I LOVE Bargains!!!

I hit the jackpot. Well, the bargain hunting jackpot anyway. ;) We are redoing the upstairs playroom, to make it more "user-friendly" for the boys. I wanted some seating for them up there, but didn't really want a love-seat or couch. So for a couple of months, I've had it in my mind that they needed bigger versions of that cute little chair from p0ttery b.arn k1ds. We bought the smallest (my 1st aw chair) for J when he was one. He loved it and used the snot out of it. It fits L perfectly now, but has J's name on it. Which of course, bothers no one but me! So really, I was just looking for the BIG one for J, and thought I would just recover the little one for L. Imagine my shock when I looked on the store's website and found that the oversized version with a plain denim cover was on sale for $139.00 (plus tax & shipping). Ummm, no thanks.

So the search began. I stumbled on a posting for TWO of the chairs a week ago. I was the 2nd interested party, and thought, "Darn, I'm NEVER fast enough on this stupid site!" lol Turns out the first person flaked, so I got an email and off I went. They are the medium and large chairs, so now we have all three sizes. The medium chair (L's new chair) had a name embroidered on it. Daddy used his handy skills to cut it out, but of course, with the fading of the fabric, you can still see the name. A new cover is on it's way for his chair (on sale right now for $19.99 with a super hero emblem on it...score again!)

The big chair had no personalization, and the fabric is in great shape, so YAY! We'll order J some cool patches with his name or a fun logo to add to it and viola! I purchased BOTH of these chairs for a mere $40. If I had ordered them, exactly as they are, I would have paid $293!!!!!!! (Yes, I'm a nerd and went to see how much with shipping and tax it would cost...wanted to show hubby how much I saved him!) I love, love, love bargains!

And as you can see, the boys LOVE their new chairs. :)

The Tooth Fairy's on Her Way!!!

There was major excitement in the McD household today. JWM lost his first tooth!!!!

Annnnnnnnd...I didn't pass out! lol O.k., o.k., I really wasn't worried about passing out, but boy, I wasn't very thrilled that this "first" happened while Daddy was at work. God was watching out for J and I for sure. We were both a bit panicked, although we BOTH remained very calm. So proud of us!!! HA! After testing it with a tiny bit of pressure, the tooth literally fell off into the tissue I was holding the 2nd time I touched it. Whew! I seriously was trying to remember how my school nurse did it (and made it not hurt) when I was in elementary school. Luckily, there was no pain involved for our little man and he was super excited once the tooth was out.

The green frog J is holding is the mascot from his preschool, Fireball the Frog. The timing of all of this is special, as J is the "Frog of the Week" at preschool this week. He has had Fireball with him all weekend, taking him everywhere we went, playing games with him, etc. We are sending pictures back with J tomorrow so he can show all of his classmates the fun he had with Fireball. J is beyond excited that he was able to share this milestone with Fireball.

A Big Day at the Doc's Office

Both boys had their well checks today. I must say, I'm glad they will never have to go at the same time again. Not just because we had two to deal with, or the fact that we were there actively talking to our pediatrician & going through one test or another for almost 2 hours!!!! Nope. It's because they are in such different stages, it was difficult to stay on track. But it was nice of them to offer to do J's 5 yr check and L's 18 month check all at the same time so I would only have to make one trip. Really, it was.

Big Brother, the 5 year old -
He LOVED this well check. It's one of the few with NO shots!!! Yippee! He is soooooo difficult when it comes to shots, so this was a welcome break. He was super cooperative on everything Dr. H asked of him, and they talked Super Mari0 Broz at the end. J had a hearing and vision test, blood pressure check (all good) and got to pee in a cup for the first time. ;) He is just under 45 inches tall (75-90%) and right at 44lbs (75%...I thought they told us 50% but this is what is written down?) I will have to look back, but I think he only gained a couple of pounds over the course of this past year. Not surprising - the surgery caused a little weight loss, plus, he's not a super fabulous eater...which Dr. H very sternly addressed with him. We are ALL going to put more work into this and see if we can't add TWO new veggies to his diet. Sounds easy, right? When Dr. H suggested he try broccoli or tomatos, J tried to reason with him, saying, "But I DO eat ketchup! That's tomatos, right?" :) Too smart for his own good.

