Hello School Year

School has started! Even Shane started his very first day of school! Summer is officially over! I'm not gonna lie, I was sooo ready for school to start! You know, before you have kids, there's a lot of important information people leave out- probably intentionally so that the human population can continue to thrive. No one tells you anything about the trying threes. Everyone's heard the terrible twos. But NO one warns you that the terrible two child who threw tantrums because he was learning how to communicate and did not know how to handle his emotions becomes an emotionally condescending three year old whom questions everything you tell him to do. I do love his determination though and he's got an extremely strong will in which I adore! Anyways, before school ended last year, I had Shane enrolled for this fall but then reconsidered because the reality of him being my last "baby" sank in and I decided to let the school know I backed out. Well, after the first two long weeks of summer break, I quickly contacted the school and was placed on the waiting list. Yes, I went from having a secured spot, to no spot, to wait list. Yay me. Two days before orientation the director called me and we got him in twice a week so it all ended up working out! Anyhoo, it was a nice long summer and we did a lot of fun stuff! Time really does fly by as you get older and my babies are growing up so fast! The first day of school for Shane was hard because it's the first day of school ever for every baby his age at his school. You can imagine the screaming coming from that wing of the building. It does not sound normal when 5 classrooms of 18 month+ year olds are screeching at the top of their lungs. No kid had a chance for a calm transition. As Shane walked in not knowing that he was being left there all day, he casually was walking around the room popping bubbles flowing from the bubble machine. He soon realized something out of the ordinary was about to happen. Yes, my little baby was one of the ones screaming (although not for long). By day 2, he cried for a short time and when mama came to pick him up I was told and I quote, that "he was a rock star". They were playing the cha cha slide and I guess all the little ones were boogieing down. It made mama more at ease to know they try to make it so much fun for them! Both boys seem to be adjusting so let's hope it's smooth sailing from here on forward! ROX OUT! :)

Shane is 1

Shane turned 1! mommy and daddy survived a year with two rambunctious kiddos!! It's been a wild ride to say the least! For Shane's birthday we did a Mickey Mouse theme and even got "the man" himself to make an appearance! It was a wonderful time and all the kiddos and even the parents were into it! Mickey razzle dazzled us with comedy, magic tricks, balloon animals and hats, a parachute and some kickass dance music. It was a great time! Now, to say a little something about each one of my boys: Shane took his first steps at 10 months old. So everything everyone says about your 2nd trying to keep up with your first is totally on cue. Shane tries so hard to keep up with big brother that he's always getting hurt. He's definitely going to be my little meatball though! He's so tough and so rough! I thought Chase was over active and rough but this one takes the cake in that department. He is becoming a daddy's boy just like chase. I guess it's not cool to be with mommy when you wanna be just like daddy which I'm totally okay with. He's very sweet and very determined in everything he does. Overall, he has a very pleasant and happy demeanor! Chase turned 3 in November and is a wonderful big brother! He loves playing with Shane! He will bring him toys and get down on all fours to play with him. These two are definitely going to enjoy each others company as they get older! I'm so happy to have two amazing, sweet natured boys! I wouldn't want it any other way! I'm definitely a mom of boys and love every moment!!

Two Big Firsts for Chase

Chase started his first official sport, blastball! It's like tee-ball with one base that makes a honking noise when the kids jump on it. When the kids are fielding ground balls they have to yell "blast". There are no outs and no one keeps score. Chase has been asking to play sports for a long time now! I mean, this kids first official word was "ball"! Now, before I tell you how Chase did, let me say that we had to sign a waiver so he could play up a year. Instead of two and three year olds, Chase is playing with four year olds as well because the league did not have enough of one or the other. So, that being said, my son's attention span lasted about a whopping 10 minutes! We had our first team practice and Chase hit the ball, ran to the base, jumped on it a couple times to hear it honk and seemed to like it! Unfortunately, when the other boys hit, the older boys were able to get to the ball before Chase and I could tell he was losing interest quickly. He started making his way to the slides and swing set with Cory chasing him or was obsessed with the orange cone. Yes, that was my child, the one short of picking flowers! Fabulous! The other big thing that happened for Chase is he started his first day at his new school on Tuesday. As a mom, you are always apprehensive on how change will effect your kids especially at such a young age and Chase has never really liked change. Well, apparently HE changed lol! As we were walking him up to his new classroom, he noticed the slides and playground and started saying, "I want to tell daddy bye bye see ya later, I want to tell mommy bye bye see you later and I'm going to play in that!" pointing over to the playground. We handed him over to the teachers and he happily said goodbye to us and never looked back. I didn't know whether I should be sad or happy that he's so independent?! Its a little bittersweet but I know if he screamed I would leave feeling awful! So far so good!!

