Valentines day - "There is beauty all around when there is love at home"

Valentines Day was a bit of a bust this year. Nate had to be out of town for work and my kids were a bit of a challenge that day, and that left me lacking the enthusiasm and energy needed to make it a blockbuster Valentines. So since I have nothing fun or cute to post from Valentines I thought I would post some cute shots I got of Lincoln and Lily together. I think that you might describe Lincoln and Lily's relationship by saying they are "frenemies." This usually means that they are good friends until Lily's aggressive side comes out and she bites, hits, pinches, or headbutts (yes I have seen my sweet daughter actually headbutt her brother), thus the goodwill between them comes to a screeching halt. The other day I was cleaning and things were eerily quite so I went to see what Lily was up to and found her sitting on her rocker looking at books; it was quite cute so I snapped a few pictures. Later, I checked on the kids again and found Lincoln and Lily very sweetly playing on the rocker together. Ahhhhh, you have to love the moments of sibling affection and harmony. It really does make home a beautiful place, at least until the next headbutt.

Lily Wakes

We have a bit of a problem at our house. Lily always wakes up from her nap grumpy and clingy. Now, this has been a bit of an issue with all of my kids but Lily defintely wins the prize for post-nap grumpiness. She wakes up and needs to be cuddled and carried around for what seems like 1/2 an hour after her nap, which is very inconvienent since she wakes up when I should be cooking dinner. Anyway, I thought I would document the post nap grumpies. It starts with the angry "how dare you get me up from my 2 hour snooze glare," then the eyes start to water, a few tears start to roll down the chubby cheeks, and then last but not least the devastated howl/cry/scream is released. Post-nap is not my favorite time of the day. But I must say, looking at these photos makes me realize that this unpleasant daily routine is a little bit funny. I mean having to wake up from a 2 hour snooze is devastating. But on the positive side I get some good snuggle time from my baby.