Memorial Day

Every Memorial Day is exciting in our house because Daddy gets all dressed up and marches in the Parade. Maybe next year the boys will be able to join him, but this year I couldn't have been more proud of him.

I was so mad at myself because I didn't realize I had brought my camera, but the battery wasn't inside it until the parade had started already. So I had to make the best of it with my iPhone.

Will and the other two men in the fire house who are also Veterans wore the uniforms of the branch of the military they served in. I think this is a great touch and a lot of the people watching the parade really enjoyed it. Will & Sarge wore the Marine Corp uniforms. Chris wore his Army uniform.

They looked sharp!

I love this picture. It was probably my other favorite from the parade. This is the old Antique fire engine they restored last year. It has been sitting in the basement of the fire house for decades neglected. They did an awesome job!

Like always, after the parade we headed up to the White Hills fire house for a picnic. This is really the kick off to the summer for all of us. I cherish the time that the fire departments come together as a huge family. This is me and "Panda" as the kids call her.  

I also cornered my Stephie for a picture. She was there with Dan and baby Scarlett who I just wanted to EAT!  I love chubby babies!

It was a great holiday all around, I wish I had remembered my stupid camera battery though. I don't foresee me living that one down anytime soon!

Sunday Funday!

The past couple weekends we have really been making Sunday's a family day. I think it is really important for the kids.

Because Monday is the parades for Will with the fire department, we had a last minute trip up to the Litchfield hills to a small hole-in-the-wall Army & Navy Store. After that we were wondering what the heck to do...

So we went for a drive!

How beautiful is that? There are just miles and miles of beautiful land, and the scene is amazing. It reminds me of being back in North Carolina.

When we were driving we saw a sign for a random indoor Flea Market so we thought we would check it out. I am so glad we did because when we were there, I fell in love...

This is a beautiful antique solid oak armoire... I saw it and fell in love with it instantly. It has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of vintage furniture I have ever encountered. I wish that we had room for it!

After we left there (I found a couple cool vases and the kids of course found a couple fire trucks) we headed south back in the general direction of home. On the way we figured we would swing by and see if Auntie Liz was around.

She was, and we got to spend some time with her... this was Addie being crazy in her living room. She wanted to attack Liz's cats. The cats were pretty less than amused...

The the boys had some fun with Uncle Tim...

Yes, they went for rides on Tim's new lawn mower. The simplest things amuse them sometimes!  It was great for them to be able to spend some time with them!

Now to make it through all the parade stuff tomorrow!

The Good Life

Tonight as I was stressing out over getting all three kids bathed, I did something I have never done before. Plopped all three in the tub together.

The boys take baths together all the time, but tonight I threw Addison in with them. Nothing wrong with that! It was too late and we needed to get to bed!

I was washing everyone when I looked up and saw all these smiles. Happiness. Everything that life is about once you become a parent built up into this one moment.

I grabbed my phone and took a couple pictures because these are those moments we want to remember as they get older. These are the times that we all want to remember when we are over stressed.

Addie decided to smack Camden around a little bit before she sat down for a good scrub. Looking at these three makes my day-to-day life so worth it.

I couldn't love motherhood anymore than I do these days!
They are truly a blessing!

Celebrating the Zoo's Birthday

We are year round members of our local zoo, and this weekend the zoo celebrated its 90th birthday. 90 years old! Wow!

We also went to celebrate Benjamin's birthday because his favorite place is the zoo! I took a ton of pictures when we were there, all with my cell phone though. My camera never even made it out of the diaper bag.

My friend Leigh and her daughter Lily joined us as well as La La - again a favorite of Benny!

Benny hanging out in the log at the zoo with his "birthday crown" on that he got at the gates. LOL

Camden in the log!

Camden being a cheese ball right when we got to the zoo!

Benny with his La La being Tigers

All the kids sitting on the tiger in the zoo, again, acting like tigers. LOL

This was also right after they saw the tigers!

