Too cute not to share

Warren has been taking Wrigley for walks in the stroller. Much to my shock, the puppy actually appears to like it and stays put in the stroller the whole time.




We are busy celebrating Warren's birthday today, even though his actual day is June 1st. He requested going to the Butterfly Pavillion, to a little water park, to Dave and Busters, and having a picnic dinner. Whew! Better eat my Wheaties for breakfast! He deserves it though :)

What I'm diggin' right now:

~My super cute new cell phone that has a full key board for texting :) I love texting! Did I mention that it is purple and oh so girly :)

~The Discovery Health Channel! Such interesting and inspirational shows about real people dealing with things ranging from their weight to raising their families...I am addicted!

~Our new puppy, Wrigley. We have had him now for a few weeks and I can say with confidence that it was an excellent decision. He has enhanced our family -- even Reagan is way more active. I love snuggling him in evening. He is the first dog I have ever had that is a "petting dog." Reagan goes nuts licking you when you try to pet him...his love language it all about food! Wrigley loves to have his tummy rubbed and be cooed at. He has really helped get our household back in the "baby mode" a little bit.

~Answering all of Warren's questions every day. He has SUCH a naturally inquisitive mind and asks all kinds of things about the planets in outer space and how to spell different words. He has a little dry erase board that he has been using to write on. I am also totally sweet on his little doodles of people. They have recently evolved from a circle with arms and legs sticking out of it, to now more human looking stick figures. Lastly I adore the fringe of blonde he has around the perimeter of his buzz cut and the healthy tan he is getting already from our many hours per day outside.

~Watching Jack eat and eat and eat. He is going through a growth spurt and is constantly shoveling in the calories. He even woke up the other night at 4 am and declared "I'm hungry, I need some food!" He is such an easy going kid for the most part and is so content to play with his toys and is always singing or humming some kind of tune. I love his little front teeth -- he has THE most perfect baby teeth I have ever seen.

~Sitting on my front porch in the shade and watching the boys play on the expanse of grass with other neighbor kids and kids that happen upon the park out front. It is SO relaxing and makes me realize that I will definitely be able to handle a newborn added to the mix this Summer. I can already picture Nolan sitting in the shade with me nursing and sleeping :)

Of course I could easily sit and contemplate all the things that I am not loving right now, but I am making a conscious decision to focus on good things. But, in order to keep it real, I will just briefly mention a few things:

:: I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to find a way to get the boys to ask permission to go outside and enforce some rules regarding leaving the house or even going downstairs when I am upstairs. It can get too hectic and hard to keep track of them during the day when they go in opposite directions and I know this will only get worse when I have a baby to take care of. We have been pretty lax with letting them go out front or in the back yard at will and I realize now that it's not sustainable with three!

:: Jack is going through a bit of a whiny phase and Warren sometimes has the attention span of a bumble bee, going from one activity to the next without a break for me to recuperate.

:: Some of the monotony of the housework makes me crazy. I have yet to really accept the fact that the dishes and laundry are NEVER really done.

There you have it! Summer break is officially underway and there are way more things that I am loving and the rest I just continue to work with or try to accept. It is going to be an awesome Summer and I am so lucky to be able to spend it with my boys.

Hallelujah!

Every mamma's dream machines:



That's right, we finally got a new washer and dryer!

When Bryan and I bought our first house 6 years ago, we got what we thought was a very sufficient set at the time. It was a front loader, water saving washer after all, so we got the rebate from our County for buying a 5 star energy rated washer. Then we had two babies in less than two years and realized we should have probably put more consideration into the actual capacity of the washer.

But you know how it is, they were working perfectly and we just coulnd't justify buying new ones when ours were only a couple years old. So, we waited and waited and I continued to do so many loads per week to make up for the fact that I could barely stuff a laundry basket of clothes into the washer...washing even a twin comforter -- forget it!

