Blessing outfit

Adam gave Rafe a beautiful blessing nearly a month ago and I'm just barely posting pictures of him in his adorable blessing outfit (Thank you so much, Mom! It was perfect!). I even got some goofy smiles out of him.

I'm just so happy to have this little guy in our family.

I am also incredibly grateful for the blessing the gospel is in my life and that Adam can give our children blessings whenever we need them.

Oh, big yawn.

We also took pictures of the whole family at the church after he was blessed and those pictures will never see the light of day because...they're terrible. Really, really terrible.

What a star

Now THAT'S what I call a smile

Smiley and lookin' fat. Isn't this kid hysterical?

Later that day...

...we had a photoshoot. I love this outfit on my long-legged (and long-torsoed) baby.
Raise your hand if you're cute!

Right answer, little man.

And apparently Lyds is an aspiring model. Isn't this pose just too much?

Funny little squirt. I don't think most models would consider scuffed-up knees and a shirt covered in chalk dust the height of fashion, but I'm pretty sure Lydia's happy with it.

Reason I am grateful for an easy-going baby #469

I can enjoy the nice spring weather with a two year old and some chalk...

...while my baby naps on the porch.

This is the life.

Nerd baby

We have been incredibly blessed by our friends, family, neighbors, and ward members. I have not bought a single thing for Rafe to wear, but he is a well-dressed little bud. This shirt makes me laugh.

I think it's pretty much a guarantee that our kids are going to be a touch nerdy. I figure we might as well embrace that and teach them to be proud of it from the beginning.

Super Lydia

I have no idea where she got it, but Lyds has started wanting to wrap blankets around her and say "Supergirl!"

Two's a fun age. I'm trying to enjoy every single moment.

Baby Rafe

Guys, this kiddo. He kills me. He's just such a sweetie.

Also, is R.G. a weird nickname? Vote "yes" or "no" or "Why'd you name your kid a weird name in the first place" below.

Easter eggs

One of my many faults is that I am not a tidy person. The 4 years of our marriage have been an interesting lesson on just how far I need to go in order to be considered a good housekeeper.

As a result, one of my many failings as a mother is that I have a really hard time letting Lydia make a mess. I know I should just breathe and let it go, but sometimes I just know that playdough's going to get ground into the carpet and I can't handle it. So I swoop in and interrupt her play to save me from cleaning.

So you can imagine how "excited" I was to dye eggs with Lydster. Nothing could go wrong here, right? We're just dealing with permanent dye and innumerable surfaces begging to get spilled on. But...we had a lot of fun. I tried not to be that uptight Mom and I think Lyds enjoyed it. Her face in this picture doesn't look very happy, but that's just because we told her to smile and she thinks this is what that means. Crazy kiddo.

She's a little person, so we only boiled 6 eggs for the occasion, and only dyed these three before she picked up the mugs and poured them out on our raggedy towel. It was a fun activity and she really enjoyed coloring on the eggs before we dyed them and putting stickers on them after. And then she dropped two of them.

Clearly a successful attempt at a fun family activity/tradition. Happy Easter!

Computer Repairs

One thing I love about Adam is his inherent curiousity about life. If he finds something he's interested in, he'll learn everything he can about it. He's also a doer, meaning that if he has an idea, he acts on it, instead of putting it off or making excuses.

For example, for Christmas, he built us two nice computers that we can do whatever we want on. He did all the research on how to build them and what works together, watched for good deals, and ordered everything.

And when one of them starts acting funky, he can figure out what's wrong and fix it. He's so handy.
He would also like me to mention that this computer is the first one he built and the wiring is much neater on the second one.

Our House

Since we're doing all kinds of adult things this year like having a second child and graduating with an advanced degree, we thought we'd add one more bit of fun to the mix. We're buying a little townhouse. This little townhouse. It's the same layout as our current rental, with a few tweaks that make it WAY better.

Dining/Living room without carpet! Yay!

Little kitchen with real tile instead of linoleum! 

Half bath with cupboards! 

Enclosed, carpeted, non-rickety stairs to the basement! 

Nice bathroom in the basement 

Drywall, carpet, windows that open and close, and blinds in the basement!

We lose a little space in the master bedroom, but we think it's worth it for the third bedroom! Both kids get their own room! 

 

 

This'll be Rafe's little room. Definitely big enough for a crib, dresser, and recliner. 

This'll be Lyds' room. Nice ledges on the windows for stuff. 

And a slightly bigger porch out back. Our realtor suggested getting a turtle sandbox for the kiddos. I might go for that.

Did you enjoy our little tour? I'm looking forward to the hard floors in the dining area, turning the basement into a den/playroom/guestroom, and the kids having their own rooms.  

Tricky Baby

"You thought you could get a picture of me smiling, eh? Silly Mom. Let me throw my head back so my adorableness is wasted on the corner of the room."

Big Girl

Guess who dressed herself today? What gave it away - the inside out dress, the one shoulder off, or the mismatched colors?

Happy Easter

I make no guarantees, but at the urging of several people, this blog may be making a comeback. Even more shocking, it comes new and improved with pictures of children!
 

I never said the pictures were good. Have you ever seen a baby with such a "meh" expression? I guess he was disappointed that his sister got all the Easter candy. By the way, that's Rafe. Welcome to the blogging world, little man!