wtf, Pinterest?!

Before you hate me and walk off, stay with me for a minute. I love Pinterest. Too much. I seriously adore it. But of course with every rose comes a few thorns, amiright?  Okay, you're still not with me. Give me one more second of your time. Do you truly think everything on Pinterest is a good idea? Are you a Pinaholic who will put anything and everything on your boards, regardless of whether you'd actually ever make or do it yourself?  You need an intervention. I'm here to give it to you.

Bad ideas on Pinterest.
#1. The flip flop hanger. Who is actually going to hang up your flops at the end of the day? Why do this?  Is there not a shelf or rack you can flop them on. For God's sake people, do you find no joy in flicking your foot and having your flops flip right into the closet?

No, I'm not going ot install a rod at the bottom of my closet. No I'm not going to fashion cute little hangers for my flops, complete with swirly ends and fabric neckware. What is that? NO!

#2. Spaghetti hot dog nastiness.

In whose world is this appetizing? Okay, maybe your one year old's... but it doesn't have to become their favorite food. Restrain yourself. Make a PB&J. I'd rather see a fancy bento box that took you 40 minutes to make than this monstrosity of culinary fails. What momma has time to shove spaghetti into raw hotdogs? Does that even work? The sensory of that just creeps me out. My personal tactile nightmare. omg.... It looks so digusting after it's been cooked too. The only reason your kid would eat this is because he's worried what his psychopath momma is gonna do next. In fact, he's sending his resume to Honey Boo Boo's momma. Excuse me, maybe it's not so bad.......Oh, but it is. It is bad, and thanks for the million versions of re-pinning this loser idea. So  not only did you actually cook this, but you reblogged it as your own idea. Oh yeah, you added ketchup. That's great. That's just great. Spaghetti in ketchup. Looks like a bloody nightmare. I just can't. Don't tell me it's just like marinara. What kid doesn't like a regular plate of sketti or a good ol' fashion dog grilled right? Please, serve these "centipedes" at your dinner party and let's tell each other some cool puns.

#3.  Lame comments on your pins. When I repin your deal, I don't want to have to delete your lame-o phrases such as "I'll be glad I pinned this later!"  or "Pin now, read later"  Um, thanks for the tips Miss Helpful. What would I do without you?!  You mean, I can pin it now...without reading the link...then go back...and read it later? You revolutionary, you.

#4 Pics of animals with not-so-clever puns.

This little guy got 108 likes and 498 repins. Really? You  need to repin that to enjoy later. I hate to be your coworker... "Hey Cindy, you've got to come check this out!" So you rush over thinking there's something worthy of interrupting your workload. And on their little iPhone they proudly show you this little gem. Um... thanks? You muster a half smirk. They look at you like you're all crazy. "Don't you get it? Cover Squirrel? Like Cover Girl!"  Oh yeah, you're right, Betty. I'm the crazy one!

#5 Workout "motivation".

This is going to motivate me to buy a better bra. Or get a boob job. Or get a manicure and forget my pants.  I despise teeny tiny bodies giving me workout wisdom.  There are ton of links to really great health and fitness sites that have helped me out so much. I'm seriously only bugged by these random pics with workout tips.  I'm certain this chick is not known at the "fit friend".  The tanning bed junkie with a breast infection, maybe.


There are so many more on Pinterest....I'm tempted to create a board dedicated just to the bad ideas of Pinterest. I wonder if the makers of Pinterest ever get totally pissed. I'm certain at their work happy hours they sit around looking at these Pins and saying to each other, "This is NOT what we created this site for!! We are not better than Facebook because of this!"  And debating on whether they find a away to cancel all the lame pins or promote free speech.

At least that's what they do in my head....
Night bloggies.
-me

Clowing Around

The final family date of summer vacation was our August trip to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus at the American Airlines Center.  Nick and I have dreamed about taking our kids to the circus forever. Finally they were just barely old enough to enjoy it, and hopefully have a few memories.  (The way we figure, you gotta build up all those great memories when they're young, so when they're older you can use all the fun times o' yore as ammo against any potential teenage disrespect...or something like that.)

