(A More Real) Love Story

Life. Sometimes it just catches up with you. Yesterday was one of those days. But when I woke up this morning, a friend had posted this video on Facebook. Silly, simple... perfect for me. Sometimes I need little reminders like these. That life is challenging, frustrating... but unbelievably good.

Mmm Mmm Good

When you are a mom, you find gratitude in the little things. Today, my gratitude extends to Crayola for making non-toxic, even if ingested, markers. Because even though Nolan had black teeth, black tongue, and black drool for about 2 hours... no true harm was done :)

Easter

Little plastic eggs were not the only thing hiding this year. Spring was, too. I was appalled when I first saw the snow, but doing an Easter egg hunt in the snow turned out to be so much fun! Not that I'd want to make a tradition out of it ;)

Nolan patiently waiting...

snow bunny!

When we woke up that morning, we talked to Keyan about why we celebrate Easter, and as we did, we showed him pictures from the Gospel Art book. So later that day, Keyan grabs the easel and the book and starts telling us about various pictures.

(And look, we're watching Conference!)

The eggs that will probably never get eaten. Horribly wasteful... but how can you not color eggs on Easter?

Are we bums for not giving our kids candy? Keyan gets just as excited for pretzels & juice boxes... and we get excited knowing there will be no sugar crash.

And Keyan's Easter outfit from Omi & Pop-Pop. I look at this picture and I think Wow, he is not a toddler anymore! He is a little boy.

And still a stud :)

For Kicks & Giggles

Maybe it was the late hour, but while my parents were in town, we did this and got a kick out of it... and some giggles, too :)

Call the Nestle Hotline at 1-800-295-0051. When asked if you want to continue in English or Spanish, just wait quietly for about 10 seconds. Then keep going and press 4 and then 7. You can press any of the options, of course.. but 7 was our favorite.

Note- you may want to have your phone on mute or cover the speaking piece, because even our muffled laughter and whispers triggered the "I'm sorry; I did not understand your selection" bit.

Have fun :)

Raw Eggs & Popsicles

What do those two things have in common? Slimy goo. Let me explain:

After the baby was born, I could wake up in the morning, get Keyan some breakfast and a drink, turn on a show for him... and then go back to sleep until the baby woke up. Even on days when I was up early to hit the gym, I would sometimes be tired by mid-morning, so I'd go nap with the baby while Keyan ate a snack and watched a show. Whatever the reason behind needing more sleep, we had a good system in place. I didn't feel like a mommy zombie all the time. Alas, that system can no longer exist in this household. I came to that sad realization this morning.

The baby has an ear infection, as do I. Between the two of us, sleep has been poor... making me crave it more and more! So, this morning, I got the babe to sleep and went through the Keyan routine so that I could go back to bed. Couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes when Keyan came in asking for eggs for breakfast. I tried to delay him with the, "I will when I get up" but he said, "Please, Mommy. Eggs are healthy. I want to be healthy." What was I supposed to say to that? As I'm getting up, Keyan mentions that he already got the eggs out for me. And here's what happens next.

I walk into the kitchen, noticing right off that the rug is not in its normal location. As I start to ask Keyan why the rug is there, I pick it up to return it to its rightful spot, and slimy goo runs off my hand. Keyan: "That's where I broke an egg. But see? (pointing to the rug) I cleaned it up." Of course, the rug didn't catch all of the goo. Because if it did, I wouldn't have stepped in it next. That's when I notice goo all over the kitchen table. Gobs of it! I screamed, "Keyan! Is this egg, too?!" "No, Momma... that's the popsicle I got out. It melted."

Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later, and hey, I had a pretty good run while it lasted. And while this was in no way Keyan's fault... it's obvious that my days of sleeping in are done.