ball fields here we come

I knew with two boys eventually the day would come when we would begin preparing for spending our weekends outside at some sort of ball field. What I wasn't prepared for is how excited I would be to have that day arrive! Earlier in the summer me and the girls I was pregnant with (Tamara, Patsy, and Sheila) had began discussing various options for soccer and sadly I had kinda given up hope that we would be starting this new adventure this year because after calling around trying to see if anyone would make an exception to the rule that says, "Participant must be 4 years old by September 1st" and receiving a "no" I was reminded that this is a good opportunity for me to remember that all rules apply to everyone, even my child! But when I received an email back from the rec center saying that it would be okay for him to play I was soo excited that this time the rule didn't apply! Mason and Micah were napping and I read the email and said (out loud) OH YEAH...then I reminded myself that it was quiet time and I should be careful not to wake the boys :D Right away I called the rec center staff and signed Mason up over the phone and asked if they had room for his cousin Nicholas...and YES they did! I was sad that we wouldn't have a team of lots of people we knew because I know it would have been a BLAST to watch Mason, Nicholas, Benjamin, Nigel and Olivia all running around playing soccer together for the first time...but I am overjoyed that Nicholas moved to Charlotte just in time and that I get to watch he and Mason play soccer for the first time together!

When I let Mason in on the news that he was going to get to play soccer you should have seen his cute little face his mouth wrinkled up, his eyes darted to the right and he raised his eyebrows then said "You mean for real"? When I said, "yes, for real" He jumped up and down, squealed, ran around in circles and fell on the ground! He went on to talk about watching his cousin Owen play soccer then came the thousand questions: "Mommy, will Owen be on my team?, Will I sit on a bench?, Who will be my coach?, Will I get to be the goalie?, will I wear a uniform, What color will my team be?...some more running in circles followed by squeals and falling on the ground! What an awesome feeling to watch your child get so excited to finally be able to do something hes been waiting to be "old enough" to do.

Earlier today Sheila brought Owens old Soccer shoes, shin guards and soccer socks by for Mason...as soon as we walked in from her car Mason wanted to try on his new gear and go outside and practice soccer...he called the shin guards hard hats for your legs, pretty creative idea if I do say so myself! Tonight was the 'Parent Meeting'...I made the mistake of telling Mason that there was a parent meeting for SOCCER (all he heard was soccer and that's all he talked about ALL DAY, I must have told him like 20 times that there wasn't a game or a practice but just a meeting and that he wouldn't be playing tonight...I didn't want to stifle his excitement but...uggh... I learned to NOT tell him until we are on our way! During the parent meeting Kristel wrote me a note saying "we are officially "Soccer Moms"...how fun to be sharing that with her! And we will be the BEST SOCCER MOMS EVER!! I just need to get a tripod and some extra memory cards for the camera!

Once we got home Mason wanted to show his new gear to Chris and go outside and play soccer, so I guess he did get to play soccer tonight after all. As we were playing with him Chris and I looked at each other and gave the fake cry and said, "Oh hes getting too big too fast" But even though its sad that he is growing up its so much fun too! I hope that he learns how to have great interaction with teammates, determination, perseverance, grace, compassion, what it means to not be selfish, or prideful and I hope he has fun, I hope he likes it, I hope hes really good at it, I hope he wont get hurt, I am sure he will I just hope I have the right words to say and that Mason will discover that anything he dose he can do because the Lord has given him the talent and ability to do it!

Ready or not rec center here comes our 3 1/2 year old to play in the youth 4-6 year old league!

Milestones

To infinity and beyond! So it seems that the boys are making great strides to meet and complete their age appropriate milestones...who, I wonder, even came up with this idea, that children at a certain age should be able to do ________...in many cases this has caused me to rush to the Internet to surf that specific topic and gather information from other moms who've already helped their child to meet whatever milestone and try to put into practice their advice mixed with my own opinions and then often times I end up letting it go and that's when they accomplish the task! Last year almost to the week, Mason was day potty trained but still needed pull ups for night time. Recently I had begun my Internet research on how to night train your child...well, I've come to realize you cannot "make" someone know how to wake up to pee...they just have to figure that out! But after talking to a mom friend and hearing her idea of keeping track of how many nights her little girl was "dry" with a sticker I decided to give it a try!

We went shopping for Benjamin's birthday gift and Mason wanted all of the Buzz Lightyear stuff too, so I told them that maybe we could take him back to Target to get the toy he wanted once his pullups were dry in the mornings for several days in a row...so we began tracking with stickers and day after day he woke up in the night, (sometimes crying for help, but still waking up wanting to go to the toilet vs the pull up) to pee and in the mornings he was dry! So today was like 9 days in a row so we took a family trip to target and he picked out his toy and Chris just put him to bed with NO pull up...we will see how it goes...maybe I should go to sleep early tonight in case I'm changing sheets in the middle of the night?

