Birthday Party!

My friend's little boy just turned 3! Little Sammy is definitely growing up. We got invited to his CARS themed birthday party. Since I haven't been able to catch up with Jennifer lately and the boys all-time favorite movie is CARS, we decided we HAD to go. Steve was out of town so I took the trio myself.

It was so nice! Jennifer had rented a CARS moon walk, had CARS stuff all over the place, and there was food galore. They have such a great set-up. She and her husband just sold their house and are living in her parent's garage apartment until their house is built. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind living there AT ALL either! It's on an acre of land and it is SO well kept. There's SO much room for the kids (and adults) to move around.

Here's a few snapshots from yesterday......

This is the birthday boy Sammy. I just can't tell you have well-behaved this little boy is. He speaks like an 8 year old....plain as day and at 90 mph. He is just adorable.

We ended up staying all afternoon. Cade and Jace were in heaven. You should've see all of the fun "boy" stuff that Sammy had. I kept asking them if they were ready to go and they would emphatically reply "NO, NO" and start shaking their heads. So I figured what's the difference in playing at someone else's house versus going home and playing there. BONUS that I got to have adult conversations with my friends!!

Brittney even met up with some kids her age and joined in the chorus for "NO, NO...I don't want to leave."All of the kiddos were exhausted after the long day we had. So my mission was accomplished!

Nightime Ritual

We have started a nightime ritual here at the Kearley household. Since we haven't really attended church on a regular basis, I decided about a month ago that the boys needed to start saying a nighttime prayer.

So after the boys' bath, we always get dressed...have one more drink before bedtime...brush our teeth...then we head off to their bedroom. They kneel down onto their football rug and put their precious little hands together to say "Now I lay Me Down to Sleep". They usually jibber jabber the words in the same rythmic way that I say it and repeat "AMEN " at the end.

Oh how it melts my heart!

Then they ask for "MO, MO"... so I say "one more time, then NO more" and we have to say it all over. Then kisses are blown all over the room to their baptismal crosses hanging on the wall and the crucifix hanging above their door...and they tell Jesus nigh-nigh.

Once I put Jace into his bed, then Cade....I hear from Jace "I lub you" ... "bye-bye". Cade gives me a big boy kiss (a kiss without his binky) and says "lo you". I have to wait for him to lay on his tummy so I can cover him up with his blanket and briefly rub his back. He loves it!

I can still hear them yelling these things out over and over as I'm leaving the room. I can't help but smile when I walk out the door.

I can remember when Brittney was their age. I had to tuck her in tight-as-a-bug-in-a-rug and ALWAYS rub her back.

Look at the picture I found while I was decorating for Easter this year. My how time has flown. It's hard to remember when it was just me, Steve and little Brittney.

How our life has changed! I can't imagine our family any other way now!

s th

Toddler Outings

Now that I'm working downtown, I don't have all my "normal" places to go and run errands during my lunchtime. So, I've become like every other mother in America and I've started to take the kids out in public more on the weekends.

Doesn't that sound weird? I mean for God's sake, they are 2 1/2 years old. They have been so sheltered in that time span. I've never been one to load up everyone in order to get things accomplished...that's kind of an oxymoron in our family. I've always had other options and could always arrange to go places without them just because it's such a hassle. But, I'm realizing that they are at an age where they can listen and understand. I have to give them a little pep talk in the van before we go into a store. It usually goes something like "now when we get into the store, there will be no wah-wah, ok?" I wait until I get a collective "no wah-wah" and then we're off. (They seem to understand this for some reason.)

This weekend, we went to gymnastics class (as usual), to the park and to The Home Depot. We were in the clear as far as tantrums go until we got to Home Depot. The shopping carts were right next to the riding lawnmowers. Jace had a cow because he wanted so badly to get on and "drive" them. I didn't really have the time to start something that could have gone on for hours so I refused to let him sit on them. He whined on and off throughout the whole shopping trip but it soon stopped when I bribed him with some lemonade at the check-out counter.

Here's some pictures of the boys enjoying the park. Cade loved the slide.


Jace has a new talent. He knows that Nana drives a Toyota Sequoia and he can spot those things like no one's business. But now, he can spot just the Toyota emblem on ANY kind of vehicle. He's constantly saying "there's Nana". I was really quite impressed that he paid that much attention to small details. Here he is spotting Toyota's in the park's parking lot. (don't you love the hand on the hip?)


