The wreckage & some other pics

Here are some pictures of the kids & of the wreckage. Corry & Drew keep talking about the "Silver car got smashed." The first words out of Drew's mouth this morning was "Si-ber car mashed." Corry wants to know why its smashed - not an easy thing to explain to a 3 year old! We still don't have any information or updates and probably won't until Tuesday since its Labor Day weekend.

Kids having fun in the wheelbarrow

Corry & Calyn with their Dorothy braids & sunglasses before the softball game Thursday night.
Drew in his "big boy panties" he was trying to put on some of Corry's, so I talked him into these Diego ones instead. I couldn't get him to stand still long enough to get a good shot.
Corry & Drew at the salvage yard looking at the "smashed" silver car.

He strikes again....

Well, Drewsky has broken a piece of furniture. He keeps all of his golf balls in a drawer in our coffee table. Last night I was getting ready to put him to bed and he didn't have his golf balls with him. He went downstairs to get them, so I asked Jimmy to put him to bed so I could get Corry in bed. Apparently he decided to climb inside the coffee table drawer to get his balls and broke the drawer. Jimmy thinks he can fix it, but for now we are one step closer to completely converting to white-trash furnishings.

I also forgot to mention another scary/funny Drew story from Sunday. We had been working in the yard all day Sunday & were in desperate need of showers/baths. While I was showering & Jimmy was shaving Drew hopped out of the tub & took off. Since he was totally naked & not potty trained Jimmy went to see where he'd run off to - good thing since he found him, bare naked standing on the front porch with the front door closed. We really need to get a lock for that door that he can't figure out!

Not much else going on this week - big plans for the weekend are to celebrate Petra's 30th birthday, build the "playground" in the backyard, & celebarte Labor Day at a Labor Day party with some friends - Corry's super excited to get to go swimming!

MANIAC!!!!

This kid is going to give me a heart attack - here's what I walked into this morning! Yes, he's on the outside of the rail.

August Picture Slideshow

Here is the link to view our August pictures in their entirety - most of my favorites are already on the blog, but there are still some pretty cute ones that aren't in the blog posts.

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Update from the weekend

We had a fairly uneventful weekend - stayed home most of the time. Friday night was our usual gathering. Corry & Calyn stayed up until midnight....Corry was still up at 7:00 the next morning. Drew had a couple firsts on Saturday - he went pee pee in the potty & was soooooooo proud of himself. He hasn't done it again since. I know he's nowhere near being ready to potty train, but its nice that he's excited about the prospect where Corry always feared the potty. Also on Saturday night when I was putting him to bed he kissed me on the cheek, said "hugs" and gave me a hug, and then for the first time said "love you, Mommy." It was the sweetest thing. Corry had a rough day today - we were working out in the yard and let the kids play with the hoses, swim in their little pool & play in the sand. They were having a blast. I took them to get some lunch & I think Corry must have gotten car sick on the way home. She wouldn't eat lunch & told me she just wanted to rest. As I was carrying her to her room she started to hurl. We made it to the bathroom just in time. She thought she was finished, but once we got into her room she let it rip again, right in the middle of her floor. Poor thing - she was devastated. I was afraid she'd picked up another virus, but ever since she got up from her nap she's been a happy camper. Well, here are a few pictures from the last week or so.

Corry & Drew playing with their new flashlights daddy bought for them. Corry is wearing her favorite attire & sporting her favorite accessory. Although Grandma Connie brought her back and orange Eskimo Joe's T-shirt and I believe that it going to be the new favorite. Orange is her favorite color, after all!

Corry playing outside in the sandbox

Drewsky washing his hands after playing in the sand (He LOVES to get his "hands all clean."
Corry doing some tummy time with baby Max while Aunt Deachi, Calyn, & Drew went to pick up lunch on Saturday. Corry loves her baby cousin to pieces!
Corry giving Mr. Max a little smooch on the noggie.

Drew & Corry playing with some silly string in the backyard. We still have silly string everywhere!
Drew rocking out with Uncle Matt's guitar. He put the strap on himself, but I don't think he's quite ready to start playing yet. Maybe in a few months :)
Corry rocking with Daddy's guitar.
Calyn was "playing the drums" with Diego's rescue center's zip cord. What a musically inclined group of toddlers we have!

