Daddy-Land

With W&E being switched to one nap per day,
it is getting easier to take them on field trips.

Jason had been talking about
this field trip all week.

Maybe it is every father's dream to take his children to a place where the shelves are filled with all things electrical, the smell in the air is freshly cut wood and the busy workers wear orange aprons. Come Thursday morning, Jason was already planning out his day with the kids; his eager anticipation to take them to HIS territory was palpable.

It is no easy feat to get two busy crawlers fed, dressed and loaded into their respective car seats. It usually consists of someone heading towards the dog bowls or crawling away from you as a game. It usually means you are changing two diapers at the same time hoping everyone 'exposed' keeps their bodily fluids to themselves for just a few more seconds. It usually means kid #1 has his socks off and crawling away by the time you get kid #2 in their socks (and the circle continues once or twice more). And of course, it usually means when you have kid #1 loaded into the car seat, kid #2 just handled more 'business' and another diaper change is in order, while kid#1 grows more impatient because the Silver Bullet isn't rolling out of the driveway yet.

BUT....we love this routine!

Why?


...because when we finally DO leave the house (yes it actually happens), W&E are champion travelers and love going out, even if it is to Home Depot.

Job well done, honey!

*Please note, the cart they are sitting in specifically says for 2yrs and older, but does daddy take caution? Nope, he straps them in anyway. I suppose being the tanks that they are, they fit quite nicely.

I Simply Remember My Favorite Things

Cliche?

Maybe, but one of my favorite things
is hearing these two laugh, giggle and squeal.

If your hand is in the shape of a claw
and it is nearing this little man
he will start to squeal in anticipation
of what is coming next.


Evelyn will lunge herself at you
and wrap her arms around around you
in this bear hug embrace.
I LOVE her snuggles.

She is so incredibly animated. She will grab a toy and whip around, holding it out towards you as if to say "HERE! Look what I have for you!!". Her eyes beaming; her smile contagious. I can't help but take the object being offered and express a excited "Thank you EVI!!". She sits back down proudly and looks for the next toy to hand off.


Then of course, there are the moments when a mother makes all the funny noises she can muster; pretends to sneeze for the quick glimmer of a smile; waves her hands around in the air as if she's being attacked by killer bee's; talk in a very high pitched voice that is inaudible to everyone but the neighborhood dogs....for what?

To get a smile. A simple smile. One tiny smile.

Nope....they just look at me as if I'm CRAZY.

Pick Me Up!

I'm not an expert (I know, hard to admit at times), but at what age do kids start to grasp the concept of pick up/put toys away? Certainly not 11 months, right?

Maybe I just like to think my
kids are 'smarter' than most kids.
(and no, I will not sport the bumper sticker that says
'my kid is smarter than your kid', or the like)



For the last week Wyatt and Evelyn
have been helping with clean up;
Picking up their 1st Pops and putting
them back into their container.
Oh how they like to do whatever
mommy and daddy are doing.
Help with clean up?
Sure!

**On a side note, we are busy planning away for their 1st Birthday. I'm not a huge fan on elaborate parties and thinking ahead in years to come I'll avoid the 'shared' birthday parties, thank you. They need to feel special, individual, rightly so if you ask me. HOWEVER, #1 is going to be shared and it's all about the pirates. I am tickled over how their invitations turned out...scratch that...I'm ecstatic! I can't wait for people to receive them in their mailboxes. Would you expect anything less from this stationer?

***A picture of the invitation is soon coming;
it remains a secret!
(Thanks Gretchen for your design and help on this milestone project!)