Little Brother, the 1 1/2 yr old -
He did NOT love his well check. He doesn't like sitting still, he doesn't like laying down when Dr. H checks his tummy, or mouth, or ears...whatever. He doesn't like it. We were reassured that the words that L does have in his vocabulary are sufficent for now, and that it is extremely common for 2nd children to not talk as much as their older siblings did. Which we already knew - I've seen it with many of our friends and family - but it's nice to hear again. ;) What wasn't a surprise? We have a Baby Teapot! (You know, short & stout!!! lol) Here are L's stats:
Height: 32 1/4 inches (50%)
Weight: 28.8 lbs (75-90%)
Head 49.5 cm - the biggest excitement of the day!!!! ONLY 90th%!!!!!! This is awesome, since he's measured in the >97% since 6 months. It really, really relieves a bit of our "are you sure his head isn't too big?" worry. Daddy and I actually cheered!!!!

Sweet boys, in great health. Who could ask for more?

18 Months At-A-Glance

LJ's 18 month check up isn't until Monday, but he hit the 18 month mark on Jan. 2nd. So even though I don't have his stats yet (we think he's about 29 lbs!), I wanted to blog about what he's up to (more for my records than anything...so lazy I know. I should just go pull the baby book out!)

L loves to hug on his big brother's lovey bear - shhhh, don't tell J!!!

Talking - even though he is still a man of few words, he is adding to his vocabulary. He is REALLY trying to say his big brother's name; screams "TOOTLES" or actually just gibberish, but we know he means tootles at the tv (as demonstrated in above pic); and said BLUE for the first time this month.

Walking - is turning into speed racer. He isn't quite running yet, but he's almost there. He still has a pretty wide stance, so it's funny - but he has to hold that belly up somehow. lol

Dancing - to anything with a good beat. He has some pretty impressive neck & shoulder motion too!

Playing - he is EXTREMELY into cars, trucks, vehicles or any kinda and jumping them off things. See above with the super cool monster truck from the Flores Family.

Tantrums - yup, we're there. Sigh. We totally lucked out with J in this area - I don't think I ever described him as having "terrible two's" and in fact, he didn't ever throw a huge tantrum out in public. I remember a brief time of him acting out at home, but it was so mild. Here we go...I know I've earned it honestly. ;)

Sickness - well, up until last month, I would have said that L was a lucky, healthy little guy. He is still healthy, but has been hit with a couple of whammies. The latest was croup, that turned into wheezing. I so thought after having to give J breathing treatments his first 3 years of life we might escape this issue with L. We are still praying this is isolated, but as I am weaning him off his inhaler (way better/quicker than the nebulizer btw), I know the chances are much higher it might happen again now that he's been hit with it. Blah.

My favorite "new" - about a week or so ago, L finally grabbed our hands at the dinner table while we were praying. We hold hands and pray together before every meal. We've tried to grab his hands before, but he has always been more interested in just eating. No surprise there. Well, one night we started to pray and I reached out yet again for his hand, and this time, he grabbed my hand, then turned and reached for his brother's hand! As J says, "It filled me up with 100 hearts!" (His way of saying our hugs, or love, fill him up.)

Always and adventure with our little guys, and it's getting more and more fun each day!

Christmas Celebration #3 2009

Our final Christmas celebration took us out to West Texas to Aunt Janai and Uncle Todd's. The four boys had a great time together - although with three of them being under the age of 2, picture taking wasn't exactly easy. Due to varying nap times, I only made it home with these three pictures of all of them together. And two of the four were crying. At least we have pictures, right?

The first photo. Our little L wasn't happy, nor was B-boy. Nana couldn't stop laughing through it all!

Nope, still not happy. Big J is getting bored...

That's it. No chance of four smiles, but I'm sure we'll love these pictures when all of these guys are older.

I wish I had a picture of both boys with their cars ears on, but only O thought it was cool to wear them. So cute, isn't he?

Since B wasn't into his ears, Aunt Nai decided she would model them. Little did we know this was all a ploy to distract us from a very exciting, sneaky announcement. The 5th McD grandbaby is on his/her way - due the end of July!!! WOOHOO!

Love this picture! Our oldest is so much like his daddy in so many ways...

The twins really took to their big cousin, and I know he loved playing with them.

L opened his presents the next morning - sleep was more important to him the night before. ;) Nana & Papa D bought all of the boys these precious stuffed wildcats with jersey's from Daddy & Aunt Janai's high school alma mater.

The best toy in the house - a mini-trampoline! L thought it was so fun to just sit and let the boys bounce him.

Don't you just wonder what is going through their sweet minds? We sure are blessed with these boys!

