T minus 2 days

and counting! Wow, the Holiday season has flown by but with a couple of days to go we are all ready! The shopping is done, the presents are wrapped, and the cookies are baked. My last mission, completed last night, was to find a turkey large enough to feed the crew showing up here for Christmas day. We are hosting our first Christmas meal this year and I am hoping it will be a success. I have been very unmotivated to do Christmas cards this year and for once I have not been in a panic about it. The cards are ordered, just not sent! I'm thinking they'll be Happy New Year's cards :)

The boys are all geared up too. I think the closeness of the day is beginning to sink in with Cole. More and more presents are piling up under the tree. I just hope he understands they are not all for him!

Merry Christmas...almost :)

Tis the season

Yikes I have been ignoring the blog! We have been enjoying ourselves as we prepare for the season. Brooks has been an incredibly good boy ignoring (well not completely) the Christmas tree. It was quite fun to bring out ALL of the decorations and to be able to use them all for once. In celebration of the season, a new visitor appeared thanks to Aunt Tiffy. Our new resident is an elf named Jingles. Jingles is quite the character. He smiles constantly, bathes infrequently and occasionally has been known to hang from the dining room chandelier! He changes his location nightly and Cole rushes down each morning to find his new, odd spot.

We have also added a few other members to our family recently. Jack, Jill, Molly, Polly, Tom and Jerry, our new fish, have made quite a home in our new tank. I just love to watch them, which is a product of our childhood fish tanks, I think!

Last weekend, we hosted our first Gingerbread house decorating party at the new house. Oh what fun we had! It was so wonderful to be able to have visitors and to enjoy their company without stepping on one another!

As the countdown continues there is so much to do! I have begun to gather the cookie recipes with the bake-a-thon to begin this weekend. The presents have begun to be wrapped and the excitement level is building for sure. Cole is very in to Christmas this year and it absolutely warms my heart and makes me even more excited to have a good Christmas for him (and Brooks).

Oh, I wish...I wish..I wish

that we could win FREE tickets to see Santa at Hard Rock this year. We had so much fun last year :) Our Kids is giving away free tickets so sign up today (but please let us win)!

Our Kids Hard Rock Brunch with Santa Link

Thankful

November being the month of giving thanks, we have been speaking of the things we are thankful for at church recently. I am thankful for so many things. Strangely I am ever more thankful for most things in my life since I was laid off, now more than 2 years ago. That was a life changing experience for me, not only because it made me evaluate the budget time and time again but it flipped my perspective to looking at the things that I DO HAVE and not the things that I do not. I've always been a frugal person. From the time I was small, I'd save any money that I earned and in fact, I'd even say I hoarded it! Those are tales for another time :)
This week's lesson at church was about how no matter how much we have, we can never be happy...we always want more. I'll admit, I have my moments. The current one being that I want our house to feel like a home and that means buying furniture, painting walls, home improvements...all requiring more. More time, more money...just more.
Today I just want to be thankful for today. Thankful that I got to wake up to my two (I mean three!) boys. Thankful that I can be at home with them. Thankful for walking Cole into preschool and watching the cuteness of him and his classmates as they begin their school day together. Thankful for Brooksy's 5th tooth for finally appearing! Thankful for the past weekend when we got to spend lots of quality time together at the park and at Great Falls. Thankful for our word's beauty.

Happy Halloween!

Two little puppies this year...only one who would wear his ears for a photo. He's a cute one though!

A Perfect Day

Today was the perfect day...not that anything special happened. In fact, I still have a touch of a cold and can barely breath out of my nose, but the weather Gods were on our side, the to-do list was small (at least the "have to-do" part) and with nothing in particular on our agenda the boys and I set off for a leisurely afternoon at Kidwell Farm. Brooks is fascinated by the animals. The sheep were fascinated by us! There were baby cows, baby pigs...I thought the spring time was baby time on a farm? It was really neat to see Brooks toddling around the gravel paths and a little difficult to keep him out of digging in ...well everything... and on a farm who knows what that could be! Cole felt the need to bring home a souvenir rock. I bet it is long forgotten now that he is home but while we were thing it was oh-so-important.

