Is this normal?

Uncle Andy has been training Graham in the ways of the Wetherell men. I'm not really sure what I think about this.

And the great thing is that he clobbers me at the end.

Mini Sooger Boogers

You know that horrible, deplorable Jack In The Box commercial for mini sirloin burgers? Marin has been walking around saying...

Funny Sayings

So Marin is always saying funny things (I know every child her age does but it always seems funnier when it comes from your own kid). I forget them almost immediately but here are a few I've managed to remember...

Saying #1

Marin had been told on more than one occasion that she's not allowed to get into Grammy's tasty lip gloss. So Marin strolls into the room looking guilty and says, "I didn't get into Grammy's lip gloss. Don't smell my lips."


Saying #2

Grammy: Are you telling me the truth Marin?

Marin: I'm not lying. I'm guilty.


Saying #3


So I was trying to have a teachable moment with Marin. You see, my wedding ring had been lost for over a week and I had just found it in this basket in the guest bathroom. So here I am telling Marin how God had answered my prayers and how I finally found my ring in the basket. She laughed and said, "I know, I put it there."

She thought it was so great that God had allowed me to find the ring that she had hidden. Good thing she didn't put it in some obscure bag that I had thrown away!

Saying #4

Ok, this isn't a saying at all, it's a doing. Graham knows that he's not supposed to bang his fork (or anything else) on his highchair tray. So, he was joyfully disobeying tonight and as his fork crashed down on the tray, a cheerio went flying in the air and dropped right down Corey's (his aunt) shirt as she was eating dinner at our table. It was really funny, but maybe you had to be there.

Men over 30

We went to the Children's Museum last weekend for a birthday party and I thought Marin was going to have so much fun. Well, she did, but someone else had even more fun. They need a section of the museum dedicated to men over 30. Seriously. I kept telling Jeremy that it was time to go up to the party room because lunch was waiting and I found that I kept repeating myself because he just couldn't be torn away from his creation (you make this flying contraption and then stick it in the wind tunnel to see how well it flies). Good times.

And now to the real kids...

Pat on the Back

I was giving myself a pat on the back today because Marin was behaving so well and I was sure it was because of my good parenting. When Jeremy got home I told him all about how sweet and polite she had been. It seemed that some real progress had been made. Well, it turns out that it wasn't progress, it was a guilty conscience. Better win mom's favor with good behavior so she doesn't explode when she finds out what you did. As we were putting them to bed Graham started gagging on something in Marin's room and I was afraid he was going to puke everywhere. I would gag too if I was chewing on POOP! Marin had left a pretty little pile-o-poop in her room (I think she did it when she was supposed to be napping) and Graham found it. I think that's the second time Graham has eaten poop.
So, a word of wisdom...If your child is on especially good behavior, don't pat yourself on the back, look for the poop.

Graham...

After blogging about Marin, it occurred to me that I really must document Graham's life right now since he's in such a boy stage (I say this knowing that he may stay in this stage forever). Jeremy looks proudly at his son and says, "He just has a lot of testosterone." Well, that testosterone is destroying my house and physically abusing me. We started calling him Your Highness after he began beating me when I got him out of his bed and didn't immediately have a bottle ready for him. Don't get me wrong, he's still the apple of my eye and quite possibly the cutest little guy on the planet. But despite what others had warned me about boys, I still wasn't prepared for the hitting, throwing and other acts of violence that he employs throughout the day. And now that he's getting bigger, he's even a threat to Marin. Well honestly, she deserves it.
I understand now why men are sent off to war and why men do the heavy lifting. Graham's just doing what God made him to do. I just need to figure out a way to channel his manliness. Three cheers for boys!

Look Auntie Mel, I'm pumping my legs!

Marin has long refused to pump her legs and I've never known if she just couldn't figure out how to do it or if she was just refusing to try. Whenever I would try to teach her she firmly resisted, saying that she didn't know how and begging me to push her. "Higher, Higher" she would yell as I pushed and pushed, my arms growing tired, but not so tired that I would refuse her the joy of swinging.
Well her Auntie Mel is visiting this weekend and the two of them went in the backyard for a late night swing. I went out and spied on them as they watched their shadows and looked at the stars. And then they hopped back on the swings and Marin did a little push off the ground and started swinging all by herself as if she'd been doing it for years. "Look Auntie Mel, I'm pumping my legs" she said as they swung together.
I almost fell over. I couldn't decide if I was proud of her or mad at her for fooling me for so long. She is a stubborn one so I shouldn't be so surprised. It's a commentary on human nature, I say.
So, here's to tricky little princesses!

