Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from Elliot & Emmett! ♥

I hope you had a wonderful day- we sure did! Despite the rainy forecast, it ended up being the warmest day we've experienced so far in Michigan (61 degrees!). We were lucky enough to open our home to three sets of the boys' grandparents this Easter for a little feast and an egg hunt outside. The only person missing was their Grandma Karen (Aaron's mom), who lives in Florida, but she was here in thought. The boys were showered in love, candy, and gifts. It was wonderful to see everyone get together and get along for the boys' sake. I know it wouldn't be possible in some families but our parents have just gone above and beyond since we've moved back home.

After everyone parted ways and I got the kitchen all cleaned up, I spent the majority of the afternoon working out in the garden, getting it ready to hopefully plant fruits and vegetables soon! Elliot and Emmett worked alongside me using their new pint-sized garden tools (an Easter gift from Poppy & Mimi). If there was a competition for the most rocks in a garden, I think ours would receive a gold medal. The weeds and dead crops seemed to be competing for some sort of award, too. There's nothing that makes me happier than getting my hands and feet dirty in some nice, rich soil... something we missed in the last several years while we lived in Texas and Arizona. I never thought I would say this, but I missed the smell of real dirt! It was even warm enough to finally open up the windows and fill our home with fresh air today. It sprinkled a little in the evening so the house now smells like a mixture of fresh rain and burning cedar- simply lovely.

Tonight, I am not regretting our decision to move back to Michigan one bit. Of course, finally being able to play and work outside helps a little! Next winter, I may be singing another tune ;)

A few pictures from today:

Blowing bubbles with Mimi.

Emmett (cheeks stuffed with candy) opening presents :)

Lulu found & ran away with this egg. :) She turned 9 weeks old a couple days ago.

Happy 4th of July from my little firecrackers (a little late)

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Aaron had the long weekend off, so I've been trying to simply enjoy our time as a family and I've been to busy during the day (and too tired at night) to blog. I really need to learn the fine art of blogging while still spending time with my family, or better yet... blogging about all the great things we've been doing together! I've been a bad blogger :(

Well, we had a FANTASTIC fourth of July! It was, probably, the last time we will be celebrating America's birthday IN the United States. So we made sure to have the best day possible! First, we all dressed in red, white, and blue- like any good 'Merica family, right?? We drove out to Round Rock, which is only supposed to be a little over an hour away... but somehow we ended up driving all the way to Austin. It was worth the drive. The festival/fair in Round Rock was really fun- Elliot got to ride a "choo choo train" and he got to follow goats and chickens around in the petting zoo (he couldn't understand why they weren't more interested in the feed!). It was hot- even by Texas standards- so we ended up leaving the festival for awhile and checking out a huge mall in Cedarville (more driving). We returned to the festival just in time to watch the sky divers! My boys were totally fascinated watching them twirl and twist in the sky. Emmett couldn't stop pointing and clapping and I don't think Elliot quite knew what to think about "flying" people- I mean, only "airpwanes" and "hewacoppers" can fly, right?

The fireworks were delayed by over an hour, and didn't start until about 10:15, but they were well worth the wait. The firework show was far more impressive than the one we saw last year at Freedom Fest at Fort Hood. Elliot and Emmett were both totally entranced and Emmett clapped and said "ooooh!" after every. single. firework. :) I was a little nervous how Emmett would handle all the noise and staying up so late, but he was a little champ. In fact, both of my boys were absolute angels the whole day. I sure am glad they loved the fireworks and festival so much, and that they spent most of the day running around. They were so tired that they both fell asleep and slept through what was probably the slowest moving traffic jam I've ever been in (and I've been in some horrible rush hour Chicago and NYC traffic before) along with the rest of the ride home. I'm not kidding guys, our car didn't even move for over an hour, and we didn't make it out of Old Settlers Park until after midnight. During our drive, we nearly hit (but missed) a kitten and a raccoon, and we saw over 25 deer on the side of the road. Someone was looking out for us! My babies didn't end up back in their own beds until after 2AM.

