These Little Moments...

2011 was an all around great year. I spent the first half happily pregnant and anxious to meet our baby boy. During the second half, we’ve been busy watching our children grow and enjoying the beautiful changes within our family. The past few months have brought more change, as Sean moved forward with a new and exciting career opportunity at the beginning of December. I am so content with where I stand right now, that biding farewell to 2011 feels bittersweet. I am, however, always excited to turn the page and face the unknown that a new year holds. I pray that 2012 is full of happiness and good fortune for my family and friends! I’ve pulled together a “year in pictures”, at least one from each month, just to see how far the past 12 months have brought us. I enjoyed looking back and remembering all of the memories that were made during this extra special year. January It's a Boy! We found out a baby brother was on the way for Gracie this month! February My little sweetie on Valen...

When I was pregnant with Ethan, I wrote briefly about anticipating what this Christmas would be like, the first one with both of our children. Even during the few months leading up to December, I found myself with joyful visions of celebrating in our warm, cozy home, baking cookies for Santa, reading the Christmas Story as a family by candlelight, having tons of priceless photos of my darling children dressed in their Christmas pajamas sitting in front of the tree together. They would be smiling brightly, barely able to contain their excitement. I painted this ideal picture of how everything would go, right down to the expressions on their faces as they tore open their beautifully wrapped packages... First of all, if it weren’t for the blessing of overlapping nap times, I’m not certain I would have even finished wrapping the kids’ gifts at all… and even though I chose to do so in a room where our dog is not allowed, I still found myself brushing dog hairs away that were clinging d...

We wish you a very Merry Christmas ... One filled with love and laughter ,  and lots of little moments with the ones you love.

Where in the world has the past 6 months gone? I mean, seriously, I did not expect this half of a year to go so quickly, and I have mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I think time is mean , moves too fast, and took my boy from newborn to solid food eater in a flash . On the other hand, I now get to snuggle with this plump bundle of happiness, who smiles and laughs, while making us smile and laugh too. (You still love your paci, and you have only ever taken a Soothie, the kind they gave us in the hospital. Lately, you've used it almost like a teething toy, chewing on the sides of it.) Ethan, you are rolling, squealing, and trying to sit up on your own (this is best practiced in our laps or on the bed, since you topple often!). You are so ticklish, love to blow bubbles, and have started mimicking some of what you see us do while playing. Your favorite toys are anything you can chew on, anything with different textures or crinkly sounds, ...

My sweet Grace is sick...again. I feel like she never really got over her first cold, and here we are again! Her preschool teacher sent an email out to parents earlier this week, warning us that 5 students were out sick on Monday. Having Gracie join this sick group makes me wonder how many students were out on Wednesday... She's had a really high fever, cough, and runny nose. She has been miserable. I feel so bad for her and there's nothing I can really do to make it better... We were supposed to go to a Christmas concert and dinner tomorrow night with my dad and family, but those plans have been put on hold since our family will not be able to join them. I hope we can get this sickness out of the way in time to enjoy all of the other Christmas plans we have in the coming weeks! Since I haven't been taking pictures this week, I wanted to add a couple from Thanksgiving that I never got around to sharing.   Gracie and Granny are like two peas in a pod. Gracie can somet...

Great weekend. We had very little planned for it, which is something that I need occasionally. This was the last of those for a while...although the upcoming December weekends are going to be FULL of people we love and things we can't wait to do! On Sunday, Gracie and I rode along in the local Christmas parade with many other tiny dancers and their mommas. We were stuffed into the back of a pick-up truck and, waving hands ready, shouted out Merry Christmas to the hundreds of people who lined the streets. Gracie's wave became most enthusiastic upon seeing many small dogs dressed in sweaters, or babies that reminded us of Ethan. The most exciting moment of all was when we actually spotted our baby in the crowd. Sean had a big smile on his face, it was sweet. He looked proud to know us. Ha! As we neared the end of the parade, we spotted Nana and Grandpa. Gracie was so sleepy by this point, but she shouted out Merry Christmas to them, too. It was fun seeing fami...

Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays. I love the way it requires that we stop, take a good look at what surrounds us, and thank the good Lord above for each and every blessing. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day routines and the little frustrations or disappointments that we forget just how blessed we are. I enjoyed reading what my friends were thankful for each day in November on Facebook. They highlighted so many of the things that I am also thankful for. Today, on this last day of November, a good friend posted that she is thankful for Life . It's easy to take this gift for granted, or to assume we'll have plenty of years ahead. While I haven't played the "What I'm Thankful For Today" game on my own Facebook page since the 16th, this evening I am thankful for my life, too. I'm grateful for the opportunity to live comfortably, with people I love, surrounded by people who love me. I'm thankful for family, friendship, la...

After spending a couple of hours in the kitchen last week making my first batch of Ethan's baby food - pears, sweet potatoes, and bananas - I decided that we were ready to step slowly into the world of solid foods. I froze everything except for the bananas. Easy to digest, nutritious, low allergy risk... Bananas seemed like a good first food for my boy (plus I hadn't thought about how they would darken and wanted to go ahead and use them). I made sure we had all of the necessary items ready... Bib... check. Pureed Yumminess... check. Happy Baby... check. Dad with Video Camera, Mom with Camera... check, check. Excited Big Sister... check! Ethan loved his first few bites of food! He had that little mouth ready and gobbled every bit up (about a tablespoon). Over the Thanksgiving weekend, he tried his sweet potatoes for the first time and seemed to love those as well. He's since tried rice cereal and will be eating the pears I froze next. ...

