3 Years, Already?

"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes."

Author: Walter M. Schirra, Sr.

 I can hardly believe another year has passed, my sweet baby boy turned 3 this past week.  I've said it before, but wow, what fun boys are!  My little guy will tell you and anyone that asks he is "Momma's Boy" (not to be confused with a momma boy).  He is loving, cuddly and just an overall sweet kid.  Of course Julio will tell you my opinion is slightly colored as apparently Zach has learned he needs only have one person in his corner and that's his Mom.  


Julio will rebuke him and he will cozy up to me and try and give me this big cheesy grin as if to say, "c'mon Mom, it's ME? Remember? I can do this, or get away with that, right?"  I hate to admit it but I do melt, every.single.time.  I do not however always give in.  I do quite often break his little heart and send him to time outs as well.

I have enjoyed watching my little boy grow and develop his favorite things.  Around the time he turned 2 his favorite movie was "Annie".  He would come home from his Dad's, or anywhere for that matter, and would immediately starting shouting for "Annie".  This phase passed and "Alvin and the Chimpmunks the Squeakual" took it's place.  Next came "Jaws".  Yes, my two year old (and his 3 year old sister) have fallen in love with this horror flick.  I'm not sure whether to be frightened or proud of the fact they simply watch to movie and laugh at the special effects.  

 Around Christmas time, Zach's favorite became Thomas the tank engine and Chuggington.  This lasted about six months, though he still likes Thomas, he discovered Buzz Lightyear was pretty cool, and now the current favorite is definitely "Cars", specifically "Mater".  This brings us to his birthday that was filled with all things "Mater".  Luckily "Cars" memorabilia are much, much cheaper than Thomas paraphernalia.  I only wonder what will be next.  Currently his room is decorated in Gamecock gear, a train table that is covered in Thomas the Train, army men, Buzz Lightyear and dinosaurs.  Oh the difference between girls and boys.  I have relished every moment of watching him develop and become more of a little boy and less of a baby boy.  After years of baby dolls, Disney Princesses, pink, pink and more pink, it has been a lot of fun to welcome, cars, trucks, and trains into my life.  Everyone told me boys were so different, especially in the way they love their Momma's.  I am so glad to be able to say they are so right.  The love between a mother and a son is one of life's treasures.  Don't get me wrong a mother and a daughter have a special bond, but there is just something about a son.

Happy 3rd Birthday, baby boy!

"Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory."

Author: Douglas MacArthur

Not Me! Monday-Weekend Edition

So another Monday and another "Not Me, Monday" post. Those of you that follow me on Twitter (@MandyVaughn) can probably guess the content of some of this particular Not Me post.

We had a great weekend with friends and family over for our little Molly's 3rd birthday. We had a great time with everyone. Ed and I cooked and enjoyed laughing and seeing everyone. Above is my "famous" appetizer that I make for football games and parties. There was nothing left of it! (Note: I did not crop out my dirty oven, nope, not me! I take pride in cleanliness) It is, however, the second year in a row that winter weather possibilities (mostly effecting our family travelling in from other places) have threatened our party. This year the party was even two weeks later than it should have been (and not because I have been working so much and out of town so much that I decided little Molly wouldn't know the difference!)


Ed and I love having people over to our house to entertain. The kids have a great time and we get to chill and enjoy our company.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have a tradition, since I turned 3, of having a 3 layer cake for a 3rd birthday party. Well above you can see Molly's Tinkerbell cake...it is delicious! I am such a great Mom that I make sure and clean up all left over pieces of cake, promptly. I mean I would never leave it out for Zach to get into without my knowledge and then walk into my living room, climb on my couch all while having hands full of cake. Oh no, Not Me and this picture does nothing but prove that fact:

I would also never let my son put on his sister's pink headband while my husband was out of the room. Oh No! Not me! Said husband came in, found Zach like this, and replied, " What on Earth woman?! I leave the room for two seconds and this is how I find my son?" We were all just laughing so hard. Even Zach thought it was funny:

                                                      

Ok, so party ended, everyone except my Sister in Law, Deanna, and her son left. Deanna and I have, over the past year, developed quite a taste for rum. About once a year or so we really let our hair down and have a "drunk fest" so to speak. Saturday night was that night. Seems a friend of Deanna's gave her a bottle of Bacardi 151 for Christmas. To my knowledge I had never had this, of course after having drank it I now see why I may not remember drinking it before. I did NOT over indulge, oh no, not me! We did not drink almost 3/4 of the bottle, and two mini bottles of Absolut Mango, oh no, not us! We did not hang out on Twitter until after 1am, well, she didn't anyway! I mean, do we look like we had too much to drink in this picture?

We certainly had a good time, that's for sure. I am so fortunate that I have a sister in law that I love so much and have such a great time with. Hubby pooped out on us about 9:00, but that's ok,  we were looking forward to a little girl time, anyway! I don't think he would have wanted to hang with us, anyway, we can be quite a handful when drinking...but a fun, happy, giggly handful!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Procrastination

As is the case every year, at least for the past 3, my daughter's birthday has snuck up on me once again. Molly will be 3 on January 19th. I will be out of town through the 15th and I haven't planned anything. "Mother of the Year" right here, folks!


I know I will manage to throw her a great 3rd birthday. I will just do it the week AFTER her birthday (SHHHH...don't tell her and she'll never know!). I LOVE 3rd birthdays. When I turned 3 my Mom had a 3 layer, heart shaped (my birthday is just before Valentine's Day) birthday cake. I still remember it, ok I still have pictures to remind me.


Anyway, for Abby's 3rd, I repeated the tradition and she had a 3 layer "present" cake. It was a huge hit. So here we are at Molly's third. Guess I will come up with something 3 layerish for her. We will probably just have a family gathering at our house for her, grill out, and just hang out and enjoy.  


I really can't believe my "baby" girl is turning 3, already! Guess it's time for me to get busy and start potty training her. Ugh, I just dread it...which is why she isn't potty trained already! It only took me one day to train Abby, she had one "pee accident" and that was it. I highly recommend the book, "Potty Training in a Day", it works. Which makes me wonder why I have put it off for so long? Abby was 4 months or so shy of 3 when I trained her...oh well...guess I know what I'll be doing later this month! But Zach, well he's all Ed's to train!