Looking forward to many more of these in the upcoming days, weeks, months and years!

Why children need pets

My aunt sent me an email the other day about why children need pets.  The email was filled with lots of fun pictures of kids with their pets.  That email inspired me to look at my photos and see what fun pictures I have of the kids with Fred.  Here's what I found....

A pet to check things out and make sure the bouncy seat is safe

 

A pet to do diaper patrol

 

A pet to keep your legs warm.

A pet to snuggle with

A pet to nap with (okay...so they aren't napping here together but were a little earlier)

Do you think these two are related?

My grandmother once said that sleeping like this was a sign of contentment.  Like sister...like brother!

After putting away the maternity clothes, digging out clothes that haven't seen the light of day in about 9 months, cleaning years of Fred fur and dust off of the bathroom light fixture, I stopped to lay down on the bed and see how Jacob was doing.  He  was awake, and seemed content  just looking around at what the world (or at least the bedroom) had to offer him.  The moment I laid down he turned his head towards me and smiled.  His first real smile.  It was in that second that I melted and for the next 20 minutes we both just laid on the bed and stared at each other.

During our 20 peaceful minutes (Tabs is at school today), I was reminded of something I pinned on Pinterest the other day.

Dear Mama, Babies Don't Keep.

You cannot get this day back.
You will never have this moment again.
Firsts only happen once.
At some point he will be too big to “wear.”
He will not always wake up every hour.
The ”brand new” scent only lasts for a bit.  
His squeal will soon become words.
His gums will soon sprout teeth.
Tantrums make funny stories.
Tiptoeing into your bed in the middle of the night is just a phase
Sooner or later he will stop holding your hand in public.
Someday he will call you Mom instead of Mama.

 

Sometimes I get so caught up with thinking about what needs to be done, what's happening at the office, what will I make the family for dinner, how dirty the house is, wondering why my 3 year old can't do a simple task I ask her to do without a tantrum, how I would organize the house if I ever had a free moment again, wondering what happened to my simple life, multi-tasking every moment that I get, that I have forgotten how quickly this time goes.  Tabitha is no longer a baby or a toddler...she's a preschooler, and Jacob, while still new, is already five weeks old.  Time flies...people always say that, but it's not until it's too late that I think we finally figure it out. 

At some point I started to cry...all of those hormones that I thought had gone away were back and it was then that I finally made a resolution for 2014.  For 2014 I resolve to live in the moment and to cherish every moment with my children (even when they are pressing every button).  It will be too soon that they will be out of the house and on their own.  I resolve to spend more time one on one with Tabitha and Jacob, while not doing other things.  I resolve to spend more quality time with my husband, instead of wondering what's happening in the Facebook world.  And, I resolve that while doing all of these things with my family that I will not feel guilty about the house that didn't get cleaned or the organizing that didn't get done or the deadlines that are looming at the office. 

Here's to 2014!

  

Tabitha's 3 year photos

I just realized I never put up pictures from  Tabitha's 3 year photos....here are some of my favorites!  It was a warm day but we had a lot of fun.

We ❤️ Minnesota

It's cold and that's all I have to say!

This was at Jacob's bedtime last night.

This was during my workout this morning (don't worry I biked INSIDE).

Ohhhhh....a heat wave!

Jacob's thoughts about this weather!

My goal while on maternity leave was to have a structured day so that Tabitha could feel like she was at school.  I was going to have learning time, play time, arts/crafts time, etc.  Well, I have fell severely short of that goal and I see that it isn't probably going to happen.  I always have great intentions of what I'm going to do, but somehow it never works out.  (Although I must brag that I've now taught Tabs how to write her name...thanks to all of the thank you cards we've been writing).

But the one thing we do quite often is dress up/imaginary play time.  I must say that I feel that this type of play is important and Tabitha is quite good at it.  As you will see from the picture below she played dress up as Cinderella, while coloring a New Years Hat for Jacob.  Then she made up some story and dance and told me all about it.  Next time I will have to write down the story so that she can look back on it someday.

Trying to decide if Jacob is having fun or not