Bees & Business Trips ~

Brooke woke up screaming twice last night... the first time it happened, I figured she had wet her bed, as that is generally the culprit when she cries in the middle of the night. I was all set to go change the sheets, (thanks to some practice, I can now change them pretty quickly, and with my eyes mostly closed, so that it's hardly a disturbance anymore--I can fall back asleep pretty easily afterwards) but when I checked, she wasn't wet, nor was her bed. Hmm. Well, back to bed. Turned her stars and her Violet back on. That was at 4 AM.

She woke up screaming again at 4:45, and when I took her back to bed and asked what was the matter, she exclaimed with a look of pure terror, "BEES!" --which instantly sent a chill down my spine. I asked, "Where?!" and she pointed to the side of her bed, but even in my semi-unconscious state, I quickly assessed that there were no real bees, and that she had had a very bad nightmare. I told her, "they're not real. They weren't real. You had a bad dream, but go back to sleep, and you will have good dreams." Turned on the stars, turned on her Violet. That seemed to settle that, and she went back to sleep. She even slept late--till 8:15!

But, bless her heart, I feel like I finally realize why we've had trouble every so often with her waking up crying without (seemingly) a reason. She could never express why she was crying, what the matter was, or why she came to our room. Maybe she never could recall what was in her nightmare, but I'm convinced now that this is why she has had some bad nights.

This morning when she got up, she still remembered the bad dream, and was telling me that "there were bees everywhere"--and there were bees in her mouth. :( I about cried. She was so terrified. I feel for her, because I remember--maybe due to my wild imagination as a kid?--I had really bad, vivid nightmares when I was young. I don't know if they happened this early, but I had bad dreams that I still remember to this day. Coincidentally, I didn't even mind when she woke up again at 4:45 this morning, because it actually woke me out of a nightmare of my own--a reoccurring one that freaks me out every time. (something with red lights? But I don't remember the details when I wake up) Though, I will say, I've never had such vivid dreams and nightmares as I did while I was pregnant! The good ones were really good, but the bad ones were truly awful.

Anyway, it brought up the opportunity to talk about bees, and the more we talked about it, the more she was able to sort of laugh over the whole thing. The nightmare was quickly forgotten about, and we had a really nice day. :) Hopefully she won't have any nightmares for the next few nights, as I'll be on my own while Ryan is out of town. I always pray that the kids take it easy on me whenever he is gone, because there are no breaks when you're on your own. :) On the upside, I do look forward to doing some reading, and having the remote all to myself! Those are really the only upsides, though, as I really don't like being by myself, and freak out very easily. :) Gotta get over that eventually, I guess.

And... with that, I'll leave you with a few new pictures. :)


Sweet Pierson :)

His adorable little squinty face!

The kids' Easter baskets ~ they couldn't give two hoots about the candy. They just wanted the cars! :)

Happy kids and their cars :)

Happy Easter :)

We FINALLY had our family Easter pictures taken this morning, which was so fun!

Okay, so I was running late to get there, (it definitely made me realize I can't have any more kids, or we will NEVER get out the door for pictures! :) and Pierson has a little cold, and it was raining, and the place was packed, and Pierson burst into tears when we stepped into the studio, and Brooke was being what I affectionately refer to as a "humor snob" much like her daddy, (ie- your attempts at making me smile are not gonna work on me, Miss Photographer) and Pierson incessantly kept trying to pick his nose, BUT, looking back, and looking at the pictures, it was so fun. :) I love our kids. I love our family. How did I get so blessed?












Hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your families!

Shiny, Happy Kids ~

I have a LOT to do today, but I thought I'd post a few quick pictures of the kids from this morning. :) Still jammied, smiley, & happy. I love mornings.






Have a great day!

Sweet as Honey ~

I was pretty busy yesterday, and didn't have time to write. You know you just may be enjoying blogging again when something happens throughout the day, and you think, "I need to remember to blog about that." This may stick after all. :)

Yesterday, we were watching Rubbadubbers shortly before bed, when Brooke asked me if she could have the purple whale from the show. I thought about that a second, because I don't think they even MAKE Rubbadubbers toys, but before I could respond, she said, "Well, maybe we can get it on sale." I laughed so hard! She clearly is her mother's daughter.

Recently, she has been referring to me as "honey." (namely when she's trying to explain something to me, ie. "well, honey, I had to bring my blanket downstairs because my toes were cold." ) At first, it really took me by surprise--what 3 year-old calls their mom "honey?" Well, a 3 year-old who 9 times out of 10 is called honey by her mom! I didn't even REALIZE how often I call her honey until she started copying me, and now I'm so aware of it. She says it so affectionately that it makes my heart happy, because that's how she must hear it from me.

