Boy Meets Girl

There were two things Graham did when he met Adele for the first time.
1. Kiss her.
2. Ask to hold her.

My mommy heart melted and I just knew he was going to be completely infatuated with his new sister. He was going to want to teach her things and spend time just looking at her adorable little face.

Yeah, that lasted about one minute. Just long enough to take those few pictures. Then he did this:

That's right. Totally not interested. He was really into a cup of water with a straw and the carseat and my bed, though.

We brought girly-girl home and the G-man continued his general non-interest. Then one day we discovered him like this:

Yep, that's my boy awkwardly lying next to his sister in the basinet attachment of our pack-and-play. Did he smash her as he got into that awkward position? I hope not. Was it super sweet. Absolutely!

Then he did this:

That's a Graham version of a kiss.

After that he resumed his non-interest other than an occasional eye poke or "peek-in."

As time has gone on, however, G has taken a great interest in his little sister. He wants to lay next to her if she is on the floor. (Again with the awkwardness. He must be his father's son.)

He wants her to "hold it" and "play."

He went from calling her "baby" to "Baby Adele" to "BayDel" or "BeeDel." (I guess it's like his baby version of Brangelina.) He sometimes wants her to lay in bed with him after naptime. She's not always on board.

 One day he grabbed her feet and said, "Dance, BeeDel!"

He wants to know where she is and what she's doing. He gives her lots of kisses, which really just translates into smothering. And he said out of the blue last week, "I like BeeDel."

So maybe he's not completely enthralled by this new girl in his life, but Graham is certainly beginning to think she's pretty neat.

Two Times the Fun

In the midst of waiting for Adele to make her appearance, G-man turned two. I didn't plan anything because we just weren't sure where we would be on his birthday. Little Miss took her sweet time, so all of a sudden, it was G's birthday and we didn't have any plans to celebrate.

My mom was here already, so she baked a cake.

We blew up some balloons leftover from last year's first-birthday-extravaganza.

A few friends came over.

BAM! Instant party!

Thankfully, we had planned ahead and gotten a few presents. Plus, Graham got some fun prizes in the mail from generous relatives.

Then, to make the birthday fun last even longer, we had another celebration when my dad, brother and sister-in-law came to meet Adele. (Originally, this was going to be the only party.)

We had saved a few presents, so Graham opened those.

My mom made another cake.

The balloons that hadn't popped were still floating around the living room.

Lucky Boy! Two parties for a two year old.

TWO! I love this boy more than I ever thought possible.

Grown Ups

I can't believe we're about to be a family of four. How weird is that? I suddenly feel really grown up. And even though I'm way past the point of entering adulthood (I'm clinging to my status as a young person), somehow having two kids makes me feel like I need to be responsible. Ok, I would consider myself responsible, but not in the "oh those people are parents" kind of way. I guess when you work with kids, you see their parents as parents and yourself as just a mom to a little kid. I know, it makes no sense.

I had lunch today with one of the girls who was in my bible study as a high schooler. She's in college now and seems so grown up compared to how I remember her. Our conversations are no longer about prom and boyfriends and frustrations with friends. Today we talked about her semester abroad and what she wants to do as a career and how difficult it can be to make your own way in the world when it may look different than what your family expects. Real conversation. Adult conversation.

When she stopped by our house afterward it dawned on me that we are really adults. We own a home. We have a lawn guy who gives us advice on re-seeding the bare spots in our grass. I do LOTS of laundry. We just bought a dining room table that can seat up to 10 because we actually need to seat that many people sometimes. I host baby showers. We think about our retirement. We watch the news. We are about to have TWO carseats in the backseat of our car.

When did this happen?

When did we go from being a fun, young couple to being grown ups?

Is being a grown up really that bad?

