No more siestas on Siesta: Oh my sweet girls

I find myself saying "Oh my sweet girls" all of the time. I just love these two. Being a mom is the craziest, by far most stressful, and yet most unreal, most radical, best thing ever.

Ava has gone from being incredibly quiet while inspecting the details around her, to being quite a little jokester. She does a little stare, like the quiet before the storm, and then cracks up and throws her body around, so much so that she bonks her head on the ground sometimes. She started to pull herself to standing just today. She crawls like a gremlin just like her big sister did. She is teeny tiny, just like Riley too. I guess I make 'em small around here. She is such a mama's girl, and I don't mind it a bit. She has 5 teeth.

Riley is smart and beautiful. She knows what she wants and tries her hardest to get it. That is nuts to me that I am describing a 2 year old. The girl can push my buttons. I read something on Facebook once about your children being your little gods, in a way that they see where you need to grow (for example Patience) and force you to work on it. It was a great post, I wish I had the link. One of the funniest things right now is how she pronounces her R's when they are at the end of a word. She sound like she's from the East Coast, maybe Boston or New York when she says "your." She also is becoming quite a little fish thanks to swim lessons, enjoys Dora on her iPad, and loves giving Ava a kiss and hug as soon as she wakes up.

Robby just completed his second Ironman 70.3. We made a trip out of it to St. George, Utah then to Zion National Park. I took 2 weeks of "baby bonding" time from work. It was a very nice 2 weeks. Robby did really well, especially since the temp was in the 90's on a tough, hilly course. Love you babe. He has become quite the endurance athlete. He is so driven towards better health. It inspires me. I love that I am inspired by my spouse after being married for almost 10 years. Not bad, huh?

I'm kind of in a holding pattern. I am not completely content with life, which is usually my norm anyways, and which I find to be a good thing. However I am happy. Very happy. Today, Riley was sitting in my lap, then in front of her, Ava was in her lap. We were reading one of those soft, touch and feel the animal books. Riley was showing Ava how to do it. For a moment, life stopped, I was so fulfilled. I wanted life to remain stopped forever in that moment.

Generally though, I am always wanting and expecting a little more. Speaking of wanting a little more, I am taking steps towards a more Minimal lifestyle. More to come on that. For now, here's a few pics to recap the last couple of months.