Leaving it up to the Boy

Lest anyone think that the May children do not get into trouble, (I don't know why anyone would think that!) here is a conversation between me and Carson from the other day.
Me: Carson, why did you lie about that?
Carson: I don't know.
Me: You wouldn't have been in trouble for doing what you did, but you are in trouble now because you lied about it.
Carson: silence
Me: What do you think your consequence should be?
Carson: silence
Me: No TV for the rest of the day?
Carson: No
Me: No computer games for the rest of the day?
Carson: No
Me: No trampoline?
Carson: looking up - How about no school tomorrow?!

Oh, yes, that will do it. Great idea....

Monumental Weekend

So, it was a monumental weekend at the May Home. That is, in terms of milestones. I'll start first with our youngest! Little 11 month old Cambria took her first steps this weekend, and, boy, was she proud!!!! She's been practicing her stand for a week or two now, but had yet to take a step. And Saturday was the day. We saw 2 steps at first. And then an hour later she made it 1/2 across the living room all by herself! How exciting! And, oh, how cute!!! :)

And then there was Valie, our 3 year old! (You should stop reading now if you don't like the word "poop") For those of you that know us, Valie has been potty trained for a long time now. However, she decided at one point that she just would not poop in the toilet. It wasn't going to happen. "I'll do it when I'm 4, Mommy!", she would tell me. So, rather than fight her on it (which I learned long ago, does not work with this issue) we kept a supply of pullups in her room for her, and would change her whenever she needed to go. Well, I don't know what did it, but we were at Target on Saturday and she decided she needed to go potty. When we got in the Family Restroom (which I love, by the way) she said she was going to pee and poop.... in the potty. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it so I said, "OK! Go ahead" and it happened!
She did it! It was at that point that I made a HUGE deal out of it - yelling and clapping and hugging. You would've wondered what was going on had you been standing outside the door! But it was awesome and we are SO excited and proud of out little girl! And if you don't understand the hugeness of this, you will when you become a parent!!!

St. Patrick's Day

So much for "several" posts this week. Oh well.

I was home from work with the kids on Tuesday and and Thursday, which I loved! It reminds me of the good ole' days of part time work! On Tuesday we had a fun St. Patrick's Day together. We went to the Public Library in the morning to hear a bagpiper play and join in a fun "green" craft. San Marcos is really good at putting fun and free activities together for families. It's great to live in a small town.

Here are the girls with their shamrock headbands.
Try as we might, Cambria was NOT going to keep that thing on her head!
("no way, Mama!")

For dinner that night, I gave it my first attempt at New England Boiled Dinner. Now, I had to question why this would be a popular choice for St. Patricks Day, considering it's from New England. But I was reassured that there were bound to be Irish roots. Regardless, it was good, and a fun new thing for the family to try. Tom, who is not a lover of cabbage, even went back for cabbage seconds!
And we topped the evening off with shamrock cupcakes that the kids got to decorate on their own. Fun!
It was a great day!

Birthdays and Such

This past week has been packed full of activity. I will try to summarize...
March 6th: Avery had her tonsils out. She surprised us all by being totally resilient. The worst day, as you would expect, was the day of her surgery. However even that day, by evening she was asking to go to Parent's Night Out at church with her siblings and wanting to eat Bean and Cheese soft tacos from Taco Cabana! Crazy girl! The only real tears she shed were when we had to tell her no to things she wanted to do like jump on the trampoline! I'm glad we got the tonsils out before she starts Kindergarten in the Fall and we hope she will be healthier for it! She was a great little patient!
March 9th: We got to celebrate Daddy's birthday! Unfortunately, I had to work all day, but I brought home Carino's for dinner and we had angel food cake and strawberries (his favorite!) for dessert. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! We love you!
March 14th: Valie's first "Valie's friend" birthday party. Don't get me wrong - Valie has been to many a birthday party! But this was her first party that it was her friend only - a little girl in her class at Mother's Day Out. She was sooooo excited! In fact, she was in the car waiting, gift in hand, a good 10 minutes before it was time to go. Really cute, how excited she was!
She didn't get to go entirely on her own, though! Mommy and Cambria went along for the ride, too. So, Cambria got to experience the excitement of a jumpy castle for the first time as well.And that is our week in a nutshell. Which brings us to today, the first day of Spring Break! Even though I have to work several days this week, I've made it my mission to try to post several times this week. So, check back!

Since We're on the Topic

Carson lost his 6th tooth this weekend! As I said, he is a pro! :) However, this one was big. It happened to be his 2nd top front tooth. I just had to post a picture and give recognition to our toothless boy! It's a good thing someone told me once, not to worry too much about your child's smile during this phase of their lives. Had I not been given that advice I would have FREAKED OUT by now and been calling the dentist/orthodontist/whoever to get him immediate help!!! Instead, I just close my eyes and pray that all his teeth will come in just fine and he'll end up with a beautiful smile! :)

The Tooth Fairy Came

for my sweet little Avery's first lost tooth! Even though this excitement happened over a week ago, I couldn't miss sharing her good news. Luckily, her big brother (who is a pro at losing teeth) showed her the ropes. She was gifted with a nice shiny new gold $1 coin. Apparently the Tooth Fairy is handing them out these days.

I'm not sure why this loss took me so much by surprise. She is 5 afterall. But, I just couldn't believe we were at that point with her! Sometimes I wish I could hold my kids so tight that the days will slow down....

...and it was THIS big!!

Tom is grooming Carson up to be a fine fisherman! This past Saturday was the annual Kid Fish here in San Marcos. So, while the girls and I went down to San Antonio to get Cambria's 9 month pictures, Tom and Carson went fishing. And, boy, was it quite the trip. My little man caught 12 (count 'em), 12 Rainbow Trout! He (and Daddy) were so proud! And by the time the girls and I got home that afternoon, the fish were all cleaned up and ready to cook. We had a perfect dinner of fresh trout, thanks to our little fisherman!