Boonebeerys

We have played with our last names since before the tabloids starting doing it for celebrities. Black-berry, Mayserby, Liseal Blackbeery? (Did I get that one right?) Anyways, introducing the Boonebeerys. Lisa and Michael found out today that they will spend the next academic year in Boone, NC for their internships. The Mayse household is thrilled that they will be half their current distance from us. We are already thinking about a fall trip to Tweetsie, a winter tubing trip...and then Lisa reminded me that there is an outlet mall there. Yippee!

Seth's first concert

First, let me say I totally jinxed us in the last post. Saturday afternoon we were all totally stir-crazy and got on each other's nerves. But Sunday was a new day, and Seth and I had big plans. We headed down to Charlotte mid-morning and walked around Uptown to find something to eat. Nathan and Amelia stayed at the condo, and Seth and I left for our date. We had third row seats to Laurie Berkner! I receive email alerts from Ticketmaster for kid shows, I guess because we went to see the Backyardigans show last summer. Anyways, I never saw this concert advertised anywhere else, but it must have been because there were a ton of kids there yesterday. Laurie doesn't tour often, but I highly recommend her show if you have a young one who's into Noggin the next time she is out your way. Totally worth the (slightly pricey) ticket!



Who knew Laurie had a Victor Vito book?

Why kids' events (and doctor appointments) never start on time is beyond me, but luckily we had our trusty digital camera to play around with...

Being in the third row, Seth was one of the first kids to get in the kiddie mosh pit below the stage (thank goodness for the hat, he was easy to spot), but in true Seth fashion, he got scared when too many kids got up front. Oh, and the hat hid a tissue that he used throughout the day to wipe his allergy-stricken nose. His idea, not ours! And of course, kids were peaking up on the stage, and as the show went on, kids were sitting on the stage, so of course, Seth HAD to do that:

A shot from our actual seats:

Bye Susie, Adam, Laurie, and Bobby, we had a great time!

When we got back to the condo, we picked up Nathan and Amelia and headed back home. Amelia can't understand why she had to ride in the car that much to eat some pickles and take a nap. I promised her that someday she'd get a big solo adventure, too.

Here is a playlist (not necessarily in the right order, I kept notes on the ticket stub in crayon) for all you other Laurie junkies out there (and I have attached videos): Victor Vito/Walk Along the River/Rocketship Run/Mouse in my Toolbox/Bumblebee/I'm Not Perfect/Running down the hill/Thunderstorm/Jump and Fly/Five Days Old/The Goldfish/I'm Going to Catch You/Shady Tree/Going on a Hunt/Pig on her Head/I Know a Chicken/We Are the Dinosaurs/Telephone/Goodbye Song

My favorite part was when they segued into the Beatles' version of Twist and Shout during "The Goldfish"...if you ask Seth today what his favorite part was, he starts singing "We are the Dinosaurs" (which was cool because they played a birthday surprise on Laurie during that song), because it was the first song they played in their encore, and he REALLY REALLY wanted to hear that one. But yesterday, I thought he was going to have a heart attack when they played "Victor Vito" as the first song. It was a great way to start his spring break.

late March misc.

It has done nothing but rain since we woke up on Wednesday. We're not stir-crazy yet, but hopefully the sun will come out again soon. We can't wait to use our swingset again. Nathan filled up the sandbox Tuesday. It's a hit!

Seth has not stopped talking since I picked him up at school on Tuesday. It is amazing. I thought my head would explode before Nathan got home that day, but I guess I've gotten used to it. The friends we've seen this week have commented on how much more conversational he is. I know our families have noticed a change recently, but this week there has been an exponential change.

Seth was the "Wonder Worm" at school this week, which meant he got to bring in snack, a favorite book (he picked Yertle the Turtle), and pictures/artwork to put on the bulletin board.

Some more preschool projects:

Amelia is trying to cut out her morning nap, but can only tolerate life without it about every third day. She is sleeping about eleven hours at night now, and waking up around 7am! It's sickening the amount of sleep I've gotten this week. I know I can't possible catch up on the hours lost over the past year, but I'm off to a good fresh start!

Swingset!

We bit the bullet and bought a swingset for the backyard. Save money, shop at Walmart. This is a really good swingset for a couple hundred less than the "R Us" variety. Plus it comes from a sustainable forest, if you're green like that (we try). Eric came over to help assemble the swingset. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Eric! Since Eric makes custom cabinets and adirondack chairs and the like on the side, Nathan gladly took on the sidekick position, being all sorts of useful, like this:

The kids not-so-patiently waited for the project to be complete, and there were five eager testers when they were given the okay to play:

Nathan built the ladder/rockwall and the slide earlier in the week, and I was his handy sidekick. I also made sure all the lumber and hardware were sorted for the appropriate steps, but that was the extent of my involvement.

The finished product!

Celebrating spring!

Friday we celebrated the first day of spring by having a pool party in the bathtub! Seth picked out Amelia's new suit: We also bought a new suit for Seth, but it was too big, so he had to wear his old one:

They had a blast!

"Are they yours?"

That has to be the most annoying question on the planet. Yes, not-so-sweet old lady at the grocery store. Yes, redneck Bojangles employee. I have the scar to prove it, and I came home with the same kids I met in the operating room. Twice in the span of thirty minutes yesterday I was asked this. I used to get asked it all the time when Seth was a baby, but lately I've only been asked where they get their blond hair from (which is a better question in my mind).

