Easter

OK so I'm a little bit behind the ball here. Easter was three weeks ago and I'm just getting around to writing about it. My excellent excuse is that our computer died (boo!) and we were forced to buy a new one (yay!). So we were without modern technology for a few days. Luckily we all survived without our daily internet fix and we are back online.

It was a cold, blustery Easter this year but it didn't dampen our spirits one bit. We had a great day complete with a huge family Easter Egg Hunt and it also happened to be Brian's 35th birthday. Two reasons to celebrate in one day.


The birthday boy standing with the most delicious birthday cake I have ever made. Happy Birthday Honey!

It didn't take Dane long at all to figure out this egg hunt thing. He kept up with the big kids surprisingly well.

The Easter bunny was very good to all of us this year.

Playing In The Sun

A lot of people would say that there are few if any upsides to the current recession. I would have to mostly agree but we do have our own personal silver lining around here. Adjacent to our neighborhood is a large vacant field that was slated for development. In fact four years ago when we moved here we expected the construction to start at any time. We have been grateful that it hasn't happened. It makes our neighborhood quiter and provides a wide open space for roaming and exploring right out our front door.

We get to climb on old gnarled juniper trees.

Conquer dirt mountains.

Cross dangerous bridges.

And try so so hard to keep up with our big brothers.

The Trials Of An Out Of Shape Mom

A few weeks ago we were blessed with some amazing spring like weather. It's hard to believe that now as I sit in the den and watch the snow fall. But we did have about two weeks of consistently sunny and warmish days. I was very excited for the boys and I to get outside and take advantage of this. I've been looking forward to the day when Dane was old enough to ride in our bike trailer. So on one of our warmer days that's exactly what I did. I pulled out the old trailer, cleaned it up and attached it to my bike. Then I packed a small bag with snacks and water and a spare diaper and told the boys we were riding our bikes to the park.

It never occurred to me that Dane wouldn't be as excited about this as I was. First I had to get him in the trailer. When coaxing and ordering didn't work I had to physically force him in. Then the screaming started, all while I'm telling him how much fun this is going to be. And I still hadn't even put the helmet on. It was an awful five minutes; but I just knew that once we got started he would realize that everything was going to be ok.

He's hating me at this moment; but ended up loving it!

By the time I got us all completely ready to go I was sweating like a pig, and the bike ride hadn't even started yet! We were two blocks from home when I realized that this may have been a huge mistake. My legs were burning, my lungs were screaming for help. I felt like I was pulling a u-haul trailer full of couches! How could I possibly be this out of shape? How could my ass possible hurt any worse? Why does Drew insist on asking me a zillion questions that I do not have the lung capacity to answer right now?

It was a rough trip to the park and a huge wake up call. I have to get in better shape, pronto. This isn't about how much I weigh or what size clothes I wear. This is about having the physical ability to take my kids out and do fun and active things with them. It's about being a good example to my boys and using my body. So since this first venture I've gotten back on my back three times and each time it has gotten better. I've also reunited with my treadmill and I'm feeling good about this. Positive changes for me this spring!

We've Gone A Traveling!

Brian and I have just returned from a kid-free mini vacation! Well actually we got back about a week ago; but we came home to sick kids so it's taken this long for me to have a minute to upload the pictures. Aside from the snot-fest homecoming though it was a much needed break for the two of us. We hadn't been out of town by ourselves since 2007 when we went to a friend's wedding. It really was a long over-due trip. We decided to hop in the car and head south to wine country. Sonoma Valley to be a little more exact. The scenery was beautiful and the weather idyllic we really couldn't have asked for more than that.

Brian got to visit the Russian River Brewing Company which is pretty famous among beer connoisseurs. As you can see he was excited to be there.

We never stopped thinking about our boys though. Here is our basket of Drew Bites that we ordered at the brew pub. We had to order just so we could tell Drew that there was an appetizer named after him.

Did I mention the amazing weather? The dreary February sky's here makes me desperate for sun and boy did we get it. I actually got a little sunburned this day.

And we couldn't have been in the area without stopping at the Charles M. Schulz museum. If you are or ever were a Peanuts fan then the visit is worth it. What an amazing legacy this man has left behind. It made me long for those days of being a kid and getting so excited to get my hands on the Sunday funnies.

It turns out that after almost 16 years of being a couple Brian and I can still have a good time together. We talked, we laughed, we you-know-what'd. It was fantastic!

