Father's Day 2015

Happy Father's Day to all the daaaaaaaaaads out there! The Nills had a great day, Jason was off and overall we had a good amount of family time this weekend which was such a nice treat!

On Saturday we watched Ashton get his very first "trophy" for successful completion of the 6 week season of Little Kickers. Notice the difference between his reaction to the medal:

And the snack afterwards.

We don't usually buy Pirate's Booty for whatever reason (actually it's a specific reason and that is that it's MESSY) and Ashton was like, on overload. So was Alex. He whined and whined so we gave him a bag too and he made himself right at home with some other kids on the team.

Highlight of Little Kickers 2015: the snack. Go figure.

Anyway, we snapped our token pictures and called it a season! A season that ended with Ashton scoring a goal but only because he picked up the ball with his hands, dropped it near the net and then kicked it in. Who says you can't teach soccer to preschoolers! We were so proud.

So then Sunday, Father's Day, it was pouring rain from the minute we woke up. Joyyyyy. Ashton opened all of Jason's presents (herb scissors, Natives, and a cute three-way picture of the boys that I totally staged last week).

That took all of sixteen seconds. Alex napped and then we decided to head down to the Museum of Science just like every other family with young children in the greater Boston area. We had never been and really had a fun time! My favorite highlights:

There was a ton to do there. We were all over the place and then it was time for lunch (pause for second family picture in this post):

I had packed it all up while Alex napped and it was definitely the right decision vs. buying it at the cafeteria. So there I am at the table and I look down and...

Share a Diet Coke with DAD! I said "Babe! Look at my can! I totally didn't even plan that!" And obviously had to Instagram that right away as my "Happy Father's Day" photo.  Then I looked at Jason's can and THAT one said Share a Diet Coke with a SUPERSTAR, which (duh!) meant me. Boy, our Diet Cokes were right on point yesterday I can say that!

After naps, the rain cleared up, Berg and Karen came over for a little walk and a barbecue and then we watched the rest of the U.S. Open (and poor Dustin Johnson's three-putt). I hope Jason's Father's Day was all he could have wanted. Jason, if you're reading (haha), I love you I love you I love you a million times! You are everything. The boys could not have a better dad and you could not have two sweeter little shadows :) 

So beyond lucky to be your wife. Life is golden, thank you for all of it, every single last piece.

xoxox 

Alex is 15 months!

Another tick on the age scale...Alex is 15 months old! His molars are coming in, he had his third haircut, and he is *always* on the move! Our own little mini-tornado. Let's check out his stats:

Height: 32 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 26.31 pounds (91st percentile)

Head: 18.5 inches (56th percentile)

Shots: Dtap-IPV-HiB (Pentacel)

Teeth: A full set of four on the top and four on the bottom, and then all four molars have broken through or are definitely on their way.
Hair color: White, basically. [Towhead: a blond person whose very pale, almost white hair resembles tow, "tow" being flax or help fibers. Alex's hair is definitely flax-ey.]

Eyes: blue

Diapers: Size 5

Shoes: Size 6

Clothes: 18-24 months, or 24 months. We have not broken into the 2Ts just yet.

Sleep: 2 Naps a day, usually 9:30 -10:45 am and 2-3:30 pm. Bedtime at 7:30 pm and he sleeps through (has for awhile). Wakeup is around 7:15 am. 

Food: Like all of us, he has days he eats a ton and others not so much. He doesn't have a consistent favorite food! It's really annoying actually because a lot of the time I don't have a guaranteed thing he will eat no matter what. I have started giving him some of Ashton's sneaky kale smoothies and he loves those - he mastered the straw a couple months ago and that was pretty life-changing. Fortunately, he has no allergies, at least that we know of. He's had peanut butter and eggs with no issues - because Ashton is so allergic to sesame we don't keep much of anything in the house that has that in it, so that's another big one we need to somehow try with Alex.
Biggest vice: bottles. He still gets three 6-ouncers a day of whole milk, at each wakeup (before breakfast, and after each nap). He's never taken a paci and it's a comfort thing I think. He walks around with it and is quiet while he has his milk and it's just a nice time haha. But a lot of people would tsk tsk this so I'm going to start thinking about phasing it out. 

