Our Weekend at Home

This weekend ended up being pretty uneventful. Dave was out of town at a seminar, and both Collin and I have been sick. We've had to find ways to entertain ourselves while we've been cooped up all weekend. The kids always find ways to make me laugh though, no matter where we are. Yesterday Collin spent half an hour chasing the dog around, putting one of his receiving blankets on the dog's head. Our poor dog would sit patiently for a moment and then move his head so that the blanket would fall off. Collin thought he was playing peek-a-boo with him, so he was only encouraged to continue putting the blanket on him. He was laughing hysterically the whole time!

Then this morning, Brynn took her turn at making me laugh. Collin had been crying and I asked Brynn if she would go in his room and get his pacifier. She looked at me with the most serious face, and answered, "No, I'm busy." Um, OK. Then she looks a little disgusted at even having to explain herself, and says, "Mommy, I'm practicing for the circus" as she does a tumbling move over the back of their little foam couch. Hey, at least she wasn't lying.

Bathtime Fun

Easter Celebrations

This Easter has turned out to be one of my favorites! Things just seemed a little more layed back and I was able to get more done ahead of time, rather than cram everything into the last minute and stress about it. On Friday, Brynn's friend Quinci came over to dye Easter eggs with Brynn. I loved seeing how proud and surprised they were at their creations. Like most kids, they enjoyed being able to make more of a mess than I usually like.The Easter celebrations continued on Saturday, as my side of the family as well as some friends came over for a party. We started with an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Brynn had such a good time looking for eggs with her friend Quinci and her cousins MaJesta and Trance.

Collin even found some eggs himself.

My Grandpa L and his wife Grandma B also took advantage of the fun atmosphere and the nice Spring weather.

(They didn't actually ride the motorcycle. They were just having fun with my brother's bike.)

After all 100+ eggs were found (I hope), we headed inside for lunch and then decorated sugar cookies. The kids thought they were in heaven with more messes to make and all the candy and colors! They got right to work on their little pieces of sugar art.

We thought Collin might enjoy decorating a cookie himself. We found out he takes after his dad and doesn't really care about food presentation when "all you're going to do is eat it any way." Collin did have fun sampling though!

My sister had been wearing some bunny ears, and Collin had been staring at throughout the day. Alison decided to put the ears on Collin. It was funny to watch his same expression as they were on him.

Brynn, Quinci, and MaJesta spent the rest of the time running from room to room playing happily together. What cuties!

After the party ended and my family went home, we spent a few hours with our friends, and then headed over for dinner with Dave's family.

Dave's mom is a fabulous cook and we had a delicious meal. Last night the weather was perfect, so we went in their backyard after we ate and the kids ran around. Their backyard is HUGE; Brynn and Collin could have stayed back there for hours.

The sun started to set, and I realized I hadn't taken a picture of the two of them together like I had intended (I didn't coordinate their outfits for nothing!). This was the shot I finally got--haha! Out of focus, no pretty lighting, and check out their pose...
Yeah, Brynn is over the "let's-be-gentle-with-the-baby" phase. At least she loves her little brother. Collin loves her also, just not so much when she's got him in a death grip.

I have really been thankful to have such a wonderful Easter. I have been able to let go of the stresses that often go with holidays, and take the time to reflect on what it actually means.

Carousel Rides

The other night, we headed to the mall food court to grab something to eat and then check out the carousel. They just put a new double decker carousel in, so we had to try it out. This was the first time Brynn declined a ride on the tiger. She wanted to go on the top level. She was so excited as she sat on the ostrich and waited for the ride to begin.

Collin even got his first ride on a carousel.

When he first got on, he just kept looking around. Then when the ride started, he became more nervous. This picture cracks me up!Poor kid! I'm sure it won't be long until he's begging for carousel tokens like his sister! (Which, by the way, are now $3 each instead of $1--ouch!)

We had some fun Easter celebrations today (we had both family get-togethers today), so I'll have to post those when I get the pictures uploaded. Holidays are so much more fun with the kids! Happy Easter!

