Cousins

Several weeks ago the Georgia cousins were visiting and all the kids were able to spend some time together.  It is fun to see them all growing into these amazing unique people.  It is also fun to watch them all interact together.  We didn't take to many pictures but at least we were able to get a few of them together.

Sam 3, Marin 10 months, Maya 14 months, Symeon 2

Easter Hoodie Towels

The sweetest Frog and Butterfly ever seen

Goal

Here they are running inside their new goal. 

Symeon got a new soccer goal from some birthday money we had left for him and he loves it.  He calls it his net.  The beauty is that it collapses into a flat bag which is wonderful.  Both the kids are enjoying it.  Shawn has recently been able to teach Marin to kick a soccer ball.  It is super cute and now she walks around kicking every ball she sees. 

Marin is 11 months old

I have been putting off this post because I am not quite ready to accept that our baby girl is soon to be one.  We have been very intentional about enjoying every stage of her life and although I do not want her to go back to a small baby I do want her to stop for a just a few moments longer so I can drink in this stage in her development. 

Marin becomes more and more delightful with age.  She laughs so often and it is contagious.  She smiles easily and her new thing is giving lots of love.  She walks up to you and looks straight up at you until you bend down and hug her.  She will go back and forth between Shawn and I over and over giving and receiving lots of love.  She melts our hearts on a daily basis and makes us laugh all the time.  Marin continues to be so expressive.  It is so fun to sit back and watch her do her thing she tools all around investigating and learning as she goes.

She continues to be very active this month she has learned how to climb down which is good because she use to just stand and cry for help and now she gets down on her own and continues on her journey.  This new element of independence has brought some injuries and most of the time there is so sort of mark on her face that tells a tale of her adventures.  She has also started walking backwards all around the apartment.  It is funny to watch and she enjoys it so much.  When we say we are going bye bye she walks over grabs her shoes brings them to you and sits down in front of you so you can put them on her.  Since she conquered walking so early she has begun speeding up to a slow run most of the time.  If you catch her doing something which is often she will take off "running" it is so funny it is hard to scold her.  Shawn and I have said she acts more like an 18  month old rather than an 11 month old. Her new thing is that she loves to wear her "necklaces" which happen to be Shawn's ear phones.  She will get them and drape them around her neck wearing them for most of the day.  

She still loves to eat and has been eating her weight in meat.  She loves bar-b-que chicken especially from her Dad's favorite place Shakedown bar-b-que.  She could be their mascot with as much as she eats.  She still loves fruit and although she is getting a bit more sure about what she likes and dislikes she will give anything a try.  She sleeps well at naps and at night usually from 8 to7 everyday and then a two hour nap in the am and 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon.  She has 4 teeth two on top and two on the bottom.  Her hair is in a difficult stage.  I have started putting a clip in the front to keep it out of her eyes but most days she just looks a bit shaggy which is fine.  I bit longer and she will be getting a pony tail on the top of her head and then the hair fun will begin. 

Here are a few pictures of her during this past month.  I like these pics but it is so hard to capture her essence which fills up the room when she enters. 

Bathroom sink peek-a-boo is a game she loves.  Here is how it looks from my perspective. This is how she starts and I ask, "Where is Sissy?"  and then she ducks down and the pictures that follow show our game.  It is so much fun and her face just lights up when she pops up.  She is standing on her stool and I am sitting on Symeon's. 

We celebrate every beautiful day with Marin aka Babes which is what Baby has been shortened to and to be honest Babes fits her.  We have also added McGee to her list of nick names so Babes McGee it is this month.  She is a mobile ball of fun, joy, smiles, hugs, laughs, all wrapped in this beautiful package.  Marin you are a true blessing from God to our family and life is fuller because of your presence.  We love you Babes McGee! 

Throwing things, silly sayings, everyday questions, talking in your sleep

I have learned over the last several days that I throw things a lot!  Now before anyone starts to worries I don't throw things in fits of rage or anything just in my everyday life I throw things.  For example if I have something to throw in the trash I chuck it toward the trash to see if I score two points I guess my Academy basketball days are never far from my mind.  If I have shoes to put away I toss them toward the basket.  If Shawn asks me for a pen I toss it to him.  This habit is not something I really  noticed until you see yourself in your children and you think oh no that is not good.  In general I do not have a problem with tossing things when appropriate but as you can imagine a two year old sees these actions and is delighted to know it is "okay" to chuck anything you want whenever you want.  So the other night Shawn asked me for a gramham cracker and I tossed it to him then Symeon asked for a gramham cracker and I gave him one and he threw it and I was like what are you doing and he said Mommy and then he threw his arm back and heaved it forward again.  In that moment Shawn and I started laughing and then told Symeon Mommy was wrong and should not have thrown the gramham cracker.  Over the past several days he has reminded me several times that I threw something at Shawn and I have become very careful with throwing things! 

Symeon is understanding more and  more these days and I have to be careful about what I say to him.  When I am stressed with the kids sometimes I will say these rediculous things to make myself laugh and let go of my stress which usually works.  I often crack myself up and until this point it went unrealized by my kids.  So for example Symeon was crying and whining the other night about his finger but honestly there was nothing wrong with it and after awhile it was getting to me so insert my idea and I jokingly say if it hurts to bad we will just have to cut it off.  Shawn and I both laughed it off and the next thing I know Symeon is pointing at the counter and crying even harder.  I had no idea what was going on and finally when I picked him up to the counter through his tears he pointed at the knives and then to his finger.  When I said no we could not cut his finger off he began howling.  So if you want to feel like a horrible Mom tell your two year old you have to cut their finger off and then don't.  Another lesson learned no more "silly" statements that I don't think they understand. 

