the day at the dentist

Today The Mayor and Love Bug had a dentist appointment.  Today was also Love Bug's first dentist appointment...and I forgot my camera!!!  I feel like a horrible mother.  I documented The Mayor's first appointment  and didn't even realize I hadn't documented Love Bug's first dental visit until we were loaded up and already pulling into our driveway.

Love Bug did just as I expected - awesome.  She just sat there and let the dentist look in her mouth and clean her teeth.  She didn't flinch, wiggle, cry or squirm.  She just sat there holding a 'Winnie the Pooh' sticker in her hand while the dentist did his job.  And of course, the dental hygienists were just in love with out little girl.  Miss Priss is quite the charmer.

The Mayor did awesome too.  I was so proud of him.  Our last visit was quite a stressful one; The Mayor wasn't interested in letting the dentist anywhere near his mouth.  So for this visit, we talked a lot about what was going to happen and I brought his weighted blanket with us, just in case he needed it.  And he never did.  I gave him the option to let his sister go first but he said he wanted to go first.  He sat up in the chair and let the dentist look in his mouth, clean his teeth and floss.  The dentist was very proud of The Mayor and we both made sure he knew it.

The rest of the day was happily uneventful.  And you won't find me complaining about that.

happy until she realized I was taking her picture...

...crying "put the camera away"

The Mayor laughing/trying to console her

she's a ham

My Love Bug is giving her brother a run for his money.  My sweet, quiet and dainty little girl is getting quite the personality.  Is it possible this household will have 2 mayors?

Today was a great day.  The Mayor had an amazing session with his OT, followed by lunch with one of The Mayor's best friends from his old preschool and then we took them to a playground.  The kids had a blast and were wiped out by the time we got home.  After Love Bug's nap, the kids played with playdoh for over an hour.  Ugh, playdoh.  Something my children love so much is detested so strongly by me.  I am pretty sure I will find teeny tiny little dots of playdoh on the kitchen floor for the next week.  But it kept them entertained and who am I to stand in the way of their entertainment?  So I find teeny tiny little dots of playdoh on my kitchen floor...could be worse.

Tomorrow is The Mayor's first day of school after Spring Break.  We talked a lot about school tonight...and he didn't seem too excited about going.  But after some talking and our nightly prayers about our day at school tomorrow, he seemed to be a little more into going.  Man, I am ready for this school year to be over.

easter 2012

I don't know what it is about this holiday, but this holiday tends to stress me out more than the others.  And it shouldn't.  As a Christian, Easter is our High Holiday.  It is the most important holiday.  Even more than Christmas.  Anyone can be born but only One could die and come back to life...for me...and for you.    On Easter, everyone is expected to be at their Sunday best.  We buy Easter dresses, we buy coordinating outfits, we make sure the men's ties match the son's tie.  I love Easter but all of the dress-up is a little bit too pomp and circumstance for me.  And it stresses me out.  I immediately get on edge because we don't have the "perfect" family picture.  We went through all of this trouble to get dresses and look our finest and then we aren't going to get a picture?!  And as my twitching started to occur because of the stupid pictures, D said "this isn't what Easter is about".

So again, I talked myself out of my stupid and ridiculous funk about dumb pictures and again reminded myself of what this holiday is truly about.

And today I am most excited that after our bedtime prayers, The Mayor said "amen" without being prompted.

We did end up having an amazing Easter (with the exception of my stupid 5 minute freak out about the picture).  We had church this morning, followed by a nap for Love Bug while D and The Mayor played outside and then we all went to Mamie and PopPop's for Easter dinner.  Meega, J and Bennett were also there.  The kids, as usual, had such a blast playing together.  We all ate more than we should have and the kids definitely ate more sugar than needed...but it was worth it.

We stayed until almost 8:00 so our munchkins were exhausted.  Bedtime was a breeze since both were so tired and both kids were asleep about 5 minutes after their doors were shut.

Tomorrow it's back to reality.  Spring break is over and life gets back to normal.  The Mayor has his OT sessions tomorrow, Tuesday and Thursday are school days and Wednesday The Mayor and Love Bug have a dentist appointment.  Kind of dreading that day...

the boys running off some sugar

Love Bug watching the crazy boys run

a water break

chattanooga

We were up and pulling out of the house by 8 AM and pulling into the Chattanooga Aquarium parking lot by 10.  We made the decision to leave the stroller in the car and let the kids walk.  For once the plan didn't backfire on us either.  They both did great; I wasn't worried about The Mayor but Love Bug isn't used to walking that much.  The Tennessee Aquarium is huge; there are two separate buildings, Ocean Journey and River Journey.  We went through the Ocean Journey side first.  It is pretty new and the last time we went (2 years ago) we kind of ran through that side since Love Bug was only 7 weeks old and needed to nurse and a 2 1/2 year old Mayor wasn't up for it.  Today, the kids LOVED walking through and seeing fish, penguins, sharks and all the other ocean sea life you could imagine.  After we went through Ocean Journey, we went through the River Journey side.  We went through that side a lot faster.  The kids were getting tired and hungry.  They took every opportunity to lie down on benches and suck their thumbs that they could.

After lunch, they both got a second wind so we hit the Children's Museum.  The Mayor had a blast; Love Bug was happiest in the art area.  She loved coloring and even found some face painting so she and D decorated her sweet face.  Which, typical, The Mayor noticed an hour later when we were walking to get ice cream and asked "what happened to your face??" Hysterical.

