Barbeque Faces and PlayDoh Fingernails

Today was just one of those days.......You know. One of those days that just seem to go on forever. One of those days when you look at the clock only to realize just 5 minutes has passed. Don't get me wrong. I love to spend time with my babies, but I am thinking this morning they got together when I wasn't looking and decided to team up against me. Hampton is going through another growth spurt (I think his whole 3 months has just been one huge growth spurt) and is teething something fierce. This combination made for one unhappy baby today.

And Everett, well I don't think his "listening ears" were working at all today. It could be for the fact that I often caught him plugging his ears several times when I was instructing him to do something. That or he just played dumb. Eric and I often wonder if he understands what we are saying to him as we give him a specific instruction. He is a pro at the blank stare. I have come to realize he understands way more than we think. He had us going for awhile, but we are on to his little game. Ha!

But at the end of the day today, as we were eating our barbeque chicken and enjoying a cool breeze as we dined outside, I felt content. Sure this mama had a tough day. But as I kissed the barbeque sauce off my toddler's face and admired the blue PlayDoh underneath his fingernails, I remembered how I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ducks and a Picnic

This morning I decided to take the babies to Lake Julian for some fun. We enjoyed feeding the ducks that were waddling around by the water, even if some were grumpy and hissed at us! I told Everett to stay away from the mama ducks because they were just trying to protect their babies and I was concerned he would get an eye pecking. With the heat the way it was, I was about to just jump into the water for relief! It looked so inviting and I longed for a boat we could sail away on.

Everett also had fun on the playground where we made some new friends. We even met a boy who we found out will be in Everett's preschool class in the Fall. After playing we sat under some tree and had a picnic lunch. The summer heat then finally got to us and we headed home for naps. A fun morning. Where shall we go next boys!?!

Career Girl

For the past few months (6 months to be exact) I have had the joy and pleasure of being at home full time with my babies. As much as I have enjoyed this, I cannot say that I am not eager to get back to work. That is not to say that being at home all day, every day is not work. Believe me, I know it is. There are many days where I just fall into bed completely exhausted from caring for an infant and chasing a wild toddler. However, I absolutely love being a speech therapist and I have really missed it these past few months. It is a part of who I am and I have worked hard to get here.

So, I will be working Tuesdays and Thursdays (about 16 hrs a week) at a long-term care facility roughly about 45 minutes away. I may just enjoy that commute. On Monday and Tuesday this week I was in Durham (about 4 hours away) doing some training/orientation. It was my first time staying in a hotel by myself and it was kind of exciting. I am leaving the world of pediatric rehab and moving into the adult world and I know it will be a professional challenge, but a good one.

So I will need to change my mindset on Tuesdays and Thursdays from: breastfeeding, swaddling, cheerios, Barney, playdoh, naps, changing diapers, burping, blocks, cars, burp cloths, and pacifiers to: aphasia, dementia, swallow studies, cognition, lanugage,tongue depressors, diagnostics, report writing, oral motor exercises, diet modifications, feeding, medicare, and the list goes on.

I feel so blessed the Lord has given me a job where I can be at home more with the babies. We have found an excellent babysitter and Everett will be starting preschool for two mornings a week (the days I work) and I am so excited for him! We have gone through so many changes these past 6 months, but we feel so blessed!

The Past Few Days

The past few days have been really busy, but fun. My aunt Jenny is visiting from Florida this week. We have done some swimming. Gone to the arboretum on a absolutely gorgeous day.

Throwing pennies into a wishing well.

Aunt Jenny and Everett. I love the hydrangea bushes!

Hampton is wearing a hat that is size 2t. It practically fits his head!

We went to the Biltmore's Antler Hill Village. Everett loved the petting zoo where he chased chickens, danced for the goats, and imitated the sheep sounds!

My big boy Hampton. He weighs almost 16 pounds now!

Family picture at Antler Hill Village

Eric's 30th

Eric turned 30 yesterday, whereas I am still hanging out in my 20's! I had some special plans for him and I was praying all day that I would be able to accomplish all my goals. These were the "manliest" flowers I could find at the store. They do look lovely on my table.

Eric's birthday meal is Farmer's Pasta. I make it for him every birthday and it is truly a labor of love. It involves five different types of cheeses, heavy cream, whole milk, and pancetta. It is rich and so good! Try it. You'll love it. Be careful carrying it to the oven though, because this baby is heavy!

We had an arugula salad and pancetta biscuits as well.

The babies were cooperative most of the day. Hampton sat and watched me cook for an hour while Everett napped. I talked to him the whole time, explaining each move and I felt like I was on a cooking show.

Everett is just as wild as ever. My favorite part of the day with him was when we broke out into a spontaneous Pandora dance party. He loves to dance if you haven't noticed.

After we put the babies to bed, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner followed by vegging out on the couch watching a movie. Overall, I think Eric had a very nice birthday. Mission accomplished.

