About Our Blog

Thanks for visiting! I created this blog to share updates on my family and how grateful we are for all the blessings the Lord has given us. I am happily married and the busy working mommy of two very active little boys. We enjoy raising our family and making memories together. I blog about the ordinary adventures of family life and my many other mommy-interests.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Our 200th Posting!


Our first posting was in December of 2007. Here we are almost three years and 200 postings later! So much has changed. We have grown from a couple into a family of four. What an awesome journey it has been so far. We can't wait to have more adventures and share them through our words and pictures.

Fall Weather + A Walking 13 Month Old = Fun At The Park



Wood + Dirt + Grass = Letting Boys Be Boys





What happened when I told B he couldn't eat the wood chips....don't worry, he cheered up quick.


One of the lights of my life!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The joys of boys!


My favorite part of any day is hanging out with the kiddos. It really doesn't matter how tired I am or what kind of day I have had, everything is right in the world once I am home with my boys. Luckily, most of my days are really good, but there is nothing like coming home to family when you are tired and need to smile.

James usually wakes up between 6am - 6:15am on weekdays. We have had to do a little tinkering to our morning routine, but it's nice to spend extra time with him. Brendan is usually still snoozing when we go in to get him ready for school. James loves to run in yelling "Good Morning Baby". We've been working on waking Brendan up without yelling, but to be honest, he does not really seem to mind. We get a smile from him right away which is so typical of B.

We load up in the car after everyone one is dressed and groomed with all the gear we need. We drive to work chatting and pointing out things to Brendan. We point out every stop sign, stop light and school bus. We count every bull dozer and I act as though I have never seen anything so amazing. We talk about how the sun rises in the east and how the sunrise looks like cotton candy. It is a special time that I really treasure. I drop the boys off at school and get their breakfast all ready so they can eat. Then I am off to work a few blocks away from their school.

I pick the boys up as soon as I can after work, sometimes even before 4pm.It makes our early mornings SOOO worth it! They are both loving their new school and are learning and lot and doing so many neat things. Once we get home we play and then James helps me cook dinner while standing on his stool. His favorite thing to make is breakfast for dinner...scrambled eggs, waffles and fruit. I can still manage to sneak sweet potatoes into the waffles but James is starting to look suspicious. Brendan sits in his high chair and just laughs and laughs at us. After they eat, we play in the playroom again. It has been so hot. We are all ready for fall weather so we can play outside again and resume our evening walks. Watching them play is lots of fun, especially when they start playing together or playing with me. Brendan will toddle over to me and hand me something and say "Look". I can't enough of him! James wants me to tickle him and I pretend to smell his little feet and Brendan will collapse in my lap doing his belly laugh to get some snuggles. Oh yes, these are the joys of boys!

We wrap up their day with a dunk in the tub. Sometimes I think it would be easier to hose them off in the yard! Bath time is so messy these days with water splish sploshing everywhere. I should just wear a wet suit. After bath time, we put on jammies and cozy up with books and music and singing and prayers. I love the feel of these little bodies melting into me at the end of the day. James likes to sing to B, usually the ABC song or Twinkle Twinkle or Itsy Bitsy Spider. I cannot believe the love these boys already have for each other. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't stop dead in my tracks and have this amazing revelation that these are MY beautiful boys! Somehow the feeling of awe and wonder of them never grows old. I will thanks to the Lord for these two miracles for the rest of my life and it will never be enough to express how I feel and how blessed I am to be called Mommy.

James and Brendan are both growing like weeds. Some times I catch a glimpse of them where I see a little peek of what they will look like when they are all grown up. It seems like every morning when James wakes up and comes to find me, he is taller. Brendan is walking more and more and will cheer himself on saying "Go B! Go B!". I have never seen something so precious. Oh yes, these are the days! These precious fleeting days!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

We are busy little bees!

Over the last month, Brendan turned one, James had his tonsils and adenoids out, Brendan got his first hair cut and "graduated" from Early Childhood Intervention after making lots of progress with his motor skills and we started potty training James. James' recovery from surgery was pretty tough for about 11 days, but he is feeling so wonderful. It was like they operated on his personality because he is no longer "high maintenance". I think the poor kid was sick so much that he was just a perpetual grouch. We are so glad we opted for surgery.....it is amazing what a difference it has made in everything for him, from his mood to his sleeping to his temperature level. It has been amazing! Brendan also started taking first steps. Watching him cruise along the furniture and then timidly step away and try walking is precious. He is so ready to be independent! What happened to my cuddle bug? He is ready to explore everything. We are at that stage where he is in to everything and he is dodging disaster minute by minute. He is constantly almost shutting his finger in drawers and almost hitting his head on tables. I must gasp about 20 times a day because I think he is about to knock himself out somehow. He is no longer content to sit on my hip while I go about my housework. He wiggles to get down instead and investigate. If only he would listen when I whisper in his ear that I think he should just stay little. The boys also started a new school and they seem to like it a lot. I am very happy that it was an easy transition for them.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last 4 weeks. Life is a happy blur of fun moments, most revolving around the joys of parenthood. These are our ordinary but wonderful days. I wish they could last forever. Our house is in constant commotion and you can always hear the sound of a kiddo...usually laughter, or a little voice or babble. More and more we are having to referee the boys as they learn to share toys, etc. It is pretty much only quiet at nap time and bedtime. James had turned into an utter chatterbox and is so inquisitive. I am LOVING our conversations. He is also hilarious. Of course he is at his funniest when he is being utterly serious with his big brown eyes looking right into mine. Here are some of his funny comments as of late:

Mommy: Be gentle. James: No, Mommy, I'll be James.

Mommy: Would you like some fruit? James: Well, of course! (said like, DUH MOM!)

Mommy: Are you excited to be a spider for Halloween? James: No, siders (no p) scare me. They have 8 arms. I will be a pumpkin with Bendan (no r).

James: (to me) Cheesecake pooped on the ground! (to Cheesecake) Way to go Cheesecake! I am proud of you. Next time tell Mommy you have to go and poop in the toilet.

He also has started looking at characters' expressions in books or movies and then he makes the expression and tells me how the character feels. It is priceless. I am hoping to get in on video because it cracks me up. He does a great imitation of the Evil Queen from Snow White.

Brendan's sense of humor is emerging too. He has this throaty, scratchy little laugh that makes me giggle so much. I love the sound of it and will spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to hear that sound. These kids of mine are PURE JOY! My heart is so happy. I love being their mom and all the memories we are making.








About Our Family

In a nutshell, we're a family that is all about having fun and spending time together. Our family is made up of Daniel, Lauren, James and Brendan. We share our home with our orange tabby Tucker and our lab-mix Cheesecake. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in December 2010. . We thank God for all the blessings he has given us and never forget we have been given amazing gifts in our children. We love how blogs let us stay connected with family and friends. Thanks for stopping by to check out what is new with us!