My New Motto

Peace, love + cupcakes.

Buddo

Our lil' dude is falling in love the football. It is his ball of choice lately. (Dear God, THANK YOU!)


He loves hippos, monkeys + bees.


He talks in silly voices, makes sound effects during stories and running is his speed of choice. He throws everything, bangs on anything, pushes trucks all over our house, smashes ants with his fingers, falls down hard but keeps going, holds his sissy's hands, likes to put clothes on by himself and crawls up on our bed when we are not looking to jump.


(Oh yeah, he makes funny faces at the camera too.) Boys Rule!

Spraygrounds, Blackberries + Marshmallows

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. It's finally summer up here in the NW, and it will be gone before we know it. So we have been out and about doing summer things, and blogging has taken the back seat for a couple of weeks.

Spraygrounds might just be one of the coolest things ever. The modern day open fire hydrant. We have gone to a few this summer, and they definitely do not disappoint.



Blackberries are perfect for picking right now, and there are plenty all over the place. We walk down our road every night and choose a few. Lila + I sing a little blackberry picking song and we try to keep up with Lincoln. Berry sounds like 'boo-wee' and we all come home with purple-stained fingers and faces.





We don't offer these 2 many sweets. I mean hardly any at all. They think fruit is dessert--and in the words of our man, DJ Lance Rock, we think that is awesssoommmeee. They have had a nibble of a treat on a couple of *special* occasions, and tonight, well they hit the jackpot. We roasted marshmallows! Or as the twins called them, 'marsh'. It was super-adorable and Lincoln was in heaven. Lila thought it was cool just to hold it, but wasn't a huge fan. Next summer, SMIGLETS!

Happy (End of) Summer!

Love,
The Swishers

Readers Are Leaders

Well at least that is what I'm gonna tell these 2.

It's Official

It's official folks. The twins now know that I am no longer just some random chick that has spent every waking moment with them for the last 18 months. I am officially 'mama'. Lila has been saying it for a few weeks now pretty regularly, and then last week it was mama everything. Puppy mama. No mama. Outside mama. Up mama. It was like the period at the end of every sentence she said. B + I could not stop laughing. Also last week, probably because of the constant 'mamas' from his sissy, Lincoln picked it up too. More mama, Hi mama, cracker mama and on and on. My favorite from my girl, of course, is 'I luh you mama!' And my dude, well it just melts my little heart when he says 'OK mama'.

I know sooner than later it is going to be the most annoying word on the planet. I was a teacher after all. I wanted to die at the end of the first few days of school when the little ones would say teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher all. the. time. But for now, I want to remember this sweet moment. The moment my children started saying my name. It feels pretty freaking good.

Artist

True artists have NO boundaries. Go Lila Pearl!

Twinz

These 2 are totally BFFs. It's super-cool, and makes my heart verrrry happy. I'm totally fascinated with the relationship of our twins.

Milestones

Tonight our sweet Lila gave us her first, unsolicited, 'I luh you!' All. Three. Words. We were carrying the twins up the stairs for bed--saying and doing all of our usual things. B was holding Lila, and she just said it. Clear as day. And then we melted. And then she said it again--but this time, she said 'I luh you dada'. And then in just a moment, today became perfect. Language development is so, so fascinating!

Here is the Pearl a few minutes before bed tonight.

Projects

Lila + Lincoln, (aka Ms. Lefty + Mr. Righty,) painted yesterday. I love doing art projects with the turds. I love messy, colorful projects that allow the twins to explore their creativity. Do you have some brilliant ideas for 18 month olds??? The messier the better. Do share!

Holding Hands

The only thing more adorable to me than this...


...is this.

EIGHTEEN

Dear Lila + Lincoln,

Eighteen. Eighteen months ago you were born into our family. Eighteen months ago, to the day, is when we officially became Team Swish. Which makes you 1 1/2. Which makes me a little sad, and a lot proud of how much everything has changed since then. Today when we were driving home from your doctor appointment, I just stared at your sleepy little faces. I told Daddy that sometimes I feel like I might just explode into a million little pieces because my love for you is like. growing. by. the. minute. I also remember telling Daddy, (18 months ago to the day and on our way to the hospital), that I knew that I loved each one of you, but it was just so hard to comprehend it because I hadn't officially met you. And then out you came, and just like the freaking Grinch, my heart grew 2 sizes on February 3rd. And my heart keeps on a-growing. Seriously, you guys better stop being so damn precious because I'm not that big and at this rate, I might literally explode. And that would not be good, because who would do all of these jobs then. Yeah, you pretty much still need me.

Lila Pearl, we sure chose the right name for you because you are a gem. A true gem. I don't know how it happened that something so sweet came from me, but God truly has knocked my socks off with your sweetness. And you're so beautiful. As much as daddy + I would love to take credit for your beauty, you just look like you! Maybe a little of us here or there, but mostly you just are perfectly, uniquely you. And we love that. You are starting to learn to sing, you love to dance + you speak so clearly. Some of my favorite things you say are: 'No Kinky', 'No, no Jez', 'Dada at wurk', 'luh you Mama', 'kank you', 'snacks', and 'rock baby'. You march to the beat of your own drum, and we hope you stay that way forever. You are everything I wanted in a baby girl, and I hope you know you have the coolest mom ever. Ok, the funniest.

Lincoln, you are one cool dude. You are sweet and rascal all poured into one tall, extra-lean frame. Your gigantic eyes, and even bigger personality have drawn people to you for 18 months. We recognized something special immediately in you when you were born. You are just a rad little guy. You will stop in the middle of some serious playing, run over to me, give me a kiss, and run back to play. Ahhhhh! Your vocabulary is huge, and you cuddle up with me and listen to stories forever. You love Jez, your blanket, dancing, yelling, kicking the ball, digging, bees, trucks, sissy + daddy and blueberries. You crack me up for days and I love everything about having a son.

Alright turds, Happy 18 months. Your daddy + I love you very much.

Love,
Mama