Project 365 - Day 86

Oh, that sweet, sweet potato face. He loves sweet potatoes. I have a feeling this look is going to be used on me many, many times in the years to come. I am in trouble because he is just so darn cute it hurts my heart. The cheeks, the eyes, the lips, the cubby little fingers are just too much for me sometimes. I am so blessed to be his mommy and I am loving having a baby again. My last baby. I am trying to soak up every little everyday thing there is - including mashed sweet potatoes all over his face and fingers.

Project 365 - Day 85

Oh the joy of the smoke dectector. In our house these things had better not ever have to be counted on. From the one in the kitchen going off whenever I grill anything to the ones in the bedrooms that go off for no reason (and no I don't think a weak battery is a good reason). Mike just changed the batteries for the one in our room and the retreat (aka Noah's room). So imagine my shock and surprise when the thing starts going off at 3:30 in the morning. I was having a rough night with Laura and Noah already so I was more than a tad cranky. Laura was in our bed and Noah was in his crib and I can't believe they stayed asleep as this thing was going off right above their heads. As soon as I would get up and walk around to figure out what I was going to do it stopped. Then I would try and lay down again and it would go off again. I was really getting irrated and not thinking very clearly at 4am so I grabbed the broom and started stabbing it trying to get the thing to stop or break would have worked at this point. I finally decided I had to go out into the garage and get the ladder. After being pinned between the mini van and the kids play slide I managed to lift the entire ladder up over my head and shimmy out without damage to the car. I set up the ladder and started twisting and trying to yank the thing out of the ceiling and it came loose only to have to be disconnected from the hard wiring. I managed to do this without falling off the ladder only to be holding it in my hand with it still going off. I took the battery out and finally it stopped avoiding certain death by me stomping on it. I still can't believe the kids wake up from the slightest things and manage to sleep through something that is supposed to warn them to wake up and get out of the house. And my real question is why, why, why do these things have to happen in the middle of the night? Why can't they happen in the middle of the day when I have two more wits about me?

So, when Nathan and Laura woke up at 6:30am I was none too pleased and Noah was up right after that making noise in his crib. When I couldn't ignore any of them any longer I stumble out of bed and head over to the crib thinking I will just pull him into bed with me with some toys and hopefully lay there long enough to gain enough energy to make it through the day. Normally I am little miss sing song with good morning baby and how are you and so on but this time I dragged myself over with no noise and went to reach in only to be greeted by his smiling face and he looked so surprised to see me he says MAMA! THAT WOKE ME UP. I was so excited I got a surge of energy and danced around the room with him in my arms and literally floated to the kitchen to make breakfast for the other munchkins. So, I am sticking to my theory that sleep is overrated, please don't correct me and just let me continue to live in my fantasy dream land a little longer. I am just thrilled he said mama.

Project 365 - Day 84

My boy. He will always be my boy, so any future girlfriends or wives better watch out. I never understood that whole ridiculous stuff about mama's boys and all the mother/son cliches until I had Nathan. I love his dimples. They come out and I just melt. He was very excited about the Jog-a-Thon at school today. I was filling out the check before school and even had Laura and Noah sponsor him with $1 each. Nathan then explains because I sponsored him I got to go cheer him on at the event. My mom and dad sponsored him too so he let me know they should be there to cheer him on as well. So, I was going to tackle a bunch of stuff at home but what can I say, how could I say no I won't go cheer you on running for 20 minutes straight? Those house plans quickly got dumped and I headed out to watch him run with 79 other kindergartners. They were so cute. Some of the little girls looked out for Laura and even took her out with them walking around the "track". They will undoubtedly be good mommy's when they grow up. It was a fun, beautiful, sunny spring day that leaves me so thankful to be at home with them everyday. Thanks Mike for working so hard to make sure I am there for our precious gifts from God.

Project 365 - Day 83

Dad was over doing our lawn today and Nathan and Laura were enjoying the sunshine so I thought Noah should to. This was something my dad did with Nathan all the time when he was a baby. Noah didn't seem to take to it like Nathan so it was pretty much take this picture and get him out of there.

Here is the throwback picture circa August 2004.

Nathan was sooo into this. Every time my dad mowed Nathan wanted to be a part of it, holding on and all!

Project 365 - Day 82

I know my photo skills are a shame yet again, but this one just had to be included. What you see here is Laura with her hands over her hair with a disturbing look on her face. What you can't hear is Laura saying "I am covering my hair because I don't like it today". My mom tends to be a little too gentle when it comes to doing Laura's hair and not enough product equals a very, very, puffy hairdo and apparently Laura does not like the puffy 'do'. I don't blame her, I had to live many, many years with a puffy 'do'. Oh well, my mom means well and then I get moments like this to treasure forever! Hee Hee!

