Summer's here!

As Noah is growing like a weed, he's becoming a little easier to take out and about for the day!

I mustered up all my mom power and I ventured out with the boys to Naples for the Kids' Museum!  Connor had a blast!  Noah was a trooper & went where ever C did.  Although Noah was exposed to more germs that I'd like to believe, it was so worth it!

Connor would have made his Uncle & Papa proud.  He kept reeling in fish, then measuring them.  He stayed at this station for most of the afternoon, trying to catch the biggest fish.

He was cuter than anything, cheering with excitement every time his fish measured bigger than the last!

(If his fish were small, he'd say, "I caught you a cute one, Mom!")

Gosh, I love this boy.

If we weren't fishing, we were in the garden/grocery store station.  Connor loved sorting the produce and sending them on the conveyor belt over into the grocery store, while Noah enjoyed picking tomatoes (and trying to mouth all of them).

Once we (I) discovered that I could tackled the Kids' Museum with two kids alone, I knew anything was possible!  The next day we packed up and ventured out to Lakes Park.  Connor scootered and played pretend with his Star Wars figures on the playground, while Noah enjoyed the view of all the people passing by, the bucket swing, and the fountains.  We covered a lot of ground and it was hot, but we did it happily!

This would have been a great picture if I didn't chop C in half.  I think this was a combination of not being able to see my camera screen while looking with the sun's glare, as well as having to quickly scoop up Noah after he tried to gobble up all the fountain water all of a sudden. 

That night in the tub, we made a discovery!  Noah's 1st tooth!

Connor and I were cheering in the bathroom together!

Then yesterday, this little dude turned 8 months!  What a month it has been!

Crawling, pulling up, cruising, crazy hair growth, and a new tooth!

Anxious to see what the next month holds!

So as a quick catch up on my crazy busy life lately...
Tonight, I am counting down the hours, minutes, seconds, 1/2 seconds...until Connor comes home.
It's his first night sleeping at his Dad's and needless to say, I've been a little on edge all day.  As much as I wanted to crawl in bed, sleep the time away, and wake up knowing it's time to pick him up, I can't help but not be able to sleep at all (not to mention, Noah has helped keep me busy as he's already woken up twice and its not even 11pm).  I've spent the last few weeks, working in meetings with a "Parent Coordinator," my attorney, and busting my rump to get myself ridiculously organized for court round II.  The "Parent Coordinator" recommended I read the book, "Co-parenting with a Jerk."  Sounds about right.  I probably could have written it.  I've gotten a glimpse of the legal system and how it works when it comes to custody cases.  My Mama Bear claws have come out.  I will forever fight for what is best for my children, as I would expect any mother would do.  I'm trying to find a balance between soaking up all the beauty that is raising my boys, all while trying to prepare for battle.

To help me get through this first weekend of 'change,' Matt & I decided to plan a family trip to the Nickelodeon Hotel this week!  Connor's been asking to go for the longest time and we just so happened to get a great Groupon deal, so we decided to just do it!  Connor's been counting down the days until we leave (but little does he know, we are actually leaving a day early to stop at Legoland first).  I get SUCH joy out of surprising Connor!  I may very well need a vacation from this vacation when we're all done, but it'll be worth it!  I spent the day packing up our entire house to get ready to leave.  Literally, the entire house.  Noah has 4 bags, a pack 'n play, booster high chair, toy basket (to entertain in the car for the longest 3 hours of our lives) and stroller.  Not sure how we are going to fit it all in my car in the morning, but we will!

So I'm off to pray for the 1,693,835th time today and hope that 10am comes faster than it ever has before!

VPK Grad!

It was just yesterday my sweet boy needed this 8 month pregnant Mama to walk him into class each day.

The days flew by...

And now... just a few days shy of little bro turning 8 months old...big bro graduated Pre-K.

It's seriously unreal how fast it all goes by.  I shed some tears.  My heart ached at times, thinking of my baby quickly approaching elementary school.  But I tried to just embrace it.  His sweet little graduation day was one adorable production I will hopefully never forget.

Connor woke to a little graduation present from his littlest fan.

I spoke with Connor's teacher that morning & she noted that she had a little one that was too nervous for the front row, so even though Connor was the tallest in his class, she knew he'd perform so well front & center :).

And boy, did he ever.  He sang loud and proud.

This Mama loved every second of it.

Matt was supposed to fly in the night before to make it back in time for Connor's graduation (work trip to NY), but with cruddy weather in DC, his flight was delayed...and he missed Connor's show by about an hour :(.  We were so bummed!  Nana & Papa came to support our favorite 5 year old!  Noah enjoyed gnawing on Nana's necklace the majority of the show, while I manned the video camera & picture taking.  Thank Heavens for Nana.

