Pool Time!

The other day the boys got to swim in their new pool for the very first time.


They were SO excited.


We walked outside and they ran over to it, squatted down, and stuck their little fingers in it. Once I gave them the go ahead they jumped right on in and just squealed and giggled. They played and splashed contently for over an hour.

It was heaven to sit there and watch them play so contently while I stuck my legs in the water! Pregnant Mama bliss!

We are going to get our money's worth out of that this summer I'm thinking!

I could not get Grayson to look at me for anything - so this is the best I could do!

Grinning Eatie Sweetie

Rough summer days :)

This was a year ago!

My how they've changed! (E left, G right)

The Stuff That Matters

Sometimes I feel like my head is just going to pop.

I'm thinking too much about too many things.

I have lists upon lists upon lists growing in my head.

Do this.
Wash this.
Finish this.
Sort this.
Buy this.
Call this number.
Change this.
Learn this.
Cook this.
Start this.
Try this.

I pick up one thing to put it away.
I set it down because I think of doing something else.
On the way to do that something else I remember to jot something down.
As I begin to jot it down I feel two little boys wrapping their little bodies around my legs.
I forget what I was going to jot down.
I now am no longer able to walk to put those things away.

And so the story goes...

Sometimes I find myself getting so bogged down by all my mental lists.

Because sometimes through the lens of these lists is how I begin to view myself.

I see myself as inadequate if A, B, and C is not done by the end of the day.

I see myself as less than a perfect mother if I don't find the perfect healthy dinner food that my boys will devour and beg me for more.

I try and do too much.

Spread myself too thin.

Be too many things and try to do them all perfectly.

And the other day I was just overwhelmed.

Just sad.

Just feeling empty.

In all honesty, not enjoying my life and missing the simplicity of the life I led before staying home.

I took it to my husband and told him that I was feeling overwhelmed.

Feeling like my life just spins out of control sometimes and I lose sight of who I am in the midst of it.

I lose sight of what really matters.

We had a really good talk. He has this way of helping me to get back to the basics. To see life in a much simpler way.

And so these past few days I have really been feeling free.

I have been allowing myself to feel free.

To let it go.

To enjoy simple moments with my boys because they are things that I want to do with them and things that I know they want me to do with them. Not things that I think would look or sound good on my blog or allow me to add a notch in my awesome mother belt.

I have danced with them in the kitchen.

Laid my head in their lap and let them poke my face and name it's parts.

Buried my face in to their curly locks and breathed in the amazing aroma of my sons.

Just sat.
Sat and watched.
Sat and learned.
Sat and enjoyed.

Because I don't want to get caught up in the things that don't really matter.

Well sure I want to have a nice home.
Have a delicious dinner on the table.
Have my boys eat healthy food.
Save money for my family.
and on, and on, and on....

But in the midst of trying to meet all my self-set deadlines, goals, chores, lists, and dreams I don't want to lose sight of the here and now.

I want to be a present force.
I want to bless my boys with a mother who is here.
Who cares.
Who smiles.
Who loves.
Who feels joy and who can laugh.

I want to be a good wife to my husband.
A wife who listens.
Who supports.
Who encourages.
Who gets goofy with him and laughs at his dumb jokes.

I just want to shut off all the influences that I let overwhelm me sometimes.
To stop the comparing game.

And to just be me content in this place that I am supposed to be in right now.

A Berry Good Time

The boys and I took a little trek to the strawberry patch today. It was their first experience and they really enjoyed themselves and so did I. I really wasn't sure what to expect with turning two 17 month olds loose in a field full of fruit, but they stuck pretty close to me and seemed to enjoy studying everything around them.

This little local place is so great. It is a quiet little berry farm just tucked away and a close drive from our house. They let you pick your berries on an honor system. When you're done you weigh your strawberries and then put your cash in to a tackle box. I love the small town feel of it. I also loved that the strawberries were only $1.00 a pound! But what I really loved is that I never caught site of a skunk that I got a really strong whiff of right before we were going to leave. I was going through scenarios in my mind as to how I was going to chase a skunk away from us without getting sprayed! Now that would have been something to blog about!

By the time we left the boys were completely covered in dirt and strawberry juice. They enjoyed helping me pick the berries, but seemed especially drawn to the rotten ones! I kept a close eye on them, thinking they would stick every strawberry they saw in to their mouths, but they didn't! What a change from last spring where every single thing went straight in no matter what it was.

We picked 8 pounds today and I would love to go back! I am addicted! It was so hard to walk out when I kept seeing strawberry after beautiful strawberry (the skunk smell really helped to get me moving though)!

Ethan and Grayson inspecting the crop

Ethan really liked this one!

Catching Up

Whenever I have time to blog I decide to do three or four separate entries in the same night. I really need to try and do better about getting a post out every day or two instead of piling them all up and waiting!

It has been a busy month of May here for us so far. The boys both got their first ear infections. :( We also had company for nearly two weeks that just left this past Friday. Uncle David, Ama, Baba, and the boys Great Aunt Barb and Great Uncle Bob all came to the house to visit. The boys also made a trip up to D.C. with us to attend a graduation party for my cousin Jacky. It has been so much fun!

The boys are doing so much these days. I am just in awe over the little boys that they are becoming! They make us laugh and they love that they do! If they get laughs they will keep doing it over and over and over again!

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks:

Ethan on the left, and Grayson on the right at the March of Dimes walk. We walked starting at the hospital where they were born.

