Circus Circus!

 We set out on a family adventure on Saturday!

 We started off with a trip to Torchy's, our favorite taco place.

 Our girls are quite infatuated with tortillas. And Juan and I die over the chips & guac and probably every taco on the menu (not all at once, but seriously every single combination is delicious).

 And then we headed over to the Circus!!!

 We had been prepping Amelia all week and she was most excited for all the animals.

 Her favorite part was the elephants.

 She got kind of bored with the clowns.

 And Maya, she could not handle that clown nose on me. She just had to grab at it. Ha! 

 It was so fun to take them to an event like this, especially with Amelia getting her own chair. She seemed like such a big girl.

 And I just loved how much she loved to watch.

 Maya was so good the first half, and then got squirmy the second half. I took her out to walk around, and she was such a happy baby! 

And then she knocked out when we got back in.

Juan is really the one behind this all. He LOVES spoiling Amelia with fun childhood experiences. This is one she will remember.

Maya's starting to keep up!

For months Maya has been dying to get on the move, and now she is finally moving beyond rolling and can do a pretty good scoot! It is the best. I loved watching Amelia move all her toys across the room, only to have Maya catch up to her a couple minutes later, and Amelia was scrambling to move all her stuff again! 

 I've been really impressed with Amelia's imaginary play lately. This is all her little people each inside a block, she was putting them to sleep.

 Hiding inside the cupboard, she just started really hiding and not making a peep when I call for her. Thank goodness our apartment is tiny, otherwise I'd be have a panic attack every time I couldn't find her.

 Amelia wanted me to take pictures of her running.

 And I ended up getting some of the best pictures of her, with genuine smiles!

This is what happened when I told her to look up at me while she was running:

 Ha!

Baby Love

I do not know if a day will ever exist where I will not want a baby in my home. Maya is irresistibly adorable, happy, and lively. I love her so much.

Maya's new thing is her belly bounce. She gets so excited and just throws up her arms and legs and bounce bounce bounce. I love how happy it makes her.

 My baby is now 7 months. 

 Amelia likes to smile for the camera when she sees Maya doing it.

 Seriously, is there anything cuter?

Pretty much, Welch's should just hire her as their Fruit Snack spokesman right now. Look at that pose.

Another Post, Happy this time

I love to blog. And I couldn't waste my one-blog-per-week on my sad post. So here is a happy post, with pictures!

 Juan sent this picture while I was out with my friends last week. I always miss the girls when I'm away, look at those gorgeous eyes!

 I got a new nephew! Bennett surprised Ginger & Sam and came 9 days early! I am dying over the pictures and can't wait to see him in person. 

 Amelia and me in matching braids. She loves having matching hair with mom.

 We took Amelia to a Teddy Bear Surgery event at the Humane Society where our friend Kasee works. Amelia got to be the doctor and fix up her hippo's leg. She was so into it! She loved the big band-aid and helping her hippo who had been sick all day. It was so much fun!

 The funniest part of the day was when the lady asked Amelia, is that your hippo? And Juan corrected her and said, no it's an elephant. I guess Juan needs some brushing up on his animals.

Happy weekend!

This Mom Thing is Rough Sometimes

This week has been really hard on me. The 2 year old and I, we butt heads.

I'm saying No way too much.

I'm losing my cool way too much.

I'm definitely not being the mom I want to be, the mom I love to be.

It is really hard. I thought we got past this stage where everything is a fight. Where getting dressed, changing a diaper, putting on shoes, brushing teeth is an ordeal that starts with a running and laughing toddler, and ends with a frustrated mom and the toddler kicking and screaming.

Every day I wake up thinking, I'm going to have more patience today. And every day I have a meltdown.

This is a depressing post, isn't it?

Thank goodness for Juan who comes home and rescues me. He comes home to a basket-case of a wife and he drops everything to help. I love him.

And thank goodness that every week isn't like this.

Best Ever

Here are a few things in my life right now that I think are the Best Ever:

Amelia is dressing herself these days.

Shirt is backwards, both legs through one leg of her skort. She's a crack up. Her most common words are "I do too" or "Me do, me do" as in, Back off mom.

Fels-Naptha.

This stuff is for real. I read about it on my friend Landen's blog, and I was skeptical because the stains I deal with are blowouts, chocolate, spaghetti, kid stuff. And I haven't found luck with anything. Until now. Fels-Naptha, it works every time! Disclaimer: it did not work on old stains that had already gone through the washer and dryer, bummer.

Maya's rolling.

Amelia and I were playing 3 little pigs and we heard Maya's babbles getting further and further away. So we went looking for her and we found her in the bedroom under our bed! She had to turn 3 corners to get there! She thinks she is so sneaky.

The perfect chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe right now. I love to try new recipes, and this one is chewy and delicious. I add a bit more salt, not quite 2 tsp of vanilla, and I always use Milk chocolate chips. This cooking blog is also my favorite right now, especially for desserts.

Amelia wanting to show off her cuteness.

 I get Amelia dressed and she says, "Daddy show" and runs to show daddy. I put her hair in this ponytail bun today and she had to show daddy, which meant we took a picture and sent it to him at work. 

Maya driving the shopping cart.

 I love this picture. Maya taking charge with the wheel, Amelia being a big sister and making sure she doesn't fall. Maya is sitting up great in the cart now and is obsessed with the wheel. She was so tiny hanging onto the wheel with her little bum right at the edge of the seat.

The Olympics

Loving the Olympics this year. This is the first year I am really into it since I was a kid watching with my family. Who knew there was so much drama in watching sports! I love the emotional highs and lows. 

Maya is 6 Months

This post is 2 weeks late. Mostly because I can't believe my baby is 6 months old already!

• Maya weighs in at 16 lbs 9 oz and is 27 inches tall.
• She is full of smiles ALL THE TIME.
• She has started eating baby food, and likes to clamp her mouth shut pretty good when she sees the spoon approaching. I am less stressed this time because little by little it did get better with Amelia.
• She has recently taken a liking to Squash mixed with rice cereal. The only food she willingly opens her mouth for.
• She is a chatterbox, and likes to be heard loud and clear. She does complain with a very loud screech when she wants attention, which is just delightful (not really).
• She is a momma's girl. She will be hangin' with Juan, but if she hears me come into the room, she will whip around and just watch my every move, and smile any second that I look back at her. I love it.
• That said, she can fuss when she's with other people sometimes, but has done great with babysitters this past month so that's a relief.

•  She sleeps great. But does cry herself to sleep so we have to put her down to bed before we sneak Amelia in a couple minutes later each night.
• Her eyelashes have grown in thick and long. And her big eyes are to die for.
• Her cheeks are irresistible, and she gives me a very confused look when I blow raspberries on them.
• She is sitting up! She can entertain herself for much longer now that she's up and able to look around. 
• She loves to go swimming and just lounges in the pool like it is the most relaxing place in the world. She even took her evening nap the other day in her hippo tube!

Peace out.