We were SO very blessed to have Miss Earp for C's teacher. She was amazing & left big shoes to fill for C's future teachers.

Mrs. Nielsen, the assistant teacher, was a single mom that I bonded with from the beginning.  She referred to Connor as the Gentle Giant.  She raved about how well behaved and sweet Connor was in class.  I soaked up every bit of it :).

Connor received a special award for being compassionate.  Miss Earp noted that Connor was always the first to cheer someone up or offer to be one's friend.  

He has the sweetest little heart and I adore him so.

My freckled, buzz cut babe.

C's artwork was on display at graduation as well.

Here's C's paper mache version of himself.

Almost identical, don't you think?!

He has progressed so well in his writing and motor skills (coloring, cutting, etc).

It's been a big school year for my big boy!

These two.

Kindergarten, here we come!

Photo pile up!

I know I sound like a broken record on here...

"I have been so busy..."

"My photos are really starting to pile up..."

"I have limited time, so I'll let the photos tell the story..."

Yadda...Yadda...Yadda...

I'll try to get as many 'catch up' posts up tonight while I can & I'll do a Day in the Life of Megan Summary when I'm all done to explain why life's been so crazy lately.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the cuteness...

Big bro LOVES to hold his little bro all-day-every-day.

The session usually ends in Noah fussing, because big bro is squeezing his guts too hard, leaning too far back, or just plain smothering him.  It's all in the name of love though :)

We attended a graduation party at Shari's house for her twin girls last weekend.  I have two very cute water babies.  It's usually a toss up on whether Matt or myself have to put on a swimsuit & get in with the kids!  I won on this day :)

This precious little face is modeling his ridiculous hair growth that has occurred recently.  It's the softest, auburn, baby bird fuzz you ever did see.  I've had fun moussing it up lately to help embrace his natural finger-in-the-light-socket look.

This day was an official Mom victory!  Two boys.  5 year age difference.  Both happily playing in the water table.  Mom got to sit and watch in the shade.  

Big bro played super hero pretend.  Little bro splashed and tried to eat every toy that went floating by.  I enjoyed the view.

Noah found a new love.  A furry new love.  He could not get enough of Bobo while he was visiting here.  Ever since, he stares at any dog we pass in the neighborhood & flails his little limbs in excitement.

He loves dogs just like his Mama.

I convinced Connor that if we took Noah up to the kiddie fountains, he'd play, get reallllly sleepy, and nap a long time, so we could have some one-on-one play time while Noah slept.  Plan worked beautifully.

Another win for Mom.

Since C's home from school now (see VPK graduation post soon), I've been trying to mix up our afternoons to get out of the house & keep both kids entertained.  On this day, we ventured to the library to check out every Star Wars book in stock, followed by lunch in the trunk at the park.

Despite Noah's thrilled face, both kids were content :)

The Noah Monster has been working on his standing skills lately.  I think he's enjoying the view atop his pudgy legs.

Parent pick up line at school is always a wild card with my napping boy in the backseat.  If all the stars align, Noah falls asleep for his late morning nap on the way to C's school for pickup time.  The 1/2 hour drive there is so very peaceful when he's snoozing (instead of screaming) in the car.  It's all great until we get to the parent pick up line and the car stops.  We're blocked in with a car in front and a car behind in line.  The lack of motion has a tendency to wake the beast.  Waking the beast results in a tired cry...all while we're still blocked in by the cars in line.  So after the entire school year...this Mama wised up.

The parent pick up line became Noah's favorite part of the day.  It's amazing how happy the little Booger is when he's out of his car seat and freely roaming the car.

More to come... :)

Mother's Day 2014

This Mother's Day, C came home from school with a cake he decorated for me all by himself.  He knows how much I love cake, so he couldn't wait to show me! :)  He was concerned that one of his purple flowers was out of place, that a few sprinkles landed on an area he didn't want them to, and that his "r" in his name was too high, but I reassured him that it was perfect.

I know Mother's Day is supposed to be a day of relaxation, but let's be honest...A Mom never gets a day off.  I still did a lot of dressing others, organizing and packing for our day at the beach, sunscreening tiny limbs, nursing on demand, a few loads of laundry, and some pretend play, but, hey, no one else can do it quite like Mom can.

We had lunch at a hotel on the beach, followed by cousin play time on the beach and in the hotel pool.  My boys were happy, therefore, I was happy. :)

These little guys are the reason I can celebrate Mother's Day.  I will be forever grateful that they are mine.

Happy Mother's Day, especially to my Mom!

Behind every good kid is a great Mom! :)

Lots of New!

Saturday, I woke up excited!  We had lots of new things to look forward to!  First stop-- flag football!

