Tuesday, January 31, 2012

whirlwind weekend

this was mama's first real weekend without studying or work or anything to do other than be a mama and boy did we take advantage of it! starting saturday morning with our first taste of yogurt and ending with our first taste of frozen yogurt with tons and tons of fun in between.


saturday morning mommy slept in...it was nice to spend the morning with my boys just playing and having breakfast. although caleb did decide that he did not in fact want his cereal. we had butternut squish which was enjoyed by all involved. jared took an awesome morning nap (mainly because he has the sniffles) and i had a chance to make mommy some oatmeal, chocolate chip lactation cookies (carrot mini baby muffins to be made on monday). we got to hang out with cousins ari and laurel and chat with them about angela keeping their little boy a few months after he's born once his mommy and his laurel go back to work. mid way through our little chat the mailman arrived with a package for the boys! we now officially have a ball pool!



this provides hours of fun! jared is also trying to figure out how he can crawl up and over the side effectively crawling out of the ball pit. oh the joys of almost mobility.
so...after a thrilling afternoon of ball pools and playing and dinner it was bed time - the boys actually slept fairly well saturday night and were well prepared for sunday funday! we started sunday with huge plans of outings and grocery store trips and muffin making and and and and...yea by morning nap time we were all a bit spent but still had grand plans. however after a decent nap and some lunch we were a bit more fired up and prepared to venture for our first real, kid centered family outing


enter -- kidzu

...we were hoping jared would take his first crawl while we were out but alas...no crawling yet...

kidzu is a museum specifically designed for kids - the whole thing is hands on - there's an art area, a building area, a "green market" area full of fruit and vegetable toys - in the 24months and younger area there had lots of books and toys and lots of things to be put in caleb's mouth! there's also a large basket for "mouthed" toys...yea basically anything caleb came into contact with went into this basket.
we mainly hung out in the padded section of the baby zone - this tends to be the best plan when jared and caleb are involved - as long as it's padded there is no fear of jared lunging forward (desperately grabbing at whatever toy he was going for) and busting his head open or caleb thinking there's something behind him and just deciding to fall backwards! ahh boys...gotta love 'em.


must...eat...toys!


look ma...yellow!




just hanging out




we played a lot at kidzu - we played and read books and laughed and watched other little boys play and use their big boy walking feet...one day we will learn to use our walking feet but for now we're still trying to figure out this crawling business. kidzu was fun but there is only so much you can do when you're little so we decided to take a little walk across the street for one of chapel hill's best holes in the wall...the Yogurt Pump! the boys tasted their very first frozen yogurt (vanilla of course - no crazy flavors yet) - they seemed thoroughly unimpressed and are much more eager to scarf down fist fulls of butternut squash...what a proud mama i am!

after kidzu there was a strike on afternoon napping resulting in cranky boys. it was an early night with a quick dinner and a nice warm bath!...

now if only jared could figure out how to crawl............

Thursday, January 26, 2012

good night sleep tight

this is the first night that i am away from you
months ago you were away from me - you were with mommy on a trip to see your cousins and grandpa and grandma in myrtle beach...
but this is me away from you

know that i love you dearly
and that this is only temporary
in 24 hours i'll be home (and yes you sleeping) but as i remember hearing my parents' voices in my dreams when they came home late from the symphony or from a date night out so too will you hear my voice tomorrow night in your dreams and know that mama is home

sleep well my little angels sleep well...
starting tomorrow night every free moment i have can be devoted to you (and your mommy)!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

testing...testing

to my boys...over the next 2 weeks the time i spend away from you and studying are not because i do not miss you, want to snuggle you, or do not love you...this is all for you (well and to advance myself) but so much more for you...to provide a solid foundation for the rest of our life together...to be the mama i want to be and a mama you can be proud of.

so...i'm going to have to take a back seat these next few weeks and devote myself to this test and studying for it.
i love you with every single piece of my heart (yes still leaving some left for your mommy!)

in a few short weeks we'll be back to running and playing and snuggling every night! (don't worry...we'll still snuggle every night and you'll still get your night time babas from mama...i wouldn't give that time up for anything...)

love...

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

no words...


there really aren't any words to describe this life...
i didn't always see myself here and there are days that i wonder where i would have gone in my career if not for angela and then 6 and a half years down the road our boys...
don't get me wrong there's nothing like being in the world i'm in now and i wouldn't trade it for anything. this is where i am meant to be right now...here with my loves.
they are crazy and wonderful and provide purpose on the days that my job, while rewarding, struggles to do.
i know i said no words...so here it is..a few of my favorites faces

ties are for eating!


baby in a box

uh...i'm in a box


making mama's presents


playin the piano like my auntie

drooooooooooool!


brother bath!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

happy new year...

what a year it's been...last year at this time we were traveling from brooklyn to massachusetts visiting aunt nina and uncle chris, and molly. we spent new years in a club i frequented in college, watched a ridiculous drag show and got insanely good pizza around 3am. the boys were still cooking and angela was getting so big. we got married legally in connecticut on december 30, 2010 so that we could easily and legally change our last name - it was important that the whole family have the same last name. for a lot of people this isn't important but living in a state that in no way respects us as a family unit it was incredibly important to us.

so...last year. we came home and settled back into life. we came home and had almost 5 months of prepping and moving and fixing and readying our home...then on may 26th at around 5:30pm we came to a realization that in less than 24 hours we would become moms - something that we had been dreaming about for longer than we had been actively trying and that we thought we were ready to take on full throttle...7 months later it's safe to say that we were ready...it's safe to say that we have not only found the family we always wanted but have also found each other again and that has truly been the greatest gift.

now on to this year...well for now let's stick to the last month or so...

jared has 2 teeth...

until today caleb had 1 and after a day of crying and fussing and general grumping i discovered tooth #2!

caleb and jared are both sleeping through the night (most nights) and neither baby is swaddled any more.

the boys are sitting up almost completely independently

we celebrated our first channukah and our first christams - the tissue paper wrapping was much more enjoyable than the actual presents but once the excitement of paper wore off the toys were pretty neat.

tonight was the first bath in the real bathtub - we couldn't find an inflatable tub that we could fit both boys in so we settled for the bumpers


it's incredible how quickly time goes by - our trip to nyc last year seems like such a recent event it's hard to believe it was 365 days ago...i'm looking forward to seeing where my rolling, squealing, laughing, smiling, sparkling eyed boys do over the coming months...we've got 5 more months till 12 months old...by then these insanely cute boys will have gotten insanely cuter!