Until yesterday. The glorious day that my new set got delivered. Not to worry, we sold the old set to the family that is renting our old house where the boys were born...so technically they are just back home ;)

After carefully consideration of all the brands and options in washers and dryers these days, we decided on the Samsung 4.5 cu. ft. steam washer and accompanying dryer (which I think is 7.3 cu. ft.). It is the only one with the vibration reduction technology (VRT), which is great for us since our laundry room in on the upper level of our house. You literally cannot even tell when the spin cycle happens, it is amazing and actually quieter than our dishwasher!

I got the stainless steel finish and they are just beautiful. It was shocking the first load of clothes I put in...there was still SO much room left in the basin that I ran to the boys' room and dragged their hamper into the laundry room to fill the rest up! It only uses 4 gallons of water per load and the estimated cost to run the washer per year is just $7 with our natural gas furnace. So, I can wash away and steam clean as I please :)

They didn't get the memo

Someone clearly forgot to tell these two furry creatures that inhabit my house that there is lots of work to be done around here:

{Wrigley loves to hang out in his kennel, especially if things are hectic downstairs}

{Reagan on "his" bench, where he sleeps and people watches with his blankie}

Like all these dishes in the sink and dishwasher that need tended to:



Oh, and the playdoh that somehow made its way to the carpet on the bottom stair and then smashed itself in just enough to where cleanup will not be easy.

But, it's all good! Did I mention that it is a certain someone's LAST day of preschool today!? Looking forward to a nice long Summer before his official "school years" begin. Such a handsome little man:



Apparently he didn't get the memo either, regarding the fact that I am terrified of him growing up and not being my little mamma's boy forever...*sigh*...better soak up all this time now!

I want to remember...

...that she had a magic touch with babies and knew just how they wanted to be held to soothe them and lull them to rest:



...that she had the most beautiful green eyes and such soft warm skin:



...that she was once an adorable little baby and pretty little girl:





I love you, Grandma. I meant to post this on Memorial Day.

Vintage Posts -- Installment #6

Not to imply at all that he is "vintage" at his ripe old age of 30, but I came across these pictures of Bryan and it made me realize how grown up we are now compared to when we were dating 6 years ago.

Remember, hon, when my dog, Lincoln was our "baby" and we were so carefree as to spend a weekend in Cuchara going to places like the local Dog Bar?

Seems like a lifetime ago...

{The Dog Bar in Cuchara, Colorado. As the name implies, dogs are welcome.}


{Bryan and Lincoln. I knew he would make a great daddy someday since he took so kindly and readily to my very hyper Jack Russell Terrier and treated him like his own puppy}


{I can just barely even remember when this goofy dog was my sole responsibility. How does it go, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes three mortgages and several baby carriages...?}


While I haven't known him but a fifth of his life so far, I can speak to the man I know he is today and all the responsibility we have now as we (both, *sniff* *sniff*) embrace our thirties!

Happy Birthday, Bryan! You are like a fine wine that just keeps getting better with age :) I love you XOXO

The W's have it

Wonderful Warren.

Wasting away the the afternoon whilst working my camera.

What are your favorite things, little boy?

Well, the way-cool big wheel wins the day:


Then the wet-behind-the-ears little brother, who is more interested in wooing mommy and wolfing down chocolate goldfish:


What would life be without a wiggly dog named Wrigley?


Wow! Did my watchful dad really let me wreak havoc at a golf course?

Fake smiles and puppy dogs

The puppy is doing great. Better than great really. He seems to be a potty training genius because he is going outside every time we take him out and has only had a couple of accidents since we got him. Either that or my tolerance is just really high for these things ;) No telling...

Anyhow, just to document Warren's maternal side -- when he's not setting up battle scenes, rough housing with his brother, or climbing things, he does have a tender side that just LOVES his new puppy.




And instead of deleting this last picture, I have decided to keep it, just to point out that my boys are desperately in need of touch ups to their buzz cuts...and perhaps some smile coaching!

Mothers Day 2009

What a day! Or a weekend rather, full of lots of fun outings and little projects at our home and a rental house. Whew!

