A trip to the zoo

We took the kids to the zoo.

I wonder if we should have left them there. . .

.

We went in November.

Yes. I know it's March.

Baby steps ok?

Anyways. . . the zoo.

Our local library offered this great deal that my buddy Michele told me about. You go and watch a 30 minute video about the history of Zoo Atlanta at the library and then you get 4 free tickets. Yes! I dig free. And I dig the zoo. Rhiannon digs maps.

I especially dig the pandas!

And the parakeet exhibit.

And this baby monkey.

And this monkey. They

tried to keep him.

Henry loved "Dum Bum".

We learned that this DumBum is full of _____.

I love this guy. Hello Handsome. How you doin?

The kids loved statues?

We had a blast. A nice little educational trip. With our two little crazy animals.

Helton Creek Falls

MLK weekend. A 3 day, LONG weekend. We have been

crazy busy the last few, well months! With holidays and Russ' brothers wedding on NYE, we were ready for some down time. Russ and I went out with friends on Saturday night and Henry and Rhiannon spent the night with the Crains. Russ' mother has been sick since August and this was the first time that the kids have spent the night with them in months. After breakfast with the Crains we whisked the kids away for a day trip to the mountains. We like to call it "Crains on Tour."

We headed north to Helton Creek Falls. This is a waterfall that is a favorite of mine and Russ'. We also took the kids almost 2 years ago when Henry was a little over a month old.

Our trip almost 2 years ago

I got home and downloaded pictures and just couldn't resist posting comparisons. How did 2 years go by so fast? Last trip I had a infant strapped to my chest and a 2 year old that had some trouble hiking the trail. This trip we had a 4 year old hiker and another 2 year old to help along the trail.

So here is the game:

Me and HRC this year:

Me and Henry 2 years ago!

Rhiannon James in 2012

Rhiannon James in 2010

Daddy and his little hiker this year

Daddy and RJ on her first hike

Family of 4 this year

Family of 4 last trip

We had so much fun. The kids loved seeing the falls and talking about the trees and picking up rocks and driving through the mountains.

And of course ended the day with lunch at our favorite Creekside deli in Cleveland and then home for naps.

Henry didn't stop talking the entire trip. He jabbered from the minute we pulled out of the Crains driveway until he fell asleep that afternoon. I thought Rhiannon talked a lot. Henry is giving her some serious competition. "Mommy look!" Mommy! What's that?" "School bus!" "Tractor!" "Woah! Mountains!" He kept me and Russ giggling.

Our cute little chatter box.

A beach trip

So let me start out this post by explaining that I'm stuck at an airport in San Francisco. I've been in San Jose this week for business. And then I tried to fly out of San Jose. But my flight was delayed. Causing me to be late for my connecting flight and the only flight I could get to Atlanta would be out of San Fran. So they shuttled me here and I'm waiting 6 hours for my red eye flight to Atlanta to get me back in GA at 5:48am. But I PROMISED my curly headed girl that I would be home on Saturday morning. And I gave her a calendar to mark off the days until Mama would be home. And by God I WILL keep that promise. Even if it means catching an all night flight to do so. Baby girl, I will see you when you wake in the morning.

I'm now two mojitos into my wait for my flight. And I've been nastalgic. Looking at pictures of my babies. And I thought this would be a good time to update that blog that I'm supposed to be keeping up with. Because I found this picture. So sweet. My Rhiannon and her best friend in the whole world. Her cousin Lawson. Boy do they love one another.

So here it goes.

In July we went on our family trip to the beach. I finally convinced my parents, the funders of this trip, that it would be better to go the Gulf this year. Versus our normal vacay spot of Myrtle Beach. I used a house that my girlfriends have stayed at in the past as ammunition to convince them.

I was excited too because Henry was only 4 months old on our trip last year. And he couldn't sit on his own yet. So I had to carry him around all week in a baby sling. And he cried ALL the time. This year, I thought foolishly, would be better. He can walk and run and swim and play in the sand. Right? Nope. My boy was teething. Apparently getting 1,000,000 molars at one time. And home boy was not handling it well. And then midway through the trip he came down with his sisters case of croup. So they were both struggling with roid rage from the steroids used to treat croup. And Henry again cried all week. But this year he also cried all night. When he was a 4 month old, he at least slept some.

Let's put it this way. I looked forward to my morning runs. And I DO NOT like to run. But it was a time that I suddenly felt 25 lbs lighter. And I didn't feel like throwing a baby out the window.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Not to dwell on the negatives but the ocean was full of seaweed. It was like standing in brunswick stew. Another reason why my parents have never wanted to go the Gulf. I convinced them by telling them that I've been going to the Gulf for years and have never had bad seaweed. Ha ha ha.

