And the heat begins

The one thing that makes Texas heat tolerable? Snow cones. Milo has already discovered the wonder...

 

Lucy is obviously not old enough for snow cones yet, but just putting her on the Smart Trike is enough for her.

And look out, Aunties! Lucy knows who her BFFs are.

 

Superheroes and fridge farms

Did you know I live with a superhero? Shhhhhh. Don't blow his cover.

In other news, Lucy discovered the fridge farm, and it is, for now, keeping her from digging in the dog bowl (it doesn't, however, keep her from sitting in it when she drops a piece and sits to get it...). Look at this tiny, busy little sprout!

The uphill climb to normal

Nate's been able to get around a bit more than he could when he was first injured, which has been amazing for our little people. They're used to having me around all the time, but they're also very spoiled by having an extremely involved daddy. The time Nate has been stuck in bed has been pretty rough on them, so they're extra sunshiny now that he's able to spend more time with them. Slowly but surely things are improving.

Fun times in the pillow house Milo built.

A girl and her Daddy - it's a sweet sight to behold.

Just when I thought Milo was the biggest eater in the family, enter sweet, petite little Lucy. This girl will be able to out-eat all the rest of us in no time.

Phototastic

Just a few photos for your entertainment...

Bathtime, one of both kids' favorite times. Followed by "naked kids on the loose," which I will NOT share photos of.

We haven't had a good photo of the two kids in Lucy's bed in a while. Oh, how times have changed!

Despite the serious face, Lucy was having a GREAT time with her Nana.

Both kids were...

Milo's face. I can't stop laughing. And when I stop, then I laugh at Lucy's face.

My sleepy little cherub.

The trouble with the mop head

It's inevitable that as soon as you throw your mop head in the washing machine, at least three disastrous messes are going to occur. At least two of them will be the fault of your darling child, and the last one is a wild card. One will more than likely involve pee-pee, especially if you have recently been potty training.

By the third mess, when you're cleaning up strawberry slushy from your garage floor with a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle because you're terrified that ants will be tempted in by the sticky pool of goodness, listening to said darling child wailing at the top of his lungs, "My SLUSHY!!!" and reminding him that if he had just obeyed you in the first place he never would have dropped the slushy, you will find yourself holding back all the curse words in your heart and take a deep breath.

You will remind yourself that you have been praying for your darling child to learn obedience. Sometimes learning it requires hard lessons, and whether you think you should be left out of those or not, you will undoubtedly be a part because the two of you are woven together. You will acknowledge the fact that your child is three (or however old yours is) and extremely emotional because it's far past everybody's naptime. You will salvage what you can of the slushy from the destroyed cup (all one-handed, because you're holding your 9-month old...), kiss your sweet child, and tell him that you're sorry some lessons hurt learning.

And you will silently swear to never wash that mop head again.

A mix of things I love

Things that I love: Giant headbands and babies. So I made a giant headband for my baby. And even though she isn't feeling well, I still put her in this headband and took pictures. Because I'm such a nice mommy.

 

Window markers and giggles

This is what happens when you leave your normally responsible child and his friend alone for two minutes with a package of window markers. Very little window marking...

 

And these are the two handsomest guys around.

 

Enjoy your weekend!!!

Monday blues (both literal and metaphorical)

What is it about Mondays that makes them just innately yucky? I used to think it was because, after the bliss of the weekend, I had to head back to work. And now that I'm a mommy and don't get the weekends off, I realize that the Monday feeling isn't mutually exclusive to workweeks. I can't explain it, but my little people woke up with screams on their lips and naughtiness on their brains...

You'd never guess it from this picture, right? I figured out the secret to helping us all out at this moment in time - getting outside in the sunshine for a bit. It stops the Lucy screams, focuses some of Milo's endless energy (bike riding has changed our lives), and lets me just breathe for a few minutes. So, horrid Texas summer, I need you to hold off for another little while and let us have our pleasant sunshiny walks. Hope your Monday is full of smiles!

