Calamity and Cats!

So, it has finally happened. Maryn got her first major boo-boo. She was at school and according to the blood soaked clothes they handed me I was kinda thankful I missed the initial chaos. Does that make me a bad mommy? So, oddly enough Maryn had a clipboard dive into her face. There are two versions of this story. The school told me that it fell off of a counter and right onto Maryn's perfect little nose. Maryn's version is that Ms. Carolina threw it at her for no reason at all! Okay, her version is not so alarming, but she did say that it fell from Ms. Carolina's hand. She was very specific about this. So, the clipboard fell right on her nose and she ended up with a pretty decent gash that required 3 stitches and we are just going to do everything we can to prevent her from having a scar. Daddy ended up taking her to the Children's Hospital at Scottish Rite and after hearing about all the shots to the face, the desperately sad child, and the needle going at my daughter's head, the poor baby being wrapped from head to toe in a sheet to prevent her from moving, I was again thankful that I missed that. Again, does that make me a bad mommy? I was really prepared to take her, but Daddy does much better being in the action than on the sidelines waiting, so we switched and I believe it is probably best because I do think he handles those things much better than I do. Thank you, Daddy, for your calm nerves during crisis! Now we just have to work on your desperate need to go and pummel the teachers that are throwing clipboards at our daughter!!

On to the cats! Yes, we finally have a pet and it was not as easy as that let me just tell you. What it actually turned out to be was a lesson in sitting back and letting someone else make a call here and there. I had it all figured out. I researched, I typed, I analyzed, and I scrutinized. I made the perfect choice and the deal was done. We were the proud owners of two psychotic cats purchased straight from Craigs List. As the cats were hiding, climbing and peeing on stuff it became clear that the fit was in fact a little imperfect. After 1 1/2 days we decided to wave the white flag and send them home. Since the female had already become Maryn's very best friend, she was understandably upset.

So Rex spent the afternoon preparing for the big swaparoo. He went to the pound and found the ugliest cat I have ever seen and put him in our bathroom as we waited, anxiously waited, for the crazies to go home. Finally, our new cat made it out and has been a wonderful part of our family ever since. He, Sammy, is not nearly as ugly as my first impression. He is adorable, sweet, loves the kids, and has been sleeping in our bed from day one!

Froggies at the Table

Maryn is quite the artist. At almost 4 years old she has such an eye for detail, and she concentrates so much on her little strokes.

She drew this the other night and called it "Froggies at the Table". She said that froggies were sad because they had been bad and weren't going to get any cake. Clearly!!!

"The bidding will now start on this masterpiece by reknown artist, Maryn White, at $500,000... do I hear $510,000???"

Cheapest Indoor Entertainment...

The kids literally FLIP when we pull out the old inflatable air mattress. Check out the silent movie clips:

DSCN1260.MOV (32 MB)

DSCN1231.MOV (12 MB)

DSCN1228.MOV (5 MB)

The kids have a blast, AND, when strategically provided as a post-dinner / pre-bath activity, they go to bed and sleep great (which is nice for mommy and daddy)!!!!

If for some reason you can't see these, then perhaps you don't have Quicktime installed. If not, too bad for you. :)

Why? Oh, Why?

What I'm trying to say here is that I am a terrible mother. I am also a great mother: warm, creative, funny, doting. But today the great-mother part feels like a drop of pink dye in a cup of water, and the bad mother part is a big squirt of black, and once it's all black, the pink just seems kind of irrelevant. Every New Year's Eve, I resolve to be more patient. And then I blow it on the first day of the new year. Usually by noon. And it's so hard to describe, the effects of this impatience. It's subtle: I feel my face pull into criticism, my eyebrows sucked together into ruts of irritation; I hear my voice, the way I can speak mild words but in the harsh dialect of What's wrong with you?; I see, flitting across the children's eyes, the way I can make them feel ill at ease, here in their very own home, here in their very own skin. This is one of the worst feelings I know. ....I speak sharply to him; I speak mockingly of his "show and tell"; I speak as if he's a stranger we have caught in an act of vandalism. If you spoke to me this way, I would flee the room in tears and our friendship would never be mended. If my children spoke to each other this way, I would be outraged. If you spoke to my children this way, I would kill you.

