Just For Fun

This little guy cracks me up. He figured out that if he made a face on the glass, it made his face feel funny (and made his mom and his brother laugh) so he kept doing it all afternoon.

Why?

Why Not?
Look at this face!
Someday soon, I'll post about what a little stinker he's being lately. But dang it, I can't get upset when he is so cute. Like when he climbs on top of the kitchen table, stands up, and laughs triumphantly.
And he's only fifteen months old, people. I see prematurely graying hair in my future....

Nate and I took some pictures today, for his Valentine's day cards. I am thinking about doing some pictures of him with a little Valentine's greeting, rather than buying those dumb character Valentine's Day cards. Does that make me a bad mom, that I'm not letting him pick out his own? Maybe we should do both...?

Also, he's figured out what he wants to do for his birthday party (other than take all his friends to Disneyland). It's going to seriously rock, and it's an idea that I'm actually excited about, and can be done relatively inexpensively. Thank heavens.

Anyway, I just love this little man. Every day, he is growing up more and more, and slipping away, a tiny piece at a time. Well, okay, that is a little dramatic. But I do know how quickly time passes, and before we know it, he will be all grown up. He tells me all the time that he doesn't want to grow up and get married "because I want to live with you forever." It melts my heart, and I tell him that he is welcome to live with us as long as he wants. But then I quickly tell him that someday, he'll meet someone special that he will want to marry, and he'll want to start a family and live with his own wife and children. The first time I told him this, he got a worried look and asked "Can I never see you again if I get married?" We talked about my parents, and Adam's parents, and how we can see them whenever we want to. We just visit. He seemed to be calmed by that. I also said that, if we're super lucky, we can live in the same city and see each other all the time. Nate really does have a tender side to him, and I walk that line of nurturing it and squashing it. It's a delicate balance, because I know the end-result of doing one or the other too much. I want to maintain a balance of letting him have a compassionate, sensitive side (his wife will thank me later, I hope) and a manly, independent side, too (she'll thank me for that, too). Do any of you other Boy Mommas understand what I'm talking about? Anyway, it's something that is on my mind constantly. I guess I'm a little over the top, huh!

He's got his first wiggly tooth. It's not yet "hanging on by a thread," but it doesn't bother him and it doesn't bother me that it's been loose for awhile now. I don't think it will be able to hang on too much longer, but we'll see.....

(In this picture you can also see his bling, which cost just about the same as the down payment we placed on our first home. Thank heavens for modern dentistry....blech)

Dr. Murd

Can I just brag for a minute?

Adam recently took the Board Exam for Family Medicine Residents. He always rocks on these kinds of tests, but this one was head-and-shoulders-above-the-rest-good.

He scored in the 93rd percentile nationally among the residents who took the test.

Paging Doctor Murd, there is a message for you.
YOU ARE AWESOME AND WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

P.S. It is likely that he will be accepting patients in a private practice in less than 18 months. Since he is going to be the best doctor ever, I would advise you to get on the waiting list, pronto. :) To be added to the list, send a check for $10,000 and/or a gift card to Anthropologie.

Well, Here I Am. Nice to Meet You.

Adam worked on Saturday, and the boys and I had a rather good Saturday: in the early AM we cleaned the church building, and then headed to McDonald's with some friends to play in the Playplace. We came home at about lunchtime, had a group nap, and then had a couple hours of doing absolutely nothing productive. I had a shower in the late afternoon, and then Adam called to see if we wanted to join him for dinner somewhere. Well, actually, the conversation went like this:

Adam: "Hey, I'll be home in about an hour. What's for dinner?"
Me: "I am not cooking tonight. So whatever you choose to fix for us, is what's for dinner."
Adam: "Isn't there a Chili's near our house?"

And so Chili's it was. We met Adam in the parking lot, and as he was getting the kids out of the car, I said, "Hang on just a minute, I want to put on some makeup." Adam was all like, "You look fine. We're at Chili's. It's not like we're going to see anyone we know."

So I got out of the car with my fresh-from-the-shower face.

Then I heard Nate exclaim with great glee: "AILYNN!!"
Turns out his friend and her family had just finished dinner and were leaving. So I had a little conversation with them, thinking, Yeah, right, Adam. We'll see no one we know.

After a little polite conversation with them (we don't know them well, but I wish I did! They are super nice), I heard Adam audibly gasp. (I guess that for me to hear it, it had to be audible. But whatever)
And then he said:

"Dr. Tingle! What a coincidence!"

Dr. Tingle, as in his boss. Dr. Tingle, as in his boss that I have never met. Oh, and his darling family as well; his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby. Whom I have never met.
So tonight would be the night I could meet them. With no make-up on. Which isn't a big deal, I guess, but I'm not as cute without makeup as most people. You all know me, and you know this. I look a little worn-down and tired without it. So, I may be making too big of a deal about it, but I had to laugh and say to Adam: "Yeah, babe, we won't see anyone we know."