Rain Gauge

Quick funny story from today - We have a rain gauge (yes, we're old) on our fence in the backyard. The kids & I were outside enjoying the cooler evening when I noticed it seemed like we had quite a bit of rain in the gauge. Corry was playing in her sand box & Drew was mowing the yard with his play mower. I went over to see how much rain we got & to dump it out. I didn't even realize Corry knew I had gone over there. When I walked back onto the back porch she turned around and said "How much did we get?" like she was 40 years old or something. I told her we got an inch & a quarter. She said "Oh" and turned back around and started playing again.

Dumping the rain gauge is usually something Jimmy does (he was at his fantasy football draft tonight) & a lot of times he'll ask the kids if they want to go out with him to "see how much rain we got." So I guess she's picked up on what that's all about. I just thought it was funny because she sounded all grown up - like she was just making casual conversation about our rain accumulation.

Corry & Drew's security "blankets"

For the longest time my kids didn't have a special blanket or toy - Corry doesn't suck her thumb and didn't ever use a pacifier either. For her 3rd birthday we took her to Build-A-Bear & she made an orange cat who she named Milo. Ever since Milo joined our family she cannot go to bed without him. I think its sweet that she likes to sleep with him.

Drew's security "blanket" is not one I've ever heard of anyone else having. When he goes to bed he needs to have his thumb which is always easy to locate, but he also wants to sleep with at least one golf ball. Tonight he has seven golf balls all lined up by his head. As soon as he got them all in order he was perfectly content for me to cover him up...he grabbed the thumb and off to slumber land.

We signed the kids up for The Little Gym this week. The one in The Woodlands is opening in September so we're going for a free trial on Sept. 13. I'm hoping this will be a good way to ease Corry into social interactions with other children. They are 45 minute sessions & I believe they get to do tumbling, beam, & bars....I'm not positive though - I haven't done a ton research yet. Drew will be in a "Parent & Me" class & Corry & Calyn will be in the class for 3 year olds. The parents can still be in the room & watch so the kids will feel comfortable, but it will allow them to interact with other children. Corry's really excited. I'm sure Drew will love it once he gets there.

Not much else going on - the kids are all excited to have Grandma Chebs back from Vegas. Our new computer finally arrived, but I haven't hooked it up yet. Its looking like it will be a weekend project since I don't see me getting to it this week anytime! Oh well - at least the other one is working for the time being (Matt's dad helped us get it to stop shutting down on us every 5 minutes).

Hope everyone's having a good week!

Corry's 1st hair cut

After 3 years & 2 months Corry finally gathered enough courage to get her hair trimmed. I've been talking to her about it for months and she kept telling me that she would get her hair cut when she was 5. It was looking sooooo scraggly, and while I hated to see her pretty little baby curls go, the struggle to get the tangles out and keep it looking healthy finally won out. She did pretty well with the hair cut with minimal tears. We had about 4-5 inches cut off and I now have her little pony tail with her baby curls in a plastic bag :( Below are some pictures from this last week & of the big hair cut day.

Daddy & Drew taking a snooze last weekend
Drew thinking about pulling Max's hair while sucking his thumb (usually he prefers my hair, but since I wasn't available, Max was an okay substitute)
Calyn watching a little TV. What a cute little profile.
Corry's hair this morning before we headed to the mall for the "trim" We can't call it a hair cut because she thinks that means she'll end up with a hairstyle like Drew's.Getting the trim - you may be able to tell that there were some tears in her eyes, but the sucker seemed to help a little.
They fixed her hair like sleeping beauty after the trim was all over.
Here it is after naptime - she can't ever sleep with piggies or braids in her hair, so the sides are a little wild since they had been braided - but you can see how much they actually cut. I'm sad to see the curls go, but I think she'll have nice, pretty, straight hair.
Some other random pics from the week before - Mom let them play in the rain during the "tropical storm" I think Drewski is jumping in a puddle, but I'm not sure.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Day #2 with 4 kids under 4

Well, I'm ready to go back to work....and while I have always appreciated what Mom does for us by watching our babies every day, I now have a greater appreciation for how tough it can be. I have to say that if it were just Corry, Calyn & Drew still it would be a lot easier. I'd have to watch Drew like a hawk, but the girls tend to be pretty well behaved. Adding a gassy 4 month old to the mix almost put me over the edge today, but we survived with minimal damage (Drew has a nice set of teeth marks on his wrist - not from me).

Max spoiled me yesterday - he was so happy & easy going. I figured today would be a piece of cake. He pretty much cried all day until about 3:30 or 4:00. Fortunately I still have my Baby Bijorn carrier from when my kids were babies, so I was able to haul him around while trying to fix lunches and stuff.

