The Mama Role

So my goal for the summer is to wake up and be dressed before the kids get up so that we can go ahead and start our day and not be waiting around eating fruit snacks while I put on my makeup.

(Not that that's ever happened before of course.)

Well, last night Caroline was up twice to nurse - again - and then she was up at 6:55 for the day, all smiles and ba-ba-ba's. And I had certainly not gotten up and dressed before 6:55.

I'd really just like to be ready by 7:30 or 8:00, but an early rising baby throws my whole plan out of whack. And maybe if I went to bed earlier I could get up and be dressed by 6:55.

But Andrew doesn't go to bed until 8:30 or 9:00 - why, oh why does he not need to sleep?? - which really leaves me with so little down time. I still have to clean the kitchen and switch out laundry and meal plan and pick up around the house and write blog posts and edit photos....and you get the idea.

So I really struggle with getting to bed early.

Then I'm on this endless loop of playing catch-up.

And I feel like I'm running, running, running all day.

Mostly I'm feeding people. Or cleaning up from feeding people. Or deciding what I'm going to feed people. Or bathing the people after I've fed them a delicious well-planned(ha!) dinner. So much of my mom role revolves around food.

And I really worry that I'm not engaging Andrew enough. Most of his play right now is imaginative. He has tons of hats and vests and props in his adventure chest and all day he's either a fireman or a jungle explorer or a tennis-playing superhero or a chef. But he really doesn't want to sit down and read books much anymore. :( He will, but not for long.

We talk about letters and their sounds all the time. "A for Andrew!" He gets so excited about that one. But he'll trace letters in his little workbook for about 3.2 seconds before he's off on another adventure.

And he watches more TV than I'd like. Umizoomi and Mickey Mouse on and off during the day. I keep thinking I should set strict limits, but he doesn't nap so the days that we're home I really need for him to sit and be quiet for a while so I can do stuff or put the baby down for a nap.

All this to say, I really don't have this mom thing figured out. I just really love my kids, and I really love hanging out with them. I just want to give them my very best, and I hope I'm doing that.

My Water Baby

We got Caroline in the pool for the first time this weekend, and it's safe to say she's a fan!

She splashed and she smiled and she squealed.

It helps that her daddy was a competitive swimmer all the way through college. It's in her genes. I think it'd be hard for her to NOT love the pool.

Look! She even tried to swim!

She'll probably be donning goggles and flippers by the end of the summer! Ha!

And remember how Andrew had a fever last week? Turns out it was roseola or some kind of fever virus.

Poor guy had a rash all weekend, but it didn't slow him down.

{Linking Up for Wordless Wednesday: The Paper Mama, Naptime Momtog, & Project Alicia}

Have a Refreshing Summer

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day! We had a great time hanging out with family at the lake, swimming and boating and barbecuing. In fact we had so much fun and played so hard this weekend that Monday was spent lying on the couch watching Cars, hoping for bedtime. Ha!

So now that Memorial Day has come and gone it's officially summer. Whoa...this year is flying by!

But I know some people have to go back to school this week to finish up, and I thought I'd try to make your last-minute end of the school year teacher gifts a little easier to put together.

Remember how much I love these cups?

Well, I was inspired by Pinterest to give Andrew's sweet teachers one. But I wanted to change up the flag a bit and personalize it.

So I came up with these:

They were so cute and his teachers just loved them.

And today I'm sharing the printable flag with you! I added a bunch of tiny flowers to the design and removed the personalization.

I think any teacher would be thrilled with these cups!

You can download the JPEG file here.

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One of my local blogging friends Cynthia at Oh So Pinteresting posted today about the best way to clean the straws on your cups. I hadn't really thought about it, but they can be a little tricky to get completely clean. You will definitely want to check it out!

Week in (iPhone) Photos

This was our first week of "summer break". I say that in quotes because it really wasn't that much different than a normal week, but we didn't have our two-mornings-a-week Mother's Day Out so Andrew was with us a little more than usual.

Which always adds to the fun!

