Best Shot Monday

it is a big monday at our house. it is daddy's last monday of the school year! starting next week we will have daddy home with us all the time.... i'll let you know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. ha!!

anyways, on to the best shot. i just couldn't choose, so you get two. a sweet one and a silly one. lucky you!

first the sweet one. awwwww, my babies look so cute cuddling together!! if bean's hair wasn't all wacked out it would be better but what can you do?!? she is two (for only one more month!) after all! ;)

and now the silly. this picture just makes me giggle! she picked this flower and was smelling it. how she thought she would smell it with her mouth i'm not sure. ;) and the expression! ha ha ha!

i hope you all had a lovely weekend!!

don't forget to stop by tracey's to see more great shots!!

The annual "first spraying"

ahhh, summer is here. i know that technically it doesn't start for a few more weeks but we go by a different calendar of sorts. summer starts the day we can get the hose out and spray the bean.

bean has loved being sprayed with the hose since the first time we did it. she wasn't even one year old yet. she never wants us to stop. she will be shivering and her lips will be blue but she will still want to be sprayed! she was sprayed twice on saturday and twice today. my guess is that she will want sprayed again tomorrow.

we are definately looking forward to next year when we can see if the sprout appreciates being sprayed like his sister does!

What you talkin' about, Bean?

here are a few beanisms for the day.

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i'm in the kitchen cooking dinner. bean walks in. she looks at me and declares, "i'm SO hungry i can't believe myself!!!"

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bean talks... a lot. so, i have to admit that sometimes i shut her out so i can concentrate on something else. (she doesn't even seem to notice!) the other day i was feeding sprout in the family room and she was playing in the living room. i hear her blah, blah, blahing in the back ground as i spend time with my boy. then this phrase enters my ear:
"you can look at something with your mind ability!"

huh??? i really wish i had heard what else she said. it may have been quite enlightening!! ;)

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ah, and now for the potty segment of beanisms. (bean is basically fully potty trained, hooray!!)

the other night i asked her if she was was going poo. she said, "yes. i'm going poo-poo and pee-pee mommy and that is good because then we both get to wipe!"

(the joy of potty time with todders. you have to help them wipe when they poo because they can't really reach to do it properly themselves.)

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have a fantastic weekend everyone! (can you believe that sunday is june 1st already?!?)

The 2 Month Sprout

sprout is now 2 months old! mommy's big guy went to the doctor yesterday. here are his stats:
weight: 13 pounds 2 0unces (90th percentile)
height: 23 inches (50th percentile)
head circumference: 41.6 cm (90th percentile)
so.... i guess he's a stocky little man? ;)

he got 4 shots and one oral vaccine. bean never got an oral vaccine before so i wasn't sure what to expect. ummm.... let's just say he didn't care for it. the nurse put some in his mouth and he smacked his lips a little. i thought that meant he liked it. WRONG. the nurse went to give him some more and he started crying. then screaming. by the time we got it all in him he was sputtering and coughing. is it bad to say i was some what amused by this reaction? because i kinda was. i mean, that was supposed to be the easy part! apparently he didn't get the memo? ha! ;)
the shots pissed him off even more. he actually looked mad! ha ha! and bad mommy forgot to give him some tylenol before we got there so he was quite uncomfortable when he woke up from his shot induced nap several hours later. he slept most of the day. in fact he's slept most of this day already too. (not that that is terribly unusual)
doctor said he is growing well and looks very healthy. hooray!

*he is cooing and babbling up a storm. he "talked" the whole time we were at the doctor's office (when he wasn't screaming at the nurse). it was pretty cute.
*he also seems to love his tongue. he is constantly sticking it in and out of his mouth.
*he looks like he is on some type of hallucinogenic drug when he sees a ceiling fan. it cracks me up!

so that is the 2 month sprout. tune in in about 2 months for the exciting adventures of the 4 month sprout and the 3 year (oh my!) bean.

Bath Time

who likes his bathy?? who likes his bathy wathy??
sprouty does!!

he is so happy at bath time. he doesn't even mind me pouring water over his head to rinse his hair! by the way, the wash cloth covering his boy parts slipped off right after i took this picture and he peed across the bath room. you should have seen the delight in his face then. seriously, i think he thought it was funny! ahh, boys!

Afternoon Stroll

walking by the water with gramma and grampa on a beautiful sunshiny day- what could be better than that? (probably the part where she threw rocks into the water for a half an hour!)

this is another picture from our saturday. we did a lot on saturday. played with the giant ball, played in the new sand and water table, had a picnic, played on the playground, walked (and threw rocks), got ice cream, and fed and pet some animals. and that was all before dinner! no wonder she slept so well this weekend. :)

in totally unrelated news, bean can zip up her flower sweatshirt all by herself. she's done it twice now. it probably isn't all that exciting, but i'm terribly impressed by this.