Addie was completely uninterested by the zoo as a whole.
She slept the majority of the time we were there!

 Since we are zoo Members, we got free tickets to ride the carousel for the zoo's birthday party.

The boys enjoyed this because it is one of their favorite parts of the zoo.

 They also got our faces painted.
We all took turns standing in line for them while others took the kids around considering the line was

long, and we ended up waiting 90 minutes.
But they wanted to do it, and look at those faces!
Tigers! Sensing a theme?

These are just a couple of the cakes that were made and entered into a contest for the zoo's birthday.
How cool are these?

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Our Benny Blue Eyes turns three today!  Where has the past three years gone?

It seems like yesterday he was this little ball of baby in the hospital. So quiet and sleepy... now he is a active three year old who never takes no for an answer!  A big change in three years!

Over on my website Danielle Elwood Dot Com I put up a full slideshow of pictures of Mr. Benjamin Jo Jo over the past three years.

The Loopsy Obsession

We have a new obsession in our house... La La Loopsy dolls. It started with passing conversations between me and my BFF Kaitlyn. Her daughter Kami is two and a half and loves them.

I figured it is just one of those things all little girls get into at one age? Why not start Addie soon? Well this past week while checking out Target for a couple odds and ends I needed for the house, I went to check out their selection of Loopsy's, and of course see how much these things cost.

That is when I spotted Trinket Sparkle. They had a couple different Loopsy's but this one stood out to me the most because of the little kitty. So this became Addie's first Loopsy doll. I took the small bracelet off her wrist and put it away for safe keeping till she is a little older and she has been having a blast with it.

Well, being the crazy Mom I am, when we went to Toys R Us last night for some birthday gift's for Benjamin, I had to scope out their section of Loopsy's and see if they had any Loopsy Little's since those are really the only age appropriate ones Addison can play with.

They had about fifty of the same doll - but it wasn't Miss Trinket Sparkles... It was a different adorable doll called Specs Reads A-Lot!

In the cart she went. I figured another $17 wasn't going to kill us when we were going all out for Ben's birthday.  Plus I didn't see this one when I was scouting Loopsy dolls at Target.

I have a feeling this is going to turn into one of those collect them all things. I posted to Kaitlyn this morning on Facebook...

I just bought another Loopsie Little. Can we start a support group for this? I can see it going in a bad direction! 

Her reply?

Haha! I cannot help you with this! My addiction is bad! I've been stalking the facebook Loopsy page for days because they have been announcing the four new littles (but they have only showed us 2 of the 4 so far)!

Oh boy! Here we go! 

Tomorrow is Benjamin's third birthday, Friday he is going into the hospital to be sedated so they can fill the one surface cavity he has, and then Saturday we will be heading to the Zoo for their birthday celebration! (Benjamin needs to be sedated because of his initial reaction to the dental chair, poor baby)

Busy week in the Elwood House!

Mother's Day

We had so much fun this Mother's Day!  Will and I decided to take the kids to Action Wildlife Foundation upstate. It was a great idea! The kids had a blast!

This was the best picture I got of the kids together for the day. How cute are they?
All ready to have a great time!

 Daddy and the boys with a Bison.
I am still trying to figure out if that one was a model, or one of the many taxidermy animals there!

The view from one of the parking lots!  This is just a small portion of the huge 116 acre park!

Benny sitting outside of one of the goat exhibits on the rocks.

Camden wanted to do the same! 
He is such a ham!

So this is about how close you can get to most of the animals.
These guys were more friendly since they actually came up close to the gate to say hi.

Addie fed some of the animals with Daddy.
She thought it was HYSTERICAL!
I wish I would have gotten her laugh on video!

She pet the piglets.
I think they were some of the nicest animals in the petting zoo.

These guys were my favorite though.
I wanted to take one home as a pet.
They are baby goats.

We bought one of the little bottles they had to feed some of the baby animals and
the kids had a blast giving the bottle to some of the animals.
The goats straight up fought over it!

