2 1/2!

For reals! How did this happen? I am pretty sure he is just this tiny little guy...but when I look at him I see all toddler. all boy. all grown up.

So maybe we celebrated half birthdays in my house, and maybe I still demand my parents take me out to dinner on mine. I am pretty sure my parents stopped making a big deal of my half birthday when I was like 5, but continued to humor me with dinner out on my half birthday until I was in college...I mean last December when I turned 25 and a 1/2! It's probably a decision they regret in their parenting. Whatever.

So today was my little man's 1/2 special day! It was a great day indeed. I told him it was his 1/2 birthday and he sang happy birthday to me. He doesn't get it. It's cool. But I made sure to treat him extra special today. Lots of extra hugs and kisses. Special art time with Mommy while Maria was taking her morning nap. And....dinner out at Panera.

So little Mr. Greg will be 3 in 6 months! Holy Cow! A three year old!!! I cannot even wrap my mind around that! AT. ALL. So here is a little update on my sweet little man!

*Greg is tall. Greg is skinny. I don't know the exact numbers...but I will on April 18th when we go to the doctor!

*Greg has all of the teeth he should have at this point and his two eye teeth are super sharp!

*Greg eats pretty much everything, but certainly goes through the toddler stage of some days I eat and some days I don't really want to.

*He wears a size 3T shirt (he has a very long torso) and 2T pants and shorts

*He doesn't wear diapers!!! :-) He wears 2T/3T big boy underwear

*Potty training is going well. He still has an accident here and there. We still have to take him every 30 minutes. He is starting to tell us when he has to go, but not consistently.

*He wears a size 7 1/2 shoe.

*Greg LOVES bath time!

*Greg HATES bed time! HAHA! He just takes 20-40 minutes to fall asleep for the night or naps. Apparently he has to unwind from his busy day!

* Greg loves to read and be read to! :-)

*Greg tries to sings his ABC's. He knows the tune, but misses a letter here and there.

*Greg knows the colors red, blue, green, black, and pink very well.

*Greg can count to 5 great! He can count to 10, but skips 6 and 7!

*Greg loves to be outside and loves to color and play with play doh!

*He talks pretty well and will attempt to repeat any word you ask him to say.

*He does not talk a lot in front of others...like at Kindermusik or on play dates with kids he doesn't see often.

*Greg is a snuggler in the morning!

*Greg's favorite TV shows are Elmo's World on Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, Baby Einsteins, Chuggington, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates...and his Disney Sing a Long DVDs! He really does not watch too much TV. Maybe 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes after bath before bed!

*His favorite toys: stuffed animals, cars, his trike, anything that plays music

*He still has his blankie! (receiving blankets...not one in particular which is great so he gets a clean one every day) He falls asleep with it and takes it in the car...I don't know how to get rid of it!

(Check out the haircut! FINALLY!)

Greg has such a fun personality! He picks up on EVERYTHING! He pretends so well it amazes me at times! (Maybe because I never knew how to pretend as a child!) He is such a joy and brings so much laughter and happiness into our hearts! We love you little man!

What Are They Loving?

Greg and Maria are loving lots of things this week!

Number 1: Cupcakes!

So tasty!

She could not get it in her mouth fast enough!

Number 2: Greg is loving this flashlight he found in my purse. (I have lots of randomness in my purse!)

Number 3: Waiting for Dad to get home! They both stood here and called his name over and over again! (ps: check out Greg's leg musles! Mommy is JEALOUS!)

Greg is also loving reading before bed time and nap time. Maria is loving all things baby! She is such a good Mommy to her babies! They both LOVE chasing one another and following each other around as they push the stroller and grocery cart around the house!

Summer Treats!

With the heat in the afternoon we have been loving our time outside. Although my allergies are RIDICULOUS...it is SO worth it to see how much joy my children get from playing outside! This week we brought out the popsicles for our after dinner treat!

Up to no good!

He wanted to pose by the tree!

