when you notice they aren't babies anymore

Every mom has experienced this. And I did with both my children just a few days ago. In the midst of taking a million pictures of them, you look back and BAM! There is the picture that changes the game. The one that makes you tear up instantly. Not because it didn't come out the way you wanted it to. But because it's a glimmer of what your precious pea will look like as a teenager! It's true that they grow so fast and when you see them everyday you don't necessarily notice how much in such a short amount of time. So without further ado...

Nicolas,
Really???? This day when we got home from work and daycare, I let you check the mail because your daddy wasn't home yet so I knew it was still in there. It was all junk obviously and I let you carry it up to the door while I got your sister out. You plopped yourself down on the door step and starting what looked like reading the ads. It was absolutely an adorable sight so naturally I snapped a few pictures. Then once we got inside the house I looked back at the pictures and there was this one. My eyes instantly welled up. When did you get so big? You have such a smoldering handsome look about you in this shot and it took my breath away. I could see you as a 17 year old boy. I could see you all grown up. Why are you in such a hurry to get there? Don't you know I'm not ready for that yet? You've hit the stage where your looks are permanent. When you're grown, we can look back at this picture and I'm certain you will look exactly the same. One more thing, please slow down.

Raegan,
Look at you pretty girl! This picture was taken because you just looked absolutely adorable in this jumper that I had to send a picture to your Aunt Devan. Her text back to me was exactly what I was thinking, that you looked so big here. Anyone that knows you knows how petite you are but for some reason you just look so grown here. Maybe it's the angle from which it's taken, but whatever the reason I don't like it. You're taking a liking to your brother's pace and if you're not aware, I don't approve. Your smile cracks me up in this picture because you look like you are so proud of your standing accomplishment, of which you should be. But again, I can see a glimmer of the teenage you. There's only one thing I'm sure of, you will only get more beautiful. I'll end same as I did for your brother, please slow down.

Raegan..lately

Since my last update (aside from her birthday post) on little miss a lot has happened. When she had her one year check up I had a million questions. Once you have two children it's inevitable to compare the two. From looks to milestones to personality. I kick myself for doing so because what I failed to realize was that Raegan is her own person.

I was starting to get worried because by the time she neared her 12th month, she wasn't pulling herself up to a stand and really had no desire to stand even with her hands held then when she did stand she would only put her weight on her toes. She was crawling but army style and would only get on her hands and knees to rock back and forth. I had tried to feed her the baby food that had chunks of meat or noodle so she could get use to eating normal food, that was not happening, she would gag and would turn her head away crying. This definitely broke my heart. Not because I was eager for her to grow and do all these things but because I feared something was wrong. So then we met with her dr.

I love him, by the way. He always makes me feel at ease when I'm unsure. I feel like motherhood came naturally to me but there are times when I'm not certain of what to do or if everything is ok.

Anyway, I had asked him about her not-yet-reached milestones and he assured me that she would do those things on her own time schedule and that I should stop comparing her with her brother.

He was right. Now at 14 months she is crawling like a mad woman, feeding herself finger foods, pulling herself up to a stand and even walking while holding onto furniture. I am so excited for her! She is still a baby by all means. She weighed 17 pounds at her one year dr.'s visit and even still she doesn't feel any heavier. A petite little princess I have.

She loves playing with her toys, with her brother's toys, with the dvds, with kitchen goodies, with the diaper caddy, with the dog bowls, with mom and dad's phones. She hardly ever cries (nothing new) but when she does oh man! is it the end of the world! Mostly, she whines, usually when she's hungry. She loves to squeal and clap her hands. She doesn't really sound like she's making any advances in talking but that's ok because she will soon enough. One of my favorite things she does is give hugs. I'm talking the best hugs! I will pick her up as soon as I walk in the door and she wraps her little chunky arms around my neck and all becomes right in the world!

This little girl is amazing! I can't wait to see what else she learns and discovers she can do.

Nicolas..lately

This boy is growing way too fast. Faster than I'd like to admit. Faster than I'd like for him to. And faster than I can keep up with. It seems like everyday he does or says something new. He has such a fun, rambunctious personality. He really is a ball of energy! If you allow, he will be on the go all day long.

