christmas in WISCONSIN

yeah, it does probably seem like i'm always in WI to those who read this blog. but i'm not really. just thanks to my little nephews i've made some exceptions this year. BUT i do make a point to be here for christmas. only 1 year in all my years did i NOT go home for christmas.
this year was definitely a classic home-y family christmas.
we arrived at nearly 11 p.m. on Christmas day, worn out from travelling from 1:30 p.m. EST to 10:48 CST. so...that is a long day. but, it was a great travelling time, caedmon was an angel and we enjoyed our christmas morning before the travelling began.
7 a.m. christmas day: caedmon wakes up and ryan does and believe it or not - i did too! we opened gifts and watching our son so excited was really special. we just love him so much and he's our little joy.
9 a.m. christmas breakfast: my own tradition, DELICOUS TRADITION. soo good i was "rubbing my face like uncle will." (my brother rubs his face when he's sooo full he's about to bust.)
10: a.m. CLEAN UP, take down tree, play with toys
12:00 eat again...just to get full before heading out on our way.
clean the rest of the house after breakfast and pack up the car....
1:30 on our way
2:10 arrive at airport toooooo early, but get good longterm parking on lower level of central parkikng - BONUS!
TRAVELLLLLLLL
arrive at what i will always call HOME and the first bright face i see is THIS: ELLIOT JACK JACOBSON! the cutest 7 month old on planet earth!
sat dec. 26th: did chrsitmas! it was great, the first gift was a snomobile for my dad. he was estatic and nan, will, and i had to try i out on a field later in the day!
caedmon loved opening gifts and was beside himself with joy when uncle will came over. he LOVES will. mason was introduced to uncle ryan for the first time and our family was all together with all the new additions, including aunt dede for a second year in a row.
mom and dad went allllllllllllllll out with gifts this year! the best being tickets to the bears/vikings monday night game. 8 of us enjoyed this pleasure two nights later...more to come on that.sundayafter church at BBC our entire babler-extended family was together. it was great. a very memorable christmas, we were all so happy to be together, and shared in a baby shower for our cousin luke and his wife tracy in honor of another babler entering the world. grandma babler hosted what will probably be the last christmas in her home as things are becoming too much for her in her health these days. but in this moment, we were all together, all happy and all praising God for the love our family has for one another.another huge highlight of sunday at grandma babler's was caedmon signing the BIBLE and JINGLE BELLS for everyone. he was a showman...so great. so articulate, and so proud.my dad and sister had tears in their eyes and my heart was so warm i could feel it heating up the whole room. he was precious.

monday....we left at 12:30 armed and ready for sub-zero freeeeezing temps and a hard game, probably a loss for our bears. we arrived at Soldiers Field with optimism and LOTS of layers and hot hands at 7:20 p.m....right before kick off.
we left that game (the 6th most televised game in all cable history) with JOY pouring from every pour of our bodies, the cold didnt' seem to matter anymore we WON our version of the 09-10 SUPERBOWL. IT WAS AWESOME! THE BEST GAME WE'd EVER SEEN! after killing them in th efirst half, we were able to somehow give it away and get it all back again in OT!
that night we stayed at the posh "W HOTEL" on the lakefront.
i didn't have my camera, so no pictures of this great game or the hotel or our time in CHI but i will be getting some from wes, karen, and brian.
here is a link to the hotel: amazing!http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2005

this night was our first overnight away from caedmon. it went well, he only cried in the night one little tear for mommy and daddy...and had his grandma right by his side. what a good boy he's been this WHOLE trip. what joys he's had and entertainment he's brought to my family. so much love...

also, we ate awesome indian food, cooked a lot of good food at home, ate way too much, had a fun shopping spree with gift cards, saw sherlock homes, laughed so hard we almost cried, watch julie and julia (loved it!), and left way too soon...of course!
:)

christmas time is here!

so, as christmas has approached i've been trying to not stress again - that is my goal. and i would say i'm achieving it, other than the crazy CCA christmas pageant day, but we recovered.

things caedmon has been doing:

meeting santa - that was a huge highlight! he was not his normal bubbly self, caedmon was close to nap time and was very chill. he walked right up, we were first in line. caedmon got right up on santa's lap and said, "Hi, i want drumming, guitar, and microphone. i saw you on prep and landing" Here is the link to prep and landing, the nbc Disney Pixar special - so awesome!http://abc.go.com/watch/prep-and-landing/243219/243629/prep-landing After meeting Santa Caedmon has gotten really into the "good boy" side of things. he understands that santas coming and bringing him presents that Jesus picked out just for caemdon because he loves him. that's what he thinks.

