Big News!

Well, I meant to write the blog and announce this a week ago, but time keeps getting away from me. Craig and I are pregnant! Baby boy #2 and baby smith #3 is due just after Thanksgiving. The kids couldn't be more excited. Vash can't wait to have a little brother to play cars with and Rhyla loves the baby but was mildly upset he's a boy baby. She explained that we can't put a baby boy in dresses, which was obviously her only complaint. I'll bet Santa can rectify this with a doll for Christmas though!

(Funny girl is so determined to sleep in our room that she crawled up between my side of the bed and my dresser and slept on the floor! Lol.) Now that I'm starting to show a bit, the kids have all kinds of questions about the baby in my tummy. Rhyla asked if it hurt to have a baby living in my tummy and constantly wants to give my bump kisses. Whenever I eat something, Vash asks if the baby likes it. "Does the baby like oranges?" Or if he thinks I'm not eating enough he'll offer me something and say, "Eat it! It's not for you Mom. It's for the baby!"

And now they both like to pretend to be little babies and have me coddle them. They made themselves "cribs" in the laundry baskets and cooed until I came and baby talked to them. And I guess Vash remembers being swaddled but not what to call it because he asked me to wrap him like a present!

This is Vash demonstrating how well the Smart Water "Time Out" bottles work. We made them this week for a craft; Vash picked green and Rhyla picked purple. Vash likes his so much, he ends up spending more time in "time out" than he needs to. Lol. Although it probably wouldn't hurt a kid with this much attitude to have a few extra minutes of quiet time. You know how he threatened me the other day? "Mommy, I will drink you like a chocolate milk!" ( Laughing hysterically as I'm reminded of Fat Amy's "I'll finish him like a cheesecake" comment.)

And now a segment we'll call "Random Stuff Vash Says".

"I want to be Batman!" (Said in the low, gruff voice, Craig and I use to mimic Christian Bale's Batman, while running around the house with an Iron Man cape on.)

"My Puppy and my kitty are in my chocolate house."

"There's a tomato in the flower. I like it."

"See my shadow? It's small. SO I'M SMALL! You're shadow's big so you're big. Reach my toy."

"It's not bedtime. The sun is pointing straight up!"

Of course Rhyla says her fair share of nonsense too.

"Hey Mickey," She tells the television in a taunting voice. "I have a banana." (Waves banana in front of the TV before scarfing it down.)

"Those dancing girls are so pretty." (As she shakes her bottom around violently.)

"I'm not a big sister. You have big babies!"

"The wind is blowing my bodies!"

"There's oil in the car...but no kitties."

"Mommy? It's raining in your bag." (Although that one made sense because my water bottle had burst open and was soaking through.)

As a side note; we took the kids to the fireman's carnival earlier this month. Vash is quite the dare devil and rode everything he was tall enough for.

Rhyla was good until we put her on the mini coaster. Vash burst into tears and she quickly followed suit. Wouldn't ride anything then. Just ate a candy apple with glassy eyes the rest of the evening.

The bouncy farm was their favorite attraction.

Followed by the cars that drive themselves in a circle.

This is Rhyla preferring to eat her own foot over whatever I've made for dinner. She's gotten into the habit lately of calling Vash "George." It's from her favorite cartoon "Peppa Pig." Her baby brother's name is George and they're English. So you have to imagine her saying this in the sweetest little mock accent. "George!"

And these are her "Glass slippers" that don't fit but she refuses to take off. 

As for other big news, we bought a vehicle that will hold all the babies! Vash named it Big Red and we're all pretty excited about it. 

Anyhow, that's all for now folks!

Is it July already?

Believe it or not, I really had intended to write the blog every week last month. But actually having Craig around, we found ourselves much too busy for me to stop and write much of anything. And after he headed back to work last week, the kids and I got sick. So we've spent the better part of the week watching TV and hacking/coughing/sneezing our way to bedtime. I just haven't felt well enough to write about that. LOL. But I think I'm starting to get over this so I'll try again this month to write consistently.

Vash took this selfie to show us his super hero face. He's all business when it comes to his powers. He likes the super hero thing so much, I'm actually going to theme his birthday pictures to Superman/Clark Kent.

We had a great fourth of July. Rhyla wore her handkerchief dress but refused to hold still for a picture. My mom made chicken wings and, despite being sick, we set off some fireworks in the front yard for the kids. They loved it so much that Vash keeps asking when we get to celebrate the fourth again! There's a carnival coming to town this week and supposedly they'll be setting some off, so I told him we'd go check that out.