The above is a clip from Catherine Newman's column. I had the fortune of reading this after a particularly crabby morning in which on the way to school, Maryn says to me: "Mom, are you having a good day or a bad day". I told her that as strange as it may seem, seeing as I just got out of bed that Mommy was having a grumpy morning. I asked her what she thought I should do about this. As it turns out, her remedy for the grumps is to scratch my head...one, two, three....and then all my fingers. This at least made me laugh and I apologized for my grumps just in time for Dylan to scream bloody murder about apparently nothing and then the feeling, the awful feeling I had been feeling all morning, came rushing back to me. As much as I hate these mornings, I find comfort when I hear similar experiences from other moms. It makes me a little more confident that I am not scarring my children for life.

It is especially daunting knowing that my children are entering the time in their lives where they will remember the things I say and do. If like Rex, they will remember far more than I expect. I took solace in the fact that when they were little, my harsh words or actions would be forgotten almost as quickly as it happened. Now I am waiting for the moment Maryn or Dylan says: "Mommy, remember that morning that you were oh so mean and grumpy?"

As always, I will strive to do better!

I Love You Everywhere!

We were on our way home from the mall the other day. In the back seat I catch the most endearing conversation...

We had just finished talking about how special it is to have a brother and a sister and how they have been given a gift to have each other and how they should always stand up for one another, protect and support each other. I leave it at that, trying to avoid my tendency to drill this into their heads. I then hear Maryn say, "Dylan, I love you everywhere. I love you at the mall, I love you at school, I love you at home, I love you in the kitchen, I love you everywhere". I look back to see that they are holding hands and Dylan has this warm smile on his face. So sweet!

He then instantly decided that he was in need of some privacy and every word Maryn uttered from that point forward was followed by Dylan's very familiar grunt and the word "pimamy". But Maryn was too far into her love mode to back out now. "Mom, I just love him....that's all", "Mommy, he won't hold my hand", "Mommy, he is my little brother....he has to hold my hand", "I never need privacy".

Irreplaceable Moments

There are moments in my life that have left irreplaceable marks on my soul. A lot of the times a memory will take over my mind because of a familiar smell or sight, but there are certain memories that just wash over me. The presence of them are so strong that I can instantly and only for a brief moment feel being in that time and place. Some of these special memories for me are the basics like first days of school, driving for the first time, going to the beach with my grandparents, getting married, and having my children.

When I lived in Philadelphia, my roommates and I would always go out to lunch after receiving our paychecks. It became a tradition and one I remember fondly. Being in that group, I always had a sincere feeling of protection and security. They had become my family at that moment of my life. When that memory rushes through me I can feel myself sitting on the deck of TGI Friday's, the warm sun washing over me. But I know that what makes it so extreme was the feeling of being carefree, not a worry in the world. As we grow into adults and especially parents, cares and worries become part of our make-up. I wish these kinds of memories for everyone, for my children, because once we become these beings that worry about what seems like everything, I don't imagine there is a way to go back to a life of being carefree or at least I haven't mastered it yet.

All of the "old people" I know ;) say that I am in the cupcake part of parenting. That I will find out sooner or later that it never gets easier. And as absurd as this sounds, I have to completely disagree with these people who have far more experience than I do. I do so with the complete knowlege that with each passing year my children will continue to transform into these perfect beings!! I mean seriously, how hard could it be to have children that actually get into their seats when you open the car door instead of bolting to the danger zone to "drive", pull down all the CD's, and spill mommy's drink while she is obviously preoccupied putting big sister into her 300-point harness around a winter jacket that seems to grow larger everyday. So much so that by the time spring finally and thankfully comes upon us it will be the size of Texas. Or really, how hard could it be to have children who's food actually ends up in their mouths and not in there hair or somehow down their shirts. Do I even need to talk about the nights of catching vomit in a bucket?

But, even if it is true, that it gets harder, I am going to continue to live my life of ignorant bliss. And now that we are officially incapable of having any more children, I am going to enjoy every second of this hectic crazy life all the while hoping and praying that each moment is making it's own irreplaceable mark on my soul.

