Happiness Is...

Happiness is...

-- Lemon cream pie

-- Being the "Tickle Monster"

-- Clean bedsheets

-- Pay day

-- Sleeping babies

-- Fresh flowers

-- Newborn baby clothes (particularly little pink ones)

-- A long nap in a cool dark room

-- Watching your child do something by himself for the first time

-- Seeing your photo in Good Housekeeping

-- Being told you don't even look pregnant from the back

-- The smell of freshly cut grass

-- Slimy open-mouth toddler kisses

-- Your boss congratulating you on a job well done

-- A tantrum free day

-- Crossing something off your to do list

-- Feeling baby hiccups from the inside

-- Your husband letting you sleep in

--  Texts from best friends

-- Flattering photos

-- An upcoming beach vacation

-- Cadbury cream eggs

-- Birthday parties

-- The perfect messy bun

-- An empty dishwasher

-- Weekends

-- Home

-- Being called "mama"

Mr. Personality

Looking back through a lot of my recent posts, I sometimes wonder if Mac's real personality comes through in photos.  So many of the pictures I take of him are of the back/top of his head, him looking somewhere else, busy doing something or fleeing from the camera.  He always ends up looking so serious and moody in pictures.  I've struggled over the last few months to get some really great photos of him looking at me that truly capture just how happy and silly he is. 

So you can imagine my surprise last week when I pulled out my camera during bath time and somehow managed to get a ton of photos of Mac looking right at me, being his usual smiley, happy, goofball self.  He didn't seem to even care about the camera and he certainly couldn't escape.   I think I finally captured his real personality in photos.  These pictures just melt my heart.   They are so "Mac."  

It's crazy though, in so many of these photos he looks like family members.  I see his Uncle Justin, his Uncle Timmy, my dad, myself and Ryan all in him at different times.  And not to get all scientific on you or anything, but aren't genetics just amazing?  It's so wild to think of all the combinations of genes that could be possible and to realize how incredibly lucky we are to get the Mac that we did.  It makes me so excited to see what Mim is going to look like and who she'll be.

Anyway (that was a weird digression), I just love looking bath at all the bath photos I've taken of this kid and seeing how much he's changed.  He's such a big boy these days and insists on doing everything himself, from brushing his own teeth to washing his own hair.  I'm just not sure how he got this big so quickly.  Next thing I know he'll be driving the car and stealing our booze. 

He's a total trouble-maker.  As soon as he hears me say not to do something, that's guaranteed to be the only thing in the world he wants to do.  "Don't eat the bubbles" makes him lap them up like a dog.  "Don't splash mama" becomes a mission to get me as soaking wet as he can from across the room.  "Don't laugh" makes him hysterical!   Bath time with this one is never dull. 

 Man, I love this kid.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

So, I'm a few days behind on posting photos from our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.  I actually had them all uploaded and edited by Sunday night, but life got in the way of me actually getting them posted here so I'm not as on top of my game as I thought I was.  #momfail  By now, I'm sure you're all sick to death of seeing a million photos of kids you don't know hunting for stupid plastic eggs.  I'm here to post a million more, so feel free to skip this one if you're totally OVER it. 

Early Sunday morning, the troops gathered in the circle of our cul-de-sac for the group photo before heading out for the hunt.  Mac refused to cooperate for the photo, which of course didn't surprise me one bit.  It was 8:30 a.m. and he'd already had 3 meltdowns that morning over not getting to eat chocolate eggs for breakfast, not being able to hit the dogs with a baseball bat and having to wear shoes, so we knew it was going to be "one of those days."  

Once the hunt began he got in a slightly better mood.  He grabbed the first egg he saw, opened it, started eating the candy out of it and refused to move on to the next one until every bite was eaten.  He didn't quite get the concept of collecting the eggs, but he was a big fan of eating all the candy.  

The rest of the kids had a great time running up and down the street collecting as many eggs as they could find.  For such a little street, we have a lot of really adorable kiddos. 

Mac gave up egg hunting relatively early and traded it in for worm digging, bike riding and fence climbing. 

Ryan showed Mac how to hit a baseball off the tee, while Mim and I took photos and snuck bites of  Mac's candy stash.  She really liked the lemon Starburst (my usual least favorite flavor).  This child's love of lemons is getting ridiculous.  

All in all, it was a blast.  It was such a gorgeous day and it was so nice just being outside and in the sunshine.

By 9:30 the whole thing was over and Ryan and I were asking each other if it was naptime yet.  Mac was pretty cranky and gnawing hard on his fingers (I hate teething), but I NEEDED one shot of the kids in their bunny ears.  Just one.  Even if it was a bad one.  So I grabbed the bunny ears, a bag of dog treats, Sage's bumper and my husband and prayed.  Even on rapid fire shooting, I only got about 4 photos before the dogs ran away and the toddler threw the ears on the ground in protest.  I quickly looked at the screen and shouted HALLELUJAH!   

I don't know what Ryan did behind me to get Mac to smile this big, but this is a winner!  Mac is adorable, Sage looks like her usual sweet (albeit dirty) self and even Mally managed to not give me a look of death.  I need to recruit Ryan's help with photo shoots more often.  Look how cute they are!  If you remember last year's photo (HERE), we had 0 of 3 looking at the camera, so this was a huge success.  It made my whole day!  

Right after this we went to Home Depot to pick up a few items and Mac proceeded to run around the store like a freaking lunatic on fire, screaming and giggling and knocking shit off the shelves.  Next year we will not be putting any candy in the eggs at all.  Lesson learned.  :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.