I am so happy with what I was gifted with by my boys and husband, just for being me. Warren made me a beautiful candle at preschool and sang me a special song he learned there. Then they took me to pick out flowers to plant in my hanging baskets on the front porch, which Bryan promptly got hung up complete with a drip line to each basket. My front porch is now totally adorable with summer lights, flowers, and lots of tricycles ;)

Lastly, Bryan thoroughly cleaned the garage and even installed carpet on the stairs coming inside...he knows my heart! And they took me out to dinner too! Jack did have a melt down tantrum but eventually calmed down -- just in time to fall asleep at the table right as dessert arrived, poor little guy:



Despite how amusing it was for all the people around us and those who walked by, I couldn't just leave him like that so I scooped him up -- and then scooped up some serious calories in the form of chocolate and icecream.

Our newest little addition

He's here! Warren and Jack are beyond excited and of course so is our current dog, Reagan. Now we have two Jack Russel terriers ;)

Meet Wrigley Poke Lawson:



I have wavered back and forth the last couple of weeks thinking either it is crazy that I am taking on more responsibility, or feeling equally excited as the boys, knowing we will get him house broken quickly and it will be great for Reagan to have a buddy. Obviously, the latter mindset won out!

Here he is in his kennel for the first time. He will be spending quite a bit of time there for the first couple of weeks as we get him acquainted with the house rules...like no going pee-pee on mommy's nice rugs, and no chewing on the leather sofas ;) Should be a breeze!


He is napping right now and it is taking all of Warren's patience to let him be. Warren is really into the new puppy, saying he will be the one to take care of him and be his "main mommy." So worth any extra work that I will be incurring for our newest addition to the Lawson clan!

What's up?

Well, we all have brief periods in life where it just really isn't that interesting, right? That has been the past couple of weeks for me. I was sick with a cold, going through the motions to keep everyone fed and on schedule. Nothing remarkable about that.

But now my cold is all but gone and I am gearing up for Summer! Warren's last day of school is May 27th and we have nothing short of a barrage of birthdays and weddings coming up. So bring it on! I sat down yesterday and made a list of things for me (oh and one for Bryan too!) to get done in the next couple weeks as we transition to Summer.

I am enrolling Warren, and maybe Jack too, in Karate for Kids here at a local studio that has a great kids program. I decided after long consideration that karate is going to be their "organized activity" for this Summer. I am not ready, nor do I think they are, for multiple trips per week to a soccer or t-ball field. We have plenty of childhood time for that!

It's the simple things in life that matter the most anyhow. Like when your daddy makes a special trip with just you to the Children's Museum to build a tractor, since your mommy feels totally overwhelmed and anxious when she even looks at the instruction card ;)

{Jack with his tractor that daddy helped him build from post consumer items}


Or when you get to dig through all the baby toys you used to slobber and chew on with your whole new "big boy" perspective, since your mom is nesting really early this time around and insisted that your dad get all the baby stuff from the garage and basement rightthisminute! so she could assess what we kept. :)

{Warren and Jack reminiscing with the baby toys}


I even hung some pretty lights on our front porch yesterday along with a cute little wind spinner decoration thingy that Warren got me for Mother's Day. Yes, he came back from his Grandma's house with lots of loot that he scavenged from her well-stocked house. It was pretty funny to see what he picked out for everyone. Bryan got some light bulbs and some dry wall hooks for example ;)

Strictly for the record

I live with a house of full boys (and one grown man) that all love Star Wars!

Here they are at the 'Star Wars Extravaganza' that was put on by the local Lions Club. All I can say is this did nothing but further their inability to distinguish reality from fantasy...leading to questions like "How come we can't go from planet to planet?", "Are we 'good guys'?", "Mommy, do your arms take off?"





Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the said extravaganza due to a bad cold...which I STILL have. Yuck.

So, Warren is visiting his Grandma and Grandpa, Jack and Bryan are doing 'guy stuff' this morning, and I am STILL at home feeling cruddy.