regan’s rite of passage

It was time.  We* lowered his crib mattress tonite…to the lowest level.  No one in their right mind would actually use the “three” different heights once they have seen how difficult it is to lower a crib mattress..or change the sheets or… I digress.

This is a big milestone in a baby’s life.  It’s like a right of passage that means they’ve acquired the necessary skills to rise above…the crib’s edge- and therefore inducing somewhat strong heart palpitations in a parent’s heart as said mom walks in just in time.

It’s somewhat appropriate that Regan has also pushed a 5th tooth through his little gums and hits the 9 month mark this weekend.  He is moving much more easily and while the full-on crawl/scoot has not shown itself yet, I am guessing it will only be a matter of weeks.  Josiah is under strict instruction not to crawl anywhere near him lest Regan get any ideas.  Jk.

This week I was made keenly aware of the fleeting baby months as I got to hold a  friend’s sweet 2 month-old baby boy and sat near a 4 day-old newborn- its true- Regan is growing up.  It seems like we are out of the infant stage…but what is this next part called?  Our little “loud-mouth-bass”, as we affectionately named our second born due to his uncanny ability to produce decibels far above normal ranges, is an adorable smiley curious little boy now.

I love him.  It’s really true- there’s enough love in a mama’s heart for more than one.  I’m so glad.  Now…where is #3?

*and by “we” I mean Bart – thanks honey

random tuesday-isms

yesterday i heard josi saying “eyes” over and over and looked over to find him poking his little brother’s eyes over and over…while i did hand out the praise that i was planning to ( i never realized i’d have a helper to teach the rest of the kiddos)- i also tempered it with a little instruction on poking people’s eyes…even when they don’t care bc they are in such awe of their big brother

i am continually aware of what the future holds in terms of cooking and grocery shopping…it kinda scares me… since my two year old could eat every hour of the day if i let him.  dreaming of a deep freezer and a much larger food budget

the resident 9 month old is now getting around…i wouldn’t call it crawling yet but he can get where he wants to for the most part.  thankfully he loves his bro so much, i think he’ll just follow him everywhere once he can really move

the garage sale we had was a success i guess…i say i guess only because we didn’t have as many customers as i would have liked- but i made a nice chunk of change and got rid of almost everything i put out there (granted most of it went in a carload to goodwill) but at least it didn’t return to its place in my house

my sister’s birthday is coming up very soon and sadly all she wants is cash- which i should be thankful for since i am not always the best at picking out gifts for her but still..cash is so boring, especially when its not going to a plane ticket to come visit me:) hehe

sugar detoxes and paleo are my latest craze…i’ll keep ya posted- don’t worry mom, nothing will be 100 % for me- and i still want chocolate cupcakes at josi’s bday party

i am starting a potty training book and have decided that when i finish it, i have to start really doing it- for jos of course, i’m already trained  really i just think toddler underwear is so cute-  okay and i hate changing diapers

discovering almond butter may have made upped my quality of life by dozens of percentages- for realsies

introduced josiah to play-doh this week and he really had to use all his self-control to not eat it;  he really really wanted to…  also instead of blowing the bubbles from the wand, he wanted to lick the wand- oh well…i suppose he could learn the hard way, maybe next time

i have a really long to-do list that keeps getting bumped to the next week so maybe i should look at it and stop rambling buuut downloading pics is on the list so i’ll leave you with a few random shots…

he was so proud of himself for sitting in dad’s spot with dad’s bag of pretzels watching tv- he did it all by himself. hilarious

he likes to go all over…

kisses for regan

what he was supposed to do…

what he really wanted to do…

showing off his 4 teeth- two little bottom ones and two ginormous top ones…oh yes, and drool…always.

spring evening fun on the deck

ps. mom- i will send you May’s shutterfly pics in a few days…to be included will be a re-enactment of Hannah and Josi fingerpainting adventure “one year later”…that’s tomorrow!

post-its and pink polish

i love post-it notes.  i just bought a pack the other day for the first time in forever and it totally reminded me of teaching school…where i was the queen of every size post-it. seriously, i always had my drawers stocked bc i went thru them like water.

we ventured to the zoo last week for a little adventure…um, not impressed.  perhaps we just pushed the envelope a bit much- and in retrospect, I think Jos was sick (he had a fever when we returned) so he was about as excited about the 5 animals he could actually see thru the fences as um…a teenager who just got woken up.

i got three cards for mothers day. rockin.  i can’t wait until we have ten kiddos…bart’s hand is gonna hurt from all that writing jk.

i bought pink nail polish over the weekend…first time i’ve purchased polish in probably ten years.

several months ago i cleaned out so much junk from every closet and drawer and at least 10 bags of stuff collected in the basement before they all got taken to “spring clean up” day a few weeks ago.  yesterday a friend of mine told me that our town is having a city-side garage sale weekend and wondered if i wanted to join efforts…i wasn’t up for it yesterday but today i have managed to fill my entire dining room table with loads of stuff to sell.  another round of purging this week…feels so good.

i have an eye dr apt on friday and i kinda want to order new glasses- you know, the really big kind…reminiscent of my dad’s 1992 pair.  we’ll see.

it would be weird to sell eyeshadow at a garage sale, right? what about swimsuits?

ok. enough.  i have things to do.

moms on their day

I knew becoming a mom would be like nothing I’d ever experienced.  But I thought perhaps I’d be used to it by now.  Usually two years into any given job a person often shrugs their shoulders; knowing what’s expected of them and what tomorrow holds.

