Somebody's sick of these pictures

It's hard to believe it, but my littlest guy is three months old today. And I have to say I'm feeling much better today than I did three months ago! It's been quite an adjustment going from one to two children. I sleep way less but my caffeine consumption is getting me through. And my life has basically turned into one big juggling act but I absolutely love it.

Since you get to hear all about Tommy, I figured I'd give you some things you should know about Ty.

- He's a decent sleeper. On a good night he'll do an 8 hour stretch, and he has been doing that since he was about 8 weeks old. Of course I don't go to bed immediately when he does so I don't actually get an 8 hour stretch of sleep. He also takes a few 1 to 2 hour naps in his crib. It's heavenly.

- He's a more mellow baby. Ty is pretty content to lay and kick and is generally happy. Unless he's hungry or tired. Then watch out.

- He's incredibly social. His favorite thing is for me to lean him up against my legs and sing silly songs to him. He laughs and coos. It's absolutely adorable. He's also very talkative for a baby (haven't quite figured out what he's saying yet)

- Ty loves to lay in Tommmy's tent at night and listen to the bedtime stories with Tommy. And Tommy loves him to be in there with him. Last night he was sitting in the living room with Dean while I was reading to Tommy and Tommy said "I just really wish Ty could be in here with us right now!"

- He loves to be naked. If he's not already in a bad mood because he's hungry or tired, he adores being changed. And bath time is his favorite time of day.

- Rumor has it he looks just like me. Actually he looks just like his Uncle Jason, who apparently looks just like me. Either way he totally got my genes.

First Day of School!

Today marked the beginning of the next stage in raising our children. We are now at the mercy of the school calendar. Actually, I'm so excited about Tommy starting preschool. He got up this morning and couldn't wait to go to school. We had packed his backpack (which he kept calling his "suitcase" up until a few days ago) and lunchbox together last night and so he was very excited to use them. When we went to meet his teacher last week he was excited until about 10 minutes before we left the house and then came the meltdown. He totally lost it. Afterward he told us he "had been a little scared but then I was ok" so I was kind of expecting a bit of the same today. Not so.

I pulled into the school parking lot and he had his seatbelt off before I could even stop the car. I took his hand and we walked in the building and down the hall until we got to his classroom. I had envisioned a sweet moment where I got a bit misty and Tommy would tell me that he didn't want me to go and would miss me. Complete with the "Full House" music in the background. Instead he went right in the room, put his lunchbox in his cubby hole and went to play. The only one who cried was Ty, who needed a nap, and just as I was telling Tommy goodbye (from across the room), he spit up all over my shoulder. But I'm so glad that Tommy had no separation issues. I wouldn't have it any other way.

As far as I can tell, he had a great day at school and there were no problems. He's excited to go back tomorrow but he has now officially been assigned a very early bedtime (for him, anyway). School certainly takes it out of him!

All in all, this is a great experience for all of us. I get to spend the mornings having one-on-one time with Ty and Tommy gets to be with lots of kids and listen to someone other than me. It's a win-win situation!

Sunday Thoughts

I love my church. Even if my husband weren't the pastor, I would absolutely still love my church. And my pastor! I love the dedication of our people. They think nothing of showing up at The Moon at 6 am to help set up. And there are lots that stay after to clean. People invite their friends because they are excited about their church and they are excited about the message. Lives are being changed because people are meeting Jesus. And that will never get old to me.

The Well resumed our morning service today and since we are now out of Godby and waiting for our new building, we had our services today (and for the next two weeks) at The Moon. It's a unique place. Teri (our kids director) couldn't get the CD player to work before all the kids came, so she asked for help. When someone showed up a few minutes later, she said "Oh good, are you here to fix the CD player?" And his response was "No, I'm here to count my liquor bottles." I love that we have church there!

I went to Publix with the boys this afternoon to pick up three things. An hour later I was finally leaving the parking lot after having been caught in a sudden torrential downpour. We tried to wait it out, but when I realized it was dinner time and there was no end in sight, we just made a run for it. Good thing one of those three things was a newspaper because I used it to shield Ty.

It's back to teaching piano lessons full time for me this week. When all is said and done, I'll have 18 students and there's one more that I'm still waiting to hear from. Here we go! I'm determined to get dinner on the table and Tommy to bed at a decent hour so my crock pot will be my new best friend.

My little buddy starts preschool tomorrow. Tommy has his first day of school and couldn't be more excited. I can't wait to hear how it goes and rest assured I will post first-day-of-school pictures.

Hulkamaniac

Here is a typical scene in the Inserra household these days. Dean has sparked Tommy's interest in wrestling and has introduced him to old-school Hulk Hogan matches. Tommy is now a Hulkamaniac. And for his birthday, his Uncle Jason got him a wrestling ring. What more could a little boy want?

Time Flies...

We've been having fun in the last week or so. Tommy turned 4, Mima came for a visit, and we're gearing up for preschool. Since it's already way past my bedtime, I'll spare you the details and just put up some pictures. Enjoy!

Nap Time

Nap time has always been a bit of a challenge in this house. But with two, it's gotten immensely more difficult. Take today, for example. Ty was clearly needing a nap, and in the past few days, I've gotten him to take good naps in his crib. So I swaddled him and began the process of putting him down for a nap (which is a much easier process than it was with Tommy at his age). When I am putting Ty down, Tommy always thinks that's a good time to come in the room with me and ask me lots of questions and get really excited about things. Which makes it really hard for Ty to fall asleep. Here was today's attempt:

Me: "Tommy, I'm going to put Ty down for a nap and then I'll come play with you."