First Official Family Trip!

I had the ingenious idea to plan our first family trip for Labor Day weekend! We can finally start making some awesome memories as a family! And let me just say, there is never a dull moment in our current life! We started our trip bright and early Saturday morning! I had set an itinerary and we loosely stuck to it to my surprise. We were, of course, an hour behind leaving the house! With two kids and one of them being a very independent and opinionated two year old, that's pretty darn good timing! Chase refused to wear the clothes mommy left out for him so that added about a 25 minute tantrum even after he chose the same two shirts he always wears! At least this time the pants matched the shirt! I'm sure when he goes to school they must think he has no clothes!! Okay, back to my story... The car was packed and I made sure I had easy access to all baby supplies. Our journey began and we were off to San Antonio! Everything was going like clockwork! Chase was into all the books and games I got him, watched Netflix on Cory's phone and Shane took his morning nap. We made our only official stop, after a couple of bathroom breaks for Chase-e-poo, in Austin and met our friend for lunch at Freddie's Austin. Really neat place with a swingset for kids outside! (Great pick Sara!) Chase loved it! Then after our stop, we were all back in the car. The 2nd leg of the trip was a little more challenging because Shane did not understand why he was crammed back into his carseat. We finally arrived in San Antonio and checked into our hotel. We loaded up the cart with our bags, one for each boy and one for Cory and I to share, double stroller, diaper bag, bottled water for Shane's formula, bag of baby supplies, Chase's toys, pack n' play, etc. It was excessive but I was not going unprepared! I tried to bring the baby saucer but it would not fit in our Tahoe! So, we checked in and took Chase to the rooftop pool. Then decided to take the boys for a stroll around downtown. Um, has anyone been to downtown San Antonio during the day? It is filled with characters and homeless people that are out. Of. Their. Mind. Every single person we encountered had a neck tatoo on the side of their neck. And mind you, we stayed in a really nice hotel/suite on the riverwalk! Anyways, the first night was pretty challenging because Chase decided he did not want to go to bed. I'm sure it was from all the excitement of staying in a hotel and all the hype about going to SeaWorld in the morning. Mommy and daddy got no sleep to say the least! Next day, we woke up and headed over to SeaWorld for our brunch with Elmo and all the Sesame Street gang. This was priceless! If you ever go to SeaWorld, you HAVE to do this if you have little ones 4 and under! Chase had a smile from ear to ear and Shane was in awe of all the characters! The entire brunch the characters make their rounds over and over to your table and take pictures with you, and play games after brunch like hide n' seek! It was awesome! The only downside was Shane was the youngest (most kids were Chase's age) and the characters were all over him! They would not leave our table! Even Elmo insisted on holding him- I mean, there was no negotiation, Elmo was going to hold him! It was a little overwhelming and borderline stalker- ish lol! But sweet nonetheless! After brunch, because the park is not open until after brunch, we basically had the whole park to ourselves without any crowds. The weather was perfect! They have a big splash park in the Sesame Street town, lots of tunnels above the town and rides! Chase had the time of his life! After 4 hours of Sesame Street, we saw the Shamu show and then both boys hit a wall! We left after another hour of the splash park, and had a really late lunch hectic lunch. We had been feeding Chase sugar and juice all day to keep the energy up -don't judge us!!! We got back downtown and went to the mall, walked around, got room service and put the boys to bed, opened a bottle wine (yes, mommy and daddy need to unwind now and then), went to sleep, woke up, drove home, stopped for lunch on the way! All in all, it was a blast! A LOT of work at times but soo glad we did it!!!!! Cannot wait to go to Disney World hopefully next year!!!

Boys will be Boys

Well, the guilt of not updating my blog in a long time has set in! It's time! Lately, I feel like I can get nothing done and barely have time to breathe! Having one child is a walk in the park, having two, two and under that are both mobile, is physically exhausting! We started with a walk in the park, to a full Iron Man Triathlon! (And no I have never run in a triathlon…and probably never will.) Shane has been crawling for a month now which was so unexpected! He went from crawling, pulling up, to now climbing the stairs in what seems like overnight! This kid has got some serious determination! He puts his mind to something and does it! Mommy was not ready but Shane apparently was! Now he gets hurt at least twice a day because he pulls up then kamikaze dives to the floor. He was so determined to stand and pull up that he has not mastered getting down and does not seem to care. He is also all about getting into big brother’s business. Anytime Chase is playing with anything, Shane will find his way right smack in the middle of it. This does not sit very well with Chase who is used to all the toys being his and only his. And apparently, Chase is willing to allow Shane to play with his toys on his terms. I can already tell there is going to be some fighting in my future but it's only normal I guess. Once Shane fights back, things will be getting real interesting! Both boys are pretty wild and Shane is even more active than Chase was at this age. Ask anyone that’s ever changed Shane’s diaper, you cannot get this child to sit still. He’s pretty active but has such a mellow disposition! And Chase is so sweet! The teacher at school says he is friends with everyone in his class! Both boys are doing great! Will update soon once Chase starts all his fall sports!!! Stay tuned!

