And again with getting up at 4:45. I tried everything, including ignoring him but then I just gave up and went downstairs. This also meant my morning went long and uneventful and unproductive. I didn’t want to do anything but lie there and then I couldn’t even nap and I was just frustrated. At ten am, I finally gave up and went upstairs to take a long shower which did help but not enough. So after struggling and working and being frustrated some more, I decided we would have a fun lunch outside. Thanks to all the toys I found, Nathaniel wants to spend all of his time outside anyway, so I cut up strawberries, cheese, hotdogs, and got a bowl of blueberries and toasted some bread and we had our lunch outside as we played.
I love these photos of Nathaniel where you can see he’s smiling even though you can’t see his face.
Then the kids played while I worked. Nathaniel loves balls of all sizes. So did David when he was that age. David played with a tiny watergun he has.
Then I decided it was enough sun so we came back inside. This is Nathaniel waving “Bye bye” cause his frog toy says that right before it turns itself off. So he waves each time he hears it.
And here he is, signing food. He does it often.
And here’s David reading his lego sticker book. He loves this book. It’s awesome.
I am so happy it’s weekend. I need to rest. Even though I did nothing I am feeling super-tired. I am looking forward to sitting and reading my book and doing nothing else. I have no tasks on my list this weekend. Ok maybe just a few small ones.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for our outside lunch. It made me really happy.
2. I am grateful for music today. I’ve been listening to the new Jewel and I love it.
3. I am grateful for the weekend!
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. reading my lego sticker book.
2. having lunch in the backyard.
3. daddy.
The journaling Reads:
This is one of the biggest reasons I love taking so many pictures of you. I can never tell which one will be a milestone. Here’s a simple looking photo but as it turns out it was one of the last before you lost your tooth. I am so glad I have it. Captured forever. June 2010.
Journaling Reads:
We always knew we hoped to have more than one child. We both have siblings and believe that it’s a wonderful experience to get to grow up with a sibling. But I have to admit that David is so great and easy that I was quite worried we couldn’t possibly get as lucky with the second one.
I was wrong.
Within moments of being born, Nathaniel made sure we were all head over heels in love with him. His Dad still thinks he’s an angel on earth and his brother enjoys nothing more than making him laugh.
And laugh he does. He’s the sweetest kid ever. Just like his brother, he also loves to play and can easily play by himself for a long time. But he also loves playing with David. He likes to come over to both of us occasionally and give us hugs. He loves to dance to music. He’s very good at expressing his emotions and communicating what he wants.
I must admit that I generally like being right. But this is one of those times when I am so grateful that I was wrong.
Today started quietly but it didn’t turn out to be as routine as I originally thought. Nathaniel woke up at 5am and he was ready for the day. Playing, happy, rested.
Me, not so much. But I went along with it and got up and started my day. (Not like I had much choice.) He’s really into exploring new toys lately. He loves the craft boat David and I made.
And the singing frog I found in the garage overhaul. He loves music and dancing. He has this funny dance so I videotaped it today. And he hasn’t gotten the hang of the toy yet so he will randomly press a button (but not the right one to actually get the toy to sing) and exasperate David to no end as you can see in the movie.
He also loves going outside. Begs to go out and as soon as he’s out, he looks at me like “What? You’re not coming,too?”
David’s still exploring his Lego magazine, picking what he wants and what he doesn’t want.
I do like being outside more and have to take more photos in natural light. It’s a shame we’re often out when it’s bad light with lots of shadows.
And here’s David annoyed at being trapped outside, too.
After lunch, my friend Jess came over with her son Beckett. We hadn’t seen them since last September so it was wonderful to get to spend the afternoon with them and have the kids play and get to talk. Jess is my roommate from college so we go way way back and I love her so. She’s expecting another little one in two months and I can’t wait to meet this little girl. Nothing like old friends, is there?
Now we’re all tired. David’s passed out sleeping, but Nathaniel is still struggling in bed, way way past his bedtime. And I am off to read and relax as soon as I finish typing this. I need to wind down. Maybe tomorrow will actually be routine.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for Jess’ visit. It was so nice to see her.
2. I am grateful for David’s generosity. He really likes having friends over and while he’s not always so perfect, he really tries to play well with others.
3. I am grateful for getting some work done today. It actually felt good to be working. I am grateful to have a job that I feel strongly about.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. playing with Beckett.
2. watching a little TV with mommy.
3. daddy.
The journaling Reads:
You are always watching everything your big brother does. Observing, learning, and also laughing. As a younger sister myself, I am very familiar with the sense of awe older siblings bring to our lives. I love watching you watch him. You know what? So does he.
There’s something about Elizabeth Berg’s novels that speak to me. I love them. And I’ve read all of them except that last one that I couldn’t read.
I picked up Last Time I Saw You with bigger hopes and I was not disappointed. It was much more her style and even though I still didn’t think it was as amazing as some of her other novels, it was an enjoyable read.
Another one from the beach. Today was one of those days where I worked and worked and have no idea where the time went. I did almost finish my project, though and I am so happy with how it’s turning out. This was one of those mammoth things and if it’s all I got done during my staycation that would have been worth it. But we tackled another big project: the garage. Not to mention the trip to the beach and the brunch and the biking and playing games. So much family time. My very favorite way to spend time.
I found more toys in the garage and Nathaniel’s been enjoying them so much.
And David’s batman motorcycle came in the mail today. He was truly overjoyed. Worth every penny.
My sweet, sweet boy.
He went biking today with Daddy again. He still totally loves it. I am so glad, especially since I cannot ride a bike.
As the day wound down, we had that sad hour of the day again where Nathaniel is just in a bad mood and gets upset about every little thing. That time when he needs a nap but it’s too close to bedtime.
