Snuggle Buddies

The boys have pretty much always shared a room. Porter slept with us, for the most part, until he went into a big boy bed at 13 months. Porter and Paxton have always had their own beds, but rarely have slept apart. Neither of them have ever slept with a teddy bear or anything because they have always had a real life bed buddy. They snuggle. It's precious.

Porter's bed had NEVER been slept in since we moved into our new house in April. One night Porter was sick so I made him sleep in his own bed. Paxton could hardly stand it. I went in to check on them and found Paxton like this...

He just couldn't stand to sleep by himself! No doubt, Charlotte will be right in there soon enough!

Nicknames

The boys shorten EVERYONE'S names. When I was pregnant with Charlotte and Scott and I had settled on this beautiful name for our sweet baby girl, that was the one thing I was afraid of. I didn't really care for the nickname Char, and I just KNEW that the boys would start calling her this. We went with it anyway figuring if we didn't call her Char then neither would anyone else, including the boys. Wrong. We thought we might have dodged this bullet until Charlotte was about 6 months old and she started crawling and messing up all of Porter's toys. This started the, "NO NO CHAR!!!" Now, of course, we think it is adorable!

Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad) evolved to Mema and Papas which was shortened even more into Meems and Pops.

Noni (Scott's mom) has become Nons.

Sissy (my sister) has been shortened to Sis.

Porter has called Paxton Bubba since he could talk. This has turned into Bubs.

You get the gist. Everyone gets a nickname. So when we were at the park the other night and Paxton jumped up on the turtle that rocks back and forth and yelled, "Giddy Up TURD!" I hate to say it didn't surprise me!

Meet the teacher, Transition Day, and First day of school

School. I don't even know where to start. I loved school when I was a kid. I loved everything about it. I loved my teachers, friends, learning, recess, new school clothes, school supplies, all of it. With that being said, you would think I would be more excited for Paxton to go to school than I was. Honestly, I have been looking forward to and dreading this moment his entire life.

I tried to put him in Mother's Day Out when he was almost 1. That lasted about 2 months. I would go to pick him up and he would be crawling around in a circle with tears in his eyes, and that was the end of it. Ever since then I have been saying I was going to put him in MDO or some sort of "school" EVERY SINGLE SEASON. Never did. So here we are, almost 4 year later, going to school for the first time.

We had the "orientation/meet the teacher" on Tuesday. This was kind of like a cattle call. There were about 800 million people standing in line in a HOT cafeteria to get paper work and turn in paper work and get school supplies and get bus numbers. I didn't know what to expect considering I have never done this before, but I was not expecting this.

Then we got to go and meet the teacher! Paxton was so sweet and adorable and excited. He just helped himself to look around the room and make himself at home. His teacher is so sweet and kind. I know he is going to love her. At this point I was starting to get excited for him.

Thursday he had a "transition day." I don't know if the transition day is more for the kid or the mom! I took him to his classroom and dropped him off for an hour. He went right in and was perfectly fine. I left the classroom and sobbed all the way to the nurses office. Of course I made myself get it together before I went in to talk to the nurse about all of his meds. I'm not even going to go into that since it is a whole long story in itself, but I started sobbing in there too. Crying is just what I do. It's not that I am sad what so ever. I am so excited for him, and for Porter to get to be the big boy for a few hours a day, but I am just learning to let go. So when I am scared I cry. And when I am happy I cry. Also when I am nervous, or excited, or hot, or tired, or sick, you get the picture. No, seriously, I am a crier. And that too is another blog post all of it's own.

Monday was the first official day of school and he had a BLAST!!! Like I knew he would. I am learning the ropes of the drop off and the pick up and all of that stuff, but Paxton, he is an old pro. And it is so adorable to see him sitting with his class on the curb when I come to get him. He has a blast, but don't be fooled. When he sees my car pull up after school his face lights up like the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center!

This is the beginning and the end. The beginning of something so awesome and life changing for Paxton. Learning, new friends, independence, growing up. The end of coming and going as we please, staying in our jammies all day if we want to, spending all day together doing whatever we want. I am so excited for this new chapter in all of our lives. I just am so thankful and amazed of the gift that is my most precious oldest child. He is so good at teaching me how to be a mom. His younger brother and sister are so lucky to have him go before them. He is amazing.

Hey Handsome

We went to Gap Kids tonight to get Pax a few new school clothes. Unfortunately, the boys think that this is a really fun thing to do because they have bouncy balls in the Baby Gap section. They throw the balls up in the air and act like wild banchees, and I just let then while I shop and act like they are someone else's kids.

