Today I realized

that in my other life - the one where I was the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the national non-profit gig I used to work for (and before I became the stay at home mom that I am now) - I met three of the four top contenders for the GOP ticket. Romney and Santorum a few times each, and Gingrich once. They are all great orators and all of those events were fun to attend.

I'm such a far world away from that one now . . .   : )

Growing Up

Yesterday Guy had a party, and I'm positive it'll be the easiest one I'll ever host. His guests kept him busy for a good chunk of time. They all shared food, games, and even used the bathroom at the same time (washing hands and everything). After lunch, they all took a nap in his room with him--in his bed, on the love sac, and on the floor. They were fantastic guests that are welcome anytime.*

Thanks for coming Busytown Mystery characters, Woody, Buzz, and Jessie.

Today one friend got stuck in the toilet while on a bathroom break. Guy hurried to let them out.

*for the next couple of years anyhow--until he's old enough that it gets weird.


Yea for his imagination and the new realm he entered yesterday. His spontaneous "party" was the first time he's played make believe.

I Had Something Else in Mind

... unfortunately, Cooper wasn't on the same page.

Maybe next year, since I finally took the tree down today. Which would be the reason why Guy cried/whined for almost 45 minutes straight.  "I don't want you to take down my tree."

Merry Christmas

 Same as last year, it's "what should have gone out."

One day I'll actually get a Christmas card in the mail, I promise. Until then, I've settled on taking a Christmas photo right before I'm ready to take the tree down.

We had a busier than planned holiday season (but that happens to everyone, right?), and enjoyed everything - especially teaching Guy about the true meaning of Christmas and why we really celebrate it.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas season and are already enjoying the new year.

Happy New Year!

Until yesterday about 4 pm, all my talk of wanting to start establishing some family traditions for our little family had been just that - talk. Around 4 pm I went to the store with barely a game plan, but I came out a winner. Walking around, I decided that we needed to have a lot of our favorite things for a dinner party. Simple was the only option since it was the last hour. I bought strawberries and watermelon (great out of season treats) to start the ball rolling.

Knowing what we had at home and what could easily be supplemented, things just went from there. Our "menu" was summer sausage, cheese slices, Ritz, watermelon, bananas, strawberries, and apples with a caramel dipping sauce, cool ranch Doritos, whole pickles, sliced crusty baguette bread that I topped with diced tomatoes, a little garlic, and Balsamic vinegar. Donuts and Grasshopper cookies for dessert.

Cooper went to bed after dinner, and I got a new 28 piece puzzle for the rest of us to do together (as Guy gets older the difficulty will increase) as the after-dinner activity.

Then we got Guy ready for bed and I set the timer for a New Year's countdown. Guy's new year was at about 7:45.

First he was afraid.

 

Then he warmed up.

And then we played a little

 Party essentials: silly hats, confetti poppers, and horn blowers.

 

And a little bubbly juice to finish things off.

It was a fun night and I'm glad I did it. I'm also glad I didn't a) go overboard b)stress at all. I even bought Chex to make Muddy Buddies, but it didn't happen. Maybe we'll do those for FHE soon, now.

Rob and I are pretty good at looking ahead, but I feel like we need to be better about living today. It was a great way to bring in the new year, especially since I've been trying to be more of a fun mom.

We Love Visitors

And when we aren't sick, we even like taking photos with them!

 

 

Thanks for coming Papa and Bubbe. We had a great time and wish we could see you more often!

Poor Coop

The sad kid has been cutting teeth forever - and they keep going up and down. :( Two weekends ago he cut his first FOUR and was miserable. The typically happy-go-lucky one in the house just wasn't so. Add a virus on top of all that pain and it was just brutal for all of us. Fortunately, it hasn't been so bad since, but at almost 11 months old and a whole lot of pain, isn't it about time for this kid to have something to show for all that work? Aside from the commonly drool-soaked shirt as seen above, that is. I've changed his shirt 3 times in a day because of the drool.

Lately

I've been recklessly busy. I think my boys are happy to have Christmas over. So much shopping and crafting done. I sewed a blanket for a niece and forgot to take a photo of it (hint, hint, Steph - please email that one over whenever you get those pillows!), I took Christmas photos for a couple of families in the ward, we made a "quick" (10 hour) drive to DE for a 4-day visit, and the home project that my boys have loved most:

It's made of 3 decently-sized boxes and a wardrobe box addition because I just had to keep going. I ran out of duct tape or I may have kept going. Coop even ventures in on his own sometimes, we're really getting good use out of this creation.

Here's one of my Christmas shots - our tree - with minimal decorations on the bottom (Cooper friendly). Maybe I'll get one of the 2 boys before I take the tree down. That would be amazing - and wonderful.

Rob got me a Silhouette for Christmas (amongst some other GREAT gifts), and I'm SO EXCITED to start making great use of this amazing invention. I hope you had a Merry Christmas! Once again I unfortunately failed to get cards out - maybe I haven't given up on some sort of greeting card. We'll see.

Today

My doctor asked if Coop eats a lot of carrots, or other orange foods. She said he looks kind of orange/yellow. I think what she really meant was that he had too much "color" to be my son.

I can't help but wonder: if Rob had taken him in would she have asked?

It made me think of this photo, though. Coop was one week old and he looks "orange" here, too.

:)

Camera Download

Playing with some Photoshop actions . . .

Rob got this for Guy after Halloween. Every boy needs a couple of extra super-hero costumes (especially when you can buy them for a discounted price), right? Side note: movie review of Captain America: not bad for the Marvel series, but doesn't hold a candle to Iron Man.

Just the Usual Busy Stuff

We've had a lot of visitors in the last month or so. Today starts our fourth visit with guests (and our 6th and 7th guests). It's been a lot of fun, we're so glad for all the time we've had with friends and family. I only wish I had more photos.

Rob's folks came first - not many photos because most of the weekend was spent at home. Guy was sick and his fever got as high as 104.5 that weekend. Obviously, there were other priorities. We did go bowling - but while we were there Guy hacked enough to bring some stuff up from his stomach, and Cooper had his biggest diaper explosion ever about 15 minutes later. At least Rob's mom got a motorcycle ride. :)

Next came Rob's sister and our niece. We got out and did some fun stuff - a visit to the local children's museum followed by lunch at a very organic/green indoor food market. I think mostly the boys just loved having new "friends" to play with. Especially since they (our visitors) humored them in ways Dad & Mom don't. :)

The day they left my friend, Tara, flew in. She's a new flight attendant working out of Minneapolis, MN. She hoped on a flight and came from Monday afternoon to Wednesday mid morning. She was a tremendous help in giving me some extra hands. I managed to get things don't that don't always happen (like dinner on the table when Rob got home). She also helped me do some mutual stuff on Tuesday night, and that was an enormous help. The fun part of that was going to the Air Force Museum.

Believe it or not, Dayton, Ohio (and the surrounding area) does have some pretty fun stuff to do. If you don't believe it, come for a visit and we'll prove it to you. :)