Life Goes On

Yes, life does indeed go on whether or not you're blogging. That would be a "not" in my case. Our computer has been broken for about a month, which doesn't help. We've had job loss and flooding and all sorts of interesting things going on in the Wetherell home. Fortunately the kids are oblivious to the drama and just continue on with their adorable selves. Some days I just stare at them in amazement because I can't believe how big and smart they're getting. Marin says the most hilarious things and is still pushing the limits as much as she can. And Graham is so "boy" it's ridiculous. His physicality is destroying my house (and sometimes causing personal injury) and the laid back personality I thought he had is proving not to be so laid back. So, without much ado, tweedledee and tweedledum welcome you back...

Marin wants to know if anyone else is obsessed with eyebrows like she is.

I check on the kids every night before going to bed (one of my quirky mom things) and I found Marin asleep with marker all over her eyebrows. She can't get enough.

Graham still has a shoe obsession

But even shoes come in second to balls...

Chuck E. Cheese, Really?

I never thought I would say it, but I took my daughter to Chuck E Cheese for her birthday. And it really wasn't bad. In fact, it was easy on me, fun for the kids and not too crowded. I'm a fan. The poor Chuck E Cheese man was swarmed with kids trying to hug him to no end. He tried several times to wave goodbye and walk away, but that didn't disuade the kids one bit. They wouldn't let him leave.

We had a small party with just a few friends and it was really fun. Marin even got her purple cupcakes with snakes on them. For those who haven't heard, she started saying around Christmas time that she wanted purple cupcakes with snakes on them for her birthday. Who knows where she came up with that idea but it was stuck in her head for a month so I felt like I really had to do it. A little food coloring and some gummy worms did the trick.

Here's the, "blank stare with a hint of a smile" that Marin gets when she's on a fun overload.

Blowing out candles on the purple cupcakes with snakes on them.

And Graham, well he's always up for a party!

Even the big kids had fun.

I Don't Love My Family

I am always amazed at how my little ones are growing up and discovering new things every day. Last night was rough for poor Marin and after being disciplined she said through tears, "I don't love you mommy." Gulp. It wasn't like she was being mean, she just really had hurt feelings and was upset with me and all she knew to say was, "I don't love you mommy." She said it over and over through tears and even said that she didn't love her family anymore. I know her well enough to know not to take it personally, but it was still sad because she was really hurt and was trying to express her feelings. I can't put my finger on it, but there was just something about it that showed she was getting older and figuring things out.

After going to her room to think it all over she came back (15 minutes later) and said, still in tears, "I really do love you mommy and I do love my family" and then she gave me a huge hug. I just told her that I always love her, even when she gets in trouble, and she and I had a wonderful bonding time. It was truly one of the sweetest times I've ever had with her and I'm thankful to God for it. My little girl, in all her 3-year-old emotions, is growing up, figuring out life and melting my heart.

I've Fallen Off The Blog Wagon

When you struggle to remember your blogger password, you know you've fallen off the blog wagon. But here's my attempt to hop back on. I never did post pics of Christmas in California, so...

The Graham Meister welcomes you all to view the California happiness.

It was freezin' beezin' while we were there and one morning Jeremy took the kids on a walk to the local Starbucks in the sub-zero weather. There's just something cute about kids when they're all bundled up.

On Christmas Eve we all got jammies (as is the tradition) but Jeremy got beef jerky instead (he doesn't wear jammies and would much rather have jerky). Oh the joy. Even Graham tested his manliness against the hot and spicy strips.

We saw uncle Andrew and got to hang out a bit (kid free) which was fun

Had a slumber party with the cousins (which resulted in very little sleep for all of us)

And Marin got Tinkerbell, her favorite present by far. She ran in circles around the house singing, "Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell all the way." Here's a video of her at least an hour after getting Tinkerbell and yes, she's still singing about it.

So many other stories but alas, Christmas was 6 weeks ago and it's time to move on.

Tales of Christmas Past

"Gee whiz, Christmas sure is swell"

Graham and Marin had a blast this Christmas. We celebrated with Jeremy's family a few days early and the kids got more presents than they knew what to do with. Graham was up to his usual antics...

as were the brothers

and Auntie Mel brought gifts from a far off land (The Netherlands).

Marin even got her very own car

although Graham thinks it's his.

Through The Years with My Little Pony

Marin sadly looked up at me tonight and said, "Christmas is over at our house." We took down the last of the decorations and it is finally sinking in that yes, Christmas is indeed over. Sad.

