Tea for Two

One of the big adjustments for me as a mom of two now is making sure I am setting aside time for Hannah. She is with me all day, almost every day (except going to preschool), but I don't spend a whole lot of time where she has my full attention. Do you all think I'm a bad mom now? Does anyone else struggle with this? Part of it is that when Caleb is napping, I've got things that need to get done that day; phone calls or emails, food prep, dish washing, laundry, etc. And as much as I can I try to involve her in those everyday tasks. At other times I'm just too exhausted. Hannah wears me out just by watching her. That girl has enough energy to spread through the whole family.

 

So lately I've been praying for more of a desire (and energy!) to play with Hannah. And at the suggestion of Chris, I'm trying to come up with ideas of things I like to do as well so it's more fun for both of us.

One of our new favorites is a tea party. I have memories from when I was a little girl visiting my grandparents and having a tea party with my Mimi. She had a miniature tea set and we would fill the pot with apple juice and eat Russian Tea Cake cookies that she had made. It makes me smile thinking of those times.

A few times now Hannah and I have had a tea party, and it's been so fun for both of us. It's a good chance to sit and talk with her, and a great excuse to eat cookies. :)

Summer Happenings

So we got close to checking off everything on my Summer Fun list (yes, I actually put checks next to the things we did on the list I made and stuck on the fridge. I am a list person and love to cross things off when they're completed). The only outstanding activities are a trip to the SB zoo and the Aquatic Center. It was a really fun summer, but I'm also looking forward to fall and hoping cooler weather will come along soon (time to start baking!).

  

We did make it to the beach a couple of times...

This is what Caleb did at the beach

This is what I did at the beach

And Chris took Hannah out in the water to boogie-board

Hannah loved the beach...

And crashed out at bed time

Hannah had swim lessons again this summer. She's no longer hesitant to put her head under water, but is not quite swimming on her own.

This is her first day of preschool, she was super excited and has the same teacher as last year.

It's been hot this summer, so we had sprinkler play time

Caleb turned into a gnome, thanks to his big sister

We enjoyed some dinners in the backyard, like these amazing tacos with fresh avocado and garden tomatoes. Yum!

We also fit in a short trip to Cayucos, one of our favorite places. We had a great time playing on the beach, getting ice cream, and having breakfast at the Sea Shanty.

I can't drive north without stopping at the Avila Valley Barn. We stopped there on our way home from Cayucos to feed the animals and have some ice cream (did I mention that this family likes ice cream?)

 

 

 

 

 

The kids and I also went to the Ventura County Fair, and the last few weeks we've been doing some hikes to get Daddy ready for hunting season. Hannah also got him a camouflage mask for his birthday "so he can be camouflaged from the deer." (in her own words). I'll let you know how well it worked after the hunting trip.

Caleb at 3 Months

So I'm a little behind on this post. Caleb is now about 3 1/2 months, and he is my excuse for not having this done sooner. I was also trying to cram in all those summer fun activities I mentioned in an earlier post before Hannah went back to school last week.We almost made it. None the less, we've had a lot of fun this summer.
So what is Caleb up to these days? Still rolling over from his tummy. He's quite the chatter box too, babbling a lot. Just the other day he found his right foot and will try to grab on to it. He's also grabbing for toys hanging from the play gym. Just yesterday we tried out the bumbo and he seems to like it. Oh, and the biggest accomplishment...sleeping through the night!

We got a lot of open mouth pictures

 

And some cute ones of him staring at Hannah

My little model posing at the end of our session

I am so blessed to be Mama to these two. They make me smile