The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

One year ago, on November 19, we welcomed our little Sam into the world.  It is so hard to believe that an entire year has passed since the child that I still refer to as "baby Sam" was born.  I always wanted a baby named Sam and after many arguments with Bryan, he finally gave in and I got my Sam.  When his first birthday was in sight, I wasted no time in planning a Dr. Seuss "Sam I Am" birthday party.  With the help from my mom's amazing friend Carrie (I say "help" but she really did everything for me, my only job was to order the cake), little Sam had an absolutely adorable Dr. Seuss birthday party complete with green eggs and ham and a Cat in the Hat cake.
He loved his little party so much and we had quite a few big events take place on that day.  Sam, the little ham that is, actually really started to walk for the first time right in the middle of his party.  He was so excited for himself and couldn't have been any happier.  When we placed his little cake in front of him to eat, we lit a candle and we were trying to get Colt to help him blow it out (by the way, it's a bad, bad idea to put a lit candle in front of a one year old).  Well, Sam reached up to grab the flame on the candle and Aunt Jan with her lightning-quick reflexes, pulled his hand away one milli-second before he got burned.  Thank goodness!  He did enjoy his cake though, he is the only child I've ever see that pulled the whole cake to him and stuck his face in it so he could eat it like a puppy. haha.  All in all, Sam's little birthday was a success and I know he had a blast. 

Last year for Christmas, I was completely drained and exhausted from all that comes with a new baby, that I must admit that I did a terrible job decorating and celebrating my favorite holiday of the year.  So, this year I wanted to make up for it.  We spent the last two days decorating for Christmas, complete with a regular tree and our new little addition, an LSU tree.  The kids have had a blast and it's so much fun introducing Colt to Christmas!  This is the first year he can really understand what's going on and even though last year was Sam's first Christmas, this year is much better (he was kind of a little sleeping lump last Christmas, ha).  Colt loved helping decorate the tree.  He would put five ornaments on one branch and every time Sam would try to grab one, he would promptly tell him, "NO NO baby!"  Sam actually already broke an ornament, so we had to take even the non-breakable ornaments off the bottom, because as Sam clearly showed us, the non-breakables can be broken.

The Christmas tree, the Santa that lights up and the bear that reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas" are big hits with the babies.  One thing that is not a big hit, is jolly old St. Nick.  As we found out this weekend, according to my children, there is NOTHING jolly about Santa Claus.  In fact, seeing Santa was the equivalent to stabbing my children with one-hundred knives.  So, if you ever have my kids and decide it would be "cute" and/or "fun" to take them to see Santa, remember that you were warned.  I promise you that there is nothing cute about watching a one and two year old get stabbed with a hundred knives.

All joking aside, I absolutely love this time of year and I couldn't be happier to teach the kids all about the Christmas traditions and hope that they love it as much as I do.  Watching their little faces when they see the lights or Rudolph's red nose, is innocence and joy in its purest form.  I don't know why time seems to go so fast these days, but I will try to cement these days in my mind and in my heart because this is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

Love is in the Air

My little baby Sam is almost a year old and since he has been born, there has always been a little sibling rivalry. For a while, I was really worried. Every time Colt saw Sam balancing himself sitting up, Colt would push him down. Then, when Sam learned to crawl, Colt took that as an opportunity to ride him like a horse, meanwhile smashing his little baby body like a pancake.

Just like all things, change is a coming. In this instance, THANK GOODNESS! In the last week, Colt has been so shockingly sweet to his brother and just yesterday, I saw Colt display the purest example of brotherly unconditional love: he made his brother his partner in crime.

In the last week Colt has done the following (oh yes, I have kept track):

• He shared his favorite stuffed puppy (Fancy dog) with Sam on a wagon ride
• He wanted to hold Sam on the slide while he went down 30 times in a row (Sam  wasn't quite sure about this)
• He shared his goldfish with Sam by stuffing one after another in his mouth until Sam was borderline choking (he really was being sweet, Sam just can't eat them as fast as Colt)
• He also fed Sam his baby food (only stuffing the spoon a few inches into Sam's esophagus -  don't worry, he didn't choke)

This has been such a sweet, welcome change of behavior! What really got me though was yesterday morning when I went to get dressed. I dressed the boys and went into my bathroom for maybe two minutes. When I came out, I found Colt eating a doughnut. He pulled the barstool over to the opposite counter, climbed on it, got a doughnut and climbed down - all in a two minute span. I started looking around for Sam and found him sitting behind the couch with his entire face covered in chocolate and sprinkles, holding a doughnut the size of his head, smiling from ear to ear. So, not only did Colt go to all that sneaky effort for himself, he made sure his baby brother benefited as well.

