Beach Babies

This year was Jack's third year vacationing in Ocean City. His first trip was when he was only two months old. Then last year, he was just over a year and was adorable. He was covered in sand head to toe and ate a lot of it. He loved to knock over with his whole body any sand castle anyone built. We put him on the rides at the boardwalk and took his picture. He started tickling people last year. He would walk up to you, tickle you and giggle. He was just sooo cute!















This year he is older and more adventurous yet still cautious. He would stand at the edge of the water waiting for the next wave to crash. He was a little unsure; it might be really big and scary. But when it was just the right height of water that got him all wet but didn't knock him over he would run back away giggling and laughing at the pure joy of it.


This was Sarah's first trip to the beach and she seemed to like it alright. Each day we would lather her up with sunscreen because I was afraid her little fair skin would get burned. I even insisted on sunscreening her head to protect her little scalp. I do think she got some sun. Despite my best efforts, her little arms were pink for a day or two. I think she just has my fair, easily burned skin.


At this age she is changing so much so quickly. During our beach trip she had her first meal of rice cereal and loved it. She opened her mouth like a baby bird and dove her head into the spoon.
We are getting ready to go back to the beach for a second trip this year and I am looking forward to relaxing and soaking in some more of the salty air. There is something about babies at the beach. It's like I can see them changing and growing right before my eyes. It's one of those yearly traditions that I look back on and marvel at what the babies did or said or how they had grown. It's kind of like Christmas. We take a lot of pictures and look back at them throughout the year. It's a yearly milestone that preserves their childhood in this one week in this one place at this one time. These are the pictures that make my heart ache because next year at the beach they won't look like this. Jack will be doing three-year-old things and Sarah will be doing one-year-old things. They will be different people in a year. I am excited to see who they will become, but I will be sad for the babies they were. Tears sting my eyes when I look back at their pictures. I tell my husband that when they go off to college he will find me melted into a puddle on the floor of each of their bedrooms looking at these pictures.

Sick Babies

Both of my children have been sick lately. Jack got sick while we were at the beach (boo) and Sarah is just getting over a little fever.

Jack seemed to have the same bug that most of the people in my family have had recently. My husband had it and I had it, most unfortunately, on the morning of the day we left for the beach. The day he was sick Jack actually fell asleep at the lunch table. He was eating a potato chip and his head just bobbed forward. We thought it was pretty funny and cute because he hadn't fallen asleep at a meal in over a year since he ate in a high chair. He had a long nap and then threw up all over his dad. The poor kids was so cute and pitiful. It was so sad to see him not know what was happening when he would throw up. He had a fever and his little temples and hands and feet just burned. It was so cute when he would tell me that his "belly like crushy ice" and that "Jack'a sick."

He was better in about a day and back to running and playing on the beach and eating yummy beach food.

Sarah on the other hand had her first baby fever. It happened to be the one night that my husband and I were finally getting to behave like adults and have other adults over for a social gathering. We were getting the kids ready to go to their grandparents house for the night when I mentioned to my husband that Sarah hadn't really been herself all day. When we finally slowed down and paid attention to her, she was very warm and had a low-grade temperature (~101). I was torn. First I felt bad that I had ignored Sarah's mood and symptoms all day because I was trying to get ready for company. Then I felt even worse when I still wanted to send her away for the night so I could talk to grown-ups and drink wine. Luckily both my parents and my husbands parents are very close to our kids. If I am not the one to take care of my kids when they are sick, I want our parents taking care of them. So I really didn't worry about her too much.

Sarah's fever has been on and off all weekend and has been followed by a very red and spotty rash. Yesterday was the worst looking day, but I didn't call the doctor because I figured it was just from the fever and that it would clear up. Then my husband asked when was the first time Sarah had sweet potatoes (her first food after rice cereal) in relation to the rash. Well, there was at least a 48 hour difference between the two, but he raised all kinds of questions: could this be an allergic reaction that I had ignored and kept feeding her the poisonous sweet potatoes anyway?!?!?

So, luckily today she looks good! She actually just looks like she slept on her cheeks which is way better than it looked yesterday. And she hasn't had a fever since Sunday.

