so much for a low-key birthday

Yesterday I turned 31. I had a headache my entire last day of being 30, with my only birthday plans being a pool date with the Newton boys and a movie night with Nathan. Before the Johnstons even got into town, my Facebook page was flooded with well-wishes, and I had received calls from two of my bestest friends. It looked like a yucky morning, but the boys REALLY wanted to go to the pool, so Marie and I packed a picnic and headed out. This is not a staged photo. Marie said Amelia reached for Will's hand: Amelia wanted to be in the water a lot more than usual once she saw that Will could toodle around in his float (yes, her hair gets more blond by the minute):

I don't think I have ever seen the two seasoned lifeguards as stressed as they were watching our five kids have their run of the pool. The boys were non-stop jumping off the diving board or the side of the pool. I felt like we should have left a tip, but I saw them today, and they both seemed to have recovered nicely...

Nathan came home early and helped us drag the kids away from the pool (as the lifeguards conveniently called a pool break). The "big boys" played in the basement while Willie and Millie took a nap, and I think the grown ups actually had an hour of adult conversation. Then we had cake and ice cream before the Johnstons had to head home. Seth really wanted me to have a party, so I guess he got his wish!

Last night we went to see Harry Potter, it's the first time we've ever seen one in the movie theater. On my next trip to Costco, I will get HP7 so I will be ready when the next movie is released (yes, somehow I managed not to hear how the story ends when it came out in hardcover!).

Today we met my coworkers at Mi Pueblo for lunch. Pam brought cake squares from Deweys...with the promise that we are now even and never have to celebrate my birthday again (I'm really good at celebrating other people's birthdays, but don't want them to reciprocate...). I was putting Amelia's hair in pigtails, and Seth said he wanted "Superman hair", so they both went to the party fancied-up today:

Amelia @ 17 months

Amelia is now 17 months old. Everything she was doing last month, she is now doing more of. More words, more singing, more antics, more Sesame Street. She loves to watch "Elmo's Song" and the others off YouTube. She has FINALLY figured out how to go down the stairs on her tummy. One of these days I'll feel brave enough to take the gate off the stairs. Yesterday we took out the slip'n'slide for the first time. They didn't really use it right, but the kids sure had fun! (And here is Seth at 17 months, if you want a comparison.)

doggie paddlin'

This past week at the pool Seth started doing the dead man's float in the baby pool, and then he started to do some crazy uncoordinated moves that propelled him forwards. By the end of the week it had turned into a wacky breastroke with a freestyle kick. Yesterday, Seth could doggy paddle about 10 yards with Nathan close by. This video is from one of his early attempts.

busy week?

I haven't posted since Monday. We must have been busy, right? Wrong! I worked Monday, and the rest of the week we were stuck at home. The longer we live in the house, the more apparent it is that the previous owners did quick fixes on projects, rather than doing things the right way. Case in point: the master bath. It didn't take us long to realize they had painted over wallpaper when the seams started cracking. Then we developed a serious mildew issue due to the type of paint used. This week, "Miss Ronda" came and stripped down not one, but two layers of wallpaper, fixed any inconsistencies, primed, and painted our bathroom. And now it looks...like it did when we bought the house. But at least it's been done right this time. It also had ugly gold switch and outlet covers before, and I think it looks 100 times better with the white ones I bought. So much better, I'm going to replace the ugly gold ones in the living room, too!

Not My Child!

Since last December, I have followed MckMama's blog. In addition to being a stay-at-home mom with four kids under the age of five, the youngest of which has a heart condition, she also has a photography business and takes some phenomenal pictures of her kids. Her blog is quite "famous" and a lot of mom-owned companies donate items for MckMama to use in giveaways. She also does a lot of charity work with her blog. Another staple: "Not Me Mondays", where she (and other bloggers who choose to have their blog linked to hers) makes a list of the mothering mishaps that have happened in the past week, and says that they did NOT happen. For instance, Thursday morning, I did NOT find two brand new gallons of milk that I had purchased the night before sitting on the counter. (oops). It's a humorous reminder that we're all human. This week MckMama has decided to do a "not my child" Monday. And OOOOHHH, do I have material for that. You won't find this linked on her site, but for your entertainment...

Seth did NOT eat a whole box of Ige Age popsicles over the course of four days. And even if he did, that would be better than the two days it did NOT take him to finish a box the week before.

Amelia is NOT getting very close to eating meals with her booster seat on the floor. She did NOT try to tip over her booster seat and the stepstool all in one meal.

Seth did NOT fall asleep on the couch Friday night at 6:45, and did NOT proceed to sleep for twelve hours straight. My kids don't sleep good like that.

When put down for nap Saturday in just a t-shirt, Amelia did NOT take off her diaper, presumably as soon as she laid down. She did NOT then sleep for three hours, and wake up in a big wet spot. (And as I'm typing this, she did NOT just take off her shorts so she could take off her diaper...ugh!)

Seth did NOT draw his very first smiley face last night and say "It looks like Michael!" Then he did NOT draw hair on said smiley face so I couldn't get a picture to post.