Happy Birthday Brooksy

One year ago today I began to have some aches and pains that might, just might, be labor. Eight HARD hours later you came into our world and it hasn't been the same since. You have been an amazing baby. Yes, you need your mom to do things for you, but really you are such a sweet, little boy. You wave hello and good-bye now and i think you are beginning to imitate the sounds too! I know you try to say "night-night" as I lay you down for your naps. "Ma-Ma Ma-Ma" has definately become your favorite thing to say. You love attention from your older brother and you love to steal his toys, particularly any of his beloved stuffed animals. You beam when your Daddy comes home from work and love to rough house with him like only boys do. Brooks, you have been a true joy to mother for the last year and I cannot wait to be there for whats to come in the next. I love you little monkey.

less than one week

It's hard to believe that in less than one week our littlest man is going to be one! Here is a sneak peek at some fun craft stuff that Cole and I have been working on. We're doing a monkey theme and have been having lots of fun making a birthday sign, t-shirt and hat for the little man.

Excuses...excuses

I wish I could use the house as an excuse for my absence in writing on the blog lately but really I can't. We are really no further along with things around here than we were several weeks ago! We did finally order bedroom furniture and it arrived this past weekend. Now to paint so that we can use the furniture. When I try to think about what we've been doing, the only thing that comes to mind is that we've been trying to find our new groove. Weeks into living here, I don't think we are any closer :( We have a library ritual on Mondays but compared to our busy schedule in Alexandria, Cole and Brooks should be bored out of their minds. Many days we do much of nothing. Cole heads off to school, of course, brooks naps...I clean :) A couple of weeks ago we headed to Cox Farms for their yearly opening and again had a wonderful time of hay rides, slides, apple cider drinking and general fun. I hope this will continue to be a yearly ritual because I have as much fun as the kids. Brooksy's birthday is coming up and I have begun to plan for our first official party at the new house. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times but I CANNOT believe that my littlest,little man is turning ONE!

the Grind

Summer is slipping away and fall is creeping in, both weather and activity wise. Cole began his first week of preschool this past week at a new school in Reston. All seems to be going well and i am relieved to have a few hours together alone with Brooks during the week. The boys and I have also been taking advantage of the cooler days, taking walks and even making a trip to the zoo. Aside from the constant unpacking, organizing and pure chaos (still!) of our move, I am busy trying to plan Brooks' first birthday party. It is so hard to believe he is nearly a year old. He is cruising everywhere these days and will even stand unsupported for a few seconds. I think he may beat his brother on the walking timeline. Daily I am so thankful that Cole and Brooks have each other. What a beautiful relationship siblings can have at this stage. Today they were in the wagon together and although it wasn't always friendly, it did always warm my heart to watch them interact. Priceless, as they say :)

Fun at Last

After all the hard work that the move has entailed it was high time we got away for the weekend and had a little fun so off to the beach we headed for Labor day weekend. We spent a chill weekend down in Virginia Beach as guests of Scott, Allison and Baby Quinn's, while heading to the beach, visiting the Norfolk Botanic Garden and the Aquarium. We had a blast!

the BIG move!

With a few tears...well a lot actually...we have finally relocated to the 'burbs. Last Thursday was a busy day of signatures and childcare arrangements as we signed away our first home and bought the next adventure. This past week has been a blur of activities as our families have swarmed in to help (thank you all so much!). A week in, we are nearly unpacked, but still have lots of organizing to do. I cannot believe how much stuff we have :) The boys' rooms are both nearly complete and they are so cute. I am thrilled for Brooks to finally have his own room. He made the transition to crib without much trouble and seems to generally relish in the spaciousness of this house. Both Cole and Brooks love the playroom (and I do too!).
If you are reading this and still have no paid a visit....come on over :)

On the Move

At Brooks' 9 month check up this past week we discovered that he has fallen way off his weight growth curve. Could it be a problem with my milk supply? Regardless we are now supplementing with formula which adds yet another thing to my daily routine! Of course, since it is his well being we are speaking of, I'll do it without a fuss but blah! right in the middle of our move!

