the latest happys

I just wanted to write down a few of my favorite "sayings" from both boys in the last few weeks. Britton says something hysterical on a daily basis (sometimes hourly), but here's my current favorites -

1. PJ and Britton went to our church Easter Egg hunt last week and apparently the "Easter Kangaroo" was present (Yes, Kangaroo. But I think they were promoting VBS). Apparently Britton got a hug from said kangaroo and came home to tell me about it:
BK: Mom, I hugged the Easter Kangaroo!
Me: That's great BK!
BK: (With a look of disgust) But I felt a zipper on his back.
Me: And so what does that mean?
BK: It's just a costume.

So who wants to fess up to telling my child that Easter Kangaroos don't really exist?!? He said he also noticed that when he shook the Easter Bunny's paw, he felt fingers. I thought 4 year-olds weren't supposed to notice such things, and should still blissfully believe in the magic of the holidays (all holidays with dress-up creatures included)?? I'm brokenhearted by this latest development. The Easter Bunny did redeem himself somewhat on Sunday morning though by leaving a trail of eggs from Britton's room to the backdoor in the middle of the night. Tricky bunny.

2. Leyton picked up his sippy cup the other day, pointed to the liquid inside and exclaimed "WA WA!" I've never been so impressed, and he was pretty darn proud of himself. He also has started saying "Bye Bye" (or something similar) when it is said to him.

3. We went to dinner the other night, and Britton was busy eating his chicken and fries. He looked at PJ and said, "Please can I have more ketchup. Brought to you by State Farm." WHAT? Has someone been watching a little too much March Madness?? I couldn't believe he picked up the sponsor line that you so often hear on t.v. during sporting events. PJ and I were dumbfounded.

4. Also at the same dinner out, the waitress was asking Britton if he liked having a little brother. He said "Yes, and I think I'll have a little sister too." UM, NO. Not anytime soon anyway (if ever). Mom has all the babies I can handle at the moment. Good try though. :)

5. We have a gate at the bottom of our stairs to keep my youngest monkey from climbing them and hurting himself severely. So he loves the stairs (of course), and anytime Britton is up in the playroom (and he has seen me allow Britton past the gate to go upstairs), he gets very upset that I won't let him climb up as well. He then stands at the gate and screams up at Britton - "BAA BAA!" (Bubba) "BAA BAA BAA BAA BAA BAA!!!!" And on, and on.

a week of "firsts!"

The week of Leyton's birthday was a huge week for him. Not only was it his FIRST birthday, but he had his FIRST taste of sweets (in the form of multiple birthday cakes/cupcakes), his FIRST trip to the zoo, FIRST haircut, and one more small item: his FIRST steps!!! At his check-up, he weighed in at 20 lbs, 13.5 oz, and was 29.5 inches long. I realize that's not huge, but in the Garcia world (where we are referred to as "the Keeblers" by many of PJ's relatives), this is a pretty good size kiddo!

He is talking more and more, and is getting to be quite the walker. He still prefers crawling (because he's so darn fast that way), but we catch him taking steps here and there regularly. I'm never quick enough with the camera, but I'm just so thrilled we SAW him taking his first steps. This week he's a little under the weather with a double ear infection (and two ruptured eardrums - ouch!) but I know he'll be back to his busy self in no time. :) Here's some fun pics from the last couple of weeks:

This one is just funny. I had pushed the racks on the dishwasher in (I was working in the sink right next to him), and apparently he really wanted the plastic fork, so he just climbed in himself to get it. I turned around to find him sitting in the dishwasher. :)


This was at the zoo... It was cold and a little rainy, but it turned out perfectly because all the animals were the most active I've ever seen! Even the polar bear was swimming all over and kept coming to the window to bump his nose into it (*the polar bear is always asleep when I'm there so this was quite a treat!)!

Leyton with Tia Anna, who gave him his first haircut! Better, no? :)

This picture was from his birthday party (which I'll post more pics of later). Think he liked the cake? :)

Grandpa Poncho and Grandma Cindy gave him a wooden rocking horse, which he loves!

Goodbye Baby... Hello Toddler! Leyton is ONE!

Happy Birthday sweet Leyton Eliot Garcia! It was one year ago tonight I was holding a little 6lb, 3oz munchkin in my arms, so thrilled with the beautiful baby God had blessed our family with. He was just precious, and perfect in every way.

