Grow Slowly!

How can my baby be TWO tomorrow? Two just sounds so BIG! He is big, for sure, always off the charts in both height and weight, and about to pass his sister, but two years old? To me that says that he's not a baby anymore! My boy is much more "adventurous" than his older sister, who remembers every rule and reminds everyone what that rule is if they even look like they might break it, but he is so cute with those blonde curls and big blue eyes that I can't help but laugh when I catch him doing something he's not supposed to be doing. Last week we came home from church and were changing clothes and when I walked in the kitchen he had pushed a chair over to the cabinets, climbed up on the counter and was sitting up there eating bran flakes from the box left on the counter that morning- he just looked at me and said "I dot it!" I had psyched myself up for a challenging two years with babies 16 months apart, and it is definitely getting fun now. He is my snuggler, the one who says "Mama" as he grabs my face, turns it towards him and plants a juicy kiss on my lips, and the one who made me crack up laughing when he pointed up in the sky a few months ago, saw a full moon at dusk, and said "uh oh ball"- with such concern! My most favorite time right now is rocking him at night and singing "I Love You Lord" while he "sings" along. My boy may be two years old tomorrow, but he'll always be my baby! I've gotten his sister trained to say that even though she's growing up, she's growing slowly- but he doesn't seem to have gotten the message!

New Words for Everyone

There seems to be alot going on around here in terms of words from the kids. Bo, who has barely said anything for the past nearly two years (probably because his sister fills in any silence with nonstop conversation or singing), has just started talking and it seems like everyday he is adding at least five new words that I haven't heard him say before. It blows my mind when one day he just points to something and the next he is calling it by name. I should have picked up on it when about a month ago he must have gone around the house 100 times a day asking, "what's that?" When we would tell him his reply would be his typical "huh." Some of the cutest are that he calls Ansley "Sister", something not encouraged by us but he seems to have picked it up and it is apparently easier to say than "Ansley." He calls both of his grandmothers "Nonnie" but with some encouragement will call Honey by her name- guess they are more similar than you'd think! And he can recognize "Daddy's truck" anywhere! It's also so sweet to hear him singing to himself- we were trying to discipher "Di id da daaayyy...maaayyd" in the car the other day and finally came up with "This is the Day!"

In a more bittersweet observation, Ansley is no longer calling things by their cute names like she used to when she was younger which is just more of a flag to me that she's growing up (too fast!). Just today I noticed two words that she has started saying with their correct pronunciation instead of the cute ways that she used to say them. We were playing in her kitchen and she made me a "hamburger"- which was formerly known as a "ham-bay-gur" or a "cheese-bay-gur"- I asked her wasn't it a hambaygur and she just looked at me like I was crazy for calling it that and said, "no mom, it's just a hamburger!" Also, our friend Patrick has been called "Mr. Packert" by Ansley since she could talk, but today she called him by his real name. Again, I said, "I thought his name is Mr. Packert" but she refused to call him that anymore.

However, she still has a few and she is picking up on so much everyday still that it's funny to hear sayings come out of her mouth that are totally out of context- like I asked her what she was doing the other day and she said, "just don't worry about me, mom!" and her Papa told me yesterday that he had to get onto her a few weeks ago at their house and she looked at him and said, "Papa, you don't talk to me like that!" I'm sure that went over well! The Fox and the Hound, her current favorite movie, is known as "The Ham and the Fox" around our house. And a word that they both use to each other, with anger in their voices, is "ABBERR!"- which we're yet to figure out! I asked Ansley what that meant the other day when they were saying it to each other, and she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know."

I have become more aware of my lack of organizing when it comes to planning meals, grocery shopping, and cooking and have decided to make an effort to improve that aspect of my job as a homemaker. In the seven years that we've been married I have never been one to look at the calendar and plan my week and the meals that we'd eat ahead of time. When I go to the grocery store it is usually because we don't have ANYTHING to eat and I am feeding my children raisins and popsicles for lunch, at which time I buy the usual staples at the grocery store. I tend to get into a rut buying the same snacks, cereals, etc. but it makes for quicker shopping. When I'm there I try to buy food for that night's dinner (which I am usually trying to remember the ingredients to because I forgot the recipe- I usually fail and end up calling Rob and get him to stop by and bring home the one missing ingredient- which he loves!). If I'm really on the ball I can come up with the ingredients for TWO night's dinners but that's usually my max. Most of the time I am going to Publix for that night's dinner and that's all I get.

I have to say I do come by it honestly- I remember going by the grocery store almost daily when I was growing up so I guess I figured that's how most people did it and I would venture to say my mom would be impressed if I only went to the grocery store 3 time a week (which usually means we would eat out at least 2-3 times a week). So when one friend told me that she not only always has a list at the grocery store but that it's also organized by isle, I gave her a really hard time and figured she had too much time on her hands (even though she's got 3 kids)! Then we asked some other friends to go out to eat with us last week and she proceeded to tell me that they were already off for the week for what they were supposed to eat each day so it would be fine.

So, I decided maybe I can do a little better at this organizing thing and maybe I'd spend a little less time at Publix (and maybe save some money in the meantime)! Yesterday I went to AJC.com and downloaded their seven-day menu planner, wrote down all of the ingredients that I would need for the dinners, make a list of what we would eat which night, and actually bought everything on my list. Maybe everyone else regularly does this but it seems a little too binding to me- I am pretty spontaneous and don't like to be too committed in case I change my mind and decide to do something else- which gets me in trouble periodically. But I decided that we'd spend less money eating out and I would be better prepared if I got a little more organized so I'm trying. Hopefully Ansley won't be too disappointed that we're not eating at "Welcome to Moe's" quite as often!