These days she's always making up songs. I waited SO long to hear her sing anything, but now she sing songs her way through everyday activities. Everything is deserving of a song, in her eyes. :) She also knows way more songs than I imagined. Yesterday, as I went to get her up from her nap, I could hear her singing as I was coming up the stairwell. "Bob the builder, CAN WE FIX IT? Bob the builder, YES, WE CAN!" We rarely even watch Bob the Builder! But, she seems to know a lot of show theme songs, which I think is cute. Heck, I still remember the theme songs of Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck, Fraggle Rock...

Last night, as I was putting Pierson to bed, I was quietly singing to him "A Bushel and a Peck," when all of a sudden Brooke started singing it with me, word for word! She then wanted to sing it several more times, which I happily obliged to, because I was such a proud momma.

I have such sweet kids. I wish I could bottle them up, and keep them this little.

Friday Randoms ~

Kids are so funny. Last night, Ryan's back was hurting, and Brooke self-appointed herself as "Dr. Brooke," and decided to give him a check up. :) After putting her hand to his forehead, she declared, "You have a Bieber." (meant fever) After another second of contemplation, she said, "Yep, you definitely have a Bieber," then told him that, to feel better, he needed grape medicine. ;-)

This morning, Pierson patted his head, and said, "boy." Such a smart little guy; he's used to patting his head when I ask "where's mommy's boy?" Then, he patted my head, and said, "boy." Well, 1 out of 2... still made me proud. ;-)

So much to do this weekend! Errands, hair cut, (Pierson was SIX MONTHS OLD the last time I had it cut..) more landscaping, and whatever else we get into. Now if only the weather will cooperate.. Happy weekend!

Butterflies & Blogs ~

Today is deliciously warm and beautiful, so I took the opportunity to get the kids outside to help me with decorating the large tree in our front yard with big, plastic Easter eggs hung with twine. :) Brooke especially enjoyed helping me by handing me each egg and suggesting where I should put it, while Pierson simply enjoyed cracking them open and leaving them strewn about the yard. As the last egg was tied, he whined, pointed towards the dangling eggs, and said, "ba-oon!" (balloon) He wasn't too happy that he could no longer play with them. So, I gave him the now empty basket, and the three of us walked around the neighborhood picking yellow flowers. (dandelions :) Good and tired kids make for a gooood nap.

His new thing recently are eyes: he likes to point them out in books, on his character cars and trucks, on us, on himself--he even pointed out the eyes on a neighborhood dog today, whose owner had stopped so the kids could pet her dog, and said, "eyes!" He knows the names of pretty much everything on his face and body, but eyes are his favorite right now, and it makes him so proud of himself. :)

It's a very good thing that I haven't bought any Finding Nemo-related party supplies just yet. (Not that I would, being this early, but still.) Two days ago, after she watched an Angelina Ballerina episode where Angelina had a pet butterfly, Brooke started to pretend that she had imaginary butterflies. She then announced with a gasp, "I'd like a butterfly party!" I said, "oh, really?" She said, "and a pink butterfly cake." Gosh, she's specific. Pink butterfly cake it is!

I'm of the mindset that birthdays are really special.. you don't have to spend a lot of money to make your child's birthday a really special day, but I do put quite a bit of time into them. Ryan doesn't understand my fascination with it, but I LOVE planning parties, even just little ones where only family is invited.

Lets just say.. the more I look for inspiration for a butterfly party, and butterfly cake ideas, the more I hope that she doesn't change her mind again before her actual birthday! This would be so fun. :)

Speaking of changing minds, I've changed my blog design already. I wasn't really liking the green at all, but I think I'm happy with this new design. For now. :)

Wordless Wednesday ~

iRun ~

As of Saturday, my 28th birthday is now less than a month away. (5/9) In spite of not really wanting to be a year older, I AM pretty excited about my birthday this year, because... I'll be getting these:

(K-Swiss Tubes 100 in "Sunrise")

Ryan and I talked about it a couple of months ago and decided that our gifts to each other this year would be new athletic shoes. (He will also be getting K-Swiss Tubes) I know, there's no surprise aspect, but we both need a new pair, and we're getting GOOD pairs. Not in all cases, but in most, you get what you pay for, and it's become increasingly evident that I need more supportive shoes, especially after suffering a stress fracture in my foot last month, and STILL aggravating it when I work out too hard. It's annoying. I literally can't go running, unless I want to walk with a limp for a few days. And I have to position my foot just so on my elliptical machine to prevent hurting my foot.

