SHARKS!

So, I have this pretty amazing brother-in-law, Brian Bell. For many reasons we think he's awesome. Aside from taking really good care of my baby sister, he's a pretty smart guy. He seems to know a lot about a lot of things....with one big exception. He's not much of an expert when it comes to kids. For example....

Back in December we all met in San Antone to spend Christmas with Brian's family. This was an opportunity for both families to meet before the big wedding day in April. It also gave Brian some one on one time with Clinton...and Clinton has not forgotten...

Clinton and Brian had all of about 90 seconds together at a table in the lobby of the hotel one morning. I'm not sure if it was out of sheer panic, or if he really thought it was appropriate, but Brian had a "bright" idea.

He whipped out his Blackberry and showed Clinton a video. Not a children's video. Not even a cartoon directed at adults. But a poorly edited, poorly directed video of a shark eating a man in the ocean. I'll repeat....A SHARK EATING A MAN!

To be fair, an adult would know that the man had been edited in and it was not a live taping. A two year old cannot discern such advancements in technology.

I wasn't there when it happened, but mom walked up at the tail end of the viewing as Brian scrambled to get his Blackberry back in his pocket. Apparently, Clinton sat silent. He didn't have a single thing to say. He just spent a few minutes absorbing it. Brian thought he was in the clear.

A minute later Rodney walks up and Clinton immediately blurts out as loud as he can, "DAD!! He ate a boy! The shark ate a boy!" Brian then had to fess up and show all of us what he had showed Clinton. We laughed because it was funny....until....Brian followed up with, "Hey, Clinton. You better be careful. Sharks live in your bathtub." WHAT????

That's okay Brian. Your kids are coming. And I am filing these precious moments in my mental file. I'll be happy to return the favor. Sorry, Chelsea.

So, anyway...it's important to know all that to understand this...

From time to time, Clinton will remember this video and just shout out, "Mom! He ate a boy! The shark ate a boy!"

Also, anytime we pass a pond, go over a bridge, see an ocean on TV, or go to the pool, Clinton always looks at me very seriously and asks, "Mom...there sharks in there?" He's even refused to get in his bath a time or two insisting there were sharks in there.

And now, SHARKS are his favorite game to play. We put a pool at the bottom of our slide and Clinton pretends the pool is full of sharks. He slides down into the water, then as quickly as he can, he scrambles up out of the water and scales the slide up to the top while screaming, "Sharks! Sharks! Watch out for the sharks!"

I tried to play along, and when Gracie (our black Scottish Terrier) jumped in his pool, I said, "Clinton, look! It's another shark in your pool!"

His response was a very serious, very condescending, "No, mom. That's Shamu!" Oh....excuse me.

Heidi Sage, on the other hand, doesn't believe in sharks and spends all her pool time looking super cute and staying super busy going from pool to pool with toys and cups and whatever else she can carry.

Preparing my master plan for the Bell children,

Rockin' a Few Firsts

Heidi Sage has so much going on for her at the moment.

She's FINALLY signing....her favorite is "please", where she pretty much gives her whole upper torso a rub down with both hands. And she is quick to sign "more" as she scarfs down her food and I have yet to put any more in front of her. She's our big eater. We haven't exactly figured out how this works, but she eats more than Clinton ever has...and she's on the low end of the charts. However, he continues to live on a primarily liquid diet and continues to be off the charts. Hmmm.

HS quite serious about her eggs and toast. Don't mess with this girl's food!

She is also getting in trouble these days, and like Clinton, can't stand to get away with anything. She loves to get caught and thinks it is soooo funny. Perfect....two little terrors and a third on the way. ;-)

This week we discovered she can rock a pony, but it seems she'd rather have her hair in her eyes because she pulls it out pretty quick. And she's currently sporting her first "black" eye. Oopsie. Maybe I should pick up the toys in the playroom...it's a bit of a battlefield.

Documenting the important milestones,

Memorial Day Weekend in West Virginia

For a year now, Rodney has been talking about going to see his dad's family in West Virginia. We've been to see his mom's family a couple of times, but this was our first trip to see his Dad's family....and it was our first long road trip with 2 kiddos.

Clinton has always been easy in the car (with the exception of one marathon trip around Texas). He's usually content to watch movies, read books, drink milk, and sleep. Heidi Sage on the other hand gets fed up after a while...and just wants out. of. her. seat. Now!

The trip wasn't too bad. The kids slept about 1/2 way, each way...so that worked out well. And we only had to stop twice each way.

And all the packing for two kids....cute clothes, play clothes, accessories, pajamas, swim suits, toys, milk, soy milk, juice, snacks, more snacks, a pack n play, a booster seat, a double stroller, a couple of suitcases, books, some DVDs, and laptop...was totally worth it. We had such a great time!

I had met some of Rodney's family before, but there were still a lot of new necks to hug. The kids had a fun time, too...

Clinton showing off ANOTHER piece of chocolate his Great Granpa Roy gave him.

Grandma and Grandpa - Rodney and his cousin's actually had other names for them, but Clinton quickly went to calling them grandma and grandpa. All of his grandparents have other names and when we read books about grandmas and grandpas he doesn't understand who his are...now he has his very own.

The cutest little girl around...

If you think these two look like trouble, you'd be right. Rodney's cousin Tiffany has a little boy Peyton (and is expecting another boy, Tanner, in a few short weeks). Peyton is 2 1/2 and he and Clinton had a great time together!

My newest BFF and grandma.

Rodney's aunt Bev, cousin Tara, and uncle Frankie.

Fun at the park.

Heidi Sage with her Great Grandma Olga.

Glad to be out of the car,

Best Day Ever?