One thing today convinced me of - I am finished with having babies! I have no desire to go back. I love Max to pieces, but knowing that eventually Deachi would be there to pick him up and take him home was ultimately what got me through the day. I know babyhood doesn't last forever, and that does make me a little sad, but Corry was like Max was today, but she was like that every day for 6+ months. I was soooo worn out & about the time she started outgrowing it, I found out I was pregnant with Drew. I am enjoying having two toddlers now - and while Drew wears me out in other ways, I believe I prefer this over infancy.

Today Drew learned to unlock the front door & open it. So I had to put a dining room chair in front of the door to keep him in (they are too heavy for him to move). I think we're going to have to install a lock up high enough that he can't reach.

Corry had to go to time out several times for yelling at me over her goldfish snack & for being mean to Drew. She was really whiney this morning - I think she still doesn't feel great from her cold. She told me the other day that she's ready for the snots to go away....I am too!

Calyn was really good - the only issue we had was that she wouldn't throw her trash away. I would ask her to please throw her wrappers in the trash, and she would say "No, you do it." I finally got her to throw it away, but I had to go with her. I also walked in on the girls at one point & Calyn was threatening Corry with time out - I'm not sure why Calyn felt Corry needed to be put in time out, but with the way Corry was acting today, I'm sure it was justified.

So, back to work for me tomorrow - it will be a nice break. Watch out Uncle Matt - you're in for the ride of your life!

Day #1 with 4 kids under 4

Well, I'm off today & tomorrow to stay home with the 4 kids since Mom & Dad are winning their fortune in Vegas. I have to say that of the 4 kids, Drew is by far the most high maintenance. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone. For the most part it was a really good day - nobody even had to sit in time out today. My only issue was having to get Drew off the middle of Matt & Deachi's glass table top & keep him from crawling across their bar to get to the jelly beans. Max had an enormous poop - I think his first in a week, so that was gross, but all in all it was a good day. Tomorrow could be an entirely different story.

About the only really funny thing I can think of is that I walked in on Calyn & Corry while Corry was in the middle of breastfeeding Calyn....Thanks Aunt Deachi!!!! I'm ready for Max to be weaned so that we can move past this and hopefully put it out of their little minds! It did cause me to laugh a bit though.

My heart got broken today

There's the very logical side of me that tells me I'm being far too sensitive, but the emotional side of me who remembers what its like to be a sensitive, insecure little girl can't get past it. Corry's never been very adventurous or one to take risks. Today we had lunch at Burger King & they have one of those play structures that's a bunch of plastic tubes & slides. The whole time we were eating she kept commenting on how beautiful it was and how it looked like so much fun. We told her if she ate a good lunch she could play in there. She and Drew were the only kids in there and they were having a blast! She loved climbing up there and looking out the little windows at us. There was no way Jimmy & I could climb in there and help them if they got stuck, so it made me a little nervous having them in there, but at the same time I was glad she was breaking out of her comfort zone & doing some exploring.

A dad came in with his two boys. Drew had come out of the structure & Corry was all the way at the top playing. The little boys started running through tubes. About that time Corry started to panic because she didn't know how to get down. She's sitting up there in the tubes, and one of the little sh.......s starts jumping at her & yelling "Boo!" She starts screaming & bawling and doesn't know how to get out. She's crying for us to help her. The boys come out of the tubes & run over to their dad. The little one says "There's a cry baby in there." and the dad says, "yeah, I know." The little boy said "I keep saying Boo at her and scaring her." The dad just sort of laughs and says "you shouldn't do that." The kids go back into the tubes and keep doing it more. She finally finds her way out, and once she was on the ground she was fine, but I was about to blow a gasket.

If I saw that my kids were torturing another kid I would do my best to put an end to it. That dad just sat there like it was no big deal. And maybe to most people it would be no big deal, but I remember what it was like being that age and being shy & uncomfortable. I knew the day was going to come when one of my kids got picked on or made fun of, I just wasn't prepared for it to be so soon. I don't want anyone calling my baby a crybaby & intentionally picking on her. She was just minding her own business & having fun.

I think the worst part about it is that I don't know how to help her toughen up. I never was any good at it. I let people walk all over me my whole life - and I realize I turned out okay, but I would have loved to have had a personality where I could stand up for myself. How do I teach my baby girl how to do something I never could? I need Calyn to give her some lessons, I guess. I just don't know if its something you can teach them.

So, if any of you strong willed people are reading this, I would love some advice. I don't think I can take another 20+ years of watching my baby get ridiculed.

