parenting is easy

 This weekend Audrie tried really hard to remind me why I'm not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom. I truly admire those moms (and dads!) who are on the front lines every day and sometimes I find myself daydreaming of Jamie going back to work and me staying home. But this weekend I was never more thankful of my teaching job. It was one of those times where Jamie and I looked at each other and said "What are we doing wrong with Audrie??".

 For some reason this weekend Audrie just totally lost her mind several times and gave us (and every one around us) an awesome display of spoiled brat. Like people walking by hugged their kids a little tighter and thought "at least my kid is not THAT bad". ha!

I mean, we had some really great fun moments this weekend! But at one point we had to drag Audrie home kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs for five blocks "I DON'T LIKE YOU, DADDY! I DON'T LIKE YOU, DADDY..." (I only share this embarrassment because I'm sure at some point in the future this will seem funny. I hope. Right? Someone lie to me and tell me that someday when I have two teenage daughters they will skip home from school every day and tell me how right I am about everything. And how smart I am. And I'm pretty and smell good.)

 

Of course you know we LOVE Audrie more than life itself. And 99% of the time she is the life of the party and we just adore her awesome personality! But that other percent was in full force this weekend and we are praying that it is a bad phase (a very SHORT phase)!

ben!

 Yay! Ben (and Jim) are in visiting from Arkansas and Audrie is just beside herself with glee.

 

They came over yesterday as Audrie was getting up from naptime and the two of them didn't miss a beat and were best friends sharing a snack again.

Jamie and Jim left for awhile to give Jamie a break from the estrogen in the apartment and I let the kids do some artwork.

 

Annie joined in the fun. It was cute because she saw how Ben and Audrie were laying on their bellies to draw- so she had to try to be just like them and laid on her belly, too.

 Ben and Audrie played for hours together and had THE best time catching up.

 Ben told Audrie a wild story about some pirates...

 And Audrie was a good girl and smiled and nodded at all the right times in the silly boy story. ;)

 

 They were cracking each other up.

 The best part of the evening was when we got out the dress-up box and the two of them spent some time dancing together.

 My camera was on a weird setting so the pictures are a little grainy but I was glad I captured this moment. These two really love each other.

Breaks my heart even more that we live so far from them now!

annie's first haircut

 Two weeks ago we took the girls to a children's salon near in our neighborhood. Audrie needed a trim of her layers and I decided to try bangs on Annie (she won't keep clips or bands in her hair like Audrie would as a baby so she always has hair hanging in her eyes).

Annie actually did really good with the haircut, considering it was a split second cut of her bangs. At first the lady was taking too long and Annie was starting to wiggle, so I nicely explained to the stylist that she would have to make it quick or it wasn't going to happen.

 

So now Annie has bangs and looks super cute! I'm not sure if we'll keep the bangs or try hairbands again, but for now I like Annie's new look. Congratulations, Baby Annie, on your first haircut!

how are things?

This is just a random update on how we're doing (and some photos from my phone, too).

I think things are starting to stable out a bit for us. For awhile there were really bad days and really good days and not much middle ground. But it seems lately that the roller coaster has smoothed out and we are seeing 'a life' starting to emerge.

The girls do much better traveling around on the subways and buses. (Of course it might have something to do with the fact that we give them lollipops anytime we go more than 20 minutes on the train!)

 (Audrie is in her leotard because we were coming back from her ballet class.)

 There is SO much to do in this city every day of the week. It's almost a little too much pressure, because I want to do it ALL.  And tons of kid friendly events, too. A few weeks ago I took the girls to a musical festival in Battery Park because they were featuring one of my favorite folk singers, Tom Chapin. Audrie loves his songs, too.

 At the festival they had lots of activities for kids. Audrie loved the painting exhibit! It was so cool. They had glued together some cardboard boxes cut out in the shape of a skyline. They gave the kids cups of paint and a brush and just let them go at it!

 Audrie could have stayed right there for hours!

 The coolest thing was that in the background of her painting was this inspiration...

