Wednesday's Winning Words

On the way to Houston and back over the weekend, Kidd was playing a game with Justus in the car about remembering the names of the towns we drive through.  He would give Justus a dime for each one he remembered.  For some reason, Hempstead just didn't stick.  We must have told him a hundred times the name Hempstead and he just couldn't remember it.  So finally, we asked him why he was having such a hard time remembering Hempstead and he said (in a semi-whiny voice):

I don't know, I think my braind just doesn't like it.

Have I mentioned that I really, really love the way little kids think?!

On another winning words front, check this out!

Nothing like hearing your baby saying "I love you!"

I heart weekends

We had a fantastic weekend.  I know I don't normally recap the weekend events in the Royal household, but I just felt like taking pictures this one, so we happen to have something to show for it.  We didn't do anything particularly excited for most of it.  Just another few days in the life....

Friday night I was beat from a long week (and my original dinner plans fell through), so we ordered pizza and had movie night at home.  Justus loves to have a "picnic" while he watches his movie.

Poor Delaney isn't qualified yet to eat on the floor while watching tv, so she had her picnic in her standard eating location.  But, isn't it a picnic every time a toddler eats?

Saturday was a pretty standard day--errands, napping, playing and BATH TIME!  I love that our kids are at a stage where they can play in the bath together.  Makes things easier for me too.

...aaaannd we're done when little bit starts climbing out of her bathseat.

Sunday was a BIG day.  We went to Houston and had lunch with Maurcie.

The suprised look on Justus' face was because he had his eyes closed in the previous shot, so I told him to keep his eyes open this time.  Silly kid!

Today, Justus decided he's into taking pictures.  Whoo hoo--looks like I'm going to actually get to be in a few.  Then we left Delaney with Maurcie and we took Justus to his first live theater event.  If you know me at all, you know how much I love theater, well musicals (thank you, Darla), so this was a big deal.  I wouldn't normally have taken a 5 year old, but I think we found just the right show to hold his attention.

So excited!  I wish I could have filmed his reaction to the show.  It was amazing--both the show, and watching him light up at certain things.  If you haven't been and you are able, I highly recommend it!  I'm pretty sure he loved it, given that he hasn't stopped talking about it since we left the theater. He saw a poster for Peter Pan, coming in December, and he's quite certain he "needs" to see it too.

"I'm the king of the world!"  Oh, wait, different movie....

After a good nap and play time with Maurcie, this one was ready to go home.

This is the "My family went to see The Lion King, and all I got was this stupid hat" face. 

Don't let her fool you--she got a t-shirt and a magnet too.

What a wonderful weekend!  We hope yours was every bit as fantastic.

Wednesday's Winning Words

It's been a busy few days, between our 12th anniversary and my 29th(ish) birthday, so I haven't updated in awhile.    I'd love to show you pictures from the celebrations, but there are none.  They have been wonderful days, but we just spent the time enjoying them and didn't take any pictures.

So, onto the latest and greatest from our favorite little man...  Recall his accident last week?

Well, last night he was out riding his scooter in the driveway while Kidd was working on Ms. Shanon's car, and he was coming up the incline on the driveway and kind of tipped off the scooter.  He said "Mommy, I almost face-planted!  Did you see?"

He may or may not have heard the term "face-planted" a few times last week as I explained to people what happened to his face.  Don't you just LOVE when they pick up on your vocabulary and take it on as their own?!  It definitely could have been worse, and at least he used it correctly, right?

For the love of genealogy

You know how I'm adopted, right?  Well, between that and the fact that my dad and both of his wives have been only children, I have been fairly...uninterested, shall we say, in genealogy.  As a concept, I find it interesting, but as it applied to me--not so much.  First of all, no matter the genealogy of the families to which I belong (speaking not biologically), it's still not my blood lineage, and I'll never know my blood lineage (nor do I care to, frankly).  Secondly, as a small family unit with no aunts or uncles or first cousins, we haven't spent a lot of time with extended family.  I have never been to a Barger family reunion.  I wouldn't even know where to go were there to be one.  I've never blamed anyone for this, nor been particularly disappointed in this, it just is what it is. 

Having said that, my grandmother (Julie's mom) was VERY into genealogy and was very close with her family.  Her rather large family.  She kept boxes of family tree charts and information.  To say it was a hobby is probably definitely an understatement.  I have always known this and, as a result, got to spend as much time as she could make possible with (or hearing about) the wonderful people in this family.  Despite Julie passing away when I was young, Mimi always made sure I got to spend time with my cousins and knew what all they were up to as often as she could.  It was important to her for me to know them and know their history--my history too because this was my family, as well.  I now realize the magnitude of the effort she made to connect me (in my heart and mind) to this amazing group of people who welcomed my brother and I, just as if we were blood kin.  To her and to them, it made no difference that we were adopted.

The Nelson family reunion is held every other summer.  When I started going to camp, I often had to miss the reunions due to the conflict of timing of the two.  I know this bothered Mimi because it was the only time (aside from weddings and funerals) we had to see just about everyone in the same place at the same time.  When I finally got old enough and could either get away from camp for a day or wasn't at camp anymore, Mimi was no longer able to attend the reunions, due to her health and eventually her passing.  I went anyway because I wanted to know them and I knew it was important to her.  It was overwhelming at first after so many years away to be reintroduced to the names and faces I had known my whole life, mostly through pictures and stories.  Everyone embraced me as though I had never once missed.

