The Streaking Jailbird

Oh, Everett-Bo-Beverett.  Such a little stinker.  At a bold 22 months, Everett decided it was time to scale the high prison walls of his crib.  We were sleeping one morning a week or so ago when some new 'noises' perked up my Mommy Senses and woke me.  After listening for a moment, I realized that the footsteps, fiddling with doorknob, and then opening and closing of a door were not the familiar sounds that I'm used to hearing from Anderson's room.  My heart sank at that moment. I whispered to Reese, "EVERETT GOT OUT OF HIS CRIB" while lying completely still.  I think I was momentarily hoping that if I was quiet and still enough that maybe 'it' wouldn't really be happening.

But, it did.  The next night we all went to bed as usual.  However, at 2 a.m., Everett appeared (quiet as a mouse) right beside our bed and announced in a bright and cheerful voice "Night Night!"  Reese and I about fell out of our bed.  We were so confused and saddened at the same time.  It was that next morning that Reese said out loud what we both knew: "There goes our nights of uninterrupted sleep."  That was a very short year 9 months of sleeping through the night that Everett gave us.  He was a terrible sleeper his whole first year.  :(

So, needless to say, the nights have not been very fun here lately.  Well, I guess they have been for Everett! Each time he comes out he has the same proud attitude and is as happy as can be, no matter what time it is. Luckily, there have been no tears involved or major resistance to us putting him back to bed.  But, he is slowly testing his freedoms more and more each night and I can see where this is all going.  So, we're trying to figure out what to do.  Crib tent?  Toddler bed?  Door lock?  Wait it out?  Of course we're afraid he'll fall and hurt himself either on the climb out or coming down the stairs.  That's the main concern.  The secondary problem is getting him back in the habit of putting himself back to sleep when he wakes during the night instead of hopping up to see what's going on "out there".

Just for some perspective.  Anderson actually has a difficult time climbing out of Everett's bed.  I really thought we had a LONG time before Everett would figure it out.  Apparently Anderson is just lacking in the climbing skills.

Don't ask what Anderson is doing...I have no idea????

So, if that's not enough for my Mr. Mess, he also has a new-found love of being naked.  Shortly after he's up, Everett has those jammies off and the diaper is long gone too.  It all began with an interest in the potty, etc.  It has now evolved into a multiple-times-per-day strip down.  Luckily there haven't been many accidents on the floor and the ones that have happened have been on the hardwood or tile.  Maybe this will be good for potty training?

Yep, that's Everett in his Birthday Suit carrying his purse briefcase filled with keys, wallet, a dog collar, a remote control- the essentials.

For your viewing pleasure:

A Valentine For You!

While Pinterest is one of my new-found favorite websites and inspirations, it has started to loose it's luster for me just a tiny bit.  As in, once Valentine's Day started nearing I could see what was going to happen.  Everyone was on Pinterest.  Everyone "pins" the same cute, totally awesome, fantastically cute idea for their kids' Valentine's cards.  I "pin" a cute idea to use and then so does everyone else in our playgroup/preschool classroom.  Then it is no longer a cute, original idea.

So, I spent some time on Pinterest to get inspiration and just got creative and came up with my own.  :)

Anderson's LEGO Valentine's

The Candy Blox actually stack like LEGOs!  I bought a two pound bag which was the perfect amount for the 30 cards that I bought for Anderson's classmates and playgroup friends.

Everett's T-Rex Valentine's Cards

Since Everett's friends are the "under two crowd", I opted for dinosaur crayons as the perfect compliment to his T-Rex cards.

Anderson was the cutest thing in the world helping me assemble both his and Everett's Valentine's.  He took great caution filling the bags and then placing the sticky dots to attach the bags to the backs of the cards.  He was so focused and intent on helping.  It was sweet to see his heart so set on making a gift for his and Everett's friends.

We also delivered Valentine's presents to the boys' teachers today. Anderson loves giving his teachers gifts.  He gets so excited and then when it comes time to actually hand it to them, the gets all shy.  SO cute!

I did find the print for the boys' teacher's gifts somewhere on Pinterestland.  I printed it at CVS, framed it in a cute Valentine's frame and created a sweet treat bag-topper to complete the "song set" theme.  Simple, cute, and very thrifty, which is nice when creating gifts for 7 preschool teachers!

This is a terrible picture! :(  It's a little bag of Hershey Hugs with the folded & stapled bag-topper.

 The boys' preschool combines Valentine's Day with Teacher Appreciation Day, so we also made cards for their teachers.  Anderson and I wrote how each of his teachers were wonderful ("They always say Hello to me" ; "They help me make crafts").  Everett's teachers received cards that were decorated with colorings and stickers by Mr. E himself.  ;)

Lovely Things

First, the loveliest of all:

Their sweet faces make me really love this print that I framed for some decoration this year:

Anderson and I had fun making a Valentine Countdown calendar together one afternoon early in February.  Each heart 'box' opens up to reveal the date and holds a special treat.  

