Little ones in our bed

I took this video the other morning after a night when both babies ended up in our bed.

Although we ARE a co-sleeping/bed sharing family, I had never even heard either of those terms until after Ezra was born.  For us, having our children in our beds has never been something we've done because we think it's what we should do, rather, it's something that's happened naturally since becoming parents 3 years ago.  Cambria slept in our bed sporadically until a year old and then slept in our room until 18 months when we moved into our house the day after Ezra was born.  Ezra was in our bed full-time for the first 8 months and has only gone a few nights of being in his crib all night since then.  I think having them in our beds at different times during their lives has made them feel more secure, connected, and comforted.  Sometimes we don't mind having an extra body in our bed and sometimes we go through phases where we can't stand it and do everything to avoid it.  

Right now, we bed share with both our kids for different reasons.  Besides the emotional benefits, it's a lot easier to just bring a restless child into your bed at night instead of trying to get them back to sleep in their own bed.  And when you're as sleep deprived at Kyle and I often are, it's the most appealing idea at 3 am.  Although Cambria has been an amazing sleeper since birth, she's recently started waking up at night crying and upset and sometimes she will only be calmed by coming into our bed.  Ezra winds up in our bed almost every night when he wakes anywhere from 2-5 in the morning.  Plus, if we just left one of them to cry in their bed alone they would most certainly wake the other one up.  Nothing is worse than having TWO crying children at 3 in the morning. 

I love being woken up by Ezra climbing over me saying "Mama, mama, mama, mama" until I open my eyes.  And on the nights when Cambria winds up in our bed it's nice being able to snuggle with her because she never lets me do it during the day. I oftentimes wonder if I'll miss these little bodies in our bed in 15 years and quite honestly, I'm not sure that I will.  It's nice at times, but I think having 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night sounds really, really appealing too :)

Going to the movies!

 

A few weeks ago we finally took Cambria for her first movie theater experience. We've been talking about doing it for forever so we were all excited to finally go! To say Cambria was excited is an understatement. The girl let out several high-pitched shrills before we left the house and in the car on the way there.  And when we got to the theater she was overwhelmed by everything: the posters, the treats, the lights, the seats, the "big, huge tv" and the people in the theater with us. But honestly, I think she was most excited about getting popcorn and coke :) This was the only time in Cambria's life that we've  purchased a coke and allowed her to drink more than just a sip or two, it was a HUGE treat. We saw Brave and thought it was fantastic.  I've had several people ask if it was too scary/inappropriate, but it was fine for Cambria and she actually liked the "scary" parts.

"Daddy, is that it?!"

The sight of the theater was enough to make Cambria scream again.  She was thrilled to be seeing the movie and I think she was also happy about spending one-on-one time with us. 

popcorn AND coke!

 On the drive home Cambria had a pee-attack so she HAD to stop at Wendys to use the bathroom. Kyle surprised me with a frosty and we all sat in the front together enjoying it.  Another treat! Taking Cambria to the movies made me realize two things: 1) spending time with my children individually is and always will be important and 2) experiencing  joyous and exciting life moments with my child really is just as fun as being the kid yourself.

Recent Happenings

Here's what we've been up to for the last few weeks. 

watching the rain outside

then deciding to head outside to play in it

yes, that's Ezra in the pink and flowery jacket

they had a blast

so did we

making play dough using this recipe

making these banana muffins. LOVE Cambria in this one :)

celebrating my 24th birthday

Kyle got me new workout clothes!

family picture after my birthday dinner at Fishtales

Kyle made me this amazing strawberry cake with THE BEST FROSTING EVER

painting rainbows with our hands

making paper link countdowns to August 1st, Cambria's 3rd birthday

washing the car. Ezra was the best little worker, Cambria not so much :)

picking tomatoes from the garden

randomly captured this picture, one of my new favorites

Ran the 2012 Peachtree Road Race, 2nd year in a row. I didn't train for the race at all, but managed a time of 01:00:14.  I am a little annoyed that I missed being under an hour by 14 seconds. :)

So that's a little of what we've been doing.

