Memorable Moment

It's 8pm at night, Brennen has been laying in bed already for a half an hour.

"Mama? Mama?"

"Yes, Bren?" coming down the hall

"I need a drink..."

(Got the drink, even though I know he's stalling.)

"Go to sleep, Bren."

5 minutes pass...

"Mama? MAMA?"

"What, Brennen?"

"I need a tissue!"

"Okay, here... Go to sleep Brennen!"

10 minutes pass... (Of course I think he's sleeping by now.)

"MAMA! MAAAAMMAAAA!"

"WHAT, BRENNEN NATHAN! No more talking!
I'm not getting you anything else! What IS it?"

whispers:
"Can you wuv me just a tiny bit?"

Silent pause.... Guilt.... Adoration.... LOVE...

Sigh.

"Yes, Brennen, I will love you for a tiny bit."

So, I cuddle him and he falls asleep in one minute.
And I get one more undisturbed minute to stare at his three year old face.
I love him to the moon and back.

January trip to the mountains

This January we took a trip to the "snow" with our Grammy and Grampy, Nate's parents, and Scott and Lin. We also got to spend lots of fun time with Nolan and Kenna! Even though I was really hoping to find a big hill of snow for our kids to sled down, there was hardly any snow and it just rained most of the time we were there. We did manage to find a small patch of icy snow a little distance from our cabin, so that's where these pictures came from.

Olivia LOVED the snow, of course. If she could have buried herself in it, she would have. Liv is always adventurous and unconcerned for how dirty her clothes are getting. But she sure does have fun with whatever she is doing... like making the world's smallest snowman!

Brennen on the other hand hates things out of order, is unnervingly clean, and just isn't that adventurous right off the bat. He was unsure of the snow and downright perturbed about his freezing cold feet. He only sat on the sled to be pulled by Nate for a minute, then HAD to go back to warm up his feet. Fun.

This is a video of Nolan's first sled ride and it didn't go so well... (sorry it's sideways!)

Overall, we had tons of fun playing dominoes, eating constantly at the camp's cafeteria, and just hanging out with our family. And hopefully Nolan won't hate snow from now on!

My Valentine

This post today is inspired by my friend, Lindsay W., aka. the "Lindsanator." (She can be found at Wags on the Web.) She was inspired by our speaker this week at MomSpace and decided to post 10 things she loves about her husband for Valentine's Day. I thought this would be fun, so here I go...

TOP TEN REASONS I LOVE NATE

1. He works hard for the money... so hard for me honey...! I'm not sure if those are the right lyrics, but it is true of Nate. He gets up early to drive over an hour to work and spends his days staring at a computer screen and talking on the phone, which we all know guys hate.

2. He is clean. I'm not talking about around the house, although he is great about cleaning the house after I have gone somewhere for a weekend. I mean his body. He is meticulous about taking care of himself and I am glad for that. Who likes dirty fingernails or stinky pits?

3. He is a player. No, not that kind of player... He plays with our kids. He is a really, really, really good daddy and our kids adore him. I think the thing they love the most about him is that he is always willing to play with them. They ride skateboards, do Wii games, and wrestle on the ground. He compensates for my lack in this department, so I am grateful for this quality.

4. He is really funny. I mean really funny. He has already been able to make me laugh, and 11 years later he still can.

5. He keeps my car very clean. Although this used to be a source of annoyance for me because of the length of TIME it took to do it, now I see it as a labor of love and I rarely hassle him for anymore. I love that I never have to wash the car, vacuum the seats, or clean the windows.

6. He brushes my hair when I need him to. I LOVE to have my hair brushed, so I LOVE him when he does this at night when we are watching TV in bed.

7. He loves God. Nate desires to please God with his life and I respect this about him enormously.

8. He likes the same shows as I do, for the most part. I like being able to watch TV with him and I appreciate that he will sit with me and watch Jon and Kate when I ask him to, or that we will laugh our heads off at Ellen. American Idol is our ritual and 24 rocks!

9. He always gets up with the kids on the weekend mornings. This should be #1. I love to sleep in and he is a morning person, so he just gets up and hangs out with them quietly downstairs until I wake up. How great is that?

10. ________________________________ (I'm leaving this one blank because if I've learned anything these last 11 years, it's that there are always new things that I am learning about Nate and new things I am learning to love about him. So, #10 is for all of the future ways I will love him...)