"Bonnie & Clyde"

I decided (as the Mama) that this first post is going to be about the reason we do it all. The children. They are the reason for everything...from the commissioning to flight school to laundry to dinner at the table, (NOT on the couch like the parents want too!!). They truly are the light of our lives and our reason for getting up and coming home everyday. Soo here are our two wonderful blessings abridged versions..otherwise I could go on all day. Proud Mama and all that.

"Bonnie"...ohh what to say...Bonnie is Bonnie. When Daddum and Mama found out there was going to be a parents to a "Bonnie" we were soo excited quickly followed by totally terrified. We were going to be young parents (pregnant at 20 and 21), and we married young so we kind of knew what we were getting ourselves into, however "Our Plan" was to not start a family until we were 25. Haahh! Who knew? But the day she graced us with her arrival (after a very long and arduous labor) it was as if my whole life had been spent on a dark planet and suddenly I had found my sun.

As Bonnie grew she learned to talk early, walked late and was a girly diva even back then; her favorite color is pink and she loves all things High School Musical. She is so intelligent its frightening-just like her Daddum, and I feel like in another year I am going to run out of things to teach her. Her easygoing and loving personality makes me so proud to be her parent because she is just such a great kid. With her long curly locks, (that by the way we have noo idea where they come from) and big smile she has this amazing ability to just light up the room with her presence and her fun nature naturally draws friends to her everywhere she goes. Bonnie is cautious and methodical in most things but haphazard and a little tornado when it comes to others...she takes comfort in organization but excels in chaos as well. She makes me feel like as a Mama I am doing everything right and that even on my worst day it can't be all that bad because I created and nurtured such an amazing person so I am doing something productive with myself. She puts the Parents in our place, more often than we like to admit, with her infallible logic and she has this boundless love for her family, friends and random animals.

Bonnie has faith as a 5 year old that I think most adults couldn't cultivate, its comforting as her Mama that when she feels herself "frweeeakin" (she has trouble saying her r's) out or just because, she prays. And more often lately she is expressing a desire to become more educated on the Bible and see all the "cool stories"(her words, not mine) in there. Recently Bonnie has been expressing her distaste about being a little kid because she wants to grow up already and be big so she could stay up late (7:30pm bedtime) with Mama and Daddum. She wants to be a dentist, artist or gymnastics person when she grows up but then in the same breath she says she wants to be our lil "Poohks" forever. She is 100% girl in everything she does- I think the girl would wear pink from head to toe everyday if she had the wardrobe to support it. Bonnie cries at sad parts in movies and at the first site of blood. She believes that eating meat is not kind and she will only eat shrimp if we MAKE her. So she is about 80% vegetarian, much to my disbelief because both Parents could eat a steak for breakfast!! She is always preaching to the Parents about living green, recycling, and not making waste.

As far as her role as a big sister she puts Mama to shame (sorry Matt and Cynthia, I was a snarky older sister and I know it), she LOVES her brother and although she puts up a fight when we ask them to play together five minutes into it she going full boar having a blast. She is his protector, defender and buddy all day long. In short "Bonnie" is a superstar and a total joy in our life. How we got soo lucky to have such an excellent daughter I will never know but I am sure glad she picked us to be her Parents. LOVE YOU LOTS BONNIE!!!

"CLYDE"

Oh my, (heavy sigh) "Clyde" where do I even begin? When the Parents decided to have another baby it was more for "Bonnie's" sake because she was sooo lonely as a 2 year old and all she wanted was a friend. We got pregnant right away and we were so much more relaxed second time around for the new baby parenting that was looming ahead and I have a theory that Clyde knew this and was more laid back in (and out) utero. He came fast (well not super fast but faster than the 26 hours it took his sister) in the ungodly morning hours, water broke, hospital, baby in arms by 9:35am. He was a bruiser at over 8lbs who he had his Mama workin and he still does!! If Bonnie is the yin then Clyde is the yang. He is reckless, fearless and so brave that as his Mama its terrifying.

From the beginning Clyde was always relaxed, he was the baby that other mothers were in disbelief of because he was always asleep or not bothered by loud activity. Clyde eats like a horse, loves fruit, noodles and juice (although the latter is a MAJOR treat because RED DYE #40** is trying to kill me...he wants to peel paint after drinking it!!). So we have 2 vegetarians in the house unless we are eating eggs because I think both kids could polish off a dozen between them. Clyde was an early teether, (yay to nursing moms with a baby that has a mouthful of teeth!!--NOT!!) a late walker as well and a total pleasure to be around. When the Parents found out we were having a boy we were in total shock. I felt like I only knew how to parent a girl and boys were like banshees...wild, smelly and eager to eat anything that moved. Well that description is not too far off and I have learned to just back off and let him push his bravery to the limit. He is 100% boy because at times I wonder how he gets to be soo smelly, how poop got there, and hmmm, where did that bruise/blood/bump/gaping hole gushing bodily fluids come from.

At a full 2 years now he makes us laugh everyday with his crazy antics and stubborn nature. He likes Micheal Jackson (old Micheal not new Micheal) songs and does this amazing dance move where he pooches out his lower lip and sways back and forth. Mama has recently coined the idea that "Clyde" exhibits mischievous charm...he is soo adorable when he know he is going to be in trouble that you can't help but be melted by that big smile and those big brown eyes. When asked what he did and he knows he did wrong he will say with a twinkle in his eye.."nuummm nnuummm" (translation=NO NO). Needless to say he gets away with some things that we would have probably skinned the first kid over, although to Bonnie's credit I would never have had to worry about her coloring particular "private" parts of her body with magic marker-yes true story..we have the pictures to prove it! He potty trained early (well we don't think so but according to the vast majority of parents out there he is like a potty training prodigy-HA..if only they knew Mama wanted him out of diapers earlier than he was!)

In the Spirit of St.Louis Clyde is a die hard Cardinals baseball fan. Everything with a STL Cardinal on it is greeted with cheers of "DDaarrddnnuuls EEHH!!" and his FATHER has diluted his mind to be beyond excited at the sight of motorcycles, airplanes and baseball!!! Clyde's favorite outfit usually consists of one his 5 STL Cardinals shirts and pants and then the beloved Crocs. The boy hates shoes in all forms and Crocs were the only compromise the Parents could come to so that the child did not walk around barefoot everywhere...banshee remember?? Clyde is really developing and changing as a kid, he loves being read too and in the past few weeks he had decided for himself that he is over sitting in a high chair and wants to sit at the table like a "Did boy" (translation= Big Boy). Boys require a different technique of parenting and as I hone that skill set all I can say is that I have high hopes for us as the Parents that we can do as well with him as we do with Bonnie. Clyde you add so much joy to our family and we could not have imagined our lives without you in it!!! LOVE YOU LOTS CLYDE!!

**Thanks Jenn for the Red Dye #40 tip...Clyde is officially allowed to only drink organic red dye #40 free juice. Talk about hyper!! : )

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. ~Rabindranath Tagore