For now we don't have to worry about any fights...Elsie would do anything for her brother...she is always ready to run for a diaper, wipe up spit up (or catch it in her hand!) or bring him lots and lots of toys to play with...
A very happy boy with a very doting big sister...
James has put up with his big sister imagining he is a girl who needs to wear a headband...but it doesn't look like he minds...still all smiles...
Every morning James and Elsie play and cuddle for at least the first 30 min after waking up...I am always afraid that Elsie will smother James...but he loves all the cuddles and kicks his little legs and squeals with happiness...
Such sweet little kids...I love watching them play together...
A hand of frozen blueberries...
a frozen peach slice or two...
and lots of fresh Spinach leaves...you can't even taste it...If you add a Banana or something in place of the Blueberries your smoothie is green...Elsie always thinks that is fun!
Blend it all together with a little orange juice, apple juice or pineapple juice...
Enjoy...it does taste better if you drink it out of a fancy cup...
So good...I had a bit more of a boring smoothie...just peaches, spinach and orange juice because of James...nursing is wonderful but a pain when something does not agree with a little tummy...
As I cooked breakfast and made the smoothies...James was quite happy to lay in his moses basket on the kitchen floor and suck on his fingers...he didn't even seem to mind the fact that he was laying on a pretty girly sheet!
and now the truth must come out...as was busy with the smoothie and taking pictures for this post I forgot I was also cooking sausages...we will just say they were well done...guess I cannot multi-task very well...but at least I try...and yes, I still ate the sausages because James was starting to get un-happy and I was starving...
Laura went with as my babysitter...oops...I mean she went with just to watch but not have her hair done. She was our photographer of the grand event...because our family might obsess over pictures just a little bit...
Lisa and I both had "wet sets" done to our hair...but with different rods so Ceara got a little more practice! See how happy Ceara was to be doing our hair...I think she wants us to come back every week!
Lisa sitting under the dryer...so cute! 
My turn...by the time Ceara started on my hair James was taking a little nap in my arms...and Laura and Lisa brought a famished and antsy little girl to Ceara's house for some Leeann Chin food...
When they brought Elsie back it was her turn to get beautiful! Elsie chose to have her hair washed, blow dried and straitened...she was so excited! She looks so tiny and brave in that big salon chair...but there was no way she was going to put a cape on...the results were one very wet shirt...so wet she had to buy a new one up town!
This was the first time that Elsie had her hair washed with something other than California Baby...and I think she enjoyed it!
Having her hair washed, dried and straitened is normal routine at our house...but it is sooo much better having it done at the salon by your auntie...
My turn under the drier...James was a good little man while we sat there for 40 min...he nursed for a while, smiled for a while, spit up a bit...all the while staring at the big drier over my head...Elsie thought it was so cool and thinks we need one for our house! I agree if it means I can sit there for 40 min everyday with nothing to do but sit and wait for my hair to dry...
The end results for Lisa...lovely curls...and Ceara learned a good lesson...do not put a curling rod in bangs...they look kinda funny if you do! (sorry, Ceara...I couldn't resist!) a straightener can work wonders on little mistakes!
Half of the end results for me...we forgot to take an "after" picture...but they were lovely curls...a fun change from strait hair...I think I finally broke down on the 3rd day and washed the curls out...and I was sad! It is fun having a sister in beauty school...wonder what we have done next time...a funky style, a new colour, extensions...too many choices and too little time! 
He is such a happy little man...always a smile for everyone...now he is even starting to "talk" along with the smiles...
James loves to watch things...he will stare at something and try his hardest to reach out and grab. Such a fun age!
He now has a cute big cloth diaper butt...love the look of those big diaper butts!
James loves being on his belly...when he is on his back he is starting to roll to his side and struggle because he wants all the way over! He loves to lay on the floor and "play" with Elsie...and he loves his swing...and loves sitting way up so he can look all around...
James loves being naked...and having bare toes...he loves his bath...especially when he is sharing the bath with his sister...James loves being outside...and he loves commotion and noise...he loves cuddling with mommy and daddy at night...
And we just love everything about Mr. James Hawthorne...a perfect little boy...