Weekend Fun

we spent the weekend at gramma and grampa's house. bean had a fabulous time. we had a picnic near the lake, played on a couple of playgrounds, fed and pet some animals, swam, and had a party. she was completely wiped out at the end of each day! sprout did his usual- slept through almost everything.

here is a super cute shot i got on saturday. this is bean trying to blow up her giant ball all by herself. she found the valve and put it in her little mouth and started blowing- i didn't know she knew that that is what you do to blow up a ball. anyways, this is a GIANT ball so clearly she didn't blow it up, but she sure enjoyed trying! (we got the pump that we use to blow up the air mattress out and used that to blow it up, in case you were wondering)

i took over 100 pictures this weekend so you are bound to see more this week. i can't help myself- my kids are TOO cute!! ha ha! :) i hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend!

Once Again With the Beanisms

not too many this week. well, really only two. it has been a busy week and mommy has forgotten to write some of the good stuff down and now it is lost forever! but here we go....

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whenever bean gets a little exasperated with either daddy or i we here this:
"honestly daddy!" or "honestly mommy!"
it kinda comes with its own facial expression. not quite an eye roll but getting close. boy are we going to be in trouble when the teenage years hit!!

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bean is lying on the floor. she is moving her arms and legs along the carpet.... kinda like what you do when you make a snow angel.
"whacha doin' baby?" i ask her.
she smiles up at me, "makin' carpet angels!!"

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sprout says, "goooo. ahhhhhmmm. ahh-ooooo"
i don't know what it means but it sure sounds cute!!

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have a super duper weekend everyone!!!

What's the deal?

here is a picture of bean playing with her bestest friend, bubba. they have know each other for basically their entire lives. (they met when bean was 4 months old and bubba was about 1 1/2 weeks old) they are so sweet together and bean loves being around him. so you think that she would like other boys too. well.... not so much.
see, when we go to the park, if there are boys on the playground, she won't play. they try to talk to her and play with her but she just walks away from them. she will sit on a bench next to me and wait for them to leave! if there are girls there she will play and even tries to get them to play with her. so why is she scared of boys?? i just can't figure this one out!!

Last Night

bean went to bed at 8:00pm.

sprout ate ate 8:05pm.

sprout checked email with mommy and bean got up around 8:30pm.

daddy got bean back to bed (miracle!) without my assistance at 8:40pm.

spout and mommy played and talked. (sprout likes to say "gooo", "ahhh", and "oooom". he also makes other random noises, some of which are quite amusing!)

sprout went to bed at 10:00pm.

mommy went to bed at 10:30pm.

sprout woke up at 4:05am to eat. (4:05am! that is 8 hours between feedings! AND he only ate half his bottle. i think we are on our way to sleeping through the night people!! woo hoo!)

mommy goes back to bed at 4:30am.

sprout wakes up at 6:40am and comes to bed with mommy.
bean wakes up at 7:11am. mommy must get up too. but i can't complain, it really couldn't have been much better, could it? :)

Mother's Day Gift

so, i got my mother's day present today! (don't give to much credit to the husband. i had to ask for it... then i still had to order it myself!)

it came in this pretty little box wrapped in purple tissue paper. it wasn't just a ring box though. look! there is my new mother's ring packed in dried flowers! it was so pretty and it smelled wonderful too.


the ring is two bands that are intertwined. one band for each of my babies. one with bean's name, one with sprout's name. isn't it great!

and i love what the company (nelle and lizzy) says about the ring:
you will be able to arrange the bands so that all the names show, but as your hands move, the rings will shift positions as the bands are all interconnected. our rings are meant to showcase those you love, but in a subtle way. your will find yourself moving the bands throughout the day and thinking about the people you love.
and it is true! i've been fiddling with it all day and you can't help but think of your babies when you see their names. it is my new favorite piece of jewelry!

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and full disclosure here... i don't deserve any gifts that imply that i'm a good mom.....
i put sprout in his bouncy seat and left the room (to deal with bean). i did not buckle him in. (you can see where this is going right?) i heard him start screaming. i ran into the room and found him lying on the hard wood floor. yes, my kid kicked and squirmed himself right out of the seat and on to the floor! fortunately i make babies with durable heads- he has no bumps or bruises. but he did appear to be quite angry about the whole situation. (and i feel like a complete horse's behind.)

Best Shot Monday

here it is monday already. somehow the days go by at an unbearably slow pace but the weeks just whiz by. how is that???

well here is my best shot of the week. sprouty-kins was sitting in his bouncy seat watching his sister read books to him. the light from the window was so nice i had to take some pictures. i think this one is my favorite. he looks all sweet and angelic, don't you think?

it was a pretty good weekend. we got a lot of flowers planted- and i'm pretty sure we spent too much money on them. (yes, they are pretty and i LOVE flowers but if they don't survive the heat of the summer it won' t have been worth it.) bean was a good helper. she pulled weeds, dug holes (mostly in the right places), and watered everything.

i hope you all had a lovely weekend! don't forget to visit tracey so you can see more great shots!

More Beanisms

bean is on the floor in the living room. sprout is on a blanket next to her. i go into the kitchen to check on dinner. when i come back bean has her feet on sprout. (gahh!)
"get your feet off your brother! that is not nice!" i demand.
she looks at me and says, "but mommy, i'm pretending that he's an ottoman!"
sigh.

