Mommy's Birthday

This is the first birthday that I have EVER not wanted to celebrate. Oh well, I decided that if my 20's brought me 1 fantastic husband and 2 amazing boys that my 30's will bring me even more happiness :)

I woke up to 2 boys, who were not in the mood to let me sleep in. Another snowday. Lots of smiles. Lots of loving. And of course, lots of arguing and fits. But that's life and I love it!

Nick gave the me a gift card to Chili's that morning so that the boys could take me to lunch. We ate lunch and got dessert. Lawson was so excited that he screamed when it came to the table.

Then we went to GiGi's to get cupcakes for after dinner.


Briley decided that they needed to make me cards. So here they are hard at work :)
All in all, it was a good day, and I spent it with the boys who are the most special to me. Oh, and I survived turning 30.

Lawson in 2 1/2 Minutes

I remember reading one of my parenting books when Briley was Lawson's age, and it described a 20 month old in a playcenter. It showed how they went from one toy, to another, to another. That is Lawson. He is all over the place, all the time. Here's the proof:

Riding his 4 wheeler

around the house

with night night in his mouth.

Stopping to check out the snow outside.

Time for the digger now.

Cheesin'

Now let's carry night night up the stairs

Cheese again!

Showing off night night

Back downstairs to spin now

Oops! He hasn't cheesed in a while!

Trying another direction

Falling.

Ok, that's the end of the 2 1/2 minute saga. I'm just tired blogging about it. Probably b/c I'm so old now. Here are a few more from the same morning.

I needed a model to test out my first handmade headband. Sorry Nick, I needed to see how it photographed too ;)

Then Lawson was really quiet. I couldn't find him and realized he was in bed reading a book and chatting on the phone.

He's a handful, but we love him.

Breakfast at Our House

I have to admit, one of my guilty pleasures about staying home with the boys, is lazy pj mornings. I hated the hustle and bustle of waking everybody up, rushing to get dressed, lunches packed, bags in the car, and everyone out the door. I love snuggling in bed with the boys, making breakfast, and just hanging out playing. With Mother's Day Out, we don't have these mornings everyday, which makes me love them even more. I know the boys will be in school before I know it, so I wanted to document a typical morning around here.

Lawson

loves

"sauce". (yogurt)

MMM. He eats is almost daily, if not more.

Briley is missing. (Ignore the fact that there are toys at the table, and DO NOT TELL Daddy.)

Oh, he had to take a dancing break.

In his underwear.

And... back to his seat eating.

Lawson Lately

Speaking of personality, this little guy is really coming into his. He has been Briley's shadow lately. Briley will tell him to do something, and Lawson will say "otay". So around the house they go, and I hear Lawson's sweet voice saying "otay, otay, otay..."

Lawson has started talking up a storm, and when you can't understand him, he'll try to act out or point out what he is saying.

Briley at 20 Months

Briley will soon start going to preschool 2 additional 1/2 days each week. It's not something I want to do, but it's the best way to get him into the 5 year old transition class at a local church. Technically he's old enough to start Kindergarten next year, but maturity-wise, he's not ready.

While I've been stressing over these decisions, I keep thinking that I can't believe I have a kid almost ready to start Kindergarten. Although he keeps growing in front of our eyes, I still think of him as a toddler. Sometimes I look at his big-boy self in disbelief. Time goes by way too quickly.

Here are some pictures of my tink-monster when he was Lawson's age. He had such personality and was so much fun at this age.

5 Snow Days = Cabin Fever

So school was out ALL. WEEK. LONG. this week.

ALL WEEK

Don't forget that they only had 1 day of school last week after Christmas break. So technically the boys have been home for 4 weeks straight. Oh, and, the roads were icy in our neighborhood Monday-Wednesday, so we didn't get out until Thursday. By Wednesday, Briley was singing "snow, snow, go away, come again another day." We also missed his first swimming class.

Needless to say, we had cabin fever, along with every other mommy that I know here. We had to get creative and find things to do: play-do, coloring, workbooks, puzzles, rotating toys, painting, baking, going outside for short bursts in the freezing temps, etc. However one of the boys very favorite things to do is to play, hide, and have pillow fights on the bed.






We finally got out Thursday and Friday with one of my new friends and her 2 girls. We went to Peekaboo Playtown and Chickfila on Thursday. Friday, we tried out the indoor playground at a local church. They had storytime as well. We ran into B's friend from soccer there too, so it was a great day. I also ran into someone I knew at Chickfila. Yay!!! I'm finally meeting and recognizing people around here. It's amazing how a familiar face makes you feel more at home :)

First Snow of 2011

We've had quite a few snow days, but yesterday was the first snow that was fluffy enough to really go out and play. We didn't have too much, probably 1-1.5". We got another inch overnight last night. The boys didn't have school today, and Briley missed his first swim practice yesterday. I'm hoping streets melt so that we can get back to regular life around here. It's so funny how snow days have changed in the past few years. When I was teaching, snow days were like Christmas. Now, I still love them, but I'd rather if they came on the weekends so that Nick could stay and play outside with us.

Lawson wouldn't keep his gloves on, so his hands got cold really fast and he didn't last too long.

Throwing snowballs

B's snowball

Lawson: Ready, set, fire!

Briley loved snowballs and snow angels. I couldn't believe he just laid right down to do it. He used to hate laying in the snow.

Lawson, on the other hand, stood back and watched.

When Lawson came inside, Briley stayed outside making snowballs to throw at the dogs. He scooped up some snow to bring inside for snow ice cream.

We came inside and built a pallet on the floor, drank hot chocolate, and watched a movie. The boys thought it was great, and I thought it would be a fun snow day tradition to start. These guys have gotten to be such good buds.

Who said I couldn't pretend that I have a girl?

Christmas Cards

I'm actually a little glad that all the Christmas decor is now up. I think we've lived here for such a short time that I was ready to get back to decorating. I am missing my Christmas cards though. I love checking the mail in December and getting cards everyday. I never know how to display them though. This year I bought a tree to display them all. It filled up really quickly, but I loved seeing them all.
This is the tree without the cards.