Documentation

Yesterday Lainey shocked me by telling me a joke. Her first ever.  I almost didn't catch it at first.  If you know Lainey very well, you know she isn't that much of a conversationalist. Unless you're Pete, Sally or an Ant Bully.  In any case, it made my whole day and that's saying something since Saturday was a pretty darn good day.  And after the awful day her and I had on Friday, we both needed a good one.  I just had to document the occasion.

Here it is:

Lainey: "Mommy, what did the egg say to the udder egg?"

Me: "What?"  Really truly not understanding what she said but luckily, hit on the proper response.

Lainey: "Get crackin!"

Freshest Face I've ever seen

Hey all,

I entered Beau in a contest a local photog is having and need your help in making Beau-meister the spokesmodel for her Fresh Face 2010!

All you need to do is "Like" the photographer's Facebook page and comment on his photo.  Well, ok, you have to be on Facebook too. If you're not on Facebook, I don't expect you to sign up just for this so don't worry about it. But if you are, please vote for my beautiful boy!  Here's the pic I used and the photographer's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alicen-Lum-Photography/108396240667

Thank you very much!!

It's been interesting and fun to see all the plants and flowers that the previous owners of our house planted.  Since we moved in, the irises have come up and started to bloom. I've counted three different colors, my favorite being this white one.  Lucky for me, they are planted in view of the kitchen window.   This was the first one to bloom and I couldn't resist taking photos of it.  The white is so crisp and clean.  I wanted to put a white background behind and shoot white on white but I had limited time and couldn't find anything bigger than a sheet of copy paper to use.   Sadly, Lainey shredded this beautiful bloom along with several that are planted up by the playhouse. 

New Friends

Lainey introduced Harry Elefante (or is that P. Nutt? I can't remember) to her horse Sugar last night.
They seem to be getting along famously.  She's quite the matchmaker.

My kind of equation

   

Free cupcakes for new customers

+Groceries delivered to my front door that same day

+Playing with dry ice

-A headache from taking two toddlers to the store that can't seem to stay in a  shopping cart

=One happy Mommy!

Visitors

Over Mother's Day weekend my Aunt and Uncle from Minnesota came out for a visit.  They hadn't seen Lainey since she was less than a year old and had never met Beau.  We spent the better part of a day together and I it made me happy to see my family on Mother's Day weekend.  It's hard to explain but in a way, when you lose your mom, you lose your history.  I can't have the original but this was a very nice alternative.  Beau and Lainey had a ball playing with both of them and I'm not sure who charmed who more-Beau or my Aunt Jean.  

Unfortunately, I was so focused on enjoying my time with them that I didn't take but a handful of photos.  And to Beau and Lainey, you can thank your great Uncle Jeff for my love of "baby meat."  

Dear Grandma Mary Liz

You better get here soon or there will be more pics like this one. 

and this one.  I just might post the one of Beau dangling by his ankles. We'll see....

hopes, dreams and plans for summer 2010

eating outside in the backyard

ice cream cones

crocs

dirty feet 

splashing in the pool

watching Lainey and Beau play in the backyard for hours on end

boat rides

exploring all the different parks and fun spots in Seattle

cute hats

avoiding sunburns
find where the Deadliest Catch boats are docked

weaning Beau off his bottle and pacifier

the tiniest and cutest pair of Keen's you've ever seen

savoring the smells of summer: lighter fluid and watermelon

sidewalk chalk

bubbles

walking to the park to watch the 4th of July fireworks

sunglasses

swimsuits and the little tushes in them 

making new friends in our new neighborhood

watching Lainey and Beau chase each other and soaking up the sweet sound of their giggles until someone gets hurt anyway

visits with friends and out of state family (hint hint!)
and lots more that I'm not even aware of or remembering
making lots of wonderful memories, family traditions and cherishing these little ones

New Tradition

We have made it a habit to walk down to the village after Robert gets home from work, hit the park for a bit, and then head over and get some ice cream.  We'd done it maybe three random times since we moved in when this last weekend, Lainey hopped into the stroller after playing and said, "Let's go get some ice cream!"  I think we can declare it a new family tradition.  

Lainey, with her raging sweet tooth, practically inhales her ice cream cone.  When she's finished hers, she asks for ours.  

Beau on the other hand, is not a fan of cold foods and wouldn't eat his cone. Well, the ice cream part. He loved the cone.  I'm sure his sister would be more than happy to eat the ice cream for him and leave the cone but she hasn't figured that out yet. I give it another couple of weeks.

*************
He does however, have no problem eating Lainey's dinner when she leaves it unattended.

Shhh! Don't tell Lainey I'm up eating her food Mom!

uhhhhh, a camera? NO pics Mom! She's going to be mad at me when she sees me!

Oh, who cares? This is GOOD!

Hee hee!! She's gonna be sooooo mad!

As long as he's eating, I don't care who the food belongs to!

My Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day.  I can't quite articulate why however.  It didn't used to be that way. I used to dread it with a passion.  I love that we spend the day together but I also love that Robert makes me my favorite breakfast-his yummy breakfast sandwich.  Maybe I love it because I get to be selfish without feeling guilty. I can be a little selfish if you haven't figured that out yet.  Word to the wise-never eat the last oreo or chocolate chip cookie or any kind of cookie for that matter.  Unless it's oatmeal raisin. Then it's all yours!

Anyway, I always have a great Mother's Day and it's thanks to Robert.  He spoils me rotten!  He cooks, cleans, changes diapers, cleans up spit up and barf, takes out the trash, supports me in whatever latest endeavor I've got my mind on, thinks I'm beautiful (I think he may be more than a little blind), puts up with my bad moods and tells me I'm a great mom.  He really is the whole package!  More than one friend has made fun of me and given me grief for how spoiled I am.  But I'm not going to apologize because I chose a good egg.  I love him with all my heart and truly don't deserve him. I don't tell him nearly enough how important he is to me or show my appreciation for him but he's mine and I'm gonna keep him!

On top of all that, on Mother's Day morning he got up super early, drove down to the market to get me flowers, and all the fixings for the breakfast he knows I love.  I woke up too early and found him scrambling around the kitchen trying to get it all ready to surprise me.

Hate me yet?

This year, I received my first homemade Mother's Day gift.  I love that little handprint and will cherish it forever. 

I'll stop there as I know it's a good thing you can't reach out and smack me through the computer.

I love you baby!

Mother's Day

Dear Lainey and Beau,

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and it will be my fourth. I can't help but wonder how I'm doing as your Mom.  You are both such fun and interesting little people and I hope I am the mom you need me to be.  I'm sure you've figured out by now that I'm not perfect.  Far from it in fact. One day, you will realize the cold hard truth just like I did: raising people is hard work!  Everyone says being a mom is the hardest job in the world.  But until you have kids of your own, you don't realize the ways in which it's hard.  I think about you both all day long.  You're on my mind first thing when I wake up with wondering what to make you for breakfast that you'll like and will nourish your little bodies.  All day long I worry if I'm teaching you the things you need to learn to become happy adults someday.  Am I paying enough attention to you, or too much to one of you and a not enough to the other? Do you know how much you are loved? Do you know how proud we are of both of you?  Am I setting the correct boundaries, disciplining you the right way, disciplining you enough, too much, too lenient, too harsh?   All day long I worry.  Every night before I go to sleep I go in your rooms and check on you.  What I'm checking for I'm still not sure. Sometimes you've kicked your blanket off, sometimes Beau, you've thrown one or both of your best friends, Bunnz or Bear out of the bed and I now you'll wake up and miss them so I put them next to you.  Lainey, some nights you've got your cup cradled in your arms like a baby doll and I move it so you won't hurt yourself with it in the night.  Mainly, I just look at you and take in your sweetness. If it wouldn't wake you, I'd crawl in bed next to you and snuggle up.  Then I think about the day we just had. The fun we had, the times I lost my patience, the kisses, the meals that you didn't like, the smiles, the temper tantrums, the hugs and the time outs.  And I'm exhausted.  If you're doing it right, being a Mom is the hardest job in the world.   I know that I worry so much because the wellbeing of two people I love most in the world (Daddy makes three), is my responsibility.  There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe, make you feel loved and to make you happy and healthy.  You are not just a job to me. You are my whole world and I don't know what I would do without you.  I can't even imagine my life without you both in it.   You have brought such joy, sweetness and beauty to my world. Every morning I am so excited to see your little faces and give you kisses and hugs and when you go to bed, it's not long before I miss you.  So while I'm not perfect and am not always the best at my job, I am trying and will continue to try for as long as I am your mother.   I love being your mom and am so proud of you both.  I could not have asked for more wonderful kids.  I'm sure you and Daddy have a great day planned for tomorrow. Mother's Day has become my favorite day outside of your birthdays.  I think it's because we spend the whole day together, just being a family.  I thank God for entrusting me with the two of you and soak in all your sweetness and light.

Love always,

Mommy

Mariners Game

We took the kids to our first Mariner's game of the season.  The weather wasn't too bad, sometimes it rained a little , sometimes there were clouds, sometimes it was sunny, and sometimes we got all three!  The kids had a good time although I'm not sure they watched a single moment of the game.  They liked all the food, especially the stuff they found under our seats, thanks to the idiots sitting behind us.  If you go to a game, do me and all mothers a favor. Throw your nasty, leftover garlic fries, Sour Patch Kids, hot dogs, peanut shells, etc,  under your seat and not the seats in front of you.  Little people just love to dig through the goodies they find on the floor.   Besides the buffet, Lainey and Beau really liked dancing to all the music that plays during the game.  I'd never paid attention to the music before taking kids to the game. Now, I pray there will be a song coming up soon so as to distract them!

Beau munching on what I hope is one of the snacks I brought from home and not the fries from under the seat. 

Beverage service

Seriously, all they did was eat! 

O

To be fair, when he wasn't eating, Beau flirted with the women behind us.