Life With 2 (+ 1) Redheads

Who needs toys when you have a pantry?

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday with my side of the family.  Josh was not there until later that evening after working.  Here is my little indian man modeling his gear he made at school!


And yes, those are aliens he drew on the back.  Why?  I have no clue! :)

Tyler watched the Macy's parade from time to time that morning.  He tuned in for the most important part at the end!

Many of you might remember some of the things that happened when I was searching for a new job.  When I didn't receive the Duke Children's job due to pay, I was devastated, and it still stings many months later.  However, I was offered the opportunity to work on a special project for them--the Duke Children's calendar. Originally, it was the intent that I would come up with a theme, photograph children, and then design the calendar.  Well, I did all of that but did turn down the designing part.  Time just doesn't allow me to do it even though I would have loved doing it for them. 

This past weekend was the photo shoot, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!  I sent over 40 edited images today, but you can see a small array on my website below!

The Faces of Duke Children's Hospital

I took video of Tyler doing his reading response homework last night. Every Thursday, he has to write about his favorite part of a book. This week, he checked out The Very Lonely Firefly from the library, so we read that one. I recently learned that I was not supposed to help him at all with his spelling. I had been telling him how to spell words! :) So, he really tries hard to sound words out now. You can see this in the video. :)  We think he is doing a great job, and his teacher has told us numerous times how great he is doing at school!  By the way, he says "finger space" in the video to remind him to put a space between his words!

His spelling went something like this:  "He thout the dog wus a firefle."  

Translation:  "He thought the dog was a firefly."

I never know if you need a password for these videos, so if you do it's our last name (LeConey)!

Ohhhh sweet Ryan. You are so cute, sweet, giggly, and content.

Unless it is between the hours of 6 am and 7:30 am.

Every morning you wake up with a crazy, wild cry that sends a message to me that if I don't run into your room and rescue you from that horrible crib, life as we know it will be over.  However, there are moments in my morning that I just cannot do this.  For example, at 6:00 am my alarm goes off which signals me to go get in the shower.  Your daddy is most likely working or snoozing in the bed, so unless you plan to take a shower with me, I have no choice but to leave you screaming in your crib.  Don't worry, I sure enough hear your cries through the shower water, as we share the same bordering wall.  If I'm lucky, you have given up and quieted down by the time my short and unrelaxing shower is complete.  This enables me to quickly slap on some makeup and  dry my hair.  But many times, you do not let up which requires me to go grab you and bring you into the place I call the "anything goes pit." 

The "anything goes pit" involves you trying to grab the shampoo, etc out of the shower.  Once you fail at this, you move to underneath the cabinets where you have managed to locate a small box of Q-tips.  You gracefully pull the box out and proceed to dump all of the Q-tips out of the box, throw a few, and then pack them back in there.  You look up at me and say "more?" as if I have Q-tips stocked in other places of my bathroom. 

Next, as I'm drying my hair and dancing around you with the cords of my dryer and straightener, you open the other cabinet and strategically go for the hot rollers.  As if it is a shape sorter, you begin pulling the curlers out and then putting them back --only, you get flustered when you don't turn them just the right way so that they fit back down.  I've perfected the dance of straightening my hair while demonstrating how to place the roller back in the case. You are getting better at this skill.

By this point, I have managed to dry my hair and can move on to the kitchen.  Don't worry, daddy sleeps through most of this part.  The kitchen, however, is when you bring out your fighting fists.  Did you know, Ryan, that you like to inflict pain on yourself when you get mad?  Let me give you an example.  If I give you breakfast first and then start packing Tyler's lunch, you assume that you are missing food that should be on your plate.  This is wrong, dear Ryan, because last I checked you don't eat anything but cereal bars, chicken nuggets, and fruit.  As you see me pack Tyler's lunch, you start screaming "more! more!"  I respond, "no, Ryan you have food." 

This is where the self-inflicting pain begins.

You like to throw your head back when you are mad.  So, if you are seated inevitably you bang your head on the back of the chair.  This mades you super mad.  If you are standing or seated, you bang your head backwards on the ground.  Don't worry, usually I get to you in enough time to brace your fall.  I have no idea why you feel the need to do this, but I hate to admit that I choose to ignore it.  It's for your own good so that you can learn that Mommy is the ruler of the house.  I wear my tiara from my wedding Monday through Friday.

From that point forward, you are down-right mad.  I open any door in the house, and you are mad.  I suggest Tyler brush his teeth, and you are mad.  I change your diaper because you love to poop right before we leave for school each morning, and you are mad. 

I sure do love you and your madness. 

This morning in the car (as you were crying), Tyler told me that your crying was annoying.  Don't worry, I explained that he did the same when he was younger.  I also alluded to many annoying things he currently does, but I phrased it in a nice, motherly way.  You get so upset when Tyler is dropped off for school.  So, you cry halfway from the elementary school to your daycare.  And when I drop you off at daycare, you cry then too because you don't want me, your amazing mother, to leave you.  I then get into the car and have 20 minutes of peace and quiet before arriving at work.

Despite your fussy mornings and the fact that you make it look like to daddy that I can't handle you and Tyler during that hour and a half stretch each morning, I love your moodiness.  I sure enough know that this is a short-lived phase of toddler independence and tantrums.  And while I prefer the remainder of the day when you are all smiles and giggles, I love you even more through the cries and tantrums. 

Just please don't give yourself a concussion. 

