8 have been GREAT!

Happy 8 months to our

semi serious

yet curious & mischievous

bright eyed & bushy tailed

constantly wondering what in the world is going on

pudgy little peanut!

Beanie man:

You decided to commemorate this milestone with your very own set of 8 pearly whites...that's right, you now have one tooth for each month...and that's a mouthful (trust me!)! Crawling??? That's old news! You are onto pulling up and figuring out how to move yourself around upright. You need to be moving and exploring and grabbing and chewing constantly. It is just about impossible to dress you (I read a little thing equating dressing babies to trying to get an octopus into a sack...and that is what I picture every time I try to stuff one of your arms or legs into a sleeper before you slip away)! You squeal with delight and also when you get angry and it cracks us up both ways. You can pull out quite the 'tude! Your laugh is still this hearty chuckle that you reserve until just the right thing strikes you and when I hear it, I just couldn't love you more! You still aren't a great sleeper but we are working on it...letting you do a little crying and seeing if you can self sooth in some way, although it is excruciating for me to let you cry. Good thing daddy is strong! You have been eating a few bites of table food, and doing great with that, so I am sure before we know it baby food will be old hat! You follow me around the house, crawling in a dead sprint to get to me and I love feeling your chubby little arms wrap around my leg as I try to cook dinner or change the laundry. It's nice to have a buddy as I do house work, although I will admit I don't get much done with you around! As every month passes I am trying not to linger on the way you are less and less my baby and love all that a new month of getting to know you brings! There is LOTS with each new one!

I had to take these pics in your little hat, I ordered this for you right about this time last year while you were in my belly! You wore it for your first pictures and now it is almost too small and time for Spring! It hardly seems possible that we already have to pack it up! But you are growing and seeing your infectious toothy grin get bigger and bigger is so fun!

You are loved little man! Happy 8 months & many many many more!

Brothers Gotta Hug

Whew! It's been a long Friday!

And some Fridays and Mondays and pretty much the other 5 days of the week have potential to be like that. The boys "woke up feeling bitey" to use a phrase from one of our favorite books "Doodle Bites" (thanks Auntie Andrea!!) and so between accidents and spills and well, you know the usuals, Ry and I are basking in the sitting, resting & quiet...our very own "adult swim" if you will, of Friday night! But I started looking through my phone and caught these little shots from the day and couldn't resist posting them. After a really hectic day it is such a good reminder to see these sweet flashes of the boys and recharge for more shenanigans tomorrow! Enjoy!

Our wake up snuggle time in M & D's bed:)

The opening Jeep ride of the season! When we got this for Griff a few summers ago, I totally imagined a sibling sitting in the other seat...ahhhh, vision realized today and it was glorious! Brother's hugging and cruising...

not too much better...

Ok, Mommy & Daddy time may be right up there too!!

Oh the Places We'll Go.....

I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, I do not like them GRIFF I am!

Lucky for us and every elementary school teacher in the US, it was Doctor Seuss's Birthday this week and G man's school did some celebrating! When I was teaching I loved doing this and LOVED even more seeing Griff get to participate in the Doctor Seuss silliness! I am totally a sucker for reading my kids books that I read as a kid and Doctor Seuss books fit that ticket of coarse! Although Griff usually is not super interested in my detailed history of who, what, where, why & when I still think it's fun to share!

On Monday they had silly sock day and of coarse Sunday night at 5pm we were out at Target trying to find some socks that qualified as silly to a 3 year old. Apparently argyle doesn't fall under that category and neither do plain tube socks....soooooo we went to the lady's section where I offered a few striped and polka dotted selections....to which Ryan put the ole kibosh on. So I wasn't left with much choice. We scoured Target for something cheep we could glue or sew onto some white tube socks, and here is what we came up with my friends....

a 2 dollar pack of plastic frogs later we have....FROG silly socks.

Who wouldn't want gummy frogs sewn to their socks??!! He had a blast sporting these slimy friends to school with him! When he woke up he yelled, "YES! It's silly sock day!" So precious!

On Wednesday it was Jammie day!

So we put on some super hero jams and headed back to school! They had popcorn and watched "The Cat in the Hat" which was right up this little mans alley and he made a classic construction paper striped cat hat, which was broken the first stop we made after preschool! So we retired it to our art gallery in the garage.

In other silly news, Griffin has requested that I chauffeur him around like this....

He says, "mom, you drive around with my fire hat! That will be the best, don't you think??"

Now, how can I say no to that?

So we've been quite colorful this week! Haha! And even though Griffy wasn't so sure about the eating of green eggs, I may just have to get my food coloring out at breakfast time before the week is over!

Comments

Hi Friends!!

