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!

they are.

they are where my heart is. their daddy and them.

 it doesn't seem like so long, just a week, but last week was a long week without them! and even if it was only in the mornings, so what. i missed them.

 i missed breakfast time, play time giggles on the floor, and cuddles and kisses when they woke up.

i missed rocking this sweet one, i missed holding him all morning long. i missed his sweet chubby cheeks, his sweaty hair curling at the tips after a nap, i missed those chunky thighs, i missed his smiles and his giggles.

 oh how i missed them.

23 hours away. that is the most i've ever been gone from my littlest. and even though it was nice...getting dressed up and staying clean and fresh (no food or strange smells at the end of my work time). memorizing and learning and doing great on my test ...it felt good and it was easy. easy to get a good grade on a test, easy to get dressed nice, easy to be around other people where we talked work related things. i had complete control and that was nice. it was a nice change of pace, a break from the norm. still...i missed them.  i'm glad once i start working it won't be for more than a few hours and daddy will be home with them. and i'm glad i had that experience because it makes me appreciate the tantrums, it makes me appreciate the daily grind of laundry, dishes, lunches, spills, tears, and all the little things, good and bad and sometimes hard things that make up our day. the hard things....bad naps, fussy boys, short nights and long days...i only have to think back to what i might be doing instead...and i am reminded that i am blessed to be home with them. i like being here for every little thing. even if it means missing out on other things like nice trips and a bigger home or fancier car. even if it means scraping by each month. i'm blessed to be home and i feel blessed that i can work too. i'm with a great company that is flexible and i only have to work a few hours a week. it works for us. it works for our family.

i missed them. today was our first day back. just us. and it felt good. waking up to their smiles. baking muffins for our camping trip. rocking lucas to sleep for his morning nap. going on an outing to the park. coming home and having lunch with daddy. oh how i missed lunch time with hubby last week! tantrums and all...i missed them.

last night i watched caleb sleep (door open, light on again...) he was smilng in his sleep. big ol' dimples and i had a flash back to his baby days. those dimples big on his chunky cheeks. it was yesterday wasn't it? now he's almost three and it is hard to remember those baby days. i forget them most days. but every now and then a memory comes back and i smile. i'm glad for these days home with my boys. i wouldn't change a thing.

here are a few pictures from today after church....the boys were much more interested in digging up dirt and looking at grass...no interest whatsoever in smiling for the camera that's for sure!

 always searching and exploring their world.

 hm...grass...

 hey mom.

 inspecting a flower

 2 seconds of sitting still before trying to escape!

 does not want to sit/stand still for a picture! at all!!

well it was a lazy but okay weekend. we are all feeling a little under the weather :( (well not dave, yet....) so we just hung out at home for most of it. i really hope these colds leave quickly! so that we are all healthy and happy for camping next weekend. we've been looking forward to it for so long and i want the boys feeling their finest! lucas was up a ton last night, and poor dave was up with him, i was so tired and out of it i didn't even realize he was not in our bed until it was too late!! i felt so bad ;( what a guy! i sure do appreciate him! thankfully we all took a glorious nap this afternoon and hopefully the rest of the week will be restful...i hope.

one more day of training! can't wait to be done so i can be back home with my lil guys.

so it has been quite difficult taking pictures of the boys together now...caleb is on the move...lucas wants to be on the move... (and pretty much is...creeping, almost crawling, rolling, and just wiggling everywhere) so...i tried my hardest to take a couple pics of them together this weekend...as you can see...didn't really happen so much!! oh well...once i'm back to playing on the floor silly i'll have ample picture time :)

that's pretty much it. i'm hoping to take a video of lucas going every which way soon! and i have a hilarious but sweet at the same time video of caleb singing himself church hymns to sleep. i wish i could just run the video recorder all day of them and their sweet and silly sounds.

Hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend :)

the weekend is here :)

very.corny.family. pictures. below....

for family members who want to drool over some...go on, if you wish ;)

 just look at those 4 lil pearly whites!

 barefeet. love it.

 i swear i do feed them real food!!

the matching tshirts are from gap. thanks angela for the adorable tshirts! my cousin always sends the boys such adorable matching shirts and then i have to pull out the camera to snap pics of them.!! we are enjoying a relaxing weekend after quite a week....i missed them!

Happy Weekend ;)
                                              

catch up

what.a.week! sadly i don't have too many pics. i missed my little guys this week! i was in training for work all week (and thankfully only half days!) so that i could come home and nurse lucas before his nap. he is only nursing 3x a day now so it worked out great that i could train in the morning and come home for the afternoons. but man. such a brutal drive!! my training was in san jose. 2 hour commute total (1 hr there and back). it made me so grateful that dave only works five minutes away! anyway, once i am on a case i'll only be 5-10 minutes away too and only a few hours a week of working. my mom came up to watch the boys. thanks mom! and i know they had a great time together!! so here are the few pics i have from the week ;) i sure did miss my little men!

 farmers market.

rodeo parade.

the marching horses and marching band with drums were caleb's favorite from the parade!

the boys were in awe the entire time watching the parade.

 coming home from farmers market. gosh i love those chunky legs!

 enjoying the parade!! we even ran into some good friends and enjoyed their company while we watched the parade ;) gotta love small town hollister.

bedtime stories. mr. seahorse, by eric carle. caleb's flavor of the month.

can't have quality time with nani without some nani naps.

i am so glad the week is over. one more day of training and i'll be back to pajamas on the floor playing silly barefoot in the backyard, stories and songs, and everything else with my lil guys! it was hard to be away, but harder to be driving so far away! i actually enjoy the training (most of it) and enjoy work (for the most part) since i only work a few hours a week and dave is home with the boys while i go. it actually worked out great when i did it last year after caleb was a year. they are so flexible and it is nice to get away for just a few hours and make some extra for our family so we can afford to take some trips or what not. but i have a new appreciation for commuters who have to commute that far on a daily basis and mamas that have to work full time and even part time!!! wow. i know you get used to it...but....it would be hard.

i'm happy the weekend is here and i can be with all my boys again :) i'll take dirty diapers and temper tantrums over that 1 hour each way commute any day!!

all ready for camping! we'll work on sleeping inside the sleeping bag this week....one week and counting!!!!

a father was born

almost three years ago. happy fathers day dave!

this year is extra special. celebrating fatherhood as a father of two now ;)

watching you with our boys makes me fall in love with you all over again. you are an amazing father. may you always know how much we love and appreciate you!

these boys have the best example to learn from...and i know you learned from the best too. Happy Father's Day to our dads!

 You continue to teach us, support us, encourage us, and love us; as we muddle our way through parenthood and life and love. I hope all the fathers have the day they deserve! Rest and relaxation with those they love!

A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society."

-- Billy Grahm

                                                             Happy Father's Day!!!