anniversary

today is a special anniversary.  no, not one of births, weddings or deaths, but... blogging!  yes, i have been (fairly regularly) blogging for the last two years.  at this point in my life, the only regular task i complete is keeping my little humans alive.  and, i've learned there is no greater feeling than tucking the kids in at night and having the rest of the evening as grown ups only.  (even if it is just spent clicking away at these keys...)  isn't it always the little things that make us the happiest?! 

i remember when i first started this blogging bit.  ben was working out of town; i was spending my winter with another man jack, and it was a way for me to keep ben feeling like he wasn't 499 miles away in a bearing sea village.  just look how far we've come.  i want to insert a smiley face here.

blogging has not only allowed me to share my life and my children's growth, but it's allowed me to share my thoughts - usually at times when i'm at a loss for speaking them.  i've always been able to express myself through typed or written words much better than i have through voicing them.  and often, just getting the thoughts out and in front of me, i'm able to work through it by reflection.  what a relief.

thank you for reading.  here's to another 2 years.  and 2 more after that.

steppenwolf

get your motor running

head out on the highway

in a day and some hours, my mother, the babies and i will be boarding a plane to warmer climates - not much warmer, but anywhere is better than ak at the moment.  we are driving the west coast in a mini van, and i have an inkling i am going to love the van.  did i really just say that?  

there are so many aspects of this trip that have me awake at 1:30 in the morning, not reading the insides of my eyelids because of my excitement: family i haven't seen in over a year; family that i cannot wait to introduce to dylan; friends i need to hug, cousin's new babies that i wanna scoop up and smooch; and of course, shopping that can't be done up here, naturally.  and likely best of all, life on the road for two weeks with my mother.  

like any mother-daughter relationship, my mother and i have been known to occasionally experience a snit-fits or three.  i think it's just what we do as women.  and of course, it's always over something incredibly silly.  ben asked me if we were going to argue on our trip, and i told him with a chuckle, "oh, absolutely."  momma, i love you dearly, but you know it's gonna happen.  then we'll hug each other, say sorry and get back to laughing about jack and his crazy antics.  

so the bags are out, the clothes are spewed all over my bedroom floor, shoes need to be collected, and of course the bitch bags toiletries are the last things to go in the suitcase.  don't you hate that about packing?  you want to get it all done and over with, but you have to wait until the morning of or whatever because you need those things until the last minute.  annoying.  jack's iPod has new cartoons, music videos and one new abc app.  wait.  can we talk about jb's iPod?

i'm really not that parent that seeks out ridiculous (expensive) things for their child.  really.  (but maybe just saying that right now makes me one.  like, i'm really not a stalker, says the creeper at the gym.  or i'm a good boyfriend! exclaims the dude on maury getting dna tested, sitting next to his three girlfriends.  you get the point.)  but.  let me just say that i bought ben an iPod touch when they first came out years ago. then came the iPhone and viola'! no need for the touch.  we used to let him play games on our phones until he decided that throwing was his new m.o.  it really is a lifesaver at times.  he has his duck duck moose apps that he loves dearly.  then there's episodes of mickey mouse, and sid the science kid, even choo choo soul ('cause he's got a crazy crush on genevieve), and get this, the kid LOVES the song empire state of mind.  loves it.  can't express that one enough.  he calls it the big song.  what a riot.  

so, that's it.  we're (gonna be) off!          

looking for adventure

and whatever comes our way

the sweetest things.

God is so good.

thinking back to ben and i's rough waters - He had to know what He was doing, blessing us with a baby at a time when we thought everything was falling apart.  let me back up and say that as far back as i can remember, i've always believed in God.  but, when my parent's marriage crumbled apart, we stopped attending church, and my own beliefs didn't necessarily stop, but i know were altered to a degree i can't exactly explain.  i haven't felt a desire to join a church again, but in these past 4 years, i've seen how God has blessed me and my family.  gazing into my children's eyes for the first times, there's no way you can deny His presence.

enter dylan.  dilly.  didi.  dill pill.  dylans.  determeyer.  junie.  pig.

her new thing.  after each bite.  silly girl.

 

she has been the brightest of lights in some rather dark days.  for all the moments where jack has been naughty and challenging, dylan will smile sweetly at me, as if to say, i wuv you, mama.  i'm sure i've said it before - i know i've said it before - but dylan is just an incredible little being.  a touch clingy with her mama but happy, smiley, giggly, squealy nonetheless.

she beams when she sees her dada.  she giggles incessantly as jack grabs her around her belly, wrestling her onto a buddy.  she can cover some serious ground, crawling over every inch of our home.  including the stairs.  her aroma could be packaged and sold for profit, i'm sure.  she enjoys bananas, yogurt and shredded cheese.  even popcorn (if you have the time to bite off the kernel pieces, feeding her only the puffy-parts).  and, she has 7 chompers.  

sooo yummy.

how much does she love her brother???

love.

and really, can you believe this face can be such a turkey?!  we had a horrendous wednesday, but the rest of the week went marvelous.  one out of seven ain't bad.  i'm gonna chalk it up to the conclusion that wednesdays can suck, just like a monday, right?  but thursday was a new day, bringing more laughs and funny jack-isms.  like:  OH, NY GOODNUSS! and WHUPSIE! and singing his version of itsy, bitsy spider and ring-around-a-rosy.  i take great comfort in jack repeating my often-said phrases, rather than some expletives that occasionally fly.  hearing his version of my oh my goodness is enough to make me grin into the evening hours.

this really cracks me up.  can't take two seconds to smile at the camera.  love the silly pointing to his tower.

all three of these cuties melt me.

has so much love to give.  sure loves his mimi.

oh, jackie miebs.  we're gonna have quite the stories to share some day...  

sweet valentine

we've been preparing for valentine's day since the last week of january; snapping pictures, cutting them out for their home in glittery foam heart shapes, addressing envelopes with stickers (that jack placed himself) and then proudly mailing the packages stuffed with candy before the actual holiday.  i'll accept my pat on the back right here.  no, further to the right.  yep, right there...

i'm slowly getting back on top of things, but man, having two tiny hearts to care for just keeps you busy!  birthday cards have been late, bills have been oh, shoot!  when was that due?!  i just can't keep things straight.  i blame the nursing brain, formally the pregnant brain.

dylan and i attended a fun little party this afternoon: valentine's day at jack's school (which i still don't understand why the party isn't on monday...)  i wore pink, dilly sported red, and jack wore a button down shirt that he insisted was oh, so niiiiiiice.  jack was in charge of bringing the veggies, so ants on a log and carrots with ranch is what the kiddos consumed.  yum.  jack and i put together the valentine bags on wednesday, and while i would like to share that he helped, he mostly complained  because he couldn't keep all the suckers and chocolate hearts to himself.  his friends received baggies with tootsie pops, reese's hearts, conversation hearts and a box of 5 stickers.

singing the thank you song, before consuming their valentine's lunch booty

this is diamond, jackie's main girl.  she's as sweet as she looks.  promise.  

pinkies out!

jack's best bud, paxon 

hope you all feel loved - not just on valentine's day - but every day!