"Hoppy" Easter!

I love to quote C.S. Lewis at Christmas and Easter time, and this is probably my favorite quotation of his:

"He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less." ---C.S. Lewis

How fitting is that for Easter?!?  I love that we celebrate the resurrection of the Savior that, in turn, makes our own resurrection possible.  I love that we celebrate this gift during Spring--the season of renewal--when plants seem to come back to life and little bunnies and chicks are born.  How fitting is it that we celebrate resurrection during the season when everything returns?

The Kirby family has had a very fun Easter morning, filled with our friends Reese's and Cadbury (LOL...I should mention our church doesn't start till 1:30pm) !  Seriously...Paul and I just shared a Reese's egg that was so big, it had FOUR SERVINGS at 220 calories EACH!  But, that's allowed on Easter morning (I skipped breakfast so that I could endulge).  Leading up to Easter, we received TWO packages--one from my parents and one from Deena.  There was so much in the packages that I didn't have to buy much to help fill the boy's Easter baskets.

Easter kisses from big brother!

To start off our Easter adventure, I tried to get a picture of the boys in their jammies together.  Auntie Deena bought them and they are adorable!  Cute little duckies in the bathtub!  

Hayden was being his two-year-old self and, as soon as he knew I wanted him to do something, he didn't want to do it!  All I wanted a picture of was the boy holding Taylor.  This is as close as I got!

Hayden thought that the baby laying on him was SO FUNNY!  He couldn't help from laughing the whole time.

One of my favorite Easter candies is the cream Cadbury Egg.  I'm proud to announce it's one of Hayden's too!  Auntie Deena sent these and Hayden ate them in ONE BITE!  We let him have 2 this morning.  My mom sent some Cadbury Carmel mini eggs, but I let Lesley have those.  They are her favorite!

Hayden also got a spade, hand rake, and gloves (not pictured) for the Garden from Deena.  We're planting a garden this year (cross your fingers!).  I hope he'll help me in the garden and not dig everything up after I plant it!  

His beloved mini Cadbury Egg.

Hayden decided that he wanted to eat one of his eggs right away, so he began to peel off the wrapper and put each little piece on the floor.  Then he realized there was a mess of wrappers on the floor that he could not live with.  Before he could eat his egg, he picked up his wrappers, ran to the garbage can, and threw them away!  I love his little personality, but seriously....WHAT KID DOES THIS?!?

Grandma and Papa sent Hayden some binoculars!  I thought they would either be a huge hit, or he would be completely afraid of them.  Thankfully, he loves them!  I think they'll be well used this summer.

Digging the Bino's!

Auntie  Deena sent Mr. Taylor a pair of Huskie booties!  He loves them!  My parents sent him a Huskie outfit, but I put it in the wash so he can wear it soon.

I am unhappy to report that Taylor did NOT like the little hat that came with his jammies.  We tried it twice, and each time he screamed!  The second we took it off, he was fine.  Silly kid!

Happy Easter to our friends and family!

Goooooood NIGHT!

DISCLAIMER:  I don't know what's going on with my blog's formatting right now.  It's not working, which is why some of my writing is center instead of left.  I'll try to fix it later because it's definitely not working right now!

Gooooood NIGHT!  Ha ha, I can't believe what Hayden did this morning!  I was working on getting Taylor calmed down; he is still in his 3wk-8wk fussy phase.  We were all in the living room but at the moment I didn't have a visual on Hayden.  

Hayden at 1 month.

My mistake.

I heard a small tap tap tap and looked over in Hayden's direction.  This smart little boy had found a picture of himself as a baby (I don't know where to put it yet so it hasn't been hung), and retrieved the hammer out of my tool bag.  He was tapping on the glass of the frame trying to break it!  Luckily, I was right there, and Hayden didn't tap very hard.  The picture was fine, but I knew it was someone's bed time!

Taylor at 6wk/2 days.

