Photo ketchup

Here are some recent pics of my beautiful children. I know you have all be dying for me to post them.

This one really doesn't need a caption. I just love this boy. I cry when I think about him getting older and marrying some girl. 

How unhealthy. 

This is Rainbow Rice. I found the recipe here: http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2009/07/rainbow-rice-is-twice-as-nice.html. Its super-duper easy to make and is very entertaining. 

There are two rules regarding rainbow rice:

1. No eating it. 

2. It has to stay in the bin. 

Where have I found rainbow rice? 

1. Definitely in the diaper. 

2. Definitely in the carpet, on the table, stuck to the baby, while scooping dog poop in the yard, on the kitchen chairs, under the dishwasher...

This is the height of my vacuum's career. His job satisfaction has never been better.  

Yet another pic that needs no caption. His blue eyes and dimple speak for themselves. 

And oh my gosh don't the jeans just kill you?

Uri thinks Daddy is pretty fun. 

Wow, that was a lame caption. No, but really, he gets really excited when Daddy is home and acts like nothing is more exciting. 

 So, while not an avid trash-picker, I did drive by this gem recently and went back for it. Its a sand and water table and I have been wanting one for a while. Cause what is more fun than sand and water? Maybe what I should have asked is what sticks better to children?

 So pretty much now my house is covered in Rainbow Rice and sand. My vacuum is giddy. 

The boy eats and he eats well. And sometimes we do bath time directly after lunch. 

 One thing recently I have really been enjoying is mealtimes with my kids. Sure, there are frustrating moments, but mostly we have a good time together. Who would have thought? I didn't think this happened until they came back from college. 

 We recently had a playdate with our Nurture group (Nurture is our church's equivalent of MOPs). We went to a great little park near the beach. Josie dashed right to the motorcycle. And my thoughts dashed 15 years from now and I haven't slept since. 

We thought a group shot on a moving object would be fun. Heh. Just kidding, we got it so stay pretty still. I love this one cause obviously the only ones that really care about getting a decent picture is my friend Lexie and Uri. Uri was totally into it. 

 Another thing that has really started to stand out recently is how different my kids are from each other. At 8 months, Josie never would have crawled through the sand, splashed and stood up in the big bath, or enjoyed the swings at the playground. Uri on the other hand brings half of every playground or beach home in his clothing, will not stay still in the bath, and today I probably pushed him in the swing at the park for 15 minutes. I love it. 

Someday, when Josie is a teenager and feels she can give me fashion advice, especially if its regarding footwear,  I will pull out this picture...

 That is paint. Colonel Sanders soon found that paint tasted really bad so we had to wash it off. But she did continue to rub is all over her hands until it started to dry too much. Then she covered the bathroom with it. I mean, washed it off in the bathroom. 

Why I buy paper? I do not know. 

Day in the Life

Whoever it was that warned me that adjusting to having 2 kids might be difficult was right. It has taken me a while. But I finally feel like I have a routine that is working for all 4 of us.  Since being back from the east coast, I have worked hard at keeping a good rhythm in our days and week, both for the kids and myself. One thing I realized while we were gone is that whatever routine I had fallen into after the baby was born was not working. I was always tired, cranky and feeling like I was just barely getting by. Our house was a disaster most days of the week, we were eating meals with a lot of cheese, so we all felt gross too. Oh, and I was really really sick of my dog, which was sad and frustrating. I love love love having 2 kids, but man, I needed my days to not be so exhausting.


Being at my parents house gave me time to just step back and think about what was and wasn't working. I made lists of things I wanted to do. And when I got back to Cali, I was really pleased that a lot of it worked. I finally figured out a time that worked to walk my poor neglected dog. I have been using Flylady's ideas to keep my house in order. Honoring my own bedtime as much as I can and eating a lot better food. And its been wonderful.


Everyday is basically the same, just with slight variations, here is an example:


Wakeup is usually around 7am.
Diapers are changed, banana eaten or at least grabbed and everyone is loaded into the stroller.
We take about a 40 minute walk with the dog. (this is the best change, so many benefits)
We eat breakfast around 8 or 8:30, then the baby takes his first nap.
I clean up the kitchen, pack Tom's or all of our lunches, and get ready. (Tom leaves between 9:30 & 10)
When the baby gets up, we typically have something planned, so I dress the kids and we head out. (church, the park, grocery shopping, etc)
I have been doing a lot of picnic lunches at parks recently and it works great for wearing out the toddler before naptime.
Then we go home for naps at 1pm. Ahhh.
I almost always snag a 20-30 minute nap and then do things I can't with the kids awake (email, meal plan, etc). Oh, and drink an iced coffee. My midday treat. :)
Uri gets up around 3pm and we play and he snacks while I get something done in the kitchen.
Josie gets up between 3:30 and 4pm.
If she went down well for her nap, we have a tea party in the backyard and then play out there for a bit.
The baby goes back down around 5pm, I prep dinner, and Josie plays or does some sort of project.
6pm the baby is up, dinner is usually set and we hangout and play until Daddy gets home around 6:30-7pm.
Then its dinner, bath, and bedtime is 8pm.
I finish cleaning up dinner, run a load of laundry if needed (but when is it not?) and then hang out with my hubby.
Shower, chill out, bedtime is 10:30pm.
The baby still nurses around 12ish and then again at 4am (although sometimes he skips the first one).
7am we begin again :)


Hmmmm. I just realized this post is pretty long, sorry.


Here are some pics:

Jammies are perfect early morning stroller attire. Note Josie's amazing bedhead. :) 

Josie and Uri, "Riding in a car." Josie even has her purse over her shoulder. 16 years from now I will have to take a similar shot. :D

We have since lowered the mattress in the crib. 

