Ollie & Ev : Survival Mode

Happy Summer from our little sweet sweets!

Don't be scared: This is how Ollie gives kisses. He is NOT eating Everett's head!
Although the expression on Ev's face says it all!

Summertime and the living's easy... and when it's not so easy, we enter into what I lovingly refer to as "survival mode". Survival mode is a place of no judgement, where the solution is always the easiest, laziest, no fuss attempt at making it work. Survival mode says goldfish crackers are totally a meal, Daniel Tiger is a great educational guide, shoes are optional, showers are too decadent to be taken everyday, and we are all rock stars. Survival mode was meant to be temporary; a crutch for those first few chaotic weeks as a family of four with 2 under thirteen months. But what the hell! We were SO unabashedly good at survival mode we're giving it another go through the Summer and probably on into Fall. If it looks like we have it all together - HA! I'm not even going to finish that sentence because I know what it looks like and I humbly admit that EVERYTHING is messy, NOTHING on my to do list is done, we are the tiredest we have EVER been, but this is the MOST amazing time in our lives and we are LIVING up every. single. moment.

---------End speech I recite every time I change a diaper :) --------

Truth: Oliver is screaming his head off tantruming in this photo.
Fact: If you turn a child sideways so only their profile is visible, crying actually looks like smiling.

Sometimes there is simply no cooperation and you just take the photo and know you will one day look back on these as the best days of your life.

the BEST!!! :)

And now for another fun game. Who's who?

OK, so I admittedly enjoy dressing Evs up in Ollie's old clothes WAY more than anyone should. I love the bargain of getting more wear out of each outfit and the fun of trying to guess "who wore it best?" or honestly, "who wore it at all?" So when I ask a skilled audience of viewers - i.e. my facebook friends - to tell the difference between the two babies side by side and they are 100 percent of the time able to do that accurately, I feel like a terrible mom because I CANNOT tell them apart! I mean if I look really closely I can see differences, but sometimes these baby boys look like twins. Obviously Oliver looks way different now than he did at this time last year, but it will be interesting to see if Everett ends up with blonde curly hair and off the charts for height and weight. Time will tell.

It's been a while; How about some updates...

We left off in May with this adorable love bug. 

He brings so much happiness and calm to our lives. Seriously, Everett is 100% chill. No need to break out the mamaroo, rock n play, bouncer, or swing. Though I still make him sit in them because hey, I've got to justify impulsively purchasing all these gadgets! He is most content laying completely still, flat on his back, on a blanket on the rug.

At his last pediatrician visit, Everett was 22" and 12.5 lbs. A little heavier and a little shorter than Ollie was at 3 months. I have a feeling they'll be the same size soon though! Also, check out the adorable burp cloths and bibs my mom made for Everett. Super cute and they help me tell my little guys apart in pictures too! *mostly kidding.

Easy-going E is mellow, nurses every three hours, and sleeps from around 9 at night til 5 am. In his bassinet next to my bed. Hallelujah! All the praise hands!!! Lest you think I'm a bragger (or some other b-word), let me remind you about precious little Ollie Bear. And the constant teething. And the still-sleeping-in-our-bed (read: getting kicked in the insert any body part here all night long). And the night terrors, or what I can only assume are night terrors because he wakes up several times a night screaming bloody murder for no apparent reason. Poor baby! So let it be known that Everett is a great sleeper, but he is in fact the only one getting any sleep.

Except for nap time. Oh sweet sanity of nap time!

Oliver is growing SO fast! At his last check up he was already 28 pounds and 32" tall. He is really cute and sweet and so much fun! He loves Everett and is a total water baby. He is happiest in the pool or at the beach or in the bathtub. Besides "mama", "dada", "no", "oh wow", "ball", and "uh oh", he says "giraffe".  I know! So random, but we did give him a Sophie giraffe from day 1 and we do go to the zoo every week. Only problem is he calls EVERY animal a giraffe. Dogs... "Giraffe!" Birds... "Giraffe!" We're working on it, but it is pretty comical. What one year old says giraffe?!

Oliver loves bounce houses and climbing and is always smiling. We got him that little miniature bounce house for the backyard. It hasn't arrived yet, but once it does he will be all about it.