I'll update again tomorrow with his official stats and his latest "tricks," but I wanted to post some pictures and tell a little about his big day. Since it's Thursday, Leyton had school today. He's a little young for me to send special cupcakes to celebrate with, so we settled for birthday hats instead. His teachers of course made his day extra special (greeting us this morning with a big "Hi Birthday Boy!" when I dropped him off), and told me they took the hats to music class where they all wore them and sang Happy Birthday to Leyton.

After school, we went to pick up Britton and see Gigi, (who planted no less than eighty million birthday kisses on the birthday boy) then it was home for his favorite dinner - Spaghetti! He loved every bite, and we had to cut him off so he could save room for home-made birthday cupcakes. Leyton also received a phone call this evening from Grandma Cindy who sang Happy Birthday to the big boy!

So here's where I probably didn't make the smartest move... I thought it would be fun to have something other than vanilla or chocolate cake since we've already had that a couple times this week (between his cousin T's b-day yesterday, and Leyton's b-day celebration with PJ's parents earlier in the week). So what did I choose?!? How about RED VELVET? Apparently I lost my mind, and it dawned on me as I was making the very red cupcakes that they might create a small mess. Well, he sure enjoyed eating his yummy red velvet cupcake, (they tasted great), but he did sort of look like he devoured a small animal afterwards. :) Oh well, lesson learned, and the most important part... He LOVED it!

He's such a handsome one-year-old!

Yum... Spaghetti... (I love this picture)

Pre-demolition of the cupcake (he's focusing really hard on his plan of attack):

The aftermath... He's crying because we took the remnants of the cupcake away to clean him up. Clearly, he wasn't happy about that...

Comfy?

My Mom ("Gigi" to the boys) was nice enough to come over this afternoon to watch Leyton while I was at work. Apparently, Leyton wasn't interested in napping (it slows him down, you see). My Mom said he wasn't fussing, but she was watching him on the monitor as he stood in the crib, shaking his blanket and talking. After a while, he got quiet, so she went in to check on him and this is how she found him...

Apparently, he got tired while sitting up and just leaned forward and crashed (and stayed this way for the entire two hour nap). The real irony here can only be appreciated if you know how completely INflexible PJ is. As in, he can't even sit cross-legged on the floor, let alone with his legs outstretched in front of him (in a pike position). So I think seeing his child sleeping like this makes him a little queasy - this position would likely snap PJ's hamstrings in two. :)

Britton and the hair incident

So I sent PJ to get Britton a much needed haircut today, and it's a smidge shorter than I had planned. I was very specific on the instructions: nothing too short, maybe a 4 guard around the back, but NOT on top. Well apparently either PJ didn't listen, or the stylist at Walmart didn't, because Britton's hair is just a wee-bit short. So short in fact I'm not sure it can be brushed. Great. Boys are not to be trusted. Especially not with haircuts. On small children.


Before (Yes, I realize it was VERY long - hence the emergency trip to our local Walmart salon this morning):


After: (note the spike in front - Britton is so against having his hair spiked, apparently PJ bribed him with a candy bar to allow the stylist to do this)

Splish Splash

So bathtime is always the highlight of the evening at our house. Leyton makes tracks to get to the bathtub ASAP when he hears the water going. The more water, the better, as splashing water on every inch of the bathroom is his ultimate goal. And the second you get him out of the tub, the ear-piercing screams let you know he isn't happy about it. :) This picture just shows the fun they have together in the tub - I know Leyton's eyes are closed, but I love the expressions on their faces.

We're Back! (And better than ever)

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. It's been one of the craziest months of our lives, but lots of fun. It's taken some gentle prodding from Kristy (really, threatening to do the blog for me) to get me back in gear, so here we go!

My last post was January 29th. The next day we received an offer on our house (after having been on the market 3 days!), and after several days of back and forth, the house sold on February 3rd. Within the next 24 days, we found a house to purchase (which wasn't finished), moved out of our house, closed on the old and new houses and spent our first night here Feb. 27th! Whew! I'm tired just typing it out. :) Anyway, we are now in the new house and I'd say about 75% unpacked. Maybe more than that - but nothing is decorated, and I have a first birthday to plan for and host here in 24 days. :) No worries - I'll get it done somehow...

So an update on the boys... Leyton is ever so close to walking. He stands unassisted and can balance for quite a while. If you hold his hands, he takes off walking at warp speed. He is quite the chatterbox these days - he says 'mama', 'dada', 'uh oh', 'baby' and 'baabaa' (bubba - referring to Britton). He's into everything and is really in a fun stage! We are loving every minute with him. Britton is obsessed with letters and numbers. He can write almost every letter in the alphabet from memory (there's maybe 1 or 2 he's unsure of), and is working on numbers. He can write some words, and is working on sounding out words he sees. He's very inquisitive (as always), and loves school! He's eating more food than I think PJ and I eat put together, so I'm pretty sure we've hit a growth spurt!

