Visit from 'Papa'

My dad was able to visit us a couple weeks ago, and we had so much fun - especially Addie. This was her favorite activity: playing with Grandpa's cell phones, taking them out of thier cases, eventually figuring out how to unlock them and even place a few phone calls.

Andres was smiley as usual and liked playing with Grandpa alot, especially to show off his amazing dinosaur noises.

We, of course, had to go to Addie's favorite place: the mall. She loves the carousel and was glad that Grandpa was there to go with her. I actually avoid going to Target (one of my favorite stores which is connected to the mall right near the carousel) because Addie knows that the carousel is right next door and throws a fit if we don't go. So we only go if there's time to at least go look at the carousel.

Addie loves computers. Addie loves Grandpa. Addie loves to help. Squeezing on his lap in front of his computer wasn't exactly 'helpful'.

Andres has some pretty good jokes. At least Grandpa thinks he's funny.

Just chilling with Grandpa. Gotta make sure he keeps those glasses clean!

So, yes I got my haircut. For those of you who care, here it is. This is how it looks when I do it with the time that I have; this is not how it looked AT ALL when I came home from the salon. But I like it. The point was to make it short enough that I could not put it up in a pony-tail. Because I found myself doing that EVERYDAY. Since I didn't have time to really do my hair, even if I did find time to blow dry and straighten it, I would end up putting it up because when it gets that long it feels really thick at my neck and would bug me. Plus Andres has officially become the hair puller. Every once in awhile he'll even get Addie. She'll be giving him a hug, and then I hear "mama! bebe hai-ah!" and I have to set her free.

So, today is Mother's Day and it wasn't really the greatest. Don't get me wrong - Jason did a great job with breakfast in bed and presents and such. But I was feeling a bit discouraged and down today. Addie has been acting much more like a typical two year old this week and it has been rather eye-opening. I second-guess myself on everything that I do to try to help her and teach her and am constantly wondering if I am messing up and 'ruining' her.

Today in church we had a lesson on prayer, and it was a great lesson and I made a connection actually in the middle of making my own comment (side note: as I was making said comment, I was standing in the back holding Andres and as I was speaking he spit up all down himself, my skirt and landed, luckily, on the blanket in his carseat). I realized that because these wonderful kids are always around me, they're a constant reminder to me that I have no idea what I'm doing and that I can't do this on my own. Which is why I constantly have a prayer in my heart that I won't do something stupid; that I'll know how to handle whatever comes my way.

It's not that I know feel like I know what I'm doing, but I know that I love these kids a whole lot and that all I can do is my best and rely on the Lord. And I know He won't let me ruin them.

Carnival Day

One of our local grocery stores had a Carnival Day and when we heard Petting Zoo, we had to go. Even though it was Jason's birthday and we didn't exactly go for him, it was still a lot of fun. Addie loves just about any animal and was so excited to be able to actually see, touch, and smell some. We took lots of pictures and I'll try to be discretionary, but here's a look at our little adventure:

It was not cold or rainy today, but Addie is having a hard time adjusting to the warmer weather and still feels the need to put a jacket on before we leave the house.

She loved all the animals, but her favorite was the bunny. I think it was because it was so fat that no matter how much she petted it, it didn't move away very fast.

Andres was perfect the whole time - he loves to just look around at new places and crazy people (and there were plenty of those around, including a clown who had to have been 80 and a lady that looked like she hadn't left her house in 30 years).

There were also games. We got to go "fishing" and throw rings on the bottles. Addie got two very fun little prizes that we haven't seen since she had them in the car. That'll be a nice surprise next time we clean out the car.

Here's the cow, or the moo-moo that Addie really wanted to climb on.

I thought this was pretty good.