isaac and passion

This was a pic i just loved from the hurricane we had a few months ago - i think it was Isaac...i know it was a few months ago bc lily was still recovering from her worst -haircut- in -history- and -it -all -being- my- fault- fiasco

Whenever it's cloudy,  each and every time we go somewhere , she makes sure we  pack an umbrella....even if it's not raining, but she thinks it might, we must bring it into every store  just in case. This Tinkerbell umbrella was a happy present from Molly.  Can I tell you how much I love happy presents?  They're those just because, out of the blue presents and jen coined the term when I was going through the IVF stress and I think it was her trying to put a giant band aid over our hurting hearts.  L&G were sure worth the wait.

his favorite place on earth is outside.  When he wakes up in the morning and after nap, the VERY first word out of his mouth is "carseat" 42x bc he wants to go somewhere.  When we arrive at a  park, he kicks and screams gleefully in his carseat like we just showed up to Disney World and Mickey Mouse hopped in our car with us.  We went to our neighborhood park tonight and I swear to you he said "pawk. pawk. pawk." easily 87 times in the 4 minute drive. I LOVE his passion for the little things in life!  He has SO much passion!

and she has such a passion for umbrellas and being responsible.  

and passion for socks too...even at the water park.

life is good.

Guess who's in town

Even though Dad is 2 hours away, he visits so often that it's like he's still down the street.  Not really, but I keep telling myself that .  I think this is so cool when i see this on my voicemail.



He's smitten with the kids and constantly shaking his head at how cute they are to him.  I think he's reliving his parenthood of us, but without the worry.

I love seeing him so happy.  Oh and the kids are too.


Is it bad we took a bath at the zoo sometimes?  We stayed there until 9 some nights so we were a little out of options.

Friends for life...

Grady has never been one to wear hats, but for some reason, he will wear this Curious George hat.  (and his swiper one)


playing in david's car...

  Janet came to visit and it was SO MUCH FUN for everyone!



Somehow the 2 year old is taller than the 4 year old.  Go figure.



He's a lover of books and she's a lover of story telling.  I LOVE THIS PIC!!



I told Lily she could only bring pool floats with her to the pool that she could carry bc my hands and bag was already filled to the max.  So she took me up on it and creatively carried all she could. and then some.  I was impressed.



They found some tickets , colored on them and made up a game of go fish.  clever trevor.



Just some snapshots of our life and our kids and what we've been up to.  They might be a little late to be published, but the memories are in our hearts forever.  Was that as cheesy as it sounded?  I love me some cheeseballness!  Life is good!

Missing Summer

Yes, I do love this fall , cool, crisp weather, but I sure miss summer.  With no schedule or school to zip off to and cooling off in the water parks makes me miss it so much; especially when I see these pictures.    The zoo was open every friday night and they have waterfalls there for the kids to play in....it was the highlight of my week bc they had a DJ with fun dance music.  I dont go to the night clubs anymore to shake my booty so now I do it with little kiddies and I think it's much more fun.



and face painting is a must.


sometimes we got a little wild with it.



oh, this is one of the sweetest pictures ever.

prepare yourself.

 i dont think u can handle it.

ok, please proceed, but dont say i didnt warn u.






my little mommy's helper.  she told david the other night she wanted to marry grady when she grew up and be a mommy to her babies, but was worried because she didnt know how to cook dinner or turn on the dishwasher.



some mall fun...he's as sweet as he looks. if not sweeter. gives kisses and hugs randomly throughout the day.  begs lily to kiss his hand and give him a hug before she goes to school each morning and again at night before bed. he's talking up a storm and cracking us up at every turn...i can't wait to learn more about him the more he talks bc he...is...hysterical with his 1-2 word sentences, intonation and mannerisms, i can't imagine when we get the full story with him.



my heart aches for another trip like this with my favorite people from high school where we talked about life, love and happiness overlooking the ocean.  can u say perfection?


this has to happen again next summer.  seems mandatory actually.



Lily cooling off in the heat.  i think she's had enough.



and our annual trip to the hyatt with mom and sissies....we think this is our 8-9th summer in a row and scheduling an open weekend for all 4 of us is like solving the world's largest Suduko puzzle, but once it's set on the calendar, everything that comes up conveniently shifts around that sacred weekend.  I can't describe the bonding, laughter and fun we have when we're together.  Im so lucky I can't stand it.


Missing summer, but loving these PERFECT park days we have had lately.  Life is good ...any season of the year.

jumping jacks

I think we need some extra practice in the jumping jacks department - I dont see a MaryLou Retton, but I do see a cutie pie.

here

Floating Questions

My cell phone is always attached to me which lets me capture little moments of the day which I'm forever grateful for because we'll look back on these miracle people and look in shock in awe of how little they once were.  Life is stressful and beautiful all in the same breath and having these pictures reminds me of all the good while washing away the tantrums and spilled milk moments. Some days there's just milk drops spilled and others I feel covered in milk, but they are all worth it and then some.