*guess who finally figured out how to put links in their blog? It was so easy that it was apparently too easy for me.

Just call me "Baba"

Dane is coming up on 16 months old already. Can you believe it? He has just morphed into this little opinionated, walking, talking toddler the last few weeks. The most exciting part is all the words he has. So far we have cra-cra (cracker), chzzzz (cheese), teeeeeeeeeezzzzz (teeth), og (dog), at (cat), ock (clock), dada and baba.

I don't think I need to translate Dada that one's obvious but can you guess what Baba is? Or rather who Baba is? Yep its true, Baba is me. He calls me Baba. WTH??? Brian was the first to notice it and I thought he was seriously mistaken. So then he started testing Dane, pointing at me and asking "Who's that?". Dane always answers with a smile and a squeal "Baba!". Then when he's crying and I pick him up he lays his head on my shoulder and pats my boobs saying baba over and over again.

When I told a friend about this weird little name she said that since I was his bottle for the first year of his life it makes sense that he would give me this moniker. Maybe she's right, or maybe even though he has been weened he's still oddly obsessed with my boobs? Who knows where it came from but I've decided its time to embrace my new name. I am Baba!

Future Reality TV Star??

Two things happened recently that have made me think that Drew has a future in Reality TV. First I stumbled upon the TV show Hoarders on A&E. Has anyone else seen this. They go into the home's of compulsive hoarders. The episode I watched spent a great deal of time showing you just how horrifying it was; how these people were literally climbing over piles of junk to get to the toilet etc. Then they bring in a psychologist and a professional organizer and they get to work simultaneously traumatizing the homeowner and throwing everything out. It was one of those shows that I just couldn't turn away from even though I knew I should.

Then a couple of days later Drew and I went into his room to work on cleaning it up together. I was pulling piles and piles of stuffed animals off his bed to change his sheets when I suggested we get rid of some of them. It was ridiculous. He was sleeping in about 1/5 of his bed space because the rest was taken up with animals. Even suggesting this brought on the tears and the explanations of why each and every animal was so important. That's when I started having visions of an older Drew standing in the middle of a house completely full to the brim with stuffed animals. Clutching desperately to a ratty stuffed dog saying "No I can't throw it away I won this at the county fair in 2010! It's special to me!" This is going to be my son, I know it. Do you think the people that are on Hoarders get paid well? Maybe he could make a career out of it. When he's in college he can go on The Real World as the freak who still sleeps with stuffed animals and then when he's 40 and single he can move up to Hoarders!

After the trauma we cut the number of animals on his bed down to 17.

I'm nothing if not a supportive parent so I guess if this is the path he must take then I'll get on board. Stuffed animals as presents for every holiday from here on out!

Dane's crib. Will this be a family thing? The Iverson brothers-in-hoarding.

Spreading The Love!

We had another great Valentine's Day this year in the Iverson Home. Valentine's Day has a few rules in our house. No presents, no flowers, no store bought boxes of chocolate. We do a family-wide Valentine exchange and all Valentine's must be hand-made. I'm not a V-day Grinch or anything. I just wanted everyone to put a little more thought and feeling into Love Day. Christmas was not all that long ago so I just don't like the idea of everyone accumulating more stuff so soon after. Instead we work our tushes off making each other great expressions of love. We also made Valentine's for Drew's class, all the grandparents and a few good friends that live far away. I'm proud to say that everyone, even Daddy gets into this tradition.

Homemade cards and marshmallow truffles for the boys.

A small scrapbook I made for Brian; the contents of which I'm keeping secret.


The boys made these for their Daddy. I got the ideas from Family Fun Magazine.
We love Family Fun around here!

Brian and Drew made this picture frame for me. I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine!

The Nap Debacle

I am entering a new phase with Dane. It's that totally frustrating transition time when what was once a perfectly timed out and dependable nap schedule is now a "Who the hell knows when he'll nap!" non-schedule.

Last week I could tell you exactly when he would nap and pretty much down to the minute what time he would wake up. It was perfect! There were these chunks during the day when I could really indulge myself be say showering and taking the time to shave my legs or hopping on the treadmill for awhile or even answering an email or two.