However, at the end of our road was a freshwater lake. That never got more than 3 feet deep. It was kid haven. And Rhiannon and my niece, Lawson, loved it. We saw a complete transformation in Rhiannon. She went from refusing to get her face wet to wearing goggles and swimming under water, in a 24 hour time period. So that was pretty cool.

My mental picture of Henry for the week.

He was happy as long as we was here. In someone's lap. It didn't matter who. Me. Aunt Katie. Whatevas. See the lake behind us?

The kiddos. Doesn't Henry look happy?

My babies. Again. Henry. Bless him.

My little beach bunny.

And the whole family.

We might try again next year. I'm making no promises though. . . :)

We really did have a good time. Big thanks to my parents to taking us all on this trip. And the rest of my family for putting up with me and my rugrats. There is one thing for certain. I am so blessed for my family. There is no where I would rather be than with my family. My brothers and sister and sister-in-law and mother and step-dad and out of this world neice. Combined with little family it just rocks. No matter the situation. We just have fun. I love you guys.

Oh yeah. My blog!

So for those of you who may have missed my updates. And for the sake of archiving our memories. I'm back. My d*&n laptop died again. So I have been unable to download or edit photos but now I'm back. And I'm going to attempt to update you from the summer.

But today we're going to start with just a general update. I'll update with pictures from events afterwards.

Rhiannon turned 4!! Four? Doesn't that sound old to you? It sounds old to me. And she started Pre-K! I can't handle it. That sounds big too. And it was a big decision for Mommy. First of all I was unsure if I should start her in Pre-K yet. Her birthday is July 24 which is a late birthday for that grade level. And since her birthday should have been in October, I wondered whether I should start her the next school year and keep her in preschool another year. But in the we decided that Pre-K was fine. And if she needed to wait for Kindergarten then she could just do 2 years of Pre-K. And the other big decision was whether she should continue going 3 days of move to 5 days. I thought the structure was better with 5 days. And it was only half days. But I worried about Henry missing her. And I knew the grandparents would too. So I asked her and she said she wanted to go everyday. So that's what we did. And it seems to be going just great. She loves her teacher Mrs Michelle. And her two BFF's Madyson and Madilyn are in her class again so the fab 3 are owning the halls of Grace this year.

Henry is 18 months old. At his 18 month appt we found out that he in the 50% for weight and 65% for height. Head of course in the 95% (both my kids were "blessed" with Mama's big head). I looked back and discovered that his preemie sister was actually an inch taller than him at 18 months!! So we think that he may have inherited his Daddy's height. Ha ha.

Henry is talking up a storm. He follows instructions much better than his sister. His favorite book is Good Night Moon. His favorite songs are very interesting. The most requested two: Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas. Which he sings and knows the words to. Or "Jesus, Jesus" a gospel song by Alan Jackson. We like to mix it up around here. He loves soy milk, peanut butter, M&Ms, blueberries, and most of all cherry tomatoes. He eats then straight from the vine. When I pick him up at my mother's house, his shirts are usually covered in tomoato seeds.

Two recent pictures of my babies. . .

Easter

Easter is my second favorite holiday. It's falls very closely behind Thanksgiving. Because of the food of course. I love Thanksgiving food. Wait Easter. Oh yeah, ok. I like Easter too. There's something about the time of year. Spring is so clean and new and green. The weather is usually fantastic. The clothes are fun. And I don't have to shop for gifts.

I also get to organize an Easter egg hunt. We have it every year at my parents house and invite friends and family. This was our 3rd year. The new tradition started after my Sax-Sax passed away. I have 11 cousins that all live close by and we loved Easter at my grandmothers house. After she passed away, we were looking for excuses to see each other. So we had an Easter party at my mothers house. We invited my aunts and uncles and cousins and some family friends. And now we do it every year.

It's so much fun.

But more importantly, it's the meaning behind Easter that makes it so special.

This year Rhiannon was old enough to get it. To understand the true meaning of Easter. And that made the holiday even better. We read books about Easter and when asked what Easter was about, she woud say:

"Easter is about God's son Jesus. Jesus died to forgive us of our sins. He was dead for 3 days and then he rose from the grave and went to Heaven to live with God." She liked the 3 days part of it.

A church next to our house had a sunrise service on the lake so I took Rhiannon to her first sunrise service. Snuggling her and singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" and watching the sun light up her face as it rose over the lake was so powerful. I hope she remembers it as fondly as I remember attending the sunrise service with my dad and stepmother when I was a kid.

