Isaac's birthday

To celebrate Isaac's birthday, we
went to the movies Friday night and saw Wall E. It was Isaac's first movie (except for the free movies last summer) and he did really well, as long as we kept the popcorn coming. We used up our refill before the movie even started! We all really enjoyed the movie, and I couldn't help reflecting on the fact that this was our last Friday as a family of four...

Saturday mommy made Isaac a Cars cake, and he was so excited! He ran around saying Yay! and Hars! It was very cute, and nice to know that he appreciated the cake I made. :)

Here he is with a couple of his favorite birthday presents, Buzz Lightyear and some new Cars.

And, since I wasn't a blogger back when Sareny turned four, I thought I would put a picture of her up with her Ariel cake too.

My boy is 2 today!

Exactly two years ago today, my little Isaac Jeffrey made his appearance into the world. He was the cutest little boy I ever saw. I expected him to be bald like his sister was, but I was pleasantly surprised by his beautiful light brown hair. The nurses all oohed and aahed over it and said it looked like it had been bleached by the sun. It was a sad day when it all fell out and he was bald.

He has grown into such a sweet little boy. He loves to snuggle and give kisses, and he loves his big sister "Hey-nee," as he calls her. He also likes cars, trains, and hitting people. (We're working on that last one.) He always makes the cutest and silliest expressions and is so much fun. I don't know what I would do without my boy--I can hardly remember life without him.

Here is my boy on his blessing day wearing a cute little sailor suit in honor of his great grandpa Keel who was in the Navy.

And here is my boy now, with the prettiest blue eyes, dimples, and curly blond hair.

what will they do next?

Today on the way to swimming lessons, out of nowhere Sareny said "I don't want to have any children." I asked her why not, and she said "I just want to have a husband, and then we can read and watch TV and they won't bother us." Wow! Where did she get that from? I couldn't believe she would come up with something like that; I don't think I sit around telling her not to bother me. :)

Just a typical day...

My life has gotten really crazy this summer. Today we left our house at 9:30 to go to swimming lessons. From there we ran into Burlington Coat Factory to look for Sunday clothes for Isaac and baby girl. Then we rushed to a nearby elementary school for their free school lunch--corndogs today. I had a half hour before I needed to drop the kids off at the babysitters, so we hurried to Target where I got Isaac some new shoes and me some deodorant. (Gross, but in all the rush I had forgotten to put deodorant on this morning, and with all the running around in the heat, it's kind of a necessity.) From there, I dropped the kids off at the O'Neill's and drove to Scottsdale for my Dr. appointment. Then I picked the kids back up, and got back home at 3:30. Whew! Sadly, this is not too uncommon for us these days.

We were all pretty exhausted, so the kids piled onto my lap, I started a movie, and we all fell asleep. Best part of the day!!

$50 well spent

A few months ago I bought an above ground pool at a Toys R Us that was going out of business. It is 13 feet across and 39 inches tall, and it came with a pump, ladder, and cover for $50. I thought that was a really good deal and I thought it would be perfect for our family this summer. Because it was a close-out, it was non-returnable and I had left my cell phone at home. I pictured what Keith would say about it if I asked him, and I figured he would say no. But I knew our kids would love it, and I would be hugely pregnant in the hot months, so I went ahead and got it.

We have loved having this little pool! Sareny can touch the bottom and she is able to practice what she is learning at swimming lessons and Isaac loves to float around with his water wings. Tonight we had the O'Neill family over to swim with us, and the kids all had such a great time. Sareny always wants to have friends over and with swimming lessons and driving to Scottsdale twice a week, my schedule has been pretty full. She gets to go to friends' houses biweekly when I go to the hospital for the non-stress tests, but she wants them to come to our house! The O'Neill's have only been gone for half an hour, and she is already pestering me to invite them over again! She was very impressed because Garrett was such a good hider at hide and seek, and she said she had so much fun with all of them. She calls Madison the "big girl," and far from meaning offense by it, she thinks Madison is so grown up because she gets to sit in the front seat of their car. Anyway, we had a great time!

Sunburn

I took the kids to the Starlight swimming pool today, and we had so much fun! The lifeguards took them down the slide a bunch of times, and we mostly just splashed around in the baby pool. It was difficult to get them out of the pool, and when they are having such a good time I always hate to end the fun, so we ended up staying there for 2 hours. If only Isaac enjoyed swimming lessons as much as he likes swimming with Mommy!

Once we got home I could tell that I missed a spot with the sunscreen under Sareny's eye, and my itchy back let me know I didn't get myself very good. :( Sareny actually let me put her hair into pigtails today and after her hair got wet they fell into perfect little ringlets. Lucky girl!

