Today, Sam and I proved how much we love Charlie and Noah.
Sam’s car had to go to the shop this morning..AGAIN. This time the repair cost would have been more than the value of the car, so the decision was made to trade it in. We were then faced with what to replace it with. A truck for Sam? An SUV? Sam will not let me drive anything small so a car was out of the question. When looking at our options we wanted to do what would work for us for the longest period of time. What will I be doing in five years? Probably driving Charlie and Noah and their little friends around. What would work best for that? The dreaded minivan.
So, we found the van with the best price and Sam got them to throw in a DVD player. The things we do for our children.
Please meet the newest member of the Haag fleet: I don’t know how I am going to back out of a parking space
Row two: car seats
Row three: already covered with hand sanitizer, thanks to Charlie
Today is Sam and mines’ anniversary, so we decided to go out to dinner. Normally it is Charlie that gives us a hard time when we go out. He doesn’t like to sit still for very long, and he doesn’t like to eat much so sitting in a restaurant is toddler torture for him. Noah loves to eat in general, so we hardly have issues when we take him out.
Tonight, we went to Smokin’ Pig for some bbq. The service was really good. Charlie sweetly drank out of a big boy cup and Noah danced to the music until the food came. When the food was brought out, the boys picked at their meals and were well behaved. Then I got them each a bowl of ice cream from the salad bar, which they loved. Sam paid the bill while I put the food in take-out boxes, and we praised the boys for their excellent behavior. While packing up, we were still metaphorically patting ourselves on the back for how sweet the boys were.
Then we had to separate Noah from his melted bowl of ice cream.
We were seated in the table farthest from the door. When I started to get Noah out of his highchair he started to whimper. Then I took the spoon out of his hand. Apparently he thought that was the wrong decision. Now, when Noah was born we were told he had underdeveloped lungs and he was on an incredibly expensive drug for several months to help them develop. It worked. Noah let out the LOUDEST scream ever. This is no understatement: Noah has the loudest screams I have ever heard a child make. I didn’t know toddlers had the power to make a sound at the decibel level Noah is capable of. He continued to scream while I walked as fast as I could out the door. Once I got outside I had to readjust, as Noah had slipped almost completely out of my death-grip. I had him hoisted up again, and he grabbed my tank top, screamed, and flopped backwards….fully exposing my bra to a van full on senior citizens.
We love you Noah….but don’t ever do that again. I am started to get immune to your cuteness.
I hate all things that are classified as creepy crawlies. I have two boys that are fascinated by bugs. I have a feeling I am going to get gray hair prematurely. I know that growing up in Georgia the boys will spend long days playing outside catching bugs, frogs, and maybe even the occasional skink. What, you don’t know what a skink is? Well, let me introduce you to them. Skinks are basically a cross between a snake and a lizard. They have a snake like body and little legs. They are gross and I could have lived my life being blissfully unaware of their existence, but yesterday I looked out the window and saw this:
Gross, right? I am scared to know what else is living in this region of the South. I am dreading the summer days in the future when Charlie and Noah come running into the house yelling “Look what we found!!”
You know Pavlov, the guy with the dogs? He rang a bell every time he fed them; eventually they started drooling when he just rang the bell.
We have a similar phenomenon going on around here. When the kitchen timer goes off Noah goes into feeding mode. He yells “EAT! EAT! EAT!” and runs towards his chair. He then shovels the food into his mouth pausing only to tell me “Mmmm, yummy!”
I love this boy.
Noah, eating all the french fries while Charlie plays at Burger King.
Tomorrow Sam and I have to go back to Texas for a few days to take care of our house.While we are gone Missy is going to take care of the boys.This is the first time I have ever been away from the boys, with the exception of when I was in the hospital having Noah.
I am a little worried.My boys are, well, little boys.They act like little boys, and Missy has daughters.I am putting together a list of instructions and helpful tips to make the next four days a little easier for her.
-The boys wake up at 7
-When pouring cups for the boys, make sure you use the same style of cup or else they will fight over who gets what one
-Charlie likes to snuggle while he drinks him milk in the morning.He has to be covered up with a blanket when in your lap
- Don’t fill Noah’s cup of cereal up to the top.He will tip it a little and pour some out, which will make him mad, and then he will dump the whole thing out
- Noah wears the size 7 shoes, Charlie wears size 8
-Charlie and Noah wear the same size clothes
- Do not, under any circumstance, let Charlie watch Blue’s Clues
-The thermostat is to be set at 77 degrees no matter what Sam told you
- “dog dogs” are hot dogs
- The boys get their lunch at 11, acceptable lunch options include: peanut butter sandwiches, dog dogs, or a can of pasta
-Nap time is from 12-2
-After lunch snacks options include popcorn and fruit snacks
-The boys like going to the park in town, but make sure you go in the morning while it is still cool out
-They do not like to go in the pool
- Charlie likes to roar at Noah, and this makes Noah scream
- Don’t get worried if they only eat two bites of their meal
- No swearing around the boys…I know the crowd you hang around
-Bed time is between 7 and 7:30, depending on how cute they are acting
-Extra diapers and wipes are on the back porch
-Charlie likes to lick; it is his favorite form of affections
-Spitting is not acceptable; don’t let them get away with it
-Climbing over the baby gate is a major offence
- They only drink milk in the morning and after 5, the rest of the day they can drink water, tea or lemonade
-Always use the chain lock when they are in the living room, they can and will escape
-The number for poison control is 1-800-222-1222
- I will have my cell phone with me at all times, call if you have any questions, concerns or questions
I hope Missy enjoys the time she gets to spend with the boys.I know that they are in good hands, but I am going to worry about them the whole time they are gone.
I love staying home with the boys and being here for all the fun moments they have!They are such fun boys.Yesterday Charlie took the price tag off the bread and stuck it on his forehead; then put his rain boots on and jumped around.Noah ran around with him, but only had one boot on.Then Charlie found a Paula Deen magazine and actually sat and looked at it for awhile.
Charlie has never been one for comfort objects.He does not have a special stuffed animal or book that he cannot bear to part with.He hardly cared when I took his pacifier away when he was eight months old.That changed this week.
We were grocery shopping and Sam gave Charlie a can of boiled peanuts to throw into the cart.Instead of tossing it in, he clung to it.While walking around with it he would randomly give it kisses.He screamed when we had to give it to the cashier to scan.He was in love.
We thought he would let go of it on the car ride home, but when we got home he was still cuddling it.He took it to nap time with him and even took it to a birthday party on Saturday.
Charlie left it in the living room during naptime yesterday and Sam opened and ate the peanuts.Charlie (thankfully) hasn’t missed it yet.
In other news…isn’t this the cutest picture of Noah EVER?
.jpg)
