Father's Day 2009

I'm a little behind on my annual Father's Day video. But it is finally complete. Every time I hear this song, it makes me want to forget about chores, making dinner, running errands and to drop everything and play with my kids. I want them to be able to look back at their childhood and remember all the fun things that we did and all of the 'best days'. Some days the only 'memories' we create are of watching me do the dishes and running to Target.

Retiring the Infant Carrier

So, my baby boy is officially too big for the infant carrier. Not only was it extremely heavy to cart around, he is over the maximum length and weight. For many reasons we decided a long time ago that Grady would be our last child, so I knew that I would have a lot of baby stuff to give away or store in the basement. What I didn't know was how putting away the infant carrier would make me feel. First came the tears....then came the brilliant idea to have another one. Gregg quickly reminded me why we can't. We simply can't...and really that is just pushing this moment off for a few more years. When the infant carrier made its way down the basement steps, I realized for the first time that their would be no more babies. I also realized that my baby boy was on his way to no longer being a baby. That is something I can't wrap my head around yet. So, I'm taking it as a wake up call. That although the infant stage can be so hard and emotionally draining, it's gone in a flash. I'm soaking up every moment, every sweet little smile, every warm nightime cuddle, every giggle and laugh. I'll never tire of seeing his sweet little baby face and having him fit so snugly in the crook of my arm. These are the moments that will be the best moments of my life. Here are a couple of pictures of my babies in the retired infant carrier. God help me when we have to put the glider away.................

Bringing the blog back to life....

It's been so long since I've updated this blog that I thought that google may have just deleted the whole thing. But, it's still here and I am going to make one last attempt to keep this thing going. I do have a good excuse......the transition from one child to two has been a challenge. Spare time and the ability to form a coherent sentence have not come easy. I'm still not sleeping...but amazingly enough you get used to it. Someday sleep will come..... I had a thought this morning on my way home from dropping Lauren off at preschool. In those first few moments of dropping her off I seem to have a peacefulness that envelopes me. In those moments I do my best thinking. I was reflecting on that morning.....Both Lauren and Grady decided to wake up at 5am. 5am is the middle of the night to me. I brought both of them in bed with me thinking that I could put them back to sleep...latch Grady on to my boob, and convince Lauren that it truly is the middle of the night. Didn't work. They were so excited to see each other they became wide awake and started laughing and smiling at each other. Mommy...not so much. I looked at the clock and couldn't believe that both my kids were wide awake. So, in my peaceful moment this morning I reflected on my 5am wake up call. I realized that in 15 years or so, I can imagine that I would walk over hot coals to have that moment back. Both my kids cuddled up in the crook of my arms, happy and smiling, safe and sound. As my days seem to get more trying and difficult, I am really working on living in the moment and staying positive. I need to do this not only for myself, but for my kids. So, as I argue with my 3 yo old (and usually lose) about the necessity of a coat and drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night to feed my growing baby, I'll try to remember that these precious times will not be here forever. And in 10, 15, 20 years.....I'll wish that I could wake up at 3am to nurse my baby and wish that I could have my 3yo explain to me why it's a good idea to have m&m's for breakfast.

Father's Day Video

Every year for Father's Day I make Gregg a video with pictures from the last year. I love looking through all the picture of the last year and seeing how much she has changed. The song I chose this year is 'You're Gonna Miss This'. Everytime I heard this song it happened to be right when my patience level was at its lowest with Lauren. The words always struck a chord with me and made me realize that although some days seem like they last forever, my little girl is growing up in the blink of an eye. I'm going to wake up one day soon and she'll be 16 and slamming the door in my face or packing up her stuff and heading off to college. I know when that time comes, I'll give anything to have one more day with my 2 year old. She is truly an amazing little girl that gives me more joy each day then I ever thought possible. I'm learning to treasure each moment, good and bad, because they won't last forever. Enjoy the video!

Fingerpainting Fun!!

So, I have been a very neglectful blogger lately! Let's see if I can make this a habit again. A few days ago Lauren and I whipped out the fingerpaints. I'm not sure what she likes better....fingerpainting or playing with the hose afterwards to clean up! Either way she had a blast and made a beautiful picture. In her words....."My Daddy will wuv it!!!"

Snow!! Snow!! Snow!!!!

We finally got our first taste of real winter with a little snow shower. It wasn't much, but it was enough for me to bundle Lauren up in her snow suit and have a little fun outside. She was so excited to finally put on her snow suit and boots and made a beeline towards her swing set. She had a blast sliding down the slide and landing in a big pile of snow! For some reason she thought the snow was pretty tasty. I couldn't stop her from eating it. At least it wasn't yellow! I think she could have stayed out there for the rest of the day and has been looking for the snow ever since. We had a warm the next day and everything melted. I'm sure it won't be our last look at snow!

A Bit of Sunshine

A couple of weeks ago we had a beautiful stretch of warm days. Such a welcome change in the middle of January. Lauren and I took full advantage of the warm weather and spent most of our days outside. Here are a couple shots of her at the park. She was so excited to be there!