Finally, Updated Pictures!

Two adorable Carson images!

In addition to constantly wearing his goggles, Carson has a fascination with wearing my airplane sleep mask. It's almost always on his head and if he can't find it, "Mommy! Where's my mask??"

We drove down to visit Grandpa Rader in the hospital and Carson had it on in the car. Normally it's up on his forehead (or more recently, Uncle Ga taught him to wear it backwards like ski goggles). A lady at Arby's thought it was absolutely hilarious that he had it on while eating lunch and even commented, "Isn't that a sleep mask?" Fortunately she was a mother of two and understood completely.

The funniest part of the day came though on the way home. It was way past naptime and Carson was beyond exhausted. We pulled out our secret weapon (the binkie) and even that didn't work. So jokingly we told him to pull his eye mask down. Within two minutes, not a peep from the backseat. Sure enough, he had pulled his mask down and was out like a light!


Sometimes we don't listen to our gut, our instinct that screams, Just say no! My family invited me to the Home and Garden Show this weekend. Jeremy was out of town so against my better judgement, I agreed to go.

If you're wondering why I should've said no . . .

1) We weren't going to arrive to the show until 11:15- Carson naps at 12:30 and it's a 45 minute drive. That didn't allow much time to "shop".

2) Carson and I eat lunch at 11:30 - we were both starving and cranky.

And then we got there and 1. and 2. were only part of the larger disaster. Read on for more reasons why you should NEVER take a 2.5 year old to a large show.

3) I always see parents at the zoo who skipped the stroller and instead "drive" their children with the parent handle on the tricycle. It seemed like a great idea! Absolutely NOT a good idea.

First, he is so strong now that the parent handle was a complete joke. He counter-steered me at every straight away and corner.

4) It was beyond crowded! The parking lot of the expo center was completely full and shuttles were arriving every 3 minutes with more people. Picture an out of control tricycle in a mass of people.

5) My parents and Liza and Jeff were there to actually collect ideas and talk with company reps. That meant we didn't just cruise up and down every aisle collecting candy but instead stopped frequently. Not ideal for a 2.5 year old boy. And there wasn't a seat belt on the trike so he got off at every opportunity to run around.

6) At some point, the trike developed the LOUDEST, HIGHEST pitch Squeak (much more like a squeal). The cons, it was ear piercing, embarrassing, and people could hear us coming from about 30 feet away. The pro, people could hear us coming from about 30 feet away. We were no longer endangering tendons, knees, and toes with the trike. People actually cleared a path to let us through.

This is what they saw . . . . complete with Home Depot apron and Bob the Builder hat!

Cute and Funny . . . Not So Much

Parenting Error #247: What Seems Cute and Funny in the Heat of the Moment, really is just Inappropriate and Bites You in the Butt at all other Times!!

- Yesterday Carson woke up from his nap. I took off his diaper and asked him to put his underpants back on. He had no interest in the pair from before nap. Apparently only a new pair was acceptable. Unfortunately for him, I have no interest in doing any extra laundry so a new pair was not acceptable for me.

We butted heads for about two minutes. Following my parenting class lessions, I gave him two choices (both of which I would be happy with). The ultimatum (I mean choice), Old Underpants OR you FreeBall It.

I kind of said in passing. Didn't really think about the long term ramifications. Hence Error #247.

C: WHAT?

M: It's your choice (putting the power in his hands). No underpants, Freeball, or old underpants.

C: NO MOMMY! ME NO FREEBALL IT.

M: What is your choice?

C: No underpants.

Daddy comes home 4 hours later.

C: DADDY!! ME FREEBALL IT!!

Daddy NOT happy with Mommy. Mommy looking very sheepish. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The next morning.

M: Okay Carson, time to get dressed for school. Do you want camo underpants or Lightening McQueen underpants? (again with the choices, it's brilliant!)

C: No thank you Mommy. Me Freeball It.

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More Carsonisms:

***** I told Carson that I signed him up for swim lessons and he about burst with excitement in his carseat. First words out of his mouth, "Me growing up Mommy! Me getting big!"

***** While I am known for my ability to pee anywhere (oh yes, maybe you didn't know that about me, but it's true), I don't know what mothers of little girls do when their daughters have to pee at inconvenient times/locations. Carson learned early on to pee standing up and it is a BLESSING!! He gets quite a kick out of his ability when it allows him to pee on random things.

I rescued two dogs off the road a few months back. Poor Carson held his pee as long as he could but finally I let him cut loose in the dogs' owners' flower bed when it became apparent they were not home.

We got home late one night and he clearly had to go "bad". I pulled him out of his carseat and let him pee next to the dog. They both aimed for the grass but mostly hit the driveway.

