Amalia, My Funny Bunny

Amalia is such a funny little girl, and I can't get enough of her quirky little antics!

Like when she does her own hair ...

Or dresses up in this or that ...

Or absolutely insists on wearing one of her brother's old shirts ...

... with her Aunt Christine's glasses, of course.

Or hoovers some raspberries, rocking a top knot all the while ...
(Oh, and yes she does have a shiner there in the picture; I was trying to get a potty seat down from the top of a cabinet in the bathroom when it slipped through my fingers and hit Mollie right under the eye.  It happened on a bad day, and by the end of the evening, Mollie and I were both quite spent from all the tears.)

And who really wants to wear leg warmers on their legs when it's really their arms that are getting cold?

She truly is my funny bunny.

The Couch House ... and Other Pursuits

As of late, the kids have been intent on tearing up the couch on a daily basis to make this structure or that.  We had a particularly good time the other day, though, because my couch house didn't suck as much as mine usually do.  How did I know that this one was better, you ask?  Well ...

The smiles were bigger.

The snuggles were longer.

The explorations were greater.

And they stayed in it long enough to want faux lunch there.

All good things must come to an end, though, and Baylor soon took a greater interest in seeing if he could suction a silicone giant cupcake mold to the window.

He could.

Mollie, for her part, just wanted to be near to her older brother.

Eventually she was left to her own devices again ...

... so Baylor could enjoy a little alone time back at the "house".

He couldn't stay tucked away forever, though, and soon they were back together again.

The house was a success, and we three had so much fun!  Can't ask for much more than that!

Seuss Story Time!

Target had a Dr. Seuss story time a couple weekends ago, and I thought it would be a blast if we went over and listened to a story or two.  Baylor, however, did not agree, so Mollie and I had a little mother-daughter morning out.

It was pretty cold out, so we got all bundled up to face the weather.  On the flip side, it was also quite sunny ... and Mollie insisted on dressing appropriately.

At our Target, they had a little area cleared off in the girls' clothing section and Target employees were taking turns reading some of the good Dr.'s classics.  Mollie wanted to stay on the periphery, but she was certainly interested.

Eventually she inched a little closer, but ultimately she wanted to stay near me, near the edge.

It was a lot of fun, though the books they read were ones Mollie wasn't familiar with so she didn't get into it as much as I had hoped she would.  Regardless, we had a lot of fun, and it was nice getting to spend time just the two of us.  (The boys had fun at home as well, so it was a win-win all the way around.)

Baylor's First Snow Day!

Baylor had his first snow day from school on February 24th!  I know for a fact I was more excited about it than he was; since he only goes to school once a week it didn't seem overly special to him that he was staying home for the day.  But, knowing what an awesome first this was, I documented it as much as I could.

Baylor spent most of the day in his Sunday underwear; usually he likes to don the correct day, but for some reason that day he really wanted to wear an off day.

It's weird to think of him being warm enough (on a snow day!) to lounge around the house in his underwear, but the little man's a hot box so it's almost more of a struggle to get him to wear clothes most days.

Baylor played with his Legos ...

... while Mollie raced a few cars down the race parking ramp.

Then they admired the snow for a while.

And then it was time for party time upstairs!  (For those of you that don't know, party time is where we go up to our room, "ride the elevator" in our walk-in closet, and stop at different floors to enjoy all sorts of different activities.  That day, we stopped at a floor that had an ice cream shop (a common request for the kiddos).  Bryson, who was home for the day after having traveled for the bulk of the week, did the scooping.

Then we played hide and seek!  I love hide and seek because it is a lot of fun AND it wears the kids out a bit, since they run everywhere trying to find me.  (I am typically the hider and they are the seekers, though that day Bryson hid as well.)  Behind the gliders in the kids' rooms is a pretty good spot to hide, but Baylor found me with little trouble.

It went on that way for a while until I found the ultimate spot.  Here's my view from behind Bryson's polos.

Bryson even had trouble finding me, so the kids had almost no chance.  When he helped them out, they discovered my spot ... then had to try it out for themselves.

It was a great day!  Happy first snow day, little man!

A Busy Evening at Oma's

The kids and I spent some time at my parents' house last week a couple weeks ago (yes, I just realized how long ago these pictures were taken ... yikes) and, as usual, the kids had a blast.

We're preparing for a trip to Florida in April (because traveling with kids takes an extreme amount of planning), and since Baylor has trouble with loud noises - and planes are surprisingly noisy - my mom brought out her noise-cancelling headphones to see if they fit him and if he liked them.  Of course, Mollie had to get in on the action.