We had very yummy red velvet pancakes for breakfast!  Everett was especially fond of these.

And, of course, what Valentine's Day wouldn't be complete without some very lovely cupcakes?  ;)

And some wonderful friends to share it all with!

My Sleeping Buddy

It's a rarity, but occasionally Anderson does pass out on our bed for a little afternoon snooze.  Usually only after I coax him in there with me by telling him I'm super tired and need to rest under the warm blankets while Everett is napping.  ;)  

 Couldn't resist digging up a cute flashback.  Here's Anderson sleeping at ~2 weeks old.

Just like his Daddy :) 

(make sure your volume is turned up)

When I showed this to him he thought it was pretty darn funny.

What Did You Say? ~ Anderson

• Anderson walked into the room to find Everett causing some sort of mischief.  His exclamation: "What in the whole-wide-world is Everett doing?!"  I guess that's his interpretation of the 'Mommy version' (What in the world?!) of What-the-He!!

• Anderson loves observing the moon (Thanks to his outdoorsy Daddy!).  The other day Anderson noticed it already in the afternoon sky.  After identifying it's stage, he said "Thank you, God, for my eyes so that I can see the moon."

• One afternoon Anderson, Everett & I had to make a trip to the train station commuter parking lot to retrieve an important piece of paper that Daddy had left in his car and needed us to scan and send him.  We failed to get any info from Reese on where the car might be parked so we were driving and driving all around the parking lot looking for Daddy's car.  After a few minutes had passed, I heard Anderson's voice from the backseat: "Jesus, I know you can see Daddy’s car, help us see it too."

• "Look!  It's a Babylion!" 

Everett's Favorite Game

At 21 months old, this boy LOVES to play Hide & Go Seek.  Whether it's with Brother, Daddy, Mommy, or just all by himself you can usually hear him walk by whispering "Hide, Hide, Hide" and then see him burrow in somewhere.  He's uncannily good at playing as well!  He will stay really still and quite for a long time, even staying completely under things like blankets or inside dark spaces like the pantry.  He is still a one-year-old, though, so the obvious one-year-old rules apply to him.  You know, "If I can't see you, you can't see me even though I'm right here in front of you" or "I'll keep hiding in the same place over and over again because why not?" and then of course "it's ok if you see me getting into my hiding spot, you still have to count to ten and search".   Here's a video I caught of him playing while sitting right beside me on the couch.  I also caught on video his funny way that he yells "Ma-MY" right now.  No matter in what context he's referring to me or calling out to me, he yells it in that same way.  

IPhone Picture Fun

It's so much easier to pull out my IPhone on the fly and snap pictures of the boys rather than the Cannon.  But, I tend to not upload those pictures as often to my computer so therefore, they don't ever make it here.  So, I figured I would pull a few of my favorites off and make a specific post dedicated just to them.  :)

This is my current screen saver on my phone for the "lock screen".  Every time I see it I smile.  It's a picture from November when we went to pick up something from a bakery.  I bought the boys a cookie and they sat happily on the curb outside to eat.  Everett's expression just fits him so perfectly ~ he's a little Cookie Monster.  ;)

One Saturday morning on the way to swim class we had to take Riley to the groomers.  Anderson really wanted her to sit in his lap.  She was, of course, a perfect "Ri-Ri" and did just that.  I think it made Anderson's day.

In December when we were in San Antonio we headed to Sea World for the afternoon/evening with Grammy and Aunt Reagan.  On the ~30 minute ride there, we had two snoozers in the back.

This statue is outside of the kids' salon where we get the boys' hair cut.  Here's Everett enjoying his lollipop while showing off his short new 'do and his sparkling personality.

The Marbulous Marble Run is the fabulous and incredulous Christmas present that Anderson got from Nana B & Grandpa Billy.  It's 121 pieces that require a bit of meticulous placement which then provides loads of entertainment as the marbles make their way down.  It's quite miraculous that we have yet to loose any of the pieces. (I can't say the same thing for the all of the marbles that originally came with the set)  Here are the boys standing in front of our latest creation which used all 121 pieces- yes, Mommy is proud since I basically built it.

Silly Mater Teeth Lollipops

While taking a rare bath in our big tub recently, Everett decided to taste the large bar of soap.  He reacted as you would expect.  Then he actually began 'blowing' bubbles out of his mouth before he began asking for water. I couldn't get the camera going fast enough to catch the bubbles, but I did catch him showing me where the soap was.  (and, yes- the water is pink. The boys are fascinated right now with these tablets that Santa brought Everett in his stocking.)