Conquer Your Fears!

That is Keegan's motto! Today was his first day of Preschool-- and I made it through the day. Whew. On the way there in the car this morning, he said to me: "Mom, I'm not gonna cry when you take me to preschool and go to work today." I said, "Your not?" He said "Nope, because I'M THREE!"

Sure enough, we went in, I put his belongings in his cubby box, I gave all the necessary paperwork to one of the gals working there, and we sat Keegan down to eat his breakfast. Once he was settled at the table, I said "Keegan, Mommy has to go to work now...." He said, "Okay, so... BYE!" I said goodbye, and he said "So, have a good day Mommy!" I said, "I will, you too..." Then he said, as he was about to take a bite of cereal, "Drive carefully!" Oh-- my big boy, I tell ya. I blew him a kiss, scooted out the front door with Tustin, and cried my way to the car. Can you imagine my reaction if he had been crying and begging me not to go? Wow, he was such a trouper! He teared up a couple of times throughout the morning, according to the director when I called (only once did I call), and then he played, ate some lunch, and took a nice nap with the rest of the kids! Daddy visited him for a bit on his way to work in the afternoon (Chris is currently working the swing shift, hopefully temporarily); and Nana and Papa picked him up early afternoon so his first day wouldn't be so long. Tonight while I was giving him a bath, he said he wasn't going to cry at all next time.... and I really think I believe him!!

So Sweet!

Right Place, Right Time!

We have gone into the Galapagos turtle enclosure at the Zoo and were able to feed 300-pound turtles; we watched an elephant paint a portrait, holding the brush with his trunk; we have been lucky enough to be in the vicinity when a flock of flamingos were being taken for a walk down the sidewalk next to us.... and today we got to go "behind the scenes" in the Clydesdale barn at Sea World! Well, not behind the scenes, just on the other side of the barrier which keeps the general public out! They invited Tustin to help polish the Clydesdales' gear for their daily "parade." (Keegan was too shy to go on the other side of the gate without mommy.) And a while later, they got to go back there again, out toward the gate of the pasture and pet the donkey. Keegan was much more interested in petting the donkey, than polishing the gear! It was great fun.

Pretty Girl Chammy

Our first baby (our only girl) will be 4 years old next month! She just got a major hair cut today, so she's looking puppy-ish again.

Tut Talk!

When you can understand the little guy, he's really pretty funny! (And you can tell he gets a lot from his big brother.) I laid him down on his changing table tonight, to change his diaper and put on his PJs. He threw the top to his PJs over his head and said "hiding...." and then he said "monsa comin'..." as he was giggling. I said, "NO, there's no monster coming!" He said, "T-Rex comin'..." I said, "NO, there's no T-Rex coming!" He was getting a little frustrated that I wasn't playing along as he had hoped (however that was), and he looked at me and said "hiding.... Chammy comin'?" It was too cute, I started laughing, and he just started giggling right along with me. So I called Chammy, and said "YES-- Chammy is coming, you better hide!" Oh, he loved that.

Twenty Years Ago Today...

Today is dedicated to a dear friend, a fellow camera-junkie, and one of the kindest, sweetest persons who ever lived.

In Action on the Field

Pee Wee Sports for Keegan Reed Tibbetts!

That is exactly what he said when his team of pee-wee soccer players lined up today to introduce themselves on their first day of class. "And what is your name?" "Keegan Reed Tibbetts!" he said with a big smile, ready to start kicking that ball around. He had a wonderful time. Two weeks of soccer, two weeks of basketball, and two weeks of T-ball. (One day a week class.)

Keegan is starting PRE-SCHOOL!

