crazy normal

My immediate response when people ask lately how we are/ how I am is “Crazy, good but crazy”. However, the more I think about this the more I realize we are less and less crazy and more and more normal.  You see, before we had any kiddos we had plenty of time to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted and honestly I am not all that sure what we did with our boat loads of free time.  After we had Jay we thought we were seriously crazy and had no free time and then we had Charlie (bringing the parent child ratio up to one-to-one) and actually had less free time.  If you would have asked me about our free time when we just had Jay I would have found it rather laughable; now I am not sure what we did with it all.  Perspective is funny that way…  All this to say that we are crazy or normal; however you want to think of it and here is a taste of our crazy brought to you by the ever present iPhone.

monkey toes

yes that is a towel and yes it is soaking wet :(

the perfect little boy entertainment

duplo towers- Jay is REALLY into building these days

squishy returns ;)

what- doesn’t everyone have a whale and a cow in their pantry?

photographer in the making

his photo

reading the Monster at the End of this Book on the ipad… he really didn’t like it at first but enjoyed it after he realized “the blue guy” (Grover) was the monster

watermelon- Jay eats EVERY last bite

I apparently haven’t dumped my phone photos in forever so instead of overloading you all in one day I will post the rest tomorrow- stay tuned for part two ;)

my predicament

So it’s no secret that I am a little (or a lot depending on the day) OCD. I like things to be in their place, I like the counters to be wiped down, I like things to be clean and I really, really like our floors to be clean. I am sad to admit that how clean our floors are directly affects my anxiety level- SO sad but oh so true. If the floors aren’t clean I start to itch. In my defense, I spend the majority of my days at home AND the majority of that time on the floor. I play with little people and we play on the floor. Cleaning the floors seems a simple enough task right? Not so much in our home… we have two lovable but VERY furry pets- one long haired kitty and a puppy that sheds. They don’t make it more difficult it just means that the upkeep needs to happen more frequently.

Which leads to my current predicament- our vacuum is on the fritz again and is currently on it’s way to Chicago via UPS. It’s on it’s way to be fixed (YAY!) but I have no idea when it will actually get back to us :( AHHHHHHH! I haven’t vacuumed in a week plus (almost two) when I usually vacuum at least twice a week- again, sad but true. I am starting to twitch and itch- BIG time!! Someone might have to send help soon, too bad there isn’t a pill for OCD…

That’s all for now- I am off to enjoy my day with my boys regardless of the twitching and itching…

sghetti head

I have been sitting here for probably over an hour and every time I have started to write, my brain turns to mush and I end up erasing all that I have written and starting over.  So while I intended on posting some of the most recent happenings I am not going to fight it anymore.  I am going to resign to the supremo case of sghetti head (don’t know what that is? ask my hubby) and call it a night.  I will try again tomorrow if I am feeling a little less mushy…

However, since I am physically unable to post without a photo here is one of the four of us in all of our duplo surrounded, crazy hair, not looking self portrait glory.

Night all…

still no maid

Remember these photos of a sweet little boy from a few years back?  Well these ones reminded me SO much of those!

We still haven’t actually sprung for a maid (darn those ‘real’ maids wanting to actually get paid for doing work) but these cuties do help to make laundry more fun!  And apparently I push our little ones around in dirty laundry quite often- please no judgment ;)

Happy Friday to ya!

asking for trouble

I knew that I was asking for trouble when I allowed Charlie to be pushed by Jay. However, their joy far outweighed what could have happened AND since no one crashed, got ran over or hurt in any way I am going to call this activity win-win! Here’s hoping that Jay soon forgets how fun it is to push little brother in his cart ;)

oh and for all of you that are concerned, Jay was going/pushing VERY slow(ly) the whole time that Charlie was riding. Honestly, I am surprised that he actually could go that slowly :)

AND, we got video of it today- maybe we will get to posting video sometime soon. I make no promises though ;)

today i am…


a whopping 9 months old!!

Okay so this post is better late than never I suppose… here’s the update on our precious little 9 month old!!

It’s official, my tiny baby is gone!  Charlie is growing like a bad weed and learning something new literally every day!  It’s crazy to think that 9 months have gone by already, but what a blessed and fun 9 months it has been!

Stats-

Weight-19 1/4 pounds
Height- 27 1/2inches
Teeth- still NONE!!!  Which is crazy, especially since Jay had 6 by 9 months.  However, the little guys has been pretty grumpy and ran a fever (a low one) a few days ago so I have my fingers crossed that they are coming soon.

Things of Note-

*Sleeping- Charlie is still sleeping like a champ.  He goes to bed between 7 and 8 every night and usually sleeps until about 7 or 8 in the morning without so much as a peep during the night.  His naps are  a little less predictable although still pretty good.  Frequently he will sleep for 1-2 hours (sometimes 3)in the morning and then do that again in the afternoon.  The only time I have trouble with him is if we are not home, he likes to sleep in his bed and not the car, or if a certain older brother wants to be super loud during his morning naps :(

*On the move-  Charlie gave up the slow and steady crawl and is full on trucking now.  If little guy wants something he makes a mad dash for it and figures that nothing is stopping him.  He will also speed up if Jay is following him or if you get close to him to pick him up and when you do grab him he usually smiles and giggles at you- silly boy.

*Cruising-  He is not only pulling up but cruising the furniture now.  Jay is not a huge fan of his “safe” couch being within limits now; however, Charlie enjoys being about to grab more things that he would like.  He also loves walking behind his push lion.  He stops from time to time to dance to the music but LOVES the fact that he can push it along on his own.

