One time we took a long trip.

Back in March we took a trip. My mom used her spring break to go visit our family in Alabama. I tagged along to visit and to also see some of my college room mates. And make our children become friends, ha!

Aren't these babies just angels? From left to right: Jackson is mine, AP is Lindsay's and Laurie is SB's. They really took to laying next to each other quite nicely. (Laurie isn't crying, she's doing some newborn stretches...)

These boys....these boys are awesome. They all played so hard you'd have thought it was a race. They played outside, collected sticks, watched Toy Story like 5 times and played outside some more.

Stephen (in the navy) is SB's, J (in the orange) is Lindsay's, and G is in green. They'll all be in the same school grade. Isn't that cute?
And here we all are... No visit is complete without a walk. I miss these girls so much. And I love meeting and loving their babies!

I know what you're thinking. I only see three adults and six children. Your math is correct. We were just that desperate to see each other. Thanks SB for hosting us all! Once the kids were in bed we talked as fast as we could and stayed up way too late considering our little alarm clocks were up and begging for breakfast way earlier than usual. Despite the craziness I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Now back to our family. Did I forget to mention that everyone came? Yes, the whole fam-damily. All 10 of us were quite the caravan. We had such a wonderful time visiting our family down there. There were thousands of diapers and hundreds of sippy cups and DVDs, oh and plenty of hard outside playing. I won't mention names, but G had a great time playing in a pile of soot, that was a fun one. We love our family and I seriously hate all the hours between us!

Sisters and babies. We're never in pictures together.

Almost everyone... Maybe one day we'll all gather together. I long for the day!
And isn't this picture just awesome? We were all just sitting around talking and looked over to catch a glimpse of Caleb just sitting in the magazine rack. The grin on his face shows how proud of he is of himself. He's so precious.
Until next year. A long car ride with babies really reinforces the wonder of air travel.

Also, we ate chick-fil-a twice in one day on our return drive. Something like that only needs to happen once a year.

Lately.

I know, I know, it's been a while. I'll make no excuses. Two kids, two in diapers, lots of rain.... life is crazy.

There are many blog posts I'm working on. My camera memory stick is full. FULL. So this one is just a teaser for now.

So what have we been up to?

We've been doing quite a bit of coloring.

Every kid just needs a big box.

This is where the big box came from.

Every momma of two really just needs a double jogger.

Don't they look cute? And happy?

We love our long walks.

Isn't he just the cutest?

I promise to be caught up soon, check back!

Two year olds are so funny!

Graham is so freaking hilarious these days. I mean, seriously funny. He's also a motor mouth. I have to get some of these things documented before he grows out of them. Enjoy!

- For a while he never referred to himself as "I." Example, "My want a 'nack, momma" - translation, "I want a snack, momma." Another funny one is when he is hiding. "Ere is me momma? Here my are!"

- He loves to turn his head back and forth and dramatically say "what's going on, what's going on?" to be included.

- Since it's established that he's a motor mouth..... to say he talks a lot in the car is an understatement. It's pretty much a running stream of conscious thoughts. I quit listening sometimes. When my responses don't match what he expects, he'll yell quite loudly "stop and talk to me momma!"

- He's OBSESSED with army guys and guns. I hate the phrase "boys will be boys" but in some cases it just fits. He started making guns out of his granola bars, then it was shooting sounds with his sticks.... everything is a gun. Recently I found a little 3 pack of small water guns at the dollar spot and you'd have thought I had given him a thousand M&Ms or something. He's still stuffing them into all his pockets and making the loading and shooting sounds constantly. He even sleeps with them.

- He's begun asking us to tell him stories. Which is really Matt's time to shine. He loves all of the sounds and voices that go along with the characters. He asked me one time and then never again. I guess my "when I was a little girl" story just didn't cut it compared to Matt's one that involved him and uncle B and Jon hunting bears...

- If Jackson is squirming or fussing or sad in the car, G comforts him by saying (sometimes quite loudly) "it's ok Dackthson, I'm your brudder!"

There are countless more, but now I can't think of them.

He's just a little person with lots of ideas and just as many words. I love him!

Under Construction

Ok, I feel like this is the story of my life. Just as I feel like I've got a tiny handle on something, it slips through my fingers.

A lesson in faith perhaps?

I think the frequency of my blog posts is a direct indicator of how busy (or mismanaged) my life is at the moment.

Two kids is crazy y'all! I know you moms out there with more children are laughing at me right now. I can hear you.

In the spirit of being real though.... there's been some reevaluating and rearranging of things going on in my little world.

Once again, I need to die to self. Once again, I need to remember what my job is. It is a tremendous honor, privilege, fun, and yet being a mom is the hardest thing I do. Kids are demanding...and they know when you're not giving them everything. They know when you don't have a plan for the day. They know when you're not paying them the attention they need. They know when you'd rather be doing something else. I have no idea how, but they know.

