Summer Faves

We are a little over a week away from the official start to summer, and while the weather hasn't always felt that summery, I'm not complaining and I'm in a summer state of mind.  In no particular order, here are some things I'm enjoying or looking forward to this summer:

• S'mores!  We have not done s'mores in the backyard yet, and that needs to change soon.  Last year, it was so much fun to unwind at the end of a long summer day with a fire, our neighbors, and some s'mores supplies.  The kids don't really like s'mores, they care more about the marshmallows, so that means more for mama!
• Pool: No, not a community pool or a fancy pool in our own backyard, but this blow up pool that was an amazing $20 investment 2 years ago. 
  
  The kids stay in there forever, and Brian sets up a nice spot for me with an umbrella and a chair.  Bring me my magazines and Gracie by my side, and I'm all set to supervise and relax at the same time.  (and on super hot days, Brian and I even get in....we've also been known to go down the slip & slide with the kids, too, which Jake thinks is the funniest thing in the world!)
• Fun music: there's always at least one song of summer, right?   There may never be anything that can top Will Smith's "Summertime", but there's always a fun new song that I find myself turning up in the car, and singing and dancing along to (even if someone is in the backseat, begging me to stop dancing at stop lights)  We still have a lot of summer to go, but so far I am LOVING the new Robin Thicke song, "Blurred Lines".  (I will say that I actually paid attention to the lyrics yesterday when it came on the radio and some of them are probably borderline offensive, but hey...it has a catchy beat so I'm just going to pretend like I don't hear those few lines)
• Beach pants: ok, these aren't actually called beach pants, nor are we going to the beach this year, but the fun coral and mint colored pants that are trendy right now remind me of the beach.  I'm leaning toward a pair in mint, cute for work with a white top and flat sandals, yes?
  
  
• Trashy, Fabulous Summer TV: Summertime tends to bring out the "best" in TV; if, of course, your definition of "best" is absurd, mindless, and meaningless shows.  Which is the ultimate recipe for a TV show for me, so bring it on!!  I am sad to report that we lost a good one this year....farewell, Bachelor Pad...you will be greatly missed!!  This is nearly as devastating to me as the loss of Paradise Hotel years ago. Don't worry, we've still got the old standbys of So You Think You Can Dance (this one actually IS quality TV and not trashy, but it's summer programming so we're including it on this list anyway), Big Brother, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  Bravo hasn't let me down, they're starting up a new show in July called Below Deck, about people who work on a yacht.  My DVR is giddy with anticipation.
• Fun new nailpolish: I usually treat myself to one new fun nail polish each summer, and my selection this year was Essie's Tart Deco: 
  
  On a related note, I am also obsessed with their Naughty Nautical, so I may have to splurge and get TWO new polishes this season!
   
  
  
  There's my list!  What are you looking forward to this summer??  

Has anyone seen my children?

I can't find them anywhere.

Color Me Rad!!

It took a lot of effort to get that green paint out of my hair.

I posted back in April about how I started running and was trying to get in shape to run a 5K. This is a quote from that original post, where I talk about my goal for the 5K:

 I signed up for a 5K on June 9th; I don't have full confidence that I will be able to run the entire thing by then at all, but even if I can do some, I'll consider it a win.   

I'm proud to report that I should have had more confidence in myself; I ran that whole thing!! :)  I had been able to run the 3.1 miles at my house twice prior to the 5K, so I knew I was capable of doing it, but of course, I was nervous that I would choke and not be able to do it that day.  Big shout-out to my running partner that day, Lisa, as we both kept with each other's pace and completed the whole thing without stopping.  If I hadn't had her, I might have been tempted to walk for a bit of it (especially during the part we had to run on gravel, which made me very nervous!  It would totally be my luck that I'd finally start doing something physical, then break my ankle for the summer)

crossing the finish line

we survived!!

me & Lisa

Aside from the sense of accomplishment I felt, the best thing about doing this race was crossing the finish line and seeing Brian, the boys, and my mom there, cheering me on (with a homemade sign and everything!)  They are the whole reason I started running in the first place, so I loved having them there. 

love these boys.

