Snow Fun

We have had TOO many snow days around here!  I think Loco public schools have been off for over 12 days now this school year!  Here are some pictures from the big snow we got this weekend!

Happy Friday!

Tried to do a family photo shoot.  This is what we ended up with...

Happy Friday!

Bath time with Thomas is always the highlight of my night.  Not only is he super adorable but it means he's about to go to BED!!

Hello Mr. President!

Last week we had a tip that President Obama was going to be in Leesburg for a conference.  When I took the boys out in the morning I noticed police cars at every intersection surrounding our neighborhood and it was then I realized he was going to fly into Leesburg Airport and what his route would be to the conference center.  We were at home about to have lunch and when we heard the helicopters and I threw the boys in the car!!  Ben was in PJs, of course, and I forgot my shoes.  And my camera.  And Ben had to take a leak, which he did while parked next to some pretty important guys.

I did manage to capture a few fun pictures and video with my point and shoot, however!!

We waited a big and saw the motorcade come through while we were barricaded in the Walgreens parking lot.  After the procession was over two men peeked their heads in the car and offered each of the boys a special pin - it was then I realized they were the secret service!!!  We had a great time and its a memory the boys will never forget!!

SHOES!

Thomas doesn't say much, but when he does, it's most likely SHOES or CROCS!  If you recall, we went through the same thing with Ben & AJ, but I feel like Thomas has the itch for shoes a little worse.   Ever since he started to walk he refuses to go barefoot in the house.  He never wants to wear his own shoes, usually big brothers or mine.  Either way, we don't hear much pitter patter from him these days, it's mostly just CLUNKY around!

Hey, Girl...

Oh really?  Did I just sign up for this?!  In between huffing pizza to cure my hangover I had some time to scour the internet on Autism facts (getting ready for April's Autism Awareness month).  I came across Sunday Stilwell's blog - Adventures In Extreme Parenthood.  She has two autistic sons yet she manages to keep things positive and is so hilarious.  I think I've found a new dose sanity and I'm excited to start following her.

Also, if you haven't checked out her blog you have to read her 'Hey Girl' ads with Ryan Gosling.  If you don't have a special needs child it may not really register with you.  But for me?  I couldn't stop laughing!!!  I'm going to play along this week and participate.  You'll understand soon enough....

http://www.extremeparenthood.com

Fangs Mc Vampy

Say hello to your next star of the Vampire Diaries.  

Techno Boys

Here's a great music video Seth captured on his phone.  Too funny not to share.  

Spaghetti Time

Oh AJ has come so far from his days of avoiding food!

Guess Who?

If you had to guess, could you pick out which one is Thomas?

Okay, so I guess the blonde hair gave it away...

We are still trying to decide who Thomas looks more like. Being that most of the photos I had of Ben & AJ the first few weeks of life were of them screaming (see Exhibit A-D), or swaddled up in some sort of reflux contraption (Exhibit E-G) it was hard to find a suitable photo for comparison.

A.

B.

C. D.

E.

F.

G.

Relatively, Thomas is a very good baby compared to his bigger brothers (or maybe I've just reduced my standards tenfold). However, poor thing also suffers reflux and terrible gas - we've got him now on Zantac, Prevacid, propped up 24/7, with thickened hypo allergenic formula. Our previous experience with reflux has made us pros and we are being proactive!

In terms of which brother Thomas looks more like, we we'll revisit this in a few months and see what everyone thinks!

Show me your Ticos!

AJ is our puppet. We tell him to jump, he jumps. He'll repeat anything you ask him to say (be careful), dance the 'Meaty Meat' dance on command, and is always ready to make us laugh. His patience is short, but so is his statue and we love him despite repeating "All done Mommy" and "More Chex please" like a broken record at the dinner table.

The boys enjoy Dora (AJ especially likes "Diego - Go!") but for fun Ben decided to nickname each person in the family after a Dora character. I think he got everything spot on.

Mommy (Lisa) is "Isa" for obvious reasons. Namely, the name.

Daddy (Seth) is "Swiper" - since he is clearly the villain in this series ;-)

Ben is "Benny the Bull" - again for obvious reasons pertaining to the name. (If only I could have found an image of Benny the Bull punching Tico and writhing around on the floor in a temper tantrum we'd be set).

And AJ is none other than our little "Tico".

We think the resembelance is striking! And thus "Show me your Ticos" was invented to have AJ give us his biggest cheese smile.

Patience. It's a virtue.

So, on Thanksgiving day, 20 minutes before the boys' nap time I decided it was a bright idea to attempt a photo shoot for our Christmas card. I threatened to Seth that if WE DID NOT TAKE THE PHOTOS THIS MOMENT he would be forced to get all matchy-matchy with me and the kids and take a family photo at my parents house over Thanksgiving turkey. Knowing how disastrous THAT could be he quickly obliged to be my assistant in this disastrous attempt at perfection.

That being said, a lot of my clients ask how I have the patience for children and get frustrated when their toddlers won't cooperate during photo shoots. I try and reassure them THIS IS NORMAL! I put together this little collage of the photo-outtakes to share with my followers that it is not just their kids!

Despite the tears, stained shirts, and frustration I managed to salvage a few 'keepers' in the bunch and still produced a semi-decent Christmas Card from only a 10 minute photo shoot! For those of you who haven't seen it, this was the finished product....

Ben's Preschool Celebration!

Today Ben's preschool hosted a Christmas celebration. It started with a party in their classroom - and a reading from none other than Ben's favorite... The Polar Express! AJ made himself at home and snuggled up to the classmates.

Afterward we had a Sing & Celebrate in the Church. It was a wonderful gathering where the children sang Christmas songs and performed a short story of the birth of Jesus. When getting ready to snap photos of Ben's classmates I noticed one child looking out of place. Specifically, MY OTHER (NOT ENROLLED) child decided to take part in the program and play the part of an angel! The teachers didn't seem to mind and let him join in the fun.

Ben played the important role of the King!

And back to AJ.... he was really listening intently.

Or was he?!

In other news, we got our first snowfall of the season! Seth did his part and shoveled the driveway and sidewalk while we all watched from the comfort of the toasty warm house! Will we have a white Christmas? Be on the lookout for a SPECIAL VISITOR to our house tomorrow!! :-)

Christmas Cookies

Decorated some cookies with Ben yesterday. Thought it would be a good time to capture a few photos since I've been slacking on the blog.

Ready, set, GO! In the 1/250th of a second it took my shutter to fire, there was a 2 inch mound of pink sprinkles atop this lovely angel.

I asked Ben how many cookies he was going to share with Daddy. His response? "Nothing." (I think he is confused about how to display that on his fingers.)

Asking him to smile for the camera - never easy....

He took it as an opportunity to get closer to the prize.