Friday, November 30, 2012

Chaos

I sat down with the intention of making a little progress on the "photography" section of this blog. You know, add photos, contact information and maybe even a little blurb about my shooting style and how I strive to ensure "Picture Day" isn't awkward and uncomfortable or smack dab in the middle of the Sunday football game.

 It took me approximately 6 seconds to realize that wasn't going to happen.

I'm just going to cut to the chase and say that life lately? It has been complete chaos. Our house looks like its been hit by a tornado. No, not strong winds and minor debris...a legit natural disaster. Dishes in the sink, baskets of unfolded laundry EVERYWHERE and unopened mail piled on the counter. Matty is sick, Tyler is bored {thank you Winter} and Ryan and I? We are so darn exhausted tired. This week has been spent consoling the inconsolable, mopping up baby vomit and screaming "Santa's watching you!" six billion times a day. If you know me at all, you know that when life gets like this, I can NOT cope. 
  1. I need clean
  2. I need organized 
  3. I need structure 
 ...none of which are in the cards.  

So, until Matty stops crying, Tyler stops complaining and the holidays are behind us, the smorgasbord {yes, I said smorgasbord} of shots below will have to do.















Happy Friday! 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Sick Day


While I certainly don't have the paralyzing phobia my husband does, I am not a big fan of germs. Especially when they invade my little guys. On the plus side? I get to spend the day snuggling and firing off work related emails with this peanut.

                                               
{Side note: the Galaxy takes terrible photos.}



Friday, November 23, 2012

Simply Thankful

 Yesterday, and everyday, there is just so much to be thankful for around here...


 
Mornings spent on the couch with a hot cup of coffee, two sleepy-eyed little guys and a husband who lets me relax while he makes Thanksgiving appetizers. 


Tyler is a given.  But the other one? Never thought I'd be thankful for him. But you know what? I am. That cat has become such a good little buddy to Tyler.


A healthy, happy family {don't be fooled by those expressions, it was NOT the worst day of their lives.}


 This mom/MIL/grandma. She ranks right up there with the best. 


Before being excused from the table to go play I asked Tyler to tell me one thing he is thankful for this year. His response? Uncle Tom. {Matty is a pretty big fan too.}



Grandpa Steve. Nobody can entertain the boys like he can!


 This boy, who like me, just can't understand what all the Black Friday fuss is about. 


 A sister-in-law who treats our kids like her own {she'll even clean up regurgitated turkey dinners. Seriously, she's that awesome.}


Grandma's mashed potatoes.


Parents. Siblings. Friends. Large extended families. Neighbors we actually like. Leggings. Parenthood {yes, as in the TV show and no, I'm not kidding}. Jobs. A roof over our heads. And so, so much more.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Matty: 9 Months!

Sweet Matty, 

9 months?! It is amazing how ridiculously slow the time passed while we were waiting to meet you, yet the days months since you arrived? They've passed at lightning speed.You have fit so seamlessly into our family. A son, a brother, a new little buddy.


You have both grown and changed so much in the past few months that I often times catch myself taking a second look at you and wondering what happened to that tiny black haired baby who once was. Your hair is blonde now and if I didn't witness it five billion multiple times a day, I wouldn't believe that you throw up three quarters of the food you take in. You have graduated beyond baby foods, 12 month jeans and the weight capacity of your car seat. I'm sorry to break it to you buddy but you are a chunk {at about 23 lbs}! 


This month has brought with it continued smiles, belly laughs and a new sense of curiosity. You have officially mastered crawling and can travel from the living room to the kitchen in approximately 6 seconds. I haven't exactly timed you but I'm willing to bet you move even faster when (1) you want to be picked up or (2) your brother left something tiny {and incredibly tempting} on the floor. Needless to say, we've all gotten quite good at remembering to close the gate and I'd say we're making strides in delegating the big kid toys to higher ground. Harley, however, is making zero progress in avoiding your death grip.


One teensy tiny tooth made an appearance a few weeks ago! I've been checking you mouth for a second on a near daily basis because you no longer sleep through the night. The truth is, you wake up 2-3 times and WE ARE EXHAUSTED. With that said, I don't think daddy or I have the heart to let you cry it out. You're just too darn cute, kid. 

Speaking of cute, you've learned to wave enthusiastically when people greet you. You'll even give us the occasional "Hi!" You're taking everything in so quickly and while we are incredibly excited to watch you learn and grow, I'm telling you, it's moving much too fast. I'd give anything to slow this whole thing down a bit and just soak in today. Please?

