I want them to remember how much I played

Emerson has been going through a phase, well, I guess every toddler goes through this phase, where she comes up with every excuse to not have to go to sleep.

“My belly hurts! I have to go potty! I need to brush my teeth again! I need water! My bed isn’t comfy!” We’ve heard every excuse.

In the midst of this back and forth the other night, I was laying in bed with her, and she started “booping” my nose. She’d boop, I’d laugh, she’d CRACK UP. Like, guttural, undeniable deep belly laughs. 

Pretty soon we were both in tears, all because she booped my nose.

The other day, I pretended to be a horsey and rode Anna all around the house while she squealed “Go Horsey Go!” 

My knees are covered in bruises.

Last week, we were drawing with chalk outside on the sidewalk. Emerson told me to lay down so she could draw an outline of my body on the sidewalk. So I did. Work clothes and all. Then once Anna saw that I did it for Emerson, she had to do it too, so I had to lay back down for a second time so little Anna could mimic her sister. 

Our neighbors were probably really confused.

Every night at dinner, these two tiny girls make a PROPER mess. I mean, it looks the garbage man came and dumped his truck contents on our kitchen table. Emerson’s favorite habit is dumping the remnants of her dinner onto the table and playing with it like Play-Doh, claiming that she’s “making a cake” for me. When Anna is done eating, she just starts throwing what’s left on the floor.

I try to maintain a tidy-ish house. I never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. I sweep the kitchen floor every night. I vacuum more than most people. Jon does laundry almost every day and picks up the toys at the end of the night. But I am brave enough to admit that my house isn’t always spotless. If you come over today, you’ll see dust lining every bookshelf and toilets and bathtubs that could use a good bleaching and scrubbing.

But when my girls get older, and become mothers themselves, I don’t want them to remember their Mom as the frantic, obsessive-compulsive cleaner. I don’t want them to remember the house they grew up in as a sterile environment. I don’t want them to remember Mommy as the one who never let them get the toys out because it would make too big of a mess.

I want them to remember that I always dropped what I was doing to play pretend. I want them to remember how much I LOVED the fake food concoctions they made up in their play kitchen (“Pie Soup?? Sounds delicious!”) I want them to remember how I danced and danced in the family room until I got dizzy and then danced some more.

 I want them to remember how much I played.

 

March-ing Into Spring

Hi blog friends!

I know it’s been awhile, but I have great excuses:

1) I started a new job
2) My entire household was affected with multiple illnesses per person
3) The weather has been amazing, which means we’ve been spending more time outside, and less time on the computer.

But because a sweet friend reminded me that Sponge Bob frightened them every time they came to check in (from this post), I decided it was time to clear him out of the way ;-)

Latest Updates:

Job: LOVE it! Though making the switch from higher education to corporate America was an adjustment, the culture and environment here are incredibly positive. People love working here, they love what they do, and that feeling permeates throughout the organization. Now granted, I’m only on week 3, but so far, I’m settling in quite nicely.

Fitness: I had to take a 2-week break from Kayla Itsines due to illness. I was going to keep going through to week 8 (this happened at the end of week 7) but I felt too weak, so I went back to Week 5, and now I’m back on Week 6. You follow? Probably not, but it’s okay. I barely do either. Still loving the progress so far and how much better my pants fit.

Girls: The best things ever. Both are going through phases right now, which are mostly fun. Emerson loves SINGING. It’s all day, every day. Singing, singing, singing. She turns everything she sees into a song. Anna-Boo is into dare-deviling. She’s climbing, running , and throwing herself into anything and everything, taking my breath with her.

Food: I have about 3 hours of quality time with my girls every night. I try my hardest to use those hours wisely. One source of stress that I’ve been trying to eliminate is the time I spend grocery shopping. So, I dipped my toes into the water of a meal-delivery service. I swear these things were designed for people like me. I love cooking, I love trying new foods, I love showing my girls what fresh ingredients look like (even if they arguably will never eat what I cook). But I don’t want to have to think about it. I just want the food to appear on my doorstep. And, like magic…. It does. We tried Blue Apron based on a friend’s recommendation, and it was good, but the food was way too exotic for my picky husband. Recently, we started using Home Chef and I am IN LOVE!!!! L-O-V-E. Like big fat heart love. Full review with pictures coming soon (and no, they didn’t pay me to say that, though if you click this link we both get $30 off your first order… so.... you’re welcome ;-)

TV:  Fortunately or unfortunately, I don’t have many shows on TV that I actively watch. When my kiddos are awake, it's eitherDisney Junior or bust. Well, actually, Emerson likes watching basketball with Daddy, which I love.

