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Baby Sometimes, Action Star Always

22 Apr

“He’s only 20 pounds!”  That’s what Andrew tells me when I cry to him about how Nate pushes me around the kitchen as I’m trying to cook or do the dishes.  He may only be 20 pounds but – that boy is STRONG.  He actually has made me lose my balance a few times.  Pushing isn’t the only way he likes to show he’s a tough guy – he also loves to slap my face – not with just one hand – nope, I’m so special that I get the double slap. He does it in a sort of sneak attack way – he’ll be all loving, even giving me a few kisses, when all of a sudden – WHAM on both sides of my face.

He’s just such a little tough guy.  He’s constantly climbing things and he will fall ALL of the time but he never gets discouraged or afraid…he just goes back for more!   Andrew and I have tried to keep his feet on the ground but he always finds a way to put them where they shouldn’t go!  Just watch the movie below to get a small idea of what I’m talking about…(and please don’t worry, I would have sacrificed the camera for my son – I just wanted to capture his craziness so he’d know what a heart-stopping child he was)

If this is what he’s like now at only 16 months – I am so not looking forward to the skateboarding and bike stunt years.  Ugh…

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My Antonia

11 Apr

She came into the world with her daddy a world away in Iraq.

Mommy Loves You

Now, almost four years later, her daddy is cuddling with her on the couch watching “Mulan” again.

Safe in Daddy's Arms

Our little Nia is only a few weeks away from becoming a four-year-old. Watching her grow up has been a blessing and blast.  Her birth made me feel love like I could never have imagined.  She spoiled me while she was in my belly (I LOVED being pregnant with her), she spoiled me by deciding to leave my belly on her due date (she must have known how much of a planner I am), she spoiled us by sleeping through the night, taking her naps and hardly ever making a fuss (I can totally brag about this now since her babyhood is over – she was such an easy baby! I know this especially after having Nate – I guess it’s what we get huh?!?!),  every day she amazes us with her intelligence and humor and touches our hearts with her super sweet personality.

Silly Nia

I’m not going to say it’s been all happiness and joy – there have been plenty of times when she’s tested our patience and won but really when I think about it those times weren’t as bad as they could have been.  Whether she brought rough times or easy times, she is the most incredible adventure I have ever been a part of and I am so excited to begin the next part of our growing up journey.

So Much Fun

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Our Little Comedian

31 Mar

Ever hear a 4-year-old tell a joke?  It goes a little something like this…

“Momma I have a joke.”
“Ok sweetie what is it?”
(These are all delivered with perfect inflection.)
“There was a spoon and it fell in the sink and then it was yucky!”
“The doggy laid down and then he sneezed!”
“Nate has a diaper on!”
(I was told several more “jokes” during the day but I think you get the point – they all pretty much state the obvious…)

What makes the super-sweet jokes even more funny is how Andrew laughs at them.  He lets out the loudest, craziest laugh – it’s so ridiculous that is is HILARIOUS. I hope she always wants to make others laugh.  Our little comedian.
 

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Our Little Reader

17 Mar

This is one of Nia’s favorite books.

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Momma Did It

16 Mar

Still a Cutie to Me

I don’t know why I continue to attempt to cut Nia’s bangs. I had been doing ok – the past few trims were successful – I had cut the bangs just enough so they were out of her eyes but not enough for anyone to say “Whoa!  Did Nia get her hands on the scissors?!?!”  This time though I’m sorry to say I failed but I still mostly blame the scissors…

The last time I massacred her hair this badly she was still going to day care and when people would ask her about it she would just say, “Momma did it.”

Well sweets, I did it again but please know, to me, it doesn’t matter what your hair looks like – you will always be the most adorable little thing I’ve ever seen.  Oh yeah – and I promise never to attempt to “trim” your bangs again.

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When Parents (Want to) Sleep In

12 Mar

This is what Andrew and I woke up to on Saturday morning:

Crib or Toy Box?

We all heard Nate wake up – Nia was just quicker than lazy old mom and dad who decided we didn’t need to really rush in to him since he wasn’t screaming his head off.  It turns out that that morning he probably wouldn’t scream his head off since Nia brought toy after toy to him, filling up his bed until mom and dad finally came in.  We just had to know what was causing all that giggling.

No Room for Nate

Thank heavens for big sisters.  Because of her, everyone woke up in a good mood.

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Our Own Linus

9 Mar

Special Blankey

It doesn’t matter what Nate is doing – whenever he sees his blanket he immediately puts his thumb in his mouth and reaches for it with his other hand. I can barely get it washed – in fact, this picture was taken right after he grabbed at a small part of it that was sticking out of the hamper.  He knocked the hamper over and kept pulling until he finally had it in his grasp.  All of that pulling must have worn him out because as soon as he had it he flopped over and plugged his mouth.