He looks so much like me in this photo. Well life is back to normal tomorrow. At least until mid-August. Back to working, exercising, schedules, routines. The stuff I love.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for the nice, leisurely walk we took this morning as a family. It was truly wonderful.
2. I am grateful for this project I am working on. It brings together so many people’s kindness and I am grateful for so much.
3. I am grateful for my husband. I’ve been feeling more delicate than usual lately and he’s been my best friend as always. I love him so.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. his new batcycle lego toy.
2. getting gold stars for reading.
3. our walk this morning
4. daddy.
The journaling Reads:
The very best part of our day is the moment Daddy walks through the door. Both of the kids run to him and jump for a hug. And I am very happy knowing my love and my helper is now at home. It puts a big smile on all of our faces. – May 2010 –
As I already mentioned, I spent most of today working on a project. Almost all of it actually. But I am nearly there. I can see it coming together and I am so happy. I love it. I will tell you more about it this fall but until then, mum’s the word. We had planned to take it easy today and spend some time together on small activities and get stuff done. So Jake worked in the garage and I worked on my project while the kids played and David read his lego catalogue for the nineteenth time.
In the afternoon, we went out to let David ride his bike for the first time ever. He was a rockstar. Yes, I know he’s not wearing a helmet. That will never, ever happen again.
Nathaniel was watching him and cheering. This is a typical Nathaniel move right here.
David rode with confidence and comfort but I could tell beneath it all, he was really self-conscious. He worked hard to push those pedals.
And then went as smoothly as he could.
The boys watched him and made sure he was ok.
I snapped this photo of Nathaniel while I had him outside for a minute. Amazing the difference natural light makes.
Plans for tonight are more work on my project, maybe a layout, some reading, and getting organized. I have only one more day before I go back to work and I still have quite a few items on my todo list. Hope you had a great day!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for this project I am working on. It’s making me smile and be so happy. I hope the recipient will feel that way, too.
2. I am grateful for a really nice few days off. It wasn’t supremely eventful but it was mostly relaxing and quite productive and just wonderful to have Jake around so much.
3. I am grateful for random bits of wonderful news. I won the My Minds Eye Blog Challenge and I won the sketch challenge at Collage Press last month and I just got an email asking for a layout to be published in an upcoming magazine ( I didn’t even apply.) I am thankful for the kindness of everyone and feeling so grateful.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. my new box of legos (i found a box in the garage cleanup process).
2. riding my bike!
3. watching mommy and daddy play a game (we played this board game called spy wire that jake got for david, we were playing it for the first time, trying to figure it out.)
4. daddy.
I apologize for posting late today. I usually do these posts the night before but, for the last two days, I’ve been consumed with a new project. This project focuses on my attempt to show gratitude to someone special in my life. Someone who’s made a difference and something for whom I really really am thankful. It’s a project that requires the efforts of others, too, so I’ve been doing the traffic-duty. The collecting and collating. It’s something that I don’t always love to do but my desire to do this project overpowers all else.
My challenge to you this week is to find ways to show gratitude. Find a way to demonstrate your thanks to someone in your life. It can be someone who’s been around a lot and has had a big impact, like your mom or dad. Or it can be the person at the checkout counter who smiled at you and brightened your day. Maybe you do a big gesture like buy someone a vacation or a small one like leave a little extra tip. Mow someone else’s lawn. Help unload groceries. Walk their dog. There are unlimited ways to show gratitude and make a difference in someone else’s life. The more unsuspecting the person, the better.
You can choose the person and the act, all I ask is that you do one thing to show gratitude. You can do more, of course, but just try to do at least one. It can even be towards yourself.
I bet you could use a nice bubble bath.
The following is cross-posted from the Weekly Gratitude Blog. I will post there every Tuesday and decided to post those posts here, too. For those of you who read both blogs, I apologize in advance. Some weeks the content might be different and other weeks, exactly the same.
As promised, here is one of my layouts for CHA. This uses papers and stamps from the Paper Girl and alphabet stickers from On Holiday.
I love love that stamp.
The journaling Reads:
Since we’ve had the boys, I rarely ever get dressed up. But recently we were invited to a birthday party and I got to wear my pretty but comfy black dress. It was nice to get all dressed up and fit into my pre-kids clothes. We need to do this more often I think.
Today started way too early (before 5am!) and didn’t recover for a long long time. I did finally pull myself together late in the day and got a bunch of stuff done. Stuff I was postponing so that’s good. And now I have like 15more things on my list but that’s good too, I spose. For the kids, today was all about these plastic glasses.
David loves them too. Especially how funny Nathaniel finds them.
Nathaniel loves wearing them, making you wear them, tearing them apart and putting them back together. All of it.
We tried to teach him to share. He gets one, David gets one. But every now and then he’d run away with both. Caught in the act.
He couldn’t exactly put them on but loved it when we did.
This is a blurry shot but I love the expression on his face. As soon as you put it on, he’d break into this wide, happy smile. It warmed your heart each time.
Today was also Nathaniel’s 15month checkup and he’s finally catching up. He’s at a 40% for weight now and 75% for height. Yey! Finally. I am still moody a bit but feeling a lot better knowing my kids are well. And happy to be actively working on some personal projects and reading a good book. What more can I really expect from life. Tomorrow I’ll start sharing some of my CHA layouts.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Nathaniel’s growing steadily and well.
2. I am grateful for another new class I am planning for BPS. Another one that makes me happy.
3. I am grateful for the kindness of others today. The way they can inspire me and make me feel good even though they don’t know me. How lucky are we to have that.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. having daddy at home!
2. getting gold stars for reading (we did p, q, r and s today.) he is doing great!
3. daddy.
