Yikes...

I keep getting behind. :) On both thankful thoughts AND pinterest challenge posts! Not to mention that I'd really like to just blog about something else...what, I'm not sure...but there just isn't enough time in the day. Right now though, I'll get caught up on my thankful thoughts before I go relax a bit while LBB sleeps.

It's been a crazy few days, so things have been a little all over the place. :-) You know how that goes!

My thankful thoughts are:

Monday: I'm thankful for my husband's safety. A few days ago, our sweet little car that we've had for 8 years (and was 3 years old when we bought it with 55000 miles on it) started making a few little tapping noises. My hubby figured out what things it could be and planned on fixing it this morning. Then, on his way home from work Sunday night, in a foggy little snowy patch in the middle of a field, Dear Sweet Hubby broke through a bit of fog only to see a nice little doe standing smack dab in front of the car. He naturally slammed on his brakes, and thankfully missed the deer, saving himself from any injury. But...

...poor little Focie (our Ford Focus' nickname, haha), wasn't so lucky. That tapping that was worrisome but we planned on fixing pretty easily quickly turned into something worse. And by the time, my hubby pulled into the parking lot at his work Monday morning, he couldn't even turn the car right, and the tapping had become a TERRIBLE thunking noise. Then, something broke off and the car made this nice "whirring" noise. And, with that, Focie was done.

Now, the car is totally fixable. BUT. In good condition, we could trade it in for only $1500 or so. Just to fix this one issue would be around $1300 or so when all is said and done. Despite the fact that we love that little car, it's time to let her go.

And be thankful, because had that ball joint and CV shaft busted when Dear Sweet Hubby was driving in traffic on the interestate, and he could have gotten into a serious mess, and caused some serious damage to him and the car.

I'm so thankful to God that He was watching over my hubby that night when the deer was trying to be a roadblock, and by having that very important part break in the parking lot and not while we are commuting.

And today's thankful thought? I'm thankful for new opportunities out of what could be seen as a bad situation. We are fortunate enough to have a second car. It's a clutch, so I lack the skills to drive it, but we will be able to make do for a while. It will take some planning and a little patience, but I think we can easily make it until June at the latest, which is around the time we were going to start car hunting anyways. There are a lot of small circumstances that make this situation, and all of them but one are good, so all in all, what seemed pretty cruddy isn't bad at all. :-)

OK...so I'm caught up on that. Now to try to get caught up on my pinterest challenge. Maybe tonight when LBB is in bed...but for now I'm going to go watch some Mighty Machines Diggers and Dozers with my little guy.

I literally unplugged the television...

...and hid it in my room.

LBB has a slight addiction with TV. Ok. I correct myself. EXTREME obsession with TV. So, on Saturday, I called our cable provider and cut us down to basic cable. (I realized we spent too much time in the evening watching shows when we could be doing other things after LBB went to bed.) On the plus side, hello more time together, less annoying background noise, and about $100 extra a month. Sounds good to me.

And then, this morning, LBB woke up raring to go. At the lovely hour of 4 am. See, LBB doesn't care that we practically eliminated cable, because LBB has a plethora of DVDs to watch...and watch them he does. Now, I can defend myself (slightly) and say that all but one that he regularly watches(Cars, of course) is educational. And of course, I will also state that the majority of the time it was on as background noise.

HOWEVER...

I'm not a big fan of being woken up at 4 am to watch "MiMi's" (firetrucks). I always said when I worked at a big orange retail store that once I quit there I would not wake up before 6 am unless it was for a very good reason.

Firetrucks are not a very good reason, unless they are in my parking lot putting out a fire.

And it was then, as LBB sat yelling because I wouldn't turn that black rectangle that sits prevalently in the living room, that I was convinced LBB had an addiction. And as Mommy, it's my job to reign it in. I tried distracting him. Calming him down. And then, after loads of him yelling, I stood up, disconnected the cables, unplugged it, and put it in my room. And here it sits, unplugged and feeling slightly neglected. :)

For a whole entire day. That's right. LBB went a full day without one single moment of television. And oh, goodness, it was wonderful.