sunday we got snow...lots of snow. we only played in it a bit before he said, "its freeeezing." yes, caedmon it is freezing. ryan had to snow blow twice and church was cancelled. the bummer - caedmon's sunday school christmas production was cancelled to. the upside - it got rescheduled for christmas eve.

ponderings for the new year:

1. i just can't work this much. i know i've said that before but after hearing this, i just can't:

"momma you're going to work?" me : "no, i'm not going to work today, it's sunday." caedmon: "YES!caedmon don't like when momma goes to work." that broke my heart. when i told my mom this story, i thnk she cried. not cool. sad. i just don't want to be away from him. i miss him just like he's a newborn still! and i love getting things done at home.

2. scrpabooking. it was my LIFE! now, i never really hve time to do any. and when i do have time, i have NO energy left over. however; this week caedmon and ryan spent time in my scrapbook room, what caedmon calls my "workshop" ADORABLE! we made cards and caedmon drew on paper and made bookmarks. the cutest was when he said, "dadddddy!I made this for you! i made it for you! come and see, daddy!" he was so proud! he loves to color. so, i have to make more time to get things done, it relaxes me and helps me remember all the good times and good things in life!

i had so much fun shopping this year for chrsitmas this year. i have a few things left and then i'm home free! not free by any means, but i'll be headed home with one whole suitcase just for gifts probably!

new pictures are coming!

fa la la la la

wow. first off, i know i'm a slacker! i am worn out on everything. so i just need to rise above it and keep bloggin!
caedmon has been a busy boy this winter and here are FINALLY pictures to tell you what we've been up to:
enjoying our christmas party!
making cookies from food network mag
date night this monday with laura and ryan wagner at Tabocos Brazillian Steakhouse!

in bed sleepy head

i guess i've been going to bed early and not bloggin...the holidays do wear me out a bit. mostly, i'm trying this holiday about all else *except getting amazing deals/bargains while out shopping* is to NOT STRESS. i just don't want stress. i want to relax. work has been a little stressful in and out lately and i want to just let it go and not freak out!
caedmon has been amazing though...very good boy. he's doing so well and we're extremely proud. everyday we say to eachother - how is our son over 2? how is our son almost 2.5? how did we get this far and not mess something up!?!? hahaha, not the last question actually. we know God is empowering us each day to raise this little boy and BOY is it a privledge.
caedmon's newest:
back to eating AWESOMELY well
practicing his lines for the christmas play at church:"We brought love, God loves us" instead he says "me and you and you and you," inplace of us.
momma, i wanna help you? caed constantly wants to help us cook, cut things, turn lights on and off, brush his teeth, do anything we need to do on our own. he just wants to help. it's a great thing.
"I MAKE YOU HAPPY!?" yes, caedmon you make me extremely happy. i had a crying day on sunday and he was just so sweet. rubbed my back and said that. how can you be sad after that. there is no way! he's so precious and "tenderhearted" just like ryan. i love it!
left and right: he knows his left and right on his hands and feet. some second graders don't even know that! hahaha
christmas countdown: everyday caed is in charge of changing our chrismas countdown chart. he loves this job. he knows that today is tuesday and it's 17 days until christmas. impressive.

yes, i realize i brag about him a lot...i can't help it. he amazes me and he's the only one i got to flaunt! so, deal! ahahah :)

how could i not be thankful?

thanksgiving was a nice time spent with ryan's parents. we thankful that Caedmon loved being with his grandparents and they gave us some "time off" as full time parents :)

we celebrated christmas and thanksgiving in one weekend, which was nice and a good way to get a lot of "quality family time" with ry's parents who we haven't seen in a year!

actual thanksgiving was spent stuffing our faces at the Drumm's house, eating so much i was practically sick. a good sick! then, laurel and i went shopping from 5:30-7ish. that was great, got some good deals and matching outfits for my family christmas pictures that are always a hit! coming soon...this week!

caed and evee were adorable friends. they were so sweet together, and he just laughs at the thought of evee. he loves her so much and loves everything she does!

black friday was awesome - got some amazzzzzzzing deals!

