Soccer Monsters

This week the Wade boys became official soccer players. They're definitely not the stars of the team, but they have a good time for the most part.

I'm not sure how to really explain the game to Bailey or get him to understand how to be aggressive and get the ball from the other team. During the game today, you could see the disappointment on his face when he wasn't kicking the ball. I'm not sure if he thought they should give him the ball when it was his turn or if he had to share with everyone else. Taking turns has been an issue for him since a little sports camp he went to this summer. Playing soccer aggressively doesn't require taking turns so he's gotta have a change of attitude when he's on the field playing.




Maverick just doesn't get it and kind of stands around. Most of the pictures I have of him he's got one of his hands on his head or hip just standing still. The coach is very helpful and tries to make sure the kids that aren't involved are getting a chance in on the action.

Our team is definitely the underdog, not well organized or trained team. The team we played today were very aggressive and acted like they knew exactly what they were doing! For us, it's all about having a good first sports experience for the boys. Of course, a good experience requires good snacks and today's snack parents went over the top with theirs!

Next Generation Anglers

Since moving to Oklahoma, the boys and their father have set their sights on becoming professional anglers. Not quite, but there've been lots of trips to Walmart for worms! I've always said that I didn't like to fish and that's because I've always felt like fishing was the equivalent of watching paint dry! I guess I've never had good, exciting experiences where fish just jump on your hook one after another.

There's a little pond on the property where our apartment is so it's ultra convenient for the boys to get their fishing poles and go fish for a few minutes and then come back home. Their attention span is about like mine. Maverick is alot more patient than Bailey is when it comes to just holding his pole and waiting for the bobber to go under.

They've caught quite a few fish in their time as fishermen. They're mostly small fish just looking for a snack and accidentally biting too far up on the hook when snagging the worms. It's enough to keep the children excited for a few minutes.

Here are a few photos from their first fishing experience.

This is the average size fish they catch off the bank of the pond. Supposedly there are bigger fish in there, but they're not coming near us.This is what Jenna Beth thinks of fishing! I think this was before one of the bored fishermen came and knocked the stoller over and almost sent her down the hill into the pond, causing her mother to go into an extreme panic. That little fisherman apologized for 2 days about pushing over the stroller. Truth be told, I've actually enjoyed a couple of the fishing excursions. I have even put a few worms on hooks to throw out and give a snack to the little fish. I will not, however, remove the little fish from the hook. I touched one once and its wiggling, slimy body and sharp fin gave me the willies so I just hold onto them until the man of the house can take it off for me.

While in OK #2

My #2 project is actually about a week in the works already and that is getting Maverick out of diapers! He voluntarily took off his diaper last Tuesday and traded it for underwear. He's only wearing diapers at night right now because I'm too lazy (depressed, bored, incoherent at 7:30am) to get up and make sure he goes to the potty as soon as he gets up. He is doing very well. He's had few #1 accidents, but hasn't grasped the #2 thing at all. Every time I have to clean up a poopy pair of underwear I remember why I haven't been too gung ho about starting this whole process. That is just one of the nastiest things in the world to have to do! I feel like I can smell poop all day on my hands no matter how many times I wash them. Hopefully I can say when we leave here in 6 months that I have gone a few days or weeks or months without cleaning poopy underwear!

The Birthday Song

Here's our pitiful rendition of Happy Birthday for Maverick!

Maverick Made It To 3

By the skin of his teeth, Maverick has arrived at the ripe old age of 3! Because he speaks so much clearer than Bailey ever has, there were days in the past year when I would forget that he was only 2. He's a wild and crazy guy to say the very least about his never ending antics. He loves to terrorize Bailey and I can already imagine the many times I'm going to hear Bailey scream "MOM HE'S TOUCHING ME!" He adores his little sister, at times to the point of obsession. He's got this deep, raspy voice that is too cute coming out of his blonde haired blue eyed self.

