Beloved

My baby girl has flown past her 6 month mark...continuing to force me to reassess my perception of the way things should be.  My son, as energetic and genuinely authentic as he is, has always sought to please.  My daughter on the the other hand, in all her love and curiosity, has pushed the boundaries of how I expected her to be (re: schedules, snuggles, comfortable levels of screaming, etc).  She has her own set of rules and happily (or sometimes very angrily if I don't understand her) abides by them, even as they may change from moment to moment. I am constantly kept on my toes and am constantly cleaning up the masses of hair I'm losing!

Q catching up with his Great-Grandpa in New Mexico

H sporting her Great-Great-Granny's headscarf
Unfortunately, Granny passed before H was more than a glimmer in my eye

Weekend trip to Booneville, MO
Miss H making herself quite cozy

Each night before bed (especially if I haven't said it during the day), I take a moment to tell each of my children:

You are a beloved child of God.

Nothing will separate you from God's love.

Nothing you can do will make Mommy or Daddy love you less.

May your heart be opened to God's love.

May that love move in and through you in everything you do.

Callie's Law

I really do enjoy blogging in a Dougie Howser kinda way (but without the theme music in the background and the 80s computer).  There are times during a week that I take a step back and mentally "blog" about an event that happened, or take a mental note to blog about something that has already happened.  Too bad my mental notes are written with invisible ink and I've lost the decoder.  I'll do my best to recap:

I like to try to keep positive on here, but I also need to be honest and share a frustration in my journey.  There have been a few days lately I feel like I'm living out Murphy's Law, so much so I'm pretty sure it should be renamed after me.  Whoever thought having kids two years apart and staying at home to raise them would be a good idea?  Certainly it couldn't have been me, could it?!  Last week on my first outing to the grocery store with both kids, Callie's Law kicked in full swing.  Three-fourths of the way done with shopping, feeling pretty great about my awesome momabilities, Q threw up all over the place.  People, it was a gusher.  Thankfully the people at Nature's Pantry surrounded me and made me feel as good as a frazzled, frantic mom can feel.  Alas, it was short-lived for as soon as I got home the real fun began...for a week.  Poor little guy - for the first 6 wks of H's life, he's been sick for at least 4 of them!  (And in my sad, sorry state can I just say poor me?!  I decided my new job title would be firefighter...as I've spent many hours running back and forth from one fire to another.  I'm not sure how my husband works as an administrator.  He does this with other people's kids! No thanks!!)

Don't get me wrong, I love my responsibilities.  I get to be there for milestones and help mold how my kids view themselves and the world.  (Too bad I'll be bald by the time they're old enough to thank me for it all.)

One of my mental notes was to write about making time to stop and kick the dirt (my toddler is a boy after all and would much rather stop to kick dirt than smell roses).  There's no hurrying when you have a toddler.  Some days I want to pull out my hair and some days I'm able to stop, take a deep breath and look at the world through his eyes.  All the beauty, newness, wonder and joy...

Finally a proper visit from Granny D and Granddad!
They showed up in the middle of the night and this is everyone's first chance to get cozy.
We had a great Spring Break with them.

Mema and Papa with H at Jillie and Jarett's bday party.

Q loves him some Capri Sun and his Aunt Marcy.
This is post-swim at the bday party.

Q wanted to show his grandparents his favorite walking spot at Burr Oak.
Of course, no walk is complete without a proper walking stick.

Post sickies (for like the gazillionth time) here is Q planting our first seeds for the garden.
Quite awesome to use the rich black soil from the garden. Composters unite!
It was such a nice day, I ended up barricading the steps and Q played on our (in much need of a new paint job) deck. 

And here's Sissie in all of her glory just chillin' while Q and Mommy make a mess on the deck.

I hope someday my kids will be able to understand me when I thank them for helping mold how I view the world and myself. (Maybe Callie's Law isn't so bad after all.)

Year in review

My husband sent me a copy of a post I did a while back to show me how much our son has grown...well it was really to remind me how Q used to look like Uncle Fester :)  I'd been thinking about the blog from time to time, but didn't realize a year had passed!! Where do I even begin? How do I even sum up a year? 

