Christmas

We had a lot of toms family over yesterday for Christmas Eve, and my family is having Christmas in January so today it was just our little family.

Such a wonderful day. Lazy and relaxed. Nothing we had to do and just lots of us time. I liked it a lot.

Some fun pictures --





Corbin with our tree that tom created. And his Christmas pajamas.





Corbin has been obsessed with pirates lately so part of his make believe set...





...Which he loved. Here he is using his pirate sword to open another present with dad. They also played all day as pirates.





He also read every book as he opened them - all 8 that he got. It took us 2 hours to open all the gifts today. It was sweet to see his excitement about each one - even the toothbrush.





And maybe his favorite gift - lollipops! He had opened three of them before his aware parents noticed.











I loved these two photos of Corbin and dad watching Vine videos together. His expressions are just perfect.

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you had a happy day -- whatever you were doing. :)

PS - did I mention that Corbin and I took a 3 hour nap this afternoon? Heavenly!!

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More Blessings

So I have no photos for this one--

The next blessing I want to share with you all (all 3 of you?) is that we are having another baby!

It seems odd to only be reporting this news now as we are in final countdown mode, but it has been a rougher pregnancy and with everything going on I have found myself hesitant to share too much.

According to my phone, we are down to 5 weeks and 4 days before baby boy #2 is estimated to arrive. Crazy indeed!

We are excited to meet this mover and shaker. He gets the hiccups 3-4 times a day and loves to throw a punch just when I start to worry about him. I feel like I am bigger every morning when I wake up and I really don't know what I am going to wear to work much longer. I wore slippers out and about today because I didn't feel I could mess with my feet much today.

I will take the full leave that I can according to the law and I am hoping I can work until he arrives. We shall see if I am as tough as I want to be. :)

Name suggestions are welcome. Right now he will probably be called Corbin II.

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More blessings.

Enough said for now.

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Blessings

I promised to tell you about the good things in my life that keep me moving forward.

Here is the first one I want to tell you about - my husband.

Tom is my best friend. I love him more than I ever thought it would be possible. He has been everything I have needed the past few months. He lets me cry, helps me laugh, and supports me through it all.

He is a hard worker who has taken on so much in the past year to keep my parents business going and to take care of our little family.

He makes me laugh.

He loves me.

I am so grateful for him.


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3 months

Today it has been 3 months since my brother died. I still cry every single day and some days, like today, I sob. And some days, like today, I sob multiple times.

I have wanted to write something about him every day but I just don't seem to find the strength I need.

I go through different stages of grief all the time. Often, within a few seconds of each other. I can be okay one second and not the next and not really know what triggered the emotion. Sometimes I can tell stories about him and laugh and other times I just break at the mention of anything even remotely connected to him.

So today I write this to help myself move forward. Not on. I don't want to move on. I want to miss him. I want to remember how important he is to me. But to move forward so I can share with you all the positives and blessings in my life right now.

Maybe that will be tomorrow's post.

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Independence Day

We got to spend the holiday with lots of family. Corbin got to see both sets of grandparents and his his great grandma. Plus there were cousins to play with.

Two favorite moments - discussing with my seven year old nephew about why we celebrate the Fourth of July. Poor kid stuck with a history teacher for an aunt.

And Corbin watching big fireworks. He had been prepped all day by his cousins that they would go BOOM and be loud. They started late and he sat on my lap saying ooohhh over and over. Tom wanted to hold Corbin so he could hear the commentary. I handed him over and about 2 minutes later, this is what I saw --



Completely out. No matter how loud those booms were. Too funny!

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Mondays picture of the day

Monday was OMSI with grandpa and Uncle Chad. I knew he would love the ball room.


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Busy weeks

So many fun things this last couple weeks. Here's a quick recap --



At the place with all the bouncy houses and stuff.



At the beach with dad.


S'more eating.



Cheese factory.



Art class.


Mess making.


Swim lessons.



At the zoo.


Zoo train with uncle chad.



More mess making.



Recovering.

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Summer vacation

Yesterday, Corbin and I stayed in our pajamas all day. It was awesome!!





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Mom Instincts

So I blog about this story because I don't want to forget it. Not so excited about the info being out there for all but that's what I get for a blog for a journal.

Last Saturday we headed to a graduation party for a guy who works with tom. It was outside - beautiful sunny day. Corbin loved that there were big kids (meaning grade schoolers) letting him linger near them.

The yard was small enough that we could see him no matter where he wandered. He was never more than 10 feet from us. Including over at this koi pond in the corner of the yard. The bigger kids were throwing leaves in. So after they moved away, Corbin began to do so.

And then lightening fast, he fell in.

I don't remember much but I do know that when I got there I couldn't see him.

So I jumped in and fished him out.

He was ok. I was ok. I couldn't let go of him for a long time. And I couldn't breathe regularly for a really long time. And I cried and cried once we got to the car. It still makes me really emotional to think about.

