6 Month Photo Shoot

There really are no words that will adequately describe my love for this little boy (and his expressions!!). He has stolen my heart and is keeping me busy in the best way possible. 

Happy half birthday, little man! 

10.22

Last week, a lovely guy officially joined our family. And Dan and I could not be happier about it.

My sweet sister married her best friend and, while I know everyone says this about weddings, it (really!) was a perfect day....filled with smiles, tears, lots of Red Bull, relaxing, nerves, beautiful decorations and personal touches, and crazy dance moves. 

Lauren and Kevin were married in a gorgeous ski lodge (log cabin) and the rustic feel was just right for their crisp, fall wedding. Two of our very good friends photographed their special day and we are anxiously waiting to see the professional pictures. I will say that we were both filled with emotion watching Lauren walking down the isle and observing her groom's tearful expressions. It was obvious the love these two shared and we wish them a lifetime of joy, growth, commitment, laughter and true love. 

Love you both!

So Glad.

This Week in Pictures

Noah is almost sitting!

....and is a champ at eating cereal, bananas, and peas (sometimes).

We love our mid morning and evening walks each day. 

It's getting chilly so we bundle up!

On Sunday, Noah took a long nap on Dan. It was THE cutest thing. Ever. 

Forget reading books. He'd rather eat them. 

Someone is ticklish! 

Listen Up

just an fyi, we love this song right now. 

Oh, Stress

Isn't kind of funny how when you are stressed, even the littlest thing can put you over the edge, it feels like. You quickly find yourself in this sort of "downward spiral" where every-little-thing seems to be going wrong and your huff and puff acting all dramatic like and want a pity party. Those days are fun. Not.

I'm still being semi-dramatic when I say that Dan and I sort of had one of those days yesterday. Dan is on-call for work for the next week. While this typically is not a stressful time for us, he usually gets 1-2 calls a day, at the most, this time around things are different. At least they were Friday into Saturday. It seemed like every hour or so he had another call. That on top of a baby who was mastering the 20 MINUTE NAP. Dare I say, that is not even worth calling a nap at all. Poor baby was not a happy camper, and neither was I. I think it is fair to admit that I really look forward to Saturdays. Not only having Dan around to spend quality time with, but for the help, let's be honest here. So when Noah is sad, Dan is not happy about work, and I'm exhausted (because I may or may not have made the HUGE mistake of ingesting a latte at 7pm the night before....meaning I got very sleep. Bad choice, mama), it makes for a long day for sure. Even as I was feeling that yucky feeling inside, realizing things were not that bad, and attempting to keep things in perspective, I then realized we had spend the majority of a gorgeous day in the house. Which then, of course, made me feel bad, too.

Around 4 pm, when we sort of gave up attempting "naps" and we were starving and just sort of feeling blah, we had an genius idea of taking Noah over to my parents for an hour and running to get some dinner. We knew we had shared of few words, spoken out of frustration/tiredness/hunger (you know how it goes) and were craving just a few minutes to sit in peace and quiet to talk through things. So we quickly and bravely left the house, since we were on a time limit before Noah would need to eat again, and hopped in the car.

Sure enough. Because this WOULD happen. Ya know, we just were needing a day like this.
As we were finally turning out of our neighborhood.... beginning to feel some sense of relief...

Dan's work phone rings. Of course it would.

We ended up still letting Noah spend about an hour with his grandparents (which they were so elated to get some time with him and let us have a mini-dinner outing), ordered take out, and stuffed our faces with not the healthiest options on the menu.

We laughed as we decided we were both "stress eaters".

Nice to have that odd similarity.
Not so nice, because it will probably catch up to us as we age.

Dan finally had some relief (no calls!) after Noah settled into bed and we were able to relax, talk, and watch a movie together.

After what at times felt like just the longest of days, at the end of the day, I realized just how blessed we are and how little we have to complain about. Even during those times when it is just SO difficult to keep this perspective, life is good. We are breathing, healthy, loved, safe, and have more than enough (food, clothing, jobs, medical care...really the list goes on and on). Most importantly, we are blessed beyond measure by a God who loves us fully....even when we may have those tougher days and complain a little and act ungrateful..... He loves us.

Hmmmm.....

To become a Zumba instructor? or not?...

Decisions, decisions, decisions.