Happy Birthday to my Squishy

Last week, my precious, oh-so-sweet, jolly, delightfully squishy second-born son Daniel Weston turned three.

There's something truly weird about your middle child turning three. The fact that my oldest is turning 5 in a couple of months isn't fazing me too much at the moment. The fact that my youngest just turned 1 recently hasn't freaked me out too much. The first year has a tendency to fly by at an alarmingly high rate of speed. BUT...all that to say: Daniel's getting older. Gone are the days when he would call muffins "fwuttins", make his Serious Face, and toddle around with bright green crocs and a ferociously curly head of blonde hair (don't ask me how Steve and I produced a blonde child. We're still scratching our heads about that one). He still does adorable things everyday, and he is such a joyful little guy. It's very common to see Daniel prancing around the house saying,"Mommy, I'm happy! I'm happy!!" And it makes me so very happy to know that my son is happy. And so, here is a picture tribute of my happy little man.

I call this one,"Bubble Boy." I love the little line of bubbles in his curly hair.

Oh dear. I am getting dangerously close to needing a Kleenex. The widdle gween cwocs. The chubby wubby arms clutching a huge bottle of bubbles and the bubble wand. My baby.

Fast-forward 2 years. My little man.

Happy. Cherubic. Daniel was my first cuddly baby. David was a very busy baby. He had many, many things to do. Toys to play with. Floors to crawl around on. Diapers to fill. He was not a cuddler; not in the least! But Daniel...

Fills my life with hugs, kisses, and snuggles every single day. Even now, when he wakes up from his afternoon nap, he immediately plops into my lap for some Mommy time for about 5 minutes before he runs off to play. I love this. I know that this won't last forever, but I am so grateful for the gifts that I have right now.

Happy Birthday, Daniel. Thank You, God; for bestowing on us this beautiful little boy.

Fab Five What Just Happened

It's Friday, which means I'm supposed to be bright, cheery, and full of great optimism. Instead, I am in deep, dark, tragic mourning for an event that occurred yesterday, and I'm almost positive I shall never, ever recover from this event. It's almost more than I can handle. Due to a complete lack of paying attention...

I received my first speeding ticket yesterday.

My heart is shattered beyond repair. I have never, ever been pulled over in my entire life, and my shame is eating me alive. There I was, bopping along I-43, happy as a lark, on my way to see my sister and family in Green Bay to celebrate Meg's birthday, when all of a sudden...

1) I had to accelerate uphill to merge.

2) I was momentarily distracted by the boys asking me 43.8 questions in two seconds.

3) When I reached the top of this hill, I apparently forgot to take my foot off of the accelerator, due to being slightly distracted (see point #2).

4) I looked up, saw a police car nestled right at the bottom of the hill. I looked at the speedometer. Nuts. I knew I was a goner. I didn't even wait until the policeman started flashing the old lights. I just pulled over, because I knew...it was over.

My perfect record, gone.

And so, I am in the grieving process right now. To commemorate this most epic of misadventures, here are some photos from our visit in Green Bay. These were taken at Bay Beach, a local family amusement park. We loved it, especially the fact that tickets for rides were 25 cents each! I would highly recommend Bay Beach to any family visiting the Green Bay area.

A classic Merry-Go-Round.

My dad, the trucker.

My sister Angela and I. She's my baby sister. I am a whopping ten years older than her. Angela. Anjo Banjo. Jo-Jo. She hates pancakes, blueberries, and traveling. She loves singing (and is WONDERFUL at it) glittery makeup, and shoes with perilously high heels. She is, in short, 17 years old and very good at it. She makes me laugh.

The Meg and I.

The World's Cutest Couple, reunited!!!

There you have it. And although I will continue to claw my way through this fog of shame, there is one good thing to have come out of this:

I finally learned how to use the cruise control on my van.

Alas, sometimes you just need a little extra push to learn something new.

Have a great weekend, everyone! And whatever you do, DO NOT try speeding in Port Washington. Take it from me.