Tonight they roped another little kid, named Handsome apparently, into the game of basketball they were playing. Handsome's mother wasn't too fond of his participation in the game so she yells out in a rather stern voice, "Hey, Handsome!!! GET OVER HERE!" And Porter in his most stern voice yells back, "OOOKKKKK!"

I seriously lost it! I mean he is a very handsome kid! You can't blame him for the confusion!

Who doesn't like pie?

Dinner is a source of conflict at my house. Because of Paxton's allergies it is a little more complicated to come up with favorable meal ideas than the run of the mill dinner choices. Being allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts eliminates most child favorites, ie., mac and cheese, lasagna, grilled cheese, quesadillas, pb&j, etc, etc, etc. And I am not going to lie, Pax gets really scared to try new things because he is afraid he is going to eat something that is going to make himself sick.

My parents are awesome cooks. They cooked really yummy, healthy food every night of my life. We NEVER ate fast food, we rarely went to a restaurant, I mean I barely even remember ordering pizza very often. As a result I will eat pretty much anything. I didn't eat meat for a long time, but that is for completely different reasons. I really do like pretty much everything. I remember for my 8th birthday dinner I chose to have a shrimp boil. I wanted to have peal and eat shrimp, corn on the cob, and potatoes, and I wanted to eat it on newspaper spread out on the kitchen table. And I remember my sister telling me how weird it was for an 8 year old to choose this as their birthday dinner. Most 8 year olds choose pizza and I chose shrimp. I have always been thankful for my taste for food, and I vowed to do the same for my children. I always said I was going to cook healthy, yummy food and if they didn't want to eat it then they wouldn't eat. Then I had a kid with severe food allergies. Game changer.

Because we have told Paxton pretty much every time he eats that he has to be careful not to put any food in his mouth without asking us first if it is safe, he is a little afraid to try new things. So when I did go through my "they will eat it and they will like it" phase about a year and a half ago (for a total of about 3 days and then I couldn't do it anymore), we had massive meltdown after massive meltdown. And I didn't make strange stuff that no one would want to eat. I don't remember exactly what I made every night, but I do remember making chicken pot pie. I figured the kids would love it. What kid doesn't like pie? Even if it does have vegetables in it. Paxton. That's who. Pax would eat a turkey sandwich and raw carrots and fruit for every meal if I would let him. When I make things like pasta with steak and chimichurri sauce he really isn't that interested, but I can kind of expect that.

They all love treats, of course. I am pretty sure Charlotte's first word was popsicle. Well maybe her 3rd, but that is no joke. If you even mention the word cake they all start to salivate. One day my mom made a peach pie and was telling the boys they could have some after dinner. They were running around the house chanting about peach pie. Then they took a bite. Not a big hit. Never had pie since. So today when my mom was telling Paxton about a strawberry pie my dad had made that he could eat she said, "Pops made a yummy strawberry pie, but I don't think you like pie." Paxton returns, "Oh yes I do like pie! I know I do. I know what pie I don't like though. Chicken pot pie!" That dang chicken pot pie I made 2 years ago that I told him he would eat or starve is STILL haunting him! He is going to grow up and hate chicken pot pie and not know why. It's all my fault.

My saving grace with dinner is Porter and Charlotte. I mean Charlotte is like a little goat. She will eat anything. Tonight I caught her with a mouth full of mulch. So maybe one of these days Pax will come around. But I can safely say I won't be making chicken pot pie ever again!

Curly

Meet Curly....

We got Curly yesterday when Aunt Karla and Uncle Dale gave the kids a present they picked up from Cracker Barrel. So to answer the question...No Curly is not real, but somehow she flutters around in that jar when you tap the lid. It's magic I tell ya. Karla came over at about 5 pm with this present. At 5:01 Paxton had named her "Curly." Seems like a fitting name for a butterfly, right?!?! Oh, and yes Curly is a girl in case you were wondering.

Paxton carried Curly around the rest of the day. When he was laying down to go to sleep he set Curly on the night stand and asked Scott if he thought Curly was afraid of the dark. Just in case he moved her closer to the night light. He also informed me that Curly would be wanting honey for breakfast. I though this would be the end of the novelty that came along with Curly.

This morning Paxton and Scott were up before the rest of us. When I went into the boys room I noticed Curly was not on the nightstand anymore. I went downstairs and found Paxton and Curly eating breakfast together.

Then Curly played in the playroom with us...

And ate lunch at Hideaway with us...

And went to the doctor with us (please notice Curly sitting on the counter directly behind Paxton's back).

Altogether Curly had a pretty eventful day. And here is how the exchange goes when people notice Paxton is carrying around a rather large Mason jar...

Person: What you got in that jar.

Paxton: It's Curly.

Person taking a closer look: Oh it's a butterfly.

Paxton: It's not just any butterfly, it's a monarch butterfly. And her name is Curly.