I'm beginning to think that maybe I shouldn't be so focused and worried about my boys getting along as babies and much more focused on them getting along a little too well as teenagers.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

There are things that I make a point to do with Colt every night.  I help him brush his teeth, we put on pajamas, kiss daddy and head off to bed to read ten books.  Not one or two books, but ten.  Then we say our prayers (but when I put his little hands together, he just claps and smiles) and he ends with a loud "AMEN MAMA!" I think he'll get the hang of it soon. ha.
It's a routine that we have and I think I do it for various reasons.  Maybe because my mom did it with me or maybe because I would love for Colt to reach way back in his 2-year old memory one day when he's 20 and pull it out.  Whatever the reason, I realized tonight that everything I do with him is absolutely important and that he not only recognizes our little ritual, but finds comfort in it. 

We were reading books tonight, like we always do and I know Colt has his favorites and he tells me which order he wants them read.  He always listens very intently to every word I say and points out at least 5 things on every page, but tonight was different.  One of his top three favorites is Five Little Monkeys and instead of just listening and pointing to the andaid (bandaid) on the monkey's heads, every time I said the words, "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...." Colt would start wagging his little finger and said "No more monees jumin on da bed!"  Now, I know this really is not a big deal because small children finish sentences in books all the time, but this is just the first time he's ever done it and I was SO proud.  Not only does he listen, but he really and truly pays attention to everything going on around him.

So after putting piggy on the left side, dile (crocodile) on the right, mur (his cow) in the middle by his head and putting blank (blanket) and ashro bear (Astro bear that we got at the Astros game) in his arms, I kiss my big little baby and let him go to sleep.

Speaking of monkeys, my little Sam was taking a nap the other day and I heard a huge thud from upstairs and then screaming.  I ran up there thinking something fell and startled him, but when I got up there, I found him on the floor of his room just screaming crying.  My sweet, skinny, lightning fast child had climbed out of his bed and being as he cannot walk yet, obviously fell on the floor.  I was so sad that he fell, but at the same time, I was completely dumbfounded.  How in the world did that little monkey climb out of his crib??  Colt climbed out of his crib for the first time at 22 months.  Sam is 10 months.  I think it's safe to say that my sweet little Sam is going to give me a run for my money.

I did find something that will keep Sam still and quiet for an indefinite amount of time.  It's something you would NEVER expect.....it's a cage!  No, just kidding.  It's actually a Dora Halloween book.  Believe it or not, Sam will sit in my lap and let me read this one book to him 20 times and he will not even try to squirm for one second.  It really is unbelievable.  So not only does Dora have the zombie effect on my babies when they watch it on TV, but apparently it works the same way in books as well. ha.  Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

The Strangest Things...

My boys are at a point in their little baby lives where they are changing so much and learning new things daily, that I can barely keep up with them, much less a blog.  So as hard as I try and as much as I would love to, I just can't write down everything that goes on in the day.

Our most recent story of craziness happened yesterday at the Best Western in Sugar Land.  My parents were leaving town and as we were departing ways in the lobby, a pretty little green bird flew through the automatic doors and landed on top of one of the curtain rods.  I'm thinking, "man, this bird sure is prettier than those ugly black birds you see everywhere."  That is when Bryan informed me that the reason this bird was so pretty was because it was someone's pet that escaped. 

Bryan and my dad proceed to catch this bird and show it to Colt, who in turn freaks out with excitement because he takes EVERY opportunity to show you every bird in the sky on any given day. 
So, as I kindly suggest that we pet this pretty little bird and let it go back into the wild, I am met with hatred by all, because surely this domestic bird will die in the wild.

As you can guess, it's off to Petsmart we go and the rest is history....
A bird cage, food, treats, toys, bird litter and a beak sharpener rock (because apparently this is absolutely necessary) later, we leave with our newest pet, appropriately named "Toodles."

