Step 1 - Step 2 (2-18-11)

Step 1: Make sure brother is not around his Diego toy and attempt to press the blue button.

Step 2: Delight in my abilities to problem solve and repeat task to check for repeated results while simultaneously hoping brother does not see what I am playing with!


Meanwhile.....

Step 1: Play tug-o-war with dad and make a silly face to help aid in the winning of this game!

Step 2: Try to remember that dad is a lot stronger than me and playing tug-o-war can be dangerous for me.

I see a pattern! or the Gene Simmons Affliction (2-16-11)

So there are some nights where I seriously chase the boys around and say "Come on, just smile once for the blog!" It probably sounds easy 365 days of pics, but I am definitely challenged some nights. Tonight I sensed a theme in our pics, "Open mouth syndrome" which for baby Ryan is a teething/clogged sinuses issue and for Cash is a stinker/I'm not going to smile issue. :)

 The more I open my mouth, the better I play the guitar!

The more I open my mouth, the higher I can jump!

Mom's Birthday Presents (2-15-11)

On my birthday I was not excited to add another year, I have been saying 34 for so long I almost believe it. But as I go to bed I am overjoyed at the evening's events. Cashy made me an incredible mug, he painted all by himself. Baby finally used his first sign language sign AND we got it on video.

You demonstrate and show your children how to do things and you wonder if they "get it" or when they may show you what you want to see and then you hold a piece of asparagus in front of them and presto, you see the results. Now using sign language isn't the be all, end all, but I am all about solutions before problems and I know that using signs kept Cash from getting frustrated before he started talking, so you go baby Ryan,


Cash would not let me take a picture of him and the mug he made but he did have a pretty funny story to tell about his stuffed animal.

Had a fantastic birthday with my boys!

Valentine Day Prep (2-13-11)

It was hard to know if I should just fill out Cash's Valentine Cards or try to get him to do it. I decided to test the waters and have him try a few, he went ahead and filled out 20 of them! He was pretty funny about it too because by the end he was putting a C in one corner an A in the other and making a game out of writing his name. He also tried to hold back several of his 3-D Sports Valentine cards for himself.

I was pretty proud that he stuck it out until all the cards were done.

Valentine's Day (2-14-11)

Ryan was working late which meant I got to pick up the kids. There is nothing like the yells of "mommy!" from Cash and baby crawling at lightening speed to get to me. When we got home Cash wanted me to carry him, a sure sign he was tired. I left him at the bottom of the stairs and went back to the car to get baby. I found him asleep on the stairs 1 minute later.

Cash had his first Valentine exchange today and loved going through his bag and pulling out the candy. After his snooze, Cash got things ready for Dad by decorating cookies and we baked our heart shaped pizza.

You gotta love the frosting on the side of his mouth!

Hey, what are you doing back there?

One Size Fits All - apparently :) (2-11-11)

It was a S-A-D day and Ryan needed to leave when I got home. He told me he had a cute pic of Cash sleeping and Ryan playing so I checked it out.

I didn't think much of the tummy hanging out at this point, but after watching Cash play a few games of tennis and dance around I knew something wasn't quite right. I tried to look at the tag inside his shirt, which took an hour because he kept running from me, and sure enough it read 12 months! You see, I bought matching Cars outfits for the boys at Christmas, Cash was wearing the right pants, but Baby Ryan's shirt.

I thought Ryan had done it on purpose to be funny, but when I checked with him he seemed pretty shocked Cash actually fit into it.


That night we told Cash he could stay up a little later than brother and watch a movie. He had never seen   The Jungle Book, but we had read the book many times. He loved the movie and halfway through took off all his clothes because he was going to be like Mowgli, he even asked for orange underwear!

The Early Bird Gets The Smiles (2-10-11)

Oh the sound of baby slowly grabbing at the rail on the top of the crib, pulling himself up. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries because he is still sleepy. But once he makes it to that standing position, game over and mommy has to get up. This morning was extra early, 4:45 to be exact, but the following pics show it was all worth it!

Ahhh makes it all worthwhile!