monkey bars and fast rides

it feels like some kind of ride, but really it's just life turning out perfectly... these last months have sure felt like a ride. one that i would like to slowly pull into the station sometime soon, just for a short layover if possible.

we've moved to a new place (thus the kid in a box). brought kiley into this world and watched her battle jungle animals. and now, just this last week, jaxon and kiley started at a new daycare and i went back to work.

tuesday was a tough day. my first day back. i cried all the way to work. i thought about turning around, taking one more day of pto. one more day to cuddle with them, feed and change them, complain and cry about their incessent complaining and crying, and love them with all my heart just a little bit more.

but then i reminded myself how much jaxon thrives on interaction with other kids, how excited he was to be playing with friends again. how he lit up when he got home after his first day, telling us all about how he had lunch at his 'other house' and got to play with 'Carly' the dog, and seemed just a little bit older, a little bit more self-aware. and definately way more tired, so i knew i was gonna get some good sleep out of him that night.

kiley, she could care less. she's too little to really know where she's at right now, though it sounds like they have some jungle animals for her to contend with at the daycare too. i'm glad she's with her big brother too. he is so very protective of her, saving her from goblins and other kids and such.

i've been around long enough, not that long, but long enough to know that life is short. recently i've been reminded of this as friends have had sudden tragic deaths in their families and years have gone by in the blip of an eye for others.

tonight jaxon and i were at the park and i thought i saw myself about fifteen years ago. there were a bunch of girls practicing soccer next to the park and there was one girl who reminded me of myself when i was 15 or so. just hangin out, trying to look like she knew what she was doing. wanting the ball, but not really. and i thought, that was me, yesterday. only it was fifteen years ago. okay, 17 years ago. and then i thought, ohmigoshthatsgoingtobejaxonandkileytomorrow! and so we went home and ate ice cream together. and enjoyed the simple things.

feels like a fast ride, but it's just life, turning out perfectly... except for when i hit my head on that monkeybar at the park...

anyway, here's some pics from our recent trip up north with my family...

these cupcakes were a hit. jaxon was asking for cupcakes with numbers on them for dessert days later.

coincidentally, the donuts were also a hit. jaxon thought we could eat the leftovers for dinner on sunday night. not!

not surprisingly, kiley was also a hit, with my mom. seems there was quite the photo shoot going on while i was napping...

Kiley vs. Jungle Animals

She sometimes thinks that zebra is out to get her. Anyway, I finally have a fast enough internet connection to post videos, so I'll plan to post some more soon! Enjoy!

kid in a box

Sometimes, you wish you could just box your kids up for awhile and keep them at the age they're at....

I'm just sayin. I wish I could.

let's try this again.

Earlier this summer, when Kiley was only about two weeks old, I decided I had to get out of the house and get Jaxon somewhere fun. He was driving me crazy as much as I'm sure I was driving him to boredom. So we ventured to the Como Zoo. It was pretty much a disaster. It was hot. There were way too many people there for 10 am on a weekday. And I was clearly in no shape to be pushing sixty pounds of double stroller filled with moodiness and a baby needing to eat every hour. But today, I got up the nerve to try it again. We've been able to time some things right, and I thought what the heck? So, here we are, all excited to go to the zoo! It only took an hour this time to get us ready and out the door. (Yes, Kiley is wearing a halter top and skinny jeans. I told her it is probably the only time she'll ever be able to wear 'skinny jeans' if she indeed came from my gene pool.) Our plan was to go to the zoo and then have a picnic, and maybe have time for some rides. That all changed however, once we drove by this sign... And how could anyone say no to this? Or this? Especially since silly me, bought a pass at Nickelodeon Universe the day before, thinking there were a bunch of rides he could go on, but really, he's not tall enough to go on any of them by himself. Boy did that suck to explain!! And here's Jaxon just checking out the engine, making sure everything is working properly...

