Early Days

For some odd reason, I take less photos in January.  Probably because photography season is over and holidays are done and life chills out for a while.

I wanted to be sure that I took some pics of Will this weirdo part of early winter.  It’s odd because we didn’t get snow this year.  HOW I wanted snow.  Snow would have forced me to dress up Will like the Coca Cola polar bear and taken him outside for a photoshoot.  You know I’m not kidding.  So instead of my snowflake and vintage coke crate filled shoot, I purposely pulled out my camera just to document the everyday.   This is our January.  all 40274o97095 photos of it

Will has discovered the joys of makeup…and already he has learned the importance of moisturizer.  He smeared a little too much on his cheeks and looked up and said “Pitty”….irony and humor (since he is trying to say ‘Pretty’).  I’m so proud of him.  Next week we are gonna learn proper undereye care and cuticle maintenance.

I think when we decorated his old nursery with such an overriding man feel, some folks spoke up about their concern of forcing an infant to be in a room with such dominating masculinity.  I think sometimes these sweet people just want to help.  So to these sweethearts, I want to encourage you – I am not trying to make my boy…more boy.  BELIEVE ME.  I am trying to tone down that stereotypical alpha male agression as much as possible.  It might be impossible.  It might be in vain.  He might end up with the same disposition and characteristics as if nobody introduced Barbies or nail polish or the joys of mouisterizing.  But as much as I want him to be aware that he is a boy….I want him to understand that it’s important for him as a person to be gentle…and kind…and have a servants heart.  I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.

Everything Will owns has to be pre-treated.  The shirts are all napkins to him.  He will even go under the bib to wipe his grubby little fingers on his shirt.  I have considered investing in kegs of Oxi-Clean.

I talked about the importance of a good rug to mom’s this week on Wayfair….it’s true….I spend at least 50% of my day on the ground.  And half of that involves blocks, cars, and forts.

I spent an entire evening cleaning out my fridge.  And no, I still have never put a deli tray in this bad boy regardless of that being the one thing that the salesmen told me a french door was good for.  I think I finally figured out a configuration of the shelves that works for us.  We have a ton of drinks at all times.  And condiments.  We are like one of those self-serve bars at McDonalds.  Obviously this was the ‘after’ photo.  And yeah, Jer doesn’t even ask anymore when he sees me take photos of things like this.

These were all the leftover containers that I pulled outta there.  I’m horrible at the leftovers.  Will refuses them.  So they just sit in there.  And this isn’t even the pile of bottles that was sent to the recycling.

I probably don’t say this enough….Jeremy is a fantastic husband.  I know that you all see the glimpses of his goodness here and there…but I really should be shouting it from the rooftops.  Sure he has his flaws….like he breaks my things accidentally a lot.  But on an everyday – every minute basis, he’s fantastic.  Do you know that he offers to watch Will AND make dinner on some nights just so that I can watch Flippin Boston on our DVR?  And that he makes sure to record my shows and has shown me 8 times how to turn on our surround sound just so that Rachel Berry sounds better?  And that whenever I ask…AT ANY TIME…he will give me a foot rub?  And that he tells me that I’m beautiful everyday?  That’s rare, I think.

For the girls in my family, this is a very common sight…boys watching football.  My dad & Jeremy are two peas in a pod when it comes to this.

Oh yeah – Will recently learned how to jump with both feet.  Before it was like this skip thing that made me smile…but now he is officially a bouncing baby boy.  minus the pants.  plus the ‘pass on plastic? fantastic!’ sticker

Will loves to pray.  He loves to say Amen.  He loves to pray numerous times during the meal.  We refuse to say no…so we make everyone at the table stop what they are doing and pray again.  We are those parents.

Jeremy loves Oreo pie.  Oh heck…I love it too.

The weather was crazy this month.  Mostly like an armpit….dark, moist and has a dank smell.

