12 broken, brown eggs

we started with 2 dozen hard-boiled eggs.  by the end of the 15 very busy minutes, all the eggs were dunked into every color available and were an interesting shade of brownish blue and at least half were completely smashed.  apparently, 1 and 3 are not ages to expect great results.  regardless it was fun and reminded me of my childhood.  it's weird to be doing the exact same things with my own kids.  happy easter, three weeks late!

photographer finn

since the camera is now out at all times to reinforce my documenting our fantastic little life, finn has taken to documenting his own fantastic little life. this is what is important to him.

ada's sweet shoppe and finn's garage

i happened to have both of my children in the same month. not only was it the same month, but that month also happens to correlate with the birth of our savior and the busiest time of year. i orginally felt bad that finn's birthday was only 13 days away from christmas, then ada had to go and best him by being only five days away. needless to say, the guilt of them having to share birthday parties which had to be squeezed into an already busy christmas season made me want to give them the best party possible. i think it went pretty well.

all finn wanted was a cars party. cars cars cars. he's pretty fanatical about cars 2 right now. it's a phase that has not faded away over the last 8 months. (sidenote: i am also fanatical about cars 2. for christmas, i got absurdly engrossed in finding characters that he didn't have yet and bought every single one i came into contact with. this obsession is why we are now sitting on about $200+ of cars 2 specific matchbox cars.) in order to offset the obscenely boyish theme, ada got to have a pink candy party. she really doesn't care much about anything beyond food and pooping her pants right now, so this was clearly more my choice than hers.

overall, i think both kids had fun and got more than any kid could hope for. later in life, i think they might be bummed about having their birthdays and christmas in one month, but for now i'll let go of the guilt. a week after their party, finn thought he was having a second, even bigger birthday party with all the christmas festivities and MORE presents. it was the birthday that just never ended and he was over the moon. happy birthday, kids! i love you more than words can say.

first and third christmases

it's hard to believe that this was ada's first christmas. when it was finn's first christmas, he was just a squishy little thing that wanted nothing more than boob and mommy.
come to think of it, ada wanted nothing more than boob and mommy. so i guess there isn't that much of a difference between the two. ada hit that stage recently of wanting to hang on me at all times and never lead my side. it's adorable with the first child. not so adorable with the second. with the second, it's like, "okay, fine. just ride on my hip, while i whip you around and try to do everything that needs to get done with the restriction of only using one arm. let's do this thing." getting things done is possible, but slightly annoying. this desire to be attached at all times to her mommy was only compounded by the increased number of people and lack of naps that christmastime brings.

whining aside, it was an amazing christmas. the month of december was just an endless stream of birthday parties and christmas events and busyness and GO! GO! GO! but i wouldn't have it any other way. i prayed really hard that God wouldn't let me get in the way of having fun this season. every year, i schedule events for each weekend (and most weekdays) because i am immensely in love with our families and want to spend every possible moment with them. then i freak out because i'm overbooked and stress about the details. it's plain stupid.

however this year, i really felt an answer to prayer. in the midst of stressing out, i would say a little prayer and suddenly be reminded that things don't need to be perfect. that the moments we spend together are more important than food being prepared on time, the presents being perfectly wrapped, the presents costing an absurd amount, and the family being cohesively dressed. okay, that last one may have triggered a tiny meltdown, but i think i'm in the right here. if your entire family is wearing red, black, and white, would you pick a plaid orange and blue shirt? oh men! josh didn't understand that stress and why i cared so much about what he wore. regardless, i liked this christmas. i hope all others can live up to this year.







*note: i'll post on the birthday party as soon as i get photos from alyssa. apparently, when josh said he was going to be in charge of taking pictures, he meant four pictures. luckily, i have a snap happy sister-in-law who documents my life more than i do.