Tea time!

Grammie and Grampy came to visit!

We absolutely love visitors. Anyone willing to get up at 7 and entertain one or both of my children while I tackle the morning Must-Dos-To- Survive is welcome here. Haha.


Last week...wait, two weeks ago? Tom's Mom and Marty, aka, Grammie and Grampy came for a week. We had a great time. We usually did some sort of outing in the morning between Uri's morning nap and everyone's afternoon nap, then sort of chilled out and played in the yard in the afternoon. Then in the evenings we adults would either sit around a fire in the backyard, Tom and Mom and Marty would watch Battlestar Glactica (while I went to bed) or both. (I would have watched it, but I've already seen it, loved it, and need sleep more than seeing it twice, heh.)


Here are some highlights/pictures:

 Sidewalk chalk! 

Beach! (this boy loves sand)

 Orange County Zoo, brushing cute goats.

Playing in the sand again after eating brunch at the Beachcomber. Yum.
If you haven't visited us, you need to. And we will take you there. 

Surrey ride at Irvine Park. I will have to get the picture of Uri in a helmet from Tom. You will fall over and die of cuteness. Until then, how adorable is Josie in this pic? I can't stand it. My kids in helmets just kill me. 

Edited to add: 

oh no! the blog is dying! the blog is dying!!

I read somewhere once that the first rule of blogging is to be consistent with updates. 


Well. Hmmmm. Another rule I read is to know your readers. And I am pretty sure that if I have any left, none of them expect me to update consistently anymore. :)


And the last rule I remember is to never blog about blogging. 


This post is a complete failure. 


We are back in California (and have been for 2 and a half weeks...) and doing well. I will have to write a post about my vacation (and how much I needed it) and what has changed around here since. Not a ton of stuff, but a few little things that seem to be making a difference. I realize not every Mama can get away for FIVE weeks, but  man, I think I would encourage anyone feeling overwhelmed by everyday life to just get out of it for a while. Even a week would make a difference. 


Oh, wait. Didn't I say, "I should write a post about my vacation"? Yeah yeah. This one's not it. 


This one is about being back. 


When I left on vacation I took a 4 and a half month old who didn't sit up on his own and only nursed. I returned with a 6 month old who sits and eats food. SO fun. Although the diapers are grosser, its still really fun. 


Every single day since we have returned, Josie has asked to play with her cousins and Mommom and Poppop, go swimming, "When is Grammy and Grampy coming?" "Where is Maisy?" (their dog), "Miss Uncle Phil and Aunt Mel" or she will tell me something super random that her cousin Tristan does. "Tristan says, Bah bah bah" Okay......

When the first baby is a girl and the second is a boy, the boy jumps in a Jenny Jump Up. Whatever.

Reunited with her pal, Logan. 

Again with the pink. Sorry baby.
This is one of the few pieces of clothing of Uri's that I took and returned with. He outgrew almost everything so we got a bunch of new stuff and my mom is shipping the stuff we left behind. 

Wow, Kath. You took 3 pictures in the last 2 and a half weeks. Don't over do it. u.

More to come (maybe) but don't hold your breath.

storybook land!

We went to Storybook Land a couple days ago with my Mom, Dad, Deb and her kids. The weather turned out to be perfect and we all had a lot of fun. Here are a few pics...

Wildlife...

Okay, so its totally lame that I haven't gotten more pictures of all the fun animals we have seen since we got here. I am either holding a kid, driving a car, or too excited about seeing the animal to actually get a picture of it. But since we have been here we have seen....

Deer in both NJ and PA

Chipmunks and Moles in PA

Wild turkeys while driving back into NJ

A fox on the way to my brother's house

More deer on the way back from my brother's house

A family of skunks traveling across my parents's back yard. THATs the only one I got a picture of, and excuse the screen and smallness, its not like I was going to go outside and try to get close to skunks :)

(none of that includes the crazy zoo near my parents' house or the weird carp we fed in PA)

Daddy, PA and back.

After a week without Daddy, we were super excited to have Tom join us in NJ. We had family dinner, a large fourth of July picnic, a trip to a small zoo, and lots of time to hang out. 

 Josie feeding a giraffe...

Oh, and we went out to dinner with my grandfather. Here is a picture of him and all his great-grandkids...

(and my dad's arm. Sorry, I don't think I have a way to crop on my laptop)

 At the end of a week, we loaded up my mom's minivan and headed out to see Tom's family in PA. We visited relatives, had get-togethers, played at parks, visited a weird lake full of carp you could feed bread, and had a Swogger family reunion. 


Here is Uri, Tom's mom, her mom, and Tom's sister Beth...

 Hanging out at the park with Daddy and Papa...

 Here was the reunion, Josie and her Aunt Aly...

 Watering plants with Grampy...

Uri swinging for the first time...

(please stay this adorable forever)

 Uri and Ma...

 After a week there, we packed up the minivan again, drove back over the fine state of PA and said goodbye to Daddy. He had to go home to work, but we are here for another 2 weeks. At dinner the other night my mom gave Uri his first taste of applesauce...

(I can't say he loved it, but they never do with first foods, right?)

A bunch of us girls decided to pick some blueberries the other day, which was super fun...here is Josie hard at work....

(You may notice that her bucket is empty. What you can't see is that her mouth, and belly, are FULL of berries. Once she tired of picking she parked herself next to the big bucket the adults were filling....Mmmmm)

I didn't take as many pics in PA as I probably should have, mostly because Tom was snapping the constantly, so I will try and post more when he sends them my way. :)