From the mouth of Lane

While putting his arms through the sleeves of Parker's coat: "Hi Mom, I'm Parker"

While delivering Meals On Wheels: "Oh, look Momma, that a old man." (One of our stops is to a retirement community. Good thing the "old man" was hard of hearing)

While in the car listening to Wheels on the Bus:"I love you too mommy!" (After the part where they say "the mommy on the bus says I Love You, I Love You, I Love You')

"I can't hear it, the music. Turn it up" (Apparently the music in the car wasn't loud enough for him!)

"Bye, Mom! I going to work. Have fun. I miss you and have a good day" while riding on his dump truck to "work."

After hearing him playing in his bed and not napping, I went up there. I walked in and saw him standing up, in his bed, with a blanket over his head and I could hear him talking. When he pulled the blanket off, he saw me and jumped a little bit because I startled him and goes "Oh Hi mom, I a ghost."

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Determination...

can sometimes turn into frustration.

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It's NO secret

I love Bokeh.

I mean really really love it.

Probably to the point that I over use it.

But I don't care. It's pleasing to my eye.

So much so, that last year I decided I wanted a camera just so I could adjust the Aperture.

So I bought one.

But the main reason I really really like Bokeh is...

because it "hides" just how messy the area I am photographing in REALLY is....

Case in point:


A really cluttered area. Just add some baby and some bokeh and VOILA! the mess disappears!


Ahh yes, Bokeh is my friend for more reasons than one!

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Life with 2

is hard. It's challenging and busy and adventurous and fun. But it's hard. Some days I feel like I got it down. Like the baby falls asleep without even having to rock her and the toddler doesn't have a melt down when you tell him no, he can't play with the outlet, for the 100th time. But most days it's fast and crazy and by 3:00 I can't remember if I ate breakfast or lunch for that matter and if we're lucky, we get out of the house and it doesn't take us a lifetime to do so.

And when given the choice between 30 more minutes of sleep or a shower, I mostly pick the sleep and when it comes down to it, the baby has to get fed, the dog has to get fed and the toddler has to get fed and if there's time, I might be able to eat too, but mostly there's not time. And if I happen to have time to eat, Lane will probably ingest half of it no doubt!

Life with 2 is hard especially when there is no help. No family to sit with the baby while you shower. No family to take the toddler to the park because it's too cold for the baby. And if you want a night out, you have to pay someone at least $50 to come over so you can do so. And really, when you are out, you are probably thinking about your babies because they aren't in the hands of family.

Life with 2 without family around is hard. Even when you have the most amazing partner in crime by your side helping you every step of the way. Even when you trade off holding the baby for bathing and putting to bed the toddler. Even when you trade off the toddler to nurse and cuddlethe baby. It's still hard. It's an even playing field now. You always have to "be in charge" of someone.

And while I love Greenville and the great life we've made for ourselves here, I wish I could stop by my sisters on a Wednesday afternoon and chat. I wish I could stop in to my mother-in-laws office and show off my babies more than once a year. I wish I could drop off Lane with my Dad while I took Parker to the Dr.

Simple solution: Y'ALL have to move here!!! :-)

You will seriously love Greenville. I cannot tell you enough how much we love it....

but the reality here is
Life with 2 is hard and some days I sometimes wish I had my family to share the hardships with.
Life with 2 is exciting and fun and crazy and busy and has expanded the love within our family two-fold and I sometimes wish I had my family here to share the happiness with,
but some days it's just hard.

And on that note....I'm off to Illinois to spend a week with our family!

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Lane=paci free

But shhhh don't say the P-word.

So yesterday was, unbeknownst to me, the day my "baby" would let go of a little more of his baby-ness.

It was nap time and I had a lot going on. My newsletter was about to be published and I had a few more changes to make. I was feeling flustered. Lane isn't allowed to have his paci out of his bed, but sometimes he gets it out and wants to "hold" it. Ok, fine. Whatever. Well apparently he did that yesterday and we lost track of it. Like the mean mom that I am, I told him he had to nap without it because we can't find it. "It lost?" he asked. Yep, it lost.

After 5 minutes of crying, followed by an hour of playing in his crib, I finally went up there and said he had to take a nap without his paci. I was fully ready for a napless day. He looked at me, laid down with his lovie and said "Ok, momma" and closed his eyes. And then I wanted to cry. Within 2 minutes he was asleep.

The true test was bed time. Matt took him up, brushed his teeth, played around and then read books. Lane talked about his lost paci and even looked for it in a few spots. Matt put him to bed with his flashlight and left the hall light on and then we waited. No crying, no whimpering, not a sound. Within the hour, he fell asleep and hasn't asked for it since.

Bittersweet, I tell ya, bittersweet.

Oh and he also started pronouncing his L's yesterday, on his own. He usually calls himself Yane and our dog Har-ee. But yesterday it was HarLLLLLey and LLLLLane. When he's talking fast they still come out like Y's, but when he's thinking about it, they are very pronounced.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And to top it off...he now calls me 'mom.' No more momma or the occasional 'mommy.' Just mom. What is he like 7 now or what?!

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Wordless Wednesday {Can I hold her?}

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My friends call me Smiley

No seriously, they do. I found out a while back that some co-workers/friends that Matt works with call me Smiley. LOL! (I'm sure some of my family members might disagree.)

Apparently, Parker takes after her momma. The girl smiles all the time. Even if she's mid-whimper, you can look at her and she will smile...while whimpering! She's such a sweet girl.


Momma jumping up and down trying to get a big ol' smile=out of focus picture. But cute none-the-less

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205/99

The numbers that I'm sure my blood pressure would have read had it been taken after P's Dr. appointment this morning.