I promise I will post some yuletide pics soon, but for now, a commentary on My Little Pony. While in California, my mom pulled out a pony that I used to play with back in the day and we couldn't help but notice how different it was from a modern day pony (I would know because Marin has a whole collection).

It's interesting that even this toy has followed some of the style trends and morphed into the mold of modern beauty. So, without much ado...

My pony

Marin's Pony

Notice the curved matronly lines of the elder pony compared to the trim, sleek and dare I say sassy lines of the youngster. Marin's pony looks like she does pilates and yoga (as evidenced by the reduced size of her behind). She also sports highlights, legs that flare at the bottom, larger more defined eyes and I'm sure she's had a "lifestyle lift". No double chins here. She's a looker (by our modern standards of course). So here's to all the My Little Ponies of the past, present and future!

I'm Teaching My Ballet

We have this noise maker that plays a few classical songs (it came with my pack-and-play) and Marin has been carrying it around in her purse, turning on the music and saying, "I'm teaching my ballet" while she dances around. She even brought it to the park. You can't see it but the purse with the "music" is on that bench.

I know, it looks like tai chi.

You can tell that this was a few weeks ago because she's in short sleeves which is a thing of the past. It even snowed in Houston last week. That's right, snowed!

I Forgot

So, I'm not really sure how I forgot, but I did. Aunt Corey treated Marin to her first ever manicure (ok, she just got her nails painted) and I totally forgot to blog about it. And to top it off Corey got her new sunglasses and a bracelet from Gymboree. I'm kind of feeling sad that I missed it all. It was like a mommy - daughter date except that the mommy wasn't there :(

Ok, I'm over it.

We also thought it would be cute to put Corey's scarf on Graham's head. I should take him on the plane like this to see if they're doing baby profiling. Corey also took this pic of Marin which is one of my favorites now. She's stargazing, aahhh.

The X List

We recently tried to take a Christmas picture of the 4 of us for our cards, but after exhausting the kids' (and Jeremy's) patience, we just went with a pic of the 2 kids. Here are the honorable mentions though...

Candy Cane Lane

So, our church has this children's Christmas bonanza every December and Marin and I went today. She got to decorate a cookie, pet the animals (including the hugest camel EVER) and ride on some scary carnival-looking rides. I say scary only because they looked like they might just fall apart at any minute. I think someone sautered some metal together, spray painted it and tried to pass it off as a real ride. Ok, Ok, I'm really not complaining because the whole thing was free, I'd just like to say that I'm glad we're all still alive. Three cheers for the church carnival. To give credit where it's due, our church is super generous with the whole "candy cane lane" event and it's tons of fun for the kids. enough said.

So here is Marin enjoying a pony ride and the swings (that spun them around backward???).

Marin Singing & Potty Time

I just have to say that I think this is Jeremy's first ever blog entry...


Marin was singing (Cebu is from Veggie Tales) and Graham was clapping. Then she realized she had to go potty. The look on her face is classic.

Fun Attack

So our neighbors were kind enough to give us their old play set. They even helped disassemble it and reassemble it in our yard. It is a hand-me-down of a hand-me-down, but it's still sturdy and works just fine. The kids were only slightly excited about it...

Ok, they're really excited about it.

Christmas Is About Giving Right?

Ok, so we were at Costco tonight and we bought a present for Marin's cousin there. Marin really wanted the toy so I tried to seize the moment to explain that it was a gift and that Christmas is about giving to others because God gave us Jesus. However I realized that as I was proudly passing down these deep truths, Marin, who had not stopped saying, "It's Mine," had increased the volume and was now yelling, "IT'S MINE IT'S MINE" over and over again. So much for, "Yes mother, you're right, it is better to give than to receive."

Grrr - A tribute to Graham

"Grrr" is only one of the noises that the Granimal makes. He's becoming quite proficient in his own growling language. And his boy side is coming out more and more every day. He's going to be one of those rough and tumble kind of kids, I can tell. Almost every day he adds another bruise to his poor head and if an opportunity to climb presents itself, he jumps. Grammy visited us this last week and was kind enough to get us some light fixtures (which we badly needed). While we were putting up the ceiling fan, he started climbing up the ladder. Just look at his mouth - you know he's going, "Grrr."

So, here are some things that I love about Graham...

He'll lay his head on you and snuggle

He tolerates abuse from his sister extremely well

He is so fun to tickle and play with

You can tell he's going to be a sweet guy (like his dad)

And last buy not least, he's just so darn cute!

Three cheers for Graham!!!

