To clean or not to clean

Anyone who knows me well (or maybe even if you just know of me), knows that I have a problem. Before you go listing all of my issues, I will direct you to the one I am referring to: cleaning. I don't know where I got this urge to have all things clean. The inability to sit down until there are no dishes in the sink, no clothes in the dryer and no shoes laying on the hallway floor *cough*Jim*cough.* I don't want marks on my floors and I like the lines on the carpet that say, "I just vacuumed." I love when someone walks into my house and says, "It smells good in here" and I can say that's the dusting spray. So you see? It's a sickness. I've always wished I could let it go sometimes and enjoy, I don't know, let's say my children. Or my husband. Or perhaps life? That's not to say I would want to let it go totally. I have just always wanted a balance. To be OKAY with playing with my kids and not worrying about the state of the house at every given moment.

Well.

My friends, I have arrived.

It's called, "The Second Child."

There's just not time! And the addition of one family member somehow triples the amount of laundry to be done. When the kids go down for a nap, I realize that I need that break, too. If I'm blessed with a long nap from Henry (meaning more than one hour), then I get some stuff done. If not, I just try to go with it. That's not to say I don't think about it. That all those toys that got dumped on the floor or the dust that is sparkling on the coffee table with the morning sun or those fingerprints (thank you, Henry) that are perpetually on the windows and doors aren't bothering a small part of my anal-retentive brain. The good news is, whether I like it or not, it's happening b/c keeping up right now is impossible. The great news is, my husband couldn't care less. And let's be honest, when you get to see more of this:

...it's all worth it. I like it when Henry smiles, too, but he doesn't always cooperate in the picture-taking department, as you might have noticed on my previous post.

Speaking of smiles, isn't it funny how different your children can be? Mr. Henry was soooo serious all the time and I tried in vain to get him to smile and then later on, laugh. It took forever! Of course, now we can't stop the incessant and goofy laughter that he produces. Wyatt, on the other hand, is a bundle of smiles and goos and I can't get enough! He just chatters away in the morning, probably talking about how crazy we all are in his own language.

Here he is mid-chatter:

Seriously? I'm so in love!

Henry kept yelling "NO PICTURES! THAT'S ENOUGH!" at me this morning so he will not get a showing on this blog post. I guess in the grand scheme of things, I have a lot of catching up to do when it come to taking pictures of Wyatt. Poor second child. We only have hundreds of pictures of you instead of thousands.

Photo shoot Thursday

I don't think I'm alone when it comes to wanting good pictures of my kiddos. I also don't think I'm alone in the fact that it takes about 30 crazy pictures to get one kind of decent one. Sigh. Why is it that my 3 year old cannot be serious? Are my expectations to high? Oh. Okay.

Smile!

Okay, that was almost good...smile!

I said "Cheese," not "Cheesy" Henry....SMILE!


HENRY, SMILE!!!

Channeling a little Gene Simmons much?
Do you want a smoothie??

I guess I'll take serious.

*

Moving on....

Wyatt, smile!

Good job! Hi, sweet boy!

Uh oh, you're sliding.

Aaaaand we're done.

Here are some other bro pics from our awesome photo shoot:

"Casual diaper look"

I almost got a good one here, except Wyatt was looking at the TV:

Okay, so I got a winner.

I love my boys!!! Rock on!

Thank you for sharing this journey with us. :)

All things baby

What do you mean, he's growing?

Alright, let's be fair. It's a bad angle.
*

We had one day that was rather cool here in the Portland area, so Wyatt got to try out a super-cute hoody from Jenna for the day. Luckily, it's big, so it will still fit in a month or so when we'll really need it.

On to more exciting things...

*

Why is it, that when your baby does the cutest things and you think, "I'd better get this on video for daddy," this has to happen?

Poor kids. They have no rights as to what gets put out there for the world to see.

*

And then just because I can't get enough of the outrageously annoying baby voice I can't seem to stop using to our sweet child, here is another video I shot of Wyatt yesterday. He is getting all sorts of active on us. You betta watch out.

A question for the ages

Henry: Hey mom, what's those cheese sticks for?



Umm.....

I apologize to any family members who are appalled that I just posted this picture. It was too funny to pass up.

Confessions of a mother of two

I said I'd never...stick a pacifier in my infant's mouth that just fell onto the dirty floor.

I said I'd never...lick my finger and use it to wipe some dirt of my child's face.

I said I'd never...use the infant as an excuse not to play Hi-Ho-Cherry-O again.

I said I'd never...let my children go anywhere with any kind of food, dirt or stain on their clothes.

I said I'd never...yell (okay, raise my voice) at my child in public.

I said I'd never...let my child eat on a public table without sanitizing every square inch of it first.