Speaking of move...we have created a disaster area of the house this weekend in preparation for the big move. This past week was a blur of home inspections, paperwork and signatures all while Craig was working himself to death at his job! Calgon take me away! I look forward to a day when things get a little slower and easier but for now this is our new grind.

Brooks has taken it upon himself to begin crawling through all of this! It's a labored movement right now...looks like he needs a good ole spray of WD-40 to his joints... but it fascinates me to watch him. He is equally interested in pulling up on everything so I am curious to see how quickly cruising around the furniture happens. For once I will be happy when we have carpet in the new house...I am sure there will be fewer big bumps. For now we deal with several a day from falling on the hardwood floors :( Brooks also got his second tooth recently!

Nine Months

We have been quite busy the last few weeks dealing with house stuff. So much so that I totally missed the emergence of Brook's second tooth! He developed a runny nose last Thursday, which I attributed to a summer cold, and then I noticed the tooth on Friday. We have a doc appt on Wednesday so I'll post his stats then, for now it's off to furniture shop for our NEW house!

Family.Fun.Food.Fireworks!

Our Fourth was a weekend full of fun this year. It began with the annual fourth of July parade in Fairfax city, attended this year by ourselves, special guests Chris and Mason, and Tiff, Chloe, Emory and Breon-Leigh. We stuck it out not only for the entire parade but for the fireman’s day water battle afterward too. The kids (well the adults too!) loved it! This was the first year sine Cole has been along that we attempted to stay for all of the events. In past years we’ve escaped to return home for naps , etc. Poor Brooks, being the second child and all, was forced to hang in there but in his usual manner he stuck it out and was in pretty good spirits despite the loud noise, lack of naps, and the heat!

Sunday offered lots of fun too. We had a casual morning followed by a day at Lake Fairfax in Reston. We met up with Pap, Susan and Lily, rode the carousel, played on the playground and ate lots of food. Cole was super excited about the firework portion and had no problem staying up in anticipation of the show. Brooks even managed to stay awake for the display!

Since the Fourth was on a Sunday this year, Monday was a holiday too! We spent our bonus day at the pool with Shea, Chris, Mason, Kriste and Autumn. We are so lucky to have such wonderful folks in our lives....good times!

8 months and counting

you are eight months now and you just got your first tooth. even though you are still so little, you are growing too quickly. I love to hear you laugh and you laugh at the little things. when i brush my hair against your face or nuzzle your neck. when i lift you into the air like you are flying. teeth are painful and this one was no exception but i still don't mind getting up with you at night. if i can ease the pain by being there, i will. you are so precious to me. today we read books and played on the floor together. we find so much fun in the little things.

the Impossible project

I knew it from the minute he was born...one good picture of the two boys together was going to be impossible! I will keep trying!

As the house continues to be on the market (sell already!) we are spending our weekends hanging out with the boys and doing a little of nothing. I have to say though, our best times are really when we have nothing planned and we throw together a simple picnic, an outing to the park or an evening walk.

All grown up

you are four now and you seem so grown up. you love to color and to paint. you love videos and fruit snacks. you make your brother laugh like no one else can. i cherish the times when you still remind me that you love me. best of all i love it when you smile. your smile warms my heart.

Let the games begin...

