Let's See...

I guess I'll start with the weather. What in the world?? It's been wild around here! Sunday was a beautiful, warm day. We enjoyed being outside all afternoon. I put on my flip flops for the first time in months, Matt had his shorts on and Will was sporting a short sleeve onesie. Dad & Ann were in town so we enjoyed catching up with them and basking in the warm 80 degree sunshine.

Will is always curious about what Matt is up to.

Sunday evening we celebrated Joyce's (my mother-in-law) birthday in high style with fajitas, all the delicious dips that go along with it, and cake! It was a great day to gather with family and love on the wonderful woman who has done so much for all of us. Matthew, as usual, was excited just by the prospect of a birthday party. He got to help form the words "Happy Birthday Grandma & Joyce" on the cake with the guidance of Aunt Pam of course.

Then we heard rumor of snow coming to Austin. Yeah right, like that would happen. Tuesday morning we woke up and Steven commented that it wasn't quite the winter wonderland he was expecting. True because it was raining. I sent Matt to school and as Will & I were headed back to the car in the preschool parking lot it began to sleet. By the time we got to HEB it was snowing. I thought it would be short-lived, but it continued for hours and hours. Big flakes. It began to accumulate some at our house, probably about half an inch. It looked so pretty! As quickly as it came it was then gone. Most of it was melted by the morning.

Matt made an impressive stack of food items the other day. Will couldn't wait to get his hands on it. Matt didn't like that too much. But then they had fun playing down there together. Will appears to be following in Matt's footsteps as far as playing with the pantry items go. Hands down the kitchen is both of my kids' favorite places to play. Little chefs?? I would totally support that.

Sibling Dynamics

The kids are so funny these days. And busy. It's been really interesting watching them play together and interact. Most of the time they play together nicely. But then there are times when Matt has had his fill. It usually comes out in some kind of passive-agressive manner but at other times it is blatantly mean. I was told that one day while we were at the gym Will was playing at the bottom of the slide and Matt made a bee-line from clear across the other end of the playscape so he could then slide into Will and knock him over. But then minutes later he'll say, "I love William, Momma. He's my funny little baby brother." When we're outside Matt likes to ride circles around Will in his trike. Will stares at him in amazement and then lunges for him as he zooms by. He's dying to be able to do the same thing.

Here, the dishwasher was clean I promise. And empty. Tons of fun for those two.

I love this picture. Will's body is SO cute! Those short little legs, big belly, and mullet hair flapping over his ears. All while chewing on his shoe.

Look at this proud daddy! Henry Augustus was born this morning at 9:55 weighing 7 lb., 11 oz. and was 20 in. We made a quick trip to visit them before Steven had to go to work and we had to pick up Matt from school so I haven't gotten my hands on him yet. We'll go back tomorrow. He is adorable; I see a couple similarities to Ava but Henry is looking like his own guy. Everyone is doing great. We're so happy for the Reners!

The Champion

On Super Bowl Sunday our fantasy football league gathered over at Tim & Pam's for some football viewing, tasty breakfast foods, and a trophy hand-off. Most of the room was happy because the Saints won. I was happy because I was the big winner of our league this year and thus am now in possession of the trophy! So far, the ladies have ruled this league...Holly, then Joy, and now me. How cool is that. It is now proudly and prominently displayed in our home.

The kids were all cute and well behaved although messy and loud of course. They watched movies and played while we gazed at the TV. Matt came and checked on us a lot more throughout the viewing of the Little Mermaid. Surprise.

It has rained and rained here. Except for today. It finally cleared up. I know a lot of you are enjoying mounds of snow in your yards. Well, that's cool. We've just been staring out the window like this for the past few days. Although, sunshine is headed our way this weekend!

This Morning

I was dreaming. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard our door open and quick little muffled footsteps. I felt the weight of Matthew on the bed and heard his giggles as he jumped on top of Steven. Several minutes later and after Matt had convinced Steven that he should get up and feed that noisy cat I managed to pry myself out of bed. I might have stayed longer but I heard lots of da-da-da's and other happy jibberish coming from Will's room. He stood up to greet me and when I picked him up he sucked his thumb and tugged at his ear. Now that we've made it to the year mark this milk maid is no longer milkin', so I immediately took Will into the kitchen to start drumming up some breakfast before I had to hear his impatient whines.