There was a few days that it got foggy before the sun went down.  If you know anything about me…it’s that I love me a good fog.  Seriously.  I’m obsessed.

I used to say that I wanted to married in a church and when the doors open, the fog machines would have a cloud that entered before me.  Then I learned about interior church mold….and I got ixed-nay-on-the-ogg-fay.

I’ve never been so aware of the weather as I have this past year.  I notice the trees, the sky, the plants, the temperature all more than ever before.  It’s amazing how beautiful it is.  how it’s like a perfect ballad of instruments working together to create every day.

And the color and composition of plants is just unreal.

it’s breathtaking.  and sucks the beat outta my chest.

How gorgeous just a little water is….

Our garden after it’s all said and done.  This coming year, I want to redo some things.  I have plans.  Jeremy stop groaning

Oh yeah…and our bulbs started off even before the holidays were over….it’s like they heard the starting bell and thought it was warm enough to come out.  I did that once.  It involved the month of March and a bathing suit and a desire to get a tan started.  Not smart.

Caught!

I put all our Christmas stuff away.  It is thoroughly wrapped and organized and sorted.  It’s weird for me to be organized.

Will has a coin jar.  We put all the spare change in there.  And when I say We…I mean Will….because he will pitch a royal fit if he doesn’t get to do it.

Love the look of concentration.  I have that same look when I put on eyeliner.

 

Will also thinks he is funny.  Just like his mama.

He is obsessed with bubble baths.  See how well I am nurturing the masculinity right outta him?

And the entire time we talk about how to properly flutter our eyelashes

Okay.  Fun fact.   Will loves to balance things.  It’s odd…but he LOVES to find things to balance on top of one another.  He can balance more stuff than I can.  Note the Buzz Lightyear mobile with the chair and the lawnmower on top.

Here he is working on getting that little cart on top too.  He did it too.  Right before he yelled “CRASH” and ran straight into them!

(You didn’t know this was turning into the Will show, did ya?!  Suckah!)

He is also obsessed with Clara Petersiks videos.  He watches that baby girl sing and count and sort laundry at least 10 times a day.  Maybe she could come out with a teaching video for him?  hint hint Sher

And then he gets excited when she laughs or smiles.  They are in love…I just know it

And he calls her “Cara” cause he can’t say the L…and I’m working on getting him to say “Marry me please.”

Some folks ask how they can get their kid to look at the camera for a portrait.  I say here’s my trick:

Put them in a place where they must sit…like a chair…in front of a big window…

and give them a snack.

NOT A JUICY OR COLORED SNACK.  No red lollipops or something like that.   (Will is eating Apple puff sticks)

Move in front of the window but not directly in front of them…you don’t want to cast a weird shadow.

Now set up your camera settings so your set and ready to shoot.

Now do a funny face or take the snack and put it in your mouth and make a giant yummy or yucky face.

Some times it is your reaction that makes them squeel…

Ever since we built the toy storage, we’ve been playing WAY more in his room.   It doubles our ‘play’ space.

Will is gettting better at this little puzzle thing…I have no idea what they are called…puzzles?  loopies?  mazes?  jungle gyms?

This past month I did the ovulating kit thing again.  I also charted my temperature, watched cervical mucus (ewww), and took advantage of Jeremy a lot.  Now I’m in the waiting period.  Waiting sucks.

We set up a quick painting area in the basement.  I simply roll out the white paper on the floor (it’s taped down) and plug in the space heater (it’s chilly down there).

Will is very careful.  He doesn’t like to step on the paper.

At one point he painted on our tile faux wood weirdo floor.  I love his little guilty look.

Lots more painting…

Afterward I took him over to get a little profile shot and see what he would do…I got the profile shot…

and then he did the funniest thing ever….

he looked right at the camera…

and…

he…

said…

cheese.

I DIED.  I have no idea where he got that.  I have NEVER said that to him.  I treasure this photo.

Sweet little artsy hands.