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bean wants to know if it is snack time. i tell her to go into the kitchen and look at the microwave. she says ok and runs off. i ask her to read me the numbers on the microwave clock. she says "one, E, upside-down J"
i think for a second.
"do you mean 1, 3, 7?"
slight pause from her. "no mommy, upside-down J"
"no baby, that is a 7."

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we are outside. bean wants me to push her on the swing. that is all i have done all day. my shoulders are aching.
"i'm sorry honey, mommy's shoulder's hurt too much to push you right now."
she puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "that's ok mommy, we will buy you some new shoulders."

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fun with pronunciation!

spectacular: sounds kind of like this "speck-tac-klee-er"
formula: sound a bit like "form-lee-ah"

apparently u's sound like long e's? who knew?! :)

Handsome Dude

i think that says it all.
:)

(kudos to mommee for sharing the outfit with us!!)

Mommy's Special Helper

you know what i like about toddlers? they don't know that what you are telling them to do is work. you can convince them that you are allowing them to do something special that only "big" people get to do. they think it is oh so awesome. they feel all important. and best of all you don't have to do the chore anymore!
bean is now doing dishes. she loves to play in the water, so i figured i might as well make it "productive play". ;) mind you it is only the plastics that i'm allowing her to do- no knives, heavy pots and pans, or glass items.so i'm not completely out of this particular chore. i still have to do half of the dishes, but half is definitely better than ALL!

if you know of any other household chores i can pawn off on my daughter just let me know. ha ha!
(it isn't a form of slavery! it is supposed to build their self esteem, right??)

Here's what made my day...

the lovely kimberly sent me this lovely little award. it says i made her day. the fact that she gave it to me made mine! thank you, thank you!!

so, who makes my day? well, all of you! but i think that mommee is in need of a special pick me up right now, so i will officially bestow it upon her!

Getting Closer

i almost got it this time! that is almost more "silent laugh" than smile but it is still darn cute! eventually i will get the full on smile, i promise!! :)

Best Shot Monday

bean got little gardening gloves and a trowel for easter from my mother. so, when we had a nice day this past week we had her help us plant some flowers. she picked out these impatiens herself (of course she did, they're pink!), so we had her plant them out by her swing set. she helped dig the holes, put dirt around the plants, and watered them. the only thing she wasn't too sure of was the fact that there were worms in the dirt! she can be such a girl sometimes!!

she really likes to do the watering. the day after we planted she asked if she could water again. i said, "of course!" she took her little watering can out and sprinkled the flowers again and again. i finally had to tell her that you could water flowers too much and we put the watering can away. well, she wasn't done. she found a cup and a bucket of rain water. she filled the cup and wandered around the yard watering the dandelions!! ha ha!

head on over to tracey's to see all the other best shots this week. have a terrific monday!

Happy Mother's Day

i hope all you mommies out there are having a wonderful mother's day!

mine started out at 2:15 with the bean screaming my name. then again at 3:15ish she was screaming and insisted on coming to my bed. 3:30ish she insisted on going back to her own bed. 3:50ish sprout is hungry and needs to eat. 4:20ish i'm back to sleep, finally.
then, at 7:30 sprout is up. i bring him to our bed (it always puts him back to sleep). 8:00 bean is up. she wants me up. i tell her no. 8:10, bean wants me up! i tell her no. 8:22, bean wants me up to make breakfast. i tell her no. daddy rolls over and tells her to "hug mommy and say happy mother's day." she says, "no. i don't want to. i'm going to ruin her day." lovely! cycle continues until 9:00 when sprout decides it is time to eat.
so i feed sprout. then bean wants pancakes. only pancakes. so i get the recipe out and make pancakes. i cook pancakes while bean and daddy eat them.

oh the life of a mom! ;)

we'll see how the rest of the day goes. hopefully bean doesn't want to "ruin" the whole thing. :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!!!

Weekend Funny

hmmm. me thinks someone is a wee bit suspicious of yon birdie.
he he he!

Beanisms

"what animal is this?" i ask bean this afternoon.
she looks at me thoughtfully and answers, "a wack."
"a wack?!?" i say.
"yes, a wack!" she responds.
"are you sure it isn't a yak?" i ask her.
she laughs and says, "yes!"

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at dinner tonight sprout started to fuss a little. bean looked slightly annoyed. she turns to her dad and says:
"(sprout) isn't a very good baby." she gives her head a sad little shake and continues, "i think we will have to send him back!"
(he he he he!)

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bean is jumping on the large arm chair in the living room. she is rambling on and on about a bunch of nothing. when i heard this come out of her mouth:
"that is fear, and fear is a kind of blanket."
huh???
she says the oddest things sometimes!!

New Favorite Thing

here is bean singing. she is "playing" rock band with daddy. she isn't singing the song that he is playing on drums though. she is singing one of her new favorites, funky mama!

last week the lovely maggie had a contest. the winner got funky mama's new cd, moo juice. and, holy cow, we won! bean was SO excited when she found out she would be getting a package in the mail. she couldn't wait. when the package arrived on saturday, she wanted her prize now! (i don't even think she understood what it was at that point, she just knew that it came in the mail and it was hers!)
so, we listened to it in the car sunday. she was hooked. every time we get in the car she asks for "potty train" or "sippy" or "freeze dance". (we get the most requests for potty train. it is so funny to hear her say "mommy, i want potty train!") it is a truly great cd. i highly recommend it to anyone looking for music to entertain their children! and yes, you adults will find it fun too. :)

so, anyways, here she is singing "can you hear me? yes, funky mama!" into the microphone. too darn cute for words! (i so wish i had taken video!)