Micah is reaching his own milestones as well...He now mainly eats the family meal with an occasional baby food mixed with cereal. He still has no teeth at a little over 9 months old, but hes really good at gumming food! Hes eating toast, soft fruit, turkey loaf, meat loaf, puffs, Cheerios...in fact if you do spoon feed him you have to sneak the spoon in between him feeding himself! Even though hes still a little on the skinny side, he eats a lot! I'm really working on using the "more" sign, but for now banging on the highchair tray is getting him more food!

BUT not for long....This weekend Micah also started clapping...which is basically the sign for "more" Its so cute you can just tell him, "clap Micah" and he'll do it. He and I have actually had some time to play alone, with out his eager big brother, and I sadly realized that I've not been playing as much with him as I did with Mason...I mean we all play together but I guess by 9 months with Mason I was already expecting that he could do a lot, or maybe I was over eager for him to reach all of his "milestones" that I watched closer to see everything he could do? Micah can do plenty! He loves to play "where's Micah" by putting a blanket over his head and pulling it off, he's making great crawling steps reaching and getting one knee under him and ALMOST will crawl! I'm trying really hard to divide my time equally between them and also trying not to compare the two either because, they are both cut from different molds and they are both developing right on time! So there are many more milestones that I'm sure they "should" be able to do and maybe some they are doing that they "shouldn't" be able to do yet...but I'm not paying as close attention so I guess I'll find out at their next doctors visits...and I'm okay with that!

Big Brother and Little Brother

These boys are brothers that's for sure! And they know their rolls very well! Micah is such a good little brother and Mason is a wonderful big brother too! Micah deals with Mason pulling on his fingers taking a toy that hes chewing on out of his mouth, being welcomed from sleep with a boisterous "hello wittle buddy, did you have a good sleep? Did ya, did ya hunh?" Micah, for the most part, is so kind to this somewhat rude awakening by answering Mason with a few quick blinks of his eyes and an immediate smile! Mason LOVES to see Micah and has created several nick names for him that he says with his teeth clinched tight (that's Masons new, excited habit...clinching his teeth, sometimes grinding them = nails on a chalk board for me!): "Little Buddy" "Little Honey" "Babe" "Babes" "Big Guy" and I feel like I'm forgetting one....oh well, it will come to me sometime when I'm away from the computer. Pictured below is a typical moment for the life of Micah and Mason...we were camping and Mason was "helping" set up the tent, while Micah just watched contently from the stroller...Mason realized that Micah was in the stroller and said "aww Wittle buddy can't help" Micah thrilled that Mason came to pay him some attention Laughed out loud! Mason LOVES to make Micah laugh and he will sometimes get carried away in his efforts to make Micah laugh that we have to remind him to be "EASY" which he responds to with, "but hes waffing" (in case you haven't noticed, Mason has replaced the Y for W sounds when hes using any word with an L) Mason is so cute though, he will let Micah pull on his ears, his hair, pinch his face,...anything for a laugh or to make Micah happy. Here it is in action. Micah torturing Mason....and Micah's the one strapped in?? For the first time the other day the boys were in one of these positions and Mason said, "Ouch Micah, don't do that" And I had to gently remind Mason that he may not want to put his head between Micahs hands if he didn't want to get pinched or scratched or pulled on!

Micah LOVEs that he can sit up so well now! And he tries to get to Mason anyway he can! He scoots on his bottom and will reach to an almost crawl position but wont crawl, or doesn't really have the chance or need too because Mason will see what Micah wants and say, "here you go wittle honey" Its so sweet to watch them. I just pray the sweetness continues! I'm seeing little glimpses of Mason having to learn what it means to not be selfish, have patience, be kind, not be greedy, ...and I love it when he makes a hard choice and considers his brother before himself...on his own, that the character trait, we pray for!

Micah watches Mason do everything and kicks his legs, waves his arms and grunts to be where ever Mason is. Micah was so excited to get to be on top of the playground equipment and Mason wanted to be sure to let me know that he would watch out for "babes" and keep him safe.

Here again Mason has his hand behind Micah to protect him from the step, and Micah LOVES that hes doing what Mason is! The two of them have started this little thing while Micah gets his diaper changed, they start making a "aaaahhhhh or oooohhhhh" sound together and they do it till they run out of breath then both start laughing! Its so cute! I love it! Micah is trying so hard to communicate with him!

I was trying to be a "good mom" and make it fair for them both so I thought Micah would LOVE his little turtle pool to splash in while Mason ran and jumped in the splash mat...And he did love it... while Mason was in it with him...but once I had the splash mat set up for Mason Micah wasn't so happy that he couldn't do the splash mat too! Poor Baby!

