Who's this furry red creature that you speak of?

You know.... the one with the orange nose, that high pitched, squeaky voice that all parents just cannot get enough of; the one, the only Elmo!
Raygan: Melmo! Melmo!
Luke: No comment. Just a blank stare will do.
Raygan: I turn Melmo on.
Elmo: Can you help Elmo up please?
Luke: eek! Blah, blah blah.
Elmo: Do you know how to get to Sesame Street?
Luke: I don't have a clue what this weird dude is saying but he's kinda funny. But, for the mean time, I'll just try to eat him.
Raygan: Mama, Mama, Mama.
Me: Yes Raygan.
Raygan: Luke eat Melmo. Luke has teeeeeeeeeeeth.
Elmo: I think Elmo may just lay around for awhile.

Although I have heard enough of Elmo's voice to make me half insane, I do thank him fo the entertainment he provides my children. I can't believe I am saying this, but, thank you Elmo.

Hibernation at it's best..

With a lot of snow, brings a lot of time in the house with the kids. So, what can a mom do to keep them occupied while trying to work from home? Well... craft time always seems to work, at least for about an hour or so. But today we got creative... Mommy drove across the street with Raygan and let her pick out her own crafts for the day. And, what did we come up with? Well, the usual crayons, paper and Dora market kit; AND a packet of 12,000 stickers. At the time the stickers didn't seem like that bad of an idea, but now they are on the carpet, on my face, Luke's face, the dog's back, and even ended up in my bottle of water at one point. Oh what fun!

Although there has been some clean up an reorganization involved, both Raygan and Luke have been very good today and played so well together!

Luke watched Raygan, ate, slept, watched Raygan some more, ate, and slept again.

And, all the while, Mommy managed to get some work done too!

Is it bed time yet ?

Just a little mommy baby bonding...

Things definitely change once children enter your lives. Thinking back to Josh's and I's SuperBowl celebration a couple of years back- we lived in Indianapolis, the Colt's won, and boy did we celebrate. And celebrate, and celebrate and celebrate. You get the picture.
And, today as Josh and I celebrate our 6th Valentine's day together, rather than the extravagent date we used to plan, we get a home cooked dinner and dessert with none other than our two sidekicks Raygan and Luke.
But, before you go thinking that I wish it were just the two of us, stop thinking down that path. Today, is the best Valentine's day I have ever had. I love my husband an my two babies. Life is shaping out to be just the way I always imagined.
For that, I thank God- for taking me down the broken road to meet my husband and for bringing me the miracle of 2 beautiful, healthy children.

Happy Valentine's Day Josh, Raygan and Luke. I love you.

Like sister like brother

Or should I say like brother like sister. Although Luke watches Raygan's every move, I find that more than he mocks her, she mocks him. Hmmm.. let's see...she wants to eat baby food, rice cereal and biter biscuits? Am I missing something here?. But, of course our little princess would never admit to the foul taste of the food. Rather, we get an enthusiastic, "MMMMMM" or "Yummy."
And on the flip side, poor Luke seems so puzzled every time we seat down with our feast of a meal with a look like "Are you kidding me? Your eating chicken and potatoes and I get, what? mush?"
Soon buddy you will get your steak. Mommy promises.

Yesterday morning Raygan continued with her mocking, but this time we reverted back to days in the 'ol crib. Yes, she wanted to lay in Luke's crib with him. I have to admit though, it was one of the cutest moments of them together that I have encountered yet:)

All I want for Christmas is.....

My 2 front teeth, see my 2 front teeth. Gee if I could only have my 2 front teeth!

Yep, it's official, Luke has his 2 bottom chompers. Now our little linebacker is ready for his steak and prime rib. The next big task is convincing the doc it's ok :)
Our boy LOVES to eat and any more the 'ol baby food and bottle don't seem to be enough. But, for now, we will stick to the rules of good parenting and continue on with Enfamil and Gerber.

2 is better than 1

Rub-a-dub oh how they love the tub! As if Raygan's bath time wasn't fun enough with bubbles, Elmo soap, rubber ducks and tubmarines, we added an even more spectacular value-ad to tub time: Baby Luke! With Luke's increased reliability of being able to sit up on his own, he has graduated to bath time with BIG sis! My babies are so cute in the tub together, and even better, it's easier for us as parents. The 'ol killing two bids with one stone, and gettin 'er done so to speak!

It's times like these that explain our craziness of having these two children so close together. Watching them bond and grow closer with each of their new milestones are just the first signs of an undying brother/sister relationship that they will share. One similar to the bond I have with my brothers- one that is reliable, comfortable, irreplaceable- something that surpasses the true meaning of friendship.

The most magical place in the world....

Can you guess where? Yep, Disney World! Raygan and Luke made their first trip to meet the one, the only MICKEY MOUSE! Well and Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy... the whole crew. Our trip was awesome- Raygan was scared of the characters, but in awe of the rides. And, of course the boat rides were her ultimate favorite! Luke was just as content as usual, happy to be by Mommy and Daddy's side. His highlight of the trip must have been trying to fit Donald Duck's beak into his mouth.

It's safe to say that Poppy scored big, not only surprising PaPa for his 60th, but by taking me an my family to, in fact, this magical place they call Disney. A place where children are smiling and laughing, all the while their parents are amazed by simplicity of their children's happiness. Take me back any day- it was as cool as I remember it as a 6 year old little girl.