parenting note: caedmon has not been eating meat. he's been not eating any meat unless we hide it in a quesadilla. we have NEVER had eating problems EVER but now since he was sick he doesn't like to eat anything that has FLAVOR. he's not into anything but rice, yougurt, pasta, and fruit snacks. so, we're tricking him into it.

new do

so, i got a new haircut. and that usually means the same ol, but this week...i was ready for something new when my old hairdresser came back from NYC! he's back! and i was so happy i let him do whatever he wanted.
so, that's what i got and i love it. ryan was so cute texting me while i was getting it dyed "GO FOR IT! CHOP IT!" and hoping that i would. so i did and he loves it. i am getting more used to it each minute really. so that is my major excitement in life...sad, but fun!
christmas time is coming...oh wait! it's thanksgiving in less than a week! once again, sad that we just pass by what a great holiday. but truely i can say that i am always thankful and constantly express my thanks to God for all he's done and is doing and will do for me and my family and those around me. i am forever thankful for the fact that he's given me LIFE and LIFE TO THE FULL! i have more than i ever need and could ever want in the life he's given me. This holiday season i am just going to try and try to be patient and not to stress.
my goal this week was NO STRESS and i think i succeeded. i haven't gotten stressed or anxious except for maybe a few minutes total this week. i'm feeling God's strength helping me with my anxiety. yes, i get anxious. about the stupidest things. people don't expect that with my personality, but i am a very anxious person. i'm just too highstrung and i know i need to chill. chill and let God fill....haha, lame. but really. i'm working on it daily.
enjoy the pics.
:)

promised land and hope....

so, this really isn't my usual post, but i have to write this down.
In Sunday school we're learning about the Isrealites and their unfaithfulness toward God even when he is ALWAYS Faithful!!!!
when reading i found it interesting that they are kept from THEIR promised land, for good reason. and it hit me...what is keeping me from my promised land. every day i'm going to try and break through one thing thats keeping me from my promised land, my abundant life, my JOY, my fullness of spirit, my "truth", because if i can overcome and have greater faith in HIM i will reach my promised land. i can be like Joshua and Caleb who recieved the prize. we all can. as i search to find what is keeping me from that Promised Land i know that it is clearly SIN. getting rid of the little things that "so easily entangle" us and running toward HIM, my PRIZE, my PROMISED LAND, will find all thatis missing in this mundane world. I do love life, but lately we've (ryan and i) been feeling like somethings missing. we need MORE, not materially - but spiritually. a hunger and a thirst for HIM.
the hope that we found in studying the isrealites was that even though they didn't enter the promised land, and maybe i "never" will, but their children did. and isn't that what we want? essentially all i now want in life (since having caedmon) is that he has a better life that I did...and mine has been pretty darn good :)
i desire that he reaches his promised land, and with the decisions i made i can teach him more so that he also overcomes and reaches the promises that God has for him.


ok, so i'm not the best writer, but i had to release that. i know that i have a desire to reach God's will fully for me and see what he has more me in a new way each day. I only want the same for my son.

God bless you all and give you HOPE for his promised land awaits!

on the homefront...

so, what's been happening lately
1. fighting sickness
2. getting sick
3. finishing kitchen
4. CLEANING
5. working too much
6. Christmas planning and shopping
7. trying to re-prioritize, re-organize, and re-evaluate a lot

so, caedmon has been fighting fevers and coughing and a bad cold since friday night. it turned out to be an ear infection. he's doing okay, but not sleeping well and totally not himself. he's miserable, but trying to be a good boy. amazinly he's not had any accidents, is so polite saying he loves us and saying thank you all the time, and he's been a good boy despite. ryan has been an AMAZING daddy. doing pretty muche verything for him. they've been sleeping in the guest room, and ryans been getting up with him multiple times a night. i'm so thankful for ryan.
luckily, we had a day off this week for veteran's day. that was nice. i got my backsplash tile done! it just needs grout, but looks fabulous and really makes the kitchen complete! now only new curtain rods and some wall art projects and i'm done!
speaking of done: i'm done christmas shopping for caedmon! we're going to leave the rest of it up to grandma and grandpas! he was so easy this year: a few mega blocks sets and some cars and a few other little things. i'm excited for this Christmas, but i can't believe how fast this year has gone!!!!! my guy was just a toddler and now he's a BOY. i am planning a great christmas picture again this year...no definite plan yet, but something is brewing :)
hopefully the next pictures i post are completed kitchen pictures!!! :)

A Captain Caedmon Halloween!

Trick or treat! look for the Orange Squares! (aka recess cups)

Caed and his best friend Evee!