Multi-tasker....no time to stop!

She LOVES the camera....just like Mommy! :-)

Crazy curls!

Although the weather has been great...my poor nose and eyes are not! It has been so much fun to be outside and play, to have dinners on the deck, and bring out all the backyard fun stuff like side walk chalk and bubbles!

Thankful!

I love these two munchkins! This week was just one of those weeks that went great! The kids play more and more with one another each day. It warms my heart as I hear them talking and playing together! SOOO thankful I had them close together...they really are becoming each other's best friend....most days! :-) I know one day they will be coming up with plans to fool Mommy, but that's okay...they are not quiet talkers!

They moved their chairs over in the kitchen, grabbed their drinks, and played here laughing and talking and imitating each other for a solid 15 minutes! It was precious!

Drink Break! (After they said cheers and clinked cups....I'm 100% serious!)

I am also thankful for parents who spoil my children! We had ice cream at Grammy's this week! I am just blessed to have my Mom and Dad so close and I am thankful they like to hang out with me...okay...with my kids...but we are a package deal! :-)

Maria was a little bit messy eating her ice cream!

Greg enjoyed his, too!

This picture sums up our week! It was fun and laid back! We enjoyed our time outside and had nakey babies running around inside!

So thankful to stay at home with these sweeties each day! They light up everything and make any bad day a million times better with a smile or giggle! Love my life! ;-)

Hello Spring...

Oh wait! Spring? I mean summer in March!

Seriously, it has been in the 80s here for like a week! CRAZY! We have loved spending our days outside though!

He does not like to stop for pictures! He clearly thinks it's a giant waste of time!

Pretty girl who would not stop eating grass!

Nakey girl and chalk! She ate that, too!

Picasso!

Happy boy who NEEDS a haircut!

13.1 Again!

Seriously, a year ago if someone would have told me that I would have completed two half marathons, I would have been like....I don't think so! But, I did it again! Crazy!

My dad, Heather (my soon to be sister in law), friends (Rebecca, Michelle, and Danielle), myself, and almost 10,000 other runners ran 13.1 last Sunday! My expectations of race day were much different since I had been through it once. I was super excited...and not so nervous! I felt like I knew what I was doing! HA!

This course was HARD! It was soooooo HILLY! My friend, Rebecca, has run several half marathons, and she vowed to never run in Atlanta again! The course was WAY harder than the one we had run in November. The last 3 miles were a steady incline...and this became not so much fun! Although it was difficult, I finished...and did not die!

Crossing the finish line!

I was a little disappointed in my time. I ran my first half in 2 hrs 14 min, and I ran this one in 2 hours 19 min. I know that the course was harder, and I did not commit to training the way I had in November. Between sick babies, a trip to New Orleans, potty training, me being sick...running my distance runs just did not really happen this go around!

Always look happy for the camera!

So what's next? Another half! I am kind of addicted to race day! :-) I want to venture out of Atlanta and maybe do Savannah in November! We shall see! :-) I really have high hopes of doing it in 2 hours or less! My dad was a rock star and ran his in 1 hour and 58 minutes! I'm pretty sure even though he said he was not going to do any more half marathons, that he is a liar and will always run with his princess to make sure she is safe! :-)

Awesome people!

My friend Rebecca got me this shirt...it's like the Chavez children motto "This isn't sweat, it's liquid AWESOME!"

Oh No, He Didn't!

So...here's a true story. I still sleep with my stuffed animal dog, Snowball! Snowball is 19 years old...we get along just fine, and she's always there for me! :-)

Upon getting married, it was kind of nice that my hubby worked at night so Snowball could continue to be my nighttime companion. I would much rather have Greg, but since he was unavailable, I'm glad Snowball could fill in for him as my snuggle buddy!

Little Greg went down to sleep last night. He called me to his gate multiple times to tell him good night and take him potty, etc. One time I went and he said he wanted to give Daddy a hug night night...so off we went to our room to give Daddy hugs and kisses night night. And then Greg saw Snowball on the bed...and then this happened!

