A good book

I have had a string of good luck with books lately. Usually for every few books that I start, one actually engages me enough to stick it through to the end. Is that weird, to start so many books and not finish them? Or is that a sign that people get book deals way too easily? In any case, I just finished my fourth book in a row. The Light Between the Oceans holds the allure of being the fifth, but only time will tell.

So Kids, if you want to know what your mother had in her ears while you were napping or at school (or while she was ignoring you when you were both home and awake), here you go:

{The past four}
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

{The ones that stuck with me over the past several months or years}
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Angles & Demons by Dan Brown
The Dragon Tattoo Series by Stieg Larsson
The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
Kenzie Series by Dennis Lehane
The Hunger Game Series by Suzanne Collins
God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau

I'm sure there are many, many more that I just can't think of right now, but these are the ones that I can remember really enjoying, or at the very least, finishing :)

If you're up for leaving me a comment (please!!) give me some more I can add to this list! Blindly going into the library with only hopes and dreams of finding an interesting book doesn't usually pan out; those little people who follow me around always have me feeling a bit rushed...

Almost midnight y'all

It is deja vu around here these days. Cecilia has (yet another) cold that is looking exactly like the one before. Tonight is the night when she wakes up coughing and we don't know whether to let her work it out herself or go in and hold her. If I go in and hold her, she is sure to wake up and get angry when I lay her back down. If I don't go in and hold her, all that pesky phlegm threatens to stay firmly in place forever and we run the risk of an all night coughing party.

You'd think after going through this a handful of times this winter we'd have it all figured out....maybe by the next one we'll have our shit together and know just what to do.

Tonight I decided to go in and hold her for a few minutes so gravity could help her out a little. When I put her back down she yelled at me for a minute but soon calmed down (score). Then her little noises started (what ever opposite of "score" is). She has been making noise for the past twenty or so minutes with no sign of stopping so instead of trying in vain to ignore said noises, I decided to come and give you folks a run down of what's been happening round these parts tonight. You can thank Cecilia for your current reading pleasure the next time you see her.

--

Earlier I made the very questionable choice of renting the first Harry Potter movie from the library to watch with Simon. Questionable because I am downright desperate for him to love the books (no pressure, kid) and if he sees the movies first that might stand in the way of his interest in reading them. I got impatient though. I really wanted him to know what muggles are and who Hagrid is among other things. So we sat down on the couch together and watched about half of it before it got to be too late. And by "watched it" I mean that he watched it and we answered his constant smattering of questions as they popped into his head every 4 seconds or so.

He said he wanted his name to be Simon Potter. On the way to bed was practicing how to say wingardium leviosa. He even told me he wanted to be Harry Potter for Halloween.

Be still my heart.

--

It's been a good 45 minutes since her noises began and she is WIDE awake up there. I don't know what in the world she is doing, but it's definitely not sleeping. A happy and awake baby at 11:50pm is always better than a sad and awake baby at 11:50pm right? She is literally giggling to herself right now. Even sick and keeping us up in the middle of the night she manages to be hilarious...man do I love her. And man do I hope she shuts her yapper soon. Seriously, child. Shut it. Nothing is funny right now. Go to sleep...

Top 10 / Summer

Here are the top 10 things I am most looking forward to this summer...in no particular order (because that would require way too much thought):

1- Not caring about the temperature of Cecilia's feet. She insists on being barefoot unless she physically cannot achieve this (think footy pajamas). If only she could figure out that her feet are cold because she took her socks off...or maybe I'm not getting the hint and she's telling me that her feet are too hot? All I know is that it will be a non-issue when it's warm out.

2- Walks, walks and more walks. One of my favorite things to do in general is to go for walks with people, and it's always better when the weather is warm. This summer I can look forward to regular walks with my neighbors, my family and Baby Mac. 

3- This might be Simon's year to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. I don't know if he will be ready or not, but it seems plausible that it could happen by the end of summer. Getting a driveway that is not a mud pit might help a little.

4- Grilling. I got a new grill basket from the Pampered Chef and I very much look forward to using it (I like being in my thirties because I can shamelessly say I'm excited about a grill basket).

5- Outdoor photos. Pictures always turn out better when you're outside...that's all there is to say about that. 

6- Seeing my two kids play outside. Last year C was a challenge outside because as soon as it was nice out she was rolling and crawling around, skipping right over the whole "sit up and play with a toy for a while" stage. So having her outside (and not in a stroller) just stressed me out. I didn't particularly want her crawling around in the grass eating dirt. This year she will be able to walk around and play (continuing to try to eat dirt no doubt, but still...).

