<---- Gender Poll

It's up! Finally! I was having major issues with the poll from blogger so went to a third party poll place. You have exactly ONE week to guess what we're gonna have before we know!

So take a moment to vote on the left side bar what we should expect: more loud and rowdy battles or perhaps cozy, dandy parties this time! 

{source}

W's Birthday

William's actually birthday fell on a Tuesday. I wanted to still do a little something special so I made one of his favorite meals {starch and cream overload}, got some balloons and dessert, and randomly created birthday party hats during naptime {in an effort to avoid laundry as well}. Ezra and I also made him birthday cards the week before. 

We had a silly good time.

 Ezra called them our 'dessert hats' and we may or may not have worn them on and off the rest of the week because we liked them so much. They were a hit.

And here's some Theo photo love. In case you worry about us neglecting him in pictures {or in real life for that matter...}. It's still hard at this stage...he's either napping or I'm wearing him much of the time I have a camera in hand. And have you ever tried to take a decent photo of your back?! It's basically impossible. ;)

Theo had way too much fun with W's balloons. It was super helpful for getting things done the rest of the week. ;) And if I could figure out this camera for low lightening or remember to button his onesie post-EC, I'm pretty sure these pictures would be stellar. {i kid, i kid}

Recently Purchased Pretties

So, I must confess...I'm not above retail therapy. I've been a very good girl up until recently on that front. We've already declared as a family that this year will be a fallow year as we re-build our savings, W focuses on his first year at the firm, and I caring for two little ones which includes a very dependent baby. That trip to Hawaii will have to wait until next year. So these were very small purchases, but fun ones nonetheless. I needed a little bit of fun...fun pretties in the mail will do the trick.

I'm looking forward to some packages on our doorstep these next few days...

 

I bought this fabulous card for W for love day. When I saw this, it just screamed perfect! The pipe, the hat, and the saying...fits W to a tee. :)

Theo told me he'd rock this hat if I bought it for him. So did I hesitate to press purchase? Heck no!

We're cooking up something memorable for Mama Judy's 70th birthday so these vintage style envelopes will come in handy. I'll have some extras so I'm excited to mail to friends! How fun to send something in one of these in place of a boring ol' white one.

This delightful little pair proves that sponsorships really do work. Ha. It's my first purchase off someone's blog--there was a 10% discount so I thought "why not?"

What's brightening up your winter?!

This is why we don't have a lot of toys...

Because Ezra always ends up turning everything else into one. 

While we were cleaning out the garage, William found this sun-visor-thingy and E started playing with it immediately. Then he brought it into the house as we were finishing up and William joined in on the fun. W would roll it up and then throw it in the air which would make it open as it glided down.

And E would laugh and giggle and then go fetch it for W so he could do it all over again...and again...and again.

He also turned our bassinet base {before it went into storage} into a few things...

a stool, gymnastic parallel bars, and a "baby walker".

Both of these two "toys" kept him well entertained for much of the day. And me laughing! :)

Christmas Through The Years

Yet another year next to our tree!! This time we're all sporting our footed pjs from Gma!

Did you know you can actually get adult footed-pjs? And yes, this will be W's second pair. 

Just last year...

And the year before that...

Who knows who will be added in the years to come! :)

And don't worry, it's not just you...we both look quite tired come Christmas morning.

Bro-mance

E totally has a man-crush on his Gpa...

The other day, E got in big trouble because he broke my car's rear view mirror off AFTER I told him not to hang on it. We were upstairs getting ready for his nap and he was crying for his grandpa so we called him. E told Grandpa all about what happened. He finally calmed down after taking with him and took his nap. Now, whenever he gets into trouble, guess who he wants to talk to?!

Poor Gma....

;)

Recent Butterball Goodness

Cuz there's never enough Buttery-ball goodness out there in the world...

Seriously.

Future class clown? Maybe.

