Wordless Wednesday

Little Mommy and Daddy

Ever since Ella and Aidan were introduced to baby Sullivan in person, the baby dolls in our household have suddenly gotten a lot of extra attention.

Ella has always been into her dolls (i.e. babies), but she has now named all of them Sully (each and every one) and gets very worried about their naptimes and making sure they have plenty of feedings.

Aidan could have cared less about dolls, but now likes to spend time with Ella feeding the babies. He keeps his manly image in place with a little firefghting gear!

The Princess and the Firefighter

We were honored to enjoy bagels and a trip to IKEA on Sunday morning in the company of a princess and a firefighter.

Silence is Deafening

Towards the end of a pregnancy, most expectant mothers will wake up to go to the bathroom every few hours. I think this is the body’s way of preparing you for a newborn and the impending sleepless nights!

I used to yearn for quiet and time to be able to accomplish the simplest of tasks around the house without a munchkin attached to my hip.

Enter preschool. Aaahhh…two days a week – six whole hours of “me” time. Time when I can get the house cleaned, laundry folded, errands run in half the time.

Since Ella and Aidan's first day of preschool last August, today is the very first time that I actually just dropped them off and came home. Until today, I filled the time with errands upon errands, occasionally babysitting friends’ children, random doctor appointments, lunch with friends, etc.

Today, the house is quiet. I was able to go through the motions of laundry, dishes, cooking and picking up without interruptions.

The funny thing is, I don’t have a clue how to operate in silence anymore. Quite frankly, it's lonely.

The silence is deafening.

I MISS the interruptions. I WANT Ella and Aidan to be under my feet asking for cookies. I WANT to hear them playing with their toys. I WANT to take 45 minutes to unload the dishwasher because they keep trying to help. For every time I uttered the words “I just can’t get anything done with these kids under my feet all day” I am eternally regretful.

The days that I looked forward to naptime so I could get a grocery list made, or finally fold all the piles of laundry…I regret those days too. If I could do it all again, I’d enjoy EVERY SINGLE WAKING MOMENT with them. I would never wish for them to sit still or take a nap or go to bed early.

There are so many couples in the world walking in the very same shoes that we filled many years ago. Wishing, hoping, dreaming for a child of their own. Did I really forget that pain - that yearning - this quickly into Ella & Aidan's little lives?

From now on, I will treasure every second with them and never again take for granted the precious gifts that we have been given in our little miracle babies.

Stumped

Juliane and the boys joined us this morning for a nice walk on our favorite greenway. I had praised this favorite spot of mine extensively about how it was a great place for us to get in a little exercise and for the kids to run, jump and play to their hearts' content.

Secretly, this particular greenway is one of my "happy places". I used to run at least 3+ miles each evening after work on this same gravel path. Once I met Mike, we used to ride our mountain bikes on this same path for 12+ miles before heading out to the more rugged trails around town.

Ahh...I digress...

This morning we managed to walk an entire 1/4 of a mile!

As it turned out, what I really should have told Juliane this morning was "Come join us - I know this spot with a great tree stump where we can just stand still for 45 minutes".

Seriously, once we came across this stump, there was no more forward motion. It literally captivated the kids' attention!

It was all fun and games until Ella pushed Aidan off of the stump and found herself in timeout....

....and then Aidan inadvertently poked her in the eye with one of the gigantic sticks (really more like branches) he insisted on collecting over and over again.

Luckily, we managed to make it out of the greenway without any further injuries!

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Adventure

Today began bright and early with Aidan's wake up call at 6:10 AM, shortly followed by Ella's at 6:22 AM. With Mike heading back to work at 6:30 AM after spending less than 24 hours with the family, I began the day irritated with my early rising children and a tad depressed about heading into yet another long week without Mike around.

Alas, life has no time for Mommy not to be functioning at 100% 24 hours a day, and off we headed to the Honda dealership for a much needed and long overdue oil change. I have to admit that I internally cringed as I handed over the keys and was told that they were running behind and to expect at least a two hour wait.