He was less cranky (although he is cranky due to a lovely 2 year molar trying to pop through). He played ALL day. He laughed. He danced. He painted. He played by himself off and on, giving me time to organize my entire craft closet. He learned how to jump. He read TONS of books. He took a very decent 2 1/2 hour nap that Mommy used to catch up on some sleep herself. He had loads of fun in preschool. And he even snuggled with me on multiple occasions. :)

Now...this is only for a few days that the TV hides out in our room. Once we know he's gotten it under wraps a bit, we'll put it back out there, and really stick to our guns on TV time. Some rules we decided on:

1. I am going to make a TV cover. Just something that covers the screen (and doesn't look hideous.) When the TV is covered up, no TV. Period.



2. 30 minutes before dinner. Most days, LBB's choice of what he watches, but if we checked out a DVD that has to do with school that day, then Mommy chooses. And after the 30 minutes, TV is turned off, cover put back on, and that is that.



3. On certain occasions, TV can be a reward...like "LBB, please do such and such." And if he does, 15 minutes of whatever he wants to watch.
   


4. One episode of Veggie Tales on Sunday. That can be his "Saturday morning" cartoons. :)



5. And last, but certainly not least...family movie night once a week. Mommy, Daddy, and LBB have yummy snacks, put our PJ's on, and watch a fun movie. Even if it is Cars each week, that is fine.

I'm not kidding when I tell you that he would easily watch Cars 2 times a day, his Mighty Machines movies for the first 2 hours he was awake, and then random things in between. He would play sometimes while he watched, but not like he should have been. I love watching him learn from these shows (like I Wanna Be a Fireman and whatnot), but it has to be in moderation!!!!

Today was wonderful. It was nice not having it on. And when I told Dear Sweet Hubby that I had told LBB that he could watch TV a little before bedtime, even he said "You know, why don't we try to pass on it tonight." :) (My Dear Sweet Hubby also has a weakness for television.) I'm so glad we did. LBB was read two books by Daddy, snuggled on the couch, and had his yogurt. A wonderful ending to a wonderful day. :)

Fingers crossed tomorrow goes just as well. :)

Nature Walk

Yesterday we went for a very nice hike along one of our favorite parts of the state. Dear Sweet Hubby and I love hiking, and even with LBB in his carrier, we rarely shy away from most trails. :) We started hiking with LBB last summer when he was 5 months old, and back then, he was carried in the front carrier by me. Needless to say, as he got bigger, I was definitely happy when we invested in a Kelty Child Carrier...and when Dear Sweet Hubby started carrying him. Haha!

But now, LBB has gotten a taste of hiking on his own and not being carried by Mommy and Daddy, and he loves it! So, yesterday, we carried him for about 1 mile before he decided he didn't want to be carried anymore. He then got out and hiked the majority of the remaining 2.6 miles with us...pretty impressive!

What was even more amazing was not just the fact that he was hiking all on his own and for such a long distance, but the curiousity he shows! I love watching him investigate the flowers. Feel the rocks. Pet the wooly caterpillars. Watch a spider crawl by. Clap for the cricket when it jumps. Sing and dance in the middle of the pine trees that he and Daddy ventured off to explore. It is magical.

He is so focused when he hikes. He watches everything. Takes in as much as he can. Collects rocks that he finds interesting, along with sticks, leaves, and you name it.

I have a feeling that we might as well just start leaving the backpack carrier at home...he doesn't show much of an interest in it, and he is well capable of hiking these long distances (he just did a 1.5 mile hike last week as well.) Besides, he has so much fun watching everything on land, on the water, and in the air...and he can absorb so much more when he is on his own two feet. :) He's a natural born outdoorsman, and I know that makes Dear Sweet Hubby soooooo happy.

I love my little outdoors guy.

There was a clue in yesterday's post...

...about what we were doing today.

Did you catch it? It was in LBB's theme/letter book bin, and was the very first book in the stack.

That's right...that little "Dappled Apples" book was a hint that we were studying apples. And what better way to finish up our Letter A week than with a trip to the apple orchard?

We went down to the apple orchard with my parents and sister, and it was perfect weather for it! We picked apples. Went on a wagon ride. LBB got a little toddler sized pumpkin for his room. We walked through the scarecrow display. Climbed up a hay pile. Watched a camel. Played on a a wooden ship. And LBB even got to listen to some harvest themed children's music...which he danced like crazy to in the wooden ship. :)

Granted, there were a few toddler moments...but he did much much better than I had expected and even sat in the pull behind wagon for a little bit before he got impatient enough to climb out. He had a blast running through the apple orchard, and was very curious when he saw his PaPa climb up a tree to get to some apples that were out of reach. I have a feeling my little monkey was taking notes. Haha!

