A Hill Update

Again I admit I have not been blogging as much as I used to. I go through phases. I do check the blogs everyday. The kids are needy but they're also more enjoyable than ever. Marce is finally starting to become more of a friend than a foe. Although Phoenix refuses to learn sign language, we understand each other pretty well and that makes him a little easier. Phoenix is totally attached to his pacifiers right now, but that's okay with me at this age. I'll deal with that later, but right now it makes things nice that he takes one, because Marce never did. Phoenix has transitioned from two naps to just one in the middle of the day. I'm kind of sad about this one but what are you going to do...the kid is growing up. Marce is in the thick of potty training. Basically I decided to start it up again (mainly to save money from buying diapers) and vowed to myself I wasn't going to wimp out even when it got stressful. I realize it's not going to be a stress free experience and I can't dispel it just because I like to keep my life as free from stress as possible. I'm pretty stressed out right now anyway....what's another stress? And to add to even more stress, I am in the middle of getting ready to switch face wash. I LOVE my face wash and it works perfectly for me but I'm trying to save money anywhere I can. If the new stuff doesn't work or save me money I'll go back to what I was using. Long story short, my face looks terrible right now with the transition and I'm very self conscious of it. I'm dreading church on Sunday...

The boys had a Target Studio picture appointment yesterday. They do a great job and always give coupons. I have used Target Studio for a long time but poor Phoenix has never had his pictures taken professionally. Worse than that, as a second child you just take less of them anyway as a mom...So anyway, we got a few of them together, a few of Marce by himself, and one of Phoenix by himself. Phoenix was pretty somber and it took a lot for him to smile and laugh. I wish he was more free with it because when he really smiles, it's huge and it's super cute. He always reminds me of Mario Lopez when he smiles big: huge cheeks, big dimples, and eyes are gone. Marce did great and we had a hard time picking the individual shots we got of him, but Phoenix only produced a few to pick from and none of them were great. He'll get better. I'll post them when I get them back (in one week) and it'll be good for Grandma to take her pick and replace the kids framed pictures! We're going to try and take a family picture at Target Studio close to Christmas for Christmas cards, it's been 3 years since we took a professional family picture!

These pictures of the boys are from a couple nights ago. They get into my bathroom drawer EVERY day and pull out all my hair ties and headbands. It drives me nuts! Sorry, some of these are poor quality, my camera is on a weird setting, I need to figure out how to switch it back.