Lazy Days of Summer

We have enjoyed almost a full week of summer here at home. I love thinking about having nothing to do. Of course, nothing, is a relative term because I am busier than I have ever been with keeping up with these two this summer!! It is very different from last summer because they were still not walking last summer. This summer... walking, running, jumping, climbing.. you name it! I have already discovered that SF can now climb into our kitchen chairs. I discovered that because while I was getting her lunch ready, she climbed into the chair, grabbed a can of lemonade and poured it all over herself, the chair, and the floor. She said "sah-wee", though. :-)

We had to get a new pool this year because hippo pool from last summer did not withstand the winter. It wouldn't have been big enough for two busy kids this summer anyway. We also got a new sprinkler, but we haven't tried it yet. I will really have to be in the mood for grass and mud-covered kids!

On Tuesday, we met some friends at our neighborhood pool. Rush seemed to enjoy the baby pool, although he did take nose-dive and ended up going under unintentionally. It scared him, but he was fine in only a few seconds. My little Fran on the other hand has a much more cautious personality. She stood on the side of the pool and just watched for a looong time. I finally made her sit in my lap and dangle her feet in the water. Then, I put her down into the water, which comes up to her thighs. She said, "I out" as soon as I put her in, so I put her back out. Then she said, "I in." So, I put her back in even though that is TOTALLY not my style. I wanted her to try to get used to it, so I thought I might take a little in/out. She was finally OK by the end and played with a few toys for about five minutes. We will try again another day.


Getting ready to go

Hanging out on the side with Camille

Ready to try anything!

Yesterday, we tried out the blow-up pool in the backyard. I love doing this because I feel like I can relax a little more. I am a little bit of a nervous wreck just in general, but the neighborhood pool makes me really jittery. In the backyard, they are right there at my feet, and I don't have anything distracting me. So, I love the neighborhood pool for friends and play dates, but I love the backyard for my sanity. If you have small children, you know how long it takes to get them ready to even head out into the sun. There are large quantities of very high SPF sunscreen to be slathered, towels to be gathered, swimsuits to slide into, and toys to be found... not to mention that my arm muscles got some excercise pumping up the pool. So, what I'm saying is.. it is kind of a pain. So, you can imagine how not excited I was when I put SF into the pool outside and she made this face... and then said, "I out."

I was considerably less friendly with my answer to her than I was at the neighborhood pool the day before. I wasn't up for a showdown at the pool in front of others, but in the semi-privacy of my backyard...it was on. She was not getting out of the pool. So, I said, "Ohhh NO! You are staying IN." It should be noted that we had already discussed the pool during snack. She was VERY interested in the pool when she saw it from the table while she ate. Rush on the other hand was enjoying the new pool. So, my "NO" led to this face...

And then this one...


Oh well, Mama had already decided who was going to end up the winner in this battle, and it wasn't the one year old. I knew if she gave it a few minutes, she would end up enjoying herself like Rush had already started to do. We ended the afternoon like this...

Picture Post

I am SO busy right now!!! Ahhhh!!! Only a few more days until we will be enjoying the best time of year... SUMMER!! Not much time for blogging these days, but I have promised Michelle a picture post with some chubby cheeks just to keep her satisfied until I have more time. :-)


Coloring a birthday card for Papa


Chillin' in Mama's spot in the bed with the "mote"


See my cool new t-shirt Granddaddy brought me from Australia? The kangaroos are fuzzy.



I got a t-shirt, too, plus my Mama put my bow in the center of my head today. Do I look funny or something?



Rush had his first juice box on Mother's Day. He LOVED it...like caved in the sides of the box loved it. He has never had juice straight up before. I always mix it with LOTS of water, so this was a treat for him. He was able to easily drink from the straw.


SF had a juice box after some coaxing. She finally ended up enjoying the juice, too.

See you all when summer comes around!

Picture change

Something has happened with my camera settings. I put in a new memory card, and all of my newer pictures end up being HUGE when I try to post them to the header. So, I am using an old picture for now. It is MY FAVORITE of all time of the two of them together. I have posted it before several times, but it has never been the header. So why not now as we approach the two year mark this summer? I think now is the perfect time. I am loving the toddlers they are becoming, but I am also so missing the babies they were. The new,old header picture (for those that have missed it in the past)was the night that Rush joined us all at home. He was second to come home from the hospital, and I think he missed his ti-ta. So they snuggled up in the bassinet. Just let me stare at their baby-ness for a few days and then I will change it. Meanwhile, if you know anything about Blogger, please tell me why my pictures are huge now.

Just when I thought...

he couldn't get any cuter....Rush got a big boy haircut!!! I must admit... I was NOT in favor of his hair being cut again for a few more months, but Phil really felt like it was time, and so after many discussions, he won in the end. Phil even called the place where he gets his hair cut and made the appointment. He really felt pretty strongly about this. Rush and Sydney Frances are having portraits made in May, so we needed to make a decision about what to do...long or short. His hair was getting pretty long, and it did need to be trimmed, but my heart was just attached to those baby curls. It means the end of babyhood. So now, we have moved on to a new phase. I officially can no longer call them "the babies". I am not sure what their new "name" will be, but I gotta come up with something new. Of course, they will always be MY babies, but it is time to let them spread those wings a little. By the way, I LOVE Rush's new hairstyle. It is so cute, and STILL curly. He is definitely bring some wave into this next phase of his life. Sweet little man.

