Busy bodies

We went camping in May! We never go camping that early and it was awesome. We were invited to camp nearby, but in the mountains, with my mom's group. 6 families. 12 adults. 12 children under 7 years old. I would have never imagined how fun it could be and camping-wise, how easy, but it was. You have 10 other sets of eyes watching over your kids and meals were split up by family. So, over the course of 3 days, we made one meal for the group and then sat back and were fed by the other families. Yep, awesome. There is something to be said for hanging out with people going through what you are going through. The sites were planned out near a kid-friendly beach area and if my kid cried at night, which he did, I didn't feel too bad because it was happening with the other families. It was beautiful weather and it started sprinkling right as we were leaving on Memorial Day.

More family photos from April. They were taken in a local botanic garden. I've started a photo wall in our hallway that is being put together kind of haphazardly but it works :-)

Summer is quickly approaching and so are the 100 degree temps. Swim lessons begin next week, can't wait for the cuteness there and Maggie is going to try soccer this summer. We have 2 trips down, a few more fun ones to go.

We're getting better sleep and I don't feel like I have to go to bed when the kids do every night like I did over the past year. Max wakes about once at night if we're home, every once in awhile it's two or none. He's easier to predict with his sleeping patterns now. Away from the house, a different story but that's ok. I am so enjoying watching them grow up. Every day Maggie says the funniest things as she learns to put words together into sentences and I'm always thinking how I need to film it or write it down and it rarely happens. I would have never known before having my two what was involved day to day with kids discovering and learning. Witnessing it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life right now as an adult, it just feels very satisfying to lead and watch. Sometimes I think about the things I used to want to accomplish before I decided to get pregnant and how those things have been put on hold or have gone out the window altogether. Maybe one day I'll get back to those things, maybe not. My yarn is used more now for kid's craft projects or Max gets into a yarn drawer and pulls some of it across the house.

Just from this morning:

• Maggie woke up from the garbage truck going by outside and said to me "I could use a little more rest."
• Maggie laid out her clothes for the day, pointing out the hot pink in every piece  (saying "hot pink") and used the word "snazzy" to describe her outfit once she was dressed. The girl has style. 
• Max took my toothbrush outside (this has happened before) but then rubbed it in the fire pit/gravel and Maggie brought it to me telling me what happened while walking in her princess dress up shoes. Don't worry, it went in the trash.
• Max ate some of his breakfast, then proceeded to throw it from his highchair (happens every meal). What a waste of cherries!
• Max has figured out how to get up on both toilets, lean over the sink, and turn on the faucets full blast so that he can run his fingers through the water. Yikes.
• Max and Maggie digging in the garden and Max swiping green tomatoes to his father's dismay. We're working on that one.

{More cute pics}

 

Seen and Heard

Seen: toothbrushes scattered throughout the house (and a couple in the garden). Max loves little objects to hold onto and put in his mouth.

Heard: Just after waking up one morning, Maggie looking out the doors to the backyard: "Ugh, the sea turtle was out all night." A few seconds later: "It's ok, she wasn't scared. I hope an owl didn't peck her or something." Goes outside with Max: "Mom, it's nice out here!" To Max: "That's my sea turtle, be nice!"

Heard: I walked out to find Maggie after waking up another morning playing quietly in the living room. Me holding her in my arms: "How long have you been up?" Maggie: "Um, 44 hours. No, 3 hours."

Heard: Outside waiting for her cousin to arrive. Maggie: "I love Eden because she has pretty eyebrows and pretty hair. And, she has a beautiful voice."

Heard: Maggie asking me: "Did you lose your keys?" I said no and asked her if she lost her keys: "No, I'm a kid."

Heard: Maggie running down the hallway before bed: "A girl with messy hair is not crazy!"

Sneak Peak and He's One!

Spring family photo sneak peak :-)

Something that hit me recently and not for the first time...those somewhat insignificant moments that make up the every day (with kids, more often than not, the days are long where you are just wishing for the day to come to a close and for sleep to come without being woken up right after you fall asleep) - you soon realize that those are all the precious moments that add up to to the eventual change we witness in our lives and it's just bittersweet when you look back and realize this. The other day I was reading my old posts and that's when it hit me. I post mostly about my family and when I look back on the everyday this is what I see and it makes me smile.