So, long story, um, long: Both of my kids are doing great, thanks.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

While dressing Sarah this morning she started to cry, possibly because she was hungry or because she took a giraffe to the face trying to put it in her mouth. Jack gave her a (gentle) mock pinch, I guess for good measure in case he got in trouble for her crying. When I gave him the "you're pushing it, mister" look he covered his eyes with his hand and repeated, "oh gosh," while shaking his head.

I had to hide my face behind the baby so he wouldn't see me laughing.

Cute Baby Pictures Cause I Don't Have Anything to Say Today

Happy Tuesday.

Things I LOVE About My New House (And Cute Baby Pictures)

1. The blue, blue sky. I swear I have not seen a single cloud since we've moved in.
2. The green: there are trees and new grass and flowers and bushes, shrubs even(!).
3. The breeze: it could be 85 degrees outside, but it is always breezy and beautiful.
4. The quiet.
5. The darkness. There are stars and the moon and then only light is from my neighbor's porch lights.
6. So far in our development there are only 20 households (in our townhouse neighborhood there were over 80 houses on 2 streets!)
7. For now, no one lives on the lots on either side of us and we are one of only two occupied houses on this side of the street.
8. We can walk to town hall and read the agendas for various committee meetings including planning and zoning where we can see who is building a patio or deck.
9. We have a mailbox that is just ours and not connected to anyone else's and does not require a key.
10. Jack can run for at least 10 seconds or so before he reaches the road.

And these are just the things that come to mind as I sit in my driveway watching my babies play. I LOVE it here.

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My new favorite pastime: Sitting in my driveway watching Jack push Sarah in the stroller putting her to sleep!

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Sarah LOVES sweet potatoes.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

"No Take Jack's Dumpster!"

With construction going on in our neighborhood we have a lot of trucks in and out to watch. Today we have been watching a bulldozer (I guess) pushing dirt around and a truck loading a dumpster onto its bed. Jack and I watched intently as a man pulled a cover over the dumpster and hooked it up to some contraption on the back of the truck. Then the dumpster was loaded onto the truck and the truck drove away.

Jack realized what was happening and burst into tears. "No take'a Jack's dumpster! Jack's dumpster back!" He cried and cried over the dumpster.

Apparently he had grown quite attached to the dumpster and was heart-broken, heart-broken, when it was taken away. He cried and I consoled and tried to explain that the dumpster wasn't ours and that really it was just trash. But his poor, little, 2-year-old heart was broken by the removal of "Jack's" dumpster.

Every Beck and Call

I love my job. I love taking care of my family. I love doing things for them and being the cog that keeps this machine running. But come on...Can I have some time to myself? Please?

I think this is the part about being a mother that you don't think about ahead of time. The fact that you are at the beck and call of the members of your family any time of day or night. I spend my early parts of the day doing their laundry and cleaning up their toys, while I have energy and feel like Super-Mom. I start projects like making delicious dinners and unpacking boxes. I clean the bathrooms and vacuum the floors. I run around the house keeping this family moving.

And then the day wears on and I wear down. I can't finish any of the things I started. I can't finish cooking dinner because the baby is crying. Jack is standing on the back of the sofa because he knows I'm trying to do 17 things at once and am not keeping a close eye on him. And then when dinner is ready I can't sit and enjoy it because I have to bounce the baby on my knee and get up because I forgot to set the table with salt. And then Jack needs more juice. And then I forgot to turn the stove off. And then something in the microwave is beeping. And then we need something else out of the fridge. And before I know it, Jack is done eating, my husband is done eating and the baby is content to be bounced and I have only eaten half my dinner and now have a whole kitchen to clean up.

You would think I would get time to myself once the babies were in bed...but oh no, the job doesn't end there. Sarah doesn't go to bed. From 7:30 until 9:30 or 10, she is grumping at me to walk her around and generally hold her and cuddle her until she falls asleep.

So by the time both babies are in bed asleep and I am ready to decompress, my husband (who I haven't had a conversation with all day) is drifting to sleep and I am crashing into my pillow.

And then in a few hours, the baby will wake me to eat, and before I know it my husband will get up for work. And then I will spend the only solitary time of my day in the shower.

Bleary-eyed and not quite awake, I look out the windows of my bathroom at the sun coming up. And I thank God for these three beautiful people. They are the light of my days. And I LOVE taking care of my family.

