blink and they change. blink again and they are grown.

our little buddy "noodle" dropped by for a quick play earlier in the day...and as much time as these two have spent over the past two almost-years as buddies, today was the first time they really played together. playing at the same thing, watching each other, interacting, chasing each other, giggling together.  such fun to see them becoming big boys together!

she looks like she's ready to debut as a cirque du soleil performer with this body contortion.  but she persistently spent the good part of an hour and a half trying her best to roll over.  she'd get her head waaaay back and then flail her arms around and kick her legs around and grunt and squeek and then try it to the other side.  she managed to spin herself a complete 360 in the process with all the leg kicking.  so amazing to watch her in action.  i'm afraid to look away for a second, i know very soon i'll see her staring back at me proudly from her tummy. look what i did, mommy! oh, i'm so proud of you my little precious one....but please slow down. you're growing oh so quickly!

the many faces of my sweet children....

here betsy is doing her best to contort her position so she can see what petey is doing in the backyard. she can hear him but she can't see him. she can see the diapers flapping in the wind hanging from the line.  she is enthralled by anything brightly colored that wiggles a little.

he's suddenly become very affectionate, giving GREAT bear hugs (which i very much love) and kisses too!  he was hugging his friend noodle (he calls him "wryney") earlier today with a huge grin on his face. he kisses his books goodnight. and his trucks. and tonight he kissed his rocking horse goodnight, after giving him a pretend sip of water from his sippy cup (and making the appropriate slurping noises on the horse's behalf). so cute. i love to see him entering into the world of make believe!!!

THIS IS BETSY'S MOUTH.....a really awkward picture, I know. but i was curious so i peeked in there today and was shocked to see two huge top front teeth swelling behind her gums. can you see them?  just like pete's looked before they popped right on through. 4 months old and she's teething? wow.  pete didn't get his top 2 teeth until 8 months old.

 (pete's new teeth : september 1, 2009)

i'm not ready for this.  seriously little lady bug....you are growing far too quickly for your momma to handle.  daddy watch out, she'll be asking for driving lessons when you get home to us!

my little man is an artiste.  i forget he is getting older too (what is going ON with my children and growing up?) and is more interested in arts and crafts. we're making a trip to the crafts store soon to buy pipe cleaners, feathers, glue, kid friendly scissors, googly eyes and construction paper.  this child is ready for crafts. he spent 20 minutes sitting at the table today placing stickers on a piece of paper and then coloring it (and playing with the container the colors were in) for his aunt lollie.  his attention span and understanding of basic instructions is now sufficient for arts and crafts and I am SOOOO excited! not at all related to coloring, but completely related to him "getting it"....every day this week at some point in the day (or more than once most days) he's come running to me and saying "poddy" and we've hustled to the toilet and he's actually peed on the potty. of his own free will and guidance. awesome.  he also recognized dog poop as "poddy" and carried a dried out piece of it across the yard to show me yesterday. oh dear.  i'll have to do better finding baxter's "business" out there but it so blends in with the mulch.  and (un)fortunately, my son doesn't miss a THING!

my mind

please tell me this happens to you. i get these ideas. and then my mind runs away with them and creates a porthole to another realm where these ideas are realities. i can see them and smell them and live them. i dream them.  any idea at all.  life dream ideas. imagining the future ideas.  ideas about things that terrify me. ideas about things i need to try, to bake, to do, to build, to visit.  my mind has an amazing capacity to create reality just by thinking about it.  sometimes implementing those ideas takes a lot more energy than i anticipated. sometimes its because i'm scared to try those things.  buts its all over the place.  my thoughts and my mind these days seem scattered equally divided thrice between a) the here and now, b) my husband and c) the future (of all things great and small it seems).  i am all over the place. dreaming about homecoming. designing up a new furniture layout of the living room. creating projects to do with pete. whipping up a delicious meal. crafting a few christmas gifts. completing my marathon. taking pete to his first day of school someday. baby number 3 (yes, i know #2 is only 4 months old but i do think about the next one already). halloween costumes.  needing to put laundry in the wash asap. my grandma's visit. renting out our FL condo. potty training. betsy's 4 month shots coming up. buying birthday presents for our friends. hubby's next job (and next deployment. ugh). christmas and the traditions and memories i want to create with my family this year. the baseball game i'm going to this weekend.  i mean, its all over the place.  my dreams are even whackier but i only share those with reid for fear of being ridiculed and judged. my dreams are an...interesting place.

