Bloggin's a habit

The other day, while procrastinating doing anything productive with nap time, while taking some well planned time for self-reflection, I re-read most of my old blog entries. It was so fun, and a little weird, reading about all of the crazy shenanigans I've been up to for the last 5 and a half years. (And by crazy shenanigans I mostly been procrastinating, goofing around, and quitting and becoming re-addicted to Diet Coke in 5 different states and various different jobs.) It made me sad that I've dropped the ball in such a major way in the blogging game. Blogging really does serve as a journal of sorts, and I want to record how life is right now. Blogging has a way of helping me see all of the good stuff that's going on, and helping me laugh at some of the not-as-rosy parts.

If you are wondering why write in a public blog when I could write in a private journal, I would first ask why you why you even clicked this link if you don't like snooping through people's lives? Reading blogs is my favorite, and I wish everyone kept a blog. And none of this vague "November was a rough month" stuff, I want details, man! I'm nosy, alright?? And secondly, I have a regular journal I occasionally write in, but journal writing just isn't my gig, for several reasons:
1. My handwriting has rapidly declined since college.
2. I can only write about half of a page before my hand starts cramping.
3. I apparently only feel motivated to write in my journal when I'm feeling very emotional and hormonal. All of my journal entries from the past 10 years sound mostly like this "No one likes me and I'm so bad at life and I'm fat and what am I doing with my life and everything is haaaaard, wah wah wah." I am slightly less likely fall into such hysterics when on a public forum.

To sum up: I'm back to blogging, baby.

Let's just start with the here and now, shall we?

For a weird change of pace, all 3 members of the Reeves family (plus Abby) are currently all residing in our house in Spokane! I've kind of forgotten what it's like to do the normal day-to-day stuff and have my husband go to work in the morning and come home in the evening. Sometimes I'll be juggling Nate and the diaper bag and carrying a million other things and Cary is like, "uh... Can I carry some of that for you??" And I'm like "Oh yeah! I don't have to do carry everything by myself all the time! Yessss." But, alas, I'd better keep my carrying-all-of-the-things arms in shape. Ugh everyone needs to stop fighting and trying to kill each other so my husband can stop being gone all of the time! Well and also because world peace and stuff. Anywho, for the time being, we are loving being a happy little family in our happy little house for a little while. Nate and I had a most excellent real-life sabbatical in Colorado for part of the time that Cary was away, but we're pretty fond of our gig out here in Spokane too. Aaaaand here comes some random pictures that haven't previously found their way on to the world wide web.

Oh Abby... you're the only one who gets me. 

I just love that sleeping baby. 

Just doing the gangsta lean at our happy place: Target

Reading a book with Grandpa!

Such a big boy!

This is how the cool kids drink their milk.

Looking out the window is a favorite past time around here. Mostly in hopes that I will stop paying attention long enough for him to take a splash bath in the dog water. 

So serious in his little baby couch! 

I post eleventy-billion pictures of my darling Nater-tot on instagram and what not, but I don't write much about who this little guy is. And I want to remember everything about my sweet little friend as he is right now, at almost 13 months old.

Nate is just pure sunshine. He brings so much joy and happiness and laughter to my life. He is so curious and so busy, but it just delights me. Of course he spends his days emptying my drawers, eating every crumb and clump of dog fur on the floor, and just generally getting into mischief, but he's one! That's just kind of the deal with one year olds! I read this article recently that was just endlessly bemoaning the many difficulties of having a one year old in the house and it just bummed me out. Yes, doing anything with Nate around takes about 3 times as long as it would if I were alone, but I am so lucky to have this little friend to distract me! If all you see is the tipped over trash can, hair shellacked with banana goop, and sticky finger prints on the windows, you are missing the good parts of having a tiny person live in your house! I see a little dude persistently trying to learn a new skill and being so thrilled when he figures it out, chubby fingers exploring what bananas feel like between them (and what they feel like in his hair, on his arms, and between his toes??) and it's just awesome. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I just want to unload the dang dishwasher and I feel like the wonder of crawling into the dishwasher has got to wear off someday and yet it does not, but at the end of the day, all of the busy-ness and messyness is so worth the fun. It is such a treat to have a front row seat to watching my baby boy explore the world. I love introducing him to new foods, sights, and experiences. The world is so big and exciting to this little guy, and it is incredible to see it all again through his big brown eyes.

Emptying all of the clothes from my drawers is another favorite hobby of Nate's.

As in playing the piano. I love this picture.

Silly baby!

Opening a package with dad!

Nate LOVED grandma's snack drawer, and I loved that he didn't know how to open the bounty of snacks within. 

My baby boy is growing up and learning more every single day. Nate says "mama" "dog-dog" "da-da" "ah-dah (all done)"and "ay-yo" (hello, my favorite!!). Recently, whenever someone says hi to him, he puts his hand up to his ear. I could not figure out what he was doing, until one day someone called my phone and I answered and said "hello?" and Nate immediately stuck his hand up to his ear like he was on the phone. I just think that is about the cutest thing in the world. If you hand him any object that is even remotely phone-shaped, he will immediately hold it up to his ear and say "ay-yo?" Goodness, it is just way too cute. Nate also enjoys communicating by clicking his tongue, blowing raspberries, and doing the bbbb-thing with his finger and lips. He also LOVES giving big, open mouth kisses. Oh be still my heart. He will often crawl into my lap, grab my face, and plant a big wet one right on my entire nose/mouth/chin area. It is so gross and SO cute.

Nate is in zero hurry to start walking. He can take about 3 steps, but will only do so if he's already standing and can walk a couple of steps to mom or dad. He crawls like a maniac and dang is he speedy! He can go up and down the stairs, both fairly terrifyingly. Nate absolutely loves to read books, but will not hesitate to tell you that you are reading far too slow for his taste and will flip the pages whenever he feels ready. He has his 2 bottom teeth and one canine tooth, with his other canine tooth and one bottom molar just about poke through; a very odd assortment of teeth.

Finally got this big guy a new car seat! 

I know I already posted this on facebook... but Nate in that hat is just way too cute. Just ignore Cary's creeper-stache. 

Waiting in line for the Journey to Bethlehem put on by the Seventh Day Adventists in our area. It was freezing cold and we waited for 2 hours, but it was such a great start to our Christmas season. 

My mom got Nate this little truck for his birthday and Nate LOVES it. 

I mean, seriously LOVES it. 

Cary and I are basically just trying to hang on through this insane ride we are currently on, courtesy of the Air Force. Cary spent less than 4 months in his own bed this year, and next year is very sadly going to be off to a very similar start. Cary and Nate try to cram in all of the fun they can have into the very short time we all have together, and those two are just the cutest and funniest little duo. I keep trying to wrap this up in a tidy package but it all sounds super cheesy so I'll end with this:

Life is weird and hard lots of times, but mostly it's really good.