He did feel bad for the apples that had fallen off the tree, and tried repeatedly to put them (rotting apples and all) into our bag. And if an apple fell while we were picking another one...oh boy. Then he really started fussing. He is such a caring little guy...it melts my heart! :)

So, without further ado, here are some pictures from our day out...enjoy, and hope that you are able to be enjoying some beautiful Autumn-like weather in your neck of the woods!

P.S. Have I mentioned that Autumn is my FAVORITE season?!?!? Hands down...and the crazy thing is that I loved this time of year before we had LBB, but now that we have LBB, I love it even more! :)

Mommy's Night Out, Daddy's Night In

I don't know if you've noticed recently, but I've been blogging a lot...my goal at the beginning of the year was to blog more than I did last year. And then, our computer broke. Now that we have internet access again, I'm trying super hard to catch up...I think I'll make it. Anyways...back to my post. I'm done rambling.

My mom called me today asking if I wanted to go out for a little bit when Dear Sweet Hubby got home from work. I always have such a difficult time leaving, even though as time goes on, I'm getting a bit better at it. Normally when the boys have a Daddy-LBB night out, they go somewhere while I stay home and craft. (Or clean...that's usually what happens.) So the nights that I go out instead...they are pretty rare. :)

We went to the baby store. Breezed around some crafts stores. I drooled over some purses and earrings at one store, while my Mom picked out the most adorable one. Went to a home decor store. Did some price shopping on groceries. (I'm trying to save even more money, so we can get more food...LBB is eating us out of house and home!) And we even grabbed a bite to eat, which was unexpected, but so wonderful. :)

And the boys had a wonderful time too! LBB got some much needed Daddy time, and they played ball, ran around outside, went for a truck ride, played cars, and...this is the most adorable part...they cleaned out a spot in the garage because LBB wanted to push some of his cars around in there. :) Adorable, right? Dear Sweet Hubby keeps a stash of special cars in the garage, so if LBB goes out there he doesn't get bored or into trouble. It's always a highlight for LBB. (Have I mentioned what a wonderful Daddy my Dear Sweet Husband is?)

And when I got back, LBB was covered in just normal little-guy-play-grime and needed a good old bubble bath to get clean. :) So sweet! Mommy time is wonderful for me...and so wonderful for those too as well! Plus, they get the added benefit of a Mommy who got a break. :)

Next time though...I'm going on a payday so I don't have to just drool over the purses! This Mommy needs a new bag since we don't use a diaper bag anymore!

He's a Hoot

LBB makes me chuckle. Constantly. :)

Well, not constantly. There are those moments when I am convinced he is just testing my patience for the fun of it. But I still try to smile it off. I do well 98% of the time.

He is absolutely in love with trains and boats right now. Whenever he hears the train that blows it's whistle near our house, LBB stops what he is doing and yells "CHOO-CHOO!!!!" It's super cute, if I do say so myself. And tonight, he spent some time watching train videos on YouTube. Then he watched a clip of the Thomas the Train movie he watched yesterday. And...when it came time for bed, insisted on bringing one of his Thomas engines to bed with him.

And when it comes to boats, that little guy is just like his Daddy. :) Apparently a love of all things that float on the water is hereditary. He first started saying "boat" when we went on vacation and got to see some big ships. And for a while, he thought that the train blowing it's whistle was actually a boat, but he knows the difference now. So, among the train videos, he also watched a LOT of boat videos as well. Then, proceeded to go through his room to find all the boat toys he could and bring them out to the living room.

Oh...he's such a boy. And I love it. When we first found out we were pregnant with LBB, I can admit that I was originally hoping for a girl. :) (After all, don't most mommies?) And the day we found out that the little baby that was being so rambunctious, so stubborn, and so strong, was a boy, fear took over. I didn't know what to do with boys! Needless to say, I got over that fear within days, and spent my pregnancy super excited that we would be welcoming a bouncy baby boy. And when he arrived, it was love at first sight. Now I am in awe that I could have had any fears over raising a boy.

And each night, when I put away Hot Wheels, clean up Duplos, rebuild train tracks, put his ride-on fire truck back by the window (and his fireman hat on top of it), and put oodles and oodles of truck, car, firefighter, and construction books back on the book shelf, I am struck by how awesome it is to have a little boy...

