Charlie's Third Birthday

Because Charlie fell in love with Star Wars this winter (he has recently begun knee-walking--VERY SLOWLY--around the house telling us he is R2D2), we knew nothing would thrill him more than adding some more Star Wars to his life. Since his third birthday fell on a school/work day he spent the morning with mom & Squish and the real party began when the rest of the family came home for the evening.

We let him open some presents first. He was ecstatic about the cards attached to his gifts. It was really cute--he would just hold them with this awe that someone had given him a card. Grace kept trying to get him to move on to opening the goods, but he really just wanted to enjoy his cards for a while.

Of course when he got to the presents he was pretty into them, too. :) Steve and I gave him a LEGO table for his DUPLOs that Steve DIYed. It is one of Charlie's fav toys now. And we also gave him a DUPLO construction set. He only opened half of his presents because he just wanted to play with them, so he got a second round of gifts the next day. :) 

Dinner was an ordered-in pineapple pizza (guaranteed to get the kids hyper with sheer joy) on the YOU ARE SPECIAL TODAY plate, complete with a showing of The Empire Strikes Back (Charlie had been amazed all week that we were going to let him watch "a new Star Wars!").

Rapt movie-watching, pizza eating, and soda drinking.

And of course--per tradition--Dad delivered a fantastic birthday cake. Baby boy was SO thrilled. He kept asking us to lift him up to look at his R2D2 cake for the entire week after his birthday (even though it was slowly disappearing... into everyone's tummies) because he loved it so much.

Last year the candles really freaked him out (which makes sense--how much of his life have we spent warning him against getting close to hot things?) and made him cry, but this year he really toughed it out and blew out his candles after we sang to him. And then enjoyed the fruits of his (well, technically his Dad's) labors:

(It was a hit.)

Darth Vader and (our) Son.

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...  Last Christmas (2012) in Utah...

Steve's big brother gave him a book by comic artist Jeffrey Brown entitled Darth Vader and Son. We all flipped through it and giggled at the idea of Darth Vader parenting 4-year-old Luke Skywalker (Ridiculous! What a notion!) and took it home to rest safely in our bookshelf until we needed a laugh.

And then, one day, as if by fate--or perhaps by the unknowable powers of the Force--it fell into Charlie's hands.

The obsession started slowly.

He knew it was "Daddy's book," and that prowess alone was enough to make it interesting enough to take to bed for nap time perusals, but soon that wasn't enough. He wanted us to read it to him. Nevermind that it wasn't actually a storybook (or that he couldn't possibly get the jokes). So we did.

At first we were kind of stoic about it, but soon Steve and I started reading the dialogue correctly, with Luke's whiny true-to-the-movie intonations demanding they "go to Toshi station after nap" or for Ben to "tell him I'm ready!" Darth's voice got deeper, duskier, and generally more James-Earl-Jones-esque. Soon we'd hear Charlie talking to himself in the other room, doing his best Mom-as-Vader impression as he warned himself menacingly, "I am altering the deal. PRAY I don't alter it any further..."

In fact, Charlie learned so much of this book by heart, it became hard for us to differentiate between his normal three-year-old conversation and perfect recitation of this book. He'd start shouting, "Dad! Dad! Dad!" and then totally ignore Steve when he responded, "What?" Because he wasn't talking to him--he was mimicking the page where Luke interrupts a holo-call between Darth and the Emperor. Or he'd go on a tangent about robots and then laugh to himself, "IIIIIIIII'm talking about Star Wars!" He also became especially attached to R2D2, with whom he seemed to relate on a deeper, more meaningful level than any of the other characters.

Gracie got into the action, too, using her newly honed reading skills to read this book to Charlie when she was feeling big-sisterly. They got a LOT of great laughs out of this, giggling at the pages together as only siblings can.

So you can imagine their joy when we told them we were going to let them watch an actual Star Wars movie. They hustled into the family room and prepared to have their minds blown. Little did they know how very much that would happen.

No sooner had Darth Vader appeared onscreen than I, their mother, found myself tasked with the unpleasant job of explaining the realities of the movie's family relationships to Grace. First item on the list? Letting her know that Darth Vader--the hilarious and oddly clad father of precocious Luke in our current favorite bedtime story--was... the bad guy.