The Husband

since my brain is a little on the fried side, i stole this post from mommee. fortunately, my brain is working well enough to fill in the blanks! ;)

1. Who is your man? the husband, aka daddy

2. How long have you been together? met 12 years ago, married for almost 10

3. How long dated? 1 year 2 months, engaged 9 months

4. How old is your man? 33 (he is 4 months younger than me and never lets me forget it)

5. Who eats more? oh him, but i put away my share for sure. ;)

6. Who said “I love you” first? i'm going to guess him- sadly i don't remember

7. Who is taller? him

8. Who sings better? oh gosh, we both are terrible singers. but that doesn't mean we don't, other people should just beware when we do!

9. Who is smarter? he thinks he is, i think i am.

10. Whose temper is worse? oh mine, for sure!

11. Who does the laundry? he does his own, i do everything else

12. Who takes out the garbage? i take it to the can in the garage, he takes it to the street... when he remembers

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? i do

14. Who pays the bills? he makes the money but i'm the one who pays the bills

15. Who is better with the computer? we are equally clueless.

16. Who mows the lawn? him

17. Who cooks dinner? me, unless it involves the grill then it is all him

18. Who drives when you are together? him, i don't know why, it has just always been that way

19. Who pays when you go out? he does

20. Who is most stubborn? we are both stubborn... sadly, so are our children

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? i don't think he'd ever admit to that, so it must be me

22. Whose parents do you see the most? his, definitely

23. Who kissed who first? he kissed me

24. Who asked who out? depends on who you ask. he claims he asked me out but i don't remember it. he claims i turned him down and broke his heart. (all i remember was that he was talking about going out with some friends and i said it that it sounded like fun, i wished i could go too but i already had plans with friends.) two days later i asked him out.

25. Who proposed? him, in front of the castle at disney world

26. Who is more sensitive? me

27. Who has more friends? him, by far

28. Who has more siblings? we both have two

29. Who wears the pants in the family? hmmm, good question.

30. How did you meet? we met while working at km*rt. he was in college, i had just graduated- we both needed money and just happened to pick the same discount retailer to work for. i was hired in august, him in september. we were dating by november.

Things...

why is it that anytime the mommy is sick her children are more whiny, fussy, and clingy than normal? why do they have to need more whenever you have less to give?

i'm still feeling rather out of it. my cold has decided that it would like to move out of my head and into my chest. this means i'm starting to get a nasty and annoying cough. oh, it is delightful.

bean is whiny, clingy, and crying about everything. i don't really know why. i'm sure it has something to do with baby brother but maybe she is getting sick too. who knows. what i do know is that i'm not in the mood for all of that crying! she also has become incredibly shy. for example, she won't play at play group if there is someone there that she doesn't know well. it is a little frustrating.

sprout, well, he's fussy too. and i don't know what his problem is at all. i feel like i still know very little about him since i have to spend so much time with his sister. so, diagnosing his issues is VERY difficult. oh, and bean seems to think that she is his mommy and is always trying to help him with anything and everything. the ducky blanket in the picture above is hers but she gave it to him in hopes that he would stop crying. it worked. that is until she ripped it back out of his hands because she was "done sharing". sigh.

so that is what is going on here. there is lots of stuff i want to write about but i just don't have the energy. hopefully we all start feeling better soon and things will get back to normal!

Best Shot Monday

goodness, is it monday already?!

i had a rough weekend... see i got a wicked cold and was completely out of commission saturday. i seriously felt like death.
sunday i pumped myself full of cold medication and ibuprofen so bean could go to her friend's birthday party. she never would have understood why we couldn't go, so i sucked it up and took her. it was at a ice cream parlor that has an indoor playland- you know, heaven on earth for toddlers! she had SO much fun! here is a shot of her going down the slide.
now if you look you can see she has two piggy tails. two! she finally has enough hair that i can "do" it! yay! she also had to have her toes painted before she went.... some days she is such a girly girl.

we will call this my best shot for the week. what is yours? head over to tracey's to share and check out what everyone else was up to this week!

Did I really say that?

daddy had the guys, or the "poker friends" as bean calls them, over for a card game the other night. it was the first time most of them had seen sprout. someone asked bean how she liked her baby brother.....
"i really wanted a sister," is her response. (she says it EVERY time someone asks her about her brother!)
"well," the friend says, "maybe mommy can have another baby and it will be a sister."
and this is it, her response was:
"i don't think so. mommy says she is tired of having babies."

HA HA HA HA HA!
(oh so true BUT, honestly, i don't think i ever said that!)

Almost had it...

do you have any idea how much i hate the shutter delay that my camera has?????

gahhhhhh!!!!!

(that is the closest i've gotten to the "oh so sweet baby sprout smile" photo. i will continue on the mission for the adorable happy baby photo! it is just going to take me a while longer.......)

