My babes

Oh, for gosh sakes.

 These darn people give me a very full heart. And I actually had quite the revelation over the last few days, but it's super late and I've got to sleep SOMETIME, so it shall be documented later. But it has something to do with rolling with waking up at 6:30 am and being happy about it, so woohoo!

FAVORITE.

T-ball and the pictures!

So I've been thinking about the 1,700+ pictures saved on my phone. I'm not kidding, I just deleted a picture of pancakes from 2010. Why the heck did I keep that? Why couldn't I just delete the darn thing? Well, I'll tell you: phone pictures are super candid life moments that I never want to let go of! Until about 15 minutes ago, I had 18 of the same picture of Carter, with about a .00000009 degree difference in the angle of his chin. It was just a series of photos where I decided it was crucial to capture not just ONE picture of him smiling at me, but rather 18! And the only reason I figured out that I should delete a few was because my iPhone barred me from taking any MORE due to a lack of storage! Anyway, hilarious.

And speaking of super candid life moments (not that this was candid - hellooooo, this scene was a photo shoot waiting to happen), here are some gosh darn adorable pictures of my big man on his FIRST DAY OF T-BALL! Yes - unbelievable!!! All taken by none other than my trusty phone, because it's awesome!

 Stretching during his "I'm not too sure about this" moment.

 The glove of dreams that he was in love with!

 Base running!

Hanging out with Gavin!

 Learning to field with the other kiddos!

 Super intense, wide leg stance.

 "Here, come stand next to me!" (Proud mom moment!)

The ole' cannon.

 It's on.

 :)

Sleep disruption and life pictures

So remember that time when I talked about how awesome it was to have my two very young bambinos sharing a room? Well.

TONIGHT, after her nightly lead-me-up-the-stairs-at-exactly-8:00-straight-to-her-bed-so-she-can-fall-asleep-immediately routine (I know. And that really happens, too!), I let the little man stay up for a few more minutes to finish Octonauts. Once it hit HIS bed time, I told him that he needed to be VERY quiet when he went to bed because the baby was already asleep, and guess what he did! Just guess! He went and woke her up! Now she's being ultra giggly and he's sulking because every time he opens the door I say, "Carter! Back in bed, DO NOT open the door for the baby!"

Okay, after reading that back I can't help but laugh. What the heck do I expect out of them? The kids are toddlers, for goodness sakes! They're engineered to sense Mom's I'm-being-serious-don't-make-a-peep tension radiating throughout the entire house! It's completely NORMAL for two children aged three and under to execute perfect front flips from Kota's toy chest onto her bed! Am I right? Am I RIGHT?!

Anyway, I'm also laughing because Carter will open the door then jam back to bed while Kota speeds through the hallway on all fours giggling like a maniac, and then the closer I get to her the more she starts to disintegrate into a ball on the floor in a fit of laughter. Oh, the level of cuteness!

And in other fabulous life news, here's what was going on this weekend!

 We got Carter his first baseball glove that was way too big for him but he loved to pieces (tear!). Then we went to lunch with Daddy, because OBVIOUSLY the man has to leave work to shop for mitts. Then we had to go to CPK.

 Dakota, the pasta fiend!

 The fork that has nearly poked my eyeballs out repeatedly. (But she will NOT give up.)

 "Here, ya want some mama?"

 Friday was one of those "Oh my gosh, it's the weekend and I'm ready to chill out" type of days. Also, Chad left for Vegas on Thursday night, so I was really in an anything-goes type mood. So I let the big dude eat a humongous bag of chips in his undies before nap time! I know, cool mom up in here!

 This plate was just for me and Kota. I'm not kidding.

 The "older kids" crew!!! They are awesome.

 Our family friend Lauren had her baby shower on Saturday! All of the little girly clothes made me really sad that I never had one for Kota. Seriously, what was I thinking?

 Holy cow. If you haven't seen Les Miserable, you are a worthless human being.