Drew 2 year stats

Drew went for his 2 year check up yesterday. He's doing great and only had to get one shot (which he was not pleased about). He's just under 50% in weight, and right at 75% in height - I'm still convinced they measured him wrong because he's still wearing all his 12-18 month clothes from last year.

Both kids woke up with the snots this morning. corry seems to be worse than Drew. She had a little bit of a fever and a horrible cough. After the motrin kicked in she was her usual talkative self. Wonder how long before I end up with it too....oh well, what can you do?

We ordered a new computer last night, so in another couple weeks I'll be back up and running at home. I find I'm much more productive around the house without a computer though! I even started exercising again this week. We'll see how long it lasts this time.

Well - just wanted to update everyone on the big boy's appointment from yesterday!

Shutterfly pictures for Drew's 2nd birthday

I've been having trouble with my emails not reaching people when I send out pictures from Shutterly, so I decided to follow Deachi's lead and put the link out here so you can view all the pictures from the party if you want!

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Edouard is coming, but Drewski is just as bad!

Well, we're supposed to be hit with a tropical storm with rains starting tonight and the main part of it hitting in the morning. We'll see if it really happens - the weather/newsmen will be so disappointed if it doesn't.

I have to go up to Conroe this afternoon & get a new driver's liscense because I lost mine this weekend. I went home at lunch to get all my identification to prove I am who I say I am. Mom's watching the kids at our house today so I got to hear a little Drew story while I was home. Mom told me that Drew locked her & Baby Max out on the back porch this morning. She could see him through the window & told him to unlock the door - he turned and walked off to go play with his toys. He did eventally have mercy on them and unlocked the door so they could get back in. What a maniac!

Drew's 2nd Birthday

Drew had a great 2nd birthday. He started off the morning crying in his room. When Corry & I went to check on him, we could hear him, but couldn't see him. All of a sudden we see a little arm and top of his head sticking out from under his bed. He went under there to get one of his trucks and got stuck. After that incident he seemed to stay in a pretty good mood for the whole day.

We had a nice turn out for Drew's birthday - Jimmy's aunt & uncle came from Katy, and my cousin Kim and her family were here from Tulsa (on their way to a cruise). And of course all our Woodlands family were here & Aunt Lindsay & Devin made it. We also had "Uncle" Jason & Paul & Petra helped us celebrate. Uncle Phil (from Katy) brought Drew some Tic Tacs which ended up being an enormous hit today. I think we are officially hooked! Here are a few pictures of the big boy on his 2nd birthday


Drew eating his waffle & drinking his water while sitting in his white trash stroller. He kept sitting in it all morning and saying "go to Aunt Deachi's house!"
Drew trying on his leather cowboy dress up vest from Auntie M & Uncle Gary. At least he doesn't have to wear tiara's & tutus anymore!
Drew taking Corry for a ride in his new Gator that Grandpa Bob & Grandma Chebs got him. Corry is actually pushing the pedal & Drew is stearing.
Drew getting ready to blow out the candles.

A special thank you to Aunt Lindsay for taking all the pictures so that Jimmy & I could enjoy the festivities! It was great seeing everyone - thanks for helping us celebrate this little guy's big day!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Scary thought that we were on the first row of an upper section with a little man who loves to climb. He kept us on our toes for sure - he threw things over the rail onto diners below which didn't make Daddy too happy! We only stayed through the 5th inning, but we got to see 3 homeruns! The kids loved it when the crowd would roar! Drewsky would say, Yea Baseball!!!


Drew watching the Astros warm up
Corry watching the Astros warm up

Computer is Toast

Well, I think the computer is toast....just in time for Drew's birthday. I guess I'll take my work computer home this weekend so I can at least upload some pictures from the party tomorrow.

Jimmy, Corry, Drew & I will be heading to Minute Maid Park this evening to take in an Astros game. Every year Jimmy's company buys blocks of tickets to a game and gives them to employees. We'll see how they do. I'm sure as long as we keep them filled with junk food they'll be fine.

Jimmy started smoking all the meat for Drew's birthday party - our house smells like a rib joint....Corry got out of the bathtub last night and was choosing her panties - she looked at me and said "It smells like stinky breath in here." I said, no that's daddy's marinade for the meat. Just then Maddie (the dog) walked into the bedroom and Corry said, "No, see there's Stinky Breath." Usually she calls Meghan Stinky Breath.

So like I said - I'll do my best to post some pictures out here on Sunday after the big 2 year old birthday bash, I just won't be doing it from our POS computer - unless we buy a new one.