Taylor has been having issues too; we can't get him to sleep in his bed.  Yesterday we found out that he will fall asleep quite easily in his bouncer.  HALLELU-YER!  (Hello, mine name's Madea!)  For some reason he really likes the position the bouncer keeps him in.  I just enjoy the quiet hour or two that I get!  

Good Morning!

This morning I slept in.  Paul got up with the kids.  He changed both of their diapers, fed Hayden, and then started making french toast and bacon for the two of us.  While all of this was happening, I heard Taylor scr-REAM-ing his head off!  I got up to find this:

Taylor 5 weeks 4 days/Hayden 2 years 

Taylor had been starving (apparently), so Paul made him a bottle and was teaching Hayden how to feed it to him.  SO CUTE!!  Hayden was listening to all of daddy's instructions and was so proud of himself.

Someday son, you will appreciate bacon!

Hayden saw me eating a peice of bacon and said, HUMMMyyyyyyyy!  (which means yummy).  He reached for my bacon and I handed it over!  (If you know Hayden at all, you know that he's a REALLY picky eater.  I think he's eaten meat about twice in his whole life.)

Bacon Close-up

 Lastly, I had to show off my gorgeous flowers!  Paul came home from working overnight in Boise (so we hadn't seen him for around 36 hours) with these lovelies.  They are so pretty!  Anyone know how to take care of Orchids?

Friday

Our Friday was pretty normal.  It consisted of naps, diaper changes, snacks, and reading books.  Aaaaand a little visit from Auntie Lesley.  While I was nursing Taylor, Hayden decided  he was hungry, and couldn't wait.  He took the applesauce out of the fridge, got a spoon out of the drawer, and a clean bowl out of the dishwasher.  All I had to do was pour!  Silly boy.

After that I changed Taylor's diaper.  Why is it that whenever you put your baby in their cutest outfit that they always seem to poop on it?!?  I had to change Taylor's clothes and decided I would give him some tummy time.  

He's not a huge fan.  But I thought these pictures would be fun to look at someday, and they look SOOO much like Hayden!

Taylor 5 weeks 2 days

Here's a picture of Hayden at about the same age:

Hayden at 5 weeks...ish

Happy Friday everyone!

Mr. Hayden reads a book

NOTE:  I meant to get these pictures up in yesterday's post, but that didn't happen.  Oops!  

Lately Hayden has really been into reading.  I LOVE this!  We try to read to him at least every night before bed.  He's starting to let us read all the words and turn every page one by one.  It's a pretty exciting development!  I tried filming Hayden reading his book last night--he was more interested in my camera :)

One of Hayden's quirks that I just adore is his love of cleaning.

Yes.

Cleaning.  

Hayden loves to sweep, mop, vacuum, dust, etc.!  Yesterday he decided to start unloading the dishwasher for me.  I joined him...you know, because there are knives and glass and things!  

My big helper!

After doing the dishes together, I started spraying down the counter tops and wiping them down.  Hayden's eyes lit up and he said, "Some?  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME?  Some, some, soooooME?"  So I handed him his high chair tray and scrubber and let him go to town.
  

This cleaning probably lasted for 30 minutes.

Get to the point, already!

I'm slowly learning as a new mom of two that I need to speed things up.  I'm constantly looking for shortcuts, ways to streamline, the best daily routines to fit everything in, etc.  I've had such a hard time trying to blog with two little ones.  I want to fit in every little detail, but when I try to it seems impossible!  I looked over my past few blog posts and...wow...they are long!  Can we say, 

GET TO THE POINT, ALREADY?!?

So I have a problem being concise.  I know.  I always have!  My new goal though is to stop droning on and just get down to what I want to say.  I want to blog more often;  I want more pictures of the boys.  I want to remember everyday moments.  And did I mention I just don't have the time to sit down and write a huge long post anymore?  I have 15 minutes here, and 30 there.

With that said, I bring you MINI POSTS!  Featuring little snippets of our day, a picture or two, and more frequency!

