toddler table!

I just bought this table for Caedmon to the tune of $33 on Amazon! Thrilled with that price after searching Craigslist and dozens of other sites - this was by far the best deal. And I like how simple it is... you know I'll be I'll get Michael to paint or stain it in the very near future :)

I might have succumbed to peer pressure a bit (that was self-inflicted, of course). There are about four different blogs I read all with kiddo's C's age and ALL of them mentioned something about buying/building/painting a toddler table within the past month. Crazy, right? So, obviously I needed to jump on the bandwagon and get little C one, too. I really hope he likes it! He loves sitting in a rocking chair (his size, my mom brought it down, it was mine when I was young!) and reading books so I feel pretty confident he's going to love having a table his size, too. Plus it should last until he's at least 4 and by then we'll have other little ones at the perfect age for using the table, so here's hoping it gets a lot of use! 

Also, I mentioned several weeks/months ago about switching C's room into a montessori room (it's going to be a very slow transition...) But last night Michael put C to bed and he said he didn't want to sit in the rocker to read a story, but went to his "reading corner" (corner in his room where I keep some pillows and all the stuffed animals) where they snuggled up, read a story, and then Caedmon walked over to the lamp, turned it off (it turns on and off with a switch you can push with your foot) and then reached up to Michael to have him lay him in his crib. Isn't that exciting?? So, I think we're reading to take out the rocking chair, and make the reading corner a little bigger. Not having the chair in his room will free up so much space to play... I'm really excited :) And then eventually the goal is to have a montessori bed (which is just the mattress on the floor) but I think that is still months away, C is doing so great with his crib, I don't want to rush anything! So, there are some small updates in our house... more to come soon!

Christmas!

 Christmas this year looked a little different for us - and probably closer to how it will look in the future. Neither of us come from very big families so it's pretty easy to coordinate a day a week or two before Christmas for us to meet up. We went up to Michael's hometown the weekend before Christmas and celebrated with his side of the fam. It was so, so fun! We ate a yummy dinner, too many desserts, then opened some gifts. This year was already so much more fun as far as gifts go than last year just with Caedmon - and I know it will just get moreso the older he gets. :)

Our favorite gift? The father-in-law bought us a new set of stainless-steel cookware. Awesome! We're still getting used to it - but are mostly just thrilled that the chemicals in Teflon are no longer in our kitchen. Yea for greener living :)

His favorite gift? This Thomas the train book - it plays music when you push a button. We have heard that little tune probably 1349827345 times already. He loves it!

So after we celebrated with Michael's fam, the following week my parents and my grandmother (who was visiting from Oklahoma) came up to visit us. We had a yummy dinner at Outback (hip hip hooray for zero cooking!) (Plus, Outback is my fave). Then they spent the night and the next morning we opened gifts. Mom and Granny spent Christmas in Oklahoma with some more of our family there.

Favorite gifts here? Thomas the train, trains. Mom and Dad bought him some trains and this kid loves them more by the day. In particular something called "take and play" which we highly, highly recommend for restaurants. He will sit and play with this little set and has now made going out to eat 10 times easier :) I got a new electric toothbrush (which I've never had  before and I love!) and Michael got umm... well, you'll just have to ask him what his favorite gift was, I can't remember!

We decided to check out Southern Lights here in town. Neither of us had been and we knew we wanted to do something "Christmas-y" since we missed out on some things last year since Caedmon was so young. It's a drive-through Christmas light thing with a petting zoo, Santa, and train exhibit at the end. It was so, so fun! I let Caedmon sit in my lap while we drove though (we didn't go over 3mph, so no worries!) and that was just so nice. This kid loved the petting zoo and was totally fearless when it came to feeding/petting the llamas, goats, and cows! It was so fun watching him have so much fun!

Then we got some hot chocolate and went to check out the trains. Which as we all know are this kiddo's fave. :) He loved it and was totally mesmerized by all of them. We definitely want to go back again next year!