...and how awesome it is, that whenever we hear a train or see a boat, he makes this wonderful look of excitement and surprise and says "WHOA!" Sigh. He's sleeping right now, but if I could I'd give him tons of big Mommy hugs. :)

God is very good and knows exactly what he is doing, that's for sure. :)

I'm Blessed

Just a forewarning, but I'm going to ramble about my hubby. :)

Dear Sweet Hubby came home from work today, and in his hand had a nice cold Pepsi for me and a Strawberry Kiwi juice drink for LBB. You should have seen LBB's face. He's normally ecstatic when his daddy gets home, but today, even more so...I think the smile on his face could have lit up a dim room.

And then, upon hearing of how spirited little man was today, Dear Sweet Hubby took him to a boy store and let me have some quality, quiet Mommy time at the scrapbook store. My hubby is nothing short of awesome. :) And while at the boy store, he bought LBB a Hot Wheels truck since they were picking up their truck at PaPa and GiGi's house. LBB held it all the way home after they got in the truck.

Which brings me to the last part...LBB and Dear Sweet Hubby had a boy's night out driving in the truck, partly because LBB loves their truck, and partly because my Dear Sweet Hubby wanted me to be able to turn my music up loud on the way home. (It's my therapy. HaHa!)

My husband rocks. :)

Tot School: Week 1

LBB is 16.5 Months.

Theme of the Week: Our Body

This was our first week of Tot School, and we had lots of fun! We are learning what works best for us. So, here's our weekly recap!

Monday

Dear Sweet Hubby was home when we did Tot School today, so LBB and Dear Sweet Hubby worked on putting the eyes, mouth, and nose on the face I cut out of cardstock paper. LBB did ok with this...but had more fun trying to eat the paper eyes. He did have lots of fun pointing out everyone's nose, and could point to his nose when asked. He still has a bit of trouble with his eyes and nose, but every so often he can point to them when asked. We went with my Mom to pick my Dad up, and on the way there, LBB had a blast pointing out the airplane he saw and all the trucks and buses. I am going to make sure we do a week about cars, trucks, planes, and trains. :)

LBB also had a blast dancing to Head Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. All in all, it was a wonderful first day of Tot School! We read "The Nose Book" by Al Perkins and his Sesame Street Babies Eyes & Nose, Mouth & Toes book.

Tuesday

We watched a Baby Einstein DVD called Baby DaVinci:From Head to Toe. We got through the eyes, mouth, and ears segment, and LBB was able to point to his eyes, ears, and nose more consistently, but not as often as just his nose. LBB played with his Sesame Street Your Body flashcards while I pointed to each body part on him, which he got a kick out of. We did pudding body paint in the evening (right before bathtime! HaHa!) and he had a blast painting his tummy and his arms.

But the most exciting thing was when we were reading a book called "Pirates" by Viviana Garofoli, he was able to find the little green bird that was on each page! The first time he did it with me I thought it was a fluke, but when Dear Sweet Hubby came home from work, I read the book to him, and LBB was able to find the little green bird each time as well! So exciting! We also read "The Shape of Me" by Dr. Seuss. (In the picture below.)

Wednesday

LBB was able to point to his knees while we were dancing to Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes today! I was so proud of him. He was also able to show me his foot when I asked him where it was. (He'd do this cute little leg lift thing and smile at me. Adorable.) We used his felt board and person that I made, but he was more interested in pulling the person off the felt board and trying to go for a walk with him than anything else, but that's ok. :) That's the fun of tot school! He also took his Melissa and Doug wooden food playset and fed his Bearemy a stick of butter. I asked him if he could feed Bearemy and put the food in his mouth, and LBB got it right away. :)

Thursday

We discovered that since this is usually storytime day, we are going to skip doing Tot School at home on the days he has storytime at the library. He gets so much stimulation from storytime that by the time we get home, neither of us seem very motivated to do Tot School. :)

At storytime, they learned about Springtime Animals (just in time for Easter). At the beginning of each class, they do a little drum song to introduce themselves, and as usual, LBB was nuts about the drum. He loves playing it and is the most vocal of all the kids in there when he gets the drum. They also played with little bunny and chick finger puppets, and after showing him once that it goes on the finger, he was able to put it on all by himself. He did great sharing with the others, and loved when it was parachute time. :) I love taking him to storytime because he has such fun.

