Two Little Peas in a Pod

Even though having two kids makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes, I sure do love my two little peas in a pod!

Visting Quinn's Nana and Papa after Papa's surgery...

Enjoying some tummy time together...

Looking extra super cute in their hoodie towels...

And Caitlyn's personal favorite -- laying in the little floor thing together even though only Nathan is really supposed to be in there.

The other day while Caitlyn was screaming at the top of her lungs instead of going to bed and I was getting upset because I wanted to finally watch the last Harry Potter dvd with Quinn (cause you know, seeing movies in theaters is pretty much out of the question for the foreseeable future) and eat the Harry Potter treats I'd made, I thought to myself, "Kids are such party crashers!" And then the thought that immediately followed was "Yeah, but they're also the party." :) In the long run, who cares about watching a movie when the funniest, funnest, sweetest, saddest, and most fulfilling things are in real life...with your own family!!

Swimming with Dolphins

I have a close friend whose three-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy among other challenges. They've been accepted into a study that could help her central nervous system start to heal, but it's pretty pricey and they have one week left to raise what has turned out to be quite a bit of money since their plane ticket donation fell through. So in one last hopeful effort she has made this video and I wanted to post it here. Every little bit helps! Watch the video

Things To Do...Revisited

So a while back I did some posts about "things to do"--aka constructive and productive ways to keep your toddler super happy. I think I'll do another one today.

Caitlyn LOVES TO PAINT. Yeah, it's kind of a pain to set up and clean up, but you know what? If it keeps her happy for a half our, sign me up. I'm in love with the dollar bins at Target, Michaels, and JoAnn and I found a little miniature paint set...for $1! She loved it so much that I got a box of crayola washable kids paints.

Things I give her to paint include scrap paper, coloring book pages, little cardboard letters or cardboard flowers(gracias Michaels).

I put on her little apron that i got for a dollar at a Foreign Services families yard sale in D.C., pull out the AWESOME plastic table and chairs my mom and dad gave her, and we're set! In this picture she's daintily painting with the paintbrush, but that has evolved to finger painting on everything including arms and legs. And you know what? I'm ok with that too. Quick trip to the bathtub and it's like nothing ever happened.

A few weeks ago I pulled out a cardboard moving box and made an "Autumn box" out on the balcony with her.

Fun for everyone! And fine motor skill development for Caitlyn as an added bonus.

Random thoughts

I think I'll just post a random collection of pictures and thoughts today.

* I wish my little Nathan could stay 3 1/2 months old forever and ever. He is so snuggly and smiley and happy and sweet! Sometimes when I think about the fact that he's going to grow into a two-year-old with all the trauma that entails I feel downright depressed.

* It never ceases to amaze me how different these two are.

Could they look more different? Also Nathan HATES being in his carseat and Cait loved it -- it was a guaranteed way to get her to sleep and it's usually the opposite for Nathan. Caitlyn hated diaper changes (and let's be honest, every diaper change is still a round of WWF), Nathan smiles and squeals as soon as he knows he's about to get a clean diaper. Nathan has slept well from day one, Caitlyn...let's just say we spent a lot of time holding her in a recliner in the middle of the night for the first few months.

* Grandma and Grandpa brought the bed I slept in in highschool when they came to visit, and they even sanded and painted it up beautifully! So Cait now has a sweet little bed instead of her crib mattress on the floor.

* Caitlyn was "helping" me do my makeup this morning and took the opportunity to do a little makeup of her own when I went to get the phone. Things could have been much worse with a rogue mascara brush. :) All I can say is wet wipes have become my best friend. They work like magic.

To Every Stay-at-home Mom

My friend Christy sent me this in an email the other day and I was laughing so hard at the mental image of some of these that I was crying! So I thought I'd post this for other stay at home moms to enjoy. :)

12 Questions every Stay at Home Mom should be allowed to ask her husband when he comes home and complains about a "hard day" at work!

1. When you walked into work this morning and pleasantly greeted your co-worker Jim, was his first reaction to scream “NO! WANT JASON!" followed by an office supply being thrown at you?

2.Has a colleague ever climbed up on your lap while you were using your computer and slammed the keyboard with both fists until the up arrow no longer worked?

3.Do you have to lock yourself in the supply closet or bathroom on a regular basis in order to make phone calls?

4. Did you finish a complete thought at any time during the day?

5. When you went out to lunch with your fellow workers, did you have to pack a diaper/juice/extra outfit for them? Did you have to wipe their faces? Smile an apology and leave an extra tip for the waiter on their behalf?

6. When a co-worker needed you for something, did she sit at her desk with her head tilted back toward the ceiling and repeatedly scream “SEAN! SEEEEANNNN! SEAAAAAAN!” until you came to find him?

7. When you needed a specific colleague, did you search all over for him, only to finally find him giggling in the cabinet under the sink? Did you also find six pairs of your church shoes under there with him?

8. Have you had to come to an associate’s aid because she fell off her desk after trying to climb on top of it using a rolling chair?

9. When you reached for the report a co-worker was handing you, did he snatch them away at the last second and scream “MINE!” while shoving
you backwards?

10. Does your colleague lift up her shirt and pick things out of her belly button every time she comes over to ask a question?

11. While you are using the restroom, do various co-workers come in the stall and ask you to settle a disagreement or open a packet of fruit snacks?

12. During a board meeting when everyone is present, do you notice a smell and then have to check all your colleagues’ pants to locate it? In fact, at ANY point in your day do you have to deal with another person's feces?

I'm sure we could all add a few of our own to this!

Caitlyn quotes

A few of my favorite recent quotes from Cait:

As daddy picks her up to put her pajamas on: "Give some spaaace!" (When she's close to accidentally smothering the baby with her hugs and kisses I say to her, "Cait, let's give the baby some space ok?")

While she's sitting on the potty and we're singing funny songs together: "Mommy, you're crazy kid."

Very loudly during sacrament meeting as she instructs Quinn on which part of the coloring book page she wants him to color next: "Good job daddy! You're good coloring!"

In a high pitched voice like she's the mom and I'm the two-year old as she climbs up to the scriptures laying open on the table: "Have family scripture study?"

Love you so much little Cait!

I love birthday cake

Growing up my mom had a tradition of making us personalized cakes on our birthdays and I've always wanted to carry on the tradition. On Cait's first bday I made a doll cake.


This year she loves Winnie the Pooh so I decided to make her a Pooh Bear cake. There were lots of pictures online to browse. I didn't want to have to buy a mold, so I found this really cool cake decorating blog with a super cute Pooh Bear cake and planned to copy it.


Super cute, right? I was all set to go but then on the day of her little friends party last weekend we realized we needed a few more things at the store and then the baby needed nursing of course and this and that came up, and suddenly I realized I had an hour and a half before we needed to get to the park. Time for the modified cake plan. So this was the much simpler, much quicker finished product, using little toy figurines instead.



Yummy! I love birthday cake!