Mason tried to make Micah happy by saying, "its okay babes, you can just watch me!, Its still fun to play out here"...Mason said that directed to me and I totally understood what he was thinking..."oh, I hope shes not going to make me go back inside because Micah is crying"

In the end, Micah quit crying and did enjoy watching Mason splash and jump, but he still had a very sad face, a face longing to be "big". Oh the joys of parenting. The stress you put on yourself to "be fair or even" When in reality, its okay for them to learn the lessons of considering others better than yourself, to have to wait and watch and be patiently joyful at the sight of your sibling enjoying something even if you can't. If we could figure out how to help these boys understand how to not be prideful, but respectful, how to not be jealous but instead grateful and most importantly how to love each other more than themselves we will be teaching them life lessons! And if ONLY I could keep this idea of parenting in the forefront of my mind as well! Like today when we were having a nice little picnic in the shade and Mason and Chris were playing soccer in the shade but Micah was sad and wanted to go home for a nap...I was wishing that we would have driven separately so that Chris and Mason could continue playing and Micah could go home to sleep. But we didn't have to cars so we all packed up and left. Mason was sad to leave, but not out of control, and I was able to tell him that we love the park and playing soccer but we love Micah too and right now we needed to think of Micah...and Mason understood! Why do we think our kids wont understand things like that? Why don't I make more of an effort to just really explain the truth of why I'm doing something? I'm really gonna work on it! And I'm sure I'll have lots of practice with these two! If Only Mason knew the reality of how much, already, that Micah is watching! I hope they always wanna be together!

Lesson Learned

Its Friday of Memorial Day weekend...gotta love holiday weekends...Chris should be home early...I hope!

This seems like the first moment I've stopped since we came back from vacation. I had enjoyed blogging so much that I had planned to keep it going when I came back but cleaning, cooking, playing, feeding,...LIFE and reality...took over. Alas, here I am while Mason has "quiet time" (which sounds alot like regular play time, only he stays in his room or the bonus room and talks to his toys vs. me) And Micah is taking his second nap.

This week I've had some first time moments twice in the same week. The first first was coming home from my parents house... Behind my seat two little feet started kicking and his little mouth started chattering faster and faster, that's what he dose when he needs to go but really doesn't want to stop playing...I began the conversation in my head, " I mean really...NOW?, will he be able to hold it? Maybe if I don't say anything he will continue to ignore what his body is trying to tell him and keep coping with chatter and fidgeting, on the other hand if he cant ...wow... what a mess!" SO I said the words with a scowl of hope on my face, "Mason do you need to go potty?" He responded, not with his usual "no, not at all" But, with a desperate plea for help, "YES, Mommy really, really bad! But we don't have a potty in the car"...So I told him the only thing we could do is make it home or go behind a bush or tree and he said, "Well I guess we are going to have to go behind a bush or tree then" So even though we were only about 3 mins from the house I pulled the car over, he quickly got out, relieved himself and upon returning to the car said, "Sorry to make you wait Micah, I just had to go Really Bad!"

So you think I would have learned my lesson...make the kid try to go before you get in the car. Yesterday, we went to visit Grammy and as I was putting Masons shoes on he let out some gas...
Me- "Do you think you might have some poopy?"
Mason- "Not at all, just gas"
Me- (conversation in my head) "maybe I should make him try, I've already used the extra shorts we had in the bag because of the cake he sat in, and we have a long ride back and if he needs to poop there's not a chance he'll take a nap in the car"

I didn't feel like the battle so we got in the car...and he began his chatter,I was wishing I would have chosen the battle... this time we found a gas station and even though we were in the car like an hour he didn't fall asleep until we were pulling into the neighborhood. So Micah nursed in the car and Mason ended up napping in the garage for an hour. Lesson Learned, even if there is a battle...always try before you get in the car!