Momma Tip:  Get to the circus early so you can take the kids down on the floor and see the performers and animals up close and personal. No worries, they're not letting you pet the tigers or anything crazy, but you do get to get autographs, take pics with performers, and see how they do it up close. They even set out costumes for you to try on! So freaking fun (once you get past the germy part of it).

 

Devyn and Cade kept holding hands throughout the day. Momma's heart was melted.
Cade humored me and put on the ginormous capes.

 

There was a whole bunch of lights out and glow in the dark action. The kids were totally mesmerized.

As a Momma I was freaking the hell out when the tightrope gang got up and did their thang. #1 So dangerous! #2 WTF with the costumes #3 The shoes! The lady tightrope walker even changed shoes atop the teeny tiny perch. That was probably the scariest moment for me. I prayed so hard that they wouldn't fall to their death for their safety.

My favorite part (and Cade's) was the huge tigers.  I'm really hoping that I don't have to Google PETA's take on circus animals, because that would totally ruin the magic of the tiger tamer.  These animals are just huge and majestic and so insanely beautiful.  Whenever I see a gorgeous creature it just reaffirms my faith in God. How else would this amazing animal exist? I love them. Thank you, God, for tigers. Seriously.

And in my head for a moment there, that was Harry from Sex and the City. Am I right? That would have been a killer storyline. I can see Charlotte all dressed up at the circus and finding his tight lawyer by day, tiger tamer by night totally hot.  But then I zoomed in on the spandex and thought, eh, nevahmind.

Those wacky tightrope kids at it again. Who the hell is this chick with her mega hair extension ponytail? And why does she think sitting on a chair on a pole suspended on two men's shoulds who happen to be riding bicycles ON A TIGHTROPE is a good idea?   Show me the paycheck. There is no way homegirl is getting paid enough. I bet she's thinking "Who do I gotta screw around here to be a clown?" ha.

And then, these two clowns.

Why does Daddy get all the credit for this princess? The eyes, their perfect little noses, the hair, the little ears. It's all him.  I love the way she loves him too. I  must video him coming home for you, bloggies. It's adorbs.

So Momma's review:

Cost: pricey depending on where you sit
Ages: I'd say ages 3 and up. Devyn being a new walker and cruising around the seats was just too much.
Food: Not as awesome as you'd like to think. That didn't stop us from gorging on chicken tenders, popcorn (bleh and you know how I LOOVE me some pah-kern). Cotton candy = deelish!
Fun quota: Pretty dang fun. I think the kids could be older for me to give it a full "OMG that was AWESOME!" For the 3 year old and 1 year old I was just a bit exhausted. It's a looong day if you get there early for good parking, the preshow, and stay the whole way through.

Baby Clones, take 2

More evidence of clone babies.  My in-laws sent me their link to their online photo gallery and I was comparing the summer of 2010 vs the summer of 2012. I found more evidence of clone babies.

This is Cade at his first birthday party.



This is Devyn at her first birthday party.


This pic is from the summer Cade turned 1.

This pic is from the summer Devyn turned 1.

Crazy for CooCoo's

This summer was so freaking hot, it eventually got to a point where even I (pool-lover-maniac) had to take a step back and think about some new places to take the kids that were A. Indoors B. Not crazy packed with wild "big kids" C. Cool for toddlers and preschoolers.  I'd only  heard a few people mention CooCoos, an indoor play area near Willow Bend Mall in Plano.  I'd done JumpStreet, so I just assumed CooCoos would be a jam-packed madhouse a la Jumpstreet during Spring Break 2012. (NOT a good idea for a nursing baby and 2 year old!)

