It's here. The time that most parents look forward to from the first diaper change...DIAPER FREEDOM!! Mikaela has been wearing "big girl underwears" for about a year now and took to potty training very well. She was very motivated--such a difference from Cameron. We bribed that kid with everything under the sun, but he was having none of it. Kaela barely had to be prompted, until the novelty wore off and her independence kicked in. Even then, it wasn't as daunting a task as training Cameron (and a lot earlier than him, too). Throughout the year she would have anywhere from a few accidents a day to a couple a week. Within the last month (she turned 3 two months ago) she completely stopped the once-a-week accidents, and within the last month she has been waking up dry every morning. About two weeks ago we started sending her to bed with no pull-up on and she hasn't had a single accident! Again, so different from her big brother.

I feel a rush of freedom, or a realization that...this is it. Cameron and Mikaela are "big kids" now--it's official. And I feel great about it, but part of me is saying, "be careful, don't grow up too fast." I guess I'm fearing a slippery slope scenario. In any case, with the good comes the..."COME. ON. Are you kidding me?"

Why is it that my daughter must visit every public bathroom in the vicinity--twice?! This is one problem that I didn't have with Cam. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing, but if she is even remotely aware that there is a bathroom in the area--SHE HAS TO GO. OK, so she's just being careful and doesn't want to have an accident, you say. Maybe, but why, after 10 minutes of going, does she have to go again?? Or, even worse--when we are in BJ's in the farthest corner of the entire place with a full cart of groceries--I HAVE TO GO POTTY. Or my favorite, "Mommy, I have to go POOOOOOPPPPIIIEEEE."

And while we are on the subject of going...I have always shyed away from allowing my son to go outside. Even though we are in a remote area with no neighbors on two sides, I just didn't want him to get into that habit. I know of kids who suddenly feel the freedom to let loose wherever they are and (LOL) Cameron already had a surprise poop in my aunt's yard when I let him run naked for a few minutes outside. I thought it was hilarious, and my young male cousins will probably never forget it as long as the live. Anyway, the kid doesn't need any ideas. Well, of course boys will be boys and men will be men. Kyle has taught and allowed him an occasional outside pee and knowing this, Cameron has suggested to me several times while playing outside that he, "isn't going to make it." The bathroom is right inside and probably closer than the closest tree, but outside seems like the better option. Or on a recent walk out back to the lake, he refused to go back to the house and wanted to pee in the neighbor's yard. It's not a constant battle at this point, and I will continue to fight it as the situation arises. I'm just not ready to teach my daughter the finer art of squatting in the woods. You know, the whole balancing act, proper squat format, don't pee on your shoes!, and watch out for the bugs...she's got her college years to learn that.

Cameron has gotten into somewhat of a sneaky stage lately. He knows what he is doing is wrong (or more accurately, not allowed) but he does it anyway. A few minutes ago I caught him with half of a box of wipes in his hand, cleaning the floor. While I will accept any help I can get in the cleaning area, the reaction to me catching him is what really upset me. The look on his face said, "Oh shhh... I'm in trouble." He went to timeout--not for the wipes, but for doing something he knew was wrong. We had a little talk and he seemed to get it. But, ya never know with those sneaky 4 year olds.

Cameron is now on the task of cleaning up our big box of coloring supplies. They accidentally fell on to the floor--no big deal--and he is putting them back. He came up to me in the kitchen and asked for a cloth. I asked, "what for?" He paused, looked up at me, sighed and said, "I just need to clean off my hand." With that, he reluctantly held up his hand with his fingers pressed together. I saw bright, red marker all over it. Apparently he thought he was going to get in trouble, but instead of trying to hide it or take care of it himself he decided to own up to it and suffer the consequences. I'm sure you know that I would be more likely to draw with the marker all over my own face rather than be upset with him for getting dirty. All I could do was give him a big smile, a bigger hug, and tell him that I love him. And go finish cleaning up before I turn 70.


note: I am standing in my kitchen writing this while it's fresh in my mind. The kids are supposed to be cleaning up. Cameron just came in saying that Kaela hit him and I can hear her crying. I walked into the dining room to see what was going on and she was sitting in our time out area. I said, "did you put yourself in time out?" She said, "yes" I said, "oh, because you weren't being nice?" And with that she turned herself around on her little bum, looked into the corner and said, "don't talk to me". I'll say it again...ahhh, kids. Did I mention both refused to nap today? Big surprise, right?

note: I included a video section on the left hand side that will stay there. I'll keep posting videos though, since they are small on the side and to let you know when I've added a new one.