CAPTAIN CAEDMON's awesome pumkin- a batman pumpkin!

favorite pictures

.

laura took some awesome pictures of my little family. these two are by far my favorite.
ryan and i are so in love lately, this picture just makes me happy. you know, if you've been married over like 2 years, things kinda chill out. but, ryan and i are happier than ever lately. so excited for life. so excited for our future, so excited to see our son grow each day. today is ryan's bday and i woke up in prayer. thanking God for bringing him into this world and guiding our lives together. i thank God how well we fit together, how well we work together. one of the greatest compliments i've ever got from our relationship is from my mom she said to me, after she was leaving our home when caed was 3 weeks old, "you and ryan are a real team. you can do anything together. you're a great team and you will enjoy all of this and get through every thing together. you're awesome." it sums up how i feel about us. i always remember our "TEAM" whenever i'm facing anything. i'm not alone. i have the best partner and teammate ever!
The second picture, the one of us and caedmon makes me so happy. i feel like this IS OUR LIFE. we watch him. we watch his every crazy movement and we're filled with joy. he is so joyful and exhuberant and expressive and excited....he's wonderful. even when he doesn't act "perfect" he's great for us! watching him grow has been a blur. we always have to check ourselves as which day it is, what year it is! time is going by so fast. he's the exact boy we've always wanted.
a few funny things bout caed lately:
his new favorite TV show is "Batman Brave and the Bold MUSICAL!" its the perfect blend of ryan and i! it's hillarious and awesome. what makes it GREAT is that Neil Patrick Harris is in it as The Music Miester. i love it. caedmon knows the songs and sings the love song to me in the a.m. when watching.
today he told us this, in these exact words," caedmon got time out. in the gym. cause maria. yeah...had to get time out in the gym." who gave it to you, did livi. "No miss sokah did" he tells us EVERYTHING its so funny. i did find out this time out was because of kissing maria so much.
caed also told me all about each little einstein, in detail while taking a bath. i love how skilled in language he is. it makes me happy, he's such a "babler"!!!
enjoy your night and your weekends! i know i will!

mahoney wedding

I was lucky enough to go with laura to the wedding of stephanie and ryan mahoney. it was a rainy and foggy day, but this wedding party didn't mind one bit! they were the sunshine on a dreary day! for sure the most excited bunch of friends - ever! they even booooogied down the isle youtube style.
here is a collage - unedited of pictures that i took from the day. i never put any up that i take so i thought i'd do it Derek Henderson style. (cause he rocks) i made them too small res. but wanted it to be able to upload quick.

blur

my eyesight is blurred. i never get enough sleep. lately caedmon has been up for like 2-3 hours in the middle of the night! it's so annoying and defeating! ryan and i dont know what to do, but we're pushin' through, knowing this will pass - eventually.

during the waking hours..we've been busy these past few weeks.

i made caedmon's halloween costume - beyond adorable! and we are finishing up in the kitchen.

i'll be shopping for new curtains and a new dining table this week! :)

life is good...like always.

caedmon news: he is talking in full sentences and putting amazing sentences together. "Daddy is a boy. Caedmon is a boy. Daddy and Caedmon are boys. " "Oh, i have another idea!" *usually a bad idea! "Caedmon CAN do it!" - also usually a bad idea.

he was in DC a few hours this week and made a crown in honor of the story of Queen Esther. here he is with his crown!

a WI weekend overview

FAMILY VISIT

Whoa…it’s been too long.
Sorry that I haven’t wrote for a while. Not that you guys care anyway…but cool blog thing. Someone googled their name * I won’t say who as to not put their name back on* and we talked after about like 15 years of no contact. Pretty cool.
Anyway, this past weekend I went to WI! I had a great time seeing my family…and a NOT SO GREAT time traveling. Caedmon was a bear…but I am not going to go into that because I’m determined to remember the good times. Not the times of me wrestling a very strong 2 year old in an airplane while crying…there I go again. I’m done. It was good.
Highlights: ELLIOTS EYES, EXPRESSIONS, SMILES, LAUGHS, LAID BACK ATTITUDE; Meeting MASON! So adorable! So sweet and babyish and he looks like my brother, which was unexpected. Karen is a great mom, so attentive and happy. Will is a cool dad, very in love with his boy. Will and Caedmon are BEST FRIENDS now! Caed loves Uncle Wilt and playing with him. Will constantly kept him going and was so much fun to play with! They had a blast! Eating…I ate so much. So much good stuff! Mom is a great cook…I appreciate it more than ever. Apple Cider-ing with with whole family – fresh “organic” (well, sprayed once) apples from our old farm! First SNOW of the year was in WI on Oct 10th…that is just crazy.
Kitchen update: I came home to a chair rail up and lookin’ good and to painted walls. I painted the red wall this week and more coats of yellow. We only have a small area left to do and then the backplash and hanging things! Very very cool! I’m so excited! We are also getting a new dining room table – AWESOME!
Enjoy all the pictures!

