Breakfast time, come on lets eat

If he only shared his toys like he does his food! I assumed Harry was done eating by him throwing his food on the floor. While I was cleaning up, William had a little talk with him and decided he needed more to eat. "Last bite Harry." "You wanna watch Thomas with me when you're done?"

Oh Boys

A typical day in the Archer house. If we don't go to the gym, we run errands. Yesterday we had Harrison's 18 month well baby visit. He is tall and skinny. He is in the 24 percentile for weight (funny William was never underweight) and Harry is quite the little eater so his metabolism must be high. He weighs 24 lbs. And he is going to catch his brother one day in height. He is in the 85th percentile for height. He is 34 inches tall already! After the doctor we went to the grocery store. The boys think this is fun because they get to "drive the cart for mamma." They have the race care carts at Albertson's and it works out well for all of us. Plus they like to flirt with the girls and tell the men to "watch out, coming through." After that we went home for lunch. And what is better after lunch than this...Lets cool off. And for a kid who hated swim lessons, he is loving the water now. Notice how he is pouring water on himself and William is completely dry. William is making sure the sink stays filled up with water. Oh and he is helping Harry get wet. He is pouring a cup of water over his head while spraying him down with the hose?!

And what better than to get ready for nap time than a little dance party?

Ahh a typical morning/afternoon. I wouldn't have it any other way.

18 months!

What a character! Where to start? Harrison is a early bird. He wakes up at the crack of dawn. He had been getting up at 6am. This morning he woke up around 5:45am. For some reason, I have this thought that since I am a stay-at-home mom, I shouldn't have to get out of bed before 7am. That doesn't apply in this house. Harrison will do anything William tells him to. He loves kissing Miss Belle. Harrison still doesn't talk. It is funny to think of all of the words William was saying by this age last year. I guess Harrison doesn't talk because his brother talks for him. He is a good communicator though. He babbles a lot and thinks he is talking:) He points or will take us to what he wants/needs. He understand a lot as he can pick out a picture in his flashcards of what I ask him to. He is starting to fight back with William (right now he is hitting him in the head with a shoe). He loves sliding down the slide at the park. Oh and he has taken up William's obsession with shoes. In fact, I think his obsession is worse. He loves Mickey Mouse and balloons. He is definitely a "daddy's boy." I can't believe he is a year and half years old already.

Relaxing weekend

Not much to report on this weekend. We relaxed. Scott had to work Saturday. I took William to his last swim lesson. Harrison stayed home with a babysitter. I am sure he wasn't upset that he missed it. William, on the other hand, is a little dare devil. He is not scared at all. He loves the water. He is even bossy with his instructor. He told her that they must sing the "Hokey Pokey" and "The Wheels on the Bus." They sang these songs every week in the water to make them comfortable. Yesterday, the instructor said it was free time. When she dismissed the last class, he got upset and reminded her that they have to sing the songs. He got his way. :) Last night was the park incident. Today, we went to church. The usual Sunday things. This evening we went to the mall to ride the train. And play on the kids playground.

We treated ourselves to dinner at Red Robin where the boys got balloons. It was an uneventful weekend but a nice family weekend. I didn't have my camera with me but my phone takes pretty good pictures:)

Firetrucks!

Little boys just love firetrucks. Well especially tonight. Harrison and William got to meet the firemen and their truck. Scott and I took the boys to the park. It is the same park I take them to every day. They love running around in the field with Belle, swinging on the swings and sliding down the slide. Tonight when we got there, we heard what sounded like sprinklers going off but we didn't see any water. The boys ran up to the playground to get on the swings. Before you know it, Harrison was waist deep in the wood chips. The water pump had broken and was running out of control. It was right above the playground so all of the water was running into the wood chips. It's kind of scary because the level of the wood chips was the same but it became like a quicksand. We got Harry out easily. It scared him but I think he was more upset that he didn't get to swing or slide.

Smile

Lately every time you ask Harry to Smile for the camera, he squints his eyes. I guess he thinks he is smiling:) Looks like pictures from now on are going to look like this...

Senior pictures

I took this picture a few days ago and neglected to post it. There is this area in our front yard that William always wants me to take his picture. Well he told Harry to "come for the picture." Harrison listens to his older brother of-course and comes on over. Look at Harrison's position. He looks like he is taking his senior pictures. Ha. One knee down, one up. Oh and if you look close, he has dirt all over his face. Yes, he was eating dirt out of the planters. I don't get it. I did the same thing as a kid.

Two and a half years old!

Is that an evil smile or what? I can't believe William is two and a half years old already! My baby is growing like a weed. He is a great big brother and a "mama's boy." He is very smart and nurturing. He doesn't like to sleep because he is afraid Mommy and Daddy are going to play with his toys while he is sleeping. He is obsessed with the movie Cars. He loves motorcycles, helicopters, planes and trash trucks. He doesn't throw many temper tantrums (knock on wood). Everything is "mine." Harry doesn't have any toys :) He can tune me out if he doesn't like what I have to say. His best friend is Harrison. Oh so adorable!