ITS OVER...BOOHOO

The first Haynes Family Vacation is officially seeing its last day! I’m actually sitting in the car typing in Word, hoping that I will be able to just copy and paste this into the blog. This morning we began our day at 6:54 when Micah cried from his pack n play that we had set up in our bathroom…we put him in there so he could sleep and we could sleep and he did great sleeping this week! In fact, we are gonna try to find some kind of room darkening shades for both of the boys rooms. Packing up to go home is never as fun as packing to leave for your trip…but we somehow managed to have plenty of room again for all of our stuff…however I do need to keep looking up at the cartop carrier to make sure it dosent fly open (we lost our bungee cord driving down the road, I’m sure we will stop to get another one) Right now Micah is snoozing, clutching his little yellow duck that really needs a bath while sucking his clear paci, which by the way is a horrible invention…if that thing falls on the ground its extremely difficult to find, and Mason is watching his DVD of Curious George, and its quite fun to watch Mason watch anything on tv…he makes the most hilarious facial expressions, sometimes laughs or even talks back to the show as if he is actually in the movie…he gets so wrapped up in it! Chris is just driving…there are no sounds really loud, just the “white noise” of the tires on the road. As I sit listening to the tires drive on the road I’m trying to go back through the week and think of the memories we made and they are so fresh in my mind that I can even hear sounds with the images that I see. I Loved how Mason and Micah responded to their first look at the ocean…the sound of the wind is so strong that it causes you to take a deep breath and squint your eyes. I love how Micah started to kick his legs every time he’d see the ocean and flash one of his wide silent- laugh smiles. I guess its safe to say that we all loved our beach experience! We are discovering that from now on what vacations will consist of is trying our best to provide opportunities for our boys to have the most fun possible. Doing things we know they will smile and laugh at…thankfully the giant sandbox we had in our backyard was a hit! We had awesome weather and our beach tent was another great investment for the Haynes family! We had one day where our tent was in the middle of two families. To our left was a Brazilian family and there was a little five year old boy that Mason mustered up the courage to ask if he wanted to come play with him…the boy was very excited to have some new toys to play with and so was Mason…the boy built a castle while Mason played with his new friends trucks. Not much time went by when the boy to the right, Conner, 2 yrs old, came to play too. Chris and I looked at each other as we were now able to relax in our chairs and look at the ocean and said, “well we always say we want our house to be the fun house that the kids wanna come play at” and that day it was! Vacation or not, I hope that Mason and Micah will always want to be with us the way we want to be with them, that other friends that they have will also want to be with us, that we will be the “fun” family with the “cool” parents! I’m not sure where next years vacation will take us but I am certain that it will be something that I look forward to every year. An opportunity to get away as a family and focus on each other and just enjoy spending time together!
As the trip home has progressed we have had to make several stops…not for the nursing 6 month old, not for the 3 year old needing to go potty, not for gas or coffee…for that lovely broken car top carrier that caused us to sing the theme song of Samford and Son! Two stops …no bungees or rope or tie downs, third stop a bungee but not as big as we needed, fourth stop to adjust the bungee, 5th stop to adjust the bungee, 6th stop duck tape and Chris was pleased to take my advice since I had “more redneck experience” He’s right I had thought about using duck tape back at stop 2 but figured he must be trying to think ahead and want bungees or tie downs so we could reuse them or something? We laughed as I looked back at my child hood and could recall the use of duck tape on just about anything! And the many “redneck” moments too. Oh the fun and wonder what our boys will laugh at us about? Redneck or not, the duck tape held, we made it home. Back to life back to reality…go ahead, sing it out loud…you know you want to!

Day 5

Our LAST full day on Vacation started with Mason and I going down to the pool. We played in the tree that had concrete birds spitting water on us, warmed up in the hot spa, climbed in the mouth of the “hipomumpotamus”, warmed up in the hot spa, Mason practiced jumping in to my arms without wearing his Spiderman Water Wings, we warmed up in the hot spa…and repeated this several times until Daddy and Micah came down to join us. Then Chris and I did the parent swap and he and Mason went down the big green water slide probably like 50 times (I’m not exaggerating) while I did one of my most favorite things about vacation. I know you’re probably thinking, “hmm…what was her favorite part? Laying out? Taking a nap? Going for a run?”...no, rocking Micah to sleep. He would barely start to let out his sounds of crank and I’d pick him up, give him his paci, place him in my left arm, hold him close, say “shh” and he’d be OUT, in that same position for like 30 to 45 mins. I don’t usually get the opportunity to hold Micah that long in such a peaceful state, I loved it…going into family vacation I wouldn’t have thought that I would have said that would have been my favorite part, but it was, I just know he is going to be too big for me to hold like that so soon and I am really going to miss how cuddly he is.

After the pool time we went up to the room to clean out the fridge for lunch, showered and headed back to Alligator Adventure for our “Free 2nd Day Pass” Then we went back to the great park where Mason flew the air plane/rocket, and Micah had some daddy time and a little swing in the swing. We brought some popcorn for the ducks but they didn’t like it. Whoever invented parks must have had family time in mind too! I love parks, especially this one with HUGE shade trees, a pond, walking trail, toddler playground area and an older kid play area with the foam floor (a mother probably invented the foam ground cover) After the park we found some yummy Japanese Hibachi then headed back to the ocean for our last trip to the water.
We took the popcorn the ducks didn’t like and hoped that there would be some seagulls or some kind of bird that would want to eat some but I wasn’t too worried that the popcorn would go to waste because with every throw of popcorn Mason ate some for himself too! I had hoped this last little trip to the ocean would be really enjoyable for all of us but Micah was really sleepy so I quickly took some of my favorite pictures of the weekend of Mason running alongside the ocean, the sun was at the most perfect spot to cast a reflection so it looked as if he was walking on water. After he was done feeding the birds he just decided to take a little seat in the ocean and let the waves wash over him one last time. I smiled as I took pictures and looked back up to where Chris was holding Micah and I wished so badly that Micah would have been in a better mood because I would have loved for Micah to share that same moment with Mason (plus I really would have liked those pictures) but …sigh…I’ll keep my little Micah as long as I can. Once again Chris and I did the parent swap and He and Mason stayed behind to build one last castle and I whispered in Micah’s ear, “its okay buddy, momma’s here, and I don’t want you to ever grow up!” Then he grabbed my face and gave me the most wonderful slobbery kiss ever! Really I do want him to grow up but he is just sooo sweet, I just LOVE to hold him.
After the boys went to bed Chris and I finished off our ice cream and decided that once vacation was over we HAD to get back to eating right and exercising!

Day 3

Cover me up Mommy! Mason asked to be covered up in the sand today...this was as far as he wanted to be covered though.