Sunday's Piece of Heaven

A beautiful day and time outside with my sweethearts.
Aidan's kissable cheeks.

Soft, cuddly fleece outfits from Carter's.

New Photoshop Actions from The Pioneer Woman.

It's been a good day.

Saturday's Piece of Heaven

A trip to the grocery store and fresh Diet Coke
I'm easy to please...

Thursday's Piece of Heaven

Meds for both boys...who spent the last week siiiiiick. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights, we got a total of like three hours' sleep. It was awful. But antibiotics are gonna make everything better! (Let's hope so, anyway) The sad part was that this is Adam's vacation week and all we've done is take care of sick kids. Really sad.

If you've received our Christmas card, this picture looks a little familiar.

Personally, I cannot get enough of it.

It currently is displayed in four of our home's rooms. It is precisely the way that I want to remember this little slice of my life, two little boys who love each other very much and for whom I would do absolutely anything.

I'm starting a new photo-a-day thingy. A lot of people do it at the beginning of the year, especially photographers that want a challenge to take a picture every day. I'm going to try to do it, wish me LUCK!
I'm not doing it totally traditionally, though. I've got a little name for it. Each day I'm going to complete this sentence with a picture:
"Today's piece of heaven is......"

Well, today's piece of heaven is the picture above. Check back tomorrow, *hopefully* I'll have another one for you. I'm also going to switch up my blog, make it more purdy for ya. And my terribly neglected photography blog is getting a makeover too... soon, soon.

NO WAY This Can Be True!

A Christmas Story for a New Generation

Hello 2009!

Happy New Year To You!


OK get ready for a photo dump of our Christmas break. This is mostly for our family who weren't able to be with us, but the rest of y'all are invited to wade through the photos, too! :)



Christmas Day

My sister Ali and her *new* husband Jed (they were married in the summer!)
They got to spend their first Christmas amid the craziness of our home, what a treat! ha ha

My brother Jeff, thrilled that he got a tie. :P

My not-so-little sister Angela. In a few short weeks she'll be driving and dating.
Aggghhh!! Where did the time go?

Jeff again, sorry for the blurry photo, but you get the idea

Nate says: "Thanks, cousin Eli! I can't wait to put this Lego City together!"

Santa brought Aidan his favorite toy of the day: a truck with two little cars to transport
(very close second was the 18-wheeler with a billion hot wheels cars from Nana and Grandpa...can you tell what he's "into" right now???)

Aidan with the mounds of Christmas behind him :)

Jeff and Angela :)

Playing Mexican Train with our new dominoes. I won both games, but don't worry, I didn't rub it in too much ;)



San Antonio Trip
The weekend after Christmas, we packed up and headed south to see our beloved San Antonio!

Nate at our classic stop on the Riverwalk...the ice cream store.
I can remember going here a lot, on dates and after dances and with some of my best friends. It was fun to take him there to see it.

Adam and Emily on the Riverwalk

What is a trip to San Antonio without pretending to be a tough cowboy? (And yes, Jeff bought that hat downtown. He makes a good cowboy, no?)

I thought that this Vintage action in Photoshop fit the mood perfectly. Angela and Jeff.....

Jed and Ali....aren't they a darling couple? We just love them.


Playing with Christmas Toys





Saying Good-bye to Nana

Chuck E. Cheese's

I'd told Ali that I'd won on this game before...hit the jackpot of 200 tickets...and then told her I was going to do it again. Well, I did! I won the jackpot again! Must be luck or incredible skill ;)

Aidan's favorite ride at Chuck E. Cheese. He'll ride this over and over again and loves it! It takes your picture and they always turn out so funny. Best 10 cents we ever spend!


Northpark Center "Trains"

Each year one of the malls in Dallas puts together a train exhibit, to benefit the Ronald McDonald house. You walk in, and are surrounded by model trains that run past so many fun scenes. I hadn't been to this exhibit since I worked at the Williams-Sonoma in the mall (which was about six and a half years ago) and it has changed and developed and grown so much since then. It even has its own store space now. So cool, and a lot of fun, even though Nate wanted to continually remind us that "Trains are NOT my favorite thing." Point taken. But still an awesome thing to do.

Traditional Christmas tree pictures

Christmas Joy

Okay, I hate to admit that I have a favorite gift (everything I received was fabulous, really) but every time I look at this Willow Tree statue that my sister Ali gave to me, I get teary-eyed. I've never seen this one before, and I love everything about it. I love how the little baby is reaching up to its mother, and how they are all turned toward each other. It reminds me of what is most important in my life, and what a significant role a mother plays in shaping her children into productive and contributing and loving adults. It is just so sweet, and exactly how I would want to remember this time in my life, with my amazing two little boys who bring me so much joy. I am so thankful to be a mother.