Ryan actually did some research on shoes for me, because I want a good pair for running that also has substantial arch support, since that seems to be my biggest problem. He came up with the K-Swiss Tubes 100. I tried them on at Lady FootLocker, and they felt AMAZING. (I even ran around the store/jumped around to really try them out. Sorry, LF.) I also tried on the Asics Gel-Kayano 17, because I've read that they're excellent running shoes, not to mention super pretty. (though literally twice the cost of the K-Swiss) Honestly, there was no comparison. The K-Swiss were light and "squishy" while the Asics felt like a lead balloon.

Normally, I buy everything in PINK. It's a sickness, really; I'm a sucker for anything pink. But I'm pretty proud of myself, because I'm branching out and trying something new and bold. :) At first they look a bit shocking, but at the same time, that's kinda why I like them. The sunrise color won't be released until 4/29--just in time for my birthday, and I CAN'T WAIT. :)

Happy (rainy) Tuesday!

Hop, Hop ~

We participated in our first Easter activity yesterday afternoon--an Easter Egg Hunt! We had to wake the kids from their naps, (which I never normally do, but I'm so glad that we did!) but they quickly got excited when we told them where we were going. :) I didn't mention it before naptime, because I know that, at least for Brooke, that would've meant that NO sleep would happen.

We followed "the Easter Bunny" (I use that term very loosely) through a tunnel, and out into a big field to find the eggs. I actually told Brooke, "that's not the REAL Easter Bunny, just someone pretending to be the Easter Bunny, since it's not Easter yet." Seriously, the costume was so bad that I couldn't even tell my 3 year-old that it was the REAL bunny. I mean, if that was the real bunny, I wouldn't be very excited if I were 3! Anyway, she didn't seem bothered, and was so excited to hunt for some eggs. :)

(For what it's worth, yes, just like Santa Claus, we talk to the kids about the Easter Bunny. Even though the Easter bunny isn't the REASON for Easter, we include it. Kids have such wild imaginations, and I think it just adds to the excitement of a holiday. If they're taught the real reason for Easter (and Christmas, for that matter) then I don't see the harm in it. That's just our own personal opinion. I know not everyone agrees with it, and that's fine.)

I'm SO thankful that they had the egg hunt scheduled for Sunday afternoon rather than Saturday. It was so cold, rainy, and dreary on Saturday, but absolutely BEAUTIFUL yesterday! It was the perfect day to be outside. As soon as we got home, we changed and took the kids out for a long walk, then let them run around in the backyard before finally having to come inside for dinner. I love this time of year. (but I don't love that I had to kill my first spider of the season--a little black one with pinchers! Gross. Spoke too soon in my last blog post, I guess.)

Anyway, pictures! :) We only took video while we were there, so I just pulled pictures out of the video that Ryan took.

Kids & I ~ Yes, they're not looking. The fact that they sat still for the picture makes it a Win! for me.

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

18 Months ~

Yeah. I know. I don't know how it happened, either, but Pierson is 18 months old today! It's a rainy, cold-ish day, (after a couple of beautiful, warm, sunny days!) and thankfully we don't have to go anywhere today. It's a good day to be inside, play, snuggle, and watch Cars:

- Picture of the kids taken a couple of night ago. They were exhausted after a long day of playing outside. :) Pierson is finally willing to share "his" chair. It's pretty cute, I have to say. -

A week from today we'll be heading back for Round 2 of Easter pictures--this time as a family. :) Our most recent family picture was taken at Pierson's birthday party, so I'd say it's about time, don't you think? :) Hopefully we'll get at least one good one to frame and hang in the house. I'm excited!! Are you excited?

Have a great weekend!

Galore ~

You know your son has possibly committed a few too many wrong doings against his sister when... Ryan asks him to "go tell Mommy you're sorry," and he makes a bee line for his sister, hugs her, and says, "sorry." (But goodness, does it do my heart good to hear my little man in training say he's sorry! He's already a step ahead of the game.)

If you're not a friend of mine on Facebook, then you've missed quite a few pictures in the past 6 months.

First, there was Pierson's Fall Fox birthday party...

Then Halloween...

Then Thanksgiving..

Then Christmas...

Winter..

Valentine's Day..

(My very first Tiffany necklace!)

And lastly, Easter pictures of the kids.

Whew. I promise that this will be the longest post you see from me! Well, now that we're all caught up.. bye for now. ;-)