 Since finding out that one of my most awesome, favorite people on the planet is having another GIRL, I decided that I needed to send back all the adorable clothes she sent me for Kota, so you know what that means... SHOPPING TO FILL KOTA'S WARDROBE UP! It's a slowly but surely type process, but let me tell you: I'm looking forward to it!

From tonight. These two love her bed!

Sharing rooms and shaky steps

Y'all! Every single person I've come into contact with over the last 7 days has had to hear my seriously-I'm-so-happy-about-moving-the-kids-into-the-same-room speech at least 3 times. So sorry if you've been one of the unfortunates who have had to endure my shpeel, but really, holy cow!

So here is how it went: I was so, so, so, so, so, SO nervous about moving the little lady out of her precious  nursery and into Carter's room, but I really, really, really, really, REALLY wanted to put the computer in a space OTHER than the living room. I was finding that a) I couldn't relax on my owner couch anymore because I felt like I should be answering emails/checking up on Stroller Strides stuff at ALL times, and b) I was really not digging the kitchen table/office desk/living room combo. Worst of all, I was constantly drawn to check up on my favorite digs like Facebook, blogs and other goodies, something the kids - especially Carter - has always hated. I swear, once I glance toward the computer, they automatically turn into psycho children. I really felt like it was getting in the way of our family time (a sentence my mother used several times when I was in high school regarding OUR computer in the Paplia home. I totally laughed and thought how ridiculous she sounded, but listen up, Mom! I get it now! Sorry for being a little poop about it 10 years ago!). Anyway, a change had to be made.

Before we found those adorable beds from Ikea, I was being a major aesthetic nazi. I just couldn't pull myself to put her TURQUOISE, humongous crib in with his awkwardly-large-so-it-sits-on-the-floor box spring and twin bed covered in Cars sheets! I just couldn't do it! So after stressing out about whether or not I was just going to have endure the weirdness that said combination was going to produce, we took a nice trip to Ikea where we unexpectedly went for it and got them the matching beds (which I'm obsessed with. I mean, look at them!!! Oh my gosh). Now, 7 days later, they have been giggling it up in there every single night. Last night was the first time where I actually had to get mad at Carter for opening the door and letting my wild daughter out - freeing her to unload the linen closet - but other than that, it's been a great experience! And who cares if they're not asleep by 8:30 if what they're doing is laughing with one another (and not crying from me yelling, "Get back in bed, Carter!")?

Our new little office/play room is the bomb. Right now I'm sitting among blocks and army men strewn about, but I don't even care! BECAUSE IT'S IN THE ROOM WHERE MESSES ARE OKAY! It's been awesome. Now when we're downstairs it's pure family time, and when the kids are down for naps or bed, it's pure work for me/school for Chadly time. FABULOUS!

Since I took that picture, I've finished her yellow slip cover to match his, hung a girly picture on her side of the room and a manly one for his side, put up a purple-themed bulletin board over her bed and am looking for one for his side, hemmed and hung some curtains and I plan on matting and framing the most ADORABLE print that I won from Beau Chic Prints in between the two over their eventual nightstand (although I'm really loving that whole stuffed animal thing in the middle. One less thing for them to climb on, unlike the wicker toy chests at the end of their beds!)

And in other exciting news, that love bug on the left has been walking more often, but her steps are still so shaky and thought-out that she's become a big advocate of the crawl-as-fast-as-you-can movement, usually while giggling up a storm!

I feel like there's a million more things I need to document (like Carter's first day at t-ball! Tear!), but right now both bambinos are asleep (Carts in our room, her in their room), so you know what that means... Time to dig into the saltine bark I made two nights ago and restart Les Miserable! (Seriously with that movie? Words can't even describe!)