Nothing Sweeter

There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby...


Except maybe a happy, smiling, giggling baby.

Back From the Beach

We had a great week at the beach. I am still sorting through all the pictures I took, but here are a few to start:
Jack LOVED the beach. He built and stomped sand castles and giggled when waves would crash at his feet. Sarah tolerated the beach. She did not care for the heat, the sun, the sand and the wind. And the lack of things she could put in her mouth.

Fun in the Sun

Last week we went to the local carnival where I ate food served by Boy Scouts and funnel cake cooked by firemen. Sarah ate her hat string and Jack was fascinated by the dunking booth.


We took two tired, hot and pink-cheeked kids home.
We are headed to the beach in the morning and I plan to return with tons of pictures of sun-kissed babies.

I Must Have Done Something Good

All day I keep singing the song, "Something Good" from The Sound of Music. I look at these two beautiful children of mine and think, how did this happen? How did I get so lucky that I get to raise these two sweet little angels? Out of all the people in all the world I get to be the mom to these babies.

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good.

More Than Just the Box Around Our Family

I am really, really happy that we are on the other side of the selling/buying houses rollercoaster.
It was a very stressful time in itself and then the stress was compounded by the fact that I was pregnant and then had a newborn. All through the ordeal I kept telling myself (and my husband) that it would be okay if we didn't end up in the dream house. That it was just the box around our family. But now that it is all over and we are in the dream house, I realize that it isn't just the box around our family. We are looking for a different way of life for our family. We want to live closer to each of our parents and closer to where we both grew up. We want to live in a smaller town where we can get to know people and get involved in things. We want a different way of life. A slower pace, a more rural school, and a little land to call our own.

We lived in a very nice place. Our townhouse was nice, but it was starting to feel too small. There were a lot of nice people around, but also a lot of strangers. I felt like a very little fish in a very big, unfamiliar pond.

So we have moved away and back home. Back to the county between our parents' counties. Back to a place where the neighborhoods have yards and people have driveways. And where we can carve out a niche in a place where we belong.

A Nap with Jack

I tried to lay down with Jack the other afternoon in the hopes that he would get a nap and I could catch up on my sleep with him. Instead I was just another lump in the bed as he played around me. He played with the Little People zoo keeper calling him, "Mister Man."

"Hello, Mister Man. Mister Man down there. Jack hold Mister Man. Mama hold Mister Man." (Jack inserts zookeeper into the hand of a sleeping Mama).

"Colors, Mama. Blue color. Purple color. Red color."

"Jack get down. Go downstairs, Mama. Jack go downstairs."

My eyes were then pulled open by little boy fingers. Nose to nose he said, "Hi, Mama. Go downstairs now."

Ok, Jack.

This was what I was hoping for...

Crazy Mama

My mom is a nutcase!

I think I have gone crazy. There are two parts of my brain talking to me about this whole settling in thing. The one part of my brain realizes that I have 2 children and just taking care of them is a full time, tireless job. Then there is the other part. The crazy part. This part tells me that the house should be unpacked, the kitchen should be clean and the children perfectly attended to. I actually got upset yesterday when the floors were dirty from all the moving hoopla and I couldn't find the right cleaning supplies to clean it. It also put me over the edge when I made a cake last night (I know, I said this was the crazy part) and the outside was overdone and the inside was still gooey.

The moving stress has left our lives. There is no more cleaning the house for strangers to see it, no more packing for the weekend to run away to one of our parents' houses, and no more holding my breath everytime the realtor calls or the mortgage guy calls or the builder calls.

Unfortunately I haven't turned off the part of my brain that is under stress. It thinks that unpacking and making dinner and these everyday tasks are too much to handle.

I need to remember to sit back, relax, and happily enjoy building train tracks with Jack and feeling the sweet breath of a sleeping Sarah on my chest. This is why we moved: to raise our kids in a beautiful place, to enjoy them as they grow up way too quickly, and to put down roots in this place that is home.

We Have Moved!