 Another momma and I decided to give it a try. If it sucked we'd still reward ourselves with a yummy lunch at my FAVE burger joint, Smashburger. (Seriously, if you haven't been it's so your loss! I consider myself a burger connoiseur and this is my fave-o-rite!)

As soon you walk in you're in a jungle. There is even a robotic parrot welcoming you inside. Kind of creepy, but whatevs.  There were maybe 10-12 inflatables for the kids to run and jump on, a mini-train, a robotic panda, and some games a la Chuck E Cheese.

So, confession.... I think I have Mommy ADHD.  The lights, the fun party music, all the colors. It was so much to pay attention to! Keeping an eye on all four kids was killing me. I had just come down from the shittiest of weeks. Excuse my language. It was just terrible though! My car battery died as I was on the way to a play date, my cell phone died, our home re-fi was driving me crazy. Everything was going wrong. I was just in one of those funky moods where all I could think about was "Everything that could go wrong, HAS gone wrong. I can NOT let these children out of my sight lest they get kidnapped."   I'm a freak.

So I found myself convincing Cade to join Devyn and I in an inflatable obstacle course and sure enough, the little bastard managed to find his way through the (rather tricky) maze and get out ahead of us. I was struggling to carry a not-yet-walking Devyn through the obstacle course, through a tunnel made for 30 lb bodies and down a slide. I saw Cade running to another inflatable. I may have been having a panic attack. I made it my mission to be Psycho Momma the rest of the time and INSIST that the kids all play on the same inflatable. The place is so cool, but so damn ginormous (in my head even more so) that I just didn't feel safe letting him run out of my sight.

Oh, and first I was so impressed by the cool dads who were there with their kids sans wifeys. Until cool dad's kid started tackling my kid and pushing my kid around the inflatable soccer deal. Um, hello, A-hole, when mommas start crawling in to rescue their children it's probably time to grab your little bully and give him a little man-to-man chat. Capiche?!

Anyways, the kids had a blast and were so tired. I had to wake them for lunch at Smashburger. What? Momma needs her sweet potato fries and Diet Dr. Pepper!!!

CooCoos:
Ages: 1-12 would have a great time here. The average ages were 2-6.
Cost: $7 per kid. They try to charge you for your under 2 year olds, but I was all like "Uh, she doesn't walk? Do I have to pay?  She'll prob just hang out in this here stroller and eat Cheerios?" And the teenager working the front desk was all like, "Sure". 
Pros: So much to do here! The games were reasonable, you have to buy tokens but $2 was plenty to entertain our 4 kiddos. The inflatables were so varied the kids never got bored. There is one massage chair in the center of the place that totally made me laugh. Like which one mom would pop some coins in and lounge in the massage chair?  Sounds tempting, but nobody took the bait. I so wish someone did though.
Cons: Size and safety. I wish they'd had staff patrolling the different areas to keep an eye on the kids. Not every parent was following their child from inflatable to inflatable to make sure they wouldn't get pushed around, hurt, or lost. I also wish there was some sort of system where they could gate the main area from the lobby and have someone making sure that kids were leaving with the right adults.  It's so big I just think that they need to think about safety.

No Chocy Milk at Bedtime...

Sometimes as a Momma, you have to find a way to prove your point. You have to really get down on your child's level and TEACH them about life. It's the best thing ever when you teach them something new. I get so damn proud of myself. Howevs, it's not always easy. You want your kid to just take your word for things "because Mommy said so".  I haven't found that my three  year old responds to that kind of logic. For example, my beef o' the summer -- trying to break Cade of the habit of him  insisting on having juice (watered down V8 Fusion y'all!) or chocolate milk (Vitamin D milk topped off with Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk) in his cup when he goes to bed. Anything but water in the cup drives me freaking nuts, but he tricks Daddy into giving him some juice or milk. And yeah, sometimes I'm too lazy to fight it so I sneak some in his cup just so he'll go to bed.