So, Christmas was just the three of us since we celebrated them with the families the week before. In some ways it made it not even seem like Christmas! But it was still a really wonderful weekend. :) So, Christmas Eve is an exceptionally busy day for Michael with church. They did 10 songs that weekend. Ten! And all of them were outstanding. And I volunteered to make Christmas cookies for the service. Now, it's been awhile since I've made cookies but I know I'm typically a decent cookie-maker. Not-so this holiday season! Every batch of cookies I made was... comical. Definitely not something you'd serve. Or maybe you would so no one would ask you to volunteer again. :) Just kidding. But they were awful. Tasty, but awful. Finally I got together about 20 of the prettiest cookies (out of the 3 dozen or so I made) and brought those - so I was still able to pitch in! :)

After the Christmas Eve service we headed to a friend's house who knew we didn't have any family in Lex and invited us over. It was such a fun night! There was a little girl there Caedmon's age so they were able to play and Michael and I were able to visit with some friends we see often and others not so much. It was a really good night :)

Oh, and Michael and I exchanged gifts on Dec. 23. We just couldn't wait. Mostly Michael was excited to show me what he'd gotten for me and how could I refuse? :) He bought me a new lens for my camera, a lens hood, and Photoshop! Whoa! So fun! I haven't gotten to play with it too much yet, but am so so excited to! Hopefully I'll get better and better with all this stuff :)

Michael got a new guitar just a few months ago and so we said that would be his Christmas gift and also birthday and anniversary gifts for the year. So, in my defense I didn't get him too much. But I did get him some lottery tickets, work socks, a new work shirt and tie, and a cookbook called "Simply in Season" with a promise to cook one meal from the book for the next year. He liked it :) We have a strong desire to eat more real, locally grown food so this book was perfect for that. Here's to hoping next year is a bit more disciplined for us than last!

Okay, so now Christmas morning :) I tried to make cinnamon rolls (again, fail... but we ate them anyway!) and then opened presents! His favorite toys were the trains - but when we put batteries in the trains he got scared every time they would come back around near him. It was precious! He was jump up in Daddy's arms and then once it was passed he would get down and point and just play with the other trains. So stinkin cute.


I'm so excited to just bring in more traditions with our little family! Do you have any favorite holiday traditions? I've read about a birthday party for Jesus... this is definitely one I want to do once Caedmon is a little older! Neither Michael or I have many so we're kind of making them as we go... so tell me your favorite ones! :)

a child is born...

A few days ago a very dear friend of mine had her baby. Yesterday Michael and I visited her in the hospital to meet the baby. Isn't it awesome going to the hospital to see a brand-new, less than 24 hours old baby? We were anticipating it so much and we couldn't wait to get there... we had been waiting to meet this baby girl for months! It was just a really exciting day to get to share some of the sweet joy only a newborn can bring with some of our closest friends. We congratulated them, held the baby, and then went home and talked about what it was like when we ourselves were in the hospital with our new baby not even a year and a half ago.

And then today at church I got to thinking... Jesus was once a baby. People traveled from all over to see him. Can you imagine their excitement?! It wasn't just a baby of a close friend - they were going to see the Savior of the world. The one that had been predicted to come... that everyone had been waiting for. The One that would someday die to save them. There was even a star put in the sky to lead people to him. Isn't that so awesome? I wish I was more eloquent with words and could put into words the imagery in my head because it is just... beautiful. It's beautiful. And then to think of Mary... birthing this baby. Being told he is the Prince of Peace. People knowing that after just seeing a glimpse of him! I mean, any new mother is beaming with pride as people "ooh" and "ahh" over her brand new baby... but to just try to imagine the emotions she must have been feeling. Knowing that she birthed the son of God. It's incredible. It's a miracle.

And then to know that someday this baby would bring her so much heartache as she watched him suffer for our sins. As he saved each of us. Because he loves us more than we could ever know.

It was too much to think about during church... I was a balling mess in the back row. Just the thought of watching someone bring pain to Caedmon was too much to bear. But I feel like it's something that clicked that I honestly wouldn't have given much thought if I wasn't a mother myself. There's just no emotion to compare it to until you experience it personally.