He's very much a boy! Pirates. Monsters. Trains. Airplanes. Dinosaurs. Jets. Cars. Trucks. Hockey. Drums. Swimming. Running. Soccer. You name it, he likes it! His favorite foods include: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, doritos, applesauce, bananas, oatmeal, string cheese, hamburgers, pizza, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and granola bars.

He talks up a storm. From telling me that I'm driving too fast, to which direction I should turn. (By the way he knows which way I need to go to get to my grandma's house and at the light he always tells me "go straight momma!!" I'll take him out of the bath, which is always a huge fight because he's never ready, he tells me "I don't need you anymore!" (My heart breaks a little every time, and where he learned it I don't know.) He tells me I'm his best friend and also tells me to have a good day at work when I drop him off at daycare.

 He is always wanting to play. He loves to help me with things around the house. Especially when I'm making dinner,  he continuously asks if he can help. When he makes a mess, which is more often than not, he has no problem cleaning it up of course after I ask him to.

 Make no mistake, this boy is a sweet heart but don't be fooled. He has a little monster in him. He is definitely an instant gratification kid. He doesn't always get his way, mind you. So when he looses it is meltdown city.

 But how could you not love a boy like this? He truly is the best thing since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! He's my baby even though every day he reminds me he's growing up.

12 months..better late than never

Yes, Raegan's 12 month mark has come and gone and I am just barely getting around to documenting it.

There will be three parts to her 12 month milestone. Photo shoot. What we did on her actual birthday. And her party.

Her photo shoot..

 

Her actual birthday...

Her birthday landed on a weekday so we decided that because we were going to have a party for her, on her actual day we would keep it very low key. We took her out to ice cream. Just us. We knew it would be a quick trip considering bed time wasn't too far along with their attention spans.

Now of course princess didn't get her own so Ryan and I got scoops and we just all shared.

I'd say she liked it!

 

Her actual party: that took place probably a month after her actual birthday..oops!

::BEWARE OF THE PICTURE OVERLOAD::

 

 

 We all decided to help with blowing out the candle.

 Of course Nicolas wanted his own candle to blow out..we played along.

 Believe it or not but this girl devoured her entire cupcake! She is definitely momma's girl!

After this was taken, into the bath she went!

 One of her most precious gifts: my grandma made her a quilt. She now has two. I'm jealous!

 Another one of her gifts was a toy vanity. Super cute. And I think the boys were more interested in it than she was. HA!

 This was the best family picture we could get and if you know my son, you know that I'm telling the truth! I kid you not, we took maybe ten, and this was the best, what does that tell you? Haha!

 

So there in a nutshell, is how we celebrated Raegan turning 1. We love this little girl more than she will ever know! She really does light up a room and we are so happy to have her as a part of our family.

 

Our Easter

Our Easter celebration was wonderful. The day prior the weather was rainy and gloomy so I was a bit nervous that we would have to have an indoor egg hunt but thankfully the weather let up and it was beautiful outside. In the morning we got the kiddos ready and we headed out for church. We decided to try and make it to the 8am Mass and with two kids we now know that that is pretty much impossible for us, we showed up around 8:20ish. Not too bad. We really haven’t taken the kids with us to Mass lately only because there is no children’s center for them to go to and no cry room for us to sit in. Luckily we had only one meltdown from Nicolas but that we were happy with that. He was an angel aside from that little episode. I do have to say that I wanted to gobble up my children because they looked so adorable.

 

On the way home we told Nicolas the Easter bunny came to our house while we were at church, so when we got home I ran inside to set out their Easter baskets so they would be the first thing Nicolas would see. Sure enough he ran right to his and he kept saying, “WOW momma, look at that!” Priceless!

 

He really liked his new Jake toothbrush!

Of course with Raegan she didn’t know what the heck was going on but I got pictures of her with her basket just for memories.

 

 

My mother-in-law cooked everything for our lunch/dinner and I was so thankful to be able to relax and play with the kids.

 

 

After we were done devouring our delicious meal, Ryan and I went and hid eggs in our backyard and by hid I mean we just scattered most of them in our outrageously long grass so they were hidden without much effort. Others we did have a little fun with, like putting them in his Tonka trucks and in the grape vines along the side fence.

