6 more months and my eldest child will be 3. Sometimes I feel like I am not old enough to have a 2 1/2 year old. I still feel like I am that young, naive, college girl with out a care (or many cares) in the world. Now, I am a mom with 2 children. It blows my mind sometimes.

My oldest baby has become such an independent little girl. She has conquered many new things in the last 6 months. She has mastered the potty, she’s talking in full sentences, and even grew 2 1/2 inches–which is why she needed a new wardrobe. Her personality is starting to shine through. She is funny, smart, and beautiful. One of my favorite things she does is stops in her tracks, taps her cheek and says “think, think, think. Oh, I know!” and then runs off shouting “I have an idea!”

I am not gonna lie. The past 3 months have been difficult. The tantrums have kicked in full force, and the word “no!” or “I don’t want to” have become her new favorites leaving mommy at her breaking point. But we are working on it. All children have to learn their boundaries and right from wrong. This is new to the both of us and we are learning from each other. And even though I have days where I want to rip all my hair out, we have a lot of fun together too. We play chase, hide and seek, do horsie rides, I toss her high in the air, and we run around the yard kicking the big yellow ball. She loves when I paint her toe nails, play blocks, and she treats the dog as if he were human (she once asked him if he wanted to play then dragged him by the collar to her bed room and shut the door).

She is such a good big sister as well. She loves to give Andrew kisses and pat his head. If he is in the other room crying she runs over, stroke his cheek, and tell him “everything is ok. Mommy is coming.” She will be the one looking out for him until he is old enough to protect her. I am excited to see their relationship grow and watch them play together.

I am so blessed to be her mommy and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring her. I love you Rylie!

What you need: (Makes 3-4 cups)

1 pound sweet potatoes (roughly 2 medium or one large)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 garlic clove chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons tahini (I didn’t have any and it still tasted great)

coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Bake the sweet potato until soft all the way through (I usually put in the microwave for about 6-7 minutes). Peel the skin off and place a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend (adding water if you need to thin it). Put in the refrigerator to chill. Use carrots, pita chips or your favorite veggie to dip.

As I have grown my mom has guided me, spoiled me, and has become my best friend. There is barely a day that goes by that I don’t talk to her. I hope we always stay this close and I don’t ever want to take her for granted. I am thankful for the relationship we have because I know not everyone has that with their mother.

I look at my own daughter hope that we can grow to have that kind of relationship. There will be times of fighting, days she doesn’t want to hang out with me, and times she won’t listen (even though I am right ), but one day she will be grown with a family of her own and I hope that I will be the one she calls (after God) in times of need.

Now that I have a son added to the mix, it brings on a whole new set of emotions. Boys will always have a special place in their mothers hearts and I hope he always remembers that. I hope he grows into a polite young man who is respectful of women. Being his mom has been such a joy so far and I’m excited to watch him grow. As soon as he was born my heart grew 10x bigger. I love holding him and snuggling with him, and I truly love being his mommy.

Being a mom changes you. Your selfish desires slip away and put your family first. Sometimes I get lost in the laundry, diaper changes, time outs, and cleaning, but I believe that this is what God wants me to do. I believe God has called me to stay home with my children not only for their sake, but to give me patience, self-control, and teach me about His love. I am definitely learning these things everyday, but I am also filled with so much joy when I look at these children. I see these innocent little eyes where I can do no wrong. I wish I could shield them from the real world, and keep them young forever, but that’s not a reality. So, I will do my best to guide them, give them what they need, teach them about God’s love, and be there to kiss their boo boo’s–just as my own mother did for me.

It’s true what they say; being a mom is the hardest, but most rewarding job on the planet.

What a week! I feel like I haven’t been home much, and when I have I was either cleaning, organizing, or playing. We started off  on Sunday by taking a mini vacation to the timeshare my mom booked for the week. We basically were here from 10:30am until 5pm…

Rylie had a blast on that pirate ship and swimming in the pool. It was our her first time swimming for the year (besides her kiddie pool) so she was a little timid at first. By the end of the day she was jumping off of the ledge to Seth and I, and going down the slide by herself.

