The Mother's Day Bunny

We've been continuing to enjoy life with our boys in our small little slice of Santa Barbara heaven.  They are both getting to be so much fun!  Evan is moving around quite a bit, and wants to be everywhere at once, especially in the places where Elliott is.  He's moved on from the army crawl to what we call the "peg leg" crawl.  He gets up on one knee, then uses the other leg straight to propel him forward.  It's pretty effective and hilarious all at the same time.  He's also trying really hard to pull up on furniture, and Steve's guitar made the perfect angle to practice on.

Speaking of guitars, Evan is crazy about Elliott's guitar, and frequently crawl into the bedroom where it is hanging on the wall and bang it until one of us pulls it down for him to strum on.  It is one of the few things that can hold his attention now for more than a few minutes.

We have been implementing weekly traditions into our routine to try to be more deliberate about making special family time in the midst of our busy schedules.  Tuesday nights are sing along nights, and before bedtime Steve will pull out his guitar.  So far we have a pretty small repertoire, including Farmer in the Dell, Wheels on the Bus, Froggie went a Courtin' (a Gaultney family favorite, uh-hu), and the most requested - Let it Go from Frozen.

We got a little tiny bit of rain this week, which is always a cause of excitement.  Elliott's daycare held snail races, which involved first hunting for snails, then dipping them in some paint, putting them in the center of the paper, and watching to see who's could crawl off the paper fastest.  On the far right is Elliott's buddy Joseph who was been with him in daycare since the start.  They were even born in the same hospital on the same day!

We had a very nice and relaxing Mother's day last weekend.  Steve and Elliott made me breakfast (and did the dishes!) while I relaxed in bed and read an In Touch magazine - the most frivolous thing I have done in ages.   Elliott made me a few crafties at daycare, including a painted flower pot with flowers that says "My mom is a Rockstar!" and a poster with questions and answers about his mom.  

The funniest:

Q: How old is your mom? E: 14

The sweetest:

Q: Why do you love your mom? E: Because she loves me and she is my best friend.

After breakfast we were getting our day started when Elliott looked at me and said, "When does the Mother's Day Bunny come?"  Oh kiddo, the little guy though that he got a piece of the action also!

Not only do I have the best boys ever, but I feel so fortunate to have strong role models to show me the importance of mothers and strength of women.  Their support and guidance has enabled me to be the best mom I can to Elliott and Evan.  Thank you Mom, Gram, Sandy, Grandma Claire, Aunt Jean and Aunt Krista!  You will never know the depth of impact you have had on me.

The clock is tick tick ticking

It's hard to believe that my boys are already 3.5yrs and 9 months old!  It's also hard to believe that I started this post 2 weeks ago, and am just now sitting down to finish it.  I love my boys, and I love my life, but I wish I could just slow the clock down a bit.  I mean, these smiles need to be appreciated over days and months, not just a few short hours on a Saturday afternoon.

I'm feeling the same challenges in parenthood that I felt after a few years in the peace corps.  My life is so routine that I forget to document the small moments.  I know they are special, but when viewed in the day to day perspective they feel so common that I will never forget them, and yet I'm so afraid that one day when I'm old and gray and the boys have families of their own that I will have forgotten how precious they are now, in their small, sweet, happy perfection.

Speaking of sweet, happy perfection - McConnell's is still a family favorite.  Thankfully Evan is just happy chewing on a spoon, because it's hard enough to get my little bit of ice cream when Daddy and Big Brother are in the mix.

My favorite parenting strategy to date is to not let the kiddos know that something exists.  Who needs ice cream when this little guy is perfectly happy with kale?  9 months old and no teeth yet, but that doesn't stop him from eating everything he can get his chubby little hands on.

Elliott is a budding everything - actor, speller, dancer, and artist.  Of course his favorite toys are the unconventional ones, and he spent an entire afternoon coloring his new "fort".  I tried to explain Michelangelo to him, but he just gave me a blank stare and kept on coloring.

Evan is a happy go lucky kid, and his smiles keep getting bigger.  No, that's not a sad face, his smile is just so big it's taking over his eyes.

He's not crawling yet, but is so close!  You would be amazed how long his reach is when he sees something he wants (which just happens to be everything in sight!).

And another unconventional toy - this spray bottle has been in constant use since August.  Most often it's a fire fighter hose, and Steve keeps him occupied by spotting different "fires" in the back yard for him to go put out. 

The pillows and blankets on our couch come in a close second to the spray bottle.  On this night they were a boat that the boys took out for a quick spin before dinner.  Elliott and Evan are two peas in a pod, and already have so much fun together.  Elliott loves to envelope Evan in big hugs and kisses, and Evan just lights up when Elliott comes into the room.  All Elliott has to do is say a few words of gibberish to get Evan rolling on the floor laughing.

We have added "5 minute clean up" to our evening routine to counteract the disasters they make together.  We set the timer and everyone cleans up as fast as they can (which is snail pace for Elliott), and when the timer goes off we do the "happy 5 minute timer dance" to the alarm song.  We even have a song to sing while we clean, which goes "the clock is tick tick ticking..." over and over.

Yes, our moments may be small, but I have never been happier.  I love these guys!