Trick-Or-Treat

Ok, Grammy taught Marin the word "Thief". As in, Mommy's a thief for stealing your Halloween candy. How much candy does a 2 year old need anyway? By the way, I didn't steal all her candy. Some of it I gave away to trick-or-treaters who came to our door after I had run out.

Anyway, she had fun cleaning out her first pumpkin and watching mommy carve it (which is much harder than I remember).

In true Granimal fashion, Graham immediately ripped off his tiger hat which left him looking less like a tiger and more like a boy in striped pajamas. Oh well. Here he is ripping it off.

We went to our neighborhood's Halloween parade where we marched around the block behind a firetruck. It was out of control and super crowded. We couldn't even see the firetruck. Marin's friend Audrey was there to share in the fun. I've been saying for a year that Marin has to be a marathon runner for Halloween in honor of her running-mania. It's just fitting.

I don't know if you can see it, but the girls are staring at the boy dressed like a hunter and holding a RIFLE. No one's running for their life. The parents are probably saying, "Oh, look at Tommy and his adorable costume." Only in Texas.

We're Here

We finally moved into the new house a few weeks ago and we're slowly (and I mean slowly) getting settled in. We are loving our new neighborhood and our neighbors and we laugh about the things that we're NOT going to miss about our old neighborhood, like the annual Halloween horror across the street. Would you really want Satan overseeing your house one month out of the year?

Fortunately Marin called him Spiderman and we laughed about how Spiderman was on the roof. We're also not going to miss the crazy screaming family a few houses over, the tejano music blasting at midnight and the frequent bangs from our nearby factory (or whatever it was). But most of all we're not going to miss having only 2 bedrooms. Our poor son now has his own room and will no longer be wheeled around in his pack-and-play in the middle of the night. The kids are loving getting to play outside more, especially Graham who darts for the door the minute it opens. He sure is a boy - eating dirt, destroying whatever he can get his hands on, climbing on everything. And Marin is excited about her new pink bedroom. She says, "Pink, I love pink!" We are so thankful for our new house and as I start to get discouraged about all the work it needs, I remind myself that I really do love it here and that God gave us this house, not the one next door, this one. That's good enough for me. Here's the dynamic duo, hammers in hand.

Back Home, Kind Of

We made it back home last weekend after our power was restored! Woo Hoo! It's a little strange though because we moved back in but we couldn't help but think that we were going to be moving out for good in 2 weeks. What a time of transition and change as we continue trusting God for every next step. There has been a lot going on in the Wetherell household, too much to mention, but here are a few events from these last few weeks (not including Ike - he already got his own blog entry).
So, I've known that Marin would probably cut her own hair one of these days although I didn't expect it to be so soon. She was so excited when she ran up to me and exclaimed, "Mommy I cut my hair, it's sooooo pretty." I'm not sure pretty is the word I would have chosen...maybe crooked. The great thing about curly hair is that it hides these incidents pretty well and after persuading her that mommy needed to fix her hair and make it even prettier (by cutting off tons on the other side of her head), it was looking much better (and shorter). Hey, a little lopsided is better than super lopsided right? Here's just some of the damage.

While we were without power we took a trip to Jasper to see Andy and Corey and it was a lot of fun, especially for Jeremy who went golfing with Andy every day. Their house backs up to a golf course and the whole area is really amazingly beautiful. This part of east Texas is heavily wooded and really green. Here's Jeremy explaining the finer points of golf to Marin. He also tells her not to play in the sand trap.

She doesn't listen.

We all had fun riding around in the golf cart and Corey taught Marin how to drive - kind of. And then there's the Granimal. He just did his normal Graham-things. Chillin' in the hammock, breathing fire, the usual.

He is walking everywhere and getting into everything. It was probably a month (at least) from the time Marin took her first steps to the time she started walking on a regular basis. It took Graham about 3 days to cross that bridge and he hasn't looked back. They are just so different. What a super sweetie he is. And so cute I can hardly handle it.

And ok, last but not least, here is Marin after falling on her face. The only reason I post this is because I keep waiting for the perfect time to take them for pictures. Well, it has turned into quite a wait because Marin always has some sort of facial wound/scab/bug bite gone wrong/thing she's been picking at for a month that's now a scar. I keep wondering what's next. Poor Marin.

And on the much cuter side, did I mention that she wears the nightgown that I used to wear when I was her age? I love love love it.

Hurricane Ike Take A Hike!

