I Love You Because...

As I posted yesterday, it was Kristians birthday and since he's already had what I consider to be his birthday present for more than a month now I didn't really have a gift to give him yesterday. So instead of a present I stole borrowed an idea I saw AP post on Insta-gram a few weeks back.

Since I worked from home yesterday I was able to implement this idea while Kristian was out hunting with his dad. I took 35 colored index cards (35 for the age he was turning) and on one side I wrote "I Love You Because..." and on the back side wrote one of the 35 reasons why I love him. I then taped them all over the house for him to find when he got home.

 

 

I tried to put the card in a place that corresponded with what the card said. For example on Hunters bedroom door I taped that I loved him because he made me a mommy. On the microwave I taped that I loved him because he always cooks such great meals. Etc.

 

 

When he got home he had so much fun finding and reading all the cards. He even took a break at one point because he wanted to spread it out for longer. One thing I should point out is that Kristian really doesn't like greeting cards, he thinks they are a waste of money, you read them and then throw them away (actually I keep mine and have shoeboxes full of greeting cards I've received). He said that this was SO much better than getting a store bought greeting card and it's the sweetest birthday gift he's ever gotten. He was still talking about it today.

 

 

In addition to the cards I bought him a cake (we still don't have a working kitchen so I couldn't bake him one) and we ordered take out Chinese Food. Nothing exciting but he said between hunting with his dad and what I did for him he had a great day. 

35

On this day 35 years ago the man that would grow up and become the love of my life, husband and father of my child was born.

Happy Birthday My Love!

Hunter also wants to wish his da-da a very happy birthday.

Things I Don't Get

Things I don't get:

-People who dress their kids predominantly in monogrammed and personalized clothing. Every now and then and for special occasions sure but some people seem to only dress their kids in items that are personalized. My question, what do you do with it once they outgrow it? You can't sell, giveaway or even use them for future kids. Seems wasteful.

-Decorating for "Fall". Fall is not a holiday. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas I can understand. But decorating for "Fall"? And how come people don't decorate for Winter? Winter is like the unwanted step-child of the four seasons.

-Posting political rants on Facebook or Twitter in the hopes of changing someones opinion. Hint- you will NOT change anyones already set political opinion.

-Why traffic is always, inevitably worse when I either a- really need to be somewhere or b- really need to pee.

-Why anyone would spend $145 on a baby cashmere sweater that they will either puke on immediately or outgrow in 2.5 seconds. Seems like you could put your abundance of money to better use.

-Certain outfits that various "fashion bloggers" wear. Look, I know I'm not the most trendy, fashionable person but seriously, some of the outfits I see on these people I'm just like "dude that's hideous" and not only that but they then get 100 comments saying how cute the outfit is. WTF? Am I missing something here?

-Why the Kardashians are rich and famous. Not sure how I would feel about myself as a human being if I was rich and famous because my sibling made a sextape that went viral.

 

What are some things that you don't get?

 

 

*If you do one of the things listed above, or if you are a Kardashian, please don't take offense. I'm feeling a bit snarky today.* 

 

More Family Pictures

My friend Laura who took our photos Sunday, showed me the rest of the ones that she finished editing. I think they all turned out great. I was really nervous we wouldn't get that many good shots since I know it was hard to get Hunter to not only look at the camera but to smile. But we definitely have plenty to choose from now for Christmas cards, Christmas gifts and hanging around the house.

Aren't my boys the cutest?

Photo evidence of him eating dirt. Sigh.

Yes this makes me nervous, but you can't deny Hunter is enjoying himself.

This is Kristian's favorite picture. Hunter's face is priceless.

Hunter has a bit of a WTF look on his face but I think this picture is still pretty cute.

We are so lucky to get to live so close to water.

 

This is one of my favorites. His cuteness just kills me.

He loved the little bear rocker that Laura brought.

Hunter has a sock monkey that he just loves so I couldn't resist a picture of him in this hat that Laura brought.