She looked at me, almost disbelieving. "But... He's Luke's dad." (Also, she had no idea that the book had basically been the biggest spoiler of her life--you're not even supposed to know that little parentage nugget until the end of the next movie, kiddo.)

Me: "Yeah, but Luke doesn't know that. He thinks his dad died."

Grace: "..."

Me: "He thinks Darth Vader killed his dad."

Grace: "..."

There were some other interesting moments. Clearly Steve and I had forgotten why this movie wasn't rated G. Like in the bar (you know, the bar where where Han shot first (says the nerd)) when that one guy gets his arm cut off? Remember that? Yeah, I failed to recall that in time to shield her from it, so that happened and she was watching the TV with her brow furrowed as she asked, "Who's arm is that?"

So then I tried to explain (a) whose arm it was and (b) that it wasn't real because the movie was pretend and so the arm was pretend... Yeah.

Charlie, meanwhile, ignored the movie when there were people doing stuff, but hardly missed a moment of R2D2's screen time.

And, in related news, I've been trying to teach him to sing Bill Murray's Nick Winters lounge act Star Wars song. "Star Waaaaars... If they should bar waaaars... Please let these Star Waaaars....

....Stay."

2013 in Facebook Statuses

First, let me preface this by saying that I do NOT expect you, loyal blog reader, to read this. But I found a cool little website in March that would store all my statuses on a Google doc for me, and I thought it would be a fun way to document the year for myself. Sort of like a mini-recap of our life.

Also, I really want to remember that 2013 was the monumental year in which Facebook #finally got onboard with #hashtags.

(#justkidding)

March 15, 2013 at 08:33AM Just hours left. HOURS!

March 15, 2013 at 03:03PM No moving van for us--matched for three more years at Wake, and this time Steven is a DOCTOR!!! Congrats hubs!

March 17, 2013 at 10:07AM What's as exciting as match day but even cuter? How about a third Walton baby? :)

March 18, 2013 at 02:32PM Anybody done a cruise or all-inclusive resort? We're thinking of doing a mini-vacation and I'm not sure where to start!

March 22, 2013 at 01:46PM I miss California a lot today. :(

March 24, 2013 at 03:07PM I love love love love my couch and my pajamas and a rainy day.

March 24, 2013 at 05:25PM Gracie has been thinking a lot about our baby's Halloween due date. Today: "Mom, if you go trick or treating with me, and you get some Reese's, then you can just hand the baby to Daddy so you can have the Reese's." This girl's always got my back.

March 25, 2013 at 10:43AM It worries me that sometimes I can't figure out Blue's Clues. That dog can be surprisingly obscure.

March 25, 2013 at 04:25PM Today I opened up a diaper I expected to be filled with poop, and it was instead filled with poop AND A MATCHBOX CAR. Charlie.

March 27, 2013 at 08:28PM I took an epic nap today. It was the best.

April 03, 2013 at 12:31PM Somehow it just hit me that I will have a KINDERGARTENER in autumn. Holy cow!!!

April 05, 2013 at 04:45PM I had some honey bbq chicken wings yesterday and now that is all I want to eat. Oh life.

April 08, 2013 at 01:44PM Thank you anonymous Frogurt groupon giver! I am so excited!! And I can only partly blame pregnancy hormones for the fact that I almost cried. Thanks for making me feel special.

April 12, 2013 at 10:57AM Ordered a purple Dyson. Stalking its travels on UPS. :)

April 15, 2013 at 11:22AM There's an ad for a fertility test in the sidebar of my facebook. Think that ship has sailed, ad-guys.

April 23, 2013 at 08:47AM Sometimes I add things to my to do list after I finish them just so I can check off another box. :)

April 23, 2013 at 11:55AM My favorite Charlie words: "pinkabutter" for peanut butter, and "apple goose" for apple juice.