Project 365 - Day 81

Daddy was in charge of the picture of the day since I was in the bay area frantically looking for a dress to wear to my brother's upcoming wedding. Daddy decided to experiment with a box of cake mix without adding eggs to the mix to make cupcakes. They actually turned out to be pretty tasty although they didn't stick together very well. The claim to fame for the day was his chocolate buttercream frosting. He took the recipe Annie and Dusti have shared with me and added some melted Dove dark chocolate along with some cocoa powder and it came out really good. Yummy vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing were a huge hit!

Project 365 - Day 80

As I was getting ready this morning Laura had crawled up with a toy to share with Noah. She is the constant mother and playmate and protector of my sweet baby. She so enjoys showing him things and bringing him things and taking care of him. She will be a good mommy someday!

The most annoying and wonderful toy...

I am convinced this is the most annoying toy on the planet. My dear friend Greta had given this toy to Nathan when he was a baby and Nathan loved it, in turn Laura loved it and now Noah loves it. It is sooo loud and obnoxious. It has levers to push with little hands and feet so it can be played while lying down or sitting up (basically what I am saying is it's toy life lasts longer because they can use it while primarily immobile to full on sitting and standing - oh the joy!) With every push of the lever these little balls go around and around with music and spinning noises and so on and so on.

I searched and searched for a picture of Nathan with it and came up short and only found the little one of Laura but at least I have the story. Needless to say this was the first toy to make it to my mom and dad's house so it could be played with over there. You would think that it would bother me less since it is over there and not in my daily life but no, it still bothers me. Now I just have to smile because the joy in their faces gives me joy. Now if I can just get that music out of my head!

Rice Cereal for Noah

I just have to share these photos of Noah's first experience with rice cereal. It is just hilarious to me. To see the progression needs no explanation and I just thoroughly enjoyed the process and don't mock me when you see his tears, he just looks so funny I bet you would laugh too!

At least it ended happily. I should have just given him the spoon!

Project 365 - Day 79

Tonight for dessert little Laura chooses an Oreo cookie. She proceeds to take it apart and digs into the frosting. I know everyone has their own way of eating an Oreo cookie and I might be offending some but I prefer to just eat it straight out of the package cookies together with cream in the middle (they do need to be double stuft though I mean come on, that extra icing is mandatory).

Anyway, I say to my sweet daughter, 'You know it tastes pretty good with the cookie already on it.'

She says: "Mom, I love the sugar, it makes me happy".

Nuff said, how can I argue with that!

Project 365 - Day 78

Picture of the day courtesy of my mom. Apparently the kids thought this would be a good one so she obliged. My mom was kind enough to watch the kids while Mike and I went to our first of seven parenting classes learning the ways of the Love and Logic methods. I have to say I was pretty impressed and am feeling very hopeful that my time with the kids will get better. I am so excited to have some help in this area. Thanks to my mom for helping me achieve this goal of being a better mom, she helps me so much I am forever grateful.

Project 365 - Day 77

I find it comical when Nathan and Laura try and stage the picture of the day. They wanted to have puffs (pirate's booty) for an after school snack and exclaimed "this should be the picture of the day mom!" How can I refuse?! I just wish I staged the picture better. A handful of puffs would be what I wanted in my book, but the chipmunk cheeks and the arms around each other seemed more real.

Project 365 - Day 76

First day of trying rice cereal. I am hoping that with a fuller belly he will sleep through the night. The pediatrician informed me it is okay to start letting him sleep through the night - he is big enough to handle it. He tells me it should only be a hard two days but the results will be more sleep for me. Okay, I know I should but can someone please tell my milk factory to comply - I fear I will be up at night anyway. I know too much information but I am just keeping it real people....

Project 365 - Day 75

I am so proud of my parents. Many of you know they have been doing Weight Watchers. Today was there one year anniversary. In 52 weeks they have totally changed their lives for the better. My mom had .6 pounds to lose before going into Mondays meeting to lose 100 pounds! She did it! Right after they left my house for the meeting I gathered the kids up, ran into Safeway to pick up some flowers and headed to the meeting to surprise them. The kids were so good waiting for the award part of the meeting, my parents didn't even know they were there. My dad is soo close to his goal. At Christmas time we found out he was able to completly go off all of his diabetes medications, as well as, his high blood pressure and cholesterol medications. This is staggering because he was on the maximum amount of pills for diabetes and was taking insulin once a day. He is awesome, his dedication to the gym and taking care of himself is just awesome. Such a good day!