Amelia has NOT developed a penchant for peeling stickers off of Seth's projects and putting them all over her body:

We had another quiet weekend around here. We spent time each day at the pool, but otherwise stayed close to home. I have made great strides towards actually keeping my New Years Resolutions this year, and started a good book. Sunday morning we went to church, and Seth reminded us that the camera had a timer so we could ALL be in the picture at the same time. Out of three tries, we got two keepers!

Midsummer 2009

Well, it's midsummer for us anyways. School ended in late May, and doesn't start again until September 1st. We have stayed surprisingly sane, but it is probably due to having access to a pool. This week the pool was closed in the afternoons for swim meets. On a semi-whim, we went to see the (older) cousins Wednesday. Marie had some passes to Hickory Dickory Dock, so the kids enjoyed a morning of indoor soft play, bumper cars, and multiple rounds of mini-golf. After I got some cheap gas (17 cents cheaper than home!), we went to a McDonalds with an outdoor playground that Seth has been begging to try out. As a side note, Saturday I took the kids to Cary because Bryan was in town for a visit. Their McD's has an indoor playground that Amelia thinks she has mastered (she needed lots of adult supervision, and luckily we fit pretty easily). It took her no more than five seconds to zip into the one in Hickory. Luckily she and Will were entertained playing in the first dead-end (this one was not as adult-friendly). Again, not something Seth attempted until age two. She's a wild one!

Seth is amazing us right now. Letter recognition and writing letters is starting to click. He loves building with his Legos and has spent countless hours recently using stickers, coloring, and painting. Yesterday, he was working on a circular puzzle that he usually needs help with. When I tried to help, he told me he was using the picture on the box to show him what he needed to do next. I thought that was very good critical thinking for a barely-four-year-old!

Whirlin' Waters

I finally remembered to scan these pictures...here are a few of the good pictures taken on the waterproof disposable camera we took to the waterpark down in South Carolina...click on individual pics to enlarge them:

A big boy check-up

Seth had his 4-year-old check-up today. Lots of new things this time, like having his blood pressure taken, a hearing test, and reading the eye chart. No shots this time, but we have been forewarned that there will be two or three next year. Seth is 40.5 inches tall (50th percentile) and 33.4 lbs (25th percentile), so he's following the same curves on the growth chart. Now that we're six weeks into summer vacation, I decided I needed a little break, and I left Amelia at home with a sitter. Seth and I enjoyed our time out alone (it seems like you can't get in and out of an appointment in less than an hour for any of our doctors, so we did have a good bit of QT!).

Tired much?

The poor little girl fell asleep in her lunch. And didn't even wake up when I cleaned her up and carried her upstairs. It's tough to try to act like you're five all the time! She is still into everything, but I think we're starting to get used to it. Last week she learned how to say "Seth", and it is so darn cute! She also started to say "I want"; that's not as cute. Because if you tell her no the first time, she continues on and on with a wrinkled up nose and her best bossy voice. And if she doesn't know the word, she just points to what she wants and says, "I want dis!"

Old Glory and glory days

We hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! We spent a quiet day at home, and had to modify our original plan several times, but it was a great day. We decided we wanted to participate in the neighborhood parade. We rode over to the starting place, but when it was time to put Amelia back in the trailer, she had a fit and we ended up going home instead of along the parade route.

The neighborhood had a cookout at lunchtime. Nathan needed a nap so I took the kids to the cookout and the playground. Here's Amelia in her dress made by my friend, Leisa. Our intention was for the kids to take later naps, so Seth could stay up for the fireworks, but he played in his room for two hours.
After Amelia's nap, we went to the pool. There were all sorts of contests during pool breaks, and when we got there, enough men had been talking junk that they decided to have an adult 50Free race. It didn't take much for me to twist Nathan's arm to race:

The guy in the green is the swim team coach and in college. As you can see, Nathan smoked him (and everyone else...of course Nathan and the coach were the only two sober ones in the race). He was the talk of the pool for the next hour! (And I'm pretty sure has found himself a place on the swim team staff once Seth is old enough to join.) Seth's swim team days may come sooner than we think...he is getting better in the water every day. He will swim with his head under water in the baby pool, and Nathan let him go off the diving board yesterday. Loved it! Maybe by Labor Day we will be float-free around here.

Nathan bought some sparklers and wimpy fireworks that he shot off in the driveway pre-dusk. Seth with his first sparkler (don't-move-Seth-drop-it-if-it's-too-hot-mommy-works-in-a-children's-hospital!):

Amelia went to bed at her normal time, Seth saw the very first fireworks on PBS's programming and was asleep by 9:15. We can just barely see some of Tanglewood's fireworks over the trees in the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure Nathan and I were asleep by 10:30. Just another wild holiday for the Mayses, ha!

Go Bryan Go!

Bryan (with his bionic knee) is running the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta on July 4th. This is his second time participating, but his first as a member of Team Fox, which raises money for Parkinson's research. If you would like to read why Bryan is doing this, or would like to sponsor him, please type in his name once you're on the site. Proud of you, Bryan! Maybe I'll try to join you sometime.