Oh Deer!

Earlier in June I hit a deer...  Eeek!  This resulted in major damage and a few rental cars over the next few weeks.  Our favorite was the Dodge Ram!

Raking Leaves with Dad

Ben was a great helper last weekend and helped Seth rake the leaves.  Very proud of my little guy!!  

Who needs a dust buster....

When you have Thomas hard at work!  The baby won't eat food you put on his plate, but will make every effort to eat the scraps he's thrown off his highchair to the floor. 

I've started putting new foods for him to try on the floor just to create interest.  It does pose a bit of an issue since he can't eat most of the food that Ben & AJ spill but as you're already aware Seth and I are pretty OCD about cleaning up right after any mess is made.

You Aren't What You Eat!

So, if you didn't already know, when I was pregnant with Ben, I drank a milkshake at least twice weekly.

Ben had a milk allergy.

With my pregnancy with AJ I ate pizza 3+ times a week.

AJ is perpetually constipated.

So what was my guilty pleasure with Thomas and what was his luck? Gummy bears. Is it a coincidence the poor baby has a sucrose intolerance?

The biopsy results from his endoscopy showed everything else as normal, thankfully, and hopefully this too, shall pass!

Bathing Baby Brother

Thomas was one month old yesterday! Ben was eager to step up to his "Biggest Brother" status and helped bathe Thomas. He had a great time with it!

My Pet Rock

Meet Daisy and Fifi. Ben and AJ's pet rocks. Can you guess who is whose?

$hit or Get off the Pot!

This must be addressed. One of my pet peeves. Granted, I don't have many, and if there were one thing my adorable little hubby would do to get under my skin, I have to say I have it easy. Regardless, when you let a 8 month preggo loose in the pantry in the midst of her 'nesting stage' there was bound to be a blowup.

Why?

I'm always wondering how we can survive on spending $75 a week at the grocery store. I open our pantry daily to see snack and cereal boxes, a fridge full of containers, and well our fruit basket is usually full too because, lets face it, we don't eat anything remotely healthy.

But... This. Must. Stop. I cleaned the pantry to find about 4 or 5 bags that had 'scraps' left in them. A box with 3 or 4 Cheez-Its floating around. A bag of Tostitos Lime Chips with 4 crushed chips remaining. Two Triscuits. A Life cereal bag with a cup of sugar comfortably resting at the bottom. Is this necessary to save?! EAT THE LAST BITE! It would be one thing if these items are consumed at a later date, but no. They just sit there. For weeks. Waiting to turn to mold. I'm not sure who this phantom ghost eater is fooling, but an intervention is necessary. I know this comes directly through the Sinclair gene pool, and I appreciate the need not to waste food, but wasting valuable shelf space in our pantry during these last precious weeks where I can eat whatever I want is not cool either. Think about it. (steps off soap box)

Rain Rain Go AWAY!

t's been raining all week here... Seth has missed his softball game, I missed a photo shoot, and the boys, more than anything, have missed being outside (though they did enjoy a brief stint in the puddles on Monday). Although I am happy to have my flowers watered and greener grass, we'll hope for the sun to come out this weekend!!

AJ's Day in the Sun

On request of the OT we got the boys a sandbox. It seems to be working out great so far and both boys really enjoy playing in it.

AJ even decided to sample a taste...

And got away with putting a handful of sand in Ben's hair.

AJ also got in the baby pool for the first time, albeit, a quick dip. Summer is turning out to be some Hot Fun!

Freecycle: My Garage

I swear we aren't hoarders. However, in the matter of weeks our new garage looks a little something like this:

With the mad dash to get everything out of our old house we've made quite a mess of our new one. There have been about... oh... 30+ trips between homes to lug all our crap. We bought a bigger house, yet I'm still not sure why all of this junk hasn't found a home in the new place yet. For those of you who know Seth and me, you can understand the deep pain this is causing us to bear on a daily basis.

Hmmm, did I just notice an entire box of bobby pins on the floor? NOT COOL.

If there is anything in here that you see that is yours, claim it now before I put it on the curb with a large "TAKE ME AWAY" sign. I doubt my Brookes Brother's suit will be worn any time soon... if ever again!

Therapy? We're all gonna need it!

Pardon the long posting, but I feel as though I should provide some updates on our family as we've been a little MIA recently. I'll know there will be the day that I'll be thinking "hey, I want another kid" and then I'll reflect back on this post and think "really? who are you kidding!?" I should be using this time to be more productive, such as put a listing in MLS, call the insurance company of the driver that hit my car over the weekend, or respond to the 28 e-mails I have received thus far today, but right now I need a mental break.

