it gets away

Time...it gets away from me. Even more so now that we have 2 sweet kids. I asked D last night if today was Friday. Where has this week gone?

I am so excited about this weekend. This weekend we are going to Chattanooga with The Mayor and Love Bug to see Thomas the Train. Not a play or a show but the actual Thomas the Train. And Sir Topham Hatt will be there too! We bought tickets and we get to go on a 25 minute ride on Thomas. Anyone who knows The Mayor...even a little bit...knows he loves him some Thomas the Train. I can't wait to see his face when we walk up to the Thomas train. It is going to be so much fun. And after the ride, there are tons of Thomas activities for him to do. I hope he doesn't get freaked out by the real Sir Topham Hatt...I really want to get a picture of the two of them together. Oh well, I am going into this with low expectations...The Mayor is only 2 1/2...you never know what you are going to get.

I will have lots of pictures to post after our weekend trip!

lions, tigers and bears, oh my

Yesterday we took both kids to the zoo. It has been on our list of things to do with The Mayor for months, and yesterday was the day. We had been given tickets from a dear friend so it made it even better that the trip was free! D took off work so we could avoid the crowds on the weekend and it made the trip much more enjoyable. We could take our time at each exhibit and let The Mayor walk the zoo (he is such a big boy) and still be able to keep an eye on him.

The Mayor got such a kick out of seeing the animals that we talk about at home. He knows how to make the animal sounds so seeing these animals in person was a real treat. When we got to the elephant exhibit, The Mayor would swing his arm in the air (like it was his trunk) and blow out his mouth to make an elephant sound. At the monkey exhibit, he cracked up when a monkey swung right in front of The Mayor and grabbed a branch through the netting and started eating it. Then The Mayor made monkey sounds. It was so cute. And D and I had fun at the zoo seeing it through the eyes of a 2 1/2 year old.

Sweet Love Bug slept through most of our trip. But at 6 1/2 weeks, I wasn't expecting much else. That's ok, something tells me we will be making many trips to the zoo over the course of the next several years.

using his arm as the elephant's trunk

this monkey grabbed a branch through the netting and then started eating the leaves, The Mayor thought this was hilarious

finally awake! of course, this was when we were headed to the car

tummy time

5 minutes worth of damage

This is how I left my sweets this morning when I was off to my dear friend's wedding shower. I just knew D would have it easy...I mean, isn't this always how it is? I am home all week, and for the most part everything is ok, but there are always parts of the day where one of them is crying when the other one needs something too, I want to pull my hair out....etc....I could go on and on...

Anyway...I just knew that today would be the day where the stars would align and the babes would both be angels and D would think everyday for me is a walk in the park. So my heart smiled a little on the inside when he told me what had happened this morning.

He left The Mayor upstairs in his playroom to play while he came downstairs to warm up Love Bug's bottle. This is something I do frequently...The Mayor does very well playing in his playroom by himself for several minutes. The mistake: D left the playroom door open, which leads to The Mayor's bathroom...do you see where this is going???

D became concerned when it was very quiet upstairs. He no longer heard any toys being played with. So he went upstairs to find The Mayor, standing on his step stool, at his sink, with his cup, filling it up and pouring it on the floor. He said there was water everywhere. All over the carpet, the counter, the mirror, inside the drawers, inside the cabinets, inside the shower/toilet area of his bathroom...and of course, all over The Mayor. Damage like this, I was left wondering how long was he up there? 30 minutes?? Nope, he was up there for less than 5 minutes. Amazing what a 2 1/2 year old can accomplish in less than 5 minutes. I only wished D had taken the camera upstairs and captured this...one day this will be a hysterical story and I am going to wish I could have seen it. For now, I will just enjoy that D had "one of those days" with the kiddos and I am on the receiving end of the story.

all smiles

Love Bug loves to smile. She loves to respond to your smiles with her own. It is so sweet when your precious little one smiles at you. Especially when she can't do much of anything else. It is her little way of letting us know she loves us. We were cuddling after dinner and she was just a grinnin' from ear to ear. So what did I do? I ran to get the camera of course! But in typical fashion, once I spent the time to prop her up on her Boppy, she wouldn't smile. Oh well. The Mayor became quite accustomed to the camera being in his face constantly, she will adapt as well. In the meantime, I will keep trying to capture her sweet smile so the rest of you can see what I see.

of course The Mayor wanted to jump in on the photo shoot and cheese it up

*the above photo was the best I could capture of a smile...better luck for me next time

he melts my heart

I love The Mayor. And I love being the mother to a son. And I am so happy God says "no" to prayers sometimes. When we first found out we were pregnant with The Mayor, I prayed for a daughter. I have a sister, so I knew what to do with girls. I didn't know anything about raising a boy. So I prayed for a daughter. God knew better. And 'Thank You' to God for knowing so.

The Mayor has such a sweet spirit. Tonight we got home around 9PM from picking him up at PopPop and Mamie's house. This is about 1 1/2 hours past his bedtime. D went upstairs to change The Mayor's diaper and then brought The Mayor back out to say goodnight to me. D had to prompt The Mayor to say goodnight to me and say I love you. Then he prompted The Mayor to say goodnight to his sister, which he did. And then without being prompted, The Mayor said "I love you" to her. I had to fight back the tears. Hearing his sweet voice saying I love you to his sister...just melted my heart. I love that boy.

The Mayor keeps me on my toes and I wouldn't have it any other way. He loves life and his energy is contagious. He brings such a joy into my life.

Thank you to God for saying "no" to my prayer.

lunch with daddy

Rainy Tuesday...just what the doctor ordered. It rained just long enough and hard enough where my car is no longer yellow and the pollen was washed away. I have lived here long enough to know not to break out the pom-poms and start cheering yet...tomorrow morning the nice layer of yellow will be back. But at least today we got a break. Just a few more weeks of this stuff and then we can get on to enjoying spring...without the runny nose, itchy eyes and nagging coughs.

To celebrate this rainy day, and avoid cabin fever, we ventured downtown to see D at work. The Mayor was so excited when his daddy greeted us in the lobby. The Mayor put on a show for all of his daddy's colleagues, walking from cube to cube to see what "toys" they all had for him to play with. Don't underestimate The Mayor...he found several balls to throw around with people and lots of cushy toys with his daddy's company logo on them to play with. After The Mayor greeted everyone and they all got to meet Love Bug, we went to a fantastic Irish Pub downtown. It took every fiber of my being not to order the fish and chips...I was good, I ordered a salad. I was bound and determined not to cheat on only my 2nd day of being on a diet. It was tough. Especially when my beloved husband ordered the fish and chips. I did have a bite and it was every bit as wonderful as I knew it would have been. I told him when I reach my mini-milestone, we will be back for me to order that dish as my reward.

The Mayor fell asleep on the way home, about 2 miles from the house. I carried a very tired, and heavy, boy up the stairs and put him down for a nice nap. Shortly after that, Meega called. She was around the corner with Bennett and coming over! They found a house they love about 5 miles from us. She wanted to wait at my house until Uncle J got off work and he was going to meet her at the new house. I am trying not to get too excited...but having them 5 miles away WOULD BE AWESOME!

Tomorrow will be a fun day. The Mayor has his sport class in the morning and then I think we will hit a playground. He has been on Claritin for a week now, so I am hoping he will be fine with the pollen. Gotta love spring in Atlanta...

a house full

Another Monday...what are we going to do today? I opted out of our weekly Monday playgroup today because The Mayor and I are still under the pollen attack. I am starting a new allergy medicine today and another couple of days of The Mayor getting his allergy medicine in his system would do us all some good. The thought of him climbing all over a pollen covered playground just didn't appeal to me today. Luckily, Meega had someone who wanted to come by and see her house this morning (it is on the market), so she and Bennett loaded up and came over. What a great way to spend our Monday!

Three kids under the age of 2 1/2 sure make this a house of non-stop activity. The Mayor bouncing between Bennett and Love Bug to dish out kisses or hugs, to Love Bug starting to cry which triggers Bennett to cry or Bennett squealing with delight so The Mayor tries to copy his squeal...ah, non-stop. But so much fun. A house full of kids with all of that fun energy really makes me happy. I wish Meega, J and Bennett could move next door so we could experience this everyday. But we will settle for them moving into the neighborhood next door to us! Fingers crossed!

Love Bug is asleep on Meega and Bennett is upstairs napping while The Mayor is eating his lunch. Hopefully soon we will load them all up and enjoy a nice walk. Meega and I started our diets today (yuck) so some exercise would be great. Help keep my mind off the ice cream I so desperately want to go purchase and devour.

buddha and busted lips

At the mall today, a woman said Love Bug was a cute little Buddha baby. And she really is...she now looks every bit of the 12 pounds she now weighs. She has filled out so much; she is getting delicious fat rolls on her thighs and her belly is becoming a little Buddha belly. So cute! This week I am going to get out her 3-6 month clothes and get them washed. She can still fit into her 0-3 month clothes, but at this rate, she could wake up any morning and not fit into any of her clothes. So I need to make sure I have the next size ready to go!

The Mayor is all boy. And I will be lucky if I get through his toddler/preschool years with all of his teeth still in tact. On the way to loading up the van to go to the mall, The Mayor tripped over his own feet and got another busted lip. I seriously can not count how many fat lips that boy has had since he has started walking. Oh well, the boo-boo bunny worked its magic and within 15 seconds of the bunny being on his lip, he forgot all about his fall.

We went to the Mall of Georgia to let The Mayor play in the huge outdoor fountain. He was so excited to have been given the freedom of running through the fountain; however, the second he touched the water, he ran back to us and said "cold!". So he grabbed his daddy's hand and off the two of them went into the cold water. Love Bug and I stayed behind and cheered them on.

After naps, we took a nice long walk along the greenway. Love Bug and The Mayor had no desire to sit in the double jogging stroller. Love Bug hitched a ride in the Baby Bjorn (worn lovingly by her daddy) and The Mayor could not believe we were letting him walk, on his own, without having to hold our hands. The smile on his face and watching that sweet boy just run and run made my struggling during the 3 mile walk so worth it. We stopped to look at the "frefee flowers" (pretty flowers) and wave to all of the walkers and cyclists that passed us (he is after all, The Mayor). He probably made it about one mile before he started tiring out. But that one mile was wide open...I think he ran the entire way (with the exception of the few stops we made to greet people and look at the flowers). He finally agreed to get in the stroller (which was a good thing...I was beginning to feel like an idiot pushing an empty double jogging stroller). These kids have it so good...I would have killed to have gotten into that stroller and have someone push me. Do these things come in adult sizes? Someone should really invent that...

my pretty girl

I could just eat these cheeks

running through the water...such a good daddy

taking a breather

spring in atlanta

When it is spring time, the temperatures are in the 70s, the skies are a crisp blue and there isn't one cloud in the sky, you just don't think you will be spending your time indoors. But that is our plan today. The pollen count is just so high and now The Mayor apparently has allergies. Last night he spent a majority of the evening playing outdoors with his Mamie and PopPop and today he is paying the price. He has a runny nose, a cough and a raspy voice. I started him on children's Claratin this morning and I am hoping this will do the trick. It is just too beautiful outside to be cooped up inside.

Here are some pictures of our indoor antics...

just a swingin'

hamming it up for the picture, while holding his "phone"

(a numeric keypad for my laptop)

talking on his "phone"

she wears it well

That is all I can say about my sweet Love Bug...she wears it well. And "it" is weight. When she was born, she looked so tiny, so tiny that everyone in the delivery room (midwife and nurses included) all bet she was only 6 pounds. Wrong...she weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces. We all thought the scale was wrong because she looked so little. Today was Love Bug's one month appointment and the nurse even said she looked so tiny...but Love Bug tipped the scales at 11 pounds and 14 1/2 ounces!! She is a whole pound and 1 ounce bigger than The Mayor was at this age. The nurse said "girl, you must be solid because you do not look like you weigh 11 pounds, you look so tiny". I say Amen! If my girl can look thinner than she actually is, she has discovered what every woman in America has tried to accomplish for the past 100 years! I only hope her secret can be passed on to me.

Sweet Love Bug is in the 95th percentile for weight and height (she is now 22 1/2 inches long). So at least she is proportionate. And healthy...can't ask for a better report from the doctor than that.

*sweet Love Bug has lost all her hair on top of her head. The exact same thing happened to The Mayor at the same age. Cracks us up because the hair is gone on top but not the sides...she looks like a little old man with the halo hair! Hopefully, just like her brother's hair did, it will grow back quickly!

big weekend

Our sweet Love Bug had quite a weekend. She turned one month old and she smiled for the first time!

There just isn't much better in life than seeing your sweet baby smile at you. And not a smile induced from gas but a smile that comes from pure happiness. Seeing her smile got me so excited about all of the fun milestones we are going to embark on in the coming years. You forget how fun it is to see your baby smile or kiss you or say I love you for the first time until you have a new baby and it starts all over.

And she is one month old...I can't believe it. I always thought people were crazy when they said once you had a baby it felt like they have been in your life forever. But it is so true. I remember vividly when The Mayor turned just one week old thinking how is he only one week? Because it felt like years ago since we had been in the hospital having him but it had only been one week. And the exact same was true with Love Bug. It definitely feels like more than one month since I was in the hospital being induced and she is has enriched our lives and family so much that it doesn't seem possible she has only been on this Earth for one short month.

It is amazing what children will do to you. They make your heart grow. I never knew it could ever be possible to so deeply love like I do. And to be lucky enough to love two children that deeply. My husband and I are so blessed to have these precious loves of our lives...

so behind

I had every intention of updating our blog Thursday night, but we fell asleep by 8:30. You know you are old and tired when you have fallen asleep before your 2 year old son. He went down a little later than normal, after 8:00, and he was still talking to himself when we dozed off to sleep ourselves. At the rate we are going, we will be going to bed at 2:00 in the afternoon when we are in our 60s.

We had a great day on Thursday. We went to an indoor bouncy playground...The Mayor had a great time and really wore himself out. After we played and ate lunch, we laid him down for a nap and he was out the second his head hit the mattress. I love days like that!

Friday was a pretty low-key day and this weekend will be the same. I love this gorgeous weather and the fact that we don't have any real plans. I see lots of walks and playing outside in our future.

a 2 person job

It became abundantly obvious to me tonight why God made Adam and Eve and said His plan was for children to be born only in wedlock...it's because parenthood is designed to be a 2 person job. I am good to be on my own from whenever we wake up until 5:30PM Monday through Friday. But every second after 5:30 we are on our own, the wheels start to fall off.

Daddy had a one day meeting in Montgomery today. The good news was it wasn't an overnight trip; the bad news was he was going to be home after bedtime. Ok, I can do this...first time to do this with 2 kids...but I can do this...

Love Bug took a nap just after The Mayor woke up from his. So I was able to spend some one-on-one time with him. Luckily, a friend from my MOM's club brought us dinner so I didn't have to worry about cooking so The Mayor and I ate dinner together in peace. At least it started that way because shortly after we started eating was when Love Bug decided to wake up from her nap. And wouldn't you know it, she wasn't going to stop crying unless she was being held. After dinner was bath time...and the thought definitely crossed my mind to skip bath time, but I told myself to not be a quitter. My son was getting a bath tonight. So I gave him a bath while trying to entertain a crying Love Bug at the same time. Bath time was especially short tonight.

Both kids cuddled in on my lap and shoulder while we read books. The Mayor didn't love this part of the evening. This is his one-on-one time with us before he goes to bed. He wasn't excited to be sharing this with his sister...especially since she was crying because she wanted to eat (oh yeah, did I mention that during The Mayor's bath time and bed time was when she was supposed to be eating?) We read two books and then I gave him kisses and put him down for the night. As soon as I closed his door, he started crying. Thankfully she stopped long enough to be put down so I could go back in there and give him some cuddle time on his own. That was all he wanted...broke my heart. After some cuddling and kisses, he went down like a champ.

Guess who walked through the door 5 minutes after I put The Mayor down? Daddy. Thankfully I survived and even more thankful that tomorrow we will both be here for the night time routine.

*The above picture was actually taken yesterday...never got the camera out for today...oh well

a great day of nothing

Today was a great day...and we literally did nothing. We woke up to beautiful sunny skies and the anticipation of the temperature reaching the mid-80s. But it was just one of those days where I wasn't feeling it. Didn't have it in me to get dressed and get us out. So I decided, somewhere during Sesame Street, that we were hanging out in the house today. The fact that the pollen count was also in the 3000 range made my decision that much easier.

So I did what any person would do, I convinced Meega to be my lazy partner in crime and load up Bennett and hang out with us. I have the best sister...she was totally in on the lazy plan. And that is what we did. We were lazy...me in my PJs and she in her lounge pants...laid out in my family room with the kids all day. Does it get any better than that? I don't think so...

The Mayor went down for his nap at his normal time and Bennett and Love Bug each cuddled in on one of us for a little nap themselves. Watching mindless TV with all 3 kids napping is what the doctor ordered for us.

I am not a complete bum...after dinner we loaded The Mayor and Love Bug up in the stroller and Baby Bjorn and walked the 5 minute walk to Publix to get ice cream. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

he cracks me up...pretending to sleep in Love Bug's seat (and yes, his shoes are on the wrong feet)

how cute is she? I love the high-tops...she is such a fashionista

just chillin'

Bennett and Love Bug

enjoying our ice cream

love bug

Bear will now be known as Love Bug. Bear just isn't a dainty enough nickname for our little peanut. And since we don't know what her personality will be like, I picked a nickname that would describe how she is now. And she is a Love Bug. She loves to cuddle and loves to be loved on. No place makes her happier than being snuggled in tight to your chest. And I love it.

expectations

I had it in my head that today would and should go a certain way. It is Bear's first Easter, The Mayor is another year older so he should be able and more willing to participate and cooperate in Easter events, and I was bound and determined to get a picture of the 4 of us and with The Mayor and Bear together. Almost none of that happened. Well, of course it is Bear's first Easter but do you think The Mayor would cooperate for a family picture? NOPE. In fact, almost all of the photo opportunities I had told myself I was going to get didn't happen.

We were in such a rush to get out the door that I didn't get one picture of The Mayor seeing or opening any of his Easter Basket gifts. He had about 45 seconds to even check out his basket before we were strapping him into his car seat to get to church. After church, when we arrived at my parents house, the first thing I wanted to do was get a picture of the 4 of us. But it was time to feed Bear and she was so fussy that there was no way to delay the feeding for a picture. By the time I was finished feeding her, The Mayor was so jacked up on sugar from his find of jelly beans that we would have had better luck nailing down a greased pig for a picture then getting him to stand still or be held and smile for the camera.

After lunch and a very successful Easter Egg Hunt (seriously, looks like the practice run we had earlier in the week worked...he was a champ at finding the eggs and putting them in his basket!), I tried again for a picture...you will see from below how well that went. Bear is crying, The Mayor is cheesing it up and refusing to stand with us and daddy isn't even looking at the camera.

But you know what...that isn't what today is even about. It isn't about our Easter dress, hunting eggs, eating ham, getting jacked up on sugar or even the family picture. Although all of these are fun and nice, today is about so much more. And maybe that was God's lesson for me. To chill out and realize the true meaning of today. God gave his one and only child...his son...to die on the cross for me. Such an unfathomable thought. I would never give up The Mayor to save someone else. Yet God did it for us.

Next year I am going to lower my expectations. If I get the family picture that will be just gravy. Next year I am going to wake up on Easter morning remembering the true meaning and being thankful that I have a family to celebrate that with.

our family photo...this was the best one...Bear finally stopped crying and at least The Mayor is looking at the camera

The Mayor and Peyton

finding an egg!

us and Bear...we tried to get The Mayor in but he would have nothing to do with us

our family with Meega, J and Bennett

the bunny is coming

What a wonderful weekend...and we still have another day to go! The weather could not be any better. Seriously, the high today was 78, the sun was shining all day, there was a light breeze and we got to spend lots of good, quality time outside. What a great Saturday. This morning we went grocery shopping (sadly, we have not been since before Bear was born...and given that she is now 3 weeks old, I decided we had to go). We normally go as a family on Sunday, but tomorrow is Easter and the grocery store is closed, so we went this morning. After that, we had another errand to run on behalf of the Easter Bunny and then it was home for lunch and playtime outside. We let the The Mayor delay his nap for almost an hour and a half so we could enjoy the outdoors. After a great nap, we decorated Rice Krispie Easter Eggs. I made the Rice Krispies while The Mayor slept and molded them into Easter Egg shapes. When he woke up, we dipped them in melted chocolate and colored sprinkles. Of course, he tried to eat every one that he dipped, so after pulling his hand away from his mouth about 4 times, I decided to just let him eat the one he decorated and I finished them up. I thought it would be better for me to finish decorating them so the eggs could be shared with others, otherwise we ran the risk of The Mayor licking every egg he dipped in chocolate. Regardless, he had a blast and was covered in chocolate.

After a quick dinner, we loaded up in the jogging stroller and went for a walk. I just love this time of year. I long to live in a place that has weather like this all year long...minus the pollen. The Mayor is having his bath and bedtime about an hour later than usual but that is ok...it is totally worth it. Spending the day together, all of us, is the best way to spend the day. Can't wait for tomorrow.

pretty girl

making his masterpiece

eating his creation...and loving every second of it

i hope they are still doing this in 10 years

The Mayor loves his sister. It is so amazing to watch. And although he is still struggling with a new person being in the house who takes away some of his attention, he still loves her. He acts out with us...never with her. Such a sweet and innocent love. A love I can only pray will last for their entire lives.

Of course, as they both get older, become more independent and have interests of their own, they will become like all other siblings...they will bicker and irritate each other...but I still hope they love each other like they do at this moment in their lives.

*yes, we are aware The Mayor's pajamas are on inside out...we do this so he can't get to the zipper and take off his clothes (and ultimately his diaper) while he is in bed