So, in all the hustle and bustle of this season with the shopping and the presents and the cookies and the Santa and the ornaments and everything else... may we never forget the real reason we're celebrating - that Jesus came down to this Earth. Ah, it's just so awesome! I'm praying we're able to teach Caedmon the real reason we celebrate... and also that we don't forget it ourselves.

I hope all of you have a very, very blessed Christmas!

ribbon wreath!

I love crafting... I'm not the best at it by any means, but I just enjoy making things. I love going to a craft store and buying something plain and simple and bringing it home to decorate it and (try to) make it into something pretty.

I made this one last year and decided to make one (er, now two) for this year as gifts in case I needed some extra ones. If you'd like me to make you one I'm thinking I could try to sell them. So, if you're interested let me know! :)

And if you want to make one yourself, here's how you do it. You'll need a styrofoam wreath, some ribbon (around 6-9 spools), and stick pins and that's it!

Cut the ribbon into 2 inch strips (or just eyeball it to the size you want). 

Then create a loop, stick a pin in it. I start with one color and finish that entire spool of ribbon before starting on another. I think that the color is dispersed a little more evenly that way.

Then just pin it into the styrofoam. It will look a little... wonky until you're almost finished. I made one last night and I almost pitched the idea at first because I just didn't think it was coming together (even though I love the one I made last year!)... but stick with it - it will look prettier once all the ribbon is in place!

 

When I made one last year I just searched for any Christmas ribbon I could find so ours is very colorful... this year I'm making a silver one and a red one and I like how it looks when it's a little more uniform, I think. So for this silvery one I used 2 spools of each of 3 different types of ribbon.  I really love the way it turned out!

 

And there's my fun Christmas craft... It really is fun to make - it's just a little time consuming. It's a perfect activity to do while watching a Christmas movie :) Let me know if you'd like one or if you decide to make one for yourself!

It's Christmastime!

Oh my word, I love Christmas. I love so many things about it. This will be Caedmon's second Christmas... but it's the first where he'll be more aware of what's going on. (And I'm sure that will just continue next year and the next... which I am so looking forward to!)

We bought him a Thomas the train set for Christmas... I think Michael is already so excited to play with it with him! He played with a set at a friends house and he played with those trains for 30 minutes all by himself! Plus it makes it easy if people ask what to get him - we can tell them they can contribute to his set! I always see kids of all ages playing with the train sets in Joseph Beth and Barnes and Noble (we go to those places fairly often just so C can play with the trains... he loves them) so I'm hopeful this will grow with him, too. :) In the picture he's playing with a train that went around our tree when I was little that my parents brought up for him to play with. This boy loves anything on wheels - but we're kind of running with the train theme :) We also got him a pair of Thomas Christmas jammies that are probably the cutest thing ever. 

We try not to watch much TV but if C is in a funk (or momma needs a minute) I can turn Thomas on and as soon as the theme song starts, he dances along and will say "choo choo" He gets so excited! It's pretty adorable. Or if Michael or I sing the theme song (um, it happens) he will dance along with us... it's fun.

I still want to get him an ornament for this year - I'm looking for a choo-choo. The Thomas ones are around $20 and aren't that cute... so I don't know. Last year we got him a Pooh one and I've thought about just getting another Pooh one - but I like the idea of getting an ornament of something that enjoyed that year every year for his ornament - so I'll probably stick with my train idea. Let me know if you happen to come across any neat ones!

So, didn't mean for this to be all about trains, ha! But I wanted to update and I guess that's what I wanted to talk about :) I made a super cute Christmas-y craft last night though - I'm planning to take a picture of it and then I'll tell you all about it tomorrow! :)

small group

I've mentioned our small group before - the group we were a part of for a little over 3 years... we met at least once a month through our engagement, graduating college, getting married, my pregnancy, and Caedmon's first year. These people are ones we love so, so much.

