fun weekend with nina

francine, hereafter referred to as MIL (just kidding i hate that stuff)

gets professional pics taken of the kids, bc we don't. we love snapshots and have over 5000 pictures of them. so why invest into something contrived? (our opinion)

so she takes them...they are always so cute...

this picture is the reason i posted something tonite. this is the bottom of the archway btn the dining room and living room. there is a blue mouse hole there that i put up months ago for max. he LOVES tom and jerry. A LOT! we limit their TV watching ~probably more than necessary~ but he zonks out and becomes a drone if he is given the opportunity to watch TV...so we watch just a little bit a day. he always picks tom and jerry. we watch star wars the cartoon, together at night sometimes.

so today someone knocked the mouse hole off of the wall. he asked for tape, we were out so he found the duck (duct?) tape and fixed it. it wasn't until later that i saw how he fixed it. i love that he didn't want it to be perfect, he simply wanted it back up. when i made it, we were out of black paper. it had to be blue. i was disappointed. he, on the other hand, hugged me when he found it after his nap. he was delighted. now, seeing the tape like this, in my goofy ways, i went to fix the hole and put the tape behind it. hide the repair work, but i left it. he fixed it.

and now it's perfect.

BOUNCE U

super fun place. we took max on his actual birthday. he loved it. nina loved.

tonite a friend had his birthday there. up late bouncing and eating cake...

is there a better way to spend a friday night?

max has finally agreed to marry her.

i think it's because she loves to WATCH HIM play video games and doesn't request a turn.

that's the life.

apparently, my SIL erin, was nicknamed "erin danger" when she was talia's age. adventurous and fun loving, my favorite story was how she walked right into the pool, clothes on and everything during chris' swim lessons when he was six, she was one! my MIL said that she sunk straight to the bottom and was staring up at her from the pool floor. obviously she's fine but she really gave them a run for their money. that's how talia is. i never strapped max into the cart at the store. he just sat and observed. when she was seven months old, i turned for a minute at the checkout line and she was sitting on the conveyer belt. she's constantly up the stairs, climbing on shelves, up on tables....tonite, she figured out how to get on the couch. she's WILD. she also can cry real tears when you disagree with her plan. she's really good at getting people wrapped around her little finger and then raking them over the coals. she's so sweet though...you can't help but squeeze her...

another year passes

i have these people in my life. they are small and have changed my life. their birthdays are one month apart and seeing them become older little people has been very emotional. talia turning one and max turning four were both ....well, emotional for me.

as cliche as it is, i didn't know i could love people like this. they both have taken complete control of my heart. sometimes i hold them so hard that they squeak. i get angry with them and a simple look from them of sadness about my displeasure brings me to my knees. i am changed. i have become a mother and the process has changed me.

as full of fault as chris and i are, somehow the best of us has been passed on to them. i feel so incredibly blessed just to know them.

my strong willed gal

talia eve bovard

i know that you shouldn't compare your children but it's impossible not to a little bit.

max was easy like sunday morning. he always seemed to know right from wrong at a very young age. he never pushed the limits. he just knew somehow...

then there's this one.

so smiley, so sweet, so loving, but WOW!

tonite, she wasn't hungry. we had french toast, which she loves...but for whatever reason,

she wasn't hungry. i thought she was eating slowly-then i caught her.

she was shoving the pieces ~very slowly~ down beside her in her chair.

when caught she smiled. i asked her to pick them up and she did. then she cried.

see her little barrette- not a great picture.

her favorite spot. in this chair reading. hilarious.

here's my other wild thing...LOVE them both.