Unlocking the key to happiness:

CHILDREN!!!

Kids have always put a smile on my face.  They are goofy, adorable, silly and random.  They usually make me laugh so hard I cry.  But my own children?  The laughter is multiplied by 1,000.  Take last night's show for instance:  Leo has decided he isn't going to bed without a FIGHT!!  Okay then, here we go!

We put him in his bed and within seconds he is dipping and ducking around us and running out the door in front of our feet screaming at the top of his lungs.  So I try the SuperNanny approach.  Twice in a row, I pick him up, put him back in his bed without saying a word, and try to leave the room.  And twice in a row, he is up and out the door before me.  What does she know?!?! Does she even HAVE children of her own?!

Finally, I decide to stop indulging him and this gargantuan tantrum.  I leave his room, and I hold the door handle shut as tight as I can.  Meanwhile, Elena is sleeping soundly in the next room.  How??? I have no idea.  It sounds like an earthquake in his room.  He starts throwing himself at the door and trying everything to open it.  First he locks himself in the room.  Then he unlocks the door and tries it again.  You can hear the desperation in his voice at this point when he realizes we aren't coming back in the room.  In between screams we hear, "Aww MAN!  Door YOCKED!!"  A few seconds later, just before he might pass out from lack of oxygen to his brain , we hear banging on the door and "'Scuse me??!!  'SCUSE ME MOMMY?!?!!"  I almost died of laughter.  At least my kid is polite during this massive explosion.  He crawled into bed after 3-4 minutes of screaming.  He also lost all TV privileges for the day today so we'll see if he tries for an encore performance this evening.  I'm guessing he won't ;)  Even through this tantrum extravaganza Jason and I are just laughing and scratching our heads.  It doesn't phase us, but as first-timers, we are still setting the stage for how things happen in this house!

In the same day as this tantrum, we spent as much time outside as possible.  I decided to grab the camera and get the kids to sit in front of these yellow flowers out front.  When Leo was a baby, one of my favorite photos of him was in front of the huge bush outside our old house.  I was going for "BAM!  Spring his HERE!" look.

(May 2009)

We don't have a bush as beautiful as that one, but we do have a few yellow flowers.  Have you ever played that game where you look at two pictures of the same thing and pick out the 5 differences?  Try it with these two:

Okay so that didn't work so well.  Let's try just one child at a time...

Okay, well this sums up what Leo thinks of the stupid flowers.

You know what kids?  Just go ahead and play ;)  I'll leave you two alone now.

And this photo - quite possibly my favorite of 2011:

The one that I will go back to and view probably 2-3 times per day:

And one of the reasons I can't wait to have a billion more children:

Happy Spring Everyone!!

Also - After a lot of research and consideration, Jason and I recently decided to help support a family that is adopting a special needs child, Noah, from overseas (Reece's Rainbow is an awesome organization that helps these families meet their financial goals).  The Silva-Moose family will charge the adoption fees to a credit card if they don't raise enough, but every little bit counts!  If you are able to donate a few dollars, please visit their webpage here and "Chip In"!!  Read more here about other families who are fundraising to help cover the costs of their adoptions. 

Also, here is a really beautiful blogpost about World Down Syndrome Awareness Day from Kelle Hampton at Enjoying the Small Things!