As Good As it Gets...but still pretty cute!

It is nearly impossible to get a picture of my kids where they're looking at the camera, let alone smiling. I hate paying for pictures when I know they won't turn out but I needed some baby pictures of Kayla so we decided to torture the boys too. I was very pleasantly surprised at the result (granted, Austin's the only one smiling but at least the other two aren't crying!).

"911...State Your Emergency"

So it wasn't actually 911 but I did have to call the Fire Dept. today. We were getting ready to go to the park and I was putting things in the stroller. The boys were running around outside but before they went out one of them locked the garage door. I went to get Kayla and found I couldn't get in any of the doors. So I panicked a little and tried calling Kent (luckily I had my cell phone) but of course he doesn't get reception in the clinic so no hope in reaching him. Then I called my mom. Surely she could do something even though she's 1500 miles away. Mostly I just wanted her to feel my pain. I kept checking on Kayla through the back sliding door and fortunately she was content just playing on the floor. So, I remembered the phone book in my van and looked up the police dept. They gave me the number to the fire dept. and within minutes a fire truck was pulling up to my driveway. Sirens, lights, the whole deal. How embarassing. And to make it worse there was not only one but three firemen coming to my rescue. They were all smiling when they pulled up so they must not have been too irritated (they probably rescue a lot of braindead moms who lock themselves out and don't have a spare key). They had the door open in seconds and I was able to rescue my little girl who was still happily playing on the floor. THANK YOU CFD. Now I'm off to hide a spare key!

Austin Turns 5

Austin turned 5 on the 10th. It's still hard to believe he's five...how did that happen so fast? We had a great day. I was kind of worried he'd be upset that the only people at his party were the five of us but it didn't seem to bother him. Thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas who sent presents...he is so spoiled.

I let him pick any cereal he wanted for his birthday breakfast. He was up at 6:00 dragging me out of bed to pour him a bowl. He could hardly wait. He had three bowls knowing it would be another year before he got anything this good again for breakfast.

We went to McDonald's Playplace for lunch. He had a lot of fun (this isn't something we do often because places like that gross me out). He was very excited to find a Transformer in his Happy Meal. He has played with that thing more than any other present. I'll remember that for next year...Happy Meal equals bliss and saves Mom and Dad money.

He requested macaroni and cheese, hotdogs and corn on the cob for dinner. I was not about to eat mac and cheese out of a box so I at least talked him into letting me make it from scratch. He seemed to like it. Of course, he ate as fast as he could so he could get on with the more important job of opening presents.

He was very excited to get a new set of golf clubs. He claims he'll be the next Tiger Woods. We just hope he can swing them without hurting himself.

Brayden acted just as we thought he might. He begged to play with whatever Austin opened the minute he had the wrapping paper off. There were a few tantrums especially when Austin opened a Transformer (again, if I'd known how happy the cheap one from McDonald's would make him, I could have saved ten bucks). It was hard for Brayden to understand that only the birthday boy gets presents especially since everyone gets presents on his birthday (Christmas).

He got a new bike and was very excited. He's going to need some training wheels since Daddy's back can't take much more of that method.

Brayden did end up getting a present. We got him a Diego trike which he was ecstatic about. It was pure joy when Austin let him wear his Batman helmet (the kid's obsessed with superheroes).

Austin requested a superhero cake. I'm glad you can't see the cake very well in this picture because it was pretty pathetic. I could definitely benefit from some cake decorating classes. He didn't seem to mind since it was covered in frosting and superheroes. What more could a five year old want?

Happy Birthday buddy! We love you so much!

Here's one for the Grandmas

Kayla turns three months in a few days so I thought I'd share some of her latest pictures...hopefully this will get the grandmas off my back! She had a check-up the other day and they confirmed what we've known all along...she is a BIG girl. She weighs 14.5 lbs and is 24 in. long. That puts her in the 95th percentile for both weight and height. We are currently thinking of a new nickname for her since we're pretty sure the one we have now ("Chubs") may give her a complex. Any suggestions?