First step:  I had lots of conversations with Cade about brushing his teeth, even making up songs about keeping them white and clean. (To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat "brush, brush, brush your teeth keep them nice and clean. Always brush those germs away if you know what I mean".  (weak songwriting skills, right?)  Fail. He knows he should brush, but he didn't understand that what he eats and drinks can make his teeth yucky. All he's ever known are precious little pearly whites. So I had to prove it.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. No?  So I enlisted the help of good ol' Google Images. I just typed in "rotten teeth" and got thousands of pics to show my son what happens to little boys who drink chocolate milk at bedtime.

Here are a few highlights, in case you are curious.
      

So at this point as he scrolls through my iPad's Google results, I'm ho.rri.fied. I gag, I run my tongue over my own teeth to make sure my own are in order, and I nearly vom everywhere. I've never seen so much foulness in one place. When I was done swallowing down a mouthful of bile, I remembered to check for my kid's reaction.

My three year old was FASCINATED. I've never seen him go speechless. His face contorted into the perfect picture of utter disgust. Mission accomplished!  I quickly shut it off, and fearing bad mommy karma, night terrors, and what if my iPad breaks and these nasty pics get burned permanently onto the screen... I dunno, I panicked. I shut it down.

I came to my senses, mentally kicked myself, then realized it was Damage Control Time.  I had to find something more positive to leave as his last memory of the lesson.  I hopped on YouTube and found Elmo singing a brush your teeth song.  Much, much better. Redemption. Please God, let me be redeemed. I'm certain Purgatory is being trapped by those rotten teeth people dancing to  Godsmack. Ugh.



So, did this lesson work? Absolutely.
Did anyone have nightmares? Miraculously? No! *knocking on wood so I don't have creeptastic nightmares myself tonight*

Go ahead and cast your vote for me for Mom Of the Year.
In hindsight, wtf was I thinking?  Howevs, my regrets are short lived because homeboy now INSISTS on water in his nightly sippy and corrects Daddy when he forgets. (hehe, bonus!)

Anyone had any similar Winners of Mommy Lessons? I'd love to hear them!

Fire Station fun!

 

This summer one of the top playdates was a trip with Cade's preschool buddies to the Frisco Fire  Safety Town.  I give this outing a full five stars!  I've passed it a few times on the way to eat at Babe's.  I am so glad that we went and I can't wait to go again.  We took a crew of  1-7 year olds and I think every kid had a great time. Cade insisted on bringing his fireman hat to wear, which was a solid choice in my opinion!  When we first arrived they let us take pictures with the kids all lined up on the end of the firetruck. We snapped and snapped away, it was tres adorable!

 

 Half of the property is the Fire School where they have lessons and field trips for school groups, the other half appears to be an actual working fire station.  One of the kind firemen led us on a tour.  He led the kids down the first hall and Cade was right in front, ready to ask some questions. On the wall was a photo mural of firemen eating dinner at the firehouse. In the middle of the fireman's shpiel Cade raises his hand to answer a question. I was so proud. Until he opened his mouth. "My Lolli and Papa bring me limes to my house."  Um, holy randomness, Batman! wth, son?!  The fireman noticed that Cade had spotted limes in the mural and so-sweetly acknowledged him then finished his little chat.  Thank you, Sir!

 

The next room had a real fire truck that was buried in the floor so the kids could climb in on their own and not be up quite so high. Genius!  They had so much fun exploring in the fire truck, buckling themselves in the jump seats and pretending to drive and use the little radio. Devyn found the shiny bell, which was right up her girly little alley.  Looking back at these pics from early June where she had just one top tooth I can't believe how busy she was this summer growing 3 more in just a month and a half!

 

They had a whole wall of fire tools that the fireman showed the kids. They kind of got it, only be 2 and 3 years old, but they did a sweet job of paying attention.  They all looked super sweet trying on the fireman boots.  I'm so glad Cade won't be that big for years. I'm NOT looking forward to the sweaty teenage years.

