first (and likely only) snow day

Things are definitely looking up today after yesterday's whine fest. We woke up to just enough snow to cover the ground for a few hours, and that fact certainly cheered both of us up. Deric's not in any way a fan of snow, but I'm always glad to see some white in place of the typical brown + gray. I dragged Jake's high chair into the mudroom so he could eat while watching the snow and he was pretty excited about the few lazy flakes that concluded our winter wonderland. After breakfast we threw on our puffiest jackets (brought out approximately once each year), I stuffed Jake into two layers of sweatpants and out we went to explore the very wet and muddy snow. I hoped we'd get as much accumulation as last year seeing as Jake couldn't really enjoy it then, but I'm glad we got at least one dusting. Despite my love of snow I'm still a winter weather lightweight so I called it quits about fifteen minutes in, but I'm pretty sure Jake could have stayed out until it melted despite his wet and freezing toes.

january shmanuary

Jake and I have enjoyed some extra quality time together this past week due to his nose turning into a faucet and keeping us from attending our normal sanity-savers, i.e. childcare at the gym, church, and trips to Target. I don't know what's next on the teething docket and if that's to blame for the faucet-effect or if its just a run of the mill cold, but its driving both of us slightly crazy. Jake wants only to sit on my lap or scour the pantry and fridge for food (only to turn down every single option), so my attempt to get through a Jillian Michaels yoga video this morning was laughable. Jake and I sat on the yoga mat together and watched most of it. (And yet, I still worked up a sweat.) Putting him down for naps and bedtime are an hour-long affair suddenly, but there's one bright spot in that: I haven't held him while he sleeps since he was so much smaller, and his little snores are pretty cute. Oh, another bright spot: he slept in until 8:30 this morning! I guess that cancels out the incessant whining that followed. But he is slowly becoming more understandable and I appreciate every single word so much. Oh, you want to get down? Got it. You want me to come? I can do that (and every time we end up at the fridge, imagine that.)

Now that the complaints are out of my system, I do love that when he doesn't feel good he prefers me over Deric, a rarity for sure. He's more snuggly and wants to be held 90% of the day, often laying his head on my shoulder for extra sympathy points. And I do love snugglin', but Jake, if you want dinner you're gonna have to play trains for just a few minutes there sir.

PS. You're the cutest cracker eater I know.

Jake: twenty months

words commonly heard around our house these days:

peek-boo!
chetch: catch (and church, but more commonly catch)
seeping: sleeping
tash: trash (see also: anything laying on the ground in public places/bathrooms. kind of him to want to clean up, but PUT.THAT.DOWN.)
sass(y): pac(i)
dooce: juice
soos: shoes
fish: shish
boat: broken (always in reference to the train tracks he's just annihilated)
purl: purple
boo: blue
yedow: yellow
bush: brush
po-kuh: poke

New Years in Virginia

A few days after driving home from Indiana, we made a last minute decision to take an even longer road trip out to Virginia to see my parents. We made the arrangements Monday afternoon and by Tuesday at noon we were on the road, praying that Jake would take a miraculous four-hour nap and be perfectly content for the remainder of the trip. (That didn't happen, FYI.) But we arrived in VA relatively unscathed and ahead of schedule thanks to Deric's ability to drive at warp-speed.

We spent our three days of "city life" braving the cold to walk to Barnes and Nobles and to Target (its a very good thing this close proximity was only for three days) to play with toys all morning, eating all our meals out (where have the parents I grew up with gone??), and running gleefully up and down the halls. We caught up with good friends and spent some time with Jake's could-be-BFF-if-they-lived-in-the-same-state. Jake had a great time climbing all over the world's best couch for toddlers (because the tops of the cushions bend back, no idea why its necessary) which was the perfect perch for people watching out the window with Grandma and Grandad.

So much driving over the holidays makes me want to never ever leave home again, but such is life with each family member living in a different state. Thankfully we always have a good time in between our six-to-eight-hour stints of purgatory! ;)

   ^greeting Mom and I from the toddler-approved couch // perfect parenting at BWW's

Christmas morning at home

Christmas morning at home was relaxing, calm and exactly what I'd hoped for. I love to let Christmas morning linger on so we took our time unwrapping and enjoying each gift. We'd set Jake's train table up for him to see first knowing full well that he'd never even glance at another present while the table was nearby. So after he played with the table and Deric and I opened our gifts, Deric moved the table out of the room so Jake could unwrap his castle and pirate ship. It was so fun to see Jake explore his new toys and to watch Deric play pirate-versus-knight while Jake belly laughed. Those two are best buds, no doubt about it.

Once we finished with presents, we took Jake's truck and tricycle from his grandparents for their inaugural spin up and down the driveway. He hasn't quite figured either out yet but will grow into them by the spring when our driveway will surely become his racetrack. Overall, a great Christmas that I'll remember for years.

 ^^wiping his nose. at least he's aware of his need for a kleenex?

^^not our best attempt at hiding the table.

first* annual family Christmas Eve** photos

*Okay, so we've technically been a family for four years but I never thought to take Christmas Eve photos when it was just the two of us. And last year's photo of the three of us is horr.en.dous. mostly because of my impulsive decision to cut my hair short only weeks prior...so that one doesn't count. See Jake's not-blurry-because-he-couldn't-walk-yet photo from last year.

**After Christmas Eve service, I had Deric + his parents sweating bullets in an attempt to get just one not-blurry shot of Jake actually in front of the tree and actually looking at the camera (smiling would have been filed under 'Christmas miracle'). Then after Jake had gone to bed and we'd all changed into our sweats, I happened upon the flood of family Christmas photos on Instagram and realized um duh, should have gotten a pic of the three of us (which would have helped with the Jake-staying-still conundrum). So these "Christmas Eve" photos are actually from Christmas Day after Deric allowed me to dress us all back up again for just enough time to get a photo. And then, back to sweats and our regularly scheduled programming.