drool monkey

We have now entered the "we shall wear a bib during every waking second of the day" stage. Otherwise, Love Bug is drenched. The Mayor went through this phase from birth until he finished teething his first several teeth. Love Bug made it to 4 months before the water works started. No teeth are coming in and her gums are not swollen, I just think my kids like to drool. Either way she needs protection with the bib or her poor neck/double chin combo is going to become horribly chaffed.

Today was another lazy day. I haven't been feeling 100% nor have I been sleeping well, so we have just been laying low and playing at home. And it has been wonderful. Tomorrow will bring much of the same; we have some people coming by to give us estimates on work needed around the house, so we will be here waiting on them. If we get done with that before lunch time, maybe we will venture out into the light of day. But I am not counting on it.

sweet kisses

she loves her feet...and she is constantly holding them. Even when she sleeps.

back in action

24 hours with no interruption to our internet service...wahoo! But wouldn't you know it...the battery to my camera died. So this blog will be without pictures...but that's ok, tomorrow I should have all my ducks in a row.

Today was a great lazy day. I went to bed last night with the intention of waking up this morning and not leaving the house. And I was looking forward to it. And that is so not like me...I like it when we are busy and have things on the calendar. But the thought of just hanging out in the playroom today made me happy. Meega and Bennett came over and spent the whole day here. It was a great bonus! Love Bug and Bennett took turns napping in her crib...it was a revolving door for naps in that crib. When she woke up, it was time for him to go down and when he woke up, it was time for her to go back down. The Mayor was just thrilled to have his Meega and Bennett here. He couldn't get enough of having his cousin here; he kept trying to kiss him, play with him, wanted to hold him in his lap...and then some serious love from The Mayor was given when he decided to throw a car and hit Bennett in the head. Awesome. Life with a 2 1/2 year old...kisses being dealt out one second and flying cars the next.

Wonder what adventures tomorrow will bring...

enamored

We have been having internet issues here...so annoying! I am way behind on my blogging...

Love Bug loves The Mayor, in fact, she is enamored with him. It lights up my day to see the way these two interact with each other. And I wonder how it works? It isn't like we taught Love Bug to love her brother or me or D for that matter. It is amazing to see how a baby just innately knows her family and loves them. She just knows...

I can put Love Bug in her exersaucer or jumperoo and The Mayor will sit down right in front of her and entertain her. And she will just sit there with these big eyes and mouth wide open giggling at him. She loves to watch him play with the toys and she will jump up and down in excitement. And when he walks away, she will follow him with her eyes until he comes back. She only does this with him. She loves him...

The Mayor gets her to laugh like nobody else can. Which is funny in itself because The Mayor makes us laugh like nobody else can. I am a little worried I am going to have a class clown on my hands, but I guess I will cross that bridge when we get to it.

I love the way these two love each other. At 2 1/2 years old and 4 months old, it is even more amazing that they can teach me about love. Love is so much more than words; she can't speak to him and he speaks in broken sentences, but they somehow know...and love each other.

big things

Love Bug is 4 months old and getting so big. The Mayor is every bit a 2 year old boy. Notice the fat lip in the photo? Almost an everyday occurrence...tripped today on the sidewalk and got another fat lip. As soon as his lip heals, we gets another one. Love Bug has such a wonderful, laid back, amazing personality. She loves to laugh and give you these big, gummy grins. And she loves her brother. She just loves to stare at him and follow him around the room and giggle at him. Nobody gets her laughing like her brother. This past weekend we had some fun firsts: she played in her jumperoo for the first time and she and her brother took a bath together.

the mayor found a new hiding place this weekend while playing with Big Daddy...thought it was fun to crawl under the chair and pop out

The Mayor wanted Love Bug to lay on him and she just thought it was hysterical. They both were cracking up

She loved the jumperoo. It only took her about 5 minutes before she got the hang of it. She loved grabbing the toys and chewing on them. I see hours of fun ahead of us in this toy. She is going to love it just as much as her brother did. Brings back great memories of when he was her age.

Bath time is bringing fun to a whole new level at our house. D put on his bathing suit and got in the tub with the kiddos. The Mayor just thought it was hysterical to have his daddy and his sister in the tub. He loved trying to give Love Bug his bath toys and splashing around.

I am loving the age of both kids right now. Always entertaining and adorably sweet. If I could only figure out how to slow down time...

birthdays and weddings

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in a week! But what a week it has been! I spent the week prepping for a big weekend. One of my oldest and bestest (yes, I know that isn't a word) friends was getting married!! MeMe and Big Daddy came into town to help with the kids and I had to clean the house and go shopping for some much needed clothes for the wedding weekend.

The weekend was awesome!! I woke up Friday morning excited about the bridesmaids luncheon and the rehearsal. Oh yeah, it was also my birthday. Lucky number 34. Not sure when I was old enough to become in my mid-3os. I don't feel mid-3os. I feel like I just graduated college. Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Good thing because I am still feeling young or a bad thing because I am just in denial that I am getting old. Oh well...