Matt has been doing some restructuring of his business in the last month. He's been working and preparing for like the last six months, but now it's happened. I'm so proud of how hard he works. Not many people I know get to do their hobby and passion in life as their job. And he does. Yes, it poses some logistical and marital difficulties when he can't turn work off at the end of the day or over the weekend because he loves thinking about all things design. But that's another post... I think the title could be "You, Me and Design." I'm kidding around here. Sort of.

Long story short; he's happy, he's empowered, he has work, and that makes for one busy husband. One who works long hours and weekends.

It also makes for one tired momma. And those kids? They know when I'm tired. Why then doesn't Graham take the opportunity to behave and give me some extra cuddling? Why must he choose now to be the time to really pull out all the stops with the tantrums? Why must Jackson think that waking up between six and seven is his newest great idea?

I'm a busy person, it's hard for me to rest. It's hard for me to be still. There's always a running list of things to do, places to go, errands to run, people to call or visit. If anyone's figured out a way to turn this off, please let me know!

But after getting my umteenth cold and the third sinus infection of the season recently, I got it. I see the writing on the wall. I need to rest. Why do I feel the need to run all the time?

It's like if I stand still I can hear Jesus saying "It's ok, I have a plan for your life. Rest. Rest with your boys. Rest in your home. Rest in your marriage. My plan is better. My timing is better."

No matter how much I know these things, I forget. In the midst of tantrums, budgets, job changes, house problems, lack of sleep..... I forget.

But He doesn't. I'm so thankful for His timing and His purposes. Just give me a slap on the back of my head occasionally ok? Thanks.

5 Months

Where has the time gone. Did you know this little guy is 5 months old? I can't believe it.

Jackson is such a joy. He has this way of catching your gaze that just makes you want to cuddle up with him and have a deep conversation.

He loves to watch everything that Graham does and coos at him if he feels slightly ignored. Graham is super sweet to him and is always putting toys in his hands (like literally prying his hands open) and telling him "my be right back" if he leaves the room.

Jackson has discovered the springs in his legs and would spend the whole day in the doorway jumper if we let him.

He still comes to work with me and charms all of my coworkers. He is a fabulous sales-baby and can sell a carrier or teether like no one else in the store. Since I'm not working full days like I was with Graham and he gets to come with me, Jackson still refuses to take a bottle. Big bummer for us... but we're still working on it. While he's not as intense as Graham was with strangers (he'd scream instantly if anyone he didn't know touched him, even as a baby), Jackson does look around for me if I'm not holding him or he can't hear me. Smart little cookie, that little Jackson.

We love this little guy so much. Even though he still has trouble between the hours of 4-7 am.... I melt at his sweet little face.

I am one blessed momma for sure!

Snow!

Like the rest of the country, we've had a LOT of snow recently. It snowed all day Christmas Eve but we were busy with family and didn't make it outside.

Then it snowed overnight on January 10. Graham was THRILLED to wake up to a white world. He has this funny way of saying snow, sort of like he can't get the "sn" sound out...and it comes out sounding like "HHnow." It's adorable. Especially the little crinkle in his nose that happens with that heavy HH sound.

He's not a big fan of coats, or any hat but the penguin hat. So naturally me wanting him to wear something to keep his head warm was pure torture.
I asked him to look at me for a picture and this is what I got. He's very into covering his eyes if he gets put on the spot or embarrassed.

Sweet Baxter. LOVES the snow. In case you can't tell.

Then we had 8ish more inches last Wednesday night (the 2oth). It was absolutely beautiful! My work was cancelled that day which meant we had plenty of time at home to play. Graham kept begging to go outside as soon as he saw the snow. I of course loved playing in the snow growing up and look forward to Graham and his buddies playing hard outside and then coming in for hot chocolate and a long nap. He's not there yet. See, he likes it...until any snow gets on him. Which happens when a toddler runs in 8 inches of snow. Any amount of snow really. I knew our adventure outside would last 10 minutes tops, so I went out in my bathrobe and just put Graham's boots on top of his pj's.

He looooved it. Way more than last time.

This last picture is of him trying to take his gloves off. Once the gloves came off.....it was only like 30 seconds until there was a fall. "Special chocolate hot milk" made everything better.

New Years with Nana and Guh-Daddy

Graham spent New Year's Eve with Nana and Guh-Daddy. And if a whole entire evening wasn't enough fun for a two year old... he spent the night. Matt and I were thrilled for a break. So were our ears. This guy can do some serious talking. He. Never. Stops.

Anyway, we left the camera for the fun to be documented.

Doesn't this look like the face of a toddler who is NOWHERE near ready for bed?

Nana let Graham help make pancakes in the morning. AND play play doh. Seriously awesome morning by G's standards.
"Say Cheese!"
We are so incredibly blessed to be so close to our parents. Our family lives a full day's drive from extended family. It was so hard growing up not to see my cousins or be able to spend the night every now and then with my grandparents. It just melts my heart (and I'm sure our parents') when G runs in the door screaming their names at the top of his lungs!

Thank you Ron and Jenny for entertaining Graham for the night! We know he enjoyed every minute!