 

The fireman also took the kids to a room where there was a simulation of a tornado.  They had flat screen tv's in the place of windows and a fake newscast on the tv in the "living room" that was announcing an impending storm. The picture on the windows got darker and looked stormy. Then the surround sound made a lot of thunder and the lights flickered if I remember right. The kids did pretty well. Not the best group of little students I've ever seen, but I was impressed for what they did pay attention to!  They even got to go "upstairs" in the house and there was a roof where older kids could practice climbing out on the roof to get to safety.

 

The best part was getting to go outside. They have an actual kid-sized town with a mini church, bank, streets, and traffic lights. The kids had fun running around pretending to be cars and following stop signs and waiting for green lights. It was so adorable! They had so much fun! I totally loved getting to chat in the shade with the other mommas while the kids ran around Safety Town (which is safely gated off from real traffic and completely on its own property. The doors to the buildings were all locked, so the kids just ran from building to building..... or crawled!)

 

Ages: 9 months - 10 years

Cost: Free

Pros: Free, great for older and younger siblings, every kid loves firefighters and the staff at Frisco Fire Safety Town were very sweet and accommodating, they had provided water outside for the children to drink out of paper cups (super cool if you're 3 years old!)

Additional tips: During the summer they have fun Friday nights where kids can bring their bikes to ride around the play "streets".  They also do trick-or-treating in the Safety Town in October.

Cons: I can't think of any. We truly had an awesome time! Just pack smart, bring snacks for your younger children. There are lots of dining options closeby, so if you schedule a morning tour you can hit up a kid-friendly restaraunt for lunch afterwards.

First trip to ER

It's time to blog our ER story! Two weeks ago was the first day of daycare/preschool.  I went to my mom's school to help her move into her new classroom. As we were taking a lunch break I got a call from his school. It wasn't his teacher. It was the director. Red flag. She said, "Cade's okay, but he's had an accident."  First thought, "Dang, he wet his pants?" She continued to tell me that after going to the bathroom he was washing his hands, slipped off the stool and hit his head on the sink counter.  She told me they called 9-1-1 just to be safe since it was a head injury. Mom and I rushed to the school and saw two firetrucks and an ambulance. I was feeling pretty calm until then. Ho-lee-hell.

I ran in to see a crowd of firemen/EMTs and a handful of teachers and my little boy in the arms of a fireman. Mom got there 30 seconds before me so they passed him off to her first. (Um, Mom... I love you, but I GOTS to call you out, drive slower next time so Mommy gets first cuddle during future emergency response sitches. Love you mean it)

He had this big bandaid on his head and was wearing purple medic gloves and was crying so hard. I grabbed him and gave him my best effort at Momma comfort.  Then as the lead medic was explaining that he'd be okay, just needed some stitches I tried my  best to give all the crew of our city's Finest (emphasis on the Finest--- where have all these hotties been all this time?! I need to send my single ladies to the Firehouse!) .....tried to give them all my  best most grateful smile. They were so so sweet giving him the "cool" purple gloves. While I signed the school's paperwork, Mom and Cade were whisked outside to tour the firetruck. Cade got to "drive" and they gave him a little gorilla beanie baby. Seriously. How freaking sweet is that? I wonder if they're always prepared with little toys in the firetruck. Cade clung to it for dear life and we STILL are holding onto those fabulous purple latex gloves.

Since his nose was swollen and he apparently had been gushing blood (as evidenced by the splatters on his clothes, legs, socks, and shoes) we decided to head to Children's Legacy ER. 

 There was a baby in the first intake room, Cade started to get all diva-ish and say "I no want a baby room!" And I assured him that he'd get a big boy room. He was pretty pumped to get to man the remote control for the tv all by himself. Each nurse was so sweet to us.