Yesterday after two hours at the zoo, I was loading the boys into their carseats and Carson announced, "Me peepee!" Heading all the way back into the zoo was NOT an option so Carson dropped his drawers and happily whizzed on my tire.

***** Carson's Good Nite Lite (www.goodnitelite.com) is working wonderfully. I think I've posted about it before but his "alarm clock" is a giant sun. At 7 pm at night, it lights up as a blue moon, aka, time for Night-Night. At 6:45 am, it switches and glows as an orange sun. Carson knows he cannot get out of bed until the sun glows orange.

It has worked magically and we LOVE it! We've recommended it to everyone we know and they all love it too.

Usually, Carson yells out at 6:45, "Mommy! Me wake! Come get me!"

Wonderful. If I'm busy, he yells until I come in. Sometimes if I'm in the middle of breakfast or drying my hair, I'll open his door, say Good Morning, and let him come out on his own. He's really not a morning person and usually takes awhile to get out of bed anyway. He can be really GROUCHO if we try to rush him.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday he decided the Orange Sun means he can get out of bed and come on out, on his own. I keep trying to tell him that he has to wait for me. Not working. I'm not horribly upset about it though because he has been coming out in a fantastic mood!

"Mornin' Mommy! Me Wake!" is the first thing he says! Plus I don't feel guilty if I didn't hear him calling for me right away. Just another sign that he is growing up!

***** Carson is infatuated with his Daddy's scuba mask and intriguied with the fact that it allowed Daddy to see Nemo and Bruce the Shark (Google Disney's Nemo if you aren't following this) in Hawaii. He begged for his own mask.

I randomly passed kid sized goggles at Fred Meyer and couldn't leave without them. I had NO idea that goggles are as critical to getting dressed as underpants. They are on his head 24/7. They go to school. They take a bath. They go to bed.

And yesterday, they went to the zoo. He got more attention than the two headed snake! Every person who passed him had to oooh and aahh over the "adorable little boy with goggles on". Did I mention they're neon green?

***** I promise I'll take pictures soon. Clearly we've fallen off the wagon!

Toddler Practical Jokes

This week was the type of week where a Mommy (only a bad mommy) starts googling adoption agencies in hope that someone else might want a blonde, blue eyed DEVIL. Our sweet Carson was abducted and replaced with a lookalike that is a spawn from Satan himself.

It started on Sunday night when we awoke to a barking cough at midnight. That kicked off 48 hours of cartoon marathon to get through round 5 with croup. Thankfully I had a dose of steroids leftover from the last bout in September. I self-medicated him.

After two days straight of Dora, Mickey, and the Little Einsteins, I HAD to take him to school the next day or I might have been commited to an insane asylum.

We made it through Wednesday with a severe case of the bi-polars. Ranting, screaming, and raving one minute and laughing the next. Carson swung from high to low minute by minute. Hitting, kicking, and that's when the googling began.

Wednesday night I began spiraling downhill after catching Carson's cold. The TV came back on Thursday as I was too sick and tired to play. Now we are in serious TV addiction mode which brings out the devil even more.

Today, I dropped Carson off at school SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. Bloody-freakin-murder screaming. I told them to dope him up with baby Motrin and ran out the door. It couldn't even slam me in the butt on the way out because I was running so fast (wheezing and sneezing but running).

Then tonight when we picked him up from school, we had our first laugh all week. His teachers had done all the girls hair up in pigtails. Carson was the only boy but he was not immune. He had six perfect pigtails that were each an inch long. He LOVED it!

"Crazy hair, mommy!" One of his favorite books is called "Crazy Hair Day" and now he was living his dream!

Then tonight on the way home from dinner with friends, Carson pitifully whimpered from his car seat, "Help me mommy". It was dark. I couldn't really see what he needed help with.

"Help me mommy, me stuck." Again I searched the rear view mirror for what on earth he could be stuck in. He didn't have any toys. He didn't have any snacks.

But again, "Mommy, me stuck. Help me." Fortunately we were stopped at a red light, so Daddy and I both turned around to see what on earth could be happening.

HIS FINGER WAS STUCK IN HIS NOSE!!!

Was it really? No. But it was jammed up to the second knuckle and I swear he could have tickled his brain with another 1/8 inch.

And he really wanted us to help him pull out his finger. This apparently is a toddler's idea of a practical joke. We laughed for a good five minutes, which only encouraged him to do it over and over.

I guess we'll keep him after all.

I'll just file away the adoption agency forms for another bad week.

