Christmas Lights at the Botanical Gardens

Yeah yeah, I know a blog is supposed to be me writing and not mostly pictures but too bad. I am not that interesting so the pictures are filler. We went to the botanical gardens tonight to see the River of Lights that they have. It cost $7 per adult and our kids were free. First thing we did was buy hot chocolate because we still haven't found our thermos. We had so much fun. There were a LOT of people there. A LOT. The line to get into the parking lot was at least a mile down the street in both directions. While we were in line we saw this little girl who was about 3 years old in her stroller and her parents had her so bundled up that she couldn't see (her hat kept falling over her eyes) and she couldn't move her legs or arms because she had so many layers and blankets shoved in around her. I wanted to take a picture but it would have been rude.

Here is Lucas keeping his hands warm on his hot cocoa and taking a sip.



This dinosaur was Lucas's favorite. The mouth moved open and closed.

Here are father and son admiring the dinosaur.

Here is a botanical arrangement.

Here was my favorite, a giant centipede. This was at least 7 feet long.

My second favorite, a vinegaroon. By the way all of these are blurry because shooting lights at night without a tripod is difficult.

A spider with a turtle behind it.

These elephants "moved" and Lucas loved it.

A prairie dog.

A scorpion

This was a sinking submarine and in the background under the purple canopy was a very talented band who were playing Christmas music. You could hear them as you walked through the gardens. Also there were carolers in a couple places who were singing. They were really good too.

I finally found my way down to the centipede and had AJ take my picture. Nick LOVED the lights and refused to go to sleep. We didn't take the double stroller because it would have been too hard to maneuver with all the people around. As it was we should have put Lucas into the kid backpack to carry him around.

These butterflies were hung in a tree and they were all different colors. . . very cool. I inadvertently walked right up to the tree to get this picture and interrupted about 6 different people who were standing back with their cameras trying to capture the entire tree in their shot. Opps.

A coyote.

It looks like either a Yucca or a Sotol. It think Yucca. I heard someone else say Sotol. And there is a roadrunner in the front.

A giant stained glass turtle. This thing was a big as me or bigger.

A preying mantis.

There was a forest of these sunflowers and I made AJ stand under one so you could get an idea of size.

This was a honey bee hive. It came up to my shoulders.

Lotta Pictures

Who's been hittin' the egg nog early?

Lucas taking extra care to place the ornaments all on the exact same branch.

Nick and Mom.

All I've got

This is all I've got for today. More messy food photos. Except these take you from mess to clean.

Messy Messes

This is what squash, teething biscuits and oatmeal look like after Nick gets his hands on them

This is finger painting with Lucas. He is still very hesitant to touch the paint but I hope one day he will dive in.

Lucas has been acting out a lot lately so I gave him Motrin to see if his attitude improved (maybe he hasn't been feeling well?) and it did. He was his old self after the Motrin kicked in. So we took it easy today and watched Shrek. He was afraid of the dragon but after he saw that she was a nice dragon it was ok.

Real food for the little guy

Well I have given up introducing Nick to one item at a time. I was super cautious with Lucas . . . probably because he was my first child and I was doing everything the right way. Nick is just being thrown into the culinary world of adult foods. So tonight he had spaghetti. He loved it. Tomorrow Chili. hahaha. "You gave a baby Chili?!?!" Remember that line from Mr. Mom? That was a great movie. Any way. Kidding about the chili. I don't think his little tummy is quite ready for chili powder.

And yes I did take the cover off the highchair because I am lazy and cut corners when I can. I got sick and tired of washing the dang thing after every meal - because every meal is messy. So now I just wipe the plastic down with a sponge and call it good. LAZY. No sterilizing or sanitizing. If the chunks are gone I'm happy. I would have been a great housewife in the 1950's don't ya think?





Lucas wanted to sit in the highchair because Nick was in it earlier. So he ate his cheerios in the highchair. He is such a sweet little kid. I just love him to pieces.

A little of this and a little of that

Let's see. Lucas is saying more and more words. He is now saying a new word or two every day which is exciting. This must be the "language explosion" the speech people talked about most 18-20 month olds going through. I know Lucas is almost 28 months old but I am just happy that it is finally here. He is also being such a trooper with this move and all the chaos. The only thing is that he refuses to feed himself anymore. Lucas sees me feeding Nick and refuses to pick his silverware up and feed himself. He wants me to feed him like I feed Nick. And I know that some of you would say that he will starve until he starts feeding himself again - I know that is what I would have said pre-children. But since it is my own kid I have that whole maternal thing kicking in that says " Lucas is still just a baby and if he wants to be babied than do it". So that is what I do. I feed him too. So sue me. It's not like he's going to be 15 years old and still asking me to feed him. I have to pick my battles.

And then there is my little Nick who just had Stew for the first time last night - which he LOVED. The kid put down an entire bowl of it. . . he ate more than Lucas. I guess the bland old baby food is nothing compared to homemade stew. Which brings me to one of my new favorite things. . .(if Oprah can recommend favorite things than so can I)

This little blender attachment is the bestest in the whole wide world. It is small so that you can blend small portions, like say baby food, and the food isn't lost down by the blades. And when you can't finish everything there is a little lid to store food with. Yeah. That's right. This should be mandatory baby equipment. That stew didn't have a chance in this little sucker. Now Nick is eating what we eat and he is so much happier at meal times. He is one of these food obsessed babies (unlike Lucas who was content to watch others eat while he played with his teether) who insists . . .INSISTS on eating what and while you are eating. Food is a really big deal to Nick.

And also tonight was the night we have begun our form of sleep training for Nick. He is a stubborn child. But the kid really needs to learn to put himself to sleep. It just isn't fair for us to not teach him this skill, no matter how badly it breaks my heart to hear him cry. I tried the Ferber thing which worked on Lucas but Nick freaked out and kept throwing up. So we are trying a gentler method where I sit by the crib reassuring him while he screams himself to sleep. Really - I have read quite a few books on this subject in a desperate attempt to find a method that is truly a "no-cry" method and unless you have a baby with a halo and wings you are S.O.L. ladies. There isn't a genuine "no-cry" method. It's a myth. A MYTH!! They are going to cry because it is new and unfamiliar and they don't know what to do to put themselves to sleep. So really it is your job to be supportive while they learn to do it themselves. I guess you just have to choose which variation of the sleep methods work best for your kid and your situation. I really hope that this one works because I am such a weenie when it comes to my kids crying.

Boxes Boxes

Lucas playing between the boxes


Lucas showing off his new pants (it looks like he's flashing Nick)


Nick loves the camera


Lucas still between boxes


AJ breaking down boxes


Our front door is in there somewhere


One of many box towers


The latest sleep book I am reading. Still trying to locate the one Joanne recommended. I should just order it from Amazon already.

Long overdue pictures

Picasa photo editing helped me with most of these pictures. It got rid of a hanging booger on Lucas. I think I might join the Picasa fan club.

And don't start feeling bad for Lucas who looks like he wants to go outside really badly in all of the pics. He was watching the Qwest dude hook up our Internet. He kept yelling "man! MAN!! Mama, MAN!!"