January 2015 Picture Catch-Up and FB anecdotes

Team Bass started the new year with tradition! Watching the ball drop from the comfort of our couch, with good friends...and an excited pup. 

Whitney told Eric "I think we should have breakfast in bed in the morning..." and he delivered!

We are the luckiest girls on the planet! 

(And how beautiful is out girl, even first thing in the morning!?)

Grady tried underwear, but only because it meant he could hold the iphone if he was on (near?) the potty.  It didnt last long and I was sort of relieved.  I was in no rush to potty train and figured we could work on it over Spring Break or even this Summer when we were home for more than a few hours at a time.  Phew! 

Every few years, Eric gets ready for it.  He knows its coming. I prepare him for weeks or months in advance.  And then it happens.  

I want a wall painted.

Or maybe a few walls painted.

So while the kids roller skated and enjoyed the swing on the porch on a beautiful January day, Eric and I worked out my paint itch. :) 

And we both LOVE the final product! 

Bingo decided he liked sleepovers as much as Whitney and her bestie, Faith!

When your big sister has a sleepover, you might end up with a Hello Kitty crown and a heart wand.....so grab the nerd bow and arrow and take things into your own hands, Brother!  

And how awesome is FIVE years old!? These two played CandyLand without my help and had so much fun! They were excited for each other when the other one won, and they laughed and giggled constantly. Love them!

From FB:

As we pull into the school drop-off line:

"Hey Mommy, I know I was in Ms. T's belly but what was her last name? And how in the world did I get in there??"

Fastest sex/adoption/name change conversation ever. ‪#‎MotherOfTheYear‬‪#‎TerrifiedOfWhatShesGonnaRunIntoSchoolAndTellHerFriends‬ ‪#‎Yikes‬‪#‎MightNeedSomeClarificationAfterSchool‬ ‪#‎CantWait‬ 

I continued to want my daughter's wardrobe.  Because really? How cute is she!?

Silly One First! 

"Hey Whitney, I have some good news! Guess where we are going right now...."
"Ummm. I dunno."
"Gymnastics class!!"
"(Squeeeaaaal !) Really?!? My very first gymnastic class?!? I'm SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!"
(Three minutes later)

"Mommy...I gotta tell you. I've been thinking about gymnastics ALL day! This is so awesome!!!" 

"Oh. Mommy. I just toot."
"What do you say when you toot?"
(Thinking thought only a two year old boy can think ...(
"Ummmmm...oh. Yeah. Bless you. Bless you, Mommy. I toot."

Bingo was determined to destroy his cage.  The mutt was eating the metal rungs like toothpicks.  Weird.  Likely painful.  And distressing since I didnt have an alternative and he couldnt be trusted when roaming the house alone.  

He's so good when we are home. He's getting better when we have guests. He was breaking this cage piece by piece and scarring his nose as he chewed his way through the METAL bars. So we stopped the cage and just confined him to our bedroom. First week was fine. Second week he ate Erics shorts. Third week? We are down a cell phone charger, tissues, towel, pillow, ....and he went back in the cage today. I came home to this. Three broken/severed metal bars, a ripped towel, and a clearly anxious pup. I've tried a Thundershirt. He escaped it and then ate it. I've tried oils on his collar and ears. Between Grady and Bingo, im exhausted. ‪

HOW is he THAT strong!? And yet SO gentle with the kids?! 

Those eyes.  

Just a random video so I can always remember life with these two at this stage of life:

The Florida "Winter" arrived and we were all shivering in 40 degrees each morning....but somehow, the palm trees make 40 degrees bearable.

And as I dropped Whitney off at school each morning, I couldnt help but giggle at the layers of clothing on the car line helpers.  Scarves, hats, gloves, boots!  My northern friends and family were cracking up at these poor Florida kids!

From FB:

You know your parenting has reached a new zone when you can tell your Kindergartener "please go take a shower", and 15 minutes later, she comes back wrapped in her towel and smelling so fresh and so clean, and she says, "I did everything just the way you taught me!" 

Ill be sad the day she says, "I dont want my picture taken today, Mom!" So I snap a pic as often as I can until that day rips my heart out. 

Eric and I were asked to be on an adult kickball team and we were SO excited! The games were on Friday nights, sometimes at 6:30, other nights as late as 9:30.  The kids were CHAMPS (and my parents stepped in to babysit on the especially "freezing" late nights!) and were both SO excited to A) see their good friends, Avery and Hutch, and B) wear a scarf and gloves and hats LOL

We made a bunch of great new friends and had a LOT of fun, even if we didnt win often :) I was happy to see Aunt DeeDeeDee every Friday night! 

And love this Mama, too! Thanks for inviting us, Mandy!!

My dugout diva :) 

Team "Here For the Beer", though I dont recall any of us ever actually drinking beer. 

