My simple little world.

I've thought a lot about this blogging thing and how it's all about my family and day to day life.  I sometimes wonder if I should keep update on current events, so years down the road if my kids or grand kids read something I wrote like, "After all the horrible stuff that happened in Connecticut right before Christmas..." or "All these unbelievable events that have happened in Boston this past week, I've been feeling so scared/sad/overwhelmed/devastated..."  But then I think, if I kept up on current events, I wouldn't have time to talk about anything else.  And, I would get depressed keeping up on all of it.  When it comes to my knowledge on politics, the government, current events, the wars we're fighting, I feel like I 'know enough'.  I don't want to be uneducated, but I wouldn't do well if I spent much more time than I currently do keeping up on it all.

I had a whole post all ready to publish about election day this past November.  My thoughts on Romney, and how I was generally impressed with him.  My thoughts on Obama, and my complaints about him from the left.  But I never posted it because it really doesn't matter.

I had another post all ready to publish after the shooting in Newtown this past December.  How heartbroken I was for those families.  How I imagined that one of those lost was my own.  Like, forcing myself to hurt, would somehow take away some of the hurt of those actually waking up the next day without their child.

I went on with my thoughts and anger about how quickly we saw gun control laws being pushed.  And how there's not much being done about mental illnesses, and how overlooked this problem has always been.

I'm extremely conservative on my views about gun control.  I come from a gun owning family, I married into a gun owning family, and I own a gun myself.  Gun laws will not protect us.  And if there are people in this country that are stupid enough to think that 'guns kill people' is a more accurate statement than 'people kill people', then I should be even more concerned about the fate of our nation than I thought I should be. (And I'm getting there.)

All this to say, I kept up way too much with the events in Boston this past week.  What I was watching and hearing didn't even seem like real life.  This was the event that put me over the edge, in a sense.  It was the first time ever, that I truly hoped that Jesus would come back soon.  I was terrified for my babies and the world they'll grow up in.  It made me really question if I would ever consider bringing more kids into it.

We went out Friday night, after my day of news overload, to a big outdoor mall, just to walk around and have dinner. I kept my kids closer to me than I would normally.  I looked at people differently.  I was kind of scared.  I reminded myself a few times that I don't want to live in fear.  I watched my kids play and laugh.  I really haven't been able to get enough of them these past few days.  And I couldn't stop thinking about how innocent they are, how safe they feel, and how they have no idea what scary things are going on all around us.  And I couldn't help think about how badly I want to protect them from it all.  How I would do anything to keep them safe.

People were posting this Mr. Rogers quote all over IG and FB last week.

It's simple and helpful.  I read it several times throughout the day on Friday and reminded myself that there are good people everywhere, they're just usually not as loud and noticeable as the bad ones.  I'm kind of glad my kids aren't old enough yet to have to explain anything like this to them.  But on the flip side, I can't help but wonder what I'll be explaining when they are old enough.  But until then, I'm going to try and just let my kids' smiles, excitement about life, and positive energy, get me through the heartbreaking days.

These next few are from our Friday night family date.  The kids started giving us 'noodle kisses'.

There was loud happy music in the food court.  The kids couldn't help but stand on their seats and dance.  Notice Addie watching Garrett and copying his moves.

 I posted this collage of Addie on IG tonight and mentioned that Paul was telling me about the bombing attempt on the train from Canada to NYC that almost happened today.  As he was telling me about it, Addie was doing this.  Making loud fake burp sounds to go along with her funny faces.  I decided to pay more attention to her, because it made me smile.

 And while Paul was talking, and Addie was fake burping, Garrett was standing on his seat pretending like he was falling.  "Woah...woah...woah..." he'd say, as he 'almost' fell.  Then he'd lunge toward me, and grab my arm with both hands, and announce, "Safe!"  ..."Woah, woah, woah...SAFE!"

I hope I'm always strong enough to make my kids feel safe.

my little helper...etc...

I think I've mentioned before what a great little 'helper' Garrett is. He wants to do laundry, wipe off his high chair, scrub the tile floor, sweep, organize the fridge, cook, organize the pans, feed the fish, anything I'm doing, he wants to try, he even sometimes pushes on and holds the back of Addie's head while I'm nursing her- just to make sure she's getting enough I guess... and his new one is pushing the shopping cart. I keep reminding myself to be patient, because although right now my little helper makes each project take (at least) twice as long, maybe one day he'll still love to help and it will actually help! If I ever have to take him to a store and we get a cart, I try to be prepared with distractions so he won't remember that he wants to push the cart. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's really hard work, and he is so focused when he's doing it that it's actually really cute and he always gets a lot of smiles and attention from other shoppers.I love these kids. Last night I asked Paul if he even remembers life without Addie and if he can image life without her. Even though she was even more of a surprise than Garrett was, we just feel really complete with her in our family. (And Mom, by 'complete' I just mean complete for now...and probably for a really long time.) And look how big Garrett is next to her!I went to the dentist yesterday for a crown on a tooth. I've known about it since last June when I had my emergency root canal, but they told me to try and wait until after Addie was born to get the crown, and now she's 4 months old, but I was actually pretty proud of myself for getting in there as fast as I did. And I got the lovely news that the tooth next to it has an old filling in it that has, over the years, expanded and cracked the tooth, and it also needs a crown. Sigh... it's just money...