So I'm not sure I want to be in town next time a hurricane comes through. We didn't sleep a wink on Thursday night as we watched the unbelievable out our windows (although the kids amazingly slept through the whole thing). There's nothing like watching the trunks of your enormous pine trees sway back and forth in the wind or like the sound of branches falling on your roof as you pray that nothing huge falls on you. Fortunately we didn't have any serious damage done to our current house and our new house had some roof damage but it was minimal. We are thankful to God for keeping us safe through the incredible storm and for allowing us to stay with Jeremy's parents afterward. They are some of the select few who have electricity right now. We feel for all the people who are leaving town right now because they have no power and are running out of food because the stores are either closed or empty.
I thought we would post some pictures of what we encountered after the storm. It really was like we were transported to another planet. Both our old and new houses are in heavily treed areas and all the yards are covered in branches and downed trees. It is an incredible sight. As we scoped out the neighborhood we were amazed at how many downed trees there were but how very few of them had fallen on houses. It seemed gracious of God to spare so many people's homes. Please pray for our city as we slowly recover from all the damage.

Before and After

Ok, I should have just called it "before" because we're still a ways off from "after". Our house is going to make for great before and after pictures in the end because it was such a mess to begin with. For your enjoyment here are a few pics. There were 3 confirmed layers of wallpaper on this wall and possibly 4. Steph and I worked for hours to get a quarter of this wall done so we gave up and brought in the pros.

Does anyone want to freshen up in the restroom?

Yes these cabinets really did come down much to my elation.
Here's Steph "Take it to the Next Level" Thibodeaux who made sure no one went hungry or thirsty.

And Josh deserves props for ALL that he has helped us with.

Thirty year old brown carpet anyone?

Here's to borders!

Where have we been?

Ok, it has been over a month since I've blogged and I promise I have a good excuse...We're moving! So, here's the rundown :

The offer we made months ago on a house was finally accepted and we moved into full gear to get our house on the market. We cleaned like crazy and moved out before anyone (Marin or Graham) could destroy anything and landed with our oh-so-generous family. Josh and Steph were kind enough to let us stay with them for a week and a half until we had a contract on our house. I can't imagine what it would have been like to try to keep my house looking perfect while living there. I know people do it, I'm just not sure how. So Marin got to take advantage of "Resort Thibodeaux" (swimming, eating powdered donuts for breakfast, access to all of Kaitlyn's toys).

All joking aside, it was an extremely stressful time for us. We were buying a new house without having sold our old one, which most would say isn't the best idea. But we felt the time was right so we went for it - kinda crazy considering my non-risky self. I felt like barfing for a week straight but kept pressing forward. It has been God's grace (really) that has helped me through each day and continues to help me now that we're remodeling our new house and still waiting to close on our old one. There has been issue after issue with the new house because it is old but we're staying thankful to God and trusting that once we get all the problems fixed, our new house is going to be a great place to live. We really are thankful for it. It's in the neighborhood that we really wanted to live in and it's big enough for us to stay in for quite awhile.

Anyway, once we left "Resort Thibodeaux" and returned home, the kids were back to their old antics...playing in the cabinets together and other destructive activities.

Late Night Thoughts

I was just thinking about how fortunate I am to have my two kiddos. It's amazing how their behavior can drive you nuts one minute and have you laughing the next. God knows you need the slobbery kisses and hilarious comments to make it through all the tantrums and messes. Graham does this adorable thing sometimes where he looks at me and raises his eyebrows - it's just the cutest thing. I wonder if he'll have Jeremy's ability to move his eyebrows in strange ways???? He has been sleeping little, crying a lot and biting me (yes, I'm still nursing!) but then he'll give me the eyebrows or some other adorable face and I'll remember that I'm still in love with this bald, fat little man.
I mentioned in passing that Christmas was going to be so fun for Marin this year and for days now she's been telling me that she wants to go to Christmas (like it's somewhere we can go). It is so cute. And yes she's still talking about Rosie and how she gave Rosie a hug when we went on our trip (to the museum). Then she'll throw in that Rosie is just like Barney.

Hairball

Hairball! Ok, seriously, what IS this?

Give Rosie A Hug

We went to the Children's Museum today and ever since we got home Marin keeps asking to see the picture of her hugging Rosie, this slightly scary chipmunk looking thing that was at the museum. We ditched Graham this morning and had a mother-daughter day with some friends.

So in Marin's honor, here she is with Rosie. It's funny how some kids like these creatures and some kids are scared to death of them. Poor Will (aka wheel) was terrified and hurt himself trying to run away. Jeremy has a funny story of a little boy who wouldn't stop screaming in terror when "Shamu" walked into the room. Seriously, who thought of dressing an adult like an animal anyway? It's traumatizing kids around the world.