But what's that saying - all good things must come to an end? Well, that was the case in this situation, anyway. We decided to part ways a few months ago for different reasons on everyone's part, I think. Our reason? We needed to make some new connections with other parents. We loved our old small group, but all are childless (or recently brand new parents) and we just wanted Caedmon to have some playmates as well as be around some wiser, more seasoned parents to help challenge us and help us just grow as parents.

We joined a new small group about a month ago - and actually just got home from dinner with them. They all have kids - two of the couples are quite a bit older than us, but for that I'm actually really thankful. It was so good to just watch them parent their children just a few years older than Caedmon. People always tell me, "Whenever I have a baby... I'm coming to you with questions!" And I LOVE that. I love it. But part of me is also jealous that because I was first... I don't have anyone to go to with my child related questions. But now I kind of do... and I like that.

So, here's to branching out, leaving your comfort-zone, and making new relationships that you never knew you needed. It's not easy... but it's been so good for us so far. We're not sure how long this small group is going to last (it's just a 6 week study - but we've talked about started another one when this one ends - guess we'll have to wait and see!) but we're certainly enjoying it for now. :)

This kid is awesome. Like, for real awesome. He can point to his noise, ears, mouth, and belly button. He can make the noises for a monkey, a cow, and a lion (it's the cutest little 'roaar' that is very, very soft and I just love it). He's my favorite. 

He's in a stage where he is extra super attached to momma, though. It's sweet and to a certain degree, healthy... but it is hard. We keep dropping him off in the nursery and every time he throws a fit... and every time I pick him up he's throwing a fit. The ladies always say he doesn't act that way the whole time so I'll just have to trust them. I just never thought the frantically-screaming-until-mom-comes-back kid would be mine. Turns out he is... and I wouldn't have him any other way. I know we'll get through it - we've just got to stick with it.

With that we decided to start him in preschool in the fall - so he'll be just over two. I just think we're I'm staying home with him it might take him a bit longer to get acclimated to a school-type setting - so we'll ease him into it with a two-day a week preschool. I'm praying it's a good call! And I know I could really benefit from those two mornings without a koala glued to my hip. :)

I'm sorry I've been the worst blogger... hoping to get better at it... so don't give up on me just yet :)

going green... er?

If you know me well - you know I try to live green. I make all of our cleaners (with the exception of Pledge - that stuff cleans stainless steel appliances better than any natural cleaner I've tried). I'm wanting to make the switch to natural/organic soaps and toothpastes and things (but am waiting to run out of our old stuff first - being wasteful isn't exactly green). We had our go with composting and will definitely do it again the moment we have a garage or basement (Silly worms kept busting out onto our kitchen floor... gross). And if I had to guess I'd say we eat about 70% organic and I'm continually trying to make that percentage higher and higher (as long as economically we can afford it - because there's no denying organic is much, much pricier a lot of the time). We also did cloth diapering for 9+ months and still use cloth for around 4 diapers/week. It's definitely harder to find the time for that extra load of laundry with two kiddos (the second being the baby girl I'm nannying 40-50 hrs/week). And I even just bought a steam mop about a month ago for our hardwood floors to kill germs with no harsh, toxic chemicals - just steam! Love it.

I mentioned to Michael last night, "the next thing I want to buy for our house is..." and I paused because his face was seriously stressed - as in "What else could you possibly want to do right now?!" (I should mention my list is always fairly long). "... buy some green plants for inside." And that's when relief washed over hubs' face, ha! I plan on going this weekend after payday to get one or two green plants for our house - I'm thinking one for the living room and one for the bedroom. We don't have a single plant in our house... kind of disappointing and I'm so ready to change that. Anyone have any suggestions for greenery that requires little to no sun? I'll keep you posted on what I decide on.

And another small thing I want to do is buy a salt rock lamp. I had never heard of them until last night but this post from young house love had me sold. I searched Amazon and have found dozens for around $10. Hopefully Santa will bring me one this year! :)

Having a baby definitely opens your eyes to how much harmful stuff is in your house and makes you want to get rid of it (I'm even contemplating throwing out all of my nail polish and non-organic make up this weekend) and then it makes you realize not only should you get rid of that for the kiddos - but you need to get rid of it for yourself to improve your air quality/life as well. But just so long as we're making an effort - I'll be proud of us :)

photo shoot!

