Thursday, February 12, 2009

Matthew and his Minions!

The funny thing about having big brothers isn't that they pick on you, take all the fun toys or eat on the good candy. The funny thing about big brothers is that they know the exact moment when to teach younger siblings to do the things that Mommy and Daddy are dreading most, and when Mommy and Daddy have the least amount of time to address it. I don't think it's a coincidence, I think it's a conspiracy! Let me explain.

On Sunday, Kimberly and I were at K-Mart doing some routine shopping. She was pleading with me to buy things, and I was fending her off with retorts of "we don't really need it", "it can wait" and "I don't think Obama's stimulus package will cover this." However, the one thing she made an especially strong push for was to get the twins toddler beds. I adamantly refused. I pointed out that the kids have NEVER escaped the confines of the cribs, neither of us have time to work on keeping them in the beds, and there are a million other things we can do with the money right now. Kimberly relented and agreed to wait until her college was on Spring break.

Then, yesterday, morning when the twins woke up I went to their room to retrieve them, but Matthew had beaten me there. He was giving Kyle detailed escape plans on how to scale the wall and find freedom. Before Kyle could test out his brother's advice I seized all three kids, descended the staircase and filled them with so much chocolate milk all memories of an escape plan surely would have drowned from their minds.
Later that day I came home half day and Kimberly was just getting ready to put Kyle, Mallory and Cole (our two-year-old nephew) down for a nap. Within seconds of leaving the room, we heard footsteps and discovered Kyle had escaped his crib and was smiling down from the top of the steps. When we went back upstairs, he had already made his way into Mallory's crib and was instructing her on her dismount. We put Kyle back in the crib and left again. When we heard another noise, we went back upstairs and Kyle was now in the playpen with Cole. For a third time, we put Kyle back in his crib and left. Of course we heard more noises and investigated, only to discover Kyle and Mallory both out of their cribs. We never got them to stay in their cribs and last night Kimberly only got about 14 and a half minutes of sleep because of our two escapees and their mischief.

Today we went to Babies-r-us and bought a toddler bed. We came home and took Matthew's old Toddler bed out of storage. Kimberly assembled everything and surprised the kids with their new big kid beds. They both loved the beds. Mallory fell asleep in her bed with very little resistance. Kyle, on the other hand, fought tooth and nail. After about half an hour, he couldn't resist the sandman and sailed off into LaLa land. So far this evening, Kyle has fallen out of his bed once, but didn't wake up and we were able to put him right back into his bed.

Big brothers don't care about Mom or Dad's schedules, their stress levels or their willingness to commit to new projects OR maybe Matthew knew exactly what he was doing, and decided he was going to flex his big brother muscles and have his minions torture us. Knowing Matthew's genius and desire to demonstrate his authority, I suspect he orchestrated the whole devilish plot specifically to torment us and overthrow the parental regime! We surrender!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Kyle's New Hairstyle!

B E F O R E


















A F T E R


Today, we decided it was time for Kyle to ditch the baby "Moe" haircut and to get a big boy haircut. The photo on the top was taken a few hours before his trip to the barber shop, and the photo on the bottom was taken a few hours after Kyle's trip to the barber shop. As you can see, he is a remade "Bob-o".

Trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences



We took a trip to Philadelphia today to see the dinosaurs. Matthew has been learning about dinosaurs in school and Kyle just loves them! So we decided to head off to a museum. The kids had a blast! The boys both had the same favorite parts, T-REX, of course! Mallory didn't really have a favorite part. She enjoyed the museum but given her choice, she probably would have rather been having tea with some princesses somewhere. Matthew learned a lot about dinosaurs today, mostly the shocker of the lifelike size. He couldn't believe they were that big!

Last day of indoor Soccer!


Matthew was sad for it to come to an end. This was his very first try at sports. He did really well and wants to try out for Spring. The first girl on the left, Nicole, was Matthew's girlfriend for this session. Let's see if he finds another one in the spring.

First Real Hair cut?







I don't think I can call this a real haircut or a first. Well, Mallory had her bangs trimmed about a year ago, but I wouldn't let them touch the back. On Saturday, she got the back of her hair trimmed for the first time! I went in with the intention of a cut, but I suppose deep down inside I am not ready to part with that baby hair or that last little bit of curl she has left. So, she doesn't even look like she had a haircut. They took off an inch off the sides and an inch and a 1/4 off the back. Maybe next time we can go for a full cut. I don't know maybe when she's 3? LOL! (or 4)

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS




Mallory spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the hospital with pneumonia. It was a very difficult time, but as much as Mallory didn't like the IV or getting poked with needles she was still in good holiday spirits. Christmas morning Kim's mom showed up early at the hospital so that Kimberly could come home and see the boys open their Christmas presents. Then we all got dressed and went to the hospital to visit Mallory and take her some presents. She was very happy with her gifts, as you can see in the photos. When I had to take the boys home on Christmas day, and Mallory had to stay at the hospital it was a tough scene. Matthew and Mallory clung to each other. Both were crying. Mallory just kept saying "home, home" and Matthew didn't want to leave her there. It was heartbreaking. A few hours late Mallory was released from the hospital and we had a great Christmas dinner together at Uncle Freddy and Aunt Niecey's house. Me and Kimmie would not have asked for a better Christmas present than to have our entire family together.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Ditching the Coal ...

No MISTLETOE ... Just EVERYDAY SIBLING LOVE ...

90% Cheeks, 10% Everything Else


The Crew Sharing a Laugh

Our Princess and Her Shining Knight



The Kids realized the gravity of the 350-something day stay on the naughty list and wanted to make a last ditch effort to get put on the "nice list". As you can see, they are hamming it up in front of the Christmas tree and putting on a really good show just in case Santa is watching. I think their hard work will payoff!

Mallory

Mallory

Kyle

Kyle

Matthew

Matthew

Chris, Matthew, Kyle, Mallory and Niece Britanie

Chris, Matthew, Kyle, Mallory and Niece Britanie
Daddy having fun with the family

March of Dimes Walk 2007

March of Dimes Walk 2007
Spiderman, Matthew and Chris

About Me

We are Christopher, Kimberly, Matthew, Mallory, Kyle and our dog Chandler Bing.