit the floor, but she carried it the whole way. I thought it was cute, all the kids in a row.

"Move over." "You're taking up too much space!" "Put your leg down, I can't see the TV."
All the phrases coming out of the kiddos mouth.


The next morning we headed out to Sea World.

We got to feed the dolphins and see all kinds of sharks, jelly fish and sting rays.


The highlight was the Shamu show. Pretty cool. We loved that. We got nice and wet. Which was needed because it was so blasted hot. Unfortunately, both Josh and I suffered from heat exhaustion and ended up spending the evening in the hotel room throwing up. Not fun.

The next day, feeling much better, we headed to Mustang Island right outside of Corpus Christi. We played on the beach and in the ocean. I've been to the beach before, but it was always cold. This was perfect. The water was warm, the beach wasn't rocky and the boys had a great time jumping the waves.

On our last morning in San Antonio, we headed to the Alamo. How could you go to San Antonio and not see the Alamo? I thought it was very interesting. The boys...not so much. It was hot and I think that they just wanted to go home. We've decided that if we ever do this again, we will go during like April. Needless to say we didn't wander the riverwalk like I wanted. But all in all, it was a fun trip. Fun memories. Glad that we got to go.