what we've been up to:

visiting the wild animal park with our friends tracy, ethan and tyson

playing at home with daddy

taking naps

and generally being ridiculously cute.

and baxter finds the most comfy location to watch it all from.

Petey at 'swim practice'

naptime for everyone

well, i was going to.....

reid loves that i am a little less on the ball than my old self. and its probably permanent.
he thinks its funny that i say "i was going to do this but ran out of time" more often now.
he thinks its cute that i meant to make a homemade lasagna but decided to shower instead and bought one from the store.
he thinks its amusing that i only clean the house in increments and only every once in awhile instead of the entire thing all at once every single weekend.
he thinks its hilarious that i got pooped on last night.
he loves that i forget words. simple words. in the middle of conversation and my mind wanders off wondering what i was talking about to begin with once i remember the word i was looking for.

and me? well, i love being a mom.
i love that my time is filled with watching this little boy.
and dancing him around the living room because it makes his eyes fill with wonder as the room spins around him.
i can't stop kissing his cheeks because it makes him smile. at me! and not at gas.
i love that i schedule my showers around his naps.
i love that he knows when i shower and plots to spit up on me during the next meal. seriously, i do. its like a game - it makes me laugh.
i love watching him joyfully look out the window at the bright sunny day.
i love the cooing noises he makes when he eats. and sleeps. and farts...and puts his entire fist in his mouth.
i love that he is secretly trying to learn to suck his thumb - even if i don't let him.
i love the way he smells.
i love that just looking at him sometimes makes me so giddy that i laugh out loud for pure joy.
i really REALLY love the gift of being Petey's mom.

weekends are made of this:

saturday morning magic

i so love the smell of fresh rain gently falling.
am looking forward to rocking my hot pink rain boots for a walk with the pup soon.
am wondering about the anti-rain contraption i need to come up with to keep petey dry.
maybe i'll just open the top of the stroller, leave him in his diaper and let the rain fall in?
he needs a bath anyway.

grandma-i am just kidding. :)

Christmas traditions - I almost forgot to post!

while dad was visiting, I nabbed some pics off his camera to capture some Christmas traditions our family enjoys. don't judge, they almost ALL involve food. but that is certainly a tradition to share great meals and lots of treats on both sides of the family. We always joke when we're at the simpson farm in Wilmington, IL - that's what simpsons do, we get together and we EAT. and its always amazing.

this is a Christmas tree coffee cake that grandma jan always makes for us to enjoy on Christmas morning. She has another coffee cake that i remember eating basically since the beginning of time (my time anyway) is a non-Christmas-but-all-grandma-jan type of tradition that is amazing...but that's for another post. these frosted tree coffee cakes make great gifts too, my mom used to give them to teachers. when alie was visiting we whipped up a batch - just remember to use the standing mixer or you'll get a bunch of dough in the gizwad of your hand mixer! that's not pretty-










then there are the sugar cookies. they're becoming legendary. several people...including myself and my sister-in-law won't eat any others like them. this is another one courtesy of grandma jan, surely courtesy of some other wonderfully amazing baker who she stole/borrowed/inherited the recipe from. all fine tactics for obtaining the GREATEST sugar cookie recipe. ever. i'm serious. these are just better than any you've ever had.



to the other side of the family-some cookies from grandma simpson......kolache's. they come in the prune variety as well. and they are delicious. simple. and a staple at Christmas.












one little amazing but non-edible tradition we enjoy is the blooming of the Christmas cactus. dad always e-mails to tell us when "grandma simpson" blooms....we see it as a beautiful reminder of her and she really does come in all her grandeur at least once a year, and somehow its always near the holidays. and she's beautiful.

and here is grandpa simpson's great houska bread. he was pro at whipping up this braided goodness. they take a million hours to make, they have to rise several times - and then there's the braiding and they must be baked at the right humidity and for exactly the right amount of time. i'm so glad my mom learned to make these from grandpa - now she makes these up on a regular basis and they are amazing and a happy reminder of my wonderful grandfather.

of course there are more....