April 24, 2013 at 03:51PM Anyone had a kid do summer camp in WS? I'm looking for something fun for Grace to do when preschool ends. :)

April 25, 2013 at 03:43PM I wanted a nap, but Charlie did not. And it is NOT safe to sleep when he is awake. :)

April 29, 2013 at 08:38AM The moment when I HAVE to get dressed in the morning often comes too soon. :/

April 30, 2013 at 01:13PM Okay Winston people, what fun freebies/deals do you love around here? We like kids-eat-free at Firehouse Subs on Saturdays, and free cake squares at Dewey's on Mondays! Nicole Madeline Kerry Christie Danielle Melissa

May 02, 2013 at 08:40AM Charlie started out calling me "Mommy Pommy" as a joke, and it morphed into "Mommy Palm Tree." :)

May 03, 2013 at 01:33PM Best date restaurants in Winston Salem? I'm almost over the morning sickness and I need to take my man on a date!

May 03, 2013 at 06:57PM Baby kicks!!!

May 04, 2013 at 01:21PM The more I think about it, the more I want to eat a Cinnabon.

May 05, 2013 at 07:18PM Has anybody tried one of those copycat Cafe Rio recipes that are all over Pinterest?

May 07, 2013 at 03:09PM I wonder what the ratio is for how often autocorrect makes me look like a numbskull versus how often it actually corrects me correctly?

May 14, 2013 at 08:15AM Does anybody have an air mattress (or two) we can borrow for the weekend? Parents are coming to visit for graduation!!!

May 15, 2013 at 09:11PM So far my most intense pregnancy cravings have been: Cinnabon, m&ms, and, currently, Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies. I guess this baby is going to be sweet. ;)

May 26, 2013 at 03:42PM Steve and I are sitting outside Charlie's door taking turns plopping him back in bed over and over again. He didn't get the memo about nap time. #Sunday #parenthood #norestforthetired

June 08, 2013 at 01:18PM Need more donuts.

June 11, 2013 at 08:31AM So, do you think baby #3 is a boy or a girl? We find out tomorrow!

June 12, 2013 at 02:25PM Pretty excited to get all the pink stuff out again--we're having another little GIRL!

June 14, 2013 at 02:45PM Winston peeps: Anybody have a copy of Parenting with Love and Logic I could borrow?

June 16, 2013 at 05:14PM Can't beat a day dedicated to celebrating three of my most beloved people. Dads and best friends are my faves.

June 26, 2013 at 07:43AM Tried to have a conversation with the kids during breakfast. Me: How did you guys sleep? Gracie: (hears a random noise) What was that? Charlie: Aaaaaay B C D E F G! #ConversationFail

June 28, 2013 at 08:52AM Though most kids like being outdoors, Charlie is currently screaming, crying, and baby-swearing (yelling the worst word he can think of "nothing!!!") at me because I am making him play in the backyard with Grace and he is "messyyyyyyy!!!" #hardknocklife

July 03, 2013 at 09:25AM Steve left for work at 5am yesterday, got home at 10pm (exhausted) and still took the trash can out for me when he started it all over again this morning. #residency #hubsftw

July 05, 2013 at 07:35AM Gearing up to potty train Charlie... Any tips on training a boy? And on carpet???!

July 08, 2013 at 08:09AM Potty training day one... Wish me luck!

July 08, 2013 at 10:35AM A PORCUPINE totally just walked up to our sliding glass door! I'm not sure I've ever seen one in real life before?! So far since we've moved here we've seen a fox and had two deer sightings. So fun!

July 12, 2013 at 06:17PM Charlie just changed our printer language to Japanese.

July 13, 2013 at 09:21AM When you get to the end if your rope, tie a knot and hang on. -Franklin D. Roosevelt

July 13, 2013 at 03:24PM Winston peeps, anybody in (or know someone in) the MBA program at Wake? I have a friend who's looking into it. :)

July 13, 2013 at 06:36PM Gracie, in response to Phil Collins singing (in Tarzan), "I'll be there, always and alwaaays," said, "He won't be there ALWAYS. Sometimes he'll have to go to a store."

July 14, 2013 at 08:36PM Saw a picture of a donut. Now baby girl thinks we NEED a donut. Hopefully ice cream will do. :)

July 16, 2013 at 09:28PM 25 weeks pregnant and facebook is listing "Trendy Plus Size Clothing" in my sidebar ads. :/

July 17, 2013 at 08:56AM My minivan has some pretty sick bass.