It’s so sweet how powerful and comforting a favorite thing, like a blanket or doll, can be and it seems it provides a feeling/memory that stays with you forever.  I know I still miss my blankey (it was lost during one of my many visits to the hospital when I was little) and Andrew’s sister (I hope you don’t hate me after this) still is lucky enough to have a piece of her childhood blanket.  Did you have something you cherished too?  What happened to it?

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Hello, my name is…

6 Mar

Ducky? Quakers? Party Duck?

I thought it was a question that would get a simple answer.  I asked Nia what she named this tiny toy duck – instead of hearing something obvious like “ducky” here’s what I was told…

“I Live on Land and He Lives in the Water.”
Me – “That’s right, but what’s his name?”
Her – “I just told you.”
Me – “You’re naming your duck ‘I Live on Land and He Lives in the Water?”
Her – “Uh-huh.”
Me laughing – “That’s a pretty long name don’t you think?”
Her – “No  Well, we could call him Hat?”
Me – “Honey, whatever you want to name him is fine, I just thought “I Live on Land and He Lives in the Water” was a pretty long name to say.”
Her – “I could call him Cream.”  (I think this was because I was putting lotion on her at the time.) “Or how ’bout “He likes to fish when he’s on land?”

I just love listening to her mind work.  It’s so sweet and entertaining – and unpredictable. I just hope she’s not quite so original when it comes time to name her babies.

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I’d Like to Thank…

5 Mar

These are just a few of the random (sometimes ridiculous) things I’m thankful for on any given day:

  • Paper Towels – I’ve used more in the past few months than I think I have in my entire life.  I’m constantly washing my hands because of diaper changes (another thank you related to this one is coming up) or cleaning up spills (2 Cokes were sacrificed today alone) – if I didn’t have paper towels I would have a lot more laundry to do.
  • Lotion – I can actually see my skin cracking on my hands – I never had dry hands before – I actually wondered why some people use so much lotion – now after tons of dishes and hand-washings (my own and Nia’s) I get it.  I now have lotion stashed at every sink and where I sit each night.  The smell of the one I use most often reminds me of my mom and makes me miss her even more.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants – with all the cartoons Nia watches – this one is my savior because it is super funny.  We both laugh at the craziness.  I think I look forward to watching it more than Nia – it’s the only tv show I get to watch during the day and I don’t think I’d have it any other way right now – it cheers me up and gives Nia and I something to share – especially when she looks at me with a funny face and says “What’s SpongeBob doing Momma? He’s silly, huh?”
  • Dogs – man do they make cleaning up after meals easy or what?  I still sweep around Nate’s chair when I think Joe-Boy might have missed a few crumbs but for the most part he does the sweeping up me.  The only downfall to this though is at night when he’s sitting at my feet relaxing – I can’t even describe the stinky dog-gas I have to endure.  But hey, the floor is clean!
  • The Library – I totally love story hour – the storyteller is really nice and the kids get to do crafts plus it’s so much fun for Nia and I to pick out a bunch of books to read every week and even more fun when I don’t have to pay for them!  I do buy the ones we really love though like the one Monica told us about called Fancy Nancy – it is really cute and Nia loves it. It actually even made me cry!  There’s just something about a library and bookstores in general that I love – even though I don’t get to read as much I’d like to – I just love getting lost in all the shelves of books and knowing that there are so many different stories out there waiting to be read…as for my story tonight – I thank you for reading and say “The End.”

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Look Ma, No Parachute!

20 Feb

DISCLAIMER: No children were hurt in the making of this blog memory.

Couch Diving

He’s only been walking on the earth for about 4 months yet he already loves to couch dive.  As a mom it is probably the most scary thing I’ve seen him enjoy – as Nicole the crazy lady, it’s pretty funny.

Here’s how I think Nate found out he loves to couch dive:

One day he was just chilling on the sofa when he decided to try and stand up.  He then began to boing, boing, boing his little body back and forth across the couch until eventually he didn’t boing anymore but more like plopped.  Andrew was (of course) there to catch him and I think that’s what’s fed his need to couch dive ever since.  He knows Andrew will be there to catch him and we’ll always make that “wooh” sound when he takes the step over the edge.  (The “wooh” sound is the sound of the breath being taken from my body right before my heart stops in fear that he’s going to hit the floor.)  The sound that comes from Nate as it’s all happening is excited laughter and forget about trying to get him to stop – as soon as Andrew has him in his arms Nate is pushing to get out of them and struggling to climb back on the couch.

I just thought I have at least a few more years until the need to jump off things happened. I’m still trying to keep up with him trying to eat non-edibles and bang his head off things!

Before the Jump

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