Love,
Mommy

I was not surprised that my kids woke up early the first morning. However, I was not expecting it to be before 6 am! Already being anxious considering our bedroom was on the top floor and the kids' bedrooms were on the first floor, we didn't get much sleep. But the waking up game started at 5:15 am Saturday morning. Ryan cried out, I ran downstairs to quiet him with the paci, he'd scream for me to pick him up, I'd come back upstairs choosing to try and ignore it, Tyler comes to the foot of the stairs ready to get up, I tell him to go back to sleep, Ryan's still screaming, I ask Josh to try..... You get the point :) Long story short, I was up with both kids by 5:45 am Saturday morning. So, I bet you aren't suprised to see this?




We finally rolled out around 10:30 am for Linville Caverns.  This was over an hour drive but well worth it once we arrived.  We did the tour of the caverns which Josh loved.  I remembered going when I was very small.  Tyler was a little nervous at times, but he came out of it saying he loved it.  Ryan did very well considering we had to hold him through the entire tour. 


Leaving, we had absolutely no idea where we were or where to eat.  We finally found a place for lunch. This is where smartphones would come in handy I suppose!  We had planned to go to Grandfather Mountain afterward, but we decided we probably should go back to the cabin and do some hiking there.  There were several trails to take.  We took a very simple one but had a little detour coming back.  Josh swore he knew a path to get back to our cabin.  Well, we got back but with thorns in our hands and a few minor scratches :)  Tyler was not too thrilled! 



If you are wondering why my kids are wearing nice sweaters it's because I planned to take pictures of them for Christmas cards.  Well, it did not happen smoothly, but I did manage to get a few.  Why are my kids all of a sudden anti-photography? 

That evening after a lasagna dinner, we made cookies and sat by the fire.  That sounds totally storybook right?  It kinda was....for like 2 minutes until the chocolate melted onto them and the carpet. :) 

We left our house around 9 am Friday morning and headed out three hours to the mountains. The goal was not to stop, and we managed to do that! We arrived in Blowing Rock around 12:15 just in time to grab some lunch at a cheeseburger grill and do some shopping at the outlets. The boys were in dire need of letting some energy out, so we went downtown where there was a playground. It was pretty chilly that day, so we were all bundled up with the exception of Josh.  He never wears a coat! As always, Ryan threw a fit leaving because he would live outside if he could--cold weather and all! He was also pretty tired. Throughout our weekend, he catnapped whenever we were in the car!




It's getting harder to get pictures with my kids!



But it's never hard to get Tyler to take a silly picture!

We found a grocery store to grab a few things for dinners each night and then headed to find the cabin. Our location was not exactly where I thought it was going to be. I thought we were going to be closer to Boone, but it ended up that we were more like 25 minutes away from it. We were so excited to see our cabin since the listing made it look incredible. For the most part we were pleased, however the cabin had not been cleaned when we arrived. It wasn't horrible, but we could tell.  We learned that the owner's friends stayed before us and were supposed to clean but didn't. So, we had cleaners at our place during dinner time. They were super sweet, but thankfully the owners agreed that the cleaning fee be returned to us! The kids ate spaghetti Os, and Josh and I ate steak :) We tried out the hot tub, but considering it had not been put above 90 degrees, I was cold in there and didn't last long! I fell asleep on the couch at 9pm despite my best efforts to stay awake. Between the blanket and the fire, I was out cold!


 

Beginning at 29, I have had or currently have the following:

• PUPPS after delivery
• Some other random skin rash that took forever to clear
• Sciatica that happened during pregnancy and flares up randomly
• Ganglion cyst sitting on a tendon on my hand (this is as of three weeks ago) that causes pain when I use my right hand.  I could have it surgically removed. 
• Some bogus bump on my eyelid that's been there for months and now has decided to swell up and start hurting
• My earlobes have been hurting for months, and there is a painful bump at the bottom of one. 

I'm really not joking.  Seriously, what is 40 going to bring?  Oh wait.  I know this answer. 

 

Oh, how excited are we to being going to the mountains this weekend! We are leaving this Friday morning for three days. This is the first trip our family of four has ever made by ourselves. We go to the beach each year with extended family, but we have never taken a trip with just our family--not even when Tyler was an only child. So, we are besides ourself at the opportunity and hope to make this a yearly tradition!

Imagine the perfect cabin for your mountain vacation… A beautiful, rustic log exterior… a big deck for enjoying the mountain views and the gentle mountain breezes… a well-equipped and attractive kitchen to prepare a tasty meal… a grill to give your main dish that outdoor flavor... a spacious deck and hot tub from which to enjoy the sun setting over the mountains…a flat screen TV to relax around after dinner with popcorn and your favorite beverage… a game room with Foosball and a Ping Pong table just in case you get tired of watching TV… and, of course, a king-size bed for a restful night’s sleep.

Believe it or not, you can turn that dream into a reality in our “sweet” mountain cabin which we have appropriately named, Cabin Sweet Cabin.

Cabin Sweet Cabin features:
* 3 bedrooms (plus a loft) and 2.5 bathrooms
* King-size bed in master bedroom
* Large deck with table, chairs, chaise lounges
* Gas grill
* 3 TVs, including a 32 inch flat screen TV
* Game room with Foosball, Ping Pong table, and a 35 inch TV
* DVDs, Videos, Games, Books, and a toy box filled with toys
* Fully-equipped kitchen with oven, stove, dishwasher, microwave, & all the other amenities of home
* Wood-burning fireplace
* 1 king, 1 full, & 2 twin beds, plus a queen sleeper sofa & a fold-out futon (sleeps up to 10)
* A wall of windows so you can enjoy sunsets and the mountain view from almost anywhere in the cabin!