First smore of the season!

we had a fire in the pit last night. bean was running around playing then suddenly stopped and asked, "where are the marshmallows? i want a marshmallow thing!"
so, daddy had to go to the store because, of course, we didn't have marshmallows!
bean thought she was pretty cool roasting her own marshmallow. although, she wouldn't get close enough to the fire to actually cook the thing- the fire was "too hot!" ;)
eating the smore was much more important that making it. she ate it and wanted another.... and another! (she only got 2)

after her "marshmallow thing" (she knows the word smore she just can't seem to remember it!) she sat on my lap and we talked while watching the fire. i told her i was sorry that i yelled so much lately. i told her that i just get frustrated sometimes but that it wasn't a good excuse to yell. i said that sometimes she upsets me when she does naughty things on purpose. then she interrupted me and said (while putting her hand on my shoulder):
"but you still love me mommy." she smiled sweetly.
"well, of course i do. i'll always love you no matter what. even when you make me mad i still love you."
and she says, "i know." and lays back against me to watch the fire.

One Month

ok, so it has been a little over one month but his doctor appointment wasn't until today!

sprout is a big healthy boy. he now weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces, is 22 1/4 inches long, and has a big ol' head (40.2 cm). he had one shot- hepatitis b. he handled the shot just like his big sis. screamed until his clothes were on then magically he was fine. he fell asleep before we made it to the car. :)
he is, of course, different than his sister. he is a "hold me" kind of baby. really likes to be held and snuggled. bean was rather indifferent about that. was would be the key word in that phrase- now that there is someone else being held she wants in on the action!

it has been an exhausting month for all of us. physically and emotionally, i'm drained!

My Night

10:30pm i feed sprout.

11:00pm i put him in his crib. i go to bed.

1:05am bean wakes up crying. she wants me to sleep with her. i tell her no, there isn't enough room. i kiss and hug her. i say, "i love you, goodnight."

1:25am bean starts yelling my name. she has to go potty. sigh. i had just fallen back to sleep.

4:20am sprout wakes up to eat.

did you catch that!! sprout went from 11:00pm to 4:20am without waking to eat! that is UNBELIEVABLE people. he usually can't go more that 4 hours without a snack.
apparently, he is a smart little dude and knew that mommy really needed some sleep. unfortunately he failed to mention this to bean.

6:55am bean is up for the day. double sigh.

Best Shot Monday

captain sprout says, "arrrrrrgh matey!"
(bean was playing dress up and we decided that sprout should play too! he he he!)

was totally going to have a "smiling sprout" picture today- that's right, he smiled at me. but, good grief it is hard to capture that fleeting baby smile!! stay tuned- i'm determined to get that shot!! ;)

stop by tracey's to see what everyone else was up to this week.

You're what?

if you were at my house last night you would have heard the following:

bean: no, i don't want to brush my teeth!
me: you have to brush your teeth honey.
bean: but i don't want to!
me: sorry about your luck, honey. you gotta brush. it's a rule.
bean: but mommy, i think i might be allergic to teeth brushing!
me: umm. no, i don't think that it is possible to be allergic to teeth brushing. good try though.

ha ha ha!
honestly, where does she get these ideas?!?!

Bean had a great fall.

bean pushed her chair away from the dinner table. the problem: chair doesn't slide, chair tips backwards. mommy can't get there fast enough. bean flies backward. bean's head slams into the wall.the dent/hole you see in the wall is where her head hit. you would think that if you left a large dent in a wall you would have a matching lump on your head. surprisingly that isn't true. i can't find a mark on her. hmmm.
watching it happen took about 6 months off mommy's life though.

Mama's Handsome Boy

sprout must be a good looking baby. of course, i think he is. i'm supposed to though, i'm his mama! but seriously, people come up to me all the time telling me how adorable he is. not that people didn't tell me that bean was cute. they did- but not to this extent. people, total strangers, go nuts over him. bean was simply "cute", while sprout is "adorable", "handsome", "beautiful", etc.
as an example, my next door neighbor came over to see him. when he went home he told his wife, "that is one good looking baby. he may be the best looking baby i've ever seen." HA! i hope his grandkids never hear him say that!! ;)

Devil in Disguise

she looks sweet enough, right?? don't let her fool you. she is a demon dressed in angelic clothing!

if you could have witnessed what happened in our house last night you would understand. the shit has hit the fan people! but something funny did happen during her time out. daddy was trying to talk to her about what she did wrong (everything) and she looked at him and cries "i'm just so tired!"
he says, "why are you so tired?"
"because i have to get up and change my babies' diapers and feed them," she yells at him.
"well, maybe your babies should sleep with me so you can get some sleep," daddy says calmly.
and what does she say in response??
"i appreciate that daddy, but i have to take care of my babies!"

