Our Life

Life with 2 little ones is crazy at times. I try to enjoy the crazy moments instead of letting them overwhelm me. I’m not always successful, but I try. Oftentimes after the kids go to bed I will find something they’ve done during the day that makes me laugh- toys tucked in strange places or their cups in the pretend fridge instead of the real one. I look forward to a day when they can tell me what’s wrong instead of whining or they can use the bathroom instead of my changing their diapers, but I’m sure I’ll miss the laughter as they knock every single magnet off the fridge and the pitter-patter of wobbly feet as they run through the house and that little voice desperately whimpering, “Aah-Aah? Aah-Aah? B? B? B?” as he searches for his monkey & blanket.

I have to post this next picture because it cracks me up. He is not falling. This is Austin's attempt at getting out of his Cozy Coupe head-first. I think his hands were occupied holding his Cheerios...

Aquarium & Friends

We had the pleasure this past week of having Grammy in town, and I’m now realizing, didn’t take a single picture with her! I hate it when I do that! We decided on Saturday to take the kids to the aquarium to break up the day a little. They really enjoyed seeing the fish and running through the shark tunnel, but their favorite attraction was the cage display that was set up near the shark exhibit. We kept having to pull them out so that other people could take pictures of their kids in the cage. But it accomplished the goal at hand- keeping them entertained and happy.

I’ve put these next two on facebook, so most of you have probably seen them, but for those of you who haven’t, I thought I should definitely share this photo & video:

Funny Girl

Addison has been keeping us laughing lately. Maybe it’s because she’s talking a little more, and definitely maturing some, but she’s been a funny little girl lately.

1. First and foremost, many of you know she has stopped napping (not so funny). I still put her up in her crib for “rest time,” but she typically throws all of her books and toys out of her crib in the first 2 minutes and is left to entertain herself. Her new favorite form of entertainment is to strip down naked- diaper and all (let’s hope this isn’t an indication of any future career interests). It was funny the first few times, but when I went to get her yesterday and smelled her hobby before I entered the room, I knew it was time for some serious action. Today was our first day of duct taping her diaper on, and so far it is a successful remedy.

2. I came home from work the other day and thought Wes had started to wash some dishes for me because the sink was overflowing with bowls. As I pulled them out of the sink, I also found a toy microphone, a ball, some wooden spoons and a couple of (unused) diapers. She’s enjoying being able to reach over the countertops!

3. Addison has started singing along with the music in the car and the intro to Mickey Mouse. It’s usually just the last word or even last syllable of a line, so it sounds something like this:

TV: “M-I-C-K-E-“

Addison: “WYYYYY”

TV: “M-O-U-S-“

Addison: “SEEEE”

4. She is quite the parrot lately, and I’ve begun to realize that I say the same things everyday. Whenever I cough or sneeze she says, “Okay, mommy?” This morning on the way to school Austin sneezed and she said, “Bless you,” and then once we got to school, I got her out of the car, and she said some semblance of, “Go get Bubba.” (out of his car seat).

5. Getting Addison from her classroom to the car used to be a bit of a struggle, but now she helps me push the stroller to the car, and it’s a breeze. The funny thing, though, is that there’s a little clear plastic window in the back of the stroller, and she puts her face to it and looks out as she steers.

Snow Days

Snow days are not what they used to be. It used to mean sleeping in late, lounging around the house, doing whatever I wanted- an exciting, albeit short, break from whatever responsibilities I did have. Now- yeah, not so much. Let’s just say I’m running out of ideas to keep our two little hostages entertained and running out of days on which to reschedule our three doctor’s appointments we had this week. And it looks like the fun will continue yet another day!

A few shots from our last few days of being house-bound:

We’ve read books (and tried on daddy’s socks)

We've played with homemade playdough

We've eaten homemade playdough (not recommended)
We built a snowman (sort of- it is 9 degrees outside!)
We decapitated a snowman- oh the joy!
And though we don't have pictures, throwing toys over the rail from upstairs has been a very entertaining newfound pastime.

This one actually happened over the weekend, but here’s a good view of Austin’s temporarily permanent injury. We’re still not sure how he chipped his tooth, but it looks like he’ll be answering to “Snaggletooth” for the next 6 years or so! I have a feeling it has only just begun!

Cabin Fever

I get in trouble when I don’t update the blog for a while, but the truth is, there’s not that much to update. We’ve had a touch of cabin fever in our house lately. We’ve had to bundle up a few times and go play outside, even if just for a few minutes. It just seems to reset everybody. I am really looking forward to the warmer weather and not having to deal with coats and static and standing in the cold putting Addison’s shoes back on when we’ve reached our destination. I’m already getting excited about swimsuits and bare legs & feet and playing outside in the water. It’s going to be a long few months!

Long Overdue

We are finally back from our array of travels and getting back into the swing of things. First we flew to Boston to spend Christmas with Grammy & BopBop. We got 18” of snow while we were there, but thankfully our travel plans were not affected. The kids enjoyed the snow for about 10 minutes, which is about 20 minutes less than it took to get them all bundled up. I was just thankful they’re still in diapers so we didn’t have to deal with the inevitable need to pee once we zipped them up.

Then we headed down to Waco to spend some time with the Jumper family.

(Austin & his cousin, Reese, flashing her fake smile)

We had a great Christmas together, and then celebrated New Year’s in true Jumper fashion shooting fireworks off the deck.

The kids have enjoyed playing with their new toys,

but they’ve also really enjoyed playing with each other’s toys.

I guess that's one of the benefits of having siblings!

"Tweee"

That’s what Addison says when asked how old she is. Tomorrow is her third birthday! We had a fun party today to celebrate her three little years, and I think she had a great time. We got to climb and jump and play with balls, bubbles and noodles, eat cake and open gifts. What more could a three-year-old girl ask for?

Austin also enjoyed himself, despite his face-plant fall out of his chair while eating cake. You’ll notice he already had a nice new bruise on the other side of his face, as well. As Grammy said, he’s starting to look like a prizefighter. We’re taking over-unders on when our trip to ERgent Care will be for his first set of stitches.