woodland park zoo

a Saturday at the zoo.

and the dirty goats were clearly the highlight...

weekly pins

5 favorite pinterest finds this week...

uncle ryan visits seattle

last week we were honored to have Brandon's little brother visit us. we took him out for a day of tourist activities and made him pose for embarrassing pictures in the city. he loves me.

 gum wall

 space needle!

 miles is such a trooper. he loves trips to the city. I love that he can snooze in the buggy.

dad was quick to the rescue with a nice cold popsicle during some mid-city teething...

january at the beach

so...I have really been terrible at blogging this year. (not that I was great last year...but this year I haven't really done anything) we moved in February...and honestly it has rocked my world. getting unpacked and settled with a toddler takes sooooooooooooooo long. (for me...because I am a terrible multi-tasker) so, between the move and working on my little website...the blogging has been pushed way to the back burner.

but...I just found these pictures on my camera, of an afternoon spent at our local beach park back in January. we love to go to this beach...we just went today, actually! anyway...I love these pics, so I thought I would share. -

xoxo

happy mother's day

Holy smokes. This is the second mothers day that I have celebrated as a mother. Sometimes I still have these “holy crap!!” moments when I realize I have a baby. Actually…now I have a toddler. These last 15 months have been among the craziest times of my life. there has been little sleep, and lots of mess. Few date nights, lots of diapers. lots of smiles, lots of tears.  It has truly been a whirl wind.

There are toys and books on the floor, miss matched sippy cups in the cupboard, little socks between the sofa cushions, and something sticky on my shirt, the wall, the car etc…

Sometimes I get so caught up in getting through my “to do list” each day… feed him, bathe him, dress him, read books, play time, nap time, repeat twice, all while doing house work in between… I find myself going through motions of every day  and by the time I go to bed I don’t even know what happened. Like when you drive somewhere and you get there and you have no recollection of your driving.

But then there are the little happenings that totally wake me up, and I see everything so clearly. I see little brown eyes looking right at mine, little chubby fingers pointing at trees, I hear his little nose sniffing flowers, and I hear him yelling out in whatever language it is he currently speaks.  Little moments that to anyone else would seem insignificant, but to me, are earth shattering fantastic.

Last week, I was feeling particularly overwhelmed. I had a lot to get caught up on, and he was especially grumpy. I was a bit frazzled when he sat down on the floor, and with a very serious face, he examined his foot. He held it in his hand and took a good look. Then he reached over and grabbed his little green shoe, and tried so hard to put it on. I didn’t jump in and put it on for him, I just watched from across the room.  I suddenly realized that to him, every day is different and filled with new things. He learns constantly things that are subconscious to me. It was one of the sweetest moments I have shared with him, and he doesn’t even know we shared it. and I cried.

I am so lucky to be his mom.

sometimes silly

just this...

happy birthday to you!

things have been nuts around here lately. we moved into our new house (yay!!!) we've had lots of family visitors, and most importantly miles turned 1 year old. (sniff sniff) I can't believe it's been a year. absolutely one of the most insane years of my life, no doubt. he's walking and laughing all the day long. except for when he's throwing tantrums and crying because he hates it way to much when he doesn't get his way...

grandma trudi and grandpa rich came to town for his birthday and to help us pack up to move (the second time in less than a year that they have helped us move) we didn't throw a major first birthday party for him because our place was in shambles, and he's 1. he won't remember. haha. instead, we headed down town to the best freakin cupcake shop ever in the history of cupcakes. sorry sprinkles, eat your frosted heart out, because "cupcake royal" in down town seattle is where it's at. the "dance party" cupcake will change your life. miles experienced his first real taste of sugar and i'd say it was a big hit.

happy birthday baby miles!! life got a lot better when you arrived last year. xoxo