Micah had no trouble napping on the beach!

I wish I had my external drive with me because we have a picture of Mason wearing the exact same thing sitting in the bumbo...I Really want to compare the two...they look so much the same but so different too!

Best investment EVER was a tent for the beach...However, with two boys I'm sure we will put it to use at some ball fields too!

Today, day 3, was another great day for the Haynes Family Vacation! Beach, naps, Outback, Wendy's for Ice Cream, park, hide n seek, bed! The beach weather is perfect! Micah is doing great and Mason had an extra cooperative day. We love it when he has days like this they give us the proud parent faces, you know the kind, when you look at your kid, smile with your eyes and grin...that face often is accompanied by a glance at your spouse and a glance back at your kid, followed with... sigh...,"we have such a good little boy." We had lots of those moments today. My favorite was when Chris was giving Mason the choice of going to get vanilla ice cream at Chick fila and playing in their play place or going to an ice cream shop for chocolate ice cream (his favorite)

Mason-"How about chocowate ice cream in a cone ...they dont have that at Chick Fila so wets try to find somewhere that has chocowate ice cream in a cone."

He had been so good all day so we were really excited to be able to get the boy some chocolate ice cream in a cone.

Chris- "okay Mason we will keep driving and looking for somewhere that might have chocolate ice cream in a cone"

Mason- "Its okay daddy wif you cant find some chocowate ice cream in a cone we can just go back to chick fila"

Chris and Mandy- Proud parent face, sigh, we have such a sweet little boy!

We ended up at Wendy's for a chocolate frosty in a cup and then a visit to the great park near the O.D. Pavilion where Mason loved playing, and Micah fell asleep in my arms and then Mason said "I wove vacation, its fun on vacation" This is the perfect family vacation spot!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Pool, Pier and Problem Solving

POOL: The pool has a lazy river, hot tub, covered shaded splash play area, heated pool and a spa pool. Did I mention that Chris is really GREAT at planning trips? Chris and Mason played in the pool after the beach and Micah and I laid on the pool chairs in the shade. Mason had a blast and Micah and I did too! Micah just kicked his feet and looked up at the fake leaves on a really lame looking fake palm tree swaying in the room and started babbling new sounds...its so fun to watch Micah growing and changing and its fulfilling to see Mason eager to try new things and I just love watching him play and smile and laugh... if that's what vacation is about... having fun... then Mason has got that part down!

Here he is looking up at the lame tree (I say lame because I know my dad could make some really awesome looking palm trees) He didn't mind or maybe that's what the new sounds were? After Beach and pool time we headed up for some quiet time. Mason watched a little Barney and Dinosaur Train, Micah and I napped and Chris had some afternoon coffee...I love vacation! Then we decided to take a walk on the Cherry Grove Pier.

PIER: Mason was very excited about walking out on the pier he started his walk to the end and you know hes really enjoying himself when he starts swinging his little arms, its so cute and always brings a smile to my face to watch him! So, the arms started swinging, his mouth had a grin and he was off to the end of the pier! Chris and I were enjoying the walk and we tried, like most parents do when you're giving your child a new experience, to point things out like..."Look, there are surfers" (who knew you could surf at Myrtle Beach?) Mason wasn't too impressed with the surfers he just started looking around for something to throw into the ocean...he reached down and pulled up a little piece of the pier and threw it in! We said, "Ooh watch, that man caught a fish!" Mason responded with, "what man" I knew the fisherman could hear me but I was at a loss for how to describe to Mason the man because all that was coming to my mind was "the fat old man with gray hair and a pony tail right over there yanking on his fishing pole, I bet its a big fish, oh but what if it isn't and I hurt the mans feelings" ...that would never do so I just kept pointing and let Chris come up with a description, "the fisherman"...Mason wasn't impressed with the fisherman either, he just said, "that's a little fish"..."GREAT" I thought...lets hurry and get to the end of the pier. We made it to the end and suddenly the pier became Masons ship out in the water! Mason and I went up on the top of the ship and Micah and Chris stayed below....(I love the pictures that Chris took of Mason and I) Chris then became Masons Capetian and I picked Micah up and rocked him to sleep and the two of us stayed in that position, Micah sleeping in my arms, for the next 40 mins! So glad we made it to the pier! ILVDIT!

PROBLEM SOLVING: After returning from the pier we (well, Chris, Micah and Myself) ate dinner. After dinner we took a family walk to the grocery store. While there Mason picked out some Cheez-its. When we got back the problem solving began...or maybe I should say, the negotiating. Its amazing what a kid will do for something he wants. Chris wanted Mason to eat his dinner, Mason wanted some Cheez-its. When I came into the room Mason had already eaten his carrots, and noodles all that was left was his meat. Mason said, "Daddy, how many bites of meat...3?" Chris said, "Sure, you've eaten most of your food" So Mason ate the bites and I gave him a little baggie of like 4 Cheez-its to which Mason said he wanted more cheezits. Chris said, "How about that for every bite of meat you eat, I'll put a cheez it in your baggie" SO, Mason started eating and eating, suddenly the meat must have miraculously tasted good to Mason or maybe he just so desperately wanted more Cheez its in his bag that he would do anything? He ate his meat, his dinner plate was empty and the bag of Cheez its was full. Mason said, "wow, look at all my Cheez its!" To which Chris responded, "if you're too full from eating all your meat you can just save your cheez its for tomorrow" Mason thought that was a perfect plan and in the end they both had what they wanted. Chris got Mason to eat his meat and Mason got a full baggie of Chees-its! Actually I guess Chris really "won" because we didn't really want Mason to eat a bunch of Cheez its anyway. Wonder how many times my parents "won" when I thought I had "won"???

