Winter into spring

I guess I'm just going to be a once-a-month blogger in this stage of my life!

We got some snow on Wade's birthday and again 2 weeks later.  Very brief snowfalls that barely accumulated and then melted quickly.  But enough for a few pictures!

Paisley dog

She doesn't get much attention these days, and wiping off muddy paws is getting to be one of the banes of my existence.  But she loves us, she's great with the kids, and she cleans up after meals better than any dustbuster.

Me with the kiddos

Finally someone got to wear this cute UNC snowsuit for all of 20 minutes!  Caden never fit into it at the right time.

Backyard before it melted

We've moved Lindley to the big tub with Caden now.  She's in a Bumbo seat here because her real bath seat kept rubbing her wrong & giving her welts, but now I put an old baby towel over it - problem solved. 

Finally the weather is starting to move toward spring!  We took advantage for some outside time the other day.

This girl is so smiley.  She has her fussy moments, but her smiley ones are so infectious.

Caden was having a rough afternoon.  This happens at least half the time after his nap.  He wakes up in just a terrible mood and stomps his feet, screams NO, and just collapses in tears at pretty much everything.  Even things like "here, have some of your favorite food" or "let's go play with toys outside!"  I think I just have to wait it out.  It's annoying, but I'm trying to just ignore it and not let it irritate me.

He sortof calmed down after a bit and had fun "runnin'" around the yard.  He'll run around saying "runnin', runnin'" over and over again - it's so cute.  The other day he ran about a mile on our walk home from the playground!

Looking like they like each other in the wagon.  Looks are a little deceiving here, but they get along fairly well.  Lindley is definitely curious, watching Caden a lot now.  Heaven help me if he comes in the room while she's nursing - I can just forget her eating any more at that point.  

He talks about her and I wouldn't say he's jealous (he's fine with me needing to feed her or put her down for a nap, etc.), but he also doesn't try to play with her or interact, unlike my friend's little boy who comes over on Monday mornings.  Ethan is always bringing her stuff, sitting with her, looking at her, hugging her, etc.  It's so cute.  Caden just co-exists with her.  I'm interested to see how that develops when she gets mobile & verbal.

It's hard to believe that grad school is really over (for now...  we shall see whether an Ed.D. is in Wade's future).  We're sortof settling into a spring routine?  Seems like things are still always changing. We have several trips coming up later in April/May/June/July.  Wade will be going to Haiti, we'll go to the beach a few times, and we'll go to Covenant for Wade's graduation!

Life lately

It's been just a LITTLE busy around here lately.  Basketball season has consumed us (Wade), along with grad school too.  It was a tough season - a lot of very close losses - but the team never gave up, so I know Wade is proud of his guys.

In the midst of it, Caden turned TWO!  We had the family over for soup, salad, cake & ice cream.  For the second year, Caden was not enthused by the birthday cake.  I think it was more the fire (candles) - because he's very anti-hot things, and everybody singing and looking at him that made him upset.

He got this awesome wagon from my dad, and this board with all different locks and stuff to play with from Aunt Laurie.

And a fun tunnel from Aunt Hillary!

This is Caden & Lindley playing with my friend's son, Ethan, who comes over every Monday while his mom teaches.

And our baby girl is 6 months old already!  She's sitting up better every day and rocking on her knees a lot.  She pulled herself forward a few times at about 5.5 months, but hasn't done it much since.

She's getting to be a chunker too...  she's well into 9 month clothes now and could easily outgrow them in the next month or so.  I'm worried she's going to overtake Riley, her 14-months-older cousin!  I may have to actually buy some clothes for her in the absence of hand-me-downs :).

Lindley is getting more regular with her 2 naps a day - around 11 a.m. and 2:30 or 3 p.m.  She goes to bed about 7 p.m.  Sometimes she gets up around 5:30-6:30 a.m. to eat & go back to sleep, and sometimes she sleeps all the way til 7 or 7:30.  She will not take a bottle, so I do all the feeding & putting her down.  She is doing better with solid foods too... it took her about a month to get the hang of it, and she didn't like carrots or pumpkin.  But she's had sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, green beans & butternut squash that she liked.

I'm looking forward to the spring & summer - warmer weather, a lighter schedule for Wade, mobile children, daylight in the evenings, more walks & playground time.  Caden did the climbing wall at the playground the other day by himself twice.  It's about 8 feet tall - I definitely could not totally spot him at the very top.  I was praying he wouldn't fall from there!

My new year's resolutions are, um... not going so well.  I'm still flossing my teeth every day!  That's about it.  Going to bed at 10:00 just was not working because I couldn't fall asleep.  And then Lindley started getting up earlier, cutting into my potential workout time.  Plus working out at 6 a.m. is just not an ideal time for me.  I really need it to be 9 or 10 a.m., which unfortunately does not work with children!  Maybe someday, if I can join the Y... :).

My mini me

We discovered that Lindley looks just like I did as a baby!

