5 years...and some big news

Aiden turned 5 last week.  I can't believe he is 5 years old.  I know everyone says it, but it's true, time is going by so fast.  In the fall he'll be going off to kindergarten, and while I am super emotional about that, I am also a very proud Mama.  Aiden is a sweet boy, and watching him learn and grow over the past 5 years has been a blessing.  I am so excited to see how he does with his next journey in life.  He's so social and loves school, so I am eager to watch him blossom even more over the next year.

We celebrated with family last weekend, and of course I had to have somewhat of a theme, so I went with mustaches.

We decided to forgo the "friend" party this year and instead took Aiden and two of his best buddies bowling.  Aiden has been asking to go bowling for a long time now, and I think it lived up to all the anticipation.  They had a blast and Rob and I had so much fun with the 3 of them.  Doing things like this for Aiden bring me so much joy.  

It was a good birthday.

Unfortunately, we ended the week with the stomach bug.  Brady got it first and then Aiden and I followed.  Thankfully, Rob stayed healthy and was able to take care of the 3 of us.  Brady is still recovering, he hasn't bounced back as quickly as his big brother.

And now, for the big news...

Yup, that's our soon-to-be new house.  We're so excited.  More on that soon...

Time to mourn

I know I normally don't talk too seriously on this blog, but it doesn't feel right not saying anything about what happened last week in Connecticut.  Myself, along with everyone else in this country are devestated.  And as a mother, I cannot even begin to comprehend what these families are going through.   It has felt like there has been a black cloud following me around,  and to know that it is their reality...there are no words.

I have done my best to avoid the news.  I have not watched one thing on TV about it, and most of what I read is through the interenet news or things people post on facebook.  I don't want to read the arguments about the politics of it at this time. Quite honestly, I have tried my hardest to stay clear of all of it.  Mostly because I don't want to consume myself with it,  and I have wanted to respect the grieving town and families.  But, in doing so, I have suppressed my emotions.

I realized something last night as I read the eulogy that Noah's mother gave at his service yesterday.  I need to let myself mourn.  These children deserve to be grieved over, their families, mourned with.  So, I finally gave in.  I cried for a long time.  I prayed hard for the families, I thought about the children and how similar they are to my Aiden.  I cried and prayed over my sleeping children.

Life is hard.  It's scary.  Being a parent is the hardest and scariest thing I have done. I know that these children don't belong to me, that they belong to God...but that is a difficult reality, and one that maybe I haven't totally accepted.

So, right now, I am allowing myself to mourn for these children and their families.  I am choosing to focus on them, to learn about them, and to read the wonderful things their families say about them.  I will think about the too short lives they lived here on earth.  I will will hold my children closer and thank God for every day I have with them.

You can read the beautiful words from Noah's mother and his uncle here.

Summer Update

It's true, the summer is almost over.  I have been terrible at blogging (as usual), but we've been pretty busy.

We've had a great summer.  July was filled with lots of time just hanging out, going to the pool, and just enjoying summer.

We had a great trip to Maine a couple weeks ago with lots of relaxation and family time.

Slowly but surely, we have been getting stuff done around the house too.  It seems like it has been an ongoing process all summer and there are still things that we are finishing up.  I'm hoping to share what we've done in the next couple weeks.  But, here is a sneak peek of a little kitchen redecorating I've been working on. 

We have one more vacation before we call the summer officially "over".  I can't believe Aiden will be back at school in a week and a half and we'll be back in the grind of things.  Although, I am looking forward to being back into a regular routine.  

Hope you're all having a great summer and are doing something fun this Labor Day weekend to say farewell to the summer!

Long update

I'm back with a long update since we've been very busy the past couple weeks.  I have been doing much better since my last post.  I had a rough couple of weeks, but things are back to normal around here and we've been enjoying lots of family time, which has been exactly what I need.  I have no house updates because I haven't had time for projects.  I have barely had time to keep up with laundry.  Life is like that sometimes, and that's ok.

Mother's Day was so lovely this year.  Last year we had just returned home from a trip out to California  and I had somehow caught an awful stomach virus. I was so sick.  I spent my entire Mother's Day alone in bed, so it wasn't the best day.  But, this year certainly made up for it.  I got lots of love from my boys, we went to church, and then back to my parents for the day.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I even got to take a nap with Aiden, which was probably my favorite part of the day.  Here are some pics we took before church.   

Silly boys...

 Love them so much

 Attempt at a family photo.  This is the best we could do...

Another special mom time was the Thursday before Mother's Day.  Aiden had "Muffins with Mom" at school.  It was complete with songs, crafts, and lots of love from our little ones.  I think I've mentioned before how much I love Aiden's pre-school.  We feel overwhelmingly blessed by his amazing teachers, the friendships he has made, and that I have made too with some of the moms.  He has one more year there and I think I will cry a river next year when it is over.  

Ready for "Muffins with Mom"!!

Aiden giving me a rose

Taking a quick pic with my phone

This past week was Aiden's last week of school.  Complete with the annual "Spring Sing".  Rob's mom works at the pre-school doing music, so she puts in a lot of hard work putting this together and it is always a special event.  It's hard to take good pictures, but there's Aiden singing his heart out.  

