A Little Bit Of Life Lately

Well, I continue to fall off of the bandwagon with blogging. Woops. To be honest, I have really lacked motivation to sit down and write. So often, ideas and motivation come to me, and I find myself writing a post without feeling like I have to. But lately, that just hasn't been happening for me. So often I find myself missing this little space and the awesome connections I have made through it, yet I also just can't bring myself to write if the words aren't flowing. So, instead of staring at a blank computer screen willing the words to come, I have been playing with the boys after dinner, watching my favorite fall TV shows that are finally back on (AMEN!), and spending lots of time in the kitchen on the weekends with the windows open, soaking up the beauty that is fall in Minnesota. Blogging is important to me; it has been the most incredible outlet, it has introduced me to so many amazing mothers from around the country who have become a real life support system for me, and it has been the creative outlet I need to feel like I am doing something for myself. But that is what this space is, something for myself. And so, if there is one thing I could freely spend all day talking (or typing) about, it is my sweet family which inspired this whole space from the beginning, so a life lately post is what we are going to end up with here!

I keep thinking the stages my boys in are so much fun, but I don't know if I could have anticipated just how sweet having two silly toddlers truly is. Jackson continues to talk up a storm, and has so many opinions lately. He loves to tell jokes, and will always tell me 'mommy, that's too silly'. Both of our boys are absolutely obsessed with the movie Moana lately-I have no idea how we just viewed it for the first time in the past few weeks, because the music is so amazing I listen to it even when the boys aren't around ;-) When Maui's song comes on, both Jackson and Lincoln get up and dance like fools. Lincoln is so darn precious, and he will spin around in very large, wobbly circles, and is so proud of himself. Those boys so often make me catch my breath because I am so overcome by their sweetness. Of course, they have plenty of salty moments too!

We got a bObi robotic vacuum this summer, and it has been one of the best additions to our home ever. I have it programmed to run mid morning during the weekdays, so I make it a point to clean up the living room and kitchen floors of all of the boys' toys, and come home to freshly vacuumed floors. It even knows how to find its way home, so it goes right back to its docking station to charge for the next day! Of course, after overcoming their initial fear of the thing, both of my boys basically consider bObi to be our family pet, and treat it as such. Lincoln has figured out how to turn it on, and we have now been forced to place our little bObi up and out of reach because Lincoln will abuse the darn thing all evening if we let him. In fact, he has received his first time outs due to his abuse of the bObi, and this has also resulted in some of his first full blown tantrums. We are talking arched back, hands in the air, rolling around on the floor as if the world is ending tantrums. And we aren't even halfway to year two yet; Lord help us!

 

Jackson is all about anything festive, and it has been so fun to whip out all of the pumpkins and fall décor and watch him get so excited about it. His favorite piece of clothing (today, at least), is without question his ghost shirt. I got one for both him and Lincoln and I have had to do emergency loads of laundry because he wants to wear it every. single. day. While it may not be good for the wear and tear of our washing machine, I just absolutely love having the opportunity to see all of the little joys in life through the eyes of a child. They truly bring the magic back into everything. It's so true when people say the only thing better than holidays AS a child are holidays WITH a child.

 

 

 

So that is life lately. Lots of lazy days, lots of snuggles, and lots of pumpkins ;-) Thank you to everyone who continues to follow along, you keep me coming back to this precious little corner of the world!

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The Cutest Halloween Jammies!

Well, you all could have figured this post was coming! It is officially September, and we are all over the Halloween pajamas! Of all of the things my kiddos wear, pajamas are by far my favorite to shop for. Which is proven when you open Jackson's pajama drawer and it gets stuck because it is overflowing. Woops! But he loves them too; it has become a new favorite thing for him to pick them out at night. It may mean I am doing rushed loads of laundry (because he definitely needs to wear his newest monster jammies every single day), but it is so fun to watch him get excited over picking out his out things!

I have rounded up some of my absolute favorite Halloween themed pajamas for your little ones. Check them out, and let me know if there are other places you love to buy cute seasonal jammies!

One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten

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Halloween 2016

I think that this October went by faster than any October before. Of course I seem to be saying that every year. It is so true that the days are long, but the years are short!

This year for Halloween, we couldn't resist having the boys be a duo of some sort. We scrambled and scrambled, until it all clicked and these crazy boys did a little ode to Back to the Future. Doc Brown and Marty McFly were the two cutest little guys around, if I do say so myself. I couldn't believe how Lincoln posed for the pictures, such a little ham!

It was rainy, misty, and cold out, so we opted to leave Lincoln behind with my parents while we hit up their culdesac for Jackson's first trick or treating experience. It took about two houses for him to figure out that people were giving out candy, and then he was ready to keep on going. We kept it pretty short, going to about five houses, but he definitely enjoyed himself! In all honesty we would have gone further and longer if not for the weather. Oh well, every year the photos on Facebook remind me to at least be thankful we aren't having a blizzard like the famous storm of 1991 ;-)

With that, I will leave you with some cuteness overload of the cutest little time travelers you ever did see!