The Ocean

Before we left for the beach we made a Wal-Mart run (Mason thought we said Lawn-Mart) we let him pick out some sand toys and when I got down to the beach this morning with Micah I was glad to see that Chris and Mason had put the toys to good use! You gotta love the beach for kids, especially Mason...he loves dirt and sand and unfortunately, most times he wants to put his hands in the dirt are not times that I want him to. For example, every time I go to Gateway to teach music he reaches his hands down to pick up the dirt that is still left from their new construction and runs it through his fingers. The first night we were here and were on our way in to eat at a restaurant, as soon as we got out of the car he reached down and put his hands in the dirt...yuck... when we leave church by the sidewalk is a place where no grass is growing so Mason has to reach down and rub his little hands in the dirt. Each time he does it my eyes roll and my face squishes in disgust...but really why does this bother me so badly? After all its just dirt. Today he LOVED having so much sand to dig in!

A high pitched squeal followed by lots of laughs and an occasional roar is what I heard as Chris lifted Mason over the crashing waves. The waves are so strong and could probably knock Mason down but he wasn't afraid of them at all. But why should he have been, he knew his daddy wouldn't let the waves knock him down, instead Mason seemed to feel as if he was a champion of the waves!

Micah is the happiest, most easy going baby ever! He woke up this morning and I put him back down for an early nap before we went out to the beach. We were on the beach and he loved it LOVED IT! He'd laugh, babble play with his toes and the little mesh bag the sand toys came in. And whoever invented the Bumbo was a genius! A great little chair that you can take in the sand in the ocean on your table...wherever! When we noticed he was a little sleepy looking Chris just held him and he drifted right off to sleep for another nap in his daddy's arms. When he woke up he ate some sweet potatoes and just sat and played with a little tag from one of the toys...he is so happy! He might be one of the easiest babies ever!

My dad used to always make cars out of the sand for us so in honor of him Mason and I made two cars out of the sand! So these cars are for you dad!

Momma Lemar

I've said it before and I'll say it again...One of the most miraculous things about life to me is how God created a mother with the ability to be a child's life line through milk for an entire year and in other places longer than that if needed. Yesterday at alligator adventures we had the chance to watch a mother Lemar nurse her tiny infant...it was so miraculous and human like too! God is so awesome to create nutrition especially designed for the offspring of a mother so that she can sustain her baby. The Lemar mother was just sitting there holding her infant looking around and at one point she looked down and seemed to give her baby a little kiss and looked back up. In that moment I connected with that Lemar for I've done that same thing many times while nursing. She would stroke his little head and he would pull off and look around then nestle back close to his mothers chest as she held him close. Then came another lamer with what looked more like the toddler hanging on his back and again I connected, this "toddler Lemar" was hanging on the back of his parent. He still needed him but not like the infant did. As I photographed these animals and watched their little family I thought about my little family, how Micah is surviving on my milk, being comforted by our kisses and touch and how Mason is hanging on to our every move and we are showing him the world and how to respond and react to each and every situation. I just pray that as our boys begin to grow and need us less and less to survive that they will somehow gain the wisdom and knowledge they need to not only survive, but to thrive and become men that will know how to be kind and care for other people just like this little momma Lemar is caring for her infant! And as tiresome as it can be trying to be the best model for them, in the moments we wish they weren't "on our backs" I pray that Chris and I will have the wisdom and knowledge to know how to parent: Care for them, love them, discipline them, and train them in the way they should go so when they are older they will not depart from the love they know God has for them. So while Micah needs me in his life to be his "lifeline" of nutrition I hope that just as I am sustaining him that he and Mason will learn to be fully alive and sustained in Christ! That at an early age they will come to know how miraculous Jesus Christ and his Love for them is and that they will have moments like I had where they can connect with something else in creation and it will bring them back to God and his AWESOMENESS!

