Someone Didn't Like the Big Guy in Red....

For the first time in his almost four years, Dominick wanted to see Santa Claus!! While I waited in line at the Apple store to discover the problem with my computer, my mom walked the boys around the mall. When they saw the Santa village, Dom told Nana that they HAD to go see Santa. So, after I waited about 45 mins in line at the genius bar, only to discover my problem was just needing a new power cord, we went downstairs to get our picture taken with Santa. So you understand why this is so special, you have to know Dom's history with any sort of characters. Years prior, when he would see Santa at the mall from a distance, he would back away quickly, wordlessly shaking his head no. And the characters at Disneyworld (aka the RatHut)? The convulsions the kid would go through to get away from Mickey Mouse was sad, yet a little funny. Knowing this, you can imagine how excited I was when Dom wanted to see the big guy in red!! Nicholas was another story. At first he enjoyed himself, playing in Santa's village, and waving and smiling to Santa from afar. But then I put him on Santa's lap. The picture tells the rest of the story. Poor little man!!!

Again, what we will do for free Chick fil A

All we needed was for one of us to have a black eye, and the outfits were complete.

Nicholas the Gymnast

Don't you wish you were this flexible?

A cute outfit I had to take a picture of!

Fundraiser

Hey y'all, Dominick's school is having their annual fall fund raiser, and is selling the gorgeous Sally Foster wrapping paper. The Epstein School will receive 50% of all sales made by September 11th. If you live in Atlanta, you can see me to view the catalog and place an order. If you are out of town, you may to go sallyfoster.com and order. Go to the top right corner of the home page to the "support a fundraiser" and put in the account #0926204. This is a good cause, and the wrapping paper is exceptional. Seriously, it is so cute and so sturdy! I know money might be tight for some people right now, or maybe you supported another school and already have your paper, and that's totally fine. All we ask is if you are able, please support The Epstein school!!! Thank you!!! :)

Cute Pictures!

Yesterday was a typical day in the Plachy household. Nothing exciting to report. We did have the Carter's over for dinner, which was fun. Then we went to Eunice's house and drooled over her fabric and designs (loblollylane.com).

After several attempts I finally got a decent picture of the boys together!

My picture of the three of us!

Dom and I.

The three kids riding the plasma car. I love that Dom has this look of true effort on his face. When he made everyone get on at once, I don't think he realized how heavy it would be! Nicholas is having the time of his life, and poor Cammie is saying "Get me off this thing."

Eunice and the sweetest little baby ever, Knox!

He is so cute and squishy!! I love him!!!!

This Weekend

We had a pretty easy going weekend. We ran errands and Roman did some work on the bathroom in the basement. We got to hang out with some of our friends in the neighborhood on Saturday night, sans children, which was fantastic! All in all, a nice weekend. Here are some pics:

Dominick doing the dishes (really).

Dom and Nix riding the plasma car. It is hilarious to watch them cruise around the house together!

Cammie came over to play last night, and had dinner with the boys. It was so much fun. Here there are having a smoothie snack courtesy of Nana!

It is nearly impossible to get three children to look at the camera at the same time. Seriously, it's a fact. Look it up.

Cloth Diapers and a New Cook in the Kitchen

So, after 3 1/2 years of deliberation, I have decided to go cloth! Yesterday, my cloth diapers arrived in the mail, and my excitement was contagious; even my mother, whose experiences with cloth in the 70's left her cynical as to the ease of cloth diapers, became excited as we washed them! I got two kinds, prefolds with covers, and some all in ones. Naturally, the all in ones are awesome, but their cost is high, so I need to have others. We are "prepping" the prefolds, so at the moment I am just using the all in ones. Here are some pictures of my cutie wearing his first cloth diaper!! (Please ignore the poor quality of the pictures. Apparently I had the camera on the wrong setting!) Another new develop in our house is I recruited Dom to help me with dinners. It seems that between the hours of 4pm and 5pm, Dom is in need of something to do. So, after our walk around the cul de sac, we put on our aprons and cook dinner. It is a nice activity for Dom and I to do together, and keeps him occupied. Here are some pictures of our little Chef:

What You Missed.....

Here are the highlights of what you missed while I took a break from blogging.

Dom learns to use a bluetooth.

Summer haircuts and relaxing on their deck chairs.