list

so, i love lists. yes, i looooooooooooooove them! and today, i completed one - my ikea shopping list.
i only didn't get 1 thing i NEEDED on the list: baskets.
some random thoughts, listed.

1. i had a dream last night about richard pulsfus, an old childhood love :) that was random
2. i painted the kitchen, bottom half tonight
3. i only had 3 hours with my son today, that makes me sad.
4. it also makes me re-evaluate things...especially working
5. caedmon accidentally pushed the record button on dvr and happened to record JONAS...so funny. was this intentional?
6. only two days until i meet my nephew mason
7. laura wagner is hillarious! she's the best.
8. ryan's car - going to get fixed this weekend. about $500...not cool.
9. God is providing!
10. painting is actually great because i just escape and don't have to think.
11. i love my camera...its' almost our year anniversary as a couple. :)
12. SYTYCD makes me want a hard-dancer body. should've been a dancer...
13. caedmon has been doing so well in DC...but not napping. today he said, after a 10 minute nap, "ok, caedmon done napping now." what a guy!
14. praying hard for a great travel day on friday. we leave so early in the a.m. and that is usually when caemdon is waking up for the first time, only to be drowsy for more hours. 5:20...we have to leave the house. please pray for a good little boy, no "accidents", and sanity, and strength, and joy. i need to make the best of the time we have together, i keep reminding myself.
15. I have a heart for people with hurting marriages and desire to help people...i need to see how God can help me use this heart and help heal his children.
16. 16 is my favorite number and my co-worker's too...random.
17. i'm going to try mary kay's mineral foundation instead of bareminerals...not cause i dont like it, but because jen sold me.
:)

a super life we lead...

i'm so thankful for this week...last week was rough and this one was great.

we did have our share of trials with out 2 year old...he is a handful, but a blessing. the best day of this week was when he dressed up as CAPTAIN CAEDMON! so adorable. i love him so much and brought so much joy to us and made us smile. we had a fun time cheeeeering and flying with
Captain Caedmon.

Another highlight of this week was rekindling a relationship with a close friend. for years we've both felt the loss of our friendship and on Wednesday morning we talked. thank God for facebook and for honesty. when talking to her, i realized something that is true but i never articulated it.

"growing up is great! we can get real and HONESTY comes out and we can get rid of Drama and hiding the truth. our immaturity was evident, and now being a grown up we can even admit to that and not feel ashamed."

i felt so much relief after we talked, it was like a part of my old self was back. i don't want the bad part, but she was a GREAT part. i had forgiven her years about and never hated her just missed her.love her so much and feel like we've come full circle and now no matter what we'll always hve our "connection" back. Praise God for restoration and healing. my heart was filled with joy.

this weekend: Apple Picking today, fall pictures at the farm, rainy days coming: spent inside relaxing, cleaning and playing, beginning to decide on what to do about our dining room re-vamp next, and maybe a trip to IKEA. might actually start reparing some dining room walls and painting trim in there....hummmmm ideas ideas! searching for my lost fall decor...can't seem to find it anywhere. planning halloween costumes, maybe some sewing of them.

in other notes: ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL I MEET MASON! My newest nephew! i'm goign to WI next friday - monday! JOY!!!!! and i'll get to see elliot!!!!!! i'm so excited!!!!!

lightheaded

so, we have had a nice weekend.
first a date to the MOS (Museum of Science) in Boston. it was great. a nice/different date and topped it off with indian food. yum
saturday, a lot of house stuff and playin' with caedmon and a "bondfire" get-together at night - after a crazy fit in the afternoon from a cranky boy.
today: a trip to home depot and paint samples. my "brown" was eggplant and my "peanut butter" was the same color as my cabinets. i am not happy. i do love the red, but now i am at square one with color choices. ahhhhh more frustrating than i expected, i wish we were like 2 mins from a HomeDepot instead of 15.
now, i'm lightheaded because we painted with oil based primer over three of the walls that we coudn't remove the wallpaper from. we had to clean the brushes with gasoline because we didn't have any paint remover...and i accidently got some on my lips...so i had to remove it with the gas and now...yes, i'm loopy.

