stats . . .

liam: 

2 years and 4 months - what doesn't he do?  he walks and talks and runs and sings and dances.  he almost knows his ABC's and can sometimes count.  of course he will do none of this when you ask him to.  he loves playhouse disney, and we are big winnie the pooh fans right now!  he is an angel when he is not a demon.  right now we are trying to do everything "all bout myself" (all by myself), so everything takes 10 times longer.  but the look on his face when he does it, just makes my day. i just can't believe how big he is getting and how much bigger he is going to get!  time is flying.  

audrey: 

4 months - she is 13 lbs. of sweetness.  her head is the opposite of her brother's.  she is in the 25th percentile while liam is in the 85th!  she is however very long and in the 85th percentile.  she has a few bald spots where her hair has fallen out and nothing is growing in, yet, but she is still beautiful.  she just rolled over from her tummy to her back!  yea!!  she loves to stand up and her huge eyes look at everything and take it in!  she is a loud talker.  she screeches a lot throughout the day. she is a great sleeper, praise the Lord, and is just the cutest thing since liam.  

audrey and liam together are terrifying and wonderful.  he talks to her and she lights up, he hits her with mr. potatoe and she cries, and after his spanking, he cries.  he doesn't want to hold her as much anymore, but he loves to sit next to audrey and he will take her hand and most of the time hold it, sometimes he tries to yank her arm out of her socket.  you just never know what is going to happen.  

that is life right now - what will happen next.

school is starting up again soon and we are both trying to figure out our schedules and the kids schedules.  just a few short weeks of summer left.  oh, and did i mention we are putting in new cork floors in our entry way and family/kitchen/dining room!!  we are totally insane!!  you will get more on that later.  

loving . . .

here is what i am loving right now -

1.  scheduled events - i never thought i would love to have my week scheduled out so much!  but with two little ones, if i don't have a plan they don't have a happy mommy!  the best weeks have been then ones where i know what we are doing every day!


2.  the science spectrum - liam LOVES it.  there is so much for him to play with.  i don't worry about losing him.  it is indoors away from the heat and mosquitos!!  we have a pass for a year, so it is, not free, but cheap!


3.  audrey napping regularly - we are finally getting on a schedule somewhat.  we take two shorter naps one in the morning and one in the evening, and we take a long 2-3 hour nap in the early afternoon.  plus she sleeps through the night as well!!  i know, i am blessed.  the Lord has blessed me with sleeping children!!


4.  summer - i had my mid-summer blues, but they are now gone and i am dreading going to back to school.  i am loving the lazy mornings, fun outings, naps in the afternoon, and just the general sense of relaxation.  i am not looking forward to the rushed morning that are just around the corner!!


5.  matt - he has just been great this summer.  love him!


6.  "the good guys", "psych", and the food network - funny, hysterical, and just plain yummy TV!!  (bradley whitford is just crazy fun to watch in whatever he does!!)


7.  being overly blessed by the Lord - i don't even know where to start!  

dallas in 2 days

welcome to our mini vacation in pictures!  we went to dallas and went to the world aquarium, we shopped a little bit at the grapevine mills mall, and for the grand finale . . . drum roll please . . . IKEA!!!

here we are getting all packed up.  we took matt's new truck for our first family road trip.  the room in the truck was great, and we had sirius satellite radio!!  praise be that both of the kiddos are great in the car.

 

 of course with little audrey we had to make a few stops for feeding and diaper changes.  and where better place than dairy queen.

dallas world aquarium and zoological gardens, here we come.  i love aquariums and will go to everyone that i can.  the place was amazing! 

 liam being just a bit short we had to lift him to see some of the animals, but he loved them all.  he really loved the turtles.  we both loved the look of wonder in his eyes each time we saw something new!

 

  

  at first we didn't see them.  then audrey had a poopy diaper and we might as well change liam while we are at it.  but when we returned, there they were, the manatees!!  there were two of them and they were beautiful.  liam and i had a great conversation with this one.  look at that face!!

 

here audrey 

and i are outdoors with the penguins.  it was so nice and cool inside that it felt like 20 pounds hit you in the chest when you went outside.  but there were penguins and daddy loves penguins!

this guy is so cool!  i loved all the colors and the way his eyes follow you. (sorry if it is a girl! i couldn't tell)  see you later aquariuam and zoological gardens.  

it is time for lunch.  since i can't have zaxby's raisng cane's will have to do.  and it does very well.  the sauce is killer. 

 

look at my big boy!  i love his hat.  he put his shoes on by himself!!  

  

mommy's disneyland!!  time to do some damage at IKEA!!  the swedes have it down.  they are so family freindly.  they have great family bathrooms and little stations for the kids to play at.  if i could redo my entire house, it would be done in ikea!! 

 we were there from 10 am when the doors opened until we pulled out of the parking lot at 2:30 pm.  we tried to buy out the whole store, but there was just too much stuff.  we did get a chair some storage and a few silly knick knacks!!  this is my happily exhausted look as matt is packing up the car and i am feeding audrey and trying to keep liam from running away. 

this is what IKEA can do to your kids.  they fall asleep while reading and give three peaceful hours in the car on the way home!!  thank you IKEA!  

here is one our trip would not have been complete if we didn't stop at the same dairy queen that we stopped at on the way up to dallas.  one last stop before home.  look still smiling!!   

this is one little girl who is glad to be out of her car seat?

it was a great trip.  the kids were great and everything we did was fun!!  mini vacations are the way to go.  you are gone long enough to have fun and you leave wanting just a bit more.

as summer continues to fly by, i am trying to enjoy the last moments!

the doldrums part 2 . . .

so maybe my emotional vomit yesterday helped.  the kids and i went to a pool party, audrey napped extremely well today, and i cleaned the bathrooms and straightened the house some.  i did not nap, but i am feeling much better.  i think i just needed to get the weight off my chest.  thanks for the thoughts.  motherhood is a full time job and it can get a bit overwhelming at times.  we mom's all need support and help, and i have a great support system.  

on another note, here are some pics of the kids of late!!

is there anything sweeter?

or cuter?

the grill master!!

zoned out after the feast!

the doldrums . . .

i have the mid summer blues.  i don't know what it is, but right now i cannot find the energy to do anything.  the joys of the freedom have gone and now it feels like work sometimes to figure out what to do with the kiddos.  i cannot spend all day with them in the house and sometimes going out is even more work.  i know this winy and i know tons of women do this everyday, it is just that at this point in time, i am not in the mood!  i love summer and i love the rest, but i am tired and in need of some get up and go!  i love my children and i love time with them, i just wish i was better at finding things and being more proactive in setting up activities.  it doesn't help that the weather has not cooperated and has rained off and on for many days now!


that is now my goal.  i am going to be better at finding things to do in and around my house.  so if you have any great craft projects or ideas for a 2 year old that can be done around or in the house (i am not a fan of heat!!) send them my way!  


i am giving myself this week to be blah and then it's over, and we are back on the summer fun track.  see you then.