July 18, 2013 at 11:38AM Japanese printer update: searched forever for how to factory reset it, and HP had noooo solution. Finally googled how to write "language" in Japanese and searched the preferences panel for a character match. Fixed! What did parents of curious two year olds do before Google translate?

July 19, 2013 at 07:20PM Bedtime: Me: Goodnight, little buddy. Charlie: Goodnight, little Mommy.

July 22, 2013 at 09:37PM Unsafely ejecting memory cards like a boss. Take that Macbook: I do what I want. #thuglife

July 24, 2013 at 10:05AM Gracie: "Dragons aren't real, so you don't have to be afraid of them. You can just imagine them. Imagine Dragons."

July 24, 2013 at 09:55PM Kind of wish the ice maker would shout out a warning before it starts making ice. Something along the lines of, "HEY! It's just me! I'm going to make some ice now, and I wanted you to know that I'm NOT a murderer/thief/crazy person banging on your door!"

August 01, 2013 at 10:01PM Why why why whyyyy didn't I buy something for dessert when I was at Target today? Should have had hindsight.

August 02, 2013 at 03:57PM Your kids might watch too much PBS if: when reading a book to her little brother, your oldest finishes not with "the end" but with "This book brought to you by the (made up word) Foundation."

August 06, 2013 at 01:34PM Gracie, when confronted with a third blueberry pancake: "Oh no! I really wanted to share this with you (Mom) but I really like it so I can't!"

August 21, 2013 at 06:40PM Anybody use SwagBucks?

August 23, 2013 at 11:56AM Charlie just told Gracie where he wants to go on a "date": "Airport first, then hospital, then HOME DEPOT!!!"

August 28, 2013 at 03:29PM 1st day of Kindergarten was on Monday! Since then she has reportedly played in a giant parachute, gotten mud on her shoe, hopped on one foot for a WHOLE song during "E.P." (PE), and met the boy she wants to marry. :) Love this girl.

August 31, 2013 at 03:48PM So my height/weight has my body mass index at 31 weeks pregnant at 29.3... So 4 more pounds and I will officially be considered obese! Ha!

September 04, 2013 at 09:35AM Gracie's kindergarten teacher has taught her to say "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am." She's even ma'am-ed me a couple times! #lifeinthesouth #yesmaam

September 04, 2013 at 01:09PM $70 diaper bag for $31. Yay!

September 05, 2013 at 04:53PM Had to make cupcakes so I would have an excuse to eat the rest of the frosting eyeballing me from the fridge. (Steve gives me weird looks if I eat it by itself.)

September 06, 2013 at 01:26PM We're a little over 7 weeks out, and Juliette has no middle name. Suggestions? :)

September 06, 2013 at 01:47PM I must be pretty awesome to be a UPS guy. He's basically Santa Claus for grown ups.

September 08, 2013 at 08:58PM In Charlie's bedtime prayer tonight he asked (with no prompting) "...and please bless baby Juliette to be safe." This kid melts my heart.

September 09, 2013 at 07:22PM Snuggled up on Gracie's twin bed with her tonight to check in about kindergarten happenings and talk about dealing with new situations on her own. She listened carefully and then looked at me kindly and counseled, "But you know who's watching me when you're not? Jesus. So its going to be okay." Kind of just the thing I've been needing to hear since the first day of school. Love this sweet, sassy, brilliant girl.

September 20, 2013 at 01:29PM I miss sleep.

September 20, 2013 at 05:50PM Enjoying this brief but magical moment of motherhood during which nobody poops at the dinner table! #momwin #diaperbreak #smallvictories

September 21, 2013 at 04:11PM Charlie heard me worrying over Gracie's cough and now he keeps running over to her asking, "You okay, my lamb?"

September 23, 2013 at 11:34AM Just had a woman at the grocery store survey my pregnant belly and then offer to "explain how to keep that (pregnancy) from happening." Stay classy, awkward old lady.

September 24, 2013 at 08:48AM Does anybody have a baby bouncer we could borrow for baby girl? 5 weeks left!

September 24, 2013 at 05:22PM Better shopping experience: out with Charlie and Gracie and an old man behind me in line insisted on unloading my cart for me. Adorbs!