When in Rome

When attending a Super Bowl Party at a "princess's" home, one MUST be respectful and dress up in the princess's attire . . . . regardless if you are a truck lovin' little boy!

Snow White, the princess/hostesses, aka Eloise.
I don't know . . . Mom, does this look work for me? Does it make my gut look too big?

Well if Andrew is cool with wings, I can let it all hang out! Andrew, are we sure about this?
I am LOVING this harem gig! Check it out with my hula dance!

Yup! We're dude's in drag!
Boys, some day you will graduate to these special wings. You have much to learn.

Bursting with Pride- Mommy's Glowing

Carson had his first dentist appointment last week. I thought it went very well and thought it was because his dental hygenist is a personal friend of mine dating back to the late '80's. She is a super sweet, gentle person and Carson loved her!

Well, she just emailed me and I am bursting with pride. Have to share what she wrote:

Before I let any more time go by, I wanted to tell you how adorable Carson was at his dental appointment. He is a doll and that is truly rare for a 2 year old to let us look in the mouth on the first visit...let alone polish teeth. You are a great mom and you must have done all the 'right' things to prepare him for his visit.

Debbie, you're the best! You just made my day!!!!

More Maui Please

Trying to pick just a few favorite pics out of the 350 that we took was challenging! And we haven't even seen the hundreds of other pics taken by the Leo's and Hook's!

Maui was amazing! The kids had a fantastic time and played very well together. Nothing out of the ordinary for three two and a half year olds! Even the airplane ride was pretty uneventful, phew!

Our rooms were awesome! The main hang out area was a living room, kitchen and dining room. There was a bedroom on each side of that for the Leo's and the Hooks. We were just down the hall a little ways in our own bedroom but it had a washer/dryer and kitchenette! Talk about making it an easy vacation!

The weather cooperated pretty darn well considering it is "winter" in Hawaii ;-) Only one or two rain showers and two days of gale force winds.

I sprinkled a few videos in. I promise they are all very short and cute. Please turn up your volume to really enjoy them. The high pitched giggles and voices are worth it!

Before we even got on the plane, the boys discovered how to keep themselves entertained. I thought it was great! Daddy wasn't so sure.

First time in his own seat!

Daddy and Carson sharing a video! Mommy napping!

Check out our super cool rides and shades!

The boys "cheers-ing" before our first dinner in Maui

Watching the hula dancers
Eating lunch on the balcony after pool time
Playing a little ping pong!
Eating lunch by the pool

Upside down shades

Aren't I cute!

Daddy pic before the luau
Still young enough for matching outfits

My fair lady

Luau time yet?

Happy family!

This was absolutely hilarious! Eloise and her daddy went up on stage to learn how to hula during the luau. I didn't think Carson would be interested so he and I sat below the stage to take pictures. All of the sudden he snuck up on the stage front and center. He LOVES to be the center of attention, wonder where he got that from ;-)
No encouragement needed!

I heart Eloise!

Boys learning how to kill time in a hotel room!

Burning off energy before dinner - take 1

Burning off Engery before dinner - Take 2

Feeding the fish! You touch it! No, you touch it!

Hi ducky!

Another Woody!

So that's how you shell a coconut!

Pineapple Express train ride

Carson dancing at Cheeseburger in Paradise

Lunch on our last day!
Stop right there!

Making a Goldfish disappear at the Maui Aquarium Cafe

More pictures to follow from the other families in the next few weeks.

Christmas Catch Up

Just some random post Christmas pics!

Mommy & Carson goofing around in his new sleeping bag

Practicing for summer camping trips in his new sleeping bag
Mommy, the Craig's List addict, just happened to buy a HUGE box of track, trains, and more. Daddy cursed Mommy for at least 15 minutes as he tried to assemble Satan's spiral track without directions. Mommy googled "spiral track" and discovered that there isn't a SINGLE good review of this product. Everyone that purchased it, returned. Perhaps that's why she got such a GREAT deal on it on CL.
But isn't it beautiful!

From Wolf to Woof- The World Forestry Center

Today Nana, Poppa, Carson and I headed to the World Forestry Center to check out the Wolf to Woof display. We discovered they also had many other fun displays and activities!

We planted seedlings!

We drove a tree picker.
Poppa practiced being a smoke jumper! He made it 23 meters from the target!Nana practiced being a smoke jumper . . . she landed in the fire!We all rode the rapids!
Then we checked out the W2W display! We all took turns learning what a hyena hears!

Carson thought we were nuts!

But it didn't stop us!

Finally curiosity got the better of him!We rode on a dinner train!And, Carson drove Nana & Poppa on an African safari!

Last but not least, Carson drove the train. Not Thomas but his BIG brother!