Luke's party

I surprised Luke this past weekend for his golden birthday with a party in the park.. I thought it was super fun and he loved it as well :)  I'm pretty happy the surprise actually worked, that took a lot of lying and covering, and lying.  But it was worth it!  We biked up to the park on Sunday afternoon (thought it was his idea).. to a bunch of friends and family ready to party!  I love when the kids can hang out, they're all quite entertaining.  Added bonus.. Ryan and Lisa and the boys drove up from Des Moines (thank you!!)..

happy birthday Luke!

we love you to pieces!

sincerely,  your wife and kids.

Brothers, Week 19 & 20

These boys crack me up.  The brother pictures are very real, very true to our life around this house.  The bibs, the bandaids, Leyton stealing Finn's toys, Leyton copying Finn, the pacifiers, the blankies.. and Leyton's pained face every. single. time.

ps.  Finn's in his frustrated stage, where he wants to get movin!  but can't quite get where he wants to go. My this age (5.5 months).. Leyton was on his knees starting to crawl.  Finn's not there yet, and that's just fine with me!  And Leyton's always in a stage..  He got suuuper sick last night, it was one of many difficult parenting times, where I kinda question who qualified us to care for these boys!  But once again, God gives us what we need to care for them (he also gives us tylenol and gatorade).. and Leyton is on the mend today.  

my boys.. today.

It still kind of amazes me that everyday I learn something new about my boys.  They are constantly changing, evolving, becoming their own little people.. and letting me know just who they are along the way.  I don't want to miss a thing, and even the tough, annoying stuff.. that's still stuff and it's still a big deal to me!  Like for example, in the tough category.. Leyton is really pushing his limits lately and seems to enjoy his stubborn side.  I think he likes that he can talk now and can really communicate what he wants, so he likes to practice.   The other day in the car, he said he wanted some water.  So I gave him a sip of my water.. I asked for it back.  he said "no mommy."  I said "yes Leyton.." and on it went.  Then he gave it back to me, I had a sip and he said "put it down mommy!"   Like he was allowing me to have it back but not drink it..?!  oh my boy.  Then I asked if he wanted to watch dinosaurs when he got home and he said, "no mommy, no dinosaurs.  watch little foot!"  (same thing Leyton, same thing..)  He wants to push my buttons and he's getting there!

Other Leyton things.  He's a homebody.  At least once in the morning, usually when I get him dressed (heaven forbid), he says "stay home mommy."  He really would love just stay home all day and play with his toys.  Even if we run a short errand, when he sees our house, he says "yaaa home!"  :)  He also gets stressed when I talk about tomorrow or things happening later.  He's just comfortable doing what he's doing right now.  He's also going through a bandaid phase, can't get enough of em.. and he is fully convinced that kissing the owie heals it.  Keep that going, little man.

his artistic side (love the paint set up.. thanks Mom!)

In other news, Finn popped out his first tooth!  Leyton was way later with this and way more dramatic, so I'm glad it wasn't too painful!  I can see it in this picture but you have to look real close.. so you can just trust me.  Or let him bite you.

we went out..

Last Saturday, we got to be a part of an awesome surprise party for our friend Nic.  This was big.. his twin sister and her husband flew in from Norway, his brother and wife flew in from Seattle, all to come together at one of our favorite places in Minneapolis, Brit's Pub.  As per tradition, it did rain and we were not able to lawn bowl.  lame.  But, before the rain, we had so much fun and got to enjoy this great surprise!  Here's a few fun pictures..

and this is what our boys were doing while we were kid-less.  They enjoyed the beautiful summer night at the lake, feeling the water, turtle hunting and eating ice cream.  thanks grandma, Steph and Kabes!

Leyton rambles

Just a hilarious video of my big boy.. he's trying so hard to communicate something! whatever it is, mostly animals.. he's very passionate about it.  

Happy Tuesday!

Iowa love.

Here's some of the shots of our trip to Iowa last weekend.  It was great to be with everyone, to be outside and enjoy the wonderful sunshine!  It's crazy to think that there was a time when there were no kids around.. what did we do?  (plenty.. I know. and I miss it.. sometimes)

Ryan, Lisa & Jude

Lindsay & Jada (the only girl!), me & Finn, Angela & Wes

Angela, Troy and Wes.

Lindsay, Jimmy and Jada.  so sweet.

Jada and Finn, on their first date (supervised).. they're in love!

Landon & Leyton 

and here's Julie's little Taylor!  She's such a sweetie and I'm so glad I got to photograph her for a little bit.  Happy birthday Taylor!  Wish I could party with you...

Finn, 5 months

In five short months, our sweet Finny has become quite the little boy!  He is still a super good baby, and is generally extremely happy to be alive and part of our family :)   I've decided though that if I were to compare him to Leyton (don't tell him.. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate that).. but he is definitely a better baby than Leyton was and very adaptive and easy going.. but.  he is an active little one.   I love love every bit of it and wouldn't change a thing.  I have boys, don't I?  I love that his personality is coming through even more and he is such a happy guy.