He makes me feel like a real loser of a mother some days, but I wouldn't trade him for the world. He's may favorite blonde haired little boy! I love you, Maverick Cole. Hope you give up your diaper habit before you turn 4.

Final Auburn Photo Shoot

I made the boys wear their Auburn Windsuits on Friday since Auburn was playing their final game of the season. After I put theirs on, I remembered I had one in Jenna Beth's size, too. Here are some of the shots I took. None are great since it's impossible to get these 3 to all look the same direction, let alone actually smile at the same time!

1st we have 3 smiles and only 2 lookers.2nd we have only 1 real smile and that one isn't even looking at the camera. Finally if we can't all cooperate, at least Jenna Beth will still give a good smile for the camera!

Little Tarheels

I ordered new Carolina shirts for the kids a few weeks ago and so it was an obvious photo op! This really was as good as it got. Just getting them all to look at the camera was a feat in itself.

The funny thing about ordering these shirts is I ordered a new shirt for everyone in the family, LT included, but me! How did that happen? I guess next time I'll get 2!

Maverick Monday

Don't let his cuteness deceive you has become my new catch phrase when talking about Maverick. He has hit the absolute worst terrible twos stage imaginable. He's cold and hot, night and day, Jeckyl and Hyde when it comes to the balance of good and bad in his little life. He can be the sweetest loving little boy one minute and sink his sharp teeth into you the next!

Most days just changing a diaper with him is a fight. Today he got an incident report at the CDC because he bit another little boy. Jaden to be exact. He knows exactly what he did and I've tried to talk to him all night about being nice to his friends so we'll see what happens tomorrow. I hope he's not on his way to being dismissed permanently from the CDC!

This bottom picture is him being so worn out from throwing a fit over me not giving him any chocolate milk because there wasn't an ounce of milk in the house! He sat on the kitchen floor crying and screaming and sleeping all at the same time. Eventually he gave up the ghost and turned to his side and went to sleep. The story doesn't really end there, but I don't want to relive those moments at the FBC church parking lot again if I don't have to!
So next time you see Top Gun on the TV (it's been on alot lately), say a prayer for my little Maverick that he'll get it and he'll not fly his mother to the dangerzone!

Cuddle Up

For some reason my bed has become the favorite hangout for the whole family lately. Bailey loves for Jenna Beth to lay on the pillow beside him. She enjoys it too because her brothers are very entertaining! Of course Maverick can't let Bailey have all the quality time with their sister.

(In case you haven't noticed, I've posted every day this week. My goal is every day for July, but that may not be attainable. I'm trying to make up for lost time.)

Brotherly Love

The boys have both become very affectionate to their little sister. Many unprompted I love you Jenna Beth's have floated out of their mouths along with some monster hugs!

This was even a willing moment for both of them. (you can also see that their hair is much shorter than it's been lately).

I think Jenna Beth is looking at Bailey and wondering who is this monster and why does he keep attacking me?Mr Mav is my little helper. One afternoon I was trying to do something and Jenna Beth was hungry so I put him to work for a few minutes. He does a good job, but some times he can shove the bottle a little hard in her mouth. I don't do this often, just when I'm desperate!And here she is - - Miss Irresistable! Some friends from church gave us this little denim mini skirt and the top. She was super cute in the ensemble so I had to take a picture.Here's the happy little girl again. She has this little sly grin and she knows exactly when to pull it out. I could just sit and look at her all day to see her smile back at me. She is really the perfect baby for our crazy lives.

An Attempt to do Better

I said last week that I was going to try to do better about keeping up with Wade's World. So here's my first attempt. To make it easy on myself, you're just getting pictures!

