The Worries of a Mother

When I was in college, working full time, I would look at stay at home mom's with envy.  I felt like every day was packed with deadlines, tests, study groups, sylibi, all piled on top of each other.  I looked forward to the day when I could "hang up the towel", and stop stressing. 
Well, I haven't worked for over two years, I've been graduated for four, and let me just say my stress level is not lower. 
Although it is different.
These are some of the thing I've caught myself fretting over:
- How many french fries must my child eat to constitute a full serving of vegetables?
- Where did I put that stinkin blue tractor?
- When the box says, "Holds up to 80 lbs" do they really mean I can sit on it?
- Chris is 210 seconds late coming home from work. . . I could really use an extra set of hands.
-If I washed my chest when Tay spit up, my arms in the bubble bath, and picked the banana out of my hair, do I really need a shower?
-If this moviecame from the library does that mean that I can let Milo watch it all day and not feel guilty?
- I wonder if Milo would notice if I took one more bite of his frosty?
- How many more times do I have to hear, "Milo throw sand, time out, come out" ?
-Why is it 11:00 o'clock and I still don't have real pants on?"
-What meal can I disquise burnt chicken in?

I love being at home with my kids, but it is a whole different dimension.  If I ever do go back to work in the real world, I am going to be in for a real shock.

Tater Bug is Four Months!

 

Hold er Taya

Milo has decided that Taya is the coolest toy ever.  Recently wants to hold her and snuggle her all of the time.  He'll say, "Hold me, hold me."  So I'll go to pick him up and he'll go, "No, hold er Taya".  He loves giving her cuddles... and suprisingly, she seems to like it too. 

 It drives him crazy when she is still asleep.  He'll keep saying, "Tay awake? Tay cryin? See Tay?"

                         I love these two goofballs!

Big Day

Potty training has begun.

7:30 a.m.  .  .  . Big boy undies on

(he is wearing shoes 24/7 so he'll stop itching the exzema on his feet)

                          7:41 a.m. . . . First accident.

   8: 58 a. m. . . . First success                        

Wish us luck!   I have no clue what I'm doing.     

Beautiful Hallie

My Sister's newest addition.

 

T-W-O!

My Favorite Things Milo Says...
- Wow cool.
- Uh huh, I do
- Relax mommy (means he wants to snuggle
- Aparatus
- Machine (and machine noises)
- Smooch
- Love jew (love you)
- It's tiny ( In a high-pitched voice, usually referring to his otterpop).
- There it ares (He hasn't quite figured out when are/is is appropriate, so he mixed them).

Big Accomplishments This Year...
- Crawling.  Yes a year late, but finally he crawls.  After fishing him out of a tube at McDonalds, while 9 months pregnant, I realized how important crawling is.
- Textures.  In the spring, I was so ecited to play outside with Milo.  Until we discoverd that he hated nearly every texture.  Dirt, rocks, sand.  He would stand at the edge of the playground and cry because he didn't like the feeling of the ground, and couldn't get to the big toy.  It was sad.  But happily now my boy runs down the road barefoot.  Digs in the dirt being daddy's helper, and loves park time. 
- Eating.  We struggled for so long with food.  Finally Milo is getting to the point where he likes to eat.  He is still picky, but doing better.  On his birthday he ate a whole kids meal, half a hamburger, and a go-gurt.  I was so impressed.  He loves popsicles, pancakes, asparagus, goldfish, chicken nuggets (but only from Wendy's), and corn sadies (that's what he calls corn dogs).
- Talking.  Milo will talk your ear off.  He says so many things for being two.  He is so smart and can remember peoples names, places, and key things that happened.  He also know where to turn to go to the library, walmart, and grandma's house.

I Love it When He...
- Dances.  He dances the best to "All About Airplanes).  It is so spastic and SO cute.  The other day we were doing yard work and Milo was bopping around the yard.  We had not seen him for a little while so we started looking for him and found him in the garage turning the stereo on and off.  Every time it would turn on he would do his classic dance moves. 
-Swims.  He loves the pool!  He can jump into the pool without floaties and surface.  He talks about going "under" all of the time.  He also loves the "fans" which are really drains at the bottom of the pool.  I think we probably went swimming over 50 times this summer. I am already excited for next year.
- Plays with Taya.  I always used to think, "How in the world will I handle two kids?"  Now I always think, "What in the world would I do without two kids?"  Milo is the best big brother.  I have never once had him get angry at Taya, or cry because he is jealous of the attention she is getting.  He wants Tay to sit with him, pretend to jump, and he is always asking her to chase him.  When I leave Taya in the car to carry in groceries or if she's in the house while I get him strapped in, he gets so concerned and will cry for "Taya come".
- Snuggles with dad.  Chris and Milo are adorable together.  It is obvious that Milo is crazy about his dad.  He loves for Chris to put him to bed and all day long Milo asks me, "Daddy come back?" 

I Can't Wait For...
- Milo to ride a bike.
- Feed himself.
- Halloween!
- Do his own laundry :)
It's hard for me to think of anything else, because I absolutely love this stage. I thought that 0-1 was great, but 1-2 ROCKED!

Below are the pictures from his 2nd birthday party.  We had so much fun, and it was so fun to share this day with all of our family and friends.

    

The Cutest Thing!

After being alone for over a decade, Hotts married Charlie.  It is obvious that they are both head over heals.  They act like high school kids.  They blush just talking about each other.

I love my grandma SO much and I am thrilled that she has found someone to spend the rest of her life with.

Walking down the isle:)

They held hands, shared dessert, and beamed at each other all night.

It was the cleanest cake feeding I have ever seen!
To the happy couple!!!