My little gigglers

The first kid was so much work.  I always had to be there to stimulate her, play with her, and love on her.  Let me tell you, if you think one kid is hard and time consuming, have more!  Emily is there to help me play with and love on Will, and in the process it keeps her busy too! 

The most precious sound in my house is my kids giggles and laughs.  Recently they have started to play together.  Emily is so good with her little brother and tries to include him in her play time.  So they play and laugh... and I smile. 

Messy Girl

As an infant Emily had sensitive skin.  So, as a result, we had Desitin of every kind around the house in excess.  It was a staple in our diaper bag.  She always wanted to play with the tube of Desitin and would crawl straight over to the diaper bag and dig it out at every chance she had.  At five months old I caught this picture of Emily where I thought she should have been the spokes-baby for Desitin (had the tube been turned around of course).  At two and a half, very little has changed.  Although she has no need for the Desitin it still remains a staple in our house because of her little brother.  The other day after giving the kids a bath they were playing together in Will's room while I was getting some evening chores done.  It got quiet, you know that quiet that only comes when the kids are up to no good. As I walked down the hall to see what my wacky kids were up to I could smell the oh so familiar smell of the Desitin cream and found my just bathed Emily covered head to toe in Desitin- the thickest one of course.  Over time as our kids grow and become bigger, they still remain somewhat the same.  She will always be a mischievous mess maker.  Although I get frustrated at always having to bath her and re-bath her, I am so happy she is exactly who she is.  I am going to be happy to chase her around and clean up after my little messy girl.

Time for Change

A time change that is!  For any parent of a baby or toddler, this time of year (as well as fall) is the worst.  Our little ones get so scheduled in their day that an hour can really make a big difference in their sleeping and waking.  So what are we to do to make the transition smoother? 
I read an article this morning on beating the time change.  Of course it's not really writen for toddlers, so I hope I can make a plan for my kids that will work. 
Step 1:  Send them to bed!  Oh, I like this one.  Try to get those kiddos in bed a little early. We are going to miss an hour tonight so get them to bed early to make up for it a little.  My plan is to start bath and bed time routine about 30 minutes early. 
Step 2:  Wake up (almost) on time.  This one will be hard for me if the kids are still sleeping.  But not only should mommies wake up early so should the kiddos.  That will be hard.  The article said on time, but our kids need the sleep so they aren't so cranky, so I will wait a little to give them some extra sleep.
Step 3:  Send them back to bed!  Taking a nap will help with the lack of sleep.  I think I will do this one too!

Hopefully after all this we will be back on track for the week.  Hope time change goes smooth for everyone!

Taking care

As I sat in the dentist office with my mouth open and the sound of the drill filled the office I had a harsh realization.  I need to work a little harder to take care of myself.  I think it is a part of being a mom, we sacrifice everything for our kids.  They always come first in our mind.  So throughout the day we make little sacrifices of ourselves to make sure we spend enough time with our kids and keep them healthy and happy.  It can be a great thing that we do that.  Its humbling and makes us great mom's.  Giving of ourselves helps us remeber that the world doesn't revolve around us and we are here for greater reasons.  But where is the line that we give too much.  How many new mothers have we heard complain they haven't showered or even brushed their teeth?  We mothers also must take our time.  For me, I have sacrificed a little time here and there that I would have spent taking care of myself, which is fine as long as it doesn't result in 4 cavities.  So here I pledge to work harder at flossing, because even though the kids are screaming and unhappy, my teeth are important.  Somewhere the line has to be drawn, and I am drawing it at drills and pain.