Memoral Day weekend is complete (and we made it to the Beach!...more about that later) so its time to start summer activity planning. As the second summer of being home with the kids begins, I am on the hunt for fun, and hopefully educational, things for the boys and I to do. On the fun side would definitely be the pool and what better way than for FREE! Our Kids, a local blog for activities, is giving away a family 4 pass to Cameron Run! This is a pool we have frequented in the past and I just know that Cole would love it. Hopefully he'll be brave enough to attempt the slides but if not, the kid area alone will definitely consume him...and maybe momma can get a moment to soak in a few rays too.

Bittersweet endings...and some fun too!

Cole's last day of preschool was this week. I am terribly sad about this. That's not to say that I am not looking forward to our move ~ whenever that happens ~ but I am not sure that we'll EVER find a preschool that will ever be as wonderful. Their focus is just right ~ play. The staff is wonderful. They are there because they want to be and there is very little turnover. The director herself, Chris, sent her children to this school. Alas, all good things come to an end and to end the year there was a traveling petting zoo with the cutest baby bunnies I have ever seen.
We've also spent some time recently meeting new baby girl Autumn Le, the precious package of our dear friends Shea, Chris and Mason, as well as, attempting a family outing to go strawberry picking. I grew up going on adventures to pick fruit and I thought the boys (well one of them at this point) would enjoy this....guess Cole is a little too young to appreciate it yet! There were farm animals there too so I suppose he enjoyed that part. Cole's school also celebrated his birthday complete with cookie monster cupcakes. I had a lot of fun making them :)

May Daze

I'm feeling the pressure lately that I haven't been writing here consistently...or doing Cole's 4 year old photo album or Brooks' baby album. How are moms supposed to keep up with it all? I haven't even mentioned that I have yet to take either of their pictures for the birthday milestones! That's a big one for me. I want so badly to hold on to this cute age that each of them is at because truthfully they aren't so cute to me when they get to be 12...15....maybe I'll change my mind later.

The amazing thing is that when I tally up what we've been doing it's a little bit of nothing. We've been enjoying the spring weather~yesterday we had to be out of the house for an open house so we went to Old Town for lunch (yummo burger and fries at the Burger Joint) then had a leisurely walk down King Street to the waterfront, where we sat on the dock and admired the amazing view and considered how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place. Cole and Craig went on a ship docked there called the Peacemaker...pretty neat, which reminds me I need to look up whether that ship does a Pirate lunch or something similar. Pap and Grandma came to visit on Saturday and Grammie came the previous week, all to present Cole with his birthday gifts. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family in our lives.

Brooks has been battling a fever over the past few days and yesterday a rash appeared. Could this be the all too familiar Roseola that plagued us about this time during Cole's first half of life? Looks awfully similar. Brooks continues to do his flip trick...not to be confused with Cole's flip trick, the one where he puts on his own jacket...but the one where Brooks goes from his back to his front to his back :) He is also working really hard on sitting up all by himself...nearly there. It is crazy for me to think that only a month of so from now he could be crawling! All of this makes me want invent a pill, a machine, SOMETHING that can slow time down a little...just a little. Really. Couldn't we all use a little of that?

Four is Fabulous!

Oh my....four years old! I think from here on out I'm going to name EVERY post "Where has the time gone?" because isn't that all I write about anyway? We are keeping Cole's birthday low key this year. A small celebration at Nanny's and cupcakes at school. I think tonight we'll go to First Thursdays in Delray and treat Cole to some frozen custard from The Dairy Godmother. Four years has gone by so quickly and when I look at Cole from day to day I can hardly believe just how big and mature he is. Every once in a while I'm able to step away from a situation and try to see it from the outside and only then does he seem little to me. I cherish those times because it gives me a different view of him.

Happy half-birthday

My littlest sweet pea is 6 months old already! At 6 months and 1 day, Brooksy decided he'd try out the ole' rollin' over trick...finally. He now seems to want to try it out incessantly. I suppose if I had such a neat, new trick that I'd try it out a lot too! Still no teeth on the horizon but a whole lot of slobberin' going on :) Brooks also had his 6 month check up today. Our little "porker" is 15 pounds! Oh how I love those chunky little thighs.

