Is it hot? / Is it hard?

Meal time is quite and adventure. When Steve and I were dating we had so much fun going to movies and out to eat. I have to say as much as I loved those days, these are my favorite days to date. We still love to go out to dinner. Now our server gets a much bigger tip because of all the noise and extra food on the floor. While the words "Is it hot?" and "Is it hard", may conjure up an altogether different scene is some people's minds - for us it it the distinct pleasure of tasting all foods that our little ones eat. We have even turned into birds at some point. That is we put food in our mouths to check if it is too hot or too hard and then procede to feed this "checked food" to the boys. Is is amazing how becoming a parent changes your perspective. It is true at times Steve and I are too tired and overwhelmed to even say good morning. The entire truth is that we are so close now that sometimes words are not needed at all. There is nothing that says romance like seeing your husband spit food into his hand.

Sun of Sons

Her Little Shadows
I saw a young mother with eyes full of laughter
And two little shadows come following after
Wherever she moved, they were always right there-
Holding onto her skirts, hanging onto her chair,
Before her, behind her-an adhesive pair.

“Don’t you ever get weary as, day after day,
Your two little tagalongs get in your way?”

She smiled as she shook her pretty young head,
And I’ll always remember the words that she said:
It’s good to have shadows that run when you run
That laugh when you’re happy and hum when you hum-
For you only have shadows when your life is filled with sun.
~Barbara Burrow

Shoes

The last time that I bought high heals was when I was all fat and pregnant and had the honor of being in my best friend's wedding. That was one of the few times in my life that I had bought shoes that hurt my feet. In those shoes defense, it was not the shoes that were the problem, but the extra fifty pounds that those swollen feet had to carry. Now shoe shopping is an altogether different experience. First of all I am usually buying shoes for the Nathan, Adam, and myself. Secondly, my basis for a pair of shoes is as follows 1) Can I get them on and off without hands? 2) If running after a child will I be able to actually run? 3) Are they going to show dirt? Then the fun begins. So Nathan needs a size 5 wide, really? Who carries that? So spend about fifty dollars and there are plenty of 5 wide shoes. I would prefer to spend out 10. 50 for shoes on a one-year-old. Come on. So we find soft shoes that will work. Velcro. Great. They have two size fives. I can just make Adam's tighter and Nathan's more lose. So we bring the shoes home. Suddenly I hear the rip and rip and rip of Velcro being unfastened and fastened again. I stare down at 10 naked toes (5 per child) and go in search of the missing two right shoes. Okay we get ( when I say we I mean me as in Mom) all four shoes on. Quick - slip on my shoes (while holding both boys) and run out the door.

First Easter Egg Hunt.

Adam found 2 eggs (Like father like son)

Nathan figured out where to put the eggs that he found.

Grandma's eggs had cookies inside, Adam figured that out quick

Nathan enjoying his cookies.

Fun with Gourds

Put down the debit cards, no money is required for fun. It is true there are boxes of toys at home, boxes of toys inside Grandma's house. What do the boys want - they want to play with the gourds that are drying in Grandma's garden. There always seems to be dirt associated with our fun. Really what is better than a muddy molding gourd -really? So as any good mom would do, I sat down on the cold damp dirt and played muddy moldy gourds with Nathan and Adam. I figure the millions of germs they were exposed to helped their little immune systems, and the millions of smiles and giggles helped Mom's.

Nathan rolling the gourd. Maybe someday this will be an olympic sport.


Adam riding his gourd. Okay, maybe this is not for the olympics.

Phone Calls.

Maybe Mom talks on the phone a little too much...

Two walkers are better than one!

Mom and Dad watch out, we are really walking now!

First Haircut

Nathan

Adam

We are getting rid of the baby mullets. It was all planned for their first birthday. We were going to cut their hair, tie it with little blue ribbons, and place it in a keepsake box. Well, as with anything around here lately, convenience won over sentiment. It was couple days after their actual birthday, I found some old white string, and the two little locks are sitting in zip lock baggies on the bathroom sink. We are not always organized, we are not always on time, but when the chips fall and when I am at my wits end.....we stop and just tickle the monsters until a good mood falls over us again.