Ive said it before but I love having passes to Disney.  For obvious reasons: we get to bring our kids to the Happiest Place on Earth whenever we want.  We experience some Disney magic every single time we visit.  Its amazing to see our kids get excited about the characters.  The food.  The parades.  The things our kids would not get to see or experience anywhere else.  And the list goes on.  But one of my favorite reasons to frequent Disney is when high school, childhood, or college friends visit the Mouse with their own families, and we get to meet up!  That happened in January and it was so fun to see a college friend with his wife and fabulous children!  Its always fun to see people I shared fun times with now having a family of their own.  When did we all grow up!?  I still think of myself as a 20-something! Who put me in charge of two children?! lol

And while the morning started chilly with bundled up babies, in typical January fashion, we lost layers and warmed up as the day went on.  Always a fun time at Magic Kingdom! 

A sure sign of a successful adventure!

Whitney had her first sleepover at Emma's house, and Grady was excited to have us all to himself! 

Love this silly dude!

And I love watching these kids RUN into church every Sunday!

We werent sure what to expect, but there was a train show a few towns away and we couldnt miss it!  Eric's dad and stepmom met us for lunch and some train fun!

"Look, look, Papa!  Dats a BIG train!"

And this girl was a rock star.  Trains arent really her "thing", but she waited patiently and was so nice to her excited little bro!

In anticipation of the Paddington movie, Whitney and I snuggled up with the Paddington book and stuffie from Uncle Jay's trip to England a few years ago! We were excited about the movie but...three months later...we still havent seen it.  

OH, how I LOVE the TimeHop app! 

Whitney came home from school one day, VERY excited!  She dug through her backpack and waved this paper in the air and said, 

"Mommy!! Can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEEEAAASSSSSE raise enough money to save someone's life??? Please???"

She has a love/hate relationship with the mutt.  She LOVES him, or she's screaming at him to stop jumping.  No in between.  

I learned that I am not the only mommy who has kids who watch holiday movies throughout the year.  Spookley the Square Pumpkin? In January? SURE!  They know every word and love to dance to the songs!

Big sister and Daddy head to Awana and this sweet little bro just keeps saying, "I wanna Awana! Gradys turn to Awana? I wanna Awana!" Saddest sad face ever.

January 14th

This kid. He had a great day! 

He facetimed with my dad to tell him big news:

"Gramps! I did it! I poop on the potty!!!!"

My dad (who appeared to be out to dinner but answered the call AND acted excited at the big news...best. dad. ever.) said, "You did?! Wow, Buddy! That's great! Just like a big kid!!"

And without missing a beat, Grady Bass said, "Yeah! Like big kid!! Like Kyle!!!" (His 16 yr old cousin who we apparently always refer to as "a big kid" lol)

And as if that wasn't enough to melt a mommy heart, he later whipped out his mommy kryptonite and, during bedtime, said, "No, don't stop reading. Keep reading, please, Mommy!"

Seriously, I want her wardrobe.  

"I feel like I can spell big words. Like, I think I can spell words that an eight year old spells. Like, 'became'. And I was gonna write 'angry', but I'll use 'mad' because that's a kindergarten word and it's a synonym for 'angry'."

Kindergarten is intense. 

Bingo regularly participates in bedtime prayers. 

Letting ‪#‎BingoBass‬ out the back door and it's freeeezing out (55* is "freezing" in Florida). I stood inside the door while he did his thing, and remembered how much I loooove every pic in these frames. ‪#‎ChairPics‬‪#‎BirthdayPartyParkPics‬ ‪#‎SiblingLoveFromDayOne‬ ‪#‎MyKidsAreCute‬‪#‎SoBlessed‬ ‪#‎EhyDidWeHideTheseFramesByTheBackDoor‬?! ‪#‎MyFavorites‬

We have since moved those frames to the kitchen so I get to see them more often :) 

Eric and I thought we were so cool when we had a kid-free kickball friday night :) Mac and Gramps are the BEST babysitters! 

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you can't see the whole staircase." MLK, Jr. 
An all time favorite quote and great reminder that we aren't in control. 
We're at breakfast and asked Whitney what she could tell us about Martin Luther King, Jr. She said she knew "he wanted the world to be a better place for everyone" and "that he gave a speech where he said he had a dream."
It's a start. And we were able to fill in the blanks. 

Some State Market breakfast and MLK Jr Parade followed by the ‪#‎Zoo‬ with the cutest kids I know and the best Daddy ever

Whitney started enlisting Grady's help with her recycling chore...and he loves it! 

And Bingo began making his own "doors"...through the screen on the porch.

Whitney continued to love gymnastics! 

I went to make breakfast on one chilly morning, and I returned to my room to find this snugglefest in full effect. 