 

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Halloween Weekend; Elvis and a haircut!

Can I start off this post by saying that gaining an hour of sleep when daylights saving ends really isn't all it's cracked up to be? Someone was up and at em at 5am in our house today, and then getting the sleepy crabbies before mom had even left for work. Happy Monday everyone! On a happier note, this weekend was a lot of fun and we had a blast getting our little guy dressed up for his 'second' official Halloween!

 Linking up with Meg, Biana, and Ashley today!

Friday night, we didn't do much of anything. We had a lazy night at home, watched TV, and were in bed early. I am finding this to be the sad real life of parents of toddlers. Weekends aren't for staying up late, because they also are no longer for sleeping in ;-)

Saturday, we were out the door bright and early to hit up Target for a baby shower gift, of course not without swinging through Starbucks first. We went to the baby shower late morning, and mingled and enjoyed the delicious food. Of course, Jackson wasn't having any of it, and also decided to pee straight through not only his onesie and shirt, but also straight through his jeans! And which mom didn't pack spare pants? This one! Fortunately, it was at the neighbor's house, so I ditched the baby with grandma for a few minutes and made a dash for fresh clothes. After the baby shower, we went home, ate lunch, and dealt with a very crabby little boy who took much too short of a nap! We are talking whiny, crying, crawling up your legs nonstop attitude. Rough on baby, AND mama. 

Finally I told Mike we need to dress him up and leave NOW, because he is getting worse by the minute. So, on the costume went, and Elvis (and his bottle of milk) entered the building. Mike's mom helped me make this costume, and we were just thrilled with how it turned out. A lot of work went into this (because obviously an Elvis costume pattern doesn't exist this year) so we did a lot of improvising and Pinterest inspiring and below was the end result!

 

Cousin Logan was Luke Skywalker, and we spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a decent picture of a non compliant baby.

 

He did manage a few smiles for grandma playing pat-a-cake!

 

And of course, on cue, little man crashed about two minutes before pulling into his great-grandparents driveway. If only he knew that fighting sleep isn't better than actually sleeping. 

 

After a quick power nap, he was up and ready to run around a new house and explore. Look at that little face! Kid knows how to pose.

 

There was way too much excitement to sit still long enough for a picture with grandma.

After the great-grandparent visit, we decided to swing by our dear friends Bret and Cari's new house to visit. Below is the best picture I could get of father and son. Don't let the power nap fool you, the kid was still exhausted.

 

Bret and Cari have a little boy who is almost exactly a year older than Jackson, who was born at only 24 weeks. Little Daniel is a fighter and an absolute miracle. He still has medical needs, and as he is pretty susceptible to infections and such doesn't have visitors terribly often, and so this was the first time our sweet boys ever met. Daniel was so excited when we came in, and was blowing kisses to Jackson. It was the absolute sweetest. 

 

While the picture below shows Jackson lovingly looking at Daniel, don't be fooled. I am 99% positive this was seconds before Jax tried to shove him out of the way because he didn't want to share the toy. Sigh. We are learning. *only child problems*

 

After hanging out with his newest buddy, we packed up for one more stop at my parents house to get Jackson's 'treat bag' and feed him dinner. We didn't manage to go door to door at all. It really is tricky to maneuver everything around naps and dinner schedules, and I just wasn't willing to deal with a cranky, crying baby who is hungry for the sake of a few pictures and the 'experience'. Next year, you best believe I will be teaching him about -trick-or-treat- and how to solicit free candy.

 

Our only family picture with all of us looking. Little man wasn't feeling the camera. After feeding Jackson, he was a whole new baby and enjoyed running around grandma's house in nothing but a diaper. Kid loves his freedom, and being naked. That is high on his list of favorites. The rest of us ordered pizza and were lazy on the couch watching Hocus Pocus. It was the perfect way to end our Halloween evening.

Sunday, despite the clocks setting back, we did manage to sleep until 6am (or 7am, according to Jackson time). Hey it could be worse (fast forward to our 5am wake up call Monday morning..) I was able to sneak away to the gym in the morning, grabbed some groceries all by my own (mom vacation?) and made it home to take the little guy on a walk. The weather yesterday was beautiful during the late morning, so we soaked it up. He crashed on the walk, and took a nice long nap. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with toys, hanging out with aunts and uncles and cousins who stopped over, and getting a hair cut. After holding out so he could rock his hair with his 'Elvis costume', we agreed November 1st was the due date for a haircut. Once again, I impressed myself with a not half bad hairdo for the little man. Isn't he so handsome, and so grown up!?

 

We capped off the evening with a fish fry with all of Mike's siblings who came over, and I crashed ten minutes into The Walking Dead (darn you, daylights savings)! Fortunately, I hear I didn't miss too terribly much. Here's to wishing everyone a happy week and a quick descent to another weekend! Only 4 days until Friday!! ;-)

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