 Annie joined the fun for a minute but then she started eating the paint, so I had to squelch that.

 On the walk home we saw a double-dutch jump rope group performing so we stopped to watch for a bit.

 We see street performers almost every day. And it's always something different. Here is a hip-hop group doing a fun routine. Imagine how cool Audrie thinks it is to see people performing 'for her' all the time?! :)

 

Today we were getting ready to get on the subway and I saw a little mariachi quartet group about to get on, so I walked down to their train car with them because I knew the girls would love watching it on the train ride (it's like free babysitting entertainment!).

 It is starting to get colder here, so we're all wearing jackets and scarves. The heat radiators haven't come on in our apartment yet, but I'm interested to see how that is going to work out when it does.

 Jamie is still loving his new job as Mr. Mom. I know he gets tired of me asking him all the time if he is doing ok with the new role and prying to see if he's really ok. But he honestly loves it and is truly enjoying this time he gets to bond with Audrie and Annie. (And occasionally Baby Samuel...)

 And my job is... well it's still insanely hard, but I'm finding ways to make it manageable for me. I still get nervous every morning as I walk into work and I constantly pray for help throughout the day. But I will say that the rewarding side of this job is like nothing I've ever experienced. These kids are starving for affection and when you give them even a little love they just glow.

I gave them a writing reflection the other day to do at the end of class and at the bottom I let them write any question they wanted to ask me (I got some interesting ones, ha!). But this one really touched me...

So we are really doing good. Living in New York City is really starting to feel 'normal', which seems a little crazy! :)

the talented cornett girls

 

 Some cute photos that Jamie took this weekend.

And some videos to show off the girl's "skills"...

A few weeks ago Annie taught herself how to do a somersault and it's too cute!



And Audrie shot this video of herself singing earlier today (beware her camera skills are a little shaky.. but the passion in her singing can't be topped... nor can the size of her mouth!).

lil sam

 We get to spend lots of time with our friends Jason and Sam and their super cutey little boy, Samuel. Usually once or twice a week we will babysit Samuel and he is THE easiest baby to hang out with. He's only 8 months old so he doesn't get into everything, throw fits, or sass us- like two little blond girls that we know.

 And the great thing is that every now and then we cash in those babysitting hours and go on a date night! Which doesn't seem like a fair trade for Jason and Sam, but we love it.

(I like this next photo of Samuel because it seems like he is saying "how YOU doin'?"... who could resist those smoldering blue eyes and that sweet mohawk?!)

 

He's just too stinkin' cute. I couldn't help but snap these quick photos of him the other day.

But then he was over it...

So Audrie read him a story.

We love you, Baby Sammy-o!

Safety First - by Jamie

In case anyone is concerned about our safety here in the city, there is no need to fear. The Dark Knight made an appearance at the park this afternoon and Audrie was so excited. We came straight home and watched some Batman cartoons on Netflix.

picnic in the park

 Saturday afternoon Jamie and I took the girls to Central Park to play and have a picnic. It was one of those perfect evenings as a family that you just want to hang onto forever.

 We absolutely love Central Park and since the girls are getting better about dealing with the subway we try to go downtown a little more often now. It's still crazy to be playing in the park like any old day, but have these beautiful skyscrapers towering nearby.

 Of course we made a stop at the Carousel. Audrie smiled the whole time!

 We found a beautiful spot to spread out our picnic blanket.

 The spot we chose was in the "Sheep's Meadow" of Central Park- a 15 acre pasture of the prettiest green grass!

 The girls ate quickly so they could run off and play.

 It was nice to stretch out and relax for awhile.

 Annie kept running off into the green meadow, but Audrie was 'nice enough' to bring her back. :)

 Behind us were some climbing rocks that the girls had fun on.

 The weather is definitely starting to get cooler here, so it was nice to fit this picnic in while it was still warm enough.

We said it was a good day because we got home and both girls had grass stains on their clothes! :)

fall is here

We went to a local farmer's market this morning and got apples, pumpkins, and mums! It almost felt like home for a second. :)