Kiss the Pretty Girl

Every night Danny and I try to put Marissa to bed together (as long as Danny isn't traveling).  We have a little routine; one gives a bath, one dresses her, the other brushes teeth, etc. etc. Once she is all set and ready for bed, we let her "kiss the pretty girl" in the mirror on her wall.  She gets so excited to kiss the pretty girl.  Sure, we may be making her a little conceited, or maybe we are making her into a confident, beautiful little girl.  Time will tell...but that's besides the point.  She loves kissing the pretty girl.  She puckers up her little lips and smooches the pretty girl in the mirror.  Then she gives me and Daddy each a kiss.  We lie her in her bed, and put two blankets on her, tell her sweet dreams and I love you's before turning out the lights.  One day I will miss these moments.  I will miss her innocence and girly, toddler laughter.  I will miss tucking her in and wishing her sweet dreams.  

Dylan's night time routine still consists of me nursing him and then putting him to bed while Danny keeps Marissa occupied and somewhat quiet.  I can't wait to see what kind of routine he comes up with and what kind of memories we make.

I guess sometimes you never outgrow those rituals from growing up.  Danny tucks me in every night and gives me a good night kiss.  Ever since we started dating and still to this day, he tucks me in.  It's something I look forward to each night and I can't sleep until it's done.  He's so good to me.

2012 In Review & Bringing in the New Year

So much happened in 2012, it will honestly be a hard year to beat.  We started the year with a new baby to bring home from the hospital.  I was fortunate enough to get three months off for maternity leave and soak up as much time as I could with my two babies.

After my maternity leave was up, Danny and I discussed me going part time at work.  We decided that we could financially afford for me to go part time and that spending these precious years with my children is more important than money.  We have the rest of our lives to make money, but our babies are only this little for such a short time.  So I went back to work, three days a week.

The days and months flew by.  Marissa went from our little toddler to a little girl with so much sass and personality.  Before we knew it she was celebrating her 2nd birthday, speaking in sentences, potty trained and melting our hearts every day.  When we decided to start our family, I knew I would love my children, but I never understood the magnitude of love that I would have until I held her in my arms.  I also learned in 2012 that love does not divide when you have more than one child, it grows.

As the summer came to an end, it felt like the year was flashing before our eyes.  My birthday came and went, then Danny's birthday and Halloween. I took Marissa on her first "Trick-or-Treating" excursion, just the two of us.  

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a week long trip to St. Maarten.  It was beautiful!  We got one on one time as husband and wife with no children, no bedtime routines, no waking up early to feed the baby and freedom to do whatever our hearts desired.  We had so much fun together.  A mom at my mom's group said she thinks her and her husband would have ran out of things to talk about after a week away from the kids.  It was really nice to nurture our marriage and while we may not have spent the entire time talking, we found plenty to keep us entertained. 

Once we got back from our trip the holidays were rapidly approaching.  Dylan had his first Thanksgiving dinner, full of sweet potatoes, green beans, turkey and even a little pumpkin pie.  Dylan also celebrated his first Christmas as an outside baby and even enjoyed opening a few presents.  Before the New Year, our sweet boy celebrated his very first birthday and tasted cake for the very first time!

On New Year's Eve we headed to Richmond with some friends and stayed with my best friend, Cierra.  We started the night off with tequila and champagne, so it was a pretty good night.  

Erin, Cierra & I

I haven't really set any resolutions yet.  So I will try to be a better wife, mother, daughter and friend.  I will try to focus on the friendships that bring me happiness.  I will try to craft more, read more and maybe drink more wine. ;) I want to treat each day like it is my last.  I want to be thankful for what I have and find the good in all people.  I want to be true to myself and stand up for what I believe, even if it means walking away.  

P.S. It only took me 3 tries to write this post...so maybe I should vow to be a better blogger. 

My Sweet Boy is 1

We celebrated Dylan's first birthday with friends and family on Saturday.  We had a full house and he is so very loved.  Our circus themed party had chili dogs, a nacho bar, funfetti dip with animal crackers, peanuts, cupcakes, ice cream and other goodies.  I hope no one went home hungry.