I had my second ever photo shoot yesterday and it was so, so much fun! I was going through the pictures and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Ashley is such a beautiful pregnant woman, she just has that pregnancy glow - plus she's just so full of joy about all of it, and it definitely shows! It was just so much fun capturing a glimpse of this pregnancy for her. So, here are a few of my faves... enjoy!

Showing off that awesome bump! I love her face in that top one, so proud!

I was excited she quickly jumped on board with my "have David paint on your belly" idea. :)

I got some good ones with Rooney looking at the camera, too... but I just love this one!

Such a gorgeous fall day. We definitely took adavntage of it :) I'd love to hear your thoughts... I'm enjoying this photography thing way more than I ever imagined. :)

 

These are from last year. Crazy how much changes in a year!

We have yet to get pumpkins to decorate for this year... but I did buy some finger paints yesterday so Caedmon will be able to get in on the fun with us. Hopefully there will be some cute photos after this weekend of our creations :)

first a recap, then our 15 month old!

This is where I would normally link back to this post - but seeing as how a certain creeper caused me to delete my old blog that's not quite possible anymore. Luckily I still saved them all so no worries, I'll be sure to just include old ones here and there. 

Today is Caedmon's 15 month birthday. I wanted to list some of his developments but first I thought I'd start with where he was 3 months ago - on his first birthday!

________________________________________________________________

My boy is 1. I know you already know that… but I haven’t told you about all of the new things he’s getting in to.

•  not interested AT ALL in walking - he knows, for now, crawling is way faster
•   little mister has seven teeth!
•   blowing kisses
•   mimicking sounds - says “brmmm” for cars and says “ah ah” for monkey he also will say “laa la” when I sing to him (heart melter…)
•   little stinker is STILL waking up once a night (after 7-9 hours of sleep)
•   2 naps a day - both usually a little over an hour (sometimes he surprises me and takes a 2 hour nap in the am, though)
•   loves sticking his tongue out and holding it
•   loves to share everything he eats… even if he’s already chewed it some
•  mommy is still the most awesomest person in the whole world. he does fine with other people but if he can see me - i have to hold him, no one else will do. 
•   gives kisses on occasion… he really makes you feel special when they happen because they don’t come easy! he’s stingy. but he passed up the open mouth kiss fairly quickly and now he sort of puckers… it’s PRESH.
•   he weighs 19.24 pounds (10%), is in the 50% for height and the 30% for his head. The stats just help know how he measures up in comparison to other one year olds… we’ve got a skinny boy - no adorable chunky leg rolls, here!
•   Because he’s not 20 pounds, he’s still rear facing in the car seat - but he’s okay with it - even though if he stretches out his feet touch the seat
•   We’ve starting the weaning process so he’s nursing just 3 times a day (and once at night) plus eating 3 meals… er, when he eats those meals! more on this later…

That’s it! Such a fun, fun time having a toddler. Loving seeing this little man’s personality shine brighter every day!

_____________________________________________________________________

And onto my 15 month old.