Is It Over Yet?

Good Lord! This holiday season has sucked the life out of me! I mean, seriously, I feel like I have been celebrating for months. Maybe, in my current mood, this is not the best time to highlight our Christmas experience this year....but oh well! Before you start screaming ba-hum-hooey at me, I assure you I will include at least one glowing memory of our day! :)

You know the anticipation you feel when you have all these wonderful plans ahead of you? The hugging, the catching up, the watching your kids mingle with distant family kind of moments, the food, the gifts, the laughter. Well, all of that fell into a flaming pile of crap when I couldn't so much as get out of bed on Saturday and Dylan's poor little body couldn't manage to keep a fever down. Dylan (pneumonia and double ear infection) and I (general yuckiness) both spent the entire holiday weekend feeling like poop. Thankfully, Rex and Maryn are feeling good and we are keeping in our prayers that they continue to feel well for us to go out of town on Thursday to Grannies, or what I will call "Christmas: Take Ten"!

My poor Rex has been so wonderful and done absolutely everything by himself as I lounge around pouting and making small, brief attempts to act like I care. He has had to take on the role of jolly Christmas person whether he wanted to or not. We did manage to pile the kids in the car to make one more trip to look at lights before going to bed. Rex, in his way, trying so hard to make a very non-magical Christmas magical spotted a very distant helicopter. He said to Maryn and Dylan...."Hey, do you think that might be Rudolph?" A thundering "WHERE?!" came out of Maryn. And Rex said, "There, right there....See his nose?" Maryn got quite for a moment, looking out the window at the magical beam of the helicopter and said "No Daddy! Noses don't fly! They stay on our selves!!!" Credit to you honey for trying!

All in all, it has been Christmas! And there have been some very wonderful moments. The kids loved all their presents and have generally loved how things just are different this time of year. Thank you to all of our family for their prayers and understanding when we had to miss seeing you. Here's to a Happy, Healthy New Year for all of us!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Merry Christmas from Maryn & Dylan

Click here to view this year's Christmas greeting from Maryn & Dylan.






View last year's Christmas greeting!







View Uncle Wes' Christmas greeting!

What Am I Thankful For?

Well, Thanksgiving is upon us and I am sitting here pondering all the things that make me a thankful parent. When I really stop and think about ALL of the things that make me thankful and bring me joy, the abundance is so overwhelming I wonder why I am not daily floating around on my cloud of bliss. Maybe I need to spend more time contemplating all the things that make me thankful instead of taking them for granted. It is a darn good thing New Year's is coming!

This year we made our Thanksgiving countdown turkey which Maryn is way more into than she was last year! We have the countdown rings for each day. All the rings turn into feathers that they place on the turkey each morning. And on each feather is written one thing they are thankful for. Some of the things Maryn was thankful for this year, okay I shouldn't really say this year since toddlers really have only a concept of what 2 minutes feels like, so let's just change that to the things Maryn was happy for 5 days ago at the precise moment we made our list. And they were; Jesus, Connor, Jessica & Zoe, costumes, Mommy & Daddy, Papa Bear & Grandmama, Granny & Aunt Kim, Coloring, & Charlie Brown. Some of the things Dylan was thankful for were coloring, Charlie Brown, cinnamon rolls, Connor, Jesus, Daddy (I didn't make his list this year), Papa Bear & Grandmama, Granny, and Time Out. That's right folks! Dylan obviously sees the need for discipline in his life! What a blessing that is!!

So on to some of the things that Mommy is thankful for this year:

1. I am thankful for my amazingly wonderful family!

2. I am thankful for Dylan's enthusiasm. I am also thankful that when Dylan now displays this enthusiasm while sitting in my lap that I don't get cracked in the head nearly as much as last year.

3. I am thankful for all of the kisses. Especially Maryn's very long and wet ones. It seems she is practicing for her upcoming debut as Juliet and her kisses have become very focused and intentional, with enough slobber to water a very thirsty plant.

4. I am thankful that Dylan does not hug me with limp noodle arms. He really squeezes and I totally love that!

5. I am thankful for hot dogs, chicken nuggets, microwavable Macaroni & Cheese, yogurt, and cheese sticks without which my children would starve to death.

