Classroom Helper

I'm not sure what my deal was but I was so giddy when I woke up this morning. I couldn't wait to help volunteer in Tyler's classroom. I've been wanting to be a fly on the wall since the first day of school and this is about as close as it gets. The students were making turkey cookies for Thanksgiving, so I volunteered to make the batter and be one of the three Mommies to help the kids make their own cookie. I was a little nervous about the batter because it's very crumbly, but it all worked out just fine. Tyler kept saying on the way to school "Mommy, I can't wait to see you in my classroom. I can't wait to see you at Jack and Jill!" It was sweet and made me happy. He was very good about showing me things but also doing what he was supposed to do while I had to help some of the other kids. He played in the kitchen with some of the girls and played with this car mountain on the floor with some boys. We also got the opportunity to see the morning routine and how all the kids behave during circle time. It did seem like the kids were a bit rammy this morning with some extra energy. I think that's what happens when there's new faces in the classroom AND they're making cookies. Hilarious! In groups of three the kiddos came over to make their cookies. Tyler was my last kiddo and it was particularly special to be doing this food related activity with him just like all the other boys and girls. It was a very "normal" moment and I loved every minute of it (and do did he!)! While we baked the cookies, the boys and girls went outside for their recess. Upon their return, surprise...cookie for snack time. They got to decorate the cookies with icing, sprinkles, and candy corn. The kids were loud all morning but as soon as they sat down for cookie eating, it was silent. I got such a kick out of it. At one point, Tyler looked over at me and said "Mommy, these cookies are so good, thank you!" The other two moms looked at me with those eyes and were like "seriously, that was the sweetest thing." My heart melted...and he kept sitting there making his sound effects "ummm, yummy, ummm delicious". I LOVE YOU, TYLER. Honestly, it was a perfect morning. I chose to stay home so I could experience moments like this and it was a moment of perfection. Honest, pure, loving, unforgettable moments like this make being a Mommy the best thing in the world.

We drove back to Grammy's house after class to have lunch with Matty and Grammy. It was also lots of fun eating white chicken chili and listening to the nutcracker (and a surprise visit from Baca!). Tyler topped off a perfect morning with a tea party. The two of them got a serious case of the giggles having something to do with dancing candlesticks and cups. Matty and I were in the other room and hearing Grammy and Tyler giggle like that is another sound that I can't get enough of!!! We returned home and everyone had a good, long nap! Life is good!

Whack it

Matty opened up the last of his birthday presents this morning. THANK YOU Uncle Peter, Aunt Lauren, Zach, and Julia because it's literally a hit!!! Within about 1 minute of playing with his new toy, Matty figured it out. Every time he'd hit the ball threw the hole, he'd let out a big chuckle and want us to clap for him. Too funny and glad to see such a strong reaction to a gift.

Hockey Player??!!

Adam discovered that little Matty LOVES playing hockey. For the last month or so, Adam would help Matty hold the stick and walk with him. Now that he can walk on his own, hockey is becoming a favorite outdoor past time for him. It's great because it's also getting Tyler more interested in playing too! How cool that they're teaching each other some things already!!!

And yes, our Little one-year-old can already slam dunk the ball too!!!

Dinner and Tea Time

Mom and Dad called early this afternoon and invited our family to their house for dinner. Pat, Willa, and Bea came too and we celebrated their check-up with the doctor and seeing the heart beat of number two. Willa is about 13 weeks along and we got the green light to tell whomever we want! We had some fun play time, a delicious chicken and pasta dinner, and yummy apple cake for dessert. Tyler was doing some honking at the table because he gets such a kick out the way Baca sneezes and some birthday singing. Bumble said my name for the first time and I loved the way it sounded!!! Tyler overheard Mom ask any of the adults if we wanted coffee or tea and immediately requested a tea party. He picked the Peter Rabbit set and Mom even agreed to read one of the little books while the kids enjoyed "tea" (water) and cake. She was so sweet with them all and it ended up being a great, last minute night together. Glad they called.