Most of you may already know, but AJ is now joins Ben once a week for occupational therapy to address his sensory integration and tactile dysfunction. This makes 2 weekly doses of therapy for AJ (this is in addition to his speech & feeding therapy) along with weekly outings to JW Tumbles to help with his issues. While he is showing signs of improvement, both the OT and Speech Therapist's have labeled AJ as the 'worst case' they have seen. Um, what?! They MUST be new to the field. Right?! All of AJ's doctors and specialists believe he will outgrow this and be a perfectly happy, healthy little boy in no time... until then we must curb any activities that involve AJ being anywhere new unless there is full coverage to support his curiosity and outbreaks.

Slowly but surely we're getting unpacked - Seth has been working round the clock for his company, and any spare time he does have has been spent at the old house cleaning, spackling , and prepping for the new tenants we have moving in this weekend. While it pains me to stare at miss-matching curtain rods and a garage full of boxes I know we will get there, eventually. It's no wonder the boys are as the way they are. Seth and I are not ones to 'go with the flow' as you already know.

I lone for days where I can shower and take the kids out of the house without getting nasty looks from passer-bys as they throw items from the cart and kick their shoes off on the floor. I hope one day I can eat a balanced meal, or take a bathroom break without hearing tantrums or whining. Yes, things are a little crazy for us right now, but we know with the grace of God we'll make it through! Thanks for your patience and support while we take our time getting situated with everything.

Pack Rats!

While we have been packing for weeks, today marks the last day to 'get-er-done'. Tomorrow is the big move! Thank you to all the family and friends who have made this transition successful.

License to Drive... me INSANE

Things have been crazy around here! I've been meaning to post some photos for quite some time now, but these days I am usually running out the door without my camera... or AJ's shoes. A little bit about what we've been up to the past few weeks...

A few weeks back Ben busted his mouth, tore his upper frenulum, and chipped a tooth while running in the parking lot. AJ started Tumbles, Ben started Occupational Therapy for sensory disorder (though I'm still not convinced these sessions are helping his fear of the blender), and we are still seeing a speech therapist regarding AJ's feeding difficulties. All of this with the excitement of buying a house and trying to sell our home while both Seth and I work vigorous hours for our businesses. So pardon the delay, but be on the lookout for more postings with updates on our life and updated photos of the boys soon. :-)

There is something about Andrew

Yes, Andrew is is a peculiar type of guy. First, what is up with his Donald Trump-like hair?

While I am fond of the fact that he no longer plays with diaper bags, he now has taken on a few new favorite items of pleasure. His newest favorite collection includes this 'Little Person', Thomas ("Ta"), and oddly enough two plastic ears of corn.

These corns have been living the good life of of trips to the mall and snuggle sessions with our favorite little guy.

AJ also likes to read books. So much in fact he has destroyed every last binding of all the books we own.

The little guy flaps his arms when he is excited, throws his head back in anguish when he is sad, and still has yet to take a sip of water. What's not to love about this face?

Snowlicious!

Here are more photos from the blizzard, and post blizzard snow!

Yes, and trying to sell our house in this mess has not been successful - I figure if you can't beat em, join em! This was taken before the BIG 2 feet we received.

We measured almost 25" but I think there was more!!

Seth worked VERY hard to clear our driveway, sidewalks, and porch out from the snow. He deserves something special. Like another 2 inches of snowfall they are calling for next week!!

The calm before the storm

It snowed a few inches again last night. This is after we received 6 inches last weekend. And wouldn't you know it, the BIG storm is coming this weekend!

Needless to say, we haven't had any luck with selling our house either. I'm hoping the snow clears up soon!!

Got A Boo-Boo!

Ben's newest obsession is that of his 'boo-boos'. He constantly feels the need to point out every scratch, nick, or crumb that he sees on himself and demands a Dora Band-Aid. The upside is that he should be thrilled tomorrow for the receipt of a Band-Aid after his 2nd administration of the H1N1 vaccine.

You gotta do what works!

As we've already established, changing AJ's diaper is like wrestling a wild crocodile in the Amazon. As soon as you get the diaper off, he's bolted to the nearest toy, outlet, or remote control. Needless to say, I've resigned to just putting on AJ's diaper however possible.

And that required that I just put the diaper on... backwards.