1. Too cool for the park
2. Playing together-ish
3. Andrew was a superhero at Target

4. Pajama ball
5. Butterfly? Moth?
6. Pajama baby

7. Baby in the grass
8. Summer salad - yum!
9. The view from our office. I spent Monday there - my first almost-full day since C was born
10. Baby toes at the park

11. Fresh strawberries - Andrew's favorite
12. On her tippy toes - when did she get SO big??
13. Lunch!
14. Love her

15. TWO Target trips. They're remodeling and it's very fancy now
16. I'm always surprised to see the city on the way home from Sonic

Since Andrew was under the weather for two days we were home much more than I would have liked to be. We had to cancel two playdates. :( Next week we'll all be healthy and ready to party!

Hope y'all had a fun week and Happy Memorial Day weekend! Don't forget to download my cute printable banner for your Memorial Day party!

And did you see I put out a call for sponsor swaps? I'd love to feature a few of my readers this summer! Send me an email if you think we'd be a good fit!

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Linking up with Amy @ a good life. Head over to see more fun iPhone photos!

Summer Sponsor Swap

I've decided to try a sponsor swap. I have no idea how it will work or if I'll keep it up or if any of you fabulous readers will be interested, but I'd like to give it a shot. For the summer.

It'll be like a summer love. If it works out that's awesome and totally cool, and if not, I'll know it was just a fling. :)

So, send me an email (meaganmusing@ymail.com) if you'd like to swap buttons! I'm looking forward to it!

(The fine print: I'd like to share the love with other blogs that have similar points of view or voice if you will: other moms who love photography, their children and all things pretty. And if you're not a mom, that's okay, too.)

Stir Crazy

Andrew's had a low grade fever the last two days so we've been hanging out at home waiting for him to get better.

ohmyword we're all going crazy. You can only watch so much Nick Jr. and build so many Lego car ramps.

Twenty-four hours: the maximum amount of time we can happily stay home without wanting to run away.

So I'm packing the kids up and we're going to Sonic happy hour. A diet cherry limeade will fix anything. :)

Stars & Stripes Printable Banner

Do you have big Memorial Day weekend plans?

We're excited around here. This weekend will be our first official lake weekend of the summer. We'll be at my parents' lake house for swimming, boating, beers, backyard barbecues, and lots of family of course.

So I decided to create a little patriotic banner to make our weekend a bit more festive because well, I'm kind of crazy about making fun stuff in Photoshop.



This banner has been hanging on my mantel for a few days and every time I see it I think summer.



It's also given me an opportunity to talk to Andrew about Memorial Day. I'm not sure he really gets it, but he knows we live in Texas, America and that counts for something, right? :)

Do you want your own stars and stripes banner?



You can download the zipped file here.

(Make sure you remember to click extract all files after you download or you won't be able to print them. Also, remember, these are for personal use only!)



After you've downloaded you'll need to:

-Print out the banner. You can make as many triangles and stars as you need for your space.

-Cut out the shapes. You can use a paper cutter like this one from Fiskarsor you can use your regular scissors.

-Punch a hole in the top corners of the triangles and in two ends of the stars. (I didn't do this, but I would if I were going to make it again.)

-String them together with twine.

-Hang on your mantel or wall where you're having your patriotic get-together and enjoy!

So, what are you doing for the holiday weekend?

{Linking Up for Wordless Wednesday: The Paper Mama, Naptime Momtog}

Living Abundantly

Look who is thisclose to walking on her own!



She only needs to hold on to my finger and off she'll go. And she's pretty proud of herself too. She wants to make sure you're watching her and if you say "good job Caroline!" she claps for you.

I was looking back through some of my posts from the beginning of the year, and I read that I'd said one of my goals for 2012 was to focus on life.

I thought, huh, that was a really silly thing to say. What else would I be focusing on? But then I gave it some more thought. Brian and I had recently discussed that there are people who let life just happen to them rather than taking charge and living the life that they desire.

I want to be one of those take charge kind of people.



One my favorite scriptures is John 10:10. Jesus says I come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

How thankful I am that we have the opportunity to live abundantly!



My life right now is full of laundry and dirty diapers and bathtime and dirty floors. But it's also full of popsicles on the back porch and Nick Jr. dance parties, precious first steps and snuggles.



This season of my life is full of opportunities to live abundantly. I'm going to seize them and revel in them.

Last Day of School

Yesterday was Andrew's last day of Mother's Day Out.



We gave his sweet, patient teachers one of my favorite cups. (Thanks for the idea Pinterest.)



What a fast, fast year it was.