Love you buddy....to a thousand planets. 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Highlight Reel

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a blog and began reading. Prior to that day? I had never read one {yes, I realize it was 2010}. I just didn’t have time to spend online and couldn’t understand the point of reading the life stories of random people clear across the country. Well, things change kids and that ONE blog happened to reference a couple of other blogs and in no time I found myself captivated by families who were complete strangers to me. Captivated by these mothers who cooked meals for their families from scratch, planned elaborate birthday parties for their children and managed to pencil in standing coffee dates with their college girlfriends. I was enthralled by the husbands that seemingly offered endless amounts of support as their wives attended book clubs and workshops and yoga classes. But most impressive of all? The meticulously dressed children who had a permanent expression of bliss plastered across their tiny little faces. Honestly, as a wife and working mother to a {highly energetic} little guy, I couldn’t fathom how those women wore all of those hats so effortlessly when I considered myself lucky if my child {I only had one at the time} was dressed in weather appropriate clothing and had fewer than 4 massive meltdowns before 7:30AM.

I spent nearly two exhausting years following those blogs and trying to determine what they were doing so right and I was doing so wrong. Then? I stumbled upon an eye-opening quote on Facebook {surprisingly, it did not come in the form of one of those stupid, over-posted greeting cards either. I know, crazy right?}



It seems like such a simple idea, but you guys…it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was a much needed, much appreciated reminder. Because at that moment? I realized that chances were those mothers were just as wonderful as they appeared to be in blog-land but perhaps occasionally even THEY threw caution to the wind and declared a “find your own dinner night.” Perhaps that ridiculously elaborate birthday party was planned to dull the pain of last year when they forgot their child’s birthday altogether {or not, but let’s just go with it} and their husbands ARE supportive, but also spend 3 solid hours every Saturday wearing a plastic head set and playing Call of Duty with random 12 year old kids. The point is, that simple sentence reminded me that people are much more likely to throw their highlights up on their blog for the world to judge see than they are those less than ideal moments.

Approximately 6 seconds after I read that quote I made the decision that my future blog {because someday I was pretty sure I would beat the procrastination demon and start one} would not be comprised entirely of highlights. While I want to remember the very few and far between moments when Tyler  recites his prayers seamlessly, without the interjection of fart noises and Matty makes it longer than a 45 minute stretch without covering our hardwood floors in regurgitated peas, I also want to be “real.” Sure there are plenty of “real” days that are also full of complete joy, but I want people to know that there is so much more to our family than what is portrayed in glossy family portraits and the "highlights" of our story. There are days where I am challenged as a mother, as a friend and as a wife. There are days where our house looks like a lego bomb exploded, in turn kicking my OCD into high gear and making me feel as if the chance I make it past breakfast without completely losing my mind is slim to none. And you know what? Sometimes, on those days, it'd be kind of nice to know that I'm not in that boat alone.

Rest assured, this next moment was...brief.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Crossing it Off {...finally}


I have a million ideas. I pin, I plan, I print. Home décor ideas, recipes and checklists. The problem is, I am terrible at following through. I have post-it notes, cell phone reminders and half of the daily organizers in the home office section of our local Target. Yet, I can’t seem to implement those ideas, buy the ingredients for those recipes or cross any items off my ever-growing checklist. Things come up, life gets in the way, the plate overflows. 

This blog? It was one of those things that for so long just…didn’t get done. I had good intentions. I really, REALLY wanted to begin a blog as a means to document all of the ridiculous adorable things my children do or say and someday, turn it into a book for them. You know those blog books? Seriously, what a great keepsake. The truth is, I tried. I have notebooks full of blog post ideas. I even took the time to come up with a name, which took FOR-EVER. Every name that I thought of was taken. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. Then I thought of this one. At 3AM. In the dark, I grabbed my phone, logged onto Blogger and claimed it as my own. I mentally sketched out a blog design, because, really, who wants to write on a plain Jane template straight out of Blogger? Not me. I downloaded some headers, funky accessories, etc. Then I attempted and failed miserably to install them. I finally caved. It just wasn’t going to happen. I’m not tech savvy, I am easily discouraged and refuse to use the “Help” button on any website. So instead, I emailed the author of a blog I stalk love and included a barrage of questions regarding blogging. How did you get started? How do you fit writing into your day with two kids to take care of? And who the heck designed your blog? Much to my surprise, she responded. In less than an hour. Because she’s cool like that and apparently appreciates her readers. She suggested I contact a friend of hers who designs blogs. Are you kidding?  I don’t have to do anything? She’ll do it all? And so, here we are. I did it. Not the blog design part obviously {Jess did that} but I followed through, crossed blogging off my list and it feels AMAZING! Yeah, I know…the real challenge will be moving a few things around on the plate to make room for writing. It is yet to be determined if I’ll be successful, but if I find a way to make that happen….follow along?