Teeth-Gate

Poor little Garrett. I feel so bad, but I am beginning to think I might lose it at any moment. It is the second installment of Teeth-Gate, and Garrett has become so grumpy that I actually asked Mark if I could quit my job as Mom. He didn't accept my resignation, which is good, because after a few minutes to myself, I was ready to get back to work. It's amazing how those little 4-second breaks can recharge the old Mom-batteries.

It's so frustrating when you can't do anything to help your little dude feel better. You want them to be happy and comfortable. You'd do anything to take their pain away from them. But what if you don't know what's wrong with them? What if he's got a headache? Or if he's just in a bad mood? Garrett can't say to me, "Mom, just gimme a second. I've got a wicked case of hip dysplasia." Or whatever.

I love my littlest one. His little smile is what makes me want to get up every morning (even if it means getting up a few times at night, too). But he is so different from the Squeege. I'm still adjusting to the fact that he's a completely separate baby who does completely different things. And I still haven't figured out what makes him happy. Lately, nothing has been making him happy. Except, of course, the Dad-Nook, pictured below.

I think it's because Mark is so laid-back. When Garrett is in my arms and I'm trying to figure out how to appease him, I get so worked up that I stress him out even more. I put him in the Dad-Nook and he immediately starts snoring.

Anyway, hopefully the end to Round 2 of Teeth-Gate is coming soon: I see the little white buggers poking out of his top gumline.

how was our weekend in st. simons?

a few moments of sanity & a lot of relaxing. it was perfect! thanks, shuggies, for the great mommy's day present!

season o' cookouts

I love this time of year. The weather is perfect, the bugs aren't too bad, and you want to spend as much time outside as possible. Cookouts are just about the best thing ever created, and that is a scientific fact. Here's proof:

An afternoon on the back porch, watching big bro play baseball with Kenty.

Learning how to play baseball while the chicken is grilling.

Having some laughs on the back porch over dinner.

Soggy Doggy

Garrett Laughs at Daddy

Jumparooing

fave photos of the week

i was a really good mom before i had kids

I just finished reading a somewhat-enlightening, somewhat-terrifying book called I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids. It reaffirms my personal belief that, as a Mom, I have placed entirely too much pressure on myself to be everything to everyone, and when I don't live up to those unrealistic expectations, I feel super-guilty and overwhelmed. This book told me that most Moms do the same thing. However, some of these guilty mom's testimonies are a little bit extreme. For instance, one woman says, "The only time I ever spanked my kid, we were on vacation, and my husband was working during the week. It was terrible. I grew up in a house where spanking was expected. This one time that I did it, I went into the bathroom and vomited." I mean, really. Unless you're beating your child like she's Barbaro you should not feel that guilty about spanking them. Most of the Moms in this book are from California and New York City, so they don't really have the traditional values that we have down here in the Deep South. But, no matter where you are in the country, you can guarantee that there are Moms all over the fruited plain who feel as guilty and unprepared for motherhood as you do.

Nonetheless, my favorite passage reads: "Personally, when we're feeling exasperated, we like to think in terms of 'the last time'- as in, there will be a last time for everything. When will be the last time I give her a bottle, or the last time I put her to bed in her crib, or the last time I can actually cradle my son in my lap, or the last time he will let me hold his hand in public? It's amazing how quickly this puts things in perspective. One minute we're thinking we'll have to shoot ourselves if we have to dress her up in a princess costume again, and the next we could cry because soon enough we'll be shopping for prom dresses."

Instead of my motto being: "this too shall pass," I have been trying to savor each moment with my children. In the day-to-day humdrum of being a Mom, sometimes you can get burnt out on the little things: cleaning, picking up toys 14 times a day, making lunches no one will eat, washing clothes that will just get dirty again, saying "No!" more than you thought humanly possible.

It's so hard to be a Mom sometimes. It's thankless & painful. But the moments when the dishes are clean, the toys are put away, and Evan and Garrett are sleeping in our bed with their little butts in the air, drool pouring out of their mouths...that makes up for the chaos that I know is coming in just a few short hours.

can we go for a bicycle ride?

Daddy brought home a very special surprise the other day- Squeege's first bicycle! He LOVES it! My little speed racer zooms around our neighborhood and leaves me and Gracie in the dust.

outdoor fun

Squeege's new favorite activity: sidewalk chalk! Emily brought a bucket full o' chalk, and since then, Squeege wants to draw outside all day long! And, although I might be biased, I think he's really good! The drawings pictured above are his and his alone. He calls them ghosts. I call them masterpieces.

