Not my best day

My day started out with a helicopter mom almost calling CPS on me. 

We went to a park this morning that had a nice little playground for babies to play on-- very low to the ground with soft astroturf below.  Charlie has been walking for a little while now and he can climb onto/get down from things with ease.  He was playing nicely on it and I like to encourage independent play, especially with Charlie since he is so clingy, so I went and sat down a little ways off and watched him.  Unfortunately, I was not the only one watching him.  Another lady there started following him around and spotting him when he tried to climb down from things (thanks a lot, lady-- he hates being touched).  It had been less than 2 minutes before she turned around and started yelling, "Whose baby is this?!?"  So I went up, grabbed Charlie, and snapped, "He's mine!" while resisting the urge to punch her in the face.  Sorry you got mad because you felt the need to hover over my child.

Also, the dinner I made tonight was an abomination.  Seriously gross.  I couldn't even bring myself to bless the food before dinner; I simply asked that "it wouldn't be too gross."  And then I started laughing, because I knew that was too big a request.  Brandon started laughing and said, "Why are we even eating this?"

Okay, so the dinner incident was more funny than anything, but lately I've been feeling like I'm just not cut out for the job of taking care of everyone, especially when I see other moms say things that I can't even relate to.  I heard one new mom say, "If I had known how amazing motherhood would be, I would have had a baby a long time ago," and all I could think was, "If I knew what having a newborn would really be like, I would have OD'd on birth control."  I keep hearing all these things. "I love spending time with my oldest while the other kids are napping!" "I wish I could have more time to clean!" "I'm trying a new organic eating plan with my family!"  And here's what goes through my mind... I have no idea what to do with Violet when Charlie naps.  I wish I could devote ZERO hours a day to cleaning.  Violet can tell you how to get to Burger King from our house.  I AM NOT Supermom.  But I have a feeling that if I were, I would be the most boring person in the world.  And I would rather shower with a bear than cook and clean all day.  I'll settle for being a mediocre mom if it means that I can enjoy it.

Eating sand

This is a pretty common sight at our house-- Violet sitting on my lap and Charlie crawling up from the side, trying to join.  These two rarely fight but they are fiercely territorial when it comes to space on my lap.  It often results in pushing and screaming.  (P.S.-- Reed, those are the princess jammies that Violet picked out with her Valentine's money.  Thanks!)

 I also took Violet and Charlie to the park yesterday.  Violet was busy building a sand castle, but I had to get some pictures of Charlie-- it was his first real experience in the sand and he was quite fascinated with it.

 He really enjoyed getting his toes all sandy.

 And this was his reaction to its taste.

I also have a question for all you readers out there (although I know I have like... less than a dozen): If  I started a photo blog, would anyone follow it?  I always have a ton of pictures to put up but sometimes I just don't have anything to say about them (not all of my photography is cute pictures of my kids with stories to go along).  Art projects would also be posted on there, so it would be more of a "visual arts blog" than anything.  I will also be taking suggestions on what to name it, if I decide to go through with this. So, suggest away!

These kids

How could you not love them?  Well, not much has been going on with us, but as always, my little kids are getting bigger and bigger.  Charlie is walking around everywhere and has a funny little personality.  He loves to brush his teeth and any time he finds a toothbrush, he sticks it under the faucet (pretending to get it wet) and then goes to town on his teeth. He also thinks it's funny when I tell him to go to bed.  I will come in the room and find him standing up in his crib, and when I point to him and say "You go to bed!" he throws himself on the mattress, sheepishly covers his face with a blanket, and starts to giggle.  I'll take that over screaming "I'm not tired!" any day.

 I don't know what more to say about Violet.  She is adorable and smart and continually amazes me at how much information she absorbs from the world around her.

Good news

I may have convinced Mom to do the Bluebell Fun Run with me, which is basically a 5k with all-you-can-eat ice cream at the end.  Obviously it didn't take too much convincing.

Brandon suggested that I run 5 kilometers at the park and just buy $25 worth of ice cream.  So not the point.

Bike rides!

We are officially outgrowing our apartment.  I know that we moved into it just a year ago, and I am still grateful that we were able to find this place, but I honestly don't understand how people have more than one child in a place with two bedrooms and no yard.  Anyways, since we will be here for at least another year, we have had to find ways to make things fun.  So last week Brandon had the fabulous idea of dusting off his bike, and Charlie went for his first bike ride.  Look at this cute face, he loved it! 

 I just want to kiss this little face all day.  Speaking of cuteness, Charlie loves playing with his belly button.  When he is tired, he will sit or lay on the floor, pull up his shirt, and just poke his belly button while he watches us.

I also took the kids to Discovery Green last week.  Our visit coincided with an elementary school group who   followed Violet and Charlie around the whole time, commenting on how cute Charlie is and how pretty Violet's hair is.  And they did look cute, so I took some pictures.  And any time I get antsy about being stuck in a small house, I can look at these pictures and forget about where we live.

Charlie is walking!

He will only do it in our living room, but the kid can get around.