HA HA HA HA! she appreciates that!!! HA HA HA!

i didn't appreciate her behavior BUT i did appreciate the comment. ;)

Not going to win mother of the year....

ok, so we went to the zoo. it was good. it was HOT. i know the thermometer says it is currently 71 but, OMG it feels much warmer than that! the sun is bright and hot today. and that, my friends, leads us to the reason i'm not going to win any prizes.
you see, i forgot to put sun screen on myself and my children!!!!! i also forgot hats and extra water. what the heck was i thinking?!?! so bean and i are now sporting red arms and faces. sigh. i feel like such a jerk letting my kid get a sunburn!

anyways, here is a picture of bean, sprout, and a gorilla eating cheerios. yes, he (or she) is really eating cheerios. bean thought that was pretty interesting and just couldn't seem to look away for a picture. (and of course sprout slept through almost the whole thing- he woke briefly to eat then promptly fell back to sleep.)

the zoo (and the sun) must have worn the bean right out because she is now sound asleep! oh my! i carried her in from the car and she didn't even wake up!! the child who will not nap is napping, praise god! :)

Magolia Kids

yesterday we did the magnolia by itself. today we add children!

we took pictures of her in the tree two years ago and i was hoping to make it a yearly event. sadly, last year we had a late frost that killed ALL of the blossoms before they opened, so no picture. :( i really didn't want to miss another year, so even though she was in her pajamas we headed out to the tree. bean likes almost any excuse to sit in a tree. so with daddy standing by as her spotter, i took some pictures. i got some pretty good ones before she decided that she had had enough.

sprout, well, he was asleep as usual. so daddy held him up by some blossoms and i snapped a couple shots. we wouldn't want him to feel left out, you know! ;) he looks like a little chunk with that double chin he has going on! ha ha!

so, today is the day. i'm getting the kiddos dressed and packing a lunch and we are headed off to the zoo. i suppose that everyone will think i'm crazy again.... i really need to come up with a snappy come back for that one. of course, since he's almost a month old, i probably won't be hearing it so often anymore. yeah, he'll be a month old on friday. whoa! :)

Best Shot Monday

OMG, it isn't a picture of one of my children! do i have a fever? ;)

yes, it is best shot monday and i decided to share my beautiful magnolia tree instead of my beautiful children. (tune in tomorrow and you can see their gorgeous mugs then!)
i took this picture thursday. friday all of the buds were open. today there is a sprinkling of petals on the ground beneath the tree. only a few more days and the tree will be naked again. i love the tree in bloom. i don't care for raking up all the petals after the tree is done with the blooming!

hope you all had a beautiful weekend! if you want to see more best shots head on over to tracey's!

Beautiful Day

it was a absolutely gorgeous day today. so, after taking the kids to library story time we went to the park for a picnic lunch and a little play time. here is a sweet shot of bean getting ready to go down the slide.

i was told by at least 3 people that i was crazy while i was out today. the librarian said it and 2 people at the park said it when they asked how old baby sprout was. apparently when you have a three week old you aren't supposed to be out and about! ;) i have to say, i would feel much more crazy if i stayed home all day long!

we got a nice surprise today at the library. bean's little friend and her mom got sprout a present. now, these are people that we ONLY see at story time and they don't come every week so we only see them 2-3 times a month. i couldn't believe they were giving us a gift. then it was even nicer when i opened it. she made him a quilt and a shopping cart cover thing. isn't that sweet!

A little cuteness and a bunch of weirdness...

look at the big boy holding his toy! how cute is that! i like to think of it as hugging the giraffe not strangling it, by the way! ha ha!

baby sprout is now 3 weeks old. 3 whole weeks. things are going fine. but, at the same time things are.... weird.
i remember when bean was born. when i saw her face i totally fell in love. i felt complete, whole. i was jealous when my husband got to both hold her and feed her before i did. even though it was terribly difficult at times i couldn't imagine my life without her in it.
fast forward to sprout's birth. when i saw him i thought, "he's huge" and pretty much nothing else. i never got that rush of intense love. i didn't feel jealous. i guess what i'm saying is i don't feel particularly bonded to this baby. it's not that i don't love him, because i do. he is a very sweet boy. it just makes me sad that i don't have that emotional tie to him. why don't i?

is it because having bean was a struggle and having sprout was relatively easy? is it because he's asleep all the time and i haven't had the chance to figure out who he is? is it because bean takes up all my time and i just can't take the time to get to know him? is it because he's a boy and i just don't know what to do with boys? is it because i'm so tired that i can't see past the diaper changes and feedings? is it because i secretly had a dream of two little girls running around my house and i'm still mourning the loss of that dream?

i wish i understood why i feel this way. i want to be a good mommy to him but i just don't feel like i am. sigh.

Best Shot Monday

it is monday! the beginning of a new week. let's hope this one runs as smoothly as the last one!! :)

here is my "best" shot of the week. this is the face that a child makes when she realizes that sicking the bubble wand (covered in soap, of course) in her mouth was a bad idea. (this was immediately followed by gagging and crying, by the way) why is it that no matter how many times you tell them not to do something they still seem to feel the need to try it?? she did this last year too, only with sand. sigh.
so, i had to go get her some water to wash down the soap. she drank and drank and drank. apparently bubble solution doesn't rinse out of your mouth easily. she kept saying she could still taste it. i'm sure it tasted awful. hopefully she will remember that this time and not do it again. (how much do you want to bet that she does it again?! ha ha ha!)

hope you all had a lovely weekend! don't forget to stop by tracey's and see everyone else's shots!