There are all sorts of fun things to do at the museum like crawling around in old cars, milking a fake cow, face painting, the list goes on.

The Brown Boys (minus Jude), Braden and Ethan.

It Has Been Awhile

Well, it has been awhile since I've blogged. We've been busy getting our house fixed up to sell and it has been crazy. We ended up staying at Jeremy's parent's house for several days because of tile work and painting that was being done.

I love my kids. They bring me so much joy and I couldn't imagine life without them. Marin is little miss independent and is curious about everything. I see other kids clinging to their parents, but not Marin - she's got places to go and people to see. Grandma bought her this ballerina outfit and she loves wearing it around the house with her tiara that recently broke (sadly, it's the fate of almost everything around here). And yes, she's trying to do passe in the picture below, pointed toes and all. I wish I could remember all the funny things she says - there are a million a day. She's in the, "No mommy, I do it" stage. Ok, quick question for other moms...Is there anything you do to keep your kids from twirling their hair? She does it all the time and it makes these horribly tangled knots that she either pulls out or I cut out. Any suggestions?

There is someone else around here who doesn't have enough hair to twirl (and I don't mean Jeremy). Oh yeah, it's the Grahamster/ Manimal/ Grahamarama/ Grams. That tubby little hunk of cutie love. He was quick to pull up but doesn't seem interested at all in walking yet. I am so curious to see what he looks like and how he acts when he's older. He's quite different from Marin, that's for sure, but I'm so used to her that I can't imagine how he'll be. For now, He's the manimal!

4th of July Miracle

Jeremy mowed the yard yesterday and this morning we spotted this huge mushroom that sprouted overnight. Did you know they could grow that fast. It's a 4th of July Miracle!!!

Picture courtesy of our not-so-great camera phone.

No Hug

Well, our camera is broken again and it may just be time for a new one. So no pictures this time but a cute story instead. Marin has been playing this cute game with me lately...
I'll ask her if I can have a hug and she'll say, "No hug". Then I'll kind of make a sad face and she'll imitate me and say, "Mommy sad". Then she'll wait a minute before declaring that she has changed her mind and she'll come give me a hug. It is super cute.
And speaking of cute, Graham is cute all the time. He's getting into everything and stands up constantly. He has lots of smiles for me and he loves his daddy. I wish I had some pics of him.
We're still trying to buy a house, but without much success. We've bid on 2 in the last 2 weeks but lost both of them to other people. It makes you just want to give up and stop looking, but we need to move eventually, so we're sticking with it.
Happy blogging until next time.

Staggering Cuteness

Here's my big stander.

The Barfs

Marin had a case of the barfs yesterday so she got to sit in her tent and watch movies all day. I was preparing myself for a whole week of barfing (like when she had rotavirus) but fortunately it only lasted 1 day! Thank God.

She cracks me up with the things she says. If she's disobeying I'll tell her that she needs to quit and she'll usually just continue right along with her bad behavior but when I tell her she's going to get a spanking for it she says, "ok, I change my mind."

Here we are on healthier days.

Graham is still doing the army crawl and I'm wondering if he'll ever crawl for real. His new favorite thing is to pull up on anything that will support him - he loves to stand. He is so precious and cute and I just love him to death.

Park Day

We went to the park last week with all the friends. I know I've said it before,

but my daughter is a Runner.

I'm wondering if it's a sign of future athletic greatness???

One thing is for sure. She loves yelling NO.

Her favorite is yelling "NO Baby Graham" in this gruff 80 year old smoker voice. It happens about 100 times a day over almost anything ... touching my shoe, reaching for her toy, crying too loud.

Anyway, here are some pics of the park. And yes her friend Tatum did show up in the same swimsuit.

My Smiley Boy

Well, the Grahamster is getting around now. He's not officially crawling, but he does the army crawl and manages to get to where he wants. I had a guilty mom moment today (on Mother's Day of all days). I was doing some caulking in the living room and he was crying in his highchair, which is a normal occurrence (the crying, not the caulking). He often cries around dinner time so even though it was unnerving, I thought I would let him sit there while I finished up and cleaned my hands off. When I finally got to him (10 minutes later) I saw that his arm was painfully stuck in the highchair and I had to pry it free. I felt so guilty for not checking on him while he was crying for me to come help him. It's the inevitable mom guilt.