I have one picture to leave with ... this is the best $1.97 x 2 that I've ever spent. The bubble tumbler entertained them all weekend and is still continuing to do so.

We're still ALIVE...barely!

Well, I survived my first two weeks of working downtown. Of course in my first week there, I had to leave in order to take the boys to the dr. They were sooo sick.

They BOTH had double ear infections, bronchitis, and some sort of parasite (their diapers were just disgusting...worse than the usual). They got a steroid shot, steroids to put into their breathing treatments twice a day, antibiotics, decongestants and cough medicines. I feel like they are being pumped up with so much medicine, but they are SOOO much better. We could tell a difference within a day.

Now, he wants us to go see the ENT about getting a 2nd set of tubes. I'm pretty bummed about this because I wanted to put them in swimming lessons. But what can you do??? I'll put that on the ever growing list of things to do.

Spring Break is this week also. My daughter is just a busy little bee. She planned herself a fun-filled week...spending the night with different friends and then with Granny, plus going to movies and inside entertainment places (skating and Main Event) because the weather has been horrible. Today was much better and absolutely beautiful. Maybe I'll actually be able to see her soon. She just comes and goes and I seem to keep missing her.

I have decided to have our family's Easter celebration at my house. So that will keep me busy getting the house and yard in order. I wanted to have it here so we only have one place to go that day. It gets exhausting going to each side of the family in one day PLUS having to allow time for a small nap. My kids are absolute bears without a nap. Speaking of naps, they have been sleeping for an average of 3 hours in the afternoon. Today it was almost 4. THEN they are still tired when it's time for bed. I'm not complaining by any means, I'm just saying. They must be going through a growth spurt.

Speaking of growing, Cade officially outweighs his brother by one pound. They weighed them at the doctor last week. Cade has been the lighter of the two since birth. I totally believe it too. Cade is the pig of the family and is always wanting a snack. He is cursed with my genes and has a shorter, stockier build to his body. Jace takes after Steve and has a longer torso. He just looks so much taller and leaner than Cade these days.

They are truly growing up.

My camera is ready, I just need to go and pick it up! So, no pictures for this post. It's just one more thing to do..........

Allergies Stink!

The weather in Houston right now is unpredictable. I will turn the air conditioner on before we go to bed b/c it's a little stifling inside. Then when I wake up in the morning and flip the switch over to the heater.

It's no wonder that we've all been a bit under the weather. Plus all of the flowers and trees are confused as to what season it is. They're already starting to bloom and thus the allergies start for me.

Cade had a sinus infection 2 weeks ago and Jace had yet another ear infection along with croup. They just finished one round of antibiotics (which is always lovely to their stomach and their poor little rear ends) and now they need another one. Cade could barely breath tonight because he could not stop coughing.

I honestly could open a pharmacy at my house. I have so many prescriptions for decongestants, albuterol, xeponex, cough medicine....you name it. I always call my doctor to inform him of the self-medicating I'm doing. He usually agrees with everything and I only have to take the kids in if it's beyond my medical capability such as an infection.

It's pretty sad that now the boys will sit totally by themselves to do a nebulizer treatment. They've been doing them on and off since they were 4 months old. (We actually own 3 breathing machines...sad, I know). I really think we need to test them for asthma.


Hopefully we'll get better soon. Next week is Spring Break! At least Brittney and Steve have Spring Break, I only wish I did.

This past weekend, we attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to see Hannah Montana and the Cheetah Girls. There was a new record crowd there....something along the lines of 73,000 people. Can you imagine the lines we had to wait in? It was insane!!!! They sold out of t-shirts....every single shirt they had in the arena was SOLD! We were lucky enough to at least get a Cheetah Girl shirt (even though they wanted Hannah Montana the most). I took Brittney and 2 of her friends, Lexi and Cassie. They had a GREAT time eating all kinds of junk, riding carnival rides and listening to their 2 favorite singing groups. The park and ride bus that we took in order to AVOID traffic had an hour and a half wait after the concert. We didn't get home until 11:45 p.m. Sunday night. Monday morning came along too quickly! But at least we enjoyed it.

I wish I had some pictures, but on the way to the rodeo my camera was acting up. I stopped by Best Buy and they had to send it in for repair. So, I didn't take a single picture.

I just love their little PJs. I wish I could wear them and look as cute!