Project 365 - Day 74

Another crafty project for the upcoming wedding. I am making thank you cards as one of my gifts to them. Of course there will be ribbon added to the top to finish them off!

Project 365 - Day 73

I have been working on getting some quotes to get some work done in the backyard. The kids and Mike got into cleaning up the weeds this afternoon and maybe I will just hire them to do the work! They can be paid with food right?!!?

Project 365 - Day 72

Another dress up morning before Nathan goes off to school. They even found a little bandana for Noah. They were pirates and were just so gosh darn happy. I cherish these little faces every day!

Project 365 - Day 71

Our dishwasher is officially broken. It has been going out over the past few months and has officially gone caput. It really isn't so bad doing the dishes by hand. I did let them pile up though and had to do quite a few tonight but there are worse things to be broken.

Project 365 - Day 70

I met Grandma Alma and Aunt Pam in Walnut Creek this week and it was a fun day. It is one of my favorite shopping spots - love all the stores outdoors. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and just had a fabulous day. Meeting them half way in Walnut Creek breaks up the two plus hour drive and just makes the driving day more bearable. I hope to do this more often so I can see them more frequently!

Project 365 - Day 69

SIX months old! Bring on the peek-a-blocks! Nathan loved these things and Noah seems to have the same affection toward them. We are already starting the evil infant drop the toy off the high chair and pick it up dance.

Project 365 - Day 68

My little girl is three years old. She was so funny at her party on Saturday, she would only say she is two years old because it wasn't actually her birthday.

Project 365 - Day 67

This daylight savings time is really annoying. The upside was this beautiful shot of the full moon the other night.

Not the ugliest cupcakes you have ever seen

So an update on the ugliest cupcakes you have ever seen. Once I got some seriously needed pointers from my wonderfully talented friend Dusti they didn't turn out half bad. I found I can actually make boxed cupcakes that turn out as long as I don't follow the box directions! Her pictures of the cupcakes make them look even better. She was so wonderful to take pictures at Laura's party. One of my favorite pictures from the day is Chase holding her Princess Aurora cupcake dressed as Princess Aurora - so cute! So, not only did they not look half bad they were pretty tasty too - but really - real buttercream frosting on cardboard would taste good!

Project 365 - Day 66

This does not even come close to doing justice just how happy this little girl was. She has been talking about her party for 6 months - she wanted a special party like brother has. Now mind you Nathan is a July baby so going to the park and having a party is a lot easier than planning something in March with impending rain. It POURED on Monday and Tuesday but cleared up and looked beautiful for her on Saturday at my parents house. We rented a bounce house that actually fit into my parents backyard and she was giddy when they set it up - once it was up she exclaimed "I am so happy!". It made all the work worth it. I think all the kids had fun and will post more pictures soon.

Project 365 - Day 65

I love this little guy so much! He is sitting in the high chair now, I can't believe how fast it is going. This is not just any old high chair. This thing is about 60 years old. My dad sat in it, his two brothers, I sat in it, my brother and my dad's brother's two daughters sat in it. Nathan sat in it, Laura sat in and now little Noah sits in it. I am hoping to do a framed picture or scrap page with each one sitting but I am having a hard time tracking down some of them. I will post Nathan and Laura sitting in it soon.

Project 365 - Day 64

Tonight I made Nathan's favorite dinner. Shake and Bake chicken with Stove Top stuffing, corn and cranberry sauce. I found some Pillsbury grand biscuits in the freezer and decided to add them. It made me remember when I was little how my mom used to make rolls or something to go with dinner but they were NEVER done with dinner and when we finally took them out of the oven and sat down to enjoy them as dessert with some yummy boysenberry jam the buzzer would go off. EVERY TIME! That darn buzzer would always go off and nothing was in it so we would have to get up and have a laugh - it just never failed growing up. By the way the biscuits were my favorite part, smothered in homemade peach jam this time!

Project 365 - Day 63

Am I crazy or what?!?? Don't even bother to comment because the white truck has pulled up to take me away to a padded room. This it just part of the craziness I have been working on for Laura's birthday. I still have to finish the wands for the girls but I am almost there.

Project 365 - Day 62

I don't even think this picture can adequately display the craziness of 'dress up' at our house. This is just one little tiny glimpse into the daily life of playing make believe. I think they were playing Indiana Jones. It is a daily, hourly, minutely (?) thing with these two to "be" someone and I have to comply and call them by their 'name' or the incessant calls of "I am....." will ensue until I call them by their play names. I just had to stop dead in my tracks with Laura's diaper very full and the leotard very small and the jumping and running all over. Just another day in the life of living lacerda....

Project 365 - Day 61

Just another ordinary day where Nathan creates some extraordinarily imaginative LEGO creations.