Happy Friday!!

so excited for a warm and sunny weekend full of relaxation (hopefully)!

here is our little random wagon walk adventure story. really random i might add. here goes...

a friend gave my mom a (used) wagon...it sat at her house for probably a year or so...we finally brought it up to our house.

after a good cleaning we decided to go for a walk around the block....the boys were oh so very excited!!! they were happy!! and smiling!! and enjoying the ride, until....well, the wheel fell off.

the next day we decided to go for another wagon walk (mom thought dad had fixed the broken wheel) and lucas was pleased as punch to have big brother giving him a lift, almost as excited as big bro who was doing the pulling.

we didn't get very far when... the wheel fell off again....(can you see the wheel way over there on the sidewalk?)

 we had to walk back home...i had a great helper i might add, who walked the wagon and wheel all the way back.

so, when dad got home he fixed the wheel (for real this time). if it breaks again...i'm going to try and convince dad that maybe a (new) wagon (wheels in tact) would make a great first birthday present for lucas. and speaking of first birthdays, i can't believe my sweet lucas will be one in a little over a month :( tear. i'm working on his first year video and we'll be keeping it simple with a  couple family parties and maybe a friend party at the park. looking at all his baby pics from the past year has me feeling very sentimental!!

hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ;)

home sweet home

we are home sweet home (for good now!) and catching up on sleep in a big way.

 lucas slept right through half the morning today. curled up and cozy and making up for all those lost hours of sleep this past week between fourth of july camping trip and fireworks party and a couple extra days at my parents, it was needed, though you'd never know it by his constant smiles and laughs. The excitement of crawling! oh my! sleep?!! too much to do! the excitement is still there but he has finally crashed it seems!

the drive home yesterday was half way horrendous (hard for three hours, quiet for the last two while the boys thankfully slept). the boys did great for 25 hours of driving (up to oregon and down to santa clarita) the final 5 was where it all went to pieces. my mom and i drove up yesterday so that we had a couple days with the boys down there instead of turning right back around on sunday with dave. despite a couple days to recover from the car it was the hardest drive in a long time! we got home and could barely keep our eyes open (and of course both boys were roaring to go after their long car naps!) our ears were also ready to fall off from a certain toddler who was so bent out of shape from lack of sleep and strange eating that he just lost it and screamed/cried almost two hours straight. It was so sad for him...and for us! Today was glorious though. healthy Eating, sleeping, playing. Both boys are happily back to normal which always makes mama happy. I felt so sorry for Caleb yesterday. I almost forgot he can be so delightful and charming after last week with him being more clingy and defiant and a lot of melt downs. He has such a hard time out of his element (just like his mama) we're all happy to be home, but the memories and time spent together as a family this past week make all the lack of sleep and exhaustion worth it.

i found these random videos from our trips.  some hanging out time ;)

peek-a-boo, santa clarita

lunch and music, hanging out at the 4th of july festival in sunriver, oregon

and lastly i just wanted to write this down to remember for myself. I was rocking lucas to sleep (which i am going to do for as long as possible since he still sleeps so good when we do!) his sweaty hair curled around the tips, light brown wisps, his eyes fluttered closed, and i was just holding my hand around his curled toe when it struck me (once again) and it usually hits me about 10x a day with him! how fast time has gone. I still so clearly remember the moment he was born, those first joyous hours and his newborn sleepy, curled up cozy days. each day has been so very sweet with him and made all the sweeter as i watch him with caleb and the bond they have shared from the start. there is so much joy and happiness from loving them, caring for them, and watching them together playing silly. before their naps this afternoon, lucas was grabbing caleb's blanket and laughing and caleb was trying to pull lucas around on it, lucas was rolling around, crawling, and they both were watching each other and laughing and talking in their own love language. my heart swells in those moments. i have my sister moments with my sisters, from the time we were little until today. we are best friends and there is something so special in having sisters. well there's something just as special between these brother boys of mine. even in the times they get upset because lucas goes for big brother's toy and caleb shouts out "mine, no lucas!" i am watching them learn and grow, they are learning from each other and it is such a blessing to have these brother boys. i thought boys would be so different from girls...and yes... it is different, but there is sameness too...they still have a bond that will hopefully last a lifetime and that is what matters to me. they might not play with baby dolls and barbies but building Lego's and rolling around rough house is just as good (although we do have some baby dolls that are played with ), because it is their togetherness that they share. siblings make the world go round. and these boys of mine make their mama and daddy's world a very happy place to be :)

Happy half way through the week Wednesday!

 

lucascrawls!

so i think we can officially say lucas is now crawling everywhere!! and with his newfound freedom and movement he has yet another tooth that has made a pearly appearance at the bottom of his mouth..three more on the way...those two things and the fact that we are traveling (again) but will be home for good tomorrow yay! may have to do with his interesting sleep last night and this afternoon...and lack of it :) i mean who wants to sleep when they can crawl around everywhere?!!

annual 4th of july oregon camping trip!

whew! we're back :) it was a great camping trip. the first two days were tough. dave and i were ready to call it quits and head home but we hated to leave on a bad note (caleb fussy, sleeping arrangements tricky and did not go as planned!, bummed out hikes, etc.)but i'm soo glad we stuck it out. the second two days ended up being wonderful and well worth the 20 hours of driving, the hours spent packing and baking and preparing! we ended up going on some beautiful hikes. we dealt with the tricky sleep situation...caleb started to come out of his funk, and we had a good time and by thursday i didn't even want to leave. lucas was happy i would say 95% of the entire trip and when caleb wasn't in a funk he was having fun too. it is always worth all the hard work to create these memories with our family. growing up, i loved our summer camping trips every year. i never knew how much work my mom and dad put into it...and same goes for dave's parents. but i do now. and even though it is hard on mom and dad, it is totally worth it to see our children enjoy themselves and to create lasting memories with them!!

so here is a video i made of our trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=J9R0Zo96Wgw

 

fireworks!

