1.29.2012

Public Service Announcement

DO NOT PURCHASE BATH TOYS.
Do you hear me?  Do not fall victim to the $20 bath toys.
Seriously, the things your child will play with in the bathtub are things you already have in your home:

1.  Plastic pitcher
2.  Solo cups/plastic cups/sippy cups
3.  Measuring cups/spoons



All my children want to do in the bath is pour water {Reese} and splash water {Jack}.

This has been a public service announcement for mothers everywhere.

1.25.2012

Down at the farm

Last weekend, we celebrated Christmas {a month late} at Aunt Denise's house.  We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day!  They have an amazing home on an amazing piece of property and if I could move in tomorrow, I would!  Seriously, this is the view out their back door:


{oh, hello horsies!}

Of course, my kiddos had a blast.  What's not to love?  Wide open fields to scream and run and jump and eat grass?  YES PLEASE!

The horses were a big hit...



as was, apparently, looking through the cracks on the wrap-around porch {swoon}.


A few more of my girl on the horse:




And here's some more of "the boy"




We also got to spend time with family!  Reese loves her cousin Jaxon and baby Presley, too {of course I got not pics of that little angel baby}.


{he was telling me he's 4 years old.}

We opened a few presents...

{no pants.  potty accident.  oh well.}



we played in the "sand pit"


and chased this munchkin everywhere...



Before we knew it, the skies were getting gray, thunder was rumbling, and we decided to pack it up and head home {driving straight through the storm!}

We had to say good bye to the dogs, 


and the horses!

{mama, I'm waving bye bye to the horses...behind my head!  I'm silly.}


Thanks for hosting us, Denise!  

Now, you can take all your Christmas decorations down!

1.24.2012

carpe diem. {or don't}

If you read nothing else today, especially if you are a mother of small children or about to be a mother of small children, go read THIS POST.

Motherhood is hard work.  "Mommy-guilt" should have an entry in Webster's Dictionary, except the definition for every mother would be different.

I love the blogger's analogy of mothering to Mt. Everest...I found myself whispering "exactly" under my breath the whole time I was reading that.


The mountain is tough to climb, and I might not enjoy every minute with these 2 kiddos of mine, but the moments of triumph as a mother sure do make the trek worth it.

1.19.2012

Double the bubbles...

Double the fun!!


I so love that I can give the kiddos their baths at the same time!  They love it {esp. Jack} and it's like a 30 minute playtime.

Seriously...this kid L.O.V.E.S. the bath...
{are you dying with the cuteness? me too.}
{DO YOU SEE HIS TOP TEETH? me too.}

And this little lady {who had a very I'm-2-years-old-and-don't-you-forget-it kind of day}, well she just likes baths.  She never has been crazy about the bath, but she will play for a little while.

Perhaps, it has something to do with a wild maniac splashing water everywhere...


Who me? Never. I'm calm like .5 percent of the time.  Definitely not me.

1.17.2012

Almost a year...


Seriously. 11 months {almost}. 1 YEAR {almost}.  

This has literally been the fastest year of my life.  It didn't seem like it was going very fast about 10 months ago when I thought I was dying with the sleeplessness.  Isn't that how motherhood is?  When you're in the middle of it, in the thick of no sleep and crying and all that, it seems...ENDLESS.  But then.  Somewhere in there you turn a corner and a whole year has past.


Sometimes I don't think I've really appreciated this year.  I'll be honest and say sometimes instead of relishing in the here-and-now moments, I was pushing my baby towards the next milestone.  "Oh, if he'll just sleep 5 hours at a time", "I can't wait until he's sitting up", "I wish he would go ahead and crawl already." "Please, don't make me see 4 a.m. today"...etc...etc...etc.  It's just hard to stop and smell the roses, if you will, until one day you notice that the roses have withered away.


As I look back on this first year of Jack's life, it hasn't all been easy or fun.  There have been times where I didn't think I would ever have a restful sleep again.  I'm still not sure I will ever enjoy mealtime again :).  But oh my goodness, the boy can melt my heart.  Babies make you forget every bad thing that has ever happened.  He makes these faces that turn my heart to mush.  Yes, he is tiring and loud and sometimes demanding, but I am madly in love with the boy.  Plus, I imagine he's only going to get louder and more tiring in the years to come so I better just enjoy the ride.


He's developing a personality that's all his own and what a special thing to witness.  I'm literally watching a miracle unfold as he grows into a person.  A tiny little person with opinions {uhh, yes} and traits unique to him.


He looooooves reading books and dancing and talking up a storm.  He loves cars and balls and being destructive.  He loves to make noise and run crawl away and laugh hysterically.  He is obsessed with opening and closing doors/drawers/cabinets and putting anything in his mouth and climbing stairs.  He loves eating and rocking and being outside.  He hates his car seat and getting his diaper changed.  He's not fond of clothes either.  He would live in the bathtub if he could and thinks his T hung the moon.  He loves barking/mooing/roaring and waving bye bye.  He hates being alone or feeling ignored.  Please don't make him wait for food.  He could eat a whole thing of puffs in one sitting.  His 4 top teeth scare me a little {they look huge} and I'm obsessed with his hair.  He loves pulling his sister's hair and grinding his teeth and screeching at the top of his lungs.


Do you see what I mean?  All these things and he's not even a year old yet!  He is my most favorite boy in the world and I don't want to miss these precious moments that are literally molding and shaping him into the boy and man he will grow up to be. 
 I'm going to do everything I can to stop and smell the roses every day!

Because I said so!

**Yes, I know, Christmas has not been documented.  We are actually having our last Christmas with B's grandparents this weekend, so that is my excuse for not blogging Christmas yet.**


It's no secret that my Peanut is an amazing communicator.  She always has been.  The things she comes up with literally make me speechless, and we crack up constantly.  I just have to write down my favorite Reese-isms right now:

- she calls a restaurant, a "westernaut"
- when telling a story, she says "once about a time"
- still makes a W sound instead of an L sound: wuv you, turn on the wight, etc


- she tells me I'm her bestest girl all the time!
- puts her hands on your face and says "you're a genius!" ...no idea.
- she calls the tray on her highchair her "chair bob"...again...no idea!
- calls Jack her boy
- anytime Jack starts crawling away from her, she says "oh no!  dat boy's headed for the toewit" {toilet}...can you tell potty is on the brain?
-  a lot of things are "so siwwy {silly}"
- she calls doughnuts, "grownuts"
- her playset at Nana and Paw's house is called her "babysitter"


- if you ask her to do something and she doesn't feel like doing it, she will say she's too busy
- she can't say dizzy, so when she spins around in circles, she says she's "busy"
- a lot of things are "amazing", "awesome", "beautiful", and her "fabrit" {favorite}
- she knows she can't drink milk because "it has cheese in it" :)  close enough, right?
- if she gets a boo-boo, all you have to do is kiss it and then it's "allllllllll better, dear mommy" 
- anything flying in the sky is a "hawky-eagle" {said like one word: hawkyeagle}
- when she sulks, it's my most favorite thing.  she slumps her little shoulders, literally frowns, hangs her head, and talks in such a baby voice.  cracks me up.

{one of my most favorite pictures everrrrrrrrrrr}

- when she wants more food or drink she says, "i dust need a weeeeeeeetle bit more" 
- i think her favorite day would involve "chick-a-way", "pugwits", target {for the popcorn. duh.} and the park. i think that's what we will do on her birthday!

I know I'm going to think of like 18 more things as soon as I post this, but I've been trying to write them down as I think of them.  She literally brightens my day and makes me laugh whenever I'm around her!