My Snow Angels

Well, I really assumed winter was over after the warmer temperatures we have been having, but I should have known better! We got snow and ice yesterday and even though I am ready for spring, I was glad to get it for two reasons. Let me introduce you to my two reasons:

These Two!

Ryan got this cute snow suit for Christmas and never got a chance to wear it yet and Noah is at an age to understand the snow and get excited so I was really bummed when I didn't get to have a snow experience with either of them this year. So, as soon as I got off work, I hurried to the sitters to load them up and take them home to bundle up and play! I swear it took me longer to get everyone dressed, pottied, and out the door than we were actually out there! Noah had a little cough, so I only let him stay outside 10 minutes and had to bribe him back in with snow ice cream!

Ryan ready for her first snow!

He was SO excited!

Ryan was looking around cooing and just taking it all in like usual. She is so laid back it is amazing! I also didn't want her outside too long to chance her getting sick. So, we went out and had a little photo session and Noah threw some snowballs and played with the dog and we headed in for some Tom & Jerry and snow ice cream.

Snow Ice Cream!!

Thank you God for these memories!

I Heart Valentines Day!

I realized it has been a week since Valentines Day and I forgot to post how ours went! I love Valentines Day! I feel I am in the middle on the celebration scale. I don't feel we have to go all out - but a card and a little gift and maybe dinner is good. It is a day to celebrate love - love with family or a significant other. Everyone is loved in life so I see nothing wrong with a day to celebrate that! Yes, I know we should do that every day, blah blah - but we are lucky to grow older every day too but only celebrate our birthdays once a year (most people any way) so there is nothing wrong with a day dedicated to making your loved ones feel extra loved! Also, Valentines with kids is even more fun! I love getting to do little crafts and getting stuff for their Valentines party at daycare - this is the stuff I dreamed about while trying to have kids for years!

Making Valentines Cookies with Momma :)

Noah and Ryan in their Valentines outifts

Nathan did good and got me a pair of diamond stud earrings (just what I wanted - I have to give him lots of direction, he doesn't pick up on hints well) and a box of chocolates! I got him a few extra things then I normally would because he surprised me at Christmas with gifts after we said we were not doing gifts! I got him a new North Face shirt (gray of course, like all of his favorite shirts), a rubix cube (he asked for one awhile back - those things give me a panic attack and a headache just looking at them), The Bourne Trilogy (he has never seen them and is always trying to catch them on tv, usually half way done and edited with commercials), and a chocolate chip cheesecake from our favorite little restaurant Sweet Treats! I got Noah some Lion King pj's, t-shirt, and figurines - to say he was excited is an understatement! I painted Ryan a canvas at painting class for her room and got her a monkey chew toy since she is starting to teeth.

He was SO excited for his Lion King toys!

Obviously, she liked her monkey

Noah calls this "touching the sky" :) He loves to play/fight with Dada!

We baked a ham and had dinner together and just enjoyed our family time - what better way to celebrate Love Day? Hope you all had an amazing Valentines Day!

Here pee, there pee...

PEE EVERYWHERE! This pretty much sums up my morning Saturday! I decided to bite the bullet and try the "put real underwear on your kid" potty training method. I have heard from several moms that it is the way to go. Well, it did not start out so good. I started out taking him potty every 30 minutes, then there were a few accidents, then moved it to every 20 minutes, still having accidents, so we had to up it to every 15 minutes. We were on underwear pair number 9 in the first three hours! I was texting Noah's babysitter and my friend Cortney for advice because I was ready to give up! His babysitter suggested that he not get juice, only water because the juice goes through him too fast and it was making it hard for me to get him to the potty in time. It was total chaos at one point. Seriously - there was 3 spots of pee in the living room floor, 2 puddles in the kitchen, one on the love seat, and one at his table! Oh, and I had Ryan to take care of too - all of this by myself (Nathan was working). This was a test of my Momma patience for sure! So, as I sat there crying and texting Nathan that I am about to give up, and the timer is going off to take him back to the potty, it just all of a sudden got better. That boy has always pushed me to my limit and then just gets better instantly - he did this with sleeping, nursing, going to daycare, going to church, everything! He knows Momma's limit and he goes right to the limit every time! He went from noon to 6:00 in the same pair of underwear!

Big Boy Underwear!

We went to Saturday night church and one of the teachers said he told her he had to go and went at church too! We tried it again Sunday and he only had one accident (Daddy gave him juice while Momma was gone) so we think that may have been the accident, or he may have just had an accident - who knows. But, one accident all day on day two was awesome! He even told me he had to go one time instead of me just taking him every 20 minutes!

I took him to daycare in pull-ups this week so far - she has 5 kids there and he requires too much attention for us to try the underwear there yet. He has been going for her good all week and me at night, so I told her if he keeps it up then I was going to send him in big boy underwear at the end of the week! I really hope we are on to something here! I can handle the buying diapers and changing him and all that - but there is a BIG difference in baby poop and toddler poop and I am over cleaning that up! So, hopefully  he will be fully trained by the time he is 3 (which is in 3 months)!

Poor thing has no butt like his Daddy :)

Ryan Maelynn is 5 Months!

5 Months ago today Ryan made her dramatic entrance! It seems so long ago, and like yesterday all at the same time! Here are this months highlights:

* She weighs around 15 pounds and is 27 inches long (my estimates)!

*She is still nursing when she is with me and I am finally back to keeping up with her! She takes a 5 oz bottle with a tablespoon of cereal in it every 3 hours with the sitter.  She has started on baby food and loves it all! She wasn't crazy about peaches, but she wasn't feeling well when we tried them so we are going to try them again soon.