I'm sure Jenna Beth is getting tired of me sticking the camera in her face. This picture is a couple weeks old, I think. She's just such a cutie with her eyes open and she has lots of cute clothes that I want to make sure I get a picture of her in. We've had meals delivered to us on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past few weeks. They've been delicious - everything from roasts to chicken spaghetti to greek pork chops that were out of this world! Yum! One of the deliverers was thoughtful enough to bring the boys these huge things of bubbles so we've spent a ton of time blowing bubbles outside and in the bathtub. Maverick dumped his out the first day so I've already had to refill it. And as a disclaimer, I think Bailey put his shorts on himself so they're a little twisted.
One day Maverick came out of my room with this necklace on - it's all of Jenna Beth's elastic headband bows. He was super proud of himself. He really put some effort into getting them on because some of them were hard to get off of his watermelon head. Silly little boy!
Every now and then, I'll find Snoopy in the crib with Jenna Beth. Bailey's into sharing him. Poor Snoopy is about to fall completely apart and is absolutely disgusting from being chewed on, but Bailey is still in love with him.

Sibling Time

Many mornings lately, the boys have come downstairs to find Jenna Beth lying in the boppy on my bed. This particular morning, Maverick decided he would join her. I'm sure he's watching Handy Manny or something and she's just curious.A few mornings later or maybe even the next morning, Bailey decided he would join their little party. The boys are very attached to their blankets and Thomas pillows. I just thought these were cute pictures. Someday they may not all 3 fit on my bed or want to lay this close to each other. I'll treasure these peaceful, sweet times as long as I can!

Riding the Range

I know these aren't the pictures you were expecting, but I'm trying to get caught up!

The other night we were watching Backyardigans. It was an episode where they're all cowboys. Within minutes of the episode coming on, suddenly 2 horses appeared in the living room. Maverick was the copy cat in the whole scheme. He saw Bailey with his horse and hat and a few seconds later, Maverick had a horse and hat in the living room. It was too cute to pass up the photo opp.

Boys, Boys and More Boys

Here is the boys' Easter Portrait. It was a real challenge getting the two of them in one place at the same time before we left for church while their clothes were still clean. It truly is a miracle that I was persistent enough to keep at it until they both appeared on the steps!
Bailey was intense hunting Easter eggs at our friends', the Preece's, house. One of Mav's first finds was a huge rock! I think Bailey was looking for the big kids' egg at this point.

An unusual moment - brothers playing peaceably together for a few minutes. Another picture taking feat almost gone bad. It didn't last long and obviously both didn't look at the camera, but I wanted to get a picture of them in their Auburn windsuits before it got too warm for them wear them again.
Then this happened! I'm not sure what provoked this. It doesn't take much, but it's probably the most honest picture we have!

That Kid

I have a bad feeling that Maverick is always going to be known as 'that kid.' A few weeks ago, he hit another little girl in the nursery in the head with a plastic jigsaw tool and left her a pretty big goose egg right on her forehead. Thankfully I know the girl's parents/grandparents so we weren't in too much trouble. I do joke now that we need to make sure that little girl wears a helmet any time she and Maverick are in the room together.

Today, he did it! He did the one thing Bailey never dreamed of doing, at least not that I know of! Maybe he just didn't have a chance. I waited too long to get Maverick out of his crib this morning so he decided to take matters into his own hands and climbed out. By the time I went up to get him, I could tell that his voice was getting closer and closer to me. I met him on the stairs to him telling me "I got out of bed, mommy! I got out of bed, mommy!" No tears! No Scars! Just the proud grin of a child who had successfully ejected himself from his own crib.

He did it again this afternoon when I put him down for a nap. This time he was mad at me because I left him there with no pants on, just a diaper. He's not big on just wearing a diaper, which is fine with me. I've never been big on just letting my kids run around in a diaper! This time, he must not have been as graceful on his dismount. I can't tell what he might have hit, but he looked banged up and just mad!

So now, I'm facing the dilemma I thought I was going to be able to put off for a couple more months or years - - - Is it worth putting Maverick in a different bed? - - - This is going to require a purchase and that's one reason I didn't want to cross this bridge yet. So is it a toddler bed? Bunk Beds and combining he and Bailey into one room? Putting his mattress on the floor without any sort of frame? What would you do?