Baylor, rockin' the huge noggin he has, fit my mom's headphones perfectly.

After that, the wild antics began.  Mollie cut loose ...

... and helped her brother take apart my parents' couch.  She's amazingly strong for how little she is.

That night the couch became a hotel, and the kids settled in for the night.

They even invited Aunt Christine to join them!  You can tell how thrilled she is.

Of course, the fun must halt for beautification.

Grandpa E's "room" was on the floor, and closed eyes are like catnip to kids ... they can't resist someone even pretending to sleep.

Transitions are tough for Baylor these days, and a departure from Oma's house is one of the worst.  So, while attempting to get the kiddos into their pj's (to make the bedtime routine easier upon our arrival home), my dad "read" Aladdin.  Rather, he was asked to tell the story just by looking at the pictures.  Since he hasn't seen or read the story in a while, Aladdin and Jasmine ended up going to Starbuck's and other interesting places.  It was quite hilarious for the adults, but the kids sat there rapt by the story he was creating.

As usual, we had a wonderful time, and the kids were asking to go back to Oma's already on the ride home.  

Tonight's Exchange: Belly Work

Tonight at dinner, Baylor and I had this exchange:

b:  Mommy, I'm getting cold.*
N:  Well, eat some more of your dinner, and you'll start to warm up when your belly starts working.
b:  Mommy, that's silly!  My belly can't work ... it doesn't have hands!

So cute!

*He was getting cold because he wasn't wearing any pants.  Because that's apparently how we roll in our house now ... pantsless dinner.

A Quiet Moment at the Maxeys'

Better Day Today

Yesterday was easily one of the worst parenting days I have had so far.  All day long, the kids pushed my buttons, refused to listen, and ignored everything I asked them to do.  Requests by me to pick up ... denied.  To take off and put away one's shoes ... ignored.  To calm down for bed time, put on pajamas, stop pushing your sister/brother ... refused.

I was feeling so out of control and frustrated by their lack of respect, but I didn't know what in the world I could do about it, particularly in the moment.  Which is probably why, in the 8 o'clock hour of night, I snapped.  I screamed at the kids; not yelled, screamed.  I could feel my blood pressure rising and I screamed at them to listen to me.  Of course, they didn't.  And I only ended up making myself upset in the process.  I took a time out in the hallway and cried.  The next half hour or so was a complete cluster*#%^ ... I don't feel like going into the details right here or now, but rest assured, there were many tears, mostly from me (and a decent amount from Mollie).  Baylor, the main instigator of the chaos, was the eye of the storm; calm and collected, almost jovial about his rebellion, with a slight hint of whimsy thrown in to test every ounce of patience in me.  He could see I was upset, but instead of doing what I asked (which I told him would make me happy/keep him from losing more of his pre-bed books) he either ran off to do what he pleased or came over and sweetly told me he loved me, which has - as of late - been his go-to solution for any and all conflicts with adults.

By the time Bryson got home, I had calmed down a lot and was reading our one-and-only pre-bed book to a couple of relatively calm kids.  Baylor had pooped on the potty (first time in what feels like a long time, I'm sad to say) and was finally in his overnight diaper and pajamas.  Mollie was calm as well and enjoying a little Olivia with us.  Even after the screaming incident, though, Baylor still looked up at me as we were reading and said quietly, "I love you to the moon and back."  My eyes welled with tears as I said it back to him, meaning every last word.

After we finally got them in bed, I went downstairs and vented all of it to Bryson.  Every last little mortifying, heartbreaking, stressful detail was rehashed and let free.  I cried ... again.  And I realize I need to do better not only for the kids but for myself.

I'm burnt out.  I haven't gotten away to take a breather; my only real solo outings have been to go to appointments, and those aren't really stress relievers. I have been burning the candle at both ends, which is never good but even less so when you're trying to recover from a cold.  Exercise, save for chasing and lifting the children, has been nonexistent.  On top of all that, the house is a mess, disorderly and crumb-covered, and staying on top of the everyday cleaning has kept me from delving into the real, larger problems around here; we have too much stuff, and it's time for some (or a lot) of it to go, but getting there has been an uphill battle.

But regardless of how burnt out I may be, I'm still here.  I'm still doing my best, the best I can at any given moment, to make life for these kids, these amazing kids, the best it can be.  I went up to bed last night (way too late) and as I tread quietly up the stairs I thought to myself, "Tomorrow will be a better day."

So here's to a better day today.  I've read this about being a mom to a boy, I've typed this blog to share, and now it's on to make things better, brighter, and less-stressed.

Best wishes to you all for a better day!