September 27, 2013 at 07:14AM How can kids start the day being horrible to each other? You guys just slept for twelve hours! How about some high fives and a dance number?

September 27, 2013 at 01:31PM Height: 4'10"; Weight: 147lbs; BMI: 30.7. I'm officially OBESE!

September 28, 2013 at 08:32AM Mom (to Gracie): You're a big girl. Charlie: I'm a backhoe!

September 30, 2013 at 08:33PM Pregnancy (me) + MICU rotation (Steve) = two night owls ready to sleep by 8:30.

October 07, 2013 at 06:59AM Soooo sad when someone wakes me up ten minutes before my alarm is set to go off. #monday

October 07, 2013 at 10:34AM Amazon.com has the best customer service. Turned my Monday around. :)

October 21, 2013 at 10:38AM Baby's coming tomorrow! (One perk of delivering a ten-pound Charlie: doctors who are suuuuper willing to schedule an elective induction.) Getting excited/nervous, working on my to-do list, and eating a LOT of mini Oreos. :)

October 22, 2013 at 08:49PM Juliette is here! 8lb 10oz and 21.5 inches long. Love love love her sweet self! And I need a really long nap. :)

October 30, 2013 at 07:36PM Charlie's dream came true today: He charmed some construction workers on our street and got invited to ride in a bulldozer. He was OVER THE MOON. He literally didn't speak for several minutes afterward. (And that is a big deal for him!)

November 01, 2013 at 01:44PM The USPS charges $1.25 shipping to send one sheet of stamps...! It seems like if anyone could swing a free shipping deal it should be them, right? Like couldn't they just hand them to my mailman? He's coming here anyway.

November 05, 2013 at 05:41PM Favorite podcasts???

November 09, 2013 at 05:43PM “If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived." -Jeffrey R. Holland

November 16, 2013 at 01:15PM Has anyone had an potty-trained big sibling regress after a baby comes along (or some other big change happens)? Charlie was golden--totally trained for months--but he's been struggling again since Juliette was born and I don't know what to do.

November 17, 2013 at 07:32PM Things parents say aloud: "No! No jumping while I'm wiping you!"

November 20, 2013 at 03:11PM Friends, which one of you left anonymous cookies on my porch yesterday? :)

November 22, 2013 at 03:33AM One perk of being awake at 3am: scouting Xbox Ones for Steve.

November 22, 2013 at 11:57AM Who wants to babysit cute (and/or sleeping!) kids some night so I can take my hubs on a post-baby date?

November 23, 2013 at 07:11PM Things parents say: Please don't floss your teeth with your hair.

December 04, 2013 at 12:00PM My baby girl has the stomach flu! So sad! :(

December 05, 2013 at 12:46PM Charlie, talking to himself in the other room: "I am altering the deal. PRAY I don't alter it any further..."

December 07, 2013 at 03:17AM Sitting in the dark feeding my pretty baby and listening to the rain outside. #blessed

December 11, 2013 at 11:38AM Charlie: When I'm a grown-up, I can have a MANGO! Glad he's got reasonable expectations of adulthood. :)

December 11, 2013 at 01:55PM Finally figured out a gift for the toughest person on my Christmas list! (I'm looking at you, Rick Rampton.)

December 12, 2013 at 09:15AM Okay Winston girls, who's planning to watch Season 4 of Downton in January?

December 15, 2013 at 06:14PM Charlie, checking out the Pooh bear picture on Juliette's diaper: "Oh. It's Sham the Pooh!"

December 16, 2013 at 10:58AM Has anyone done a Disney Cruise?

December 17, 2013 at 04:23PM So sad when the kids are in the middle of something fun and somebody decides to do something that warrants big time discipline. :( Maybe the worst part of parenting.

December 18, 2013 at 01:35PM Charlie, reaching to close a book I'd left open: "Let me 'The End' this."

December 21, 2013 at 08:35AM Just heard Gracie correct Charlie's pronunciation: "Charlie, it's not 'Haaaan' Solo it's 'Hahn' Solo." #parentingftw

December 21, 2013 at 10:11AM Before Juliette was born I bought a box of fifty thank you notes. Two months later I only have eighteen left! Thank you to everyone who has helped us with food, gifts, babysitting, and everything else! We are so lucky and blessed to have such generous and wonderful people in our lives!