Now, this is truly the kind of thing that you can't make up.

On another note, Colt started playschool in his two-year old class and even though he cries when we pull in the parking lot and tries to rip my clothes off when I bring him to class, his teachers assure me that he loves it there. 

The children start going to chapel every Tuesday in the two class, so I can only imagine how my perfect son acts in chapel every week.  haha.

My little Sam still remains the sweetest baby in the world, but you have never met a busier child.  Colt did not start eating table food until he was one year old.  Sam not only eats anything you give him, but he pulled Colt's plate off the table yesterday and was stuffing fist fulls of steak in his mouth.  I really think he has about 10 teeth in the back that I have yet to find.  He basically spends his entire day eating and still wears 3-6 month bottoms.  I guess it's safe to say that he doesn't have his mom's metabolism!

Pitter Patter of Little Hands....and Feet

At 4am I heard a door slam upstairs, jumped up and while shaking Bryan awake, telling him that someone is trying to steal our kids, I hear the sound of little feet on the floor outside our bedroom. I look up and see the cutest little boy standing at the foot of our bed with a tattered LSU blanket and bright blue paci and he has just the slightest hint of a smirk on his face.

Two years, it has been two years that Colton has never once tried to get out of his crib. He has never even attempted. Up until last night, he would sit in his crib and scream "mama dada" until someone came to get him. But last night changed it all. Now, Bryan's first task when he gets home is to put the toddler rails on Colt's crib because now he's a big boy. If I had to interpret the little smirk on his face when I saw him at the foot of the bed, I would have to say that it meant "ha! I can't believe I did it, I got out of my crib and now I get to sleep with mom and dad!" So, last night, I did what all the books say not to do....I let him, his paci and his little shred of a blanket sleep in between us. And as he lay there smelling like Johnson's baby lotion, breathing softly and sleeping with his tiny hand in mine, I couldn't help but think that there had never been a more perfect angel born on the Earth. Then he woke up this morning and now my living room looks like Katrina's outer bands went right through the middle of it! My perfect little angelic mess!!

 My sweet, wonderful baby Sam is starting to take after his brother a little bit. He started crawling last week. Scooting at first, ever so slowly and now he's a full blown speed racer with his very favorite toy being, none other than the fireplace tools. He is also starting to stand up on things and every time he masters it, he looks at one of us with the same smirk as Colt because he is oh so proud of his little self for standing up like a big boy. He continues to be just the sweetest little child, always smiling (unless Colt is knocking him down) and so happy to see you. He has grown so much just in the last week with crawling, standing up and he can also hold his own bottle now. Sam is so easy, that I feel like he is a little trick to convince me to have another baby somewhere down the road...but luckily, I'm smarter than the average bear! :)

Brotherly Love

 

The past week has been very exciting in our household.  So exciting, in fact, that I believe it has taken it's toll on a certain little two-year old that we have in our lives. 

In the past week, we have had three birthdays and a trip to NASA.  Lots of fun, yes, but probably just a tad bit exhausting for a little guy that is more used to his mother's anal nap schedules (Bryan's words), than running around in a space ship and sliding down 14foot water slides for hours and days on end.

All that aside, I guess what I am really doing is making excuses.  My little Colt Colt has been quite the meanie lately and I hate to think that he just likes to hurt his brother for no reason.  Sam went to Graham's graduation Sunday, then to my Aunt Lisa's and finally went to dinner until 9pm and was a PERFECT ANGEL!  He is just the sweetest little thing and he loves Colt so much (as you will see in the videos).  Colt loves to be mean to him though.  Ahhhh, it kills me! 

Every time Colt goes to hurt Sam, he says "I shawee baby, I shawee."  Every time he says sorry, it's so very cute, but I know I have to be strong, so after he says sorry, he has to go sit in the corner for two minutes.  Now when he hurts Sam, he screams "SHAWEE BABY SHAWEE BABY" over his shoulder, as he's running to the corner.  Which is worse because he knows the consequences to his actions and apparently, he's perfectly okay with it!

But, I cannot be in distress over this because I know in my heart that Colt has just been very tired and that he TRULY adores that sweet little Sam! 

My parents got me one of those flip video cameras for my birthday, so I took a video of the boys' brotherly love...

