Security - The Final Chapter

I stopped pumping when the boys turned six months old, and I admit it was a relief to not have to drag that darn pump through security anymore.  But I thought I should wrap up this exciting saga with a little story that occurred during my final week of pumping at work.
We did end up acquiring a second one, so the final month or two I left one at work and only brought it home on the weekends for a good cleaning and sterilizing.  As I was going in to work on a Tuesday morning, the guard reviewing items on the converyer belt notices its absence, and asks [and I quote], "So where is your, uh, toy, you know, thing?  Are you still doing that?"

So I clarified for his benefit that it stayed at work except for the weekends, and would end completely shortly.  He appreared relieved that no inspection would be required, meanwhile his coworker commented that they had made much to big of a deal out of this whole thing.  And while I agreed with him, I couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded at the whole situation that lead to me discussing this rather private and very personal issue with two young kids who I barely recognize and have no clue what their names are. 

Thank goodness that's over.  Now all my coworkers can go back to thinking of me as "the boy" and thinking of Angela as "the wife."  I think we are all just way more comfortable with that.  This place is ridiculous.

And just to clarify, I'm typing this post at my desk, at noon on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, because I am stuck at this place for 12 hours today, just in case they might THINK they need an engineer.  And engineers work on the Verizon Plan (evengins and weekends are free).  I feel a need to reiturate, this place is ridiculous.

I sincerely hope you are all having more fun than I, especially the rest of my family, who is down at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Lexi's Birthday Party

I can't believe that it's already been two weeks, and neither of us blogged about Lexi's 3rd Birthday Party!! 

It was a little crazy, and a whole lot fun.  Several of the kids invited had to cancel at the list minute to stomach bugs and things going around, but that turned out to be a good thing, because the weather was terrible, and we were trapped inside.  As anyone who has been to our house will tell you, we have a great backyard for having lots of people over, but a rather small house.

We still ended up with eight children (including our three) and 11 adults all hanging out in our little living room.  Lexi had two priorities during the event:  opening presents, and hiding the toys that she didn't want to share.  She is getting pretty good at trading; and by trading I mean grabbing the toy/thing that she wants, and shoving some other random item into the arms of the child.  She does this to her brothers all the time.

Angela made an awesome cake that was decorated to look like a frog (Lexi was rather critical when evaluating the placement of the M&Ms to generate the frog affect).  I was not certain that the frog would remain intact overnight until the party started, but Lexi was ultimately able to abstain.  I do believe it required some additional M&Ms and a cupcake to ensure the cake's safety, however.

Watermelon!

Ben's first food!  Edward wasn't thrilled, but Ben sucked his slice dry.  Food, here we come!

New Clothes - Japanese Style

I recently reconnected with Kotowa, a woman from Japan who stayed with my family sometimes when she was in college, when I was in the 8th grade.  So... 16 years ago.  Biggest sweet heart ever.  Anyhow, she now has a 5 year old daughter and a two year old son.  The daughter, Yuwa recently sent Lexi a letter and some stickers, so I think we are going to have Lexi write a letter back, so she can have a pen pal in Japan.  However, Kotowa also sent outfits for each of the kids, and they are adorable!!  Below is from a little photo session we did with the three.

The little shorts that came with the outfits.  I think Ben is looking for fleas.

All 3, smiling.  That's like a miracle.  Oh, and see the cute robes.

Ed

Ben

Snuggles

Lexi dancing in her shorts.  After refusing to wear them initially, I think she wore them three days straight.

How to build a swingset

while chasing three little kids!  Thankfully Kelly had a 4 day weekend off of work, and the weather was beautiful, so we could stay outside all day.

So, for her birthday, Lexi got an awesome new playset from my parents.  She was super excited.  However, then I went to pick it up, and it came home looking like this:

All 200lbs of playset, in one box.  Brilliant packaging.

Then we got it out of thte box, and it looked like this:

The first day, we basically did inventory and assembled the ladder and swing beam.

The second day, we put the boys out on a  blanket and Lexi "helped" us to build the basic structure of the tower.  She got bored after about 5 mins, so we ended up taking turns at building and entertaining children. 

Day 3, and we finally had a floor and some walls in there:

Lexi thought helping was much more fun if you could do it IN the tower:

Today was day 4.  We assembled the slide, put on the roof, did some other finishing touches, and it was finally done!!

Lexi was thrilled to be finally allowed to climb her new ladder!

However, after about 20 mins, it started to rain!  Here's the new playset getting wet:

 But there's always tomorrow!!

Triple Stroller

Here's the cool new ride that we've been walking 10 miles a week in!

It's very wide, and kind of like pushing a bus up a hill, lol.  But it rolls nice and the kids love it. :-D

I love the way it puts all the kids to sleep at the same time!

Crazy Lexi conversations...

Conversation with Lexi today:
Lexi (out of the blue):  Sometimes Lana gets in trouble with her Mama and her Mommy.
Me: Oh?
Lexi:  Well, Lana's Mama is her Mommy.
Me: True.
Lexi: And Lana has a Daddy.  I don't have a Daddy. But I have a Mama and a Mommy.
Me: Yup
Lexi: Does Lana have a little brother?
Me:  No, Lana only has a little sister
Lexi: Yeah, but her sister walks, she's not really a baby.
Me:  No, she is getting big
Lexi: But she's kind of like a baby, she's littler than me.
Me: True
Lexi: I have little brothers.  Do my brothers have a little sister?
Me: No, they have a big sister.
Lexi (very upset):  How come they don't have a little sister?
crickets chirping as I try to sort this one out....
Lexi: Well, when my baby comes out of my tummy, then they will have a little sister too.  And they will love her SO MUCH.

My head is still spinning