Oliver didn't walk until he was 13 months old, but now he RUNS!

May was a rough month so there's not a whole lot of pictures... May was the month my c-section incision got infected, and the day after I finished my antibiotics for that little gem, I came down with strep throat and pink eye. Oliver got 3 new teeth, spiked a fever of 103 for a solid week, went to the ER for a double ear infection, and finished the month off with hand, foot, and mouth disease. Everett had a blocked tear duct and Andrew made it out unscathed. And can I just say what a Super Dad Andrew is... he constantly saves the day and is honestly the most amazing daddy.

We did have lots of help from family during that crazy month of May, mayhem, and plagues and I am so sorry we got my sweet mother-in-law sick :(  Thank you, Kathryn, for taking care of us during the craziest time! And then going home to take care of Andrew's dad, who had to have surgery for an aneurysm in his leg. May was rough for everybody. We were definitely in full on survival mode... and we all lived through it. Phew!

All hands on deck! 

June was the month of visitors, swimming in the pool, beach days, and driving home for my cousin's wedding.

End of the year staff party and last day of school.

Dad visits us a few times in San Diego then flies to Ohio to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. (We face time a lot)

Mama comes to visit and collects (steals?) rocks from the beach for Great Grama's memorial, takes us out to a tasty dinner in North Park at City Tacos, and gets lots of snuggles and smiles from Everett.

Lots of friends and family visit us and we go to the Zoo and Wild Animal Park approximately 300 times :) Not even lying, we pretty much live at the Zoo. Figuratively and literally.

We made the five hour drive up to my cousin's wedding and both boys did... not great!

More adventures at the zoo!  This is the time Auntie Audrey gave Oliver an applesauce squeeze pouch and he flipped out and spilled it EVERYWHERE then stripped down to a diaper, refused to be clothed or restrained by a stroller, and lost his tish at the orangutan exhibit. Lots of judging stares that day! I just laughed and said "This is what I ALWAYS wanted!" That's the only appropriate response, right?! I used to hate going to the zoo and seeing all the babies when I couldn't have one. Now I have two and it's all kinds of chaotic and wonderful at the same time. 

June 17 was the last day of school/my first day back from maternity leave. Perfect timing! My dad helped me pack up my classroom. Oh yeah, I am moving to a different elementary school to teach 2nd grade part time. I will share a contract with another teacher next year so I only work Thursdays and Fridays and we alternate Wednesdays. SO grateful I get to be home with my boys half the time. The days I work they will go to daycare the same place Ollie went last year. We LOVE sweet Delia and how she cares for our babies!

June was also the month of dental work to the tune of $8,000. I had two root canals, two crowns, and a serious cleaning... something about being pregnant for 2 years and having a super duper sweet tooth. Andrew has to have a dental implant, a bridge, and some other awful stuff that adds up to be freaking expensive! This is all delaying my getting a mini van fund. I might be ok with that.

June was also the month we were finally all healthy, so I grabbed my camera and tri pod and took some family photos at the park.

July was college roommate reunion. I love these girls!!!

 And traditional 4th of July shenanigans,

We celebrated our 9 year anniversary and my parents gave us a card with a heart cut out from fabric that was used as our head table table cloth. They gave us $100 and a $50 Target gift card... for diapers :) Thank you Mom and Dad!!! You are always so thoughtful and our diaper stash is replenished! Without doing any real math, I determined that we go through a box of diapers and 4 gallons of milk a week. Oliver drinks something like 12 bottles a day. Oh confession: he refuses to drink from a sippy cup or straw or grown up cup or anything that isn't a tommee tippee bottle. And we oblige because, you know, survival mode.

For reals, though, these are the BEST days!

 There's sunglasses for sleep deprivation, or in my case, pink eye :)

These little babies are growing WAY too fast! I don't want to miss a second. So I am typing this post at 2:30 in the morning *which should explain a lot. Anyway, no time to blog or put coherent sentences together, but lots of precious moments with my boys. 

I don't know if we'll ever fully get out of "survival mode" but it doesn't really matter. 

I've got my babies and we're finally a family and there is nothing sweeter.

Except for little baby feet. 

Those are pretty sweet.