saturday sickies

the boys have colds. which means long afternoon naps and lots of tissues!

even though Caleb's been waking up earlier than normal, he's making up for lost sleep during nap time. I've been having to wake him up-this is what i found this afternoon. hello.Ottoman. so random.

lucas' nap hair. despite the sniffles...both boys are in good spirits :)

Planning a beach day tomorrow to escape the serious amounts of pollen that are just making us all a little crazy (note to self do.not.ride.bike. through the weeds...this ends in a friday night nap from a dose of benedryl. blah) i'm ready to wish away spring and welcome summer (pollen free). allergies to a girl who loves to have windows open and be outside all.day.long is a most unwelcome thing. and it makes me so sad that already caleb has to endure such bad allergies.

beach air is the best, and maybe one day...we'll get to live there :)

five fifty on a friday

5:50am. 5:50am! closing my eyes and wishing it not. that's what time the toddler hopped (maybe even skipped) out of bed this morning. (don't worry he wasn't actually able to leave his room until 7am)which maybe would be okay-if- and only if- he'd gone to bed at a decent hour last night. but that of course did not happen. despite putting him to bed early enough and at his normal time he still took almost an entire hour to fall asleep at bedtime. which means....5:50 is way too early to be waking up since it was almost 8 pm before he fell asleep! i kid you not-the time change has seriously screwed him up! 7:30ish when he falls asleep at night and 6-6:30am when he wakes up. The worst is that he was on a perfectly nice schedule before then- but oh well- i can't dwell. anyhoodles. maybe it wouldn't have been so bad but i was having such bad allergies last night that i was wide eyed and unable to sleep until nearly midnight and felt like i just spent the night in a half awake (itchy) haze. My point? I don't really have one, except that. Thank goodness it is Friday. And thank goodness I still rolled my sorry self out of bed this morning and went for a run.

because the secret to my sanity as of late?  rolling myself out of bed at nearly the butt crack of dawn and running and or walking. and since i was in such a state this morning after such a night. I think God was wanting to especially put a smile on my face by gifting me with a little something I love oh so much. running in the rain.

misty rain. breathing it right into my sorry state did something nothing else could have. and i figured out the secret i wish i had figured out two years ago- getting up in the morning to exercise is better than trying to get in an extra half hour of sleep! that's right. since my lil bright eyed mornings outside getting my endorphins on- i've been better. i've been more patient and just overall less tired, less sluggish, and a lot better as a mama when I start my days with exercise and it saved me this morning. i came back with what i needed, i had my quiet time with Him and was gifted with sweet smelling misty rain and birds chirping and all that only a feet to pavement run could offer.

i came back ready to give them my all.

sweet caleb, you continue to keep us on our toes. i'm sure this will never change. but i'm learning...slowly...definitely slowly...but i'm learning. and i'm going to embrace it. you are teaching me to be a better person, a better mama to your sweet spirit. every.single. day.

i love you and lucas so very much!

Happy Friday Friends!

Hoping the toddler sleeps in tomorrow...i'd be happy with 7 at this point :) as my sisters gasps in horror at that early hour! haha.

barefoot in denim

                                                     

                                                  love bottled up

barefoot toes together

those baby blues

toddler's curiosity

dimples

sidewalk chalk on denim jeans

giggles

sillies on the floor

one day, i'd love to take a photography class, i'd love to capture moments on camera the way i capture them in my heart. but for now, taking pictures the way i know how, will have to do! my cousin angela sent the boys these matching blue shirts and they were too cute not to get out the camera and do a little photo shoot in denims and bare feet. i love these two little guys more than they'll ever know!

Farmers

May 2nd marked the first day of Farmers market for the season. This is a big thing in our little town. You are very likely to see one, two, three, all right most of everyone there! Dave commented, wow Kimmy you have a lot of friends, I smiled and said, no..not really....it is just that mostly the entire town of hollister can be found at farmers on a Wednesday night :)
We were no exception. Caleb took a (hold your breath) three and a half hour nap (hardly ever happens) but he's been feeling under the weather since Tuesday with the sniffles so I didn't wake him up and it worked out perfectly for us to head off and not worry about the time ( I put lucas down for a little cat-nap before we left) so...both boys were happy for our outing. There really isn't that much to it, kind of small, but still exciting! Nothing like slo's farmers market, but we'll take what we can get. Sadly the samples weren't in great quantity like they usually are, Caleb loves the samples, but the excitement of the people and the music and the food left us all in good spirits :)

 just love those gorgeous mountains in the background!

taking in the views from his favorite perch (the ergo!)

squiggles.

hanging out and listening to the music

haha love this one! I don't even know what they are looking at. love my boys :) i'm a blessed girl!

lucas is thinking "whatcha have there brother? I'd like to get my hands on that!"

a great time at farmers!

lucas lately

sweet lucas. i snapped a couple pictures of you the other day with your wild hair.

 of course, these pictures don't do the hair justice. all of a sudden your hair got long and wild. i love it. it just sticks straight up all wild and crazy. the best is of course after you wake up or after bath time (these pictures were after your bath) while dad clips your nails.

and here's my attempt at catching you on camera while you feed yourself cheerios and banana

you were much more interested in the camera than your food, but i tried! you're finally opening your mouth for me when the spoon comes your way, but we know you prefer to feed yourself any which way, mostly with the finger foods or by grabbing the spoon from my hand and doing it yourself:)

we love you so very much lucas!