Words: Well, none. So guess what - his Early Intervention evaluation is next week. If you've been reading this since the beginning, you'll know that Ashton went down this road and it was nothing but a great experience for us. So I'll post again about that after I know whether Alex qualified. He makes all kinds of sounds (and has said "mama" but not directed at me, just the sounds in general). 

Usually found: playing with toys and books. Very appropriate. But he does move, let me tell you. He just spins around the house and on the back deck and generally loves to check things out. 

Loves to: Give hugs, try and keep up with Ashton, get into the kitchen cabinets, bring you a book and whine until you open it to read it, so you read one page and then he shuts it and wants to get down. Also loves to ride around the neighborhood in his blue car, go down the slide all by himself, and LOVES the water. Whenever we are in the backyard he goes over to the water table and hits the cover and looks at me expectantly. I took him to Beaver Brook for the first time the other day and he outlasted all the bigger kids he was with, including his brother! And finally, Alex also shares Ashton's love of mud puddles.

In general: I find Alex to be a lot more...advanced? Than Ashton was at this age. I'm confident it's largely because he has Ashton as a role model and watches and learns so much from him. Alex seems to understand a ton and sometimes his behavior is very interesting. A little while ago he was playing in the dining room and found the yellow top to the shape sorter. He picked it up, walked through the living room over to the toy box, found the bottom and placed the yellow piece right on top before going back to his under-the-dining-room-table lair. He picks up cars and trains and runs them along the floor or wall and makes whooshing noises. 

Last word: Our little guy is just a happy-go-lucky explorer who is generally very busy but will stop everything for a popsicle. Here are some photos of things that have made him who he is today :) xoxo Alex!

Shoe Storage

Listen everyone. I'm in a crisis here. The number of shoes strewn around the house is taking.me.over. Big shoes! Small shoes! Crocs! Rain boots! Flats! Jason's monster sneakers! Four people's worth of footwear and it's been slowly making me crazy. We don't have a mudroom and honestly, if I could choose between that or a luxurious master bathroom, I'd pick mudroom every time.

So in the last couple of weeks, I was just bopping around on the interwebs and this flashed before me:

51 Game-Changing Storage Solutions That Will Expand Your Horizons

I like to think that my horizons are already pretty broad when it comes to storage but I mean, I still clicked. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. A lot of the ideas I had seen here or there but I scrolled through the list and WHAP! #9 hit me.

A coat rack hung low on the wall makes a space-saving shoe rack.

Really! Because that "before" pile looks an awful lot like what I've got in my house. I thought to myself, "Self, you could make that!" and trotted off to tell Jason to make that. 

Which is just what he did. He got a piece of wood and some knobs, let me mark where I wanted them placed, and one day while I was at work, he sent me this picture:

I said AHHH! Looks great! Can you do 2 rows?

Indeed, I had not. But where Alex just looooves to come and knock the shoes off, Ashton is actually very into putting them all back. Anyway it's not a perfect solution and most of the time, the nook still looks like this.

But at least now I have the OPTION of someplace to hang up (a small fraction of) the zillions of pairs of shoes floating around. 

That picture is captioned: "The best this area will ever look."

As I suspect is true for most of those "game-changing storage solutions", it's better in theory than in practice. Now I just have to figure out where to put all the coats...

Preschool Graduation

Well. Yesterday Ashton graduated from his Pre-k 3 class! Honestly I'm speechless. Where did the last 9 months go? More importantly, what am I going to DO with him all summer? Luckily Belmont Nursery School runs several weeks of camp that starts on Monday. Alex still naps in the morning so having Ashton out of the house until 12 every day has been a perfect schedule that will absolutely continue.

Anyway, the big graduation was yesterday and included a breakfast and a recital. Ashton wore a green and white striped polo and sang his little heart out at the concert. I'd post a video but I think perhaps it's something only his parents really appreciate ;)

Certificate time!

