Kissy kissy!

Do you guys have that screensaver thing that rotates through one of your pictures files? I have mine set to rotate through my ENTIRE picture folder, which is several hundred pics. This one flashed up the other day and I had completely forgotten about it. It was the summer of '07, and Carson and I got to go to California with my parents for a family wedding. It was the week before my 30th birthday. We also got to spend some fun time with my aunt, uncle, cousin and grandma. This is at my Aunt & Uncle's house (sorry, Leota, if I'm making you miss that house!). We went for a dip one warm afternoon and Carson, 22 months, was chillin' on this little floaty seat. You know the way most of you people feel about puppies? I feel that way about kids and babies. I LOVE them! I want to hold almost every baby I see and any child whom I know personally is going to get kissed. I kiss my own children's heads, arms, faces, feet, hands & legs about 50 times a day. So, not only am I kind of a fan of this picture because it's me in a swimming suit without exposing too much, but I love the moment it captures of me lovin' on my little man. And look at him! Is he lovin' life or what?

Misc.

Here's some random info and pictures from the last few days. I've written plenty on this blog about how frustrating my eldest is, so I should also now write that we've been going through a period of...let's just say it's been more enjoyable than not. He has been especially helpful with Sydney, and she is totally enamored of him. On this particular day, he made a total mess of her room, finding all kind of things to entertain her with, and took 2 blankets to make a "dress" for her. And no, he is not wearing pants again. People, I make myself quite vulnerable and authentic for ya here. This is the real life of Brazenlilly.
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Also, take note of Carson's mane. Because it has been shorn! It was quite the drama (reverting back to "frustrating" mode), but Gma Jojo was gracious to cut it for us. When we went into the bathroom at home to look at it, he was distressed. "Oh, man," he whined. "Now I look just like Uncle Chad!" Yes, dear, that is true. Also, please note the "get dressed" chart we had to start. This is because Carson is going through some sort of phase where every single pair of socks and shoes "HURT" him and he wants every single tag cut off of every single piece of clothing, and we were dealing with massive, earth-shattering meltdowns. Every single day. Every. Single. Day. So we started this chart and he gets a sticker for days he gets totally dressed without throwing a fit.

Also, random, Sydney was wearing this cute outfit (gift from Mimi and Tara) and I wanted to take a picture. I realized I have no good places to take pictures of an entire outfit, other than that darn green couch that is already in a million pictures. So, we tried the rocker. It kind of backfired, because Sydney would not relax her body due to the rocking motion. She was hunched over in every picture, which, humorously, makes her jacket look like one from the 80's with huge shoulder pads. Especially in that second pic. Hee!

Who's the fairest of them all?

OK, again with the unmade bed. (Confession: I feel like I am perpetually cleaning our front rooms, and I'm tired and exhausted and distracted by the time I'm done, so my room is the last to be cleaned. But I do occasionally make the bed, contrary to evidence on this blog.)

This is a cute video of Sydney finding herself in the mirror. It may be one of those things that is ridiculously adorable to her mom, dad and grandparents and only slightly amusing to other blood relatives and downright boring to others. But I liked it. :)

Tagged

Isn't blogging so cool? I mean, I remember thinking that blogging was for geeks and political nutjobs. Now, it is a fairly low-maintenance way for me to keep in touch with so many friends--old and new. It is also a way for me to document our day-to-day lives--I'm working on getting it a little more permanent than a web page. My Dad wrote letters to my brother and I throughout our childhood and gave the notebooks to us on our 18th birthdays. It was so cool to be able to see what he was thinking at different times in our childhoods. I want to do things that will help my kids understand how much I love them--even if that means writing about how much they drive me crazy! :)

ANYWAY, I digress. The most recent friend blogging has brought me in touch with is a childhood friend, Carrie Leigh, who tagged me to do this little project.

Go to your pictures folder, open the 4th folder and post the 4th picture.

This is a picture of Carson at my parents (then) new house in S. They hadn't moved in yet and we were living there at the time. I remember getting that blue jacket for him at Old Navy for like $3.

If I understand the next portion correctly, I'm supposed to now confess about whom I blogstalk. Hmm...I do some bloghopping, but I have quite a few links (some of whom I've met through friends' blogs!) over to the right that I keep quite busy staying updated on them. I don't know if I've commented on the Bakers (but I think they know I visit) or Edmistons, which I visit occasionally.