Isaac and trains

A couple of Sundays ago, Isaac hopped aboard his train duffel bag. He loves trains so much and is so cute, he always says, "toot toot!" when he sees a train. Sissie was quick to jump on when we pulled out the camera... :)

Bubble Bath

On our last visit to Nevada, the kids had a bubble bath in Grammy Jo and Bampa's huge jet tub. I put in what I thought would be the right amount of bubbles, but I didn't take into account the jets. I have never seen so many bubbles! Poor Isaac was barely able to stick his head above the bubbles, and once he was out we turned the jets on again and let the bubbles get all the way to the top for Sareny to play in. She made herself a beautiful dress!

A boy with a marker--not a good idea

So the other day I was sitting at the computer working on my blog. I must say, I tend to be pretty oblivious to my surroundings at times when I'm on the computer. After a while, I realized I'd been hearing a strange sound coming from behind me for quite a while. I decided to turn around and investigate--and there was Isaac sitting on my upholstered rocker recliner with a blue marker going to town on the chair. The seat and arm were covered with marker stains, and I had no idea how to get them out. Both Keith and my mom suggested I try a Magic Eraser, which seemed like a strange solution, but also a lot easier than dragging out the carpet cleaner, so I gave it a try. To my surprise, it worked like a dream, and the chair came clean. I love those things!

I made sure and took this picture when Isaac wasn't around to see--didn't want him thinking it was cute or something!

New Kids on the Block

Okay, so today during my drive to Scottsdale for my bi-weekly hospital visit, Radio Disney played a new song by an old group. It was called SummerTime by NKOTB! I had heard they were touring and coming out with a couple of new songs, which I thought was exciting news. :)

Now back in the day, I was a pretty huge New Kids fan, I have to admit. I was one of those girls who had their posters plastered all over my bedroom wall, and I screamed and squealed with excitement the first time I watched their Hangin' Tough movie. I spent my allowance money buying Bop, Wow, and Tiger Beat magazines to cut out their pictures, and I am certain that if I had ever made it to one of their concerts, I would have burst into tears.

Truly, I think the fact that I never got to see them live in concert is one of the travesties of my life--a thing which I have hoped to correct by seeing them on their 2008 concert tour. They will be at the Glendale arena on Monday October 13th! Sadly, Keith is not that interested in attending with me. Are you?? We could have an awesome girl's night out!! So if you're a closet New Kids fan, let me know!

I thought I would post a couple photos of myself during my New Kids phase, but my seventh grade year seems to have gone largely undocumented. Unfortunately, I am not savvy enough to post the pictures I did find, but rest assured that my hair was big and pretty silly looking.

He loves his movies...

If a guy is going to watch his favorite movie, he may as well get comfortable! Lately Isaac brings me the remotes and says, "Hars," which means the Disney movie Cars. Another of his favorites is Toy Story, which he calls Buzz. We went to Disneyland in December, and he got so excited every time we went on Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters--I had to take him on it over and over while the others went on Space Mountain.

Glamor Mom

Sareny is such a little mommy! She loves playing with her babies, and she loves real babies even more. Here she is all decked out with her jewelry and her baby that she named "Silly." Once our baby comes, I know all I'm going to hear is "Can I hold her now?" I'm going to have to keep an eye on that girl, or I worry for the safety of our new baby--she thinks she's big enough to do everything.

Swimming Lessons

Sareny and Isaac are in swimming lessons this summer, and today was the third day of class. Because I am going to have a baby sometime in the next few weeks, I had to put Isaac, who is not quite 2, into a level 1 class with his sister, who is 4. Sounds crazy, and I have been worried about him for the past month. He is not very happy in there, but each day gets a little better, and I am just glad the lifeguard is letting him stay in. I sit right on the side under an umbrella to help calm him down, keep him in the pool, and keep him from drowning when the lifeguard is busy with the other kids.

Sareny loves her lessons and has a lot of fun since the class is full of her friends. The picture above is with one of her best friends that was in her preschool class. She likes to do bobs at the side, and is very excited because when she goes under, her feet can touch the bottom. Her life goal is to be a lifeguard someday!

Sareny doing bobs, and Isaac actually not too unhappy.

Sareny floating and loving it...Isaac not quite loving it...

Hurray for swimming lessons!

Panda

Our kids love Panda Express--it is probably their favorite place to eat out. Anytime we are discussing where to eat, Sareny says she wants Panda so she can have noodles. Isaac loves to wad in the noodles too, and makes a big mess.






I love this new shirt--a Kohl's special for only $2.80!

Sareny's teaparty

Sareny had fun today lining up all of her toys along the top of the balcony. She said it was a teaparty. She was very careful and didn't even drop any over the edge. Some of her dolls were "lotsa tired" and were sleeping. Sareny was very proud of her work. Looks like fun!