All Things New

In March 2009, Elton John and Billy Joel came to Houston for their Face to Face tour and I had the incredible privilege of going to see them in concert with my Aunts Jan and Lisa.  It was an unbelievable experience and for three hours, the Toyota Center rocked like I was sure it never rocked before.  At the time, I was seven months pregnant with Colt.  I knew during those three hours, that there was no way in the world my little seven month old fetus wasn't rocking and rolling along with us and if he ever turned out to be musical in any way, it would be because of that concert! 

Well, here we are now, two years later.  We watch that stupid, horrible show that I hate called American Idol and Colt takes any possible thing that he can find to resemble a microphone and runs around the house singing into it and puts it in your face so you can sing too.  Bryan also acquired a guitar from a friend and Colt absolutely LOVES to sit there with his dad and pick at the strings.  It's the first thing he makes Bryan do as soon as he walks in the door.  So, he likes to sing and pretend to play the guitar - cute.

Well, Friday night, we go to Joe's Crab Shack because they have a playground on the patio and Colt loves playing on any playground he can find.  So we go sit outside and there happens to be a band tuning up and about to start playing.  Colt goes up and watches them, then comes back to the table.  Our food comes and the band starts to play.  Colt hears the music and just starts swaying from side to side, with his eyes closed, clapping his hands to the rhythm, while standing up in his chair.  It was ABSOLUTELY HYSTERICAL!  I don't think Bryan and I have ever laughed so hard.  He proceeded to do this for every single song the band played and did not even think about going back to play on that playground.  All the while, attracting every patron inside and outside the restaurant to come look at the little spectacle that was our son.

So I think that maybe, just maybe I might have a musical child.  I must say, my cousins told me it was inevitable with a name like "Colt Skinner," ha.

My little baby Sam is doing great.  He tried baby food (squash) for the first time today and he actually swallowed it, but was making the craziest little faces I'd ever seen.  He would pretend to gag and then he would crack up smiling.  He is so sweet!  He is also, finally, finally, finally starting to not wake up in the middle of the night for a bottle, so it's been so nice to sleep for a change.  I missed it dearly!

Yesterday we put both babies in the wagon (Sam in his bumbo) and as we were walking, the boys were talking to each other and cracking up laughing.  Colt would talk to Sam in his little language and Sam would just crack up, which in turn, made Colt crack up.  There were so much fun to watch.  Then, this evening, they did it again in the living room.  I think they are really starting to love one another and they are so joyful to watch. 

Now that Sam can sleep through the night, I would love to be able to freeze time, but I know I can't, so I will continue to cherish every single moment of their precious little lives. 

Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part

This is something I used to tell the engineers that I worked with ALL the time.  There is absolutely nothing more annoying than someone procrastinating or doing something half-way and then running to you begging for your help and/or begging you to work overtime for them.

Well, my name is Sarah and I am now that person.  If you know me, you know what a planner I am.  I plan everything and I always arrive 10 minutes before I have to be anywhere because tardiness makes me crazy.  I have three visible calendars in my house, one in my car and a constant one on my cell phone.  There are very few things that I forget.  Well, let me back up, this describes me BEFORE I had two kids.  One kid was fine, but as soon as my little Sam came along, the timeliness slowly started slipping away, along with the memory and the guilt of being labeled as one of those "late" people. 

I only had one thing left.  The only remaining piece of my sanity was the fact that my calendars would make sure I was on top of dates, or so I thought. 

Colt was sick last week and he did not go to playschool.  I have a very strict policy about taking both of my children to stores with me because that also makes me crazy, but I really couldn't leave the house anyway because Colt was so sick.  Well, Saturday (Easter Eve) rolls around and our friends invite us out to the lake an hour and a half away.  It seems like a good idea, so we go and have a good time.  However, on our way back, panic starts to set in.  Tomorrow is Easter and I have absolutely NOTHING for my babies!  Bryan tells me to calm down, that we'll make it in town by 8 and I'll be able to grab the boys stuff for Easter. 

