Saturday

In response to the SNOW, yes, INCHES of SNOW outside my window this morning, I am trying to remember that we had a sunny and semi-warm Saturday just two days ago. The other morning when I went about doing my usual round of swooping the kids out of their cribs and greeting the day with two babes on my hips, I looked at them and thought "these two are beautiful." I wanted to capture them at their waking moments and right before they went to sleep at night. But that would have made a really short and weird video, so I thought to just video our whole Saturday - some footage of what it is to be just us with nothing fancy going on. And in videoing everything I caught Warner's first roll from his front to back all by himself! Hooray! What I didn't capture was Evelyn falling down on our walk home from the park and scraping the whole right side of her face :( Poor girl has had it rough lately with teething, a cold, and now a banged up face. So heres's our humdrum Saturday.

6 months.

Warner must have sensed that his 6 month mark was approaching today and was as sad about it as I was, so he decided to throw himself back to the newborn waking hours last night and cried. for. 2 hrs. straight. I kid you not. He woke up at 2am and screamed until 4:30am. I mean, that was 50 times worse than he ever was as a newborn. At the very very very last straw I came out yelling to Jared, who had left me to go sleep on the couch, "THIS IS INSANE!" with stern arm motions and grabbing the roots of my hair so I could dramatically express how incredibly delirious and exhausted I was, as if he wasn't too or something. Luckily, I kinda forgave the little guy this morning, bought him some teething tablets, hoping that is the explanation for last night, and am back to sulking that he is now on the latter end of his first year.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - there really isn't a better baby than Warner. I know, isn't what I just wrote above total proof that he's kinda not the best? That was a fluke, in all honesty. The kid is dynamite. And those big dumbo ears of his that stick out a good half inch from his head? Yeah, love those things. They're his signature feature :) We sure love you, Ner-ner!

almond butter oatmeal cookies

Guys, guys, guys.... this is one mean recipe for a good cookie. No, let's not say good. It's beyond good. It's addictive. Like, I make a double batch of these every 3 days because I consume all cookies and dough of the cookies, kind of addictive. After I had Warner, my sweet friend Lucy brought these over to satisfy my sweet tooth, because we all know mine is as sweet as they come. When I asked her for the recipe, she said she originially got it here, but the recipe was vegan and she confessed that she totally undid the vegan-ness by substituting in butter and eggs instead of the coconut oil and flax. Yep, I am totally fine with the unveganizing because it still has no flour, which I trick myself into thinking that these are 100% healthy and therefore I am justified in devouring unimaginable numbers of them in a short time span. I find that making these SOLELY to consume the dough yields the best result, but if you go the extra mile and make them into actually cookies then they are pretty good that way, too :)

Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Yields: 3 dozen-ish

1/4 cup butter
1 cup almond butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

3 cups quick oats

chocolate chips

walnuts {optional}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the butter, almond butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Add vanilla extract and eggs. Beat together. Add oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips and walnuts, if desired.

Roll small balls of dough on ungreased baking sheet or parchment paper tray. Bake 10-12 minutes.

You're welcome. Now on to a needless amount of pictures of said cookies. Because they were beautiful to photograph.

through the crack in the door...

The lively babble has dissipated. The crib rails that were rattling a mere 5 seconds ago from energetic kicks are now silent. I can hear the sound of relaxed breathing as the chest contracts deeper and slower with each inhale. I strain through the crack in the doorway to watch the eyes flutter before the tiny body drifts off into wondrous oblivion. Writing it out now seems creepy, spying on my children as they enter into their exact moment of rest, but it really is a beautiful thing to witness an innocent teeny soul leave this world behind to peacefully dream. I look forward everyday to standing post by the door to witness Warner drifting off to sleep for one of his naps. I always look through the crack of the door to watch the silence befall him. I haven't been so fortunate with Evelyn taking any duration of nap lately, so luckily I can witness the sleeping beauty awake every morning with the rising sun. It is equally beautiful to see a little soul erect with such tremendous life, love and excitement at the start of each new day. The love I feel for and from these two children of mine is insurmountable.

one for the record books

This past weekend was glorious. One for the record books! Friday night we were finally gutsy enough to leave Warner with a sitter. To be out on the town without a diaper bag, carseat, stroller, and two babes just injected us with youthfulness. I could hear the bells of freedom ringing for us as we walked into the restaurant! To eat a meal in utter peace, all while the food was warm, was just bliss.

Saturday spring decided to show itself after a shameful snow storm earlier in the week. Parading sunshine and mild temperatures all around, we were seduced into being outside all day where I sustained my first mild mild sunburn of 2013. The weather could not have been more conducive to my plans of just wanting to be actively lazy outside by parking my toosh on playground benches all day long. We even hit up two parks in one day. Such party animals, we are.

