Do you know the muffin man?!

 
Our house is gagsville for anyone not related! All of my kids have some sort of food nickname..I have no idea where it came from but I love it! It has gotten pretty out of control. In particular...the baby of the family. I have been singing these songs and saying the nicknames so often...I have taught everyone in the house to speak this way on a daily basis. I have even caught Jason talking to the muffin man in his' baby talking voice'...oh if only I could record him! Of course, I think it's pretty darn sweet!!

Declan is rarely called Declan....His nicknames are
Muffy Man
Angel Muffy pie
Muffy cakes
Muffy poo
and the list goes on.  The central theme is muffin so we all sing the muffin man song to him at least 10 times a day!

It is too darn cute to hear Sawyer chime in!


Feeling nauseous yet?

Jungle Jace

Thursdays are  my volunteer days in Jace's classroom. I love to go back into the teaching world, help Jace and his friends, and of course have to opportunity to catch up with his teacher, who happens to be one of my best friends!

This past Thursday was 72 and sunny. Not a typical day in Columbus ,Ohio mid-march. I decided to keep my babysitter a little longer and surprise Jace after my day in his class and take him to his favorite place on Earth....the zoo!

We started out by grabbing food at his favorite place....(aside from daddy's of course), Chipotle!

After lunch we made our way across town to the zoo.

 On a side note, I couldn't get over how strange it was to not buckle anyone in a carseat, carry a diaper bag, or unload a stroller!

We started out by getting the map...which he knows the zoo forwards and backwards but loves the technicality of planning out our trip (typical first child).  We had to find a bench close by and sit and analyze the map together to figure out where we were going to head first.

He decided the South America side...because he loves penguins best...this week!

Presenting the puffer fish

Jace tells me all of the penguin facts.

•                                                            We love those kangaroos

                                     I can't even count how many 'elephant' poses we have through the years!

                                                           After a couple hours...time for a snack!

                                                      One self portrait with my little man!

It was such a great day! Jace is such a joy to bring to the zoo. He loves to see and learn about all of the animals and it amazes Jason and I how much information he retains. I am looking forward to many more 'mommy and me' days at the zoo this spring!!

A is for....ADORABLE!

Ok, maybe I am slightly biased but come on....look at this face....and new teeth!!!:)

Never underestimate the "sneakiness"

It's a typical morning. I'm in the laundry room folding another heap of clothes and Sawyer is playing with his choo choos in the living room. In between the rattling of the washer, I hear something from the other room.

"Sawyer, what are you doing?"
"Just playin' mom."

There's the red flag. "Just" playin. I walk to the living room to find this

No Sawyer

                               I walk to the family room, only another 10 steps away!! Here, I find this!


                                               Notice the half eaten FROZEN pancake?!?



"Sawyer??!?" My voice raised ever so "mommy dearest-ish"

Lots of thoughts of where he could possibly be are running through my head at this point!

"What mom? I'm here"
The sneaky little monster was "just playin" his choo choos....how in the world did he sneak back there..

Oh his teen years will be a real treat.... I assume!!!

Birthday Boy!

March 5, 2011

Our little guy turned 3 today! The day started with Jace going downstairs at 6:45am to turn on his toons only to be surprised to find the kitchen decked out in Lightning McQueen and birthday presents wrapped on the counter. As Jason, the two little guys, and I are still snoozing away he runs upstairs to alert Sawyer of the fun waiting for him downstairs. Thirty more minutes would have been nice!! :)

Nevermind the z's,  Sawyer was ready to tackle the gifts. Jason and I grabbed the baby and the camera and followed Sawyer downstairs. The look on his face was not captured on camera but I won't forget the look of joy when he saw his gifts! His eyes lit up and he started dancing around the kitchen. It was so much fun to watch.


After opening his big gift, the geo trax Cars set...daddy got to work and set up the track. The next three hours were spend playing. I made his favorite breakfast....Cinnamon Rolls!

Noon rolled around and it was time to party!! We  hosted the party this year at KDB ( short for kitchen, den, and bar). It is a grill. bar, and gigantic arcade. We rented out the sports room where we all were able to hang out, eat some food, open presents, and enjoy some cake.  Then the kids were off to play...with kids I include Meghan, Justin, and Matt!!:) They all had a ball!!

Kate and Cody brought over Sawyer's most favorite cars character cake...who would that be? Well, Sally of course.

