Best of Both Worlds

I hesitate to quote Miley Cyrus since she's having a Britney Moment a la 2007, but having two kids is truly the "best of both worlds."

You get the sweetness of a snuggly, sleepy newborn and at the same time you get the hilarity and spontaneity of a toddler. I really love it. I love it more than sleep, and that's saying something because I value sleep more than eating and you all know how much I enjoy stuffing my face. 

I told Nick that when I looked in the mirror yesterday I noticed legitimate aging wrinkles. I went on to complain that having children has instantaneously aged me. I'll be 26 years old in a few weeks and I'm looking more like 36 these days. And as much as I'd like to blame it on my consistent sun worshipping throughout my adolescence and adulthood, I'm pretty sure its parenthood. That said, I love having two kids. 

There is nothing I'd rather do than scrape poop off cute little bottoms and wipe puke of my neck. Well, there might be a few things I'd rather do, but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful to be home with my CHILDREN (Because I totally have CHILDREN now, not just a child). 

Anna is the sweetest baby. I don't know if there is a nicer baby in town. She doesn't cry much, but she speaks the language of Snarfblat (can you tell we watch The Little Mermaid frequently at our house?). At least that's one of her nicknames, the Snarfblat (or Snarfy, Snarfles, Snarf Snarf, etc). 

In case you are wondering, the language of Snarfblat sounds like a small fleet of little piglets, mixed with the heavy breathing of Gollum, accompanied by some impatient grunting. When Anna needs something she speaks Snarfblat to me and THANKFULLY, I speak it fluently. 

Snarfblat and Lucky aren't Anna's only nicknames. I often call her Pumbaa because she is so sweet, (don't let that fool ya) but her toots are gnarly. How such trucker man toots come out of such a cute, squishy bum is a mystery to me, but I'm pretty sure she could win a contest or something. 

Her intestines work excellent, so I also call her Super Squirts (disgusting I know, but I have a lot of time in the middle of the night to come up things to call my baby). And of course, we all call her Anna Banana, Bananarama, Bonanza, etc. If you ask Ev what Anna's full name is she always says, "Anna Banana!" 

Evelyn loves her sister. She has had a few hard days here and there, but its mostly error on my part. As long as Evie and I have some "alone time," with just the two of us, then our days usually go great. I'm learning to balance two kids and it is definitely a challenge, but eventually I hope to get the hang of it. In other Evie news, she is seriously hilarious. She makes me laugh all day. Her personality is the perfect balance of sassy and sweet, intelligent and mischievous and Nick and I just adore her. Here are some recent Evie quotes: 

Ev - "Mom are you doing your makeup?"

Me - "Yes I am."

Ev- "I want to do makeup."

Me - "When you are old like mom you can wear makeup."

Ev- "I don't want to be old, I want to be two."

Me- "I want you to be two! Will you stay two forever?"

Ev - "I will be two forever!"

Ev - "Look! Bear is eating me!" (putting bear to her chest)

Ev - "What does Anna eat?"

Me - "She eats milk."

Ev - "No mom, she eats you."

Me - "Well, there is milk in me, so she does eat milk."

Ev - "No she eats your tummy."

Ev- "Mom why is Anna crying?"

Me - "She's hungry."

Ev - "Anna is crying because she's sad."

Me - "Yeah she is."

Ev - "Its okay Anna. Anna stop crying baby. Mom! Make Anna stop crying. I don't want her to cry...Baby! Stop crying!"

Ev - "I step on her?

Me - "No sweetie, that will hurt her."

Ev - "Oh, I poke her?"

Me - "No Ev, that also hurts Anna. How about you get her a toy instead?"

Ev - "Okay I get her a duck and Ariel."

Ev - "Anna eat this?"

Me - "Well Anna doesn't have teeth so she can't eat food. You can give her some plastic food from your kitchen though."

Ev - "Here Anna. (giving her some plastic food) Don't eat this! You can't eat it because you don't have teeth!"

Ev - "Mom, can you put down Anna?"

Me - "When I'm done feeding her."

Ev - "I need you to take off my shirt so I can feed bear. I need to be naked so I can feed bear."

As you can tell, Ev treats her bear like I treat Anna. She is constantly feeding it and changing it's diaper and when Anna isn't in her bed, bear is "taking naps" in it. She even acts out scenarios she sees me do with Anna. For example, Ev was giving bear a bath in her play kitchen sink and she said, "Oh no! Bear pooped in the tubby. Mom get me a towel!"

If Anna is sleeping or sitting on her Boppy, it is highly likely you will see one of two things. 1) Evie right next to her, or 2) Evie's friends piled up on top of Anna.

 It's pretty cute. 

When Nick comes home from school everyday no one is allowed to hold Anna but him. I get to hold her when she eats (obviously), but he monopolizes her until he goes to bed. Since its football season, Nick gave in and got cable so he and Anna can "watch" the games together. This morning I came downstairs and Nick was snuggling with both girls on the couch watching football. I hope they like watching sports with him forever, but I'm not going to hold my breath. 

Grandma... come baaaaaaaack!!!!!

Since we're stuck at home for the next month and a half, Ev and I have had to get creative to keep ourselves entertained. She has really been into painting lately.

She has been painting mini pumpkins at least five times a day.

It makes a colossal mess, but we both enjoy it and its easy to clean up. Plus who doesn't love to paint?

Her other big thing these days is playing with pipe cleaners. Sometimes we put beads on them and make jewelry. Sometimes we spell out things or twist them into shapes. But lately we've been making "crowns" for ourselves and her princesses to wear. Ev builds towers with her duplos and then puts princesses on top with a crown on their head. Ariel and Cinderella ALWAYS get the tallest towers. 

Ev has a perpetual dirty face these days. 

Ev's also really into changing her clothes recently. She always wants to wear her pajamas for her nap and she changes her pants about five times a day. Also, please note that bear has on a onesie and pants of Anna's. 

Anna has dimples! On both cheeks. This is the best picture I could get of them.

As you can see, Nick and I are having the time of our lives as we try and keep up with our girls. And I know I'm totally biased, but they could not be more adorable. 

And I wish I could have spent the time and made this blog post about three blog posts since there are so many pictures, but I'm really really tired. And please ignore any and all typos - sleep deprivation is not good for the brain.