Aaron and I realized, at about 1AM, that this was our very first time keeping the boys out so late- and after talking about our sweet boys and the day's events for a bit, we both agreed that God blessed us with such well behaved children. We can always take them out in public without worrying about meltdowns, tantrums, or really any trouble at all, and that makes our lives so much easier. I sure do love those little men!

totally enthralled

one of the sky divers

 

Elliot trying to coax the chickens into eating some of his feed- and Emmett feeding them grass through the bars! ha.

Elliot walking with his best friend, Trenton- and no, we didn't prompt them to hold hands. :) So sweet.

Our day could have definitely ended up less-than-thrilling, what with all the extra driving, the extreme heat, etc- but with toddlers, you just have to roll with the punches, right? Thankfully my boys didn't feel like throwing many punches that day ;)

I hope you all had great 4th of July's too! What did you do?

Merry Christmas!

Isn't it amazing how much changes in so little time?! This year, we are celebrating together as a family of four, in the sunny state of Texas.  Last year, Elliot had just turned one, I was 16 weeks pregnant with his baby brother, and we were back home in Michigan freezing our bums off. And two years ago? Well, that was possibly the best Christmas of all.

Christmas day 2010 was an extremely special day for us. We received the best Christmas gift ever- being able to hold our precious baby boy in our arms for the very first time. We had waited nine days. Nine days might not sound like long to you, but it felt like an eternity!

I feel so blessed to have two healthy, happy boys this holiday season.

Merry Christmas, everyone ♥

3 days!

I can't believe there are only THREE DAYS until Christmas!

... I finally finished and mailed our holiday cards Thursday. I know, I know... about time. They will probably not arrive before Christmas. It's the thought that counts, right?

There are currently 38 presents under our tree. Yes, I just counted. That is not including gifts from Santa. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for Christmas morning. I can't wait to see Elliot go crazy tearing through all of that wrapping paper! He won't know what to do with himself or what to play with first!

Enjoy your Christmas weekend! 

Aaron is lucky enough to be off until Wednesday! I hope you all are similarly blessed.

Fab Friday

The fabulous thing about today is that both of my boys are finally, finally feeling 100% better. Just in time for a very busy, fun-filled weekend!

No more coughing, runny or stuffy noses, red puffy eyes, disgusting diaper explosions, or fevers in THIS house!

My bloggy Samantha from Where the Green Grass Grows made the three hour drive down for the weekend. Since she is a Thirty-One consultant, and 31's products are amazing, I'm hosting a party at my house tomorrow afternoon. We're using the new spring catalog, which is full of all kinds of bright prints and has a whole new organizational line {um, hello!} so that should be awesome.

He destroyed an ornament the other day. Luckily it was one of the cheapies I use soley for pictures

Another fabulous thing?

Sunday is Elliot's second birthday! 

I absolutely cannot believe that my handsome little man will be two already. Where has the time gone?! What happened to my tiny little baby? I'm seriously having a hard time wrapping my head around it.. but ready or not, his birthday is coming! And so is his birthday party! Sunday he will be having a Mickey Mouse themed second birthday party. He is obsessed with Mickey so I can't wait to see his face when he sees his cupcakes, balloons, and all the other decorations.

Naughty almost-two-year-old got into one of the Christmas presents the other day, too.

It was one of Emmett's presents, though. 

... and he made up for it by enteraining baby brother for quite some time so I could get some serious cleaning done!

Okay, I'd better get going. Lots to do in so little time! I'm also hoping to squish a few holiday photo sessions and Christmas crafts into this weekend, too- and I have a blog design to finish! Lots on my plate. 'Tis the season! I'll leave you with another festive photo of Emmett.

Christmas Countdown

There are only TWO WEEKS until Christmas. Can you believe it? I've always loved the holidays because there are so many wonderful things to do together as a family. My mom is a Christmas fanatic... I definitely got all of my christmas spirit from her. Christmastime was always a very joyful time in our house. 

All these presents under the tree already... and Santa hasn't even come yet!!

I want to create wonderful memories that my boys can look back on when they get older, too. With that in mind, I decided to do a Christmas countdown this year. Since there are only two weeks until Christmas, we will do a different fun activity together every day until Christmas morning!