Here's today (ok, and yesterday):

Yesterday Paul came home from work and was ex-AUS-ted.  He plopped down on the couch right as I handed Taylor over so that I could make dinner.  Taylor (of course) fell right asleep for his daddy and let him nap.  Why is that how it always goes?!?

(Yesterday)

Believe you me, I could have joined them on that couch.  I think we both had 2 hours of sleep that night!

Can you tell Paul had totally woken up when i took this?!?  I  made him close his eyes again so I could get the shot!

And here's my 5 week old today!  His eyes are just gorgeous.  Taylor today is sporting his gray and white, chevron striped, knit blanket that I got from Target.  LOVE it! Hayden thought the baby was cold so he threw it on top of him.  Meanwhile I'm freaking out that Taylor is suffocating to death!  Awwwwwwe, brotherly love:  scaring the crap out of moms since the beginning of time!

picture of hayden on the way....he's still napping!

Reasons my two year old might be freaking out...

My sweet little Hayden is two.  Suddenly he's developed his own thoughts, feelings, and ideas and, as his parent, I never know when this new part of his personality will choose to shine through.  After reading 46 Reasons My Three Year Old Might be Freaking out, as well as Why does my kid Freak out, I decided to follow Hayden's behaviors to see what's going on in his little world.  It's been really interesting! 

Why my 2 year old might be freaking out:

1. There's crust on his sandwich
2. There's bread on his sandwich
3. He only got half a sandwich
4. His pajama pant leg has ridden up an inch and is no longer covering his ankle
5. There are only three blankets covering him up for nap time
6. He wants to explore the bath tub
7. He didn't want to explore the bath tub by taking a bath
8. He wanted to flush the toilet, but sitting on it was NOT acceptable
9. I'm not letting him hold Taylor for the 80th time in a row
10. (While grocery shopping) He wanted to hold the cheese while riding in the cart, NOT THE FREAKING BUTTER!
11. There's something sticky on his finger
12. He sneezed and the sound scared him
13. Instead of coming from a can, his mandarin orange today was fresh with a peel
14. His mean mom wouldn't let him touch the baby's eye...or her eye for the matter
15. The snow is sticking to the bottoms of his shoes

Ok, there's just a few reasons.  Believe me, I could go on!  I'm glad I read the article, Why does my kid freak out, because it really tries to explain the toddler rationale for these crazy tantrums they throw!  The most classic tantrum I can think of happened to me just last night.  Out shopping, I let Hayden hold an eye shadow I was thinking of purchasing.  After thinking about all of the eye shadow I have at home, I decided I didn't need it.  But did Hayden want to give it back so that I could replace it on the shelf?  No.  He threw it.  And the shadow shattered inside the packaging.  

*Awesome*  

Here's the article's answer to this situation:

[. . .] it’s not only normal, but reasonable. [. . .] toddlers’ irrational behaviors are a totally understandable reflection of their inner turmoil and frustrations. In sum, their world is turning upside down and they don’t yet have the skills to handle it. Tantrums don’t mean your kid is a spoiled brat or needs therapy; tantrums mean he is normal.

The toddler life is not actually as cushy as it seems. Sure, I’d like 12 hours of sleep a night and all my meals prepared for me, thanks. But 2-year-olds are also going through a hellish personal crisis: They have just learned how to walk and use tools, so they really want to explore the world; at the same time, they are terrified of what that world contains and constantly fearful that their parents, whom they love and trust to a terrifying degree, will suddenly abandon them. Oh, and those same parents? They’re suddenly barking “no” all the time, seemingly just for fun. What the hell?

It’s no coincidence that kids start having tantrums around the time that parents start enforcing rules. When you say no, sweetie, you can’t have that butcher knife, your 20-month-old has no idea that you are depriving her of this awesomely shiny contraption for her own safety. “Since it’s the parent, whom they rely on for everything, who is taking it away, it’s perceived as a withdrawal of love, essentially.

So Hayden's response to my "orders" are completely rational.  Huh....