RuralParkFarwell

Counting down the days until we move to town. We don't have a solid date set, but probably about two and a half weeks to go.

Today we went to our little 'park.' The kids had a nice time. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Mackenzie swung in both the big kid and the baby swing. I felt a bit sentimental. Seems like only yesterday she had her first swing venture there. Same with Zachy, although not quite as long ago.

My kids have spent there first years here. And, for that, I am grateful.

Here's some pictures from our day....

Good-Bye Little Park. Thanks for the Memories...

BulletPointMommaReporting

 I know, I said it last week, I am so neglectful right now. And you guys are as cute as ever. This whole moving thing has me preoccupied. Hugely.

Although I have been lagging on the blogfront, I have been posting and status updating on Twitter and Facebook and writing things down when I get the chance.

So, what I'm going to do, for today, is yet another cop out post full of bullet points. That's right, I'm totally a 'Bullet-Point Momma.' Better than nothing, right? And an easy way to post a bunch of happenings.

This, my sweet babies, is just a very little bit of what's been going on (and not necessarily in order...sorry!):

• mackenzie just made herself a PB&J with cheese. she says it's good. i'll take her word for it.
• okay. time to get grounded in reality. last week i was preoccupied with house buying. this week i need to be a mom again. zachy and mackenzie - who took over while i was 'gone' - will be very very disappointed I'm sure.
• thanks to my being completely distracted this last week, mackenzie has started to 'take care of'' zachy. that's the good news. and the bad news.
• you know it's bad when she asks if they can have juice. he starts yelling ju! ju! i say no. it gets quiet. five minutes later they both come walking up to me, laughing, with juice boxes.
• z  just saw his 1st medevac in the field behind us. he's excited. nothing like a plane landing in your backyard for a 20 mo old.
• mackenzie: is it spring? me: yes. mackenzie: does that mean the fever is going to come out? and the chipmunks?
• z can be fine and happy and the minute he hears my voice, it's all over..mommmmmyyyyyy.....
• i asked mackenzie if she knew another child's name from a different class at the totcollege and she said no, but she comes with a big sister like zachy does.
• zach and mackenzie are playing babies together. he's pushing the red buggy. she's bossing him around. too cute.
• i'm house hunting online and the kids, 1&3, are fending for themselves. this can't be good. better focus. on them that is.
• mackenzie: zach's my baby tinkerbelle. he's thrilled, i'm sure.
• m saw tinkerbelle at the mall. i've had to call her that since.
• vvzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs zzzzz z zs zszzzzzz z zzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzz (today's facebook status brought to you by the one and only zachy!)
•  woke up to several inches of snow. in april. in arizona.
• m: a nice mommy takes care of the babies and daddys. momma: who takes care of mommys? m: nobody.
• z is perfecting his ability to go boneless and have hulk-like strength when he doesn't want to do something.
• m, of course: i'm a good mommy. i don't yell. i don't argue. i say yes, yes, yes all day long.
• m, yet again: i will be kid while i have the cookie and then i can turn back into a baby. and she's serious. it's like she's always one step ahead.
• hearing daddy read 'pinkalicious' m...hilarious.
• momma just did her first if it's on the floor, it's mine speech. unfortunately, for me, i was talking about cut up pieces of paper.
• mackenzie is all about BFF saige these days. I asked her if she still plays with jojo. she said, 'yes, but sometimes she plays with other friends and sometimes I play with other friends. sometimes it's good to play with other friends.' is she really 3?
• before school on thursday, m said momma, i can't wait to go to school and play with jordan 'palvlenie'. she always hugs me momma. why do you think she hugs me?
• the other day i said the word dance in a sentence and zachy started to. on cue. just like that.
• zachy identify toots now. by name. and laughter.
• he also likes to make pretend toots on his hand. he's a boy. for sure.
• i asked dad one day if he had done something on purpose. he said he had not and m said, it was on accident. i was impressed.
• they have been way too cute lately. one night before bed they hugged. and hugged. and hugged.
• tonight before bed m said to z come on! they ran out of the room. then back in laughing. then back out. then back in laughing. for no real reason. just to have fun. no better reason, i suppose.

Hardly does you two justice. Things have been good lately. Really, really good. I'm excited for us to get to our new home and Mackenzie is as well. Life is in limbo as we wait to go. But we're doing alright. Better than alright.



Just call me Baby Tinkerbelle!