sunday school started at MMC this week. i'm excited for this year and glad that we have new things happening at our church...it is time.
caedmon was a blessing today. after one little 2 year old tantrum this morning he was GREAT and no nap! he was so cute all day and played by himself so much and just brought joy. lately i've been calling him "joybringer reveley" and he thinks it funny. he is a joy-bringer though. he is always bringing us joy in new ways. i did look at him and say, "HOW DID YOU GROW SO FAST! ITS NOT NICE!" beacuse he really has changed and grown so quickly. i miss my baby boy! pray that we have another one soon, cause time is flying!

just pictures

enjoying a cookie for having a great day at Daycare! i love this boy!
progress in the kitchen....removing wallpaper

celebrating the bears victory!

breakin' the rules for the game...enjoying dinner in the livingroom! excuse my wild hair :)

what a day....

oh, what a day!

actually, the problem started saturday afternoon.
after shooting a wedding with laura and taking a nice nap, i woke up to a camera with a SPOT and flecks on the sensor.
for those of you who know me: THIS IS NOT COOL! I use my camera probably about 2 hours a day! if not ALLLLL Day long. i have taken millions of pictures this year and to know that i might be out of a camera for 6-8 weeks is depressing. i will survive...somehow. i can still take pictures, but the flaws are evident and frustrating.
i'm thinking some sand got into the sensor from shooting on the beach...saddness.
then, today. 9:45 a.m. i get a call from my hub. he was supposed to be taking the camera to RITZ to check out the problem and he says, "my car won't start. i think its the transmission." GREAT NEWS! ahahah, right.
there is no possible way that we could afford two car payments and a new car or major repairs. his has about 128K on it and has been having some issues. but, we JUST got new tires....bummer! so we're waiting to hear if it is the transmission or something else that would be easier to repair and cheaper. either way, it's money.
so the camera is free, except for shipping but the car most definitely is not...
in other news: we did just begin renovations on the kitchen, which are mostly entirely free thanks to the house being owned by the church and not us. but it is a lot of work. i will post some pictures of the cleared walls...no more hideous wallpaper!
i dont know why, but its times like this i wish my family lived by. it seems like things would be easier if you had parents nearby and could borrow their camera or had a sister down the street and could share a car with her. or they could help with the kitchen and it would be done in no time at all...plus, when things suck sometimes you just want your family around cause you can complain and they don't care, or you don't feel bad for doing it.
anyway...the BRIGHT SPOT - i'm not stressed. i'm bummed or alittle sad, but not stressed. i know that God will provide and look forward to a post cause i believe that GOD WILL and has already planned something great out of this. either a new car situation, a new camera situation, or some loaners in the mean time...whatever the case he has never let us down! even when it comes to stupid material things God knows and we can learn from this as well. so i'm feelin' groovy despite the annoyances this day!
:-)

five for friday

Five for Friday
Five favorite things for this week...pointing out the best things in life

1. getting to bed early for me and caedmon: caedmon has been going to bed early all week. about 8:30 to 8:45....that is EARLY for him. getting this boy settled down and pottied and brushed and read-to, etc. doesn't happen easily. we're hoping that this week will start a pattern of earlier bed times for caedmon. and earlier bed time may equal longer sleeping? we've noticed this when he goes down earlier and and gently he sleeps well. i have been going to bed before 11 every night, which is early for me too. i want to go to bed before that but its hard! when that means less than two hours alone with ryan and my laptop and the tv! hahaha but i am favoring the sleep! so this is my number 1 favorite thing of this week.

2. classic books. tonight we hit up barnes and noble and it brought me back to childhood. also, reading like a million books a night to caedmon makes me love the classic books again. tonight we bought THE DIGGINEST DOG...we used to love this book as kids! also, I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER - a classic and caedmon said, "this one make momma cry." it does. he's right. i bought mason and elliot *my nephews* some classics tonight to add to their collections as well. I LOVE BOOKS!

3. Co-Workers. This week i was pumped to have great co-workers. i had some awesome conversations, was able to help and support people, and was able to get help and support from people. i'm so thankful for my job. It was actually one of my favorite things this week.