Christmas Celebration #2 - Christmas Day/Christmas in CS

Christmas Day 2009 at the McD house was a blessed one. Our boys received just what they asked Santa for and we enjoyed some quiet family time together at our house that day. As usual, L didn't want to pose, but here's one decent shot before the ripping of paper commenced -

Such cute boys...rarin' to go!

First things first - wonder what's in our stocking? Santa brought J his very own M1ckey Mouse watch all the way from WDW!

The boys also received some yummy fruit from Santa - oranges and pears. Santa was sweet to bring L one of the few treats he can eat with chocolate in it - oreos!

However, L decided the fruit looked a bit tastier to him...daddy quickly grabbed it and cut some up for him!

In the meantime, L decided the oreos would do.

While L was trying to figure out what he could eat, J was busy with his gifts. He just "KNEW" what this present was...

...MOUSETRAP!!! Santa came through once again. ;)

The boys had so much fun TOGETHER. J was a helpful big brother and explained L's presents to him. And of course, showed him how to use them!

L LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the present his brother gave him - a music playin', ball poppin' lawn mower. A huge hit and I don't even mind it, unless I'm on the phone. Those balls are loud when they pop and can't be muted. But the smile on his face when he is pushing it around is worth the noise!

We had our backs turned for a minute, only to realized L had pulled all of the oreos out of the box and had them laying all around him! Five oreos later, he was a little wired, but a happy boy!

Christmas Day PART TWO - The Annual McBird Celebration

We have had dinner with our best buds on Christmas evening for the past few years, and about 3-4 years ago started "traveling" somewhere. Last year it was Germany. We decided to keep it local this year, and had Christmas in College Station. But really, it should have just been dubbed "Christmas at the Chicken" since most all of our food was inspired by the famous location.

No meal at the chicken would be complete with a little sangria. We have an inside scoop - since my hubby worked there, he knows ALL the tricks on how the food, drinks, and most importantly, the TIJUANA FRIES are made. It was awesome.

The kids had a blast and got into the holiday spirit with a little dancing. I wish I had taken more pictures of the food (the fries...they were awesome and beautiful!), but I'll leave you with a couple more pictures of our sweet, crazy kiddos. It's such a blessing for us, and our boys, to have such wonderful friends.

Oh, and I must say we were sad the Flores family could not join us this year. They are usually out of town, but due to an impending arrival, weren't traveling this year. So for the FIRST time they were going to be with us! Well, Baby H had other ideas and arrived 3 days before Christmas. We love her and are so happy she is here (and is beautiful and perfect), but we did miss them!

Christmas Celebration #1 2009

This blog is part 1 of our Christmas celebration. We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends. Our boys had a total of three celebrations in three different cities.

First stop - a small, quaint town where a certain someone spent her first 18 years of life. We had such a great time with my parents, my grandmother and extended family. With eight fully walking, talking great-grandchildren now, Christmas Eve at Grandma M's house will NEVER be the same!!!

Our family picture for the season. The only one taken where we are all smiling and looking at the camera. At least there is one!

Papa & Grammy/Ghee with their four grandkids. We had to bribe L with daddy's blackberry to sit still. ;) Thanks again to my mom - the best cook who always makes the most amazing meals for all of these little mouths!!!!

The "EIGHT GREATS" as I have now dubbed them. Amazing that we have a picture with them all looking and smiling. They are the joy of my grandmother's heart!

The boys with their two of their fav people. So blessed that despite the age differences, they all love each other and get along great! (I only wish Syd lived closer since she is old enough to babysit now!!!!)

J with one of his many new games. Opening presents has become a speed sport for him these days.

"Why doesn't this fit?"

L had such a fun night with all of his cousins. Here he is running away from one of them...

The two BIGGEST monkeys. What else would you expect from 4&5 year old boys?

L is quite fond of both of his big cousins these days. He especially liked climing over C - who was a good sport and let him step all over her!

My sweet grandmother and boys. It always goes by too fast, but we are so thankful we were able to spend yet another holiday with her. What I love the most is that my grandfather is never far from our thoughts and hearts - so much so that J knows who he is and recognizes him easily by picture now. Being so young, he doesn't quite understand how much we all miss him, but he does understand how special he was and that even though he can't explain it, he loves Popi too.

One of J's favorite thing to do with Grandma M is play Uncle Wiggly. I think he is anxious to take some of his new games to play with her soon!

Happy New Year!

The two biggest blessings in our lives. :)

Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with an abundance of blessings!