I binge-watched the new season of House of Cards, and because that’s such an emotional roller-coaster, regular TV just can’t hold my attention anymore. Now that The Bachelor is over (which, btw, #TeamKaitlyn), and with Scandal wrapping up here soon, I guess I’ll just have to… work out? Watch more HGTV? Take up knitting?

Ummmm, that's about it I think? April and May are going to be crazy-busy, so I'm going to soak up the last few weekends of non-packed schedules.

I hope you're enjoying March as much as I am! :-)

Our "mini-me" daughters

Checking in on the good old blog here. How have you been, internet?

Every day, I see more and more of my girls' personalities come through, and I can't get enough. They are smart, beautiful, happy, and healthy, and that's all a mom can ask for, am I right?

It's funny to see their similarities and differences, and we're starting to see a little bit of us in them. 

Actually, alot.

In fact, we're starting to see that each girl is a "mini-me" version of one of us. 

So what do you get when you take a blue-eyed boy and match him up with a hazel-eyed girl??

 

Short answer: The two sweetest girls in the whole wide world. But let's break it down.

Let's start with our sweet Emerson. She'll be 3 next month (cannot believe THAT) and she is slowly but surely turning into her mother (HAHAHA and also AHHHHH!)

 

She's got my eye color, my hands, and my coordination (or lack thereof). Instead of getting mad, she cries when she gets in trouble (a trick I totally used to pull all.the.time). She tells everyone she's "shy" but she will talk to anyone (another trick I always pulled, because we all know I'm the opposite of shy).

She sings, dances, and acts out every movie we watch. She can say and sing every line of all of her favorite movies, and makes me act them out with her. Ask my sister Annie how often I did that as a child. Let's just say I had a flair for the dramatic and truly thought I was going to be an actress for the first 15 years of my life. The apple did not fall far from the tree, and Emerson is totally an actress-in-training. My family thinks I'm getting my just desserts, but I am secretly so proud, and love acting and singing with her more than I care to admit.

There is nothing she doesn't say. Seriously, she freaks us out sometimes with her communication skills, reasoning and logic. Coincidentally, my mom tells me that I used to freak her out too with my word count when I was growing up. Until I was in 5th grade, I went up a grade level for English and Writing classes. Apparently I had a lot to say back then. Maybe that's why I never shut up now. (Before it sounds like I'm tooting my own horn, please know that any verbal skills I may or may not have had were totally cancelled out by my complete lack of athleticism and grace, and also no talent in math or science whatsoever. It's all about balance in life.)

And then there's Jon's mini-me, our sweet Anna.

This is the closest picture I could find to give you an idea of just how much Anna looks like her daddy. I love it so much.

Other than being about a month or two behind in gross motor skills, Anna is meeting and excelling at her milestones just like a regular kiddo. THANK YOU GOD. She is officially walking now (though not 100% of the time) and is so adventurous. She has no fear, and cares not if we think she should stay in one spot. Nope, she's too busy exploring the world. She's also our sparky one. You tell her no, and she'll yell at you and keep doing whatever she was doing, because you're not the boss of her. I love her spark because it shows that she is definitely not affected by everything she went through. It doesn't hold her down; it gives her a sense of determination she may not have had otherwise.

But she's also SO sweet. So so sweet. She twirls her hair when she's tired, cuddly, or overwhelmed. Sometimes I catch her twirling her hair in her sleep and it's so cute I just want to cry.

She's going through a verbal explosion too. Lots of new words and phrases like "Thank you" and "Chee-Os" but there is nothing in the whole world like the sweet sound of her saying "MAMA!" and lighting up when I walk into the room. They validate my existence every single day.

She's also going to be the introvert (the counterpart to Emerson's obvious extroverted personality). Just like her daddy, Anna is quiet, introspective, and curious.

I seriously cannot get enough of these two. 

And it further proves the point that you need to pick a partner that you could see as the future parent to your children. Because, odds are, at least one of your children is going to be just like them, they better not suck as a human being.

I am the luckiest.