The answer for me is two-fold. There are a lot of great things about being young and trendy and cool and carefree. But there are also a lot of great things about being a real adult. I'm more secure in who I am. I put down some roots, the horror!, but not in a way that limits change. I feel more grounded in my faith, which gives me a freedom that I didn't experience when I was young. My worldview is broader. As crazy as it may sound, I'm more likely to take certain risks. Granted, I can't just hop on a plane and fly across the world at the drop of a hat, but I'm not afraid to go where God leads even if it seems bizarre.

So as I continue to prepare for girly girl to arrive, I am struck with a sense of amazement that I'm going to be the mom of TWO. Our family is growing. Wait, I have a family. Wowza! This grown up thing takes some getting used to. But it's fun. It's scary and weighty and overwhelming sometimes, but it's fun. Life is an adventure and I'm thankful I get to live it!

Abandoned

This blog was abandoned. I completely ditched it. It was nagging me to write, but I refused. I avoided it. I quit taking pictures. You would think the silly thing would take the hint, but no. It's still here. Still begging to be included in my life.

So, I'm giving in.

This blog isn't the only thing I've abandoned in the last few months. You can add cleaning, cooking and laundry to that list too. Oh and bathing my son on a regular basis. Good thing it's winter, right?

What have I been doing all this while? This is the embarrassing part. I've been sleeping.

Napping.

Shirking my responsibility by lying on the couch with my eyes closed.

No, I'm not ill. I'm just tired. Well, I was tired. I've suddenly awakened from my hibernation with a renewed sense of motivation and energy.

Why this change? I crossed the 16 week mark. It's that magical week when you remember that you are a living person. And it's wonderful. It feels good to be alive and awake and hungry for more than gummy worms and grapefruit juice.

Big Boy

Here's a cute pic of G-man with my parents when we were camping this summer. I know my dad's eyes are closed, but G's expression is so sneaky I couldn't resist. I just wonder what he's thinking sometimes. Plus, who doesn't want to see a little boy in overalls?

The First Birthday--the party

Being the crazy mama that I am, I planned two parties. Friday night, on G's actual birthday, we had a potluck cookout with our small group friends, namely G's little baby buddies. Four of us in the group had babies last summer and G kicked off the birthday bashes. EL is next, followed by EH, and J rounds us out. So fun that the babies even have friends!

Anyway, Friday was the friend party and Saturday was a cookout with the extended family. We had a great time. Saturday was just too hot, so after we ate and G smashed his cake, we moved everything indoors. Oh, and it was so hot that the balloon arch wilted away one popped balloon at a time. When it's hot enough to pop balloons, it's time to come in.

First, the friends:
The grown-ups had fun eating and talking and playing some games.

Then it was the kids' turn to have fun.

The only little lady.

My kid is so much like his father. He hardly got messy. He's such a "clean" eater--no face plants, no hair smearing--just fingers to mouth. We finally took it away when he just started clearing off the tray using his sweeper move. When he's done with something, he wants the mess gone!

This was our valiant attempt to get all the babies to look at the same time.

and they're out...

Finally G and his buddy J made a run for it. 

Then the family:
This party was in the middle of the day. The set-up was the same, the food was basically the same except  my mom and I made it all (burgers, potato salad, ramen noodle cabbage salad, baked beans, watermelon, strawberry lemonade), the cake was the same. It was just a lot hotter and there were more people. Still lots of fun, but G was pretty partied out by the end of the day.

I'm telling you, the kid is a "clean" eater. Cake destroyed, no mess on little man. No post-cake bath for this boy. Just a little rinse off in the baby pool and we were good to go. He definitely played more and ate less the second time around. That's ok. He doesn't need the sugar or the excessive amounts of food coloring anyway.

By the time we got to presents G was starting to run out of steam.

G's last present was a wagon. Who can resist two little boys in a wagon? But G was done. It was naptime. And his cousin J thought it was super fun to grab the sides and rock the whole thing back and forth. G was not down with that action.

"Hey man, quit rockin' the boat!"

All in all it was great birthday. I can't believe my baby is a year old!