Tidbits today

Mealtime. The place where if you happen to be sitting at the table with these two sillies- you'd be likely to find this ;) a squealing baby laughing and a toddler acting silly for little brother. Mealtime brings out the best. The importance of this family time together is not lost on me. And we get a double dose because dave comes home for lunch everyday! what a great thing that is, for all of us. I hope this mealtime tradition of gathering around the table continues with many more laughs and shared time together. Especially as the boys grow and enter those teenager years, it'll be just as important then as it is now, more so even. Dave and I both grew up with this simple gathering at the table for meals and in the hustle and bustle of today's world, I am glad we have this, maybe to say, despite all the high tech gadgets of this crazy society, we have this. and nothing can take this time together. away from us.  i so enjoy this time together and from the pics below you can see- these two definitely enjoy it too!

lucas is finally starting open his mouth for us when we use a spoon, but really, he loves his cheerios and finger feeding more! that's why i need to branch out and give him more finger food. he gets so happy when he gets though. if he's nursing he'll pull off and just start cooing and smiling at me, so easily distracted at this age! (don't even get me started if caleb happens to be in the room) and i need to get the finger feeding on video because he just shoves those cheerios in his mouth like a toothless little old man, cute as can be though! hmmming his way through.

caleb blowing lucas kisses.

on our walk today. lucas loves holding the stroller strap while he watches the world go back, and for some reason i find it so endearing. he grips it so hard and just stares and stares as we go about our walk.

right before lucas went 'plop' ouch on the hardwood floor. he didn't really cry but caleb kept saying 'i'm sorry lucas! i'm sorry lucas!" which was sweet. they were sitting there playing and then caleb pushed lucas down (i can't even understand how the toddler brain went working on that one)- so lesson learned (while i wipe up the crumbs from the floor a mere two inches away, for two seconds, place lucas on a soft surface....) hello.



and lastly, here are two songs i'm loving right now.(below) i've been wonder of all wonders. waking up (hold your breath!) before the babes! and the last time i woke up this early- was in college! so wow, i'm impressed with myself, especially since lucas is still waking me up about once or twice a night. But anyhooo. I've been waking up with my sweet hubby at 6:40/6:45 cuddling for a few moments and then going out in the beautiful morning and either running/walking/or biking. and it has done wonders for my day! 30 minutes of quiet solitude with the birds and sweet smelling flowers, the quiet that wraps around me before starting my day instead of rolling out of bed still tired and not always ready to take on my morning lark- the prayers of gratitude i pray freely in my own quiet moments. there really is something to it! which i knew back in my college days before i had two cuties keeping me up at night or waking me up in the morning- still- i've found that the thirty minutes of exercise is better than the 30 minutes of sleep....since becoming a mama i never thought i'd say that! i treasure my sleep. so when i walked in the door today after a walk, i felt ready to take on the world- caleb had a majorly off morning- but you know what? that 30 minutes of 'me' time outside of the house- before the boys were up- it brought me through it. sometimes i listen to the birds, and sometimes i listen to music....so here are my latest favs...

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Happy Tuesday!

lunch time video :)

and...nap time for the boys going on two hours (at the same time) love it when this happens!

family

when i was a little girl i remember the most peaceful feeling always washed over me on our long family car drives we took to go camping. (there was always a lot of bickering, loudness, giggles, games, etc) but there would always come a moment- my parents holding hands in the front seat. my sisters asleep beside me. stars out in the sky. a quiet peace. i felt safe. we were all together in one place. just us. our family. i felt warmth and comfort.  the five of us squeezed. family. that same peaceful feeling washes over me in moments with my boys, dave, caleb and lucas. when we are all driving in the car together. when the four of us are sprawled out on beach sand listening to waves. when their warmth touches me close. dave's sure hand in mine.  i feel completely safe. 

 

i love these moments. moments watching, moments holding, moments cherishing. i feel so blessed.

i once asked my sisters if they ever got that feeling? i'm not really sure how even to put it to words....that heart squeeze moment? that bottle it up forever memory? i get them a lot, but this one- it is hard to put into words. safety, peace, comfort, happiness, family. 

my heart quiets in these moments. i breathe deep. i know that right now. this. these three people. they are my world. and I am right where I should be. I feel Him most here. Our special place- where waves crash and sea breeze smells sweet.

memories. they are created here. traditions. they begin here. moments. fill up this place.

laughter and love. wash over me  

gratitude

family 

It was a nice relaxing weekend. Plans changed when my sister's car gave her trouble and she ended up not being able to make it up :( so we'll take another beach trip with auntie lor hopefully in june.

Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend :)

 capturing spontaneous hand holding on camera. love them.