All in all it was a perfect little program yesterday and we were so happy with Ashton's teacher this year, Miss Campbell. She was ALWAYS smiling and really got to know Ashton. There is no doubt in our minds that he learned a ton and will be ready for next year!

For whatever reason, the graduation was yesterday but today was his actual last day. Of course we had to do a before and after!

Ashton has definitely grown taller and thinner since last September. I wish I could say the same about me. 

Anyway, one year of school under our belts! Congrats to our preschool graduate Ashton Christopher, age 3.10!

Where have I been??

Truth be told, I have had a bit of the blahs lately with this blog. I just have had no motivation to post despite that we did have an awesome Memorial Day weekend a few weeks ago. Uncle Erik flew out from California last minute to surprise everyone, which meant guess who was going in the water with the boys at Lake Iroquois ;)

We also got to spend a few days with my little niece Callie, which obviously I loved!

Overall, it was a great weekend - we hit the farmer's market, Al's creemees, the beach, took some walks, played in the backyard...we missed Jason but being up in Vermont is always such a nice break! I always forget how beautiful it is. So that was Memorial Day - the 3.5 hour drive went fine as long as the boys had snacks. I kept their little mouths stuffed full the whole way ;)

Sorry this is a short post, just wanted to check in and address this little hiatus I've been on. I should have some good stuff coming up (preschool graduation! new driveway! Alex turns 15 months!) so I promise to be back soon!

Happiness on a stick

I'm generating this post out of thin air, for the most part. I want to get something on the books before the long weekend and this is all I've got.

As a background, we are not a dessert household. There are never cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. laying around, mainly due to Ashton's egg allergy. Sometimes right before bed, Ashton will get a couple tablespoons of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of Hershey's, but usually his only sugar is from his fruit snacks.

But now? It's popsicle season! Look for these in your grocer's freezer:

They are perfect for little hands, aren't super messy, and the boys love eating off a stick. To say nothing of the mystery of what color lies inside the white wrapper. Ooooooo the drama of opening one. The intrigue! It's jumping-up-and-down, hand-flapping excitement.

Last night, Ashton had a yellow and Alex got an orange and happiness abounded. Is that a word?

Ashton was going on and on about his popsicle. "Mmmmm! It's COLD! Mmmmm!" And then he said he really likes them. I said "Of course you do - who doesn't like popsicles?" It was rhetorical but he said, very seriously, "Owen." His cousin Owen or his friend Owen? I have no idea. Then he asked that I make sure no one was going to come into his house, open the freezer, get his popsicles and take them home. "You gonna make sure Mommy? You gonna make sure no one takes them? I don't want anyone to take them. MAKE SURE!" All right already with the popsicle paranoia! Sheesh.

Anyway, Popsicle is owned by Unilever and they did not pay me for this post. We just really like the minis and if there is anything these boys can teach us, it's that the little things in life (literally with these), can bring much joy. I am reminded of the job I had in college at Baskin-Robbins. (I went to William and Mary, and the scoop shop was right off the main strip of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia - we were the second highest-grossing BR in the country - so busy! All the time!) Nearly every order that I handed over the counter resulted in a smile, especially the cones. Young, old, man, woman- if they didn't smile outright, something in their eyes lit up. Such a simple treat but such a thrill. Every time. It is a part of the experience that I will never forget (along with my hourly rate, which was $5.20, and the flavor I ate too much of, raspberry cheesecake). But even in the picture of Alex above, can't you see the twinkle in his baby blues? Mini popsicles = big treat. Highly recommend.

Soooo, Jason is working this weekend so I'm heading up to Vermont tomorrow with my two little men. I neeeeeed to visit my little sweetheart niece Callie! Catch you on the flip side...

Little Kickers

Ahhh, tis the season for organized spring sports. Ashton is finally at the age where I can sign him up for some of the town leagues and first up, pre-k soccer! Nevermind that the ball and shinguards cost about as much as the session fee. Ashton was playing whether he liked it or not!

