Nothing beats a M&M and chocolate chip cookie!

Always doing something!

We are always doing something! 

We don't want to let life pass us by. 

Although we enjoy sitting back and relaxing, we also enjoy getting off our duffs and being active! 

Today we played in the snow for a moment before hopping in the van and going to 

breakfast at the brand new Corner Bakery in Princeton! We are super excited there is one semi-near us now! Its attached to mall with a Pottery Barn Kids… which is a big deal to me because I am a BIG fan of their products! We just so happened to hit the floor model sale and now the kids have a little people table and chairs! Then I discovered this was the best mall in the whole world. They have every store I love, yet its a tiny mall and doesn't have any of the stores that attract people that make me frightened…

So we visited Barnes & Noble and got a couple new books for the kids. I am on a book kick, I've been buying new books like crazy… tired of the old ones on repeat. Shopped through Gymboree, Janie & Jack, baby Gap… my three favorite kid stores! And then I saw Anthropologie… 

 I am a mommy… I can't always be fashionable… but I got the head nod from the hubs! 

Sometimes I find something on sale in that magical place that makes me feel like I might still have a good style. Today I found a pair of totally awesome equestrian style pants. And apparently I am pre-baby size again, yay! ...Now when to wear them? 

We stopped at Whole Foods on the way home & got some of their amazing fruits & veges, some sockeye salmon (a weekly meal fav), Quinoa, organic milks & ice cream, and bread. Love that store. 

Once we got home & ate, it was more play time outside for Lucy while Daddy shoveled snow! 

 I love her snow boots! 

 "My hand is cold Mamamamama!"

shoveling the sidewalks

On the other side

I want him to be walking, but I don't. I know he can, he just uses the walker as a crutch. He could do it on his own, but he hasn't made that decision yet. He is still happy to crawl if he can't use the walker, and that is just fine. But he can't crawl around in his snowsuit, so inside he stays while Daddy and sissy play outside. 

 well there is one place in my house with good lighting… too bad there isn't enough wiggle room in the entry to set up a studio! 

 Sweet big sister bringing him snow and putting it on the door :)

 The grass isn't always greener on the other side Charliebird…  I don't want you to grow up! 

But I guess that is why I take so many stinkin' pictures… so that when I feel sad about my babies growing I can look back on them. And probably cry a little. But mostly be happy to know I caught so many moments - almost like freezing them in time - to visit again in future years. 

King Cakes: Part II

Jessica brought Lindsey (a new arrival to base) over and we made King Cakes! 

 Jessica's Aunt had her friend make these aprons and sent them up here for us- 

how incredibly sweet is that?!? I might need to order a mini one for lucy! 

 My taste tester! 

Snow Storm "Janus"

It was incredibly cold outside, especially at our house which is by a field and hilltop area. We walked back behind the neighborhood where some schools are and it was lovely! Totally bearable and fun to play in the snow! 

 Lucy is so light she just flies on the sled!

 Mommy's ski goggles fit her just fine! 

 The sun was so bright, and with the snow everywhere to reflect it, 

I was really being challenged with my "all manual all the time" motto! 

I got this after four tries. And I am happy with it! 

 Me and the little Chuckmeister! 

 Heading back home- you can see Blake's breath! 

"milk my sippy cup"

Just another day. Hanging with my peeps. I love them.

P52: Week 3: Low Light

This was an extreme challenge for me. I had to crank my ISO all the way up and make sure my camera didn't budge. This is hard to do when photographing a toddler who likes to wiggle. The opportunity only presented itself when I couldn't grab my remote trigger, but I am happy with the two photos that did turn out. And I plan to redo this once I finish making the perfect play teepee (I finally have all the items I need to make it! Now to get off the computer and sew!)

 She was in the closet, watching PBS kids Kratt Brothers

What a man, huh? And he is mine, all mine!!! 

He reads his "Triathlete" magazine right before bed. Always training!

The light from the screen worked out perfect for one of my low-light photos

It's good to get out of the house!

I can't help but feel disconnected, up here away from family. And today, in this moment, I do feel a wee bit lonely. Not to mention winter is my least favorite season. At least the fog cleared up and I was able to take the kids on a jog (that turned into a walk because I am getting out of shape with this yucky weather! I don't do treadmills... Or daycare)!

I am definitely thankful for this stroller, best money EVER spent!!!! I swear!

Creative time

Even though it sometimes can be messy and I often fear she will cut her hair if I get distracted… 

she LOVES and NEEDS to have time to color, cut, use stickers etc. 

 I love seeing her little chubby toddler fingers trying to hold the scissors :) 

Not sure what her middle finger is doing there... thats a daddy-ism! 

