Finally a Snow Day!

Wednesday morning we woke up with three very excited boys!  Thankfully this time the snow did not disappoint and everyone (including myself) was anxious and ready to get outside and check it out.  Carter and Cooper went out first and played with neighbors and then we all joined in on the fun after the real fun of dressing everyone in their winter warmest.

We found sledding hills everywhere we could and had such a good time together slipping and sliding around.  Hudson was Mr. Independent of course and insisted on carrying his sled up alone and attempting to sled alone as well.  Most trips down the hills weren't satisfactory for him so he would roll over and throw a fit on his sled for a minute while we all laughed and then stomp back up to do it all over again.  There were a few smiles here and there but he was mostly a serious and frustrated little sledder!  Carter and Cooper loved it all and played as long as they could all day long.

My mom bought a cute snowman kit for us so Cooper and Jamey worked hard to pile up enough snow to make our man while Carter and I perfected our snowboarding skills (it's hard!).  Even Harry came out for the action and ran around like a bat out of hell for about an hour before heading in to sleep the rest of the day away!  I'm happy to report there was only one sustained injury in the family...Hudson went down a really steep driveway and had a run in with the curb and a prickly bush:(.  His face is all scratched up and his cheek is bruised but it could've been so much worse.  All in all we had a great time together and were thankful to finally get a good snow day or two!

 Mr. Independent at work

 Now if this thing would just go!

 Thanks for the help, Cooper!

 We call this the stretcher sled!

 It's a race!

 We won by a landslide:)!

 The face we saw quite often

 Snow angels!

 Icicles are delicious, especially when you get them off of Daddy's dirty car!

 My turn?

Love My Boys

If I had a dime for every time I am asked what seems like an innocent and casual question, I would be a very rich person.  From the grocery store, to school, to church, to anywhere in between, I doubt a day goes by that someone somewhere doesn't ask me this question in some form or fashion.  Sometimes it's even asked as a compliment, like when people say our boys are just so precious that our daughter would have to be beautiful. WHEN ARE YOU TWO GOING TO TRY FOR THAT GIRL?!?!

It used to not really bother me.  I used to just smile and shrug it off, telling them we are done and happy with what we have.  While my answer is still the same, I'm a bit tired of answering it.  The question itself, although I'm sure people don't mean it this way, comes across as if what we have, three boys, isn't enough or isn't sufficient.  Like there's some void in our family because there isn't a female child.  Did I want a daughter? Desperately.  Do I still? Not at all.  I didn't want a daughter so that I could play dolls or do girly things, I wanted a daughter only because of the close relationship I have with my mom.  I wanted to have that with someone too and thought the only way to get that was to have a little girl.

Lucky for me, my three precious boys have taught me that isn't the case at all.  Everyone thinks boys are just loud, rough and tumble balls of noise and energy when that just isn't true.  Yes the noise level, mess and energy in our house from them occasionally makes my head spin but I'm ok with that.  They are silly, smart, funny, loving, caring, and considerate little angels that God blessed us with loving and caring for and I wouldn't have it any other way.

What has surprised me so much in raising boys is how much they love.  They love each other, they love their family, but selfishly what I've learned is they really love their mom.  Cooper is the first one to tell me if he sees me even with just my hair down how pretty I am and how much he loves me but they all chime in.  Jamey won't have even had a chance to turn around and look at me yet, but all three of them will be smiling and complimenting me on everything possible.  They are also surprisingly affectionate and sensitive.  Hugs and kisses are everyday occurrences and I love that so much.  They say I love you to each other, to us, and to the rest of our family and do so frequently and deliberately.

These three boys of mine (4 actually including my dear Jamey) have made my life complete and perfect in ways I never imagined.  The love you feel for your children is hard to put into words but the feeling of how much you know they love you back is indescribable.  Thank you God for blessing our family with these three little angels.      

Toot Toot

I hope that I'm not seen as the type that's always bragging about my children and their amazing accomplishments at the ripe ages of 3, 6, and 8 but every now and then they make me incredibly proud and I do feel the need to share it sometimes.  With that said, please forgive me if it drives you crazy to read about my amazing little men!

Carter fell in love with swimming hook, line and sinker when he first swam on our neighborhood summer swim team at the age of 6.  He made fast friends and realized his backstroke wasn't too shabby, which led to lots of fun first place ribbons that made his day every swim meet Tuesday.  He begged us to let him swim "year round" after that summer, but we were hesitant to commit to something so serious and time consuming. He was persistent with his begging so he started with the Marlins of Raleigh in December of 2012.  They practice three times a week for one hour, which I thought would drive him crazy, but he really did like it.  He did a few meets here and there but the competition at these meets is crazy competitive compared to summer swim.  Carter didn't stand a chance at placing or getting a medal but did get a bit faster, little by little.  Last summer he stopped MOR and swam for our neighborhood team again and I thought for sure he would be done with year round after almost 8 months of swim!  When the time came to decide what sports to try this fall, he said swim again much to my surprise.  Once again this year, his practices are at the same time and same place and he hasn't complained a bit.  He tries hard in practice, listens to his coaches, and really gives it his all each time he's in the pool.  He had a few meets before Christmas and did fine but not great and his times were about the same as last year.  Being the competitive person that I am, it's hard to watch him just stay the same when he's had so much instruction but as long as he was happy I tried to be as well:).