Weekend Goodness

i got to take a shower yesterday. a long, hot, steamy shower without anyone interrupting me. it was devine! "how did you manage that?" you ask? everyone else was still in bed, of course. no, not sleeping! no, no, no! bean wakes up at the CRACK of dawn so sadly no one was sleeping.
here is a picture of what i found when i got out of the shower. bean reading books to daddy and sprout (and the magpie too, she just didn't fit in the picture!). i believe that she is currently sharing the tales of olivia the pig, one of her favorites. it looks like sprout is enjoying it too! (really i think he is about to start fussing but honestly, doesn't that look like a laugh?!)

hope you are all having a fun and relaxing weeked!!

I can't complain.

awwww, look at that face! look at it! you could just melt from the sweetness of it all, couldn't you?!?! seriously, is that not the cutest sprout you have ever seen?!?
ok, ok! i'll stop gushing over my child now. ;)

so, anyways, we have made it 4/5ths of the way through our first full "alone" week and i must say it was much better than i expected. we all had our "moments" (including mommy) but i think we came through without too many scars! ha!
i am pretty proud of myself too. we left the house 3 of the 4 days! we shopped at a craft store, went to playgroup and attended library story time. and ALL of that went amazingly well because my boy slept through 90% of it! hooray! really, it went SO well that i have plans to leave the house at least 3 times next week too. lets hope it all goes just as well. heck, i'm even ready to tackle the zoo on the next beautiful day!
(clearly i'm deranged or living in a fantasy world... whatever you do don't disturb the crazy lady. allow her to continue to believe in the magical world she has created for herself! there is NO reason to tell her that you know the baby will eventually "wake up" and everything will be blown all to hell. just sit back and nod encouragingly as she spouts her happy drivel. really, it is the best thing you can do for her.)
;)

Going to be an aunt again!!

my little sister is pregnant! hooray! so i will get a new niece or nephew in november. (hopefully a nephew so that sprout has a playmate!) :)

best part of the story is this:
she took my nieces (4 years old and 2 years old) with her to the ultrasound appointment. the 4 year old could not have been happier when she found out. she kept hugging her mom and patting her belly. when they got home she says this, "mommy, did you want another baby?"
my sister says, "yes, of course i did."
and my niece says, "good, i'm glad because i made it happen."
"what? how did you make it happen?" my sister says in disbelief.
"mommy," she says, "i have been very good and i prayed for you to have a baby. i prayed every night. that is how i made it happen."

is that not the cutest thing ever!!! my nieces can be soooo adorable!

Another good day.

yesterday was a pretty good day. first, i took both kids with me to the craft store and did a little shopping. bean was good because i told her if she was i would let her finger paint when we got home. a little bribery never hurt anyone, right?

it was a beautiful day outside- it hit 70 degrees! so the afternoon was spent outside. we did sidewalk chalk, swings, slide, sandbox, ball- it was great fun. sprout, of course, slept through the whole thing. i'm sure he enjoyed the fresh air though. ;)

there wasn't much whining. there wasn't much crying. there really wasn't any drama of any kind until the annoying neighbor boy climbed the fence and came into our yard and wouldn't leave. claimed his mom said he could come over... gah! we will just say that THAT was the worst part of my day and since it had nothing to do with MY children i'm going to call it a successful day.

today is supposed to be super nice again. (we start with the rain again on wednesday.) so, outside we are going to go. hope you are all enjoying some beautiful spring time weather!

Best Shot Monday

ok, enough with the sprout! we need some bean! (i mean, sprout has kinda been hogging the spotlight since he has been born!)

here are a couple of shots of bean in the rain. it was sprinkling the other day and she desperately wanted to go outside with her new rain boots, raincoat, and umbrella. so we did! she had a BLAST! i had a very hard time getting her to come inside when the rain really started coming down. she just loves being outside. and while i don't LOVE being outside on gray rainy days, rain makes the flowers grow. so bring on the rain! ;)

the weather has improved quite a bit here in the past few days. it is definitely spring time now. it is warm. we have daffidils and crocuses blooming. all the bushes and trees are starting to bud. the grass is starting to green up. i just love watching the earth come to life every spring! such a beautiful time of year.

hey, don't forget to visit tracey today and check out what everyone else has been up to this past week!

Sprout Facts

1. after sprout was born, the doctor proclaims "would you look at the size of that placenta! it is HUGE!" i of course look down. why, oh why do i do things like that?! i of course really didn't want to look at it.... it was huge, by the way.

2. shortly after the doctor alerts us to the size of the placenta the nurse says "whoa, look at the knot he tied in his cord!" sure enough there was a very large knot in that umbilical cord. he must have been doing some serious acrobatics in my belly to do that!

3. the pediatrician came in and gave us information about the circumcision. she then left to go do the procedure. this was at 8:00am, so sprout was less than 12 hours old. 30 minutes later she came back and said, "it went really well. he is doing just fine. it seriously couldn't have been any easier, he slept through the whole thing!" WHAT?!?! that is right. my son slept through his circumcision! does anyone else think this is crazy??