It was her 4 month well check and she is, well, WELL! It was in fact, confirmed that she is a peanut with a capital P. Remember when I said she was probably 12 lbs. soaking wet. Well let's just say really really soaking wet! She didn't even hit 12 on the scale this morning. 8% for weight. How can a baby who eats every 1.5-2 hours be in the 8th% for weight?!?! But she is 25 inches long and hit the 75th percentile for that. The Dr. said she probably has some crazy high metabolism...which seems to run in the family.

She hit all of her developmental milestones. I took her off of one dose of Prevacid last week and the Dr. wants me to put her back on both doses because she can't afford to spit-up. She doesn't seem to be bothered on the lesser does, but she does spit up sometimes. And she also wants me to start giving her cereal for some more calories so another reason for the 2 doses of Prevacid. I am not totally on board with this. I'd prefer to wait until 6 months, but she has to go back for a weight check next month and I know they are going to ask me how the cereal is going. Plus, if it will help her put on a little more weight, then it's for the best.

And Dr. Nelson asked me when she was checking Parker over if she is always this quiet and calm and yes she is! She's so good. Unless she's tired or hungry and then she's a crab, but then again, so am I!

So the stressful part, oh yeah...LANE. He was everywhere. Climbing up on the stool. Playing with the water. Opening the door and walking around the office. I have never seen him act like that. He is usually so good and sits and reads a book or plays with his cars.

And then, I decided that he needed a flu shot so at the end of the appointment, they were both crying. I was able to distract him with a snack and nurse Parker so the situation calmed rather quickly, but then, then, it was time to go. Lane found a toy that he really liked when I was checking out and he liked it so much he didn't want to leave. So, with car seat and giant purse/diaper bag in hand, I had to drag him out. Yes, he was crying, yes he was trying to break free from me while I dragged him out of the hospital and to the car. And like every outing ends lately, this one didn't disappoint....both children crying in the car. Me, turning up the radio and sucking back the tears. Sigh.

Instead of heading to Giggle Bugs like I had planned. We headed straight home for a time out. Big sigh.


And this girl.


(And those cheeks are as kissable as they look. Yum!)

I can't get enough of her!

Even at 12, 2, 4 and 6 AM I can't get enough of her....well maybe that's a lie. Dear Parker, whenever you want to start sleeping more than 2 hours straight at night, please feel free. This momma could use a stage of REM's!

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This Little Piggy

Went to market


This little piggy


Came home


This little piggy


Went wee wee wee


All the way home...

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Happy THREE DECADES to my favorite

Who is also the best husband, father, son, brother, friend I know. We love you Da-ee!! Here's to at least THREE DECADES (times 3) more! :-)









I made, by request, a birthday dinner for Matt.


Can anyone guess what it was?!




Then, it was time for candles and cake!


Make a wish!




This year we had a yummy red velvet cake.


I didn't make it, like last year's. This year, I dropped Lane off at school, ran to the gym with Parker, ran to Babies R' Us, the post office and then we stopped at Publix and picked out the perfect one because by the time we did all the running, there was barely time to put the candles in the cake before he got home! :-)

Happy Birthday Love!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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4 months

Dear Parker,
You are 4 months today!


You're getting so big baby girl and it's no surprise. Last month, you decided some nights you wanted to eat 2 or 3 times at night instead of sleep, but I *think* you are teething
(hence the chewing)


and apparently hitting a growth spurt. You do like your sleep and most nights only wake up once to fill your belly. I am starting to cherish the late night feedings. It's quiet and calm and all I hear is the sound of your happy sighs as the milk hits your belly. You barely wake up and as soon as you are done, you are back to dreamland.



You also love your naps and the only time you cry is when you are tired or hungry. I can tell when you are tired and sometimes you like me to hold you and rock you before you fall asleep, but most nights you want to be put down, have some quiet time to yourself and when we go back to check on you, you usually have fallen asleep. I don't know if it's doing this for the 2nd time or if you are just an easier baby, but it took me many many months for Lane to "put himself to sleep."

On January 12th, you laughed for the first time.



I was singing "Head and shoulders, knees and toes" to you and you let out a big old squeal followed by a belly laugh. It was the best! At Christmas we thought you were close to rolling over. You stick your legs straight up in the air while laying on your back and roll from side to side, but have never made it onto your belly. You are practicing all the time though!



You tolerate tummy time a little better, but not for too long.


You grab your toys and are sometimes able to put them into your mouth. You love your fingers, still won't take a paci and are liking your baths a little better. Daddy figured out that if we put a towel over you, you don't complain as much. So like the Princess that you are, he covers you in warm wash clothes while in the bath and then drapes a dry towel over you. You've got it made Lou Lou!

You babble and coo all the time and it's music to my ears.


Your car seat is becoming your friend. I think it was all the time you spent in it over our travels at Christmas. We are about to make our 2nd 12 hour trip back to IL to visit again. Hope you like it just as much as you did in December!



Today you went to the baby room at the gym all by yourself. Last week you went with your big brother, but today he was at school. When I brought you in, you were sleeping. All of the ladies LOVED seeing you and said you look just like Lane.



When I picked you up, you were awake, but still in your car seat just watching all the kids around you playing. Good job big girl! I hope you like it as much as Lane does!



4 BIG months it's been with you and we couldn't have enjoyed them more.

(Yes, she's a beauty (but I'm biased), no this picture is not edited in any way and is probably my favorite of her to date.)

Love you Parks!
Momma

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Ahhhraaaaummmmm

And here's the dialogue that goes with those pictures...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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