When we got home, we worked on some Easter stuff. We made Jelly Bean Prayer Eggs for his PaPa, GiGi, Auntie, and Daddy, and he had a blast putting each bean in the egg. It's a great way to introduce colors! We also brought out his Easter Sensory Bin. I dyed some rice some nice springy colors, and then made some Egg Shakers out of plastic eggs (making sure to tape them shut so he couldn't get to the beans and such). We put some empty eggs in as well, and his grasshopper shovel and rake, and he went to town. LBB loves his sensory bin, and we are going to start changing it up each month with a new theme. He loves to scoop and dump the rice.

Friday

LBB didn't have any Tot School today, although we did introduce the Letter A to him. I made a Letter Basket (I'll have to take a picture this week) and put things in that start with the letter A. I also printed two A's off the computer and cut them both out. One I put some magnets on the back and put on the dishwasher (his magnet area), and the second I just let him tote around. We are taking an approach of slowly introducing each letter of the alphabet in play so that it doesn't get to structured right now. Once he gets used to Letter A and can point it out when asked, we'll introduce Letter B. :)

We also put LBB in nursery at church for the first time today! We were at the Good Friday service, and he was being very rowdy, so I brought him done there, and he did excellent! I was more nervous than he was! We also brought him on Easter, and he had even more fun, and found another little guy his age to play with. So sweet!

Saturday

LBB colored eggs today, and he had a BLAST! He loved dropping them in the dye and pulling them out (using his hands, of course.)

So, there's our week! We had tons of fun doing all the activities, and I look forward to this week. I noticed a big change in LBB...it really helps having some time each day taken out to focus on doing something with him. We played before, but it is easy to get distracted (Both he and I! HaHa!) so it's nice being focused. We've also had a lot more luck with meals now that I'm planning every single one of them...snacktimes included. I know I was doing a good job as a mom before, but I feel like I'm doing even better now! Yay!

My Little Naturalist

I guess you could call this an "Earth Day" post a few days early. :)


I'm sitting here right now watching Dear Sweet Hubby and LBB play outside, and it is the sweetest thing. They have been kicking a soccer ball around a bit. (yes...my 16 month old is kicking a soccer ball a bit. Crazy.) Walking around. That kind of fun stuff. But...


Mostly exploring. :) LBB has been pointing to the birds that fly above him. He picked up a few rocks to inspect them. Looked at the grass. And...as all little naturalists are prone to do, got very perturbed when he found an empty water bottle on the ground. He's kind of crazy about that kind of stuff.


The other day we went somewhere. (Where? I can't remember! That's terrible, isn't it?) I do know it was somewhere outdoors...but that's not saying a whole lot. HaHa. Anyhoo. While we were "there", LBB spent the majority of the time pointing out random pieces of trash to us and yelling. And no, the area we live in isn't normally "trashy" like that, but when you live in the Artic Tundra (that is, of course, an exaggeration. We live just south of there. Ha.), and get about a metric ton of snow on the ground, trash tends to accumulate over the winter. And lo and behold, when the weather gets nice and you fantasize about green grass, pink flowers, and singing blue birds, you are forced to face the reality of the yuckies of Spring. Dirt, rocks, trash, and snow mold. Bleh.


Alrighty. I digressed again, didn't I?


Back to my little naturalist. LBB adores anything outdoors, which I know you all know by now, but it amazes me the degree to which he adores it! It's not your average run of the mill interest...if he could spend all day outside he would. And he'd be even happier if he didn't have his Mommy saying "Don't eat that." "Stay over here." "Don't run over the tree roots."


Today, we went to the park, and LBB wanted to bring home two pieces of bark he found. He originally had a stick, but he disposed of it upon furter inspection (apparently little toddlers have high standards on the sticks they choose to keep). He's got a growing collection of rocks, sticks, and the like. I just know he's going to be the boy bringing tadpoles and frogs and snails and whatnot home for me to keep safe. He's got a big heart like that, especially when it comes to little crawly things. (You should see this boy when he sees a turtle or frog. He goes nuts.)


Anyways...that's my slightly rambly post. :)


I've got a bit of a headache and I just figured out that when I write with a headache, my writing tends to wander...much like my brain on a normal basis. HaHa!


