Second Child Syndrome

Harper gets a lot of attention.  She gets plenty of one on one time.  She gets tons of hugs and kisses and snuggles.  She does not get a lot of documentation.  I take pictures, sure.  But with two kids it seems like I can either enjoy the cute the things they say and do, or document the cute things they say and do, but rarely can I do both.  Probably because both my kids do and say so many cute things I just can't keep up anymore.

But, Harper is two and a half, which is pretty much the peak of cute.  And my general rule is that cute always deserves to be documented, no matter how infrequent.

So here's a snapshot of Harper at 2.5

Her Favorites:
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood TV show
Fruit Snacks
Pinkalicious Books
Playing in Holden's room while he is at school
Singing

She'll Pass On;
Sleeping In
Eating Vegetables
Riding in a shopping cart without snacks
Keeping her shoes on in the car

She's Funny:

My sister Hannah said-- "Harper, you're awesome!"  To which Harper replied "No, I'm Harper!"

She feels like her body is just a second set of clothes and will say things like
"Can I swim in my bum?"  or "I just want to wear my tummy"

When she wants something she'll say "You wanted to...?" and when she wants to be carried she asks "You carry you me?"

Whenever she sees the McDonalds logo she says "Hey!  There's Diet Coke!"

She still sleeps in a crib, potty training is not even on our radar and she loves to be swaddled up like a burrito, so she's still very much the baby of our family.

And she's a pretty cute one, too.

Spring Things

Oh, Spring.  That magical season where you never know if you are going to wake up to shorts or snow.   At our house, we are so looking forward to our upcoming super awesome epic mini summer of fun (named by Holden), that it is easy for Spring to get overlooked.  Here are some Spring things we've managed to accomplish. 

St Patrick's Day--

Pictured- A selection of artwork from the day and Reo pleased as punch that thanks to his sister tracking down the long lost recipe, we were able to recreate the "green stuff" from his childhood.

Not pictured- Crazy tricks the leprechaun played on us throughout the day.  I'm quite sure the leprechaun had to get pretty creative to stay one step ahead of Holden.  

Enjoying warmer days at the park with my very oldest friends--

Pictured-Even though it feels like yesterday we were all hanging around the neighborhood, somehow we've managed to have a whole bunch of kids

Not pictured- One kid in school, one kid who couldn't be coaxed off the playground for a boring picture, and one not quite born yet (none of them mine, don't get any ideas).  Also the adults.

Trying to enjoy not as warm of days wishing warm weather into fruition by painting summer landscapes--
Pictured-Holden getting his painting skills on
Not pictured-Harper painting with water....Because she's two and I'm prone to anxiety attacks around messes.

Taking Lagoon by storm on opening day to finally utilize the season pass Holden has been waiting months to use--

Pictured-Some of the family favorites

Not pictured-Me coming thisclose to throwing up.  Multiple times.  Carny rides are no longer my jam. 

Getting a little Spring cleaning/organizing fever--

Pictured- A couple of completed projects for Harper's room to help me realize that no, I do not in fact hate my house and everything in it, I was just sick of looking at the same walls during snow day after snow day and needed a change.

Not pictured- The majority of my house that still looks the exact same.  I'm a slow decorator.  

Our first experience with baseball--

Pictured-Holden ready to go

Not Pictured-Holden's first hit, where he proceeded to run with his bat in front of him like a cane to first base.  Since he is 50 percent mine, this is actually pretty impressive.  Sports aren't so much my jam either, apparently.

In a perfect blog world, Easter and the events leading up to it would be it's own post.  But since my blog is in survival mode, getting lumped in with everything else it is!

Pictured--Against my better judgement, embracing all the crazy Easter-time activities.  Sugar cookies, egg dying, super overcrowded community egg hunts...we did it all

Not pictured--Me actually really loving all of that stuff.

The night before the main event, Holden left this note on the front door for our Easter Bunny.  

In case you don't read Holden, here's what it says..

Find eggs in living room.  Thanks! Happy Easter!  And P.S. I want to wake up to find my basket full of Peeps or you could do whatever you want your choice  Love: Holden

Pictured-The Easter Bunny delivering

Pictured- The kids ready to hunt for eggs.  Holden is holding a map he made to remind him where to look. Yes, we do currently go through a lot of paper at our house, if that's what you were wondering.

Pictured-The Loot....And what happens to Holden's leg when we do not provide him with enough paper.

Pictured-All dressed up and ready to celebrate the real meaning of Easter at church.  And not yet so hopped up on sugar that they can't hold still.  So, success!

And finally, it's not a holiday without a little family time--
Pictured-These two cousins having the best time together
Not pictured-Everyone else

Happy Spring!