In last month's issue of Parenting, there was an article written by two parents, one who adopted a child from South America, one whose child is biracial, about their experiences with this same question. I wanted to write in and say I can understand how frustrating it must be for them, because it annoys the heck out of me.

leprechaun shenanigans

I guess the leprechauns stopped by our house on their way to the preschool. Seth woke up to find every book in his room standing on end... ...and his chair on top of the table!

Seth tells us there were footprints around the preschool, and the leprechauns came three times and messed up their classroom...the worst was when they found the kitchen set knocked over! They sent the leprechauns back to Ireland and locked the classroom door. Problem solved. Except now whenever Seth finds something out of place, he thinks the leprechauns did it. No Seth, Mommy is just lazy and didn't put (insert item here) away yet.

Here are my two kiddos in green...and my, how you've grown in the past year...

Amelia got beaucoups de compliments on her outfit yesterday at the gym and running errands. You know this is a loaner from Blair, I wouldn't know how to pick out something with bows!

mid-March misc.

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Kings Mountain:

What I found in Seth's backpack this week:This is the preschool's latest fundraiser. They turn the kids' artwork into a magnet you could buy for $5. And who's not going to buy their child's marker and tissue paper caterpillar scene?

Just like Super Sudsy Bubblestein...

One of the first Jack's Big Music Show episodes we ever DVR'd for Seth was the one where Mel (the dog) was digging up trombones and needed a bath. Super Sudsy Bubblestein (Cheryl Hines) came to give him a bath, and they all played trombones at the end. Maybe that is why Seth was so interested in his daddy's old trombone in Kings Mountain this weekend. So interested, in fact, that it now has a home in our basement:

And so you can hear for yourselves:

Elise's baby shower

Saturday Marie, Mary (Elise's BFF), and I threw a baby shower for Elise. We had so much fun! (or at least I did) Here is the diaper cake I made (notice the sheep on top...Elise loves sheep, Chad does not...): The cake Mary ordered:

The little guy is going to have a St. Louis Cardinals themed nursery:

His cousins are jealous that his basketball has Rufus on it, because theirs all have boring ol' Raymond Felton on them...

Diaper bag that is manly enough for Chad to carry:

Elise has the cutest little belly, and hopefully she will keep sending pictures of it (hint hint) because we probably won't see her again until the little guy makes his grand entrance. Then Charleston, here we come!

we share so well

We're even sharing our misery! Amelia started showing signs of a stomach bug Sunday, and it has run its course through the entire family. I was the second one down, so luckily I was on the mend before the boys started getting sick. There has been a lot of washing and cleaning going on tonight. I haven't even been really watching the DWTS premiere! But on to more pleasant things...We had a fairly quiet week last week after all the craziness of the week before.

Seth was coloring while Amelia was having snack, she gave it a whirl...
Playing peekaboo with daddy at the playground Saturday.

Lots of outside time! The weather has been beautiful. It's hard to believe there was snow on the ground Tuesday.

Seth brought a whole assortment of toys out to play with (by the way, Amelia doesn't like hats like her brother does).

Playing chase in the front yard...Amelia crawls in slow motion in the grass, it's hilarious!

Seth helped us outside doing yardwork during Amelia's naps this weekend. So far we've transitioned smoothly to the time change, fingers crossed that we trick Amelia into sleeping a little bit later.

Amelia @ 1

Amelia was in a very smiley mood for her pictures Sunday. Here's a sample:

Tuesday she had her 1 year check-up. Seth had to come with us because preschool was cancelled, and the office was running way behind. The kids were squirrelly, and I couldn't blame them. Amelia was 18 lbs 13 oz, and 29.5 inches long. I weighed her twice (and zeroed the scale myself the second time...yes, I know it's bad that I didn't trust the nurse) because it's unbelievable to me that she weighs almost a pound less than Seth did at that age. She's only half an inch shorter, she just looks like she's got so much more to her than Seth did (I don't mean that in a bad way, Amelia!). She got a good report card and was rewarded with four shots. Her big brother yelled at the nurse during the second one, saying "Hey! One is enough!", which I thought was pretty darn sweet. Then we had to go across the plaza to get labwork drawn, and Amelia added a band-aid on her middle finger to match the two on her thighs. Seth got a sticker at one place and a piece of candy at the other. Again, freeloader!

Amelia is slowly starting to sleep later in the morning (and by later I mean usually after 6am but before 6:30). She developed a love of popsicles when she was sick last week. She is drinking whole milk, which she's kind of mad at me about. She's not walking yet, but has started letting go when cruising, so I'm sure it won't be long. She loves to give kisses and hugs, especially to her daddy. She has started playing with shape sorters and stackers, which her brother is more than happy to help her with. She loves to read books, and whenever she sees a blond boy she says it is her bubba. So cute!

Snow in March? In NC?

It rained all weekend. And then it stopped. And then, lo and behold, the local weatherpeople were right and it started to snow. Here are my three kids watching the first flakes fall around 7pm Sunday, March 1st:We woke up Monday, March 2nd, to 4-5 inches of snow. By 8am we were out sledding in the driveway. It was 24 degrees, so Amelia didn't stay out too long. We don't own any sleds, so we were resourceful and used pool floats. They worked great! (But I do think I will buy the next plastic sled I see and stick it in the back room.)

This was a good place to plop Amelia down:

Our backyard:

Who loved the snow the most?

Colette the dog!

The roads haven't been bad at all (for NC, that is), but school has been cancelled the past two days and is on a two-hour delay tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 60s this weekend, gotta love NC springs!