On a brighter note...
The Granimal makes me laugh all the time with his cute faces. Jeremy has this amazing ability to make the craziest faces and the Granimal may have the same skills. Keeping it in the fam!

Believe it or not, I have pictures of Marin making this same scrunched up face.

Something was really really funny.

I'm gonna getcha .

Just another pic so you can see how cute I am, in case you forgot.

Wetherell Update

Well, there's been a lot going on around here. We almost signed a contract to buy a house last Friday, but the night before our option period ended, the person who was going to buy our house backed out so we had to also back out on the house we were going to buy. We were super disappointed and sad about it all, but we trust God and know that He is still working it all for our good! We were selling to a friend so we didn't have our house on the market and now we're trying to decide whether to put it on the market or rent it out. Decisions decisions.
But anyway, here are some pics of Marin. She is at such a cute stage right now...talking all the time and keeping us entertained with all the funny things she does. I've mentioned before about how she runs everywhere she goes (which is still true) and it's such a picture of her personality... always on the go, independent, spirited and pushing the limits.
Here she is trying on my veil and having fun playing dressup.

To say that she likes stickers would be a major understatement. Here we are with Thomas the Train and all his buddies on us.

The Reggae girl rocking out to her boombox at Devon's house.

This Is How We Wear Our Bandaids

Marin is showing us how to properly wear a bandaid. Once it is in place you must try to walk around while holding up your pant leg, limping and moping as if in pain (even though you aren't). It's an art, I must say.

I have a question for you moms: do your kids pick at themselves all the time (scratching scabs, pulling out their own hair, etc.)? Marin does and I'm hoping it's just a phase. The other day I found a clump of hair in her bed which she no doubt pulled out and then played with for awhile. I hope she doesn't have tricotillamania, that hair pulling disease.

The Graham-daddy is doing great. He is scooching all around but isn't crawling yet.

Cheerios Anyone?

Marin thought she would help feed Graham today. Enough said!

Happy Easter

This Easter was especially meaningful for me, maybe because I have kids, and it left me wanting to find new ways to make it a special time every year for our family. Not special as in more bunnies or eggs, but special by finding ways to worship God and rejoice that Christ is risen! I have a few ideas but I'm open to hear how your parents got you spiritually ready for Easter and what type of traditions you had surrounding the holiday.

Ok, so along the lines of bunnies and eggs, Auntie Steph did the great Easter Egg Hunt at her house yesterday and hosted us all to a great time with good food. Marin and Kaitlyn really liked finding the eggs and much to Marin's delight, her aunt and grandma let her eat all the chocolate in the eggs (see pictures below). So much chocolate, that she didn't go to sleep until 10 last night. She had been in her bed for an hour and still wasn't sleepy so we let her watch a movie with us (Dan In Real Life - yes it was good) and put her to bed afterward.

So here are the girls with baskets in hand awaiting the big hunt.

Did I mention chocolate?

Thanks Grammy for the Easter Cards. Marin really enjoyed Graham's card. She wants me to tell you that it was tasty!

Real Men Work

So Jeremy has installed drainage pipes and built a deck in the last 2 weeks. I am so thankful for all his hard work. He was fortunate to get tons of help from Randy and Andy. Three cheers for our helpers!

Ok, this picture has nothing to do with manual labor. Graham and Marin took a bath together for the first time tonight and I just had to post a picture!

Ballerina Day

When I got Marin out of bed this morning the first thing she did was twirl around and say, "Ballerina". It was super cute but also left me wondering where she learned that word??? I sure didn't teach it to her and I doubt she learned it at church. She even found a finger puppet with a tiny (and i mean tiny) tutu on and she immediately called it a ballerina. Regardless of where she leaned this, she was having a blast dancing around so I of course taught her some arm positions and took the opportunity to pull out a tutu her grandma gave her before she was born. She had a blast playing ballerina all day and it was "tutu cute".
I keep telling myself that I need to write down all the cute things she does before I forget them, but I'm not the best at doing it. Here are a few though...
- I found her squishing something all over her hands. It looked like soap and was sticky like soap but when I asked her what it was she answered, "boooogers." Must have been a lot of boooogers.

- One of our favorite things to do is to give each other a kiss and then simultaneously go, "aaaahhhh" while moving our heads back and forth. You'd have to see it.

- I don't know why, but I love how she calls a bathing suit a baby suit.

- When my mom was here she started this thing where she points at something, covers her mouth and pretends to laugh about whatever she pointed at. I guess I must cover my mouth when I laugh sometimes.

There are many many other things I love, but those are just a few. She is so much fun right now.

