piggies, bling, & a firefighter

life is really good here.  don't get me wrong, i still am doing my best to stay sane as i try my best to parent a spunky toddler & chase a curious crawling baby.  but this is the good stuff of life.  sometimes i think my heart is going to explode with love when i watch henry tenderly nuzzle merian....or watch merian hop around in an attempt to make henry laugh.  i adore these kids.  here's merian having her first bite of a real banana....

henry loves his play-doh.

my angel baby and her piggies...

 

  

merian's latest fav has been to surprise us by suddenly making her hands into fists & giving a loud "UGH!!"  it seems to be how she's dealing with her frustration, excitement, or any extreme emotion.  we laugh because it's quite low & guttural.   i never expected to mother a boy that loves to scream and a girl that loves to growl.  the unexpected joys of life.

henry continues to love his digital camera.  this one was his idea.

merian's becoming quite a skilled army crawler.  and i'm having issues with trying to stay ahead of her.  her speed exceeds her coordination these days, so she's doing quite a few face plants as she learns.

 

can you tell which kid is pumped to go play in the snow?  once we got her outside she liked it.  the snowflakes caught on her lashes, and she had no prob letting henry pull her around the yard in her little sled.

i finally did it.  isn't she pretty?

 

i think she's so cute with her bling.  for almost my entire life (it's been that long- right, kara?) i've wanted to get earrings on any baby girl i had.  for multiple reasons....1) i've always loved earrings on babies, 2) it's a fun way to integrate a hispanic tradition (on my already hispanic-looking babe), 3) now she won't have to remember it being done and will be used to having earrings for life.  that was last week.  this week she just cut her first tooth-- it broke through on valentine's day.  mer's a busy girl these days!

here's henry doing his favorite hobby....craft time.  give the kid an envelope and an endless supply of tape (his valentine's day gift) and he's happy for life. 

 

henry saved the day a couple days ago.  he was on a stepstool next to me as we were baking up a storm.  as i was washing dishes i was zoning out henry's "mama, mama" (somehow we moms can start to zone out...maybe after enough questions & demands we start to subconsciously wish or pretend that the kid is calling for some other 'mama')....he finally broke through when i heard, "mama, your mitten is smoking!"  i turned around to see the oven mitt i had placed on the burner (oops) that i hadn't turned off (double oops) smoking like crazy & about to go up in flames.  henry's been applauded as the firefighter of our home and we were so proud of the fact that he saved the day.  thank God we didn't have a fire!

i'll leave you with this pic.  this is what happened when henry obediently put on the jeans i handed him this morning.  i realized it when i heard him complaining about not being able to button them.  can't believe he actually had achieved squeezing into merian's pants!