Lunch with "the ladies"

We had a fun day today! "The ladies" (as Brynn referred to them) came over for lunch. The ladies consist of my friend Angie and her cute twin baby girls. Angie and I have been friends since her family moved in next door to mine when I was in 5th grade. Her family was a second family to me, and it seemed like Angie and I were constantly going back and forth between her house and mine for the 7 years we were neighbors. I have so many fun memories of that time (riding our bikes to JJ Newberrys, chats about boyfriends/crushes, watching Santa Barbara, exchanging babysitting horror stories, our dads each having a turn at chasing away any possible intruders when one of us was home alone...etc). We have continued to keep in touch over the years (and no, I'm not saying just how many years its been), but we don't seem to see each other in person very often these days.

Today I got to meet Angie's sweet little girls Grace and Sophie. They are adorable, happy babies! It was so fun to see where we are in life now and that we are both happy. We have the families we used to dream about having when we were little girls (even if they did take a bit longer to get here than we anticipated). Thanks for the visit Ang! These are our girls together--Grace, Brynn, and Sophie (Collin was napping).

Caught!

I caught my little climber trying to get on top of the shelves again today. At least this time I got to him before he actually got on top of them. When he realized I'd caught him, he started making the funniest faces and cracking up.

Followed by his sweet and innocent look..."What, mom?":

Then, he had a moment where he realized he just might not be invincible. I let him end his adventure on that thought. Just then, Brynn decided she wanted in on some of the action. She came running in with her own little camera and started snapping pictures.
(And yes, she is still not wearing pants today. After her 3rd accident this morning, I decided I didn't want to wash any more size 3T pants today.)

My kiddos might be a handful, but I am so grateful for them!

Potty Training Woes

So we first started working on potty training Brynn last July (yes, 8 months ago). After a couple bad days, we thought we had it all down. She was rarely having accidents and would even wake us up in the night to use the toilet. Oh, she had us fooled! About 2 weeks later, she decides she wants to be a baby like her brother, and of course, babies pee in their diapers. She would even tell us, "I have to go potty. Don't worry--I'll just go in my underwear/diaper!" After a few weeks of that, I just gave up and put her back in diapers full time.

Fast forward a couple months to this past January...we decide to try again, since her 3rd birthday was only a few weeks away. Again, she seemed to pick it up pretty well. Not perfect, but good. Well, we are now in March, and she is almost back to square 1. Ugh!! She had accidents most of Saturday and all of Sunday. I KNOW she can do it, she just doesn't care to. I've tried candy, rewards, stickers, prizes, getting to do fun "big girl" things (go to a movie or something), and letting her sit in her wet pants. I've taken a layed back approach and a not-so-layed back approach. I'm about ready to just let her be the 1st kid to "go to college in diapers." I'm feeling like I'm failing Motherhood 101 here. At least getting her to ditch her pacifiers went better than we expected.

Warning: Danger Ahead

Yes, this sweet little face has been the cause of anxiety for me lately. Collin has only been walking for a couple weeks now on a consistent basis, but he has already mastered climbing on top of most of our furniture. We have several kid-sized chairs that I've caught him standing ON THE BACK OF! He can get on the dining chairs, the couch, the ottoman, and the shelves on the entertainment center. He's on the verge of being able to escape his crib, the pack-n-play, and the baby gate.



Yesterday, I had just changed his diaper and left him to play in his room while I ran to throw away the diaper and wash my hands. In those short moments, he had managed to climb onto the arm of his little rocking chair and use that to get onto some storage shelves in his room. Ack!

Funny, in looking at these pictures (from when he turned 1), I am actually noticing a mischevious look to him that I hadn't noticed in these before. My mom has pointed out that he tends to raise his right eyebrow alot. Maybe that's it.

"Best Friends Forever"

One thing I have learned to be very grateful for in my life is good friends. The kind of friend that you know you can call at any hour of the day or night, and they will be there for you. The kind of friend that you can laugh so hard with that your face hurts. This totally describes my friend Kelly. She has answered those "any hour of the night" calls and has also come close to making me pee my pants from laughter on quite a few occasions.

We were so excited when we both found out we were pregnant with girls (only 3 months apart in age). Luckily, our daughters get along really well too. Today, Brynn got to spend the day with her two best friends: Kelly and Kelly's daughter "Q". It was so nice to have the day to get some projects done that I have been putting off, as well as get some one-on-one time with Collin.

Brynn really enjoyed her day too. When I went to pick her up, the girls were laughing and jumping on the "vi-o-leen" (trampoline!).

Brynn's hair was cracking us up! The static from the trampoline made her look like Albert Einstein.