He's getting pretty good at grabbing stuff with his little fingers.  As you can see from this picture, he found the box of cars sitting next to him and grabbed them!  My big boy!  And tonight, Luke was away at softball so I had these crazies all day.  We finished off the gorgeous night with a dinner date on the deck, Finn got to be included!

And the stuff to remember.. we haven't started food yet, but he still feeds like a champ.  He has eczema on his skin, especially in all the creases (my little chunk).. poor bud!  The doctor gave us a prescription cream that did get rid of it, but I have to go off dairy in order for it to actually heal and go away.  The doctor seems confident that it will heal soon enough... but for now, I really don't like the no-dairy thing. cheese, yogurt, and a lot of other delicious things.  darn.  Also, he rolls over a bunch from his back to stomach but is pretty lazy going the other way.

I get a little sad every month that goes by and the farther he comes from being a newborn, but I love this age and love everyday with this boy!

snapshots.

I took a lot of pictures this past weekend.  My favorite thing in the whole world to photograph is people.. which is why I found myself in a profession where I get to photograph people!  Sure, I love the occasional flowers, mountains, scenery shots but people are my fav.   And we got to see people over the weekend :)  I will most likely share the real pictures here, but for now.. here's life lately, documented with the help of the iphone + instagram.

road trip sleep. carousel rides in the park.  visit to our dear friends, the Wendts. wedding beauty! my man. my little man. bonfire with my brother. guns. my sweet friend Rachel. crazy Leyton. naked boys. sleeping babe. mothers day love.

compare.

I snapped this photo of Finn today in one of my favorite outfits.. it's from Leyton and since they grow way too fast, I'm glad I get some use out of these the second time around!  So, I took this photo and remembered I have a very similar one from the days of baby Leyton..

This is Leyton at 3.5 months at Finn at almost 5 months...

 

ps. our Iowa road trip was a huge success.. only a few minor meltdowns.  we had tons of fun seeing our wonderful family and my awesome friends.  pictures to come!

happy Monday.

Brothers, Week 18

 

We're headed out bright and early tomorrow morning for a road trip!  The Prosser 4 are driving down to Des Moines for a family/friend wedding.. we're pretty pumped.  Any adventure, most likely crazy and chaotic, sounds just perfect.  Hoping the boys cooperate, no one gets sick (which tends to happen on these trips) and that Leyton doesn't talk about being "stuck" the whole car ride..

Have a great weekend and to all the moms.. happy mothers day!

my happy place.

I have to admit, I'm all over the place lately.  meaning, emotionally and mentally.  nothing serious.. just the normal, stay-at-home-with-two-boys kind.  one day I'm content and all is perfect in the world.  next day, I'm just trying to catch my grip and keep my head above water.  It usually relates to lack of sleep, or lack of caffeine, or more diaper changes than anyone should have to deal with in one day.   There are days that I just long for consistency.. for some kind of "normal."  But then are other days that I absolutely love the chaos, the fast-paced life, the mini-memories we are creating everyday.

like I said, I'm all over the place.

but there's a few things that keep me grounded.  that keep me coming back to the all-is-well-in-the-world feeling.

my sweet, wonderful Bible.  Today at the mall, the train conductor (it's true) was reading her bible on her break.. relaxing in the caboose.  She was at the very beginning.. I asked if she was starting at page 1.  And she said, "yep!  I want to read the whole thing, so I figured I'd start at the beginning!"  She was thirsty for the Word, so anxious to learn and read.   I so badly want that every day.  Those days that I do stop, take a breath and meditate on God's word, I am once again brought back.  I am so grateful for God's humbling wisdom and his ability to show me that's all about him. 

 
then there's these two.  moods change in a second around this place, but they tend to come back to the giggling, silly moments.  daily I look at them and can't help but think how stinkin blessed I am that God gave me these two crazies.  oh Finn.. he melts my heart.  ya know that feeling where you want to squeeze them too hard?  that's a daily feeling with my boy :)  And Leyton continues to amaze me.  God has some big plans for this kid.. he's such a joy and his huge personality comes out more everyday.

and Luke.  I can't put into words what a rock this man is.  But if you know him, you probably have an idea.  He is honestly the most easy-going, fun, hilarious man I know.  he lightens any tough mood, he is an incredible dad and a spectacular husband.  and he puts up with me.  I'm only lucky gal.

This is a journey, one I know I will look back and miss.  I just hope I remember all the sweet memories and not all the times I want to pull out my hair.  ya know?

Tuesday photo shoot

We had some fun today.. set up a background and had a mini-photo shoot with my boys.  I won't even tell you how many pictures I took.. and how many actually worked.  One of the bigger challenges in my photography life is to get this big boy to actually look at the camera with a decent face.  Since he's a big fan of letters, especially the "E".. we made a prop out of it.

 

  

  

 

a this little guy is the easy one..

 

 

 

and, the many faces of my little Finn.