Fun on the 4th

July 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays. I suppose it's probably because that's when my family usually gets together to celebrate my birthday too. Here are some of the highlights from this years fun:



Me with my baby boy! There are very few photos of me at all so I decided to hand the camera over to my hubby who did a great job at capturing this sweet photo of us.



My brother doing fireworks with the kids. Nope, he never really grows up. I think he enjoyed it as much as they did!



My niece catching a snooze on the swing outside. Still trying to think of a way to use this as some sort of bribery. Don't worry, Alaina...I'll think of something!



It was fun to watch Thomas and Braden shoot off fireworks at night. They were really into it this year. I'm sure someday this will end up as bottle rocket fights or some such mother's worst nightmare!

Yep. Good times.

-M

32 years ago today...

I was born! It's hard to believe. I remember when I was a kid thinking that when I got into my 30's I would be OLD! Although, I feel pretty tired sometimes, I think I have a few more years left in me. So here I am. I can point out a hundred imperfections in this picture, but it's the real me.

I am happy.
I am Mom to 2 boys.
I am tired.
I am more blessed than I thought I'd ever be.
I am...in serious need of some make-up!

I am 32.

Happy Birthday to me!

-M

Check this out!

I actually did a scrapbook page! Granted, this took me practically all day from start to finish. I guess that's what happens when you have a 4 year old and a baby! I worked on it 5 minutes at a time! It's inspired by my idol, Cathy Zielske. She is the absolute master of scrapbook design. Anyway, I'd done the journaling on this a couple of weeks ago and have been dying to put it together.
The patterned section flips up to reveal journaling that reads:

"It amazes me that two kids from the same gene pool can be so totally opposite. At only 1 month old, Bryson has already proven his individuality. When I compare him to Braden as a baby, they are completely different. I'm sure time will tell so many more things as Bryson grows and his personality emerges."

I will be sticking this in the new "Brothers" album I am starting and will add to it over the years. I've even thought of doing a compare/contrast page like this of them once a year. I hope I get more time to crank out some more pages because my journaling book is filling up and I want these boys to actually have some scrapbooks to look at one of these days!

-M

Lucky

Feeling incredibly lucky this morning to have my sweety. Sometimes, it just hits you, ya know? My neck is out of whack and my back has been hurting and he gave me a 30 minute massage this morning before he went to work! Is that not awesome??? That got me thinking about all the little things he does every day and just how lucky I am to have him. So here's a little tribute of random things I love about him. Here's to you, baby!

- He almost always wakes up to do the 2AM diaper change before I feed the baby.
- He's in better shape than most 35 year olds I know. (I like to call him my eye candy...wink wink)
- He shares my love of shopping.
- He supports my scrapbooking obsession.
- He's funny and fun to be around.
- I think he's a great Dad
- He makes me coffee every Saturday morning.
- He tells me he loves me every day.

I'm sure I could list hundreds more, but I'll spare ya.
You're the best, T....And I love you!

-M

For Sanity's Sake

How often do you think this happens and how long will it last? BOTH of my boys are asleep! Bryson was already napping and Braden was watching TV when I slipped away to have a few moments to myself. When I went back to take a peek at the baby this is what I found: Two sweet boys sound asleep. Now, don't panic...It's just the angle that I had to take the photo that makes it look like the baby can't breathe! He has plenty of room. The blanket just got sort of bunched up on that side and I was afraid if I attempted to move it, he'd wake up and I'd lose the whole photo-op.

Aren't they the sweetest? Now these are the moments I live for!

-M

Photo shoot

Last weekend I finally got around to taking some pictures of my boys...not just random things...A REAL photo shoot. Let me tell you, it is nearly impossible to get even just ONE good picture of a 1 month old and a 4 year old together! Whew! What a workout! I took about 75 pictures all together and this is what I finally came up with. Not too bad. They're pretty cute if I do say so myself. Of course, the outtakes might just be more fun to scrapbook than the real thing..........




This one shows their personalities in true form.
They're 2 little stinkers....
But they're all mine!

-M

A quick thought.....

Baby is sleeping and Braden is quietly entertaining himself with a huge pile of pipe cleaners...crafting all sorts of neat things. Anyway, I actually got a couple of minutes to be on the internet and catch up on things I haven't looked at in a long time. Was going through some old posts of Stacy Julian's blog. She is the editor of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine (for those who don't know) and I enjoy learning much from her about scrapbooking. Anyway, I saw this quote:


Being a Mom means
never having a minute . . .
yet always making a moment.

- Michael Nolan

...And it really caught my eye. Because that is EXACTLY how I am feeling right now. Life is SO busy with new baby things and I often find myself exhausted and sometimes a little stressed out. BUT...somehow I seem to make the time to get done what is really important. And in perspective, that is taking care of my two little ones. I need to stop and remember not to get caught up in the craziness so much that I forget to stop and enjoy all that I have been blessed with. And if you are making a moment to read this, I challenge you to do the same!

And so I leave you with the cuteness photo of the day!















-M

My 2 boys

Aren't they sweet? It's been more than 3 weeks now and Braden is STILL unbelievably good with Bryson. He goes to him every time he cries and tries to do whatever he can for him. I must admit, I was expecting at least a LITTLE bit of jealousy by now, but nope...Nothing but love from this big brother!

Trying not to think about it too much, but Bryson does have an appointment next Tuesday to have his heart checked for a murmur that the Dr. heard. I'm hoping that it's long gone when they check, but we'll see, I guess. He's growing like crazy. Seems like he changes every day. He smiles at me every once in a while when I talk to him...I live for those moments! Caught a half one on the camera...Barely.














Isn't that the sweetest face?

-M

Can you believe it? He's here!

It seems I've been quite the bad blogger, but I have an excuse. Really, I do! Packing up and moving to a new house 8 months pregnant kept me really busy and then having the baby a month later to top it off. I just wanted to share the story of the arrival of Bryson Cole with everyone and this was an easy way to do it!

He arrived on May 16 at 8:03 AM during a planned c-section. The one thing I DIDN'T plan was the spinal not taking effect and I had to be put to sleep. That was scary, but let me tell you, not half as scary as still having feeling in your belly when you're about to have surgery wide awake! Anyway, he weighed 8lb 5 oz, was 19 3/4 in long and had a head full of hair. The old wives' tale of hair and heartburn proved true with me because I had it BAD the entire time! Just trying to recover from the surgery and doing pretty well, really. Lots of sleep deprevation going on here since this kid has to eat every 1 1/2 - 3 hours. Big brother Braden is totally in love with his new baby and has been very good with him. He checks on him and hugs him when he cries and tells Bryson a hundred times a day that he "loves him forever!"
Nothing can melt a Mom's heart like that! I don't have all of the pics uploaded yet, but here are a few.
















I hope to be a little better about updating from now on so just check back from time to time. I might actually get a spare moment to post something! Now, if I could just get talented enough to feed Bryson and type at the same time.....


-M

Be a Clown!

Yesterday was "Circus Day" at Braden's school. They talked about animals and even had a real clown. He was REALLY excited about that part. I couldn't miss taking a picture of my little clown after he had his face painted. Isn't he the cutest little thing? I think so!