I am thankful for SO many things, but these two are at the top of the list!  Wishing everyone a fun and delicious Thanksgiving!

Ethan, at 5 months old, you are a happy, sweet baby! You have kept a very laid back personality. It's helpful that you're so willing to go along with whatever comes your way, since we are so often on the go. Here is a little more about you: You have settled into a routine. You take a morning nap around 9:30, then an afternoon nap around 1:30. You are almost always ready for bed by 8, which is great, since this is also Gracie's bedtime! Over the past week, you've started sleeping in longer stretches during the night. Just a couple of nights ago, you only woke up ONE time, at 3am! You are still a great eater and nurse every 3 hours, or on demand. I am in love with this time with you. We're gearing up to start solid foods... I am going to make your baby food myself. I'm really excited about it and wish I had thought to do the same with Gracie. I am looking forward to seeing the look on your face when you taste something besides milk for the very first time...

I had a great birthday weekend! Sean kept the babies on Saturday afternoon so that I could enjoy brunch with my mom and sister, child-free. As much as Ashley and I adore our children, it was so nice to just sit, eat, and talk without worrying about what the little ones were getting into, or what they needed. I even did a little shopping all by myself, which is so rare! On Sunday, my dad and step-mom treated us to lunch. In between the mini-celebrations this weekend, we just relaxed.    My little guy is getting ready to turn 5 months old! He's such a laid back, happy baby. I wish Gracie would let me take pictures of her, but she's not interested... but I'll keep trying. ;)

I am 28 years old today! I don't really feel much different, although it's kind of hard to believe how quickly my 20s are moving along. I received the sweetest "Happy Birthday, Mommy" from Gracie this morning. Ethan wished me Happy Birthday in his own way, as the clock struck 12 last night. I'm feeling good. I like where I am in life. These past few years have been the best ones yet. My 27th year was full of blessings, the greatest one being my healthy baby boy. I'm looking forward to what this 28th year will hold!

My happy boy on Sunday afternoon. I love this smile. :)

November is one of my favorite months. I associate this fall month with crisp, cool temperatures, warm, frothy drinks, piles of leaves for jumping, fall decorating, and giving thanks with family and friends. I also turn a year older every time November rolls around, so it's always been pretty special. So far, however, November and I are not on the best terms... On its very first day, my daughter showed signs of sickness. For 7 whole days she's struggled with a cough, fever, sneezing. She was unable to rest well at night, took one nap the whole week (how this is possible while taking Motrin I don't know), and even had to miss a day of preschool and dance class. Mid-week, I started feeling the sickness creeping in, but as all mothers know, it doesn't matter, I keep moving anyway. Sean started feeling badly over the weekend, a beautiful weekend that we missed altogether because no one really felt like changing out of pajamas. All this time, my tiny sweetie stayed strong....

I realize that he looks slightly terrified... ...but Ethan is loving jumping in the Jumperoo! He's just recently started squealing while he's playing in the jumper. I think he enjoys being up where he can see everything around him. He's so funny. I'm loving this age with him!

Gracie and I hosted a Halloween Brunch last Saturday. I was so busy the week before, getting things prepared and ready for over a dozen small children and their mommas to join us for the party. The stress did hit me on Thursday, and I thought, what was I thinking! Between helping with Gracie's school party on Friday, and preparing to host my own the next day, I was feeling overwhelmed with stuff to do, and as always, I wanted everything to be as perfect as possible! Luckily, there were many helping hands that took some of these responsibilities off of me, and in the process allowed me to relax and truly enjoy what I was doing. I had to remind myself that I was doing this for Gracie (this girl loves parties!), and the ultimate goal was to bring everyone together to have a good time, celebrating a fun holiday. My house was full on Saturday. There were funny little people in costume running around everywhere, smearing chocolate on the mopped floo...

On November 1st, I started sharing one thing that I am thankful for on Facebook, and will continue to do so each day through the entire month. It occured to me that I would also love to hear what Gracie is thankful for, and so I drove to Michael's for supplies and "grew" our first Thankful Tree! I'd seen this idea at a family get-together one Thanksgiving and thought this would be the perfect way to help Gracie understand what it means to give thanks as we prepare for Thanksgiving Day. It has been so much fun to wake up each morning so far this month and add a leaf or apple to our tree limbs. We also traced Gracie's hand to create our beautiful turkey, who's hanging out at the bottom of the tree. Here are the things Gracie is thankful for so far... Day One... Brother. (I love that this was her first choice!) Day Two...Trees. Day Three...Animals. Day Four...Turkeys. :) I'm looking forward to seeing what else makes her list! Maybe "Mommy" wil...

A couple of weekends ago, we met my dad and family for lunch, then took the little ones to a farm nearby where there were pumpkins, a hay ride, corn maze, and other fun for the kids. This cow ride was a favorite! Even a few of the adults rode it...and had so much fun! I was at the front of the line of cows, bumping along, trying to take a few pictures. I got a good laugh out of Ethan's expression during the ride. Gracie had a great time. She was waving and asking everyone what our cows names were. The weather ended up being perfect for an afternoon spent outside and it was really nice to be together as a family. It is not always easy to pull all of us together like this. I'm convinced that the grown-ups had just as much fun as the kids. Baby Marshall slept most of the afternoon, and stayed nice and snug against his daddy. :) We rode a hay ride together and went through a mini corn maze. There were also these big corn bins ( filled with kernels of corn!) that we could sit...