6. I am thankful for children's medicine that guarantees drowsiness.

7. I am thankful for how much fun we have when we go out as a family. The panic attacks brought on by a clear understanding that someone was going to pitch a fit at the worst possible moment, or throw up with no warning, or have a potty accident when we left everything at home, or clearly be way past due for a nap, or the millions of other things that could possibly happen on any given day are mostly gone now.

8. I am thankful for how much my children love their school and teachers.

9. I am so thankful for the wonderful conversations that I can now have with my children.

10. I am thankful that my kids still want so much of my time and attention. Really! Most of the time I am really thankful for this!

11. I am thankful for the time I get to snuggle them in between bath and pj's when they are all damp and yummy smelling. I seem to enjoy this much more when it wasn't my night to do bath!

12. I am thankful that in Maryn's world, a hug will solve just about anything.

13. I am thankful that Dylan still has his chunky little block feet that I love so much!

14. I am the most thankful that my kids know without a doubt how very much I love them.

15. I am thankful for the peace of mind I have knowing they are God's children.

And there you have it! Happy Thanksgiving! I pray that everyone feels as blessed as I do!

Sensitivity Perfected!

Oh, my little Dylan. Our little cherub-faced boy. A harsh word can send him reeling into a pit of unknown-to-mankind despair. Sometimes he just seems so fragile, that at the moment you see it coming on you just want stop time and run in reverse.

Daddy had the misfortune of inheriting a trait where the moment a spill is evident a flash of anger comes over him. I will not divulge whom he claims is a part of this genetic disposition! :) The other day at breakfast, Dylan's cup collided with the kitchen floor. It happens, right? Well, Rex's instinct kicked in and he uttered Dylan's name a little too sharply for Dylan's taste....and then it began!

First comes the quivering lip, like a red carpet for all the sadness and devastation he can muster. He looks at you directly in the eyes periodically and then covers his face. Like he just can't bear the thought of such cruelty. The tears are spilling over and if there is anything in that moment you wish you could do, it would be to take it back. You want so desperately to take it back. Poor little thing!

What I am really loving right now is how he tells me goodbye when I drop him at school. His classroom faces the parking lot. For the first couple of weeks in his new big boy class the teacher would hold him at the window crying so he could wave goodbye to me as I drove away. Now, when he goes in he walks directly to the window, grabs a chair from the stack, and he stands there watching me walk to my car, anxious to wave his little hand. As I drive away, I can see his face from about the nose up and he waves, so happy and confident. He waves until I can't see him any longer. I head to work anxious to see his face again!

Hooray - Side Rails and Night Owls!

Well, a mere year older than Maryn was, we finally removed the side rail of Dylan's bed. He is completely open to roam as he chooses - and we completely expected him to. However, to our amazement, not only is he not roaming but he is sleeping much better. Before we made the decision, he had started waking up again on and off throughout the night. This time, however, when we would go in to check on him he would have one leg over the rail. I don't think he would have gone all the way. He always seemed to get to the point where he couldn't go any further, but he knew there was no turning back. Now, my little man insists on crawling into his bed all by himself.

But, wait, don't assume my household is completely free of night-owl toddler roaming! Yep, you guessed it! Maryn is my roamer. She has always been a great sleeper and she still is. But now she has suddenly made a habit of getting up at least once after we have put them both to bed. At first we teetered on scolding. That didn't seem like the right thing to do because we want her to know she can get up if she truly needs us or needs to go to the bathroom. So we began to thoroughly explain this to her. We say, "ONLY get up if you have to potty or it is an emergency." So, now I am going to fill you in on the latest emergency which brought her out of bed, and in her normal night-owl fashion, sliding quietly down the hallway wall towards the living room to ask a very, VERY important question.

Three days ago we had a conversation about how animals become food. This has apparently been weighing on her mind.

MARYN: Are spiders food?
RACHEL: No, honey. Spiders are not food.
MARYN: Yes they are, they are animals.
RACHEL: Spiders are bugs, it isn't the same.
MARYN: No, mom they are food.
RACHEL: Okay fine....back to bed.
MARYN: What about frogs?
RACHEL: Yes, frogs.
MARYN: Elephants?
RACHEL: Yes, elephants.
MARYN: NO, elephants are too big! Need to cut elephants.
MARYN: Probably chewy.
RACHEL: Yes, I bet you are right.

