And We're Back

Whoa, it's been a while. We've just been  too busy playing outside, loading up on play dates and doing crafts lazy and un-inspired. But I'm ready to snap out of it. :)

Yesterday and today we busted out our two new sprinklers and our awesome new fish pool. Today was magnificent pool weather. We are sun-kissed and worn out, thank goodness, because a certain little man decided not to nap today. .

In other news, Roman sweets is now addicted to Finding Nemo. He requests to watch it every day and unless you distract him with something else -ie. going outside- he will not stop. And to his hearts delight last week there was a gloomy morning and I let him watch it then, plus it was date night, and my precious mom watched it with him not just once, but twice. What a treat for that boy!

He is growing like a weed, too! It breaks my heart and amazes me at the same time. I can't believe he's a year and a half. He is putting two, if not three words together and there are times when it sounds like jibberish, but he knows exactly what he's trying to say. It's too cute. I wish we had our own reality show sometimes. Not ever to be aired on TV, but just our lives taped in this special, magical time so I don't forget anything! I'm going to try to investigate ways to remember these moments better. I'm thinking a yearly book for both boys will be a good start. Anyone have other suggestions?

Switching gears, before our connection group ended for the summer, I volunteered to create some sort of 'get together' schedule because we don't hang out near enough in the summer. I guess I better get on that.

I'll leave you with some fantastic unedited photos. I have to confess, I'm depressed about the lack of editing. Not because I'm too busy lazy to, but because my free trial ran out and we can't afford to buy one yet. Here they are, nonetheless.

xoxo

-s

::My Favorite Things:: Web Edition

Okay, there are several websites I could mention for this post, but I'll narrow it down to just two. When I was revamping my blog via help from this creative genius, I came across some websites she recommended and fell in love. Now, I'm not computer savvy like many bloggers, but with help from these sites I was pretty smitten with my skills.

It all started when I wanted to round out the edges of my photos for my header. This is the website for that. It turns this

into this

I love it. A fun way to spice things up.

The only thing is your image has to be less than 1 Mb, and mine weren't, which posed another obstacle for me. So I Googled 'image resizers' and found this! I needed a super easy website to use, where I didn't have to do any thinking or researching and it just did everything for me. Wha La! You just upload your image, reduce the image size by how much you need, do any special effects you'd like, click 'resize' and boom. If you need to do any advanced edits (like make it even smaller, sharpen, contrast etc) you can do that too. I was a happy lady.

I just transfered the new image to the first website and it worked instantly.

And there you have it. Two of my favorite websites. I hope this helps you if you should ever need it!

xoxo,
 Sarah

Get Ready...

....this is going to be a semi-long one! I would have done this sooner but one of my most least favorite side affects of pregnancy is loss of a memory that was in critical condition to begin with. In other words, I misplaced my cute pink flash drive that holds the treasure of all of our photos of everything on it. Where did I find it? might you ask. At the bottom of the camera bag after three days of searching the house for it. Lovely. And for the record, I had already checked the camera bag twice.

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Last Saturday I was privileged to co-host my SIL a baby shower. It was so much fun. Windy, but fun. Brittney had picked an outdoor shelter in Pleasant Hill and the rest was up to me and another friend of hers, Kelli. There were tissue paper pom poms, lilacs, and delicious food. We had a great time!

On the menu: Antipasto Pasta Salad, Mini Italian Club Sandwiches, Cake (from Hy-Vee- by far the best cake ever, that I know of), and assorted beverages. Yum!

For Brittney, although sweet baby Sophia will get more use out of them, I did my very first diy project! Burp cloths. Love them.

I found the tutorial here. They were so easy to make. This was also my first experience with a sewing machine and thanks be to a good friend for showing me the basics of sewing. I'm so pleased with the way they turned out that I'm going to be making some for Baby Barton too!

As for my next DIY, see how I transform this lovely piece of furniture. I found this dresser on craigslist shortly after Jeff and I sold our bed frame and dresser we bought a couple years ago from IKEA. It's going to be for the boys' room once we get a room for them. :)

I've got the DIY and the nesting bug. Watch out.
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In pregnancy news, I've hit the 28th week. Woot! Seven months down, three to go. July will be here before we know it. So far Baby and I have gained 30lbs, and he's a lot more wiggly than I remember Roman being. Makes me wonder if he'll be more independent and not as laid back as Rome. Otherwise I'm feeling wonderful! Just anxiously awaiting his arrival.

I've begun reading this

 I really am looking for a different experience this time. I want a non-medicated delivery and have heard from several friends that the Bradley Method is by far superior, so I'm pumped. I still need to come up with a birth plan and several other accommodations, mostly Roman related, but we're getting there.

That's all my brain can come up with at this late normal hour. I'll leave you with some recent photos of splendid days past.

One Day....

One day, not long ago, there was a good looking hot musician. He was a bass guitar player in a rock band. He had long hair, trendy clothes, and bone structure like you wouldn't believe.

There was also, on this same day, a high school girl. She had dark blonde hair, loved living, and also wore trendy-ish clothes.

