Friday's Fave Five: May 28

Somehow this week has flown by and been long at the same time. Is that possible?
I am thankful this morning. Thankful today. Thankful for life and family and friends. Thankful for Memorial Day weekend and the start of summer...let's get started on the specifics:

1. Visit from Grandpa. Our family can be confusing. Our kids have 4 sets of grandparents. 4 grandmas and 4 grandpas. They are going to think that EVERY older looking person is a grandma or grandpa! My dad came for a short visit from FL this week and it was great! I think babies and kids bring out a different side of people. Almost always. And it's usually (in my opinion) a side that hasn't shown before. I saw my dad's very loving and affectionate and fun side. I was surprised and delighted to watch him get on the floor and play with Micah. A lot! It was cute and our kids are blessed!

2. Micah loves water! I have always wanted my kids to love the water. I do. I love swimming and water parks and going to the lake...and I am so excited to share all of this with Micah (and hopefully Judah) as he grows. It is getting warmer here and we got out the baby pool yesterday. Mostly he just wanted to play with the hose (and chase me with the hose) but what fun to watch and enjoy!

3. Judah is growing. And getting more vocal and more animated. And more interactive.

4. Brotherly Love. Micah is getting much more loving (and sometimes in a tough way!) toward Judah. Yesterday was the first time Micah has completely held Judah by himself. And I have to say, even though Judah was very unhappy the first time, Micah did great, seemed very proud and shows great potential for being a sweet, protective older brother.

5. Kitchen Progress. The kitchen is coming right along. The floors are done! The walls are mostly done! We basically have one wall that we are going to do a different, brighter color and we are going to redo the counter tops. Excited for how it is turning out!

This post is linked to other Friday Fave Five's at Living to Tell the Story.

Friday's Fave Five: May 21

This week has flown by! Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not. This week it's not so much good or bad but just where did it go?! It went by so fast I am just trying to think of what actually happened...

1. Yard Sale. I finally made myself do it. I had reason why I wanted to and reason why I didn't, but when I found out our neighbors were doing one I knew we had to! Good thing I had already spent some time prepping or life may have gotten rough, especially with the in laws coming in town that same day! I'm glad we did it, and thankful for the extra money and the cleaning out of stuff, but by far this was my favorite part of the sale (Judah chilling in the chair!):

2. Short Term Memory. This works well for having kids. Once we see them and love on them, we forget about the negative parts of pregnancy and labor. And same with a rough day or sleepless nights or crying babies...In the moment when they are cute as ever, or smile in the most adorable way back at us, it is so easy to forget the tantrums and headaches and fatigue. Short term memory is a good thing for me this week!

3. More veggies please. Micah has been a picky eater as he has gotten older, but is getting better. He loves a variety of foods, but veggies seem to be the hardest. He just looks at them and decides something is wrong with them. So until he will start eating them just because I want him to, I am okay with  sneaking them into his foods. And because of this he has gotten a lot more spinach and beets (in a dessert, a baked oatmeal and pancakes) than ever. And he likes the foods! Score!

4. Computer Upgrade. We had a problem with our server at work last week, and our email didn't work for a bit, but because of this I got an upgrade on my computer that I had yet to get, and my work email works from home again (it has been sketchy for about 6 months) and this has been amazing. I have realized how much I have missed it and how much easier and more efficient it makes work (and life)!

5. Grilling Season. The weather has gotten a little nicer (depending on the day) and grilling season it is. This tends to mean quicker meals, less mess in the kitchen, and my husband making dinner instead of me! What a great season!

Linked to Living to Tell the Story.

Friday's Fave Five: May 14

It's probably a good thing that Sunday was mother's day! Mainly because it was a rough day...Micah was up way earlier than usual and both boys were a bit cranky...but it was mother's day and I was just thankful to be a mom! It was also a good day because my husband made lunch and dinner, and he bought cinnamon bun ice cream! Can't get much better than that! I am still extra thankful for my kids this week, and am so excited that I have extra things to be thankful for about them!

1. Micah. He is adorable and growing so fast! Things I am thankful for about him this week: he sleeps when he is sick or teething or cranky (and I think he has been trying to sleep off the end of this sickness because he slept 17 hours 3 nights ago, 18 hours 2 nights ago, and took a 4.5 hour nap yesterday) and I know this is a blessing; he has been trying lots of new foods and it makes meal time more exciting for me and it also feels like a new way to connect with him as a person and as my son; he is learning when he poops and he is learning how to communicate this to us...excited and fearful to start the potty training process.