 

 

SWW

 

Another Wednesday and another week where I'm saying So What if:

 

-I CANNOT wait for this damn election to be over, especially since Kristian and I are voting differently and I'm tired of debating with him.

 

-I really don't like either candidate or politicians in general.

 

-I have no idea what I'm going to do for Kristian's birthday on Monday.

 

-I had to convince Kristian last night to NOT give Hunter one of the toys that we bought him for Christmas early.

 

-I couldn't stop laughing watching Hunter wolf down his graham cracker when I picked him up from daycare during snack time. It's like he thinks everytime he eats it's a race.

 

-Hunter ate a fistful of dirt when we sat him on the ground during our family photo session. He's a true boy through and through.

Family Photo Sesh Sneak Peek

This past Sunday my friend Laura from college came over to take some family photos of us in the woods behind our house. Fortunately we did not get rained out again and the weather was beautiful. Laura is the same person who took Hunters newborn photos and my maternity photos almost exactly a year ago in the same spot. Crazy how fast time flies.

Kristian isn't a big fan of having professional photos taken, he doesn't see the point but he knows it makes me happy so he eventually gives in. I knew I wanted some nice ones to update the frames in our house, for Christmas cards and Christmas gifts for the grandparents.

I'm still waiting for the DVD of all the photos but Laura posted some sneak peeks on Facebook and I LOVE them. If anyone in Northern VA is looking for a photographer I definitely recommend her, she takes great photos and has so much patience when it comes to photographing easily distracted babies and dogs!

**The outfit I chose is the one most people liked when I posted options on Instagram. The cardigan, belt and boots are all from Target. And Hunters sweater is from Old Navy.

How cute is my husband?!

Nothing is stronger than a mother's love.

Not sure how we ended up with a little blondie but he sure is cute.

This was taken about a half second before Hunter had a meltdown, he did like this pose.

Does it get cuter than this?

He totally looks like a Baby Gap model.

I can't tell you how hard it is to get a baby and a dog to look at a camera at the same time. This was pretty much the best she could get. Moxie is totally eye-balling a squirrel off in the distance.

Required Fall Activity

I don't usually do weekend recaps, mainly because most times our weekends are pretty mundane. But this past weekend was pretty close to perfect. First and foremost, Hunter slept AWESOME (and I've now probably jinxed myself). He slept from 8-6:30am straight (Fri/Sat/Sun nights), I changed and fed him at 6:30 and then he went back to sleep for another 1-2 hours. Normally he's up at 6am on the dot (if not earlier) and ready to go for the day). In addition to the awesome night sleeping, both days he took a 2 1/2 hour nap. I love naptime. I'm praying to the sleep Gods that this pattern continues. As Kristian said "He finally gets it" sleep is a good thing.

In addition to his great sleeping, there were other highlights of the weekend which included a trip to the pumpkin patch, followed by a solo mommy/Hunter trip to Michael's and Target in the afternoon without any meltdowns. Sunday we took our family pictures and Hunter did really well all things considered (sneak peek pictures coming tomorrow). After about an hour he was over it and fussy and ready for a long nap. That afternoon mama got to go get a much needed massage. It was just a very nice weekend with my little family and my son couldn't have been a better behaved child. Oh and we had the trifecta of football wins, VA Tech, ECU and the Redskins ALL won, that almost never happens.

Here are the pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch. And by pumpkin patch I mean the flower nursery down the street that has pumpkins and activities for kids. We didn't feel like driving out to a "real" pumpkin patch.

 

Every little boy need a camo puffer vest.

My little pumpkin surrounded by pumpkins.

"Hey Moxie, what are these?"

My cute little family.

Maybe next year he can actually go down the bouncy slide. For now he just gets to sit on it.

My little Dracula

Hunter and Moxie refused to look at the camera.

Our pumpkin haul. The mommy/daddy pumpkin and one for Hunter, Moxie and Halpert.

 

This is a family picture of us at the same place last year, 7 months pregnant.

 

 

Here is our family picture this year.

Last year my belly was the size of a pumpkin and this year my baby is bigger than the pumpkins.