Tommy: "Okay. Is he asleep yet?"

Me: "No, not yet. Almost. Go in your room and wait for me there."

Tommy: "I have to go potty! I have to go right now! Come help me! Is Ty asleep yet?"

Me: "No, not yet. Go potty, I'll help you if you need help washing your hands."

Tommy (from the bathroom): "Is Ty asleep yet?"

Me: "No."

Tommy: "Are his eyes closed yet?"

Me: "No!"

Ty never went to sleep.

Then about 30 minutes later, we were attempting quiet time with Tommy (since he gave up his nap completely about a month ago). My quiet time rules are that he can read books or play quietly in his room with the door shut and I will come get him when I think he's ready (actually when I'm ready). During this time, I decided to try to get Ty back to sleep, since he was screaming and obviously over-tired. And I figured I should blog too. No sooner did I lay Ty down and turn on the computer than I hear Tommy hitting his door with a plastic golf club saying "Mommy!! Is quiet time over yet? I'm all done being quiet!!"

I guess I have a few more years before I get a quiet time again.

Zoo and a Boo Boo

Yesterday was a busy day so I'm continuing my posts this morning instead. I hope the suspense wasn't too much for you!

On our last day of vacation, we braved the North Carolina heat (it was about 85 degrees at this time... actually a balmy day) and went to the zoo. It's the only zoo in the state and apparently it's a pretty big deal. We had looked it up online lots of times in the past few weeks, but somehow we missed the fact that it's 5 miles of walking and it's not a loop (i.e., if you go all the way to the end to see all the animals and then are ready to walk back, you'll actually have to walk 10 miles total). So we convinced Tommy the zoo had only half the animals that it actually did have. Dean and I enjoyed the polar bear the most, as he was incredibly active and we had a great view.





Tommy was pumped about the grizzly bears. It's all he talked about for the week leading up to our trip. And wouldn't you know, the only animals that weren't out were the grizzly bears because their habitat was closed due to maintenance! So we tried to convince him that black bears were actually grizzly bears. I don't think it worked.

When we got to our new hotel, about 2 hours from where we had been staying the last few days, we went to change into some clean clothes. When we attempted to find the dirty clothes bag that we'd been filling for the past few days, we realized we'd left it in the last hotel. It had almost all Dean's clothes, lots of Tommy's clothes, a few of mine, and a few of Ty's. And it was just a trash bag that was completely full. I called the hotel immediately and of course no one could find it. They still can't. Lesson learned: when you pack a dirty clothes bag, always use a mesh one. At least I'm not bogged down with laundry! But I am slightly devastated over the loss of so many clothes. At least we didn't leave one of our kids there. It could always be worse.

Vacation: Day 2

As promised, here's a summary of the next day or two of our vacation. We stayed at Ridgecrest retreat center in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just outside of Black Mountain (about 20 minutes away from Asheville). It was actually pretty chilly, as evidenced by the way I had to bundle Ty.



We have a family tradition of going to see waterfalls in Pisgah National Forest. This year Dean and Tommy made the climb down the rocks and into the frigid water while I gladly stayed warm and dry because I had to hold Ty. Tommy was really excited at first but when he put his feet in, he was done and ready to climb back up to me.


There was also a great little park about 15 minutes away from where we were staying. It had a really cute wooden playground and a few streams with rocks just perfect for Tommy to explore. He could have stayed for hours. Dean even jumped in to join the fun.



And I learned a few things about my family while on this vacation:

1.) Ty's not a huge fan of his carseat. He's always tolerated it and done well, but this trip set him over the edge. If he never goes in it again, I think he'd be fine.

2.) When I'm tired, I become a mute. Not so for Tommy. His mouth is the last thing to shut down. There were many times that we were having a full conversation and he would stop to take a breath. Next thing I knew, he was snoring. Unbelievable. Then when he wakes up, he remembers exactly where we were in the conversation and continues it. If that's not talent, I don't know what is.

3.) Dean's a little more adventurous than I thought. And when he's on vacation, he's quicker to get his feet dirty than when he's at home. There's no question he absolutely loves being dad to little boys.

4.) It's not so bad going to bed at 8:30 right alongside the kiddos. Will I do it now that I'm home? Probably not. But maybe I should.

Come back tomorrow to hear about the zoo and the big traveling mistake that we made.

Vacation: Day 1

You haven't heard from me in a while because we've been on vacation. We started off near Moultrie, Georgia, for the wedding of our friends, Dane and Anna. This was especially fun for us because Dean got to perform the ceremony and Tommy was the ring bearer. He was absolutely adorable and made it all the way down the aisle without incident. He even stood quietly near his Uncle Todd (the best man) during the ceremony.




The next morning we left from Gin Creek (which was absolutely incredible, by the way) and headed up to the mountains of North Carolina. Normally, this is roughly a 6 hour drive. But I knew we were headed for trouble when we were on our fourth stop in less than two hours. With two young kids, I guess you have to expect these sort of things. It's been the only time so far that I wished Tommy wasn't potty trained! So after 10 hours of travel, we finally made it to Asheville. We had dinner at McDonalds in Biltmore Village, which was featured on Travel Channel as being one of the nicest McDonalds' in America. There are chandeliers and a grand player piano. Not too shabby!

After that, we headed to the historic McCormick Field to watch the Asheville Tourists play the Rome Braves. The game was lots of fun, but most importantly, the Zooperstars were there. Tommy will be talking about Pee Wee Geese and Cow Ripkin Jr. for years to come.




Come back tomorrow to hear about waterfalls and playing at the park in the mountains. Complete with pictures.