 

 

 

 

We even had Raegan find a few…

 

 

 

 

 

Having children around the holiday’s is always much more fun as the years go by.

 

Nicolas was really excited to find out what was in his plastic eggs.
Goldfish, stickers, change, and fruit snacks.

 

The Easter bunny

The morning we went to see the Easter bunny, Nicolas was so excited. He was singing in the car and everything. "Eeeeaster buuuunnny, Eeeeeaster buuunny!" It was pretty much the cutest! We were happy that he was looking forward to taking his picture with this oversized animal. This, and because it was Raegan's first Easter, we as parents were excited too.

We arrive at the mall, stand in line, wave to the bunny, and wait our turn. As we were walking up, Nicolas lost it! I sat him down next to the bunny and it was meltdown city. He stayed sitting next to this figurine that was now holding his sister probably just mortified because I had walked away. But there he sat. And when I said, "Nicolas say cheese..." a few times, he did just that...

Once the picture was snapped we grabbed our babies but before we walked away Nicolas gave the bunny a high-five. Because that's what you do when you're scared of something, right? You high-five them, or in this case the bunny. Raegan, of course was as sweet as sugar although I wish the bunny was more considerate to keep her dress down.

Whatever, I got my picture.

10 months young!

3/29/13

 

Raegan Marie,
You've turned 10 months and like every month, I have loved watching you grow! You are such a little princess. Playful, giggly, sweet, and sassy are just a few words I can use to describe this stage with you. You are now grabbing more and more for things like my phone and toys and your food. Your favorite is to wave your spoon in the air after you've been fed. Your eating habits of baby food are getting more wonderful as the days go by. You have maybe 3-4 bottles depending on how fussy you are that day, one fruit jar in the morning, one veggie jar for lunch and just recently you started eating 1-2 of the bigger plastic containers of the baby food dinners. You gobble them up like you've never been fed before. Just like your brother you are when it comes to eating practically everything I give you. I'm not one to prohibit taste buds so I hope this love of different foods continues with you.

Play time is so fun with you because you are quite the little giggler. Everything is funny to you and you have the sweetest laugh. Your whole body is ticklish and I just take full advantage of that just to hear you laugh. You love being on the floor playing with or near your brother. You are so fascinated with him. And of course you are so interested in the cars and other toys he shows you. You roll every which way and you kind of spin on your tummy to get wherever it is you want to maneuver yourself. You make all sorts of noise. From whining, to squealing, to grunting, to fake whimpering just to get attention.

Sleeping is still blissful. I lay you down around 8:30 or so and on weekdays I wake you up at 6:30am but on weekends you'd sleep in until 9-10. No complaints here.

You have two teeth that popped out this month and I immediately went out and bought you your first toothbrush. Again, this like everything else, makes you laugh.

You have been such a blessing to have in our family. These past ten months have been so joyful, because watching you grow and learn and gain personality has just been amazing. You are by far the sweetest little girl I have ever known and I am looking forward to all else you have to learn. I often daydream of what the future will be like for you and I get so excited because you chose me to witness it all. I am one very grateful momma that's for sure!

I (we) love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond!
Momma (and daddy and brother)

Easter is kind of a big deal!

I would have to say that my second (because Christmas is number one!) favorite holiday is EASTER!!! And I couldn't wait to put up some décor! This year we are hosting Easter for family and I couldn't be more excited! I am sooooo looking forward to an egg hunt in our backyard. And the kids' Easter outfits! The Easter baskets (which are almost finished by the way!) Ahhhhh! Easter is just so exciting! Especially with kids! Here is some décor we have up in our home to celebrate this wonderful holiday! I can't promise more won't be added!

The chalkboard helps add a little "umph" to it all!

I cannot wait to get this years' Easter picture with BOTH kids!

Cheap little felt banner that I probably could have made but "ain't nobody got time fo dat!" and it was only $2!

Had to have these little tin bunnies. Blue and pink to represent my boy and girl, of course!

I love these blocks. Nicolas keeps pointing them and saying "prrrrring!" HA!

I love this little block set!

 

[most decorations were purchased from this good ol' store called Target, have you heard of it?]

And lastly,

for your viewing pleasure! I know, she's too cute for words!