I have a surprise for you...

...wait for it...

WE STILL EXIST!

(And you thought this would be a pregnancy announcement, or an awesome giveaway- made you look!)

I know, I know, you were getting worried. Allow me to alleviate your concern. 7 months blog hiatus isn't so long, right? Right? It's like a sabbatical... only, I took 7 months of laziness vacation, instead of getting a vacation because I'd worked hard for 7 years. Potaytoes, Potahtoes.

I hit a slump with winter, and then just got really demotivated to keep it up while adjusting through the various early phases with 2 kids under two. I had moments of guilt, because, I mean, I have scads of adoring fans who are just dying to read about the nitty gritty goings on at our house. Among such occurrences is the proximate completion of our basement renovation, so that my mom can move in with us for a while. Also, terrible twos for Annie and first year developmental stages for Sir Hugh: when I have moments of peace and quiet I'm either Blitzkrieg-ing my way through laundry or some other chore, or camped out with a mindless show for an hour.

Excuses aside, summer brings new motivation and uplifted spirits as Hugh is FINALLY hitting a nighttime sleeping stride (through the night, most nights), and we're trying to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible without frying our Irish/Scottish/Scandinavian skin. Thankfully Michael brings some Filipino (and aside: why does the "Ph-" get converted to an "F-"?) to our kids' gene pool, and I'm hoping they won't have to deal with lobster burns, sun poisoning, and skin cancer like my side!

Here are a host of pictures of what we've been up to for the past 7 months. Continue only if you have a lot of stamina:



With his cousin (who is graduating High School!) at Thanksgiving. Ignore his constipated look.



Reading Paddington Bear with Gramma. And naked baby doll.

That doll got taken away eventually: I appreciate the pretend play involved in dressing dolls, but these days it's mostly "remove clothes and leave them lying around everywhere". So we're sticking with permanently clothed dolls for now, to save some of my sanity!



Long laps are good for something!



This was from that time I thought of doing a WIWS post, on Gaudete Sunday (hence the pink!)



Such a little man!



She's knows she's being funny these days.

Christmas: her uncle (and godfather) scored big with a collection of Curious George stories. And we were happy for the variety - the circus train story was getting old fast.



Our 2014 Christmas Card photo, taken before we shaved off all Hugh's dark hair. I think he's staying blonde.



Our Christmas card photo session had so many outtakes, my favorite one having Hugh spitting up all over himself and my hand, unbeknownst to the rest of us. I'll save him future embarrassment though, and not post it here. BUT it is classic!



He know's he's cute.

Makeshift sled, thanks to Costco and Daddy's willingness to haul her around the yard.



Daddy's snowman gets a thumbs up



Hugh's face!



Smoochable cheeks!



Baby wrap from a long piece of knit fabric (Side note, this is NOT how I feed Hugh!)



She's fascinated by him... most of the time.

Annie turned 2! And had a Curious George cake :)

Her cousin is 10 days older, so she got candles, too :)



No caption needed





Life these days: holding Hugh, doing something for Annie one-handed...





This was all she did for a solid week

I bought this kitchen off Zulily 2 years ago, thinking maybe her first Christmas or first birthday. Overzealous first-time parent much? She was definitely too young then, and this Christmas she did NOT need another gift. So it stayed boxed up under her crib until her 2nd birthday, and it was absolutely perfect timing! My mom found a bunch of utensils, food, pots n pans, etc. and gifted them to her, so she was all set. It's actually sized to be a kitchen for an 18" doll, like an American Girl doll, but it works just fine for her, and she really doesn't need more than the stovetop/sink/oven combo anyway! Bonus: it sits at the end of our coffee table and still looks nice. Which is totally petty, I know, but hey. Not having an official playroom area makes me appreciate these things.

 



When I knew the play mat was kind of pointless anymore

 



What she does whenever she sees me with the camera.

 



Stylin' in the jammies and rain boots

I found this Montessori-style toddler apron on Pinterest and decided it looked like an easy enough sewing project for an evening or two. It's nice because she can put it on herself, with an elastic neck strap and Velcro waist.

 

 

Recently we've had many conversations along these lines:

Annie: I want a ... cookie?

Me: You want a cookie?

Annie: OK!

As though it had been my idea all along. Really, it's just me doing that silly thing parents do when their kids start talking: repeating everything back to them for clarification.







Spring! Fresh air! Sticks!
 

When Holy Week and the Triduum rolled around, I was kind of at a loss for activities (aside from coloring pages) for a 2 year old. She understands a lot, but trying to explain suffering, death, resurrection is a bit much for this age. Christmas (baby born, star, angels, gifts brought for the baby, etc are so much more accessible!) She loved our Nativity scene, though, so I went searching for a similar idea for Easter. Behold, a salt dough Resurrection mountain!



 

Simple salt dough molded around a cup or can, hole pierced in the top for the cross, baked for several hours, and voilà! Twigs, a scrap of fabric, and Google image search provided our accessories.

 

Good Friday. Ok, so he's not stripped of His garments, but I wanted continuity of image, and I intended to print a new one, wearing all white, for Easter Day. Didn't happen, but best of intentions, right?

Jesus got wrapped up and placed in the tomb on Friday evening, we checked on him on Saturday (still there), and on Sunday he was outside the tomb with the cloth folded neatly inside. Maybe next year we'll get ambitious with guards, an angel, and Mary Magdalene. :)

Dyed eggs to be like those in The Story of the Easter Robin

I was on the hunt for some Lenten books for kids in the 2-3 year old range, and my wonderful sister-in-law found this one: The Easter Robin book is a great Lenten book for toddlers! It communicates the importance of sacrifice and overcoming a set of hardships before new life arrives, with ideas that little kids can understand (about birds and the seasons), and links it all in with Christ's passion and Easter. So great.
 

What We Wore Easter Sunday!

Hats: check! Seersucker: check! Bowtie: check! Plaid: check! Cute and pointless baby shoes: check!

 

Hugh's first solids! He was a bit overzealous, which didn't sit well with him later, poor kiddo.

The hair. We've given him... five? haircuts already. I wonder what it'd be like by now had we not!

The leg rolls. Annie never had them, so I must document the chub!

Cheers to you if you made it through the longest post ever! Hopefully all forthcoming ones will be of a more manageable length :)