4. "sentences" caedmon using good sentences. he really was doing great...using sentences to tell us everything. we heard things like, "oh, i know! i'll read daddy's book." and "Caedmon likes that movie" and "I am eating a lollipop!" but my FAVORITE sentence of the week came tonight, "Oh, momma, you're having a bad hair day."

5. THE OFFICE; this is my favorite show came back on for the fall season. made me actualy look forward to the fall a little bit, but also made me realize - it's here!

i hope you all had a few favorite things from this week. it's fun to look back and think about the things that MADE this week memorable, or a little special. :)

delish

Tonight i made Thai Chicken Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen's recipie. i kinda did my own thing for some of the toppings and i used whole wheat crust - AWESOME! lets just say, there were no leftovers. so good.

my famous chicken wings for the opening to the bears season. unfortunately...they lost. it was depressing. but the wings were good. i always make wings and nachos and potato skins for the opening game of the season. i scarfed!

progress

so, we're making progress.
school is into its third week. its going well. i'm adjusting to working longer days.
caedmon is into daycare full swing, still only a few hours a week, but he's a champ. no crying, all smiles. it's hillarious when i hear someone saying, "yeah, caedmon can do that! or caedmon goes potty." then i realize it's him talking in the third person. we're teaching him I and ME which he does know, but when he's at school he always uses his name. he still doesn't know the names of the other kids, but they are sure starting to learn his! he talks the MOST of all the kids and is a very good boy. ms. olivia has to "throw down" on him, but he likes whatever she does and listens very well to her. he ate his WHOLE lunch today and amazed the rest of the DC Staff. it was good.
this past weekend we had a nice time with our little family. the weather wasn't great on sat. so we just sat...literally didn't do much.
ryan and i have progressed in deciding to "own" a healthy lifestyle. we eat extremely healthy, i would say, and we are active, we go to the chiropractor, try to get plenty of rest *yeah right!*, but we do need more excersise. so we took up running...joy. i hate running, but i feel good afterward. 4 more times and i get new shoes...motivation! i love shoes...
we've officially started progress on a few tasks around the house that have been haunting me since moving here. 1. my hideous kitchen. i dont even like to call it MINE, but i do live here. so, we're starting! tonight we painted the door and some trim and the radiator along the floor. 2. the bathroom. i cried when we moved here and saw my minature bathroom. we're doing a little bit of work there. 3. searching for a new dining room table and hutch. we don't have our own set and the church provided one is ridiculous.

funny kid thing:
this weekend on sunday after church we did have some kids come over to play with caed. hillarious stuff happend! a 2 year old (caedmon) and 6 and 8 year old brothers. something scary at first, but now funny was caedmon getting clocked by the 8 year old swinging...caed flew like 5 feet. the 6 year old said, "JAKE! YOU ALMOST KILLED A BABY!" I couldn't help but crack up it was so funny, once i knew caed was okay.

last night we went to laura and ryans and on the ride home caedmon said, "Dadda and momma, i had a fun day!" that was great to hear! its so nice to se that he is so enthusastic and adventurous about life!

enjoy a few pics!

fanatic

what a boring weekend! seriously, my highlight was going to teh grocery store twice. i am not seeking pitty, i actually enjoyed the boring days...kinda. plus, the weather was not nice at all.
the highlight of the weekend is the must anticipated BEARS vs. Packers game. as die-hard BEARS fans, we've got caedmon all geared up for the game. (that is which, he'll be in bed for anyway). gramma and pa babler sent him a cool bears outfit (pictured above.)
sometimes i feel like i should be doing more, and get more motivated. its hard because i am so worn out at the end of the week that sometimes i just don't want to do anything. i am relieved that after this week all of our big bills we've been dreading will be past and we can actually spend a little money, maybe do a few special things.
this week approaching i am going to be starting one half day a week. no more full full-time weeks. i only did that to get school kicked-off. now, i get to come home at noon on wednesdays. i'm looking forward to these half-days. time relaxing while caedmon takes his nap or maybe i'll get some scrapooking done or photoshop practice in.
next week shoudl be a busy one though, at the end of the week laura has two wedding - friday and saturday. so, i'll be accompaning her for atleast the saturday event. i love shooting weddings with her, even though i really dont know what i'm doing yet. there's just something great about experiencing someone's most important special day of their life - even when you don't know who they are!

big boy haircut

looks like such a big boy now! he and daddy have the same haircut! so cute!