Weekend recap

What a fun, nice, relaxing weekend. Scott and I actually went out on a date Friday night. It was The Taste of Simi Valley. They had wine tasting and several restaurants from around Simi. Since we never know where to go eat, we thought this would be a good way to find a good restaurant. We were way over dressed! But we still had a great time. Adult conversation and fun. Plus we met a lot of nice people there. Saturday morning we were back to swim lessons for the boys. Harrison is NOT fond of the water. He is like a suction cup to your body. He holds on for dear life and is not about to let go. This is also a good opportunity for him to exercise his lungs.

William, on the other hand, is a little fish. He loves the water and is the last kid to get out after the lesson is over. He loves jumping off the wall and blowing bubbles.

The rest of Saturday was relaxing. The boys watched the NASCAR race together.

I surprised them with Dairy Queen. Here is William sharing the rest of his cone with Harrison.

This morning I took the boys to church while Scott had a little "ME" time. It is so easy for me to think about myself and how I need "me" time. It doesn't occur to me that just because Scott is away from the house all day during the week that he is actually doing anything fun. He never asks to do anything by himself and never complains. He works so hard to support us and is a great husband and father. Friday it just hit me that that is wrong. He needs his alone fun time too. So I asked him if he wanted to take some time on Sunday to go dirt biking. He was shocked but so excited. He had a good time. And he was even home in time for lunch (seeing that he left at 5am). The boys get so excited to see Scott's "mowercicle." We actually caught him as he was rolling it back in the shed to snatch a picture.

The boys and I stopped at the fish store after church to get a new anemone. It is pretty. White with purple tips.

After a long night, we all took a family nap and now Harry and I are waiting for the rest of them to wake up. All in all, nice relaxing weekend.

Excuses NOT to sleep

Last night was a rough night. William used every excuse in the book not to go to sleep. He finally settled down around 11:30 last night BUT Harrison decided he was going to be the night owl last night. He was up all night long. I couldn't even keep my eyes open half the time. We did what we shouldn't and brought him to our bed in hopes he would fall back asleep. No luck. William joined us later. We really need a bigger bed. Anyway, Harry kept trying to wake Will up. He kept kissing his face to hitting him. I am so tired today! Anyway back to before all that. William brought me Monkey to let me know he fell off the couch and hurt his knee. He needed a "baine." It took me a long time to figure out what "baine" was. Actually I didn't figure it out. William brought me the box of bandaids and that is how I figured it out. So we fixed up Monkey and put him back in bed. 5 minutes later Monkey was hurt again! He needed a "baine" for his mouth. We fixed him up and put him back in bed. 5 minutes later Monkey fell and hurt his back. Finally I had to tell William that we have to save the bandaids for when Harrison and him get hurt. So I put him back to bed. Not five minutes later I hear a big thump and then a cry. William bumped his head and needed a "baine." Did this kid purposely hurt himself to get a bandaid???? Oh goodness.

Need for speed

Oh my!

Harrison's new interest

HIMSELF! He was being really quiet the other day. I found him in the bathroom checking himself out in the mirror. He would get down from the stool and then climb back up to make sure he was still in the mirror. Every time he was quiet, I found him looking at himself in the mirror. Totally cute!

Heard Recently

William: "Say Lightning McQueen Harry."
Harrison: "nnahj hadljda" (or whatever babbling sounds like)
William: "That's very good. Good job Harry."


Today:
William: "Say Helicopter Harry."
Harrison: "nanda hdand" (again, whatever he is grunting and babbling)
William: "No, that's not right Harry. Mommy, tell Harry to say helicopter the right way."

Parenting 101-Me Time

As a parent, you understand what "me time" is. And sometimes it is really hard to come by. Scott does a really good job at giving me breaks when he can and he would always take the boys on Saturday mornings shopping if we didn't have anything planned. Scott works a lot and sometimes I feel like a stay at home single mom. And with William skipping naps and staying up late (he is up right now), I feel like I never get a break. It is so important, no matter how much we love our kids, to get a little bit of Me time in here and there. I have to admit that I have been feeling exhausted lately. Scott has been working 7 days a week and long hours each day. The past two weeks have been so much better and everyone is happier. William still comes to our bed. He goes for stints of sleeping in his bed and then he is right back in between us. I have become accustomed to the couch. That's another story. Anyway, back to Me Time. Scott had off on Friday and he made the day about ME. Actually nothing was planned. I ate breakfast with the boys and then I went back to sleep. He took the boys to the store and I stayed in bed until 11am!!! Yes, call me lazy but sometimes it is just nice not to have to do anything. Then , I went shopping by MYSELF. I ate sushi at a Japanese restaurant as I read a magazine in a booth all by myself. It was nice. I love my kids to death but I really enjoyed having that time by myself.