But it's certain that he's got lots of personality at 2.5 months. He's already making me laugh out loud. ;)

Unpublished Status Updates

Do you ever find yourself thinking in the moment, "I could use this as a status update" but then never get around to actually doing it?  Well, I do sometimes. I could have used these this past week...

It's cute when he can zip his pjs. Not so much when he can zip my make-up bag.

The clean clothes basketS {yes, plural} have been there so long, they left dents in the carpet.

Becoming quite the multi-tasker: making dinner while downloading pictures while blogging a post while shhhh-ing a babe back to sleep. Phew!

Boxing up maternity clothes is always bittersweet.

There must be something wrong with me if I'm already daydreaming what months Baby#3 could be born in while bfing my two month old.{see above status}. I'm blaming it on the fact that Theo is already way too big in my book.

 Recklessness is: buying a 4 pound bag of chocolate chips at Costco.

{unintentional} Smart thinking is: having a date night on daylight savings...just in case, he decides not to sleep in.

It's official: I cannot keep up with the toddler bread-crumb trails anymore {you know, the ones where they get into something and leave a trail of stuff behind}.Thinking about investing in a street cleaner to do the work for me.

Celebrated the cold weather with not one, but TWO warm fires this weekend! Thanks, Lumberjack W.

E's accessory obsession and winter mix well-- you'd think we're living on the east coast by the sheer amount of things he adds to his wardrobe any given day.

4 Weeks

Here's what four weeks of being a bit too house bound will make you...

...a bit on the chunky side...

...a bit on the stir-crazy side...

Ever so slowly, we're making small trips here and there...

Toddler Migration Patterns...

astonishingly unpredictable,

surprisingly unstable, 

and keeps you on your toes...and bending over ALOT!

{Footnote: all migrated items pictured here where placed by 19 month old hands and no adult intervention was taken until after said pictures. None should be considered a dramatization, but pure reality.}

Happy Monday!

Silliness is...

...waking up in the middle of the night to W grabbing my face. Apparently, he had a dream about needing to catch a falling object and my face was right in line with his hands!

...Ezra moving down to one nap...that's an hour and a half long?! Definitely silly and definitely not happening...

...having the most horrendous, gooey booger hanging from my nose while on a walk and laughing at the fact that this would be awful if we were still dating. Good thing W came to the rescue with a napkin...

...Ezra pointing and yelling "nigh nigh" at a lady who had her eyes closed during worship at church...

...some lady named Mary Lou who must have moved onto our street recently and has her address confused. We're getting ALL of her mail, including the official UPS notification of her change in address. Now, if only we could find this lady, give her all her mail back and tell her to change her information all over again...

...Ezra falling asleep in his car seat with his finger up his nose...hmm, I wonder where he got that from...

Making This Possible

iphone text conversation this weekend...

William Swenson to Dave Arterburn--

Thanks for making this possible.

Dave Arterburn to William Swenson--

Thanks for making this possible!!

Mama's 'Hood + The 4th

On the 4th, before the family's afternoon party, we ventured out to see her old stomping ground.

First stop was the Saint Ann Cemetery where her grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and sister are buried.

{her parents site}

We also went to the house that she grew up in since she was two on 2717 Kingwood St. Her father also passed away in this house when she was eight from a heart attack and liver problems.

It happens to be for sale {for a whopping $125,00} so Mama Judy got bold and knocked on the door to see if we could see inside. The owners were home and so sweet to let us in. They had been living there for over 35 years and actually asked Mama lots of questions they had been wondering about the place over the years of remodeling and living there.

We saw Mama's old room.

The only bathroom for all ten of them {during her time; could you imagine?!} that she hated to clean as a chore.

After that, it was time to head home and hang out with the family for the 4th.

E's 4th outfit

 The kids played while some folks napped.

We did lots of eating and learning more Cromie history

 {Love this man!}

And lots of silly fun..never a dull moment in this family!

{colored icing turn lips red and blue}

That evening we played with sparklers and fireflies while watching the city's fireworks.