Hopefully I can find the motivation (and time) to start updating the blog more often!

Sidewalk Paint

I've had this tutorial for sidewalk paint on my Pinterest for a while and finally decided to try it out with the kids the other day.  The recipe in is simple; 1 cup of water, 1 cup of corn starch, and food coloring.  Of course the best part for Cambria was making the paint. The girl loves to get in the kitchen to make anything.

Ezra liked eating it.

And painting himself.

It quickly became very messy.

All done and covered in paint.

dirty babies

We finished with some naked hose action. The paint washed off them, their clothes and the concrete easily. We'll definitely be doing this activity again! 

Dads

Cambria and daddy at Fort McAllister

Babywearing

Daddy holding two pooties :)

Me and my dad on Father's Day

Kyle and my dad playing a game of pool on my dad's new pool table.

Ezra on Grandpa Finnegan's shoulders at his birthday party.

 I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to post a few pictures of the amazing dads in my life in honor of Father's Day. 

Kyle is an amazing father to our children. 

He listens to them, hugs them, feeds them, bathes them, plays with them, kisses them, reads to them, teaches them things, and most importantly, loves them. 

I honestly don't think there is much else I could have wanted in a dad for my kids. 

And our own dads are great men who've given us both an examples of what a loving, supportive dad can be. 

I love all three of these guys!

Erin and Kevin: Married!

On June 2nd we made a little trip to McDonough, Ga for a wedding. 

Our friends Erin and Kevin got married and it was beautiful! 

Kyle and I actually had our first date with them as a double-date sorta thing.

So Erin and Kevin have always been one of my favorite couples. 

Their wedding was such a blast and it was obvious how genuinely happy and excited they were to be committing themselves to each other. 

Love them!

All of the details were so perfect.

First kiss.

My date :)

Congratulations Erin and Kevin! 

We love you guys and wish you all the happiness in the world!

Two years

Yesterday Kyle and I celebrated two years of marriage!

Two years seems like so long ago. We only had Cambria, we were just graduating from school, and we were in the process of moving to Richmond Hill.  Lots has happened since May 30, 2010. 

Yesterday started out normal until Kyle surprised me with flowers at the Mommy Bootcamp class I do at Forsyth Park.  It was such a genuinely nice thing for him to do and I had to try and hold back a few tears.  Kyle can be so sweet to me and I really appreciate it when he does special things like that. We got some pizza at Your Pie for lunch and it was delicious. 

Little did Kyle know, I had a surprise in the works for him as well.  I asked one of his friends/co-workers Jason to take us on a short airplane ride.  Jason flies planes as a hobby and he's a nice guy so I figured he wouldn't mind, which he didn't. :) After leaving the kids with Mimi, I texted Kyle right as he was leaving work to meet me at the address of where the plane was.  He was so surprised to see me and Jason there waiting for him.  We took a short flight around Savannah and got to see downtown and Tybee.  I'm not a huge airplane person so I was a nervous wreck the entire time and asked a million stupid questions.  Let's just say I breathed a huge sigh of relief once we were back on land.  Jason was an excellent pilot and I was so appreciative that he did this for us. 

getting the plane ready

checking things out inside

just before takeoff

right after we got in the air. i love that you can see the plane's shadow in this picture

Kyle's view

Downtown Savannah

me, secretly freaking out on the inside

Kyle having a blast

it was a tight squeeze, but still very comfortable

Tybee, the pier

pilot + his passengers

after the flight

the boys

After the flight, we got dinner at Leoci's.  This too was an amazing meal, definitely recommend it.

I got Kyle two ties as well

So overall the day was perfect and Kyle and I both enjoyed celebrating it together.  I'm so happy to be experiencing life with such a kind, patient and understanding person. I love you Kyle! <3

And just for fun, here's the wedding slideshow from our wedding.