2. Judah. At this point in Micah's life, he was sleeping through the night, and this has made me wary about how far off Judah may be from this since he hasn't been sleeping as well overall...but he did one 6.5 hour stretch Wednesday night! Yay! He's slowly getting there! Overall I think he is learning to sleep better and fall asleep better on his own. But sometimes it also seems that we take one step forward and 2 steps back. And one more thing that brings me great joy is that one of his favorite places to hang out is on the kitchen floor while we are doing stuff in there. It's random, but oh so cute!

3. Kitchen Remodeling. The process was started a while ago, and then not much was done, but something light a fire under my husband's butt and he decided he really wanted to get it done. And I'm glad. We are trying to very frugally redo the floors, walls and counter tops. Nothing is done, but the process is moving along now.

4. Easy meals. We pretty much started the week with enough leftovers to make it through the week. And we are both okay with eating leftovers. And it has been SO nice to not worry about making food for lunches and dinners all week, and it has allowed me extra time for other things.

5. Lunch with friends. We had a friend over for lunch last weekend and then just sat around and caught up on life. It was nice. We need to do this more often!

This post is linked to Living to Tell the Story.

Hibernation

Micah has his seasons mixed up. We are coming in on spring (and some days it already feels like summer) but he is hibernating.
The kid loves to sleep, and he knows when he needs it, so I don't try to take it away from him. Two nights ago he slept for about 17 hours, yesterday he was awake (total, over the course of the day) less than 3 hours, and then last night he slept for 18 hours!
Yes, I did check on him a couple of times and he was fine. And he woke up very happy, and he ate a good bit to make up for lost time, and now-a mere two hours after his 18 hour hibernation-he is back in bed! At his request.
He is loving him some sleep and I hope his little brother learns to love sleep as much as he does!

Friday's Fave Five: May 7

I missed last wee as I was taking my son to his two month check up and then getting us all ready to leave for the weekend...sad that I missed, and now looking back over two weeks worth of goodness!

1. Anniversary. My husband and I had our 4 year anniversary at the end of last week. To celebrate that, and my husband's birthday that was a couple of days ago, I tagged along (with my two month old and left my toddler with grandma) to a volleyball tournament and then we got to spend an extra night out of town. We "slept in" a bit, then went for a long stroll around town on a beautiful day!

2. Cinco de Mayo. Always fun to find a reason to get together with friends and eat good food. And this was no exception. And I greatly enjoy mexican food!

3. Going for walks. Whether it's around the block or at the park, in the stroller or with backpacks and carriers, it's been great weather and a good excuse to get outside and get some exercise. And get out some of the toddler's energy too!

4. Smiles. My first son was not the most expressive baby. He's always been a bit more shy and reserved at first. But my infant has been full of smiles and it is such a joy to try and make noises and faces and get him to respond with bug smiles!

5. Indulgences. It's always fun to go out of town once in a while, or celebrate a special occasion and just allow ourselves to indulge. It doesn't happen often, but is very refreshing. Good food, fun times, and good memories all made anniversary, birthday and going out of town extra special!

Sorry there are no fun pictures, have had a busy week and have not gotten pics off my camera recently.
Head on over to "Living to Tell the Story" for more grateful reports.

I have a boy!

And he is ALL boy!
And I love it!
But the moments when the tears flow, and maybe even the blood flows, it gets a little harder having a boy. Having 2 boys!
I know that falls are inevitable, so we have tried our hardest to make falling seem like a very okay thing. We just say funny words like "bonkers!" or we say "awesome" like it was a really great fall, or we just don't pay attention...and most of the time the tears do not come in these instances.
Micah had a good fall recently. He was outside, holding Matt's hand, stepping down a little step and just slipped a bit. Matt helped him back up and we all went for a walk around the neighborhood. When we got back we continued to watch him play in the front yard and it wasn't until then that he was squatted down in a way that revealed the scrape on his knee! He never whimpered one bit, never touched it or complained or anything...hopefully he stays this tough (although I do look forward to making boo boo's better with my kisses too!!).