Our Week With Grammy

We were happy to have Grammy here last week and had a great time with her. The morning after she left, Marin woke up and looked all around the house for her. It was so sad to have to tell her that Grammy wasn't here anymore. Grammy went picture crazy and caught lots of cute ones of the kiddos.

Notice the drop of drool :)

Green Thumb?

Ok, so I didn't actually do much of the gardening myself because I was watching the kids, but Jeremy and my mom worked hard to get our once ugly planters into "yard of the month" shape. My mom tried to teach me what she could about shrubs and flowers but I don't know how much of it took. Here are our MUCH improved front planters and my favorite little helper.

All that work makes you hungry

Thanks Auntie Mel

Well, after 2 months in the mail your present finally got here. I love both of the tights and they fit Marin perfectly. She looks like a true Dutch cutie. Thanks Auntie Mel!

Can't Help But Show More Pics

My little fatty deserves a few more pictures so here you go...

We're not missing any meals around here!

We're Back

After yet another long break, I'm back with a few new pictures! There are lots of differences between baby #1 and baby #2, one of which is how fast time goes by. Graham just seems to be getting older so quickly. I can't believe that I can already sit him up in the boppy like a big boy.

I love how Marin tilts her head to the side every time I tell her to say Cheese.

And the prettiest pretty princess you've ever seen, thanks to Marin.

Fun Birthday Times

Well I still have no pictures (except this one from our phone) but in honor of my friend Mariana, I am going to post anyway. I saw her at church yesterday and thought I should follow her ever-blogging lead and catch up on mine a little. Since our camera is getting fixed again I'll have to paint a word picture of our life right now:

GEIBZUKBLEIUJKLSJDKFJGNRJKOIVYYVW

Yes, it's all jumbled and crazy. Marin is a wild child but absolutely adorable and Graham is getting bigger and more manly by the day. I'm starting to think that I need to get organized here because life is chewing me up and spitting me out right now. My house never seems to be clean, I'm forgetting important dates/appointments/etc., and I never seem to have anything to make for dinner even though I go to the store all the time???

I can blame some of it on the flu that has left me with little energy and 50% brain function. But really, let's get it together! I only have 2 kids, not 10!

So my little Marin turned 2 last week and we celebrated on Sunday. She quickly learned the Happy Birthday song and has been singing, "Appy Birday ear Marinny" all week. She has also figured out the whole present thing and loves ripping open the wrapping paper. I discovered that she already has candle blowing-out skills and I'm not sure where she learned them. She blew/spit out her candle with precision and it was so cute that we sang Happy Birthday a 2nd time and had her re-blow out her candle just for fun. What a cutie she is.

And then there's the Graham who is just chunky and adorable. I feel so blessed to have my two kids and I am really enjoying my time with them. As my dad used to say of me, they're "practically perfect in every way." (a line from Mary Poppins of course).

So here's the blurry phone pic from her b-day.

Pitiful, Just Pitiful

Pitiful is the word that would best describe my blogging lately. Ok, maybe nonexistent would be better. I feel silly saying it again, but yes our camera is broken AGAIN. Fortunately we were with my family over Christmas and my mom sent me the pics from her camera.

I could seriously be up all night writing about the adorable things my kids are doing but that just isn't going to happen so sadly, I'll have to give you the condensed version.

So first Marin. My sweet little girl is still sweet but she's also crazy. My days are filled with being abused by this energetic child. She likes to crawl all over me which inevitably results in scratches, punches, kicks, pulled earrings and the like. I'm trying to explain to her that it hurts mommy when she does these things. She doesn't seem to be getting it. So here's the WWF Princess at Grammy's house.

Here we are playing in Grammy's super fun and arctic cold fountain.

"Mascara goes on your eyes, right mom?"

Grammy put in a swing for the grandkids and Marin would "shwing" and "shwing" until it hypnotized her into a sleepy kid coma. Have I mentioned how sad I am that she refuses to wear hair bows/clips even though she looks amazingly adorable in them? It's a tragedy of immense proportions.



And now to the Grahamster - that adorable, chunky manimal (or Granimal as we've endearingly named him). He has super-baby strength and is one dense, thick little man. I'm curious if he'll lengthen out like Marin did or if he'll have a totally different body type than she does. He is as sweet as pie and I love burying my lips into his soft squishy cheeks. This is funny. Graham fell asleep face first on Adrianna's shoulder. Holidays are rough on the little man.

And last but certainly not least, a family picture of the Motters.

Mark, Me, Andrew, Mom, Dad, Grahamster, Jeremy and Inny.