Jake shows his enthusiasm for the race.

my mom, me, Liam, Brian, Jake

 In case you can't see it in the pics, the sign says "Mommy is RAD, Go Dodging, We're Proud of You".  When I first started going out to run, Jake would call it "dodging" instead of jogging....cutest thing ever, so we have stuck to calling it that :)

I plan to keep up with my "dodging", and maybe...just maybe, sign up for another 5K at the end of summer :) 

Liam's 2 Year Check Up/ENT visit

 We were a little late with it, but we had Liam's 2 year check up last week. This kid LOVES going to the doctor. (and for once, there is no sarcasm behind that statement, he really does love it!)  He gets so excited when I tell him we're going there, he's super cooperative, and the rest of the day he walks around showing everyone the sticker he gets at the end of each visit saying, "Liam-so bwave!" :)  (it helped that there were no shots this time around, too!) 

Here are the stats:

Weight: 29 lbs, 6 oz (66th percentile)
Height: 35 inches (64th percentile)
Head circumference: 50 cm (81st percentile!)

To compare, here are Jake's stats from his 2 year visit:

Weight: 27 lbs (30th percentile)
Height: 33 inches (20th percentile)

So, definitely a bit of a difference between them!!  When I was looking back at my previous posts to find Jake's stats, they were listed in his 2 year check up post, which had a pretty funny story I had completely forgotten about, I'll C&P it here:

 Last night, we had Jake's 2 year check up...for some reason, our kid is absolutely terrified of the scale and threw a fit when the nurse tried to put him on it. That was strike one against her. Strike 2 was when she came in the room to give him a shot (the 2nd half of his H1N1 vaccine); he didn't cry or even flinch, but he must have been annoyed by it because after she was done, he stood up, looked right at her, pointed to the door and said "Go."

Other than that, everything went well and everything looked good and right on track. The weight was a big guesstimate, as he was fully clothed with his coat on and had to get an unscientific measurement of Brian getting on the scale with him, then weighing just Brian and figuring out the difference.

ahhh....toddler times, fun fun!!  Jake at age 2:

Liam at age 2:

Definitely a strong resemblance.  The rest of the 2 year check up went well; he's obviously thriving in the weight and height department, so the dr. said we could cut back to skim milk if we wanted to do so.  He was still on whole milk; Jake & I drink organic skim, and Brian is forced to drink regular skim (because he drinks so much milk every week he has to drink the regular stuff instead of the organic...that stuff is pricy!)  So, at any given time, there were at least 3 different containers of milk in my fridge....I will happily start giving Liam skim, allowing me to cut back to just 2 different types.

He also had an ENT appointment last week (fun medical week for the kid); it was his 1 year follow up appointment, and came at a good time because he had an infection about a month ago that was terrible (we ended up having to use both drops and oral antibiotics to finally get rid of it after over a week had passed).  When we went to get that infection checked out by our pediatrician, she couldn't find the tube in his right ear, but wasn't 100% sure if it really wasn't there, or if she infection was so bad that it was causing her to not be able to see it.  Turns out, it was the former, the tube is totally gone from the right ear (left ear looks good)   So, after talking about it for awhile, the ENT decided to take a wait and see approach, and not immediately replace that tube.  She's hopeful that going into summer, he will be less likely to get infections, and we can at least make it to fall before having to do anything. Assuming he gets no other infections, we will go back in November for another follow up.

While I'm relieved of course that he doesn't have to undergo anesthesia or anything, part of me was kind of all UGH.  Because I feel like we are right back to the point of being paranoid with every runny nose and fever....it was nice with the tubes because the guess work was gone.  If his ear drained, it was an infection, no doubts about it (he had 3 infections even with the tubes, but we knew immediately each time due to the drainage).  But without that indicator, it's hard to tell. So, we're remaining hopeful that we can get through summer with no illnesses and maybe he'll even outgrow this problem by the time the next cold  and flu season rolls around.