Look at this handsome fellow:


He keeps pointing to his head and saying "haya" aka hair. He sounds he like he might be a native of Boston or Brooklyn. I can't quite place the accent. Thank goodness those chubby cheeks are still in place, though. I don't know what I will do when those are gone!

I've got nothing to say

Really... I know it doesn't happen often, but I don't have anything to blog about. I could tell you some gross stories about how we spent the last week with both kids having a stomach virus, but I will spare you those details. Instead of enjoying birthday parties and fun times with friends, we stayed at home... eating saltines and trying to force unwilling little people to drink Pedialyte. SF said, "Eh NOOOOOOOOO... milt" which translates to "Whatever is in my cup doesn't look like milt, so I am not even going to try it. Get me some milt." Unfortunately, milt was not on the stomach bug menu, so she had to wait a while for that. So, there are no fun action shots from the birthday parties we missed or fun days spent in the beautiful sunshine. We did finally venture out at the end of the weekend for some shoe shopping. I dressed them in what they would have worn to the birthday parties if we had been able to go. Enjoy the un-birthday party cuteness.


I don't want you to take my picture.



All of Rush's photos these days are "action" shots. He won't be still or keep his shirt tucked in. And he always needs a bat in his hand. (Psst.. I secretly love that... very boyish of him.)



I actually think SF looks like Rush a little bit here. I don't usually think they look alike. I also love this picture.



And finally, this one is of Rush snoozing and refusing to wake up for school while visions of his teenage years flash in my head. I love how Puppy is snuggled around his neck. (Note from Rush the Woodchuck... please notice to the right of the picture that I believe cribs make excellent teething equipment. A little furniture finish never hurt anyone.) Seriously, we had to wrap as much of the edge of the crib as we could in 'sheet-savers'. This little bit of gnawed crib slipped through, though.

Getting comfy

These two do so many things on a daily basis that just make us laugh! Phil and I have decorative pillows that go on our bed when it is actually made. Truthfully, that doesn't happen often, so the pillows are usually stacked in front of our dresser. What a perfect place for the kiddos to play! Rush went over and grabbed a pillow and propped himself up at the end of our bed against the foot board. It just cracked me up that he decided to do this all on his own. He just settled in and looked around. When he saw that we thought it was funny, he laughed too. Of course, sweet SF had to join in with her own pillow. That girl doesn't want to miss any fun! She takes after her Mama that way!

Easter

I know... I know... Easter was almost a week ago. I have heard from several people that they are wanting to see some Easter pictures, so here they are!!! We had a GREAT Easter! On the Saturday before Easter, we went to our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. Boy, we really missed the boat on that one!! It was supposed to start at 10:00, and we had gotten an email reminding us that it started promptly at 10:00. We were moving a little slowly that morning, and it was 10:00 and we were still at home. No worries, right? It was literally only one short street away in our neighborhood. Phil was a few minutes behind me with showering/dressing, so I told him I would go ahead and take the kids to the egg hunt, and he could meet us in a few minutes. I even made a pot of fresh coffee for us so that we could take a mugful to the egg hunt. Completely unnecessary coffee, it is evident now. When I pulled up with the kids in the wagon, I could hear them getting ready to start the egg hunt. OK. It hadn't started yet. Then, all of a sudden there were a huge bunch of kids running like crazy up the cul-de-sac. Screaming, running, snatching, running, and some more screaming! They were having a ball!!! Me? I was getting the kids out of the wagon. To make a long story short:
10:00 a.m. At home.. make decision to head to egg hunt.
10:02 a.m. Mass running and hunting
10:04 a.m. My friend, Susan, sees me and grabs Fran while I take Rush to the "kiddie section" to grab a few eggs. (She is a Mama of twins, too, so I think she felt sorry for me.)
10:06 a.m. Egg Hunt over.
10:07 a.m. Phil arrives with fresh coffee in hand
10:08 a.m. We laugh and say, "Oh well, maybe next year."

After the Egg Hunt, though, there was a special guest. Guess who? Guess what Fran thought about him? Hahahahahah!!! She was not a fan of the Easter bunny. She was willing to accept a roll of Smarties from his basket, but sit in his lap? You crazy people must be out of your minds!!!!!





On Easter Sunday, we spent time with our families. Sydney Frances was very interested in hunting eggs. She ran around and frantically placed eggs in her basket. She seemed to want to get as many as possible in her basket. Rush, on the other hand, would choose a few eggs and then stop to examine them. He would take them apart and look at them. I thought it was so funny because it really does kind of fit with their personalities. She was busy and sassy. He was taking it easy and figuring out how everything worked. Enjoy the pictures!!