the snowball effect

I've decided that blogging to me happens to be something of a snowball effect. I either blog fairly often with pictures galore or I get caught up in life and before I know it Christmas, the new year, AND our anniversary has passed...whoops! This is my attempt to get the snowball effect moving...

Christmas this year was a little hard because Talis ended up coming down with a fever the night before Christmas Eve that ended up getting progressively worse and in the 105 range by late Christmas Eve afternoon. Instead of spending Christmas Eve with my family going up north to play in the snow and wrapping presents for the family we adopted this year like we had planned we ate breakfast at our house instead and had to skip out on present wrapping to take Talis to the emergency room. He ended up needing antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection and ear infection. I was really bummed that we didn't really get to spend much time with my family AND that Talis looked miserable until we got some antibiotics in him which wasn't until around 10 o'clock that night. On Christmas Day we opened presents and ate at the Reynolds. It was hard enough to get in the holiday mood this year (which I'm not sure I ever really did despite my attempts of constant Christmas music playing and looking for any way to serve others) but I was anxious to get to the new year (do I sound like the Grinch yet? I feel like I do). Don't get me wrong we still enjoyed the holidays this year and feel incredibly blessed in every way possible I just felt like I was ready to start fresh and to see what was in store for us this up coming year.

For New Years we celebrated at our friend's Brooke and Jay's house. Talis fell asleep around eight and woke up about five minutes to midnight to scream all through the fireworks (he wasn't a big fan). After our New Year's smooches we headed home shortly after midnight because we were pretty tired by then. This is the only picture we took that night, a shoddy shot in the dark walking out to our car.

Our anniversary is on January 3rd and I absolutely love it. I feel like I'll never suffer from post holiday sadness because we get to celebrate our love pretty soon after the holidays! We thought about making big plans this year but decided to take the more low key route since I'm feeling quite large and pregnant these days and we both are just drained by the end of the day. We're actually celebrating tonight and we're both not sure what we want to do but yesterday he treated me to flowers and cupcakes while I treated him to a dirty house and an exhausted looking wife...that man sure does love me! Love that handsome man of mine and so glad we've spent four incredible years in marital bliss!

So bring it on 2013, we're all pretty excited for another year of challenges, adventures, growth, and change!

connecticut.

I'm not sure what to write about the recent tragedy that took place in conneticut. It is sad, it is horrible, and it is heart wrenching. Whenever I start to think about it, which I have often since it happened, my throat seems to swell and my heart beats fast and my vision becomes slightly blurred. I start to imagine Talis being the one who was sent off to school and receiving the news that no parent should ever have to receive. I feel as though when I think about it for too long and I think these thoughts I start to experience what these parents are going through but I'm not. Not even a little bit. My family is my world and to think of any part of it, especially the innocent and sweet part of it that gives me tender kisses and wants me to hold him most of the day, would wreck me.

It's easy to be cynical in this world today, to think the worst of every person and of every situation. And yet when horrible tragedies like this happen I am reminded of the power of the human spirit. How in the middle of such great loss people seem to come together, to lift each other up, and to extend love to those around them that they might not of before. I watched this clip of one of the victims fathers. After loosing his own daughter in the shooting he talks of his love and condolences to all the victims and their families, including that of the shooter. He is proof that God is far more powerful than evil. That there is still good in this world. Still love and kindness. My thoughts and prayers are with them. May we each try to be the good, the love, and the kindness in this world that often times can seem so dark.

in a blink.

My last post was about Halloween and then I blinked my eyes and we straight by passed November and all it's Thanksgiving goodness and now were already seven days into December. Time is flyin' around here lately and there never seems to be enough of it. Being pregnant with a toddler is purely exhausting. And I feel as though I can never finish anything. For example, I wrote the first few sentences, got distracted, and now several days later am sitting back in front of the computer writing (but I say writing loosely as it's been the only "me" time I've had in a while so it's mostly Pinterest and re-watching the first season of The Walking Dead). The sick bug hit our house sometime last week and still never really left. DJ came down with a sore throat, then a cough, which then progressed to a handful of day and nights spent in bed with a high fever and soon as DJ started to function again Talis took his turn but don't worry, with both the boys on the mend (kinda they're still in pretty bad shape) I started to feel crummy. As we try to all get better the one dominating thing that seems to command my thoughts these days is Christmas. But not the over joyed super excited anticipation of Christmas like usual but almost a overhanging feeling that this year it just seems like a nuisance. I hate even thinking it, especially with Talis and the fun parent moments that I'm sure will happen this year with him. Maybe it's because we've all been sick for so long or that we haven't even put up a tree yet but I'm having trouble getting into the holiday spirit this year. I'm not sure how to get out of this funk. I'm hoping as soon as we get a tree and decorate it my mood will change or maybe I just need a solid nights sleep and stop staying up late doing ridiculous things like browsing Pinterest and watching Netflix.....nah ;)

Halloween 2012

Sadly my favorite holiday has came and went this year but the good news is we celebrated it to it's fullest. DJ built an impressize haunted walkway up to our door so that we could easily scare all the neighborhood kids. We had our families over for chili, cornbread and cider and sat out in our driveway during the night passing out candy. The only unfortunate thing about our celebrations is that we waited too long to take our family halloween picture so sadly we only have a shoddy shot like the one below. You can still see how cute Talis is and how amazing DJ's last minute Shredder costume is so enjoy! Only 363 more days till Halloween again...

being all fall festive

We spent Wednesday at Vertuccio Farms down the street and I can confidently say that place was equally as fun for me as it was for Talis and his friends (maybe even more so). Farm animals, barrel rides, carnival games, and don't even get me started on that bouncer thing (I may have looked up how much one of them costs on Amazon when I got home...may have). I'm glad I got a season pass because I plan on going just about every day. You'd think the awkward stares from parents while I'm wildly bouncing on the bouncer while squealing "Isn't this fun Talis!? Weeeeeeee!" would discourage us from going but embarrassingly it doesn't. 

The black keys

Tuesday night my cousin Missy and I had planned a girls night that involved quality hamburgers and even more quality rock via The Black Keys concert. It did not disappoint (obviously, it's the black keys people). I sang at the top of my lungs and stomped the beat the entire time with my feet. It was loud, it was crowded, and it smelled heavily of weed the entire time. I felt young again and I loved it every bit of it.

Our happenings in an insta-nt

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