Milo Wisdom

Milo Wisdom:
"Mommy, short sleeves are better for washing your hands. Then you don't have to push them up when the water is on - they just be up!"

(The logic is sound. We'll address the grammatical issues later...)

:)

My little people make me smile.

The world's sweetest, most sincere superhero. He did offer to take care of any lions or bears that I might see at the house. Good to know this little guy and his Nerf gun are at my beckon call.

The face of innocence... Let me mention that she has found her screaming voice and is using it. All. The. Time.

Jumping Jacks

 

WARNING: Watch this and you may NEVER feel sad again.

A little list

For some reason, I've been surprising myself lately. Finding out little things about me that have changed in my old age, or having strange experiences. Every now and then I'll read a list of things you didn't know about me or something of the sort from old blog posts and giggle. So I thought I'd do a little refresher.

1. I'm typing this in excruciating pain because last night I literally slammed my own finger in the sliding glass door. How does one even do something like that? I'm chalking it up to a busy mind and a lack of sleep.

2. Weak coffee makes me gag.

3. Speaking of things that make me gag... I can change my own kids' poopy diapers all day long. But give me another kid's? Can't do it. And I don't even want to start on the one time Milo pooed in his undies when he first potty trained. It only happened once, though. I made him help me clean it out, and we were both gagging so hard it was ridiculous. Milo then puked on the floor and I ended up having to clean poo and puke. But at least it made an impression on him. He certainly hasn't done it again.

4. I love being awake by myself in the early morning. However, since I had Lucy, I have a really hard time dragging myself out of bed because it seems like as soon as I do, one (or both) of the kids decide to get up early, too. Like, "Hey, Mommy is out of bed already. Shouldn't we be, too?"

5. I turn into a beast when one of my kids is crying. I'm fairly confident I would fight anyone and anything to make it stop. Poor Nate when we've had to let our kids cry at night. He would be calm and rational and I would be ready to scratch his eyes out. As soon as they'd stop, I'd turn back into normal Kate and go about my business, usually having to apologize for my behavior.

6. The other night there was a (small) snake in our garage, and instead of freaking out, I fought it with the fire poker. No joke. I fought a snake. Meaning, I chased it all over the garage flicking it with the fire poker toward the door until I finally threw it out into the driveway. But you're still impressed, right?

7. The older I get, the more I want to eat like I did when I was a kid. As in, my mom fed us all health food until she had to go back to work. Carob chips, whole wheat, all-natural peanut butter. I find myself wanting to eat the exact same things these days and feed my kids in the same way. Is it a mommy thing? I still have dreams of having a giant garden in my backyard and raising us a bounty of organic produce. Someday...

8. I am constantly trying to help people who, more often than not, do not seem to want my help.

9. If I don't get out of the house at least once I day I feel like I'm being physically and spiritually oppressed. That said, sometimes changing out of sweatpants to get out of the house seems like an insurmountable task. However, I remain morally opposed to wearing said sweatpants in public. Dilemma?

10. Because Lucy is now crying, I can no longer focus on this list. Must. Pick up. Child.

Ciao.

A little climber

I'm constantly amazed at the difference between my two little people. Milo has been our cautious one, thinking things through before he does them and passing on unnecessary risks. Lucy? Well, at nine months old she's a slightly different story already.

Fat or funny?

Milo has been really busy playing pretend lately. It doesn't matter what we watch, almost as soon as it's over, Milo has us all divided up into our own characters. He's been especially interested in Robin Hood, Talespin, and Rescue Rangers lately, I guess because when he gets to ten stickers on his potty chart he gets to watch an episode (Rescue Rangers and Talespin are his favorites these days, and I was sick yesterday, so we watched Robin Hood.). Anyway, let me just give you a visual on who Milo chooses for me lately...

Clucky from Robin Hood.

 

Dumptruck from Tailspin

Fat Cat from Rescue Rangers

Does anyone see a trend here? I'm wondering how Milo really sees me... And the only thing I can come up with is that he either thinks I'm really fat or really funny. Thoughts???