I Guess This Is Growing Up

If Holden had been born six weeks earlier, I'd be sacrificing him to Kindergarten this year.  Luckily for me, he wasn't, so I get another year of Preschool.  I took full advantage and put him in the two day a week class instead of the three.  The way I see it, this is the only time in my life when I get full say of how our day goes, and if I want the freedom to have us hang out in our pajamas all day, I better do it now before I have kids in public school for years and years (and years) to come.   Because when it comes down to it, this kid can push my buttons faster and with more accuracy than probably anyone else in my life, but I pretty much mope around missing him when he's not here.

Obligatory first day of school pic.

Showing off his backpack.

"MOM!  Now take one of me pretending to vomit!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"  Oh to be a four year old boy...

To add insult to injury, Harper's pretty much a grown up now, too.  To prove it, she turned 18 months old and gets to go to nursery at church, leaving me without my sidekick.  There's been remnants of tears at pick up time, but the leaders claim she's doing okay, so I don't think I'll be getting her back as my sidekick anytime soon.

Obligatory first day of nursery pic

The upside is that she went to the doctor and her stats have left me convinced that she's small enough I can still PRETEND she's a baby at least (as long as I ignore her head size.  It's a good thing she has so much hair is all I can say).
Height: 30.75 inches  (23%)
Weight: 23.6 pounds  (39%)
Head: 19.3 inches  (97%)

"Blogust"

 So, August happened.  And it happened fast.  And I have already forgotten most of it.  But as usual, August was awesome and deserves to be documented.  So, to the best of my recollection.....

I try not to repost instagram pictures, but come on with the adorableness.  How could I not?

 Trips to Pineview are definitely an August must at our house.

Harper spent a lot of time practicing her happy and sad faces.

We had visitors! Reo's sister and her family came to visit so of course we showed them a fantastic time, complete with an airplane museum, a surly faced Harper and blazing hot mini golf.  What can I say?  Nothing but the best for our guests.

Holden learned to skate, so "I'll probably just be a hockey player now, instead of when I grow up, mom."  Dream big, little one.  Good to see that self esteem is still not a problem at our house.  

He also mastered scaling our own personal "Matterhorn,"  assembled by Reo with many hours of work and zero swears.

And when we were done with that, we moved on to mastering the slides at the park.

We hit up the splash pad with family.

And the local pool for the last time this year.

We squeezed in a date night.

And just in case we were making you too jealous with all our fun, we also had plenty of TV zombie moments. More than I will ever admit.

I thought August was busy, but September usually proves to be one of our busiest and most fun filled months (State Fair, anyone?) so stay tuned y'all, the best is yet to come!

The Kids Are Alright (Part 2)

This little blog is WAY overdue for a random kid update.  Time is passing, and details are slipping from my memory one scrambled mom brain moment at a time so I have to document what I can.  

Let's start with this little girl, shall we?

What's New:  She finally got some teeth!  I know you were all worried, so sorry about the delay in getting this information to you.   She uses the teeth to smile all cheesy whenever I pull out my phone to check Facebook (and now Instagram!  Find me!) so I am pretty much obligated to take a picture of her adorable face quite frequently.

What's Old:  Since I know there is nothing more interesting than hearing about how tired other people are. She still doesn't sleep.  At night or during the day. Thanks for asking.

How She's Contributing:  She's my little sidekick, to the point that babyproofing hasn't yet become necessary because she's never out of my sight.

How She's Adorable: She sings along to Taylor Swift (unintelligibly) and her crazy, gorgeous hair gets comments everywhere we go.

What Needs To Be Documented:  

Recent stats

Height: 29.75 inches (28th percentile)

Weight: 23 lbs 3 oz (55th percentile)

Head: 18.9 inches (94th percentile)

Moving on to offspring #1

 

What's New:  He finished preschool.  This would be harder to take if his October birthday didn't give me a whole other year before Kindergarten comes calling.  

What's Old:  He can be bribed or threatened to eat anything, but the only three things he eats willingly are dessert, Happy Meals and pancakes.

How He's Contributing:  He keeps us on schedule, never lets me forget a promise, and rats me out to Reo when I let him have a cookie with breakfast.  

How He's Adorable:  He reads himself to sleep every night, writes love notes and gives unsolicited hugs.

What Needs to be Documented:
Crowd favorite! Random stuff Holden says--

To Reo:  "This book is only for young boys and old girls.  YOU are an old boy."
and while roughhousing.  "DAD! You are hurting me! Your own son!"

Character on TV:  How would YOU feel if you couldn't catch the ball?
Holden to TV:  Oh, well, I could catch the ball, so.....

To Me:  "MOM, don't look!  You are not going to like this commercial.  It's all about kids growing up!

While getting lunch: "Mom, do you know what is rude? That customer just gave that worker the stink eye."

and my personal favorite as told to me by his Primary teacher at church:
after being told a story about people drinking out of rivers and streams.
"Wait...if they drank out of rivers and streams, wouldn't they get Dysentary??"