Friday, May 21

friday five

top five things i'm looking forward to for the summer
1) getting our yard landscaped!!!! omg, i'm so excited to get it done!! it's been a wish list project since we bought the house. "ground breaking" is on friday. our whole yard will be torn up, sprinkler system installed and we'll lay sod. hopefully we have some friends we can count on to help us instal the sod so we can save some moolah!

2) HeavenFest at the end of july! it'll be the third year we'll go. it's always such a fun time, great bands and amazing music in the colorado sunshine. we are still debating on bringing levi or not, but either way it should be fun.

3) alberda family reunion in montana in august. it's always so good to see our huge extended family, relax in the sunshine and get to introduce levi to everyone. that will also be our third trip up to montana, and probably our longest one. it'll be another long drive through wyoming, but we'll probably be up there for a couple weeks, and levi and i will be up their longer and just fly home (probably) so we'll get to spend lots of good time with all the people we have to see up there. good family and friend time, for sure!

4) more rockies games, camping (hopefully!), bike rides, concerts, fireworks, my birthday, swimming, picnics, laying in the grass, iced tea, flip flops, sunshine, green grass, blue skies and bbqs.

5) JUNE 14th. not only is that my sisters birthday (and i'm hoping she'll come visit around there) but i have a BIG announcement to make..... and that'll be the day i make it. please stay tuned to my blog for more information and the upcoming announcement..... i'm counting on all of my followers and friends to make this project a success!!!

Monday, May 17

montana

we took another trip to montana, we just got back this evening. both boys are in bed (levi for good, mat to prepare for his audit shift tonight) and i'm snuggly on the couch, catching up on the online world (aka: facebook and blogs :) i am amazed at what a good traveller levi is. we drove for 12 hours to get up to bozeman on wednesday, then three hours up to missoula on friday, back to bozeman on sunday and back home today. we spent over 26 hours of our trip in the car, and he rocked it! he had a few moments, but overall he does so good. the sooner we get him used to it, the better i figure! we'll be coming back probably twice more this year....he'll be an old pro in no time!

all the grandparents loved seeing him, and he got to meet his great grandma nancy and great bumpa (mat's dad's parents) which was great! auntie katie graduated from U of M, he was a trooper spending most of saturday out in the sun being passed from relative to relative. he did take a snuggly little nap on me during most of the ceremony, which was wonderful, but a little toasty roasty and sweaty :)
CONGRATULATIONS AUNT KATIE!!!!!

Saturday, May 8

dear levi: month 5

Dear Levi,
Where did my baby boy go? I have a little boy on my hands now. Your dad and I were just talking about how much you have changed over the last month. You are now holding up your head so good, so aware of everything and everyone around you. You are starting to get a little stranger/seperation anxiety....which means we'll start putting you in the nursery at church soon. You are the sweetest little nugget when you are in my arms and you look up at me in surprise, like you forgot I was holding you. And the noises you are making are amazing. You screech and squeal and shriek in delight, sometimes even closing your eyes to get that extra oomph of energy. Even when you are in the back of the car all by yourself, you still chatter up a storm to your Sophie. You are an amazing little boy, and I'm so lucky to be your mom. I can't wait to start feeding you "real" food soon, helping you learn to sit up, and hearing you use your voice even more. I pray for you every day, that you will be a healthy little boy with strong muscles and a loud voice.
You are amazing. Thanks for letting me be your mom. I love you,
Momma

Friday, May 7

first friday five

in an effort to post more often, i want to write some regular posts with somewhat of a theme. introducing, friday five. it'll be a short way to give anyone who reads this a little peek into my head on any given week. and one list that's been bouncing around in my head this week is.....

5 moms i NEVER thought i'd be:

1) i vowed i would NEVER be the mom of a thumb sucker. as someone who sucked her thumb until second grade, and had the jacked up teeth to prove it, i swore i would never let my child suck his (or her) thumb. i tried my darndest to get levi to take a pluggie.....but to no avail. last week i just finally gave up. he had reached the point that he would pull it out seconds after i stuffed it into his yapper, and stare at it like "what the heck mom?" then little thumbkin would once again reside in his mouth. and.......he's so stinking cute when he sucks it, especially when his pointer hooks over his nose

2) i honestly never anticipated being a stay at home mom. until i got pregnant and the possibility was looming, i just kinda had in the back of my mind that i'd still work, if even part time. especially with me going to school and pursuing my "career", i just thought i'd keep working. but, at the same time i knew day care wasn't really something for us. not sure how i thought that would work, but that's what was in my mind. NOW.....i can't imagine not spending all day with levi. some days are a little crazy and long and even a little frustrating, but, as my last post illustrated, he's capable of melting my heart and putting everything into perspective with just a simple giggle or slobbery formula-breath kiss. man alive i love that little boy.

3) i NEVER thought i would be a cloth diapering mom. NEVER. EVER EVER. but now, i love it. i'm so sick of the part time disposable diapering we've been doing. it seems like every time i put levi in a disposable, his little bummy gets all rashy and red.......it's ridiculous! i'm even giving nighttime diapering another try tonight (hopefully the punky doesn't wake up in a puddle again....) i don't mind washing them, drying them..... and every time we don't use a disposable it saves us that many cents :)

4) i NEVER thought i'd be a mom who's favorite smell is formula breath. is that gross? i love his little slobbery kisses, and his sweet milky breath. i feel like it will all change when he starts eating real food, so i'll enjoy every whiff while i can

5) i NEVER thought i'd be a creeper mom who hovers over his crib as he sleeps, who bends over backwards to make him happy, who doesn't mind picking noses or being slobbered or drooled on, washing the afforementioned cloth diapers, cuddling his little naked self even if it means being peed on, who is working so hard to make mommy friends so that he'll have friends when he gets older. i guess that's what it means to be a mom. i can't believe how much room i had in my heart, how much i would love him after even 5 short minutes, let alone 5 months. amazing

Thursday, May 6

melty


i had the best afternoon with this little boy. it wasn't even the whole afternoon.....i had the best 20 minutes snuggling with him. i was reclining on our chairs upstairs, with my feet on the ottoman and he was sitting on my lap. we sang "itsy bitsy spider" and "patty cake" and snuggled and giggled. then he got a little "ready for nap" acting, so i put him on his tummy on my chest. he would burrow his head down into my chest, then pop his head up as if to say "peek-a-boo" (another new favorite). he would giggle and smile and generally melt my heart.


those tender moments before his nap made me realize how lucky i am to get to spend all day with him. even the rough days, his little giggle and smile helps me through them. it also makes me realize how much time i spend wasting and NOT playing with him throughout the day. it's so easy to just lay him on his playmat and let him do his own thing, especially when he's this little. but these moments are so fleeting....he's already growing up so fast, that i now know i need to work at making more of an effort to really spend time WITH him, not just next to him or in the same room.... but WITH him.


so many things need to change.... it's intimidating to make a million changes all at once, so i'll start making small changes. less online time. more real life time.

Wednesday, May 5

{not} wordless wednesday


i can't NOT write anything about this picture...... WHERE did my baby go?
for crying out loud, he's drinking out of a sippy cup {mostly}, he's eating rice cereal, he's sleeping through the night {again}, he's wearing tennis shoes..... yesterday i dressed him in a polo shirt and his little brown pants. he looked like such a little boy it took my breath away.
he's amazing. i love watching him grow up, although it's already happening too fast!!!!