7- The farmer's market. I just really like going, even if I walk away empty handed.

8- Being able to come and go without jackets. There is something so liberating about walking out the door without a coat on. I love it.

9- Open windows in the kitchen. No matter the season, this wasn't possible when we bought our house. Our kitchen windows essentially do not function, but new ones will be in just in time for summer. This will be one of my favorite improvements to this old house I think! {That and the dishwasher. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing?}

10- More get togethers with family and friends, Taylor Weekend, bonfires, impromptu visits to the zoo, perhaps a camping trip, sun, splash pads, line dried clothes, afternoons at the beach and trips the to park (1 year old + jungle gym = zero fun for mom). 

Summer's coming, folks. Those last few dirty rotten piles of snow are going to be history soon...

One Point for Easter.

I'm starting to like Easter.

As Simon was going to bed on Saturday night he was so excited for the Easter Bunny he could hardly contain himself (surprisingly, he fell asleep fine). Then in the morning he was all over in our bed trying to get us moving so he could start his hunt.

This is exactly how I pictured Christmas Eve and Christmas morning to look. Only Christmas is so overdone that by the time presents are under our tree at home I think it's lost some of its magic. Plus seeing all the presents lends itself to a "what else did I get?" attitude, while having the basket and all of its contents right there in the open lends itself to a "look at everything I got!" attitude. So I like that. Don't get me wrong, Christmas is fine, but I really just love the simplicity of Easter traditions. Plus it's fun seeing Simon try to work out the concept of the resurrection in his little brain :)

We had dinner at my parents house on Saturday (delicious vegetarian pot pies), went to church in the morning on Sunday (thank you Cecilia for making this hour every week super fun), then hit the road to spend time with my in laws. My mother in law usually does an Easter egg hunt outside and it was particularly epic this year. Their back yard had 25 eggs and who knows how many small gifts scattered about on the deck, grass and bushes. Cecilia was definitely involved this year! Then because of my stupid cat allergies, we decided to take the kids to Funset Boulevard where Simon (and Bryan) played arcade games and Cecilia played mostly in a ball pit (one child's fun is another mom's nightmare haha).  Afterwards we met for dinner at a restaurant with a couple more family members and that was it!

Here are my favorite pictures from the weekend:

Simon. Cecilia.

Simon has been a little too "social" on the bus lately. So much so, that the bus driver had to have a little chat with me. It's not the social part that is the problem, it's the walking around on the bus in order to be social that is the problem. Simon assured me it will never happen again.

Cecilia walked around outside for the very first time in her short little life. She walked on snow and grass and wood chips and you could see the pure excitement and curiosity on her little face. I tried to absorb the moment.

When Simon wakes up in the morning he walks to his door and I hear it click when it opens. He shuffles down the hall and slowly takes each stair one at a time. I never want to forget the pattern of his morning footsteps.

When I put Cecilia to bed at night she will always put her head down on my shoulder literally for as long as I'll let her. It's quite possibly the best part of my day. Maybe that's why I put her to bed so early :)

Simon always likes to wear sleeveless shirts and I finally asked him why. He told me it's because then he can show off his upper arm tattoos. He also likes his nails painted blue and red; blue for ice power and red for fire power. When I asked what the kids say at school about his nails he said sometimes the boys laugh at him (insert mom's broken heart here), but proceeded to want his nails repainted despite the laughs. I asked if the laughs bothered him. He said, "Yeah it bothers me a little. I won't paint my nails when I'm six. Can you pain my nails now?" I pray that he forever stays as confident as he is today.

Cecilia is getting so goofy and fun in her old age. As challenging as toddlers can be, I love how full of life they are. She rolls around on the floor giggling about who knows what. She carries books all over the house and laughs at the pictures. She pretends to hand you something then takes it away at the last second and thinks this is hilarious.

Easy to love, these two.

Brand New 'Do

Yesterday I decided to try something a little different on Cecilia's head. I'm not sure what possessed me as anytime I try something new it never quite turns out, but I guess I'm an optimist. Ultimately, I liked what we got but it took a lot of monkeying around to get it there and it didn't last the night. 

Simon loved it and was disappointed to see it go, but we're rocking a fro until the weekend :)

Bad mom.

I took away a paper airplane that she was trying to eat.
I know....I'm such a bitch.