Here goes an honest effort...

Playdate with Mom at the park!  Check out the hat she made me :)
16 mo

Trip to TX to visit the grandparents and of course to feed the ducks and geese.
Pretty sure little man needed time to warm up...
17 mo

Day at the zoo to celebrate he's going to be a big brother!
Check out his shirt - Daddy dressed him appropriately for the day :)
18 mo

Lucky Streich at the Irish Fest.  How cute is that belly?
19 mo

Standing in front of the stage where Mr. Stinky Feet is playing.
Couldn't care less about the music...let's play swords!
19 mo

While the cat's away, the mice will play...sorta.
I was out with friends and boys got locked out of the house!!
Good thing Daddy had the camera to document it all :)
Q was glad for the endless supply of cherry tomatoes from the garden.
I can't remember who got to change those diapers :)
20 mo

Hooray for homemade playdoh!
You can tell by his chin he did try a sample...yuck!
This was the second craft of the day, as evidenced by the paint on his belly.
21 mo

Granny D in town and off to the pumpkin patch we go at The Big Red Barn.
Where was Granddad?  Off being a manly-man hunting in CO.
22 mo

Halloween, my boys dressed as Batman and Robin.  Yup, I made the Robin suit!!
With my growing belly, we joked I should've dressed as the Penguin.
22 mo

Weekend trip to Tulsa for a wedding, we detoured with the g'rents to the aquarium.
This was right before Q used the saltwater to "fix" his hair.
22 mo

Thanksgiving in Iowa
Hanging with Great-grandma Clara
22 mo

Finally, Mom realizes and embraces it's time for a haircut.
I'm just not so sure about it!
23 mo

Ok. ok, it wasn't so bad.
Thanks, Amy!!
23 mo

It's my birthday!!!!!
24 mo

Two Today :)
(Complete with spaghetti face)

Thomas the Train cake!!
Best part/best gift was the train on top :)
24 mo

Just call me Joey..Woah! ("Blossom", anyone?)
Went to Animal Tails our friends at Illusions Unlimited created.
Mom's trying to keep us busy before the baby comes!
25 mo

Here she is!!!!  Welcome to the world, baby girl!
2/10

Getting dressed by Mama.  Look at all my hair!

In-house photo shoot.
Daddy was NOT happy with the foo foo.

First bath at home.  H did a great job not crying, but Daddy figured he'd
try to make it all better anyway.

Smokin on the hookah...
Poor Q got sick a few days before H was born.. He had the flu!!
Here he is being a big boy doing breathing treatments and watching none other than Elmo.
We had to keep the kids separate for the first couple of weeks.
Immediately after the flu, he got slammed with a dbl ear infection, cold, and tonsilitis!  H also ended up with a cold.
Can you say stressful?!

Here's Granny D and Granddad in their quick meeting of H.
Can't wait to see you again Spring Break.

Finally, no more sickies and a chance to love on baby sis!
My heart sings watching how loving Q can be with H. He wants so much to be helpful.
Many mornings when he wakes, the first word out his mouth is her name.

I'm crazy bucket head, now gimme some candy!
Having fun playing while sister naps.

Awesome Saturday morning a few days ago.
Q LOVES to scoop and I totally don't mind finding stray rice pieces in weird areas of the house :)

Our activity yesterday - making glue for paper mache.

All set - even equipped with a sweet "apron" we got from Urgent Care on our trip the night before H was born.
My plan was to make a paper mache penguin out of the creamer bottle.
Too bad I forgot Q doesn't like to get his hands dirty with anything other than dirt :)
Epic Fail!

And we're up to today!!  We took an awesome hike on a trail at Burr Oak.
Here's Q playing in a fallen log.
I'm appropriately trying to give a science lesson.

H's sweet ride today.

Thank goodness for the Ergo!!
Q on back, H in the stroller.
Rock on!!

Now, if I can juuust get their scrapbooks and baby books updated...