During the week my ME time is at the gym. 24 Hour Fitness has a kidsclub and the boys love it. With the repetitiveness on the news lately, I decided to start reading books during my cardio time instead of watching television. The last couple days I have read two books. The first was Skinny Bitch. I bought it because it was #1 New York Best Sellers and I heard such great reviews on it. About how funny it was and how real it was, etc. Ok, I cannot recommend this book to ANYONE. It was absolutely horrible. And the only reason I actually finished reading it was because I forgot my earphones that day. If you love vulgarity, profanity and want to become a vegan than maybe it is the book for you. Otherwise, pass it up because it is horrible! The other book I read was "In Praise of Stay at Home Moms" by Dr. Laura. Ok, I have to tell you that I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. Every stay at home mom should read it. I can go on and on about how great this book is but my post is already getting long. I will let you know that I loved it so much that I bought 4 more Dr. Laura books the other day and that is what I will be reading during my cardio time this coming week. All in all, ME Time is so important in every one's life and I am so thankful that I am getting more of it now. And I am sure Scott is happy that he gets to spend more time with his family lately.

Happy 4th of July!

What a fantastic day. I love that we live so close to the beach. We had a great 4th of July. We went to the beach for the day. We started in Malibu and rode our bikes to Santa Monica. Look how cute these boys are! Harrison feeding William a snack. It was a little cold in the morning but it warmed up by the afternoon (if you were wondering why they had a blanket on them).

We ate lunch and Harrison was his typical non-shy self. He interrupted a soccer game on the grass. Luckily he is so darn cute that he can get away with that stuff.

We got back on our bikes and rode to Venice Beach. We got off and walked around for a while. If you ever have the chance, you have to go here. It is definitely the best people watching place ever. Yes, even better than concerts. Remember this post ? It is like that all of the time.

Still loving on each other, we can go on. So we went back to Malibu to drop some stuff off at the truck and then back to Santa Monica beach to play. We relaxed and played in the sand.

And yes I am wearing a Red, White and Blue bikini! Ha. And this is so funny. Every time, seriously, every time we go to the beach some random family asks to take pictures with our kids. The first time it freaked us out but now it is just normal. I think it is because it is such a touristy spot and our kids are the only kids who have blonde hair and are fair skinned. Yesterday, 3 (yes count them 3) families asked to take pictures with our kids. And the couple behind us took about 100 pictures of them playing because they were both showing off for them. Ahh maybe I should put them in show business? We didn't get home until 6pm. We showered and then went to our block party.

Harrison loved playing with Leah's babies and stroller. And William met his future wife. He always goes for the older chics.

And when it was almost time for fireworks, William said "lets goes inside mommy. I'm tired." It was a long day!

"How to Save a Life"

I think I am going to stop listening to music in my truck. The other night I was driving home from the dentist. I didn't take the normal route home because Scott took the boys and Belle to the park so I was going to stop by to see them. I took out Michael Jackson's greatest hits (it was in the player when he died- ironic). I put in The Fray. I love The Fray- great music! Anyway, track 3 "How to Save a Life" came on. So I pull into the neighborhood of the park my family is at. I see something in the street ahead but it is moving. As I get closer, it looks like a person. I can't see very well still. I really want lasik eye surgery. Any body had it? Oh sorry back to my story. So as I get up to this moving object, I notice it is an older woman!!!! She is completely down and out sprawled out in the middle of the street! Only her arm is moving. I hit the brakes, put her in park and jump out (like how I refer my my truck as "her"). I didn't know what to expect. I ran to her and luckily she was ok. She was an older woman who had gone for too long of a walk. Somehow she fell down. She was all scraped up. She was too tired and didn't have enough strength to get up. Hmm how to put this nicely. She was quite large and didn't have any balance. I was able to help her up to a sitting position. As a few cars drove by (what the heck were they thinking), I flagged down the next truck. Luckily it was a young guy. He helped me get the woman up. She couldn't walk. So he basically carried her to her house (which was two houses down from where we were). As he was helping the woman in the house, Scott was on his way down the street. He thought I ran her over!!! He was freaked out when he saw the commotion. Oh goodness. The lady so was kind and nice. She kept thanking me but I know that anybody (well besides the cars who drove by) would have stopped and done the same thing. But really do you think I should stop listening to music in my truck? Is it a sign?

What NOT to expect

Oh the words that come out of a two year old's mouth. On Wednesday I took the boys to Kids Club at the gym. William was very excited to tell Miss Dacy all about his time at Disneyland. He was telling her everything about Lightning McQueen, Nemo, Mater, etc. And then his train of thought switched to the words I didn't expect to come out of his mouth.

"Um, My daddy poops...in the toilet." And right after that...
"Daddy was naked. Naked in bed."

She was laughing so hard and I was so embarrassed but also laughing at where this was coming from. I can only imagine what is to come.

Baby Tantrums

Wow, where to start. I know the boys hear me but they definitely are not in a listening stage. They know how to tune me out if they don't like what I hear. Also, Harrison is a definite Daddy's boy. He wants to be by daddy all of the time. I couldn't resist taking pictures of Harrison throwing a temper tantrum the other day. I actually thought it was the cutest thing!

My favorite



Lets flip so she can see my face and know I am serious about this temper tantrum (notice his facial expression. He is almost smiling in the first picture but remembers he has to have a sad face by time he gets all the way over).

And right after lunch, he fell asleep in my arms walking him to his room. Awe, how cute!