Future Photographer

 I love life with these four people.

 Haha, most of the time :)

Owen :)

He sleeps like his Daddy.  :)

Owen is an unbelievably happy, "easy" baby.

Thank God.

Thank God.

Thank God.

Because my other two are really giving us a run for our money this week.  :)

Someone needs a vacation!

And that someone is ME.

Maryn told me today she can't wait till she dies.  So she won't have to share any more.

I wasn't sure how to correct her attitude, maybe because I feel that way too sometimes.  After all, I do have snacks hidden in my make up bag in the bathroom and sneak in there sometimes to eat them with the door locked.  This is what my life has come to.

She gets her drama from her mama.  :)

8 Weeks and Ready to Get Back to Whatever is Normal

Owen turned 8 weeks old today.  He is doing great.  Eating well, as you can see:

 He sleeps well, and would be sleeping in his own bed and his own room now if he had one.  I'm not sure what we're going to do with the kids' sleeping situation.

Anyway, with Owen turning 8 weeks I decided it was time to get a little more on the ball with our other two. So I got up early today.  I had a plan, a routine.  I took some advice from my friend's blog MyHomeTableau.com to simplify.  We put a lot of toys away for rotation.  I tried to not let there be more than three dishes dirty without washing them all.  I cleaned the house during "quiet time" and then we left for a magic show at the library from 2-4:30 so that the house was clean and dinner was ready to be made in time for John to get home at 5:00.  When he got home both kids were in their rooms pouting because 5:00 pm is. so. hard.

Josiah and Maryn have been extremely difficult.  I feel like I'm trying so hard to be nice to them, but they make it so stinkin hard with Josiah's constant whining and Maryn's irritating habits.  So I'm hoping that reducing their toys (and messes), getting them into a very predictable routine, and getting back into consistent, loving discipline will get us all back on track.

Today, we made a replica of Solomon's Temple.  I bet you didn't know it had a little boy poking out the top of it!  We made beaded necklaces, invited over a neighbor friend, played Memory, BINGO, Go Fish and Crazy 8s, saw a Magic Show at the library, checked out new books, watched a Thomas and Friends show and Word World, and read a bunch of books.  I tried to stay off the internet, and I tried to not think about the 1,249 things I should be doing for VBS, the cooking blog, RA duties, cleaning out the fridge, the tub and John's white T-shirts.  It was a good time, actually.  But the thing about 2 year olds and 3 year olds is that, no matter how much time you spend with them...

they will always want more.  And that can be exhausting.

You can't talk to them like they're the bully in 5th grade and say, "Just leave me alone!"  Because words like that break their little hearts.

People say I'll miss these days.  I know that's true.  I know these will be my favorite days.  I'll read my blog ten years from now and wish I had Josiah's big brown eyes gazing up at me for ANOTHER snack.  To hold him up so he can see inside the washer.  I know I'll miss Maryn wanting to play all those games with me and get super excited about the necklace I made her.  I know I'll miss the gooey chubbiness of Owen's fat cheeks and incredible baby smiles.

But sometimes it really is just hard.

Josiah and the Elephants

Today was the biggest day of little Josiah's life.

He got to see elephants for the first time (that he can remember)!

 Elephants are his favorite animal.

Here was his initial expression upon seeing the elephants:

 Then they started an elephant show, and the elephants got really close.  They held each other's tails and walked around the circle.  They showed how they can lay down, stand up, and almost climbed a tree!

 Here he is, really trying to figure them out:

 He clapped when they did their tricks:

 Maryn had a great time, too!

 This is what Owen did the entire time we were at the zoo (yay!):

 I could not figure out why the kids were not cooperating for this picture, and then Maryn said, "It's hot!"  And duh, the iron clad elephant sure was blazing hot.  I almost unknowingly burnt my kids legs off because I wanted a picture of them on an elephant.

 The kids are having a great time with Grandpa, who is with us for the weekend!

It was so hot, we had to keep spraying the kids with a spray bottle.  Here's Josiah getting sprayed!  He's such a cutie pie.  He has been incredibly, incredibly whiny the last two days.  We are having a lot of communication, discipline and other two year old issues.  He turns two in less than a month.  I honestly don't know if I'll make it through the next year... :)

Sunday Sweetness

Meeting Owen

Grandma and Grandpa Erdman visited yesterday and today, and met Owen for the first time.  

 Maryn's been enjoying her time with them, filling up her purse with lots of things so that her purse is almost just like Grandma's.  She ate a ton of food last night at WW Cousins!  Josiah is being his adorable, hilarious self, showing off his kung fu moves and ball skills.

 Owen is being our sweet little pumpkin belly boy :)

 Don't you just love him?

It was a good two days with Grandma and Grandpa!  We're so glad they got to visit, especially since they lost power the night they were here.  Let's hope their power is back on when they get back home.  They've had a rough week with forest fires at their camp, where 30-40 acres of forest were burned.  Fortunately it just got a lot of underbrush and was a "good" fire.  We're so grateful everyone is okay and no buildings were damaged.