Brynn was so sad to leave their house that she was crying "I don't wanna go home. I wanna stay here" from inside their house until about 10 minutes after we left. Q is like a sister to her. They are so cute how they will be fighting one second over who gets to wear what dress up outfit, and the next minute they are saying "I just love you sooo much!". I could probably learn a thing or two about forgiveness from them.

We love the weekends!

We love our weekends and the little traditions we are starting with our kids. We got to spend alot of time as a family this weekend, and we also got to see alot of our extended family as well. On Friday night, we met some of Dave's family for dinner. We had such a good time catching up with them, and Brynn couldn't stop talking about seeing her Grandma Cheryl and Aunt Cyndi.

Both of our kids are morning people, so sleeping in just isn't an option for us. Instead, on Saturdays we get up and go get breakfast at our favorite little spot nearby. This past Saturday, we met my brother Justin, his wife Melissa, and their two cute kids there for breakfast. We had fun chatting with them, especially since we don't get to see them much these days with everyone's busy schedules. Trance is so good with his cousins, and Brynn loves having MaJesta around.

After breakfast, we took MaJesta with us and went to a Coinstar and then the bank, so the kids could unload their piggy banks. Brynn LOVES saving money (just like her dad!). I think she likes putting money in her "piggy" more than she does spending it. I'm sure that won't last for long.

Then we were off to a school carnival. Brynn absolutely loves bouncers! She will jump for hours. There were about 5 different bouncers at the carnival, so she was in heaven. MaJesta is very outgoing, so Brynn was much more adventurous than usual with MaJesta by her side.

That evening, I had a much needed girls' night out with my friend Kelly and some of her friends. With the kids being sick so much this winter, and our favorite babysitter being unavailable this month, it was great getting some time to myself. I need to do that more often...(right, Dave?!).

Sunday was also another nice day. After church, we had a lazy day at the house. That evening, we had my parents over for dinner. The kids were so excited to see them! Collin was showing off his new skills at walking, and Brynn was all about getting their attention too! I feel so blessed that our kids have such wonderful grandparents! Brynn and Collin have a special relationship with each of them, and just light up when they are in their presence.

Brynn-isms

Brynn is at the fun age where her vocabulary has really grown. She cracks us up on a daily basis with the things she says. This afternoon, she came up behind me and said, "Mommy, I love you so much its incredible!" (Gotta have that in writing for the times when she's not being so sweet). Then she proceeds to grab my hair and tell me how boody-bull (beautiful) my hair is. She then asks me if I made it. (Hey, I guess when I spend an hour with the blow dryer and straightening iron, I do get a little credit, huh?).

Ponytails

When I was a kid, I used to love to do my hair. It was the 80s, so I was always doing different kinds of braids or going crazy with the curling iron or something. I loved it! I always looked forward to the day I could do my own daughter's hair too. When Brynn was born, she was basically bald and hated having things on her head, so I was lucky to get an occasional headband on her. Finally, 3 years later, her hair is finally long enough for ponytails. Of course, she still hates having things on her head or in her hair. Today was one of the rare days, however, where she actually asked me for ponytails. I so kindly obliged, and then obviously had to take pictures of the cuteness (if I do say so myself).

Sometimes I feel like life is just zooming by, and my kids are growing into little people right before my eyes. Her little ponytails somehow capture her youth for me for a bit....at least until she starts talking to me like she's 18 (i.e. Her favorite phrase lately: Oh. My. Gosh.)

Jumping on the Bandwagon

So we decided to join the crowd and start our own blog. Since having two kids, any kind of journaling and scrapbooking have pretty much gone out the window. I'm hoping we'll be better at documenting our family's lives this way.

Speaking of our kiddos, they love being outside. Since we know the 115 degree weather is right around the corner, we've been taking advantage of the perfect weather we've been having. We are lucky to live near a community with lots of animals and went for a walk there yesterday. Brynn thought we were at the zoo, looking at all the horses, chickens, ducks, goats, roosters, dogs, and even emus (what exactly is the plural of emu?). She kept asking when we were going to get to see the monkeys.

Collin was having fun too. True to his usual self, he sat quietly in the stroller, observing it all. When we would stop to get a closer look at an animal, he would make an occasional squeal, and then wave. He wasn't the least bit scared of the horse that was about 100 times his size. Too cute!

It's fun seeing things through the eyes of a child.