took me on a date Thursday night and it was fun to eat dinner with just him. A meal with just Michael feels like such a treat. It's just surprising how much we can talk to each other when there's no little voices around! But we love the little voices too. He had to install a new computer at our church this week so the boys and I went with him and ran around the gym the whole time. Westin loved it. We also cleaned the church on Friday and ran around some more, so on Sunday Westin was kind of confused about why we were at Church again and why we weren't running all around. Toddlers have so much to sort out, it sounds hard.
Maddie:
loved going on a date on Thursday -- we've already been on more dates this rotation (which is four weeks long) than last rotation (which was four months long...). Whoops! It's so hard to make those happen when Michael's on service but we need to be better at it. I took the boys to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday while Michael was sleeping after a night shift. Normally those things are great to get us out of the house, and it was, but this one in particular kind of bummed me out to be there without Michael. Those things are just so much better with dad around. I'm having fun getting to know my piano students more and getting the boys outside more as the weather warms up. Fresno spring is gorgeous!
Westin:
was in heaven at Saturday's Easter egg hunt. He got to jump in a dragon bounce house, go inside a garbage truck, touch a huge tortoise, win prizes at some carnival games, find lots of eggs, eat cotton candy, find Bennett's eggs for him, and have a hot dog. Perfect toddler day. We're also watching one of our favorite dogs for a last minute spring break request and Westin keeps saying "Oh I just love Rosie dog." He had a fun week. He also got to sing in sacrament meeting for the first time with primary today and he was sooo excited. He asked about a hundred times before going up there "Is it time yet?" and then after he just wanted to go up and "sing in that microphone again!" But really he didn't sing much while he was up there, and came and sat by me at the piano halfway through the song. Toddlers. Such a mystery in this life.
Bennett:
thinks Rosie is his pony and keeps trying to ride her, or brings me her leash so that I can put it on her for him to "walk her" around the house. What that really means is he hangs on and tries to keep up as she goes about her life. He's so funny. His deep belly laugh is just so Bennett and it makes me laugh every single time. He loved the Easter egg hunt too, but after he found two eggs he just held onto them for dear life and had no desire to find more. That would mean he'd have to let go of an egg, and that just wasn't an option. The other highlight for him was the big tortoise. He just wanted to lay on it. I think animals are Bennett's very favorite thing and it's so cute to see.
This big guy just ate grass while kids loved on him.
Westin was ALL about this experience.
He kept making the noises that garbage trucks make and pretending to dump garbage with his hands.
Takes after his dad. I think cotton candy is so nasty! He and Michael always gladly eat my share.
Westin does things on his own timeline. Up until this moment he has been terrified of bounce houses and refused to go inside one. At this party I didn't even look twice at the toddler bounce house because I knew his history. He saw it and was so excited, and said, "Can I go jump in that dragon house?!" I said "Sure!" knowing he wouldn't actually want to. We got over to it, he took off his shoes, slide inside, and jumped for 15 minutes. I was shocked but had to act like it was no big deal because #parenting. He acted like he does this every day. The same thing happened with slides. Hopefully it also happens with water and swimming this summer? That's a big one. I'm keeping my eye out for swimming lessons for him.
Two eggs. Mission accomplished.
Dog + Health challenge + spring weather = lots more walks this week.
We even took Rosie to our grocery pick up and Westin giggled the entire time. So did I. Then I saw all the hair in my car...
So much patience. I have much to learn from Rosie.
Bennett loves watching that brother.
Dad's helpers.
Playing soccer and basketball with Westin in the gym was really fun. He's growing up! And I love it and hate it and mostly love it. Motherhood is emotional, guys.
This picture is my favorite. Westin brought it to me and said, "I wrote my name! There's the W. And the T. And an I. What else do I need? So I told him to do an N, and he did, then an S, and an E. He put them in whatever order and they're not all legible, but I was just so impressed and proud of him! He has W down for sure, and anytime we drive by one on a sign he yells, "There's W for Westin!" Other sightings include "A for Apple! S for Snake! C for CAFE RIO!"
Library crew
Mr. Eric puts on a good time for story time.
"Helping" dad get new glasses. What would he do without us?
Such a cutie.
We wanted to eat cookies. We ate an apple instead. This health challenge deal is laaaame. But good.
Bennett's nursery picture. It's supposed to be a crown for being a Child of God, but it's a little cut off and reminds me of a dunce hat... haha I love it. Westin refused to wear the hat for his picture... of course. Sometimes I just sit and remember how easy easy EASY going he was for the first year of his life. Then he started walking and walked right away from that. These boys are busy and the best!
has had some crazy stories from his time in the Emergency Room this month. It's been an interesting rotation. He really likes his 3pm - 1am shift, since he has the morning and early afternoon with us and gets to get some things done he doesn't usually get to. Then he still gets 5 or so hours of sleep, which is functionable. He had a boys' day Saturday with Westin and Bennett and took them to the zoo. I even came home to them all dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day, so he was really owning the dad role that day.
Maddie:
has been looking forward to this weekend for SO long! My Aunt Maria made plans to come to Time Out for Women in Visalia (an hour south of Fresno) and my other Aunt Tanya and my sister Alison decided to join her. It was such an unexpected, wonderful girls weekend with women that I have loved and admired my entire life. The four of us laughed and talked and ate good food and just had a great weekend together. I love them so, so much. They are such incredible women.
