In It To Win It

confession: i love american idol.
even if the current judges act like care bears and i never cast an actual vote, it's entertaining and nonviolent.  exactly what i'm looking for in a television show. 

 tonight noelle made a comparison that i strongly opposed. 

as a mother, i had to. then i compared for myself and... 

dang. noelle was right.
anton may look like jeremy rosado in sixteen years. maybe he'll have a buttery voice too. 

*for the record, this is NOT an endorsement of jeremy rosado. his voice is lovely and he seems like a nice guy, but there are better picks from the men's group. 

**also for the record, this was anton's first time in real shoes.  he hasn't worn them since. 

Reliving the Moments

Stella was watching home movies of Christmas and kept saying, "In!"  I gently tried to explain that people can't get in iPhones, she wailed, "Please!" and then broke down in sobs. Because she's almost two.  Irrationality prevails.  I get it.  And Christmas was fantastic.  I'll just relive it here...two months later.

We celebrated with the Nicolais a week before Christmas.  Jolly Old St. Nick came while we were eating lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.  Amazing guy, right? 

While Anton enjoyed his bottle and snuggled in for a car nap, Stella frosted cookies for Santa.
Loose interpretation of the word "frosted."

She ran past the presents to check the cookies.  Santa only took a nibble so Stella finished them off.  That's my girl.  Priorities people, priorities. 

I tired everything to get picture of them together by the tree.  

EVERYTHING.   Humor, bribes, threats, pose suggestions.  

Here's where I suggested Stella give Anton a hug.

Here's where I offered them cookies to be still.

Here's Anton while Stella ran her energy off.

Better luck next year.  Or maybe in ten years. 

We spend the 25th with the Gardners.  Epic fail capturing the moments with pictures but believe me, it was a heavenly visit.  Even if the babies (and some adults) had a nasty stomach virus.  Some highlights, since the blog is my journal until this arrives.

• the MOST perfect presents (no one gives gifts like my in laws) ((and yes, I'm leading with gifts. that's how good.))
• a patient dog for Stella to love on and feed and follow and boss around
• Anton LOVED playing with cousin Chloe.
• Cafe Rio mint lemonade.  Life changing. 
• visiting with siblings we don't see enough of, cousins we don't see enough of, and friends (you-guessed-it) that we don't see enough of.
• Stella built her first snowman.

LOVE....at the beach

We spent Valentine's Day (plus a few) at the beach.

We missed Jason but loved the breeze and warm sun on our skin t-shirts. As badly as I want to be brown, we aren't messing with sun damage.

Stella and Anton were deliriously happy--seagulls, playgrounds, digging toys, special snacks, beach chairs, sand castles and wave jumping. 
Anton ingested several handfuls of sand.  How does that happen more than once?

Thanks to everyone who encouraged us to go. The fun to travel-hassle ratio was worth it.

This is NOT what it looks like.

Because it looks like more gratuitous pictures of my babies.  

When actually this is photographic evidence that both kids were fed, dressed, and ready for errands at 8:30 a.m.

Huzzah! 

 

And while I'm talking about how things look...does anyone know how to reach the middle ground between freaky flash and a totally washed out image?

My Mama's Boy--10 months

Mothering Anton yanks at my heart. In a good way. Stella is independent and bold. She loves a thrill and any form of social interaction. Anton is, in every way, more subtle. He observes intently and is sensitive to his environment. New situations are often overwhelming. He is quick to call for help. And in a world slanted towards extroverts, I find myself fiercely protective of him. He has a shy smile and an endearing giggle. He loves avocados. His arms shake with excitement at the very sight of Stella. And, oh, my boy could cuddle all day long.  Just writing this makes me want to go snatch him up from his crib and kiss him a thousand times. 

One of my 2012 resolutions is to celebrate more. I'll save the details for my journal but suffice to say, Anton gives good cause for celebration. Aside from his early arrival to the planet, Anton's life pace is completely unrushed. While I anxiously waited to check off milestones (why is this part of my personality?), he took his time to push up on his arms, roll over, hold a sippy cup, crawl, etc. 

 

And so when he does anything new I die with excitement. It's almost embarrassing. If you could have seen me the first time waved bye-bye. 

Days before entering his tenth month, my little man started crawling. The sound of his pudgy hands smacking across the kitchen floor kills me. Speed is only a factor if he's after pompoms, the vacuum hose or Uncle Matt. (He loves Matt almost as much as he loves Stella.)