Seth had to work the rest of the week, so my mom and I went back to the pool on Tuesday and spent another day at the pool. Rylie crashed later that night and went down with out a fight.

The rest of the week consisted of reorganizing the play room, church, playgrounds and grocery shopping. Yesterday we weren’t home at all. We went to our last MOPS meeting, visited GG, and then swam in my mom’s pool the rest of the day. I wore that girl out. She was asleep in the car as soon as we left my parents drive way–at 7:45. Today is another busy day with a trip to the store and a birthday party! Hopefully all this will help my children sleep well–which means mommy gets some sleep too

Mommy is smiling, Andrew is looking off some where, daddy is being a goof, and Rylie is being stubborn and not looking for the picture. This, my friends, is my family. I love them all even though they are difficult at times.

Some of the things we were up to this week.

• Being goofy on the way to church.
• Some yummy Olive Garden.
• Completed another 5k.
• Being crafty.
• Babies sleeping on me.
• Side walk paint messes.
• Hangin’ around.
• Rylie pushing her brother on the swing.
• Energy bites!
• Smoothy break.
• I spy on my children.
• Morning walks.
• Andrew’s first time in the swing.

This month is packed full! We have a birthday party every Saturday and then Mothers day is the last weekend. Today we are going to the first party of the month and then staying the night at a resort my mom booked for the week. They have a cool pirate ship water park, so we wanted to take Rylie to play on it. I’m sure I’ll be posting some Instagram pics through the weekend so look out for those (follow me at 25design). I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I know we’ve only been a family of 4 for 3 months, but as they grow their love for one another will also. There will be times of fighting, arguing, and telling, but isn’t that what siblings do? My brother and I sure did, but at the end of the day we still loved each other and were great friends.

As a parent you want to see your children stay close. You want to see then get along and play nicely even into adulthood. Since they are only 2 years apart I hope that they will look out for each other when hard times come, especially at school. It won’t be perfect, but God knew what he was doing when He gave me these two blessings.–I just hope they don’t decide to tag team on us.

We had a nice little cool down last week, so we were outside enjoying the brief change. My kids love being outside no matter what the temperature is.

I made home-made paint last week. Rylie had a blast painting the whole tub and mixing the colors. The paint ingredients are cornstarch, water, food coloring, and is super easy to clean up.

She also got to use her roller skates for the first time. She has been begging to use them, but we didn’t have a helmet for her. The Easter bunny, aka Mimi and Bibi, brought her one so we finally put them to use.

She liked them, but stayed safe in the grass a lot. It was easier for her to walk by herself there. Andrew watched from afar. He likes to be with the family.

As you can see above, Rylie loves her dog. He is her play mate a lot of the time. It will be nice when Andrew and her can play together. She is always wanting me or the poor dog to play with her. She is my social butterfly and loves her friends!

Painting pictures. Gloomy days mean couch snuggles. Sweet boy. Fell asleep during tummy time. Goofy girl. Running hard. Gorgeous Florida day. Love his smile. My special little girl.

Love baby squish. Outside enjoying the cooler weather. Weee. Tummy time on mommy’s tummy. First night in his own room. Corn starch bath paint. Splash park. Lovin’ his jumper. Happy 3 month old.

Watching sister play in the water. My cooking helpers. Time to roller skate. Favorite sneakers. Watching sister play outside. Squishy baby legs.

This week was crazy! We had play dates, splash park fun, grocery shopping with two, a MOPS meeting, and did I mention I ran 4 miles? I haven’t ran that far in about 2 years. It was such a beautiful morning and once I hit 3 miles I felt like I could keep going, so I did. It was such a wonderful feeling!

Other than a 5k this morning, the weekend won’t be too busy. Hopefully I can get some things done around the house and maybe even take a nap…? We’ll see about the last one.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Amy from A Good Life blog this week!

]]> http://twentyfivedesignblog.com/2012/04/28/instagramin-our-week/feed/ 2 http://twentyfivedesignblog.com/2012/04/26/embrace-the-camera-vol-8/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=embrace-the-camera-vol-8 http://twentyfivedesignblog.com/2012/04/26/embrace-the-camera-vol-8/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:38:46 +0000 torie http://twentyfivedesignblog.com/?p=7470