4. he sucks his thumb....
5. he did not have a name for 23 hours and 43 minutes. we came up with a girls name about 45 minutes before he was born but we had NOTHING for a boy. husband INSISTED that he be named before the day was through. and it took ALL day to agree on something. the first name was from my list of names, husband picked the middle name. i'm not exactly sure all of our family like the name but what can you do!

6. he likes to "peek" at people. we refer to it as "the pirate eye."
then again, maybe he's just a little flirt? ;)

Kinda feel like a whiner....

yesterday was much better than thursday. not to say that it was perfect but i never felt like i had to cry and that is always a plus! heck, she ate a meal at dinner time that she usually won't eat! there was no arguing or anything! whoa! :)

bean is actually really good. i've heard a lot of stories about kids adjusting to new siblings recently- all i can say is "WOW, bean is an angel compared to some of those kids!" she really is doing a good job overall. she is a big helper, especially if the chore helps sprout in some way. she will do anything for him. and she isn't upset when i'm feeding sprout, she just sits with us and watches. she wants to know where he is at all times, "where is our baby boy?" is something i hear frequently. she loves him very much. she reads him stories and tries to share her toys with him. yesterday, she even offered him her blankie... yes, her beloved blankie! i was a little shocked myself!
something that i'm really proud of her about is her potty training. everyone told me that she'd have major issues with it once the baby came home and i shouldn't even bother with the training at this time. well, she decided that she wanted to use the potty and i wasn't about to tell her no. she has only had two accidents since sprout came and that is normal for her- she averages one accident per week. she HATES having an accident. she cries and cries when she does, i think it is embarrassment. she has even stayed dry overnight several times now. so, she is doing a super job!!

i'm wondering if part of her problem is that she is tired. is she waking up when sprout does? if she isn't sleeping well she would be much more likely to throw a fit over something silly. hmmmm. it is something to consider. if she is really tired AND she has to share her mommy with a baby... yeah, i could see where that would make her a little demon! ;)
i KNOW most of my problem is that i'm tired!!! i could deal a lot better if i got a little more sleep.

anyways, thanks for all the support and well wishes! you are all wonderfully kind. i feel much better now! hopefully it will stay that way....

Yesterday

for the most part yesterday was fine. unfortunately by 5:00, when daddy got home, i was very close to a breakdown.
you are thinking, "how could it be fine and send you to have a breakdown??" right?

well, bean is doing anything and everything to get my attention and HOLD it. i can't leave her sight, even to go to the bathroom, without her freaking out. she does whatever you tell her not to do. she asks for daddy to come home, not because she wants to see him but because she wants him to take care of sprout. she pouted, whined, and cried- A LOT.... well, a lot for her.
and all this is completely normal for someone her age. plus, there were moments of good spread about here and there. that is why i have to say it was fine overall.
the breakdown comes in because i'm NOT used to fighting with my little girl like this. i've never had to deal with some of the stuff she's done in the past few days. she has always followed directions and listened to what we said to her. it is very difficult when you are suddenly facing the exact opposite. i mean she colored on the carpet, on purpose, right in front of me! when i asked her why she would do that she said, "i just wanted to." i said, "but it is naughty to color on the carpet!" and she responded, "sometimes i like to be naughty" and then she smiled. arrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! so the coloring book and markers went to time out. and then the high pitched banshee wailing started. she literally screamed for 15 minutes. sigh.

i think she could tell i was about to lose it when i was tucking her into bed because she stood up and gave me a hug and said, "its ok mommy. its ok." all i could do was hug her back.
i must admit that i cried for 15 minutes after i put her to bed. i cried because i suddenly feel unable to parent my little girl, she has turned into someone else. i cried because i feel like i'm ignoring my baby boy because i have to have him in the crib or bouncy seat 90% of the day- bean is too demanding of my time. (and i so just want to hold and cuddle him!) and i cried because i'm just so damn tired that there isn't anything else i can do.

so here is to a better today. it has been a little rough already but what can you do?
i guess i'll just stare at this picture and try to remember what is good......

Today...

... is my first day completely alone with two children. alone with a nearly 3 year old and a one week old. i'm a little nervous. i'm a lot tired. how am i going to make it through the day???

i know in my head i'll be fine BUT it is a long time until 4:30. a LONG time. ;)

Big Sprout

sprout had to visit the doctor today for his one week check-up. let's just say i have a big boy who likes to eat! ha ha!
sprout gained quite a bit in the past 7 1/2 days. he now weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces (up from 8 pounds 9 ounces). he is in the 90th percentile for weight. he is my little chunk!! ;) but i guess that is what happens when all you do is eat and sleep ALL DAY LONG.
this is what he looks like 90% of the time. really, he sleeps, wakes up enough to eat, then goes back to sleep. i'm not sure what i'm going to do when he starts to wake up.... ;)

What's the name?

so you want to know the boy's name, huh?? well, how about this. i'll tell you what his name means and you can see if you can figure it out. kinda like a little game. ;)

sprout's real first name means "hunter".
sprout's middle name means "resolute guardian"

and if you have any desire to know the girl's name here's your clues.

bean's real first name means "god is my strength"
bean's middle name means "consecrated to god"

it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. there are probably tons of websites that can tell you the answers. have fun!
...and here is a little cuteness to inspire you!