Person looking at me with a questioning look of "is that thing real?"

Me: Shaking me head no.

Person: Well that sure is a nice butterfly.

Paxton: I know!

This exact same conversation took place more than once today. Word for word.

I wonder how long Curly is going to tag along with us. Porter went to grab the jar to take a look at it and I found myself about to have a panic attack thinking he was going to drop it and break it. We've become pretty attached to Curly in the past 24 hours. I will have to say she is the best pet we have ever had!

Big Boy Haircuts

We have a love/hate relationship with haircuts over here. The boys always want a haircut on the days their daddy gets a haircut. I always say no at first because I hate cutting off the white blonde goldie locks that becomes their hair when it gets longer. But if they really want to wear their hair short like their daddy, who am I to tell them no. (I really think it is so adorable that they admire Scott so much!)

So they want a haircut until I start in with the clippers. Then the wiggling and complaining and spitting (due to the hair in the mouth) begins. Neither one of the boys will wear a cape (don't ask me why) so the hair gets all over them which drives them crazy. I don't blame them, but once I start I have to finish. I always look at the blonde hair on the ground and get a little choked up. But they really do look adorable with their big boy haircuts!

Be still my heart! I can't get enough of that adorable face!
My big boy! Paxton really does well with the haircut now. He is just getting so big I can't even believe it.

Having a midnight snack (at 9:30, which is pretty much like midnight for them)! Right before I took this picture Porter was sitting in a chair and Paxton was sitting on the bench at the kitchen table. Porter moved over to the bench and said, "I want to sit by Bubba because he is my best friend." Seriously?!?! Sweetest thing EVER!

*On a side note, Charlotte is rocking the baby mullet. She has these adorable curls in the back and hardly any hair on the top or the sides. Business in the front, party in the back! If she would ever stop moving for a minute I could get a picture of it! :)*

Eating Out

We eat out a lot. Too much to be honest. Really, I don't like restaurant food all that much. I NEVER ate out growing up. My mom and dad are both awesome cooks so we never went out to eat. My dad would always say, "Why would I go somewhere and pay too much for food that I can make much better myself." And he was completely right.

I like to cook, but now we go out to eat just for something to do. It is hard for us to go out with Paxton's allergies. When we find somewhere we can eat we go there over and over until we get completely burned out on it. It's nice to get out and do something together as a family or with friends, but I'm not going to lie it is always a mess. Don't get me wrong the kids are pretty well behaved for the most part. We go out so much that they know how to act in a restaurant...most of the time.

Porter has been known to turn his silverware in to drumsticks and his plate into a drum from time to time.
Charlotte wanted to pick up the check on this one.

Having breakfast with daddy is always a treat!

Lunch date with Sammy,

and Jenn and Corbin and Carson,

and Jillian and Harrison!!!

Now here is where the mess comes in.

And here. (Yes that is Charlotte's shoe on the ground).

And here!
SIT DOWN ONE SHOE CHARLOTTE!!!!!!! SIT DOWN!!!!!!!!

Don't worry, we always leave an AWESOME tip!!

Summer Fun

It's the hottest summer EVER! Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating. Trying to find something to do with 3 kids that need to burn off energy is a bit tricky when it is 115 degrees outside. If it doesn't involve water or air conditioning I refuse to do it. I'm fun, but not insane. So this is what we do...

We had a "stay-cation" at the Hampton Inn in downtown OKC. They have a killer indoor pool with a slide and other fun splashers. This is a BLAST for the boys!

We swim at Aunt Karla's house just about every day. Yes, I make Charlotte wear that life jacket all the time. Even in a baby pool. I would make her wear it in the bath tub if I thought I could get her body clean enough around it. I'm a little paranoid with my kids around water. :) And Charlotte will just jump in the pool whenever she feels like it. She's kind of a dare devil like that!

This was fun at the mall. Until I had to take Charlotte out of that truck. Then I am pretty sure you could have heard her screaming at the Mall of America she was so mad at me.


There is a splash pad on every corner in Tulsa. Well, maybe not every corner, but there really are a lot of splash pads here.

This was an impromptu trip to the splash pad so my kids were the ghetto ones playing in their clothes. All the other, more prepared moms, had their kids in swimsuits and swim shoes.

And they might have had to ride home completely in the nude and soaking wet. And I might have just thrown their tee shirts over their nudie buns so the people in the cars next to us on our drive home didn't get an eye full. Maybe...


I got lucky this day! Bribing Charlotte with food actually worked. I didn't have to chase her around so the boys got to play a little bit longer! Because, let's be honest, whenever mommy starts to break a nasty sweat, the fun must come to an end.

It's hot, but I would take this over a blizzard any day!