Dressing up as a cow for free Chick-fil-a. What we won't do for free Chick-fil-a. (now available in California!!)

Nicholas' First Chair (Thanks to the Carters!)

Dom helping Daddy build a closet in the guest room.

Nicholas' first Chick-fil-a milkshake (if you can't tell, Chick-fil-a figures prominently in our lives!)

Dom's first day of school! He is in the 3's class. So grown up!!! (no, I did not realize I sent him to school in a stained shirt until I saw this picture. Sigh.)

My Oompa Loompa

Ok, so I know it's been awhile...does anyone still check this blog? ;) Anyways, I am going to try to be good and update regularly. I know blogging is a good way to keep up with people (especially since I am not on Facebook!) so I promise to make a good effort! Here is my littlest man eating lunch. It was a mistake to give him spaghetti for lunch, as it took forever to clean him up. But he had a grand time turning himself into a Oompa Loompa.

Roman Had to Lower the Crib

Nicholas's Latest Accomplishment:

The Boy's Pictures

We have a photographer come to the house to photograph the boys every six months. Her name is Danielle Bryson, and she does amazing work. We had her come to the house the last weekend in January, and had a great time with her. She posted the pics on her website. http://daniellebryson.com/index2.php. Click on client proofing; the password is "three". Check out our boys, and our new daughter "Quon Li"! ;)

Ain't No Party Like a Plachy Party....

On January 25th, 25-30 ( I lost count) toddlers and babies descending on our home to celebrate Dom's birthday. It was a western theme, and we decorated our home as a dude ranch. 

Our Little Cowboy

We took all the furniture out of the dining room for the main play area. The curtain behind Dom is the "Fishin' Hole" a game Eunice created where the kids went fishing, and caught prizes (Uncle Ken was the fisherman behind the curtain. What a good sport! I wish I had a picture. He had on his fishing gear and everything!)

Just before the guests arrived. My mom made Dom's vest, and NIx's t-shirt is one from H&M. It is a fake cowboy outfit, like one of those tuxedo t-shirts. It was perfect!

The 60 cupcake cake from Publix. Soooooo tasty!! (and yes, Princess Megan is a fan of grocery store cakes! I know, can you believe it?).

   I have many, many more pictures from the event, but they have kids in them who I don't have parental permission to put on the blog. Needless to say, it was a western extravaganza. We had the train and tracks set up on the deck that was so popular (thank you Fairy Godparents!), along with a sand pit and some bubbles. Inside was the always popular rice table, tattoos and stickers, and balloons. We had Willys cater, which was yummy and much easier than making our own food. We had western goodie bags, and hats and bandanas for all the kids. It was a great day.

  I really need to take a moment to thank all of our friends who helped us make this day happen. Katy, you were a great party assistant, and your spread sheets made the planning so much easier; Eunice and Ken, thank you for all of your help setting up and for providing the fishing game; CoCo, thank you for all of your work setting up, and during the party; Lis, thank you for handling the front door; Jenna and Susanna and husbands, thank you for all of your cleaning up!! And Mom, thank you for coming and being here for the weekend, and not disowning me when I was awful to you while stressed! And anyone else I am forgetting this early in the morning, thank you! I am so lucky to have such a supportive neighborhood!!

Where Have I Been?

   Where have I been? To make a long story short: broken computer, damaged hard drive, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas parties, California visitors, and 25-30 toddlers in my house. 

   What has Nicholas been up to? Since I last posted, he has started solid foods (made in my wonderful Beaba Babycook- Just when the French totally disappointment me, they come up with the glorious Beaba Babycook baby food maker), cut three teeth, grown to weigh 17.2 pounds, and has started crawling.  He crawls all over the place, and is getting pretty quick. I am not sure baby jail is going to hold him. 

It makes sense Nix would crawl so early- he has a big brother to keep up with!

Nix just being his smiley self.

And what of Dominick? Well, he is doing really well at school, visited the Farm and rode a gator with "the Farmer", now rides a tricycle, was the Abba for Shabbat, and is in general too cutie-cutie for words!

Christmas morning on his trike.

As the Abba.

He now poses like this for all pictures. Thank you, Lightning McQueen.

  And as for Mom and Dad, well, we are just trying to get some sleep!!