Playing trains with Baba

Ethan with Grandpa and Grayson with Grandma

In addition, I have now passed the 23 week mark of my pregnancy. I am past the point where I was put on bed rest with the boys and that is an awesome feeling! So far everything is looking great and they are considering me a "normal" pregnancy! Who would have guessed I could ever have one of those! I am feeling really great and feeling little Lilypie (my MIL's name for her!) move all the time. Well, no, not all the time. Mostly around 10:30 at night when I lay down to sleep!

Chris is finishing up his MBA and will officially be done in early July! After three + years of classes, tests, and late nights, he will be ours again! We are so excited for him to be done and just in time before another little addition enters our midst! I am so proud of him. He has done so well and has learned so much.

I guess that's us right now in a nutshell.

Life is just full (whose isn't?), but it is so good and we are so blessed.

Crazy, but blessed!

I Dunno!

A few weeks ago as we were eating dinner I played a little game with the boys. Ethan's milk cup had fallen off his tray and was wedged down beside him. I asked him, "Ethan, where's your milk?" He just looked at me. I then held up my hands and I said "I don't know." I then pulled his milk out and said "Here it is!" Both boys got a big kick out of it. A really big kick out of it (they really think I am the funniest person e.v.e.r.! One of the best parts of being a Mom of toddlers! Wait until they're 16 and they roll their eyes at all my attempted jokes!). They both started taking their milk cups, sticking them down in their laps, holding up their hands, and saying "I dunno!"

It has now carried over. All day long when you ask them where anything is...like...

Where's Daddy?
Where's Grandma?
Where's the car?
Where's the ball?
Where's Ethan?
Where's Grayson?
Where's the moon?



Every time they stop what they're doing, put their hands up in the air, and say "I dunno!"



Whenever the boys get a bath they love to run around the house with their hooded towel flowing behind them. Up and down the hallway they run, screaming, giggling, and chasing each other. Tonight I was sitting in the living room folding some laundry while my little toweled toddlers squealed throughout the house. All of the sudden it got quiet. I looked up, and there in the kitchen doorway stood two completely naked little boys. Their towels had fallen off of them and were laying on the floor. Both boys were holding their little hands up in the air and they looked right at me and said "I dunno!" Then off like a streak they took off running without their towels.



Freedom!



Here is a picture taken with Grandpa and Grandma a few days ago showing their little hands. It is just too stinkin' cute!

Grayson

Can I just tell you how much I love this little boy?

From the little birthmark on the bottom of his right foot, to the drool just dripping off that cute, kissable chin.

He is my little stinker.

My little Mama's boy.

My little cuddlebug.

Tonight in the bathtub Ethan started throwing toys over the side of the tub. Grayson thought it looked like a lot of fun, and so he too joined in on the festivities. I quickly put a kibosh on it and told them sternly that we didn't throw our wet toys on to the floor. They both looked me right in the eyes, and both threw another one in my lap! I grabbed their little arms, looked them in the face, and told them again sternly that "Mommy said no." Ethan took me seriously this time and turned around to play in the bubbles instead. Grayson, on the other hand, took yet another toy and held it up over his head - ready to aim and fire. He then held it straight over the floor and looked at me and grinned. He didn't drop it, but he was sure thinking about it. When he saw the look on my face and saw that I wasn't amused, he put the toy back in the tub and continued playing with something else.

It probably shouldn't surprise me then that Grayson's favorite book lately has been this one:




Whenever I read it he shakes one little finger, shakes his head no back and forth, and says "na, na, na."

Visiting

We are really enjoying our visit with Uncle Schmood this week. The boys took all of about 5 seconds to warm up to their uncle. It may not have hurt that he came bearing dump trucks and play phones! They have been eating him up and look for him when he's not in the room. They have been saying his name "DayDid" and chasing him up and down the hallway. We still have a few more days left with him and then Grandma and Grandpa (Ama and Baba) come to visit!

Uncle Dave bought the boys a mega bubble machine. It blows 500 bubbles a minute! They love it!

Reading their favorite book called, fittingly, "Twins!"

The Other Side of the Fence

You know the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side."

Well...in our case it may not be greener, but it sure is better looking!

We are the only home in this entire town (or maybe just our block - not quite sure) that has a yard FULL of dandelions. We mow and the next day they are popping their little lovely yellow heads up again - just to taunt me I am certain.

I hate it.

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. (Stomping my foot and furrowing my brow).

We come pulling down our lovely street. The mountain laying majestically before us, birds singing, white picket fences, rose bushes in full bloom all down the block...

and then at our address this...

So the other day I called TruGreen Chemlawn. I often see their little men riding around our neighbors yards spraying their little magic juice. I was excited about the possibility of saying goodbye to the pesky little things, so I wanted to check out my options.

My biggest concern though was the thought of my little children running around the yard in their bare feet after the little chemical man just sprayed the yard full of dandelion killer. I wanted to see if they could give me any comforting words about the safety of their product, and put my mind at ease.

When I called a woman answered. I explained to her my concern and her response was "Ummm....Yeah. We typically tell parents to not let their pets and children play on the grass for two hours after we spray. Then it will probably be okay." Um, probably be okay? It wasn't like I was asking what the ice cream flavor of the week was - I wanted to know if it could cause damage to my children...and I get a "probably be okay." Didn't sit so good with me!

I asked her if there was anything a little more concrete she could give me. Statistics, chemical make-up of their product, any green product that would take care of them (the dandelions that is) without using chemicals? She laughed and said that there was no way that you could kill dandelions without using chemicals.

And so, we've decided for now to stay the only house on the block with the yard full of thistles. Do we have any other options? Do any of you know of any other alternatives out there that are safe and non toxic?

Uncle Schmood

Uncle Schmoodie comes to visit today!

He hasn't been here since the boys looked like this...

so I think he will see a little bit of a difference!