I realize that I usually just rant and rave about the ills of daily life with a 2yr. old and a 9 month old, but last night I was so overwhelmed by what a blessing they are to me. I don't really even know why I was having these thoughts, its not like either one of them ate their dinner or that they didn't make a HUGE mess of the living room, or that Lucy didn't eat something mysterious off the kitchen floor, or have exorcist-like diarrhea (probably from the mysterious thing she ate), or that I didn't give Miles at least 3 time outs in like five minutes and did I mention that they both have runny noses and (I'm pretty sure) ear infections? :) In the midst of daily routine I have been overwhelmed by these two people in my life.

Miles can make me laugh like no other human being on earth. From the minute he wakes up, he is in a good mood. It is a trait that sometimes drives me crazy, but that mostly I enjoy and look forward to. His hair is usually a wreck and, often times, is standing on end. He loves to make things "crash!!" Cars, trains, spoons, books, pillows, towers of blocks, all can crash and one must yell, "crash!" as it is happening. He loves to give cheers - cheers with juice cups, with ears of corn, with toothbrushes, it doesn't really matter. :) If Miles knocks something down accidentally or does something he genuinely didn't mean to do, he almost always says, "Sorwy." (Sorry) It's really cute. Lately he has been saying, "I'm so sorry about that." Ugh, that kid is so great. He always wants me to "come ON" when he wants to play trains and he waves his hand at me. Oh, and speaking of trains, he calls Thomas the Train - Tommy. Like they were old friends or something. It cracks me up. He can say the full name, but has somehow decided to call him Tommy - I love it! Miles calls John's car, a Volkswagen Jetta, the race car. He usually explains to me in the mornings that daddy had to go to work in the race car. So cute! We have an old car seat in John's car and when it is just the two of them, Miles gets to ride in the "race car." This is usually very exciting to him. Everyday, nearly, Miles asks to go to the park. Let me correct that, he says he needs to go to the park. Just about everyday. :) He loves silliness and to tickle and wrestle and everything "boy" that there is - he loves. He loves to make friends and is usually the life of the party. Miles is not afraid to jump into a crowd of older kids at the park and start playing. I think he thinks he is way older than he really is. :) He can walk up to a group of HSU football players and say, "Hey guys!" without one fear in the world. (that happened!) Miles is also really sweet and kind. He is so gentle with Lucy when he is not feeding her rocks! And when we are alone, he hugs me and whispers in bed, "I wud you mama." I always cry. I love that boy more than I know what to do with sometimes.

And, of course, I have my princess Lucy. She sort of likes things the ways she likes them. She likes her bottle on the warm side and will NOT drink it if it is anything less. She makes me laugh! She loves her bed, she loves to stretch out and scratch at the flowers on her sheets, she feels very safe in there. She gives the best hugs when I get her up from her naps. I live for those hugs some days. She is really, really ticklish and John gets her all the time. She loves it! Not to mention she has the cutest belly laugh of all time. Lucy is attached to my hip most of the time, but when she is not, she is sort of a daredevil. She loves to sit on John's shoulders and let him bounce her around. She loves the wind blowing through her hair, she loves to put her arms up when riding in the front of the grocery cart and she LOVES the swings at the park! She also loves to take baths. I think it is her favorite time of the day. She will splash and splash and clap and she always cries really hard when I get her out, it is sort of sad. She has started scrunching her nose when she laughs and it is seriously the cutest thing you have ever seen. She LOVES Miles. She watches everything he does and claps for him and laughs at him. Lucy will cry and sort of yell if you take something away from her that she was playing with or wanted. She also cries if other kids crawl up next to her while she is playing on the floor, like at church or other play groups - it is funny! She will nuzzle her head under your chin and it is so sweet. That girl cries almost every time I leave her sight and while sometimes it is very wearing on me, on the other hand it is good to feel needed. I know this time will come to an end quicker than I can believe so I am trying to enjoy every single second of it!

Here are some pictures of Miles's latest creative idea: pushing Lucy around in the laundry basket. Lucy actually loves it and it makes me laugh pretty hard too.



Miles has started wearing John's shoes around the house all the time.