Here's the other thing that I've been guilty of and then I saw it reaffirmed on an episode of Scrubs :-) - we all think our experiences are unique sometimes, whatever it may be. For me, it could be with my birth experience, parenting experience for whatever age group, marriage, etc. But then you have to remember that you are one tiny person in a big big world and for the most part, you are just like all of the other humans on this earth trying to figure out life. It makes me laugh and it's calming to remember this :-)

Max turned 1 this month! Oh, my sweet big boy. He looks more like a 2 year old. Around 11 months, I would nurse him in public or carry him in the ergo and I started noticing wierd looks from strangers and I got the feeling they thought I was nursing or carrying around a "too" big of a kid. Someone asked me last week if he was 18 months. Yesterday, he threw a tiny fit on the ground and someone said "terrible two's?" Ha ha.


Another peak...how cute is this?

Max is always happy when he wakes up and pretty good about going down at night without a fuss. He's also suprising us with his somewhat consistent sleep patterns at night. I love looking at him when he is in my arms falling asleep, that's when I still see the baby in him. He has the prettiest hair, brown and glossy and lots of it and he has fairer skin like me. His eyes are just like Maggie's. I love-hate seeing his legs get scratched up from walking and falling. It's a sign of him growing up and just a reminder how fast time is really going by.

As for Maggie, one of the themes I've seen with turning 4 is she is really exercising her right to say no. I want her to feel like she can express her opinion and have a a choice in some things. Most recently, her dance class had to go. After about a month of classes, each week it was a new complaint: too loud, didn't want to change into her dance clothes, etc. When she was actually in class, she appeared to have fun and I really liked her teacher. I fought it for a few weeks trying to get to the bottom of it, which I thought maybe we had but then it became a useless fight again. Seems kind of insignificant, but for me at the time it was a hard thing to let go of. As a parent you want your kids to do well, have fun, and learn and when it doesn't go exactly as planned, it's a little disapointing. We're in the "taking a break" period and it's been nice because life has been so busy elsewhere.

I read cookbooks a lot, like all the way through. The other day I got the idea from one to start using lemon curd more. This past weekend I threw together some great oatmeal by using what I had in the kitchen and  I wanted to share because it tasted amazing and it's a really healthy, long-lasting breakfast.

Old-fashioned oats - the easiest way to cook these is pour dry in a bowl, boil water on the stove, pour water into the oats and let sit and absorb for about 5 minutes. I added in dry-roasted slivered almonds, orange-flavored cranberries (Trader Joe's), milk, 1 mashed banana, and after tasting it, it wasn't quite sweet enough, so then I added a spoonful of lemon curd. So yummy. I loved the different sweetnesses and the crunch of the almonds. Max sat on my lap and ate it with me.

Spring Favorites

Spring weather {green trees and grass with sunshine}

 

Birthday girl!

Almost birthday boy!

Celebrations

Gardening with family and flower blooms

New master bath!

 



 

....and lastly, Greek yogurt and Jason Mraz "I won't give up" on the ipod.

I’m Currently…

Watching…Downton Abbey. It's addicting and quite the English drama. I wasn't sure at first, now I'm hooked. It definitely transports you to another time and place, something that is nice after a long day but the episodes are long and keep me up too late :-)

Eating…breakfast for lunch today? It's another 3 am wake-up morning so looking ahead...

Planning…spring cleaning and wrapping up the new bathroom now that Maggie and Max's party is complete! 


Reading…The Female Brain. Really good book. Found it at a kid's thrift store of all places and I would recommend it to every woman (and man for that matter but not sure that's gonna happen). It's the stuff you wonder about when no one really comes out and tells you specific things about what it's like to be a female during different stages of your life. The author includes fun scenarios to explain her points with scientific evidence to back it all up.

Inspired by…my husband's ability to turn something ugly into something very pleasing in a relatively short amount of time.

Excited about…spring arriving and our new bathroom!

Focused but scattered

You can tell someone has a lot on their mind when:

-they start feeling a little sick
-they loose/misplace things like camera, TV remote, etc.
-they forgot to bring important things to work like pump parts!
-things stop cooperating like cell phone, garage door, etc.
-things fall out of your car and shatter because your car is too full of groceries

Thank the lord that our bathroom is almost finished but I think we have a couple more weeks of touch ups. The timing coincided with taxes and Maggie and Max's birthday bash. I say a little prayer that their party will be a sunny celebration for our friends and family and of course Miss Maggie and our soon-to-be 1 year old (ok, how did that happen so fast now that it's here?) and another prayer that my little camera turns up because I really miss it.

Peace out.