Old Man Baby Inspiration

Laughing at the nickname Old Man Baby, inspired us to make a list of all the nicknames we had given Vincent since he was born.  We got out a piece of paper and began writing them down as we could remember.  Here's the list so far:

• The Pooh (Zachary's favorite)
• Butter Man (not sure why I call him that one but it's my favorite)
• Little Man-yon
• Vinnie Barbarino
• Bubbsey
• Old Man Baby (Isabella's favorite)
• Tunza (Kyle's favorite)
• Mess Master (usually said when Vincent is doing his favorite activity of scattering toys)
• Vin or Vin Vin
• laping baby (i'm not sure about this one..it was added in black magic marker by Zachary and I'm not exactly sure what it says or what it means.)

The Real Vinnie Barbarino

Old Man Baby

Vincent has a long list of nicknames, but his latest one was thought of by Isabella..."Old Man Baby".  You can hear Zachary in the background shouting out his other most famous nickname. 

Camping at the Smokies

Last week was our first camping trip with 3 children.  It wasn't really as challenging as you might think.  We visited the Great Smoky Mountains (a 6 hour drive) and stayed at Elkmont camp ground for 2 nights.  We all had a lot of fun!!  A few months ago this trip may have been a lot easier, but because we have a crawler things were much more difficult.  Vincent is an explorer and can't be stopped.  If there is dirt/gravel he is in it.  Therefore, the nice neat picnic blanket that I laid on the ground at our campsite was worthless.  He was off that thing in about 2 seconds and was scooping up piles of dirt, dropping it on his head and smiling with a mouth full of gravel. 

We only managed to get in one hike, but that was enough.  We did a 2 mile hike to the top of Clingman's dome, which we learned is the 3rd highest point in the Eastern U.S.  It felt nice and cool up there.  The kids got a bit scared near the top and we couldn't coax them to the top of the tower.  (And just last summer they were jumping around in a glass box on the top of the Sears Tower/Willis Tower.)

         (Look closely and you can see Kyle and Vincent at the top waving!)

 The highlight of the trip was playing in the frigid mountain waters of the Little River.  It is ice cold, but once your legs go numb it feels great!  The kids had a lot of fun splashing, rock jumping, and wading in the river.  We searched for fish, water striders, and butterflies.  We saw lots of interesting plants, caterpillars, and even some fluorescent orange fungi.  Kyle prefers sleeping in a hotel to camping..and sometimes I do too.  But I don't think that there is a better way to teach kids an appreciation for nature than being out there in it.  I envision some day taking the kids backpacking, like I saw a young family doing out in Yellowstone one year.  I'd love to visit all of the National Parks, but right now I'm ok with the ones within a short drive. Ironically, we haven't even been to Mammoth Cave, which is the closet park.  I'd like to go there in the fall, if Kyle's cross country schedule permits.

Above: Vincent is trying to dive in.

Kyle is showing the kids where not to go!

                                                     Zach is looking cool!

                                             Vincent is looking like Dad!

                            Sneaking off the blanket with a hand full of dirt!

                 

                                                                 Strapped Down!

                                                              Strapped Down AGAIN!

                                                               Playing in the tent.

                                                   Eating Oatmeal for Breakfast!

 

Butterflies sunning themselves on the Beach.

 

We saw 50 or more butterflies on the beach on the last day.  I had lots of fun experimenting with my camera.  On the way home Zachary picked to eat at Golden Corral (his favorite restaurant) which wasn't as bad as I remembered.  Then we visited the outlet malls, which was disappointing, and finally made the trek home.  Next weekend we are headed to Nashville for the Music City Triathlon, but we'll also be staying there 2 nights to do fun things with the kids.  This time we'll be staying in a Hampton! :)

First Words!

First words!

Vincent has been babbling a lot, but today I think he said his first official words.  I was leaving the house to go to class and I told him bye bye.  He mimics my mouth and repeats "bye bye bye bye bye"!

Summer has officially began as well.  Tomorrow is the kick off celebration!  We are visiting Holiday World.  The SSM picnic is this weekend and Kyle will be busy frying fish and chicken.  Then this Sunday we will be traveling to Bloomington for my first official triathlon that includes an open water swim!  We will be very busy over the next 4 days.  I'm already exhausted from getting little sleep, running a lot, and waking up very early.  In fact tomorrow I'm getting up at 4:45 to run with our running group.  We have a Tuesday/Thursday workout regimen that involves getting up 2 hours before the crack of dawn.  Yawn factory!

The kids have been sick, but are getting better.  Last week poor Kyle had to drag all three of them to the doctor at once.  We had a total of 3 infected ears, 2 cases of bronchitis, and 1 case of sinitius resulting in a terrible cough.  Now Vincent has passed along his pink eye like symptoms to me.  My eye isn't itchy but it is red and sticky.  Yuck!  We were wondering why he's been grumpy on top of all this sickness.  Then today we saw tooth number 3 poking through.  Right next to his other 2 bottom teeth.  So now he has 3 bottom teeth and I can only assume that a 4th will come in very soon.