I never knew motherhood could be so amazing and emotionally draining and fulfilling all in the same breath.

My brain never seems to sleep with questions and analyzing how I'm doing in this role.  I feel like I got one shot at this and people tell me it flies by so I wanna do all I can to make their childhood magical and the backbone they need to handle life when they get older.   The questions float in and out of my head like clouds, randomly,  as I'm driving or in the shower or about to fall asleep.....Am I doing enough fun things with them?  Do I use incentives or is it just bribery and too much?  

Am I too strict?  Am I too lenient?  Do I expect too much?  Do I not expect enough?  Do I plan enough play dates?  Does Lily share enough? Should Grady know all his colors by now? Does Lily brush her teeth long enough?  Should I be more germ sensitive?

Are these tantrums in frequency (and severity) normal for their age? Should I go to the dr again for Grady's cough? Do they watch too much tv in the car? Am I on my phone too much? Do they do enough crafting?

Are they eating enough fruits and veggies at every meal? Is Lily's messy homework normal for 4 or should she redo it? Do I clean too much while they're awake?  Am I patient enough?  Do I hide my buttons well enough?  Are we laughing enough?  Are we using our imagination enough?  Are we playing enough outside?  Do I realize how vulnerable they are and the responsibility standing at my feet?

Am I instilling kindness in them with our talks, role playing and modeling it for them when I'm friendly at McDonald's drive through?  Do they feel how loved they are when I can't find the words to ever fully articulate it myself? Their love humbles me hourly and they give me so much; how can I possibly return that to them?

Is Lily's nervousness normal?  Are her nightmares normal for 4 years old?   Am I doing enough for her?  What will she be like when she's a teenager?  Will she ever prefer her friends over us?  Everyone says so, but I can't picture it in my wildest imagination. Will she always act like she'd rather be back in my uterus?

Is it normal that Grady screams bloody murder every time he sees a barber 20 miles away?  Is it normal he rips and/or throws books in excitement?  Is he part-alligator?  When will he jump out of his crib again? Does he use his nuk too much? Do we give in too much when he cries? Lily said the other day when I wouldn't give him something he wanted she wanted the crying to stop "Mommy, just give him what he wants.  He's a toddler and you always give a toddler what they want to make them stop crying."  I wonder where she learned that theory?

Every night I walk into their room while they sleep at their ultimate vulnerable state and say a silent prayer over them, sometimes slipping into bed with Lily (who is sleeping like a log sprawled across the bed in any of the 4 corners of her bed) screaming gratitude in my head for them and wish for them to be happy and healthy and pray pray pray like mad that I'm doing enough for them.  I'd jump in the crib with Grady if I could.   

Im constantly asking parents of older kids what they loved they did when their kids were growing and what do they wish they did more of?  My analyzing and constant questioning isn't out of an insecure place because I oddly feel confident in my parenting knowing that my parents gave me a great foundation to pull from; hoping that marinating them in love and being there for them at every turn will  supersede all these silly worries and questions that plague me, but I feel like this window of opportunity to fill them up with all this ooey-gooey goodness is so small, yet so vast that I wanna do all I can before the window closes and I'm watching them through the glass.  People say that the days are long, but the years are short and I know that's true and remember it most when I hear this song the most.


It Wont Be Like This For Long

and if that song didn't pull at every heart string you have in your beating heart, then there's this one

You're Gonna Miss This

Life is good and gooey. (with lots of milk spilled everywhere in the corners)

random videos in archives

here are some videos i found in my july files.  this is what grady would do while lily was at gymnastics.  
here

and what lily would do while lily was at gymnastics


here

lil doing her swan dive...






here

and grady just as he's learning the steps which he is really good at now...and of course he's eating a banana.  he is bananas for bananas.



here

Happy Halloween 2012

This is our 5th Halloween as parents and each year it gets more fun and exciting seeing the kids get into it so much more every year.  A look back at previous Halloweens make me laugh to myself seeing their costumes and little itty bitty faces and transport myself back to that day each year I remember so vividly.

Lily's first Halloween as our little peanut which was her nickname while she was in my tummy tum tum.  She was about 6 months old here and David and I were pinching ourselves with excitement that we could finally do all the kid stuff we longed to do for so many years.


Lily second Halloween at a year and a half looking adorable as Minnie and it almost seems odd that she doesn't have her partner in crime Grady with her.


Then we finally were a family of 4 for our third halloween...Grady was weeks old and Lily was a ripe 2.5 wondering what just happened when her world was rocked with this new little dude who kept hanging around.


