Cast of Characters

So it has been some time and to my followers (should I have any left) I appreciate you sticking with me! I know that for many who know me personally you certainly don’t need to be introduced to everyone but I thought it would be a good idea to put a faces to online aliases. What’s with the aliases you ask? Well since the blog is public I just want to do the best I can to protect my family. Sure my name might be somewhere else but I certainly am not going to make it easy for those up to no good! So lets begin!

Zippercow: So his alias is totally strange I know, but it is a name he is known by online and is our family domain, so I think we should stay true to that. Ask me about the story behind the name sometime and maybe I’ll tell you!  He is a fabulous Daddy and Husband. There are SOOOO many pictures of him with the kids so there are many to choose from. But he can be pretty kooky too, which the kids will totally be embarrassed by someday. He works hard for our family and is absolutely sarcastic (and hillarious!).

Mama Moo: There are very few pictures of me. And most of the ones I have are pretty terrible. Mostly because Zippercow just snaps the shot without saying, “Uh Hun, your muffin top spilleth out” or “your fourth chin is showing”. I suppose I know why, but seriously!

Yes please!!!  I need all the caffeine I can get to take care of the children, take care of the house and in my spare minutes learn more about photography.

Little Moo: Our spunky and delightful (most days) oldest son. He challenges us daily but we will persevere and so will he!

Have I mentioned that we love Phineas and Ferb in this house? Maybe? Once? Twice? Well it is still a current favorite around here! He’s a smart boy who continues to make us proud (even through the challenges!).

Littlest Moo: Our youngest of the herd. He is smiley and friendly and definitely his own little character! He is walking now, which he thinks is the absolute coolest thing ever! Who wouldn’t enjoy a new way to wreak havoc?!?!

Niecey-poo: Can’t forget her! She is our niece who spends lots of time with us so she frequently makes appearances on our blog. She definitely adds even more dynamic to our day. Both the boys love playing with her, you know as long as any two related children play nicely together!

Such cutie patooties, all three of them!

Look Out World, Here He Comes!

For about a week now we knew that Littlest Moo was on the brink of walking. We could just see it. He would psych himself up like he was going to walk away from the couch then bend at the waist and crumple to a crawling position. We noticed he was ready for bigger and better things when he started doing this

 

 

For a couple months we have been using this bench to keep Littlest Moo out of Little Moo’s bedroom while still allowing the bigger kids to easily get back and forth. Sad day. This no longer works. So baby boy isn’t walking, but will climb over things? Sweet.

Then this weekend he did it! He took a couple steps between Zippercow and I and then by the end of the weekend he was walking short distances!

We are noticing he seems to like to have confidence in what he is doing before embarking on something new so while we can see that he has the skills needed to reach a milestone he waits just a little bit longer and clearly chooses the mode of transportation that is the fastest. But I suppose I do too, hence why I walk instead of G.I. crawl.

It is so fun to get to know your little one and  begin to learn their personality as it blooms. Littlest Moo is a VERY happy little boy always smiling, waving or laughing. But every now and then we see little snippets of what we are sure the toddler years will hold for us. While Little Moo waited until about three years old before getting into full on tantrums Littlest Moo has given us a preview of what we should expect. I think when he’s happy (which is most of the time) he’s very happy but when he’s not, watch out!!!

Dun Dun Dun!!! Be Sceered. Very sceered.

Modest Mom

I wish! Since I can remember I’ve always been fairly modest when it comes to clothing. Not neck to ankle garb but I prefer to cover things up. Even as a teenager ( to my mom’s disappointment I think) I cared little about being trendy and just preferred a cute t-shirt and jeans. Sadly I didn’t take advantage of a fit body as a teen and now that I REALLY want to cover it up I find it next to impossible. Little did I know that becoming a mom I’d have to let go of some of my modesty.

It starts those couple hours prior to giving birth I think. There comes a point were you don’t care who sees what, you just want that baby out! They put you in one of those stupid gowns that don’t fit anyone right and despite all the snaps there still seems to be stuff a hanging out. Then you move on to nursing.

Nursing was a nightmare for me. I tried so hard but it went so poorly that I pretty much just sat with no top on because I was having to try that frequently, so while I would usually be mortified there were people (my Dad included) who saw me topless, I didn’t care. I just wanted to feed my baby. In the end it didn’t work out for either of my boys so I quickly was able to return to my modest ways, or so I thought.

Now I have a little boy who at every opportunity pulls my shirt down. When I’m carrying him he finds it most useful to grab onto the front of my shirt like his life depends on it and pull down.  I don’t think a day goes by that I’m not flashing someone. Hi bus driver! Hi doctor! Hi neighbor! Hi stranger….you get the idea. It doesn’t matter if I have a tank top on underneath to keep from flashing people. I could be wearing a turtle neck and he’d still manage to stretch the neck that far down. Okay, as I’m re-reading this I should clear up that fortunately for me and most of the general public he doesn’t pull down my bra, just my shirt. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I don’t see other mom’s bras everyday. Or maybe I’m just too busy trying to cover mine up to see theirs.

One Saturday Morning…

Zippercow and I have often joked about how nice it will be when our children are old enough to get themselves some breakfast and watch cartoons on Saturday morning all while letting us sleep. We know this is a delusion of course because even if they don’t come wake us there are is always the children fighting over what they watch and who is on what couch that is sure to be loud enough to wake us. However this last Saturday Little Moo woke a little too early for this Mom, especially on the only day I don’t have to wake to an alarm clock. So, I stumbled to the living room with my eyes mostly closed and turned on some Phineas and Ferb (isn’t that what everyone watches at 6am on Saturday???) and crawled back to bed only to have him “sneak” on me (that’s how he says it) 3 and half minutes later to insist that he needed to eat that very second. Who eats less than 5 minutes within waking!?!?!? I mumbled something about getting some cereal himself. He was uncertain but I assured him he could  do it. I was certain this would mean half the box would be on the floor and I’d have a heck of a mess to clean up but I didn’t care it was six. oh. clock. Strangely enough Littlest Moo didn’t wake until almost 9am (unheard of for this little man) and we came out to the living room to this

Phineas and Ferb trance.

Before I even made it to the kitchen I noticed he had milk in his cup which terrified me slightly, how on earth did he poor out of the huge gallon jug and not make a horrific mess? So from here I make my way through the dining and kitchen to assess the damage.

Chair pulled up to the pantry to reach the cereal. You’ll notice he left a path of his morning accomplishments.

He tore the tops off the box??? I still don’t understand why that was necessary but as you can see there is no cereal on the table (or the floor below) so I don’t mind the torn boxes at all.

A different chair pulled up to get into the cupboard for a cup. He left every cupboard and door he got into open.

Much to my relief the milk was almost gone so there was just enough for a cup and he poured it without spilling a drop. So all-in-all we got to sleep longer allowing us to be rested enough do deal with his I-woke-up-too-early-now-I’m-going-to-make-you-pay pleasantness AND he  discovered he can fend for himself.

Score!