Mini Fits

My little man knows what he wants.  And he's been experimenting with how to get it.  From my mommy perspective, it's been hilarious.  He throws these mini fits, and then gets over it.  But first, he has to throw the fit, just to see if he gets what he wants.

Do you mind?  Me and my friends are chillin'

The other day I took the boys to the beach.  We have a mini beach by our house, and the boys love to play in the sand.  It was too cold to go in the water though.  So while playing, Kingston pointed to the water and asked to go in.



Actually, he grunted and went, 'Mmm', 'Mmm'!  Which, as his mother, I know means, "Mother dear, can we go for a swim?"

I said, "No, we're not going swimming today."  So he threw his bucket down and stomped his foot.

And then he stared me down.

So obviously I held his gaze.  I had to be strong here, and not giggle. And proudly, this is what I did.  And two seconds later he started playing again like the good little man he is.

This little face.  Melts me. 

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And then another day we went to a store.  It's a little boutique that has a cute little basket of toys for children and one of these toys is a bus.

A bus my child ADORES.  So he played with it for awhile and then it was time to go.

(And yes, I realize I have two children, so just for those of you worried about Kyrie, he was at the front of the store with Dave saying over and over, "buh bye store.  All Done.  Buh Bye."  He loves shopping.)

So I tell Kingston to say bye bye to the bus and its time to go.  He says, "NO!" and walks away from me.  But only like 4 big steps.  He says, "Bus."  I say, "No, its time to go." So he walks away again and then looks back at me.

Then my silly little man stomped his foot and laid on the floor of the store.  Just laid on his back.  And stared at me. And I waited and waited for some tantrum or screams, but they didn't come.  He just laid there. And stared.

Then about 30 seconds later (as I stood and just watched him) he stood up, took my hand, and walked out the door with me.

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Is there honestly a better job than raising toddlers?  I just love watching them grow and learn and figure out how to get what they want.  And I love watching my boys' personalities develop.

He was so proud of this accomplishment!
He did not love when I made him get down.

I see my own stubbornness in my little Kingston.  And I hope he doesn't lose that strong heart.  He brings me so much joy, even in his defiance.  Stay strong my sweet little man.  Push the boundaries, but respect them.  Learn and grow, and love life my darling.

EPIC Summer

Summer time.

It's such a huge blessing when you are a teacher.  I get to do the job that I love, and I get the summer months off to spend with my family.  And this summer is going to be EPIC.

This summer is a big girl summer.  The only thing I want to do in the world is play with my kids.  And that is probably sort of lame to the high school and college summer girl of my past.  But it's really all I want.

Last summer was a big girl summer too, but it was not at all relaxing.  The boys were one, and walking all over.  Oh, and they didn't listen to me EVER.  Which was so awesome I can't even describe it.

Or maybe I can.

I spent my summers chasing them around the yard, trying to keep them in my sight.  Spotting them as they acted like daredevils and climbed up the slide and caught them as they tumbled off.  Put a baby gate up on the deck so they wouldn't climb up and tumble down the steps.  I never stopped moving last summer.  And don't get me wrong, it was fun.  Just a ton of work.  Those two gang up on a mama :)

This summer is only 2 weeks deep and it's so awesome.  I've done things I've never been able to do alone with my boys.

This time last year I would never NEVER go to a store with both boys on my own.  But I did this year, and it was huge.  Kyrie wanted to be held the whole time and would not sit in a cart, but this is a huge improvement from the screaming and running away he used to do.  Kingston walked through the store at turtle speed, but he held my hand the whole time and even held the marshmallow fluff for me.

And we went to the beach.  Yes, that's right.  With JUST ME.  The boys played in the sand for over an hour.  They pointed to the water, and when I said, "no, we're not swimming today" they stayed away!  No fits!  Then we had to leave to eat lunch and there was only a minor amount of grumbling and no crying.  And a very mature "bye bye beach" from Kyrie.

When we play in the backyard I can actually sit and read a magazine!  They still struggle with going down stairs, but if I tell them no, they stay away.

This is how we do. 

Hey baby.  You like my wheels?

They are SUCH GOOD BOYS!!

This summer is going to be AWESOME!

Baby Love

I just felt the baby move!

For the first time ever, right here on the couch while I was writing a post yesterday, I felt it.

It's actually been bothering me because I haven't felt anything yet.  I am at 19 weeks, and what I've read is that many woman feel the baby move between 18 and 22 weeks.  Takes longer when its your first one, but still.  Obviously at 18 weeks I was expecting to feel something.  Flutters, bubbles, anything.