When I was a kid we used to say a little prayer every night before bed. It went like this, "God bless Mommy and Daddy, 2 Grandmas and Grandpas, Uncle Mike, Aunt Chris and Uncle Bob, Jeff, Mike, and Jen, Tussy [our dog] and then it varied according to our pets and whatever we were feeling I guess. We must have had our own names in there, too. My brother being the ever loving PIA that he was, used to throw a fit (mainly for the sake of throwing a fit) if we didn't say things correctly or whatever his issue of the day was.

Before we put our own kids to bed we always give hugs and kisses. Slowly we added on...first a kiss, then a hug, then a bump, then a bump with an explosion, then a bump with a click of the tongue and point your finger up for a shock. Unless it's Kaela, then you could either be in for a quiet explosion and shock or a loud one--you never know until you get yelled at for doing the wrong thing. Sometimes we have a song or two, and almost always we have a Walton's style "I love you!" and "you're my best friend!" or from Kaela "you're THE best friend!" and "I love you!" and "sweet dreams!" and "you're the best friend, Cammie!" and "you're the best friend, Daddy!" and they all have to be repeated back. Sometimes we are at this for a few minutes and have to put an end to it, but I really do love it and wouldn't change our routine for anything.

Inside I'm raging. No daughter of mine will feel the pressures of marriage and finding Prince Charming!

Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm so not wound tight enough to care. I sort of want to, but I don't. If she wants to dress up with a veil, so be it. She doesn't even know what it is, but that it's a pretty, fun thing to wear. I will say the white, silky, pink fur trimmed "apron," however is going in the garbage. We were all taken aback by that when it came out of the dress up trunk (pre-loaded so no one purposely chose that silky thing). I thought Kyle was going to go ballistic. Or at least put it in his pocket for me. For now she is just a little princess dressing up in some cute clothing. (Note the tattoos on the arm. She is so my girl)

So, go ahead my little one. Dress up in all your pretty "skuwts", shoes, and veils.

Have at it.

...or not.

Mom (and everyone else) make this immediately.


My Henckels and I got into a fight...needless to say I did not win. I am only a finger chunk lighter and expect a full recovery in days. Don't worry, we made up.


We now own a fish named Panda Bear. Don't even try to talk him out of it.


Cameron: ...yeah, like sound waves traveling through the air [makes wavey motion with hands] into my ears. That is how we hear sounds.
Me: [mouth wide open]
Kyle: Sid the Science Kid is awesome


Cameron: [new favorite saying] Did you know that, Mom?


Kaela: You're the best friend, Mommay!

It feels a little early to being visiting Santa, but December is such a busy month. I know it's busy for everyone, but if you can ever help it--don't get married AND have a baby in the month of December! (Well, and if you can help it--not in the same year--ours were 3 years apart.)


Growing up, we always went to Kelly's Country Store and it's such a great memory for me that we always take our kids there. Umm...I'm getting to the age of my blog where I am repeating myself...yikes. Check here for the background if you are new to this gig. Yeah, so long lines and waiting. I'm not sure I knew or if they ever had Santa visit on the weekend, but this year we decided to try it and since it is early in the season maybe we would have some luck? It was a little better at least. We did wait an hour and a half, but did I mention it's because Santa spends at least a full 5 minutes with each kid? (not just each family, but each kid!) He's a pretty special guy.

We did a lot of prepping for Mikaela, also. We didn't want to have another scream fest. When Santa first appeared she was scared, but she saw other kids sitting on his lap and then two girls from her daycare were there and I think that helped, too. She did great--quiet, but no crying.




And this year..we are SO into the Santa threat, "Santa is watching you! He knows when you are bad or good! You better behave if you want Santa to bring you a gift!" Is it possible to wear this out before it's even December 1st?




Oh yeah, and he's NOT getting a dog...

I know this may seem like I have a lot of time on my hands...




Props to Kyle for the idea when he made "eyes" for dessert last night!

When we moved here last year, I was in awe of the fruit trees in our yard. I'm a suburb girl and never in my life have I had anything even close to fruit trees in my yard! I just thought it was very cool to be able to go out back and pick an apple and eat it. Some people do this with vegetable gardens, but I don't know much about those (at least from personal experience) either. I know it shouldn't seem so strange, but really all of my fruits, vegetables, and yes, even spices just come from the store. And frankly, I've been known to kill a cactus!

