Finally, a garden

It must have been 2 months ago that we attempted to start our own vegetable garden. Between the weather and life, it just hasn't happened until now. The whole point of this garden is obviously to get fresh veggies and herbs. But more than that, I want my kids to understand where food comes from. If all goes well, we will have green beans, spring mix, blackberries, dill, rosemary, basil, sunflowers and marigolds.

SO two

Having a child that is almost two and a half can be a challenging thing. This is the time that kids test everything to see what they can get away with. It's also the time they decide it is their duty to tattle on their older brother at ALL times. Even if said brother is doing completely normal things like picking up a toy or using the bathroom. "Liam using the pottttyyyyyy" "Liam holding his toyyyy" (read in ridiculously whiny and disconcerting toddler voice).


Add to this that my two year old already has a particularly stubborn and independent way about her and you get some frustrating and sometimes entertaining evenings. Liam is also at the perfect age to bother. As much as the two of them love each other, they can fill whole evenings with bothering, pestering, tattling and aggravation. Then there are those random times where they forget to annoy and retreat into their own corners where they find their imaginations and Mommy and Daddy get to remember why we keep them around. Liam will set up intricate armies and Livi will lovingly take her baby "to the gym real quick. I'll be back in a minute, ok?" I could drink these moments up and get drunk on them. They are so fantastic, it wipes all the other aggravations out of memory.. until the next night...

This is what Liv does when she can see herself on my phone as I tape her.

Swimming

 We don't have a pool, but we do live in South Florida. And from what I hear, the earlier a kid can learn how to swim the easier it will be for them. Liam had lessons when he was 2, but obviously none of that stuck. So here we are again. Another summer and another round of swim lessons. This time for two. We all thought Livi would be a natural and Liam would take forever to brave the deep. But Liam has really taken to it and loves going to his lessons. I have noticed that when the teacher is gone and it's just us, he seems to revert back to pretending he can't while Livi backs away from the instructor and jumps right in when she isn't around. I really just can't wait until the day I don't have to frantically keep one eye on each child while we are in the pool. That will really be great.

Happy Fathers Day

We love you more than you will ever know, Ms Daddy. Happy Fathers Day.

Ugh

I would really love my wardrobe to be just half as stylish as my 2 year olds.

Just When You Think You Have Them Figured Out

 Liam has a sensitive heart. He's a normal kid and does normal kid things. But he has always been a bit more conscientious when it comes to... well, everything. Since he seems to think everything out and what the consequences and risks are of everything, I find he ends up taking the safe route most of the time. Having 3 boys down the street that he plays with often seem to help him take the more adventurous path more often than I think he would otherwise. It took a couple of years to get him into the pool of his own free will and without a shirt.

Once in a while, he surprises me. Might just be that he is growing up and as he has more interaction with the world, has decided that it's ok to try new things. All I know is that I saw MY boy squeal with excitement when he saw baby frogs in his best friends pool and insisted on picking up every single one of them. Normal boy behavior, right? Not for this boy. But it made me smile. I am not sure why. Could be because I was a bit afraid of trying new things growing up and started a little late in that department. Life is short and I want him to be able to enjoy it and experience it. Maybe I don't have anything to worry about. I suppose time will tell. But for now, it's nice to see him a little carefree- even if only for searching for baby frogs.

Memorial Day

Seems to be becoming a tradition to spend 3 day holidays with the whole fam up at my sister's house in Orlando. And each time we go up there, I am always surprised by how different the kids are and how much they have grown. Every time is a whole new experience. This time, Eli and Liam did a lot more imaginative play and alot more time was spent quietly in Eli's room sharing toys. But of course, the word "poop" was still repeated constantly with giggles to follow. Zoe is old enough to start interacting with Livi even though Livi insists she is still a baby. And everyone just adores Hope. The lone baby. There were so many around for so long, but these days they are becoming more of a rarity and Hope gets alot of loving because of it (oh and also because she is ridiculously cute).