We were able to spend quality time with Grandma Eloise, Aunt Bev, Kiki, Matt, Erin, Meg, Justin, and the Rasmussen clan. It was a perfect party for the little guy!!

After three hours of fun...naptime!!


The evening was food, games, and family! We had a blast!!

Sawyer

March 5, 2011

Just a couple of minutes old



1st birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd birthday!

Our little guy is 3! We really can't believe time has gone so fast and he has grown and changed so much!! There are things we wish we could bottle up and save forever!



1. Sawyer loves to climb in bed and 'snuggle with mommy' in the morning while daddy gets ready for work.
2. His adorably sweet grin that he has from ear to ear
3. When I am standing in the kitchen doing dishes and he runs behind and gives me a huge bear hug out of nowhere.
4. How he puts on his 'pack pack' and says he is going to school like Jace.
5. The unbelievable curiosity and focus on how things work
6. The train tracks he builds all by himself that I always thought Jason surely helped complete
7. His kisses that always include his little bucky teeth
8. Wrestling his big brother Jace
9. Patting Declan and telling him what a "perfect baby" he is
10. Always wanting "Mommy hold you" which means he wants to be held

We love our little 3 year old with all of our heart!! Happy birthday Sawyer!!

Diaper Days Haze

Since I don't post often because I am either pooped or computer- less, I decided to overload you with some posts until I am up on it again...so here we go!!!

Ever since Declan has been born, I have had two in diapers. Yes,Sawyer is almost three and no, I have not even pushed the concept. I was hoping for him to come to me one afternoon and say "Hey mom,  I am potty trained, no more diapers for me."

Dream on, right?!

Between the activities, the traveling, and the flat out convenience of diapers, I was not really up for the battle of the potty. However, recently I have noticed that both Sawyer and Declan are wearing the same size in diapers. Yep, size 5! The diapers go up to a size 6...so with that in mind, I have started reading the books, having Sawyer help with Declan, and singing the potty song. (Don't even ask).

Well, the other day while packing lunches, I caught Sawyer in the act...

There are so many things about this footage that make me so proud of my little guy....and YAY

I think we are on the right track!!

Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!

In our house we have daily battles with healthy eating. I have two extremes...One child who despises anything that isn't white and sweet and another who will add more wasabi to his sushi than Jason! I am sure I don't need to say who is my cautious eater and who is the adventurous eater. It makes planning meals difficult as Jason is not real thrilled with greens either!

Because Declan is now 60% in weight I was hoping I had another adventurous eater on my hands. However, solid foods and Declan don't mesh well in the same sentence. Ok, to be honest, he flat out doesn't like solids!

Aside from Sawyer and I...getting anyone to eat a veggie in this house is a small victory in my book!! Perhaps Declan's aversion to solids is just a phase!!

Old teeth, new teeth, lost teeth, bucky teeth

Well the post accurately describes the Souder house currently...

 We have Jace who FINALLY lost that oh so beloved "dead tooth." That tooth has been the thorn in our side since he was 18 months old.  His cute, tiny, white, front tooth was injured not once, but twice. We have been to our dentist...the best pediatric dentist ever... Dennis McTigue, every 3-6 months since Jace turned two. We had xrays, specialist appointments, and cleanings galore. The advice we continued to receive was "watch and wait and hopefully no damage will be done to affect the permanant tooth." Well after detecting a cavity in that tooth Jason and I began to bribe Jace....40 bucks or a new DS game if he wiggled and wiggled that thing out of there...hey...it was way cheapert than a  root canal...and easier for mom to stomach than watch him have that pulled!!:(   Well, two days after that enticing bride....while brushing his teeth....BOOM!! There it was!!! Here is the after math.

His eyes are a little red because he was a little scared once that thing popped out. However, the next day...he was thrilled.

The tooth "fairies" left Jace this note with 5.00 and a promise to send mommy to the store to buy a new Ds game...

Along with losing the teeth poor Jace is also getting in his  6 year molars...OUCH!!



Speaking of new teeth..... Our little muffin who just turned seven months got two new tooties!!

And how could we leave out our little bucky tooth man?!?

I have no clue where he got those teeth!

Ok...maybe it has a little bit to do with the binky and little bit of genetics!

Hey...I am down to only using mine on the weekends! Sawyer has plenty of time!!:)

Speaking of my little Sawyer....Guess who's turning 3 on Saturday?!!? Big party for the little guy so lots of pics to follow!