This year we were on track to actually pick and eat that fruit! I live in the land of apple trees and grape vines, so pretty much everyone has something in their yard. Heck (that's farm talk), Kyle grew up in the land of fruit trees and had peach orchards in his back yard. He thinks its funny that I've never eaten a fresh apricot. Or mango. And then there was the time I was eating a nectarine at my grandma's house and said, "What is this I'm eating? It's delicious." It's called a nectarine...welcome to the world. I don't know, we weren't big fruit eaters in our family. Grab a banana or an apple and call it a day.

I have fairy tale visions of my kids looking back on their childhood and remembering the women of the family gathering to make applesauce from the fresh apples out back. I want them to smell cinnamon and think of dear old mom slaving over a hot stove making them the best applesauce they have ever eaten. And I will go down as the best mom ever.....fairy tale visions, I tell ya.

























Well, just in case they don't quite remember it as I will tell it to them over and over again, here are the pics to prove it did happen. At least once.

Both kids had their first trip to the dentist last week. They were real troopers and their teeth are beautiful! Mikaela still has two teeth to come in.

My cousin, Mike and his family have decided to make a yearly trip to the WNY area every year for the Fourth of July. And when any family rolls into town we make sure that we smother them until they are so sick of us they don't want to see us for another year...or at least a couple weeks. I absolutely LOVE it when my entire family gathers. I have always loved the feeling of a huge family, so when we do it big I am in my glory. Another light in my life--babies. I love me some babies! So, wasn't I tickled pink when I found out that my brother and his newborn baby girl, Misha, were driving in for the fun.

The fun kicked off with my mom flying in for a whole week (!) and Mike arriving the next day. Cameron has been aching for Mike's son Mark (age 5) to get here so we were pretty excited to see everyone. Mom got a super professional big expensive camera for her birthday so I believe all of these shots are compliments of her. I can't say that I picked up a camera even once this week...

We went to the park/beach one day







Lots of playing








It was a busy week and we loved it. We're exhausted, but well worth it.

Now, on to the business of the craziness in my head: I need some EASY, fast, yummy (nutritious?) recipes for camping. Keep in mind we will be camping at the beach, so anything gooey and hot will not make the cut. Throw in some ideas for beach snacks and lunch and I will love you forever. Anything that can be prepared and kept for a few days in advance, I just might marry you. PLEASE, please, PLEASE send some ideas my way!! Any other tips for making life a little bit easier when you are camping and beaching it for 7 days with two toddlers is most certainly appreciated. Except for "don't do it".

I am truly enjoying spending time with my kids. I have always enjoyed them--for the most part--but life with a 2 and 3 year old can be...hectic.

Cameron (3 1/2) has come a long way. He is completely potty trained (except for night--still working on that one), is dressing and undressing himself and generally likes to do things for himself. He has quite the insight on situations and really says the funniest things. When he says them, I always want to write about them but it just doesn't translate over text. You really just have to be there and hear him say it.

When we first had Cameron evaluated for speech, his report said that he didn't interact with other people at daycare very much. We became quite concerned and started talking to him about school, his friends, and his teachers at night. Our bedtime routine has always included reading books in bed, but now we added a talk session. He started saying, "let's talk" at night. It has become my favorite time of day to just hear what he has to say and have some quiet moments together.

Mikaela (2) is quite the little spitfire. She certainly has a personality all her own, but she also tries to do things like her big brother. She started using the potty a couple months ago and has been pretty consistent at home. No, she's not potty trained yet, but if I keep feeding her tiny marshmallows she just might be soon. She is also learning to dress herself--of her own accord. She just needs to get the hang of putting her shirt on the top, rather than on her legs.

Kaela has always been full of song. Her first words were sung, "eeiii eeeiii ooo". She sings when she wakes up, when she is doing a task, when she is eating, and when she goes to bed. She also likes to shake her booty when she feels the time is right. The girl has got some moves. She knows how to work a crowd and can bring a 6'3" man to his knees with one cutsie face. No matter how much he tries to deny it.

When I think back to where we were in our lives a year ago, or even 6 months ago it's an amazing difference. I feel like we have a bit more freedom with our lifestyle, I can enjoy the kids in a different, more interactive way. And the kids interact with each other differently. They are very protective of each other and openly show affection. On the flip side, they openly hit, yell, and fight. But that's what learning how to work with other people is all about, right?

I miss the baby stages--I have always been a baby lover, but I'm really looking forward to this new phase of our lives.

note: I wrote this a few days ago and was trying to take some cute pics of the kids to post. There was no cooperation. They decided to stand directly in front of the camera--touching the camera--and saying "cheese". Who taught them to say that? Now every time there is any sort of electronic device in the vicinity they are "cheesing" it up. Forget the casual cute shots.