Bailey got promoted when we moved to El Paso because we needed the crib for Maverick. He was 2 and a couple of weeks when we did that. Mav's already passed that mark so maybe it's time!!

Thinking about when Bailey started sleeping in the twin bed reminds me that the children and I are coming up on our 2 year anniversary of living in the desert. We'll try not to reminisce too much on that first few miserable weeks here. I'd like to wipe that out of my mind. I'm grateful we don't have another move in our near future. I've not recovered fully from the memories of moving here. I love it here. That's not what I'm saying - - - the actual move (not having our stuff, cross country with the children in the mini van, hotel rooms, living out of suitcases, sleeping on hard floors because it was better than being locked in a hotel room, going to church for the first 3 weeks, etc.) I'm not ready to relive that any time soon!

400th Post

For the record, this is my 400th post and I missed my 2 year blogaversary somewhere in the past month or so. I'm not sure I remember exactly when I started this venture.

The past few days have been enjoyable for the most part around here. Yesterday, LT got off work around lunch time so we loaded the van and headed east to Chick Fil A for lunch. A #1 with Diet Dr. Pepper never gets old! The boys both enjoy going there and Bailey always leaves with a new friend or two. The last time we were there on a Friday night, he actually knew his new friend's name before we left.

While we were waiting for LT to come home, I attempted a photo session of the boys in their new Tarheel shirts courtesy of GG. This is about the best I got! Something on the tv was obviously more interesting than I was. But do notice Maverick's shaggy hair because the next picture it's not the same.

This evening we had to go to our Plan B because the CDC apparently doesn't work Saturdays of a 4 day holiday weekend. This is the 2nd 4 day that I've had a brilliant plan that didn't come to be because the CDC was closed, therefore no childcare for the precious angels. Plan A included the Outback Special and a Steakhouse Salad. Plan B ended up being Mall Food Court hodgepodge! Plus Maverick got his hair cut. He looks so grown up with his hair freshly cut. He even sat in the booster seat all by himself. He never made a peep or acted like he wasn't into the haircut. He just sat there and looked around like he was a seasoned hair cut pro. I was a proud mommy.

Bailey took a break from playing on Noggin.com to get in on the photo taking action. He just likes to see himself on the camera screen after the picture has snapped. At least I can get him to smile now. If only I could get both of them to smile at the same time in the same picture. I've considered trying to get their pictures done before LT goes on his vacation, but I haven't gotten my nerves that prepared yet. I'll keep you posted.

Bailey's Version of Happy Birthday

As you can see, Bailey very much was in charge of the show at Maverick's little birthday celebration. I was just glad to hear him sing and not scream telling everyone to stop singing as he's done to us in the past. Not sure he'll ever make the cut for American Idol!

Happy Birthday, Maverick

Two years ago, yesterday, we celebrated Maverick's birth. A month after his birth, he was checked back into the hospital with bronchitis.


A year later, he was beginning to show signs of his bubbly, silly personality.

Now, he's a walking bundle of energy and a constant chatterbox! Anything you say, he can say it back to you and his enunciation is very good. LT calls him "Randy Repeat" because not only does he say whatever you say, but he says it over and over and over and over....

Even though he can be a hand full and sometimes picks fights with his big brother, he's a precious little boy and has been a big blessing to our family for his 2 short years of life. Every day I wonder what he's going to do to entertain us before it's time to go to bed.

It was fun celebrating your 2nd birthday and I look forward to many more funny celebrations with you!

Mommy, Daddy and 'Baidey' love you "Bro Cole!"

Where's Maverick?

We put Maverick down for an early evening nap and went back to wake him up about an hour before his real bed time. When we got there, this is what we found. When we pulled the blanket off his face, he was unphased! He was a tired little kid, but not tired enough for his mommy and daddy to leave him there for the rest of the night. We're not that crazy.

Maverick's Graduation

Maverick has gotten so good at scootering that while we were in Waco he decided to try out a real skateboard. He did okay pushing with one foot, but sitting on it and being pushed down the driveway was alot more fun and much less work!