Snowpalooza 2010

It is 9pm, Wednesday night and we have endured more freaking snow in MD than I can ever remember getting growing up in the frozen tundra. My tiny little scion hasn't left the garage in a week. Since Goddard is closed as is all other Fed buildings and we can't get our cars out b/c our road doesn't get plowed, Rhys and I have had a TON of bonding time this week. It is weeks like this that reinforce why I couldn't never be a stay at home mom...I CAN'T STAND ANYMORE ELMO!!! Shannon still has to work as his main office is in sunny CA. Rhys and Aidan have gotten together a few times when Vannah and I actually get up the motivation to dress out little ones for the long hike down one driveway and up the other. Thank God for the awesome gymboree bubbles we have...can entertain the little ones for at least 20 minutes. We hosted superbowl on sunday for a few of our neighbors, since no one was going anywhere. 7 adults and 7 kids...mostly toddlers...needless to say i think there was a game on sunday but i couldn't tell you who won as the little ones were all cracked up on cookies and cake.

This is his normal attire...long sleeve t-shirt, pull ups and some fancy shoes.


Still only 4 teeth...doesn't stop him from eating everything in site...except for peanuts.
This is his new trick!!! Mommy is so happy that he's figured out that if something is out of his reach, he can just pull up a dining room chair and get whatever his heart desires.
These are one of his favorite pairs of shoes...soft soled and neon green and orange...who could ask for more?

Aidan and Rhys are really into hugging each other but Vannah and I are on to their little game. They spend much of their time killing each other over the same toy so now we've relaxed a bit when we see them try to make up. 2 seconds later, Rhys is trying to swing a tennis racket at Aidan's head while Aidan is trying to crash tackle Rhys to the floor.
Vannah dressed them...note the firefighter boots and adult gloves on my child :)

This is our front yard before the second storm. Our mailbox is virtually gone and the hydrant right next to it, well we haven't seen it since Monday.
The stupid county doesn't think that we're high on the priority list to be plowed...even with almost all of us working at Ft Meade or it's neighbor. We shoveled our entire road in december during the last storm but this time our neighbor, Luke hitched a blower to his lawn mower and did our road...for 10 freaking hours!!!
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. They're made of sugar instead of chemicals so i don't care if the boys lick them off of the floor...which my son does all of the time.



Ahhh, peace for now...until one of them spots the basketball in the foreground and then it's every toddler for himself.

fun stats on Rhys

So here are his 18 month stats:
Weight: 26lbs, 15oz = 70th %tile
Length: 36 inches = 99th %tile

Words to date:
Nana
Mommy (mama depending on how much trouble he thinks he's in)
Dadda
Go
Up
Kitty
Doggy
Door
Downstairs
Elmo (prnc elmoh)
Ernie
Oskar (prnc OhKar)
Nose
Eyes
Ears
More
No
Apple
This
Uh Oh
Nice
Mine Mine Mine
Ball
Down
Bye Bye
Phone (prnc hone)
shoes
teeth
cheese
Oma
pee pee
poo poo
potty
tomato (prnc mato)

I know...I know

We lost our camera somewhere and it's got a TON of photos so we're frantic looking for it. Boogie has lent us hers in the meantime so we'll be back up and running! I miss blogging and I want to keep it up as someday he'll be able to read all of the funny things he's done and since my memory is shockingly horrible, it's like our public diary. :)

In the meantime, Rhys had his 18 month check up last week and to say he embarrassed his mommy would be an understatement. We're trying pull-ups (I'll post another funny story tonight about being in Borders and his pull-ups) and so the doctor is checking out Rhys from head to toe. He's keeps grabbing her stethescope and whispering into it "minnneee" which is cracking her up. He also won't sit still and must jump up and down on the chair saying "OhKar, Elmoh, Ernie, Ert" The doc keeps commenting on how socialble he is and all of his other amazingness when she goes to check out his bits. She's poking and proding when all of a sudden Rhys smacks her hand away and grabs himself and yells at the top of his lungs "NOOOOOOOO, MINEEEEEEE". I have now melted into the floor and the doc is practically peeing her pants. All I could say was "look, it's like you were trying to take his stuffed bunny and he's not into sharing right now"

He's lost weight since his last check up and has no more baby phat...his height though is going to be an issue as in it's OFF THE CHART. She charted him to peak at 6'2" - 6'3" so we'll see when he gets older. Still only has 4 teeth and apparently that's all he needs to function in life b/c he eats everything we do.