While Squeege is creating his driveway art, Garrett takes the opportunity to indulge in a little outdoor roughage. Pinecones have to be delicious, because both him and Gracie had several of them.

if only this was a habit...

Peace and quiet. Can't get much better than this.

what else have we been doing?

When not saving neglected and abandoned infants, we spent the middle of April at the Verizon Heritage golf tournament. Tons of friends came in town, and we even got to meet Brandt Snedeker, who had finished 2nd in the Masters the week before! We had tons and tons of fun, and we even had our SuperNanny, Emily, watch the boys the whole week. I didn't know what to do with myself! She took care of everything!

where have we been?

We've been volunteering with Feed the Children. We adopted this one because it looked like he hadn't been bathed in months. The drool and snot closed the deal.

I have lost my mind.

On a beeeeeautiful Friday morning, I got a wild hair & decided I was going to take my children, my new puppy, and my sick BFF's daughter to the beach. By myself. "Of course I can do it. How hard can it be?" I thought to myself as I packed everything up. My confidence level began sinking the moment the first tantrum started- in the beach parking lot. I ignored that first warning sign and lugged everyone and everything down to the shore. Thankfully, we saw our friends Andrea, Jonah, Jackson, and Clay. Reinforcements, I thought to myself. Jonah and Jackson, Andrea and Clay's little boys, played with Bella and Squeege in the tidal pools. Andrea and I chased after the 4 toddlers while one of us was holding Garrett and the other was holding Gracie's leash. After about 45 minutes of nonstop, nuclear-level chaos, I raised the white flag and decided to call it a day. After wrangling up my herd and all of their junk, I spent the next 30 minutes hosing two screaming toddlers off in the ice-cold beach showers. So much fun. I wish I could do it every day. I then loaded the naked children up and took them to Wendy's for some chicken nuggets. Hunger crisis averted. We got back home, Squeege hosed off our beach stuff, and then I threw the kids into the bathtub for a more thorough rinsing-off. How did this drag race of a day end? My BFF's daughter Bella pooped in the tub. I laugh now, because it's funny and cute and straight out of an episode of some random family sitcom.

I had originally planned this day as one continuous photo-op. Little did I know that it is a near impossibility to photograph the chaos that I experienced in that one short period of time. This is the only photo I got from that day (and yes, this is Pre-Poop):

Good News Bad News

Good News: We are so lucky to have such an awesome pediatric dental office in our area. The place is amazing! Coastal Pediatric Dentistry is their name, and awesomeness is their game. A movie theater in the waiting room, complete with a flat-screen TV mounted inside a tree, with matching little cushioned tree trunk seats. A Wii for the older kids to play with. A playroom/conference room. Flat-screen TVs mounted on the ceiling so the kids can watch & listen to a movie while they're getting their toofs cleaned. A great staff. What more could you ask for?

Bad News: Squeege has FOUR cavities! I have always known that you're not supposed to put your kids to bed with a sippy cup, but, invincible as I think I am, I didn't think anything would come of it. So for the past two years, I've been giving my son a sippy cup full of CHOCOLATE MILK before he goes to bed. What was I thinking, right? Apparently I wasn't. As a result, Squeege will become a regular at CPD.

Glass is half-full: At least I can watch Alvin & the Chipmunks in the theater while Squeege gets laughing-gassed and drilled. Better bring lots of buttery popcorn.

It's A Girl!

We are so happy to announce the arrival of the newest member of the always-expanding MacGillivray family. Her name is Gracie, and she is a beautiful 9 week old puppy we adopted from Maranatha Farm (BTW- best place in the world to adopt a pet for SO many reasons, including lifetime boarding, vaccinations, and spay/neuter all covered under the $125 adoption fee). She is a veritable smorgasbord of breeds, but she looks mostly like a Lab right now. In the photo above, she must have been having quite the dream, because her legs were kicking around and she was panting. So cute! She has been such a great little pup (knock on wood). Although very puppy-like, she's not at all out of control. She hasn't yet had an accident in the house, and she does great in her crate ("Gracie's cave" according to Squeege). She wears Evan out by chasing him around the house in excited little laps around the kitchen until they both collapse on the floor, so that's another plus to having a puppy around. Despite all the nightmares I heard about raising a puppy, I must admit that she has been a dream! I highly recommend getting a puppy for your kids- they'll both love it!

In the mood to bawl your eyes out?

The video posted below is a documentary of a new parent's worst nightmare. Little Gianni Godoy, the son of Etresia Godoy, who was in our Mothers of Preschoolers group, was born prematurely at only 25 weeks gestation. He died 10 days later. Please view this video with plenty of tissues nearby.

