Ups and Downs

We have been having our ups and downs around here lately. Most of the time I can remember how lucky I am to be me. I have two adorable kids (and one on the way), a great husband, wonderful friends and family, plenty to eat and a nice house to live in. But sometimes I really let the little things get me down. For example...it is snowing right now and those pretty little fluffy white flakes are just annoying me to no end.

Last week was sooo beautiful and we were approaching 70 degrees. I wore flip flops for the first time this year. We took the kids to the park Friday and had so much fun. Daxton did his first real park swinging, and LOVED IT:

Of course, Arden wants her picture taken too:

Arden always wants to try the monkey bars and things that are for older kids. I humored her and held on to her legs while she tried to cross the rings. Then Daxton wanted to do it too:

I tried to go down the slide with Daxton because he didn't like to go alone. My feet were practically on the ground while I was still sitting at the top...which really helped me win the "race" Dax and I had with Arden. Here is the photo finish:

I was feeling all happy and springy. And then WHAM! Spring is over and it is winter again. What about summer and fall??

I am also a little annoyed tonight because Preston and I spent the evening cleaning our house...not my favorite activity. But we have to do it because tomorrow our adoption case worker is coming over to look at our house and make sure that it is a safe and suitable place for children to live in. (Last time we did this little exercise before we adopted Daxton, we ended up with a $6,000+ fence.) Of course I know why they have to do it, but sometimes it irks me just a little bit that we have to do all this, because no one comes to check the houses of people who have babies the "old fashioned way" to make sure they are suitable! Maybe they should start :)

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Anyway, enough whining.

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Arden went to one of her friends' birthday parties this week, it was a princess party. She has been wearing her princess dress every day since. She is soooooo cute:

However, when she is not wearing her princess dress this week, she suddenly has the urge to run around shirtless. She takes off her shirt and yells "I NAKED!" (even though she is only technically half-naked) and runs around the room laughing. The girl is shirtless every time I turn around. Sometimes she wears her shirts around her neck as a scarves. I ask her why she isn't wearing her shirt, and all I can get is an "I just wanna be naked!" Hmmmm...hopefully it is just a phase and not an indicator that she is going to grow up to be a nudist.

Dax is growing up too. He is now officially mobile and crawling all over the place. He learned a new word a few days ago goo...."uh-oh." He has heard me say it when he dropped his sippy cup or cracker or something while he was in his high chair. Then, one day he dropped his sippy cup on purpose and looked down at it and said "Uh! Uh! Uh!" I wasn't sure what he was doing until after a day or two of just "Uh! Uh!"s, he dropped some food on the floor and yelled "Uh! Uh! Uh-OOOOH!" I was surprised, so I smiled at him and said "Good job, Dax!"...but that totally backfired. For the last few days he has been throwing EVERYTHING he can get his hands on on the ground and yelling "Uh-OHHHH!" and then looking up at me expecting me to be proud of him. I guess I should have been a little more specific when I told him he did a good job. Now that the damage is done, I am having a hard time communicating to the boy that I want him to EAT the food, not just throw it on the ground so he can show off his new word. It doesn't help that his little face is soooo cute when he says the "uh-oh"s that it is hard for me not to smile.

Wish us luck tomorrow!