Westin:
had fun at his usual scenes this week -- Mornings with Mommy, preschool, zoo with daddy, library trips, park trips, backyard shenanigans, and doing who knows what in his room during "nap" time. He'll still take a few naps in the week but other days are full of building trains, garbage trucks, satellites, and airplanes with legos. We walked outside this week to see that our garbage man, Don, had left Westin a little garbage truck on the table on our front porch. That was so sweet, and it hasn't left his hand since. Westin wanted to make him a Christmas present last December, and they've been buddies ever since. Every time we see a garbage truck Westin wonders if it's Don driving.
Bennett:
is busy! He's keeping up with Westin more and more. More running, more wrestling, more opinions, more ways of making us laugh. He loves animals so much. He's my pickiest eater and deepest laugher, best sleeper and just a joyful little soul. He's pretty independent at the Lutheran playgroup we go to and the older ladies get a kick out of him. I love watching him watch Westin. He sure loves his older brother.
Vegetable painting
Latest cross stitch commission. I love making these!
But lately I've been falling asleep when I stitch because life is feeling so busy... so tired.
This is what he does with his fingers when you ask how old he is, and it really makes people pause. Four? No... three?
Latest health challenge... it has been so much easier to give up sugar this time than last time. I'm almost relieved to not have to make constant "Should I eat that?" decisions.
Ali and I always wanted to be like Maria and Tanya when we grew up. I remember them babysitting us at their condo, and hearing about their trips all over the world. They're the best.
Time Out for Women was a fun break from routine. My favorite talk was from Alissa Parker, a mom who lost her sweet six-year-old daughter in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. I really want to read her book.
Ali was so happy to get in on the post-nap cuddles that happen around here.
They packed their bags full of oranges on the way home. I can't believe we have all the yummy (yummiest ever) oranges we could want down the street from us!
I love this video -- Ali was recording Bennett's chatty self and he totally said a new word for the first time. I feel like it's impossible to get stuff like that on camera sometimes!
is working all different hours now and it's an adjustment. He did a lot of 3pm to 1am shifts this week, which he actually kind of liked. He'd get some stuff done during the day that he usually can't get done, head to work, then get home and go to bed. Then I'd try to keep the boys away from him until at least 8am the next morning but... that's a struggle. If dad is around they just want to be with him so bad! That is one curse of a one-story house I think -- the whole house is used at all times, whereas Michael would probably have some chance of sleeping if he was upstairs away from us. But we've really loved living in a one-story overall.
Maddie:
got a babysitter on Saturday night so Michael and I could go to an adult fireside by Matt Townsend. He was really funny and it was nice to be out! We went out for mediterranean food before which we both can't get enough of lately. THIS is my new favorite recipe. Plus we've been making our own yogurt for a few weeks now, and turning that into homemade tatziki sauce is just my favorite thing right now. After the fireside we got dessert with our friends Emily and Jordan and it was so fun. I'm always surprised by how much more Emily and I can actually catch up when we don't have our 5 cute but crazy kids running around us!
Westin:
always thinks preschool is the highlight of his week. He also loved having dad around in the mornings and helping him with his projects. They picked out some plants at a nursery, redid our front walkway landscaping, fixed some headlights on Michael's truck, fixed a couple things around the house, and just played a lot. He just loves being dad's helper. He's also finally got his somersault down and loves to show that off. Bennett tries to copy it and kind of just flops on the ground with his face on the floor, kind of like a slug. It's my favorite. Westin also loved making a fire with daddy on Friday night and roasting hot dogs all together. He asks to do that so often.
Bennett:
has such a funny personality these days. He keeps bringing me random things from the cupboards he can reach, like a box of pasta or a full box of granola bars, which means he's hungry for a snack. Which is like, always. He's been playing with Westin more and more and they're so funny to watch. We moved him out of our closet and into our guest room but I'm moving him back.... darkness equals sleep. He's waking up 90 minutes earlier since we did that. He also was really sick the first few days of this week with some sort of stomach bug. Poor guy. And poor parents. Still not going to give details there but just know, it was rough... But he's doing better now. We had a fun week playing together and getting used to dad's new and always-changing hours!
My friend sent me this picture of Bennett sitting by me in the Sunbeams class. Maybe he'll skip the nursery phase? :)
We went to nursery for the last hour of church together to start giving him a taste of it. (He's 18 months in two weeks!) He was super sad when I left to take a little girl to her mom, but bubbles were a definite highlight of his day.
Westin has always gravitated toward elderly men in his life. Bennett seems to be partial to any potential babysitter. He was just laying on her shoulder and was so mad when I took him away so that she could go to class. Sometimes my kids act like I'm their least favorite person in the world in public... really cool, guys. Good thing I do EVERYthing for you. :)
Getting ready for the day.
One of my recent cross stitch orders. I love this family.
Running around River Park on Friday night. We went for ice cream and almost came home with a Husky puppy...
there would have been some buyers remorse there. But man they were cute.
Now begins the stage where he won't let me feed him anything... so messy. Sigh.
Post-nap cuddles with the Great British Baking Show.
Super offended I won't open this pizza crust for him that he found in a cupboard.
Scripture study. He's really soaking that in.
Wednesday. Garbage Day. The best day. Our garbage man, Don, always honks for the boys.