So I had to join in :) 

I spent a lot of time volunteering in Whitney's school food pantry.  It was so fun to head to Sam's and load up three trunks and backseats with food to fill the bellies of kids who otherwise might go hungry all weekend.  My Gramma Mac used to say that you "take some of the honor away when you brag about doing a good deed.  Just do the deed without expecting reward or a pat on the back." (or somethign similar).  So I dont like posting about my time spent volunteering, but I will want to look back at these days of our lives someday, so I want Buddy Bags and the food pantry documented.  Ive so enjoyed spending so many hours at Whitney's school each week, both in her classroom and in other aspects of the school.  

Morning snuggles. Full food pantry. Great work news for Eric. Awesome day at school for both kids. Gorgeous weather. Roller skates. Flag parade. Sibling happy laughter. Belly laughs. Land shark laughs. Exploring. Examining dirt and bugs. Shower singing solo. Happy kids. Happy wife. Happy mommy. Days don't get better than this. So incredibly blessed.

and the shower solo:

"...brother, sister, and best friends! Baby, we're the PERFECT friends!"

Whitney was VERY excited for the 100th day of school celebration! 

She's 100!

How cute are these kiddos!?

Eric and I got a rare date night to celebrate his promotion!

Part of the month was spent with my nose in this book.  I was HOOKED!  I was late to the party, but loved it!

‪#‎SchoolHouseRock‬ and building trains on this rainy Saturday morning.‪#‎ThreeIsAMagicNumber‬ My kindergartener knows all the words to‪#‎ConjunctionJunction‬. ‪#‎IDont‬. BothKidsAreMesmerized

Grady showed us that puzzles are his new favorite pasttime! 

Whitney lost her SEVENTH tooth in January! 

Downside to the Tooth Fairy gig: no cash in hand. 
Upside to the Tooth Fairy gig: "I better get to sleep really fast or else the Tooth Fairy can't come!!"

This dog.  Lives.  the life.  

Happy Weezie!

Blurry because they were laughing hysterically.  I love nothing more than belly laughs from my kids before bedtime. :) 

TimeHop ROCKS.

Grady is the snuggliest little boy ever, and I eat it up!

Watching Sesame snuggled with my dude. Tried to snap a snuggly pic and he "cheeeeeesed" and then kissed me and said, "I luh you, Mommy!"

Bingo also thinks he's snuggly.  But he's mostly just a hog. 

January 27th, 2015

Fell asleep as we pulled into our neighborhood. Always a tiny miracle when he transfers from car seat to his bed without waking.

Im not sure how or when it happened, but this little girl is suddenly so big.  Wasnt it just last week she was struggling to find her classroom every day?  Those first two weeks of school, I was so worried she didnt know where she was going and seemed way too small to be in those big hallways.  Then, I blinked, and she was telling me, "No, Mommy.  I know how to get to my classroom from here.  Ill see you later!" and walking herself....alone....solo....by. herself. from the big building, down two flights of stairs....in a quiet, enclosed stairwell....by herself...then out the door, across a courtyard, into another building, down more hallways....to her classroom. Alone.  ALONE.  My BABY! 

What?

And I may or may not have (totally, absolutely) checked to make sure she in fact made it to her class safely.  

Happiest girl.  Best wardrobe ever.  

Both kids go through movie phases.  They will watch a certain movie until I cant take it anymore.  We are currently in a Tink phase, but we enjoyed a lengthy Tangled/Rapunzel phase earlier this year.  They know every word. 

They reenact the movies, scene by scene and are AWESOME together :) 

Not funny: having to dig apart your son's closet at 8am, in hopes of uncovering a random pair of hand-me-down shoes in a bigger size one of his cousins or friends may have passed down to us. 

Funny: when your toddler can't say the letter "F", so he substitutes "Sh", and suddenly, literally overnight, none of his shoes "Fit".

"No, Mommy. Dey no shit. I gotta booboo toes. Dey no shit. Dey too mall. No shit."

Oh, Grady. Keep talk on' brother. 

"Grady, what's gonna be at your school today?"
"Whoa! Mommy! A big, big shire truck!!" ‪#‎WhoNeedsTheLetterF‬?!‪#‎ShIsBetter‬ ‪#‎FireTruckDay‬ ‪#‎FireTruckShoes‬ ‪#‎NotGonnaAskHimIfTheyFit‬

We spent a great afternoon a few towns away at the springs, seeing manatees and enjoying sunshine and each other.  We had a great day! 

Serious discussion about life "You didn't tell me that I'm already five-and-three-quarters!"

The entire day was fantastic :) 

Love this beautiful girl! 

"Mommy, what you doing in dere?"

We had a great first month of the year!  And its just been getting better and better with each passing month!  There are never enough hours in the day, or days in the week, but we are packing a lot of life in our days and loving every adventure, the big and the small. :)