motherly expertise......PLEASE.... :)

I've been getting owned.

Almost daily.

By my sweet little Warren. 

2 days ago, I was completely exhausted and most days I don't really know what to do. So I come to you, my faithful readers. (haha, I don't blog enough to have faithful readers) No but in all seriousness I need some help. Here's my dilemma. He's at the stage where if he takes a nap, he won't fall asleep/go to bed/keep getting out of bed until 9:30 or 10. If I don't give him a nap, he's bouncing off the walls 24/7, cranky, whining a lot more, but I put him down at 7/7:30.  And when I try to put him to bed-I almost lose it. We have to pin him down to put his jammies on and get him to settle down. Help? :)  (I can't lock him in his room at night, when he keeps trying to get out, he shares the room with Lydi)

Which comes to my second dilemma. I try to do quiet time activities with him during the days that I decide to not give him a nap. It usually goes like this: yesterday I got an activity ready that I was SURE he would love. Ripping colored paper and gluing it down to make a "fall tree". I started with the ripping. He tried a couple times and didn't want to do it anymore because he couldn't figure it out. Then I show him how and give him encouragement to keep trying. He tries and then decides he's done and doesn't to rip paper. (whaa?? what kid doesn't want to rip paper?) So then I tell him I'll rip the paper and he can glue it down. I show him how to put glue on the pieces, he doesnt want to do that either, he just wants to paint glue all over the paper we are putting it on. So then I let him go crazy and paint the paper with glue and then I tell him do put the pieces down. He doesn't want to do that either, so I let him paint away with the glue. Then he's bored with that and wants to pour the cup of glue all over. I tell him he can't do that and put it away. He flips out. 

Moral of the story. I get frustrated because I'm trying to do 1 on 1 time with him and doing a fun crafty activity and he ends up getting frustrated because I wont let him spill glue all over. I guess I need to find activities where he can just make a mess of whatever it is? Ideas? Suggestions? 

And my other dilemma. Poor little Lydia. She get's steam rolled/head pushed into the ground/toys taken away from her/pulled down from standing position by Warren I don't know how many times daily. I know he just wants to have someone to play with. The thing is, I feel like I'm constantly getting on his case for hurting her. If it's not a huge thing that he does and really isn't harming her, I let it go. But of course when he just steals toys from her or is really hurting her I have to discipline him. Which most of the time he's too rough or just steals her toys and chucks them so she can't have them. So then I feel like I'm telling him no or disciplining him more than I am praising him or telling him yes. And I don't want to do that. 

At least 15 minutes a day I try to play airplane with him or wrestle with him to try and help the situation, but on his non nap days, he needs that almost 24-7.

I've just been so exhausted the last 2 weeks trying to figure my little guy out and help him the best I can without telling him no all the time. I feel way too frustrated most days and I don't want that either. I feel like I am also asking him to do things over and over and over again before he listens or does it.

AND this kid DOES NOT eat. It's a fight most times to get him to eat.... I don't even know what else to say with that.

I know I'm missing something/not doing enough/etc. 

I'm sending out an S.O.S :)

curly-haired boy

I don't even know where to start with this little munchkin. He has so much personality and it's really starting to come out in the last few months. He's such a sweetheart, sensitive, stubborn, has more energy than I can keep up with, and the cutest little booger around (in my biased opinion) :). He definitely tries my patience on some days, but he's always been such a sweetie. The other day I was doing dishes and he was sitting at the table with seth and just stops eating and says, "daddy, I just love momma, I just love her." Just the other day he was being a little rambunctious while I was folding laundry and trying to jump on my lap and got a little upset at him because he kept hitting my chin, and he just looked at me with sad eyes and says "I just want my best friend. " Talk about melt my heart! He randomly says stuff like that all the time now to lydi and seth these last few weeks. I love it. We love his curly hair and never want to cut it, but it has to be done, I'm afraid its getting less and less curly :( This little boy is almost 3 years old and I can not believe it! I took these a few months ago randomly one night. I walked out back and saw them sitting like this, just talking and playing.