I said I'd never...use bribes to get the desired behavior from my child.

I said I'd never...let my child sweat and not give him a bath that night.

I said I'd never...let my children watch SpongeBob Squarepants (Lord have mercy).

I said I'd never...let the housework go to pots because of having children.

Pfft. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

How about you?

Henry, here's a SpongeBob fruit snacks if you'll...

Oh, stop it.

Hello, I'm two months old!

Wyatt Paul
2 months old
12 lbs. 10 oz. (75%)
23 1/4 inches (60%%)
***
Healthy boy!

Jim took these adorable (if I do say so myself) pictures, but since he blogs ALL the time and posts ALL the pictures we have, I thought I'd steal them and do it first. Ahem. Does anyone remember when he was the very first blogger of all of us?? Interesting.

Henry also had his 3 year appointment and is also one healthy boy...as big as a 5 year old! They even took his blood pressure (ha!). I will say he did OK at the appointment, but Jim, who had to wrestle to keep him still or from kicking the doctor into the next century, will probably say he does not want to do that again anytime soon. Hee. Henry got a shot in the arm and didn't even flinch, though. I think that counts for something. :) For all you wonderers out there, Henry was 41 inches tall and 47 pounds.

Leaving the doctor, I thought to myself, "Wow. How blessed we are! Two healthy, happy boys."

Random pics...

Just going through some pics...thought I should post a few for fun.


Our little cuddle bug



Daddy & his baby

My BOYS!



Mr. Mouse...keeping Wyatt in line. Heeeee!
(So appropriate for my family, no?)

My Birthday Boy

Just playing catch-up. Here are some pics of our little birthday celebration for Henry a few weeks ago. We kept it very small so that I didn't go bonkers with planning and preparing, what with a newborn and all. Of course, my mother was here, and she kept saying, "Oh, I'll just make this. Oh, and this. Oh, and this is really easy." So there were a lot of good things to eat. :) Oh, how I love her.

My big boy!

The younger crowd found things to put in their mouths:



Something delicious is coming your way...

It's getting closer....

What the deliciousness???

Hey! There's a THREE on here!

Don't mind if I do.

I was right. Delicious!

'Twas a fun day, shared with our closest little friends (and their mommies and daddies whom we actually call family). At this age, I've decided all that matters is that the kids have fun. Mission accomplished!

PS Jenna, Henry asked several times where Nate was. You were missed Sady bunch!

Wyatt lately

I thought I should post something about our poor, forgotten newborn. Okay, so we haven't forgotten him, but if you compare the number of posts I had already done about Henry by 8 weeks...

Wyatt is 8 weeks old today! He continues to be such a sweet baby and so easy to care for. He fusses a little more now than in the beginning, but I suppose if he didn't fuss at all, he wouldn't be a baby. He is such a sweet addition to our family and Henry is really having a lot of fun with him:



Surprisingly, Henry is super-gentle and very careful around Wyatt. He always wants to help take care of him and will be the first to run to Wyatt when he's crying -- offering a pacifier or saying, "It's okay, baby Wyatt." Darling boy.

What is new with Wyatt? Um...well, he's growing! People still say, "He's so small!" but really, he's growing so fast, I can't believe it! I love when babies start adding rolls to their cuteness. :) He is starting to talk a little, but he seems to be a little more on the serious side (like his big brother was) so we get more of a "thoughtful" expression from him than anything else. I read recently that by 2 months (next week) my baby "should be smiling easily by now..." Hmmm. Well, he kind of smiles, but mostly in the middle of eating or when he's half asleep. So when he's not really meaning to. I'm not worried about any kind of smile deadline though, seeing as Henry took about 9 years to smile and 27 years to laugh. It's just one of those things you cannot WAIT to see!!!

Something different about Wyatt is that he loves his pacifier. Henry couldn't spit his out fast enough! It's nice to have the option to "pacify" the little guy, since he's not able to find his own thumb yet. :)

We're starting to pull out more and more baby-type toys for Wyatt to enjoy, and part of the fun of that is Henry gets so excited about something new, too. He wants to "play" with Wyatt and show him every little thing possible. And I mean everything. And I mean really show him. Like in his face. Like touching his nose. So helpful!

All in all, we're getting the hang of things here and are totally enjoying being a family of FOUR. Of course, it's a little tougher to get out the door, but it's totally worth it! For the most part, Wyatt just goes with the flow, so as long as his big brother cooperates (I'd say 50/50), our day is pretty good. Oh, also if I get a nap. And please don't think I'm saying that life is easy breezy. 'Cause that is NOT what I'm saying. Just enjoyable!

Here's a pic of our growing boy (and his leg rolls!):

And here is a video of Wyatt for your viewing pleasure. Try to contain yourself.