Momma Tinkerbelle with Baby Tinkerbelle.

Our last snow of the season...

....and at this house.

Sissy in Charge.

HomeAlone,Mommy&Z

Dad and Mackenzie have gone to the (hopefully) new house to meet with the electrician and then to run a couple of other errands while in town.

This means, Mommy and Zachy get some 1:1 time, which never seems to happen.

I thought I'd bullet point our time together. While I'm here I might change this blog's name to 'Bullet Point Momma.' Once we move, I'll get it together, I swear I will. But, for now, this is as much as I can do.

Here we go: HomeAlone,Mommy&Z!

• Eating breakfast: Cheerios, banana and cottage cheese. Zachy points to his mouth, says Mouth! and puts the food in it. Much better than throwing!
• When I got out the cottage cheese, which he LOVES, he said Bowl. I love seeing him learn to communicate.
• Rufus waiting at the door. Should I let him in? Yeah!, says Zachy. Now it's us and the dog.
• First he was chicken clucking, now he's gagging. I've got myself a totboy with sound effects.
• Asked him if he wanted juice, which I never do. He laughed, smiled, said JU! Now I'll have myself a sugared up totboy.
• He's got a poopy diaper, but would rather push the baby buggy around. I think he's thinking No sister to boss me around, I'm taking advantage! Whoot-Whoot!
• Now he's pushing the shopping cart AND the buggy. Hmmm...he's thinking....this is easier with sister.
• He just had me change his poopy. As soon as I started to eat he was ready. Go figure.
• Brought me diet cokes and said Mommy milk. Sad and funny at the same time.
• Couldn't get him dressed. Until he saw one of Mackenzie's 'dresses,' which is a sleevless shirt of hers, which looks like a dress on him. Now he looks like a really cute little girl.
• He just took my hand to dance. Ah, my sweet little boy who's dressed like a girl.
• Gosh it's quiet without the sister here.
• Okay, as cute as Zachy looks in a dress, sort of missing his cute little boy look.
• We're playing with balls and the playhut. And smushing our faces together through the playhut mesh, which makes him laugh, which is adorable.
• He tired of his dress and decided to put on a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. I have a little boy again. A cute one.
• Zachy wants IN his pack n play. Works for me. Time for Mommy to exercise.
• Onto to lunch.: Egg salad, crackers, cheese and peas. Golly he ate quite a bit.
• How 'bout some lunch time peek a boo?
• Naptime.
• And that concludes our morning. Together. Me and the best boy I know. In the world.

While I'm here...some of Zachy's favorite things right now are:

• Wow Wow Wubzy
• Dare I say he has recently found out about...Barney. What is it with the purple Dinosaur?
• Dancing. The other day I said the word Dance in a conversation and he started to.
• Laughing. He has the happiest laugh.
• Cottage Cheese
• Sand and Digging
• Zucchini! Who'da thunk? He devours it!
• Bikes - he really wants to figure out how to ride them.
• Trains - Choo Choo!
• His Gunky, of course.
• Running around (away) naked.

What'd I learn today after spending a good amount of time alone with my little boy? Really nothing I don't know. He's an easy going little guy. Fun to be around. A simple delight. He loves to laugh and joke around. He also love uggles, AKA snuggles. He's good at asking for what he wants, when you have the time to listen! He's amazing. And I am veryVeryVERY lucky.

Thanks for a nice time my sweet baby boy, whom I can hear chatting away in your crib.

WeAreMoving

I have been pretty absent the last week or so. I even missed a FotoFriday and 2GoodTuesday. I plan to - hopefully soon - catch up on some totmusings and happenings, but, for now, want to report that we are moving! Yay!!

We found our new home last Thursday and took another walk through over the weekend. Depending on the home inspection and closing and all that fun stuff, it could be ours within the next couple of weeks. WOW. It's happened strangely fast.

Mackenzie has had some mixed feelings. She has asked very intuitive questions about the important things like her toys and her room, wondering who will live with us there and who will live in her house now. She wanted to leave behind a few toys for the 'new' kids.

As much as she expresses some sadness about leaving the place that has been her home, she seems to be warming up to the idea of her new home and new room. When were there on Sunday, she and Zachy enjoyed running in and out of the house. They played in their rooms. She pretended to put him to sleep and then went into her room to sleep. They ran down the hall and stomped loudly on the hardwood floors.