Phew! Emergency averted!!

Additional note from mommy (11-8-06): Seriously, the very night I wrote this, Dylan must have gotten out of bed 4 times!!! That will teach me to open my big ole mouth!!! :) Needless to say, he didn't seem to want very much. Rex had fallen asleep on the sofa watching the election coverage and twice Dylan woke him up by crawling on top of him. When Rex finally came to bed and told me, I thought surely he must be too sleepy to get up by now. Five minutes later, I hear the door open and shut and watch as Dylan toddles to the dark living room. I get up so he won't be scared when he realizes Daddy is not in there anymore. I talked to him for just a bit, he gives Daddy a hug and goes back to bed very easily. I realized five more minutes later that he went so willingly because he knew the game wasn't yet over. One more time and he seemed finished and we all got some sleep! I am looking forward to see what happens this evening! In all honesty though, it was a little cute watching him figure this whole freedom thing out!

Trick Or Treat!

We had a great Halloween! The kids dressed up as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, and they raked in the goods!

First we took the kids by Papa and Nanny's house. Then we did the old, customary Halloween tradition of TRICK-OR-TREATING AT THE MALL! Yeah, okay, so we opted out of going door to door (just doesn't seem like people get into it anymore... you end up getting 1 successful hit for every 5 or 6 tries!) With Dylan still being small, it seems easier to take them to the mall, which was promoting a Trick-Or-Treat night. And boy, did they RACK UP!

It was actually nice... we got to just walk them in the stroller, look around a bit, have a cup of coffee, and the kids saw a ton of kids in their costumes and scored on the candy!

We let the kids eat a sucker while we at the mall, and then we let them have 2 candies when they got home. THEY WERE JACKED UP! I'm surprised we got them down for the night (albeit a little late.)

Another Halloween come and gone, and Thanksgiving is next! For now, Happy Halloween, everyone... hope yours was as good as ours.



For more pictures, CLICK HERE!
 

The Great Pumpkin

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!


For more pictures, CLICK HERE!
 

Autumn Fun!

We had a great time last weekend. We went, along with Papa Bear and our friends Jeff, Amy and their son, Connor, to Cagle's Dairy Farm. There we went on a hay ride and got to roast marshmellows and play around. It was a lot of fun.

Maryn and Dylan adore Connor, and its fun to watch them together. We keep making jokes that Maryn and Connor are going to grow up and get married. We'll see, I guess.

The kids just had a blast. Its fun now that Maryn and Dylan are older to go out and do things together as a family. And its truly surprising how much I enjoy watching them experience something new.

The simple things astonish them, the amazing things seem to be no big deal. It makes you realize just how much we adults have lost the wonderment of a roasted marshmellow, or soft green grass, or the moon in the sky. As adults, we become harder to impress. But for kids, things are simple. It doesn't take a lot to "wow" them, and that's so fun.

It's great taking photos of them during these times, too. Sometimes I wonder if we're more concerned with capturing the moment than we are of being "in" the moment and enjoying it. I hope we're actually somewhere in the middle.

I hope in time we slow things down a little more, enjoy life more, and just spend more time building memories that our kids will carry with them forever.

Thanks, God, for the blessing of children, family, and friends.

Oh yeah, and roasted marshmellows and cool, colorful autumn evenings.

For more images, CLICK HERE!
 

Likely Not!

I am wondering today if the feeling of wanting to surround my children with some impenetrable shield for the rest of their lives will ever pass. The sheer volume of bad news these days is almost too much to bear. I think maybe a bubble existence wouldn't be so bad. Maybe safe in their bubble, I could simulate the ups and downs of life to provide a seemingly perfect existence. But only the major stuff like getting caught telling your first lie, stealing something to impress your friends, or finding out what it feels like to be betrayed, or not liked. But also the good stuff like your first kiss, or the feeling of success and love.