He seemed like such a baby when school started last fall, and now he's a little boy, super opinionated and insisting on doing everything by himself and his way, thankyouverymuch.

Sometimes I wonder if he were my only child would I still think he was closer to a baby? Compared to Caroline he's practically a grown-up. And I think I surely treat him differently than I would if he didn't have a little sister.

He ran away from me in the parking lot at swimming lessons this week. He hadn't done that in months, and I was just shocked. (I was also angry!) I had Caroline in the carseat and our swimming stuff in my arms. Another mom helped me corral him in front of my car. She asked how old he was, and I told her three last March and definitely old enough to know not to run off in the parking lot.

Her (only) little boy had turned three in January and she seemed to think maybe Andrew wasn't really old enough to know not to run off in the parking lot. So maybe I give him too much responsibility because I have to split my time with the baby?

Well, I'm surely helping him to be more independent and that counts for a lot I think.

As we start Andrew's summer break he:

- is really, really into knights and swords and pirates and swimming
- loves to dress up as fire-fighter Andrew, a green monster and a race car driver
- likes to play tennis in the backyard
- wants to sit on my lap when we read books
- tries to share his lollipops with his sister
- has so much energy it's amazing - he's up at 7:30, in bed at 8:30 or 9:00 and never naps
- really looking forward to our trip to the beach to build more sandcastles
- fully potty trained - yay! - though he still needs some help
- loves to watch Mickey Mouse, Team Umizoomi and Mike the Knight
- eats too many Scooby fruit snacks
- is crazy about his daddy

I'm really looking forward to our summer. He's doing a short MDO program in July but will be home all week for about eight weeks. I hope I can come up with enough activities to keep him busy. I foresee lots of mornings in the backyard sprinkler!

Have a happy weekend y'all!

Neighborhood Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite flower.

I love that they're made up of little teeny tiny individual blooms.

I love that their colors are so varied.



And I love that they last for a long, long time when cut and well cared for.



I've been driving by these hydrangeas in my neighborhood for days and this morning I just had to stop.





I have no idea who lives in the house with the beautiful hydrangeas. There was a truck in the driveway when I stopped. I wondered if someone would come out to ask what in the world are you doing??.

But no one came outside. Whew.



Surely they would have thought it was perfectly normal for me to be snapping photos of their beautiful blooms. Right?

Linking up:

Family Days

I have a really great sister.

She's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.



It's true.

And we're so lucky that she and her family live just a few blocks from us. My eighteen month old nephew, Reid, and Andrew are already buddies.

And Reid thinks Caroline is so funny: "baby!"

It's super cute.



My parents live about forty minutes from us and have a great pool which is awesome since Andrew and Reid love to swim.





All winter Andrew's been counting down the days 'till summer and pool weekends with Mimi and Papa Jack.



I love that Reid is old enough to play with Andrew. By the end of the summer he'll be talking up a storm, even more than he is now. I can't wait to hear what he has to say!



Having family close by is such a blessing. They're there when you need help, and they're there for afternoon playdates. I love that our kids are going to grow up together. And I'm sure they'll be great friends!

Do you have family close? Do you get to see them often?

Linking up:
Joshua's Photo Party
Wordless Wednesday @ Project Alicia

Mother's Day Baseball

So I've decided my Mother's Days are going to be all about sports from now on...

Last year for Mother's Day we went the Mavs' playoff game and beat the Lakers by about 32 points. This year my family headed out to Arlington for the Rangers game vs. the Angels and we beat them 13 to 6 and got to see a grand slam.

We're clearly good luck!



Last night's weather was just perfect for baseball. We really couldn't have asked for anything better considering it's the middle of May and it can often be super hot and muggy already. But not last night. It was crisp and breezy and even a little cool.

Original family four.

With the boys.

Our seats were awesome, right behind home plate. I'd never sat that close before and it made the game completely different. We were much more a part of it all, and it made it way easier to stay involved in the game.



There were beers and peanuts.



And lots of laughs.



Earlier in the day my kiddos gave me a sweet, sweet card.



And Brian detailed my car.



They're the best. I felt so blessed and surrounded by love.

I hope your Mother's Day was a wonderful celebration whether you spent the day with your kids or with your own mom.

And if you spent your day missing your mom or longing to be a mom I pray you found peace and comfort knowing that so many were thinking of you yesterday.