tug o' war

I try desperately to sit back and enjoy each new phase of our lives, but there are times when I'm consumed with how quickly time is flying by and I'm sad. it's a strange game of emotional tug o' war. some days I've been yanked to the sad side - where I'm overwhelmed by the fact that my babies are growing so fast. it's like I've blinked and they're "grown" up.  yet they are still so little and I'm sure some of you are reading this and thinking oh, honey...wait until they graduate, leave the house, and get married! I know, I know. lucky for me, most days the rope has been tugged across the line - back to the happy side - the place where I swell with pride as they learn to roll over, sit up, say mama and dada, and take their first steps...alone.


the little bug figured it out and there's no stopping him now. we are so proud of him and it warms my heart to hear him huff and puff with each pass from the kitchen to the living room. and he is so proud of himself. buggy is officially a toddler and we are thrilled.

I was hesitant to transition miles to a big boy bed. I told myself all sorts of things: why move him when he doesn't attempt to get out of his crib? I'm asking for trouble. he's not ready yet. but eventually I had to admit that my hesitation was most definitely because I wasn't ready. as we opened the door and led him to his new bed, his face lit up.

although I should clarify that the initial excitement had nothing to do with the bed and everything to do with the new tube of buzz and woody toothpaste that was lying on his bed.

once we established that yes, in fact, it was a new tube of toothpaste, he giggled and said, "I have a new bed! it's a big boy bed!!" he climbed right in and got under the covers. he was thrilled...

...and my heart swelled with pride. he's growing up and I'm more than okay with it.

sleepover party

to say we are blessed to live within twenty minutes of our entire immediate family would be the understatement of the year. not very many people can call up their sisters/brothers/parents/in-laws/grandmas for an impromptu get together in half an hour on any given day. but we can and oh, how sweet it is! the only downfall is that we have never gone to go stay at nana and papa's for the weekend...you know, have a sleepover. we were determined to change that. I packed up the boys and met my dear sister and her son at my parents for the weekend. kyle thought my quest for a real sleepover at my parents' house was bordering on insane, so he opted to stay at home...alone. not a bad gig either, I guess. although you'd miss out on this:

we had a blast watching the boys stand next to the big tub as it filled with oodles of inviting bubbles. I'm not sure what's cuter - the picture of the naked buns or the cuddly little burritos sitting on nykki's changing table. you be the judge:

beth and I stayed up late and chatted in our jammies after we had the babies tucked in for the night. henry slept at the foot of my bed and woke up a little earlier than I had planned. I'm not gonna lie: it was heavenly to scoop him up and snuggle with him as the early morning light began to creep into our room. eventually we heard the rest of the house begin to stir and so we made our way to the basement to say good morning to beth and josiah. I just love how extra happy the little ones are in the morning!

the little guys gobbled up stacks of papa's blueberry pancakes and played in their pjs until at least noon. as we indulged in a yummy lunch I wondered why we hadn't done this until now. what a great memory to make with my boys...I think we'll be planning another sleepover very soon!

good morning sunshine!

cupid

in preparation for valentine's day, we got out the paints and created masterpieces that we could eventually turn into adorable little handmade valentines. the martha stewart inside me decided to only squeeze out puddles of "valentine" colors onto the palette. so I dug out the white, red, pink, and even a little purple paint and set my little picasso free.

after one round he caught a glimpse of the crayola box and requested some blue and green and orange and maybe some brown mommy??  who am I to resist such a sweet request? I'm not one to squelch creative genius now, right?  so our version of valentine's became a puddle of every color under the rainbow. unfortunately when you mix them all together the result is a muddy shade of brown. oh well.

when the big day arrived, my little cupid and I took advantage of henry's morning nap and donned our aprons for some good ol' cupcake baking. I just love having a sous chef in the kitchen!

now had I been more on top of my game, those above mentioned works of art would've actually been cut into hearts and fashioned into adorable handmade valentine's. but, alas, the martha stewart in me didn't show up on february 14th, so we settled for a box of toy story valentines and delivered them to all of our favorite valentines.

distracted

the blog has been neglected as of late. to all of my faithful followers (and I know there are TENS of you out there)...I apologize and will do my best to get this thing back up and running. but in my defense, I've been distracted by these two:

I am working on playing catch up, so be sure to visit again soon and scroll down to catch up on the busyness of our lives. ciao.