• is mostly walking now! Sometimes he still prefers to crawl - but lately when he falls he'll just get back on his feet. He's been late to start lots of things - but he always picks them up super fast.
• has eight teeth and is cutting 2 more... so I guess almost 10! I'm thinking about making a dentist appointment for him soon, kind of crazy!
• still no words for this little man. he can say "ma ma" and "da da" "no" and "choo choo" but none of them are totally clear - I asked the doc about it today and he said he's not concerned. Where he's been learning to walk the past few weeks he hasn't been interested in learning to talk. Dr. suspects once he starts he'll be speaking in full sentences within a week or two :) Guess that's how our boy is going to do things - later than some but a super fast learner
• He is definitely understanding me. I can ask him do you want this? and he will shake his head and say no, or accept (but mostly I get no's). I can ask him to hand me a book or hand something to daddy and little man knows what I'm saying and does it! It's so awesome. (His comprehension is the reason Dr. W wasn't concerned with him not speaking)
• Sleeping through the night (happened when we stopped nursing, usually 11 or 12 hour stretches) and is taking one 2 - 2.5 hour nap a day.
• Will eat like it's his job one day and the next day will eat next to nothing. Apparently it's how all the toddlers are doing it
• Still rear-facing in the car seat. Plan on keeping him that way til he's 2 - he doesn't know what he's missing
• Weighs 20.12 down from the 10% to the 8% - Doc was just happy to see he gained weight. I've still got my skinny-legged boy :)
• he LOVES cars... I thank the Lord for toy cars on a daily basis.
• With me starting to nanny he's been watching more TV than I like. He knows to hand me the TV remote, then the wii remote... he can start shows all by himself! (We have our wii hooked up to Netflix) But the only thing we let him watch is Thomas the Train and Veggie Tales... at least they have good messages. That's how I'm coping with it.
• We've started the switch to a montessori room! More on this later - but note it is going to be a slow, slow process. Doc recommended waiting until at least 18 months before moving to a toddler bed/mattress on the floor. So, I'm trusting him and we're going to see how it goes. But excited about all of the other changes - Caedmon is too!

That's about all I can think of! I am one super proud momma. I seriously am head over heels about this boy!

tips for planning a shower

I mentioned yesterday I had attended a baby shower for a dear friend of mine... I thought I'd elaborate a little on that shower as well as some others I've planned and include some tips for some of you who are maybe planning on hosting a shower. Obviously I'm no expert - just thought it could be a fun little run-down. So, here we go...

1. Watch your watch. It's probably safe to say that not all of your guests will know each other - or will be able to spare three hours of their day playing games, eating snacks, and watching guest of honor open gifts. Leave about 15 minutes for mingling at the beginning. but no more. Get the ball rolling with food or any other planned activity. With that, don't stress about time - just be sure to not be sitting on your hands wondering when it's time to move on. I've just been to one too many showers where I chit-chatted with too many people I did not know because host/s weren't quite sure when to start.

2. Have a game or activity. I think you need a game or an activity at a shower. Something for the guest of honor to come home with is especially nice. At the baby shower this weekend I had the idea of a hair bow station. I asked other people planning the shower to bring fabric/crafty supplies so that everyone would be able to make a bow for the baby girl. I also asked everyone to leave a note for the mommy - 1. so she would be encouraged and 2. so she'd know who the bow was from. Ashley ended up having dozens of sweet cards and a boatload of cute new bows for her baby girl. It was awesome to see everyone's creativity with this!

(All are attached to a clip so she can attach them to different hair bands as she wishes!) It was a big hit. I plan on doing this if I ever help plan another shower for a baby girl and would recommend it if you are hosting a shower for a baby girl! But if hair bows aren't your thing - another idea is just the encouragement notes. At all of my baby showers the hosts had guests write a not of advice for me as a new mother. I still have every single one.

3. I like games. I know not everyone likes games so keep your guests in mind with the type of game you choose. I've done "who knows the couple/pregnancy" best games and those are always a winner. I think the more you can personalize the shower with a game - the better. And then you're not always playing the same shower games over and over. Also, gift cards or candy make excellent prizes... and let's be honest, who doesn't love winning a prize? :)

4. Pick a theme. I'm typically not a theme-y person but I'm learning that a theme makes party planning so much easier! You can decorate, make food labels, menu ideas, anything you can think of after you make your theme. A few examples - Caedmon's first birthday party was balloon themed.