Our little Ring Master

Sunday was Dylan's actual birthday.  I told him the story of stopping at McDonald's before we went to the hospital and his quick arrival into the world.  I can't believe how fast a year went by.  I thought time moved quickly after Marissa, but wow has it moved even faster with two!

He loves to point and points at everything now!

Opening presents with Daddy, love my boys!

Smash Cake & Cupcakes

**Dylan's 1**

He didn't dig into his cake like I was expecting him to.  He did enjoy a little icing and ice cream, though.

Sissa liked the icing, too!

Dylan isn't walking yet, but I'm in no rush for him to.  He gets around just fine by crawling and walking around furniture.  He is such a sweet guy and loves to snuggle.  He smiles whenever anyone looks at him and is just the happiest baby I've ever met.

He was our good luck cutie on Sunday, as the Redskins won and are now moving on to the play offs!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!  We love you!

Christmas 2012

Christmas has come and gone, the tree is packed away and we are in full on birthday mode for Dylan's party this Saturday.  We had a great Christmas as a family.  My parents came to visit and we had a Christmas Eve gathering with my two uncles and some of my cousins.  We left cookies and milk for Santa and filled our stockings and put presents under the tree once the kids went to bed.

Christmas morning we had coffee and opened presents.  Surprisingly, Marissa was not that into opening presents.  She is so dainty and careful when she opens a present and has to hand every.single.piece of wrapping paper to me as she opens the present.  I'm not sure where she got that from. :)

After opening presents we had a Christmas casserole and I started preparing for our big Christmas dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes and dessert!  We reconfigured the house and moved the kitchen table to the common area so that we would all have room to eat and not be cramped in our small dining room.

I think we all had a nice Christmas.  Danny is too good to me, he definitely spoiled me this year.  I got a robot vacuum cleaner called a Neato, a double stroller (hopefully for our Disney trip next September) and a camera upgrade to a Nikon D7000!  I was SHOCKED that he got that for me.  I was not expecting it at all.  And I'm in love with it.  I can't wait to really break it in.

Marissa looked thrilled, as usual. 

Danny got most of his Christmas presents early, so I felt like he didn't get much.  As early presents he got a 24 gun/fire safe and a "Judge" hand gun.  Christmas morning he got some Redskins memorabilia, some shirts, special computer glasses, a new wallet, some new house shoes and some other goodies.

Marissa got her very own Nabi Tablet.  Danny was tired of her always using ours, so we got her one that she can play with.  She loves it so far.  She also got some clothes, dolls, puzzles, Go Fish and the Hungry Hippos game.  Both of the games have been big hits so far!  She also got Minnie Mouse house slippers that she has not taken off since she got them.  She even slept with them on last night.  Silly girl!

Dylan got a mega blocks dump truck, a metal Tonka dump truck, some clothes, bath toys and some little cars and trucks.  He also got an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve...his very first tooth!  While cleaning up down stairs yesterday I found another gift that we forgot to give him, a Little People's airplane.  He really likes that as well. Marissa likes most of his toys and seems to think that everything is hers.  We're still working on sharing!

They both also received money for their savings accounts which was really nice.  We have so many toys as it is, so it's nice to have money to put into their accounts for when they are older.  They will have long forgotten about the toys when they are older and I am sure they will appreciate the money in their accounts for college.

As a joint gift they also received a white wooden table and chairs set.  I had originally decided to not get them a small table but since Dylan is now done with the swing and almost done with the jumperoo, we have more room for the table and chairs.  We've also set up a small play area in the basement where we can take some extra toys.  And anything that hasn't been used in months is going to Goodwill.

Playing Hungry Hippos on her new table with Daddy, PupPup and Uncle Fuzz.

