out of the mouth of gabe

::  "this is my pachycephalosaurus hat!"  (see above picture)

::  "lord jesus, why do cactuses have so many spikes, but some animals can eat them? i don't understand why.  why?! amen."  (this was supposed to be a blessing before dinner)

"ezra, does your duck have eyebrows?  mine doesn't, that's how i knew it was a girl."

::  "if i see a bear, i will just tell him, 'if you try to eat me, i will just sword fight you!'  i'll do it for my kids.  they've never had fish before."

::  "mom, wodensday is before thorsday, but when is friggasday?"  (he is referring to the norse gods that the days of the week are named after.  he also says moonday and saturnday.  he thinks this is perfectly normal)

:: "dear god, thank you for this day, but when i grow up, i want to marry arden.  amen."

::  "our next baby will be names crocadilla.  then cinderella and rapunzel.  and then moses, because we don't have a moses yet."  (apparently, gabe thinks we are going to have a big family...)

florida in january

it has been unseasonably warm recently.  but with school starting back up this week, i have neglected to get us out to enjoy the gorgeous weather.  until today.  today, we started a (hopefully) thursday tradition of having a picnic lunch at the fort after school with some friends. the kids brought the discovery kit that their aunt katie and uncle david gave them for christmas and set out on an incredible adventure that resulted in far too many rocks being brought into our van.  it was a gorgeous afternoon.  and we went just in time, because as we were packing up, a cold front came through and our warm weather ended.

more of me

i am never in the pictures.  i think it is a common mama problem, always being the one taking, never being (or even desiring to be) the one taken of.  i am probably in only a handful of pictures in the last five years since gabe was born.  not always on purpose, but there are definitely times when i would rather not be in front of a camera.  pregnancy and motherhood have changed me, in good ways, but also in ways that i would not always prefer to capture on film.  but one day, my boys, they will be older.  and they will look back and they will have no record of what a full life i live as their mother.  so, this year, i am going to try to spend more time in front of the camera.  and i will also try not to delete all of the pictures steve takes of me when i edit them.  because in 15 years, i will want to look back and remember just how sweet those moments were that we lived, together.  and i want proof that i was there.  for them, and for me.

because i can...

and because they are still too young to be embarrassed.  and because they are all in one place (which nearly never happens).  bathtub photos.

our christmas...

was lovely and exhausting.  all month long, we celebrated by pulling an activity out of our advent calendar (little things, like take cookies to daddy's office, and big things, like go to sea world one last time).

to be honest, i have not at any point during this pregnancy gotten over the exhaustion of first trimester.  there are still busy mornings when steve will come home during lunch to find me half passed out on the couch (thank goodness i have him there to help feed the kids and get nap time settled).  so, there were definitely days over the course of the month when we didn't get to our advent activity but the beauty of doing something every day in december was that even though we missed a handful of days, our holidays as a whole still felt so full.

the weekend before christmas was spent in st. petersburg visiting steve's ato and aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as his mom and sister who were there for a 5k.

on the 23rd, we picked my brother up from the airport and prepared to celebrate christmas with my parents in the morning.  that night, as we finished up some last minute christmas gifts and wrapping, my mom called to let us know that my grandpa (who lives on the same property as her) had collapsed at dinner and been rushed to the hospital.  he passed away that evening, so we changed our plans a bit and took my brother to madison on christmas eve where we spent the afternoon with my parents.  that night we drove home and prepared for the morning's celebrations.

on christmas, we celebrated at home in the morning and then headed down the street to have lunch with our gospel community (and i finally got to cuddle dana's new baby boy, haddon!)

the week after christmas was spent cleaning and packing, then heading to madison for the funeral and tallahassee to have christmas with steve's family.  it was so nice to spend several days there seeing old friends and just hanging out.  the boys were really excited to go to the local history museum which features a mastadon skeleton.  

we are definitely still recovering from the craziness of christmas the week that followed, but are so grateful to have had such incredible family and friends to spend it with.

at three...

our ezra:

:: is incredibly chatty.  and funny.  i love the moments we get to spend just talking.  and he is always more than happy to sit and chat with me if i ask him to.  under all that three-year-old craziness, there is still so much of my cuddly baby!

::  has a great memory!  he knows nearly as much of gabe's memory work for school as gabe himself (and they both know more than me!)

::  has a wealth of facts about various animals and dinosaurs stored in that brain.  for a while, every time we were in the car, he would yell from the back seat, "hey mom!  did you know, t-rex has good eyesight?"

::  is our encourager.  he loves to tell us, "that a good job, mom!" or "that's right, dad!"  it is so sweet to see him lifting others up, even when all i did was make dinner.

::  loves "wrestle time."

::  is beginning to show a bit of a sensitive side.  now that he can communicate with words, his violent tendencies are calming down and he is beginning to show emotions other than anger.  lately, he has been a bit of a sensitive soul, crying while he says things.  today, he asked me in a trembling voice if i would do his hair in the bathroom.  i did, of course, but the emotion behind the request was unexpected.

::  loves to "eckersize!"  and when he does, his hands always go into little fists and he pumps his arms fiercely while panting.

::  is really beginning to show us his personality.  he has discovered his own brand of humor.  and he has such an incredible sense of wonder (the other night, after we spotted an owl on a fence, he must have exclaimed to be seven times before bed that it was amazing!).  he is such a special part of our family!