But motherhood- its wholly other than.  I have never cried more tears in my entire life…and not just because I’ve fallen in love with two precious boys or because I was over-tired or hormones were kicking in…or Bart flew away again.  No, I even cry at tv shows in the blink of an eye.  I am a freakin’ waterworks now.  It’s as though something changed in my dna…but I like it.  It’s tenderizing me.

There are days when I look at my sons and shake my head.  I am so in awe of my job.  No one gets to spend every single day with these little boys…and I am blessed.  I wanted to thank their beautiful self-less birth mom today, on Mothers Day- for giving me the gift of motherhood.  She didn’t have to choose me.  But thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  I have never been given a better gift than the one you gave, twice.  We are praying for you often and hope that God is taking care of you in ways that make you feel loved and cared for.  You are in our hearts forever.

And to my own mom, who gave me the gift of life…and suffered through so much drama throughout the first 20 years of my existence- okay, I know I’m still drama.  But thank you Mom, for loving me in the most amazing ways and giving of yourself every single day.  And thanks for loving dad.  Thank you for showing me the sacrifice of motherhood.

Happy Mothers Day to all.

adoration

Regan seriously adores his big bro.  I could probably post twenty pictures easily with this same view…

keep the colors clean

I laughed, even in the midst of trying to make the impossible happen.

Josiah was trying watercolors for the first time in his life.  I had pulled out the beautiful untouched pristine pallet of paints during his naptime- thoroughly admiring the perfection of each color and was very seriously considering a trial run of my own.  But moments passed and soon he was awake, the kraft paper was taped onto the table and I was about to show my son how to paint with a brush.

I love art- if you don’t already know.  I love paint and colors and creating…it seriously makes me giddy.  So in turn, I love watching my little boy walk into the world of paint.  Carefully I demonstrated how to place the brush into the water, then pick a color to twirl and touch it to the paper…wala- easy!  He seemed to understand, so I handed over the reigns and he went for it.  Brush in the water, brush in a color, brush to paper- just like I’d showed him.

I was so proud.  Yes!  He finally has the hand-eye coordination to do this!  Again, he thrust the brush under the water, into a color and onto his already emerging masterpiece.  And then…it happened.  Brush in water, brush in color…and another color…then another and before I realized what was happening he had slid his brush through the entire first row of paint colors.  ACK!

Here’s where I look back and chuckle…I should have just praised him to keep going.  But no, the teacher in me decided he needed to learn the correct way to paint with watercolors.  He is almost 2- it can be done, I thought.  And while I still agree with that statement…the next few minutes that I spent holding his hand with the brush and declaring the steps- emphasizing the “one color part”…were really unnecessary.  He’s only 2.  If he wants to put his brush in 4 colors and mix all those together into a hodge podge of ugliness, then he should be allowed, actually, encouraged to do so.

I have always said that what makes an artist is uniqueness.  It’s not about coloring inside the lines or choosing the right hue…it’s about the experience and it’s about enjoyment.  True artists don’t worry about messing up…because usually their failures can be turned into something beautiful anyway.

So, once I let go- Josiah went to town.  And while his second painting pretty much consisted of a massive black hole covered in too many coats of water…he had fun.  He laughed.  He enjoyed himself.  So next time, I’m gonna grab my own paint brush and laugh along with him…of course, he won’t be allowed anywhere near my pallet but he’ll be fine with it…as long as I’m okay with watching him mix all 21 of his colors into one.  :)

to read a book

Last month, my all time favorite blogger, published her first book- a memoir…it was the first book I’ve ever pre-ordered in my life.  But I figured if I light up every time I see a new post from her in my google reader than how amazing would it be to read an entire book written by her.

Her name is Kelle Hampton and her book is titled Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected.  It is available for e-readers  but seriously, the pictures all throughout the book make it rather necessary to actually read the hard copy.  The story chronicles Kelle’s life but mostly focuses on the arrival of her second daughter- who was unexpectantly born with down syndrome.

Anyway, I just thought the world should know about this book…I cried a lot, I laughed…and I was inspired to be a mom who looks for the joy in her kids, her days, her struggles- in life.

So, go read it now.