So it was a beautiful Saturday last weekend and it was a family affair (meaning Jason came too). Ashton is signed up along with his buddies Jackson and Adrian and all week the only thing he could talk about was being on Jackson's team. He would randomly tell me, "Hey Mommy! I'mma gonna be on JACKSON'S team at soccer!" This idea excited him more than anything and we got to soccer and Ashton plopped down right next to him to listen to the coach (middle two blonde heads):

Overall though Ashton was a little hesitant. There was a lot going on (the number of kids was like 4 times the picture above) plus all their parents, siblings, etc. They broke out for their first "drill", which was dribbling the soccer ball around in small areas. Ashton immediately fell over his ball. In the process of getting up, he fell again over another kid's ball. Cue the tears and running off the field sobbing that he "can't do this".

Even Jason could not get him back in the ring, as they say.

30 minutes went by and Ashton just watched, which I told him was okay. But then they broke up into groups for some scrimmaging and I said, "Ashton! It's time for TEAMS! Maybe you can be on Jackson's team!" He pepped up and finally I got him to line up with the other kids.

Fate was not on my side. Despite Jackson and Ashton being next to each other, Jackson was handed a black jersey and Ashton got a blue one. Ashton was oblivious to this fact and happily said, "Jackson! We're on the same team!" and Jackson, 8 months older and wiser, said "No we're not. I'm black and you're blue!" and off he went.

Totally crushed by this news, Ashton came running off the field crying for a second time.

He was immobilized by his color. I mean would not, COULD not step back on to the field. He was back to just watching.

Finally, the coach was able to score an additional black jersey from another group. It didn't matter that the "teams" were now uneven - we're talking about 3 and 4 year olds who were all in one big clump anyway and competing to just kick the ball, nevermind as a concerted effort in a specific direction.

So Ashton got his black jersey on and it was like...

He was born again! He ran back out on the field! See, even the mom next to us was smiling (to give you an indication of the trainwreck the blue jersey turned him into).

And then by the end, there he is proudly kicking the ball.

It might not seem like much, but it was a huge deal. He was walking on air afterwards talking about it. I said, "Ashton, wow! How many kicks did you get??" 

That's "TWENTY."

Overall, the first session of Little Kickers was a jam-packed hour full of emotion - can't wait to do it again! ;)

Mother's Day

Welcome to my fourth Mother's Day! Whaaaaaaat? Yes.

It was a long hot day, let me tell you. The boys had a nice sleep and woke up around 7:15 am. Jason said he was going to take them for a walk down to Dunkin Donuts and I could stay in bed if I wanted to, but by the time Ashton came in and bounced all over me I was awake so I ended up going with them. It was a gorgeous morning. We got back, had breakfast, Ashton opened my cards and then Jason had to go to work. But don't cry for me, Argentina - even though we didn't do anything special as a family, I spent the day with my boys and that's what this holiday is all about! We invited Jackson and Adrian over for lunch as their dad was working as well, and much of the afternoon looked like this in our backyard.

We had gone to Target that morning so we had a fresh supply of water guns. Alex loved the kiddie pool and in general it felt so nice to be outside surrounded by 1,455 toys (the majority are not pictured). And then after PM naps, I got to go where every mom dreams of going on Mother's Day which is, quite obviously, Home Depot. We needed an outdoor box/chest to hold all those aforementioned toys and I wanted to look at those over-the-railing planters. It was shockingly busy.

Dinner was basically watermelon on the deck. Ashton is at a terrible age when it comes to food battles and for Mother's Day I gave myself permission to let them have whatever they wanted. It ended up being watermelon, cheerios and milk. Fine.

They were both scrubbed head to toe in the tub, Alex was out by 7:15 pm and Ashton by 7:45. I went outside, put my feet up and enjoyed the quiet.

 

Don't let the peanuts cup fool you. There's a not-exactly-weak gin and tonic in there ;)

Jason got home around 9:15 pm with dinner and flowers and that was the end of May 10th, 2015. It was a day filled with the usual madness of having two dirt-seeking boys that are fast and determined to do what they want. The two best gifts I could ask for. Happy Mother's Day.

And now it's...summer?

