Replacing "Terrible" with "Tiring"

I can't believe it! In just two days Hannah Grace will be turning 2 years old!! ( And yes, that means in a little over a month, Bennett will be turning one!) These kids are growing up too fast! It's time for another one! Haha, gotcha! No, come Christmas time Ross and Lori's new little girl will give me my tiny baby fix- no pressure Bailey! =) Anyways, to get back to my point- Hannah is definitely not my "baby" any more. She is getting to be such a big girl (and she knows it)! I feel like over the last couple of weeks I have been more exhausted than ever with three busy bodies to keep up with! Here are just some fun shots of them hanging out on the couch together the other day. I am so fortunate that they all have each other to play with!!

I know you all have heard the beloved term, the "terrible twos". Well Hannah Grace has been giving us a pretty good taste of them over the past week or so! But I would like to change this phrase from the "terrible twos" to the "tiring twos". I think this is more fitting, because she has her moments, but she is still just a joy (You make think I'm crazy to say that after you hear about some of the events of the past week =) But their is NO QUESTION that them experimenting with their independence and their activeness is TIRING to say the least!

I won't try to sugar coat it, Hannah is a fit thrower. It is funny how this is something you don't teach them , I think in this instance Hannah inherited it from her mommy (I am referring to my behavior when I was little, not to my behavior today =) In fact, we had our first public meltdown last week during a family trip to Target. I called my parents afterwards and apologized for any time I may have done this as a toddler, because it wasn't until that moment that I realized just how embarrassing that is for the parents-or in this case, just how embarrassing it is for mom- as Ryan quickly B-Lined with Bennett and the shopping cart to the check out, leaving me to handle Hannah Grace as the rest of the store stared at us!! That was the longest walk from the back of Target to the door out- such a helpless feeling as EVERYONE in the store turns to look at what is going on because your child is out of control! But I guess most parents have walked in those shoes at some point. I will say one thing, I will not look at parents whose child is throwing a fit in the same way, I will now be able to sympathize with them (with the exception of course of those who don't do anything to discipline them, I'm still not okay with that). But her gaining some sense of independence is I guess supposed to be a healthy thing (or so I'm told- maybe someday I will be able see that point of view=) In fact, I just happened to catch Hannah Grace in action earlier today....

Now some might think I am a terrible mother for taking a picture of my daughter throwing a fit, but I already had the camera out to snap some quick shots, and she decided to do this, so I took a picture anyways! She had no reason for acting like this, other than just being a stinker.

I think one thing is that she is starting to get to the age where she gets bored. Both my kids have always been great about entertaining themselves, but she gets to the point where she needs some more stimulation. Hopefully maybe next semester we will start her on a one day a week "Mother's Day Out" program. Ryan's mom took her on a little outting to the library this week for a Kindermusik class and I think she really enjoyed that. It also made my day easier knowing that she had gotten out of the house and was involved in some activity outside of playing with mommy (we all know how quickly that can get boring =)

Not only is her attitude tiring, but these kids are finding ways to get into trouble, whether they are trying to or not. Last Saturday, we made more stains on our carpet in one day than we have in all of the two years with kids put together. We had baby sweet potatoes in our room (yeah, that's not coming completely out), crayon streaks on the play room carpet (also not coming out) and oatmeal all over the rug under our kitchen table (the only thing that was completely clean-up-able). If we would like to include the next day, you can add Bennett pooping on the floor to the list (don't worry, it's been well sanitized, you don't have to cringe coming into our house). So needless to say, I have all of the sudden felt the craziness of having two toddlers only a year apart coming on at full force! This morning I was checking email with Hannah eating breakfast right behind me and all was quiet. Then, I heard Bennett cough and I turn around and Hannah's oatmeal and applesauce is all over Bennett's head, face, shirt, and the rug around him. She was just dropping spoonfuls down to him as he sat like a little baby bird with his mouth wide open. Haha, they are handfuls, but so fun and bring us so much laughter! We love them and even in the midst of the utter chaos we would not have it any other way. And to be fair, I may elaborate on all Hannah's difficult times now, but she really is so sweet and is actually very well behaved and is a VERY good listener- you rarely have to tell her no more than once. We love her dearly!

So you saw the pictures I got of Hannah Grave this morning, so here are the ones I took of Bennett.

He got the scratch on his note at church nursery- that is what happens when you have an adventurous little boy on your hands! And he is this happy even when he is cutting three teeth at the same time across the top!

Seriously this kid is so happy he doesn't even know what to do with himself! Yesterday I had Bennett and Blake in the wagon on a walk and this lady was behind us. The second she stepped into Bennett's eye sight he was grinning and laughing. She said "I'm not that funny!" Oh, if only she knew.... I just smiled and said, "He smiles at everything."

Also, I have written about our struggles with getting Bennett to eat solid foods. Well, we have kissed that struggle good-bye! He now eats better than Hannah Grace does or ever did! He loves to eat real food. It has been good for me to realize not to compare him to Hannah or myself as far as allergies go. I have been so scared to give him things with eggs, for example, just because Hannah is allergic, and I think this mindset has really held me back. He also loves bananas which I was always afraid to give to him because I was allergic to them (along with many other things) as a kid. So now that I have conquered that fear, I am just putting everything I can in front of him and he is loving it!

Not much else new here, I know I have written a lot about nothing and rambled even more than usual... Next post will be a happy birthday to Hannah post!!!!