We all have to take off our rose-colored glasses at some point, I just dread the day my children do. I wish they could always see life like they see the movie, Curious George. Maryn and Dylan, neither one like the part where the burly doorman is searching for George. I know it is the look on his face they dislike. I say, "he's just very grumpy". But, Maryn tells me to "get to the happy parts". She is content to just see the good stuff in life right now and I dread the day that all the stuff that I see comes into clear view.

It is only my faith that allows me to escape a life filled with fear!

Well, SOMEONE Had to Teach Them How to Spit!

Yesterday we had a very nice day!

We started out by going to the soft-play park inside Northpoint Mall. The kids really had a great time. It was fun to see how much more Dylan was able to do since the last time we went several months ago. Last time he could barely get over the little bridge they have there. This time he was pretty much climbing on everything. And they were both doing so well getting along with others (for the most part.)

After that we let the kids ride on the carousel. Again, it was so cool to see Dylan sitting up there by himself and, just like Maryn, not really wanting Mommy or Daddy to hang on to him. Afterwards we had lunch and then everyone took a nap.

Later we went to Papa and Nanny's house, where Papa Bear and Grandmama were also there. That's when it happened: In true Georgia-style, Papa Bear showed my kids how to spit!

Step 1:
Here, he demonstrated how to chug a big gulp from their water bottle.





Step 2:
Now he shows them the proper way to bend forward, pooch out the lips and expel the water.





Now Dylan tries:









And now Maryn:









Way to go Papa Bear!

Catherine Newman

From now on all my favorite Catherine Newman blurbs will be listed under a "Catherine Newman" header. That way, if you care you can read on or just skip these and go straight to the kids stuff or my ramblings.

But after a hard week — we are sad about the untimely death of an old friend, the mother of one of my very favorite teenagers on the planet — I'm in the mood for comic relief. And I'm not getting it from the (ceaseless) rain outside, but within the house, there's no shortage. I sit in the living room with my computer, trying absurdly to write while the kids balance themselves on the back of the couch to wrap their arms around my neck and kiss my hair with their lips and kiss my hair with an X-Files Agent Scully figurine. "Do you want to go into the study to work?" Michael asks gently. And it's a sensible question, but I don't. I just want to be here, where everybody else is, where my life hums with, well, with life itself. Even if one thing leads to another, and before you know it Michael is strumming the Billy Joel "Brenda and Eddie" song on a ukulele. Then he switches to guitar, Ben joins in on his guitar, with Birdy on a plastic whistle, and they jam a rocking version of "If I Were a Rich Man" and then a serious, gorgeous rendition of the Patty Griffin song "Top of the World." There is much dancing around in underpants, and it is both silly and beautiful.

I can be so awkward sometimes, trying to create special moments as if I'm following the directions in a kit I ordered from a catalogue: we'll light this candle in this way accompanied by this feeling; we'll read this poem together and be very poignant and sober. And other times, the blessings just wash up in unbidden, unexpected heaps on the shore of my day. The trick I'm learning is not to pass them by. Not to leave this happy scene to check my email or put the kettle on. "I'm wrestling with restlessness," I said to Michael earlier this summer when we were on the beach, and he'd laughed but said, "You really are. I can tell." I'm trying not to skitter away from the sitting still or the chaos. I know it's boring to say it, so obvious that it's almost silly, but the lesson of death is that we die — which is the same as saying that we're living now. Our friend's parting command to the people she loved was: "Dance." And so we do.

I just can't say enough how she so easily captures how I feel a great deal of the time. I can so clearly see my own living room while reading her words. There is something to be said for just sitting amongst the chaos. Life lessons seem so fleeting in the mind sometimes. I wonder what the glue is that makes them stick? Too many times it seems like it is regret, guilt, or loss. That it always seems to only really click while looking behind you. I really do want to know how to live life differently in regards to this.

