The Ideal Day

I recently read an article about "fakebooking" and how so many people post status updates and photos that make every moment in their lives seem so glamorous and amazing. Yes, we are all guilty of this but it's also nice to share the good moments of my day among all the other poopy diaper, temper tantrum, toy-cluttered house moments. I also recently had a few moms ask me how in the world I manage to work from home and how I get anything done. So here is a look at a day in the Hill household:

6:00am: Both kids are still asleep in their own beds and my husband has not snored all night. I am well-rested and happy. I check my work e-mail, download my projects for the day, and get started on my work.
Then I prepare breakfast. Homemade gluten-free pancakes, healthy smoothies. My kids come downstairs cheerful and excited to eat this breakfast and start their day.
9:00am: Kids are dressed and we play at the park. My boys set good examples for all the other kids and frown upon those children who eat or throw sand.
10am: My kids sit quietly together and watch educational programming and read books and play trains while I manage to have a conference call work meeting.
11:30am: Lunchtime... My kids ask for second helpings of veggies.We then bake some healthy oatmeal cookies together for dessert. They eagerly help clean up.
1:00-3:00: Naptime. My kids cheerfully go to sleep without a peep and sleep soundly for 2 hours, of which I spend working.
3-5pm: Kids and I paint, color, read books, practice mathematics, etc. I am always present and patience with my children.
6pm: Dave comes home and we have a healthy, home-cooked meal together as a family. He then bathes the kids, puts them in pajamas, and sends them off to bed, while I finish working.
8pm: Dave and I get to cuddle on the couch, watch television or a movie, sip tea, and eat cookies. We are relaxed and amazed at how easy and joyful our day was.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Somehow I think people who aren't actually parents read the above schedule and thought, "Hey... having kids is easy! Such fun!"

Our typical day is very similar to the above structure yet it usually begins with me waking to having one, maybe two children in my bed and me having to drag myself out of bed because I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Breakfast for me is strong coffee. Meal times are nearly always a battle where I attempt to shove nutritious food into my beyond picky 3 year old (and yes, we BRIBE. A lot.) My kids are usually the ones at the park eating or throwing sand, my work phone is always on mute during conference calls, Disney movies are used as a babysitter, toys are all over my house, and once these crazy boys are actually in bed for the night, we spend the rest of the time doing laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. and getting ready to start it all over again. Sometimes I don't finish work until 11pm. It is a very long day.

That being said, I truly love this crazy schedule of mine and I hope my boys read this blog post when they are older and realize how much they owe me! 

The Progression of Our House

We love living here more and more each day. Dave has worked really hard on our house and I think it looks lovely. (Wish I had better pictures but my camera broke...)

We started with this...

Bye Disneyland.... for now

Our Disneyland passes expired and we have to take a break for awhile... it's just too expensive! We had such a blast though and the kids really love it. As frustrated as I am that Disneyland has raised its prices, it still remains a really great place for families to spend time (and we don't even go on very many rides!) It's clean, the food is good and reasonably priced, and they have a ton of things to do for little ones. We will definitely miss our Disneyland weekends. Perhaps Santa will be generous for Christmas 2013 and we will renew.

Totally amazed by the parade

My kids sure do love their Auntie Torrey!

Carter is still terrified of the Disney characters but Archie loves them all!


 We also went to Medieval Times recently. I was not sure how the kids would react (and if they would sit still!) but after a few initial tears because of the screaming and clapping, they both realized how fun it was and joined in the cheering!

Baseball

Baseball. It is one of the only sports that we both enjoy. Dave and I can't wait for our boys to be old enough to start playing tee-ball and little league. There is a huge baseball field in our neighborhood but typically the kids just avoid it and play on the playground instead. But the other day, we found a baseball at the park and Carter asked if we could go play. So off to the field we headed and now they both love it! We run the bases and practice throwing. Basically I just encourage them to run as fast as they can for as long as they can and then naptime is a great success!

Running the bases

Playing with his shadow

We sure do love our neighborhood!

We Had a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Archer's face says it all, right?

We had such a great Christmas this year. It started with a trip to visit my Dad and Mary and the boys got to play with their sweet girl cousins that just loved up on them. We ate delicious prime rib dinner and just played toys and relaxed. We came home on Christmas Eve and baked some Christmas cookies for Santa, then got in some snuggly pajamas and went to bed. Santa was pretty clever this year. All the presents he left were wrapped in Santa wrapping paper and they were to both Carter AND Archer. Santa knows that the boys love to share their toys. (Not sure how much longer Santa can get away with that!) Santa brought the boys a LOT of new trains and a new car track. So far it has provided hours of entertainment so it's been awesome. My mom, brother, Grandma, and Uncle came over for Christmas brunch and then we headed over to Dave's parents house for dinner and more presents with Uncle Brandon, Aunt Jackie, and the cousins. Our kids were exhausted and were in bed that night before 8pm.

Dave and I bought each other a joint Christmas gift this year--we painted our house! I will take some pictures soon. I am so in love with it... I smile every time I drive down our street and see it!

Carter was totally into the spirit of Christmas this year. He was so excited for Santa to come to our house and he was such a big helper with decorating, making cookies, making and painting ornaments, and getting things ready for Santa. The Elf on the Shelf tradition was started this year too (whenever I could remember!) but I think it will be more fun next year. All in all it was a fabulous Christmas and by far one of the best I have had in years!