So after feedings, diaper changes, pajamas and bed, I leave the house at 9pm on Saturday night.  I go to Walgreens - nothing.  I go to Kroger because they had 3 aisles of Easter stuff 2 weeks ago - nothing but grass.  I buy some grass and go to Target - 3 bags of jellybeans.  I buy a bag of jellybeans.  Then I start to cry.  I have 1 bag of grass, 1 bag of nasty jellybeans and that is all my babies will get from that crappy old bunny.  Think Sarah think.  Call Bryan and scream and curse him out for no reason.  Then I have an idea, I will just buy the babies regular toys.  The novelty Easter stuff is overrated anyway.  So I buy some toys to put in their baskets.  It is 9:56pm and Target is locking their doors.  I run out, get to my car and start to cry again.  My son doesn't have a chocolate bunny.  He HAS TO have a chocolate bunny!  My brother and I never went one single year without a chocolate bunny.  What to do?  Back to Walgreens....they are locking the doors and I run up to the manager with tears streaming down my face begging them to PLEASE let me in to buy a chocolate bunny.  They guy tells me no and I proceed to explain to him about being raised to always have a chocolate bunny in my basket and I'm crying and being convinced that I completely maniacal and will not leave without this bunny, he lets me in.  As I'm running through the store, I know the only thought rolling around in his head is the title of this blog, over and over again.

I get home around 10:30 and I spend the next hour putting nasty jellybeans in plastic eggs (thank goodness Colt's school gave us eggs from his Easter party that he missed!!) and toys in baskets and I take a picture, because after all the commotion, I am satisfied with my boys' baskets.  If you look closely in Sam's basket, there is a bunny in there.  I did not get lucky enough to find a bunny at a store, but some awesome person gave Sam that bunny when he was born and I remembered it and stuck it in the basket for the picture....he'll never know. ha.

Easter Sunday was great.  The boys had fun and looked so cute all dressed up.  After we left church, I realized that I shouldn't be so concerned with my what my boys get from the Easter bunny as much as they know the real meaning of Easter.  That goes for myself too.  Easter will always be a success in my house as long as they know that Jesus Christ died for their sins and then 3 days later, rose again to promise us a new life in him. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!

Mama said there would be days like this...

My sweet little boys are now 23 months and 5 months old.  I had only left Colton once for a weekend and I had never left Sam before last weekend.  My dear, sweet, wonderful and brave parents decided to take on the task of watching my beloved angels so that I could go to New Orleans for the weekend with my friends.

Now, prior to going on this trip, my sweet mother always had lots of advice for me concerning my busy boys.  The advice ranged from cleaning house to discipline to the boys' personal cleanliness.  I will give you just a small example of the things I hear on a weekly basis.

"Sarah, you know you could keep a cleaner house if you had Colton help you pick up his toys.  He would love to pick up his own toys - you could even make a game out of it!"
"Sarah, you need to keep EVERYTHING that he can get into completely out of his reach, that way he can't destroy anything."
"What do you mean you don't have time to bathe Sam everyday?  He loves his little bath and you need to make time to do it."
"If Colt is doing something wrong, just say 'no, no Colt' and he'll stop doing it."

I left for New Orleans last Friday and knowing that my babies were in wonderful and capable hands, I left easily without worry.   I called several times over the weekend and got the usual updates, the boys were eating this, sleeping there, etc.  They (my parents) were a little out of breath each time I called, but nothing major.

Well, when I came back on Sunday, after my sweet little Colt jumped into my arms kissing and hugging me, I got a different report.  Reassuring me that they LOVED my boys with all of their being (and I confirm this to be true), they proceeded to tell me a few things about my babies.

"Colt is a little tornado.  Not just a tornado, but a T-O-R-N-A-D-O, because he literally destroys everything in his path."
"You can't make a game out of picking up his toys or the things he wants to destroy, it just won't work like that."
"He gets up in the middle of the night and walks down the hall saying 'Ooh Toodles!' and you have to jump out of bed to get him."
"Sam is just the sweetest little thing in the world, but you CANNOT put him down and when you do, he gets mad!"

After listening to the new opinions of my babies, I sat back just a little bit satisified, because someone, just someone knows what I do on a daily basis.  Now don't get me wrong, GG and Papa had JUST as many stories about how adorable the boys were, but I do have to admit, I was glad that they got to see what a day in the Skinner household was really like.

So as I trip over Mickey Mouse to get to the sink, where the remote control was thrown into a pot of water, where I soaking pacifiers that were thrown into the ashes in the fireplace, I stop to take in every single second of my crazy life, because I know in a blink of an eye, I'll long for days like this again.