Isabella has started ballet and is really enjoying it.  I bought her the wrong kind of shoes.  Apparently pink house slipppers aren't good ballet shoes...that's what her ballet teacher called the shoes I bought.  But I am blaming target for calling them ballet shoes and putting them with the leotards.  So now I have to go out and find some "real" ones.
The kids are getting into summer habits.  They are continuing to do "homework", Zachary is playing the piano, they are still doing their responsibility chart.  We are going to have to take a lot of trips to the zoo and get them out of the house.  They tend to go stir crazy after a while!  Thankfully I have made good friends with some of the SSM moms and we'll get our kids together some this summer and out of the house.
Isabella is reading like a 2nd grader.  I can't believe it!  I thought Zachary was a good reader, but I don't think he read this well at age 4!  It's incredible.  But she owes a lot to her brother who teaches her everything..and she absorbs it like a sponge!  We are so lucky to have kids who enjoy reading.  Although, Vincent enjoys eating books..he's not much into reading them!

Holiday World stories will follow soon.  Let's hope the kids are brave and don't cause Kyle to have a meltdown!  We've got lots of disastrous KY Kingdom stories which involved tears over refusal to ride the merry go round and the slow poke cars.  Did I mention those tears belonged to Kyle?
I hope to have good things to report tomorrow.  Kyle is holding Disney World over their heads.  Holiday World is prep for the Magic Kingdom...which still probably won't happen till they are in their twenties.

I'm up way past my Wednesday night bedtime.  I'll add pictures later.  Pictures help me remember the other things we've done throughout the week.  It will be a summer of fun!

9 days till summer!

So I got the new background figured out. Isabella's field trip was lots of fun.  It was nice to spend the day with her, ride the yellow school bus, slide down slides together, and enjoy a McDonalds lunch (her favorite).  Then we came home, and after what seemed like an endless meltdown, I took her to my bed and closed the door.  I told her she could come out when she stopped screaming.  After about 1 minute of constant screaming she stopped.  I snuck in to see what she was doing...I thought maybe she had fallen off the bed or passed out..she was curled up under the blankets asleep...just what she needed!  Whew!  Next, Vincent konked out, so now i have only 1 child in my lap...Zachary!

Isabella's graduation is Thursday.  I'm trying to prepare myself for all the sappy "I am growing up songs" that will no doubt have my mascara running!  I can't believe she will soon be a kindergartner.  It seems like yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital.  Toots and Eddie gave Zachary a book called "I will love you forever".  Isabella pulled it out this morning and asked me to read it to her.  I was crying by the 2nd page.  I can't handle that book!  I was relieved when she pulled out Yertle the Turtle next...so I could get my mind off of the inevitability of my babies growing up! 

Drats!

I am already tired of this blog background, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to change it.

Vincent is officially crawling.  Derby day he was attempting to crawl.  By the end of the week he was doing a scoot across the floor, and now he can go from his belly to all fours.  Once he figured it out there was no stopping him.  He loves to clap and his face lights up when it's bath time!  He loves it!





Today I am off from work.  (it's election day) and I'm going on Isabella's field trip to puzzle's fun dome.  It should be lots of fun!  This is also her graduation week.  I'll have more updates on that later!

Better run!

What day is it?

It is about that time of the week when I start getting lost in all of the chaos and have no idea what is coming up next.  The kids have a crazy tee-ball schedule and Kyle is still only semi-retired from track, so every evening we are busy with something.  Isabella has been begging daily to begin dance lessons, but I can't bear to add one more thing to the schedule.  It will have to wait till summer.

This weekend was busy too.  Friday...i can't remember.  Saturday morning I went running with my running buddies, then Kyle mowed grass at church, then I had a friend's baby shower, then we went to church, and then to a friend's daughter's 1st communion party.  It was all a lot of fun but the kids were worn out!  Sunday was the Germantown parade and Zachary first t-ball game, which started 40 minutes late, so we were up there forever!

Did I ever write a post about our spring break activities?  I don't think I did.  I'll just include pictures to catch you up.

This week Vincent has began attempting to pull up...mostly unsuccessfully.  He also said his first words..."Ma Ma, Ma Ma."  I'm not sure if it's aimed at me, but it counts because I said so!  I also decided I would begin making my own baby food, somewhat for fun, also for cost, and because a friend convinced me it was healthier.  I don't know that it makes a difference in the long run, but I'm trying it.  My first attempt was again unsuccessful.  The carrots were a little too chunky and at first Vincent gagged and then he puked them all up.  So my next batch was pureed much smoother and I think they will go down better.  We'll try them tomorrow.

School is going well.  Classes are full and kids are failing.  They just all stared at me blankly today when I announced they were not getting something for nothing and most of them wouldn't pass if they didn't get their stuff together.  I had another student shot and killed this week.  It's the second student I have lost and there is no way to describe how it feels when you open up the paper and read that news.  It's just a sick feeling.

Anyway, enough of the grim.  I have been working on my photography skills and I'm proud of lots of the pictures I've been taking.  I hope you enjoy reading about our family!

My favorite photos:

Spring Break:

The Zoo, enjoying a picnic lunch

Dino's at the Zoo

Zoo playground!  Vincent's first time in a swing!

Zachary with his favorite animal..the ostrich!

Bowling with Syd and a overcast day!

Vincent's first hike with Dad at Bernheim Forest.

A treacherous stream crossing!

Vincent's first ice cream cone!

Enjoying Louisville's best pizza..Papalinos..after Bernheim.

Germantown Parade