1. Make a gingerbread house

2. Drive around and look at lights

3. Introduce Elliot to the classic Rudolph movie {my favorite}

4. Decorate sugar cookies and give some to friends

5. Go see Santa

6. Make  personalized ornaments

7. Mail our Christmas cards

8. Make homemade cookies, using one of my mom's recipes

9. Take pictures of the boys in Santa hats

10. Make a handprint wreath

11. Make a delicious breakfast/casserole for Christmas morning

12. Make special thankyou cards 

13. Read a Christmas book

{I left out one day for Elliot's special "Happy Birthday" post.}

Another instagram shot of our tree.

Baby sleeping through the night = more posts for you.

Guess who has been sleeping through the night? 

Yep. You read right. My darling Emmett has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now. Not only that, but he's also been waking up late- sometimes as late as 10am. 

What, exactly, does this mean for you, my neglected readers? Well... more blog posts, of course! I'm not going to lie. For a few weeks there, life with two under two was getting a little... shall we say, tricky. First of all, my husband was really starting to struggle with some anger and PTSD problems again. Elliot was still barely talking, so we had problems communicating, which was leading to more and more tantrums. Balancing  keeping all three of my men happy, and also still keeping a clean house and cooking phonomenal meals was getting too be almost too much too handle. Almost. 

But thennnn... Emmett started sleeping through the night, Elliot started speech therapy and is therefore learning to communicate more effectively, and my husband finally sought out the professional help that he needed and is now back to being the happy, loving, carefree man that I married.

So I guess you could say life is pretty good for me right now. We've been getting into the holiday spirit! I'm a Christmas FREAK, so, honestly, it would be really tough for me to not be happy this time of year.

...to be continued. :)

Welcome home on Veteran's Day!

"As we express our gratitude, 

we must never forget that the highest appreciation 

is not to utter words, but to live by them." 

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

This Veteran's Day, I had the pleasure of photographing one of our dear friends coming home from Afganistan. 

As I watched all the soldiers embracing their loved ones, I felt a little catch in my throat, because I remember when, not so long ago, it was ME in their shoes, at the airport, waiting for that moment when I would finally be in my husband's arms again.

These lovebirds were seperated for 200 days. That's 200 days that they will never get back. It sure is great to see him home safe and the two of them back together!

Our friend Warren was lucky enough to come home early, but others were not so lucky. My husband, for example, was in Iraq for 18 long months and then South Korea for 12 months. Luckily, he is now non-deployable, but he still struggles with PTSD and various side effects from his brain injury. 

Life is short. Let's remember to thank those who give up weeks, months, and even years to fight for their country. And, of course, those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom by giving their lives for our country.

Next time you complain about who was or wasn't elected president, or our government, take a little step back and think about something. We are LUCKY to be Americans. We live a life of freedom that many could only dream of. Without the brave men and women fighting for our country every day, we wouldn't be free. 

To all soliders, past and present:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

... and God bless you all.

"There is a pride most will never understand. It is a series of late night phone calls, I miss yous, see ya laters, dress blues, lots of tears, endless prayers, care packages and love letters, countdowns, homecomings, best friends, dog tags, skype dates: a military thing most will never understand." 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Elliot says, "HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!



Hope you all are enjoying your day! We're all wearing our green and are having a cookout at our house to celebrate with our friends. :)

Christmas recipes!!

Blame it on the holidays, or the little one growing in my belly, but I have a SERIOUS sweet tooth lately. So I thought I'd share some of the recipes I want to try this Christmas season!

Peppermint oreo meringues:

Source: nestofposies-blog.com via Jess on Pinterest

Cake Batter Cookies:

Source: chef-n-training.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

Mint chocolate cupcakes:

Source: annies-eats.net via Jess on Pinterest

Little Christmas tree cookies:

Source: bhg.com via Jess on Pinterest

Peppermint Bark:

Source: domesticgoddessadventures.blogspot.com via Tina on Pinterest

Swirl Cookies:

Source: ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

One word: YUM!