Lazy days of summer...but not for long

Ah, summer. It's been a wonderful 11 weeks of maternity leave and time with my beautiful kiddos. Last week, knowing I only had 2 weeks left of being home full-time, I started to feel sad. Now, with only 1 week left I'm feeling the full-blown weight of sadness for leaving my new baby and stress of not only the realities of my job but the prospect of once again working full-time while balancing motherhood and everything else. Stress manifests itself in funny ways. My whole leave I've had long, strong fingernails (a rarity for most of my life). As of last night they've all been bitten down - short. Which is probably where they'll stay since I nibble away when faced with stress. Boy, this blog is depressing me. I'm going to try to stay positive and find the joy in being home this coming week - my one last week of being a full-time mommy to Hadley and Miles. Please send your positive thoughts and energy my way!

A few weeks ago our day at the splash pad was canceled due to rain but on Friday we took full advantage of the heat and sunshine. Miles and I met Corey and Rachel at Oak Hill Park in St. Louis Park for a morning filled with climbing on the playground, getting wet at the toddler splash pad and having a picnic lunch. The splash pad is the coolest place on a hot day. Fountains and sprinklers shoot out from everywhere while buckets of water and hoses can squirt you unexpectedly. While Corey is a dive-right-in sort of kid at places like this Miles took the laid back approach to splashing. He felt most comfortable putting his hands in the fountain and standing on the drain where the rivers of water rushed.
After about a half hour he decided it was more fun relaxing in the shade with a drink (just like his dad).
Grandma and Grandpa Gray arrived this week from their trip to Alaska. Along with them came a belated birthday present for Miles, a Curious George pal, better known in our house as "Monkey-Ah-Ah-Ah." Today Curious George went most places Miles did - getting upside down piggy back rides from Miles, being beaten over the head with a golf club, wrestled with and carried around by the ear. Miles and Hadley are thrilled to now bask in the love and attention from two sets of grandparents. Besides Curious George, the Grays also brought us 50+ lbs of freshly caught Alaska fish - red salmon and halibut. Yum!
As a two-year old Miles is extremely active and energetic and exercises his independence at every opportunity. He's so smart he knows exactly what buttons to push to get Mike and I going. My particular "button" lately is pushed when he purposefully dumps his plate on the floor (full of food) and tips his milk over. Good thing he's cute. One day this week I asked him what he wanted to do today and he replied "dance!" Love it!
I've probably only been away from Hadley 10 hours during her whole life so the prospect of leaving her for work is breaking my heart. As my second baby I know how fast these precious baby months fly by (it's hard for me to believe that Miles was once a baby) and so I like to hold her 24/7. I can count on one hand the number of times she's napped during the day in her crib. We're both just happier snuggling together. This talented girl not only discovered her arm last week but this week she discovered her foot. It takes a lot of strength to hold your foot up for long periods to gaze at it.
Her smiles come quickly and easily these days. She's got the biggest eyes and her eyebrows are so expressive.
Speaking of strength, tummy time is going well and we again enjoyed our mother- daughter time at BYOB yoga today.
My sweet girl is sleeping straight through the night about half of the time now. She's such a good baby... it's hard for my to write more about her because I'll miss spending every hour with her soon!
Because both of our kids love their pacis (Miles now only gets his at night-night time and I actually see him relying on it less and less during these times) I had to get one photo of both of them together, in their pjs, with them in.