my littles

i attended a baby shower last year where my friend said the best thing you could give your child is a sibling. even though at the time of that shower i had 2 kids and logan liked baby emma, nothing could prepare me for the absolute joy i get from watching my 2 kids together now that emma is getting older. it basically melts my heart. they really are the best of friends. of course that's not to say they don't have their moments (like logan going into panic mode because emma messes up his train track). but really, those moments are much fewer than the ones where they are best buds. more and more logan includes emma when he plays and nothing is better than hearing emma's belly laugh and knowing it is logan that is making her so happy! 

 practicing somersaults (although emma's is really just downward facing dog)

can you tell they are watching a show?! both of them are smiling for the camera, but can't be distracted from the tv!

they both have balls up their shirts! logan put one up emma's so she could be like him!

these two love their lovies

wearing each other's hats

with the high price of diapers, i am glad to know part of the cost could also include the box being used as a toy!

she was stuck and couldn't get herself down

the box became their pirate ship and luckily we found a few "scopes"

different skin tones and definitely different body types (at least for now)

a game of 52 card pick up

these littles of mine are so much fun. i love being their mom!

here are some things about them right now that i don't want to forget:

emma (17 months)

loves logan's little potty. apparently it's a great reading spot. if i can't find emma she is often in the bathroom hanging out or wreaking some sort of havoc (the latest thing she loves to play with in there are tampons and pantiliners. awesome!)

she loves her "baby faces" book

she laughs when other people are laughing, even though she doesn't understand why yet.

she loves to climb up on things and has started carrying around our fhe box and using it as a stool.

she will randomly stand with her back up against the wall and i'm not sure why

she gets into everything! she is a dumper/bag emptier/bookshelf clearer/drawer emptier and leaves a trail behind her wherever she goes.

she will totally smile for the camera.

she's just started saying "uh oh" and it's adorable

she clasps her little hands together when we sway prayers (sometimes)

she loves to say "bye!"

lately when it's been time to get her dressed she'll run away from us and she thinks it is so funny!

logan (3 years)

he loves to make up songs. they are so silly and make absolutely no sense!

he can bust a move! this boy loves to dance.

he has to have a flashlight at night to sleep.

he currently likes to sleep sideways in bed

he has recently been calling all of his friends "buddy"

he's obsessed with "yo gabba gabba"

we have almost daily dance parties to "baby" (justin bieber) and "call me maybe"

when we play basketball together and i make a basket, he'll say "good shot mom!" it just makes me happy.
when it's time to turn off a show and he isn't ready, he'll put the remote down his shirt (as if that would stop me)
every night at dinner he tells the funniest made-up stories. 

the other day when we were watching "mary poppins" he said to emma, "come hold my hand and we'll dance." he really is such a good brother!
he seems much more grown up in the last few weeks. it's both wonderful and kinda sad. 

emma's many faces

when i was sorting through pictures from our camping trip to the bike races (posted here, here and here), i kept laughing at the funny faces emma was making in so many of the pictures. i couldn't help putting together a little collage of some of the particularly good ones. this girl cracks me up!

daddy date night to the temple

it was just the boys!

logan got to ride in daddy's red car, which was one of the highlights of the night for logan!

i hope little moments like this help logan develop a love of the temple from an early age. 

i had to include the last one because it is a total logan face (and he can do "taco tongue" and i can't).

wwf: toddler smackdown

logan loves to "wrassle" with dave and emma has recently really started getting into it. and she is tough. i can't believe what she can take (you'll see some of the evidence below). and she laughs the whole time (i can't believe she isn't crying)! i think she's just in heaven doing whatever her big brother is doing. dave and i were dying this night as they went at it! 

super

the kids love to play superheroes with their dad.

it's a fairly common occurrence when he gets home from work.

logan likes to give direction on what everyone should be doing.

my favorite is when he tells dave to tackle me onto the bed and then logan comes and rescues me.

it's pretty super!

choosing gentleness

last week i had one of those seemingly insignificant moments that i have been thinking about ever since. we were having breakfast and logan decided to smear his cream cheese from his bagel all over his face. my immediate reaction was to reprimand him, but then i stopped myself. really, was it worth the fight? because i knew what would happen: i would get mad and he would either have a meltdown or respond back with his own attitude, which would most likely land him in timeout. either way, it didn't look good and was definitely not the way i wanted to start our day. and so instead i called him cream cheesey face. he thought it was the funniest thing and we laughed about it as i cleaned off his face. i mentally gave myself a high five. 

logan is having a hard time right now. i'm not sure why, but he seems to be having more meltdowns, is definitely testing the limits of his independence and can be downright defiant. but he can also be so sweet, kind, thoughtful and funny. i guess that is the dichotomy of toddlerhood, but it often leaves me feeling exasperated and it doesn't necessarily bring out the best in me. but last weeks experience was a reminder of how much my reaction matters and how i play a huge role in setting the tone and feeling of my house. as i was thinking about this, i found a timely blog post that articulated those very thoughts (much better than i could). the author quoted a passage from the latest issue of seeing the everyday, 

“Though not always plain to see, it is our responses in ordinary moments that create the mortar that binds us together…

As we see the importance of each exchange and interaction together, we realize the endless opportunities within each day, wherever we are, to build and reinforce the care we have for one another. We recognize that it is in these ordinary interactions that such care is built…

Kindness and gentleness become our natural responses, trust develops hour by hour, and we become more effective teachers and learners as we seek to build our side of the fence.”

and this sentiment from the blog post really resonated with me: "Lately I’ve been feeling the need to go gently, speak gently, do more things gently, as a mother." 

i want to be a more gentle mother. i want to choose gentleness even when i am feeling impatient and gentleness is not my first inclination. and i want to be more gentle and patient with myself as a mother too, because i mess up and stumble a lot in this amazing (and challenging) journey of motherhood. it means saying i'm sorry and determining to do a little better next time and being ok when i don't get it "right." like the other night after i had asked logan to get back in bed at least 10 times (because he had to go potty...10 times) and near the end i was definitely not being gentle. that night before i went to bed i went into his room and sat on the floor next to his bed and watched him sleeping peacefully. my heart melted. i gently stroked his hair (but barely, because there was no way i was risking waking him up after it took him so long to go to sleep) and i told him i was sorry for yelling. that i really am trying and i'll try to be better. 

in my effort to be more gentle i am also trying to say yes to my kids more. i read an article about how we often say no because it is inconvenient for us as parents or will create more work for us. i'm totally guilty of that. i didn't say no because it would harm my kids or because it wasn't good for them, i said no because it was easier for me. so when logan wanted to play basketball outside, i dragged his little basketball hoop outside even though it was kinda a pain and would have been easier to make him stay inside and play. and i let him help me make pbj sandwiches even though it took longer (and i was in a hurry) and was messier. i'm going to try and remember that "consistently offering a gentle response is how we develop trust, carve out moments to teach, and express love." i'm going to try to choose gentleness more.