Special Moments

There are moments of the day when Maryn is not to be reckoned with. Generally this is within minutes of her waking up. She will quite frankly tell you that she needs her privacy. Eye contact is not permitted. Touching is completely shunned unless she initiates it. She has perfected her sleepy sad face and the amount of time she can carry it seems endless. She was in one of these moods on our way home from taking Granny to the airport. She had fallen asleep on the way there, so the fact that she missed the event alltogether probably contributed to her mood. We decided to stop and get some food on the way home which is when she woke up. Dad went in as we all waited in the car. Dylan and I both are being respectful of Maryn's need for privacy and chatting with each other while Maryn just peers out the window. I am watching her take note of a family entering the restaurant, a mom and dad and four children. She watches each one enter and then says, "that was nice". I asked her what was so nice. She had seen the dad holding the door for his family while they piled in the restaurant and she said, "that was nice that he held the door open for all of them". I agreed with her how nice that was and she said, "I'm going to try to do that". I told her what a great goal I thought that was and silently hoped that this opportunity may arise after she has been awake for at least 15 minutes, else she be the grumpy door person bringing a little grey cloud to everyone's day. "How nice to see you" she might say, followed by "move along....I need my privacy".

One of my favorite moments lately with Maryn is watching her get ready in my bathroom. Usually while I am getting ready, she will stand on the potty and "get ready" beside me. I love this because I can so clearly see a mix of Rex and I through her eyes. She first starts off with her contacts. A little dabble of saline and she plops them right in. Next comes the deodorant which she gently applies to her cheeks and forearms as Daddy and I clearly do every morning. Next comes Dad's hair gel. A little dab of that to the neck and legs, some eyeshadow applied with a Q-tip and my girl is as good as ready!

While I am blabbering on about how cute and adorable my children are, I just have to share some funny Dylan moments. There are so many as he is my child that makes it impossible to stay mad. He makes me crack up all the time and I just can't wait to see what our futures hold with him. He has this wonderful knack for imitation. When he is watching a movie he can hit cues right on the mark and it amazes me. Their new favorite movie is "The Emporer's New Groove". He loves the opening song, as he loves all music. He chimes in on the funniest parts and to hear him say, "Boom Baby" cracks us up and has quickly become the house anthem! Better still, is to watch him say "No touchy, noooooo touchy"!

Rex and I love to watch the show Rock Star: Supernova. Sometimes the kids will catch a bit of it before bedtime which I am thinking is not the best idea. Not because it's vulgar, but becuase it sends them both to the floor to mosh 10 minutes before lights out. They love music and dancing and I equally love watching them which makes it so hard to tell them to stop. Dylan totally gets into the moves and Maryn just loves to spin. I see her inventing Rock Ballet! She asked me the other day why Tommy Lee did not have on a shirt. I responded,probably too quickly, "because he is a Rock Star". I am quite sure this response in time will come back to haunt me!

Oh, For Heaven's Sake!

Ever feel like a perpetual bring-you-downer? I have a wonderful friend and neighbor who lately I walk away from thinking, did I just spend the last 20 minutes complaining AGAIN?! Sadly, yes. It is amazing to have friends and husbands that you can confide in, I feel blessed to have them. But is it really fair? It makes me want to rush back and humor them with a little slapstick. That is until I realize that I don't even know the first knock-knock joke. But since I did journey all the way back I might as well tell you about the weird rash under my arm.

Maryn and Dylan are wonderful because they can quickly escape to the sunny side of the street with no need for explanation. They just simply know that at times there are more fun places to be than in my presence. I know they are not judging me (there will be plenty of time for that later!). This weekend at the beach was all sunny and it is those moments that leave you longing for more.

I am reading a book that brought something very important to my mind. It said that as parents we should not look at our jobs as something we have to do, but something we get to do.

I am truly blessed to have my wonderful children. To be able to watch Maryn play with little broken pieces of seashells for hours, to watch Dylan running from the waves laughing, and to watch how they can make a hotel room seem like the coolest place they have ever been. I am equally blessed to be there to teach them about their emotions and how to treat each other with kindness, why sticking your finger up your nose or talking with your mouth full are bad manners. Why screaming at the top of your lungs isn't a valid form of communication. I am also blessed for my husband and my friends who stick around through the grey clouds because being together on the sunny side is worth it.

View Photos of our Trip to Tybee Island!

[From Daddy: I can't remember the last time I had such a good time with Maryn and Dylan. I wish we could have stayed longer. I'm so proud of how good my kids were, and blessed to have had that time together as a family. Love you guys!]