Patience

These past few days Maxwell has been...tiring. He has been playing too rough with Ella and acting defiant towards me. I know, he's two. But for the most part, my kids are good listeners. It's a weird thing for me when he looks at me and tells me NO. I'm finding myself frustrated and irritated. So today, I pray for patience. As I type that I'm flooded with images from Max that make me smile throughout the day. Like the ginormous smile I see on my boy's face when he runs in to show me he took his diaper off. Again. (Yes, this is super annoying, but his uncontrollable giggle at his cleverness gets me). Or the way he comes up to me and pats my back and while he says 'Awe, Mommy.' Or how even when he's playing rough with Ella, Maxwell adores his sister. You cannot be around him for more than two minutes without hearing him say, "Ella?" He says her name even when she's right next to him, just to be sure of her.

Mike comes home tomorrow night so I know big boy will love his 'guy time' with daddy. This morning I'm aware that I'm feeling short with him and I think this helps because now I'm making the effort to give him extra attention. My crazy little boy.

Looking forward to a  girl's dinner with Claudette tonight. Having a night off from dinner and baths is a huge treat for me :) Thanks Gma J.

Family Visit: Part 1

We've been having a great time with my cousin Lauren and Auntie Elaine (my middle name :) ). They are visiting from Washington and I'm so excited the weather is warming up for them. I tried to just post a couple pictures from this weekend but my Picasa isn't posting them...so, obviously that means I should make a movie with a ton more.

We can't wait for Uncle Ken to make it here later this week! Would have been even better with Deano, David, Michael, and Blano. And really, all the rest of the Blanchards and cousins.

p.s. isn't my cousin Lauren the CUTEST girl? she is that pretty on the inside too...love you Lauren Lily.

We Love Our Doctor

One for the baby book...

Maxwell and Ella had their two year wellness check this week. Mike was out of town working so I took them alone. Past visits alone have either been fine or horrible with lots of tears. We haven't been in a long time so I tried to make them excited about the visit. I brought up a picture of Dr. B. (who we love!) and showed them how she held them when they were little babies. I explained that she would look at their eyes/ears/mouth. By the time we were in the car on our way you would have thought we were going Disneyland- they were excited. They did really, really well. They thought the whole experience was cool and they only had one shot each :)

Here she is! She did just what Mom said:

Maxwell: weight, 30.7
height, 34 1/4

Ella: weight, 25.3
height, 33 1/2

Happy, healthy kids.

Thanks Honey

Mike left the house at 2:30 a.m. this morning to make it to work by 7 to start his week of four ten hour days. I think I would throw up if I had to wake up that early and leave the house. Thanks Mike for working hard for your family. We love you. Lots.

On another note, this makes me laugh. Because, ain't it the truth?

www.themompetition.com

I Heart AAA

I am always afraid I'll lock my keys in the car. I obsessively click the unlock button after opening my truck because I'm nervous that somehow I will lock my keys/kids in the car. Today after grocery shopping I had both kids buckled in, all the groceries unloaded, and I slammed the passenger door and went to hop into my side. Locked. What?! How? I used my key less entry to lock and then unlock the truck. But for some reason I didn't triple click the unlock button...and my phone, purse, and children stared at me from behind the glass. Ahhh...don't you hate things like that? I kept a smile on my face and asked the lady next to me if I could use her phone. After explaining what was happening I have to be honest, I expected a woman to woman sympathetic smile and 'use my phone for as long as you need!' She did let me use it, but she was quick to point out that her battery would probably die and she didn't have a lot of time. Geez. Anyway, I called Mike and he called AAA and in less than 10 minutes they were there and I was in my truck. 10 minutes! Isn't that amazing? I expected it to be a long time. I just kept smiling and talking to the kids and doing stupid things to make them smile. If you were in the same parking lot you might have seen me pretending to go down the elevator 12 times as I disappeared down the window, then up again. They thought it was HILARIOUS. So did the nice couple parked next to me. Yes, I am a dork. When I became a mother I lost 99% of my pride. Anyway, cheers to AAA. They saved the day.

