photo friday: point + shoot

It has been a while since I've done a photo post around here. Mostly because just about everything I post is riddled with photos. Also, I haven't actually sat down to organize my photos since August. I have a lot of work to do!

This week I don't have the usual Canon Rebel camera to work with. It actually belongs to my in-laws, but spends about 98% of it's time here with us. They went to the first game at the new basketball arena last night and wanted to take some photos with the zoom lens.

I haven't stopped taking pictures, but I've definitely been spoiled by the fast shutter speed and photo quality the comes from a SLR camera. These photos were taken with my point + shoot Samsung which is about 3 years old now.

This is the response I got when I asked Malakai to show me his teeth. He knows what teeth are, he can point to them, and he tries to say the word. For some reason, he just kept sticking his tongue out when I smiled at him with my teeth.

{funny kid}

Then he got a hold of this lid. He thought it was hilarious to look at me through it. He'd laugh even hard when I'd say "Does mama look funny!?" 

{"dehyuhyar!"}

This is the pathetic look I got after nap time yesterday when he wanted me to pick him up. How could I resist?

{"upbwease?"}

For about 4 hours this morning I had 3 toddler boys running around my house. We had Henry as usual, and also our friend from church, Jacob. Malakai will be 18 months this weekend and both Henry + Jacob are 20 months old. 

How cute are these boys?!

{ball pit fun + zoned out on a few minutes of "Ehlma"}

Be sure to check out Ben's latest story at Stories for Kiddos. Don't be shy, if you read around here or over at his blog, click the follow button to let us know you're there and leave a comment too!

Happy Weekend!

P.S. Bonus points for anyone who can translate Kai's words in quotes.

nothing post

I'm working on a couple posts, but I won't finish them til next week. And since it's so late in the day on a Friday I just decided to share this little nothing post with the few that are reading blogs right about now.

Today was an especially interesting one around here. I got up at 5:45 with a very sleepy and crabby Malakai. He wanted me to hold him (love) but didn't want to fall asleep. I finally put him down to get dressed and he fell back to sleep at about 6:45. Silly bean.

So I had a rare morning to myself to get ready, make coffee, life journal, and even do a little bit of work.

Then Henry got dropped off and even though Malakai had just woken up 5 minutes prior, he went spastic. Running all over, doing this really fast marching in place thing with his legs that he does when he's over the top excited. Then he started throwing toys all over. He was TOTALLY showing off for his friend.

Once he had his breakfast and calmed down a bit I started to clean up some clutter only to spill my coffee all over the clutter, and my laptop, the floor, the raggedy upholstery on the dining room chair...mess. It's really hard to clean up a spill when all your toddler wants to do is put his hands in every part of it simultaneously. My computer survived, the floor is clean, and the chair got soaked with some stain remover and is drying in the garage. I need to reupholster them anyway.

Later the boys threw all 80-some plastic balls out of the ball pit. I tried to get them to help clean them up, it didn't work very well. It was cute, so I let it slide. Then they did it again an hour later. Gotta love boys.

{not a great photo, but I just enjoy the look on Kai's face}

Malakai also decided that slamming a giant plastic blender (toy) into my hand whilst I was changing his diaper would be the best idea. It wasn't. We're still working on the no hitting. Also, the sharing. This is a really difficult stage for teaching fairly complicated concepts. Like, how come I can hit my hand on this toy to get it to make a noise, but I can't hit my hand on mama's face to get her to make a noise?

Anyway, last night Malakai did this really cute thing, and because this post is about nothing in particular I'm going to tell you about it.

Ben was watching something on tv. I can't remember what, maybe Malakai was watching Elmo? That's not the point. Ben was laying on the rug in front of the couch and Malakai climbed up into his lap and laid himself down like Ben was the best ever comfy lounge chair. He did this for about 10 minutes and it was so sweet. I'm pretty sure Ben wasn't very comfortable in this position, but he was enjoying the moment and didn't want to ruin it by moving.

{love this}

This weekend I'm finally redeeming my Christmas gift from Ben from 2009. Yep, 2009. It was a giftcard for a haircut + massage at my favorite salon + day spa. I already used the haircut, but had trouble finding time to schedule the massage. I can't wait! I also scheduled myself a bang trim just before since I'm out doing things for me and I really need it.

And here's a photo of Ben + I at La Perla Pizzeria. It was on our little point + shoot camera, but I forgot about it when I did my update post. I like it, so I decided to share it.

{even though the bottle looks like it's stabbing Ben's eye}

Happy Weekend!

a rough one

I don't like to whine or complain much around here. Looking back, the posts where I talk about everything that is going wrong in our day to day just don't seem to fit. I guess not many of us like to look back through the negative things. However, I do want to be authentic and I think it's important to look where you've been to see how far you've come.

So, we've had a rough week. I mentioned earlier that Ben + I were sick with the flu or something just as awful. Thankfully it didn't last too terribly long and we made a quick recovery. We've been hoping + praying that Malakai wouldn't be next.

