Haircut

I gave Gavin a little haircut yesterday (using Bryson's beard trimmer and sewing scissors hahaha).

It looks fine but the point of this post is NOT to show off how "great of a hair cutter I am."
 NO no nooo-oo.
Quite the opposite, actually ha.

BUT when I was done butchering cutting his hair I "styled" it like this and I suddenly realized this little guy is NO LONGER a baby.

I still feel like he satisfies my "baby needs," if that make sense - he snuggles with me, doesn't talk, he still loves nursing. I sometimes wonder why I don't feel "baby hungry" yet - but it's because I still feel like Gavin is my baby. And let's be honest, he is still a baby in many ways - but he is also growing faster than the speed of light.

I really think the 2nd year, from 12 months to 24 months, is when babies change the most. You look at a brand new one-year old, barely toddling around, and then look at a two year old, talking in sentences, Ava knew her ABCs, could count to 10...they are suddenly little PEOPLE.

So here's to watching my baby boy become a little person.
And loving every minute of it.

No more pictures

I'm honestly not exaggerating when I say I tell myself daily (if not multiple times a day) that I need to stop taking pictures. I tell myself things like, "Okay, starting tomorrow I'm not going to take any more pictures."

But then I wake up and roll over to this little sight. And I can't help but run and grab my camera. 

And then at breakfast I look over and see my sweet little boy sitting there, with his feet crossed, looking so perfectly delicious. And those eyelashes. And his chubby little fingers, his big blue eyes and his disheveled hair. All I can think is how I want to freeze these everyday moments that to anyone else may seem meaningless...but to me are everything. 

So often, I find myself up late at night, swiping through old pictures. Reliving those moments frozen in time. 

And that's when I decide, nope, I'm not going to stop taking pictures. 

And that's all I have to say about that. :)

Easter

All I wanted this Easter was one picture of my two kids, together, looking at the camera and smiling.

BA hahahahahaha!

Enter Gavin, who is at the absolute hardest age for taking pictures...and that little wish of mine went down the drain in a matter of seconds. Not to mention, Ava - who only sits still for five milliseconds IF you bribe her with candy. Add the two together and yeah...not gonna happen. :)

So I settled on taking a couple pictures of the kids individually in their Easter outfits.

And let's be honest, shall we? This is how the majority of my pictures turned out. 

Still cute. 

This morning, the kids woke up to their Easter baskets full of some candy and other little goodies. Gavin got a swimsuit and Ava got some art supplies and they both got bubbles and applesauce pouches. Gavin would not take off his little bunny ears, he loves those things!

The holidays are just so much fun with kids!

Before church:

After church (and looking so tired after chasing the kids around for 3 hours) :)

Happy Easter! :)

Painting Easter Eggs

For some reason, I love Easter! I love that it's springtime and the flowers are all in bloom, I love that my dad always makes hot cross buns and I always loved waking up Sunday morning to an Easter basket full of candy and little goodies. I also always loved dying Easter eggs. So, of course I want to do all these things with my kids, too. BUT the thought of little cups filled with food coloring and dye and then plopping eggs and watching the dye splash all over who knows where - that thought gives me great anxiety. 

SO, this year I decided we would "paint" our Easter Eggs. I just filled up a few little bowls with a few tablespoons of water, a few drops of food coloring and a capful of white vinegar, handed Ava a watercolor paintbrush (painting is Ava's absolute favorite thing to do - I usually reward her with painting for doing things like going #2 in the potty haha) and told her to paint to her little heart's content. 

I think they turned out cute! They look kind of tie-dyed and I like that you can see the cute little watercolor brush strokes. Ava absolutely loved this little activity. And I loved that there was hardly any mess at all. :)

2 years old

I can't even tell you how many temper tantrums I endured, put up with, suffered through, (ahem) witnessed today. In multiple stores, while loading the kids into their car seats, while going into the gym, while leaving the gym. Many objects were thrown out of defiance and then not a moment later, defiance turned into absolute hysterics of wanting it back. 

Yep, I am currently raising a two year old. 

I wish I could say these moments were few and far between, but they are more common than I care to admit. I have learned to completely ignore the "kind, sweet" old lady at the store, asking on endless repeat, "Is she okay? Is she hurt?" (No lady, haven't you ever seen a toddler throw a conniption fit because she doesn't want to sit in the cart? Or maybe the fact that she's screaming "No cart! No cart! would give you a clue.) I've learned to carry on lovingly and then praise the heck outta her when she decides to finally make a "happy choice." And I've learned that this little tiny person who is just *two* simply wants to be understood. 

And although these moments are frustratingly painful at times (and often drive me to shove massive amounts of chocolate in my mouth), I really still LOVE everything about this little girl, every moment I get to spend with her. She surprises me constantly by how smart she is, how sweet she can be to her little brother, how much she absorbs things and picks up details of the world around her, how excited she gets about the tiniest of things. She is growing up before my very eyes and there is nothing I can do about it.

So, in those moments of chaos and flailing arms and legs...I have learned to stop and scoop her up and just hug her. Because I love her. And I'm trying to understand her. And it's when she wraps her little arms around my neck, hugs me back and through whimpers and remnants of tears says, "I sorry Momma, I wuv you," - that's when I know she knows. 

She knows I just love her.

And that's all that really matters.

And then there's this guy. 

This little face makes my heart just melt about 572 times a day. 

Go ahead, swoon. (haha) :)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

I made this little video for Bryson's mom (Grandma Webster) for her birthday! My kids sure do love their grandma! Make sure, if you watch it, you click the HD button - it looks MUCH better in HD! 

Happy Birthday Grandma from Ashley Webster on Vimeo.

Easter Egg Hunt

This year we decided to invite some of Ava and Gavin's little friends to do an Easter Egg Hunt in our big backyard. About 18 kids showed up, including Ava and Gavin. Before everyone arrived, I "hid" almost 150 little plastic eggs in our yard. And then, each mom brought an additional dozen plastic eggs filled with a sticker or some candy, so we had plenty of eggs to go around! Each kid also got a set of bunny ears to wear.  Afterwards, the kids ate lunch and played (and ate way, way, way too much candy). 

Ava had been waiting and waiting for this day for about a week now, which for a 2-year old is practically an eternity. Every morning she would wake up and list off all her friends and jump up and down saying, "My friends are coming for eggs!" (Note to self: never tell my 2-year old about something coming up until the day of! haha). 

Overall, it was a fun little event and we LOVED that everyone came and had a good time! I really do love Easter and Springtime!

Spring

I saw a picture the other day on Pinterest of a girl wearing the most gorgeous flower crown. Today I was at Joann looking at fabric and I randomly picked up some silk flowers and a wire and made a little crown while my kids were napping. 
And then after Ava woke up, we ran outside for literally 3 minutes and took a few pictures for fun. Ava hated wearing this thing - hated it. haha. But something about a flower crown just screams spring to me, and I LOVE spring. Spring means Summer is right on the horizon. 

Conference

This weekend, we watched Conference. Nope, scratch that...we had Conference on in the background. While we wrestled one kid and snuggled the other, read books and sang songs and colored and danced...Conference played on in the background. We spent the weekend completely and totally together.

And this is our life. Our chaotic, crazy and utterly beautiful life.

I love this little family of mine.