Bonding Time

I always find myself commenting how quickly time is flying and this spring is no different. Brooks is about to turn 6 months and Cole is almost 4 years old. Where has it gone? I am thankful daily to have this time with the two of them. Many days I am at my wits end by the time Craig is home from work but occasionally there is a day that I can truly enjoy the two of them. Today was one of them. We played, we laughed and we enjoyed being together.
Cole is saying the funniest things lately. This weekend he explained, while I was driving, that God had painted his fingernails pink. I thought he was trying to tell me that he and Emmy had gotten into nail polish and he was blaming it on God! Instead he was just telling me how the skin under his nails got to be pink :) Such innocence.

Brooks is the good, sweet-natured baby that Cole never was. I'm not saying Cole was bad...just difficult and I am so happy that Brooks is different. I love to hold him and hear him giggle, to caress his sweet features, and to kiss him. This past week he has started to babble a lot..."da da da" all the time! I am battling whether I am ready to give up the night time feedings. I think he is ready...but am I? You think I would do anything to get a full nights sleep but those late night sessions are so special and he is so sweet and innocent and beautiful when he is on the edge of sleeping. I ran into two women today that stopped me to ask how old he was. They too had sons, except they were now in college. Both said to enjoy the time...and I plan to, with both my boys :)

Happy Easter

Oh what fun we are going to have this year with two little men to dress up! Mommy is all ready....cute hats (who says girls are the only ones with cute hats for Easter!), bunny ears, and Cole's favorite, candy! Happy Easter everyone. We hope your day is as special as ours.

the Third wheel

I am constantly in amazement at just how much time these two love to spend together. No matter that they see each other 2 days a week at school...no matter that they spend the entire day together on Thursdays at maw-maw's house...and no matter that Cole and Emory see each other on Monday mornings (to catch up after the weekend away from each other)and Wednesday evenings for dinner at Nanny's, they just can't seem to get enough of one another. I'm just thankful that our move won't put them far from one another and hopeful that Brooks and Breon-Leigh will have a fraction of what Cole and Emmy have...now if those pesky siblings would just stay out of their way so they could play!

Big Boy Brooks

Brooksie is 5 months old! We've dabbled in rice cereal, we're attempting to perfect nap times but mostly we're having fun. Brooks is nearly 15 pounds now and has the cutest, chunky thighs I have ever seen. I'm mostly infatuated with his thighs because Cole never had an extra ounce on him. Personality wise, you just can't help falling in love with him. He's such a happy baby. I just love to hear him coo and giggle. The rougher Cole tends to be with him, the more he laughs and squeals. They are going to be great playmates, I can already tell.

In like a Lion..

Wow, March! Where did February go? Despite our lack of posting, we have had a busy month. Crazy winter weather...2 BIG snow storms this year and several smaller ones...have forced us inside, much more than we prefer to be. We've spent much of this time going to lots of playdates. Cole and Emory can't seem to get enough of one another. They also seem to pass every sniffle and sneeze back and forth to one another and that's on top of us passing it back and forth within our own house! I'm so tired of being sick :( Poor Brooks has slept more in his carseat carrier at night than he's slept in the Pack n Play.

All of that being said we have seen signs of Spring! Cole and I took a walk this past weekend and actually saw a crocus blooming and yesterday when we drove home after preschool there were a million (literally) Robins feasting in our neighbor's front yard. Sure signs that better weather is on the way...I hope!