The Mayor enjoyed the splash zone (several water displays the kids could play and splash in) and the climbing/slides section.  Love Bug kind of got trampled in that area so she and I stayed clear of it.  There were a lot of kids (older kids especially) at the Children's Museum so it made me nervous having her in that area...she is so tiny compared to those kids that I felt like I was losing her.

After the Children's Museum we went for ice cream.  Because you can't have a day like today without some ice cream.  On the way back to the car, we let the kids play in the water fountains outside of the Aquarium.  A perfect ending to an amazing day.

Love Bug was fast asleep about 3 minutes after we had been in the car.  She isn't used to that much walking and missing a nap.  The Mayor surprisingly didn't fall asleep in the car but is fast asleep now.

Tomorrow morning we have a birthday party to go to and then will have a pretty low-key day at home. We need the kids to rest because Easter Sunday will be a big day!

my 3 favorite people at the touch pool at the aquarium

in a shark cage

while they were resting, Love Bug was rubbing The Mayor's back...precious

she was so tired, she wanted to be carried around like this.  Pretty sure she would have fallen asleep this way if we weren't on our way to lunch

The Mayor at the splash zone

pretty girl

face painting

gorgeous!

playing in the water fountains

one tired baby

the lorax

A huge thank you to Mamie who watched Love Bug this morning so I could take The Mayor to see Dr.  Seuss's The Lorax.  We went with our friends Avery and Addy (and their momma Stacey of course) and the kids had a blast.  Even Addy did awesome and sat through the movie (she is 2 1/2 and Stacey was a little worried).

The movie was really good.  It had a great message, obviously went over our kids' heads, but it was entertaining enough to captivate them and hold their attention for an hour and a half.  Plus, the popcorn and candy didn't hurt.

After the movie, we let the kids run around outside the theater to burn off some of that energy they stored up from sitting in a dark theater (and some of the sugar).  It was a great morning.

Mamie reported Love Bug did great and she even helped Mamie bake some yummy muffins.  Love Bug is quite the helper.

The kids are already asleep because tomorrow morning we are heading up to Chattanooga for the day!  Can't wait!

Addy, Avery and The Mayor

group hug

worn out after the running and sugar

sometimes a plan comes together

The Mayor is a picky eater, but lately he has become really picky.  Foods he used to love he won't touch now.  Some of this is just picky 4 year old boy and some of it is sensory related.  Pizza used to be a food he loved, but lately he isn't interested in eating it.  So I thought maybe if he made his own pizza he would be interested in eating it.

I rolled out their dough and then let them go to town.  They each rerolled their dough, put the amount of sauce they wanted on it, put pepperoni (or penoni as The Mayor calls it) and cheese on top.  They also liked eating the dough, cheese and pepperoni while they made their pizzas.  Once theirs were made and in the oven, they helped D and I make our pizzas.  We made a pepperoni pizza and a buffalo chicken pizza.

The true test was once his pizza was baked.  At first glance, he told me it was disgusting and he didn't want to eat it.  After he sat there for a minute, he nibbled on some crust.  After a few nibbles, he lifted the cheese and ate the pepperoni.  Then he started licking the pizza sauce.  Then he actually picked up the pizza and ate it!  Sometimes a plan really does come together.

We spent the morning at the park with a 5 mile walk on the greenway with some friends and then let the kids play at the playground to burn off some energy they had stored up from the 5 mile walk.  After the playground was lunch and then home for Love Bug's nap and rest time for The Mayor.

Today was such an amazing day.  We even made it through a bath time with absolutely no tears or screams from The Mayor.  He is really starting to come around and we are starting to see some big changes because of his OT.  Looking forward to another great Spring Break day tomorrow!

surveying all the goodies

rolling and patting out the dough

sauce time

putting on the pepperoni

The Mayor clumped all of his together

cheese

The Mayor grabbed fist fulls of cheese; Love Bug grabbed a few strands at a time

so proud

little chefs in training

helping D with the big pizzas

Love Bug and The Mayor's pizzas

the many faces of Love Bug

I am sure I have talked about, and even shown pictures of, the many faces of Love Bug.  Usually we have to ask her to show us the faces, but tonight Miss Love Bug called out each face and displayed them all on her own.

big eyes

fish face

sassy face

sassy face with a twist

I just love that peanut.

And the big peanut is pretty awesome too.

Today was pretty low-key.  The Mayor had an amazing session with his OT this morning.  Afterwards, we came home for lunch and Love Bug went down for an early nap.  I think the late night last night threw her off because she was especially whiny.  While she napped, The Mayor and I chilled in the house for a little bit and then went outside to play on the play set.  I am so thankful for our finished backyard now that the weather is so beautiful.

After Love Bug woke up, The Mayor, Love Bug and I went out to dinner and went shopping.  D was having a much deserved "boys night out" so I was flying solo tonight.  We went to one of our favorite sandwich shops for dinner and then went to Gymboree for clothes shopping for the munchkins.  The Mayor needed an outfit for Easter.  And since he refuses to wear shirts with buttons, options are limited.  I found an adorable sweater vest that will match Love Bug's dress so I was pretty happy about that find.  Shopping took us to bed time, in fact, The Mayor fell asleep with his eyes open on the way home.  That is the 2nd time he has ever done that...it kind of freaks me out!  Both kids are snuggled in their beds and I am enjoying a quiet house.