Tomorrow we are starting Tot School...I'm super excited and am looking forward to it! We got the idea from here and I'm psyched to start spending some time each day focusing a little more on things that he is going to be learning. This week's theme is going to be "Let's Learn About Our Body." We're also going to start learning a letter a week, so we'll see how this week goes. (This week's letter is the letter "A" of course.) I've got a bunch of fun activities, and I'll share them when the week is through. I think I'm going to start a weekly post that sums up our week...it might help me stay accountable, because as I shared previously...I lack consistency BIG TIME! And...I'm almost done fine tuning my binder. I'll share it when I'm done. :) It's going to be perfectly customized for our daily lives, and I think it will be a huge help for me as a Mommy.


OK. Now I'm really done with this post. :) I promise I won't start rambling on again as soon as I finish this sentence. :)

Last Night...

...I had all these great ideas for things I wanted to blog about.


Guess what happened to them this morning? I woke up. And they were gone. :) That'll teach me to postpone blogging...or at least it will teach me to jot them down somewhere.


But, I was busy last night working on a quilt while my Dear Sweet Hubby watched a movie and had a little facebook time for himself. And, I can proudly say that my quilt is nearly done! YAY! I only have the handquilting to do...which I'm sure will take a bit, but I am looking forward to relaxing on the couch in the evenings, handquilting the quilt, and spending some very much needed quality time with Dear Sweet Hubby. He's been working like a madman lately, and things are finally starting to go back to normal (phew!), so it will be nice to have him home and more importantly, have him home more relaxed. :)


I can never express how thankful I am that God has blessed me with a husband that works so hard to provide for his family. I can never find the words strong enough to let him know that I am grateful everyday that he works so hard to make it possible for me to be a stay at home mommy. And I don't think I'll ever be able to fully describe how happy it makes me that having me at home and being here to raise our child (and hopefully future ones!) is a top priority for him. Even more amazing is the fact that Dear Sweet Hubby works 55-60 hours a week, and on top of that, drives 10-14 hours back and forth to work, just so we can live close to my parents in a town that we love.


To sum it all up? Dear Sweet Hubby is amazing. :)


This past Thursday marked 9 years of us being together as an official couple. :) We were almost out of high school when we became boyfriend/girlfriend, and it's been 9 years of love, laughter, and the occasional argument. (OK...I'll be honest...we're both very stubborn and butt heads on a lot of silly things. But...never anything big, and we've never gone to bed mad at each other. That's what is important.)


There are all those statistics out there that talk about failed marriages of people who marry young and whatnot, and I love that my hubby and I are one of the marriages that prove those stupid statistics wrong. :) Every hardship we've had, we've gone through together, and every wonderful happiness (and there are have been tons of those!) we've gone through together.


When we were first dating, we would give each other sweet little notes and cards (which we still have), and in all of them we talked about the same thing. How happy we were that we finally found the loves of our lives. How blessed we were to have each other. And how we looked forward to growing old together.


And you know what? All those things hold true.


Everyday I am over the moon that I have the love of my life by my side. Everyday I thank God for the husband he blessed me with. And everyday, I love knowing that when I'm old and grey, my Dear Sweet Hubby will be by my side. :)

And to think...when I started writing today, I had no idea what I was going to write about. :)

The King of Clean

I have a new helper in my morning chores. :)

The other day while I was sweeping up the hallway, LBB went into the hall closet and pulled out the swiffer. And quickly went to work "cleaning." He swiffered his bedroom. Swiffered the hallway. Swiffered the kitchen. And even attempted to swiffer Cat 2. Granted, I don't put the swiffer pad on (can you imagine how many I'd go through?!?!?), but LBB is very excited to help clean up the house.

It's now a morning routine...I pull out the broom and hand LBB the swiffer. And Dear Sweet Hubby is off today, and seeing that the swiffer was very big for LBB, shortened it up for him. Now, LBB has a LBB-sized swiffer that he can use to his hearts content. He spent this morning helping around the house, and is keeping his swiffer in the hallway for easy accesibility. :) You never know when you might have a mess that needs swiffering.

Now...if I can only get a guarantee that he'll be like this when he is 15. Hmmmm.

One Very Special Daddy

Two nights a week, Dear Sweet Hubby works the closing shift and doesn't get home until hours after LBB's bedtime.

But, on the nights that Dear Sweet Hubby is home for bedtime, he always reads LBB's cross to him. "Dear Jesus, Please watch over me. The world is so big and I am still so very small. Amen." Sometimes it is changed to "So very sleepy." Or "So very medium." But, every night, it is Dear Sweet Hubby's job to read the cross.