It was another one of those mom moments when I realize that my connection to this little guy is much more than I ever understood before. Good to know.

He has a couple scrapes on his leg. So do I. I also have a few bruises. Like this one on my ankle.



Not sure how to wrap this up. Not
sure what the right witty phrase or moral of the story is. But I am glad those instincts override all else.

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Boating adventures!

Today was our first day of 2013 out on the boat. Beautiful evening - good friends - and yummy treats. What a fun time!!




Corbin loved going fast and pointing out the other boats, the geese, the water, and other exciting details.



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Full Saturday

We went to the zoo.

Saw some elephants.


Watched the spray from the water hole.


Ate an elephant ear. The kind with cinnamon sugar.


Then we headed to dinner where Corbin got a sword made by the balloon guy. He loved it!


Then off to the starlight parade.



Corbin danced to the marching bands, waved to the princesses, and laughed at the trucks.

He also pulled me close to make sure I saw the daffodil princesses. By far, his favorite float of the night.

We weren't in bed until midnight. But Corbin was up at his usual time. Of course.
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What?!

Getting Corbin dressed this morning required a little extra encouragement. So I chose one of his favorite shirts, one with a baseball on it. Anything ball related is a good thing in Corbin's mind.

So as I pointed out the ball and read him the message on the shirt, I noticed something that made me laugh. And cringe.

Do you see what I see?



And a cute picture of the boy in the shirt, too.



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Correct pop culture references

So on Friday Corbin and I came home and he immediately wanted to go out on his trike. We played on our street for a bit but then we decided to go to the school to play on the playground.

Corbin immediately ran into the field to watch the dogs play fetch. When he was about 50 yards away from me, it began to pour. Lots and lots of rain.

So I ran to Corbin, stripped off my sweatshirt, and put it on him. He had only been wearing a t-shirt and now that's all I had. We then got the trike and ran home. Ran might be a slight exaggeration on my speed. Ahh-- those motherly instincts.

I thought my little guy looked one of the sand people from Star Wars in my sweatshirt. I sent that message to my brother. He quickly responded that he thought I meant the jawa, not the sand people.

So what do you think?

My boy--


Jawa--


Sand people--


I think I meant jawa. Although I think Corbin has got them beat now that I see the pictures.

What do you think?

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Out to eat

We went out to eat tonight. I just didn't think I had the energy to figure out a meal. I forgot how much energy it takes to go out with Corbin.

Let me share with you --



Bread from dad.



Water. Can you see how wet his shirt is?


The pasta noodles were really long so they seemed more like toys than food. Corbin would suck on them and then sometimes pull them back out. Yuck!


His plate. Please notice the onions. Those were from our burgers. This restaurant always gives way too many onion slices. Corbin kept grabbing them to try. At first, we took them away but eventually, we decided experience might be the best teacher. He chewed away for a bit, and then all of a sudden,his whole face twisted up as he yelled, "ewww!! Ewww!!" Told you so, kiddo.



Last shot of our silly boy. He heard a girl at a nearby table. She was around 6. He began to jump and down, wave at her, and do all sorts of silly things to get her attention. He was so excited when she waved. This all makes me nervous for junior high.

Don't worry, we tipped well.

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Spaghetti.

Always a favorite around here.



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Minnesota

So I was only in Minnesota for about 52 hours but I got to see and experience some Minnesota moments.

After picking me up from the airport, my brother and my parents took me to the Mall of America. Holy cow! That place is huge! It is four floors and each floor was big. We only made it through about half of one floor. I blame my parents but I am not sure I had more in me either.


Here is the indoor amusement park. Hard to see everything but I think you get the idea.



And here are some Lego sculptures. Wow!

I was afraid I was going to embarrass my brother by taking pictures in the mall but he said everyone there are tourists, so who cares?

So here is the fish tank by our table at the restaurant. Cool.





This one above is my dad with all of our garbage from eating lunch at White Castle. It is a Midwest "delicacy" and my dad craves it since he is an Ohio boy. I enjoy sharing the experience with my dad but I am not sure about the burgers. See below--


They were 8 cent burgers when my dad was a kid and they used to stop on their way into Columbus to get them. They are kind of like sliders but not quite gourmet. We used to always go get them when we visited my grandparents. Good memories. Not so good burgers.

And then it rained.


I mean there was a full on torrential downpour with tons of water gathering on the roads. Drivers pulled over to the side of the freeway under the bridges to wait out the rain and then there was hail, too.

Wow! I was sure glad my brother was driving.

The rain canceled our trip to the sculpture gardens in Minneapolis, but it might have made for better stories.

That was about all the fun that was possible in the time I was there-- oh wait! Did I tell you how my parents, my sister, and I got stuck in an elevator on the way to my brothers graduation?


Didn't last long but it is another good story to tell.

Ahhhh...looking forward to home.

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