These guys were as crabby as they look. LOL!

These guys were just as ruthless fighting over the bottle as the little tiny
baby goats. I guess they miss their mommy?

 

Last but not least at all, the Zebra!
I think he was easily all of our favorite because none of us have ever seen one in real life
before this! Even our local zoo doesn't have one!

After the fun trip to the animal park we had ice cream, and started to head towards home when Will decided our day wasn't over yet. We ended the day at Lake Quassy amusement park. Someplace with rides small enough for the kids to enjoy.

They had a great Mother's Day special going on we took advantage of, and we all had a blast. Although by then my camera had died! I do predict we will be back there soon though!

Camden's Surgery

Today Camden underwent surgery for some issues with his teeth. Many of our friends and family members knew it was coming, and I wanted to give an update on the process and how the little guy is feeling.

We arrived at the hospital around his appointment time and they took him right in because they were running ahead of schedule. We got him into his gown and they let him drive a little scooter around. It was adorable and it really helped him be comfortable with the staff working with him.

Not the best picture but he was in motion.

He was in for around two hours, and then when he was waking up they brought Will & I into the recovery room to be with him. I sat in the chair and held him, and rocked him as he woke up. It was extremely hard.

We were told he would whine and cry for a while, and it was a good half hour of that with him finally falling asleep on Will's chest before he really calmed down. It was probably the saddest thing I have ever witnessed.  It was extremely hard and trying as a mother to watch my baby go through it.  No matter how much he needed it.

He was a trooper!

We were able to get him dressed and have his IV taken out. After that we had to wait about another 20 minutes to make sure he was ok before they would let us bring him home.

He was good for the whole car ride home since he slept most of the ride, but as we got home he got sick. Which I was expecting since I had the same reaction to surgery and all the medications.

Once we were home he laid down and slept a little bit more and when he woke up he was feeling much better, he also noticeably looked much better.

A juice box and apple sauce and he was well on his way.
He actually had dinner too, we made Mac N Cheese, nice and soft for him to join in.

We are winding down for bed now and he is almost a 100% different kid than he was this afternoon.

I want to thank all of our friends and family for the calls, texts, e-mails and checking in on him all day. You made a difference for all of us.  Thank you!

Now to see if he is up for school in the morning!

Addie's Birthday Party

On Sunday we celebrated our baby girl's first birthday party... She isn't a baby anymore!  While I had a couple breakdowns of tears, it was a beautiful day.

Addison's cake! It not only was pretty, but it was absolutely delicious!

Will decided to get Addison thee biggest Minnie Mouse balloon he could find. Can you tell Addie has him wrapped around his finger?

My mother always does amazing with the decorations, Addie's party was no difference!

Addie with the #1 man in her life. Can you tell Will hates being in pictures?

Grandma having fun with Addie. If you can't tell from the picture, she is clapping!

Grandma even decorated the highchair at her house for the birthday girl!

 Waiting patiently for cake and wondering why there was a room full of adults staring at her and taking pictures of her.

You told me cake... I am still waiting so I am going to eat my necklace!

Oh cake! There it is! Give it to me!

This is fun!

Oh this stuff actually is food? I can eat this?

I think she wore more than she ate, but it was fun!

Then for the traditional bath in Grandma's kitchen sink. Three kids and counting!

I love this picture of Dylan with Addie. Now if I could just con him into a haircut!

Then came present time! She got all kinds of cool stuff. A purse and doll house from Grandma, a ton of sundresses and bathing suits. Adorable nightgowns and lots of Little People!

Addie's friend Caitlin came to hang out too. How cute are they together? Caitlin is about three weeks younger than her.

She actually kept the birthday hat on for a while! I was really surprised!

Overall we had an awesome day. I will post more pictures when I go through and edit some more of other people, and also collect the pictures that friends took!

I can't believe our baby girl is a year old!