Happy Birthday Ben! (Late)

Well, here it is. Finally - Ben's birthday blog from TWO months ago. I've been waiting for the pictures from Jamie - she's busy.

All Ben wanted for his b-day was a party with "burgerdogs" - hot dog-shaped burger (Ben's idea), and a cake with Pop Rocks. Easy enough, right?
Last year Jamie and I threw Ben and Adam a surprise party for their 30th b-days, so we decided they should have their parties together again.
We had it at the pool so we would have lots of space for grilling and room for the kids to run... and so our houses would stay clean.
The party was great. Our friends were awesome and everyone had fun. Afterwards we got in trouble for not reserving the pool. IN FEBRUARY! Seriously, no one goes to the pool in February. Jeana was such a trooper and totally got in a fight with her crazy, power-hungry, HOA-committee-memeber-and-proud-of-it neighbor. She was awesome... so was Scott.

Here are some pictures of the blessed event:

The happy couple:

And here we are:

Here are Jamie and me with our cakes. Mine gave me all kinds of drama and I ended up making it into a trifle, but it was yummy.

The families:

Here is Ben opening his present - the coolest present I have ever given him. It dates back to Christmas 2007. When I was driving Ben to the airport to go back to Austin, we drove past this old lot that used to be a junk yard. On the fence were several Beware of Dog signs. Ben took one in 2005 and left it for a coworker in Santa Fe as a Christmas gift. He told me to get him one because he wanted another one. Riiight, I thought. As my week went on in Albuquerque, I told my mom about Ben's wish. She wanted to help me grant this wish, so one night we put Lucas in bed and left Lisa in charge. My Dad was upstairs watching TV and knew nothing about what we were doing, and still has no idea (surprise, Dad!). We headed down the road with winter attire and wire cutters and got ourselves a sign for my man. We just pulled over to the side of the road and I cut the wire while my mom was the lookout. I passed the sign through the car window to my mom, then I said, "well, the car looks fine to me!" while inspecting the tire, and I got back in the car. It was the most fun we've had together in ages -- totally awesome bonding experience. Ben was SO happy. If you think I'm a bad person, that's fine. But just so you know, they are turning the lot into a shopping center. The signs are really ancient and bleached out. There are no dogs there. We were really doing a community service to rid the street of lies about rabid dogs.

One happy boy:

Happy Birthday, Baby. I hope you enjoyed your burgerdogs and Pop Rock cake. You're worth every minute I spent rolling raw hamburger into logs. I Love you.

The Week in Review

Just wanted to get some blogging off my plate before Lucas and I leave town for a week. Here's our week in review:

Lucas enjoys eating... this day he enjoyed wearing his hat, too.Lucas loved when Ben was putting up the crown molding - when else can he play on a ladder?

This week Lucas got all the plastic spoons and forks out of the drawer and has played with them every day. By "playing" I mean sorting.

Here's a video of Lucas eating with several spoons:

Lucas got some of our food storage out and decided it made a good seat.

Then he took a little rest on the counter.

Lucas has moved on to reading my cookbooks. I guess he's bored with his books.

And finally a funny video of Lucas pulling Ben's arm hair. He does this every time Ben reads to him. I guess it's kind of comforting.

The Lame Game

Just an FYI for anyone who plans on sending me awesome gifts, cash, checks, and shoes in the mail - get it insured or with delivery confirmation. Lots of people in our neighborhood have been complaining of missing things from their mail. I gave the post office and mail man the benefit of the doubt, but now I'm ticked. I am missing a check for $50 as well as my friend's wedding invite (hand written - looked like it could be a b-day card, perhaps). Now how is she gonna know if I want chicken or beef? I could also be missing another friend's invite, but I don't know if she's sent them out yet. Grrr. The post office in charge of our neighborhood is the king of ghetto, so the problem could be there, or in our 20 year-old mail man. We'll see....

Stick to the Schedule!

Last night we learned the importance of the routine. Poor Ben didn't get home from work until Lucas was getting his teeth brushed and just about to be put into bed. Ben really wanted a few minutes of quality time with Lucas (Lucas sleeps until 9:00, so he doesn't see him the the morning), so he read him a few books. Reading, however, is not part of the after-bath routine.
The routine goes:
dinner
run around with Dad clapping behind Lucas
play (this can include reading)
bath
brush teeth
prayers
bed
Lucas loves reading and it generally gets him all hyped up. We relearned this last night, as Lucas stayed up until 11:00 screaming and being generally unpleasant. Poor Ben was supposed to be working on a project for work. He ended up going back to work at 6:30 this morning to get it finished. Ben felt really bad that he messed up the routine, but now that it's over I can say it was worth it since he got a few minutes with Lucas out of the day. I don't know if he would say the same...