Elsie has quite a thing for tacos! We ordered hard shell beef tacos with no cheese and nachos with no cheese...and watered down salsa for dipping (only because there was no ketchup!)...what a good dinner!
Elsie was happy to eat in...and keep her food on the tray while she ate! Perhaps she has a sheltered life...but then life is all about finding enjoyment in the little things, right?
James was a happy little man at Taco John's...he woke up shortly after we ordered our food and decided he would really like his dinner, too...he then spit up all over...stared at a chip bag like it was the best thing ever...ate a little more...spit up a little more...smiled at the camera...ya know the normal baby things...
What a fun evening...if Elsie could have her way we would be eating at Taco John's every night...if I was not concerned about healthy eating I would gladly give in...it is kind of nice having a break from cooking and cleaning up the kitchen!
Rest assured that it was finally taken care of this weekend...by Jon...because I will take the garbage out if I absolutely need to, or clean the fridge (which I hate doing!) but I am not about to ever mow the lawn myself...I would rather have super tall grass than mow it myself. I don't know why...I have never enjoyed mowing...think about it...isn't that why I have a husband!? I think he secretly enjoys mowing anyhow...and I was busy making him a lovely dinner so that counts for something, right?
In Elsie's opinion brushes and fingers are over rated...so she just dumps the paint right on the paper...the paint was so thick that I eventually had to throw her art work away because it just wouldn't dry!
I love that Elsie is painting while wearing her good dress...What can I say, Jon and I practise relaxed parenting...I think it will make Elsie a more secure and creative person...children are only young once so live it up...no stifled children around these parts! ( and, hey the paint was washable so no worries!)
Elsie painted one picture...played in the paint for awhile...painted her hands and arms...then ran to the bathroom to get washed up...in the end she painted for only about 20 min...then it was on to the scissors and glue...I give up ever having a clean house!
The kids all had a blast playing on some huge logs from a freshly cut tree...Elsie really felt that the weather was warm enough for no sweater...she later got goose bumps and begged for a sweater. We never "make" Elsie put warm clothes on if she doesn't want to...I figure that than when she gets good and cold she will figure it on her own!
Papa Wayne likes to spoil the little kids...with things I would NEVER buy...like little cans of soda pop. Jon and I tried to persuade Elsie to drink some nice cold ice water...but what kind of an almost three year old would turn down an orange soda in her own little can!? Just for the record,papa Wayne, when you read this Elsie had "issues" of not pooping for like 2 days...so no more soda pop is fine by me...her little body just can't handle all that sugar!
Elsie and daddy cuddling by the fire with their soda pops (or beer!)...Elsie looks like such a big girl!
Mommy and James...all week Elsie had been sick with a cold...then James got the runny nose...and they even shared their sickness with me all weekend! (what good, sharing kids I have!) So if I look a little loopy here it was really just that I was drunk on Dayquill...hate the taste of that stuff but boy does it work! Being out in the cool weather all evening with James did wonders for that little man...his cold was way better after all that fresh air!
Love this picture...I think it was a self-portrait that my mom took with my camera...my amazing parents who never tire of us...they even came over at 3am in their PJ's when my carbon monoxide alarm was blaring and Jon was out of town...how many people would really do that?
When the kids got tired of sitting by the fire drinking their soda pop they talked Auntie Lisa into pushing them on the tire swing...I think Elsie has about the best childhood anyone could wish for...
I think Jon spent most of the evening playing on his phone...when Jon and I were first dating he refused to even have a cell phone because "no one needs to talk that much on the phone"...and he refused to get a computer until just a few years ago...so it is a relief to see that Jon is finally in touch with the world of technology...and thanks to these phones he sends us a couple e-mails and pictures everyday!
Daddy and his boy...James loved to watch the fire...such a happy boy...
No campfire is complete without some kind of fire tricks...this one was a simple trick but I don't know what it is called. The kids folded newspaper in a special way...then lit each corner and waited for it to lift off...up, up,up into the air and slowly disintegrate...the kids had fun...
I think it was about time to go home...James was screaming with hunger and Elsie wanted me to cuddle because she was tired...I find that sometimes it is best just to laugh rather than cry! I am always reminding myself that the moments of chaos are just that...moments...all too soon these little kids will be not be so little...cherish each little moment...the good and the bad...
