Expectations...

Now, why is it that we set ourselves up to expect certain things under certain circumstances? Besides, isn't it only when we have expectations that we get disappointed?

Today (well, now technically yesterday, since it is past midnight) is my birthday. I turned 32. Isn't that wild? It sounds so much older than I feel.

My only expectation for the day was to make sure I actually did my hair and make-up (quite a feat when I have a two-year-old and a three month old) and to have a nice, relaxing evening with my family. I didn't think those expectations were too high...but I guess they were!

Is that what I got? Not really. EVERYONE was in such a cranky mood...which, of course, put me in a cranky mood.

At least my hair and make-up got done! So, except for the fact that I still need to lose 15 pounds of baby weight, at least I looked kind of cute on my birthday even if nothing else went right!

Now, to off-set the cranky venting above, I'm going to post pictures of my sweet boys. Because even though they can be a lot of work, I would say that they have definitely exceeded my expectations. In a good way, of course!

And as for Peter's addition to the drama of the day, I partly have myself to blame. He definitely inherited my flair for the dramatic. I remember one time when I was little that I wasn't sick, but I wanted attention for some reason. I think I wanted to stay up later and watch more TV. So, I coughed and coughed as loud as I could (even though I didn't have a cough or a sore throat) in order to garner the attention and sympathy of my mother. She didn't come (probably because she was quite accustomed to my shenanigans). The only result? I actually got a cough and a sore throat. That little story explains a lot about Peter's personality...and where he got it from.

Above: My sweet talking, blue-eyed baby boy, Jonathan. Thank goodness for baby carriers when you have a fourteen pound three month old!

Above: Pete and Dad just hangin' out and looking at airplanes flying in the sky.

Above: Look at those sweet cheeks (this was not taken on my birthday...it was taken on another rare day where I did my hair and make-up!).

Above: This picture has nothing to do with me or my boys. This is just a house close by to where we live. It just makes me happy. I've always thought it was pretty. It looks like it should be in England with its pretty ivy and flowers.

Above: Pretending to eat food at Nammy's house. Peter rarely actually eats dinner when we go to Nammy's. There's just too much to do. But, since he's a healthy 32 pounds, I'm not going to stress over it.

Above: Pete still loves playing outside with his Dad.

Above: Rain or shine, Pete craves the great outdoors.

Above: Cute smiles (but tell me, why do grocery stores dye frosting in such awful and stainable neon colors? Can't they make white cupcakes or keep them in pastel shades? Especially when they stock the cupcakes next to the fruits and vegetables that you have to get--not a section of the grocery store you can just skip?). But don't you just love Peter's big brown eyes?

Above: My sweet talkin' Guy Smiley. What a cutie!

Above: Pete playing with Mimi's barn. He loves that barn! It's currently on loan to us. It will be returned once Pete gets sick of it!

Above: Pete loves animals!

Above: Pete loves playing with stickers.

Above: All smiles!

Above: Finally, a day warm enough to actually go outside and play. We had to take advantage of this quickly because it worked with Jonathan being awake and it being warm enough. There was no time to lose...hence the explanation for going outside to play while Peter was still in his pajamas. Seriously, there was no time to get him dressed...it would have wasted precious play time.

Above: Peter loves Mimi and Papa's trampoline.


Above: Just passin' by.


Above: The dreaded tummy time. Jonathan usually only allows tummy time for a maximum of ten minutes. Then he has had enough and he voices his opinions until I roll him over to his back.


Above: Jonathan sure is cute while tummy time lasts though!



Above: As soon as we get inside, Peter insists on removing his clothes! Jonathan is only in his diaper because he just spit up on his pajamas.

Above: Peter loves the mountains. We went last Friday and Peter had a blast throwing rocks into the river and hiking with his Dad. I couldn't keep up with them since it was pretty steep and I had Jonathan in the baby carrier. Plus, we hadn't really planned on hiking and I was only wearing flip flops.

Above: I was soon left far behind!


Above: Peter was excited to see the moon in the daytime.

Above: The river that benefited from so many rocks thrown into it by Peter (though none of the rocks Peter threw in are actually visible...those boulders didn't come from Pete).


Above: Jonathan being held up by Daddy. Jonathan is in shock at Daddy's blatant mistreatment of his fashionable onesie.


Above: Cute baby chubs!


Above: How can someone so young already know where his loyalties lie? He must know where Mommy got her bachelor's degree from.

Above: Macho, macho man! Seriously, I can rarely get this guy to wear clothes at home. But dangerously tromping around in Daddy's ski boots? That's another thing entirely. At least he doesn't have a problem wearing clothes in public. Pick your battles and count your blessings, eh?


Above: Don't let the smile deceive you. Jonathan has absolutely no idea what in the world to do with this exersaucer. He's simply smiling because he's so sweet. I was pretty sure that he would be too little for the exersaucer (I think he will be up for it in about a month or two at the most). But I got impatient and wanted to try it out. I had to stuff the seat with his blankets to keep him propped up and then, of course, he couldn't have reached any of the toys--even if he had tried or wanted to. But he's my sweet smiley guy, so he smiled just the same.

Above: Ahhh. Now this is the kind of play time that makes sense to me right now!

Above: Jonathan isn't naked (though it looks like I strategically used his blanket to cover his nether-regions. He's wearing a diaper...but as is the case with all of his diaper-only pictures, he spit up on his outfit and he just looked so darned cute in his skivvies that I couldn't resist taking a picture or two).


Above: Peter is finally loving his little brother (this magical change took place right around the time Jonathan turned two months old). In fact, while I was talking to my sister on the phone, Peter snuck in a couple of sweet kisses--right on the mouth. So sweet. But it looks like Jonathan is going to catch Peter's cold now! Maybe there was no way around it. Peter just caught this cold and he has been sneezing like crazy...and every time he sneezes, I swear his sneezes create a two-mile radius of germ infestations!


Above: What a rascal!


Above: Oh nooooo!


Above: Jonathan sweetly enduring Daddy's kisses.


Above: What a day! Time for some sleep. That definitely applies to me. I stayed up way too late, but after the day I had today, I definitely needed to blow off some steam and do something to cheer myself up. And even though my boys tucker me out, looking at sweet pictures of them and reflecting on the good times always helps me to feel better.

Hopefully I'm not dead on my feet tomorrow...I think I'm starting to feel Peter's cold coming on...uh oh!