 Teacher Winnie and Teacher Jane

 Family pic!  Brady just can't take his eyes off his big brother.

The very next day was Aiden's last official day of school for this year.  Here he is ready to head out in the morning.

After the last day of school there was a school picnic at Wilson Farm Park.  The weather could not have been more perfect.  It was complete with relay races, popsicles, and of course, friends.  It was so much fun, we had a hard time leaving.  I'm sad to see this year come to an end.  We're looking forward to the summer with camps and lots of playdates with friends.  

I'll end the post with a couple pictures from yesterday.  The weather has been absolutely perfect here the past week or so.  We have been enjoying time outside and Rob's been working hard in the yard to get it ready for summer.  I came home from a run yesterday afternoon to Rob making dinner on the grill and these two hanging out, being silly.  Summer is hands down my favorite time of the year.  I'm so glad that it's starting to feel like summer and can't wait for all the time we'll be spending together the next couple months.  

I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend and doing something fun and relaxing.  

There's always tomorrow

I've had a hard day. I wanted to do a legitimate blogpost.

It didn't happen.

It's 8:00 at night. I'm exhausted, and quite frankly, questioning my capability to be a wife and mother. I just read this post and feel encouraged. I'm reminded of all the miracles God has done and am certain that he can bring me through a difficult day/week/month. So, I'm choosing to end today with positive thoughts of what tomorrow could bring. Thankful that today is over.

This instagram picture makes me happy. And I don't like a post without at least one picture.

I'm here

I am so sorry it has been a whole month since my last post.  I can't believe it has been that long.  Things have been a bit off around here recently.  Rob had to have some unexpected but minor surgery last week. He's fine, healing well, and will be able to return back to work next week.  We've been trying to make the best of his time home.  Lots of relaxing.  I've been a bit under the weather the past few days, which has put me in a bit of a funk and am looking forward things being back to normal around here.  

And, something to really look forward to- next week Rob and I are going away for a night to the city.  We planned it a couple months ago when we were making plans for my birthday.  I wanted to do a night in the city but really wanted to go to the ballet, which didn't start til the end of April.  We decided we would just wait for the ballet (I have the best husband), and at the time we didn't know all this stuff was going to happen over the last month.  So, it turns out, this night away couldn't come at a better time.  It will be our first night away from this sweet babe...

but, he will enjoy all the attention he will be getting from his Mimi and Pop-Pop.  

I have some posts to share, so I will be back soon.  I ended up getting the fabric for the living room curtains and love how they turned out.  I have to take some good pics to share.  

In the meantime, here are some pics from my phone of my boys over the past month.  Love them so much.

first Easter

silly

being cute

passed out in the car

B turned 7 mos last week!

Happy New Year!

I realize I'm about a week late on this one but, Happy New Year!  2011 was a great year, mostly due to the fact that this little bundle arrived.  

I was thinking the other day about the beginning of 2011 and how difficult it was.  When we found out we were pregnant in January, we were more than ecstatic.  But, the couple months to follow were rough.  I was sick with migraines, we had a scare with the pregnancy, we had a ton of snow that always seemed to happen on the nights Rob was working.  But, by spring, things were more than great.  And surprisingly,  it turns out I actually really enjoyed being pregnant in the summer.  Being due the end of September allowed us to travel to Maine in July and the shore in August.  And these past few months as a family of 4 have been amazing.  I am so in love with all my boys.  

I came downstairs yesterday morning to this...

LOVE!

2011 was a great year despite some rough times and I'm eager to see what 2012 brings for our family.  I'm not making any grand resolutions this year.  I know there are things I need to work on, areas where there is always room for improvement.  

So, here's to 2012!  Happy New Year!

Still here...

 Yesterday I wrote a really long post, with lots of pictures.  It took a lot of time.  And then just as I was about to publish it, I moved a picture and deleted the entire thing.  I cried.  I don't have the time or patience to do the same post over.  I'm upset at Blogger- it's kind of like we're dating and we're in a fight.  But, I decided this morning I would just get over it and move on.  So, I'm going to post some of the pictures and give a quick update.

Life with Brady seems to get easier every week.  We still have some seriously rough days, but overall things are better.  He's learning to nap during the day and go to bed around 7 every night.  This is making a huge difference with time we spend with Aiden.  Especially on days when I am with the 2 of them by myself.  Now that Brady takes naps for longer stretches upstairs, I can use that time with Aiden.  

It was unseasonably warm a few days this past week, so while Brady was napping I took Aiden outside to play in the leaves.  I sat under a canopy of yellow leaves and took pictures.  He got really dirty and had a blast.  It made me really happy.

One of the main reasons I love my new iPhone is that it is so much easier to snap pictures.  And it takes decent pictures.  The other day I was snapping away while the boys were playing on the floor.  

Brady is starting to get those chubby rolls, which I love!

Aiden loves laying on the floor with Brady.  

Aiden told me to take a picture of them making the letter "i".  

I don't want to just keep writing updates on here- I am hoping now that things feel more manageable that I can blog more.  I always think about things I want to blog about, but sometimes other, more important things require my attention.  

So, I am hoping to be back this week, but I'm not making any promises.  

Hope you're all having a great weekend!!