He gave me all of two minutes. In that two minutes he had pulled out all the plastic bowls and lids from the cabinet, removed a majority of the magnets from the fridge, pulled open the sliding pantry shelves and was holding a bag of microwave popcorn as if to suggest that be his breakfast. He started giving me the short, loud, panicked whines trying to communicate to me that he was starving. All I had accomplished was getting a bowl of oatmeal nuked in the microwave and pouring myself a cup of coffee. Steven was showering. Matt was already planted at the computer blaring his music. I scooped up Will who was about to produce some serious tears and together we scrounged around in the fridge and landed on the last english muffin. That could be split between them. Wanting to participate in what I was doing Will was leaping out of my arms so I stuck him in his high chair. Not wanting to hear the whining I grabbed the closest ready-to-eat item I saw...nilla wafers sitting in a snack cup on the counter. I threw those at him and continued my breakfast assembly. The wafers were devoured. Along with the english muffin and pears I gave him. And that bowl of oatmeal he couldn't wait for he took 3 bites of. Hmph.

Matt sat down to the table once I announced that his plate was ready. He slurped up his tube of yogurt in seconds flat and then traipsed to the trash can to throw away the wrapper. By this time Will was protesting that he was done so I fought his angry hands and finally got the sticky jelly off of him and placed him on the floor to play. Matthew ate a few bites. Then he'd go help Will with whatever he was into. He'd go back to his plate. Then back to Will. Then back to his plate. I think it took him 30 minutes but he did finish his breakfast. Every last bite. I looked around desperate for something I could eat and couldn't come up with anything better or faster than a slice of pound cake. What's wrong with that? Steven was part of the scene now so I took the opportunity to go put my gym clothes on. I returned to the kitchen and microwaved my coffee that had gone cold yet again and took bites of the cake as I washed dishes and dodged children. And yes, I hand washed ALL the dishes so I didn't have to fight Will with the dishwasher. He can hear me opening it from wherever he is in the house and comes scooting in as fast as he can. He thinks it's the coolest toy in the house. Too bad it's one of the dirtiest.

We said good-bye to Steven. A 12 hour day for him. Matt was luring Will into the living room to the stash of toys by the couch and then I heard him announce that Will had pooped. "It's stinky over here, Momma!" He was right. I scooped up Will and we headed for his room. Matt followed. We got to Will's room and Matt told me that he would cover his nose with his blankee so he wouldn't have to smell the poopy smell. Nice. Good plan, Matthew. I grabbed the wipes and a fresh diaper and set him on the floor. The changing table only serves as a napping spot for the cat now. Here's why. Before I could even unzip his jammies he was up. Put him back down...unzip and pry the limbs out. He's back up. Put him down again. This time hand him a toy to look at while I deal with the dirty diaper. He throws the toy and then squirms to try and reach it. Even with my lightning fast diapering skills I am not fast enough for Will. I got his bottom cleaned and then he was up again. He crawled a few feet from me and then looked back in his cute nakedness and grinned. I tackled him and wrestled him into a diaper and he escaped again. I selected his clothes for the day and chased him all over his room until finally every piece of clothing was on him.

I retreated to dispose of the diaper and to brush my teeth before we headed out. As I was walking around while brushing my teeth I observed the war path all around me. I had cleaned up the kitchen with all its tumped out plastic bowls and lids probably 4 times already, there were all manner of toys strewn about in the dining room, Will's room was now destroyed and then I spotted the two of them in the bathroom. I removed the toilet paper before Will could get his hands on it and then went to go finish my brushing. I returned to find them in the hallway. Matt was sitting square in front of the nightlight grinning at Will who was making a beeline to it. He reached for it and I grabbed him. On our way to the door we picked up all the messes all over the house. I grabbed my keys and diaper bag and then looked at Matthew. He still had jelly smeared all over his face. I washed him off and then glanced at the diaper bag to make sure I had all the essentials and we were finally out the door. To the gym. Me on my elliptical machine. Sweet aerobic bliss.