January 6, 2014

Happy New Year! It's 2014 and the new year has brought a lot of firsts to our house!

First, it was Robert's first New Year. We celebrated with sparkling grape juice, whistles, cookies and a confetti popper at the late hour of 7pm. After putting William and Robert to bed, we settled in to watch the A&M game. Despite our attempt to go to bed early, our neighbors decided to set off fireworks from about 9 pm until after 1am. Not even 2 sound machines and a TV could cover up the sound of rattling windows. I was not a happy camper. Both boys ended up in our bed and no one slept.

New Year's day is the first day since Robert was born that all 4 of us stayed home all day. It was a wonderful day where we just spent time bonding as a family. Robert and William play so nicely together, and seeing Francis parent is a joy. It was a perfect break in our week.

Thursday, my neighbor Amy, her son, the boys and I all went to the Aquarium. They have even more animals than before. William got to pet an alligator, and Robert was actually awake to see most of the exhibits. It was a fun day with friends.

Friday was a little less fun. I wanted to take the boys shopping with me to get a dress for my sister's bridesmaids' luncheon or rehearsal dinner at Charming Charlie's. Well, when we arrived, the store was 15 minutes from opening. So I had a genius idea that I would pop in to target next door and get a present for Brandon's wedding while I was thinking about it (his wedding is in march). Well, that turned into a small disaster. I won't go into all the details, but first none of the kiosks to print the registry were working, and then when one finally did I spent an hour looking for a gift because either the item was out of stock or I plain old couldn't find it. When I finally got a gift and went to the front, the very unsympathetic cashier told me it wasn't actually the item on the registry. After she explained four times how to match up the bar code (something I already knew and had actually done), I asked for her to find someone else to help me find something on the registry. I started to cry when the woman told me she could, but waited for me to ask a second time before she did. The second target employee went to find something for me, but took all my other items with him. While I was waiting for him to come back (20 minutes I waited!), Robert woke up crying and William constantly asked me where his rubber duckie was (that was his prize for being so good). The woman behind me in line felt so bad for me that she bought me a chocolate bar and told me she hopes my day improves. You know it's bad when strangers feel bad enough that they buy you things. Well, I finally got checked out and went to Charming Charlie's but I was so spent that I don't feel like I really got what I wanted. We ended by having lunch at Chick-fil-a. The boys were so good, but it was a hard day, and not one I'd like to repeat. It could have been worse, but I'm so glad it wasn't.

Saturday, Francis, the boys and I went to Home Depot for one of their free workshops and William made a present for his granddad: a wooden calendar. It's pretty cute! From there we had Francis and William fitted for tuxes (for different weddings) before picking up lunch and heading home. After lunch, I cooked for the first time since Robert was born (yes I made it almost 4 months!). I made double batches of lasagna and Hodge Podge (a soup). I froze most of it in dinner size portions and refrigerated the rest. I figure if I do this once a week I'll have a  variety of food to choose from before long while only having to cook occasionally.  It will be great! When William woke from his nap, we ate an early dinner and took William (and Robert) to see his first movie: Frozen. William did great! He sat quietly, watched the whole movie and had a huge grin on his face. He did way better than most of the kids around us who were much older. Robert watched for a while,  only fussed once for a couple of seconds and then fell asleep for the duration of the movie. Couldn't have asked for more!

Sunday at breakfast, William said his first ever completely extemporaneous prayer. Usually he repeats what we say or kind of mumbles. He said, "Dear Jesus, bless to food. Help us have a good day. Thank you Jesus. Amen." I about cried. It was so sweet. Then that evening he prayed before bed. "Dear God, Thank you for mommy and daddy and Robert. I love them. Help me have a good sleep. Amen." My heart nearly melted into a puddle. I love my little guy and he's growing up so quick! Robert had a big day on Sunday as well. He went to his own class for the first time. It was the first time Robert has been in the care of someone other than family. He did great! he was a little fussy when I came to get him to nurse, but he went back just fine after eating. I'm a proud mama! Funny story, Robert was in the system at church from when I signed up for MOPS, but he had no picture next to his name. He was asleep when we arrived on Sunday so I didn't get his picture taken, just signed him in at the kiosk and went to his class. Well, the coordinator saw he had checked in but couldn't figure out why we had no photo so she went to his class. Well, he wasn't there! I had gotten him to nurse. She wondered if she lost a kid or if Robert was a phantom child in the system. Well, it all got quickly sorted, but I can tell he threw a couple of people for a bit of a loop. Gotta watch those Phillips' boys. They're tricky!

Yesterday and today we are beginning the slow process of getting back into a schedule. It's hard. but we're doing it. I took my bridesmaids dress to get it altered this morning and the boys were awesome. I can't get over how well behaved they are in public (I wish they were always so good at home!).

Robert is still Mr. Smiley, and he's growing so fast! The 9 month clothes are starting to "fit"  which probably means he won't be in them too much longer. I just got them out! He's been eating all the time, and not sleeping much, but he's happy!!! We put up the excersaucer yesterday and it had brought Robert a whole new level of enjoyment. This little guy loves to stand!

Well, time to get back to life. Tata!