For 5 days in a row the morning nap disappeared. I would put him down and listen to him scream while I tried to shower as fast as I could before I gave up and went and got him out of bed. I finally decided to accept my fate that at 14 months Dane had outgrown the morning nap. Yesterday I set my alarm for 5 a.m. so that I could shower and dress before the boys got up. Yesterday he took a two hour morning nap. Today I set my alarm for 5 a.m., right now he is 45 minutes into his morning nap. Are you kidding me??

So now what do I do? Continue getting up early just in case? Or do I assume that those days were a fluke and we are back on track? I just don't know how I feel about this. On one hand I do enjoy that chunk of me time in the a.m. ; when Drew's at school and Dane is sleeping. But on the other hand I was getting a little excited about all the things Dane and I could do. Just today I was hoping to make it to the Toddler Story Time at our library.

The only thing I know for sure is that at all times one of my boys are keeping me on my toys. They are doing a great job of it too!

Wardrobe Malfunction

There's been a battle brewing in my house the last couple of months. A battle that I thought I would get to avoid by only having boys. I thought wrong. Drew has become extremely opinionated about what he's going to wear. I mean EXTREMELY opinionated. It used to be that I could lay out his clothes for the day and he would go put them on without any further discussion. Lately though it seems like he's determined not to wear anything that I have deemed appropriate for the day.

I try to be a "pick your battles" kind of mom; but when it's 40 degrees outside and he wants to wear shorts and a t-shirt to school I have to step in. I have finally given in on weekends when we are just spending the day at home. But if we are leaving the house then I have to be the worlds meanest mom by making him wear pants. God Forbid! You would think by the crying and the stomping and the slamming of doors that I was making him wear a dress to school. I mean seriously?

Then we have to deal with the tightness of the pants. I buy him pants that fit. He then puts on a belt and tightens the belt as tight as his gut will allow. He leaves the house with his stomach cinched in and a belt induced wedgie going on in the back. Some days I make him take the belt off but most days I'm way to beat down to fight it. I am a little concerned though, I mean he could be doing some internal damage here. If he has fertility issues as an adult I will so be throwing this tight belt thing in his face.

Of course it wouldn't be a complete morning here if we didn't have round two over the coat. Two years ago Drew's Grandma bought him a hoodie with skateboards on it. He is madly in love with this jacket. I have two problems with this hoodie: it's not heavy enough for really cold days and it's getting to be way too small. He tries to wear it to school every morning. Again I attempt to be reasonable and will let him wear it if it's going to be a fairly mild day but when there is snow on the ground or freezing rain coming from the sky I think he needs to wear a freaking coat. Ugghh, it's exhausting. Seriously exhausting.

I've been thinking about a closet overhaul for Drew. Maybe if we seperated his clothes by school clothes and not-for-school-clothes. Then I could let him pick out what he wanted to wear as long as they come from the appropriate drawers. This might be a good weekend project for Drew and I. A way to work together to solve this problem. I'm actually getting a little excited about this idea. If I involve him then he might be more open to the idea and feel like he has a little control.

I'll have to be sure to post an update on this in a week or so. Let project Drew's Closet begin!

The Finish Line

Well Christmas Break was a huge whirlwind of activities around here. There was so much going on that I didn't even try to stop and blog in the midst of it. We have come out the other side and I have to say that this was one of the best Christmases we've had. It was great! Here is a photo recap of all of our fun.

We had our annual gingerbread house day at Grammy's. Are you amazed at Dane's gingerbread house talent? Who knew we had such an artistic genius on our hands??

Drew turned six. We stuck to our rule of giving Drew a Christmas free, full-on birthday bash; no matter how busy or tired we are. This year's theme was Star Wars.

We prepared for a very special visitor. The reindeer apparently loved our carrots. I know this because we found carrot crumbs all over our driveway on Christmas morning. Gotta love that Christmas magic!

We opened the presents. Oh my the presents! My boys are truly blessed with so many people that love them and want to give them the world. Of course those people don't live here and aren't tripping over toys every five minutes but we are still very grateful. :)

We played in the snow. Dane has proven to be a born snow lover. He ran, he frolicked, he rode on his sled. The only time he complained was when it was time to go inside and get warm.

And then finally we rested. Apparently we all needed the rest. Dane and Sunny spent most of an afternoon snuggling like this. Now we are on to the not so fun task of putting all the Christmas decorations away. This is proving especially tough for Drew. He keeps telling me that he misses Christmas and putting stuff away is making him sad. This could be true or it could be an ingenious way of getting out of helping his mother. Hhhhmmmmm......................