Crying on the treadmill

I do not understand what is happening to me! On Friday I was running as fast as I could on the treadmill, listening to Black Eyed Peas, when I started bawling - right in the middle of running. And this wasn't the first time! I don't know if it's the sudden endorphin rush or what. It's like all the stress that's wrapped up inside comes pouring out; sometimes it's actually tears of joy. It's the weirdest thing and yet it feels SO good. Crazy. (And I don't stop running either :)
I took a wonderful two hour nap today. I thought that kids made the Sunday nap obsolete, but locking myself in the bedroom in the basement did the trick.

Mia has started throwing tantrums. Last week she laid face down on the floor at McDonald's, crying and kicking her legs, because I took away a chicken nugget that she was eating off of the floor. Lovely. She becomes indignant when we tell her no. Especially when Daddy tells her no. But she still looks like an angel.
 

Darek is constantly pretending. This is him putting gas (dirt) in a bucket which he will then put in his 4 wheeler. He is alternately a lion, penguin, a Mom or Dad, Max (and I'm Ruby), or anything else he can think of. He is very into "best friends". When I get mad at him or send him to his room, he'll cry and say "But you're my best friend" and to be honest - it totally works. He has a different best friend every day of the week. He has been such a GOOD boy.
 

When I'm in the kitchen, Mia will come up and point to the radio. I turn it on and she walks into the front room to dance - oh it's so darling.

Busy. Uncle Joe came to visit, followed by Grandma T, followed by my friend Natalie and her fiance. We've absolutely loved it, but we haven't taken many pictures.

Darek has been tough. They say 3 is the new 2 and well, it seems to be true here. He is relentless about things that he wants, and being independent, and he takes my patience to its absolute limit.
Last week I was telling him (not calmly) to get out of the pantry and he said, "You don't talk to me like that." Oh crap. He talks non-stop about anything and everything. We were driving down the road and saw a homeless man outside Wal-Mart holding a sign. Darek pointed out that the man was holding a sign and asked me if he was sad. We went on to have a 10 minute conversation about why the man was holding a sign, how he needed money to buy food, and how Darek wanted to give him money (I know that I should have stopped to give the man money but I was on the opposite side of the street and couldn't turn around). He wants to talk about everything he sees - it can be adorable, entertaining, frustrating, and exhausting. I'm trying to appreciate this stage for what it is.

Mia, on the other hand, is in a darling phase where she entertains herself, sqeals over baby dolls and daddy coming home, and generally smiles all day long. She loves to push her doll around in a stroller, do whatever Darek's doing, eat and play. So cute.

Playing with Uncle Joe.


Mia has started horning in on Darek's play dates. But since they were dancing and playing with dolls, it was right up her ally (not that Blayne would have appreciated this scenario :).



Easter!


Blayne and Darek play "Lions" almost everyday and part of their routine is eating food off of the floor like they're lions. So they took their Easter candy and put it on the floor - the baby lion joined in.