Anyone else deal with sugar-induced toddler madness?

Baby Mac - 23 Months

Dear Baby Mac,

In just one short month you will be two years old and your poor mama will be crying her eyes out over a giant piece of birthday cake.  The last two years have been full of so many contradictions and simultaneous conflicting feelings.  I feel like you just got here, yet I also feel like I've known you my whole life.  I want you to stay little forever, yet I can't wait to watch you grow up and see who you'll become.  I can't get enough of you, yet sometimes I just want you to go to bed!

True to form, you're a bit ahead of the game and we've officially entered the Terrible Twos early.  The tantrums and whining are pretty over the top these days and what I thought was a tantrum a few months ago now looks like a hiccup.  You are perfecting the art of kicking, screaming, biting, flailing, stomping, shouting and hitting all at the same time in order to get what you want.  You can go from 0 to meltdown faster than I can blink.  Most meltdowns are over things like wanting a sucker before breakfast or not wanting to go inside when you're out playing (both of which I understand), but sometimes they're over ridiculous things like not being able to eat chapstick, kick the dogs, bring worms in the house or dump out the trash.  Boy, can you get angry!  We try reasoning with you, distracting you, offering you other choices, but you are one persistent and determined little shit dude and it usually doesn't work.  More often than not you just have to work it out and cry while I stand there in absolute shock and horror watching ("ignoring") you.  Toddlers are so much fun!

But really, you are so much fun these days.  Your vocabulary is just amazing.  You put together entire sentences now and can basically carry on mini conversations with me.  I love it.  You say things like "mama, sit right here" now, instead of just "chair" like a few months ago.  You can count to ten, know all your colors and some of your alphabet.  You sing songs and know what's about to happen in all of your books.  You know all the neighborhood kids by name and every dog on the street.  You tell me what you want to eat (usually pancakes or pasta), what you want to watch (usually Aristocats or Robin Hood) and where you want to go (always outside).  You've started contemplating things (or at least mimicking me contemplating things), which is so stinking adorable.  I will ask you a question like, "Do you think there will be elephants at the zoo?" and you'll get a serious look on your face and say, "Hmmmm...might be."  I die.

And this probably goes without saying, but you are so smart.  Lately you've started negotiating with me for things that you want.  I'll tell you that we can watch one minute of Bambi before bed and you'll say "one minute Bambi, two minutes Robin Hood."  Are you kidding me?!  I guess that's what happens with lawyer parents.  You never forget anything and I'm constantly amazed at how often you bring up things that happened days/weeks/months ago that I'd forgotten all about.  The other day you saw your Santa Claus sippy cup and said "Ho ho, cry, picture, George and Charlie." Which is ridiculous - how can you possibly remember that we saw Santa with George and Charlie and got your picture taken, where you cried nearly 5 months ago!  It's crazy.  And you are getting so good at giving us context clues to get your point across when we don't understand what you're saying.  The other day you wanted your pajamas with the firetrucks on them (although you insist that they are garbage trucks), so you said "Hey Hey Block Away," which is the first page of your book about garbage trucks. And then I understood.  Amazing!

When you're not having a meltdown, you are usually happy.  You might not be one of those kids that laughs at everything or smiles nonstop (you've got a serious side), but you are a very happy and affectionate child.  You wake up every morning with a huge smile on your face and say "Wake up, mama!  Wake up, daddy!"  You love being tickled and giving hugs.  You love jumping on the bed and snuggling under the covers with us.  You give bear hugs to the dogs, cat and fish every day.  You love waving good bye to me when I go to work and give the best sloppy kisses.

But mainly, you are busy.  And I mean busy, busy, BUSY!  You never seem to stop moving. Getting you to sit still for anything (bath, meals, etc.) is a challenge these days.  You never seem to walk, you run.  Or jump.  There's lots of jumping off of things happening at our house.  You are also obsessed with this little Radio Flyer mini bike that one of the neighborhood kids gave you and you can fly on that thing!  You go as fast as your little feet can go - you remind us of a Flintstones character with your legs spinning as push yourself around on this thing.  You love to race too...preferably down a big hill.  Such a speed demon.  We're in for trouble.  You have a helmet, but it's still pretty big and awkward, so you don't wear it as much as you probably should.  When you move up to something with pedals, we'll insist. You're also pretty athletic, just like your daddy.  You are becoming a champ in swim class and seem to have no fear when it comes to water.  You swim underwater from the nanny to the instructor and jump in the pool from the side (and fully submerge) and then beg to do it again.  I can't wait to take you to the beach next month!  You love playing basketball and never get discouraged when you miss it.  You are also getting really good at golf.  You will turn anything into a golf club and are pretty good about making contact with the ball. I think it's about time to get you a real set of clubs.

So that's about it, little man.  I'll save the rest of my gushing until next month when you turn two. For now, just know that you are so incredibly loved and have made your dad and I the happiest, proudest parents on the planet.  Keep being you, dude.

Love,
Your mama

Favorite Things:

• being outside
• slides
• chapstick
• squirt bottles
• digging for worms
• swimming
• little red tricycle
• suckers
• pasta
• trains
• airplanes
• doing things on your own
• your sister's room
• golf
• cookies
• daddy
• talking
• jumping on the bed
• lemonade

Dislikes:

• getting dressed
• diaper changes
• being inside
• going to sleep
• getting your picture taken
• getting your hands/face wiped
• getting in the car seat
• being told no

Hope you all had a very "hoppy" Easter!