My sweet, sweet boy was so excited to know I was there to watch him play (with Matt & 'Noah Monster').  He kept seeking me out on the sidelines. I will forever be his biggest cheerleader! He looked so grown up, yet so little all at the same time.  This week, he got to be quarterback.  He rocked it!

The first half is practice, where the boys work on throwing, catching, running with the ball, and trying to pull their opponent's flags.

While Connor was the same size as the other boys on his team and opposing team, he was a year or two younger than them.  He did great keeping up with the older kids.

The big man on the field.

He was so focused and I couldn't help, but take 1,000,000 pictures of him.

As long as there are flags, I'm okay.  I'm pretty sure I could not handle him playing a full impact, injury-prone sport.

After football, Matt & I headed home to work on Connor's big surprise!  For the last few weeks, I've been ordering items and anxiously awaiting everything to come in the mail, so I could complete Connor's new room mission!  With Connor gone for the afternoon, I was dying to get everything changed before he got back home!  I took a shot of the "Before" room.

My goal was to make it the coolest room in the eyes of soon-to-be kindergartener.  I also wanted it to still feel like his room, so I took a lot of existing items and just altered their color/lampshade/etc to get it to coordinate with the new theme.  It was a toss up between super heroes or Star Wars.  C's been very into Star Wars, so I opted to take that route.  I tried to make it super exciting for C, yet non-tacky for me!  It was really fun to put it all together!  

When C got home, Matt & I planned to keep C entertained downstairs, so he wouldn't see his room until bedtime.  At bedtime, Matt snuck upstairs and began playing the Darth Vader theme song from C's room.  As Connor, Noah, and I came upstairs, Connor heard the music, followed by seeing all his Star Wars figures lined up on the stair railing.  At the top of the stairs, a Darth Vader blanket hanging in his doorway caught his eye.   

Once he got a peek of his new room, he exclaimed, "You're the bestest persons EVER!"

{I'm pretty sure he loved it!}

Tacky characters or not, I would do anything for this face!

My little "Master Connor Jedi Knight!"

Random joys

Here's some recent randomness for your viewing pleasure!

Occasionally, if the stars align just right, our neighbors are out at the same time we are, the kids all want to play, and we can socialize in the driveway for the evening.  Everybody wins.  Sometimes the girls drive Connor crazy though, since he's so anti-dolls-dress up-purses-frillies-and-high-pitched squealing.  I was able to put Noah to bed, sit in the garage with the monitor, and watch the kids scooter, chalk doodle, and play in the rain.  It was as close to complete relaxation as I could get. 

Then there's this guy.  He turned 7 months and WHAM! Within 2 days, he was crawling, sitting up on his own, and pulling up on everything.  Matt loves to see Noah hit all these milestones. I, on the other hand, find it to be very bittersweet.  My baby is growing ridiculously fast.  While I'm very happy to see him thriving each day, I keep seeing images like him pulling up in his crib at night & screaming because he doesn't know how to get down, holding him while he's reaching for the ground & fussing until he can get down, head bumps and tears, and no more leaving him knowing he'll stay in one spot.  So far, his biggest crawling motivation is anything that belongs to Connor, remotes, cords, and basically anything he shouldn't have.  Getting a gate for the stairs is on my current to-do list.  Here's trouble, himself.

His mouth is always open!  Favorite toy--a toothbrush.

This past week, our dear, dear, friends, Danielle Lutz & the boys were in town from Pennsylvania!  We were happy to coordinate some free time to get together & let the kids play.

It's strange to me that Landon is no longer "Baby Landon" and Noah is the tiny one.  The boys enjoyed some kiddie pool/fountain time (with a minor hiccup of Connor running head first into one of the fountain poles).  After some hugs and tears, Connor recovered & was back to playing!  All boys were wiped out by the end of our play date, which is always a bonus!  We are so blessed to know the Lutz (and Winter) family!  Can't wait until they come to town again!  

Noah's developing one funny little personality.  He's started with this funny face and silent laugh (when he plays with a particular Elmo toy).  Fun is only beginning with this one.

Since Noah is working on perfecting his pulling up skills day AND all night, we've been up a lot lately.  If I know he's fed, changed, not sick, or teething, I will let him cry and settle to sleep (although I hate it).  Now a days, if he wakes, he will automatically sit up and stand.  He'll just stand, not knowing how to get down, and cry this sad, exhausted cry at the end of his crib by the door...as if he's just waiting for me to come rescue him.  If I leave him be, 9 times out of 10, he'll try to get down from standing, and conk his head on the side of his crib.  My nights are a lot of up and downs to nurse and comfort Noah lately.  The whole house may wake up blurry eyed, but when I wake up to this image on the monitor, it makes everything all better!

And to close this post, here's my little Clark Kent with his new straw goggles at supper.  Is he not so hilarious?!?! :)