All the girlies say he's pretty fly for a white guy

Chase has become a little Casanova in his own right. Even his teacher at his Montessori school always has stories about Chase and the little girls at school. She even says there are days when she can tell he's flirting with her! (He's also a class clown at times.) Now, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing but we tend to find it pretty funny. The other day, Cory was driving with Chase in the car and Chase all of a sudden yelled out from the backseat, "I need to get out of the car Daddy. I need to get out." Cory looked back at him asking him why and quickly noticed Chase looking out the window at four high schools girls walking by. Chase went on by saying, "I need to get out and talk to them." As with anything, Cory's response was that Chase needs to get older before he can get out and talk to them. And it is things like this that happen more often than you would think! He's a character for sure!! Shane on the other hand adores his big bro! He still giggles every time Chase interacts with him and is starting to get a personality all on his own. He is very mellow and chill and is smiling 98% of the time! He's such a great baby! I'm having great difficulty however getting him to quit breastfeeding and take a bottle. I tried for nearly 8 hours one day and he obviously rather starve himself than drink formula! Well, I guess that means he's a boob man for sure! He's also got his eye on a little girl in our mommy and me class. Unlike his brother who favors blondes, he goes "ga-ga" literally for this little latina spitfire! He stares at her and smiles the biggest smile. Needless to say, when these boys hit puberty, my house is probably gonna be crawling with hoochie mama junior high girls! Poor mama!!

My Two Boys

I think it's about time for a blog update! My days are never dull and if I had the time, I could probably write an entry once a week and keep everyone entertained with my whirlwind life.
First off, when Shane was 6 weeks old he got RSV. Any parent who has had a child knows and fears this. It's a strand of the cold virus that is extreme but ultra extreme in newborns. The saddest part is there is no medicine or vaccine for it. It just has to run its course. We went to the children's emergency room two days in a row on the weekend then our doctor that Monday. At the doctor's office they gave him two nebulizer treatments then that night he became dehydrated and our doctor checked him into the hospital for 2 days. I will not go into detail about it but you never want to see your baby, no matter what age, get sick and need to go to the hospital. I rather not re-live it by posting any more info. That being said, Shane is the sweetest, happiest baby! He loves to laugh and smile! Unless he's hungry or tired, he's always smiling at me!! He turned three months old yesterday and slept through the night....again that magical 3 month age!!! He can already flip over from his back to stomach and that's a big accomplishment considering how chunky he is! The bigger the baby, the harder it is to master any physical skills! I honestly think he will be quick to walk so he can catch up to big brother chase!!!
Now, in terms of my 2 year old, I am losing the battle! I have heard that the terrible two's are a sign of intelligence. Supposedly, the more resilient, stubborn and out right argumentative your toddler is, the more intelligent. If that's the case, I am raising Bill freaking Gates! He's an absolute angel at school and when we are out and about, but at home, it's a whole 'nother ball game! I can already tell I'm gonna have my hands full. The second I tell Chase no or do not do that, he boldly looks right at me and slowly does whatever it is he should not and keeps doing it until I physically remove the object or him from the object he's destructing. He's the definition of Alpha Male. Nothing is off limits to him anymore. Not my blinds, not my walls and not his little brother. For example, Chase will move his ballpit that his grandparents got him for Christmas next to our staircase and jump off the third step up into the pit! Of course, in the midst he will say "I not get hurt" knowing his mother is screaming from the living room to stop it. He will swing the back of the big recliner rocking chair in his room into the window, slamming it over and over again then proceed to take apart the wooden blinds. He will open the dishwasher and remove the entire bottom rack and throw it across the room. He will throw every crayon from his playroom upstairs downstairs over and over again. And that's just one day's worth of events. Needless to say, my days of trying to be clean are OVER! If I try to clean he will yell "no mommy no cleanup" and proceed to make a bigger mess! Never the less, he's still the sweetest boy I know! He says his please and thank yous and he makes sure to say "I love you" whenever he's leaving the house! He's still outgoing in public, saying 'hi' to everyone he passes. He definitely keeps my life interesting and I'm still madly in love with my little menace!