Everyday for breakfast and lunch Shawn asks Symeon, "What should Daddy have for lunch?"  and everyday Symeon after giving it some thought and saying "ummm" like he is pondering this deep questions tells Shawn cheese.  So imagine this question twice a day everyday for a long time and every time the answer is cheese until the other day when Symeon looked at Shawn and told him MMM's which are M&M's and I thought I have taught him well.  Good answer my dear guy! 

Symeon has been very sick yet again so I have had lots of nights of sleeping with him or at least near enough to hear him talking and several things have struck me as pretty funny.  2 year olds still claim things as "mine" when they are sleeping, they still laugh, and they still blame their "babies" for things even using the same blaming tone he uses when he is awake.   

Getting Stuck

I had to use Symeon's small baseball bat to get a ball that went behind the couch and he thought it was awesome so he has been getting things "stuck" all over the apartment so he can use his bat to retrieve them.  Well he took it a bit far and even the bat could not help him we had to move the couch and that just made his day.  Here he is enjoying his new found space.

Union

Shawn took Symeon to his first professional soccer game.  Shawn's brother Jeff and his son Sam and Shawn's best friend Dave and his son Mathis all went along.  Symeon came home a soccer junkie and we now spend a  good portion of our day playing soccer.  Union the name of the team he was rooting for is now one of his favorite words.  He now says baby goal baby goal over and over because he wants her to play and she obliges by chasing the ball or hitting it with a hockey stick. 

Shawn, Jeff and Dave have traveled many miles together to attend soccer games in all kinds of weather.  They have supported their teams and one another on so many life adventures it was so wonderful to see the pictures of the three of them with their sons.  I look forward to the many years of soccer games ahead for this group of guys plus Jonas when he is bigger!

 

Photo shoot

Capturing a picture of our kids together both looking "good" is difficult.  I was reminded of this when I tried to get a picture of them together at Easter.  Here are just a few of about 20 photos and none of them are great by any means but they are really funny.  So I guess I captured more than I realized having children is all about our perspective with that reminder to myself these pictures of my two little ones are spectacular!

Trip to Denver

Marin and I went to visit some friends in Denver a couple of weeks ago.  We had  a great time with such wonderful friends in fact it was so great I forgot to take any pictures.  We were just to busy visiting and introducing Marin to everyone and the city.  Here are a few treasured photos that aren't very good at all and in no way show how blessed and loved I felt in Denver.  Even after 3 years away there were so many wonderful friends who welcomed us and went out of their way to make us feel loved and valued.  Thank you all for being a part of our lives.  The entire trip was chocolate for my soul!  A special thanks to Kathy for opening up her kid friendly home to Marin and I and making us feel like princesses!

Marin in the airport family bathroom.

Us on the plane.  We were so blessed to have an open seat next to us on almost every flight and the one flight we did not have an open seat we had a wonderful entertaining 3 year old and an understanding Mom.  Overall Marin did great and on the last leg of the flight home we were surrounded by young men whom Marin wooed with such gusto it made me a bit nervous.  By the time we landed she had let several of them hold her and they were putty in her hands.  There is nothing like seeing young men play peek-a-boo with a baby!  

Here is Marin when she was throwing toys to the guy in the seat in front of us luckily he was good with kids.  

Here is the only picture I took in Denver.  Marin with my dear dear friend Helen.  It was such fun to spend the afternoon visiting such a blessed and treasured friend.  Helen welcomed Marin into her beautiful glass filled home with love and understanding and by the time we left we had a pile of beautiful things on the table.  Helen laughed and loved on Marin like she had always known her which blessed my heart. 

Climbers

I walked into Symeon's room and found our kids like this...

We have started putting any climbing items up away from Marin.  Here are a few examples...

These are Symeon's little table chairs in his crib so Marin does not use them to climb up on his little table and stand up which is how I found her the other day. 

Easter

We had a blessed Easter and we hope you did as well.  Here are some fun pictures of the kids enjoying the festivities. 

Easter Egg Hunt at church

They were so sweet collecting eggs they were pretty happy with just one egg so the idea of collecting a bunch was foreign and we really did not want to encourage them to run around grabbing as many eggs as they could.  Sissy is checking out Symeon's basket.  They were the only kids there who didn't have classic Easter baskets which was fine with us we felt good that we remembered baskets because last year Symeon was the only kid who didn't have a basket and we felt horrible.  Luckily we found a basket at the church and he didn't know the difference. 

Easter Sunday

Marin had her first M&M.  I do not encourage giving babies candy and trust I did not give her any.  Symeon in a chocolate high through M&M's all over the apartment and although he had to pick them up and I double checked Marin was still able to find some in her travels during the day.  I might add she loved them!!


Easter Scavenger Hunt
When I was a kid I still remember doing a scavenger hunt and finding our Easter basket's in my parents closets so I decided to do one for the kids.  It was so much fun. 

Here is Symeon "reading" one of the clues.  

Here they are finding their new hoodie towels.  Marin is a butterfly and Symeon is a frog. 

Symeon was so sweet helping Sissy and giving her eggs.  I love Marin's Easter dress from Auntie and Uncle Mike.  Once again I think she was the only kid at church who wore brown and green for Easter and did not have one frilly thing on her.  Pastels are not our thing for either kid and I am not one to buy special outfits for one day so we went with what we have and what we love and it worked for us. 

Finding their Easter Baskets in our closet. 

Symeon received play-doh in his basket and he loves it.