So, needless to say, on those nights that LBB goes to bed before Daddy gets home, one of the guys in our home felt terrible that that little bedtime routine would be missed (yep, you guessed it, it was Dear Sweet Hubby. But I must add that LBB seemed to miss it too, and Mommy is definitely not as good at this part of the bedtime routine. :) ) So Dear Sweet Hubby got an idea...

...on the nights that he works late, LBB and I call Dear Sweet Hubby at work, put the phone on speakerphone, and my wonderful, sweet, loving hubby says the verse for LBB.

Sweet, isn't it? Everytime he closes, I am reminded of how very very very much my Dear Sweet Hubby loves LBB (as if I needed a reminder!) There was one night that I knew Dear Sweet Hubby was swamped at work, so we made do without calling, and my hubby was upset about it when he came home! Now that's dedication!!!!

Enchanting

That's the best word I can use to describe this past year.

As my LBB turns one, I look back on this past year and am amazed by so many things...how quick it's flown by. And amazed by every little moment of it. All the smiles. All the sleepless nights. All the hugs. All the cuddles.

The firsts...first Christmas. First smile. First Easter. First time crawling. Those first unsure steps (although he is still being stubborn about this. :) He can walk, he just chooses not to.) His first words. And all the little firsts that quietly slip in each and every day as our LBB learns and explores this world.

He is an amazing kid...and I know I'm most likely biased seeing as how I'm Mommy and all that. But everyday he does something that takes my breath away. Does something that amazes me. And something that just plain makes me laugh. If I were to post everytime he did something that struck me as funny, sweet, smart, or just plain adorable...I'd never leave the computer (and as a result, miss all those funny, sweet, smart, adorable moments!)

Not to say that this first year hasn't been filled with moments of worry. Or moments of pure exhaustion. All those typical first year experiences...worrying if my LBB was eating right. Worrying when he bumps his head. Being exhausted that first month when everything in our world was being turned upside down and we had a newborn that we were cherishing but trying to figure out (the joys of first time parenting. :) ) But in the long run, I wouldn't trade any of those trying moments for a thing...those moments make you cherish all the other moments even more.

The moment I held LBB in my arms after those hours of labor, after those months of waiting, I was convinced I couldn't love him anymore than I did at that moment. But, that's the funny thing about being a mother...each and everyday my love grows more and more for him. What I once thought was insurmountable love is trumped every day when I feel like my heart is about to burst from all the love. When he gives me a big sloppy kiss my heart melts into a puddle of goop. And when he nestles up into my neck as we are saying his goodnight prayers, my eyes get misty and I feel like there is no more perfect place to be. Funny thing, love is. Especially love for your child and from your child. This past year I've learned so much about love from such a small little heaven-sent package.

He teaches me daily that while I am not close to being a perfect mother (but oh how I try!), he is the perfect son. :) He is inquistive. Funny. Loving. Caring. Stubborn. Sweet. Adorable. Flirty. Amusing. Creative. Intelligent. Relentless. Helpful. And he unconditionally loves us. What an amazing thing that is. God's goodness shines through him daily, and I never stop thanking the Lord for that.

Looking back, I am nostalgic over this past year. I miss the little things like him sleeping in our bed every night. The non-stop cuddles. The pure necessity of needing us to be with him. But, looking forward, I am loving every moment of his "growing-up". The independence. The stubborness. The excitement he has for exploring, learning, and creating.

As he grows, I love watching the traits he gets from his daddy and I. I love watching the traits that are purely his own. And I adore watching him develop and fine-tune his personality everyday.

My LBB, on this first birthday of many, I thank God for the gift of you to us. I look forward to this next year of growing, learning, exploring, creating, and just plain having fun. And I am so very thankful for everything that you teach me. For every hug and kiss that you give me. And for every single moment of every single day with you. I can't imagine a more fulfilling job than the one I have of being your Mommy. I love you so very much, my dear little LBB. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Our Family Snowman

Dear Sweet Hubby was in charge of building. LBB and Mommy were in charge of assemble his face. And Cat #2 was apparently in charge of acting like a freak and being extremely scared of the large, white, round frozen man standing outside our patio door. :)

What fun it was building our first snowman...LBB kept watching Dear Sweet Hubby as if he was trying to figure out why Daddy was rolling giant balls of snow around the yard. He did have fun helping me go through the freezer and fridge to discover things that would be good for our friendly snowman...we wanted things that would be fairly bird and squirrel friendly, so we chose strawberries for eyes. A carrot for a nose (of course.) And peas for a smile.