walking

Ever since the trip to Baltimore, Matty has really decided walking is his new mode of transportation. I get such a kick out of it because I hear his stomping around the house. Pitter patter, pitter patter, stomp stomp. I love the noises. The most adorable thing is the way he's walking. He almost always walks with his right hand up in the air like he's still holding my hand for support. It's so freaking cute, I can't stand it. Sometimes if he's feeling really confident then the arms lower and off he goes. Of course, with this new skill comes plenty of falls but he gets himself back into the squat position and lifts himself back up to standing. He's been doing circles around the house and sometimes looks at me with a big smile on his face like he's so proud of himself. And I love when Tyler cheers him on. Since he's been so good about walking tonight was the first time we had naked walking/dinosaur train time. Those two little hinnies have to be the most adorable little things on this earth!!! I love my boys!

Baltimore Aquarium

We all woke up early this morning and have been talking about what kinds of fish we will see at the aquarium all morning long. It felt like 9:00 couldn't come fast enough, especially because the 'fall back' time change just happened, so the boys were up a hour earlier this morning. The walk to the aquarium was slightly windy and cool. Tyler was on top of Adam's shoulders and had a single tear running down his face and he said "Mommy I have happy tears. I am so happy right now!" It was precious! Adam and I squeezed each other's hand and knew it's hard to beat moments like this. We walked up to the ticket counter around 8:55 armed with our coupons and ready to have some fun and we were greeted with emptiness. Adam and I looked at each other and went from the ticket window to the main entrance and it was clear that everything was shut down and closed. CLOSED??!! What?? Coming to the aquarium was our driving force for staying in Baltimore for two nights and make this particular trip fun. How could they be closed? At first, Adam realized it was Veterans Day (I felt bad because I completely over looked this detail) and thought this was probably the reason. Then he spotted a worker and basically followed her into the building and learned that they have just changed to winter hours (and the website has not been updated) and the place didn't open until 10:00. Whew! Okay, no problem. We had about 45 minutes to kill and discovered the Barnes and Noble around the corner was open and even had a train table! Jackpot!

When we returned to the aquarium just before 10:00, it was clear the building was open and we weren't the only ones with the idea. Tyler was so excited and was going from the one spot to the next with vigor and enthusiasm. He would ooh and aah loudly and other parents would look at us and smile and one said "looks like he's enjoying himself". Um, yep he sure is and he sure deserves it! I'm just so glad that it seemed to surpass the anticipation he had for the day because we had really been talking it all up, but he couldn't have been any more well behaved or happier than he was during the entire morning. Based on his enthusiastic reaction, I'd say his favorite moments were seeing Nemo, the huge octopus, the sharks, and the dolphin show. Both of the boys were clapping during the entire dolphin show. Matthew was especially animated and obviously enjoying himself. We left after the 11:30 dolphin show and met Grammy and Baca outside of the exit and had a great lunch together. I don't know how the day could get any better than it's already been and it's only 1:00.

Family Photo shoot

I've been hoping for a Family photo shoot for some time now and I finally got my Christmas present! I love the way our property looks in the fall and the two boys are in such an adorable phase that I wanted to capture it now. We had the Wiebners come to our home around 4:30 to take some outside shots. Just before we headed outside, little Matty took a big stumble down two stairs and developed a good sized welt on his forehead. I felt so bad for him but he managed to recover pretty quickly. The boys looked adorable and warmed up to Rita and Joel fairly quickly. Tyler was, of course, a bit obsessed with his dump truck which is fine but I was hoping for a few group shots, so I did have to do some bribing with skittles. Considering everything, both boys did really well. It also helped that we wanted most of the pictures of all of us playing and hanging out in the yard, so there weren't' too many posed pics. They said it'll be about a week until we get to see the proofs and I'm just dying to see them. It'll be interesting to see what happened and we surely put the two of them to the test with the little guys running all around the yard. Merry Christmas to myself and I can't wait to see what precious images were captured.