Oh, woe is me! Sad and happy at the same time. He did a "trial run" today at Lisa's Lil Tikes Preschool in La Mesa. Not too far from home, and on the way to work in the mornings. He's starting the last week in January, two days a week: Tuesdays and Fridays. That will give me Fridays alone with my little Tut-man, which I'm really looking forward to. After all, Keegan had mommy alone for 18 months after he was born! Tustin and I never get alone time, unless big brother is sleeping. And Keegan-- he really needs to start school. He needs new things to learn; different ways to learn; new kids in which to play; and he needs to learn socialization skills, listening skills, and all those things that are so difficult to do with mommy and grandmas!. He's growing up so fast. If the TWO hours that I left him alone at preschool today is any indication at all as to how difficult kindergarten is going to be (for ME), then I'm really in trouble! The eyes welled up a bit, but I didn't cry... even when he started crying when I left! It's typical, normal, I know. And everyone says "Trust me, it's MUCH harder on YOU than it is on HIM!" Okay, ya, I get that. But... hmmm... nope DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANY BETTER!!

I'll take a cue from my little one right now. When I showed up to pick up Keegan, the teachers were kind of giggling and laughing as they told me a little story about Keegan. He would get all worked up, crying for mommy, and then he'd sit down, lift his arms up, and inhale, and slowly lower his arms down, and exhale. After a couple of repetitions, they said, "Keegan, what are you doing?" He said "I need to do my breathing exercises to help me stop crying!" (It's just a little something we do at home to calm down when necessary.) So, here I go... INHALE..... and EXHALE... whew. I will be okay. I will be okay. He starts on January 29th. So, feel free to email me, call me, lend me a shoulder, and see how I'm doing!!

GO CHARGERS!!

Go Bolts! San Diego is on FIRE (oh, geez, not literally this time)! The entire county is all decked out in Chargers gear. I had my Chargers sweatshirt on today, and the boys were dressed as you see in the photos. I think we would have felt out of place had we dressed any differently! Tustin is really in to "fooball," and gets the whole #1 finger-pointing down to a "T" when he yells "GOoooo Cha-Gers!"

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, Monday was my birthday. I'm 37 years old! Wow. That's officially "almost 40," isn't it?! The cool thing, my sister is 37 years old right now too!! At least until tomorrow. We have 3 days a year in which we are "equals." HA! She and her hubby share tomorrow as their birthdays (but he's a year younger!).

What did I do for my birthday? My husband and I both completed our civic duty as jurors for the San Diego Superior Court that day! I thought we'd get to sit in the jury room all day together, but no such luck. Although we had to check in at 7:45 a.m., they did not call the first panel of potential jurors until 9:30. Chris was called out in that first group. So, I sat and waited for two more hours until I got called up, right before lunch. Turns out that the civil trial he was going to be a juror on did not take to kindly to the fact that his wife was a paralegal for a civil defense law firm in town. He got kicked! We had a nice lunch together, and I had to go back after lunch. After a little over two hours of the "voir dire" process (jury questioning), I wasn't needed and we were both finally finished. Although I'd love to sit on a jury, chances are that they will probably not accept me too often due to my career. Now Chris is finding out that being married to someone in the field is also a way to not sit on a jury panel. Oh well, there's always next year!

We got to see a movie after jury service. "Atonement." I thought it was slow, and rather boring. But, at the end, you could say, "Ya, that was a pretty good movie." And then my mom, Keegan and Tustin all surprised me with a cake when Chris and I arrived to pick up the kids. (Keegan was on the other side of the door saying "Wait a minute mommy, we are getting your surprise ready... we have a CAKE for you!" It was too cute!)

My goal... to celebrate each and every birthday with fun and laughter, no matter how old I get!

More La Jolla Photos

The boys in La Jolla....

Just Hangin' Around.

January in San Diego!

We spent all morning in La Jolla today, walking around, playing in the grass and trees, and watching the sea lions. Although the boys were a bit disappointed that they were not able to touch the sea lions! It was a gorgeous day, and not too crowded.