This past weekend he had a meet for just 8 and under boys and I'm not sure what lit a fire in him, but I hope it happens every meet!  He had best times in all 8 events he swam, beating his previous times by 3-10 seconds.  He looked like a different kid out there with perfect flip turns and pretty strokes and he even managed to win his heat twice.  I don't think I will ever forget the look on his face as he got out of the pool after his 50 backstroke and got his heat winner prize!  He was beaming and smiling from ear to ear.  It's times like this one that I don't want to forget.  I was bursting with pride and emotion as I watched him swim his heart out and finally have it pay off.

Cooper has had a small ulcer-like bump inside his mouth on his lower lip since about October.  When we went for his cleaning, the dentist commented then that it looked like a mucocele and that they sometimes go away but that it could also become larger and would need to be surgically removed.  Not words you want to hear about your 6 year old so we just hoped it would go away!  Unfortunately it didn't and was getting bigger and bigger and bothering him more and more.  I called our dentist and she confirmed that we did need to have it removed.  She offered to refer us to a pediatric dentist in order to remove it but also said she felt comfortable doing it but that it was just up to us.  We chose to stick with her as Cooper is comfortable with her but I was so nervous to think of my little man having to go through it.  Her plan was to give him Nitrous to calm him down but she said even with that, the novocaine would really hurt as she had to numb a really soft, vascular area.  He told her he didn't want the gas so she proceeded to try without and see how things went.  She was so nice to let me sit back there with him and it definitely put my mind at ease to see what was going on and know exactly how he was doing.

Let me just say he is the toughest child I have ever seen.  He didn't even flinch and laid there like a perfect angel the entire time.  I honestly think he wiggled less than I would have!  He did say afterwards that the pinch of the novocaine hurt but that was all.  She and her assistant just kept saying how amazed they were by how well he had done and by how tough he was...the dentist even told him he could have the whole treasure box because he'd done so well!  He's been living off of Gatorade, ice cream, Italian Ice, and yogurt but loving every minute of the TLC and attention!

Hudson is busy just being funny and cute Hudson but I'm proud of him too:)!  I keep meaning to video him reading to us.  He has a 32 page Rudolph book that he brought to me last week and told me he was going to read to me.  With a few missed words here and there, he proceeded to "read" me the entire book cover to cover almost verbatim.  I was absolutely blown away by his memory and it's now become our bedtime book that he reads to all of us each night.  It really couldn't be any cuter to watch or hear so I'll try for that video!

New Year, New Smile

Cooper has had his first wiggly tooth for a few weeks now and has been so anxious to finally lose his first so he could be on the tooth chart in his kindergarten class:).  Just like Carter's first, the permanent tooth was already coming in behind the baby one, pushing it out little by little.  Last Saturday morning the big boys were playing in their room and came out thrilled to announce Coop had lost his tooth but that it fell out into his bed and they couldn't find it!  The alleged story is they were wrestling in Cooper's bed and he accidentally bumped his mouth on Carter's knee, freeing the tooth in the process!  It was luckily found and Carter was nice enough to let Coop borrow his tooth fairy pillow for the night.  Someone is just a teensy bit proud!  Cooper also told me the other day that he had another wiggly tooth right next to the one he lost and went on to say he didn't really want to lose that one yet though because if he did he'd look like, "what's that animal called...oh yeah a beaver and they aren't really that cute in their mouths"!  Cooper Bass definitely keeps us smiling and laughing!

It was also a big week for the youngest but biggest Bass boy in our house.  Harry turned one and Cooper thought it would be just awful if we didn't have a dog party for him.  After the powerful persuasion of Cooper, Hudson and I made Harry a bone cake and let him have a little celebration, complete with Happy Birthday singing and a candle!

 Cooper beat Hudson to the candle blowing out which led to this charming little face!

 Which then led to this happy round 2 of candle extinguishing:).

 Harry loved his cake and ate every crumb.  I honestly couldn't even tell that the plate had been used because he had licked it so clean!

A Crib No Longer

We finally bit the bullet and decided to release the beast from his "cage".  Hudson calls his crib that but has really loved it and hasn't wanted to come out of it in the least bit.  Being 3 and too big for his crib full of animals, cars, etc., we decided now was the time, yikes!

Jamey has been working really hard painting and sanding so that we could set up his new furniture.  Hudson picked his bedding, which is precious, and all was ready to go last night.  He kept telling us he was going to come out when he woke up but much to my surprise (and delight!) he stayed in bed like a little angel baby until I came to get him at 8:15am!

As sad as I am to see our crib go, I am happy to see Hudson growing into an independent, big boy and being excited to do so!  Now let's hope he decides to continue to stay in his bed until we decide it's wake up time!

Last night in his crib!

One Last Hoorah

Brian, Sarah, and Lucy Clay came to visit us just after Christmas for one last celebration.  We had so much fun and everyone really loved being able to hold and love Lucy!  Carter was joking with Jamey a few days before they came that they were about to turn into "rotten tomatoes" when Lucy comes because I give her every bit of my attention!  (Which isn't completely true but I do absolutely love a baby, particularly this little lady.)

For the first time I can remember, it was a great Carolina weekend as well.  The Tar Heels won their basketball game and football game and then the Panthers won on Sunday!  I think Lucy Clay must be a lucky little girl!