1.5 and 3.5

We are at the half-year mark and I have to say, so far this is my favorite age in both boys. They get along well and they are becoming more independent which makes my days so much easier! Their personalities have changed so much lately. Our usually shy, quiet, well-behaved and reserved Carter turned 3 1/2 years old and became opinionated, loud, friendly, rambunctious, and talkative! I feel like he is testing his boundaries daily now but he is so cute and says the sweetest things that most of the time I find myself laughing (emphasis on the word most). He is playing soccer now which is pretty hilarious considering the kids are 3-5 years old and the coaches spend most of the time trying to keep the kids in line and out of the nets. Carter will be starting preschool in the fall which we are all so excited about!
As for Archie... my baby has grown into a fun-loving toddler and we just can't get enough of him. He was definitely a high-needs baby and was grumpy quite a bit for no apparent reason. Now, at 1.5 years old, he is easy-going, fun-loving, loud, wild, and so stinkin' cute! He has us smiling all the time. He is a TALKER. I remember at this age Carter spoke words but Archie is speaking in full sentences and is very easy to understand and communicate with. I am amazed at how fast he learns language. For example, he brought me a plastic shovel the other day and said, "What's this?" I replied, "Shovel." He then says, "Shuh-bull!" and runs off to play with it and now it is instantly part of his vocabulary. Amazing! He has memorized the words to many songs, especially the ones we listen to in the car. I think Dave is quite impressed when he hears his boys belt out punk songs in unison.

Riding off into the sunset. . .

Happy Mother's Day 2013

I am a daughter, sister, wife, aunt, and mama. My life is feeling very full and fulfilled. My boys are wild but I  love every second that I spend with them (although date nights with Dave without the kids are still pretty fantastic!) I spend my day warding off tantrums, encouraging good eating habits (or at times just getting them to eat anything), teaching life lessons, dancing wildly, giggling uncontrollably, playing trains, reading books, attempting to create a schedule, persuading my resistant children to sleep, pushing a huge stroller, carrying an increasingly heavy diaper bag, doing load after load of laundry, cleaning a house that never seems clean enough, being climbed on like a jungle gym anytime I lay on the floor in an attempt to exercise, tickling, cuddling, snuggling, enduring Disney soundtracks playing on repeat in the car, making an extra cup of coffee at 3pm just to get through the day... For those mothers out there, you will agree--there are times I feel like I am losing my mind... but it is truly worth it.
Thanks to Dave who decided to try his best to make my day perfect... and it was.

Spring Is in the Air

Life is busy... blogs are few and far between...but we are healthy and happy and enjoying the warmer weather. Our city put on a Spring Fling where the kids could play carnival games and win plastic eggs full of candy and treats. It was a big hit! For Easter we had a big egg hunt at Dave's brother's house with all the cousins. They sure are cute! We took advantage of their Spring Break and met up with them at Irvine Park for the zoo, a train ride, and some ice cream. Dave is trying to convince me to organize our office today but all I want to do is lay around and be lazy. It's been a really long time since we have had a day with nothing to do and I am loving it. 

Carter is hilarious lately. He says the cutest things. He loves imaginary play (but prefers someone to play with him). He does his best to entice us to play with him--today he went up to Dave and said, "I will be Turtle Soup and you can be Gerbil. You know you love it." Archie does everything he can to keep up with his big brother. Carter's favorite train is Gordon, so of course it's Archie's favorite now too. I put Thomas pajamas on Archie last night and said, "Look Archie! Who's on your pjs? Is it Thomas?" He looked at me and said, "No. It's Gordon." Not even sure he can tell the difference between the two but he was pretty insistent. He was a bit spoiled by Easter and now begs at the pantry door all day long for "Candeeeee? Jellwey beans?" He also is fascinated by being outdoors and every time he walks by the back door he begs, "Side? Side? Side?" (outside). Our boys are going through a really wonderful phase right now...they are healthy and joyful and they play together so well. It took us awhile to reach this point (a lot of tantrums, whining, and sleepless nights). I know it won't last forever but Dave and I are really enjoying this time!

Once Carter realized the eggs had candy in them, he was completely content with the few eggs he found
and wanted to just eat all the candy.

Glad I have boys because I can get away with random mismatched outfits like this one
 and no one seems to care.

Carter adores his cousin Matt. 

BFF

Pretty sure there is nothing cuter than this kid without a shirt on. 

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!