More rain.  We set up our chairs like this on the doors so that our bad gutters won’t waterfall all over the doors and leak into the living room.  Yes – we are saving our dollar bills to fix it. So unglamourous.

Jeremy moved outta the office and into the basement.  Why?  Well, I took over – see all my stuff?  and Will figured out how to knock on the door during Jer’s office hours and trick him into thinking it was me.  Tricky McTrickerson.

After we finish the office bathroom, this is the next on my agenda…I am thinking something crazy outta the box…creative and fun and huge blown up photos and crazy colors.

Pastor Dad came down to help.

Let me vent to you for a second.  I am so disappointed that Christians have a terrible reputation.  That people stereotype Christians in a bad way….think they are judgemental, haters, offended group of legalistic rule-watching-bible-beaters who are stupid.  That reputation exists for a million reasons but one thing stays the same…..I HATE THAT.  It makes me angry and sad and disappointed.  I want people to know that God wants you to be the best version of you….be authentic…have fun and JOY…know where you are from and where you are going….and that He loves you more than I can possible describe.  There are gonna be struggles…our lives are crappy, sometimes we feel we can’t climb outta our muddy trenches…but it doesn’t change the fact that God made us outta the dirt to LOVE us.   He gave us his son to LOVE us.  to BE WITH us.  to GIVE US the best possible relationship we can imagine.  and God wants us to have a future.  more than this dirty shell.  and He loves it when we love each other.

I am trying to focus on that.  BE like that.  to break that mold that everyone keeps on trying to jam me into.

I say all that because I believe my in-laws are changing it in their own way.  They are warriors.  And they love Jesus.  and they love people.  I am blessed to have them in our life.

And Will is blessed to have them in his life – hopefully for another 50 years

This is what happens to our yard when it rains.  We get trenches of mud.  see how gross this is?  yeah.

Will in the trenches.

What I do when the boy is getting muddy…

Notice anything new and highly fashionable in our living room?  something tucked in the corner that all the fancy designers will be dying over?

It’s a very swanky Monster Jam pop up tent.  I fully expect this bad boy pinned 10,204,235 times on MUST HAVE boards.

Living room’s across America be prepared for this new accessory

Will likes it right next to the window sill because it makes a little platform for his cars.

We tucked a bunch of pillows inside there and put the entire thing on a pad since it doesn’t have a bottom.  His tush needed some cush.

He loves it.  And he better for the sacrifice to my own personal sense of living room style

Muscle man EEeeeooow!

My life revolves around these little guys.  He is learning the colors because of them so I can’t complain

One day I’m gonna miss this…I can feel it in my bones…

Finally, the end of the month brought some bluer skies.  It was still chilly but the rain was gone!!!

I went out and layed in the grass.

Sounds crazy but I am. kinda.

Will took this as a sign that I obviously wanted to be rolled around the yard.

The only thing obvious to me was that he loved it.

As in – screaming laughter with chocked up breathing loved it.

After we picked the grass outta our hair, we visited our creek…

His little red nose….leftover squiddles from a cold….

I can’t wait for it to warm up a little more.  I am resolute about visiting this creek more this summer…like every. single. day.  I need to go ahead and plan for a really long extension cord for a mini fridge

Surprise blueberry bush growing out over our little stream…

Will loves it.  Loves it more than staying dry.  If that gives you any idea of what happened next

I took the rosemary plants out of the garden and replanted them in the pots.  My gardening gloves smell amazing now.

Some folks ask who Will looks like.

Well…both of us.  and a little bit of none of us

Here’s my chart of explanation….

Will likes to check out the flowers in the deck box.  I like to check out his cutey bootie.

Of course, sometimes my darling son is not happy.  He is going through the ‘screaming at nothing crying at everything’ stage.  I love it with all my heart.  It’s my favorite stage.  I hope it never ends.  I hope you know my voice is dripping with sarcasm right now.

You have survived!

Everyone give me some muscles and a GROOOEEEOOOO