All in all, we had a fantastic Christmas spent with family and friends.  Danny's brother and sister are coming into town on Friday so we will do round 2 of Christmas then!  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Photo Shoot

I attempted to get some pictures of the kids dressed up in their Christmas outfits.  It was mostly a fail but I did get a few that were Christmas card worthy. Well, they were Christmas card worthy for us...maybe not for others.  These two, along with a family photo were on our Christmas cards this year.

This was as close to a smile as we were going to get that day.

Dylan usually hams it up for the camera, but I guess he was feeling all serious in his man suit. 

And this is what a typical photo shoot at our house looks like...

Marissa looked so pretty in her dress.  She kept saying she was a Princess. 

Toddlers walking in the camera view...

They kept fighting over the chair, so I tried putting them in it together. Fail!

Mr. Lashes. He looked so handsome in his suit.

Attempting a photo shoot with Danny helping is hard enough so I'm not sure why I decided to try it by myself.  Oh wait, that's what two cups of coffee before lunch will do to me.  I get all hyped up and have these elaborate photo shoots in my head of gorgeous photos, kids that cooperate and the perfect Christmas card of our family.  Then I realize I haven't eaten, I start to get shaky, sweaty, feeling sick to my stomach and throw in the towel.  Live and learn.

BFP

Don't worry...I am not pregnant.  Today marks the third anniversary of my big fat positive (BFP) of when I peed on a stick and saw two lines that would change my world forever.  Today...three years later, I am so thankful and blessed for the two children and wonderful husband that brought my world to life. They are my everything and I am nothing without them. I can barely remember the girl I was before I saw those two lines, but I can't imagine never being "Mommy."

"Where's My Teddy?"

We had a situation the other day.

Teddy went missing.

There were lots of tears.

It was traumatic for all involved.

For anyone that doesn't know "Teddy" he is Marissa's pink teddy bear lovey.  He has made appearances in our family Christmas cards, he is a requirement for bed time and he makes the world a better place.

Saturday night he went missing.  I knew he was at home during nap time and we left the house that day to go to the parade around 3:00.   So we lost Teddy in about an hour span of Marissa waking up from her nap and us leaving the house.  I knew that Teddy didn't come with us because Marissa was asking for him in the car on the way to town.  We arrived back home past bedtime and we couldn't find him...anywhere.

So we tried to put her to bed without Teddy.

Never.again.

She cried, and not just little I want my Teddy cries.  They were big, sad, I need my Teddy tears.  Heart.breaking.  Danny ran over to his parent's house to get a replacement teddy that they have at their house.  He's not pink, he has arms that Teddy doesn't have, but he has a rattle in his head.  I thought for sure, if I keep the lights off, she would fall for it.  I walked in her room, gave him a little shake and her cries stopped.  "My Teddddy!" she exclaimed.  She grabbed him from me, stuck her thumb in her mouth and put teddy up to her face like she always does.  Yes!  It worked, I thought to myself.  Then, she quickly pulled him away and as clear as day said "Not my Teddy!"

Listen folks...you can't out smart a 2 year old and her lovey.

So at 10:00 PM Marissa got out of bed and we searched for Teddy some more.  With no luck.  I was finally able to get her to go to sleep after many tears and asking "Where's my Teddy?"

After she dozed off, I got on ebay to look for a new Teddy.  This Teddy that was once bought from Target for $7.99 new was being sold for $30+ on ebay.  Can you believe that people are actually buying baby lovey's knowing that one day a desperate mom will need a replacement in a pinch?  Well, that's my theory, at least.

Fortunately, I was able to find a like new but used replacement for much, much less!  And an August Mom friend has been so kind to also send another Teddy replacement.  We will never, ever run into this debacle again.

I woke up Sunday morning a bit sad that Marissa's beloved Teddy that she has had since birth was gone.  I was bound and determined to find him.  I searched and searched and finally I found him behind a box of cloth diapers in Dylan's closet.  I'm not even sure how she got him in there, but alas, Teddy was found and all was right in the world.  She was so happy to be reunited with him and kept thanking me for finding her Teddy.

See, there still are happy endings in the world!  This is the life of being a mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything.