1st birthday celebrations part one.

the birthday celebrations began on Saturday for lucas. it was a perfectly sweet day celebrating with family for his first birthday. more celebration will continue on his actual birthday with dave's family this weekend. we ate. we cup caked. we laughed. and we enjoyed this little man and the celebration of his first year! we love you lucas gregory.

 birthday boy

 and brother

 family

 more family and friends

 your first cupcake tasting

 you liked it!

 more family and friends

 

 

 more cupcake love

 we love you lucas!

soaking up this very 'last' week of your very first year of life as i remember that a year ago I was carrying you in my belly! I can't believe how fast time has gone. We love you Lucas!

Happy Friday!

play time.

A friday post never gets old for me :) the weekend is here. We'll be starting the birthday celebrations for Lucas this weekend with my family and then next weekend on his actual birthday with dave's family. My heart hurts a little that we've already reached his first birthday. His first year really went by so fast.

our little choir boy. seriously...all day i hear the sweet sounds of music coming from him; singing and strumming his guitar while dancing. he loves him some music.

happy, happy friday!!!

to my littlest man.

i just finished up lucas' first year video. it is long. it has music. and it makes me cry. (so please excuse the sap i'm feeling teary eyed tonight.)

 my sweet lucas,
how is it possible that you'll be one in just a matter of days? this year...it went too fast. each day that ended put a heaviness in my soul knowing the day was over and you were one day older. not that i don't rejoice with each day and your learning and growing, but oh lucas, it is hard to bottle up each moment with you knowing all  i have left is memories. i pinch myself thinking wasn't it just yesterday you gave your first, beautiful cry to the world. didn't we just hold you in our arms for the very first time? your sleepy newborn days, they were yesterday. your little toes, your nose, your hands, they are chunkier now. but wasn't it just yesterday they were so small. your first year of life seems to have passed by with such sweet and happy memories. i wish we could re-live every single day all over again. these days with you and caleb, they are so very precious to me. you bring such joy, such peace, such happiness to our life. you are such a sweet baby and i can hardly believe you will soon be a toddler. i love you and your brother so much. to the moon and back little man.

love, mama.

brother bugs and brother loves.

phases and changes.

                          hugs and love.

brother boys. love them.

we are entering a new 'brother phase' it started with lucas' crawling. he's into everything now and that includes big brother's stuff-all the time. poor caleb, can't catch a break. i feel as though i spend most my day helping the boys find the words (mostly caleb at this point) to work through a disagreement.

here's what it sounds like/looks like (although i'm sure most can imagine)

lucas-speedster crawl beeline for caleb's toy (that caleb is oh so nicely engrossed in and playing with)

caleb- usually 'no lucas that's mine!" or he moves away or he slams lucas to the floor.

it is nice when words are used or body is moved....the slamming to the floor, hitting, face grab (in the not so friendly way) those need intervention.

so while sometimes i laugh (of course so they can't see me) or smile inside at how these brother boys are learning every day how to negotiate and learn strategies and spend time with another (often times buggin' brother) i also sometimes have to let out a sigh...and pray nap time comes soon.

there are so many sweet moments.

caleb singing to lucas and lucas clapping his hands to the beat and laughing

the first greet of the morning. caleb's excited chatter to lucas. lucas' smiles and laughter and kisses and hugs

stories read together. tickles. chatter. laughter.

there are so many of these moments. caleb is so gentle and loving-most of the time :)

but lately there have been a lot of squabbles. it is tiring. but they are learning, everyday.

we're in a new brother boy phase. i know this is just the beginning. lucas will be walking soon and then he'll really be in caleb's business.

i just have to laugh and think about how it was growing up, how i had two little sisters following me around everywhere. it had to get annoying (although to be honest, i don't really remember the annoying as much as i remember the loving), I know caleb gets annoyed, but oh how he loves his little brother. I know God hand picked these two brother boys of mine for each other. And oh how I love them so. 

tidbits

long naps for the boys and my case cancelling yesterday because the lil guy was sick gave us an impromptu park adventure. the air was still warm, but it didn't deter us. we walked as a family and were graced with a quiet park. we were the only ones there. and so caleb climbed and chatted. lucas watched and smiled. dave pushed and chased. i snapped pictures and soaked up our family time together. it was the perfect way to end a good monday.

swings

hanging on the monkey bars with daddy's strong arms near to catch

the curve of a smile watching big brother play

 

sweet sleep.

life seems to have settled down for a bit, finally. we have our appointments all set up for caleb later this month and next. lucas is sleeping like a dream 12-13 hours at night now without waking up and needing us in the night, when we lay in him in the crib at night he doesn't cry at all anymore, he just curls up with his little lovey friend. this is a wonderful thing. i love sleeping and i love that both boys are finally sleeping so good. but i'm still nervous at night that one or both boys will wake up...we're still in new sleep land with lucas and caleb's been doing great with the door closed once again :) (why did we wait so long with the door again?? his melt downs basically stopped as soon as we closed his door at night and his nighttime sleep went back to normal! he is totally back to his happy self! oh sleep. caleb you have always needed your sleep!! even if you fight it the most!)

 anyway.. i'm about ready to click the 'register' button for a half marathon in october in morgan hill....after all the back and forth it is easier to do a race locally instead of down in slo so that the boys can be there and we don't have to try and figure out night time camping/hotel reservations, yadiiya. so the training is um...kinda starting. the longest run i've with my running friend is 4 miles (since our 10k)...so hopefully this weekend we'll do our long run and our 3 mile runs will hopefully get faster. work is good for dave. and life seems a little more smooth sailing once again. it finally feels like summer for me. hot. sprinklers. barefeet. warm summer mornings and evenings. i've been relaxing in the swing outside while the boys play. we're done with all the apts. and busy-ness that that the past couple months have given us. and it is nice. oh so nice. for however long it lasts, i'm thankful for the peaceful place we are at right now. all those hard, busy, stressful, tearful moments of the past couple months make me so appreciate these calmer days.

weekend in ipics.

so here are some weekend snapshots-all on my phone with instagram-cause i'm obsessed (this is sometimes the best way to capture those little everyday moments)

starting with friday. oh how i love friday. daddy walks in the door, home from work, and the weekend begins.

 

i love how the boys are perched on their daddy. leaning in-listening. a little hand on his knee, a toddler hand on his chest. little moments like these make my heart melt.

 so these are flowers i picked from our yard (grown by green thumb hubby of course) i'm not sure why i haven't picked our flowers and put them in a vase before. but this is something i need to do more of! dave on the other hand has done this for me in the past-picking our flowers and displaying them on the table for me. they always smell so good and look so pretty!

 like i've said in the past, little man is crawling everywhere-but now he is also standing everywhere too. i'm glad this kitchen can be used by two little boys now. it is a nice distraction for them while we're in the kitchen baking or cooking!

 and i just love that lil bum.

 we did some yard work this weekend (and by we-i mostly mean dave-and two little 'helping' boys. i mostly kept lucas from hamming his way right into dave's pant legs and tools while caleb observed and kept up a constant chatter. i mean-i weeded a few plants if that counts) anyway dave took out a 'weed' tree/plant that was gigantic and a huge, overgrown 'not so catching for the eye' plant. in their place he planted a grape tree (to hopefully grow onto the arbor for some patio shade) and some pretty flowers. caleb watered those flowers today, while lucas tried to ham in again, and i watched from my perch on the swing.

and this was my favorite morning moment. lucas woke up from his nap so big brother went in to greet him with smiles and 'hi lucas'  plus some chatter. he brought over the Ottoman to stand on-of course. and they had themselves a 'brotherly convo' while i spied from the doorway and snapped a couple pictures. i think lucas was trying to get his hands on caleb's raisins.

so we had a nice, hot, mostly relaxing weekend. it continues to be hot but i don't mind so much. we spend the early mornings outside before it gets too hot and then the boys spend the afternoon napping in the cool house. i'm ready for a hot week. water, pool, sprinklers, bare feet, (early morning runs-because i die at the 5pm, 90 degree runs) and cold watermelon and crunchy grape snacks. the week is looking good.

happy monday :)

mud puddles

Happy Friday!

we've been slipping outside every morning this week. 8:00am sunshine. and then we hole in the house for the (very hot) afternoons-cooling off during nap time. yesterday daddy came home from work and turned on the sprinklers. caleb assisted and lucas splashed his way through every mud puddle he could find. i love long summer days with my boys. and now the weekend is upon us. we'll most likely be found in the backyard-finding mud puddles.

i finished my very good book (that after thinking it through i don't think i already read...maybe just a book by the same author?...excited to have found another author i like!)

a funny story about friendship with some twists and turns. i was really pulled into the characters, especially the main character. this would make a great book club book! (especially if it is all females) i love stories on female friendships and can't wait to read another one of her books :)

i hit the jackpot and am reading another really good book this week. two great books in a row? i never get this lucky in finding great library books back to back! can you tell i'm excited?

i just started this book today and am already hooked. it is based on a true story, and is another beautiful story on female friendship and strength! (another great book club book) it mostly takes place in Afghanistan and sheds light on the women over there and their amazing strength! more info here

we have a birthday party and some backyard weeding activities this weekend...hoping to wash our cars too. it may not sound all that exciting, but i'm excited to just be home and relaxing this weekend!

off to do some happy friday skipping, sashaying, and twirling, with a dance or two thrown in there too :)