I saw this snack on Pinterest. I made some about 2 minutes after I saw it because Garrett has started liking yogurt less and less these days but he LOVES anything frozen. Sometimes the only way to keep him happy at a restaurant is to give him a cup of ice and let him play and munch the ice. Anyway, this is just yogurt poured into a ziploc, snip the corner, then squeeze drops on a pan and freeze. They freeze in less than an hour and they are yummy. A huge hit with Garrett, too. I freeze a couple things of yogurt every couple days and it's the perfect snack. The only problem is they melt fast so I only give him a few at a time and just keep refilling his bowl, otherwise it gets really messy!We went to a birthday party over the weekend for some friends Paul grew up with (twins). It was a roller skating party. Garrett was so amused with all the flashing lights everywhere. He didn't make a sound for about 15 minutes, just walked around and took it all in.Garrett and I went on a lunch date. He asked for more so I said, "let me see in your mouth first" and he gave me a full shot of chewed up food. I heard people laugh at the next table.I think Addie gets sick of me munching on her cheeks, but they're just so yummy! Addie is doing really well, by the way. Done with colic. And we're working now on feeding her and putting her to bed awake and letting her self-sooth to sleep. It's going well. I'd say about 75% of the time she's asleep within 5 minutes with little or no fussing, and then she sleeps for 7-8 hours, then I feed her and she sleeps for 3 more hours. This morning when I got up to feed her I was a little frustrated because I was so tired, but I have to remind myself that I go to bed 2 or 3 hours after her, and if I'd like a full nights sleep I need to go to bed when she does. It will never happen. I need my alone time.Well, I'm guessing that by now I have sufficiently bored you to death, so I'll stop there. We're all happy and well. And although life isn't too exciting, we're enjoying it.

Routine, etc...and being in the sun!

I think Garrett was close to 6 months old before I felt like I knew how each day would go for the most part. Addison is 2 and a half months old and I can say that 75% of the time we have a routine for about 75% of the day. There's about 25% of each day that never goes how I think it will and there's 25% of the time that nothing goes how I think it will. But I still feel pretty good about it and feel like we're going in the right direction.

Because I'm feeling more organized and confident about what the kids need and when they need it, we've been able to add our late morning walk back to the day. Garrett and I did it most days, but it hasn't happened much since Addie came along. But we started back up last week and haven't missed a day. Our days go SO MUCH better when we have time outside. Garrett loves being outside and it takes a nice chunk of time and makes the day go faster and smoother. It's also awesome that we have a fun park a block away and Garrett would stay there for hours. I don't love going there with both kids because Garrett's not a great listener and he runs off a lot to places I can't get the stroller. But we've stopped a couple times. I'm looking forward to longer days so we can go on dinner picnics to the park so Paul can watch a kid while I watch the other. We've even had a few times where both kids napped at the exact same time! It's heaven...those little mommy victories...

Anyway, here's what we've been up to.We play a lot.
We celebrated Paul's aunt's birthday. She wanted In-n-out for dinner so I dressed the kids in their in-n-out onesies that they got for Christmas.
I try and take a picture of Addie if she's ever dressed in anything other than a sleeper because it doesn't happen much.Garrett hung out with his Grandma for a couple hours one afternoon and when I went to pick him up he'd helped pick these flowers for me from Poppy's garden.Garrett still drinks from a bottle. I really have no idea when 'they' say to stop that, but he doesn't seem interested in stopping anytime soon. (And I don't do much to get him to stop.) He can drink for a straw and a sippy cup, but as far as no spills and efficiency, the bottle works best for us. But he always wants a bottle hanging out of his mouth lately. Even if it's empty. He walks around and plays and keeps a bottle hanging there. Sometimes its full of juice and it takes him 3 hours to finish it. It's clearly become a comfort thing for him though, because its empty more often than not. I bought a pacifier a couple days ago for age 12-36 months. He's never taken one, and I wasn't thrilled about introducing him to one, but the empty bottle is driving me crazy. I gave it to him and he thought he was the coolest dude around for about 5 minutes. Then he pulled it out and went back to the bottle and hasn't sucked on the pacifier since. I know, take the bottle away...blah blah... Easier said than done.

**An update since I started writing this a couple days ago. Garrett had a check-up at the doctor, had 3 (tear free) shots, and the doc said its time to ditch the bottles. Lame.

Anyway, other fun stuff.

We went to Downtown Disney to have lunch with some friends from San Diego. I only have these pictures from before we left, none at lunch. It really is fun having a 'cool dude' and a 'pretty lady' to get all dressed up to go out.I gave cake pops another shot. I hate the cake pops that you mash up the cake and mix with frosting. They don't taste bad, it's the making them part that grosses me out. I feel like I'm dipping handled play dough in chocolate and serving it. But I think they're cute. I found this cake pop pan and it's actual non-mashed cake under that chocolate. They were so easy and fun to make, and yummy.I made the cake pops for a family get together. Paul's cousin was in town from Scotland and we had dinner. I of course only took pictures of the kids. Garrett's second cousin taught him all about dolls, (bottom left) and for about the millionth time, she told me, "Cousin Garrett is so cute! He's almost as cute as my cousin Jonathan." Someday I'm hoping Garrett will win the cute contest against whoever this Jonathan kid is. ;) And another second cousin (top left), after he spent a lot of time examining Addie and holding her hand, said, "Hmm, maybe I'll marry cousin Addie..."We spent a day last weekend at Huntington Beach. It was a beautiful day. We took our new wagon and it was great.We had lunch at Ruby's on the Pier. How cute are these faces? I love these kids. In the black and white picture of Garrett he was mad that he couldn't have diet coke and mustard. He had to settle for limes and pickles...He loves those things. Funny kid.We took a long walk and we played in the sand. Garrett was so fun at the beach. He loves sand. The first time we took him it scared him, but now we can't drag him away. Sand was in every pocket, every cuff, in his ears, eyes, hair, and diaper. And he enjoyed every second of it.We're having a pretty good winter.