So HaPEE!

In all of the excitement of our night last night, I completely forgot to share some other exciting news. Actually, far more exciting than meeting some famous dude! Talan peed in his potty for the first time!!! We've had a mini pooper in our master bathroom for months. Every night our bedtime routine is to strip him down for his bath but before he gets in he sits on the potty and we cheer him on, begging him to pee in it. He usually sits there, grunting and pretending to push, stands up, slams the top down, and demands to be picked up and put into the tub. But last night he sat down, grunted and pushed, and low and behold he peed! I ran downstairs to grab a handful of M&M's and we threw a little party in the bathroom while he bathed. So exciting! I'm sure it was a fluke but who cares? My go-to words when describing Talan are "a mess". And he really is a little mess. I snapped some photos of him after having a snack (yogurt). There have to be two spoonfuls on his mouth and cheeks (not to mention what he left on the table, chair, and floor)! I sure do love my little mess of a man.

Meeting Mouth

We had such an AWESOME night tonight! Down the street from us is a movie theater called Hollywood Palms. It's a theater that serves dinner and drinks (Florida peeps, it's a Suds-n-Cinema with an upgrade). They do a ton of special events and this month we decided to partake. The special guest was Corey Feldman. Throughout the day they screened four of his movies; Licensed to Drive, Stand By Me, The Lost Boys, and The Goonies. When I saw that The Goonies was playing I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Reese loves that movie! It comes on cable TV often so it's been saved in our DVR for over a year and she watches it over and over. So tonight, off we went to the theater. We stood in the first of two long lines waiting to meet "Mouth". When we got to the front of the line I wasn't sure if Reese would play the shy card or if she'd ham it up. She did not disappoint! She walked right up to him, with confidence, and shook his hand (meanwhile Kevin's face turned three shades of red and my bottom lip was quivering so bad that I could barely speak or even smile). He went on and on about how cute she was and picked her up and sat her on his lap. She told him that Goonies was her favorite movie and went on to chat with him about the funniest scenes (all with him in them) in the movie. He was so sweet to her and spent a few minutes with her as opposed to the 20 seconds he'd shared with hordes of people before us. We stopped long enough to snap a photo and then it was time to stand in the second line, the one to get in the movie. We found our seats and waited. Finally it was show time. Corey came in to do the intro. On his way out of the theater he walked by us and of course Reese did her best to get his attention. It worked! He stopped, gave her a high five, and said a quick hello (despite the boys trying to push her arms out of the way!). I've seen the movie at least 287 times. This time, somehow, was the very best. I loved every second. I don't know if it was the big screen, or the sound quality, or the fact that Corey Feldman was there.....no, I think I know exactly what it was. It was the permagrin on my baby girl's face and how she'd turn to us every time something funny happened to make sure we caught it and were laughing with her. Oh what a night.

Slip Slidin' Away

For months Reese has been asking us to take her ice skating. Yesterday was a teacher workday so the kids were out of school. We took advantage and granted Reese her wish. The last time I was out on the ice was 16 years ago, at age 18. I was reminded yesterday of my age. It was crazy tough out there and my feet were aching after two laps. But enough about me! Reese, the only one who mattered, had a ball. She did get off to a rocky start but once we got through the initial 20 minutes of groaning and complaining she got the hang of it and had a blast. I finally get the camera I've been wanting for years and then forgot it. So these measly iPhone photos will have to do: I had to retire after 20 minutes and finally conned Kevin into suiting up and giving it a try. He only got this far before turning back: I'm not kidding. And I'm also not kidding when I say I was laughing harder than I have in a very, very long time. He was physically unable to let go of his death grip on the doorway. Hilar! And while we're on the subject of hilarity, Talan was in a fit of giggles over an app I have on my phone called "Talking Tom". It's a cartoon cat that repeats everything you say in a high pitched voice. He was so cute, belly laughing over and over and over again. Here's a short video clip: AND, I have to wish Joshua & Jeffrey a very happy birthday. Twenty nine years ago today I was crying my eyes out after hearing that I didn't get the sister I was hoping for. I didn't know it then but I know now that instead of a sister I got something much better....TWO brothers that double as my best friends. I am so lucky to have you both. I love you! xoxo

Proud Mama Moment

Remember back in November, when I shared a video of the dance Reese choreographed for the contest at her school? Well, we just found out this week that Reese was selected to move on and compete at the district level. Of the 80 submissions, only 11 students from her elementary school get to move on. She will be honored at an awards ceremony at the end of this month. I'm so proud of her. It's such a great lesson for her as well.....hard work pays off. Sometimes you just have to give it a try because you never know how it's going to turn out. She was so discouraged in the beginning and thought that it wasn't good enough to submit. When we told her the news I thought she was going to jump out of her skin with excitement. She was beaming. So exciting!

Rudolph

Yea, yea, yea. I know Christmas is over. But apparently our little Rudolph didn't get the memo. Poor kid is an accident waiting to happen. He had several this week but this was the worst. He slipped and crash landed with a Lego in his hand. The Lego is what caused the "burn" on his nose. Three days later and it's still not looking much better. He also has a small bruise underneath his right eye. You can see a faded version of that in the photo as well. I'm sure you've all been missing Reese's weekly fashion statements so I did snap a photo mid-week. Six going on twenty six. On Friday we came up with an impromptu dinner and decided that it would be fun to eat in the living room off of trays. As a kid I used to LOVE those nights. Kevin whipped up some fried rice using leftovers from the week. Rice? Probably not the best idea for our dinner on the couch night. In the hands of a (almost) 2-year-old it is a complete and total nightmare. I'm still picking up rice two days later. Oh well, it was worth it....lots of fun! He giggled through the entire meal. Saturday night was our Dinner Club. Once again, it didn't disappoint. The food was awesome and the company was perfect. The night always seems to get away from us and we're always out later than we'd planned. I guess that proves my point - it's just a very fun filled night. Our dish this month was dessert. I made a red velvet brownie with cream cheese icing and white chocolate shavings. At the last minute Kevin decided to whip up some homemade white chocolate ice cream. It was fantastic....although I was so fun I could only fit one very small bite. I made up for that this morning and went in for a piece somewhere around 8:30am. And now, the weekend is over. I might kick myself for saying this later, but I'm actually looking forward to the upcoming 4 day weekend. I know we just had two weeks off but the down time has been fabulous. Talan isn't the only one who likes to lounge around in jammies!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

All of that practicing in the basement really did help! After putting Talan down for his nap this afternoon, Reese and I took off and made our way to the roller rink. The amount of improvement between last year and this year is insane! She rocked it out there and was flying on her new Rollerblades. I couldn't partake because I'm still recovering from a wonky massage I got last week. I've barely been able to move for a week now because the woman somehow tweaked my ribs or a muscle very close to them. Who does that happen to? I'll tell you who.....me. My luck. I am still trying to figure out all of the settings on our camera. The action shots are really hard to capture without coming out fuzzy. It'll definitely take some practice. She was so cute out there and had such a great time. And I loved every second of sitting and watching her. What a great way to spend our last afternoon of winter break. Tomorrow it's back to school and back to the daily grind.

Happy New Year!

We had a fantastic night last night. Dinner was amazing! We only got one semi-decent photo of the two of us: After dinner we met up with friends and rang in the new year and we were home by 12:15 (although we stayed up watching TV and chatting until 2). Talan had us up at 7 so we were pretty tired all day today but we hadn't planned on doing much of anything anyway. The only must today was our traditional January 1st meal; black eyed peas and cabbage rolls. Health & wealth baby! I have a really good feeling about this year. New year, new goals, new attitude! Happy 2011!