Balloons Trump All

We celebrated Caitlin's 2nd birthday yesterday by making it an all around special day for her. She woke up to a card, gift, and balloons, wore a new dress to church (the ladybug one you gave her, Nat!), ate (partly) the ubersweet "Fancy Pants" pancakes at Perkins, and had Happy Birthday sung to her at least five different times. She also ended up taking a five hour nap, which made it a special day for Mama and Papa too-! It was a dreary, rainy day (I think this explains the nap length), but I'm pretty sure she at least caught on a little that there was something special about it. And for the record, don't worry about actual gifts for your next toddler's birthday present, just go out and get them $2 worth of heluim balloons--she carried them everywhere with her and wouldn't ever let them go! (see videos for evidence of this!)

Pay It Forward

My friend Laurie had this on her blog and I had to sign right up! And now I'd like to extend this fun offer to my friends and family as well. The idea is that the first five people to post a comment on this blog entry will receive something special from me sometime in the next year! Then you look for people to pay it forward to yourself.

Here's how it works:

1. Leave a comment letting me know you'd like to participate. You must be willing to provide me with a mailing address, obviously.

2. Post a "Pay it Forward" on your blog where you link back to me and extend the same offer to five of your readers. (again, if you don' have a blog, you can still participate maybe over FB, Twitter or just in 'real life' situations!)

3. Promise that you will follow through and send something special to those five who comment on your blog (or however you choose to do it!)

The little something's don't have to be extravagant, just something that you select with that specific person in mind. You know you want to comment!

Universal

"Stop. Hammertime."
:)

(props to sister-in-law Molly for sending this to me, love it!)

Enjoyable

The last few days I have been overwhelmed with enjoyment of this phase of life I'm in right now. That is not always the case (surprise, surprise-!), so I am especially grateful for these times.

With the majority of my time and attention spent "mothering," this is where most of these little joy gems occur. Lately, Caitlin walks around babbling, stringing together all the words she knows, occasionally looking up at me to give me the joy of figuring out what it is she's just stated. I'm getting pretty good at this game, although still not a pro at deciphering her versions of "book" and "bug" from one another...

Or when I'll peek down at Connor as he's nursing to catch his soft blue eyes looking up at me and he lets out a little coo or gurgle and a little grin and my heart just melts...

I can't help but smile to watch the interaction between these siblings now that Connor recognizes his sister and smiles when she's close. Caitlin's such a little mama to him already, taking care to always make sure a soother is nearby in case of a crying emergency (and describing to you in full two year old clarity that the soother is for when Connor cries, "wah wah wah").

I find myself daydreaming about who Caitlin and Connor will become, about what they'll look like in five and ten years, about how they'll be. It fills me with such joy to think of the God-filled future they will have and that I can enjoy this time with them as they start on this journey, learning how to make sense of life from scratch.

Oh That Frown

"Mama!? Seriously, what are you doing?"I love how the frowns are all eventually breaking through to smiles these days. So sweet.

I Had It Coming

Grady was my knight in shining armor this morning, getting up and feeding both kids, putting Connor down for his first nap and settling Caitlin in to play in the living room so I could catch an extra couple hours of sleep. When I finally made it out to the living room to see how Caitlin was doing, this is what I saw...I was stumped! The spots were so evenly spaced, but they would kind of rub off with my finger...they weren't red but more of a brownish color...hmmm...she must have put her face up against something, but what? Or could it be some kind of allergic reaction, maybe to her breakfast?? I checked her arms, etc, and the spots were only on the face...did she get a hold of a pen? But they were brown, not black, and so evenly spaced (that part really got me). Oh no! Poor Caitlin.

So I called Grady at work and he also had no idea, suggesting maybe chicken pox or something?? He let me go on a bit and worry until out came the words...
"April Fool's!"

Good one honey. Almost as good as the stunt I pulled on you two years ago...