So that's the latest! We continue to unpack, unpack, unpack. :) I apologize to anyone that's left me a message or sent me an email recently - I realize I've been AWFUL about returning calls/emails. I promise to do better once things settle (and I know that's no excuse)! Here's some fun pics from the last month:

Leyton's just pooped from all this moving!


Goodbye sweet house! Thanks for the memories! One last visit to our old house, the night before closing: (maybe I'm pathetic, but I cried)

Leyton loved spending the week at Gigi's between houses!

Mimi's world has been turned upside-down as well. She's handled it like a champ. :)


The boys received a tent for Valentine's Day - needless to say, it's been a hit at our house with both boys!

the memory house

It's with mixed emotions that I say, it's official, our house is on the market. We've been looking for a new (bigger!) house for about 18 months. PJ and I finally decided that it was stupid to just look, and look, and look, but never commit to anything because we hadn't sold (or even tried to sell) our house. We decided last year we'd wait until this summer to put the house up, but when the interest rates dropped in November, we decided it was time to go!

Emotionally though, it's like a roller coaster. I'm so excited to get the boys more room to run and play, and essentially start the next chapter in our life. But it's so scary to consider leaving this house, this home. PJ and I kid that we have done a lot of growing up here. We moved in when we had only been married 7 months, and kids weren't even a thought yet. It was our dream "starter" home and we could hardly wait. We had the house built, and watched it every step of the way. We came every day to see the progress, and I remember being so excited when they finally poured the foundation. We picked out cabinets, paint, tile, carpet, and grout. It was our house.

And now, I get so excited to leave in one minute, and in the next I choke back tears thinking of all the memories we've made in this house. We brought Mia here as a two month old puppy. We lovingly painted walls, laid wood flooring, and dug flowerbeds. We found out kiddos were on the way in this house, and one rainy New Year's Day we brought home our first sweet baby, Britton Kasey. We've laughed, cried, and loved being a family in this house.

I know it's just been 7 years, which is so very far from a lifetime. I know the next house will hold many more memories just as special. But there will never be another "first" house, and this one will always hold a special place in our hearts. And I hope the next family loves it just as much as we have.

hold on to your hats

We're mobile! By "we" I mean Leyton, and I guess the term "mobile" is really negotiable. :) The big development is that he's pulling up now! So we aren't too far from complete mobility I'm afraid... He pulled up on Saturday morning, right in front of all of us in the Pack-n-Play. We were getting ready for Britton's big birthday bash and I glanced over at Leyton and he was standing! He is also crawling a little - he crawls about a foot, then backwards about three. He hasn't quite got it mastered, but hey, we're thrilled with his progress! He also has decided that his reflection is the coolest person around, and loves to give himself kisses!

In other news, we are currently a "house of germs" so don't come near us. More specifically, my kids are; PJ and I are fine (at the moment anyway). Britton has strep (AGAIN! - 2nd time in less than a month), and Leyton has an ear infection. Fun times at the Garcia house. Be sure to come on by and pick out a disease to take home with you. We've got plenty. :)

Britton and Leyton "Happys"

"Happys" is actually a term my Dad uses when buying the kids gifts. To him, it refers to a small gift, not necessarily something they asked for, but something that brings a huge smile to their face. Each year, he buys each boy a few "happys" for Christmas or Birthdays and it just makes me (and them) smile. So in this case, I'm using "Happys" in a completely different sense. To me, happys are those little things my boys do that make me smile or laugh for just a minute. Nothing earth-shattering, but those things I want to remember in years to come.

Britton continues to use some huge words that just keep me in stitches. This past week, he apparently told my Mom that dinner was "decadent." Not a word we use (EVER really), but apparently he used it correctly. He picks up the darnedest things. Over the weekend, PJ and I were kidding around and I told PJ I was omniscient, so he couldn't get away with anything. Of course Britton asked what 'omniscient' meant, and I said "all knowing." I told him that he was pretty omniscient these days. He looked and me and without missing a beat said, "Yeah, I know lots of stuff."

Leyton has realized that he can see me in the mirror in the car (you know, the mirror mounted in the backseat so that I can see him when he's rear-facing). He will lean towards the mirror, and go "AHHH!" As soon as I look, he starts laughing at me. It's the cutest game you've ever seen, but a little tricky to play and drive at the same time.