Red Ribbons

I have definitely grown more confident in taking the boys out by myself. Today I decided to take them to toddler story time at Barnes and Noble. When we got there, a second grade class was in the middle of their story time. There was a stage behind the woman reading the story and what did my child decide to do? Run up on to the stage and dance! All of the kids burst into laughter and needless to say I was mortified. I immediately ran on to the stage and tried to get him to leave. He did not go easily. He threw a huge tantrum in front of everyone! Again, mortified. I know I am usually dealing with a wild man, but this morning was way over the top. He calmed down just in time to work on a craft with the other toddlers. The craft involved ribbons, which completely fascinated him. He grabbed two red ones, and took off. Those two ribbons made him so happy as he danced around the children's section. Many people complimented him on his ribbons and he would respond with "red" or "two" or even "thank you." He is now upstairs napping with his two red ribbons and I am exhausted as well. Hampton was a dream during our outing.

Finishing the Unfinished

So after an exhausting week, my gracious and loving man took over baby duty today. I wanted to relax, really I did-but sometimes I have such a hard time with relaxation. So instead, I took on a project that has been bugging me since we moved into our house. Our playroom is pretty much organized the way I want it. I like that most of the toys are up high and out of reach, therefore Everett has to request. The toy bins are categorized as well. I have ended up throwing a lot of Everett's toys in the unfinished part of the basement (our storage) to get them out of the way and I pull them out every so often. It was the unfinished basement that was killing me. Everything was strewn about and it became our dumping ground. Everytime I thought about organizing it, I became overwhelmed and decided against it. But today I had the time and the energy (thank you Starbucks!) and went for it. It took about 3 hours and I totally forgot to take a "before" picture, but believe me-it wasn't pretty. And my goodness I have a lot of speech therapy materials, which was really fun to go through.

These toys are the ones I keep out of sight, but will go to when Everett gets bored or disinterested with his other things. The toy I bring out could be something he has had for awhile, but to him it is novel and therefore more interesting. This stuff was the most fun to organize. I also got Hampton's toys ready to disperse when he is of age.

So I am very proud of the organization. I know now where everything is and even found some old, forgotten items in the process. Eric keeps laughing at me because I keep wandering in there to look at it again. What can I say? Organization thrills me to no end!

Thursday

We had a good, but very long day. It started at the crack of dawn when Hampton decided it was time to get up. Hampton had a very "off" evening and got up every 3 hours to eat. He may be going through a growth spurt. It didn't help either that he protested naps all day long as well.

Everett is getting so good at recognizing and saying the letters of the alphabet! I am so proud of him.
I caught a smile today!

Hampton enjoyed some tummy time this afternoon while Everett napped.

I baked some cookies during Everett's nap and then surprised him when he woke up.

I really have been writing these past few posts for Eric. He has been out of town all week for work and comes home tonight. Needless to say I cannot wait! It has been a good, but very challenging and exhausting week. If anything, my babies and I have bonded that much more.

Wednesday

Today was another good day with the babies. This morning we went to toddler story time at our local library. It was our first time and it was so cute! Everett definitely got into it and loved just watching all the other kids. Afterward we went to the playground across the street. I am so glad I had some sunscreen because Everett's fair skin would have been burnt to a crisp! He loved digging in the sand with the shovel. We only suffered a minor meltdown when it came to leaving due to low blood sugar, fatigue, and being a 2 year old. After nap we had a snack. Everett's new favorite is fruit with marshmallows. If Everett has another word for something, it is usually a pretty close association. However, he consistently labels marshmallows as "knees" and I have no idea why. He could be saying "these" but I am not really sure.

Balloons are also cheap entertainment at our house, as well as stickers.

Everett playing with his train set.

Hey chubby baby! Look at those cheeks-don't you just want to squeeze them?!?

Today's attempt at getting a picture of both babies together.

Everett did not inflict pain this time, however when I set Ev next to Hampton, I noticed that Hampton's eye nervously twitched. Seriously.

Everett showing me his muscle.

Tuesday

Today I had another great day with my boys. I started the day off with dressing them in coordinating outfits and attempting a photo shoot. I don't do this often because I am terrified for Hampton's safety! Everett just has a love (borderline obsession) with his baby brother. He "wuvs" him oh so much. I guess so much that he has to hurt him! Everett: "Hug Hantin."
Me: "No No Everett! No touch!"

Hampton: "Why!?!?"

Well anyways, after that I soon realized Everett was out of diapers so it was off to Target we went. It's funny- going out with the babies all by myself can either make me feel like Superwoman or a mess of a woman. There is at least a 30 min prep time. It is a lot of work. However, I do love Target so it was worth it. I could form a mom's community group based on the amount of mamas walking around that store with their babes at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. I guess we all needed to get out of the house!

My baby boy in the front of the cart.

My big boy riding in the back. I barely had room for the items I needed!

In the baby aisle I stumbled across these. Um, is this for real? I later told Eric who was disappointed I didn't purchase them. So funny!

I did find a new beverage I decided to try out. Very refreshing.

After we got back it was lunch and naps for both babies. Then I got a bit of a break and caught up on The Bachelorette. After naps we all played downstairs for a while. Poor Maggie had to go to extreme measures to remind me she needed food and dragged her food bowl of her crate. Pitiful looking, but what a smart dog!

Hampton just relaxing and letting it all hang out.

During one of Hampton's afternoon naps, I brought out a new magnet toy for Everett to play with. He immediately started to sort out all the letters according to their color.

We then ended the day with meatloaf for dinner, bath, story, and lots of snuggle time! I now feel completely exhausted, but completely content and overwhelmingly blessed!