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not a big believer in New Year's resolutions, but the start of 2013 is coinciding with my release from the "working" world to be a stay-at-home mom.  I have already sortof been a stay-at-home mom since June, but I was also trying to fit in being a work-at-home mom too, and it was just too much.  So... along with my new role, I want to make some lifestyle changes as well, for the betterment of myself and my family.

So here they are:
1. Floss every day.
2. Go to bed at 10 p.m. & get up at 6 a.m.  Try to fit in a workout, shower & quiet time before Lindley wakes up.
3. Meal plan & cook dinner most nights.
4. Clean out, declutter, organize & simplify our house, one nook or cranny at a time.

Eventually I may try to establish a cleaning routine, but I think I need to focus on the above ones first.  I don't want to get ahead of myself, considering I do still have a(n almost) 2-year-old and a baby.

And, in case you forgot them, here are pictures of those two kiddos just for good measure.

Lindley sporting her new Babylegs leggings she got for Christmas.

Caden sporting his super short new haircut.  Wade didn't realize that I was thinking of buzzing it with the longest guard (1"), so he buzzed it with the 1/4" guard.  It was pretty shocking at first, but it is growing, and growing on me, quickly!

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas this year!

We got Lindley and Caden up just before 9:00 and came downstairs.  

They chilled on the couch for a bit. 

I made pumpkin pancakes, with and without chocolate chips.  

They were so good - I think I'm going to have to make that a Christmas tradition. 

Caden got a cute snowman sippy cup in his stocking :).  

It was so something my mom would have bought, so I couldn't resist.

Lindley realized she had forgotten to buy presents for everyone.

Nana & Pappu (Wade's parents) and Aunt Whitney came over to have breakfast & open presents with us.  I love this picture of Lindley smiling at Nana.

Caden loved this wooden truck/car set from his grandparents. 

 

Sweet Paisley had to be in the middle of it all, of course.

Caden was finally into opening presents, which was fun.

He started playing with each toy he got right away. 

 

He really loved the Little Tikes car!  Wade brought it in from the garage after all the presents had been opened.  Caden got up & ran over & hopped inside immediately.  It was so cute. 

  

After the kids napped & my dad came over briefly, we headed to my aunt Laurie's house for dinner and more celebrations with her family, my sister's family & dad.

 

Caden ran around and played with his cousins most of the night, and Lindley enjoyed being held by various family members.

I didn't get any pictures, but the day after Christmas we celebrated with dad's sister & brother & associated families, which was fun as well!  The last couple days we've just been trying to clean up, put gifts in their places, and get the kids back on normal eating & sleeping schedules.

Getting ready to ring in the new year Atlanta-style!

Boy + girl

This is just a brief post to get these cutie patooties out there in the blogosphere a little more.

I couldn't resist snapping a couple pics of the kids together the other day. 

Caden is into giving kisses these days.  He asks for a kiss every time I put him down for a nap or bedtime, and that's his cue to lay down and go to sleep (it generally works, although he's started asking for another... and another... and...).  So here he is giving Lindley a kiss.

4 months old!

 Our Lindley girl is 4 months old now!  She's pretty cute, but I'll let the pictures do the talking on that.

She's getting much better head control now and can somewhat sit on my hip when I hold her and sit up supported.  She lasted about 1 second when I tried to take a picture of her sitting up by herself.  It's still early though :).

Baby girl is wearing 3-6 month clothes, and size 2 diapers (size 3 at night).  She usually goes to bed between 8-9 p.m., and wakes up between 7:30-8:30 a.m.  Another good sleeper - praise the Lord for that!  She nurses 5-6 times a day and takes a few naps (nothing set in stone yet).

She started grasping toys (of her own accord) the day she turned 4 months.  So if you put something in her lap, she'll pick it up now and look at it or chew on it.

Still a little short for the jumperoo.  I'm sure I could adjust the height settings, but I ended up just putting a couple cushions under it for now.

She does better in this bouncer, hanging from the doorway from our kitchen to the laundry room.  Right now she'll sit in it happily for maybe 20 minutes, but hopefully that will get longer the more she figures out how to bounce, and with improved body control.

Not to be left out, this little guy is quickly approaching TWO!  He got a real haircut a couple weeks ago, which makes him look even more little boy-ish.  He's wearing 2T pants and 3T tops, and size 7.5-8 shoes.

These are his new Christmas friends.  He lined them up on the steps & sat down beside them all by himself :).

All decked out for Christmas!

 The faithful fake tree.  I still like the way it looks & the money it saves on not buying a tree every year!

I finally sewed letters on rest of our stockings, so we're all represented now!  (Paisley's is behind mine because we only have 4 hooks.)

Christmas is coming soon!  Caden has picked up the words "Christmas," "Jesus," and "birthday" recently.  Trying to get him to connect that we celebrate Jesus' birthday on Christmas :).  He's also started asking to read his Bible all the time - it is the sweetest thing ever.  He knows who David & Goliath, Daniel (and the lions), Jonah (and the whale), Jesus & Zacchaeus are when we get to those pages.  I love seeing him learn and am amazed whenever he whips out something I had no idea he knew!