It's the Simple Things

The days seem to be passing me by lately. It's hard to believe that in about two weeks Grant will be two years old, and in one more week Ben will be five months old. When did I blink?

I've tried introducing cereal to Ben three different times now and he isn't in any way interested. He just sits in the high chair and smiles at me and lets it all ooze out. He doesn't swallow and he doesn't spit it out. It just runs out when he smiles and laughs at me. Silly kid. Ben is still all smiles all the time for the most part. The only time he gets a little fussy is when he's wanting to be held. After I've been busy with Grant and Tristen all day, he just wants some cuddles and attention from mommy and daddy in the evening. Can you blame him? I love cuddling him. I know I'm going to miss smelling his little head and kissing his chubby cheeks. I know it won't be long before my cuddling days are over. Sniff, sniff.



A couple weeks ago we bought Grant a big boy bed (it's only a toddler bed, but it's a start). He loves it. The first night he slept all night in it. However, over the past two weeks he has discovered that after he is tucked in for the night he can get up, get his toys, and bring them back to bed with him and play. Well, we've had to break out the "man" paddle (It's a little plastic paddle that used to have one of those rubber balls and string on it and has Spider Man on one side. Grant calls Spiderman, "Man.") Usually we only have to threaten a whipping if he gets out of bed, but sometimes we have to follow through, which I hate. I know, I know. It's part of it. I just hate sending him to bed with a paddling. As much as I hate it, I know we have to do it. It really is working. But, just like any other toddler, he has to be reminded every night of the rules. Every time I walk into his room I'm reminded that he is a baby no longer. His room looks strange with this little tiny big boy bed tucked in the corner. One more milestone. Another memory. A few days ago I peeked in on him while he was napping and got a picture. I love to watch him sleep. After Chris leaves for work Grant usually comes in our room and gets in bed with me and goes back to sleep for a little while. He says "back... back" so I'll scratch his back until he dozes off. I love our early morning cuddles.



Since nowadays I'm a scrapaholic, I try to keep my camera on hand as much as possible. The other day in particular, I'm glad I had it handy. I was changing Grant out of his pajamas and into his clothes for the day when he slipped out of my grip and went running down the hall to his bedroom. He found his snowboots from last winter in the closet and came running back to me saying "boots... boots!" Of course I had to put them on him! The sight was priceless. No clothes, diaper, and snow boots. He didn't want to take them off so I happily snapped away and got a few good pics.



On Labor Day we went to a cook out at one of Chris' employees and friend, Ronnie's house at Smith Mountain Lake. It is absolutely beautiful there. The homes are beautiful, the scenery is beautiful... I could stay there forever. Ronnie took us out on his boat. That was Grant and Ben's first boat ride, and of course, I had my camera. Ben slept through it, of course, but Grant just took it all in. As you can see, the view was gorgeous. We had a lot of fun. Thanks Ronnie and Connie!

I was thinking today about things coming up in the next couple of months. This November Chris and I will celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. I can't believe all the things that have happened in our lives since November 9, 2002. Marriage, our first apartment, moving four hours away to a place where we don't know anyone, new jobs, buying a home, one kid, two kids, becoming a stay at home mom, and four promotions for Chris in four years. Unreal. We've lived a lot of life in five years that is for sure. We have made so many wonderful memories and have had some struggles mixed in. Marriage is work. Kids are work. Families are work. But the fruits of our labor are unbelievably sweet. I find myself getting caught up in thinking about material things we don't have or could have, and I get the "I wants." I have started writing down my blessings every week. Most times I have a lot of the same things to list, but daily I find another small blessing in disguise.