The weekend was spent celebrating our friend's marriage to the love of her life surrounded by lots of old friends. It was so great seeing everyone and catching up. And D and I enjoyed 2 nights out with no children!! We didn't get home until after midnight both nights...we are kind of rockstars now. But the glam of rockstar life hit this afternoon when we both took advantage of the kids' naptime by taking naps ourselves. See what happens when you get into your mid-30s?? Tomorrow it is back to reality...kind of, MeMe and Big Daddy are still here...so I will have lots of extra hands on deck.

me and the beautiful bride, Hayley

me and D

me, Jennifer and Carolyn before the bridesmaids luncheon

me, Jennifer and Meega

no kids!!

weekend recap

We had a wonderful weekend. Saturday we spent shopping...D is going to start training for triathlons so we had to buy him some necessary gear. Then we hit the outlet malls so I could get some outfits for this weekend's Bridesmaids luncheon and Rehearsal dinner. Today we went to church then came straight home, changed into our bathing suits and hit the pool. The Mayor enjoyed playing in the baby pool, jumping into the big pool and going down the slide. Today he decided to lay on his belly and go down feet first. He literally shot out of the slide like a bullet right into D's arms. Both would crack up, walk up the ramp to the top of the slide and do it all over again. Love Bug and I watched from the big pool. Love Bug actually enjoyed the water today. She giggled as we bobbed up and down in the water. She loved the swaying back and forth so much that she fell asleep in my arms while in the pool. It was awesome!

I am really looking forward to this week and weekend. MeMe and Big Daddy will be here Thursday for the weekend and we are so happy to see them! I am in one of my oldest and dearest friend's wedding this weekend, so MeMe and Big Daddy are coming into town to help watch the kiddos. D and I are so excited about having 2 nights of adult fun...no kids! I am almost shamefully excited about it. It absolutely goes without saying that I love my children, but D and I need some much needed time together. We haven't had a date night since before Love Bug was born. The rehearsal doesn't start until 5:45 Friday evening but we are leaving around 3:30 to have some drinks and adult conversation before the rehearsal starts. Seriously, I am so excited! I haven't been this excited about a wedding since my own...we really need to start implementing date nights back into our marriage!

he loves wearing his daddy's hat...in fact, he took the hat to bed with him tonight

chillin'

daddy's girl

girls day

Today has been an awesome day. I hired a friend's daughter to babysit for The Mayor this morning and Love Bug and I had a girls day. I spent the morning running errands and just enjoying being with my sweet girl. I was so blessed to have had two years and four months of one-on-one time with my baby boy, so I cherish the rare moments of one-on-one time I get with my girl. And I did miss The Mayor all 3 1/2 hours I was gone, but it was nice just running in and out of stores with one baby. You forget how easy it is with one child!

When I got home, The Mayor had been fed and was ready for nap time. After some sweet cuddle time with him, he immediately fell asleep. Both babies are asleep; the house is quiet. And because I cleaned the house after I got home from the gym this morning, I have nothing to do but sit back, relax and wait for them to wake up. D is leaving work early too. This is just a wonderful day. What a great way to kick off our weekend together.

just missing the cape

My little superhero. Dressed to fight crime in his Lightning McQueen PJs (notice both legs in one leg hole...and notice we are still in the store purchasing them) and his Home Depot work goggles that go to his play Home Depot tool bench. He asked to wear the PJs from the second I got them off of the rack. And who am I to disappoint?

I love this! I love seeing little boys in the mall with a cape on and rain boots or little girls wearing fairy wings and a tutu. I am so excited about being on the brink of this stage. Where kids don't care what they look like and just want to wear all of their favorites. Going to be great!

God knows what He is doing

I've mentioned this before, but I really did start praying for my future husband when I went into high school. I prayed that he would be a Christian, have the same values as me and that one day I would be able to stay at home with our future babies. I prayed this prayer every single night until I was married. And then I continued to pray for our future children. God made good on this prayer. I am married to a wonderful man and stay at home with our children.

It took us 5 years to conceive The Mayor. I could never understand why it was so difficult for us to get pregnant. I knew I was put on this Earth to be a mother, so why wasn't it happening? We went through years of frustration, fertility testing and eventually a little fertility assistance. And the first month after being on Clomid, we conceived The Mayor. If I had known it was going to be so easy on Clomid, I would have done it years ago! But it happened when it was supposed to. And thank God it did because if I were to have gotten pregnant when we first started trying, I wouldn't have been able to stay at home. Again, God answered my prayer...

Thankfully, we conceived Love Bug after only one month of trying and now our beautiful family is complete.