P52: Week 2: Smell

For week 2's project I was trying to think of things to photograph that filled my mind when I think of the word smell… but as a mother of two in diapers… all I could think of was "stink"… 

Alas, I knew I wasn't going to take pictures of dirty diapers…

And all the thoughts about smells made me want flowers and homemade bread!

Ice in the River

While driving Lucy to the doctor this morning, I noticed ice in the river as we passed over it. It seemed surreal- large chunks of ice and snow broken up and slowly floating down the river. And it was 60 degrees outside and we live in jersey- this looked like Alaska! To me, at least. Even if only for a few moments. I made a mental note to pull off to the rest stop on the way home and snap a photo. For a few brief moments I soaked in this view. They're were what looked like thousands of seagulls resting on the drifting ice. I wish I had my big camera and big lens- but iPhone panoramic will have to do!

Gumbo

A lot of effort goes into making the perfect pot of gumbo, but it is totally worth it! Best thing to eat on a yucky winter day! 

His other job

On top of being the sole provider/father/husband/triathlete he is also a mechanic of cars and specialty bikes. Basically- he can fix anything. I should have taken the picture when he had it completely disassembled and was working on the internal streamlined brakes... 

{...Memory Lane!…}

Holy trip down memory lane! I just started this blog yesterday and am up to 40 posts. I have today and the past 19 days complete… and then I started looking farther back. Like two years. Why does time fly so quickly? And why do I change my hair so often? And dang, Blake has lost some weight! I miss Texas! It's tough being in the military & it's tough getting out. Its tough going from two paychecks to one but it is TOTALLY worth it! I don't know if I can go to sleep tonight… I want to make a book of every year of our family memories and that means a lot of back tracking! And not to mention it is another place to keep photos in case of a computer crash! If I can, I will go back and add to the blog as often as possible. I want as much and I can remember about both pregnancies and both baby's first years!

Jerky!

We LOVE to cook. And I am a big fan of baking. 

And sometimes I even make something just for my hubby. 

100%. 

Because I love him. 

Baby boy is 13 months!

Today, our little man is 13 months young! His sister was already in her big girl bed by this age, but he gets to enjoy the crib a little longer since we haven't started working on #3 yet. In the meantime, I decided to finally take a decent photo of him playing in his crib, right after he woke up from his nap this afternoon. Love this little cutie!

And he loves to play on his little rocker. I love my happy little man! 

Snack Time

 

 Yes, we do snack time super easy sometimes. Charlie is a big fan of Cheerios now & I am glad because he was eating those easy melt-in-your-mouth baby puffs way to quickly!

 

He has the top 2 and bottom 2 front teeth and doesn't have any molars yet- but the plain cheerios are working perfect. Oscar cleans up anything that falls on the floor immediately. Apparently he likes Cheerios too (unlike bananas)!

These days won't last forever

My babies are still babies. They have their milk right after their bath and before story time. I usually hold Charlie for bottle time, it's really the only time he will sit still any more. But they looked so cute sitting there just the same... Drinking their milk and watching a quick cartoon.

Charlie takes a bottle of whole milk & formula mixed before bed. He isn't a fan of milk in a sippy cup yet, although he will go for juice or water in one.

Lucy has a sippy cup of whole milk with a chocolate vitamin and mineral powder mixed in. She is still topping off the growth scales at a far-from-hefty 1st percentile for height and weight. I'm not worried about her tiny size and neither is her doctor. She is just a tiny little girl and will be a petite little lady one day… but she does love her chocolate milk! After her bath every night she tells us "Lucy get dressed and drink chocolate (pronouncing it "cocklet") milk." Then when its bedtime she says "Lucy not tired; Lucy not go a bed!!" But she love's story time & has the original Madeline book memorized.

Fire Truck

It's a little bit big for him to actually pedal yet, but he loves playing with his new car! 

Naturally, his favorite part is the steering wheel! 

Cup of {snow}

Another Snowy Day

The setting sun hit Blake's new transportation bumper just perfect. Nothing like a Jeep, no matter its age. He had a little too much fun driving this before the roads were completely plowed.  

The only thing that poked through the snow in our garden was the monkey grass. 

I don't like that we can see through all the trees now, except for the fact we get about 45 more seconds of sunlight at dusk. We aren't that far north, but for a southern girl, we are too far. I miss Mr Sun. Cold places are great to visit and go skiing, but not my ideal living climate.

We got 8-10 inches, and where the snow drifted a bit, it went up to my knees! 

Our home… or where the military wants it to be anyways. You can faintly see the geese flying in a V way up in the sky. 

I was about to walk back inside and saw my reflection, with the colors of sunset in the background, and thought it would be kind of a neat photo! 

Snow really is beautiful, I wish it would stay longer. And if we didn't have rain or ice that would be great! Snow makes the cold seem more worthwhile.