7x7 link awards

I was recently mentioned by another blogger and thought it would be fun to pass on this little blog award/challenge.  It is fun to recognize other bloggers and point you to their blogs!  I love reading blogs of people I know personally and people I don't, but using Google Reader means I'm not a big commenter.  But seriously, Google Reader is really wonderful and a great way to stay updated.  So check that out.  Shout out for the Reader complete, I will now proceed to . . . 

1. thank the person who nominated you

Thank you, Kara, for nominating me!  Kara blogs at Everyday in Stilettos  and I love her cute and light-hearted renditions of her projects and recipes and sweet day-to-day happenings.  I also love that I won a giveaway over there once and have been using the products she sent me non-stop!  Time for new mascara! It makes me want to host my own giveaway . . . someday soon, I will. :)  Reading Kara's blogs makes me wish we'd been better friends back when we worked at the same school . . . and also causes me to marvel at this world we are in, where social media so effortlessly connects us.  All that to say, Thanks, Kara!

2. share 7 things about yourself 

Oh, my, I feel like I'm always talking about myself on here . . . but here it goes.

1. Despite having spent years studying Arabic, French, and Swahili, I am not proficient in any of them (although if I could be fluent in one, it would be Swahili).

2. Most of the time I am just really happy to be home, in my own house.

3. I really love Downton Abbey and recommend it to you, too.

4. I am a big fan of food in general, but most of the time I forget to eat lunch.

5. Sometimes I forget how old I am, and then it makes me wish I was 24.  That was a great year, and a great number. 

6. I have always loved to read, and there are currently four books and one magazine on my nightstand.

7. I am almost always asleep by 9:30.  

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a real party animal. (I'm looking at you, numbers 2, 3, and 6. Oh, and 7.)

3. share 7 of your blog posts, in the following categories:

most beautiful: Our old house had a beautiful view that never got old.

most helpful: I tried to be helpful with the baby week series, so hopefully that will come in handy to someone!

most popular: The post on getting engaged drew the most comments. 

most controversial: Well, as I am afraid of conflict, I don't think any of my posts are controversial . . . however, if there's one thing I've learned in the past year, it's that birthing/raising a baby is a hot topic and everyone does it differently!  I'll like to the post when we found out we'd probably have a c-section.  That was a pretty stressful time and there were a lot of opinions on how things should go.  

most surprisingly successful: I kind of shocked myself by being able to sew.  This pillow turned out pretty decent for such an amateur. 

most underrated: Ok, I thought this was funny, but apparently no one else did. Whatever.  

most pride worthy: I am so happy with how Bo's nursery turned out!  We still love it so much. 

4. nominate seven other bloggers

the duncans 

minor life changes

ashley in the apple

life on the edge 

grace upon grace 

a vintage domestic chemist 

klump chronicles 

I love that these friends are dotted all over the globe!  And, umm, no pressure ladies on getting this done!  Like if you're busy chasing your twins or your two-week old around!  Just wanted to share some blog love.  

and, a picture.  

i can't resist

I can't keep my hands off this sweet little guy.  He is just too funny.  He's like Moose- he makes us laugh every day.  Matt is always asking for texts through the day so I end up with a ton of photos on my phone, and these were some favorites.  Sorry if you've already seen them on one form of social media or another!  

getting serious with his farm.

there is a certain baby who likes to flip over and crawl away when getting his diaper changed.

(faces blurred to protect the innocent)

i am beginning to suspect that Bo thinks he's a puppy. 

or a bear.

this is a date gone bad . . . she fell asleep on him. 

in everything. on everything. under everything. if it's a preposition, he's all over it. 

i love this hat. matt does not. 

Getting extremely comfortable at Stop & Shop.  What can I say?  He loves to lounge. 

this would be much cuter if the fire extinguisher wasn't present.  I'll have to talk to the library about that.

one of our 'night, night, daddy' photos when Matt is on call.  

creepy crawly

Monday afternoon I was working in the kitchen and I turned around to find Bo in the dog bowl.  As this is gross, I moved him away from it and went back to chopping or stirring or whatever it was. (Sidenote- I was making this Vegetarian Quinoa Chili because we were having friends over for dinner who are of the meatless persuasion, and it was tasty!  Matt even said he didn't miss the meat.  I do love quinoa these days . . . anyway . . .) Half a minute later I turned around to find him with the bowl in his hand again . . . at this point I was feeling super sleuthy and knew something was out of the ordinary.  I placed the little guy in the middle of the kitchen and kept an eye on him while I pretended to work away.  Sure enough, he was on the move.  

So, our little buddy has joined the crawling club.  I would say 'finally,' because most babies his age have been crawling for a while now, but I have not been too eager for him to be fully mobile!  I'm taking note of what needs to be baby proofed.  Outlet covers, here we come! 

40 weeks

This Wednesday we were at the library with my nanny kiddos and I thought this rug was a pretty cool backdrop! 

Bo is loving the books these days.  He especially loves chewing on them, which could be explained by the wittle bitty incisors peeking through on top... but he also gets into pointing at the pictures.  Sometimes I'm like, who is this kid and where did he learn to do that? He's really changing so much.  

Snow Baby

Well, we had our first winter snow today.  I'm not going to say I was happy to wake up to a white world, but I am so very thankful that it has held off until the end of January!  I'm also glad it happened on a Saturday- I hate driving in the snow and worrying about Matt driving in it, so we stayed put all day.  We had the required snow day lunch of grilled cheese and soup, Matt kept the fire roaring all day, and we've watched several episodes of Downton Abbey.  (Which, I love . . . perfect for a snow day, too!)  We had to wait all day for the snow to quit falling to take Bo outside to experience his first snow.  

 At first, he was a little unsure.  He just sat and took it all in for a bit.  He also looked so tubby in his bear suit, which is getting a little small on him, not to mention he had an entire outfit on underneath.

Then we started having a lot of fun throwing that tubby old bear cub up in the air.  

 

As always, Bo is best entertained by his Moosey.

Happy snowy day, Bo! 

9 months

Little Bo turned 9 months on Friday.  He was happy about it!

Bo's made a lot of changes over the past month.  He has his two itty bitty bottom teeth now, and while we have to pry his mouth open to see them, we can certainly feel them should they ever clamp down on a finger!  Bo is not crawling . . . still . . . but he gets around!  He scoots backwards and occasionally that gets him stuck under furniture, and he loves pulling himself up to stand and 'creep' around the coffee table.  He is quite zippy when he holds onto our fingers and we often take him on 'walks' across the length of the house to tire him out, but he is pretty cautious about walking with the help of his car-walker.  I think he gets that we can pick him up, and the car can't.  This child has been good at taking things out and throwing them for a while now, but lately he's been putting things in places.  He loaded all the little animals into the silo of his farm this morning.  He's great at peekaboo and will pull the blanket up over his face and down again.  It's just crazy to see him getting these things!  Just yesterday he started sitting up in his crib - not standing - just sitting.  It's cute to peek in on him playing away. . . the day he realizes he can stand in there too is going to be the beginning of a wild time. 

Our skinny little man has disappeared and he's quite the fatty now!  He won't get weighed for another month, but trust me, he looks different!  Quite the belly.  Two chins.  We're getting into finger food and these pictures are after we split a lunch of sweet potato fries.

He does this little head tilt thing now which is pretty cute, if you ask me.  

39 weeks

my sweet and happy little guy!