Ghost Toddlers

The boys have been obsessed with walking around the house with their blankets on their heads. 

This day got particularly funny.

Oh how I love these silly boys!

The Look of Motherhood

This picture sums up so many things about motherhood for me.

It shows off the fact that I rarely get to enjoy a meal without a small human (or 2) sitting on my lap.

My plate of eggs is pushed to the side because I am busy catering to my sweet boys' needs and {B} is munching on my toast. I don't fully understand why my food is always more appealing, but for some reason it is.

It also shows the magna-doodle that I had drawn about 20 fish on and now {I} is taking over and scribbling.

I am wearing the same shirt that I wore yesterday during a workout and slept in last night, so I'm sure I smell awful, but at least it is comfortable. {plus now that my children don't puke all over everything, it's actually somewhat clean}

And of course who has time to do their hair before feeding their kids. Not me. This is the "straight from the pillow to cooking eggs" look I sport every single morning.

And this was the moment I realized I'm going to miss this when it's gone.

Summer Projects : Just Call Me Martha Stewart

My mom and sister came to town for a WEEK! It was amazing.

Because my work schedule was such that I just worked on Sunday and then not again until Friday (which then I got put on call so we even got one extra day!) we got a ton done and worked on some really fun projects.

Here are some before and after pictures of what has been going on at our house as of late!

We took our lovely chairs with stained seat covers caked in who knows what and recovered them in some cute fabric as well as plastic so now I can just wipe clean!

Also, because we loved this fabric so much, we might have gone a little crazy and made some curtains out of it too. Nothing like a little Matchy-matchy-ness to make my smile when I walk into my kitchen.

This brown cupboard was a little blah before I got my cans of spray paint all over it! Now it's pretty much my favorite thing in my house. 

 

{And yes you better believe those vintage grapes I got from my grandma go perfectly with this new cupboard! I'm pretty sure everyone needs to storm their grandma's attic and go find yourself some of these glass grapes. It's a great conversational piece.}

{Also this might have been what I looked like while I was spraying it.

I mean, we can't be gorgeous all the time.... right??} 

This little table was something Jesse brought home for free and it has been itching to be painted for like 4 years. I finally did something about it. 

My dad who finds cool things on facebook and sends them to me, inspired this piece. We painted it and then covered the top in lace to paint a lacy design on it! It was really fun! 

{The finished product!}

You better believe I have more things that will be covered in lace and painted soon!

And this was not a DIY, but it was a necessary component to the week because the boys' toys have been EVERYWHERE because we have lacked organization. So it was time to finally buy a cubed organizer. So awesome! I'm in heaven.

The boys were great this whole week too! They went on numerous shopping trips (one of which lasted 4 hours) and barely complained. They particularly enjoy fabric shopping these days as I have taught them to feel every bolt we come across. 

They also tell me when they "like" something (they say "like it" in such a funny way but I can't think of how to even spell it so you would hear it. That's unfortunate for you. Just know that it doesn't hardly sound like "like it" at all.) 

{This was on our marathon shopping trip. They were good as could be they just decided they would pretend they were someone else for awhile.}

We also got the privilege of going mattress shopping for my brother (although I desperately need a new mattress as well) and we might not have left this tempur-pedic for most of the time. It was heavenly. 

And it really could almost fold you in half like they do in the movies! After this picture we found out it moved even more! 

We ate out at the Habit, which might be my new favorite burger joint (and I'm not really a burger person). The Teriyaki Char is amazing.  

{I} really liked my Teriyaki Char as well. 

Oh and the sweet potato fries.... don't even get me started. 

{B} was a big fan of driving his car all over the table and window while the rest of us ate. 

We also spent a decent chunk of time running so my sister could keep training for her club track meets. Plus the boys love to RUN RUN RUN! I even bought them little running shoes. And a bonus is that I've now started running a little more too. It has been ages since I ran, but it's been really fun! 

They wore themselves out at the track. They both requested to be carried back to the car. 

We also had an incident of the boys running down the street without us knowing and we caught them 3 houses down. (these kids have been so naughty lately with sneaking out of the house and running away. It's not safe. Luckily they usually just go next door to my aunt and uncle's house, but still... not safe.) but anyway, this particular day some random guy driving down the street watched my mom and I chase them down the sidewalk and he rolled down his window and clapped. I wasn't quite sure how to take it but I think that's a little weird. Plus, can't I just chase my children down the street in private? I would prefer not to have an audience for that. 

Another thing we did was discover THE BEST Golden Corral ever. I don't know what it was, but their food was amazing. Except the rolls weren't the best I've had, but everything else was heavenly. 

The boys particularly enjoyed the desserts. It's hard to go wrong with a chocolate fountain. And Ian LOVED cotton candy-which, ewe gross!

{I} 

{B} 

{B} 

{I} 

Oh man, it was such a fun week! 

I'm convinced I need my mom to come stay with me for a week about every month to get things done!

So mom, you better start checking your calendar!

So Lucky

Some days I cannot believe how lucky I am. 

I was looking through old pictures for a little while and found these gems.

These sweet boys of mine just absolutely love each other. 