So there you have it, our medical updates for the time being!!  Hopefully we will not be back to the doctor for another 6 months. 

Goodbye, preschool....hello, Kindergarten!!

While he will remain at the same center until kindergarten starts up in August, Jake officially graduated from their preschool program last week :)

Both myself and Jake were complete balls of nerves going into the big day; I was nervous that I would have an emotional breakdown in front of everyone, and Jake was nervous that he would forget what to do up on stage and he was scared to be up in front of so many people (his exact words, poor thing!)  But he did a great job!! He definitely was nervous, he had his hands up by his mouth as he was coming down the aisle (always a dead giveaway for him), but he seemed to relax a bit up on stage.

The ceremony was cute, they said the pledge of allegiance and sang a few songs. Here is a video of one of the songs:

 They have a teacher at the school who speaks polish, german, and russian, so the kids have been learning all 3 languages in preschool. They counted to 10 in all 3 languages, then sang the same song in all 3 languages as well!  It was very impressive.

They did a superlative for each child when they were called up to get their diplomas; Jake got most outgoing!!  He's come along way; this is the same kid that wouldn't talk in class or interact with any other kids just 2 years ago...so proud of his progress!!

Video:

They had each of the children bring a rose to their parents, as a thank you for the support in preschool...it was very sweet!  Video:

 I made it nearly the entire way through the ceremony without tears (a miracle!); then, it happened.  The floodgates.  What sparked this change, you ask?  Sarah McLachlan.  It's all fun and games until someone shows a photo slideshow of tiny humans set to "I Will Remember You"

Speaking of tiny humans, there are so many at this school that we are going to miss next year.  We are very lucky to have become close with quite a few parents after so many years of the kids being friends.

After the ceremony, there was more picture taking (of course!), as well as cookie and juice consumption.

PopPop, Nana, Jake

Pappy, Liam, Jake, GG

"Please let us be done with the picture taking already!!"

And finally, some shots of the graduation packet that he received:

Happy graduation, Jake...we are so proud of you!  You're going to move mountains, kid!! :)

Meeska, Mouska, Happy Birthday!!

If you didn't know this about me already, I love a good theme. That being said, I had no intentions whatsoever of doing any type of theme for Liam's 2nd birthday party.  Seriously, none at all.  It was going to be a small event, just some close family members, so no theme.  And then, it happened.  My little chubby-faced 2 year old looked at me the week before his party and said, "Liam Mickey Mouse party?? like Reagan!"  Apparently, a little girl in his class had a Mickey birthday party.  Liam thought he should have a Mickey party.  You guys. You guys!  You should have seen his little hopeful face!! Then he said it again a few days later!  So, there I was in the party supply aisle of walmart, saying to myself that I'd just pick up some Mickey plates or something.  I was going to, I really was!  Then, they had a bunch of stuff on clearance...including a Mickey Mouse kit.  That's how I ended up with this stuff at the party:

No big deal, just some table toppers, cute window decorations, and a banner!  But, of course, once I start something I have a difficult time stopping.  What did I find myself doing 3 days before his party?  Looking at pinterest for other decor ideas, of course!!  Here's what I ended up with:

Subway art free printable found here on Simply Real Moms site

signs from Peonies and Poppyseeds

Also from Peonies & Poppyseeds--this site had TONS of free printables, for so many different themes! 

cupcake toppers found here on the Catch my Party site

Phew!  I felt much better once I had all of that done :)  And, since we are in Disney prep mode for our upcoming trip, we all happened to own a Mickey Mouse shirt!

It was a great day spent with our families, I'm so glad everyone could join us!  And yes, the theme was worth throwing together at the last minute, Liam seemed to enjoy seeing all of the Mickeys, and showing everyone his shirt. 

Video of singing Happy Birthday: