Cheerio confessions: part two.

Okay. I admit it. I let the boys eat the Fruit Cheerios again. For lunch. A few days after they enjoyed them for breakfast.

The ridiculous cereal made them so happy. I'm a sucker for happy kids. Especially my own kids.

Look at that adorable face. How could I resist.


The boys devoured every O in their bowls that afternoon, while we all enjoyed each others company. Evan, without even knowing he was the center of attention (and joke), kept Lane and I laughing as he consumed his cereal with one single O on his forehead.

He wasn't letting one piece to go to waste.

Lane thought that O on his brother's forehead was so funny, he decided to add a few more.



Which made all of us laugh even harder.


Never one to let his younger brother out laugh him, Lane purposely placed an O on his own forehead.

It was all good and funny until I started laughing at the other O on his face. The one he didn't purposely place.



That made him not happy, and he searched diligently for the misplaced cereal until all was right again.



Now, we are all Fruit Cheerioed out and have moved on. Evan's back to his morning plate of fruit, eggs and cheese. Lane's moved on to Raisin Bran.

A few things.

About our sweet Giggie Baby.

He's 13 months old now.

The few pieces of 18 to 24 month clothing I had to buy for him are starting to fit snug.

(Remember, his older brother wore our already purchased 18 to 24 month clothes in the summer and fall.)

So, we had to pull out the box of 24 month clothing, which puts us right back in to winter - considering Lane just wore those things one year ago.

(Yes, I kind of feel cheated. It has not been six months since I packed all those clothes away.)





He loves, loves, loves to ride around in Lane's Gator. Without a seatbelt to hold him in in the passenger seat, we decided the back is the safest spot for him.




He will ride around with that content look on his face for as long as Lane will drive.

He's starting making that goofy face, just like his brother did at one year old, whenever he is happy or excited or just being silly.

Silly he is. He loves to get himself in goofy situations and make us laugh.

Once we start laughing, he'll continue to ham it up just for more giggles.



Which in turn makes his older brother just a little, strike that, a lot jealous.

That's okay. He's super cute too.


He loves my mom. Loves her. This is him watching her out the window a few weeks ago. She was coming over to watch him while we took Lane to see Monster Jams. He saw her car out the window and stood at the door watching her until she got in the house.

The next morning, when she left, he did the same thing.

He recently discovered Lane's old peg game. Mastering it in a few days. He can shake the pegs out of the holder then place them back in the holes.

It appears as if he will be a righty.

He's earned a new nickname. Giggie the Destroyer - due to his love of letting Lane set up a row of cars, or line of Monster Jams, or field of Football Guys, or his entire Memory game and then pounding his way in to whatever Lane is playing with and destroying it.

Which in turns leads to a lot of the above.

He's learned to fight back.



Although he doesn't usually win.

So, there's been lots of kissing and making up going on.

And in the biggest and best news of the last few months ......


He walks now.




Started taking a few steps here and there about two weeks ago. Last weekend, with plenty of one-on-one time with Papa at home, he built up the confidence to start cruising.

He turns corners. Walks from one room to the next. Follows Lane around constantly.


Most of all, looks so darn cute.

Cheerio confessions.

One day last week, the boys and I had to run in to the grocery store super early. (As in before school started because I didn't have a thing to pack in Lane's lunch.) While we were there, the marketing folks at Kelloggs and Publix caught my three-year old right where they wanted him - at the end of an aisle staring at the bright boxes of Fruit Loops perfectly arranged at eye level for a person who is three feet tall.

"I want des," he told me.

Here's the deal. As most of you who know me know, I don't eat sugar cereal. Actually, I don't eat much box cereal at all any more since most of it is made with wheat. However, when I did, I stuck to the boring stuff. In my younger wild days, I considered Life and Oh's the sugary stuff.

So, as a mama who sometimes needs a quick fix on the days we need to rush out the door and as a wife who is married to a man who eats a bowl of cereal each night before bed, I try to buy cereal low in sugar: Rice Krispies, Cheerios, Corn Flakes.

(My husband loads his down with sugar any way.)

Needing to hurry Lane along, I assured him I would buy him a box later that day when Evan and I did our big grocery shopping. That seemed to appease him.

Did I have plans on buying him Fruit Loops? No. Did I lie to him? Not quite.

What did catch my eye later on that day was a brightly colored box of Fruity Cheerios - perfectly placed at my eye level.

I compromised and brought home a box of sugary stuff.

James found the box first.

As he ate his nightly bowl of cereal, I asked him if he liked what I got for him.

"Yes," he said. "I remember when we called them Fruit Loops."

Then he let me know that we were going to need another box.


The next morning, I surprised the boys with a sweet breakfast. Lane was so excited.

He took a quick break from eating to show all of you how he can make three with his fingers.



Even the Giggle Baby got his own bowl.


He liked them too.

See,there's his big smile.

The cereal was so good (or maybe so sugary) Lane was singing.

And dancing.

And having seconds.

The boys' birthdays: Evan.

Celebrating this boy's birthday is going to be so tricky.

Born just two days before Christmas, with a birthday just five days before his older cousin Madelyn's birthday, finding a time to squeeze in a birthday party in an already hectic month might not be easy.

However, I was determined to give this happy babe of ours a celebration.

He deserves it.


In honor of his first year, we hosted a bubble gum themed (because our boy is just so sweet and bubbly) play date at our house on a Friday afternoon. We knew most of our friends and family would not be able to make it at that time, so the gathering was intimate with just our bestie Andrea, and the crew from the gym stopping and the Drucker family.

(We ended up doing my family's holiday celebration that night after Evan's party died down.)




So many people will tell you that at this age children don't know what's going on when it comes to a party. And I do agree.

Sure, Evan had no idea my mom baked a special cake because this was the day one year ago that he was born. All those older kids running around - well, what's new, he's always surrounded by the hectic chaos of a three-year old brother and his friends.

But, I will tell you this, when that cake came out and all of us started singing, Evan's eyes opened wide and his smile was even wider.

Seeing the look of happiness on my boys' face was priceless, and I'm so happy I made some time during the busy holiday season to have an hour or two just for him.


Of course, everyone is always happy to have some of my mom's homemade icing. It is a big hit with the kids and the adults.

After all the singing and cake eating, the under two crowd (Madelyn and Evan) were exhausted so they went down for naps while the over three crowd (Andrea, Lane and Damian) made sure not one bit of Evan's cake went to waste.


A good day indeed.

The boys' birthdays: Lane.

Way back in December, we celebrated the boys' birthdays. Lane, who turned three on December 4, came first.

For months, he requested a monster jam cake. My mom is in charge of making all the birthday cakes for her grandbabies - and always does an amazing job - but she really outdid herself with Lane's cake.

It was, for sure, aside from Lane, of course, the hit of the party.

There were lots of little people admiring it - and taste testing the icing.




I booked a room at the rec center figuring the weather would be cold and rainy and the kids would have more room to run and play there than at our house.

To our delight, and luck, we woke up the morning of the party with sunny skies. So, instead of keeping the kids inside, we held the party behind the rec center underneath a pavilion.

We offered all of Lane's favorite foods to eat and competed in some awesome monster jam races around the walking track.


There was also an awesome hill that was perfect for rolling trucks and tumbling kiddos.


The day couldn't have been any better. Of course, the besties, Andrea, John Oscar and Lily were there. All of his cousins. The gang from the gym - twins Jackson and Gracie and Kaylee. Drew and Preston. And Lane's very first friend he has made on his own, Brady from school even joined us.

All those kids and all our family members and good friends completed the party.

After the races and hill rolling, everyone enjoyed the cake and my mom's famous cupcakes.







Then we sent the kids off to play on the playground.
























The day combined all of Lane's favorite things: playing with monster jams, hanging out with his friends, and running around outside.

Perfect way to turn three.