Thursday Ramblings (Nice)

It's been cold.  Toe freezing cold.  The only place I want to be is under the covers.  Sadly, the children don't see the genius in this plan and insist on playing.  Which means I am often sitting on our cold floors.  We could all use some run around outside time.  That would be nice.

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There is sometimes a moment in the evenings when I am sipping wine, making an interesting salad and listening to the Jack Johnson station on Pandora when all of a sudden the guise of being a stay-at-home mom slips away and I remember being someone else.   The reminder is nice.

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We have some super silly little boys living with us.  They laugh and dance and tackle and feel things so deeply.  One sings and the other bops his head along.  One laughs and the other laughs louder.  It's nice to hear.

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We talk a lot about good and bad choices.  About bad guys and nice people.  We read books and watch shows and tells stories and Milo always wants to know who is nice.  I try to point out the nice things he does rather than focus on the not so nice.  Lately there have been so many not so nice behaviors that need to be corrected.  I try to remember to accentuate the positive.  It always feels nice to have the people we love notice the good we are trying to do.

Leo's First Book

Using the blog posts and pictures from here over the past twelve months, I just created a baby book of sorts using Shutterfly.  Take a look!  I have these books from Milo's pictures, too, and we all enjoy looking back through them.  The changes of the first year are especially fun to see month to month.  I'm not a scrap-booker (all that cutting of straight lines isn't for me), but this is a special way for me to preserve memories of my boys growing up.

Back to It

After the loveliness of Christmas with our family, Leo's birthday and my birthday we were almost all celebrated out and ready to get back to our more usual routine.  Plans didn't quite work out that way though because Chris had a conference to attend out of town.  I had the boys for two nights on my own.  I am proud to say I survived and also found a refreshed respect of single parents.

To cap off the fun winter season, the boys and I joined Chris in Sandusky for one night and two super fun days at Great Wolf Lodge.  I wasn't sure if our boys would fully enjoy the water park and hotel, but oh my did they ever.  We all had a wonderful time splashing, sliding, kicking and turning into little prunes.  Both boys loved the water and all the sprayers, pools and fountains in the water park.  Milo also really liked the onsite arcade where (with a little help from the kind employees) he won a Space Angry Bird.  We all enjoyed story time with the talking tree and exploring the resort.  Every detail at Great Wolf is set up in mind for families with young children - our waitress at dinner went out of her way to locate a fruit cup for Leo (okay, so there could be healthier food options) and every other employee we encountered was also helpful.  Best of all, it was a sweet time of reconnecting with our little family in the midst of a busy season of life.  I can't wait to go back!

It's time for back to reality though - back to the gym, back to cleaning the house, back to eating good for us foods at home.  Less special events, fewer cookies with every meal.  More scheduled naps.  And just as much love to share.

My Birthday

Leo wasn't the only one who had a big birthday lately.  I turned 35(!) on January 1.  While I am okay with aging (as if there is any choice), this birthday being so mid-lifeish did throw me for a bit of a loop.  I can't say I am in my thirties anymore.  Since I still seem to think of myself as being 27, this is a bit of a surprise.  However, I love my life and where I am at in it.  With that in mind, I chose to celebrate the day and maybe push my boundaries a little.  Just like when I turned 30 I signed up to run a 5k.  Chris was a sport and signed up, too and then surprisingly after mentioning it on Facebook three other friends decided to do it as well.  This made the morning so fun!  

My parents took the boys for the day (and they had a wonderful day) while Chris and I headed downtown for the race.  We knew it would be cold for the race but the path was also snowy and icy.  This made the run a little slower and more treacherous than planned.  It was so icy the organizers actually shortened the course to be 2.6 miles rather than 3.2.  I didn't realize this at the time and was a little disappointed when I did learn this later.  I was thinking I had a rock star (for me) time of finishing in 32 minutes.  In reality, the time was so great because we didn't do a half mile of the course.  Regardless, I am proud of myself for doing the race and it is still an accomplishment.  Plus a great way to start off the new year!

After the race we headed out for a long brunch complete with a few adult beverages.  Being out with friends, Chris and my brother in the middle of the afternoon with no children around was such a treat! We then headed back to my parents to continue the celebration with the traditional pork, sauerkraut and cupcakes.

It was a fantastic day.  I don't think I could have asked for more:  family, friends, good health, fun exercise, good food and many many laughs and hugs.  With a start like this 2013 and 35 is going to be a great year! 

Me crossing the finish line

Leo - 12 Months

Somewhere along the way over the past 12 months, Leo has turned from a sweet sleeping baby into a cuddly energetic toddler.  Nobody is as surprised by this as I am.  I was showing Milo the pictures we took at the hospital last year - of the tiny, red faced, worn out from birth little guy.  Neither of us were quite sure it was actually Leo.


Leo who is now a super fast crawler and a pretty good cruiser.  Leo who now shows his excitement by kicking his little legs.  He is often excited.  Leo loves balloons, dogs, cats, toys, reading books and his people.  Oh how this sweet boy loves his people.  He gives the best hugs complete with resting his little head squarely on the shoulder of the huggee.

We've heard him say a few words here and there - banana, book, mama, dada - but he mainly communicates by pointing, grunting and shrieking.

It's not all fun and hugs around here though, Leo is still not sleeping through the night and his nap schedule is all over the place.  He also shows absolute no interest in weaning.  So there are a few challenges ahead.

Before we tackle those issues, though we had a lovely time celebrating Leo's first birthday.  The day started with a balloon hanging outside his door (this is also the best tradition ever!), which was met with shrieks of delight and lots of playing by both kiddos.  We had oatmeal and bananas for breakfast (favorite foods of Leo) and the played.  That was followed by several hours of trying to nap and finally actually napping.  Later in the day friends came over for playing and cupcakes.  Leo was so happy to see his friends and then also to see Uncle Tony who came over for dinner.  We finished the day with taking pictures, hugs and books.  A perfect way to celebrate our 1 year old! 

Leo's First Birthday in Pictures

2013 Intentions

I've been hit or miss over the past several years of making resolutions in the new year and then seeing those changes through.  It seems like I keep going back to the same resolutions, but don't see those through (clutter, less yelling, more exercise).  Still, I think this is a valuable exercise to make these goals and set intentions.  So on New Year's Eve after the kids were in bed, Chris and I opened a bottle of cheap bubbly and sat down with a notepad to come up with this list:

2013 Intentions
Move?  (OMG)
Continue to learn more about our camera and take better pictures
Keep working out a weekly part of both of our lives
Listen more, yell less / be more understanding / show more patience

On my personal list are these additional items:
Spend more meaningful time online, but less overall time (be more active and less passive)
Get back to the mat (again)
And again with the clutter