Do all Petes wear pleats and eat peas?

Recently, we have been prompting Wubbles to say "please" when he asks for things. We didn't expect him to pronounce the word correctly right off the bat and I'm secretly glad he didn't, because now he has an entirely new set of words that sound like please and mean please but aren't actually please.  Hence the question: Do all Petes wear pleats and eat peas?

Wubs' please is usually a whisper.  "Petes," he'll whisper as he crawls into my lap to read him a book. Or he will smile and point to dessert and question, "peas?" And then there's "pleats" can I be pushed around in my high chair like it's a stroller.

I don't want to intentionally have him mispronouncing things, but for now, it's too cute to correct so we're going with it.

Speaking of things that are too cute; uhm, this:

Starting the day off reading with Poppy; perfect.

This little project...

So, I'm working on this little project to post soon, but then again, I'm always "working" on something. However, this one was "running on 2 hours sleep" inspired, so I hope it turns out the way I'm envisioning it: awesome!

By the way. I really hope my sons inherit my creative spirit. (According to my Dad, I get this from his mother, Edna. Isn't Edna the perfect grandma's name?)

My Christmas wish came true.

Last year, when Cullen got his Christmas pictures done, I was torn about the way I hoped they would turn out.  On one hand I wanted the quintessential "smiley picture."  But I secretly thought that a crying baby picture would have been awesome!  When I see my "crying baby" Santa pictures, I get a good laugh; they're hilarious!  As it turns out, Wub was pretty apathetic when we took him; not smiling, but not crying.

Fast forward to 3 1/2 months later, he's pretty much over "just sitting there" in pictures.  Now, he's much more expressive and combine that with the fact that he's more on the go than ever and we've got an, "if don't want to be in the picture, trust me, I'm not gonna be in the darn picture!" attitude.  Recently, we took the boys to a local park.  I love this park; it's small and established (a nice way of saying old).  It has a tiny playground and a little walking path, you get it.... it's a park.  (Secretly, I love it because it's located behind a restaurant where they make wood fired pizza, so it smells delicious!)  It was a great feeling to be there as a family of four and I tried to savor every minute of it.  We let Wub play on the park equipment (supervised!) while Arden and I soaked up the weather on a nearby bench.  It was so nice to watch him going up the stairs and down the slide all by himself.  I made sure that I packed the camera because, hey, I'm not missing this nostalgic moment in time!  So, I started snapping.  And snapping and snapping some more.  Of course, Beebee was a willing participant because he had no other options, but Wub had other ideas. It was clear he wasn't going to smile and pose and "glamour shots" it for me.  But that's ok, because now our park pictures have become my new favorites; it's like I finally got those non smiling Christmas pictures I wanted, these are classic!

Getting excited for the bubbles!

He was so happy to be out there with Daddy.

Going down the slide feet first!  This is an accomplisment for him.

Beebee's first time at the park; isn't he so adorable!

Ok, get ready for my new favorite picture series:

No thanks!  Not going to get my picture taken...

Besides this being hilarious, look at Jim... he's smiling!  He's such a great Dad, he's smiling no matter what... that and he was also probably afraid that he would "hear about it" if he wasn't smiling in the picture!

*Perfect picture.*  I can't decide whose face I like better, Wub's or Beebee's!

I can't wait for our next trip to the park to see what other classic moments we capture.

I heart

Spring and let me tell you why.

1. No more jackets! Going anywhere with a jacket is a hassle. There's never anywhere to put them and they just make me look bulky. No thanks, I'll pass!

2. There is this stretch of road about a mile long right by my house that is lined with daffodils. It's the first sign of spring and it's beautiful.

3. Likewise, right as spring starts, there are daffodils that bloom along the woods edge of our back yard. I can't help but wonder who would have planted flowers bulbs back there, regardless of who it was, it brings me happiness and for that, I am thankful.

4. There will be lots of time spent at the park this year; I'm determined to have an old school picnic, whether the boys want to or not.

5."Tree tunnels" reappear. There are two tree tunnels in my town, one in the way in/out, depending on how your traveling and the other right in my own neighborhood."Tree tunnels" are streets that are draped on both side by, well... trees. (Hence, as you drive through it's almost as if you're going through a "tunnel." I know it's a stretch, but take the leap with me, I know you want to!) It's really beautiful when they are leafy and big and for some reason it reminds me of a nice, hearty, southern drawl filled "welcome home."

5. Pastel colored hard boiled eggs. Enough said.

I hope you enjoy spring as much as I do and remember to roll down the windows the next time you find yourself traveling through a "tree tunnel." It's good for one's soul.

I heart

Brunch and here's why:

1. It has become my generations equivalent of a fondue party; a social event that may or may not involve chocolate and cheese (two if my favorite things!).

2. It is like a young family's best way to still stay relevant. Like I said, it's tre chic these days to "do brunch," which is great because this meal usually doesn't interfere with naps and baths. Therefore, we can still delude ourselves that were still total hipsters, despite the fact that we're not.

3. Uhm can we talk about the food? This is the best part. At what other food event can you have both eggs and a burger (and yes, I'm talking about in the same plate)? And outside of a sea worthy vessel, a brunch buffet cannot be beat.

4. And let's not forget the drinks... mimosas, bloody marys and bellinis, oh my!

And there you have it the top four delicious reasons I love brunch.

I heart

shoes and here’s why:

1. Shoes can totally make an outfit. Seriously, I love a pair of black pumps, they make every dress up outfit sexy.

2. Finding any perfect-for-you accessory is awesome. Finding the perfect pair of shoes is divine; it’s almost as if they have been placed here especially for me.

3. Oh the heart ache of having to throw away those crazy old, worn out, gross smelling shoes; it never gets easier. Also, having your favorite pair of Minnetonka Moccasins thrown away on purpose by your sister, ahem Megan, can be devastating.

