two old girls

having a baby in the house just highlights what i've been noticing lately: that amelia is far beyond baby-hood. suddenly her tiny little self has grown up. she's letting us know she wants independence (all the while snuggling on our lap). she wants to do everysinglething her sister is doing. there's just a bunch of new things she's learning & her ornery ways have become routine. & we're learning that amelia can put on one hell of a tantrum. at this point we still have to hide our faces b/c we're finding them humorous still & really, she comes out of the tantrum pretty quickly.

so yea, this week i started nannying for a 3 month old boy. i was expecting it to be a bit more crazy than it has been. i know, it's only been two days but really he's a pretty jolly little guy & loves to be held. (he reminds me of amelia in that way so maybe i'm just used to holding a kid in my arms constantly & it's sort of a relief that he's not 25 pounds like amelia, right?). the girls **ADORE** him. they cry when he leaves. he seems to like them just as much...when i force them into another room to give him time to breath he starts looking all around him, like 'where are they, my entertainment, my fan club...where did they go?!' 

one way i know this is the right decision in comparison to getting back into social work: i'm not stressed about it. just thinking about getting another social work job stressed me out...but baby sitting this baby--even during the rough moments in the day--it didn't really phase me much. i'm sure there will be days that stress me out but just the fact that i wasn't stressed going into it all confirms my decision.

yea, so that's the newest this week here. & on friday wes is getting a vasectomy.  i think he's kind of worried about the procedure, not the decision to have it done & really, same here with me. i'm a bit worried about the weekend & i'm trying to think of things to do with the girls that will give wes some time to just chill in bed or in front of the tv by himself. i'm thinking a movie at the cheap theater, going to the indoor mall playground, & maybe even a trip to a water fountain at one of the malls.

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so last weekend we trucked our way to ashland on saturday for their annual balloon fest. my dad made an amazing lunch for us & then later in the day we went to see the hot air balloons just as they were lifting off. adeline was pretty sad that the balloons were leaving but then saw the jump houses off to the side & i don't think we saw her & wes until an hour later. amelia even went in a jump house with a bunch of older kids & after a few minutes was totally jumping & rolling around. neither girls threw a tantrum getting out of the jump houses--AMAZING.

here's a picture from the balloon glow that night

on the ride home we saw fireworks going off all around us but the girls were already asleep so just wes & i enjoyed fireworks this year. next year will probably be the year of staying in westerville, going to our parade, & then our fireworks...b/c getting home around midnight was harsh for us old folks.

so then we hosted a bbq with two other families...the kids played on a slip n slide & sprinklers & the adults drank some tasty pina coladas or beer. i do think a few adults played in the sprinkers also...i was pretty surprised that wes didn't go on the slip n slide.

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so is anyone else tuning into this dispute between SAHM & working moms & then feminists? i've been trying to avoid reading these articles or listening to the npr segment (wes told me about the npr segment & then i've seen a few online articles pop up on parenting sites or whatnot). i think i already know what they're saying: if a mom chooses to stay at home with her kids, she's dissing the feminist movement & can't be a feminist. if a mom chooses to work, she's uncaring & a bad mom. blah blah blah.

i think i'm on the brink of jumping into this pool of articles & segments just to see if anyone is really saying or writing anything of worth. you know: you can still be a feminist & be a SAHM. you can be a working mother & be an excellent mother. one doesn't have to cancel the other out. maybe tomorrow. i guess i'm holding myself back b/c it's a touchy topic for me first of all & then secondly b/c some people will think whatever they want to think & my measly little blog post won't change their minds at all. & really, some feminists just need to shut up with their extremist views.

okay, i'll end with some pictures a photographer friend took last month. my girls love her & she grabs quite a few good pictures. here's a few:

cute, eh?