So, we rode a couple of rides. Well, Jaxon did. Kiley and I just provided support from the sidelines. Things like, "Jaxon, give your card to the man so he can swipe it" (as he just bypasses everyone to beeline it for the blue car); and "Jaxon, buckle your seatbelt", and "Jaxon, put your hand down or they're gonna stop the ride."

This nice lady gave Jaxon some one on one attention as he was the only one on the ride. She told him if he wanted to stop to just put his hand up in the air.

Unfortunately, all he heard was, 'put your hand up in the air'.

After awhile, we decided to take a break by the zebras (the only part of the zoo we actually saw)and have our picnic lunch.

This was one of our best days of the summer. I'm so glad we decided to try it again.

30 minutes

I'm beginning to think a half an hour is all I need. A half an hour. 30 minutes. Each day to keep the crazies away. 1800 seconds without hearing about Dora's 10th birthday (again!). Thirty minutes without having to pretend like I'm a monster, hide in the same spot over and over again, and wipe bogies for the 100th time. Half an hour to do something I want, to listen to music, go for a run, or just sit with my cup of coffee and read a good book.

This morning I had that half hour. And then some. It. Was. Glorious.

6 am- woke up to Kiley smiling at me, talking about something or other. Stealing peices of my heart with each smile and coo... A couple diaper changes and a new outfit later, she was back to sleep around

7 am- got the paper and my first cup of coffee. Read the whole paper!

8 am- house is still silent. huh?

8:20-9am explored the neighborhood with my feet and an ipod.

9am- return to house, refreshed and rejuvinated ready for chaos. Everyone STILL sleeping. Double huh?

9:05 shower and second cup of coffee. Sweet.

10 am Nanny McPhee comes to the door and takes the kids and Scott away for a day. oh, wait, that never happened.

Still. A pretty glorious morning. Those thirty minutes away (+) were much needed, and so appreciated. I feel pretty lucky to be able to have those thirty minutes on most days of the week, mostly because I have a pretty fabulous husband. I look forward to them and cherish them.

And yet. I always find myself running just a little bit faster those last few blocks... to push myself and burn a few extra calories, sure. But also because I can't wait to hear all about the adventures Jaxon's been on, hide in that same spot again, and pretend to be afraid of the monsters chasing us. And really, how could you not run back to these kids...

Loves the water shooter... at Darlene's this afternoon. He did not stay dry long! I love this picture. Captures everything about Jaxon in one shot.

First smiles...

Goofy smiles... with a frosting mustache!

They are gonna be best friends... everytime Kiley lays on the play mat, Jaxon has to lay right beside her. He always wants to hld her hand and play the music for her. We'll see how long this lasts...

Yup. I'm tired. I haven't had a nap, and I'm about to go down a metal slide. I'm beginning to wonder if mom was right when she said I shouldn't have eaten two cookies, a rice crispie bar, and another big cookie for lunch?

Big Brother

Bet you thought this would be a post about how much Jaxon likes to be a big brother, huh? Nope. It's more about how Jaxon is like 'Big Brother'. The boy hears everything, sloshes it around in his brain, soaks it up on the sponge in his head, and repeats it when you least expect it.

Some examples:

I gave Jaxon some peanut butter and graham crackers for a snack the other day to which he promptly told me, 'that's disgusting mommy'. I asked him where he learned that word. 'You mommy', straight faced. Duh.

Reading a book the other night, Jaxon looks at me and says, 'Brenna, you're killing me!'. I thought I was going to die laughing. Of course that prompted a few more outbursts of Brenna and Honey you're killing me!.

When he doesn't get his way or something is frustrating him, I hear a 'God!' muffled under his breath.

And just today when we went to visit my coworkers at work, Karen was asking him if he helped me with Kiley's diapers. He promptly told everyone that I wore diapers too (referring to the ginormous pads one must wear upon delivering a child.).

Oh boy. I guess it is time to start watching what we say around him. Or perhaps it is too late for that...

just because...

she's so darn cute...