snug as bugs

seriously, people, this is too much.

i found them like this yesterday during nap time.

what makes your list of things you love to catch your kids doing when they think you're not looking? this is definitely my #1.

Fiesta Fun! We're One!

my little guys turned one year old last friday!

it's hard to believe that a year ago today we were all still in the hospital and now here we are...16 teeth and a couple of inches of hair later...one year old. it's been a wild ride, and -- as everyone at wal-mart seems to feel the need to mention -- i've got my hands full.

i loved this birthday because (although it's all about them) it's all about me. what do i want the theme to be? what kind of cake do i want to make? whom do i want to invite? (i'd like to take a moment to glory in correct grammar -- ah! okay, i'm done) it's great.

since the birthday is just a week before halloween, i decided to make the most of it and use these as the inspiration for the little fiesta. i didn't want to go overboard, but i thought that a mild pirate theme would be just perfect and not too much work. the hardest part was to find "cute" pirate stuff instead of "creepy" pirate stuff. creepy & one year old just don't jive as far as i'm concerned.

i found some adorable plates & booty chests (we had a few laughs over that one) to fill with treasures & give away. there were even little hats for everyone to wear, if they felt so inclined. the party store even had pirate rubber duckies! my favorite, though, was the fish tank shopping that led to a piratey cake with very little effort.

very little effort was my favorite part. effort is overrated.
i just want to share a few pics of how adorable the little guys looked in their pirate duds. nolan is the green pirate & wes is the yellow one.

land lubbers beware! you will see these costumes again on the 31st!

mommy moments

just about every little girl starts dreaming of mommy moments when she gets her first baby doll. she holds that doll, dresses it, wraps it up in blankets, perhaps even feeds it or changes its diaper. it goes everywhere with her. and she loves it.

around middle school, she gets a more realistic idea of what mommy-dom is like if she starts babysitting. she might realize that, unlike that first baby doll, a real child does not lie still for a diaper change. or allow its caretaker to squeeze its head between her knees as she struggles to get that cute outfit on. real babies are wriggly, messy, and often loud little bundles.

despite some interesting babysitting moments, most girls do not stop dreaming about mommy moments. slobbery baby kisses. cozy baby cuddles. contagious baby giggles.

and it is true. those mommy moments are wonderful.

the kind of mommy moments that no little girl dreams about seem to be the most frequent in my world.

a sweet snuggle with a little guy as he nuzzles his head into my shoulder, opens his mouth and chomps down hard enough to leave a bruise.

the bulb syringe, working hard to pull all that delicious mucous out of a tiny nose.

a little one crying as i cradle his head to my chest hoping he will vomit down my shirt rather than anywhere that might be visible and disgusting for the other patrons of starbucks.

there's no denying it any longer

it's fall.

it's cold. it's wet.

it's a sweatpants kind of afternoon.

the perfect day for grilled cheese and tomato soup. and hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows for dessert.

the grey day was in stark contrast to my happy blue background. so here we are with something a bit more appropriate for the weather.

fall is my favorite time of year, so i couldn't go brown & dreary. but the color of a cloudless summer sky was just rubbing it in that all too soon (like perhaps tomorrow) it's going to snow. and -- hooray for colorado -- it will be mid-may before that danger is truly gone.

sigh.