This was a magical day because this musician and this girl met. It was the Fourth of July and this girl and her friends went over to a house where this band was hanging out at. It turns out, the girls friends were also friends with this band. As soon as the girl walked into the house and locked eyes with the musician, it was over for her. She tried to play it cool as best she could, but she was never really any good at that. They spent the evening talking and the musician even taught her how to skateboard. How romantic. Since then, the girl has been head over heels in love with the musician. Good thing he felt the same way.

The girl and the musician started dating and after about a year he asked her to marry him. Ever since that day back in 2003, the girl had no question she wanted to be the musician's wife. She said yes and a year after that, they tied the knot.

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Today is not only (a gorgeous) Earth Day. There is another celebration. Today is the day, four years ago, I got to marry by best friend. There are no words I can use to describe my love for that musician. He was and is designed perfectly for me. I think he knows be better than I know myself.

Happy Anniversary, Love.

My Littles

I can't believe I've let almost two weeks go by with nothing from me! If I spent as much time blogging as I did on Facebook, you'd have to check back between four and six times per day. It's a habit I'm trying to break as it is not very productive.

I'm thinking I'd like to gush about my incredible, edible Roman. He is such a delight. A handful at times, but any stress all melts away when he gives me kisses out of the blue (and unprompted), or his remarkable way of looking at me when he knows he's in trouble, or after requesting to go 'ad-di  uh huh?' -long i- (outside), eight times in a row and I finally give in, his pleased-with-himself grin and sweet little giggle restore any lost hope for the day.

I'm trying to see the world through his big, beautiful, blue eyes. Those eyes that have only been seeing for a mere 16 months. New discoveries around every corner await being encountered. He finds a ridiculous amount of joy with sidewalk chalk, rocks, and strolling down the yard and back. I'm positive his mind has been blown with the amount of ground he can cover since learning to walk last month. He's mastering his balance still, but getting so good!

Eating dinner is much more fun when doing so under the evening sun.

Roman's speech is fantastic. He is saying so many words and has even said 'no mama' and 'mah kakah' (more cracker), once or twice. 'No' is by far the favorite word in his limited vocabulary, yet it is so amazing how well he can repeat a word you tell him to say.

But it isn't always peaches and cream here. With his new found independence he's just that.  Mr. Independent. And when he doesn't get what his little, precious heart desires -which lately has been going outside every second of the day- he likes to throw a little, precious fit. Just earlier this week he was rolling on the floor with crocodile tears streaming down his face for about 20 minutes because I was cooking dinner and he wanted to return to nature. I laughed out loud and video taped it.

I have never known this kind of love. My heart is overflowing with love for this little person. If this is even a fraction of the way God loves his children, we're all in for a treat when we get to heaven.

And to our newest Little. I cannot wait for his arrival. He is busy moving, flipping, kicking and growing. I often wonder if he will resemble his big brother upon birth. It's hard to believe he's already 25 weeks old. We only have 15 more short weeks, just him and I. It's been a lot harder to bond with him the way I did with Roman. I stay so busy during the day that I just don't think about it as much. Jeff asked me if I love him the way I love Roman. I told him it's different. I absolutely love him, but I think I need to have him in my arms and gaze into his eyes to fall in love. I am getting so anxious to meet him and learn what he's all about. So is Roman. He gives Baby kisses and talks about Baby all the time. He also loves babies in general so I know he is going to be an outstanding, helpful big brother. I'm already proud of him.

Here's to enjoying our Littles.
-s

Easter-ness

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Time goes by too fast these days. I've wanted to blog about Easter for a while now, but I'm not one for blogging without pictures. And I don't like to post photos that haven't been edited. (I know, how snobby of me, but once you've tasted all that editing can do, it's hard to go back)! And I haven't been able to edit any photos lately because the program is on Jeff's computer which he takes to work.

But now that I've gotten my butt in gear and have these splendid photos to share, here I am. 

Easter was great. It felt 'different' in a way I can't really put into words. In the past it was just another holiday. Important, yes, but I've never experienced it. Make sense? 

God is doing some great, amazing and challenging things in my heart (and mind), and it's been awesome. More on that later.

So back to Easter. It technically wasn't Roman's first, but it seemed like it because he was so small last year. This year I wanted to dress him in pastel-y colors and get somewhat caught up in (but not losing sight of the real purpose, of course) traditions.  

We enjoyed a lunch with Jeff's family and had a small egg hunt with Roman's cousins, Nora and Owen. Opening presents was a treat, too.

From delicately crafted bracelets

to a Nemo Bubble Blower, a must have during breakfast,

all the babes were satisfied.  

Then it was off to Papa Bohn's house for another round of hunting down those brilliant eggs, 

enjoying a ridiculous amount of marshmallows,

and finding a special egg with a special little boy's name on it that didn't contained small white sugary treasures in it.

On the menu were hamburgers, fruit, chips, and fantastic egg shaped scotcharoos,

made courtesy of this adorable couple.

To end the evening, we were excited to have our own real 'petting zoo.'  Papa's acreage has horses for neighbors. Roman was very excited about it.

And, of course, a family photo

It was really bright!    

love,
-s