Over the past few months Rodney and I have been discussing the possibilities of a "playground" (as Clinton calls it) for our backyard. We debated, discussed, and finally decided to purchase one. We talked about purchasing a used one, we looked into custom built ones, we briefly considered buying a kit and building it ourselves (whew...that thought went quickly!)...but we finally decided on a Rainbow. Mainly for the purposes of the warranty and the installation. Rodney's back is not well equipped for too much manual labor just yet...maybe another 8 months or so...

Anyway...the day before our scheduled delivery, we started prepping Clinton for what was to arrive the next morning.

"Clinton...do you know what's going to be in your backyard tomorrow?"

"My pwaygwound!"

Then as most often happens when Clinton is really excited about something and struggles with expressing himself, he was acting pretty bad that morning. So we curbed his behavior with this statement...

"Clinton, you better straighten up or we'll tell them to take your playground back and you won't get one."

And Clinton didn't forget it...now every time we leave the house, he says...

"They not take my pwaygwound? They not take it, right?" "No. No one is going to take it. You get to keep it forever."

Super parenting, I know.

So the truck showed up. The pieces were laid out. And the kids waited...

...and waited...

...and waited...

...and WAITED.

The workers feeling the pressure of little eyes....

...and five hours later it was finally finished! We have enjoyed many afternoons of swinging and sliding into a baby pool. Most evenings you can also find me in the blue swing as Rodney pushes the kids and I swing along.

The other night I got to swinging too high and had to stop because I was getting queasy. As I was explaining why I had to stop, Clinton responded with...

"You make the baby cry, mommy?"

"Huh? What baby, Clinton?"

"The baby in your tummy. You made baby cry?"

"Ooohhh! Yes, that's right! I made the baby cry. I had to stop swinging!"

Clinton is so much more interested in this pregnancy and it's so neat to see how he's absorbing it and getting excited about it.

Flying high,

My Bowl of Cherries

Yum-yum,

Play DATE

Clinton had a play date today with our sweet friend, Andersyn. But I think it was more of a DATE for the two of them. They're just like a real couple...they fought over the cup holder, they laughed over kiddie jokes, and when they hopped in the Jeep, Andersyn said, "I'll be the boss and you drive!" Yep, they just might be on their way to a happily ever after. :-)

And a quick pic of another set of blues eyes melting my heart these days...

Raising a gentleman (I think),

Dr. Williams to the Play Room, Stat!

Clinton LOVES playing doctor...LOVES it. We play doctor at least once a day. We go through the standard listening to the heart, checking blood pressure, and taking the temperature. Then we move on to checking for monkeys in the ears and sharks in the tummy. THEN it's surgery time to get those pesky creatures out of our bodies. Clinton gets so tickled when I have to do surgery on his tummy because he's so ticklish. This, in turn, gets Heidi Sage tickled. Then we're all on the floor laughing. It's a good a time...

...but we can't play doctor without the proper doctor's coat and glasses and his doctor "suitcase". The coat was made especially for Clinton by Bebe and the glasses are from a 3-D movie outing. Somehow, Clinton decided on his own that doctors wear glasses...and I think it's pretty stinkin' cute.

Raising a genius,

They Can Sniff It Out

The newest pregnancy is proving to be much like the most recent pregnancy--which consists of severe nausea and extreme food aversions. It's almost like nursing a three month hangover. From what I've heard about hangovers, anyway.

Think back to your college days. And let's just say you went to a party with some friends. And let's just say you had a drink or two or twelve. And let's just say you woke up the next morning feeling like you had been run over 27 mack trucks. Let's just say.

I've heard the first thing you reach for is something greasy... Well, that's exactly what I've been reaching for lately. It's about the only thing that doesn't make feel like I'm about to hurl. And my go-to these days is Sonic. Mmmm...

So, we've been frequenting 3 of our local locations in order to get me feeling decent enough to finish the day. And my kids know as soon as the bag hits the window what's inside. They can smell it. Clinton starts yelling, "I want pa-pies! I want pa-pies!" (french fries) And Heidi Sage starts pointing and squawking at the bag....and I know what she wants are the tater tots. And of course all I want is my cheeseburger with mayo, no onions or pickles, and add jalapenos...and a cherry Sprite...but nobody cares how fast I need to get that into my mouth.

Even when I've tried tricking Clinton by getting and eating my food before I pick him up from school, he will get in the car, put his nose up in the air, start sniffing, and then say..."What dat smell? Mmm. Mells good!" "I don't know what that is, Clinton." "It's pa-pies! I want pa-pies!" Well, crap.

I just recently started letting Heidi Sage in on the tater tots from Sonic and waffle fries from Chick-fil-A, but she has quickly learned what they are and what they smell like. She never misses a serving.

These pictures are from one of our pit stops to Sonic while en route to Target. Clinton fell asleep so HS and I sat in the truck and ate our treats in the Target parking lot. Heidi Sage was not only excited about her treat, but that she wasn't having to share it....

Looking for a lost tot...

Conked out...

One happy camper...

Your Reigning Miss "#1 Combo w/Cheese" Queen,

Can't Forget Easter

With everything going on lately, I almost forgot to post our pictures from Easter. Pictures were not easy to come by because Clinton was being his usual difficult self and Heidi Sage is constantly on the move.

We had a fun Easter with the kids. Clinton left a basket of carrots for the Easter Bunny, but not before he took at least one bite out of every one.

The Easter Bunny brought lots of fun gifts that the kids really enjoyed.

Heidi Sage had a pretty snazzy outfit, and some really cute bunny ears. The ladies at the church nursery thought she was adorable....so did I.

Both of the kids enjoyed hunting Easter eggs. Clinton found all his eggs which were filled with matchbox cars, trains, and stickers. He also helped Heidi Sage find her eggs that were filled new pacifiers and biter biscuits.

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter, too!

Feeling Hoppy,