There's no beating a Sunday morning

I mean, for gosh sakes. I have yet to find anything more awesome during these young family life years than that of the Sunday morning. There's a good amount of sleeping in, adorable sibling camaraderie and the most important thing of all: a surplus of donuts! I'm telling you, it took an awful lot of self control not to devour every bit of those sugary delights because THIS lady has given them up for Lent. So donut-less I have remained. ....And yes, it's super hard, even in my what seems to be lackadaisical, Catholic-tradition-honoring self these days (Chad has proven to be the "Now remember Nicole, it's Friday so no meat" man in the fam!). 

On this particular Sunday morning Chadly had to go meet his group for an assignment due this week (boo!), so the chillins and I have just been stewing in all things wonderful. Later on we will be taking the babes up to Yorba Linda to spend some time with Grandma C while we hit the Clippers game with the glorious sister and brother-in-law! So woohoo for awesome beginning of the week mornings, this wonderful time change, Target's dollar section, donuts and spending a heck of a lot of time together before the madness of the week begins!

Update on the lady:

Kota now likes to stand upon command and then likes to fall in the most dramatic of fashions and laugh her little booty off. She has yet to take 5 consecutive steps again like she did last week, which I think is due to the loving-to-fall-on-her-booty game. She still likes to claw your face off with her nails (it doesn't matter how short I cut those babies), but now she does it with a huge smile and a laugh. It's becoming increasingly obvious that she is one of those bambinas who KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTS! If she doesn't get what she's pointing and saying DAT! at, it's all down hill for you, bucko. I love her decisive ways!

Carter:

This big dude is officially registered for preschool in the Fall!!! I'm so excited for him! I feel kind of bad for not feeling any trepidation about it, but hey! I think that just means that we're ready. He now enjoys dressing himself in crazy outfits, hitting me from behind with his many swords (tree branches and brooms included) and trying to sneak in as many baths as possible during the day (as we speak I'm trying to talk him through eating his pizza before he lights off for upstairs). In the last few months he's become a bit more aggressive in his "I WANT THIS NOW" type attitude, but what can ya do? He's in check 99% of the time so that's a good thing!

I mean... just glorious.

Sick littles and her FIRST STEPS!

By no stretch of the imagination has the last few days been easy, but holy cow, sometimes I really do love when we have a legitimate excuse to sit on the couch with the TV on (sans guilt), looking at the pictures in books, and to just BE. Such has been the last few days because my sweet bambinos both have ear infections (him: just one; her: both sides!), fevers and Carter has croup. 

Anyway, you would think having two sickies in the house would dampen the fun, but oh no, my friend! Last night Chadly and I left the babes with Grandma Cisneros and had a fun night out with a few awesome couple friends, Chad came home early from work today and I have been delightfully busy with Stroller Strides! A great last few days, I tell you, a great last few days.

But the best part of all: KOTA TOOK HER FIRST 5 STEPS IN A ROW TONIGHT! Yes!!! I had just taken the kids out of the bath and Chad was drying her off while I sat in the hall way with Carter. He was buttoning her little onesie pajamas with her standing up in this awkward, semi crouched position with a really weird look on her face. She looked like she was a frozen, teensy-tiny, uncomfortable little lady with a terrible thought running through her head! Anyway, Chad let go of her onesie and said, "What are you doing, baby? Are you going to walk to Mommy?" 

AND SHE DID! She took her first step - which she's done before, but never accompanied with any other ones - then just kept going! It was so amazing! She took a total of 5 steps, I believe. I mean, who cares about dealing with runny noses, coughs that could blow your hair off and spending over an hour in a dingy walk-in pediatric office with horribly sick children all around you when you have moments like that?! It gave me such a happy bolt of energy tonight. These little ones, I tell ya...

 ... They make me pretty gosh darn happy.

 In the morn.

 Even though every fiber of my body wanted to leave the horribleness that was the weekend answer to the kids' pediatrician's office, I had to admit it was pretty gosh darn cool!

Right before she fell asleep waiting for the doctor. :)