UPDATE: Ben says it wasn't worth it. I agree, after dealing with a cranky boy all day.

Lucas Sings - Rehab

Here's a duet by Lucas and me. It's our own version of the Amy Winehouse song, Rehab. I'm embarrassed to post my voice on the world wide web, so please be kind and remember your voice gains 10 pounds on video.

Wendy's Baby Shower

Saturday Danielle and I had a baby shower for Wendy at my house. Wendy is having a little girl in June and we are all very excited. The fiesta was a hit. The food was yummy and the company was better. Thanks everybody for coming! Thanks to Jamie for dressing to match the table decor, and thanks to Wendy for getting knocked up (in a good way)!

Spring Photo Shoot

We (I) decided to copy the Wayes and take Lucas to the field of bluebonnets at IBM last weekend for his first flower photo shoot. It's pretty hard to photograph Lucas because he's always on the move. Most of the time he was running away from us and towards the parking lot. Finally we put him in a tree and that kept him still. I think if we ever want to get great shots it will take at least four people with cameras at every angle. These four people will need to be able to run backwards, sideways, and have great agility. Here are a few of our shots. You can see the rest here.

Chairs, Chairs Everywhere!

If there's one thing I've learned from Lucas, it is to make sure you have all similar objects in groups or stacks throughout the house. After sorting said objects, move the stack or group to another location where you can sort it again. It usually works best to move one item at a time to the new location, even if the item is as small as a magnet. Some good places to put things are on Mom's back if she's laying on the floor, on various couch cushions, or behind the TV.
Here's a video of Lucas sorting some larger items:

Lucas the Baker

Lucas loves to sit on the counter while I cook these days. It's a little bit of a problem once in a while, but he really likes it. The picture is from whenwe made whipped cream for our Easter cake. And here's a video of Lucas enjoying some mint frosting from the brownies we made Friday.

Sea World

My sister, Carrie, and her daughter, Madison, came to visit last weekend. We went to Sea World in San Diego on Friday with Lucas (Ben went to work). We wanted to leave at 8:00, so I knew we would leave around 9:00. After packing food, getting Lucas ready, leaving once, forgetting something and leaving again, we were officially on our way by 9:40.
We made it through the gates before 12:00, just an hour after opening. We went to the Sea Lion show first and sat in the top of the splash zone. After all, how far can a sea lion splash? Well, we weren't thinking about the huge jets of water they would splash at us. Being the awesome mom that I am, I sacrificed my body for Lucas (and Carrie b/c she was holding him). Lucas still cried after being splashed, but got over it quickly.

Then we headed to the sea lion exhibit where we could buy fish and feed the sea lions. Lucas wasn't a big fan of the sea lions here because they were so noisy:

After feeding the sea lions we ate lunch (after C and M waited in a horrible line) and we headed to the Shamu show, Believe. Carrie scored us some sweet seats in the gargantuan stadium. It was bigger than any other Shamu stadium I've seen. This show was really "produced" and less personal than they used to be back in the day, but it was still cool, of course... just a little cheesy. We missed how they used to just talk to the crowd and be less rehearsed. Now it's supposed to be all inspirational. Like we really believe the trainer wore a Shamu tail necklace as he was growing up and today chose to give it to the little girl in the audience. Anyhow, it was cool and Lucas enjoyed the show... as well as the birds in the sky during the show.
Finally it was time for the rides. Maddie and Carrie went on the inverted roller coaster, Great White, while Lucas and I watched behind the scenes at the ski show. Then Carrie took over and I went on the coaster with Maddie. It was great. I blacked out a couple times, which was new for me. Low blood pressure maybe??
Carrie got Lucas to finally take a nap at 3:30 and I stayed with him while they went on the other roller coaster. This time, I went up the exit and waited for them to be done. Then I just hopped right on the roller coaster and rode it again with Maddie. There are things you can do as a parent so you don't wast your whole day in line - good to know!

After the rides we ran to the dolphin show, which was Lucas's favorite. There were divers, watter ballerinas, as well as dolphins and a beluga. It was like Cirque du Soleil meets Flipper. Lucas was a big fan of the performing people. He was also a fan of the guy next to him. Carrie was holding Lucas and he kept putting his hand on the guy's leg. It was really funny.

After that show we ran to see the horses and then got booted from the property before we could sneak in to see the sharks. Our womany charms didn't even help get us past security - we were a little upset. We finally made it to the freeway after getting a little lost, we stopped for some Chick-fil-A, sat in dreadful traffic, and made it home by 10:00. Lucas was a true champ. He stayed awake the whole way home and didn't even cry. When we got home we had two tired kids.

That night Lucas slept like a champ, too. What a good boy!
Thanks Carrie and Maddie. We had a blast!