December 27, 2013 at 05:18PM Juliette smells like my Dad's aftershave from being snuggled. He, my mama, and my "baby" brother just left on an airplane and I already feel a little homesick. :(

December 29, 2013 at 07:55PM Charlie: "When I'm a little grown-up, I can have a SUITCASE!" #CharlieOnAdulthood

Hipster glasses.

I haven't had a new pair in almost seven years! And these make me feel very cute and sassy.

Plus, Steve has skinny jeans now. So it was almost inevitable.

{Atlanta} The Muppets, the Braves, and the Photo Bombers

Steve had his STEP 2 CS test in Atlanta last week, and since he was planning to drive and get a hotel anyway, we decided to turn it into a mini family vacay. We left Thursday morning with a giant bag of snacks and a giant bag of toys at my feet and drove for several hours before stopping for lunch at Wendy's where the kids stretched their legs and an old lady warned us that someone might kidnap them. (What?! We wanted to ask if she was planning on it... But we respected our elders.) Why were they this happy to hop back in the car? 

Maybe because we were playing The Muppets on a loop on a car DVD player (best Santa gift ever--thanks Santa!). We forgot to return it after our Flagstaff trip, so Redbox charged us $25 for it. I'd have to say, for the number of times the kids have watched it (probably 5 times alone on just this trip--it is the only one Charlie cares about) it was worth it.

When we got to our suite (do you even have to ask where we stayed?) we were all exhausted and crashed on the bed in mom & dad's room to watch the Olympics. (Can you see Charlie in the background playing with the phone? We ended up disconnecting the one in the living room so the kids could play with it, and they were "on the phone" with Grandpa or Suzi/Abby/David for a good portion of the trip.)

We took the kids in the pool and drove around a ghetto part of town looking for food, finally came up with some Papa John's, and kept the kids up way too late eating pizza and watching more Olympics.

The next morning Steve got up early and we drove him to his test (which was basically like a pretend day of work--he had to be a pretend doctor and diagnose fake actor-patients for 7 hours and got graded on it). The kids and I spent the morning at "home" watching PBS and playing with the phone.

We ran to the grocery store to pick up some lunch-y foods, and I improvised plates for the kiddos (the little paper things that go on top of the cups) and since we had no knife I sliced their cheese with a coffee stirrer. A random but yummy lunch of cheese, rolls, turkey, and grapes.

Steve got home from his test around 3 and we went for a swim before heading out to dinner...

...followed by a Braves game! One of Steve's friends from back home gave us wonderful tickets, 7 rows back and right on first base! The kids had a GREAT time learning to do the Braves chop and amusing the people around us...

...and photo-bombing us. Charlie photo-bombed at every opportunity.

(And speaking of photo-bombs, check out the disapproving woman behind Charlie.)

And Gracie was not one to be left out of the trend...

And then there's Steve, who is his own photo bomb.

Also, can you find Waldo?!

What if I narrow the field... Can you see him now? He had pretty good seats. But I guess that's how it works when you're a celebrity.

We were (far too) amused that it was also Star Wars night! The home team had the Jedi lightsaber color (I know, I am a nerd that I know that) and photo-shopped outfits.

And the away team had the Sith (bad guy) color lightsabers and kept getting photoshopped into storm troopers.

Kind of got a family photo...

We made it a long time before the kids started literally asking to go home and go to bed. They were having fun but were SO tired. They got extra snuggly towards the end.

When it started to rain we decided to head back to the hotel, and by the time we were on the freeway it was torrential! We were actually a little scared driving on the freeway. But we made it back safe and dry, and you can bet the kids were even more exhausted the next day. :)

Geekin' Out

Before the Pearsons moved, we spent at least one night every weekend playing games at their house, their kids in bed and ours sleeping upstairs. When they left, we all mourned the loss of those casual game nights, hanging out, chatting, and eating dessert.

But we're super geeky.

So we figured out how to play--face to face--2,000 miles apart.

We could have played online, but we decided real boards would be more fun. So we set up identical boards and faced our laptop webcams at them.

And set up our Kinect cameras facing each other...

And had a blast.

...the only problem was that we couldn't pass desserts through the TV.