This past weekend, we joined together once again for good times!  I really must get better about my picture taking--I either only take pictures of my own children (like I don't have enough of those pics) or I completely forget to pull my camera out at all.  Here are a few snapshots I did manage to get:

Family Water Volleyball game

Tom holding an old Diamond N (family brand) brand that was found on the family place years ago, and passing it on to the next generation at the family meeting.

Delaney had a great time getting to know a lot of cousins--

(from top) Al and Sarah, Leta and Rachel, and Caroline

**Please disregard the fact that my children are in a bar on a Saturday night.  It's a family friendly bar.  I swear.**

There was karaoke Saturday night, in honor of James William's birthday!  His sweet fiance, Jenny, played along (all the while wondering what she's getting herself into, I'm sure).

Henri, Julia, and Caroline doing some serious karaoke!

Justus putting a halt to his shuffleboard game to dance and clap for Scott's karaoke performance.  For more Nelson karaoke entertainment, see Sarah's You Tube video.  Awesome.

The long goodbye:  Everyone says goodbye at Sunday morning breakfast, but it takes about an hour or more, just to make your way around the room to say goodbye, and take pictures.

The Boedekers, Starks, and Meltons

Ian, OJ, and Amy

Henri and Julia

Kidd and Al

Wonderful cousins:  Caroline, Ian, Sarah, Melissa, James William, Frank, Julia, Amy, and Rachel. 

UInfortunately, also missing a few who already had left.

Julia and James Nelson in the foreground of the long goodbye.

  Justus and Delaney with cousin, Madeleine. 

  

It is always such a pleasure to get together with this crazy, fun family, whom we admire so much!!  I love that our kids are getting to experience this family time and know their cousins.  I hope that as they grow, their generation of Nelson cousins will enjoy these weekends as much as we do, and that they will take an interest in their heritage because there are some pretty amazing folks that we are lucky enough to call family! 

So, thank you to my Mimi for her persistence in fostering my knowledge of and relationship with some of the best people I know.

  

Wednesday's Winning Words: Bad Day

After a wonderful weekend (more on that tomorrow), Justus had a Monday.  No--Justus had the Monday of all Mondays...at least in the world of a 5-year-old. 

He fell.  On his face.  Literally. 

Poor Kiddo!  He was getting out of my car, and somehow tripped and landed right on the asphalt, on his cheek bone.  With feet still up in my car--which is a large SUV.  My heart just broke for him.  I'm not even going to go into the comedy of me trying to help him up, while still holding onto Delaney, two nap mats, and a diaper bag because we were on a street (miserable parenting moment when you can't just drop everything and hug your hurt child!).  The complicating factor was that his face was already starting to swell, due to what we (and by "we", I mean Dr. H) can only guess was an allergic reaction of some kind to the very normal summertime combination of sun, sunscreen, chlorine, and goggles on Saturday, that didn't start swelling until overnight Sunday.  So, here's my little man, immediately after the fall, still not emotionally recovered.

I tried to comfort him and let him know that people fall all the time, it happens, life will go on....

He, still understandably crying and whining, says "I didn't want to trip and fall today, but the day made me fall.  It's a bad day.  I don't like this day...."

I wonder if I can use that at work? 

"I didn't want to, but the day made me {fill in the blank with activity that would likely result in a reprimand or loss of employment}."

BAD DAY.

What the poor kid didn't know is that Tuesday would be worse, albeit not painful.  Check out his face the next morning (even AFTER a night of Benedryl.)

Don't know what it was, but he's definitely having some kind of reaction! 

At least his scrape looks better...and he's smiling...sort of. 

19 months!

We skipped the 18 month update on Delaney because we couldn't get in to see the good Dr. H until almost 19 months.  So, here we are.  Can't believe it's been 19 months.

I swear, this wasn't a headlock.  They actually had posed for a couple of pics (none of which turned out), but then she was d.o.n.e.

So, what have you been up to, Miss Delaney?

You are definitely growing!!  You now weigh 25 lbs, 3 oz., which puts you in the 59th percentile.  And, you are 2 ft., 9 inches, which puts you in the 79th percentile.  You have literally shot up in both of these categories.  It's starting to look like you may be tall, after all.  You can still wear some of your size 4 shoes, and often do, but the 4.5s fit best...but you love some of your 5s (hello, sparkly pink Tiny Toms) and insist on wearing them sometimes.  Speaking of insisting on wearing things--I set clothes out for you on purpose, to make our mornings go more smoothly and allow you as much beauty sleep as possible.  I do not wake you up early enough to wrestle with you while you try to literally rip off the shirt I have carefully selected for the day, or reject the shoes I chose only to point and grunt at other ones.  It ruins the whole ensemble and we have to start over.  We need to come to an agreement on how we are going to do this morning dressing ritual.  You have the rest of your life to be picky about what you wear.  Can you at least give me these first couple of years, like until you can verbalize your distaste of my selections?

