Ewww...

Jun 28, 2013

I have this thing about slimy food spotted baby faces...they totally gross me out.  I spend most of Dominic's feeding time wiping glop's of food dribbling out of his mouth, hoping to catch them before they fall on the table, and inevitably end up in his hair or in between his fingers.  But this morning, I just didn't care.  I let him go for it.  And then I remember why I NEVER do that.  Because it is gross.  After gagging a little at the sight of his face and trying to convince Scarlett to wash him down for me, I sucked it up, wet a paper towel and let him clean himself.

 photo 006_zpsb85d50f1.jpg photo 008_zps7ccb0f60.jpg photo 009_zps02107f61.jpg photo 005_zps55ea312a.jpg photo 002_zps297497ba.jpg photo 010_zpsd2b232cc.jpg photo 001_zps1ee164c8.jpg photo 013_zps01b250e5.jpg photo 015_zps2982e67c.jpg photo 016_zps92a69eeb.jpg

Summertime essentials...

Jun 25, 2013

Swim lessons.

We put Scarlett in an intensive 8 session, four days a week, swim course for the next two weeks.  We placed it just before bed time so she would crash hard at 6:30 and leave the rest of the evening open to finish all of the stalled house projects that are just too cumbersome during the day. 

So after a little prep (which is the best way to get Scarlett ready for any new activity), Scarlett was ready.  And she rocked it.  She splashed, she kicked, she floated and she listened to the teacher.  Swim lesson day one...success.

 photo 46efb18c-501b-45fd-851c-b16058969500_zps8d14c120.jpg photo 48E4823B-6C10-4F2E-AFA6-F0330D057A75-446-0000004FF73FA565_zpsf0866ac8.jpg photo 0F412E26-CB52-4D6A-A267-6D56D81658E9-446-0000004FEF577A62_zps2dd559a0.jpg

This was the first time Chris has been present for any type of "class" setting with Scarlett. Within the first 30 seconds of watching her, he smiled, telling me how proud he felt watching her.  I smiled in return and continued hovering, taking pictures and cheering her on.  Chris, stayed in the back ground, encouraging me to join him in the chairs off to the side. We got in the car with a big sigh of relief that the first lesson went so swimmingly (pun intended). But, we also had to point out how differently we parent. I was the mom on the sidelines, joining the other cheering parents and Chris was the dad on the edge, making himself scarce, allowing room for Scarlett to grow on her own. And in true Chris fashion, he thought through every step of this process. This is what I love about my husband. He is incredibly intentional about everything that he does. He sometimes over thinks a situation, instead of just living in it, but usually it ends up allowing for unique insight into our parenting and family life. We both agreed that we are lucky to have such contradictory personality traits because when we meet in the middle the balance is perfection. I am lucky that Chris thinks through every step of parenting...literally EVERY STEP!!! I allow my feelings to dictate the way that I parent and he misses out on the touchy feely love that I have conquered with our kids. But when we meet in the middle and I make him feel his thoughts and he makes me think through my feelings we realize just how much we compliment each other. So I continue to encourage him to be proud of Scarlett, to cheer her on and let her know that he is there and he encourages me to take a step back and smile from the bleachers instead of from the coaches bench. Just close enough for her to know that we are there but just far enough away that she is aloud to be Scarlett.


Movie Monday...

Jun 24, 2013


Scarlett was more than thrilled to be a part of Dominics first slide experience. 


Happiest place on Earth...

Jun 21, 2013

It started something like this:

One week ago Scarlett found an unopened box, inside was a little blue booty filled with quarters that Chris and I used to use for laundry money, she claimed a silent finders keepers and stowed the money away for herself.

Last weekend Scarlett heard me say that we needed to go to the grocery store to get some food for dinner.  She grabs her bag of quarters triumphantly and asks if she can use it to help my buy "something good" at the store.  I laughed at her willingness to share for the sake of "something good" being added to the dinner table. When we pulled up to the store she saw a tiny helicopter ride, and before I could throw out any arguments against actually climbing or getting 20 feet near that germ infected public monstrosity, she exclaimed "I brought my monies, now I can ride the helicopter". Tuche Scarlett, and ride she did.