Afterwards we went home and Daddy and Henry had breakfast cooked. We saw that the Easter bunny had eaten his carrots and chocolate chips and drank his milk (Rhiannon insisted that was what the Easter bunny wanted). We checked out the cool things the Easter bunny left in the their baskets. And then we went to church with my family.

After church we had lunch and another Easter egg hunt at my mother's. Henry really got the hang of the egg hunting thing. Not only did he enjoy finding them in the grass. He also discovered that he could steal them from his sisters basket while she was busy stuffing her face with candy.

And then dinner and Easter egg hunt #3 at Mimi and Papa's.

What a memorable and amazing holiday.

Happy Easter from the Crains!

Boys

Boys. . .

Boys throw everything like it's a baseball. I have injuries from sippy cups, toys, food hurled at like 100 mph. Ouch.

Boys sometimes like dolls. It means he will be a good Daddy right? It's pretty cute to see Henry walking around the house with a baby on his shoulder and that sweet little hand patting the baby's back. I swear he plays with Rhiannon's dolls more than she does.

Boys are sneaky. They know if they continue to throw "B" from the crib and cry for "B" that Mommy will come back in the room to save "B". Any there is always hope that Mommy will then pick baby boy up and snuggle him some more.

Boys are leaky. How do they pee this much? How big of a diaper do I need to buy? And how can you sleep that wet? And why are you so happy in the morning even when your pajamas are soaked? And why do you pee in the bathtub? Every. Single. Night. Your sister is OVER it.

Boys do not wean themselves. My girl did. My boy? Not a chance. But Mommy got bit again last week. And there was blood involved. So my little vampire got cut off. Sorry little dude. But I think 14 months is enough.

Boys like lawn mowers and tractors. And are obsessed with riding them with Grandfathers and Daddys.

Boys love their sisters. Rhiannon now comes and wakes me up in the morning "Mommy, let's go get Henry!" Now when we go in Henry's room, I'm no longer greated with "Mama, Mama!". Now it's "Ree Ree! Ree Ree!" with outstretched arms for his big sister.

My boy is now 14 months old. And I still have a whole to learn. About boys. Lord help me.

My birthday Monkey

Good news! I got my stupid Gateway back! And guess what? I lost all my pictures just as I feared. So I have sulked for a couple of weeks. But I need to focus on the good news. I still have all the pictures of Henry's birthday party. Along with some great pics that my best bud Jessica took of his party as well.

So my boy turned one on Feb 22. I struggled with where to have his party. Winter is a tough time to have a birthday. I didn't want to rent something for a baby's birthday. So we chose to have it at our home. Trouble is our home. It ain't big. And our family is. BIG. So we decided just to have a small little gathering.

And I decided on a monkey theme.

Monkey pops!

Henry had a monkey "Henry is one" t-shirt to wear for early party and cake eating. Then a monkey longall for after cake. I made monkey cake pops. We had monkey plates and party favors. (I had more pictures of all this. . . but you know. . . they're in cyber space)

Henry had a stomach bug the day of his party. I did not know this yet. But right before his party he exploded all over his monkey t-shirt. I threw it in the washer to clean before the party. It was not quite dry yet when the guests arrived. So they were greated with this. Yes, he is holding Cinderella.

"See my belly button?" We like to party redneck style! I promise I put a shirt on the child eventually.

Henry was not a big fan of his cake. Probably because he was sick. (You can send me my Mother of the Year award at any time.) But the monkey pop made a nice cake smashing tool. But see? He's wearing a shirt now!

Monkey outfit #2 and opening gifts.

Henry and his grandfathers. Two of them anyway. These two particular pictures melt my heart.

Cooper!

And all of the little party people. Yes, this is outfit #3 for Henry. This one was not planned but he pooped on outfits #1 and #2. Luckily, this had a monkey on it too. Henry is flirting with Kate here. Michele and I may set them up one day. Henry likes older women.

And I had to add this one. These two beautiful ladies are my oldest friends. Jessica and I have been friends since 4th grade. And we met Heather (yes Jessica has two Heather's) in middle school. This pic is of the three of us and our kids. We take this picture every year. And lately we've been adding a kid every year! I think we're done adding now though. . . From left to right: Jessica, Colton (Heather's), Isabella (Jessica's) is holding Henry, I'm holding the newest addition Cooper (Heather's) and then Hudson (Jessica's) and Rhiannon and her shoe. Age of children? 7, 5, 4 (next week), 3, 1 and 9 months.

Thanks for all that celebrated with us. Happy Birthday Henry!