Around Here 2012

When I'm old & my babies are grown up & gone & I want to sit down & read my blog & reminisce about these precious days... I might be disappointed that I don't post more often.  Or I might not.  I hope & pray that when this phase of my life is over, I will remember that I spent my days (& nights) cuddling & playing & laughing & tickling & singing & rocking & learning.  Yes, I did a lot of diapering & laundry-ing & vacuuming & bill-paying & photo taking & we seem to always be doing a lot of running around.  My blogging & scrapbooking don't get done as often as I would like... and sometimes that worries me because I just don't want to forget any little detail.  But I will.  There is no way I will remember every sweet sentence that comes out of Westin's mouth (or every ornery one for that matter) and I will not remember exactly how old Tucker was when he first crawled, talked, smiled, laughed... but I think as long as I can look back and remember the feeling of the kisses and the cuddles and the playtime that I will be satisfied with the way I chose to spend my time during my "mommy days." 

That being said, it's been a great start to the year! We had a fantastic Christmas that we extended for about two weeks :) That's definitely my way of doing Christmas!  It was so good to spend time with Kreg's mom & family.  We had so much fun celebrating Christmas, eating, laughing, playing games & catching up.

The Boys by Nana & Pops' Tree

Christmas Sunday

Buddies- Wes & Brodie

Tucker & Aunt Kim

"Christmas Eve" at Our House

This year we've decided to give juicing a shot again.  We've owned a juicer since shortly after we were married & attempted to make our breakfast meal a juice meal while we were in college but slacked off because it can get expensive if you let it & I didn't like having to clean the juicer every morning before class after taking the time to prepare my fruits & veggies.  Now that I'm staying home, I decided I didn't have those "good" excuses anymore.  I buy fruit & veggies on sale & I get up earlier in the morning to make juice.  We feel SO good! It takes a couple weeks to really get into the routine of it & let your body try to de-tox but we're really enjoying it & I'm loving finding all the yummy things I can put in the juicer!  I'll keep you updated on the favorites.  Did you know you can even use the juice & pulp when baking?  I'm trying that out tonight with some muffins... I'll let you know how it goes!

My birthday is January 9... this year I decided to be sick for a week or so, including my birthday.  That worked out alright though because we spread out the celebrating of my birthday :) I was so blessed to be able to eat at my favorite restaurant with my whole family (the Edelweiss), and to have a dinner & a movie date with my hubby all in the same week :) As has become our tradition, Kreg's gift to me was in the form of checking off a few of my home improvement wishes!  I have a new kitchen floor & entryway floor & a new kitchen faucet & new paint & bedding in my bedroom! I'm still working on the decor in my room but am just IN LOVE with the updates.  

Tucker has the funniest crawl I've ever seen.  I keep thinking he'll work the kinks out and crawl normally any day now but we're going on (I believe) well over a month of dragging at least one if not both legs behind him after getting up on his toes & pulling himself with his arms.  The last couple of days I have seen him go a little ways with the proper motions so I really better get the cute funky crawl on video before its gone! He's such a joy... still a very smiley, happy, friendly baby.  His favorite toy right now is one Westin got last year from Todd, Tiffany & River... it really amazes me that he can make it work! I just love watching my babies' minds try to figure things out & watching the joy in their faces when they accomplish something! He's been teething this month (the bottom two are almost through, I can see them just teasing us, poor guy!) which has him a little fussy.  Nothing a little baby wearing and lots of nursing hasn't helped, though.  Oh, and some homeopathic teething tablets when necessary :) He loves his big brother SO much and is, I can tell, looking forward to the day when they can REALLY play together. Westin was holding his hand in the car the other day & I heard him say to Tucker, "Tucker-- we are BEST friends." :) Sweetest music to my ears EVER.  I quickly said a prayer that this would be true all of their lives and that their friendship would be a blessing to each other and to the people around them. 

Baby Wearing-- love my moby!

Westin is just constantly learning!  He just amazes me.  He can say his ABCs & recognize almost all of the letters, he can count to 20 (although sometimes he skips 13... maybe he's superstitious), he knows all of his colors & shapes & we've been working on memory verses the past few months.  He can say Genesis 1:1, Psalm 119:11 & is working on John 3:16.  He's also learning the books of the New Testament (he sings the song!) and is doing really, really well.  He gets hung up on Thessalonians but with a little help can get mostly through it by himself! 

Kreg has been very busy this year-- I'm really, really proud of him, though! He's so good at what he does & is always trying to be even better. His clients, bosses, and co-workers just love him and he has a lot of exciting opportunities & possibilities coming up! He's also been "working" in his "free time" at the Air Force Academy athletic games, which he really enjoys. It's hard having him working so many hours (averages about 65 a week right now) but we do what we can to spend time together.  We make an effort to have lunch together every day whether he comes home or I drive in to the office or we meet somewhere.  It makes for a lot of driving but it's worth it :) He was able to take Westin pheasant hunting this past weekend & Westin had the time of his life!  This was his second trip with Kreg but his first one this season & he was so excited about going! He took his little play pistol & carried it around all day!  Kreg's favorite story from the day: Westin had been getting tired & was on Kreg's back in the Kelty backpack & he (Wes) asked Kreg to carry his gun for him because he was getting tired. 3 birds got up in front of them & Kreg shot 3 times & heard Westin saying in a panicky voice, "Daddy, I need my gun, I need my gun! Where's my gun?" He said it made his day :)

6 AM and READY to go!

I'm so pleased with how well our photography business has done this past year.  Our business has grown by leaps & bounds thanks to great clients & referrals :) We've averaged 1-2 photoshoots a week which is just about as much as I want right now... if we can keep that steady pace through this slow part of the year I will be so pleased! Check out our website if you haven't... we're getting better & better & so is our equipment :) www.itsallgoodphoto.net 

My sister Kortney is in Italy right now with Harding's HUF program! I'm so proud of her & she is having such a great time already.  She's a fantastic little writer and has been blogging about her adventures so if you have time & don't already, it would be worth your time to follow her :)