I was thinking this week about how fast these 2 are growing up and how I will someday miss this time I get to be with them each day. They are at such a fun age; even through the "high maintenance" moments of our day, I am trying to soak it all in as much as possible. I thought this week I'd take pictures of the regular every-day moments of our day and while this blog post isn't likely to be interesting to anyone else, I hope to someday look back and remember all the little details of life with our little ones. I tried to have my camera on me all day to snap pictures of all the ordinary moments:
Here is how our day starts--Harper and Andrew both wake up around 7:30 and Andrew watches about 10 minutes of Curios George on KET while I get breakfast going.
Harper, meanwhile, prefers to cling to me the entire time I fix breakfast although she'll stop long enough to throw a piece of trash away (one of her favorite things to do...she says "uh-oh!" if there is something on the floor that resembles trash and in the garbage it goes.
She also loves to wipe the floor with the (clean) dishtowel:)
Breakfast time: toast, oatmeal and some fruit for both of these guys. Andrew sets a world record of longest time spent eating breakfast, while Harper eats quickly and then wants to get down to play.
She eats her fruit pieces only if she can use a fork:)
After breakfast I try to get them (and myself) dressed and out the door. It was a pretty day and we were meeting a neighbor and her little boy who is Drew's age at the zoo. This is how getting ready usually goes: I try to get Harper somewhat dressed and while I get myself or Andrew ready she gets into mischief of course.
They wrestle and jump on the bed for a good 5 minutes while I try to convince Andrew to pick up the pace of getting dressed himself. Again...he goes for another record here of taking the longest time ever to complete this task.
Downstairs, Harper is dressed and ready to go.
Andrew, on the other hand, is not...In fact, he's rather mop the floor with a calculator in his hand. He tells me he's trying to text Aunt Laura with this calculator.
The zoo is great because Andrew can run around and play while Harper is somewhat content to be in her stroller looking at animals. He and Evan are buddies and had fun in the leaves together.
We get home and do a wardrobe change before lunch (and because everyone is a little messy from playing outside). Andrew decides to do spins on the floor after dumping out the entire container of Legos. Harper considers this.
And then joins him...
"Where's my lunch, Mom?"
I brought in a bin of clothes from the car that Erin gave me for Harper (Leena is a few months older so we get all her clothes...it's a great arrangement:) I try to sort but Harper prefers to throw them everywhere.
Then she runs around the house with her push toy. This exacerbates the messy-house situation.
After lunch it's time to clean up. It takes some convincing but they finally decide to pick up the 10,000 piece Lego set. Harper gets right to work...
But then Andrew gets an idea. Why not irritate his sister and climb into the Lego container instead. So much more fun.
She takes the bait and gets mad. Andrew is pleased with this reaction.
Until it gets ugly and she starts grabbing him and pulling his hair. I break up the fight and after 25 minutes the legos are finally picked up. It is thankfully 1:00 by this time and time for a nap for these two. We read a quick book and I put them to sleep.
On a good day, they nap for 2 hours ( or more!) and I get lots done: laundry, dinner, all the school work and emails waiting for me). Today was a so-so day for naps though and one and a half hours later they are both awake and ready to go again. Here they are having their routine snack (cheerios) on the couch while everyone wakes up.
We go outside to play and the neighbor girls come over with their new puppy. Could I ask for a cuter photo opportunity?
Nate gets home from work around 5 and we eat dinner (no pictures of that...dinner is chaotic enough without me trying to take a photo!) Since it's the day before Halloween, we need to carve our pumpkin. Nate draws 4 faces for Drew to choose from.
He picks #4, the "serious" face. Serious is another word for scary in his vocabulary. When we pass a neighbor's house with skeletons and such for Halloween decorations, Andrew asks, "Mom, why are those bones so serious?"
Harper is not into pumpkin carving and prefers to slam the door between the dining room and family room.
It's all fun and games until she realizes she's shut me on the other side.
And she's fine once she realizes she can re-open it. Life with a toddler.
Meanwhile, the guts are being removed from the pumpkin and Andrew is happy to help with this process.
Harper wants to help choose the picture too but 3 seconds later is done with this activity and wants to get down again.
Andrew reached in a couple times to help get some of the seeds out but wasn't thrilled with the goop.
Nate takes a picture of me reading a book to Harper so that our children will know I did indeed exist when they were little.
Now they carve the face...
And we light him up and watch him glow.
It's bath time and they still love the new tub in our master bathroom.
The day finally ends with a music video (tonight Andrew chose My Morning Jacket) and a few books with Dad on the couch. Then they are in their pajamas and ready for bed by 7:30!
I realize this was quite possibly the longest blog post ever...but my days with Andrew and Harper seem to be flying by so fast I just want to remember our ordinary days together. I love these two so much, and I love our ordinary moments together!
