White Water Park

A few weeks ago we got together at my mom and Benton's house to celebrate all of the May birthdays (Grant, Benton, and my sister-in-law Kajsa all celebrate their birthdays in May!) and Mom and Benton decided to turn their backyard into a water park for the kids. They got several sprinklers and a slip-n-slide. Of course my brother, Chris, got in on the action, which just proves that he is the fun uncle.
By the way, all of the kids are wearing sunscreen shirts/rashguards, although it almost looks like they're just wearing regular shirts! They're all so fair-skinned that we have to work hard to protect them.
I love this photo of Finn and Benton/Poppy enjoying each other.
Here I am with Kajsa (5 months prego) doing my favorite activity: nursing! Okay, it's not really my favorite activity but I do spend a lot of time doing it. Boys, uncover your eyes, I'm totally modest.
There are more cute photos but I recently reorganized my photos on my computer and they seem to have gone missing. I'd say there's about a 5% chance I'll find them and post them.

Everyday Fun

The camera on my iPhone is pretty decent (not so good at always focusing on what I want it to focus on!) and it's so handy to have a camera with me to capture all of the little everyday moments that make me smile.
The other day I was grocery shopping at Publix where they have those fantastic shopping cart cars with room for two children. Usually I shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, where there are only the single-seaters, so I put Finn in the seat of the cart and wear Carolina in the sling. She weighs nearly 20 pounds and Finn requires lots of interaction to keep his booty in the seat (if I walk away from the cart for a minute to grab something or focus too much on my shopping and not enough on him, then he starts trying to climb out). You can imagine how tiring it can be to go grocery shopping with the two little ones! Anyway, it was nice to be able to put both Finn and Carolina in the shopping car and they looked so cute in there I just had to document the occasion. My M.O. when taking the children's photos is to take several photos right in a row and hope I get a decent one. Then later I go through them and delete the bloopers. The cashier must have thought I was a little nuts for taking their picture about ten times while we're in the checkout aisle.
I've also started exercising again for the first time since I was 8 months pregnant and was put on bed rest. I've taken lots of walks around the neighborhood but no hard-core exercise. That means I'm back at the YMCA and the kids are in the childcare there for about an hour each weekday. Everyone's done pretty well being there but occasionally Carolina will have the odd little meltdown. I was in the middle of running last week when I got the dreaded call on my cell phone asking me to come back downstairs, that Carolina was falling apart. I went right down and as soon as I got there I saw Carolina sleeping in the swing! Apparently she had been crying for about 10 minutes with them trying to comfort her and when they gave up and called me she just conked out. When I walked in there Miss Ernestine (the sweet elderly lady who's logged many hours holding all of my babies) said, "Go! Go do something else! Go take a shower or read a magazine! She's fine!" Since I had to walk by Finn's childcare room to get back out of the nursery and I didn't want him to see me and get upset, I crawled through the little hallway on my hands and knees. I felt (and looked) insane, but I was able to finish my run and then read a magazine in peace and quiet for 30 minutes until she woke up. Of course I had to photograph her sleeping in the swing, too.
I hope these little stories aren't too boring but this are the kind of events that make up my days and I want to be able to look back and remember the sweet, funny, and odd little things that happen.
Every Sunday Grant stays home with the children during nap/rest time and I RUN out of the house to sit at Panera for a couple of hours to drink coffee, read a book, or do whatever else I feel like doing! It's so rejuvenating for an introvert like me to get this time and I love Grant so much for recognizing my need and making it happen. It energizes me and gets me excited to jump back into my 24-hour-a-day job as a mom. I'll leave you with what I get to go home to after my little rest time:

Fun with Daddy's Helmet

Grant bought a scooter (you know, like a Vespa) a few months ago and drives it to work (I'd say he puts less than 5 or 10 miles on it daily). He had to buy a helmet, too, because we really enjoy his brain and would prefer it to be intact. I don't know if you ever noticed, but Grant has a pretty giant head, so his helmet is rather large, too. Maggie and Finn think it's hysterical to wear the helmet, and they're right - it's pretty funny to see that big helmet on their little bodies.

Here's Maggie doing a fierce modeling pose:
Here's a view from the back:
And I've saved the best for last. I think Finn looks like Marvin the Martian with the helmet on.

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

I posted this photo on Facebook but wanted to put it here, too.

We went to Central Market in Ft. Worth (it's similar to Whole Foods) and they had the most beautiful cherries when we walked in. Who doesn't love fresh cherries?!

I think on Facebook I captioned this photo something like, "At Grandma and Grandpa's, life is just a bowl of cherries!"

Texas Tea Party

Grandma and Maggie have legendary tea parties whenever we're in Texas. This past trip was no exception. Grandma pulls out all the stops - frilly toothpicks, delicate tea set, fancy hats, and lots of bling. Maggie prefers "white tea" (aka milk) and takes it with cream and sugar.
You can see for yourself how elegant Maggie is at the tea party.

New look

I'm still working on it...obviously things are a little wonky. Bear with me!

More fun in TX

While we were in Texas Carolina was trying to crawl. Grant didn't want to miss her first crawl so I was crossing my fingers that she would wait for him to start. She was, however, scooting all over town. I put her down in the center of the carpet and about 2 minutes later she had gone seven feet across to the hardwood floor. Here she is in a picture Grant captioned as "The world's cutest push up."
She also logged a lot of time in Grant's old high chair. I believe it was also used by Grant's mother and uncles and even his grandfather. Isn't that amazing!? Finn also sat in it a lot.
And I just love this sweet photo of the children.
They probably poked each other's eyes out one second after this was taken but they sure are cute, huh?

Bathtime in Texas

My older sister, Erin, is so good about taking her son, Jack, to get his haircut. Every time I see him he looks like he has a fresh hair cut. I, on the other hand, seem completely incapable of getting Finn's hair cut more often than once every three months. It get soo long. What is my problem?! Anyway, a good thing about it getting long is that it makes a really awesome mohawk in the bath tub. Here's a front view:
And an awesome side view:
Isn't that fantastic? It's worth him looking mangy the rest of the time, right?
Maggie was so impressed by his mohawk that she wanted one, too. Unfortunately her hair is too long.
And Carolina..she barely has any hair to speak of! Poor little baldy.

Hold You, Texas Edition

I can't stop photographing Finn holding Carolina. It just cracks me up. Here they are on Grandma and Grandpa's couch in Texas.
Looking good:
Aaaaaaaand...falling off.

Fun in TX (Part I)

While we were in TX Maggie had lots of dates. With whom, you ask? With Grandpa, of course! After the little kids had gone to bed Maggie had the special privilege of staying up and watching movies with Grandpa. He's slowly collected many classic Disney films and so they would watch 20 or so minutes of one every night. They had lots of fun.
They also watched golf together one Sunday. Obviously it was scintillating. In case you can't tell, both Rusty and Maggie fell asleep on the couch.
And here is Carol holding Carolina. Carolina is pretty washed out but look at those matching blue eyes!
We had a great time but we're glad to be home. I can't believe they let us come stay there for so long! Thank you, Rusty and Carol!