* Her sleeping is still awesome! She goes to sleep around 10:00 and snores (literally) until 8:00 the next morning! She is officially sleeping in her room now. She is still sleeping in her nap nanny in her crib so that she is elevated to protect her from any more choking episodes. I think she is sleeping more soundly in her room because I think Nathan and I would wake her up a lot.

* She is wearing 6 month clothes now! With this crazy weather I am constantly trying to dig out 6 month winter stuff, then spring depending on if it is a 70 degree day or a 40 degree day which seem to happen every other day here lately! She outgrew her size one shoes too!

* She is still in size two diapers, hopefully she will stay in that size for awhile.

* We got her jumper out this month and she loves it! Her sitter has hardwood floors and a walker and she loves that too! It is so crazy that she is already big enough for that!

* She is doing better at tummy time - 10-15 minutes max - and she will be rolling over very soon! She can get all the way on her side and if it weren't for her arm, she would go all the way!

* Ryan smiles every time we look at her or talk to her - she is very happy! She loves it when you play with her fat cheeks or arms - she belly laughs! It is so cute!

Ryan's best buddy Pinkie

Beautiful!

Noah's twin!

Silly girl!

Why is it...

Why is it that I want to grow my hair out long again (first time in 7 years) and I still fix it like it is short. I can't seem to fix it - like I forgot. I figured it would be just like riding a bike - but obviously not. In my defense it is alot thicker than it was 7 years ago (thank you Ryan) so maybe that is my problem. Hopefully I figure it out soon.

Why is it that when Noah acts good in public I feel like supermom? He has that power - he can be good and all of a sudden I say to myself "Yes, I am not totally screwing this up!". He is one powerful little guy.

Why is it that I feel like Noah is old news to some people. I have actually had people tell me to bring Ryan to see them and not even mention Noah. He is at the age that he knows what is going on and who is around him often - he should be the one people are worried about seeing more. He is awesome.

Why is it that my child tells me "poop momma!" right after he poops in his diaper? Then follows it with a "sorry momma" - I am powerless against a "sorry momma".

Why is it that I can lose a co-worker causing my workload to more than double, yet I am happier and feel better at work than ever? Apparently I am happier when I am busier, who knew?

Why is it that I am dead tired until I put the kids to bed, then I want to stay up a little while for quiet momma time, then instantly regret it when my alarm goes off the next morning?

Why is it that I am so behind in fashion? I swear that I finally get used to seeing a style enough that I can attempt it without feeling stupid and the next thing I know, everyone has moved on and is wearing the next crazy thing. I am hopelessly fashionably uncool.

Why is it that I get so excited when I find a toy or something I know Noah is going to love and when you ask him who got it for him he says DADA every time! I hate to bust Noah's bubble, but Dada is clueless about when holidays are and if it were up to him Noah would never have anything on time or that couldn't be bought the night before an occasion. Momma is on top of things! :) I just found him the cutest Lion King pajamas and figurines for Valentines Day - he is going to flip!

Why is it that I get the overwhelming urge to hurt someones child when they are making fun of or teasing my child? I know they are just kids and don't know any better (I was bullied growing up and am friends with some people who picked on me - my husband included! - so I know first hand they grow out of it. Kids are mean.) but it instantly goes all over me. Nathan laughs at me - I am hoping some poor kid doesn't go too far - I am really trying to avoid a mug shot.

Why is it that I always think people are exaggerating their illnesses when I hear them complaining. I am not saying that because I think I have it worse or anything - it is just a bad habit. I keep telling myself that they may actually be sick, but in the back of my mind I am saying, "oh get over it". I am weird.

Why is that people tell me how lucky I am that Nathan watches our kids so I can occasionally go do something. They are his kids too - he should be watching them. Is he lucky I watch them a majority of the time while he is gone (which is alot more often then I am ever gone). No one ever says how lucky he is that I watch the kids. It just irks me when people say that. No one is lucky either way - we are parents and that is our job.

None of my blog posts are complete without some Stillwell kid cuteness:

When the babysitter is sick...

Momma gets to/has to stay home with these angels:

The kids sitter sent me a text at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning that she was sick and it turns out she was contagious until at least Wednesday. The kids got to go back today, but their sitter still didn't seem like she felt all that good. I am thankful for her giving it a try though - I really needed to get back to work. I did get to work Monday night and Tuesday from home though, so that helped me from getting too far behind. I was reminded again though that I would never make it as a stay at home mom. I have awesome kids who let me type 14 pages and prepare a file for a hearing which both take awhile.  However, I like getting out of the house too much and having a reason to put on real clothes and look presentable - I feel no need to do either of these things when I am at home - it just seems like a waste of products and laundry! Noah was not wanting to get dressed and go after 4 days with Momma so I let him wear his house shoes to the baby sitters - hey, you are only 2 once right?

Painting Momma a picture

Wrestling with Dada

Cheese :)

I did really enjoy the extra bonding time with the kids though! We watched movies and played games. I worked with Ryan on rolling over - she has no interest. I worked with Noah on potty training - he has no interest. Ryan also discovered her jumper this weekend - she is a jumping fool!

I also managed to do a little mini photo shoot of Ryan in her spring outfits from a local boutique Simply Sam. The owner wanted some of her in the outfits to maybe use on her Facebook page. It was cold outside and Ryan was trying to get sick (plus she can't sit unassisted yet), so we had to improvise. There were a few that I thought turned out very cute!

I am glad to be back and work and miss my little tykes like crazy! I am thankful for a job and the fact that they are somewhere safe and I get the opportunity to miss them!