Already, it feels like home.

I've learned with Mackenzie that, although she takes some time to warm up to new things, she is able to work through her feelings. She talks about them, acts them out in play and does a lot of rehearsing. Then she's prepared to move forward. It's amazing to watch, really.

Hopefully we'll have a few more visits prior to move in, as this will also help get them both used to their new home.

We talked to the current owners and the women's maiden name was Mackenzie. She's quite fond of both Mackenzie and Zachy. I think she's happy knowing that they will be living there, continuing to feed her birds and planting a garden where she had planted. Strange how things happen, but this feels right. The house, the timing, the whole thing.

So that is why I have not been too good lately at maintaining our blog, but I do intend to try to do a post or two a week during moving time, best I can. Cause you guys continue to be adorable, which means I need to keep up!

Exciting stuff! All of it.

Momma'sBirthday

Momma turned a year older yesterday.

Earlier in the week I thought it'd be a good idea to prepare Mackenzie for 'the day.' Especially since she is really into birthdays. Well, not really birthdays in general, just her birthday.

Accordingly, her response was not all that favorable.

You mean you get a birthday first? I want a birthday. Not fair. Why you get a birthday first? I not going to draw you anything. Here (handing me a piece of paper), you draw me something.

So, I did. I drew her a lovely picture. Lovely for someone who is artistically challenged that is.

Write Mommy Loves Mackenzie on it.

So, I did.

And she hastily scribbled me something in return.

There. That your birthday picture.

The following day in the car, Dad tried talking to her about my upcoming 'day.' From the sound of his report, her response hadn't toned down much.

Then came the actual morning. It was a work/school day. Close to departure time, she came running in Happy Birthday Momma!

Awww...made my day. She even handed me another hastily scribbled picture.

As I started to make my way out the door, she started to cry. I want to be at your happy birthday party at work. I explained to her that they don't really do that. She was unconvinced and still upset as I drove away.

When I got home from work, she and Dad were in the bedroom. She ran out and yelled back to him We better hurry for the Happy Birthday Surprise. Then looked at me and said Stay here. We cutting something in the bedroom.

I cannot begin to tell you how cute she looked. The idea of me having a birthday had grown on her and she was so sweet about now wanting to orchestrate the 'surprise.' Makes me smile.

Meanwhile, Zachy came over and gave me a hug. Just because he does. He doesn't know what a birthday is yet. Although he does sort of know the song, since Mackenzie sings it often. To herself.

Mackenzie brought out my present. With a Huge smile on her face. She hugged me. Told me she loved me. Then walked away and asked me to put Wow Wow Wubbzy on TV.

Before bed, Zachy went up to give Mackenzie a hug. She told him she loves him. They fell down. Then did it all again.

I couldn't ask for anything more. It was an absolutely perfect Birthday.

FotoFriday4.8.11

We had some good fun last weekend. Friday we spontaneously drove into town, since it was a beautiful Spring like day (despite the snowstorm headed our way as I type) and Sunday we went the other way, down the hill, to our favorite zoo.

So, here's some Fotos from last week....

Mackenzie at the square.

Racing with her pretend friends.

Zachy pointing at a firetruck.

Some walker by-ers were heard commenting on his extraordinary cuteness.

On Saturday, Mackenzie did some Yoga.

Zachy helped out by watering bricks and dirt.

Gotta help those weeds out, don't we?

Sunday at the Zoo...

Mackenzie and Zachy on the Boat Ride.

(With a partial Dad in the background.)

Mackenzie on the train.

Zachy was quite upset that he didn't make it on the first time.

Of course he was. He LOVES trains.

He saw it from the playground area and tried to run after it.

So, we waited for the next one.

He had a great time.

Here we are waiting...patiently.

Mackenzie enjoying a picnic lunch.

The boys going down the slide.

Zachy's the Winner!

Pointing at...what else...the train.

Zachy Foto of the Week:

In the Petting Zoo, with quite a spring in his step.

And a really adorable expression on his face.

 Mackenzie Foto of the Week:

She LOVED the Petting Zoo and was hilariously cute it in.

She tried to use her mediation skills with the animals and reprimanded them for fighting over food.

Seen here expressing her frustration over their lack of cooperation.

As usual, the day ended on the Merry Go Round.

Pure Joy she has on the Merry Go Round.

Makes me want to cry every time.