I'd like to give a shout out to my man Elmo...if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to prepare dinner in peace. You keep my little monster occupied with your annoyingly irritating voice and fancy footwork. Thank you thank you.

Photo shoot

Rhys has been sick with the croup which quickly turned into whooping cough....Since Friday night, he has barfed on me (only me not shannon) at least 30 times. We have taken so many showers to ease congestion for him and disinfect me that my fingers are perpetually wrinkled. Today was a bit better but I still feel like the walking dead.

Last weekend, Vannah's sister, Piper photographed Rhys for his 1 year pics. He got to run around her parent's back yard and be all adorable. Below are the fruits of her labor.

Lost video of the peeper

Auntie Beth's Visit!!!

Aunt Beth flew all the way from Down Under to visit me (actually she had a nursing conference in Kentucky and added D.C. to the tail end of her travels, but who in the heck comes to America and goes to Kentucky?!?...so I say she came solely for the purposes of entertaining me) In the couple of days that she stayed at my house she did all sorts of fun stuff with us: she took a tour bus around DC and then b/c momma didn't want her to leave and not see other cool sites, the two of them went into the city. At night, Auntie Beth played with me, sang songs and got to be my silly side kick. It was great fun and here are some pics of us and some will need further explaining.

Nothing beats a bottle, a blanket and a nice warm Auntie to snuggle in at the end of a long day playing. :)
Now mommy wants everyone to know that I do have other clothes besides this whooville type sleeper but its got grippy bottoms so I pretty much live in it.
In Australia fire hydrants are covered so people can mow their lawn so that is why our yellow water source is making a debut.
This is my house that I let mommy and daddy stay with me in.
After Daddy became an American, kinda, we all went to Galway Bay to celebrate. It was 430 in the afternoon so we knew it wouldn't be crowded as Rhys feels the need to entertain everyone and not eat a bite. He still was not interested in sitting with us, instead opting for the bench at the back to enjoy his apply cider and water.




What?!? I know I'm adorable, we can all go back to eating now.
Hey hey there waitress lady...let me mesmerize you with my big brown eyes and super fit physique. (pay no attention to the tubba chunk belly...I just had to have that last piece of currant bread and all of mommy's food)
After dinner we went to our favorite cupcake shop. Auntie Beth bravely volunteered to hand feed me my treat. Her manicure didn't have a chance.

Happy Birthday Nanny!!!

Today is Nanny's birthday so instead of getting sleep, mommy has decided to stay up and post pics of me!!! Nanny will be happy and I'm sure these will put a smile on my godmother's face :)

We're a month into our new home and so far it's been incredible! So much space to chase mommy around and I especially love hanging onto her leg while she's cooking.

Mommy is looking for a HIGH highchair to put me in while she's making the good smelling stuff so people of the interweb, keep an eye out!

The first is the family at the store. I am clearly helping by helping myself to the various toys I can get my hands on.Here we're at ESPN zone after having burgers at the Hard Rock. Mommy was playing the basketball game against Daddy and they had no where to put me down so I had to be placed IN the game. After they shot the ball it would roll right onto my feet and I would pick it up. I'm sure there are "no kids in the display" rule but they are too competitive to care and I would just run away the second my chubby toes hit the ground.

Last weekend we went to a "pick your own" farm with Miss Vannah and my pal Aidan. To get to the orchards there were these bins on wheels that made excellent things to climb on. Aidan was very interested in spinning the wheel and I wanted to stand on the top! Although there were 4 other wheelbarrels, I only wanted to play with the one Aidan was playing with...it must have been the coolest one.


Like I said earlier, I'm into running and hiding so mommy popped me in the bucket on wheels and we went around the orchard. This was also to try and prevent me from eating the apples that had fallen rotten on the ground...too bad the joke was on momma. I must have snuck at least a pound of apples b/c my tummy was making the rumblies and daddy and her fought over who was going to change my diaper.
Quick, mommy isn't looking and daddy is more interested in taking a picture of me being bad than actually stopping me. This is the story of our lives :)
Note to all mommies...put your child in the bucket on wheels facing the child forward or he will bump his noggin when you hit a ditch. Mommy and Miss Vannah are on a mission and they are PICKY about what type of apples they like...Miss Vannah likes the green ones that are as big as my head and mommy will turn her nose to anything that isn't a little red, a little green and a whole lot of crispy, slightly tart deliciousness.