One thing this Mommy did learn was that a "snowman building kit" is a necessity. I am going to assemble a freezer bag with goodies to decorate a snowman with. So, I'm making a mental list of things to add to the bag, and then we will always have it handy. :)

The thing I love about our snowman is that there is so much love in him...even LBB got into the act at the end a little by patting the snowman's base. :) Such a sweetheart.

LBB Cracks Me Up!

Everyday with LBB is sprinkled with something new. :) As he gets older, he is showing more and more of his personality...and I LOVE IT! He's hilarious!

The other day we went to Wendy's with his PaPa, GiGi, and Auntie, and LBB happily snacked on a littile bit of Frosty after his dessert...until...he got a brain freeze. :) He got a cute little expression on his face and quickly rested his forehead on the table. I can imagine what was going through his mind..."Oh. My. Gosh. This feels terrible. Argghhh. My brain is freezing!" And after LBB was done with dinner and dessert, he rested his little bitty chin on the table and stared at us with a look that said "I'm all done. Why aren't you people?"

LBB also loves to sneak up on people...except there is one problem. He is not quiet. At all. As he is crawling to the person, all you hear is peals of giggles...and then he'll stand up and laugh when you see him. :) What a goof.

And this evening, my sweet and funny LBB was playing with my cell phone while I picked up the computer desk, and all of a sudden I hear him chattering. I glanced over and didn't think anything of my "innocent" LBB sitting in the middle of the living room. And then, I hear Dear Sweet Hubby's voice through the cell phone! LBB called his Daddy to say hi while Dear Sweet Hubby drove home. :) Too cute!!!!

OK. I'm done gushing...for now. :) Have a great night!

My little boy...

...turns 9 months old in less than 48 hours. What? How? Today has been filled with little moments of nostalgia.

Sighing as I found his pair of little foam sandals we got back in May. Quietly laughing as I picked up his knit Green Bay packer hat that, sadly, he only wore a few times before his head got too large. :)

But, smiling as I watched him crawl. Learn. Explore. And get into lots of trouble. As much as I miss those early days (especially all the cuddles!), I cherish each moment of these days (especially the cuddles that are reserved for sleepy-time.) LBB is growing up so fast, and while I try to embrace it, there are moments that I know it is flying by way too fast.

This evening, Dear Sweet Hubby took LBB out for a boy's night, something that they plan on doing weekly now. They went to an outdoors store and played with fishing rods. They walked across the street to walk through Target and look at toys, tv's, and car stuff. And they attempted to go to a park, but all the swings had some sort of "strange goop" on them as Dear Sweet Hubby says. :) And the plus of their bonding time? Mommy got some much needed quiet time to clean up the house and relax just a bit.

In the long run, I think these outings will be very beneficial for LBB...he is a definite "Momma's Boy" and doesn't really like being left alone for any amount of time if I am not in the room. He does fine when Dear Sweet Hubby is playing with him...as long as I am in the same room. BUT. Take me out of the equation, and you've got a LBB who actually has fun being away from me. I think I'm ok with that. :) Just joking...I am ok with it. And it makes me all the more appreciative of all things LBB when he gets home. That is always a good thing!

A thank you to Dear Sweet Hubby

To my dear sweet hubby:

Thank you for being such a strong example for our son. As you grow in your faith in Christ, I know our son will continue to learn from your example to never stop learning and growing.

Thank you for showing him how to show respect to a woman. Thank you for saying "Thank You Ma'am" everytime you get off the phone with the ladies at your work. And thank you for showing me love every single moment of every single day. It is through these acts that he will learn the proper way to treat women.

Thank you for passing down your love of the outdoors to him. I look forward to watching him learn more and more about everything outdoors and learning how important it is to respect nature.

Thank you for embracing how he sees you as the "playtime" parent. I know sometimes you wish he cuddled a little more with you, but I also know that it makes you cherish the cuddle you do get even more.

Thank you for the light you bring to his eyes when you walk into the door from a long day at work.

Most of all, thank you...just for being the greatest Dad our Little Boy Blue could have. And for being the greatest Husband God could ever bless me with!