I don't know who to tag, so I'll say: Steph, Becky, Jenna & Sarah, as well as the ones whose names I see a lot on my blogroll: Kristi, Heidi, Diane, Lisa, Rory, Dionne & Jess B.

I also want to say Happy Birth Day to Peyton, who will be born tomorrow via C-section!

Beach Weekend

For several years we have had the opportunity to get away for one weekend each spring with my side of the family. It started at Black Butte when a friend gifted us a weekend there several times in a row. At that time it was just my parents, Mike & Becky, and Trent & me. The location has changed a few times, and the schedule is very different now three kids, but we still have a great time, watch movies, eat a lot of food and laugh. Hard. :) This year Mike & Becky gifted us with this weekend in Lincoln City. Here's some pics:

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Sydney putting on her shy/giggly face for Mommy.

One of my favorite things in the world is when she snuggles her cheek up against mine. I love it!


2 Daddies walking on the beach with their babies: one front pack and one back pack.

Jack in the back pack. Carson likes to call him JackyJack.

Syd & Daddy.

My pretty girl!

My sis. Not by blood, but close enough.

The 2 crazy kids that started this family!

Ah, the classic game of human airplane.

This one is from my POV. I love his facial expression!

I even took a little video...




We also have another tradition of borrowing a projector and connecting it to the laptop/video console (this time it was the Wii), bringing some speakers and having a HUGE screen on the wall to watch movies and play games. We played quite a bit of Wii Fit this weekend, and Carson was very good at the running. It made me laugh every time!

This kid makes me laugh!

He makes me scream, cry, pull my hair out, practice my deep, calming breathing more than I've ever needed to in my life and drink my weight in coffee each day, but he really does make me laugh!

When he was really little, we were told many times that boys will make a gun out of just about anything--sticks, brooms, etc. That is true, but he will also make a microphone or megaphone out of just about anything. Including certain pieces of baby gear that may be lying around the house. Here he's yelling "HEY EVERYBODY!"

The other night when he was taking a bath we were singing songs and it became quite clear that he knows approximately 2 words to this song. The words he knows? "YES, SIR!" I wanted to be creative and type the Carson version in text at the bottom of the screen, but that would take to much time. See if you can decipher his lyrics!

Safety first, people.

This is what I found when I went to get Syd's carseat this morning. Hee! And Happy Birthday to Abby!

From your best friend (even though you don't know it yet.)

Can you feel the love?

Filler, yes, but cute filler.

I know I haven't been posting much this last week, and what I did post was boring. Our family caught the same cold bug that everyone else had, with fever and something called RSV on top of it. Now both children have inhalers. Also, Trent was out of town for 4 days. Also, I had 2 sub jobs. Also, we stayed at my inlaws for 2 nights. Also, we had a wild and crazy double b-day party for the Sweet Pumpkins. It's been a fun, tiring and interesting week!

Here's a video to hold you over until I have something more amusing to post. It is a video of the kids playing in Sydney's room. Finding another item to add to the list of "things that Sydney likes now but will hate soon" is the game Carson has of throwing soft things at her and making her laugh. The video is kind of dark (literally, not figuratively), because I like to create a cave for my children to sleep with black-out shades and white noise machines. I just hadn't opened the shades after her recent nap. I love that laugh!

You have not because you ask not?

This Christmas, my dear Auntie C gave us some little gifts (even though we technically weren't supposed to exchange, but she got out on a technicality--she planned and bought before the rule was made-- and the fact that she's the oldest sib!). In the box, which was labeled from Santa, I found things that only someone who reads my blog religiously would know about. For instance, there was a book about how to decorate children's birthday cakes. There was also 2 new bottles of Magic Shell, and the kids each got their own Christmas hot chocolate mugs (since we only have 2), complete with a stash of hot cocoa and lots of marshmallows. Hmmmm...Santa reads my blog! It was a fun surprise and treat.

We were all pretty impressed and amused. Trent said I need to start mentioning my desire and need for some more expensive things, like a minivan! And although I don't plan to cash in on my family reader's generosity, it did give me an idea!

