Playpen???

My dad has suggested that I put Payton in a playpen in the office while I work. I was a little taken aback. Do people do this anymore? It seems mean to me to put him in there and just expect him to sit there for a couple of hours. I told dad I thought he would cry.... Dad answered that after a week or so he wouldn't and then Payton would know who was "boss". Am I crazy that this sounds wrong?!? Is this generational or am I just one of those moms who gives in to her kids? I am not willing to do this. I am willing to stop working if it is too much to have the kids here, but I don't want to "cage" my little one so it is easier.....

A true stay at home mom day

Today I am a stay at home mom. Little O is sick and we are grounded to the house. He does feel badly, so badly that he is actually sleeping off and on all day. This might be the first time that has happened. Since he was running a fever, he couldn't go to school today and he was terribly dissappointed. He really does like going and playing with his friends. He also begged for chocolate milk and even though I knew it was a bad idea, I gave in. Big mistake. He threw it all up, all over my bed. Thank God for matress protectors. So we have been home. It has been very nice. I have taken care of Otis and played with the baby all day. I am living the life of leisure.(Except for all the laundry, dishes and cleaning up after throw-up.) But I digress... We went to a pirate birthday for our friend Erin on Friday and Otis had a blast. Lots of water ballons, cake and ice cream. What could be more perfect for a little guy. Then we spent the weekend in Oklahoma with the family. Payton swam in the pool twice on Saturday and seemed to love it. On Tuesday, we went to a water park and again spent most of the day in a pool. They both had a blast! I think Payton will fit in to our water loving family just fine.....Here is a picture of the party, I failed to take any pool pictures(but I have a ton of scrapbooking supplies to use if I ever remember to take some).

Teething nightmare

Who else's child teeths 3 or 4 teeth at a time??? I am in teething hell. He doesn't sleep well, doesn't nap well, and isn't so excited about playing by himself while I work. Finally after listening to him cry for what seemed like an eternity, he has gone to sleep. (I think it was 15 minutes, but a loud and serious 15 minutes it was) To top it all off, I have lost the brand new bottle of teething tablets that I just got. What's up with that??? I will be stopping at Walmart on my was home. What fun that will be.......

Bang, Bang, Squish, Squish

Fourth of July was truly great this year. This is the first year we have been able to shoot fireworks since Otis was big enough to care.... So we did it up big time. Dodging the rain, we went to a morning Parade, ate lunch with Kelli, Kevin and his family, and then returned to Blann land to celebrate. We ate, played, ate, and played some more. At dusk, we set of fireworks until almost 11 pm. What a day! What fun! Little Otis loved sparklers, and most of the fireworks, but after a while, I think the big kids that were in charge, were having more fun blowing up things and the little guys were over it. It took 5 grown men to work it all out, but they did a great job. As for the ladies, we sat back, cheered, corrected, encouraged and chased all of the children.(8 in total) What was going to be a small get together, became an all out party!!! We will have to do it again sometime..... Here are some pictures. The last one is the kids at the parade, our three on the bottom. Otis, Payton and Sara Faye. The second is Otis and Sara Faye walking back to the car, I just thought it was cute. The first one is what could be captured of Little Otis with his sparkler. He wouldn't slow down long enough, or pose, so here are the trailers....

Just another Birthday for Rick...

The family got together and celebrated Rick's 40 something birthday last weekend. We played games and toasted his upcoming year in style. I finally got the family together and remembered the camera so that we could get some pictures. We have not been good at that the last few times.... Everyone is so busy and when we are having fun, it is hard to remember to stop and get the camera. But success this time... These are my "little" nephews and Rick. Ricky is quite the camera bug. He is photogenic and poses at every opportunity. The other two, not so much. It took a few tries, but we got a good one. For those of you in Germany, Kevin has now outgrown both Rick and Ricky.... Who would have guessed? I also put in some other family shots so all can see them.