Return to "Normal"

Finals are over, and I am over finals! One semester down. I actually have really, really enjoyed classes, and even studying for and taking finals. But I am now ready for a much-needed month to catch up on my real life! Because while I walked out of a test on Friday feeling pretty good about how I did, I was even more giddy about the fact that on Thursday, the Doodlebug had pooed in the potty for the first time. Yes, this is my life. :)

I finished up on Friday morning, and on Friday afternoon the kids and I went to the dinosaur museum (giving Daddy a much-deserved break). Here's the Doodle standing next to a mastodon. (It was too big to get them both in the picture, so I went with my handsome boy.)



When I came home Thursday night, someone had made some "muffins" and left them baking in the "oven" (under the rocking chair). They were delicious!



Franny-bug rocking her shades at Grandma's today.



She looked so funny in her little outfit I had to take pictures! Here she is using the oven door as a mirror to make crazy faces at herself.



So how are we? Pretty great. I remember panicking a little when the Doodle was only 7 months old and we found out he was getting a sibling. In the early months of two-under-two we kept telling each other, "It gets easier." Of course, we had no reason to know that but we had to say it to keep our sanity.

Turns out, it does get easier and easier is now! We don't have to hold their bottles, spoon-feed them, or swaddle them and trick them into sleeping. For the most part, when they find small objects on the floor, Atticus ignores them and Franny conscientiously delivers them to me.

Although, truth be told, Craig went into Atticus room the other day to find Franny balanced on the foot-board of Atticus' bed, heel-to-toe, like it was a balance beam. (We have to admit, the girl does have an uncanny sense of balance.) And when we try to sing along to the ABC song from their CD, Atticus witheringly says, "Mom, don't sing!"

What's not to love? :)

Just a few pictures from today. Franny's new look:




She was wearing this around this morning and she thought she was hiLARious! I wasn't really able to capture the fahbulous attitude in just a picture, so you will have to use your imagination.


The Doodle making playdough:



He has played with playdough before but we had never tried making it. He was bored this afternoon and I asked him if he wanted to help me make playdough, and you would have thought I had asked him if he wanted to go to Disneyland.



The finished product. A little sticky, but not bad. He's making "muffins:"



By the way, anyone with a two year old boy who doesn't have a tea set might not realize what fun they are missing. Ladybug got a little teapot and cups for her birthday, and Atticus thinks they are the most wonderful toys in the world. He also puts his blocks in the teacups for ice cubes. The things he might have missed out on if he didn't have a sister!

Duck Wings

So last night we are putting Atticus to bed, and Craig is asking him about his day. Craig asks him if he remembers what we had for breakfast. (We had pancakes, his favorite.) Atticus thinks about it, and says, "Ummm...duckwings."

What? We can't understand him. "Duck Wings," he answers.

Duck wings? I am sitting behind Craig on the bed, and am dying laughing but burying my face in his back so Atticus can't see me. Craig is trying not to laugh, but poor sweet Atticus is dead serious.

"Duck wings?" Craig asks him. "Yes," says Atticus. "Duck wings."

We are both about to lose it when I remember that while we had pancakes for breakfast, for lunch we had chicken and dumplings. Poor kid. It must be so frustrating to be two.

Happy Birthday, Ladybug

Ladybug is a year old! We had her birthday party last weekend, and here are a few pictures. She had a good time. By the end of the party, you could tell she realized it was HER party (for once, ha ha).

Here she is trying on part of the Doodle's Halloween costume:





She wasn't too sure about the cupcake at first.

What IS this stuff? Is this even food? What a mess!



I guess I'll try it...



Whoa! It's amazing! I love it!



And one more picture from the big day:



We took her to the doctor for her one year appointment and she weighed 21 lbs. Getting weighed was about the only part of the whole doctor's appointment she cooperated for. We went in for flu shots a month ago, and I'm pretty sure she remembered.

At one year, Franny is such a sweet girl! She is very affectionate and gives lots of love and hugs and cuddling. She loves her brother and tries to do everything he does. But she will get upset and SCREAM if he takes something away from her.

She will climb on anything she can find and isn't afraid to try anything. She is still crawling a lot but can take 5-10 steps at a time. She still eats some homemade baby food, but eats most of what we eat, too. She still takes a bottle sometimes but also drinks from a cup.

She has a few words, but they aren't very clear. She shakes her head yes and no in answer to your questions, and signs for "milk," "more please," "bath," and "all done." She can play ball and peek-a-boo. She LOVES animals and gets so excited to see cats or dogs or to go feed the ducks.

Anyway, that's Frannybug at one year. We love you, Franny!

We can fly, we can fly, we can fly!

We had such a busy day yesterday! Ladybug had her first birthday party, and then we went trick-or-treating. I have tons of pictures so I'm going to do Halloween first, and birthday pictures soon.

Here's Tinkerbell:



Tinkerbell and Peter Pan:



It was impossible to get a good picture of the kids together. The Doodle loved his costume but did NOT want his picture taken, especially with his sister. I was only able to get the above picture because they were both distracted looking at a cat.



Trick-or-treating. They both LOVED it. Atticus loved ringing the doorbells and saying "trick-or-treat." Franny loved riding in the wagon and seeing the other kids in costume. We trick-or-treated past her bedtime, and she did great. Just laughed and laughed the whole time.



Oh, and these costumes were so easy! I made the Peter Pan stuff from clothes I bought at the thrift shop, and I made his hat and Franny's tutu myself for a combined total of about $4. The only thing we bought were the wings. I think doing everything took less than 30 minutes.

Stay tuned for birthday pictures...

Funny stuff

Picture this, if you will...

I've gotten the kids out of the bathtub. This is CRAZY TIME in our house. We have two kids running around that we are trying to corral and coax into diapers and pajamas. So tonight I'm struggling to get Ladybug snapped into her jammies, she's crying, things are nuts.

The Doodle comes in, naked, with a toy piano. Climbs into Franny's dollbed announcing, "Look, Momma! I'm in the BATH!" And proceeds to give the following stellar performance:




In other news, Franny is walking! She can't get very far, though, because she thinks she is SO AWESOME that she gets too excited to stand up. She crashes down, laughs hysterically, and then jumps up and tries again. She cracks herself up.

Saturday Morning Breakfast

We have a long-standing ritual of cooking Saturday morning breakfast. Doodlebug/Ladybug have now decided they are old enough to help. This morning Daddy brought in this step stool for Atticus to stand on. We turn around, and the next thing we know, there Franny is, balanced precariously on the step right behind him. She's definitely our little climber!



A few more random pictures of Frannybug I have. Here's one Uncle Chad took:



And one more I found from our outing to the pumpkin patch last week. She's ready to head home after a long day on the farm! :)