couldn't love them more

{sweet snuggle moment captured post-bath, pre-jammies.

Little buddy loves to have his back scratched these days}

I'm still not sure how I got so lucky to have these two boys in my life. Sometimes I wonder how it's possible that I keep on loving them more and more. But I do.

Now just so I don't end with such a mushy post- a funny story behind the precious photo above:

It had been one of those days. The crazy, busy, exhausting, all accompanied by a whiney child kind of day. The kind where I tell Travis that as soon as he gets home from working out, the boy is all his- I was done. Well apparently I threw in the towel too early because I brought him up from his bath to turn him over to his daddy and come back two minutes later to find them snuggling on the couch.

At first I was kind of bugged. I was the one who had been through the crazy day with him but yet daddy is the one who got the reward of snuggling (such is the life of the mom, right?). But I quickly realized the moment needed to be captured, grabbed my camera, and smiled as I took pictures of the two loves of my life.

we may have a problem here...

Why he insists on sitting 5 inches from the TV is beyond me. During his TV entrancements, I constantly pick him up and sit him on the couch, only to turn around a couple minutes later to find him right back here.

So question for you guys...how much TV do your children watch? Be honest. Before I realized it, Beck's obsession with "minnie" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and "co-co" (Chuggington) got a little out of control. He was bringing me the remote and asking for either one all. day. long. I tried to nip that pretty quick and yes, he threw a couple tantrums when I told him "co-co" was all gone, but there has been major progress happening.

I realized part of the problem was the example I was setting. I tend to have the TV on randomly during the day while I'm working just to have something in the background. Once I stopped having the TV on, he stopped asking to watch his shows. It's not completely non-existent. A mom's still gotta have the TV as a babysitter sometimes for dinner time and shower time, right?

I've been feeling pretty good about only having one episode each (of "minnie" and "co-co") daily. That may be too much- I hear everywhere that kids arent' supposed to watch TV at all under the age of 2. To me, that's not realistic though. He still wants to read books more than sit in front of the tube, so that makes me feel better :)

I couldn't resist

Try and tell me you don't want to reach through the screen and pinch those cheeks right now?! This boy has the squishiest bum ever. And check out those saddle bags...equally squishy.

You may be wondering why the nakey bum picture. Well, buddy boy decided to do his business in the bathtub this morning. So this was while the bathtub was being cleaned out so that we could clean him for the 2nd time. Gotta love it.

and, he walks!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, our buddy boy is finally a walker! He took his "first steps" months ago, but has been so stubborn at actually making strides to "walk". I guess it had to be on his timeframe (he's 16 months!) because last week it just clicked and he's been walking more and more everyday! We're so proud :)

winter retreat

I've never really been a fan of the New Year's holiday. I'm all about a fresh start and making new goals, but the whole watching the ball drop and staying up til midnight just to say "Happy New Year" hasn't ever made much sense to me. In fact, before this year, I couldn't remember the last time I stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve. It's ok, you can call me lame. As many of you know, there aren't many things that I'm willing to sacrifice my sleep for :)

This year's holiday was different though. Well, I still wanted to go to sleep come 10 o'clock, but I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday. Our good friends invited us up to their incredible cabin for the weekend. It was a perfect wintery retreat. The cabin was gorgeous, there was tons of snow, and being in comfy sweats all weekend put the icing on the cake.

It's hard for me to admit this, but Beck's Papa might just be his favorite person. Ever. More than me, really. It's darling though- because my dad eats. it. up.

Snowshoeing was definitely the highlight. We're talking about trudging through 2 feet of snow. Awesome workout, yes, but the scenery was literally breathtaking.

No, I didn't post this picture so you could see me in all my non-makeup, hair recycled from yesterday glory. I posted it so you could see my frozen hair. You see those greyish looking hairs? Yep, my hair is frozen solid (literally!). It was that cold.

Thanks Forbes for the awesome getaway!

just the beginning

This is what I get for encouraging the use of a spoon!

I realized today that this is the first of many times I'm going to have to let go of my need for clean and let my boy be just that- a boy. It's not going to be easy for me. When all he wants to do is play in the mud and look for bugs, I'm just going to have to sit back and watch him explore his world.

I guess letting him go crazy with some yogurt is a baby step :)

labor of love

Next time I have the brilliant idea to take on a huge project right before Christmas, someone please ask me to think twice.

It actually started a couple months ago while sitting in church (or should I say walking the halls) with a certain wiggly toddler, realizing I needed something to help entertain him or else we just might end up inactive. I had a friend that had made a really cute quiet book for church, and had seen several different patterns roaming around the internet. I found one on etsy that I loved and decided to see if I could convince my best friend to make one with me. Well she agreed (apparently she's crazy too!) and we began this project together.

There were hours upon hours spent cutting out millions of paper pattern pieces, hours upon hours cutting out the felt that went along with those pieces, and that was just the preparation! Honestly, after that it was much more enjoyable because you could actually start seeing the finished pages come together. But that didn't mean that there weren't plenty of hours spent hand embroidering words or sewing on little buttons, clouds, and zippers.

Whew. Just thinking back on it makes me tired. It was a ton of work, but guess what, Beck loves it! And it keeps him quiet on our laps for more than 5 seconds at a time, so that's all the validation I need!

Yes, it was a ton of work. But in all honesty, I had fun making it and I'm a teensy bit sad it's all done. Hmm, I think I need another project. Any ideas?