Tuesday of this week, I receive this picture at work with a text from Chris, "happiest place on Earth".  On his way out of the door, two kids and diaper bag in hand Scarlett yelled "wait, I have to get something". She came running back to the car with her booty in hand and smile plastered to her face. She no longer wanted to spend her money on "good" food for the table, she wanted to ride the carousel. And ride she did.

I have a feeling that this new found love of germy outdoor quarter stealers is going to last until that booty is down to its final coin.


 photo 68E5D1FB-7F9C-4072-9FB0-47EB02036168-3655-00000308536BF884_zps5282392f.jpg



Family portrait

Jun 20, 2013

Our first family portrait by Scarlett.



Her memory baffles me...

Jun 19, 2013

Little boy at the park: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, yes I am still talking, blah, blah, blah
Scarlett in the back ground:  Mom, mom, that boy talks incessantly.
Me (looking over the little boy, smiling at my genius little girl):  yes, honey he sure does
Little boy: blank stare...3,2,1...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah

Over a month ago Scarlett learned the word "incessantly".  She not only learned this word, she learned its meaning, and how to use it in a sentence in reference to her "incessant" talking.  So, when she busted it out at the park in reference to a little boy who was more interested in chatting with me than playing tag with his fellow play mates and siblings, not only was I surprised, I was incredibly proud.  She has more of a head for language than I ever did and will probably be able to have secret conversations with her dad using plain English by the time she is 5.  



You know it is summer time when...

Jun 18, 2013

You see pictures like this...

 photo 9142fbd6-f149-41cc-8651-44b36c27acf2_zps79fdd3ed.jpg photo 931141A4-847F-4977-8E90-5DEC7B0A4293-1561-0000018F4E8CFE54_zps2465a4af.jpg photo 2D70357A-183E-4353-BB59-755BAD23F2C9-1561-0000018F6803F975_zpsc3126008.jpg

Scarlett is in heaven anytime these kids come into town. (And yes, they have stars on their bellies...Aunt Suzy's genius idea to get them to eat their dinner. "Eat your dinner and you get to be a rockstar princess", and it worked.)

I have fond memories of time spent with my cousins. I had a couple of older cousins that always took the lead. They would tell us ghost stories in the dark, or teach us how to shuffle a deck of cards. We would read books hidden away in the closet, or play tag for hours on end. A pack of wild kids, constantly covered in a sticky mess of tasty treats.  I love watching Scarlett create these memories, I just imagine some day 20 years from now, listening to the Becher cousins giggling together, sitting in a cozy room near a fire, telling stories and smiling at all of their wild days of summer.

Happy fathers day...

Jun 16, 2013





Sharing a cart is all the rage...

Jun 14, 2013

First time for everything...first Costco trip with two kids in one seat, success. 

 photo E5E29C59-4370-45AD-9575-B816831080C9-3405-000003934C86283B_zps381f316e.jpg



I look like Granny...

Jun 13, 2013

Scarlett joined me on the couch Monday morning, looked at her arms where an imprint of wrinkled sheets still lingered from her recent awakening, and proclaimed "I look like Granny, she has these lines every day". To Scarlett's alarm, I laughed. I laughed really hard. I absolutely love the things that come out of her mouth some times. So innocently true.

 photo 6BE3E6D4-F5C4-454E-ABBD-87F152A4D28D-3405-0000039338B62C24_zps0fe7cddb.jpg



These two...

Jun 12, 2013

I have recently become more comfortable leaving Dominic alone in a room with Scarlett, usually reminding her that her brother is a baby, not to touch him and telling her to let me know if he falls over.  So, last week when I was getting ready for a beach day with the kids, listening to the sound of bonding from across the hall, I was startled when Scarlett said "mom you have to come here right now".  This is what I found.

 photo 817E815D-A17F-43F3-AFF0-5D45100782E9-3405-000003931F5BE9AF_zps9d7c8669.jpg photo 73CE61BF-A4CB-487D-BF03-20BB73B95EDC-3405-000003931595FB21_zpsb4738e30.jpg

Scarlett found a bag of hats and was dressing up her brother.  Definitely breaking the "no touching" rule, but way too cute to not just sit back and enjoy the moment with Scarlett and her living doll.  