 

it has been 6 years since i've seen fireworks!! wozers. so i was really excited that we would be able to make it to my aunt's annual fourth of july firework party. they shoot the fireworks off on the beach so it is right over our heads and sooo cool! caleb has never seen them nor has lucas. i was excited to share this with them :) growing up fireworks were a big deal for some reason. my poppy always got us really reeved up for it. so it was special to be there this year. hopefully it'll work out again in the future years. normally we are camping and miss out, although i wouldn't trade our camping trips in oregon with dave's family for anything! it is just a bummer that these two things always happen to be the same week/weekend and we always miss. so maybe we'll get lucky to do both again in future years :) it was so special to watch the boys share in something special to me. they both were watching with big eyes the entire time. no tears! and they were super loud!!! i mean...hello right over our heads going off loud!! anyway it was loads of fun and i'm glad we were able to somehow drive down after our 20 hours of oregon driving!!! i guess we kind of rock our road trips :) hope everyone had a happy 4th!

giddy is this.

giddy is me this week...and it is because of this book. Bloom by kelle hampton (kelle is a mama to two beautiful girls and has a blog enjoying the small things that i enjoy reading. Bloom is a memoir that is written with such breath taking honesty on the journey kelle goes through the moment her sweet daughter nella is born and is diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Her writing is so real and so honest and so beautiful)

 my mom bought me this book for our camping trip. a book i've been wanting to read for months now! guys, i was so excited when she gave it to me that i almost peed my pants...amost. so i'm trying not to read it before our trip... but....ahem. i'm already almost half way through. i think i just might read it again. and again. i love it that much. when i read it, i feel as though i'm right there with her, like we are old friends i'm i'm listening to her share one of the most beautiful stories i've ever heard. there are people in life that i think i'd die if i met. just pass out with happiness.. do you have those people? i think she's one of those people.  i think i've cried almost every page of this book! sigh. i love reading a good book. i love deep, beautiful writing. and she has it. this book makes my heart grow a little warmer every time i open it up and turn the page. it's a keeper! oh how i love good books, truly, i do.

 and i love reading while my boys happily play outside. (we've found that the pool is a great spot for lucas to hang out in while we are outside. we give him a basket of toys and he is happy as can be...no grass to eat or rocks to swallow.)

there are clumsy children. and then there are clumsy children. i have a very clumsy child. he literally ran smack dab in the wall yesterday. full on. but-no tears. for the amount of falling and walking into things he does he really doesn't cry about it. the only thing he wanted was a band aid. so i obliged.

one more day. one more day :) packing, cleaning, baking, preparing for a week of family time. i'm just as giddy about that as i am about my new book.

happy almost friday!

Happy 10 months lucas!

Oh lucas! you are ten months old! the time continues to fly by and i often wish it would slow down. you are still such an easy going happy guy. you just take in your world in such a peaceful way. you bring calm and peace to our family and so much joy! you love your big brother so much and just want to be with him and watch him. you especially enjoy grabbing his toys :) this gets him a little flustered! but i love how even now that you are interacting more you two still remain the best of friends! you sometimes cry when he leaves the room. and you laugh and smile when he comes into the room. i hope you two will always be best friends.

here is what you've been up to this month :)
food-eating everything we give you! you love anything. tofu, watermelon, pears, banana, cauliflower, carrots, avacodo, grahm crackers, peas, green beans, chicken, yogurt, etc...you are pretty much only on table foods now, we only give you pureed sometimes when on the go.

play- you are rolling, scooting, rocking on your hands and knees, and trying to climb everywhere and on everything. you love sitting and playing with baskets of toys and we love watching you!

sleep- you take a morning nap and an afternoon nap. usually your pm nap is about 2-2.5 hrs (almost always at the same time as brother! thank goodness for mama) and your morning nap is about an hour. you go to bed around 6 and are up around 7:30. you are still nursing once or twice a night and the dr. said we can stop that....so maybe starting in august after all our camping trips. you still are such a good sleeper and we love rocking you to sleep so much...today i put you in the crib for a minute to go to the bathroom and when i came back to check on you, you were already asleep for your afternoon nap. i didn't even rock you and you put yourself to sleep quietly just holding your blanket. i know we should let you learn how to self soothe soon...but for now we enjoy rocking you and you sleep so good that i will probably continue to do so for awhile longer. i love watching your eyes drift shut, your breathing get heavier, and your body go heavy in my arms. i cheerish those moments.

lucas we love you so much and are enjoying each and every stage with you! you bring so much joy to our lives! happy ten months ;)

oh i almost forgot, you got your two top and two bottom teeth in a couple weeks ago. they seriously came out of nowhere! no drool, no fussiness, no drip, nothing....next thing we knew you had four little pears. i think you have two more coming in on top.

you also have been babbling and your words are 'ba ba' 'da da' 'ma ma' and 'na na' which i thought my mom had taught ya the last one since you started saying it for the first time last week while she was here...but she said she didn't. (i'm not sure i believe her ;)

you have also started to wave and you are starting to sign 'more' at the table for more food and are just beginning to clap your hands when you get excited. you also love to dance! we have a lot of singing dance parties these days :)

next week you will be going on your very first camping trip in oregon with your grandma and grandpa and aunties and uncles and us. i am soo very excited! i can't even put into words :) i think you and brother are going to have a ton of fun. don't worry, there'll be plenty of pictures to show for it!