So, I have had a few family members tell me that they want to comment but the blog won't let them....and being the computer wiz that I am (hahaha) I think that I fixed it! So please COMMENT away! We LOVE to hear from you!!! If you try to comment and it won't let you, please let me know and I will look into it again!

Thanks for checking in with us!

Abbi & boys:)

Things that change.....

What is my small children.....

or anybody's children for that matter!:)

Kids aren't ever going to let you sit down and cozy up by the fire in one stage too long. When Griff got out of the tub last night I was really just taking him all in as he was running around with just his whitey tighties on and thinking...how in the world is that his big body already???

This was just him....

Awwwwwww tiny Griffin, you went away so fast! He used to yell from his crib..."Hey Ab" in the morning for me to come get him, so funny!

Now he is this...

such a "BIG boy"...a self title!

What hasn't changed is that he is still FULL of one liners and little ticks and Griffin "ness" that crack me up and draw me to him a little more with every day that passes. Since he was a babe we have always said "I LOVE YOU" pointing to our eye, than heart and than pointing to him on you! Today, unprompted he came running over to me and said, "Mommy, I LOVE YOU", pointing to heart first, than nose and eye and then to me. It was adorably not the right sequence at all and he added in the nose, but it was better than if he had nailed it. Priceless and sweet and so him.

I LOVE YOU too G man!

Guess Who???

Guess who yelled "MA" at me yesterday??

Yep, this perfect little porkchop!

Even Griff stopped in his tracks and said, "Hey....Beanie said mom! I want him to say Griffin!" It was cute! And even it if it was more just a random sound, he still gave me the sweetest smile ever when I turned around and acknowledged it and it still melted this little heart! I can't wait to hear it more!

Becoming Mommy Me

As I was working in some Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo into my hair for the third morning in a row I started thinking about life before little ones. Back before every square in of my life, my house and my heart was covered in Cheerios and Lighting McQueen cars and sticky finger prints and spit up....I mean there was a point in my life where I was actually on top of buying MY shampoo before it ran out...and it wasn't anything special or expensive, it was just mine. Now I am just thankful for the never ending supply of yellowy orange tear free shampoo that seems to be stuffed into every drawer in my house in travel size bottles (as if moms of small children do so much traveling)!! I have no idea where it comes from, but we always seem to have it on hand. Being a mom leaves little room for things that are just mine. I was prepared in part for the transformation that doing this job would be...at least I figured I was, since I had been obsessed with baby dolls since childhood and I ran kid camps in the summer and worked at a day care and babysat all the time and taught 2nd grade. I figured the trip from being a working wife to full time mom would be sort of like a walk across a small stream....a few rocks on the way but relatively a quick and easy trip to the other side. Some days are like that, flawless and lovely and sweet. And others it feels more like what the pioneers must have felt, already exhausted and run down, when they reached the Mississippi and realized that they had no other choice but to figure out some way to cross this daunting and massive body of water...turns out it 'aint just some bubbling brook and neither is motherhood!

This got me thinking about being a parent....becoming this whole other version of myself. If I could go back and prepare myself for this journey, even just a little bit, what would I say to ease myself into the transition? Is there anything you can say:)? Here's what came to mind as I was thinking it over, and since I am not yet through fully transitioning into "life as we know it" I think I may re-read it over and over to remind myself on the hard days and encourage myself on the good, what this is all about for me.

Dear Pre Motherhood Me:

You are about to become a mother. The position you have waited your whole entire life to hold. The one you obsessively imagined as you cradled your beloved American Girl baby Doll. The one you pictured yourself doing as you babysat and nannied your way through high school and college, and then added Ryan into the day dream some years later. The day is finally here when you will hold a sweet pink toed little bundle in your arms and call him your own. You will snuggle and hold and hug and dress him. You will pack him up in that adorable little car seat in the cutest outfit you have ever seen and tote him around to coffee and lunches and get together so he can meet all of your friends and family and neighbors and grocery checker outers. Everyone will tell you how cute he is and marvel at the miracle of his existence and you will just know that your baby must be the most adorable creature on earth. He will sleep soundly to your lullabies and wake with a smile ready for a new day.

