Glimpses

Life's flying by. This boy is 17 months old. My phone's filling up with pictures and my camera, too. The phone is easier to transport and post from, so I decided to do a snapshot post. I love, love, love my camera and it takes much better photos, but it doesn't always show the every day events. Here are a few of my favorite memories of the past few weeks.

LEFT: A walk on the Huckleberry with Ian, as we killed time away from home during a tub repair. He loved walking independently, gathering acorns, and climbing up and down some railroad tie stairs. What a wonderful way to breeze through an hour!

RIGHT: We tried out a new playground on our way home from the aquatic center. I loved watching him figure out how to get on top of this "dirt bike" and figure out how to ride it on his own!!

LEFT: We are starting a swap group with two other families for mama breaks. Ian, Jade, and Christian are all within a few weeks of each other and each have very compatible personalities, so far. We're looking forward to our weekly play dates and chances for mama to have some time alone, knowing he's in good hands!

RIGHT: Time outside! It's harder to snap pictures of him these days without him turning and running toward the camera. I have MANY photos that look like this!

Why this fuzzy photo, you ask? This was Valentine's Day. Jim's parents were in town and watched Ian while we got to go on a date (thank you!)! Jim had a board review that lasted all day, but he booked it out early, leaving his jacket to pretend like he was going back in, so that we could make it to our reservation. When we met in the hospital parking lot, it was already starting to snow. We had dinner at The Black Hen, which is an amazing, new, fresh and local restaurant in town. It was our first time going there and it was a really nice chance to be together.

Afterward we froze our way to the car (the wind was bitingly cold, with wet snow covering us) before deciding to get back out and enjoy some hot chocolate at Bollo's, Jim's idea. We enjoyed it and then decided we should probably be getting back because the roads might be icy and we'd make it in time to tuck Ian into bed. Thus began our hour-long trek back home. We drove back to the car parked at the hospital and drove separately, me following Jim all of the way. People were spinning out in front of us, people were pushing cars out of the way left and right, and we even watched as Chick-Fil-A employees celebrated after pushing a car, perhaps one of their own colleagues, out of a three lane road. The trip that should have taken 15 minutes took an hour.

To top it all off, though, my car was desperately in need of gas. I snapped this photo while my wonderful husband filled it up for me in the horribly chilly and miserable evening. Thanks, Hon!! We were so grateful to then make it home safely and read to Ian before bed. One of my favorite Valentine's Days ever.

The next day we got more snow!! 7-12 inches, maybe.

 Ian loved it and wanted to help.

Boy on a mission.

 We enjoyed a week of frigid temperatures.

 Unfortunately, Ian was sick with a 24 hour bug, but he kicked it pretty quickly. That was his first time with the stomach bug.

 Yogurt makes all things better. Yogurt faces!

 I got a new phone case and gave Ian my old one to be his very own "phone!!" It's so sweet hearing and watching him answer it with a "Yea." He then continues to babble to the person on the other end.

LEFT: Ian and I ventured out for a little adventure before the plows came through. Here's our road covered in snow!

MIDDLE: We went to the playground and made the only fresh tracks. This made me kind of sad. Where are all of the kids? Hopefully Ian will continue to make the first tracks on blessed snow days!!

RIGHT: Thanks to Jade and her parents, we now have a new bed for Ian! He loves it and points at it excitedly, then proceeds to lie on it or read books. Here I was just laying it out before setting it up and Ian came up behind me with a book and pillow, ready to enjoy it! Who could say no?

More snow play.

 Even though we've had a lot of time at home, we've tried to get out for a few different things.

LEFT: Romp 'N Roll with our MOPS group after a nice breakfast with a friend and her son.

RIGHT: Story time today. Ian has grown by leaps and bounds as far as comfort at this weekly event. In the beginning he was petrified to leave my lap. It's so neat to see him to comfortable and content. He now knows that he should sit on the carpet spot, he tries to follow along with the books and the songs (but some kids are just way too fascinating to watch), he walks up determined to get a noise-maker and then returns it when we're done (even though the throng of children would be intimidating for some adults!!), and then squeals with joy and laughter when the bubble machine comes out, signifying the end of story time. I'm a proud mama.

The past two weeks we've sung "Happy and You Know It" and he LOVES this song. It's fun to watch him do it around many other children. He also did the movements in the car today while I sang and just laughed and laughed. Oh what fun.

Those are some glimpses into our life recently.

Life is good.