 They took off the bandaid and I got my first glimpse of his little head gouge. It was deep! (No bone or brains or anything, but deeper than I was expecting!)  They put on some numbing cream- no shots! bonus!-- and we had to wait 30 min  almost an hour for the doctor to come in to stitch him up. Cade was getting hungry (oh---and we had Devyn who is 13 months old and now 2 hours past her naptime) so Grammie checked out the nurse's station and they said he could have jello, juice, popsicle, or a slushie. Um, someone say "slushie"?!  Cade was on it. Devy got a white slushie and Cade got blue. If you ever have to choose, might we recommend blue. White tasted like kid medicine.

The nurse and doctor came in and prepped us for what would happen next. The nurse was so cute (and clever as hell!). She told Cade he'd need to take off his shirt so it wouldn't get wet while the doctor looked at his boo-boo. (Um, wth?) Then she said, "Oh we don't want you to get cold. Let me wrap you in this blanket." And he was putty in her hands. This boy loves a good blanket cuddle. She wrapped the sheet around him and tucked his arms in some sort of a swaddle. He laid down and they got to work. He barely whimpered a couple of times and I was right there by him as they worked. I got him talking about superheroes and -bam!- the kid was so excited to tell them all about the Superhero Squad and Avengers and how his buddy Liam was having a superhero party soon. He got so animated and tried to gesture that I had to hold him down and tell him to be still. I was amazed at his happy mood as the doctor calmly put four blue stitches in my baby boy.

 

We made it home and rested. Daddy brought him home hulk smash hands and a batman mask and cape. (Overboard? Perhaps, but the mask hid his boo-boo, so maybe it was genius...) Grandaddy saved the day and brought over some Chili's takeout for everyone. All I could do at the end of the day was get in the shower and cry. Cry for my baby's head, cry for the sweet teachers who had to deal with his gushing head and 9-1-1 on their first day of school, and cry because Thank God he was going to be okay.

 

Last week we went to the pediatrician to get his stitches out. He was a champ then too, just chatting away like nothing was happening. Oh, he loved his stitches. We called them his Blue Spiderman stitches and he was so proud of them.  His little buddy at school got a boo-boo on his knee that weekend so when they  went back to school on Monday he said that he and his pal were both brave boys and they aren't babies and no cry. Tough guy crew. I love it so much.

 

Momma lessons:

1. Dallas mommies - take your kids to Children's if you need medical attention. They are amazing.

2. Don't forget, the blue slushie is the best slushie.

3. Rub neosporin on a cut and as it heals massage it every day so it doesn't turn into a keloid (raised reddish scar). 

 

 

Thanks to all the friends who sent sweet Facebook messages, texts, and called to check on him. I love that we have such a sweet circle of friends and family there to support us!



Green

This week I'm linking up with The Paper Mama for the "Green" photo challenge.
It seemed like the perfect time to do it. Cade's favorite color is green (hence the lime Chucks), and I just love this pic from our summer trip to the Dallas Arboreteum. It's one of my favorite places in this city, and every time we go I love to see the kids so captivated by nature and so free.

This bridge was part of the Monet exhibit. So peaceful and so green. Doesn't it make you want to grab a blanket and Frappacino and just lay out  with a good book?

What it's like to have a 1 year old girl...

Oh baby sister girl.
It's your turn now!
I did not know how fast this last year would go.
I had an idea, but I really did. not. know.

From the minute you took your first breath and let out that powerful, girly cry I was relieved.
You were a girl.
One hundred percent.

What is it like to have a one year old baby girl?
You stand at your crib every morning. Bouncing and saying "hi".
Sometimes you have to cry because I'm not ready to wake up yet. Sorry.
You point to your door because your first mission is go find Cade.
He's your beacon in this world.
You adore him.