Favorite Pictures of the Week

Don't ever tell me that my kids are bad eaters.

My beautiful boy.

Getting tickles from Daddy.

Choochy & Charlie in town

Our friends, Ty and Alaina Neal, drove in for a spectacular weekend of golf at Colleton River Plantation. While the boys were playing golf, Alaina and I spent quality time with our lovely children. Pictured above is Lainey's oldest girl, Frances, who is also known as Frankie, but is known to us as Choochy. She is right around the same age as Squeege, and they had a blast all weekend. It's so adorable to listen in on toddler conversations. For instance, this is a sample of a conversation that they had one afternoon while Squeege was using the bathroom:
Squeege: "Choochy, I pooped and peed! Come see my poop and pee!"
Choochy: "Okay!"
Squeege: "Lookit! You see my little nuggies? Look at my poop! Look at my pee!"
Choochy: "Wow! Good job, Squeege! Do you want me to flush it?"
Squeege: "Uh, no. I can do it. Thanks!"
Choochy: "Okay! You can do it!"
Squeege: "Yeah. I can do it." (pauses, then realizes he hasn't shown enough people his poop) "Mommy, you need to come see my poop!"
Choochy: "Do you want my Mommy to see it too?"
Squeege (very excitedly): "Yeah! Your Mommy can see it if she wants to!"
Choochy: "Okay!" (waddles upstairs to get her Mom, who is trying to put little Charlie down for a nap)

When not having intense and thought-provoking conversations about their bodily functions, the kids were more than happy to play together until completely exhausted. They behaved themselves surprisingly well while at Monster Pizza, occupied by each other and by the magnetic dart board. Lainey and I almost got to have an adult conversation. Almost.

Friday was spent at Hampton Lake, the happiest place on Earth. Our older kids splashed around in the wave pool while Lainey, Caroline (pictured above with her daughter Bella and my Garrett), and I socialized. I got my first sunburn of the year, which feels SO good right now. It feels especially good when Evan slaps me on the back with his "sword," which is really a yardstick.
Best story of the day: Squeege runs up to me and says, "Mommy, can I pee in the pool?" Not thinking much of it, I said, "Sure!" I figured he would just run into the wave pool, squat down, and go, like I do all the time. I mean, uh, like I've heard that other people do all the time... Nonetheless, I turn back around to attend to my youngest. Seconds later, a woman is running over to me, asking if "that boy over there" is mine. Amidst cackling from all around the pool, I notice that Squeege has stepped over to the edge of the pool, pulled down his swim trunks, and is about to pee into the pool! I bust out laughing, run over to him, and shuffle him to the bathroom. Ha ha ha. I guess I learned my lesson in pool etiquette that day.

This is Alaina's youngest daughter, Charlotte, who goes by Charlie. Isn't she gorgeous? She's just a few weeks younger than Garrett. Side note: we are super-lucky that all of our friends have gorgeous little girls who are right around our sons' ages. At least we'll like our in-laws! Another plus to having boys: we don't have to fork over the cash for the weddings!

Both Friday and Saturday night this weekend we had a babysitter, so we all went out and did some misbehavin'. It feels so good to go out on the town every now and then. It really makes you appreciate the nights you stay in with the fam even more.

During the day on Saturday we went down to The Salty Dog and hung around. Pictured above is our son, Albert Einstein. It was such a beautiful day, and it was the perfect opportunity to do the "tourist" thing. By living here full-time we really miss a lot of fun stuff that we feel is reserved for visitors. I can't believe we don't spend more time at The Salty Dog: they have the best view! And the best margaritas.

This weekend provided both Lainey and I a small taste of what things will be like when our littlest ones are older: constant playmates with a very volatile relationship. By Sunday we could tell that Choochy and Squeege were tired of one another. A little more fighting over stuff, a little less sharing, a lot more fit-pitching. At least we have that to look forward to....

Family Night @ Hampton Lake

Our friends, Jeff and Lorrie Spencer, own property at Hampton Lake, the most awesome family community in the history of mankind. It is an amazing place with awesome amenities and great events, all geared toward families. Last Thursday, we invited ourselves to one of their family events and made ourselves right at home. The picture above is my little Garrett with his "twin," Garrett Spencer.

After dinner, we took a boat ride around the lake. The above photo is of Squeege and Trevor Zinchini hanging off the side of the boat as we cruised around.

Squeege also got to be boat captain with Uncle Spency, but he seemed to be more interested in honking the horn than paying attention to where he was navigating.