Even Zachy enjoyed it.

Despite still being a little unsure.

It's not a Train, after all!

And so concludes this edition of Friday Fotos.

WordyWednesday

I feel bad that I don't seem to have much time to make more thoughtful posts. But here's yet another running ramble, which will hopefully cover a bit of this and that and some musings. Here we go..

• Last night after we got home, Zachy walked right to the laundry room, right to where the hand vac is, right to where the detachable hose is, and got it out. To play with.
• Next he got the sweeper. He's a tot of cleaning appliances.
• Tonight when I was vacuuming, he got his toy one and vacuumed right alongside. He's my Helper Boy.
• I called him my Helper and Mackenzie promptly showed up from the other room. She proceeded to hold the vacuum cord for me. Until I told her it was okay if she wanted to go back and play cars. She did.
• On the way home last night in the car, Mackenzie said Mommy I missing Daddy. So I said, Great! He can lay down with you tonight. At bedtime she said, Mommy, I not missing Daddy anymore. You can lay down with me. I lucked out, yet again.
• I not the crabbiest! Zachy is. We are taking turns. You the luckiest. I guess that's one way of looking at it.
• About a friend at school: Oh Audrey. She's the cutest!
• Zachy points to his bum and tells me when he goes poo poo now. Consistently! And even 'before' sometimes.
• After accomplishing a new feat, Mackenzie said, Look Momma. I learning!
• Zachy rode his 'car' up to me, crashed into me, then said, Beep Beep!
• I gave Zachy a bath the other night. While wiping some water up from the floor, next thing you know, water all over me. Zachy was using a cup to throw water over his head and it landed on me instead. While the first time was an accident, I'm pretty sure the other four were not.
• Zachy's a boy. All boy. The other day he tooted while sitting on my lap. This made him laugh. Hard.
• I think he's making you fun in reference to Zachy running away with playdoh, laughing at me while I chased him. Her way of saying I think he's making fun of you? Or maybe she really meant he was making me fun. As in otherwise I'm not.
• I don't have an issue today, but Zachy does.
• Another Zachy boy moment: He likes to pretend to gag up food. When I say *likes* I mean *likes* as in he does it and finds it amusing.
• He also likes to pretend to toot on people now.
• Mommy just did her first If it's on the floor, it's mine speech. Unfortunately for me, I was talking about Mackenzie's cut up pieces of paper.
• And he likes to blow toot noises out of his mouth. If there's a silly noise to be made, he likes it. If he can figure out how to do it, he does it.
• Mackenzie used the phrase 'best friend' today. She was talking about Saige. And Jordan S. Do kids have best friends at three?
• I almost caught Mackenzie trying to push Zachy yesterday. When she saw me, she, with the attitude of a teenager, said What? I was just trying to move him out of my way like this (demonstrating gentle push). Nice try.
• On Monday, Mackenzie called me into the playroom. She whispered I just wanted to tell you I love you, but I'm not gonna talk to you.
• Today before Zachy was going down for nap, Mackenzie said But who will play Kindergarten with me? Zachy's my best friend.
• Sometimes Dad calls Zachy 'Fred.' It's like their own little thing.
• And sometimes he calls Mackenzie 'Chowder Head.' She doesn't like it. She says, I NOT CHOWDER HEAD. I MACKENZIE.
• Before I put Mackenzie to sleep tonight, she sang our Good Night song to Zachy. Sweetness.
• Sleep tight my little ones. I'll miss you guys tomorrow. Like crazy.

And so concludes my last day of being a Mommy in her 'early' forties. Said it before and I'll say it again, I'm one Lucky Momma!

2GoodTuesday

Generally speaking, things are good. Busy. Busy. Busy. Good. Good. Good.

Here's 2GoodThings from this week, both from today:

1. I got to pick up the kids from totcollege. Mackenzie, Saige and Jordan S. were playing. I watched them run around together, all laughing, all engaged. Mackenzie saw me, screamed, and then hid with Saige under the table. Jordan S. quickly joined them, which meant I got to pretend I couldn't see any of them. I remember Mackenzie and Saige as babies sitting at the table in the baby room. Now they are little girls. Playing together. Using their imaginations together. Learning to be friends together. And with new friends, like Jordan S. Absolutely Awesome.
2. Zachy, Zachy, Zachy. He was sitting on the slide, 'talking to a teacher,' pointing at the other teacher, who was blowing bubbles. Look of total contentment on his face. When he saw Mackenzie and I, he ran over, with his arms out, smiling like only Zachy can. After greeting us, he walked to the door confidently, like he owns the place, and said, Let's go! Again, Absolutely Awesome.