Happy Valentine's Day

Wow, mid-Feb already! The last few weeks have been a blur. We've been in the midst of the most crazy weather pattern since I can remember in the DC area. We're up to 40+ inches of snow this year from 2 major storms. The latest of the two sent us packing for a no-snow zone, so we went to visit Scott and Allison in Chesapeake. Luckily when we headed back up to DC, the roads were clear and our wonderful neighbors had shoveled our driveway! Thanks Mike and Phuong :) A small snow, 5 or so inches, followed a day or two later but that seemed like a piece of cake after the big ones. Cole and Craig enjoyed going out to play in it, attempting to build a fort and a snowman (not wet snow so it wasn't successful). Cole missed an entire week of preschool as a result. All that being said we are more than anxious to get out of the house especially since we seem to be passing a winter cold back and forth to one another. I cannot wait till the spring in hopes that we will no longer be sick and we can get outside ~ sans jackets!

Losing Letters...Have you seen me?

I am specifically speaking of the letters "m-y" and "d-y", as in the ends of the words Mom and Dad. This past weekend Cole graduated to calling Craig and I "dad" and "mom". No more cutesy mommy or daddy business. He has no particular explanation as to why. It is what it is. I simply stare in amazement and as usual wonder where did my little man go? Is 3.5 the new 20? I'm not ready to be mom! I suppose MOMS simply have to live in the past.....he was (okay he still is) so cute when he was little...........

A letter to Brooks

Dear Brooks,

I am very sorry for allowing you to fall off the bed today. There really is no excuse why I turned my back on you for even one second. I understand why you were so sensitive the rest of the day and needed to be held. I would have done anything just to make sure that you were alright. Your smiles and belly laughs at the end of the day made me know that you were alright and that you are still your jolly, happy self and I am so thankful. Good night sweet darling...may your dreams be filled with happy thoughts.

From the bottom of my heart,
Your Mommy Forever

All Smiles

Brooks has finally discovered that he can smile and coo and he seems to do them non-stop! The best morning so far has been one when he woke up and laid in the pack-n-play and talked to himself for over an hour (while Mommy and Daddy slept in a little!). What a good baby! I continue to attempt to capture just the right photo of him, and his adorable smile, but with the winter weather and the dark interior of our house, the right picture has escaped me thus far.

The last few days have been unseasonably warm. Since it was a gorgeous day, we took a really long walk into Old Town and packed our lunch to eat along the waterfront. Cole enjoyed feeding the ducks and seagulls his leftover PB&J and Craig and I sat and soaked in the warm sunshine.

Who is who?

as Brooks approaches 3 months old, I am continuously amazed about how similar he and Cole look! I decided to put 6 pics of each into a collage and see if even I could tell them apart. Let me say, even I question a couple of the photos and I am the one who took them (not to mention, the one who gave birth to them)! It's amazing how quickly you forget how "advanced" they are at just 3 months. Cole and Brooks' new cousin, Breon-Leigh, was born just a few days ago and Brooks looks like a giant next to her. He also holds his head up, smiles (oh so adorably )and is cooing. I'm not sure at what point babies exit the newborn stage but I feel like it has come and gone overnight.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Time continues to fly by as the holidays are over (I have to admit I'm a little happy to have them over) and the new year has begun. Two thousand and nine was a joyous year from the perspective of our second son's birth and a very sad year as we lost a very dear friend, Mark Papa, and a family member- my grandmother's brother, Aubrey Glass.

For the coming year we wish for the obvious things to be present in our lives such as health and happiness but honestly our biggest hope and prayer is to have a bigger house. Everything in our lives right now seems to revolve around the fact that our current house is TOO small (at 950 blessed square feet). There is no room for the ever expanding need for baby accessories despite Brooks being ready for them (~exersaucer). There is no room to hold on to toys that are outdated, although Brooks will need them eventually. There are a million other things that have now inhabited the living room, our bedroom, and Cole's room that I can't seem to find a place to put them away so I am left to feel as if the "stuff" is about to eat me alive! Not a good feeling...and so our wish...a bigger, better house where we can host family gatherings, have our parents sleep over when they visit, a place for the boys to play, closets to fit clothing-current and future, a kitchen where I can make cookies AND cook dinner at the same time, but mostly a home where we can be a family together and make LOTS of memories.