Can you take my picture...

Jun 11, 2013

with my kitty?

Scarlett has been rediscovering her toys one by one.  And it goes something like this:

Open giant box full of "stuff", pick out something from the top, exclaim "oh, my (enter toy name here).  I have been missing this for so long." , give giant hug, play with toy for 30 seconds, move on to next toy. Repeat for the next two hours.  Then look at the living room floor covered with stuffed animals and art supplies, sigh, smile, and think, I will get to that later. 

P.S.  She has a nasty cold. So please ignore the runny nose.  Totally gross, sorry.








Siblings...

Jun 6, 2013

Last August I wrote a post about siblings.   When Dominic was growing inside me I worried about Scarlett, about how she would react to her brother, whether we would be one of those families with the stories about the older sibling hiding their baby siblings, grabbing at straws for attention.  I worried that she would start having uncontrollable emotional outbursts.  I worried about jealousy, about making time, about sleeping patterns, about needs not being met.  I worried that they wouldn't like each other.  But the second that the two of them met each other and I saw the smile beaming from Scarlett's face I knew that we would be okay, that Scarlett would love her brother almost more than I would. 

They had an immediate connection.  Scarlett was the first one to make him smile and the only one that can make him laugh.  I could spend hours watching Scarlett in my rear view mirror making faces and sticking out her tongue while little hiccups of laughter ring from the rear facing seat behind me.

Scarlett puts up with her brother pulling her hair, and Dominic smiles through Scarlett being in his face 24/7.  Yet, the rivalry for attention is a battle constantly fought.  The new brother smell has long past worn off and been replaced with the stench of "I want attention now". Scarlett loves her brother but has recently been needing a lot more mothering.  Between moving into an RV, moving into my parents house and spending the last two weekends stuck in a brand new home with no toys and parents who are painting ALL DAY they are both surviving.  But just barely.  Tensions between the two are thick, Dominic is loosing sleep from cutting teeth and trying to nap through the incessant background noise of a wall sander and Scarlett is confused by all of the moving and constant babysitting rotations. Both kids have been such troopers through this whole moving process and deserve some pretty giant pats on the back.

But what has been really heart warming is watching these two separate personalities grow closer through this process.  They have both taken the chaos and loved each other even deeper.  Scarlett really truly LOVES Dominic and has grown in her big sister role. This is the one part of her life in the past two months that has been unchanging and she has clung to her sister status and embraced it fully. She has a servants heart and would give anything to make her brother smile.  Again I just look at them and smile, feeling blessed beyond words.  These two tiny people, growing, laughing, sharing. Together.   What was I worried about?

 photo 005_zps4863a0eb.jpg photo 038_zps7b97c734.jpg photo 032_zpsca35a25e.jpg photo 031_zps7b40dcc8.jpg photo 029_zps1cd8d777.jpg photo 027_zps23dba936.jpg photo 026_zpsbe17a389.jpg photo 024_zpsf65b1c05.jpg photo 023_zps5f4b2715.jpg
 photo 021_zpsaed46b95.jpg photo 020_zps84b1216a.jpg photo 018_zps18a0b2f1.jpg

Cucumber Mint Gin & Tonic

Jun 5, 2013

 photo 001_zps45dcb7c4.jpg

What you need:
Cucumber
Mint
Sugar
Gin
Tonic water
Lime

Chris's summer drink of choice is always a gin and tonic.  So Sunday, after a LONG day of housework, when he offered me a glass of white wine or a gin and tonic I sprung for the later, knowing I would win the heart of my beloved. And in an effort to spice it up we added muddled cucumber and mint with a splash of lime. Refreshing and flavorful.

In a shaker muddle sliced cucumber and a few mint leaves. Add a tsp full of sugar, ice, and a couple shots of gin. Shake, shake, shake. Using a fine mesh sieve to catch the flecks of mint, pour into glass of choice. Top with tonic water. Add a couple cubes of ice to keep it cool, squeeze some fresh lime juice on top, give a quick stir and enjoy! 

P.S.  I just noticed in this picture that there is something seriously gross on that mint leaf.  Eww.