He STOLE her and took her with him!

So happy with his new friend!

Ridiculous!

So...I tried to convince him that Snowball was Mommy's and he was not buying it. Off he went with her. I may or may not have tried to take her away more than once. But no worries...as soon as he was asleep, I went in to rescue Snowball!

Morning Routine!

Our morning routine is simple, but I love it! Both of my babies are so cuddly and I just love this time of day with them. Maria is usually up first, and I take her down and change her diaper and get her ready for the day. Then, it's breakfast time! Greg usually wakes up around this time, and he comes downstairs and sits on the couch while I get his breakfast ready! He is so still and kind of out of it for the first 10 minutes he is awake. After breakfast, I get Greg ready. The kids play while I clean up. Morning time is when they play the best together and I just love over hearing them talk and play together! Maria goes down for a nap around 9, and I eat breakfast and have my coffee while watching Live with Kelly while Greg continues to play. From 9:30-10:30 Greg and I work on educational activities! I love watching him learn. I love teaching him. I love planning our activities! Some days it is as simple as coloring, other days we are making and creating, or sorting! Maria wakes up and we continue to play!

Morning milk in Mommy's coffee cup!

So good!

She's one cute eater!

Smiley Baby!

Playtime! This is how we roll during potty training...practically naked!

Close up!

My little cutie!

Still loving the beads from Mardi Gras!

AHHHH! I am so blessed to be their Mommy! They make everything right in this world!

Random

I feel like my brain is a jumbled mess this week. I'm going to blame it on the potty training. So here is some randomness to go with my jumbled brain.

I LOVE that these two are starting to play with each other. It is ADORABLE to listen to them talk with one another. They definitely still fight more than play together...but these moments just melt my heart! Greg loves to show Maria things and have her involved in his world of imaginary play!

Stuffed animal fun in the laundry basket! They love each other.

Crazy hair. I could not get it down one day no matter how many times I had wet it down!

Potty update: Making good progress! He still has had some accidents each day...but is getting better and better! If he would just tell me when he had to go during his busy schedule that would help a lot. He goes consistently with me to the potty every 30 minutes...but if he needs to go in between this time he just doesn't tell me (unless we are in the car...he's great about telling me in the car!)

Maria is just growing and growing! Her language and ability to communicate has really impressed me! She says some words, and I have a feeling that one day she will just wake up talking in sentences! She is a cutie and has been so great handling all of the attention Greg is getting with the potty!

I am busy trying to train for my next half marathon (which is less than 2 weeks away!)! I was certainly not as committed to my training this go around as I was with my last half! Hoping to keep up the hard work now, and not die on March 18! :-)

And I'm done...

No More Babies: Potty Training (Day 3)

And today was day 3! So much better than yesterday!

Today was GREAT! Greg is totally getting it! PRAISE GOD! :-)

Greg only had one accident before nap time. It was small, and although all he started off the toilet, he finished his pee on the toilet! We went to Kindermusik today and I was SOOOO nervous for our 45 minute class. He completely surprised me. He told me when he had to pee and we went to the potty and he peed. (We did this 4 times during class!) But no accidents...woop woop!

All of his poopies made it in the potty, too! When he went down for his nap, he came to his door three times to have me get him and go potty! After this, he finally laid down and went to sleep!

After naps we went to Nannie's and Pappy's for dinner. This was a little less successful. There is clearly a reason they tell you to stay home for 3 days. There was so much going on and so many people there that Greg really did not want to go to the potty. Every time we asked he said no (probably afraid he would miss something) and when we put him on the potty to try he had a fit. We had three accidents. Sadness since we were having such a great day with things.

When we came home, he wanted to go on the potty before bed. He also got me two times while trying to go to sleep to have me take him. He peed both times, and then off to bed he went!

We are so proud of him! Hoping that all things will go great this weekend, and we will have a potty trained boy by Sunday!