Weekend Ups & Downs

↑ Thursday night Jason found out he had {another!} snow day on Friday!

↓ Two minutes after announcing how excited I was for the inevitable extra sleep I'd be getting that night, I heard the fateful gagging and whimpering of a sick kid.

↑ Gehrig only threw up once and, although it was a long night with kids lying sideways in our bed, at least it didn't turn into the plague of last winter {KNOCK ON WOOD KNOCK ON WOOD KNOCK ON WOOD}.

↓ Milo has yet to shock me with a full night of sleep and I realize it could be a whole lot worse, but I also feel like nine-months-old could be a great age for him to start sleeping all night long. Mama's tired.

↑ We decided on a whim to drive to Jason's parents' Friday night so they could watch the boys while we went on a date. Spontaneity for the win.

↓ It was fa-reezing that night and I wore heels anyway cuz date night doesn't come around much and as we were getting kids out of the car my prettied-up feet went knee-deep in a snowbank. Cold and maybe ruined shoes...

↑ Date night!! Potato skins, salad, wine, cheesecake, and uninterrupted conversation with my love. All so good.

↓ I will not complain about the weather. I will not complain about the weather. I will not...it's cold and my kid is sick of being inside. But we're dealing.

↑ We made it to church Sunday. Late wake-ups and cranky kids and sub-zero temperatures nearly deterred us, but we made it. It's important to counts these wins, I think.

All things considered, the ups win out this time. It was a good one. Hope yours was good, too! 

I'll leave you with the latest Milo video that makes me laugh every time. He does NOT like oatmeal.

Regressions

There are few things I find more frustrating than my kids' regression to behavior that we work so hard to get past. Namely, thinking we have this potty thing down and then...two whole weeks of accident after accident after...maybe we should go back to diapers? I know. I know. "It's all normal. Especially with boys. Blahblahblah." Honestly, potty training has maybe-definitely been my least favorite parenting venture thus far {yep, it even takes the cake over waking up 3x nightly and those irrational tantrums}, so I'm feeling a bit discouraged these days.

But there's this other regression taking place that I can't be too upset by. Gehrig, my self-weaned, can't-hold-me-down, independent, almost-3-year-old has decided he loves cuddling again. It all started with a post-drive nap that he shockingly continued on me:

Keep in mind, this boy has not slept in my arms in over a year. I kind of thought it might never happen again. So I went ahead and savored it as long as possible. Little did I know this would kick-start a new phase in which he lets me rock him to sleep, wants to cuddle with me as soon as he wakes up from naps, and randomly stops playing with his cars to lay his head on my lap and whisper "Can you hold me, mom?" It's like, holy cute, kid!

Of course, this mommy phase has also brought with it some jealousy with baby brother needing extra love thanks to the upwards of 5 new teeth he's procuring, but I'm trying to accommodate his cuddle requests as much as possible because, like every phase, it could leave as quickly as it came. 

Good Things Thursday

Today the longest Christmas Break sadly came to an end. Jason's back to work after 2 weeks, plus a bonus 3 days off thanks to Snowpocolypse '14. It was kind of the greatest to hang out with him so much and I really can't complain about the extra sleep I get on mornings he's here. So, in my currently refreshed and rested state, I feel like it's a good time to round up some really good things that went on over break.

1. Time with these guys, obviously. I even got a couple dates with my husband. One happened to be at Urgent Care on Christmas Eve for a certain lady's ear infection, but it counts, right? {Not sure if that makes us seem romantic, making even the not-fun things into dates, or pathetic, counting sitting in the waiting room as "us time." Don't tell me which.}

2. Seeing extended family. Gehrig loves his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents so much. I never see him more excited than when they come over or we go visit them. This makes me the happiest.

3. Lots and lots of crafts.

4. SNOW. Ok, it wasn't the greatest to be stuck on the opposite side of the state as Jason, or shovel 2 feet of snow, but all the ice and snow we've gotten lately sure is pretty. And it gave us 4 snow days, so...yes, please.

5. Christmas seemed extra great this year. It could have been because Gehrig really got into things like lighting {and blowing out} the Advent candles every night, reading the Christmas story and understanding who baby Jesus is, and opening each gift with the same amount of enthusiasm and appreciation {"Whoa! Chet dis out!"}. Whatever the reason, it was an excellent Christmas 'round these parts.

And so ceases the overload of pictures. Happy New Year, too!