My first attempt at a belly shot.  I'm not very good at these photos.
These pics are so cute on other moms.  Awkward on me.  

Second attempt.  Worse I think.

But I hadn't felt anything, and it was messing with my mind a little.  Because I'm pretty sure that is what mom's do.  Worry about everything.

So (get ready for some TMI) I'm sitting here thinking about how I have to go to the bathroom when I feel a flutter against my bladder.  (Hey - I warned you...  but all I said was "bladder" and that is not so bad. I hear with pregnancy it gets much worse than bladder.)

Like just a teeny tiny little flutter.  And I've felt it like 3 times since typing this us.  And I don't want to go to the bathroom because I'm afraid if I empty my bladder I won't be able to feel it anymore!!

Its amazing.  So amazing!  I've heard the heartbeat, I've seen a little blip on the screen (WEEKS ago) and I've watched my tummy grow to the point where I can't really close all my pants.  Some... just not all.

But now, feeling that little life inside me is incredible.  Like nothing before.  There is a little growing PERSON in there.  It has put a giddy little smile on my face and brought tears to my eyes.

Motherhood continues to amaze me. And tomorrow is yet another big day.  We find out if Kingston and Kyrie are getting a baby sister or a baby brother!  And we get to see the little one on screen again.  Our last ultrasound was at 6 weeks, so its been awhile.

I'd love to have another boy.  I LOVE being a mom to boys.  I have felt so blessed by my two perfect sons already.

And I'd love to have a girl.  Having a daughter would be so much fun.  Kingston and Kyrie would do great with a sister.

I'll be filled with joy tomorrow and I can't wait to find out.

It's also our anniversary.  Four wonderful years :) So David and I are going to spend the morning together going to the doctor, seeing our baby, eating breakfast, shopping maybe, who knows.  And I can't wait :)

This is one of the happiest times of my life.  And I'm feeling so very blessed.

Picture Day

Yesterday was one of those days where David and I looked at each other at the end of the day, gave each other a kiss, and PASSED. OUT.

We had family pictures, and it was then that we realized how busy and wild our boys truly are.  We thought we could get some nice pictures with the four of us together, but I'm confident that did not happen.  And to no fault of our AMAZING photog.  Missy at ML Photography is amazing.  She did everything she could do to get our boys to sit by us, walk with us, be in the somewhat near vicinity of each other or us, and it just wasn't happening.

When she tried to get Kyrie to walk on the railroad tracks with me, he either wanted to stop and pick up rocks, or hold MISSY'S hand.  Nice Kyrie.  "Mih-ee!"  Um, hey dude.  I'm your mommy.  You're supposed to do cute things with me.  Goof.    And meanwhile, Kingston was 239 miles ahead of us on the tracks with daddy.

Kingston, want to sit in the tree by mommy?  "NO."  Want to sit on the blanket? "NO".  Kyrie, come sit on mommy's lap.   "AW Dun."

When we decided to mean business with them and just picked them up to get all four of us together, there was screaming and crying and gnashing of teeth.  Or kicking of feet.  Or flailing of limbs.  Whatever it was, it was loud and wild.

So at the end of this photo shoot, after chasing little ones, wiping noses with my maxi dress (yes, I'm that classy) and attempting every type of bribery from bubbles to stickers, we got in the car and went home.  David was convinced we have the naughtiest boys in the history of the world.  I decided they were not naughty at all, they just know what they want.  And what they don't want.  And they DON'T want to listen to me or David.  They just wanted to play.  We were at a park, after all.  That's legit, right?  Strong willed playful children grow up to be doctors, CEOs, teachers, or other wonderful things.  Right?  RIGHT?!

Whatever had just happened, we were sure that we wasted Missy's time.

And then we got home and the second before we fell asleep, we found these little gems on Facebook...

Oh hello!  How can you not love me? 

Naughty?  Oh, no, no, no!  I'm adorable!!!!

Missy is amazing.  I love my little boys, and I love how she captured their free and wild spirits in these photos.  And I'm not super concerned with full family pictures, because we are practically a family of five anyway and come November we'll need to update the family pics with our latest bundle of Stefanich.

What matters to me is capturing my amazing little boys exactly as they are now.  Wild, and busy, and smiley and wonderful.  I want to remember how much happiness they bring me at the age of two.  The giggles.  The open mouth faces of joy.  The awsome that they are.  God's beautiful creations in little boy form.  And that is what Missy did.  You are wonderful, Missy.  Thank you for capturing my boys in their absolute perfection!