Max's Big Boy Room

Finally...pictures of Maxwell's big boy room. Click here to see more pictures like this of what the room looked like before.

BEFORE

It was pretty much an ugly guest room with his crib in it. My vision for this room came from two things: This special picture of Maxwell's great grandpa 'Papa.'

And these awesome $5.00 school desks that I found on craigslist. Using those as my starting point, I scoured the pages of Restoration Hardware, Ohdeedoh, and got some great tips from my friend J. The room has been done for awhile but I waited to post pictures because it's not completely done. Sometime soon he'll move into a real bed, but until then...here's Maxwell's big boy schoolhouse/airplane room.

My talented husband built this incredible chalkboard for us. He used sheet metal because I insisted that I wanted the space to be magnetic so we could hang cool things  like these flashcards (bummer they sold!), or use the wall to display the kids art work.

I gathered  pictures of each of Max's great grandfathers to put this wall together. I love the idea of using special family pictures to inspire him. He can gaze up and see these amazing men as football players, pilots, fishermen, and entrepreneurs. Who knows what path he'll choose...

My Uncle David helped me find the picture of Papa in front of the jet and these others above Maxwell's bed. I love that he can fall sleep looking at the plane flying above him.

Framed pictures of Maxwell and his brother and sisters.

I LOVE how it turned out. I wanted it to look 'vintage schoolhouse/ old airplanes,' but mostly, to reflect things that Maxwell thinks are cool. He loves showing off his room. Both of the kids have space to play and the desks and chalk board are such a fun way to keep them creative.

Desks clearly cleaned up for a photo opp...it's usually a beautiful mess of paper and crayons.

Closet shelves and doors to go up next. Pretend you don't see all the 'stuff.'

Room details that I can remember:
Paint- Sherwin Williams, French Gray
All frames and lamp- Target (thanks for browsing the clearance shelves Mom!)
Airplane Shelf- Yard sale, saved and painted by Gma J
Chalk board- Sheet metal glued to MDF, painted with chalkboard paint, created and framed by my Mike
Hanging airplane- Ross, found by Aunt T
Clip boards- Staples
Rocking chair- craigslist
Desks- craigslist
Dresser- family handmedown

To be continued with...updated knobs for the dresser, and a closet door and shelves.

I linked here.

Weekend Review

We had an ongoing dance party to Adele Which pretty much means Ella spins in circles until she stops and then falls down.

Visit from Crystal and adorable Lily. The mommies schemed up a future girls trip to Santa Barbara (moms only) while the kids played blocks.

For the millionth time, I thanked God for the beautiful property we live on. The kids get to ride the quad that was their big brother and sisters.

Right next door they get to feed the goats. Which they call sheep. Close enough.

Big boy got his first real haircut from someone other than us. He did so well! I don't have any pictures, but I he just sat on my lap and he munched on a bag of Pirates Booty. He looks so old to me...

It was a good weekend :)

When You're Two Years Old...

Bubble machines blow your mind.

You wonder why Mom has to take soooo many pictures.

Hunting for the perfect stick never gets old.

It's really nice to explore with a friend.

Or make a new one.

 

And getting dirty is really fun.

 

 

You always remember to include Sadie.

 

There's nothing like ending the day with a cold one.

 

 

Mmmm...that hits the spot.

 

Party!

We celebrated Maxwell and Ella's second birthday with a backyard BBQ. They are still asking for the giraffe (bounce house) and bubbles. So much fun.
Bring on the videos...

My Two Are TWO!

I'm in the middle of writing you your birthday letters, but I've been interrupted 20 times. So for now, Happy Birthday sweet ones. In a nutshell, you make us happy. So, so, happy. I can't believe you are two years old today. As I'm typing this you are yelling each others names across the hall through your closed doors. I'm not sure nap time is going to happen. In a couple of minutes the bounce house will be delivered. We're surprising you with a bounce house for two days! Tomorrow your friends and family will be here to celebrate with you. Soak up all the love- you two are adored.