So the invites, food, decorations, thank-yous... all came back to balloons. This shower theme over the weekend was pumpkins - and to make it girly I had the idea of tying pink bows to the stems. Simple, and also really cute! Themes can be as simple or elaborate as you want... I think I'm just better at the simple. :)

And the above are from an airplane-themed shower I threw over the summer. I made "encouragement" cards look like clouds that the airplanes left behind. I may have been a little proud of myself for that one. :) So, my tip would be - simple is best. Unless you're awesome and can do a complicated more-than-one-word theme. :)

5. Enjoy yourself! Remember you're hosting/attending to shower your friend/cousin/sister/neighbor with love. If things don't go totally as planned. Don't stress. If your decorations aren't as cool as you hoped or you didn't get around to making that dip or just whatever - it truly doesn't matter. Just have fun. And take pictures of your hard work AND with the people that you love. Surprisingly it's too easy to forget that last one.


And just one other good idea - my bestie threw Michael and I a baby shower and in the invitation she included a note that said "in lieu of a card, bring a book and write a special message to the new baby" perfect idea! I've done this at every shower now because it is just such a good idea. It helps the mommy to not feel bad for throwing away $4.00 cards that she just doesn't have room after the shower for and it helps the baby start an awesome library (because typically people bring their favorite book!) win-win.

Another good idea is to have all of the guests write their address on an envelope for a thank-you card. The guest-of-honor will truly appreciate this - major time saver - and kind of a money saver since she won't have to purchase the thank-you's herself!


Okay, I think that's all of my shower/party tips. Like I said, I'm no expert - I know I have boat-loads more to learn - and I realize this is kind of random, but hopefully a teensy bit helpful for someone! :)

Happy party-planning friends! :)

baby shower!

Yesterday we had a baby showering honoring this lovely lady. I took a few photos - the one above being by far my favorite! It was so fun yesterday to celebrate Ashley and her baby Lydia. Baby showers are just so fun! I'm excited for more and more of my friends to become mommies, too. (We were the first by a landslide!)

I'm also going to take their maternity photos next weekend so here's to hoping they'll turn out pretty good... I hope, I hope! I'm very excited and have been scouring any and every photographer's maternity shoots. So keep your fingers crossed for me. :)

playing with the camera + life with two kiddos

I'm sad to admit it but ... it had been weeks since I busted out my camera. Caedmon, baby A, and I took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday and hung out on our patio with some sidewalk chalk. A fell asleep so I brought her inside to nap and brought my camera outside to play. Ah, so fun! It's such a fun hobby... I really, really love it. I'm a little rusty I think - but hoping that I'll pick everything up again fairly quickly!

Caedmon and I both were a chalky mess but it was so fun. I love this weather and I hope we're able to get outside lots more before the cold weather takes over. Well, get out to you know... the patio. It's so incredibly difficult getting out of the house with a toddler, a car seat, plus two bags. I know I'll get used to it but - man! it's tricky. Props to all of you mommas with more than one kiddo. For real.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

two nappers = win

As of last week my title changed from "full-time-at-home mom" to "full-time-at-home-mom-plus-nanny"

That's right. I have two babies under the age of two (both under the age of one and a half even!) in my care a majority of the day.

So far it's been good. Challenging for certain, but good.

But the thing I'm most proud of - today Caedmon AND baby A have both taken two naps... both at the same time! Major, major win.

Same story, new blog

After I found Caedmon's photo on another woman's blog - with her pretending him to be her own son 'Eric' - I immediately deleted the previous blog - the blog that I wrote in for two whole years. I love blogging and documenting my journey as a mother as well as keeping tabs on Caedmon's development and all of the adventures we take as a family.

That's the real reason I decided to make a new blog, because it's a fun hobby for me. When I look back on my posts from the last two years (which I saved quickly into a Word Doc before I deleted my Tumblr account) I'm so very glad I was so persistent with blogging. I have every trip we took, a lot of my struggles, new things Caedmon learned to do and when... all of these things I have that I wouldn't if I hadn't blogged.

So that is why I've decided to continue blogging - and to keep the creepy mccreeperson's away - you have to have a password to access this (sorry for the hassle - but it is absolutely 100% necessary for my own peace of mind as I document my most precious son in the online world).

Stay tuned - I feel like this blog is going to be even better than the last! :)