LCC Egg Hunt

Our church, LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, hosts the LowCountry's Largest Egg Hunt every Easter (side note: if you're looking for an awesome church with amazing people and a super-amazing pastor, you've got to hit up LCC!). We were unable to get the kids ready in time for the Bluffton hunt, but this year they also did an Egg Hunt at Hilton Head High School, so I packed up the munchkins and drove ALL THE WAY to the Island.

Once the announcer shouted "On your mark, get set, GO!" Squeege, in all of his hard-headed adorable-ocity, dug in his heels and refused to do anything I said. People were staring at me like I was insane as I jumped and hollered like a preteen cheerleader, trying to convince him that the eggs scattered all over the football field had CANDY in them, but nothing worked.

Until he saw other kids gathering the eggs in their baskets...

...and then he realized that he had just been given an opportunity that only comes around once in a millennium. Remember that game show where contestants raced around the grocery store and gathered as many groceries in their shopping carts that they could until time ran out? That's what it felt like as we barreled our stroller around the field, bumping Garrett all over the place as Squeege threw the little plastic eggs into the underseat basket.

He was thrilled about the whole experience, as you can tell. I think he has realized early on that he might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride. He's got his big brother for entertainment, and that's more than enough to keep all of us occupied.

Once the eggs were unloaded & disposed of in the recycling bins, Squeege wasted no time unwrapping the candy and stuffing his face to near sickness. In all of my motherly wisdom, I decided to take a toddler on a sugar high and a 6 month old to WingFest at Shelter Cove Community Park.

This is the result: a toddler who has just crashed from his sugar high, refusing to wait in line for the bouncy house. I've never spent $10 better. Nothing like letting everyone at WingFest see how well I've taught my son to throw a fit. At least we got out of the house long enough to avoid the mountain of laundry I've done such a good job of ignoring up until now. Mission Accomplished.

Lost Photos

My grandmother (thanks, Gan-Gan!) sent me a CD of photos from our trip to the NC Mountains this past November. Here's a few funny ones:

My sweet boy. Always a bundle of joy. Unless you have a camera-
then he's either screaming or pouting.

During cold season, it feels like this is all I do- pick boogers.

And when I'm not picking boogers, I'm pretending to drive choo-choo trains. Or cars. Or monster trucks. Or diggers. Or steamrollers. Or boats.

St. Patty's Day in Savannah

What were we thinking, right? It seemed like a great idea in theory- take the kids, ride the ferry from Hutchinson Island to River Street, walk around and enjoy the festivities. In actuality, it was much better than expected. My two girlfriends, Caroline and Elizabeth, and I drove to Savannah with our brood early in the morning so as to avoid the piles of vomit and puddles of urine that show up without fail every St. Pat's weekend.

We threw the kids into their strollers, which we then threw onto the ferry. Here's the munchkins getting all pumped up for their 1-minute boat ride:


We three moms and our three strollers walked around downtown for a while and enjoyed watching the parade with the only three pairs of sober eyes in Savannah. Surprisingly, we only saw one person completely incapacitated at 10:30 that morning, and it was a young woman being held up by two grown men, who seemed to be having trouble escorting her down River Street. If you're looking for a classy lady, you better stay away from Wet Willie's. Nothing good happens at Wet Willie's, at least from what we saw. Especially after I let Squeege and Garrett take a couple of Jell-O shots. Here's the end result:



Just joshin'. Squeege was just "croaking" and Garrett just wanted to chill. Both boys were angels, which is a phenomenon which I choose not to test next year. In retrospect, it was a nice experience to say I was one of the few who elected to subject my toddler to such Irish debauchery. I think if I turn back to look at the city of Savannah again I'll turn into a pillar of salt. Nonetheless, it was a nice day of fun & friendship with my homegirls. Next time we need to go to the petting zoo.

"Mommy, take a picture of my teeth."

Before and After

Here's the little dude at 6 weeks:

Snoozy & adorable, snuggling up in his car seat, his tiny little nose and mouth poking out from his Little Giraffe blanket. When his eyes were open, he enjoyed spitting up, pooping, and screaming.

And then here he is at 6 months:

Looking more and more like his Daddy every day. He's got two little teeth poking through his bottom gumline and he's just about to start crawling all over the place. I think he's going to be the spittin' image of Daddy, with the gangly chicken legs and the big, skinny hands and feet. He loves to laugh at his big bro, who loves to tickle him and blow raspberries on his tummy. He's still not sleeping through the night, despite eating more than should be humanly possible. Thank God he doesn't have his mother's hips, otherwise he'd weigh a metric ton by now.