You had a tooth explosion and you now have about 10-12 teeth.  And you LOVE to "brush" them.  You haven't quite gotten the knack of brushing so much, but you love to put the toothbrush in your mouth and move it around.  The only problem is that you don't want any help (at all.  for anything. I'm getting over it.), so it's a challenge to be sure your teeth are getting clean.  BTW, your breath this morning indicates that we did a less than stellar job last night.

You continue to be a good eater, as indicated by your "great belly" that Dr. H. loves and says you should keep just like it is (at least for another year or so). You have been on a broccoli kick lately, which is great, and your new obsession is corn on the cob.  I'm pretty sure that if left alone, you could singlehandedly put away a half dozen cobs.  You also have started branching out in your fresh fruit adventures.  You had scaled back your fruit intake to pretty much only mandarin oranges and grapes.  This week alone, you have happily also taken on apples, blueberries, strawberries, and watermelon.  Yay for fresh fruit in the summer!

You surprise us all the time by repeating things we say, or trying at least.  And you have become more assertive in your "no."  Can't say I'm surprised or excited by this development.  You still prefer to have people entertain you rather than play with toys, but it is less consistent than it was.  You love books, and our reading time before bed.  We need to mix it up a bit though.  I'm growing weary of Ten Little Rubber Ducks and Bedtime Bible Stories.  We'll bring them back, but let's circulate a few others in the mix.  Justus is your favorite play thing ever.  As you grow, he's getting a little more rough with you and we try to settle him down, but your laughing while he's rough housing doesn't help him understand that he needs to be more gentle.  He just says "but, look, she likes it."  We must start preparing for the day you two start ganging up on us.  It's closer than we think.

You have such a soft spot in your heart for animals.  I hope that we can nurture that love in a way that encourages you to always want to have them.  They are very special and often become part of our families.  We lost our Mollie Sunday night, and I think you may be the most affected by it.  You loved to watch Daddy feed her in the mornings.  Tuesday, you walked into the kitchen, pointed at her bowls, looked at me and asked "Mollie? Mollie?"  Broke my heart.  I admit, I'm glad you aren't Justus' age because I know it would be much harder on you.

You are a girly girl (as established by your well-dcoumented shoe obsession), and the evidence is mounting.  We tried on clothes before our last photo shoot with Sarah--dying to see those pics!!--and you didn't want to take off the baubles.  Ever.  You tried to wear them to bed! 

You also apparently will sit still for toenail painting, but not clipping. 

I see trips to the nail salon in our near future.

You are so much fun, sweet girl, and bring so much light and happiness to our family.  You are sassy and sweet all wrapped into one. We are completely in love with you.  On the one hand, I want you to immediately stop growing.   On the other, it is such a delight to watch you develop.  We are so blessed with the honor of being your family, Delaney.  We love you!!

The 3rd of July!!

I know what you are thinking--why in the world is she getting excited about the 3rd of July, isn't tomorrow the holiday and anniversary of our country's independence?  Yes, it is.  But, since kids came into our lives, we've had a little 3rd of July celebration every year--The Weekday School 4th of July Parade!  Today's parade marked 1) the first (and last) time both kids got to be in the parade together--Justus was recovering from his tonsilechtomy last year, and 2) Justus' last parade before Kindergarten (sniff sniff).  Now, when I say "parade," I'm sure you are envisioning floats down the city street, with hundreds of onlookers, cheering as they go by.  Close, but scale it back just a smidge.  Imagine a big gym with parents, grandparents, and other special people (armed with phones, cameras, and videocameras, of course) lined around the edge, and the kids walk in make a huge circle or two, say a prayer, a pledge, and off they go.  The End.  Simple, sweet, and to the point.  It has taken on several iterations over the year, sometimes including lunch for/with the parents and sometimes not.  Can't say I blame them in the "not" years.  Each class either makes shirts, hats, and/or props of some kind.  I'm sure it is a lot of work for the teachers and staff to prepare for this very brief activity.    This doesn't even begin to take into account what happens when some of the younger ones spot their excited parents in the crowd.  More on that momentarily.

So, here are some pics from this year's parade, held earlier today.

I know it's far away and a little blurry, but a shout out to the Friendship Club.  Justus has been with most of these kids since infancy.  They are such good kids and I know they are going to miss each other next year.

Look how much fun they are having with their homemade hats and sparklers.

Total. Pro.

Delaney and her friends a little overwhelmed by checking out the chaos. 

Looking good in their homemade shirts.

Pretty darn cute.  Before she saw me.

...and then someone saw Mommy...

This is why you should hide when your child under three comes tootling through...

Justus waiting on the stage because SOMEONE got to lead everyone in the prayer. 

Check it out--if you can even see him.  My mistake for standing on the opposite side of the gym. 

So proud of him.

They may be short and sweet, but we always enjoy the 3rd of July parades at the Weekday School.  We will miss watching Justus parade around, but look forward to more for Delaney --assuming they allow us back after we made the near fatal error of going to her classroom.  After she was calmed down and eating.  And got her all upset again.  Duh!  I know better.

So, Happy 3rd of July to everyone!!