....And yes, sweetheart I am here to tell you all of this is true. You think you have felt your heart "melt" at perhaps a really cute puppy or some sappy movie, but when you look down at your baby you will LITERALLY feel this sensation, heart melting like butter on hot toast. Your baby will be the sweetest, cutest, pink bundle of love you have ever laid your eyes on this side of heaven (and this will be true for each additional child). You will actually experience a kind of explosion inside from the adorableness of tiny toes or a sweet smile or the first time you hear MOM being called in your direction. You, a person who formerly would catch a spider crawling in your house in a cup, and set it free outside, would actually consider murder at the thought of someone harming this sweet soul that now resides in your care. You are sure there is nothing better than a newborn snuggle and then your baby reaches for you and then calls out for you and then hugs you and kisses you and then says "I LOVE YOU" and you resolve that each of these affectionate gems are just all treasure in the chest of motherhood and each is as priceless as the next. Each stage has something to wonder at, admire, stand in awe of and savor. The relationships in your life take on a new dimension...people that love on your kids become heroes, your parents...saints and life savors, your spouse is basking in this same baby love you are and sharing in this quest together deepens your marriage in a way you didn't think possible and the Lord is just a step closer in your heart as you can't imagine this angelic creature coming from anywhere but a most loving God.

And while all these feelings are absolutely real and wonderful they are not the only side of the story in motherhood. There is a side that is going to test every single idea on the subject you have ever had. It will stretch you (body and soul) in ways you had no idea you could stretch to. You will wonder where YOU went in between all the kid stuff that has filled every minute of your everyday. It starts from the very beginning. You know from TV and movies and such about the typical woes of pregnancy, so I won't brief you on those. It's after the arrival where things start to get REAL. No one ever tells you what happens to your body after you have a baby....and now that I am thinking about it, it might just be that it is one of those "bridges you cross when you get there" kind of things, so I'll just let you figure it out. But while you are waiting for your belly button to return to normal (much the equivalent of waiting for pigs to fly) you will be entering the everyday, and that is where things get dicey. Somewhere between wiping the spit up out of your hair and feeding that little milk machine you will wonder what has happened to you. Your sweat pants have taken a full time position on your legs and your high heels?? They have a fine layer of dust collecting on them as we speak. You will realize that as silly and strenuous as those observations from your boss seemed, at least there were check points, feed back and encouragement where as this new one rarely comes with even a thank you. You will wonder if you are doing things "right". You will sit straight up in the middle of the night and literally ask yourself...how many days in a row is too many to feed your babies mac n cheese? And what about vaccinations and organic food and did you paint the nursery with toxic fume paint and are you reading them the recommended number of books each day in order to produce a future college graduate? You will worry like you never have before. Anxiety will actually grip your heart about when to introduce dairy into your baby's diet. Big fat alligator tears will roll down your face as you realize your kids will experience heartbreak, just like everyone else and there is nothing you can do about them...in fact you will probably cause the first few. Your furniture will have slime and Cheerios and goo in every crack and crevasse. The beautiful tray you got for your wedding will get smashed onto the floor and you won't have money to replace it because you are trying to pay for "kid rock" classes and match box cars and all that organic food. You will have no idea what the latest tunes on the radio are, but you will sing quite the rendition of Yo Gabba Gabba's "Don't Bite Your Friends" most of the day. You will get all dressed just to get puked on.

You will lose your patience, your keys, sleeping in, going out, your privacy,

your sense of normal.

But, never fear. I am here to tell you that a new normal will set in. You will cherish memories of the days with just you & Ry, but then you will wake up some morning and in between you and that husband of yours will be 2(+) extra sets of feet, and all will be right with the world. Because you see, being a parent is the hardest job in the world (your doctor tells you so every time you go in for an appointment!) and you are doing it and for those 2 sweet smiles it is worth it. Dad once said, that anything worth having is worth working for, and that is more than true with parenthood. Sometimes I wish I had enough money to get a nanny to do all the hard parts and then I could just swoop in and read stories and play games and do the fun stuff. But the best and most beautiful things in life always have tough patches and brokenness and distress. That's how you build relationship and trust, and that's why the things you really had to work at look so darn beautiful and priceless. Being a parent will force you to grow up and your heart to grow out, and sometimes growing hurts, thats just life. It will force you to love more fiercely than you ever have before. And the most glorious thing about being a parent? That you really get Jesus more than you did before. I know it sounds cheesy but you do. You get why it would be such a sacrifice to send your son to die in a VERY tangible way. You get why he wanted to do it. You see why he loves us and forgives us and wants the things he does for our life. You are a parent now, and he is your parent...and we want the same for our children. Any experience in life that gives you that perspective is worth every ounce of hardship and effort you put in. Amazingly enough, he set up that way. And don't worry, YOU are still there. You still love all the same things and have all the same talents and love your husband for all the same reasons. Parenthood is just giving you the opportunity to adapt all of those things into a new situation and use your gifts in new ways!

So enjoy each step. Don't take anything too seriously. Cry when you need to. Love your kids like crazy. And remember to laugh, that will get you through....everything is temporary, like it or not.

-"Becoming" Me