Kidlets and such!

My lil man. He is so not a little baby anymore. He is so adventurous. He loves to explore and follow sister around. Most of the time he follows her lead. If she cries, he cries. If she wants a snack, he wants a snack. If she plays, he plays. It is so precious to watch them together and see how quickly he is developing thanks to his big sister.



Savannah, my little artist. She drew mommy a flower on her magna-doodle. She wanted me to save it forever, but since its a magna doodle I had to take a picture of it. ;) She draws a lot and it is amazing how realistic her drawings are. I have a folder where I keep her drawings. I will treasure them for my entire life.

On Tuesday, John got a new tattoo! It is the quote that inspired him to join the Military. It is very close to his heart and means the world to him. A lot of people decided to take it amongst themselves to "correct" the quote. Hi guys, its a quote. This came directly from Robert E. Lee. This is the way he wrote it and this is the way John WANTED it. So it was done! I cant wait til I get mine done next month!! I have the needle itch now!!

A Bonus pic of Savannah Rose - She is learning how to dress herself (she knows how to put clothes on, she is learning how to match and accessorise) So I let her have free reign on days we stay home. This was the outfit she picked out. "Knees that come to my socks!!" which she specifically asked for last week. She has been wearing them almost everyday for a week now!

Lo Siento!!

I feel so awful for neglecting my blog. Especially with all of the milestones the kids have achieved. I do not keep this blog just for everyone entertainment, but also as my own personal journal with the kids.

So I guess we will start the catch up game with Phoenix. He will be a year old in 6 days!! How is that even possible?! He has been walking since he was 9 months old, but in the recent weeks he has perfected his walk. He can get around with no issues and falls a LOT less than he used too. He can now say hi, bye, nina, mama, dada, baba, papa, bow wow, ball, thank you (tank u), sister (sisa), bed and go. It is amazing to hear him talk as much as he does right now. Especially since Savannah was not the best.

Speaking of Savannah and her speech. Wow. It has improved DRASTICALLY!! She now knows everyone first and last names (including the dog) when I say everyone I mean Me, John, my mom, dad and Netta! That is a lot of names for a 3 year old to remember. Our address is really long, so she knows the name of our complex and we are still working on the street names.

Now onto us.. ready for BIG news? Haha no not really I just am being silly about John possibly becoming a police officer! Can you imagine? Yes, yes you can! Everyone says they can see him as a Cop once I mention it. No one is scared or worried. I think that it really is his calling. If he gets this job in Boulder then we are moving to Louisville. I am super excited, I just hope the small houses in Lousville can handle our extra large furniture haha! Maybe Superior is more our alley, and its close to the mall ;)

Well John just walked in from work, so I am off to visit with him for awhile. Keep your eyes peeled for Savannah's blog! She is working on her photos again!

Growing up so fast!

Last night John and I decided to go out to Tokyo Joes for dinner. We were both super hungry and in the mood for a good healthy meal. Normally we just let Savannah pick off of our bowls but this time we got her the child size teriyaki bowl and she was SO excited about it. Our order comes out and I get up and grab some chop sticks. John never eats with chop sticks, so I grabbed me some and a 2ND set just in case Sugar wanted to play with some. Well low and behold, she watched me for a few minutes and then next thing I know. She says "LOOK MOM!" and she has rice in her chop sticks!! Do you know how hard it is to master picking up rice?! She has no technique but, hey, she did it!

c

Sorry no updates..

Hello my wonderful followers. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Things have been so ridiculously busy for the McDuffies its crazy!

First of all let me update about Phoenix. He went in for his 9 month check up and weighed in at a VERY healthy 29.7lbs and is 30 inches long. The dr was amazed at his motor skills and said he is way ahead of the curve. I am sure having a big sister not much older than he is really helps. He also took his first step! He is really getting his balance down and is trying to take off after Savannah. I am sure by the end of the month I will be reporting that he is walking :)

We had a good 4Th of July despite the rain. We bbq'd at my moms with the Miranda family & our guest of honor, my bff Laura (aka auntie wei wei or lei lei). We kicked back a few beers and ate like pigs, but right when the fireworks were supposed to go off, it started raining! So we moved inside and played with glow sticks for about an hour. Now let me tell you how much fun we had!! I am not sure if fireworks woulda been able to compete with the glow sticks.

The next morning was kind of a mistake on our parts. We had such a busy weekend and didn't really plan it all out. So I mentioned the zoo (since we are members its always a fun free day for us) and ended up going with the kids, my dad & netta. WOW! Not only was it HOT but it was crazy busy!!! Although I have to admit, watching my dad and Savannah run through the zoo like 2 lil kids was just amazing and so precious.

I do have to admit, when I first heard my dad was coming back I wasnt ready for it. I thought it was going to be a disaster and he would end up hurting us like he did the last round. This time, I don't know. He is a different person. He got a job right away and has been working hard to prove to us he wants to stay. He has this insane bond with the kids that I can not explain. You have to see it to believe it. I think he finally realized he has a place here on fathers day. The kids got him a plaque that says "Our Papa. Our first and forever best friend" and that just brought out the water works. (John and i got him a knife and he was like super excited about that as well lol)

In a couple hours John and I are taking Savannah on a date. She has been feeling kind of, eh, I don't know if I would say neglected but she is a lil jealous of her brother right now. I don't feel as though he gets more attention, but he is at that phase where he is trying to walk, and getting into things. So I have to constantly watch him and it seems like every 10 seconds im saying "Phoenix, NO". So even though its not always good attention, its still attention. So he is going to my moms for a few hours and we are taking Savannah to adventure golf. I am soooo excited I want to wake John up and make him go sit in the parking lot til they open! haha

Sick of my sleeping pics yet?