First, I have to say that I have good days and bad days. If it's sunny and I'm busy, it's usually a good day and you might hear from me. If it's a bad day, then it's a bad day and it's probably raining or I'm by myself. And you won't hear from me. I've started a few posts on these bad days, but they never really turn into anything useful so I just let them go.

Today is a good day though and it is sunny--cold as heck, but sunny and that's all I need. Have I mentioned that my camera is broken? We only bought the thing 3 years ago when Cameron was born. I know in electronics age that is forever, but we spent a decent amount of money on it so that we could have excellent pictures of our perfect children. Well, the pictures aren't so excellent anymore and the kids aren't perfect. We took it in to get fixed and they said, "you might as well buy a new one." Seriously? That just sucks. So, in the meantime we are using a borrowed camera from my employer--yea perks. Looking at the pics from the weekend I realized that I have not posted anything from Texas either, so you are getting a double whammy today. This camera doesn't have a USB wire so it's arduous to get the pics downloaded. (arduous=word of the day)

Max had his First Communion this weekend, so while we don't have any pictures of him (we do have video) we have some pics of the other cousins in church. Hard to get those kids to stay still! Cameron, Emily, Annie, and Mikaela.



Mikaela and Cameron got tons of attention this weekend. They were loving life.



And now, Texas in random order and absolutely no cropping or red eye fix what-so-ever: Here's Cammie, don't know what he's doing. Lindsay and I are in the background, don't know what we are doing either. This is the only pic of me on the trip, so enjoy. And I can't help but think...as bad and sad as it is to think it...I was pregnant in this picture.



Mike teaching Cam to ride. We weren't very successful. He's only 3!


The zoo! It was a beautiful HOT day. The boys had to have snakes of course, and Mikaela has a giraffe in a purse.

We read to Cameron every night. He has always loved books. Mikaela does, too, but only on her terms. She must turn the pages when she wants to (usually before we can get past the 3rd word). For some reason, she was perfectly content letting Uncle Mike read at his own pace.

Outside again. Told ya it was random order. We were so excited to be able to enjoy warm weather...I can't tell you how good it felt!


We miss all of our cousins all the time. Can't wait until the fourth of July!!

There are so many times that we don't have a camera or video camera around when there is a cute moment. We started saying "click" and taking pictures with our eyes. I just love those moments and hope they stay burned in my memory. Certain things like the cute things they say, or even just the way that Cameron will run across the run with loud, thumping feet. It's a cute hoppy-kind of run. Mikaela talks incessantly, but only 10% of it is understandable. The rest is just jibber jabber, but what makes it so cute is that she has these very grown up eyes and faces that she makes along with it. I just can't describe it accurately enough for you to really get it, but she can lower her chin down and kind of look up at you with her eyes, or raise her eyebrows at you, or look at you sideways when she's talking. It's very expressive and comical.

Another thing that Mikaela does is a little butt wiggle when we change her diaper. She started it with Kyle and then I would ask her to do it when I changed her. It's so damn cute, but too hard to capture anywhere but in our minds. She is also very musical. I can't imagine where she gets it from (maybe from Mr. Lil Abner himself, my husband) but certainly not me. I don't have a musical bone in my body. Her first words were (singing), "E, I, E, I, O" She hasn't stopped singing or dancing since.

I guess the best thing that I can do is just be present for these moments. When I am working I am definitely a multi-tasker, but I have to slow down when I am at home and make sure I am not thinking about two other things will hanging out with the kids. Let all else drop and just be with them. Otherwise all of these very cute things will just pass me by, without physical evidence to remember them by.

If you are receiving these posts in an email, you may be missing some video or pictures (or it will tell you to download). Just click on the "chubbacoo" at the top of your email and it will take you right to the original page where you can see everything.

(Last weekend)




I promise that I didn't knock over my kids on the way down...but Kaela and I did hit Kyle!

And check out this pic I captured:

About six years ago we bought a "state of the art" video camera for our honeymoon to Greece. Today, said camera records tape noises and is jumpy. It takes forever to download a video and we haven't done anything with them. We needed a new solution. We have been eying up the Flip camera for a while, so when I saw that it was on sale at Best Buy we decided to go for it. It takes AA batteries (no worrying about charging a battery!), is very light weight and easy to use. It's not a detailed camera so if you are looking for high quality video and zoom, this isn't the camera for you. But for us, to just record some of the kids shenanigans, edit and upload quickly--this works! Here are some of the videos from playing around with it today: