Be Patient

It's been my motto for the week. What I've had to tell myself over and over in my head when...Ross refuses to lay still for diaper changes...when Bridget insists on washing her hands all by herself 10 times in an hour...when Ross can only fuss and whine to tell us what he wants...when Bridget pulled down not just one, but 2, curtains and curtain rods from the wall...when she ran and jumped on her bed without paying attention to what she was doing and kicked Ross in the face-that one was a hard one to stay patient for. And I failed, miserably.

An (almost) 1 year old and a 3 year old. I think we're approaching one of the more difficult stages of raising two babies. I'm sure this has just been a rough couple of days and next week I'll forget all about how overwhelmed I'm feeling right now. It's the kind of week where simple tasks like emptying the dishwasher is a carefully planned task because there just isn't time to do it. Plus, I've been a little preoccupied trying to figure out some new things I want to learn to do with my pictures. It's not coming easy to me and I hate that! And since I've been spending my free time trying to figure it out, guess what's piling up...the laundry, the toys, the clutter. It's not pretty around here.

Thanks goodness there are still plenty of sweet moments to keep me afloat on weeks like this.

See what I mean...

They are so sweet even when they are testing every last bit of my patience!

A Little Bit of Sunday

After so many full and busy weekends, today we finally had some relief. Todd and I must have said to each other 100 times, "What are we going to do today?" Turns out, we didn't do much of anything all and that's what made the day so nice! We probably should have done more ironing, laundry and cleaning, but I'll just tack those things on to my weekly to do list. Today was for relaxing and playing!

Can any weekend be complete without some sort of handy project? Thank goodness Todd had Ross to help him rehang these curtains!

In the late afternoon, we headed up to our neighborhood soccer field and playground. Todd and Bridget played soccer, while Ross watched in envy from his sitting position. We need to get this boy up and running!

Todd loved showing off his soccer skills and kept asking me to take more pictures of him in action!

Moving on to the playground...

I appear in approximately 1 in every 5000 pictures and it's almost always on a no make-up day!

Which is cuter? His tummy or his laugh?

We skipped a real dinner and instead made a meal of queso and Coronas. (And by we, I mean Todd and I. The kids had a real dinner, without Coronas!)

And while I slaved over that home cooked meal, Bridget threw every toy out of the toy box to keep Ross entertained. Thanks Bridge!

Not a bad little Sunday!

Things We Love

1. Courtney.

This weekend I co-hosted a baby shower for my long time friend, Courtney. What a party! Friends, food and lots and lots of gifts for the baby and mommy-to-be! I was thrilled to be a part of this very special day and I don't think her or I will ever forget it. We're counting down the weeks until the baby is due and it won't be long now at all...early March or perhaps even February!

2. Parks

Picnics

Not Working

Warm (but not too warm) January days

Our winter weather is literally hot and cold. In the past week I've both the heat on and the air conditioning! But the best weather is the kind that falls somewhere right in between...cool mornings, warm days and cool nights. Never too hot or too cold is just how I like it. Yesterday was one of those days and so we packed a cooler and headed to the park for a picnic lunch. When I make time to do those sort of things with the kids, I am even more grateful than I get to stay at home with them every single day. Having to go back to work between Bridget and Ross was probably the best thing to have happened. I DO know what it's like to be a working mom and it is anything but easy. I know how lucky I am and even when the days at home are long and no one will nap, eat, or be nice, I'm grateful to be here!

Can't have a picnic without an ant or two!

3. New Toys

Santa's toys have been keeping the kids very entertained these days. He did a great job of knowing exactly what Bridget and Ross needed and he was so smart to bring both of them things that the other would like too! We have daily dance parties with the new CD player and CD's; the train table is getting played with morning, noon and night; the blocks are getting stacked; the puzzles are being figured out; and I love watching them play, fight, then make up over who gets to sing into the microphone next.

The games come out when Ross naps and she takes this step in Uno Moo very seriously...pick five animals, but NO PEEKING!

Hey, wait...how did this picture get in there?! TV? We don't watch TV;)

Best Buds

She may not have taken to him as her best buddy right away, but finally 11 months into this sister/brother relationship they ARE best buddies. They play together, eat meals together, make each other laugh and take baths together every night. Bridget loves to be his mommy too...tickling him, cleaning up after him and keeping him away from the things he can't have (or the things she doesn't want him to have!) We're at a very fun point in this life with 2 kids, that it really feels like we can pick up and do just about anything and and it isn't an exhausting or overwhelming task. I'm still torn over whether we will add another baby to the mix someday, but I must admit that I am loving what we have now and can't think of anything more perfect than the 4 of us!

Todd was away on business earlier this week and we were so happy to welcome him home last night. This is the 3rd time I've been on my own with both kids for a few days, and thankfully it gets a little easier each time. I keep us very busy during the day, so by bedtime we're all worn out and have no problem falling asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow!

Homemade pizza the night before Todd left

I know, I know...but with all the girly stuff around it's hard to resist!

Everyday she asks to go to the playground..."Not the one in my neighborhood, the OTHER one!" With the beautiful winter weather, it's hard to say no!

Can't stop taking pictures of his sweet face!

There's nothing I love more than seeing her choose to read a book over anything else!

No, David! has been of my favorite books forever! Lately, she's been a little shy about looking at this page where naughty David is running down the street naked!

Even when it's cold...you know, 60-something!-we bundle up and play in the driveway!

We survived just fine without Daddy for a few days, but are definitely very happy to have him back home!

11 Months

How is it that we are only one month away from our sweet baby boy's first birthday?! Here are 11 pictures of our 11 month old doing all his favorite things!

One more month of pure babyhood to go. I'll be enjoying every last cuddle and crawl while I can!