Two Kids o' Mine

Those eyes. I just love him.

 Sometimes Will is a little CRAZY happy. Like when I bob him up and down on my legs. I think that his face is hilarious!

 This is what love between these two usually looks likes. A kiss. A bit of strangling. A bit of protesting. Ya know, what is sibling love without all of that?

 This picture below of Will. I am SO in love with it. He is just the handsomest. And Ruthie is the craziest. An old lady at church could NOT get over Ruth's curls and Will's tie. "She is so angelic. He is just the perfect gentleman!" Why thank you. I think so myself.

Please can I ride the bear too? 

Awwww. So sweet.

Sometimes.

At church on Sunday Ruthie threw one of her MAJOR tantrums. The kind I try to describe to Sterling when I call him and tell him I'm a horrible mother because she just goes on and on and on and on. She has a bit of a mind of her own. She has been REALLY good at church lately. But yesterday she threw a fit because she couldn't have Will's puff snacks (she isn't ever allowed to have them, I don't know why it was so hard yesterday) and I took her out and went into a classroom and made her fold her arms and calm down and say sorry. Then I took her potty and we came back in. She did really well until we asked her to fold her arms for the closing prayer. This is usually no big deal. Not so much yesterday. She went into complete MAJOR tantrum mode. Sterling ignored her and held her while they finished up the prayer and then took her out to the car. I went into our class...and chatted with everyone, since he was on lesson. He tried to describe how major her tantrum was to me after church, and I just smiled and said "That's EXACTLY what I've been trying to explain to you!" 

The worst part about it was the comments from EVERYONE. "Wow, I didn't realize Ruthie was so strong-willed!" or "Ruth is definitely two isn't she!" Or when I took Will out of class and got him to sleep in the hallway and was holding him and chatting with a couple of people, and the bishop was chatting to a few people, and the first counselor walked by and said "That Ruthie! She is always so perfectly sweet, I wouldn't have thought she ever threw fits at all!" to which I said in a somewhat astonished voice "I guess you haven't been around Ruth very much." To which ALL the small groups around started laughing. Then I felt kinda bad for saying that about my daughter, but really. Her tantrums are something else lately. He is right though, she is so kind and sweet and really, really helpful. She washes cupboards with me, puts away the utensils every day from the dishwasher, puts Will's diapers in the garbage for me, sometimes runs and grabs things in other rooms for me. She is helpful and kind and sweet, but man! When she decides to throw a tantrum, she puts in her very best effort. I'm hoping its a phase?!?! 

On the flip side, every. single. old. lady. every. single. week. comments on Ruth's adorable red curls and how cute she is. A friend of mine in nursery yesterday said how everyone always comments on how cute Ruth is when they are there for the first time, or walking by, or picking up kids. Ruthie is really cute. Especially with that red hair all curly. I wouldn't trade her for anything, tantrums and all. Especially because she loves Will so much. Even if a couple days ago while doing dishes I heard Will squawking and turned around to Ruthie dragging him across the kitchen floor by one arm "I pull him mom, I pull him." Good?!?! It's so funny to me how she thinks she can do stuff like that with him when he's only a few pounds smaller than she is! All I can say is, we have definitely hit the stage where they are truly siblings. I'm excited. I hope they're best friends forever!