We have moved into our new house!!! This has been a loooong and tiring process. Only 24 days ago we found out that our house was under contract. In those few short weeks, we packed our house up and somehow got all of our earthly posessions in a truck and carried into our new, Dream, house. We are so happy and excited to be here. This is our home. We are anxious to put down roots and be settled. We even threw away the TV and computer boxes hoping never to have to move them again. Jack and Sarah will have to figure out what to do with all our stuff when they move us to the retirement home.

Our weekend was very busy and hectic, but with the help of our families and many gracious friends, we were able to move in just a couple of days. We are truly blessed that there are so many people willing to help us through such a crazy time. We will now be happy to help everyone we know move when their time comes. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

We Are Finally Moving!

Finally, after a very very long wait, we are actually moving into our new house. It looks like everything has fallen into place and we will settle this Wednesday. I have been packing like crazy and trying to get everything ready for the big day. We sure have aquired a lot of stuff in the last 5 years!

I am getting really really excited. Several nights (this one included) I have trouble sleeping. I keep thinking about all the things going on and all the phone calls I have to make and things I have to remember. I am just sooooo excited.


Meanwhile, my children are the most adorable I have ever seen. Jack loves his little sister and is always kissing her and snuggling her. Sarah has a little baby doll and Jack has taken to pretending he is a Daddy and taking care of the baby. He tells me, "Jack a good daddy." It just melts my heart!

Jack'll Do It

Jack has started to speak in sentences and already he has a favorite: Jack'll do it. He has entered the "do it mySELF" stage of being two. He would like to put his own shoes on, wash his own apple and, for goodness sake, let him buckle his own carseat. It doesn't bother him that he can't actually tie his shoes or that an apple is sufficiently washed in only a few seconds. And he only has one speed when buckling his car seat and it doesn't speed up if it's 95 degrees outside and the baby's crying and the groceries are melting in the back. He will do it and we will all wait and be yelled at, "JACK'LL DO IT!"

Of course his new-found independence isn't all bothersome. He really is a good kid. He is starting to listen to what we say when we tell him to do or not to do things. He listens when we tell him it's bath time, or when we say not to throw a snack on the floor or even when we say not to hit the baby. Well, most of the time he listens.

He is a cute big brother and likes to talk to the baby. He talks to her when he thinks I'm not looking. He says, "Hello, Sarah. How're you?" He gives her kisses, and snuggles. And he tries to share his toys with her. (If you try hard enough, Sarah can hold the scoop arm of a bulldozer).

He has become such a charming little boy. He is sweet and loving and adorable!

The Little Pink Dress

Sarah has outgrown her first little dress. It is a 0-3 month size and she wore it Sunday for the last time. I could barely squeeze her chubby neck into the sweet, white collar. And her chubby belly and rolly legs popped out of the little bloomers underneath. She is my BABY; she is not supposed to outgrow things. She is to wear sweet, pink, soft baby things. I am not ready to start a box for the basement labled, "Baby Girl Clothes 0-3." This is the dress she wore the first Sunday we took her to church. She wore it to visit my grandmother. She wore it--ok, she wore it a few times and now it is too small.

I don't remember having this sadness when I packed away Jack's clothes. I think that since he was the first baby and I knew that we would have others I didn't feel like I was putting the clothes away for good.


I think that having Sarah has made me realize that I can't bear the thought of this being my last baby. There certainly is a lot of time before my husband and I actually make that decision. But this sweet, soft, squishy baby time goes so fast. I blinked my eyes and now Jack is 2 and has become a charming, talkative, little boy.

Our lives are so busy right now, I have to make myself slow down and smell Sarah's head before it stinks like a sweaty toddler. She is growing and changing so quickly, I don't want to miss anything. She smiles and coos and looks at her hands. And soon she will giggle and crawl and walk and go off to college.

I am sad that I have to put away that little, pink dress.

Big, Pink Sunhat

I bought Sarah a cute, pink sunhat today. And it looks like she loves it.

Jack also loves her new hat. He, however, thinks it's a cowboy hat and ran around the living room with it on saying, "YEE-HAW!"

My Big Boy

Jack is two. TWO. It was two years ago that I gave birth to this big, beautiful baby boy. Except that he is not a baby anymore. He sleeps in a big kids' bed. He has opinions about things (mostly negative). He even has a little sister. He is growing up so fast.
















P.S. Isn't this just the CUTEST baby girl you've ever seen?