While Daddy was home, he bought the kids a fishing pole and we visited Twin Lakes a few times. It's pretty and it has a great path to take a nature walk. The kids weren't patient enough to catch a fish, but I don't think they minded. Vash just wanted to cast and Rhyla just wanted to reel in; a perfect match.

Rhyla's terrible twos aren't so bad. But she is a little sneaky sometimes. The other night she asks me, "See this finger?" And when I nod, she says, "Boop!" and pokes me in the eye.

Forgot to mention it last time, but Vash was thrilled to be home. We got in super late, (1AM) and so the kids went right to bed. But when Vash woke up he comes in to me and in a reverent whisper says, "Mommy, I'm in Vash's house." It was like he couldn't believe it.

Some other funny things about when we got home: Rhyla left her riding giraffe in the living room one night, and Vash runs in and says, "Mom," all serious like, "There's a giraffe downstairs. I SAW IT."

Guess with the dark and everything, he got a bit spooked. 

Rhyla found a long lost binky and wanted to hide it from me, so I wouldn't take it. So she asks herself, "Hmm. Where to put a binky? I know! In my shirt!" Then she quickly tucked it into her pajamas. Unfortunately, it fell out the bottom and became long lost again. LOL. 

Vash is getting so big. He's way into learning about sports now and wants to learn to fight like a superhero. I told Craig  that I'll be sad when my little boy gets so big that he'll no longer look at us, cock his head to the side, and say, "Ha Ha" like a mechanical doll. (This is something he does to be cute and it's actually really funny, but something I know will stop once he's a teenager.)

He also said the other day, "I don't like girls. I like Mommy!"

LOL. Yeah, once he's thirteen I'm sure that tune will change too.

And now that Rhyla is bigger she's getting in to dance; a woman after my own heart, of course. She parades around and twirls and shakes her booty. Seriously; She was bopping around the other night and she says to me, "Look Mommy. I dance like a show girl!"

Not sure if she knows how bad that sounds, but I laughed. 

This is the Iron Man cape Craig brought for Vash from Texas. He runs around in it while holding his other Iron Man toys. As tough as this boy tries to be, deep down I know he's a softy. He gives lots of kisses and hugs and always says how much he loves me. The other day he wrapped his Dumbo up in a blanket and says, "I snuggle Dumbo in a blanket. Is that so sweet?"

Vash posing with some of his birthday gifts. You know, he's a practical boy too. He kissed me the other day and my lips were particularly chapped. He says, "Oh Mommy, your lips are poky."

I apologized, and he says, "Oh it's OK. Just get new lips!"

He's also very curious still. He wants to know what everything is and what it does, etc. He doesn't always believe my answers though. We watched James and the Giant Peach recently and Vash takes one look at the giant peach and asks, "Mommy.... is that a bottom?"

I laughed and told him no, it's a peach. But he looks at me with a serious face and says, "But Mom. It looks like a bottom."

He giggled the rest of the movie.

My bed bugs. I rarely sleep well sharing the bed with so many extra occupants, but how can I shove something so cute away? 

These two were playing another game together. Rhyla was wearing a shirt with a flower on it and Vash was pretending to be a dog, so Rhyla says, "Come on Doggy! Flower lick!" Then she'd run away and Vash would try to pummel her and lick the flower. Fun and yet somehow dangerous. 

To close, a few fun Rhyla stories.

The other night she was snuggling me in bed and begins to pat my head. Then she whispers, "My special bear." And I'm like, "Awe, my baby is old enough to hand out terms of endearment!"

Rhyla now begins almost every sentence with, "Hey, let me tell you a story."

Then she'll go on to ask for food or tattle on Vash. Something along those lines. Occasionally she'll tell a real story. "Hey, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I was hungry and I wanted donuts. Then Mommy let me watch Bo on the Go. The end. So can I watch Bo on the Go?"

Rhyla loves a handful of education TV shows. She like them so much that she'll walk around the house, narrating her play like the shows would. "I can't find my doll. Do you see the doll anywhere? Right! There it is! Let's hop like a kangaroo Bo buddies! Hop hop. Very good! What are you drinking? Right! It's delicious milk." All day she does this. LOL.

Anyhow, best be off for the night. Got to go join my bed bugs!