Average days

Our typical week includes one morning of co-op preschool for Ramsey, a mother's helper (we love Cami!) while I work one morning, the park, Trader Joes, and the library.

I put Beck on the lion. He just looks and says ROAR.  His voice is usually at decibel 10.  

He takes after my side of the family.  Chatty and LOUD.  

Incidentally, he is usually pretty quiet when we're at the park.  Go figure.  

His favorite speed is RUNNING.

Beck loves the library and is fairly tame there, all things considered.  He runs around, but comes back quickly, and generally doesn't trash the place.  Here he is sidling up to some innocent library patron.

Ramsey with her fabulous friend from preschool.  We were celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

Teeth brushing--it's so hard to keep up with the state of 3 different people's teeth.  

There are many days when I have to feed Beck like this--almost like leaving a little grub in the trough.  He's a good eater, but he likes to take his bites "to go."  Ramsey recently asked to take her dinner to go after seeing what Beck can get away with!  

Dress up!  Layer upon layer is a must.

Bathtime is the ultimate entertainer around here, at an important time of day when I need a break from chasing Beck and cleaning up ever-present messes.  

It has been 6 years

Matt and I have been married for 6 years (as of March 12)!  What a man.

Here we are at our anniversary dinner.  

Isn't he handsome?  We're at Noodles and Company enjoying dinner with the kids.  

The kids share macaroni and cheese, and Matt and I like the Mediterranean flatbread sandwich.

Me and my wild boy.  He barely sits still these days.

Beck and Matt enjoying storytime with Miss Connie at Borders.  

Here is a note Matt left me when I was feeling pretty discouraged.  

I multitask so much that it feels like I don't do anything right.  

Matt was kind to make a list of the things I do to cheer me up.  I love that it is in crayon.

Here is Ramsey greeting Matt upon his arrival home.  He has been working so much lately, as well as going to school, so the kids sometimes don't see him very much.  They talk about him all the time and really miss him and are thrilled when he comes home.  I always remind them about their hard-working dad, and we call him during the day just to hear his voice.  He works hard for the money!

We are so tired

Recent events have led to a reduction in the amount of sleeping happening in our house.  Matt was just promoted and his responsibilities at work have multiplied, leading to late nights.  I have been working on several cases that are on the west coast, which means I work late at night and can't go to bed early.  Also, Ramsey has had the night "scaries" for a few months.  I think she has woken up more in the night at the age of 3 than she did from 18 months-3.  Beck occasionally tries to go back to his early riser "roots," which leaves me pretty exhausted (Beck was a 5AM riser for months and months around his first birthday).  Ramsey is slow to wake up in the morning, and likes some quiet time before facing the day.  You really cannot rush her, but she is mostly very cheerful.  Beck wakes up ready to go--I have watched him wake up, and he sometimes stands up before he even opens his eyes.  It is crazy.  The moment he is up, he is yelling for me, Matt, a binky, a blanket, or wa-wa.  This guy knows what he wants!  Left to my own devices, I am slow to wake up in the morning and like to be alone--I like sleeping in.  Turns out that having children is not compatible with my morning demeanor, so I've had to adjust.  Matt wakes up pretty quickly as he is a light sleeper, but he prefers to have a "morning nap" shortly after he wakes up.      

If we don't get Beck to a sippy cup of milk shortly after he wakes up, he is mad.  Here we are, in a standoff.  I don't want to get out of bed, and he is SO MAD that he isn't drinking milk.  Isn't this a great picture of me?  Almost makes up for that obnoxious post about how great my kids are, right?

When Ramsey was Beck's age, she liked her nap around 1:30P.  Since Beck has fallen asleep in the car a bit recently, it is obvious that he wants to nap more like 12:30P, but sometimes our schedule doesn't allow for it.  Luckily, he still transfers to his crib easily (usually).  This kids sleeps from around 7:45P-7:15A every night, and then usually a 2.5 hour nap.  This is a positive side effect to his VERY active personality.  He is always on the go and making noise, leaving me spent by the time the kids go to bed.

Ramsey's first night of having a "big girl" bed.  Matt took the side off of her crib, and she is thrilled.  She  never asked for a bed, and only climbed out of her crib once, but it was becoming obvious that she was ready to grow up a little.  I am having to really police bedtime now that she has more freedom.  It used to be so easy--I would just put her in the crib and that was it.  She never asked for anything or bothered me.  Now that she is "free," the requests are coming for drinks and snacks, and she runs around.  Tough stuff.  

Another thing--her room is a hot mess all the time now.  

Here she is sleeping in her closet with all of her animals.

Togetherness

WARNING:  This post is pretty obnoxious--it's basically about how awesome my kids are.  I feel like I have earned the right to this post as their hard-working mother.  Lest you get discouraged, I assure you things are not always so rosy around here!

I thought I should record the phase of togetherness we are going through lately.  It is delightful.  Usually the sequence is--one child is doing something, the other is interested too, and then they do it together.  If one of the children is in a mood, there are some tears and unwillingness to share, but for the most part the kids get along amazingly.  It is incredible.  In the coming years when things might change, I will remind them of these days!!!!

Here they are at Beck's 18 month check up:  Beck found a stool.  Ramsey is very interested.

Ramsey takes over.  

Beck comes back and insists they share.  It is a win-win situation.

They both back off a bit, and enjoy the stool together.

Holding hands on a walk.  They both initiate hand-holding, 

but Beck does a little more than Ramsey (especially in the car).  

Sometimes one wants to hold hands and the other doesn't, and it is so sad.  

I usually tell them to work it out, and they often do!

Ramsey found a place to rest, and Beck ran up in excitement.  

I love this one because of the look of love on her face.  

Ramsey became fascinated recently with the little piles of sand around 

the neighborhood--luckily fire ants do not reside in these abodes.  

In Florida, it seems like there are ONLY fire ants, but not so in Virginia! 

 Beck's new car track, which they both giggled and giggled over.  There were a few fights over this toy.

 They even go down the slide together.  

They're both pretty skinny, or else they wouldn't fit side by side like this.

Wildin' out before church.  Beck likes to point out the trucks on the highway as they pass.

Lounging on the recliner and spinning each other around is thrilling!

 Jumping together on the trampoline that Grandma and Grandpa got them.  

Beck just started to be able to bounce with Ramsey.  

 The dancing!  We love to dance.  Sorry about the lack of clothing, it's just how we roll.  

That's one reason this is a private blog!  Our latest craze is an old Weezer album: 

think, "for the times when you wanna go and bust rhymes real slow."  

Listening to music is an important way for me to blow off steam.