The last couple of nights he has had a very hard time sleeping. Yesterday he wouldn't eat much, refusing some of his favorites. He doesn't have any respiratory symptoms, so I'm guessing his stomach is bothering him. I hate having to guess. While I don't want him to grow up in a hurry, I do look forward to the day when he can tell me what's wrong. Until then, I'm praying for a healthy dose of "mother's intuition" to help me out.

And unfortunately I have to make a call as to whether we can continue to watch other littles. When I can't, I have to pass on my not-so-great week to someone else by putting them in a bind for childcare. Like I said, it's been a rough one.

Until our whole house is healthy again, we'll be laying low. Here's hoping for another speedy recovery!

Happy weekend friends,

fridays

Friday is usually everyone's favorite day. Lately, Fridays have been more challenging for me than any other day.

It's an early morning because we drop Ben off at work by 7am before heading over to watch Henry. This means waking up before 6am (ew) and having all 3 of us ready and out the door by 6:40am at the latest. Some mornings it's quite the difficult task.

Then we're away from the house all day. So Thursday nights are spent preparing breakfasts, snacks, + lunches for all of us. Sadly, this morning I ended up leaving Malakai's sandwich + crackers on the counter. So he got to eat my lunch instead.

The hardest part is getting Malakai to nap away from home. He's just so social that when we're away or there are visitors at our place he has a really hard time going to sleep.

Thankfully at this moment he is snoozing away (after 45 minutes of coaxing). I'm taking the opportunity to sit for a little bit and relax, there's no telling how long this quiet moment will last.

routine

I've never had much of a routine. My whole life it seems as soon as I start to get into a groove something changes. Within the last couple of years I've learned to expect and embrace the changes. That's where the name of my blog comes from as we're constantly on the brink of something new.

A lot of women, especially moms, seem to have a daily routine. This is something I've only dabbled in, but never tried with much fervor. When I was a college student I grew accustom to spontaneity and quite enjoyed the ability to do almost anything I wanted whenever I wanted. That and the fact that every 10 weeks I had a whole new class and work schedule. It worked for me.

When I "settled down" and got married a few years ago neither Ben or I had much of a regular schedule. He is a musician, which translates to casual and flighty for the most part and had just started a new job. I was a couple years into a job at a college which had it's seasons, but pretty much changed from a desk job to an on-the-road job every few months. Things weren't quite as spontaneous but we still had the ability to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. I indulged in eating ice cream instead of lunch, watching movies uninterrupted late into the evening, heading out for coffee with a friend at a moment's notice, laying out by the pool for hours on warm summer weekends.

Near the end of my pregnancy {this time just last year} I wanted to do less, and just stay around the house more and more. We didn't go to the movies {last night we went to the theater for the first time in 2 years}, we declined the few invitations we received to go out to late dinners, and the most activity we got was walking at least a mile every day in an effort to get labor going. We were still doing what we wanted, when we wanted...we just wanted to do less.

photo friday: mish-mash

I've been working on a couple giveaways + reviews lately. Soon I'll be doing one for CSN Stores. CSN has offered me a Eddie Bauer diaper bag to review. With 200+ stores, CSN carries everything from cookware to sofas. Later today I'll be posting a very exciting giveaway, so be sure to come back for your chance to win!

As far as photos go, I've been working on a special post about Ben + I for almost a month now, and once again it's not ready. The last 2 Fridays I've been doing daycare for a whole 9 hour day and all the photos I need are on the desktop at home so it keeps getting pushed back. I'm really excited about sharing the photos and story with all of you. It'll happen soon.

This week I've posted most of my photos in previous posts already but here's a mish-mash of what I haven't shared with you yet.

{mealtime}

{playtime}

{naptime}

Miraculously I've been able to move Malakai from his carseat to his crib when he falls asleep on the way home from watching Henry. Hence, why he's wearing a hoodie to bed. My mama friends have asked me to share my "secret" but it's all Malakai and his amazing sleeping skills. I just scoop him out of the car, lay him on my shoulder, put a little extra bounce in my step as I walk him in the house and set him down. I am really enjoying this stage knowing it can't last forever. 

{let's call grandma!}

Malakai has been gifted most of his toys, this one is a new fave. He's been given toys that are supposed to look like phones or remotes, but they don't have all the lights and sounds like the real thing. This one has lights, buttons, sounds- the works! I can't wait til he pretends to talk on it. 

{daddy with his little conductor}

I just love seeing my boys smile. And aren't these overalls the cutest? I got them at a shower and Kai finally fits them. They have matching shoes and coat. With how wiggly my little bean is these days it's hard to get him to cooperate with my photoshoots so I haven't been able to get a good shot of him in the whole ensemble.

That's my photos for the week. Again, don't forget to check back this afternoon for a chance to win some goodies.

Happy Friday!

wordless wednesday

8 hours

Today I have my first 8 hour work day since I left my job 10 months ago. Malakai and I will be hanging out with our friend Henry til 5pm.
Wish me luck with two kiddos for that long! I just hope Malakai naps well being away from home an entire day.