Alligator Adventures

When we woke up this morning the plan was to go to the beach so we ate, lathered up in sunscreen and got our sand toys and headed down to the ocean. At first we were thrilled that it was overcast that way we could play and not be too hot...well when we got to the beach we were the only ones on the beach other than a couple of runners and some elderly people...I thought, "hmmm, maybe everyone else is thinking that the possibility of rain is going to be stronger than I did?" None the less we spread out our sheet, opened our bag of sand toys and just as we were filling our first bucket of sand Chris felt the first drop..."its just a drizzle" I said. Mason didn't mind and Micah didn't either but the drop turned into a steady drizzle and I didn't think Micah was gonna care for it if it got too much stronger so Micah and I headed back in for some R&R and Chris and Mason stayed building castles on the sand in the rain... right before I turned the corner to head back up to our room I looked over my shoulder and all I could see on the huge beach was Chris and Mason looking so small sitting right beside each other building castles and the sky was dark but right above them the clouds were broken with a little light peaking through as if God had cleared the morning just for the two of them. No one else seemed to be around just Chris and his little boy building Castles in the Rain! What a great daddy Mason has!

A rainy day for the beach called for Alligator Adventures! Of all the times I've been to the beach I've never been here...SOO many alligators and reptiles, my dad would have been in heaven.

I'm not really sure why they called it Alligator Adventures...in reality all the alligators seemed to do was just lay there, so still, resting for their opportunity to attack I guess? But I have never seen so many alligators and turtles. Big and little alligators and turtles. And how is it possible they can be soo huge and just float on the water? They had a house full of snakes I knew before today that I wasnt too fond of snakes but I discovered today that I have a fear of snakes. It was all I could do to keep my fear hidden from Mason when we were in the house of snakes. In the house of Lizards I saw my first legless lizard...looked like a snake with a lizard head.

Before I took this picture Mason was nervous that Chris was going to drop him into the gate with the gators.

We watched two shows. The first was the alligator feed and the second was meet some reptiles. We sat on the front row as the lady gave us some facts about a blue tounged skink lizard, a python (which Mason informed me will "Squeeezzzzeee you Mommy") and a 3 year old alligator whos mouth she had to tape shut with electrial tape to keep it from biting her and us. The lizard I was okay with the python I didnt want to hardly even look at and at the end of her talk she sat the alligator whos tail was slapping her hard on the back and looking for his opportunity to attack on the ground infront of Micah and he jumped and I jumped...the crazy instinct to protect your child came over me and I was fully prepared to attack that alligator...thankfully the guide realized my fear, called me out infront of everyone and moved the alligator over to the other side....on that note our alligator adventure was over...but we can if we wish, return for a second day free! I really did enjoy the place just feel more comfortable with seeing the animals from a distance behind glass or in a cage...far away from my baby.

First Haynes Family Vacation

Thanks to my parents Mauch Family Vacation is something that I've always loved! I have such fond memories of being a little girl and packing my suitcase (or maybe mom actually packed it?), getting crammed into our car...I'm talking CRAMMED! We would put all of our stuff and tons of extra stuff in and when we couldn't fit anything else THEN we would try to cram ourselves in and somehow thanks to dads amazing gift of packing things tightly everything would manage to fit, even if we did feel like we needed to sing the theme song of Sanford and Son driving down the road with all our junk! I loved that where ever we went I knew that we would have fun because we were a family! Our family always did everything together on vacation...it didn't really matter if we were camping, at the beach, in the mountains or where we were there were some things that would definitely be on family vacation! Mom would have tons of food and would cook like every meal, not just mac n cheese but a really great full meal! Dad would have made sure we had plenty of games like 15 board games a ball and some made up group game and occasionally we'd have some kinda matching article (hats, shirts, a pin...something) I did none of the planning or packing but did plenty of eating and playing! Its odd how you can live under the same roof with 5 other people day in and day out but getting away from your house and your normal life causes you to spend some really quality time with each other! I guess its possible at times that my parents forced us to have quality time but in the end I'm pretty sure our faces had smiles on them.

So now that I'm 30 and have 2 kids of my own its time for the Haynes Family Vacations to begin! Chris and I love to travel we both crave quality time with each other and with our kids and we hope that every year we can take the boys on a family vacation! Good thing for me that Chris is a planner, in fact, when he retires he'd love to be a travel agent...too bad that due to the Internet travel agents probably wont be around anymore...but that's okay he can keep planning trips for me for the rest of my life cause hes REALLY great at it! So Chris did the research and found us a great deal on a great place! And I made some home made banana bread and started packing! Clothes, snacks, diapers, games, toys, cameras, sunscreen, sand toys, pack n play, beach tent.... We loaded the Camery and borrowed the car top carrier from dad and it appeared that some other family vacation prior to this one the car top carrier was over loaded because the back of it was a little bent but that's okay we got some bungee cords and strapped them on and started singing the theme song from Sanford and Son! We were set, ready for fun! We had a great car ride down, Mason ate from the time we left the house till the time we stopped to eat at Hardees. He had cheese its, an apple, string cheese, and a strawberry rice crispy treat. By the time we had checked in and unloaded the car and found our room the excitement began to rise! Chris played Checkers with Mason, I read a chapter in my book and Micah napped then Mason and I went to explore the hotel and the pool while Micah took a nap and Chris watched a little of a basket ball game. The idea was to just let Mason LOOK at the pool but I guess I got a little caught up in the excitement too and told Mason he could take his shirt off and ply in the kid play area...it was so fun! It has water guns, a big tree that has water running down, a squirting hippo and alligator, big water slide, lazy river, hot tub...lots a fun! I cant wait till we are in our swim clothes and can really play in the water. Micah woke up, Mason had a spanking, everyone was happy again and we had a pizza party at Basil's, went to the grocery store (sorry mom, I'm not planning any elaborate meals just some chicken nuggets, mac n cheese and sun butter and jelly sandwiches) We got back from the store and unloaded the groceries and headed down for our first look at the beach. Its amazing to me that even though I've seen the ocean lots of times I'm still amazed at the awesomeness of the never ending ocean, sand as far as you can see to the right and to the left, how the first step in the sand feels so soft and smooth and a little difficult to walk in but the closer and closer you get to the waves the sand gets easier and easier to run in as if the waves are pulling you closer and closer till you stop and let the foam from the waves wash over your toes...and how fun to watch my little 3 year old boy experience the sand, and the ocean and to watch a smile and wide eyes come over my 6 month old little boys face as he felt the wind, heard the waves and the squeal of his big brother. Micah and I sat on a towel and watched Chris and Mason jump waves, chase waves, race waves, laugh, smile and as I looked at Micah just learning to sit and watched Mason jumping it was one of those moments that people tell you about before you have kids, a moment you wish you could just bottle up and save forever!