This is really only for anyone who reads in Oregon/Washington, but I am in big need of a new dresser. Actually, just a dresser. I look on craig's list regularly, but they are either too small, too old and ugly or too expensive. Does it sound contradictory to say now that I'm not too picky? :) Anyway, I thought I would just throw that out there in case anyone reading has or knows of anyone ELSE who has a dresser they are willing to part with for little or no money. I have a dresser with 4 drawers but only 2 work and it's quite frustrating. So, who knows? Maybe Santa works year round. ;)

Hmmmm...suspicious!

So, I got a new camera for Cmas. It is small and pink and just for me. When I am home, I am mean and don't let Carson use it. He got his own digital camera last Christmas, and I direct him to use that. WELL, when I uploaded some pictures this morning, looking for a video I just took, there were some NEW pictures on my camera of which I was unaware.

I mean, I'm not saying that these were necessarily the handiwork of a 3 year old. It could have been an incompetent adult.

But my deducing skills lead me to believe these were taken by a child. But WHEN could they have been taken? I mean, I guard my new camera diligently! What adult was in charge when this new camera was in the hands of a toddler?

THEN, I stumbled on these 2 pictures, which will act as incriminating evidence exhibits A and B. This is clearly the torso of Bapaw Phil, who was over at our house on Friday night, hanging out with Trent and the kids while I was gone.Yeah, this may be the work of a child, but it definitely took place under adult supervision. Those Tompkins men cannot be trusted!

The whole reason I was going to post was this little video. Of course, I am loquacious, so I can't just post it. I need to remind you of a few things I have previously mentioned on this very blog. 1) Carson rarely wears pants before noon. 2)Our unmade bed is usually where the kids hang out while I get ready in the morning, and cute things tend to happen. 3)They both have colds & Sydney's got a bad runny nose. I promise I usually wipe it when I'm not getting a cute video. and 4) Sydney learned this new trick that I wanted to catch for my own posterity and for your viewing enjoyment.

Let's not do that again, 'kay?

We had quite a crazy situation last night.

Carson's been sick for the past few days with a bad cold. Heavy cough, stuffy nose & fever. I know we have a cheap humidifier, but when we moved in it got put in the attic, so I haven't used it for a long time. I asked Trent to hunt it down, which he did. I filled it up and I remembered from the last time I used it that you are supposed to add salt to make it steam, and I hadn't added enough salt. I remember having to take it apart twice and add more salt. So, this time I figured I would just add a bunch of salt. Who needs to measure? Trent was reading Carson his bedtime stories, I plugged in the humidifier, and it was steaming away.

MEANWHILE, you should know that about 3 or 4 times a year, I get a wicked headache. It is always behind my left eye, makes me very nauseus and there is no cure but to puke my guts out, take advil and sleep for about 5 hours. I hesitate to call it a migraine, because I'm think real migraines are worse, so I'll just say they hurt so bad they make me vomit every time.

Well, I was in the throws of one of these headaches last night. Sydney was down, and all I needed to do was sit/lay with Carson for a few minutes as part of our nightly ritual. I was talking to myself the whole time, telling myself I did NOT need to throw up. I could wait. Carson, being rather sick himself, was already sleepy, so I left quickly and BARELY made it to the sink in the bathroom. EWWWW! So, so gross. I knew I'd be the one to clean it up, so I transferred quickly to the toilet.

I'm sorry to be so graphic, but to truly sense the craziness of this moment, you need to know that I was on my knees, worshipping the porcelain gods as they say, mid-upchuck when THE SMOKE DETECTOR STARTED GOING OFF! I'm not kidding you. Loud and shrill as the day is long. I immediately knew Carson would be freaking out, because he is so scared of loud noises, and I also knew it was the steam causing it, so it would be coming first from the detector in his room, as well as in the hall outside all of the bedrooms. Still, I took half a second to wipe my mouth with TP as I ran into his bedroom. (Trent was out in the living room, on his way, I figured.) Feeling like someone out of a movie who has a horrible hangover and is in pain with loud noises, I cringed as I walked into the loud, steamy room, yanked the power cord from the humidifier, pulled the curtain and blinds up, opened the window, and then held Carson. I took him into the other bathroom where I promptly rinsed my mouth out with water and brushed my teeth. I'm sorry, sweetie, that you are horrified and crying, but it needs to be done.

The alarms stopped after a couple minutes when the steam died down. Sydney was wide awake too, but fortunately not scared. I fought against the pain for another 20 minutes getting everone settled, then fell into bed. So, how was your night?