*Eating-  We have gotten over the picky eater stage as long as we are talking about food that he can put in his mouth himself.  This little guy can eat and will eat pretty much anything that he can put him his own mouth.  He does have his favorites, mini club crackers, cheese, Mommy’s homemade Mac and Cheese, but is not all that picky about food anymore.  When it comes to fruit and veggie purees he does have his opinions though- he likes them cold and carrots are still at the top of his list.

*”Yay Charlie!”-  He doesn’t wave or clap yet but he does do “Yay Charlie!” which is basically “so big” with one hand.  He pumps one fist above his head when you say “yay Charlie” and is so proud of himself for doing so.  By the way, Mommy really loves this trick and will say “Yay Charlie” frequently throughout the day just because it makes her smile.

Likes-

*Peek-a-boo.  This is probably Charlie’s favorite game and one that will guarantee giggles, especially if he is playing with Daddy after bath time.  He loves to pull the towel off of his head and have Jamie say a big “peek-a-boo” which is usually followed by some raspberries and lots of giggles.

*Bath time-  Charlie LOVES his bath these days and along with that hates getting out.  During the day (unless the door is kept closed) he makes a beeline for the bathroom and just stands up at the tub banging on it and smiling.  I think he is hoping that someone will put him in it.  And at night he loves to play in there with Jay and if he would stay on his bottom I am sure that Daddy would let him play in there as long as he wanted.

*Music Table-  The music table is still one of Charlie’s favorite toys.  He will stand there for very long periods of time pushing buttons and dancing along with the music.  And while he sometimes will crawl away and play with something else he usually ends up back at the music table.

*Lion Push Toy-  The loin is probably Charlie’s other favorite toy.  He stands up and dances along with the music and pushes it around the family room (thankfully he hasn’t decided to venture further yet).  He will sit on the floor pushing it back and forth and knows exactly where to push to make it sing for him.

*Touch and Feel books- For a while Charlie wasn’t great at sitting and listening to books, he was too busy snatching them out of your hand to try and eat them.  However, lately he has taken a strong liking to the touch and feel books; That’s Not My Dragon and That’s Not My Baby being among his favorites.  He sits very patiently in laps while we read and touches every page, maybe we have a tactile learner on our hands :)  He also really likes Peek-a-Who?,  which is not a touch and feel book.

*Bella’s food dish and water-  One of Charlie’s favorite games lately is “Race you to the Kitty Food”.  Regardless of how far away he is from Bella’s food and water he will eventually make his way into the kitchen and after crawling through the obstacle course of kitchen chair legs (he could go around the table but under is so much more fun) he will make his way to the bowls, tip them over and bang them on the floor.  If you, ‘catch’ up to him before he gets there he will usually speed up and give you a really large smile or laugh when you grab him.  Thankfully Bella being as chubby as  she is usually doesn’t leave any food for him to spill everywhere which is nice.  However, the water is another issue all together.  We have a pet fountain which cannot be moved but that is fun to play in.  Sometimes a “No, no Charlie” will stop him from dunking his hand in it, other times not so much.  Needless to say this whole game has made supper time prep much more interesting.

*Jay- It goes without saying that Charlie and Jay adore each other.  They are starting to play together really well which is just adorable and Jay can make Charlie laugh like no one else can.  I love watching their relationship grow daily, it makes the crazy that is our lives with two young children so worth it.

Dislikes-

*Being on his own- He is a second child and, well, doesn’t really like to be on his own.  He can be happily playing on his own in a room but if you leave (and Jay is not there playing too) he quickly gets upset.  Frequently you can find him crawling along after Jay from room to room.

*Being hungry- Honestly, this is Charlie’s one huge dislike.  The child is happy, just happy to plain exist (it’s wonderful and endearing all at the same time) BUT if he is hungry watch out he will be fuss-y and nothing will calm him down other than eating.  I can almost guarantee if Jamie is not home to eat with us before 6:30 that I am going to have one fussy boy on my hands.

I didn’t get too many of the fast little guy on his own until I called in reinforcements… not sure my reinforcements really helped all that much ;)

my cup runneth over

I sat down a few times today* to write Charlie’s 9 month update but got distracted and while I sit here in the wee hours of the night waiting on my sweet hubby to come home (yes you read that correctly, he is not home from work yet- he has had such a busy week) I find myself overcome with gratitude.  Gratitude for my sweet hard-working husband who puts in way more than he is asked to both at work and at home and gratitude for the sweet healthy babies that are soundly sleeping in the next rooms.  While our days are far from perfect I couldn’t have dreamt up this kind of life for myself in any of my wildest dreams.  I am trying daily to drink it all in and dance in the joy that surrounds me.  My cup runneth over…

And just to give you a glimpse, these are from the first few moments of our morning…

a sweet Daddy, who should have rushed out the door to work but stayed to read a story to a little redheaded boy who asked ever so sweetly to read with him

sweet smiles that greeted me when I plucked this little one from his crib

and a moment that took my breath away- while packing things up to head to the doctor I walked into the other room and when I returned I found a big brother sweetly “reading” to one very attentive and admiring little brother.  The depth to their relationship constantly astounds and delights me.

*While I meant to publish this yesterday I didn’t actually get to before drifting off to sleep. Jamie worked until after 3AM and finally got home about 3:30 and we are really, really looking forward to his day off tomorrow…

9 months

So this little guy was a whopping nine months old today (actually yesterday- I thought I published this post last night before going to bed but I guess I didn’t)- so hard to believe, he’s growing SO fast!  I promise to have the monthly update up soon, since I know that you all are dying to know every little detail I care to share ;) However, here’s a photo from today to tide you all over.  Any guesses as to how soon he’ll be walking???