something funny caedmon did today:

well, after school we went to EGGROLL CAFE! ridiculously good. http://www.eggrollcafe.com/. when caedmon was a little baby i used to ALWAYS go there. he's been breastfed there like a million times, had his diaper changed on the tiny bathroom floor, and even "partied" there. today, we just were hangin' with hales at EC. caedmon was sitting by the window and saw, "JOE!" Yes, JOE JONAS! A boy came walking by with skinny jeans on and this same hair! He did look like Jonas. Hillarious. Then, later the boy was walking by again and caedmon said, "hey Joe! there's joe! Our son is ridiculous and obsessed with the jonas brothers! gotta love it, haleigh was dying!

A Labor-less weekend

A nice three days off, after a CRAZY first week back to school.

The first week of school was actually very smooth, but extremely busy. I was so tired on Thursday and Friday!

A long weekend couldn't have come at a better time.

SATURDAY: A nice relaxing morning and a day trip to Newburyport, MA. A beautiful coastal town. loved it! We met up with Laura, Ryan, and Jen. It was awesome...just walking around, eating ice cream, enjoying seafood, and the water. Highlight: HAVING A BOY! Boy, was i thankful that caedmon is a boy on this trip. in these small little towns, where you never know if there is a bathroom or what-have-you, you can always be sure there is a bush or an alleyway! Caedmon went pee atleast 4 times in Newburyport. We found many discrete places, and i was thankful for a boy. it would have been so annoying to find bathrooms every hour! i am very happy he's potty trained and "easy-going." another accident free day!

unfortunatly, today i did miss out on a big event: THE SCHWILLING WEDDING. i posted a picture of them, even though it makes me sad i'm so happy for them! Congrats Hannah and Justin!

SUNDAY: After church, we headed on our way out to Wendell, MA - a small town in western massachusetts where my cousins *(step-cousins, actually) live. We enjoyed time with my aunt and uncle and 4 of my cousins, and two of Kevin's kids. it was a beautiful day. we had a water balloon fight - very fun! ryan and i won the second round, until i got soaked! caedmon was a good boy, he did experience a few accidents there because my aunt was spoiling him and giving him drink after drink after drink...you get my point. HIGHLIGHT: just RELAXING and eating lots of yummy food. the veggie pizza was the best.

MONDAY: just a day at home. it wasn't completely labor-less. i did do some housework and we tried something new. A NO NAP DAY. we have done these, unintentionally before. but, doing it on purpose made me feel so bad for caed. plus, it trapped us inside. every time he goes in the car after about 12:00 he falls asleep. he's been doing good with naps, but horrible at night. so we watned to try and see if he really "NEEDS" the nap. amazingly - he went to bed at 8 pm. and wasn't up for the day until 8 a.m.! VEYR NICE! he only woke up twice, once at 5 saying, "i want dada" and once at 6:30ish to come in our bed and was bad dead sleep! it was great. but the rough part of the day was at 3:30-6ish when he was worn out. but, he woke back up when he ate dinner and then hales came over.

so, we had a great day. i got some scrappin' done, we went to a park, and we watched ACROSS THE UNIVERSE...awesome!

today...back at it at work. glad to have a short week :)

caedmon's doing great in daycare and i'm hoping he keeps it up, only going 5 hours this week.

enjoy the pictures. Labor Day pictures on the next post

what i get to come home to

Today was the first day of school. How was it? very smooooooooooooth. the best of my four years at cca. it was seamless and easy-going for a first day anyway. there was some drama, a lot of questions, anxious students, and parents with lumps in their throats, but all in all...it was smooth and easy.
the best part of my day was coming home to my boys. each day i am so excited to come home to ryan and caed. thankfully i'm only EXACTLY 8 minutes away from home and so my "commute" isn't rough. but, i still get excited to drive up. the best days are when caed and ryan are sitting on the stairs outside waiting for me and i hear, "mommmmmma's home!" that is just the greatest feeling in the world. i love coming home to their love and their faces.
caedmon doesn't take much time lately to "snuggle." but when i'm home from work i get a few moments of love and he pats my back as he hugs me. i love this feeling and won't ever forget it.
These pictures are a great representation of how happy we are when the school day is over and we're together. we're so blessed! i can't imagine working until 5, sitting in traffic, and missing so much of my child's life. or having ryan have to do that. what we saccrifice in "dinero" we make up for in time together and happiness!
JOY, simply PURE JOY!