They rub each other's back, give hugs and kisses, and can have giggling fits that can't help but make you laugh along.

They are already best friends and I can't wait to watch them as they grow.

Life As We Know It | May

Once the boys turned two I haven't felt quite as obligated to post monthly updates. I hope I don't regret that later. I'd still like to keep up on what's going on in our life though so I'm still going to try some monthly "Life as we know it" posts. We'll see how it goes.

Currently life as we know it is CRAZY!

Between me working full time, Jesse traveling/working (sometimes) more than full time and two growing busy boys, we are lucky some days to even see each other.

But life is good. Our boys light up our life and keep us laughing. I take so many pictures every single day that they will never all make it on the blog, but I try to capture a snapshot of what is going on in our life right now.

Briggs grabs my hand and leads me all over the house to wherever or whatever he wants. Ian has just started using that same technique lately.

Ian says "Bye! Seeyoulater."

They love looking for ladybugs in our backyard. My favorite part about it is while they look they say "Bug! Whereyooo?"

Finding Nemo is a favorite movie right now and every time Mr. Ray comes singing in the boys kick their legs or dance around.

I had my 27th birthday at the beginning of May which honestly was a mother appropriate birthday filled with work and a puking child but then two of my friends took me out for dinner a couple of days later and it was perfect.

Also my mother in law got me this awesome shirt that is my new favorite article of clothing. 

And I might have splurged a whole $12 at Walmart on these cute shoes.

Ian found my work badge one day and wore it around our house for the longest time. 

 

They will clear their plates into the sink when they are done eating with just a little prompting.

They still love to jump everywhere. And Briggs likes to perform.

Ian has started saying "OK" to everything and the way he says it he makes everything sound like it is my idea. For instance, he will ask for a cookie and I'll say, "you want a cookie huh?" and he'll say "OK!" It's kind of hilarious.

Another favorite thing they say is "Oh man!" and "Oh shoot!"

We introduced Briggs to frisbee. Ian didn't care much but Briggs thought it was awesome!

The boys (specifically Briggs) have officially picked their individual cribs. We used to just plop them in either and no one cared but now they have their specific spots that they like to be. 

Speaking of those particular crib spots, Briggs' crib is pretty special to him. If I don't hear from him for awhile I usually find him hanging out in his crib. I have even caught him trying to take mac n cheese into his bed. He also likes to sleep with a whole bunch of stuffed animals. He's particularly fond of all his sharks in his bed.

Sometimes we do pull ups. The boys are pretty good at them.

 

Ian is obsessed with ice cream, pronounced "eye-mees" and requests it about once a day. or after any activity such as swimming or playing at the park. They are also great sharers. 

Ian says "don't!" "watch out" and other things I probably shouldn't say around him that he's picked up on. He also is really starting to put words together. One of my favorites was the other day he must have gotten water up his nose because he started coughing in the tub and then he starting fussing and saying "nose. ouch." I didn't want to laugh but I might have. He has also said "I'm cute!" and mama's "pretty"

This is one of our favorite tricks.

They are obsessed with baths. They had a two hour bath the other day and requested another bath that evening! They especially love bubbles.

{I}

I got them these shopping carts awhile ago and hadn't pulled them out but on a rainy day I put them together and the boys (Ian in particular) have loved pushing their carts around. They also fight over the fake potatoes that came with the carts. I'm not sure what it is about the potatoes but it is funny.
{I}

When they see themselves in the mirror or the reflective drain thing in the tub, they say "luuuv yooo" 

One day I put my Fitbit on Ian and in 6 hours the kid had 6,400 steps. Yes, it's impressive.

They were sick for what felt like the first three or so months after we moved to Utah but they have been healthy for quite awhile up until the last week when they got a lovely cold. Oh and Briggs had some random stomach bug for a few days. And miraculously Ian did not get sick! I have no idea how that happened because the germ exchange I saw did not add up.

Ian feels obligated to put toilet paper in the toilet whenever he notices the toilet is open, or he sees toilet paper, or he stands in the bathroom too long.... etc.

It has become a battle to brush their teeth lately. I don't know what the deal is with that.

They are the most snuggly boys. Morning time is my favorite time. They crawl out of their beds and into mine and I love it

They have chosen their little table over their high chairs for a couple months now so we have officially packed away the high chairs in the basement. It might make me a little sad that my babies are growing up, but at the same time, there are a lot of perks of them being bigger.
(Oh and they also love candle lit breakfasts, lunchs, and dinners)

These boys of mine are still into their binkies. I haven't got the heart to take them away yet, especially with the chaos that has been introduced with me suddenly working so much Plus I have noticed that when they don't have a binky for awhile they shove their hands into their mouths and start drooling all over the place. 

 We bought a season pass to the aquarium so I anticipate lots of fun times there. Briggs still loves everything about the exhibits, Ian still prefers to run but is getting more interested in the exhibits every time we go. Plus they love the big play area there. It's a really fun place to be.

I ordered a couch from Target and I built it from this box. I'm awesome. 

The boys love them some "pippa"

Sometimes when Ian takes my phone I get about 50 pictures that look something like this.

I can't help but kiss my boys all day. And I think they kind of like it.