so i'm just wondering. do you catch your mind wandering ALL over the place? its not that i'm unable to focus or function, its just that my mind is on so many varying things.

discovery mat for 2

anytime betsy is playing with her discovery mat (that petey also loved as a babe - thank you uncle greg and aunt shannon!), petey slides in right next to her.  he used to slide in right on top of her but has since learned that its more fun for everyone if he doesn't crush her. so now he finds a spot next to her and watches her in action.  i love to see these two coexisting peacefully. i love to see her watch him with eyes full of wonder. i love to see him giggle when she touches his face or bats his hair. its so precious to watch him take her burp cloth and wipe her mouth or shush her when she squeaks or pat her back when i'm burping her. and i'm really anxious to see them actually play together when she gets a bit older.

and she is on the brink of rolling over....i think it'll happen this week. she is really trying hard to roll onto her tummy from her back. to the right side, just like pete did. she's throwing her feet up and over and curving her back to make it easier to roll. she'll have it in no time. can't wait to post that video!

thankfully, he is becoming more aware of her existence and manages to crawl past her instead of over/through her. however, i'm still right there with a hand ready to swat away a carelessly placed foot.  but betsy is one tough girl, that's for sure. :)

the best good morning

she does this every morning, i've been meaning to capture it on video to share with daddy...

recipe review: raw carrot cake, mudballs and p90x

i am dying to make this raw carrot cake at two blue lemons
in fact, their blog is full of fascinating, colorful DELICIOUS looking vegetarian/vegan recipes. i never thought i'd be so excited about something like this but i am going to have to give a few of these a whirl to be sure i get the most of our awesome summertime plenty of local fresh fruits and veggies!

these mudballs at new nostalgia are delightful. the flavor is reminiscent of a reeses peanut butter cup....but not so naughty.  its nice to give your son a snack that has health benefits and still satisfies a sweet tooth.  we shared them with a "test audience" last night and they received rave reviews and a demand for the recipe immediately which i took as a good sign. many more of these to come.  she doesn't mention it at her post but i put my rolled out balls on a cookie sheet in the fridge to firm them up and then decided to keep them in the fridge, they are super-delicious served chilled.  once at room temperature they get kind of gooey and messy which isn't always a bad thing. but a food-throwing-prone-almost-2-year-old makes less gooey and less messy appealing to this momma. fridge = yes.


i've also started a workout program called p90x. you do the specified workout every day for 90 days (12 workouts in all). i've been impressed so far with the program. even better, they give you a nutrition "guide"...i use the term loosely. i'm certainly not on a diet but i AM trying to do a better job of consciously eating the things my body needs instead of the things my comfort-food-cravings demand.  they teach you about portion sizes and what counts as a carb or a fruit or a protein serving. they also offer meal plans with recipes included. i was skeptical of the recipes but have been absolutely floored with the quality of the outcome and the delicious flavorful results we've been enjoying.  we've tried the gazpacho (cold tomato soup), granola pear muffins, chicken burritos and tuna salad.  this week i plan to make their vegetable soup, white bean tuna salad and italian (turkey) meatloaf.  its nice to make a few healthy things, grill a couple pieces of chicken or turkey and then swap them around throughout the week for my meals.  there's certainly enough with many of the recipes to freeze half a batch.  i plan to take half of everything i make this weekend to a gal in the squadron who just had a baby.

cardiff state beach trip

this morning we made the most of a trip to the coast on a perfectly blue, sunny, cool but not cold morning.  we went for a 45 minute run at 9 and then changed to our beach attire and met our wonderful friends for some frolicking on the beach. apparently little boys frolick on the beach by driving trucks around in a very serious manner. it was a conga line of boys and their trucks. the biggest boy was the leader, petey would follow and little j would sometimes follow, sometimes do his very own thing.  its wonderful to see these three play together, each adding their own little personality to the mix. sometimes emulating each other or egging each other on, sometimes just giggling with delight about who knows what.  big brother d is so sweet, always pointing things out to the littler boys.  a helo flew right over us, headed for pendleton. the coaster train went by religiously every 30 minutes which petey immediately pointed out with delight each time!  they were all quite brave, washing their toes and then their shins in the surf, doing some underwater driving with those ever important trucks.  eventually, as always seems to happen, mr. petey go a little too brave and was up to his thighs....the right height for a tiny little wave to give him just enough buoyancy to plop him down on his bottom - putting him in the freezing water up to his neck. that got his attention, poor thing shrieking with terror and his betsy-wearing-momma came sprinting to his rescue.  he wasn't in danger, we were right there to help, but boy was he scared (and probably cold!) for a couple seconds there.  after the scare we declared it lunchtime. so the wet, sandy boys eagerly plopped themselves down on emily's awesome take-everywhere-quilt which i covet and always promise myself i'll make one for our family in the near future.  of course the food ended up soggy and sandy and they only managed to swallow a little bit of it but they sure did have a great morning.  we really do have the very best backyard here in san diego.