Then last year which was our fourth Halloween, Grady just turned 1 and Lily was 3.5..Molly mentioned months before Halloween  how much Grady resembled Charlie Brown with his big pumpkin head and I raced to my phone to google Charlie Brown and Snoopy costumes.  I think they were ordered and en route to my house within an hour of her passing comment.  David nicknames me IGK for 'Instant Gratification Kelly' because when I want something, it's hard for me to be patient and I jump at it full force and the wheels start turning where I want it right away.  Case in point to their Halloween costumes ordered months before the big day an hour after Molly said Grady reminded her of good ole Chuck.


Leaving the time machine away we head into 2012 for one of my favorite costume pairs they've worn yet.  Granted... there's only been 3 of them together, but still.  Lily said she wanted to be Dora for months so we thought Grady should be Boots, but the more we brainstormed, his personality is more like Swiper the Fox.  Sly, cute, and swipes your heart just with his smile.  I found a lady who could make a Boots or Swiper costume so we had a family meeting at Hurricanes and decided Swiper would be her Halloween-Mate.




he has never been one to wear hats and always took them off seconds after trying them on, but he never touched this hoodie which blew me away.  He cracked me up the way he carried on like he wasn't dressed up with a tail and ski mask.  It's kinda like he didn't want to break the Halloween dress code.


oh that tail gets me every time.


and a duo was set.  Lily's costume makes me laugh and I don't know my favorite part.


Of course the wig is hilarious, but then the big shoes, back pack, high shorts, and map she drew cracks me up.  Then for some reason Dora is a little Hoochie momma because her costume of shirt/shorts is one piece and no matter how I put it on her, repositioned, loosened it, it is made just so that Dora show off her belly.  What is the reason for this?  I looked at every doll and cartoon and there's Dora showing off her 6 pack abs.  So we played along.  Hoochie sounds a lot like Hutchie these days.



just as cute from behind.

dig in...


every trunk or house or bucket of candy that  Lily visited, we told her to just choose one piece, but she would get an extra piece of candy...at first I thought she was being greedy, but when questioned she told me she had to get an extra one for Grady every single time.  be still my heart.



They were turning some heads and we heard many Dora taglines and songs on our travels...and lots of stares.



and Lily fit in like one of the girls. (notice the wig malfunction...we had it down to a science by the big night)


Lil and G's parents tried to look cute like them, but we failed miserably for the annual pumpkin patch picture


Halloween isn't just one night anymore...leading up to it, there are Halloween parties to go to, Halloween events at the mall, at the church,  at the local park,  at the zoo, at the pumpkin patch and I was desperately trying to balance between going crazy with costume parties every other day not wanting to miss anything then to chill and not being frazzled once 10/31 actually happened.  We hit a lot of them and one of them was at the mall.  We were gonna skip it because Lily's soccer game conflicted, but once we heard that Cinderella and Elmo were going to be there, it was a no brainer.  So we managed to do both.  Nothing better than doing a costume change in the back of the car.  Said no one ever. (credit ecard for that joke)


I think Uncle Dan did a better job, but we played along.  This was the most matted Elmo I'd ever seen.  Elmo needs a root conditioner treatment or something.


Let's throw Spidey and fist pumping in for good measure.


So the big day arrived and Lil kept asking what we were going to be like it was assumed we were going to dress up.  She'd "Mommy, I wonder what you and daddy are gonna dress up as...maybe you could be Cinderella and daddy could be Boots." like it was really stumping her.  It was very cute how she kept asking and brainstorming with me so my friend Katie let me borrow some her cute costumes for us.  I was  a goddess of course and D was peace man.  We brought along Dora and Swiper too so we'd fit in.


Lil was in a major funk when the games began and I was about to whip the Dora wig off her head and call it a night, but once she realized only happy kids got the goods, she (not so) quickly snapped out of it.  This pic is mid-funk.  I'm hiding behind Grady which I thought was pretty clever of me.  Can you spot the Goddess?  How about my tiara I borrowed from Lily.  Lily looks like a Dora doll.  A Dora doll who is mad and doesn't know why.  Hilarious to see Grace striking a super cute pose right next to her.



I wanted a cousins picture so badly, but this is the best I could get.  Are my kids the only moody ones on the planet?  Sure feels like it sometimes.  Sheez louise.


Grace is feeling no funk here... that's for sure!  She's 6 going on 16.



A random pickup truck honking wildly through the neighborhood with every character imaginable on it was like a Halloween mirage.




The funk was lifted magically and we tricked and treated longer than we planned because the kids were happy.  Nothing better than seeing them happy.  I think I've mentioned that sentiment before. About a gabillion times.



Life is good!