Well, its day one of our first family vacation at the beach and the forecast is calling for thunderstorms everyday...hopefully we wont have to give out any more spankings and hopefully we'll get a chance to use our sand toys... but even if we don't, I have no doubt this will be a great vacation because it doesn't matter what you do it just matters that you're doing it together! Let the fun begin!

Growing Up

Mason is getting more and more independent everyday. He loves that when we go to a public restroom that he can reach the paper towels all by himself, that he doesn't have to stand on his toes to reach the light switch or to turn his sound machine off and that he can stand on his stool to help me cook and reach the spices all by himself! These accomplishments are causing him to see what else he can reach or do by himself. Last week during quiet time he decided to change his clothes and put on his Buzz PJ's so he could pretend to be a super hero during nap time. One day this week he had a friend over and they were playing in the bonus room and I left them for a second and Mason had gotten his stool, reached the scissors and cut a hole in the top of his card table and when I came back in he said, "look what I did mommy" Earlier this week he came down the stairs in the morning and greeted Micah in his exocauser and Chris and I laughed at each other, without Mason knowing, because he had undressed and dressed himself...backwards. I thought wow, he's really ready to dress himself in the morning! Later I discovered he had leaked thru his nighttime pull up!

Micah is following right in his brothers footsteps wanting to be independent himself. He is loving to eat! Some days he eats three solid food meals his favorites are Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Pears, green beans, avocados, butternut squash he doesn't care too much for peas or bananas. And recently hes been practicing with a sippy cup of water! Boy oh Boy does he love to jump! He jumps in the JumpeRo and he even jumps in the exosaucer! Hes also getting really good at sitting up. As long as there is a toy in front of him he will hold onto it and sit with an occasional wobble which he can correct...however sometimes he will still over correct and fall, thank goodness we have carpet! If he ends up on the ground he will cry a little if left on his tummy but if you smile or laugh he will respond with a belly laugh followed by a tiny cry which leads to another belly laugh...Hes so happy he hates to have to cry! Its as if hes acting like an adult who has every reason to cry but feels silly they are crying and so they laugh in the middle of their cry...that's what Micah does.

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child is a book that I read to have a guide to helping Micah sleep well! He has been a good night sleeper for a while! His sleep schedule can be flexible, here's a little preview of his sleep habits...he wakes sometime between 4-6am to eat then will go back to sleep until 7 or 730 (sometimes he leaves this early morning feeding out all together) Typically he wakes around 7 takes a nap from 9-11, takes a second nap around 1 and a third nap around 4 and is in bed between 630-7. We are really trying to stretch him to go to sleep no earlier than 7 so that Chris can have a little time with him at night. I love having this video monitor so we can watch him roll around in his bed with his duck that Aunt Jackie gave him and find one of the 4 pacis that I put in his crib. He has fun taking them in and out of his mouth, and he reaches over and pushes or kicks on his little ocean wonder crib toy that lights up and plays music and it seems that at night he likes to lay sideways in his crib or maybe he just gets stuck in that spot??? But hes sleeping so I guess its not bothering him! I love the early morning with Micah, hes so happy to be awake, in my arms and his little ears are sooo cold...I just love cold ears!

Now that its warmer outside Mason loves to play in the backyard, and I'm SO thankful we have a fence and a kitchen with a window! He plays in his pirate ship or on his blue boat, with his bubble train or sidewalk chalk and sometimes at night while I run in to check on dinner not but one or two mins will pass by and I'll hear a knock on the door and open it to see a cute little boy smiling so big his eyes are shut holding out his hand to bring me a tiny little flower that he has picked just for me! Hes so proud of this little flower, so I guess I dont mind that our yard has weeds its giving my little boy an opportunity to think of me!