My Poor Boys

Lately I've been having the feeling that my boys don't have the benefit of a 22 yr old mom with lots of energy. I have embraced the lifestyle of a "relaxed parent" as i like to call it. I just don't have the energy to worry about everything like a new mother should. I let my kids eat whatever that thing is that they pick up off the floor. As long as its not metal they should be fine. I don't backtrack to try to find the missing sock at the play place. I let them cry themselves back to sleep almost every time I hear them at night. I let them fight over toys-you get the picture. Sometimes I think that if I just had one, I could be a better mom. I could fuss over them and make sure they always had clean faces and noses. I could sit down and read to them while they sit on my lap. I could take them to the library for story time, or to the park to teach them to walk. Wow, I'm incapable of saying him instead of them. Its always them. Even when I'm asking other people about their new babies. I say "How are they sleeping" instead of "How is she sleeping". Anyway, I just feel like I'm not giving my boys the types of things that they really deserve. I wish I could read to them every day, but they fight over the book, or I'll read to Ethan, but Noah hates sitting on my lap. I try taking them outside to play, but then they each take off in different directions, and I can't keep them BOTH safe all by myself. Then i feel like I'm favoring one over the other, and I don't need that kind of guilt. I'm already dealing with enough of that. I realize that all mothers battle with feelings of inadequacy, but I haven't been able to shake this recent bout of it. Maybe when the ground dries out I can take them outside more and feel better about my parenting.

Another Ouch!

Joe would tell some elaborate story making him sound super tough and manly. One such story i heard involved him playing second base and sacrificing his arm to stop the ball. Yadda yadda yadda. The truth is less entertaining, but that doesn't mean his arm isn't in quite a bit of pain. On Saturday Joe was donating plasma and the phlebotomist missed the vein. He didn't notice so much at first, except that the machine was running a little slow. It wasn't until the machine started pumping his blood back into his arm that Joe realized that there was something wrong. He was immediately disconnected, and came home with a very very sore arm. Although the picture looks bad, it really doesn't do the bruise justice... it looks much worse in real life.

OUCH!!!

Today, as Joe and I were going about our morning, cooking breakfast, checking emails-don't pretend you don't know he was checking his march madness brackets. Anyway, Ethan started screaming, which is not a surprise since he and Noah were in a tug of war over a toy. We just assumed that Ethan was throwing a fit and didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that we realized that Ethan was still crying, which was out of the ordinary. Low and behold, Ethan has a big cut at the tip of his finger! Poor boy was crying out in pain and Joe and I didn't realize it. We took some pictures of our sad boy.

Joe is doing his best to apply pressure to the cut while Ethan struggles to get free.

After we got the cut all bandaged. Here is the towel we used to soak up all the blood. SO SAD!

Ethan still with tears in his eyes, but mostly curious about his finger.

And now he has been successfully distracted by the show Word World.
Noah is trying to look into the camera so his head is in this shot.

Ethan shortly after pulled the bandage off and we had to do it all over again. More blood, more tears. We had to tape the band aid onto his finger, and then tape his two fingers together to get it to stay. Later this evening we had our family pictures taken by a friend in our ward (thanks Jessica!) so his fingers are all taped up for our pictures. Oh well, life with babies.

Happy St. Patricks Day

We didn't actually buy this hat or even take this picture on St. Patricks Day. So what if we put the had back when we were done. Thats how we roll. We did actually have a festive St. Patricks Day, minus the hats. We wore green, took the boys to play at the park, and then had an all green dinner. Our friends, the Doughertys, make us chicken pesto pasta, broccoli, green jello, and green kool aid. I thougth it was pretty cute. Hope everyone has had a fun day too.

Sunshine

Today was a beautiful day! What a perfect way to start spring break. it feels like a summer morning when you walk outside in your t-shirt and you can smell the morning, and you wish it could be like that all day long. Today it was. We weren't without our stresses. We had a long to-do list, but all of our tensions melted away every time we stepped outside. Running errands doesn't seem so bad when you can drive with the window rolled down. At one point today I could see that Joe was visibly irritable. He was eating abnormally fast, and he couln't hold still because his mind was going a million miles an hour running all his worries through his head. I thought for sure that his day was ruined, but wasn't five minutes later when i ran outside barefoot to hand him his wallet before he left for the post office, that i saw a completely different person. He casually strolled up to me, took his wallet, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. He just needed a little sunshine.

Here are some pictures that are totally unrelated to the story, but who cares?

Could this be any more Ethan?

This is from poster on campus to learn pottery from this creepy creepy man.

This is my unhappy self being not quite 4 month prego with the twins.

Noah at the dental picnic last summer.

Getting Closer!!!!

I feel like i am getting the first date jitters! thats how excited i am for spring break to finally come around! It seems unreal that Joe will actually have 9 DAYS OFF! We decided to save money and take this time to just relax-I originally typed "chillax" but then decided that i couln't pull that off. For our Christmas vacation we flew to Utah to see family, and while it was great to see everyone it was also quite stressful. About halfway through we needed a vacation from our vacation! So this time we are just doing whatever we want on our own schedule and then coming home to our own beds(cribs). I am so excited! We are actually going to be able to go swimming! yay! anyone else who is staying in Iowa is welcome to join us!

Big Day for Ethan

yesterday i took the boys to the playplace in the mall for a while. I've heard so many stories of babies who are the age of my kids who take their first steps after they have seen other babies walk first. So i thought it would be good exposure for the boys. If nothing else it is good for Ethan and Noah to get out of the house for a while. So I was talking to another mom who's boy had a balloon. Of course Ethan was intrigued by it and HE TOOK HIS FIRST STEP! He was holding onto a giant block which he let go of, and then took a small step. He stayed stable for a couple of seconds, and then sat down. Later that night Joe was working with him and Ethan took TWO STEPS! yay! I'm so proud of him! Soon Noah will follow, and they are going to be walking boys! Wow. I didn't think it would ever happen. I included some random funny pictures of the boys just for fun. Can you tell who is who?

Attention Family

Whitehead siblings and parents: Please check the Whitehead Family Blog for important summer updates.
Petersen siblings and parents: Please check the Petersen Family Blog for cute pictures of my twins.
Actually anyone can check the petersen blog since its not private so feel free i guess, but i will eventually post the same pictures on my blog.