Dear Diary,

I experienced something quite traumatic today, as did many neighbors, my mother-in-law included. Not sure who reads this, if many do, but this is just to make ME feel better, I guess. You know what "they" say, get it out, and let it go!!
I heard all kinds of commotion early this afternoon, and ran out the front door to find two Pitt Bulls fighting in the street, right in front of my house! It was so horrible. I cannot even imagine the hundreds and thousands of people out there who intentionally put themselves through this emotional trauma by watching, and betting, and cheering, and entering their own dogs in dog fights.
A lady was walking her Pitt, and her four-year-old son, as she does weekly and daily. For some reason, the Pitt across the street decided to get out of the yard today, and the two dogs started going at it. I'll spare the gory details, but several men around the hood were heroic (albeit stupid) to eventually get the dogs apart. But, the worst part for me was seeing the lady who was walking her dog, get SO in to attempting to save her Pitt Bull's life, that she completely ignored her 4-year-old little boy who was standing, not even 5 feet away, just crying. Someone put him up on the hood of a nearby car (nearby, as in RIGHT where the dogs were fighting) and I just couldn't stand to see him sitting there. I went over there, picked him up, took him across the street to my porch, and just held him. He put his head on my shoulder and I just kept talking to him, telling him his mommy was fine, and she was just trying to help out his dog, and basically just kept his eyes off the mess, and his ears full of kind words, rather than the alternative: yelling, snarling and yelping! Oh, I just can't get it all out of my mind. It gets worse. The dogs were locked up fighting for a solid 15 minutes, if not more (they were both definitely in it to win it), and after the dogs were separated and taken separate ways, it was another 5 minutes before the gal looked around, all flustered, and yelled "Where is my son, anyway?" (Although I told her several times I was taking her son across the street to keep him safe.)
My boys were inside, watching Nemo, but there is no way they weren't at least aware that something was going on. It was a noisy mess. Keegan has already woken up twice since he went to bed. Just kind of crying himself awake. I can't help but think I was too worried about this stranger's son, that I should have done it all differently myself. Maybe I should have stayed in the house, turned the volume up on the TV, and made sure MY kids didn't have a clue as to what was going on outside.
I went out to see a movie alone tonight, after Chris got home from work. I just needed something else in my head. But, to end on a lighter note, I saw "P.S. I Love You," and it was really great. So-- for that 2-hour and 15-minute period, it did the trick. Hopefully by writing down my thoughts on this matter, that will do the trick as well.

Tut Talk!

So, I guess my Blog is evolving! I've had a column for Keegan, and I should also have one for Tustin. He's a bit too young for many good "isms," but his progress in life, and milestones achieved, should be shared as well! For all you parents out there, you'll hopefully share in my excitement when I say that Tustin made his first pee-pee in the potty, yesterday!! Good times. He's 20 months old-- today actually! He's been sitting on Keegan's "old" potty in the bathroom for quite a while now, but mostly with his clothes on, pretending to use toilet paper correctly (if he were a female, that is). I asked him to sit on his potty yesterday when I was getting his bath ready, and Daddy started reading a book to him. In a minute or so, the Fisher Price potty started singing to us!! "Yaaaay, you did it!" We got so excited, gave him hugs and high fives-- he apparently thought the hoopla was pretty cool. My mom watched him for a few hours today, and she told me that at one point, he grabbed her finger, guided her to the bathroom, and proceeded to pull his pants and diaper down and sit on his potty at her house!!

Time for a Keeganism

In the car, on the way home from a work-day, after I had picked the boys up, I asked Keegan about his day. Well, of course I ask Tustin too... but when I ask him, the sentences aren't quite as complete, as you can imagine. I said, "Keegan, what did you see at the Zoo today?" Tustin actually said "Ant Eater, Ant Eater!" Keegan said, "Mommy, do YOU know what an anteater is?" I could barely get out a "Yes," when he said, "No... I'm going to tell you about them!" "Anteaters love to eat bugs, but their favorite is the scorpion. But, we can't eat scorpions Mommy, because they have a BIG pricker on their bum-bums, and they spray poison out of it! But, you know, coatamunis love scorpions too, but they mostly like to eat eggs!" As he was taking his first breath, I thought to myself, "What the heck is a coatamundi, and do I even know how to spell it, let alone know what it likes to eat!!" So, the only way I know, now, how to spell COATAMUNDI, is because after I asked Keegan "What is a coatamundi?," he said, "Let's Google it when we get home, and I'll show you!!" So, I have to say, that I have officially learned my first trivial facts from my 3-year-old son! It's pretty fun!

More Christmas Photos 2007

Christmas Photos 2007