After D and I were married and the discussion of children came up, I told him I had to have a daughter. That I needed to have that mother/daughter relationship that I had missed out on since my mother passed away. I longed for it, almost was desperate for it. So at my 20 week ultrasound appointment with The Mayor I was regretfully a little disappointed when they told me I was going to have a boy. Didn't God hear my prayers? Didn't he know my heart? And then The Mayor was born...and that sweet little boy taught me what true unconditional love was. You just don't know love like that until you have a child. And The Mayor completed me. I realized it wasn't the mother/daughter relationship that I longed so deeply for, it was the mother/child relationship that I needed. And The Mayor fulfilled it. God heard my prayers and knew my heart, He just knew what I needed better than I did. And it has made me a better mother. If The Mayor had been a girl, I know myself, I would have ended up being such an over-bearing mother. I would have tried too hard...pushed the relationship too hard to fulfill something within myself, I would have made the relationship about me. And now I am blessed with both a son and a daughter. And the fact that I was blessed with a daughter, and my daughter being my 2nd child, it will allow me to truly and freely love her without any pressure on our mother/daughter relationship. Having The Mayor first taught me it is the child itself that I needed in my life, not the specific gender of the child.

God knows what He is doing...and knows me better than I know myself.

D...my first answered prayer

the mayor...my 2nd answered prayer

lovebug...my 3rd answered prayer

the boy loves to eat corn

sweet little thumbsucker

"dada run"...our nightly ritual. The Mayor wants his daddy to chase him around the coffee table. It goes on for about 30 minutes...

happy 4th!

Pretty much the only difference in today as compared to other days is we were all dressed in red, white and blue. Of course I am so happy for our freedom and what today represents. I have a father, a father-in-law and a brother who all served or are serving our country. Without them and the countless other men and women, we wouldn't have a freedom to celebrate. But with a 2 1/2 year old and a 3 1/2 month old we aren't quite ready to celebrate in the way most other Americans are celebrating tonight. Our kids are both in bed before the sun has even set. We are probably still at least another year (or two) away from staying up until dark and seeing those beautiful fireworks. But that's ok...just being at home with my sweets was celebrating enough.

Happy 4th of July!

trains, trains, trains

The Mayor loves trains. That is no secret. His big boy bed is made up with a train quilt, he has 2 train tables, wooden and plastic train tracks and he has quite the collection of metal and wooden Thomas trains. He loves trains. So when I found out there was a train museum about 10 miles from our home, it was a no-brainer. When we pulled into the parking lot and he laid his eyes on the enormous trains sitting on the track he said "OH, I see BIG choo-choos!" and then he let out a huge "CHOO CHOO".

Yesterday was one of the best outings we have ever had with him. It was just the 3 of us, D, The Mayor and myself. Love Bug was being lovingly watched by her Mamie and PopPop. Not only was it so enjoyable because he was so well-behaved but because we were doing something that he absolutely loves. The museum had trains inside and outside and you could go into the trains and look around. There were train cars from the late 1800s all the way to the 1970s. We got to walk through old mail cars, train cars that had huge kitchens in the them, train cars with old passenger sleep quarters from 1910s. It was so cool; you couldn't help thinking about who had slept in those beds or what types of letters were taken across country in that mail car. I imagined some of the best love letters going back and forth between star-crossed lovers or a letter being sent to a mother whose son was fighting in a war.

The highlight of the outing was a 10 minute train ride. We climbed into the old train car, climbed up a tiny ladder so The Mayor could sit on these really cool elevated chairs. He was amazed at how high he was and how he could look out the window at the world below him.

On this short ride we decided we were going to take a vacation to Washington DC and let a train take us there. Oh, the things we do for our children...it is going to be a blast.

the trains we saw when we first pulled in...the mayor was so excited

getting ready to go into the museum

climbing into one of the trains

on our train ride

waving bye-bye to the station

on an old steam tractor

what's an outing without a stop at Chick-fil-a for lunch and ice cream?

where've i been?

It has been a whirlwind week. I was gone over the weekend on a girl's trip. A dear friend of mine is getting married in a couple of weeks so we went to the lake to celebrate. It was a wonderful weekend, and relaxing, but I sure did miss my babies. I fully enjoyed myself and my time away from being mommy and wife but by Saturday night, I was ready to be home and resume my role in this household. By 10:45 AM Sunday morning, I was back with my sweets.

By Sunday late afternoon, D's sister and her family were here. We always love a visit from Aunt Nat, Uncle Tom, Trey and Luke, but The Mayor really loves it when they visit. He loves having 2 older playmates in the house, and his cousins are so good with him. They love playing with his toys and getting on the floor and running around with him. It is always sad when they leave. The Mayor will talk about them and ask for them for days after they leave. It's a small price to pay for seeing how happy he gets when they are here.

Today is a lazy day. Recovering from a week of house guests and getting ready for friends coming into town for the upcoming holiday weekend. I can't believe it is already July...where has the time gone?