I Feel Like a Bad Mommy

Okay, this sibling rivalry stuff is going to kill me. My gosh, one of them is just 3, the other isn't even a year old yet, and already it's starting. Jonathan can't stand it when Matthew gets near his toys, crawls into his room, pulls his hair (well, I guess I can't blame him there....), and apparently, now he doesn't even like it when Matthew cries. Well, Matthew's crying is inevitable. He is, after all, a baby. I just don't deal with this very well. Jonathan doesn't like the crying, so he fusses at Matthew, which upsets Matthew more, he cries louder, which irritates Jonathan, who fusses louder, and you know where this is going. And it ends with me screaming at Jonathan. Then he starts to cry. And then I feel like someone has punched me in the stomach because I've now made my angel sad. Sometimes I feel like I just can't win. Evenings are worst - when the kids are tired, and I'm at the end of my tolerance. I tell myself to not expect too much of them, they are, after all, just tiny little people who still have a lot to learn. Somehow, somewhere, I've got to acquire some more patience, or at least a better way to deal with this stuff - it's just going to get worse. What's going to happen when they're 10 and 8 and giving each other black eyes????

So Big and Other Stuff

Oops - missed a few days of blogging - but we (the boys and me) were down at my parents house for about 10 days for a visit.

Here's some pics - the first is when they were all playing on the front lawn at my parent's house. The other one is Matthew, who is now

just over 11 months old, and seems to have gotten the hang of "SoBig!" Anyway, we did some fun stuff while we were there - went to the Baltimore Zoo, had a picnic, fed some geese at Liberty Reservoir, hiked to a "waterfall" (actually, the base of Liberty Reservoir with the overflow spilling over), and celebrated Poppy's birthday. We got home a little worn out, but thanks to the Memorial Day holiday, I had an extra day to get unpacked and get everyone caught up on sleep!

Hide and Seek

I just have to write this - Mark actually beat me home this evening - he was early getting home from work, and I made a late afternoon trip to the grocery store with the kids - so as I'm scrambling to get dinner on the table (it's in the oven now), I'm listening to ALL my boys playing in the other rooms. Jonathan is playing Hide and Seek with Mark - and it's a riot to listen to....an awful lot of giggling is going on, and although Jonathan now counts to ten pretty well, it still comes out a little garbled at times. Matthew and Bella? In the middle of the melee, Matthew's giggling up a storm, and Bella is running around giving away all of Daddy's cool hiding spots!!

Me and My Boys

Here's my boys and me - Mark took our picture after we got home from running around all morning. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be - perfectly sunny all day and a solid 70 degrees and DRY! Just like being out West!
Anyway, we had a nice day - we bought some new plants at the native plant nursery, and I'm anxious to get them into the ground, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow night because tonight is the season finale of SURVIVOR and I just can't miss it. Yes, I watch it - religiously. I think I've maybe missed one episode out of all 14 seasons. Crazy? Maybe - but I still think it's a great show!

Mother's Day Eve

Another shot of Jonathan with the flowers - everyday we walk down to the mailbox while Matthew takes his nap, and we talk a little botany, a little ornithology and a little zoology. He's getting great at identifying the wildlife. I've started to bring my camera on these little walks outside - he loves to pose by the flowers!

Tomorrow's Mother's Day - we're going to church, then out to breakfast at the newly refurbished Hen House Restaurant, then going to visit Elkridge Nature Works - a native plant nursery near us. A full day for the little guys - we'll come home after that for naps - and Mark has to cut the grass! I've been cutting grass lately - but it doesn't seem right for me to cut it on Mother's Day - no, I'll just slave in the kitchen for half the afternoon.....

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Flowers and Vegetables

Well, we've been pretty busy. First of all, me and the boys had a stomach thing all weekend - I'm not sure we all had the SAME thing, but luckily, we're all better now. Set us back a few days on the gardening, but a few nights hard work, and we're back on schedule!

Mark and I have discovered the joys of gardening while the kids are asleep. Since we're getting more daylight in the evenings now, we work in the gardens until dark, and then we turn on the floodlights and continue. Most nights the last few weeks, we've been working until 10pm, trying to get this place looking a little presentable.

Last night we put in our vegetables - we have a terraced vegetable garden right next to the house, outside the kitchen. Great location for a veggie garden - and we love to eat what we grow. This year we kept it manageable - zucchini, tomatoes and a few varieties of peppers. And herbs! We have rosemary, sage, chives, dill, lavender, oregano and lemon thyme.

And a few nights ago, we finished up in our flower garden, which we're turning into a bird and butterfly paradise! We want to throw some terraces into that garden maybe as early as this fall, so we didn't overdo it with new plantings this season. But we have tulips, irises, columbine, dahlia, peony, celosia and dianthus thus far. The perennials and the bulbs are in the permanent part of the garden, and the annuals are in the sections that are going to get ripped when the growing season is over.

We never knew how relaxing it could be to garden after the kids are asleep. Why we never considered it as an option before is a mystery to us, but now we find ourselves looking forward to it - a chance for us to connect as adults, break down the day, enjoy some cold beers, and share our thoughts - whatever they may be - without any interruptions (well, except for the occasional break to go hunt for the dog who takes off after wildlife when our heads are turned.)

A Trip to the Dentist

Today, Mark and I had dentist appointments. We took the kids with us, of course. Jonathan hadn't seen the dentist yet, but we recently added him to the dental insurance, so I was going to make him an appointment for next week sometime. But when the hygienest and I were talking about it, she told me the doctor could check his teeth today, and then he'd have his first cleaning in six months when Mark and I returned.

So, officially, Jonathan had his first dentist appointment today! He was fairly eager to get up in the chair, much to our surprise. But we were all in the room together, and he watched Dr. LaParle check my teeth, and then the doctor suggested he climb up on me, and just lay on my chest while he looked at Jonathan's mouth. Jonathan climbed right up and did great!! He actually has an extra tooth up front, but the doc wasn't too concerned - he said IF it was permanent, we could just leave it alone unless it gave him trouble. Said it was a genetic problem - must be from Mark's side of the family ;-)

Oh, and yeah, me and Mark were clean - no problems this time!! We left the dentist, went out to lunch at the Baltimore Street Grill and then hit the downtown flower show that's running all weekend. We're starting to plan our gardens for the summer - flowers and veggies, so we were looking for ideas.

Okay - so I'm not the greatest blogger in the world. But we were out of town for a few days, and now that we're back, I had so much stuff to catch up on. The latest update on the kids? Well, Matthew went from simply standing, to cruising, in just 5 days. Somehow I thought that would come a little later, but no. He pulled up, and just did it - went from one end of the couch to the other. He's also getting two teeth - one just broke through yesterday, the other is threatening. By this time next week, this won't be an issue, but man is it tough getting through it!

Jonathan continues to amaze us every day. Today I went to Staples because Mark needed a headset for his work phone. So I piled the kids in the car and told them where we were headed. Jonathan immediately remembered (from 5 MONTHS ago) that Staples is where he gets boxes of Crayons (we were there shortly before Christmas and I had bought him a new box then). So as I'm pulling into the parking lot, he starts talking about Crayons, and then tells me to "go down #5". I'm like - WHAT? The whole time I'm unbuckling car seats, locking the car, getting them settled into a cart, etc..., he continues with "go down #5, Mommy." Then I realized why. Sure enough, the Crayons were in Aisle 5. Is this kid crazy or what? Maybe I should start asking HIM where stuff is in the grocery store when I can't find it!