Parks and Recreation

We had some gorgeous weather last week and to celebrate, we headed to the park of course! This was Alex’s favorite activity of the day.

He definitely loves the swings. Part of me can’t comprehend how he is big enough to fit in one of these swings. Wasn’t he just a tiny newborn and only 6 pounds?!

Brendan got to bust out his new, cool shades too. He refused to smile for any of my pictures but I think it adds to the look. :)

After some quality time with the swings, Alex retreated back to the stroller and spent his time downing a bottle. Brendan used his time to run around like crazy and try to burn things using his magnifying glass with his dad (guess who taught him that one?) Now he asks to “go outside and burn things” every day. Oi vey.

  Ah, brotherly love. These two play together much better than I imagined. Brendan just adores Alex and constantly gives him hugs and kisses. And Alex loves to watch Brendan. He’s fascinated by him.

A couple days later, we hit up another park with some friends. The sand pit was a big hit all around.

This park was really cool and Brendan really loved it.

And I had to get a shot of Brendan with his BFF, Josh. Every time the doorbell rings, Brendan think it’s Josh and he goes running to answer the door. And when it’s not Josh, he is very disappointed (unless it’s the mailman and then he’s excited because that mail really excites him). So when we actually DO play with Josh, Brendan is in heaven.

I am typing this post while it’s pouring buckets outside- beautiful weather come back soon!!!!

And here are my 2 Easter photos

Just after waking up and before the Easter basket was handed out

Just after the Easter goodies were handed out

I did a pretty lame job of taking pictures on Easter but it was a good day. This year, Brendan was so excited for the Easter Bunny to come to his house. We didn’t do much else- no egg hunt, no big dinner- it was a pretty laid back day, which is what I needed. Brendan loved all this little toys (we decided to forgo the candy mostly since Brendan doesn’t really like most candy) and had a blast playing with all of his new stuff while Alex took a super long nap after church. It was a great day to relax and remember our Savior.

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother

Recently, the library had a small petting zoo set up for the kids to enjoy and of course we had to go. Brendan loves animals and so I knew he would enjoy this. Brendan was definitely impressed by the giant turtle. And that little lamb in the photo above was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

I spotted a goat, so I was in heaven too. It’s a strange dream of mine to own a lot of land one day and have goats. They’re just so stinkin’ cute! And then I saw this:

Two baby goats!!!! I was a goner. I could have stayed and played with the baby goats all day.

There was a sheep as well which was not as soft as I expected but still it was cool. The animals were much more subdued than I thought could be possible with a bunch of young children running around screaming and trying to poke them.

The funny part was that Brendan looked at the animals for about 5 minutes and then all he wanted to do was run around the grassy field with his buddy Nate and play with sticks and rocks. Such a boy!

The boy likes to eat

Alex is such a better eater than Brendan was as a baby and for that, I am grateful! It was always such work to get Brendan to eat- and still is- but with Alex, if you put food in front of him (or even in the vicinity), he wants it.

I don’t actually let him eat pieces of bread this giant; it was just for picture-taking purposes but he was totally into.

This was more manageable for him and he was happier since he could actually get it in his mouth.

What a happy boy! It’s so nice to be able to make him happy since we’ve had a lot of cranky days due to this:

Can you see that tooth there on the bottom? It’s amazing how something so small can cause so much trouble. But then Alex bit me and I realized it much sharper than I thought it would be, so maybe he’s not overreacting. :)

Okay, one more food shot and I’m done.

I just couldn’t resist that messy face. And look! He doesn’t lean/slump to the side anymore! Baby boy is growing up… too fast, if you ask me.

My Sleeping Beauty

Two nights ago, Alex fell asleep in his high chair. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

I was busy putting away dishes in the dishwasher and trying to hurry before bed time, so I stuck him in his chair with a bottle to keep him happy. I looked over after a minute and this is what I saw.

So of course my first reaction was to quietly yell for Chris to come and see this, and than I grabbed my camera to take pictures.

He barely woke up when I gently picked him up and took him upstairs for bed. Oh man, this baby kills me. Just when I think I can’t love him any more than I already do, he goes and does something like this that makes me fall for him even harder.

There’s Something About Teddy

Recently I gave Alex Brendan’s Teddy to play with and Alex was instantly smitten with him.

I would dangle Teddy above him and Alex would squeal and and shake his whole body in delight. Who knew that a simple bear would make him so happy?!

And of course, Teddy made it into his mouth.

Brendan was well known for sucking on Teddy’s nose (which once had a leather covering on it that is now non-existent) and Alex wasted no time trying to do the same thing.

He also spent a lot of time inspecting Teddy.

It was so cute watching him. I just love this little boy.

He was so happy and all because of Teddy. I think we need to get Alex his very own bear. And soon.

Endurance

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the 13th Article of Faith. It just happens to be the Mutual theme for 2011 and so every Wednesday night, I would recite it along with the youth of our ward. The part that has really stuck out to me has been:

“…indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”

I’ve been, how shall I put it, a bit cantankerous lately. I’m drained from all the sickness that we’ve dealt with this year so far. I’m constantly exhausted and cranky since I’m up with Alex during the night. I’m short-tempered and impatient with Brendan. I’m frustrated that I can never keep my house clean. I’m tired of dishes and vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms. I also tend to over exaggerate things and only see the negative side of things happening around me. One small thing suddenly becomes a huge obstacle for me because I let my self get carried away. I think that with the craziness that has been our life lately, I’ve lost sight of the mom/wife/woman that I want to be. To put it simply, I have not been a happy camper as of late and I have definitely not been “enduring” my trials very well.

I know that my problem mostly lies within me. I’ve needed an attitude adjustment for a while now and I’ve needed to focus on the virtuous, lovely, and praiseworthy things/moments in my life instead of focusing on the negative and mundane. I definitely need to “seek after” all the good that I have in my life, because really, I’ve been hugely blessed. This weekend’s General Conference was definitely just what I needed to get me started on the right track, and I feel so refreshed and uplifted after listening to the words of our Prophet and Apostles.

Also, I was recently released from my calling as 1st Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. It was definitely a bittersweet moment for me since I absolutely LOVE the young women and being able to serve in that capacity was a faith building experience in many ways. But that calling also stressed me out and took a lot of time, and with two small children and a busy husband, time is precious to me and not abundant anyways. I will now be teaching the Miamaids class though, so I’m grateful that I’ll still get to be a part of the awesome YW program. But I was released because Chris was called to be the Young Men’s President, which stresses me out in a different way but yet I feel very at peace because I know that this will be a good thing for our family.

Things have been going better the past few days. On Sunday, we enjoyed the mild weather and took a walk as a family. Brendan really is the sweetest boy ever and he deserves to have a mom who is patient and kind. Especially when he picks me “flowers”.

I’m hoping that the weather decides to stay mild and decent so that we can get out do more of this. It really helps all of us to be in better spirits.

I have the cutest kids. The little patch on Alex’s sweater says “Captain Adorable” and that he is. I can’t get over how sweet and adorable he is.

And tonight we headed out for ice cream since it was so warm today. It was the perfect way to end the day.

It’s these fun, happy moments together as a family that make all the difficult times worth it.