It’s not easy being 2…

…as evidenced by the following series of photos. I had told Thomas he could help open my birthday presents (I am getting old and am okay with it). Everything was all hunky dory until Mary Elizabeth wanted to help, too.

He’s not too into this whole sharing thing.

Thomas’s face is priceless, and so are my expressions. I’m just trying to stay out of the way until Thomas starts attacking Mary Elizabeth’s hair. I wish I could compare my expressions here to how I might have looked when reacting to one of my earlier kids unleashing her wrath on a sibling. Having all these babies has definitely helped me to learn the whole “keep calm and carry on” thing, although the sibling squabbles do still get to me sometimes. I hate it when my kids are mean to each other. I tell them that I love each of them and don’t like to see any one of my kids get hurt physically or emotionally. It may be time to pull out Siblings Without Rivalry again. For the record, it’s one of my all-time favorite parenting books.

And I’m just sharing this photo because I just love the tender moment my husband caught between my soon-to-be 5-year-old and me. That girl’s always loving on me and telling me I’m pretty. I am so lucky to have her around. I’ve decided to homeschool her for kindergarten next year, so there will be no shortage of compliments. We once went around the dinner table and each had to share something we really appreciated about another family member, and I told M.E. I love the way she compliments others and notices them. Everyone else agreed this is a wonderful trait of hers.