Sunday was just icing on the cake. After church we walked over to an open field and let Ev just run crazy wild. On her own accord, she took off her shoes, rolled barefoot down the hill and flung herself on her back to embrace the warm rays! All on her own! I think she is taking after me and my love affair with the sun. Even though it was daylight savings, Ev didn't take a nap that day so we put both kids to bed at 6pm! 6 pm people! You would think that Jared and I would have found a great way to spend our mega-long evening together, but we settled on starting Downton Abbey, since that seems to be the rage these days. And it's official - we're addicted to that manor life! We had to start something now that the Bachelor has ended... which, btw, was fab last night. Did not see Catherine making it out on top but I do love it.

I am more than enthused at the prospect of spring making a full come around. Winter is just the pits!

a white day in march

Apparently snow days aren't just for schools shutting down, but the federal government catches a break, too. And since Jared is contracted out by the government, we were hollarin' like school kids when we got the word that dad was going to be kickin' it with us all day yesterday! Jared was most excited because he has been waiting and waiting for a snow dump big enough to take Evelyn sledding, and the clouds delivered just the perfect amount to send that little girl down cross-legged on her first saucer ride. As you can see, we aren't much of the snow going kind and snow gear we had none; this caused us to improvise with the trash bags over Ev's legs :)

This morning we woke up to the sound of water trickling off the roof as the snow succumbed to the blazing sun and we are projected to hit 60 on Sunday. I'm glad we got one snow day and that it was quickly done. That's all we needed. Now bring on spring time with it's songbirds chirping, tulips peeking through the ground, the smell of manure mulch, and the green buds on the trees! And like every spring, I'm going to be singing this.

How deep is your love?

Yesterday morning I was ushering Evelyn out of the tub when she broke out in hysterical tears. When I asked her what was wrong she just sputtered out "ohh nooooo!" between sobs and pointed down to the ground. I quickly glanced down and tried to assess what might have caused such an outburst. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. "Ummm.. is the floor cold on your feet?" No response. So I move on to the lotioning and dressing of our bath time routine. Again, another sob. "ohhh noooo!"as I start rubbing lotion over her body. "Did you want to do it?" I asked. "Yes!" she brokenly replied. So I put a dab of lotion for her to rub in on her palm. She just stood there pouring buckets of tears. After giving her a chance to lotion herself and her lack of effort, I continued to lotion her, which resulted in more tears. By the time we finally got her dressed, Warner was now begging for attention. He had been so patient waiting there while I doctored up sister, so I bent down to pick him up. Another wail came from Evelyn that she wanted to be held. After moments of scurrying around the bathroom trying to clean up while holding a baby and having another attached to my leg, I thought it might be for the best for me to pick up Evelyn too and give her some love. And then snap a photo.

Backstory behind that morning: The previous day Evelyn had a run in with the stomach bug. It was my first time cleaning up throw up. The smell of that stuff, man. It will haunt you for days! So yesterday was a very sensitive day for her as she recooperated. As the day progressed and I thought she was on the mend, she began having problems on the other end of things and her diapers were, well, runny.... The poor girl was so confused as to what was going on, and I felt so terrible. The only thing I could do was hold her when she needed it. And so if she needed me at the exact moment that Warner needed me, gosh darn it I was going to balance those two kiddos in my arms at the same time, look up in the mirror and just laugh. Laugh because at that moment I was honestly experiencing pure joy. Joy in a moment like that? Yes. It might have been a small thing to carry them both, but to me and my overdramatic heart, it was very metaphorical to embrace them both at that moment and know that I will always be their comforting arm to hold them up when times are tough, even if that means sacrificing my upperbody strength and the possibility that I might get barfed on, that's ok.  Momma's got yo back, Ev. And Warner, if you just need a good thick braid to tug on, I can sacrifice my hair to your grip every now and then. And if we need pedialyte at 11pm, you best know your daddy will run to cvs and pick you some up some strawberry deliciousness flava because he loves his babies...and me, because he let me stay in the warmth of the bed while he wrestled with the cold night chill. (sidenote: while Jared was gone getting the pedialyte I was on my phone googling dehydration in toddlers and reading horror death stories of the plague and thought what would I do if I ever lost one of my kids to anything. If it happens to other families, aren't we just in the same pool as everyone else in terms of probability? Why happen to someone else and not us? Scary thoughts, scary thoughts.)

Our love for you is deep, kids. Very deep. I am in awe at how much it grows each day. And apparently it grows abundantly during times of throw up and diarrhea. Get better, Evy Rae! Although I am enjoying your mellowness, to be honest.