April was a light month in this blog-land. I just wasn't into it and although I could have managed a few trivial posts...eh. You know what we've been doing - hitting the park and playing outside! But there are a few newsworthy things that I can share.

1. Baby Berg is here! Jayden Geung Lomberg came almost 3 weeks early! He was due May 15 and arrived April 26th instead. 7 pounds 5 oz of pure little love and I burst through the hospital door as soon as visitors were being allowed haha. I absolutely consider him my nephew and we are so happy for Berg and Karen :)

Every time I hold a newborn I can't even fathom Ashton and Alex ever being that little - but obviously they were!

2. Poppy and Mema came last weekend for a quick visit and took Ashton to the Big Apple Circus. At least, I think that's where they went. Poppy texted me this fine image:

It's a little hard to tell ;) Although actually, it occurs to me that this picture isn't his fault; someone else took it. Anyway, we were so excited to see how much fun Ashton would have at the circus and as it turned out, it wasn't a lot :( He was scared of the clowns and the ringmaster and they ended up moving seats to sit further away from the action. On the bright side (literally), he came home with a ridiculously overpriced spinning light toy souvenir thing that he loves very much. Thanks Poppy and Mema! :)

3. Alex got his second haircut. It was totally perfect until I watched her comb the hair down in the front and then snip across his forehead in a straight line! I was like AH! What are you doing?! He's not Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber! Luckily Alex's hair always messed up so it's hard to discern what his actual haircut looks like at any given time.

4. We broke out the water table. It seems we have skipped spring altogether and summer is here. In fact just last night Jason was tossing and turning and super grumpy because it was too hot for him to sleep. But warm temps mean water table and Alex was, shall we say, beyond the beyond. He is going to have so much fun this summer playing. As soon as our driveway gets repaved, we plan to put a sandbox at the bottom in front of the garage. Said sandbox, in conjunction with the water table, should relieve me of all parenting responsibilities. I'm just going to sit in my chair and watch the boys recreate all.by.themselves. 

Oh, warm temps also mean summer pajamas :)

#posed

5. I think perhaps the biggest thing in the past two weeks is that I started running again. I used to be very fit before I got pregnant with Ashton and now that I've had two boys, well...I'm not very fit anymore. So I recently made a command decision that I needed to start making time for running again. It's been 14 days and I think I've gone for 9 runs? Maybe 8, who's counting. It was a tough start, my muscles were SO sore I could barely move. I found a great loop near my house down by the river and also have gone on my lunch break at Bentley. 

See how committed I am? I needed this photographic proof to show Jason that this is not just a fad and therefore he needed to buy me some hot new sneaks. Which he did because he knows what's good for him. Behold.

They aren't actually in my possession yet but SOON! Anyway, I was out of excuses now that I'm done breastfeeding (honestly, running up until this point just simply wasn't an option. No sports bra in the world would have held those things). Most days I have Jen stay an extra half hour so I get home, change, run and then meet the boys at the playground. My loop is 26 minutes and I look forward to it now!

6. As previously mentioned, we are repaving our driveway and also re-doing our front walkway with some nice gray stones. We picked a contractor and hopefully can get on their schedule for early June. The fence was also up for discussion but we could not swing two (more expensive than I would have thought!) projects this year. The driveway and walkway though will make a huge difference and obvi, before and afters will be shared. Speaking of before and afters, I never did post about my dining room that's been finished since last Thanksgiving! So unlike me. It's my least favorite room in the house maybe that's why.

7. Ashton and Alex are great, Alex thinks everything is a phone so he is constantly raising random objects to his ear and waits expectantly for me to say "Hello? Who's there?" He thinks this is very funny. I had his whole summer wardrobe washed and ready to go and the first day we had warm weather, I realized nothing fit him! That little bugger is bigger than he looks. The nice thing about a basement full of boy clothes is that I could just go shopping in the next size bin. So he's been sporting overalls and all the little tees that Ashton used to wear and it's so cute.

And that, dear readers, is all. I'm afraid our life lately hasn't been exciting enough to necessitate posts! If you have any ideas, send them my way :)