poor betsy getting a diaper change in the chilly coastal breeze. she didn't seem to mind. she did mind the fact that mommy brought the bigger of our two denim hats and it kept falling over her face.

emily and betsy - the hood of her sweatshirt also kept falling over her eyes. she is not happy when anything interferes with her watching the action.  during the entire run she was straining to sit up as straight as could be to see out the "window" at the world passing by. she's really getting strong!

betsy bear

because i can't help but take pictures of her...

this is how she likes to fall asleep now. one hand pulling her hair. one hand over her face holding the pacifier in. i'm letting her go to sleep with it to persuade her away from her thumbs.  she still wears socks to bed most of the time because she is frantic about getting the thumbs/fingers in her mouth if the pacifier falls out.  luckily, if she gets hooked on the pacifier it can be taken away. thumbs can not.

sweet betsy girl

and here is a little movie of the little lady if you think you can handle all her cuteness.  sorry for all the ridiculously annoying baby talk and babble i am doing in the background, she is amused by it but you probably aren't. i'd say put your computer on mute so you don't have to listen to it but you will miss out the adorable cooing and bubble blowing from betsy if you do. :) enjoy!

pete's day

snack? check.........

new book shelf and room set up. check.

double jointed thumbs. check.

ok, so this angle doesn't do it justice....but i discovered yesterday that his thumbs are double jointed. yes, as in - they bend back an extra 90 degrees.  we were reading a book set to the song "this old man, he played one, he played knick knack on my thumb...." and i was teaching him where his thumb was. he's recently learned about his elbow and his knee so i figured i'd take the opportunity to throw the name of his thumb in there too. and i was helping him make a thumbs-up and his thumb just kept on going.  scared the dickens out of me for a moment, thinking i had broken his thumb! but he didn't seem to mind. and then i checked the other thumb and it did the same little trick.  so there you have it.  i'm not sure how that'll affect him in life....will it be hard to hold a pen and write or throw a curveball? no idea. all i know is he'll have the kids in first grade fascinated with this little trick.

he's also decided to add the following words to his vocabulary - and actually pronounces them correctly:
spider
water
potty
swing
watch (as in watch a movie)
ride (as in push me in my red car)
all better
one more
down
swish swish swish (like in the wheels on the bus)
knee
elbow
shoe
sock
and he calls a bunny a "boing boing boing"

then there is the ever mysterious word that's been baffling me for a few weeks. he says it when he wants to eat but i have no idea what it is he's actually saying: manna. any guesses?

listen up, mom!

today betsy looked at me and said, plain as day, "i'm bored."  she has a new cry. not a sleepy cry, a poopy cry or a hungry cry....now there is a new one - the i'm bored/feeling left out/can't see what's going on cry.  she's already growing up so much and i've barely even taken the time to notice. she is, afterall, almost 4 months old and i haven't even gotten out any of the baby toys yet.  i was looking back through petey's photos at this stage and decided i needed to do a better job.  i'm glad the little lady spoke up!  i'm making a marked effort to get her on the floor, roly-poly, with lots of new toys to practice holding and eventually chewing, with lots of tummy time and in general....its time for me to quit being nervous about having her down there.  i just need to camp out next to her and help petey learn his boundaries around her.  he's a great big brother and was really excited to hand her toys and say "heyo besy" (here ya go, betsy).  he also gave her lots of high fives whenever she waved her hands in the air.  and earlier today, when she was crying, he said to her so sweetly "shhhh, shhhh, shhhh" a-la-the-wheels-on-the-bus. these kids are precious.