Hmm...this should be great fun with two energetic two-year olds.

I was informed that the fish tank was a sure thing to keep them entertained while I waited and that most children just sit captivated for the entire duration.

Well, it worked for approximately 1 minute and 23 seconds (yep, I timed it!). Once they discovered that there was no Nemo, they were done!

The cars around the corner were much more exciting and we ended up spending our wait time crawling in and out of each and every car in the showroom - including a jet ski. I am sure that the salesmen were thrilled with all of the nice new fingerprints added to the sheen of those new cars!

We even found one just the right size for Ella and Aidan!

By the time we left the dealership the kids were asking for lunch, so I decided to take them to Steak & Shake for something a little different.

They had a blast with the funny waitress, ate all of their meals, and loved their milkshakes! In fact, Ella even took over mine!

After a few "self portrait" photos, we were on our way.

All in all it turned out to be a pretty fun morning!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We spent a wonderful St. Patricks Day morning with our dear friends.

Little Sullivan may only be a few weeks old, but Juliane was not about to let the holiday pass without her talented fanfare!

The kids all enjoyed playing with each other while baby Sully spent some quality time being cuddled by his adoring fans.

The cupcakes with green icing were the hit of the morning!

Thanks Jul for another wonderful morning with great friends!

View Through a New Lens

One day last week I noticed that my camera would no longer focus properly at all unless I had it set in manual mode. I thought it might be user error, and that I had inadvertently hit some sort of random button, but after a visit to the camera doctor, I was informed that my lens had seen its better days.

The cost to repair the lens was pretty steep, especially considering how old it was. After test driving a new lens and falling instantly in love, my new camera friend informed me of the price - YIKES!

After chatting a bit about my desires, needs and uses related to photography, we settled on a lens at half the price and what was a bit easier of a price tag tag to swallow.

All I can say is MY GOODNESS!! What a difference a new lens makes! I can now get those amazing close-up shots that the old lens just could not support.

I am in heaven!! Now if I could just find the time to escape and take a few actual lessons we might be in business!

Scenes from Saturday

After last night's thunderstorms, it was wonderful to wake up to sunny skies this morning. Despite Mike having to work today, the kids and I were determined to enjoy the spring-like weather!

I began the day without any expectations or set plans, and it turned out to be one of the best days in quite a while!

We first found ourselves at the bagel shop before 8 AM where Ella and Aidan each picked out their own "meal". It was not even 9 AM yet when we finished and I just could not bring myself to start errands this early. So, on the way home I made an impromptu turn into the parking lot for the nearest greenway, telling myself that I would make one circle through the jam packed parking lot - if there was a spot, we would get out...if there was no spot, then our errands would begin.

Luck was on our side and we landed a parking spot! Off we went onto the greenway trail in search of, according to Ella and Aidan, sheep, bears and trucks.

As anyone with young toddlers can attest, walking a nice trail lends itself to 20 steps forward, 12 steps to the left side, then 25 steps to the right, and then backwards another 10 steps. Needless to say, we were on the trail for an hour and a half and only made it about 1/4 of a mile! We had a fantastic time greeting all of the joggers, dogs and cyclists (Ella and Aidan said either Hello or Good Morning to each and every passerby - I kid you not!), picking up sticks, gathering "sticky balls", finding worms, and playing in puddles.

By the time we made it back to the car both Ella and Aidan were requesting to see the alligator at Harris Teeter, so off we went.

Can you believe that through all of this fun I did not have a camera with me? I literally felt naked all morning!

After the grocery store it was time to burn off some more energy - so we headed down to the cul-de-sac with the scooters (and my beloved camera).

I have no idea how they instictively knew how to operate a scooter, but off they went!

We all missed having Daddy around today, but we made the most of the wonderful weather anyway!