Mondays are laundry day in the McDuffie house. I know... so exciting! Well that usually means a PJ Day for me and Savannah and a diaper day for Phoenix. Anyway, Savannah was eating a sandwich and Phoenix was bugging the crap out of her so she asked me to put him in his walker. I put him in the walker and gave him some snacks so he wouldnt cry. A few minutes pass and I get up to check on Phoenix, who is awfully quiet, and here is what I find:

CLASSIC!!

In other awake news, Savannah is going through her "WHY" phase. So our day pretty much consists of conversations that always end with "BECAUSE I SAID SO, THATS WHY!!" It is quite entertaining, from the outside. She has such a crazy sense of humor it cracks me up. She told John tonight she didnt have to go to bed because "its only 6 dad!". No she cant tell time, she just THINKS she can! I do have to admit, she was really good today. She took a nap without a fight, she went potty twice without me pressuring her and she was very patient and having fun with her brother. I gave her a popsicle for being such a sweet girl today and she was VERY thankful for that. Oh just a side note to parents with toddlers, Popsicle makes a brand of frozen pops that are "slow melt" - I HIGHLY recommend them. It has saved us from tons of messes!

Again... Really!? Yay!

Really, this rarely happens. Twice in a week is amazing! I am kind of in shock actually ;)

No sooner do I finish writing the last blog when I look over and see Savannah:






My lil man:


And my John:



What a nice break from a busy weekend! Now where's MY naptime?!

Wow... Busy!

I wasnt really expecthing this weekend to be as busy as it was, but whatcha gonna do?

Friday night, John and I decided to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese. We had been promising Savannah she could go since her birthday and we just havent made it. So Friday we went back. WOW! I can not believe how grown up she is! She went from game to game, ride to ride on her own. She kept tokens in her pockets and figured out most of the games on her own. It was Phoenix's first time riding rides, he did NOT like them at all. So John and I tag teamed staying with him and playing with Savannah.

Saturday, we took Savannah to see Toy Story 3. She sat through this one a lot better then she did Shrek 4. When we got there she went to the concession stand and ordered "a pretzel with cheese and a pop" then turned to me and said "Lets go find some seats mom". Man, she is turning into an expert!! When the movie was done she says lets go shopping. John had some fliers and sponsorship letters to hand out so we went to the mall. I let her walk through the mall holding my hand and she only made one suggestion which was the disney store! haha Somehow we walked out empty handed, but after a trip to the pet store we couldnt escape without a trip to Mrs Fields ;)

Today has been all about relaxation. We went to my moms for a bit, then came back home to enjoy some family time. John and Phoenix are napping. Savannah and I just finished Monsters Inc and now we are just hangin out waiting for this storm to roll in. I have zero pics to post from this entire weekend thanks to Savannah losing my lil camera. So for now, just use your imagination. hee hee

Things that make me happy...

It rarely happens that all my "kids" sleep at the same time. Today was one of those occasions. It just so happened I got my new birthday present today and I am enjoying my alone time by blogging! :)

Chico and my poor mom. She was given new pain pills to help with her hip problems. I guess they work if she was able to fall asleep:

My lil Phoenix fell asleep in my lap. I lay him on the loveseat, covered him, and put his sisters blanket on him. He rolls over and chews on the blanket til he falls back asleep:

My Precious Savannah Rose. She was watching UP and telling me "I not sleepy mom, I just wanna watch UP!" 5 minutes later, this is how I find her. Glad I took that sucker outta her mouth before she laid down:

Sleep well my precious babies!

Introduction... Kind of

Well most people who read this blog will be family. So I don't really have to introduce the "stars" of our lil show. I have been wanting to start a family blog for awhile now. We have family from coast to coast (and even some across the oceans) so this will be an easy way to keep up to date without me having to write out a million emails or try to remember everything that happens on a 20 minute phone call.

So today is June 23rd. Not a really special day but it was REALLY special for us. Little miss Savannah Rose decided that she wanted to go potty. I have not been pressuring her because the more I push the more she resists. So after a big fiasco with potty training I backed off 100%. She has been asking to go pee for the last few days, we go and nothing. So today when she asked I didn't get my hopes up. I took her to the bathroom, took off her diaper and sat her on the big potty. She turned to me and said "Mom, can you leave? I need to be alone." So I left and just lingered around the door waiting. Then I heard a flush. I went in and sure enough she had gone #1 and 2!! I cleaned her up and we celebrated. I asked her what she wanted and she said a sucker. :)

Later tonight we were at home and I had kept asking her if she needed to go and she refused. Then she came to me (again) and said she needed to go. I took her in and again she asked to be alone. So I took off. I walked back in and this is what I found......

So yay for twice on the potty today!