Artsy Tea Mice

Yesterday, we had a mouse in the house...

Actually, we had two.

Then these mice sat down for a tea party, complete with popcorn and pink "tea."  They're very sophisticated rodents.

Then, this morning, one decided to try her paws at fingerpainting.

Riley decided to join that mouse.

 
They had LOTS of fun together.

Then the mouse and her new friend were thrown right into the tub. 

The End :)

Three Months Old

Brooks is so freakin' cute; I hope you're ready for deluge of pictures.  Here they come!

He was working his way into his 3-month photo session, so he began with an uncertain pose.

But, of course, he got the hang of it immediately.

Oh, Dino, you're starting to be dwarfed by your still-little friend.

I think this is my favorite.  It so accurately shows Brooks' disposition.  He's so sweet and content.

... though I love this one, too.

I was trying to get artsy-fartsy.  Blue for boy.  Hmmm...

Well, peek-a-boo, Handsome!

Hilarious because he looks like such a chunk in these pictures.  (He's not.)

He gives us this look a lot.  It makes me laugh every time. :)

 Happy three months, Big Man!  We love you more each day!

Slow to Anger

I really want to be slow to anger, but MY WORD, I am not liking the pain of developing that trait. 

Dear God,
Instead of giving me numerous chances throughout the day to practice patience and slowness to anger, how 'bout we just give it to me in abundance without all the hard work?  How's that sound? 
Love,
Heather

What do you think the answer to that prayer will be?  I'm not going to hold my breath. 

The thing is... I don't really think I've ever been a super impatient person.  And I think that, in general, I have a pretty long fuse.  Maybe that's part of the reason these past few days have been so hard.  I don't often feel anger welling up inside of me, like it's a tangible thing.  And I hate to admit that that's been the case, but there it is. 

At first, I tried to sit down and psychoanalyze it-- "maybe this is the terrible-twos for Noelle," "maybe I'm just sleep-deprived," "maybe Riley is just going through a phase," "maybe I need to eat better."  But here's what it comes down to: God is in control, and He will grow me through this.  Ugh, how hard is it to grow?!  I'd like to be all growed up now, please. 

In other words, if you think of it, please pray that I will be slow to anger and abounding in love. 

Here are specific situations that need a LOT of God help:

--The girls waking up in the middle of the night and screaming, usually for a toy they just decided they wanted.  This happened five times last night.

--Riley's new questioning of requests/authority.  If we ask/tell her to do something, her automatic response is "But I...!"

--Mean-spiritedness in the girls.  Sigh.  My children are human.  And they're siblings.  Doesn't make it easier.

--The longing I have to get MY stuff done.  This may be one of the hardest parts of being a SAHM.  I really want to accomplish something for myself sometimes, but I am called to take care of my children.  If there's anyone in here who still is someone other than MOM, she often has to get put on the backburner.  This is hard for me.  I need prayer that I will be okay with being Mom.  It's stupid, but I just want to sit an sew in quiet sometimes.  So I guess I need prayer to not be selfish, too.

Thanks, friends.  God will provide.

Today

-Brooks is the only one who is fully dressed.
-I showered but immediately stepped back into my pj pants.
-the girls aren't getting out of their pj's any time soon.
-fingers crossed, soon, four people will be napping.

This is just how we roll.

A Week in Review

Well, it's more like two days in review.  You see, Wednesday was absolutely gorgeous.  Enough to make you wonder if you've somehow shifted into a parallel universe where you can easily play at a park in the Chicagoland area, in the middle of January.  What??!?

Sure enough, we slipped on spring jackets and headed over to Atten Park with Celeste, Clayton and Aubrey.

 Aubrey reminded me of a fluffy little stuffed animal in her "purple people eater" outfit.

Riley and Noelle went from place to place.

We had a picnic, and I brought leftover candy canes for the girls.  Gotta get rid of them some time, right?  Noelle hammed it up for me.  That girl, I'll tell ya.  She's trouble. :)

What a beautiful little bear!

Oh, and we came home, and I dressed Brooks up in his new tennis ball onesie, from Granddad.  Hilarious, right?  I love it!

And then reality set in.  On Thursday, we got our biggest snowfall of the season, probably about five inches by the end of it.  The girls helped me shovel, and when we came back in, I threw the in pj's, gave them "hot chocolate" (warmed chocolate milk) and snapped a pic of Riley's rosy red cheeks.  

Yep, this is what we're used to.  Atten Park, thanks for treating us well for our special day.  We'll see you again in the Spring.

Organization

Organizing toys is AWESOME!!

Sorry... I was trying to be as enthusiastic as DJ Lance Rock.  (Know the reference?  Anyone?)  This is how I've been presenting this afternoon's project to the girls.  After a brief stint of a relatively clean living room, the entire house is again trashed with toys.  Sigh.

So this afternoon, I put on my biggest smile and told Riley and Noelle how absolutely super cool it was to keep your toys organized.  So far, Riley seems to be going for it.  Noelle is reading One Fish, Two Fish on the couch, refusing to buy into my antics.  That's fine.  For now, little one... for now.

We have this little three-drawer container for toys and bins for Duplos.  I made some labels for the drawers, complete with sad illustrations of the toys each drawer contains.  Don't judge.

Yes, that's a My Little Pony and hot air balloon picture.  Thanks for asking.

Then I began to get the toys where they belong.  When Riley asked me what I was doing, I told her how I was organizing her toys because it's really fun, AND then we'd be able to find toys when we were looking for them, AND it keeps the floor clean, AND it's what all the cool kids do.  Who could argue with that, right?

Not her, it seems.  I'm cheering her on as she finishes the project, and it's looking better in here.  That's good because this morning, I felt actual anger at the toys.  If there's something that helps you realize that you may be losing it, it's getting mad at inanimate objects.  Toys, I'm sorry for my burst of anger.  But I really am glad that I'm not stepping on you all the time... at least for the moment.

Two months!

 Sorry, little man... Mommy was  a little behind. 

Brooks is now a little over two months old, but don't worry-- he's still having plenty of pictures taken of him.  When you're this cute, the camera comes to you. 

Big sisters still love him!

And even though he only weighs in at 9 lbs (3rd percentile) and 21.75 inches, he's passing Dino by!

"Seriously?!  More pictures?"

Even after a minor spit-up incident (and a new outfit), he's still looking good! Don't be deceived by those cheeks.  He's  a peanut.

I love this sweet guy.

Tea Party

I had promised Riley that, when Aunt Kelsey came, we'd have a tea party.  You see, Aunt Kelsey is a tea party EXPERT!  She works at what sounds like an amazing little bookstore, and part of what she does is host tea parties.  I'm pretty sure I want to live at that bookstore.  So after much waiting, the tea party arrived.  And it did not disappoint.  Sure, we didn't have a nice tea towel or a theme, but you do what you can with what you got...

What we had was some delicious pink lemonade tea...

...cucumber sandwiches (which may or may not have been graham crackers with green frosting and sprinkles... special SPECIAL treat!)...

... some professional pinkie-lifting...

... a lumberjack...

... and a finger-lickin' good time! 

 Thanks, Aunt Kelsey!  Even Brooks liked it. :)

Sorry for the deluge of pictures.  I just couldn't decide. :)