4. Getting a nice pair of cheap shoes is the ultimate deal for me.

5. Flip flops are shoes. They are also awesome and therefore deserve to be worn year round, no matter what the thermometer says!

6. It's a universal truth that little kids love shoes. Wub loves shoes so much, specifically Jim's sneakers that we contemplated getting a cheap pair if men's adult sneakers for Christmas so he could play with them, I'm not a fan of little ones playing with dirty adult sneakers, yuck!

There you have it; the top 6 reasons shoes are my jam!

Wub's first pair of Chuck Taylors, I feel this has set him
up for good taste in shoes his whole life.

Dear Sleep, a love letter

Dear Sleep,
I miss you, you and I were bffs at one point, remember that? Remember all of those glorious late night rendezvous we had together? Well that's a distant memory now, you and I are like two people who used to be besties in elementary school, but then grew apart when we went to Middle School. Now, we're just a couple of acquaintances who pass one another in the hall, but don't sit together at lunch. We have to get closer again and I'm not just telling you what you want to hear, because legitimately you're like the 4th most important love of my life.
So I want to know, will you be my bff again? If yes, I'm going to get one of those gold plated, broken in half bff heart key chains and you can have one half and I will have the other.
Y or N? (Circle one, that's how everyone makes a decision in Middle School, there's no other options than those I just provided so don't you dare try to pass this back without circling one! And no, maybe is not an option or I would have listed it.)
Love,
Me-Me

Ok, so I'm only half kidding; children are the best thing that ever happened to my life, but once you have 'em you can pretty much kiss sleep goodbye. And see, that's an issue because Mama likes her sleep, or at least a good consecutive 5 hours; but 'round here, at least these days, that's virtually impossible. So this naturally leads me to ask my little ones: what's up y'all, don't you know that sleep is just about the coolest thing going? Clearly, they don't.
This is how it typically goes; Wub goes up at 8:30, Beebee goes up around 9:30, Jim and I try to fall asleep as quickly as possible after that in order to maximize our sleep time. 12:30, Beebee's up. 1:15, hello Wubbles, you want to join,the party? Well, welcome aboard, son. 1:30 Beebs and I head back upstairs, I of course lay awake for the next 45 minutes watching whatever infomercial of choice is on right then, while the rest of my boys are fast asleep (depending on how quickly Wubbles goes back down).

And so it continues, this nightly dance of ours.

Oh hello 3:30, so lovely to see you again today, has anything changed since yesterday? No. That's what I thought. And 6:45, my aren't you looking as beautiful as ever. Pardon me, I don't have on my party dress for the occasion; however, since we've been meeting up so frequently, I think the formality is gone. Gone, gone, gone.

And before I know it, its 7:00 and one tired Mama and one mildly well rested 1 year old are staring each other in the face, thinking, "bring it!"

So, the next time you see a new parent (or a not new parent, because who knows when the sleep thing starts happening), rest assured (no pun intended), they're happy as a pig in squalor; but they're jealous. What are we jealous of? All of you Sleeping Beauties out there, blissfully snoozing through another night. And Beauties, you too should be jealous of us nonsleepers. You're missin'out and we're going to take advantage of your sleeping ways; cause I'm about to get a great deal at 3:30 in the morning on some totally worthless infomercial product. And get this, because I'll be one of the first 50 callers, I'm totally going to get some other fabulous piece of crap for virtually free (shipping and handling not included)!

Proof that at one point Wub was an excellent little sleeper...



And Beebee is too.  It must be a baby thing.

Ok, I just couldn't resist... sleeping babies are so cute, right?

I heart

daytime television because:

1. It's a female's paradise, there’s more birthing, drinking and fashion going on than you can shake a stick at.
2. By drinking I mean Kathie Lee and Hoda are getting "day wasted" and I'm cheering' them on. Regis and Kathie Lee remind me of summers spent watching daytime TV with my mom and I'm pretty sure my boys will think the same about Kathie lee and Hoda for me (also its kinda weird that these two shows involve Kathie lee).
3. It's light hearted; basically as tough hitting as you're going to get is some suburban drams, something I can handle; there's no law and order "duhn, duhns" midday thank you very much.
4. Every once in a while I will catch an interview with a celebrity who is relatable; I'm talkin' to you Chelsea Handler. Babysitting ring when you're 12, pure genius woman, pure genius. But thank goodness it was the 70's, moms these days are hard core and if they found out you were only 12 when you were babysitting their kids, they'd have you scared straight, my friend.
5. Local news anchors crack me up. I'm convinced that my local anchors don't get along, one of them is always "reporting from the road". They say its to bring the viewers information about things, I think its because the lady anchor has a meltdown whenever the man anchor is on set, like full blown having to change her forest green blazer to a navy one because she clawed the buttons off in a frenzy. But since she's the pretty face and he's the likable one they try to keep both of them happy. I know, I know, its pretty far fetched, but I feel like I'm smarter than the average viewer so they can't fool me with their everyone wants to know about the new local bakery segments, news flash: we don't care, bring on the bitchy on air jabs!

Ok, so this took me 13, minutes, but I love TV, so I feel the extra 3 minutes was warranted.

It's true, I get this excited about daytime TV.

Brothers: it's been about a month

These two have been hanging out for about a month now and they're already keeping the same hours; the only other people that keep these hours are rock stars and Charlie Sheen.  Here's a glimpse into my morning in picture form; Beebee was up at 3:45 am and Wubbles was up at 4:15 am.  They both finally went back to sleep at 7:00 am.

Wubbles was the first to go down while watching Elmo.

Then Beebee joined Wub's party.

Ahhhh, happiness for the three of us.  And not to mention super cute.

And there you have it, just a typical morning around these parts.