A Perfect Day

Today we had the most amazing family day.

Days like these make me wish we didn't have to work to pay the bills and we could run around all day long as our beautiful happy family.  David took a personal day today to spend with us, and it was such a perfect day.

We started out by going to breakfast at our favorite little cafe.  David and I went there about once a week before we had children, so its like our little place.  It also has bagels and muffins so it quickly became a favorite for Kingston and Kyrie as well.

Then we went to the library.  There was a "Little Wiggles" class.  Or it was called something like that.  And anything with wiggle in the name was sure to be a good fit for my little men.  It was a story time for little ones like K and K.  Our little North side branch of the library is nice and small and perfectly non overwhelming for me, my darling husband, and twin honeys.

There were board books in the middle of a circle that the kids had free reign to during the story and song time, there were carpet squares that I may or may not have been the only member of my family to sit on, and there were songs and stories lead by Miss Mary.

She was lovely, you guys.  Just lovely.

My kids have never been to anything like this before because we only recently started leaving the house with them at the same time.

You think I'm joking, but it can be a terrifying thing - two boys that each run different ways and don't listen to a word you say.  But they've grown considerably and actually follow mommy and daddy directions so we thought they might be ready.

I was a little worried about how they might behave.  But the other kids there quickly calmed my nerves.  One little boy pretty much ran up and down the book aisles the whole time.  Another little girl appeared to not even have a mommy there, and walked up to me at one point, took a chewed up sticker out of her mouth, and said, "yucky."  So when Kingston made a sidewalk with books and walked on them, I didn't think it was such a big deal.  I just went with it.

Kyrie did not love it.  He sat on my lap the whole time.  With each new song Miss Mary started singing, Kyrie would say, "NO!"  If I sang along, he would say, "NO!" even louder.  So I sat and rocked my little man.  And he said, "EIEIO" because that is the only song he was interested in hearing. Sad for Kyrie, that song was not on the docket.  

Kingston on the other hand LOVED it.  He looked at books, and shared books with other kids, did the motions to all the songs, laughed, jumped, and had a ball.  It was so awesome.

We'll be trying it next week without daddy with the hope that Kyrie warms up to it a bit more and Kingston can party on with his friends.  And maybe, just maybe, EIEIO will be sung for my sweet Ky.

And the rest of the day was just as beautiful.  We went to the beach, swam, threw sand, went for a walk downtown after dinner and had some froyo.

It was a perfect day.  And I hope it's just one of many we have this summer.

BIG, late News

Oh my word I think I quit blogging.

I didn't even mean to, but it just happened.  In the quest to be the best working mommy I can be, I had to let a few balls drop.  Because the important ones - Kingston, Kyrie, and David - are just to precious.

My job has been busy lately.  And when I come home from work I am just mommy.  Or I try to be.  I try to play with my boys until its time for them to go to bed.  And once they're in bed I do schoolwork, or just relax, or catch up with the hubs or friends.

So there is just very little time to write!  And it makes me sad because I love to write.

But now I am on summer break, and I'm hoping to be able to write on a more regular basis.  Plus there are a lot of big things happening in my little world, and I want them in writing forever and ever.

So in case you are just my online blog friend, and not my "in real life" friend or facebook friend... here is some BIG, late news...

We're having a baby!  Kingston and Kyrie are going to be big brothers and we're so excited!

I'm just about 18 weeks pregnant.  This picture was taken at about 12 weeks.  But those sweet brothers will just come up to me, lift up my shirt, and kiss my tummy out of the blue.

Its. The. Cutest.

I don't really think they "get" that there is a baby in there, but if we ask "where is the baby?" they'll point to my belly.  So that's good enough for me because its so stinkin' cute.

I've been really lucky with my pregnancy because in the first trimester I wasn't really ever sick. Just a little nauseous if I didn't eat every hour or so.  And since I love eating, this was a non-issue.

And now I'm feeling great.  My only real annoying thing is my skin is revolting against me.  I'm breaking out in ways I never experienced even during hormone raging puberty.  And I've had some allergic reactions on my skin that were weird, but short lived.  My doctor tells me this, along with my red hair and fair skin, is a clue that I may also experience some awesome heat rash.  Which will be a real joy as I play outside with my boys all summer.  But I'm not afraid of big rimmed hats and SPF 500, so bring it, sun.

I have so much more to say on this topic, but my two darlings are only going to be asleep for 40 more minutes or so and there is much to be done around this house.