Toys, toys, toys!!

This is Talon's small toy bin in my dining room. It has gotten a little out of hand, I think! This is what it looks like when his toys are actually 'picked up'. You can imaging the scene when his toys are out... yep, looks like a tornado struck about 4 times! We could probably open a kids' used car lot with all of his riding toys. My goal this week... down-size! Time for some of the older toys to make their way to the garage for a while, and maybe a new toy bin in his bedroom!

Playmate

Our nephew, Seth, came home with us from Oregon and is staying until this weekend. Talon is having a blast, and thinks the only reason for Seth's existence is to play with him 24/7! Talon got a 'Thomas the Train' play tent for his birthday, and thinks it's just the neatest thing when Seth gets in it with him and they walk all over the house playing "Choo, choo"! Of course, when Seth is tired of "Choo, choo", Talon just knows he's ready to play "Pow, pow" (guns). Kaitlyn lights up whenever Seth walks by or shows her any kind of attention. We are gonna have one sad household when Seth has to goes home!

(Seth trying to do his homework on the computer with Talon right by his side, wanting to be involved)

Time to work!

New laptop

My parents got Talon his own laptop for his birthday. It has a ton of activities, including playing music, and even has a mouse. He loves it! He's at the copy-cat stage, so when Daddy's on his laptop, guess who has to be on his too! It's pretty cute. (It's also scary, and makes you a little more aware of the things you do on a routine basis. I'm sure there's a few idiosyncrasies that we possess that don't need to be mimicked!)

Music man

Talon loves to sing! He makes a microphone out of just about anything. At my parents' house, he picked up the handles to the Nordic Track and started singing into them. Since there were two, he wanted Aunt Donna to join with him in song. It was pretty funny!

Trip to Oregon

We made a trip to Oregon to visit family this past week. We had a good time. It's amazing how fast time really does fly when you're having fun! On Friday night, we got together with some of Anthony's family and Chad and Tori, and we went ahead and had a little party for Talon's birthday. Then on Saturday, we had a BBQ and celebrated with Grandpa and Grandma Bauer and some of my family. Yep, by the end of the trip, the little man had it figured that life pretty much revolved around him! As usual, I took a ton of pictures (and, yes, a good portion of them were of the kids!)

We bought Talon a cowboy hat while we were there. He loves it! (In case you couldn't tell from the pictures.) He also got to help grandpa mow the lawn! Kaitlyn, of course, loved being doted on like a little princess.

These are just some of the random pictures I took. Grandma gave Talon a haircut while we were there.
When we go to Starbucks now, Talon thinks he is entitled to whatever we get. He ever-so-sweetly holds out his hand and says, "Mine?". Daddy bought him his own Vanilla Bean Frappuccino on the way home so we could drink ours in peace (and Mr. Ants-In-His-Pants didn't need any caffeine!!)

(This was at Walt and Rachel's. He had a blast playing with his cousins, and he rarely passes up an opportunity to play the guitar!)

"Not Me!" Monday

This one's a bit shorter than the last, but it's about time for another "Not me! Monday". (Prompted by my dear husband's comment, "I can't wait to see this show up on the blog!"). So, this one's for you, Honey!

1) Anthony made me a latte the other night while I was working on the computer, but I was very responsible with it. Of course, I wouldn't have set it next to me on the ever-so-small-and-wobbly tv tray; and when Kaitlyn started fussing, naturally I gave myself plenty of space when I reached down to pick her up off the floor. She did not then proceed to kick her feet and send my 18oz coffee sailing through the air, spilling its contents all over the living room rug. To which, I did not panic, and half throw her into her dad's arms so I could get a towel and clean up the disaster. I did not have to spend a large portion of the evening trying to figure out the shampooer on my vacuum. I did not get frustrated when there was a huge brown spot on the rug when I was done, and I definitely did not have to spend about an hour last night (after everyone else was snuggled sweetly in their beds), trying to remove the huge (and now dried) coffee stain. Not me!

2) At work a couple of nights ago, when I returned from the cafeteria to the PICU, I did not stand outside the door at the card reader, swiping my badge 7 or 8 times to get back into the unit, only to discover I was swiping my debit card. Nope, not me!

Sunday pics

(Just a few pictures I took of the kids after church this afternoon)

Kaitlyn was in such a smiley mood!

Talon was trying to help Sissy put her shoe back on...

...then she wanted her toy back!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Talon!

Talon turned 2 years old yesterday. It's hard to believe my baby is not such a baby anymore! Anthony always makes fun of the fact that people count their child's age in months for so long, so yesterday I was teasing him and said, "Hey, next month Talon's gonna be 25 months old!". His reply... "It's called denial!". Yeah, I'll admit, I have a bit of that.
We had a little party for him at home. He thought the party hats were pretty great- for about five minutes, then he was done with his. Of course, this morning, he found his party hat and immediately wanted it on. He probably would have worn it all day if I wouldn't have made him take it off so we could get ready for church!
Among the many gifts he got, was a red trike from us, and a four-wheeler from Papa and Granny. He spent a good portion of the night switching back and forth, riding them around the house. Of course, he thought it was more fun when we would push him around so he didn't actually have to do any work!
We're going to Oregon this week, and Grandpa and Grandma are planning a party for him there. Something tells me we're probably going to come home with a few more things than we left with!

Talon taking a nap with his teddy bear. I couldn't resist taking a picture!

Chatting on the phone with Grandma. Mommy gets a phone and Talon gets one. That way, if he wanders off, I can still talk. I put it on speaker phone and sometimes clip it to my shirt so I can have my hands free while I talk. Talon thought this was a great idea and had to have his phone clipped on as well!

Curtains

These are the curtains for Kaitlyn's room. This wasn't what I had in mind to start with, but the other style didn't hang right with this light-weight fabric. They definitely give the room a pink hue when the sun shines through during the day!

(Daytime view)

Conversation

The day before yesterday, I was sleeping in the afternoon so I could go to work that night. Anthony came into our room and went into the bathroom for something. Talon was right on his heels and came over to the bed to see me. This is how the conversation went:

Talon: Mama, up?
Me: Honey, Mommy has to sleep. You're gonna go back downstairs and play with Daddy.
Talon: Up! Up!
Me: You want to take a nap with Mommy?
Talon: Ya.
Me: OK, but you have to be quiet and go to sleep, otherwise you have to get down.
(I laid him next to me on the bed, and he immediately starts giggling and wanting to play.)
Me: Talon, you have to be quiet and go to sleep now.
Talon: (Pointing to the bathroom and whispering) Shhhhh! Dada!