So these next few pictures are just hilarious to me. My sisters and I have always done the "praying mantus" and somehow I randomly started being able to cross one and one morning while we were eating warren just started doing this! I was cracking up and laughing so hard. He is now one of the "praying mantus's" :)

blue eyes

I took these about 2 months ago. I'm playing catch up remember?? ;) This is our little lydi loo. That's what I call her sometimes and Warren used to not quite like it and would yell, "it's not yiddy yoo, it's JUST YIDDY!" He has now given in to the nickname and will sometimes call her that too.

I've lucked out with mild mannered bebes. She's the most content little thing. We love our little girl. 
 

 

love this face she used to make when army crawling after things

superman

You know the feeling when you get so far behind that you just want to give up and not try and play catch up? Ya, that's where I was at. And well, having two kids, kind of threw me for a whirl at first:) I'm still learning not to go completely crazy on some days. I want to start back up on blogging because it's so fun to look back and its my form of a journal for the time being. So here's to a new-ish start again with the blogosphere. 

These are from a while ago and I just love them. My mom made all the grandkids these capes last Christmas and one random day Warren put it on and I had him come outside to play Superman. I was trying to teach him the stance and run while doing it. It was so funny and cute. Then I made Seth come out and toss him in the air to see if I couldn't get some "flying" photos. We were dying laughing at all the funny/blooper shots we got. 

Here's superman to start it all off

Ready for take off!

Our little Superman Ren

Making sure his cape is still on:)                                       I LOVE this second shot.

Photo Shoots? In WA! Interested?

I MAY be coming up to WA this next weekend and wanted to see if there would be any interested in a photo shoot. I'll only be there a few days so can only take a couple spots! Let me know:)

little lady in white

 We blessed Lydia back in March. I've decided to not really edit any pictures before I put them up or I"ll NEVER get them on here. So these are a little blue toned, but I'll try to not let it bug me too bad:) Lydia is wearing the blessing dress that I was blessed in. It was so cute on her. I think it's color has aged with the dress:) That's also the blanket I was blessed with that my Grandma Wood made, too. I made her little headband last minute and didn't realize how tall it was, haha. I still thought it was really cute.

We had A LOT of friends and family that came, it was awesome. Thank you so much to everyone that came and helped, etc. I should have taken pictures of how packed our little place was but of course didn't. So here's the few pictures we did get!

5 mths ?!!

I kind of took a long intermission between halves of Lydia's birth story. ha. Yikes...

I was going through looking at pictures of how much my little girl has changed already, it's so crazy. I feel like she left the newborn stage super fast because she chunked up really quickly. Here's a little look at her each month so far. I haven't gotten to month 5 yet. :) 

dec. 25th. newborn

1 & 2 month

3 & 4 month

Just in the last few days her little diva personality has broken through the surface. I'm guessing (crossing my fingers) that she'll be a little more calm than Warren. (He goes a million miles a minute) But I'm pretty sure I'm going to have my hands full with a little girl in all senses :) I'm not really sure how to deal with Diva-ness :)

 Warren also in the last few days has started to be a little rough with her. We've had to have many talks about how we don't bear hug her and roll around on the ground with her, 0r tip her over while she's sitting in the bumbo, or lay directly on top of her, or, etc... :) I know he just wants her to be up and running all around with him so he has a little play buddy 24-7. They're now sleeping in the same room and he wont go to sleep unless he knows Lydi is coming in to sleep soon, too. Or if in the mornings I bring her in the bed to lay next to me if she wakes up too early for me, when he wakes up, he'll scream for "LYDI! Where's LYDI!?" She's already growing too fast, so even though I'm excited for when they can play together, I want her to still stay my little chunk-a-munk for now:)

(And just a couple of my little man. I was taking pictures of Seth and he wanted in on the fun. I told him to pose and the first picture is what he did:) Then laughed.) 

 

I sure feel lucky to have these two little kiddos.