You like to wave to everyone.
Everywhere we go you wave and say "Hi!" in a squeaky little girly voice.
You even wave to the people in TV commercials.
You love your dog Izzy.
You are the only one in the family who never gets tired of playing fetch.
Only when you throw the ball in goes like 4 inches.
So Izzy tires of that first.
You love dogs so much you wave to them on tv too.
You kiss the baby gate box at Babies R Us because there was a doggy on it.
You love balls.
You love cars.
Cade bought you a pink minivan for your birthday.
You push your princesses in it.
You could play with your Fisher Price Little People castle all day.
You sing to Backstreet Boys and it makes Mommy so happy!
Cade told us to "Turn it down", but we didn't.

You hold onto my hands and power walk.
When I say "Daddy's home!" you power crawl to the back door with Izzy to greet him.
Seeing him makes you laugh and squeal his name and kick your legs.
You are a Daddy's girl.

Your first word was "Hi".
You are trying to walk.
But for now it's more fun to take one step and then fall down and laugh at yourself.
You always have two bruises on your forehead from bumping into things.
When I tell you "no-no" you look at me and smile.
You like to splash in Izzy's water dish and eat her dog food.
You love to climb.
Last week I found you standing on the toilet seat trying to look out the window.
You scared me to death and made me laugh at the same time.
Your Grammie calls you a Pistol.

You scrunch your nose and close your eyes and give a big "ha-ha" when you're being naughty.
You could eat all day long.
You adore ice cream and frozen yogurt.
You love the bath tub.
When I rock you to bed and give your your bottle you stop.
Your strum your lips to make the silly noise you like.
Then you giggle and close your eyes.
Thank God you are a good sleeper.
(Most of the time.)
You are still a little mystery.
You still are mostly dreams of pigtails, dance classes, and pedicures.
I can't wait to continue to discover all that is Devyn.

My dreams.
My daughter.

 

What It's Like to Have a 3 year old Boy...

 

There was a time when we could not imagine our baby boy walking.
Had no idea what the sound of his voice would be like.
Or what types of things he would grow to love.

What is it like to have a 3 year old boy?
Lots of talk about Spiderman.
Sound effects of shooting webs and fighting bad guys.
All........Day.........Long.
Asking us "Who is that superguy?"
Not eating meals, instead trying to negotiate for his favorite snacks.
Spiderman Cheez-Its. Marshmallows. Grapes popsicles (frozen grapes). Chocy Milk. Popcorn.
Jumping up and down and flapping his arms when the popcorn pops.
Asking for his shows on the "teesee".
Jumping off the couch.
Army crawling on the floor.
Dinosaur stomping to bed.
Hiding.
Wanting to be covered by three of his thickest baby blankets at night.
Building tents from blankets to watch movies.
Bringing every stuffed animal from his room under the tent to watch the movie together.
Superhero Squad. Batman. Spectacular Spiderman.
And then today, Carebears.
Getting out of bed 2 times each night to go potty.
Getting out of bed one more time because he just needs one more hug.
The big fat bottom lip sticking out when he's in trouble.
Telling him not to smile and then getting the cutest case of the giggles.
Telling me I'm pretty when I'm doing my makeup.
Hugging my legs just because.
Running ahead of me in the mall then turning around and sprinting back to me with open arms and sweeping him up for a huge spin and hug.
Always making sure he gets kissed and hugged goodnight.
Buying "Monster Spray" at Bath and Body Works and getting two squirts each night: one under the bed and one in the closet.
Asking me if he can help me clean when I'm wiping down counters or dusting.
Asking for "A big chocy milk like you" and putting his hands up real high.
Seeing a cool place on tv or the computer and telling me, "I want to go there."
Putting on his Spiderman mask and shirt and telling me, "No worry. Spiderman Cade here to protect  you."

Always taking care of his dog Izzy.
Running to the hearth to protect his baby sister from falling down.
Introducing himself to strangers as "Cade Lamb, Big Brother"
Telling me "I love you too Mommy" when he catches me smiling at him.
Saying he wants to grow up to be Daddy.

My heart.
My son.