CrazyCute

Mackenzie and Zachy have been CrazyCute together lately.

Increasingly, they play together, semi-cooperatively, albeit with somewhat different understandings as to what exactly they're doing. Over the weekend they were playing wheelbarrow together. She would pull, he would push. They would put stuff in. She was playing 'road construction.' Who knows really what he was playing. I guess he was playing the 'push the wheelbarrow and put stuff in' game. Oh yah, that one.

While they've always had their 'moments,' the last few days they've been in a groove and let me tell you, when they get going, they're insane! Earlier she took his hand and said, Come with me Zachy. I wanted to add, To the dark side.
'Puppet show'  has been a recent favorite for both of them. A tent is popped up, puppets are distributed. From there what happens is up in the air. 'Puppet show' usually ends with them hysterically rolling around in the tent until it is sort of twisted all around. The puppets? Who knows what happens to them.

On our way home from the zoo yesterday, every time I spoke, Mackenzie would tell me to Stop talking. Who imitated her? Zachy, of course. She found this funny, which meant she hammed it up, which meant so did he, which meant every time I opened my mouth I had her yelling Stop talking in unison with him uttering three syllables sounding sort of like that.

Last night after we got home Mackenzie ran and pretended to fall down. She then fake cried. Zachy thought this was absolutely hilarious. He proceeded to mimic her. Next thing you know the two of them are on a roll, literally. Running, falling, fake crying and rolling around laughing. How cute is it? Indescribably.

Tonight they decided to gang up on me with playdoh eating. Zachy started this one. He put some in his mouth, made sure I knew, then took off running, laughing. Mackenzie was amused by watching me struggle to catch him, so once I finally confiscated his playdoh, she lured him over to her playdoh. From there they successfully pulled off a divide and conquer type maneuver. Funny. To them. Not me. Okay, it was.

Earlier they hung out in the pack and play together. Mackenzie yelled out, Look Zachy is snuggling with me! And he was. I melted. That's the first time they have really snuggled up together. Then he sat on her, starting off another silly sibling goof fest.

I love this. I love watching them have fun together, even it means they're creating havoc together. I love the sweetness of their developing relationship. When the three of us were out walking today, I said to Mackenzie, Tell me something you like about Zachy. She replied with, I love him. He plays with me.

M.ParkingCars

As we have discussed, Mackenzie likes to park cars. It's a long standing favorite at this point. It helped her through potty training. As much as she likes playing it, it also seems to be relaxing for her. Over the last year or so, the game has evolved. When she plays, she talks the whole time. Carrying on back and forth conversations between the cars.

This morning, it sounded something like this...

I wanna park by Teddy's car. Teddy is right over there. Oh no! Teddy is not going to park by me. That's someone else's car. I'm parking here instead. Really close. Yay! I see Teddy over there. The blue car. Oh no! That kid. Yes I am. I'm parking. What about right there? Oh, okay. Bye! Do you want to park next to me by Teddy. How about right there? I think it's going to be a better day tomorrow. But why are we not parking by Saige? Mackenzie wants to park by Saige. She went bye bye with her Mommy Daddy.

(Even at the hotel. It's definitely 'her'game.)

FotoFriday4.1.11

I still have to complete the WeekendWithGrammie series and post Day Three,  but today I am going to go back to the traditional FotoFriday and posting a few photos from the last couple of weeks.

Zachy's second ice cream cone.

His first was the day before, when Grammie watched them.

Notice how well he manages to hold it.

You'd never know he was a food thrower.

A cold day.

I spent 45 minutes blowing up the jumpolene.

Nobody jumped.

Mackenzie played Baby.

Which she does anyway.

And then doctor.

Fast forward a week or so and it's sunny and warm.

So, we did some digging.

And rock collecting.

In the dry creek, or limitless sandbox, behind our house.

Zachy picked up a rock and said, 'Rock!'

I love when I find out he knows new words.

Serious stuff.

Rock collecting became a bit of a competition.

For the older one anyway.

From our day at the circus.

Armed with her souvenir coloring book as well as popcorn and cotton candy leftovers.

Busy in the kitchen.