thankful for:

two little boys asleep around mama on the twin-sized dot bed
the thankful tree full of circles of thankfuls
stuffing with gravy
peppermint mocha creamer coffee date with amy
jude in his owl hat perfectly coordinated with aunt meliss
tractors in big red barns
aunt rach
paper snowflakes
grilled cheese sandwiches
come thou fount of every blessing
$14 jeans -- ahem, $14 skinny jeans (thank you, steph, for your inspiration)
a week off with jeremy
the every once in a while full-circle feeling of driving jeremy linneman's 4runner with his sons in back

mitten garland (inspired by this)

mama time away

this boy:

also, my husband is putting up our christmas tree. it looks so beautiful. and i'm about to (tomorrow) make more paper source inspired but not purchased garland for it -- i love ideas that are free. and a few minutes ago, my sweet husband said to me (kindly), "from now on, just think of me like this: my husband who doesn't eat cheese. or sausage. for at least the next six months. for the sake of our marriage." so...you're saying you don't like sausage? so...you're saying you didn't like that sausage pasta we had last night? nngulp.

additional thankfuls:

fresh joy

my home feels full of joy.

it's been full of friends the past couple of days.
and i moved joseph's kitchen set from our kitchen to his room.
and in its previous location, now a cafe-style table area in a somewhat-more spacious kitchen is possible.
and it's sunny outside.
and i've got a thankful tree in progress.
and i just feel the Lord's presence here.



i like it.

there was a wonderful moment this morning in which joseph, who had been immersed in lego-land while i picked up his rocking chair and removed it from his room, stood up from lego-land, stood in the spot where the rocking chair usually sits, stared straight ahead, looked at me in confusion, failed to get out the words rocking chair in said confusion and instead started making a rocking chair gesture, and finally was able to ask "where'd the rocking chair go?" after i prompted "are you looking for the rocking chair?" so amazing. i don't even know why. but it was.

i hope your day is filled with similar wonderful moments.



p.s. my home is also filled with laundry. will somebody please tell me how to win the jessie vs. basket of unfolded laundry that shuffles from room to room but neglects to be folded battle?

favorite boys

i've been attempting to document the massiveness that is jude victor after a mama from playgroup said to me, in utter awe at his size, "i hope you're documenting this." here's a sample of what i've got so far:

seriously. this kid is huge.

i've also wanted to document some of the amazingness that is joseph bourne's growing talkativity, but it seems unless i write it down immediately, all of the things i found so hilarious are completely forgotten by the end of the day. here's what i remember from today:

joseph: mine wants to watch thomas.

me: we just watched thomas; want to go for a walk outside?

joseph: mine wants an ice cream cone.

joseph: (holding stomach after breakfast) i don't feel very good.

me: you don't feel very good? what's the matter?

joseph: i need to go turn on the fan in my room. mine will touch it.

me: the fan in your room? you'll touch the fan you're not supposed to touch?

joseph: mine will feel much better.

such a mom post :)

i've been waiting to get it together to post.

hence, the delay. :)

the Lord has used this season of life to point me with dramatic clarity to this fact: i don't have it together. i don't. not even a little bit. and by dramatic clarity i mean oh my am i tired from all the learning and growing and stretching He's been doing in my heart.

but i'm thankful. i'm more thankful for Jesus than i've ever been.

and i'm thankful for these little guys.







p.s. wanna make one of these with me?

admittedly:

using raisins as going potty motivation works a lot better than force. i suggest you learn this lesson outside of the panera restroom.

a two-year-old incorporating pronouns into their vocabulary may be one of the cutest things in the entire world. also amazing: adverbs, such as, "mine (pronoun) was eating this, too (adverb)" spoken by sweet boy when i found him sitting on my bed sqeezing air into his nose with the nasal aspirator as he held up jude's pacifier with the other hand.

yes, yes, i did in fact google "parts of speech identifier" for that last one. annnd my degree is in journalism. oops.

i could live in fall forever. also, i'm a little terrified of winter coming soon but not too soon, right? being outside in the fall is just so wonderful. and it keeps toddlers pretty happy, too. joseph and eeny have way fewer incidences of one making the other cry when we're playing outside. my theory is that it's because nothing belongs to either of them so the whole sharing thing is taken out of their interactions. the whole sharing thing..i'm wondering what material possession in my life that i really like i'm always happy about sharing. hmm..

sometimes as a mom, my main perogative is to keep my son from hitting other kids. sometimes i spend most of playgroup attempting to prevent joseph-attack from the sidelines. i suspect a lot of it is that i think good moms have kids who never hurt other kids. not true. but a lot of it is also that i'm responsible for the little guy, and i have to teach him not to hit. or bite. or tackle. well, tackling is okay in certain contexts.

i think it would be kind of amazing if the facial expression a person thought communicated "i care about & understand what you're saying" actually communicated the opposite except that they never knew. i was just thinking about that today for some reason, probably unadmitted fear that i'm that person. oh no, am i? :)







i'm off to (attempt to) transform a green hoodie into a snap-snap (some sort of green reptile with teeth and horns..most likely a crocodile but could be a dinosaur) for joseph's halloween costume. happy tuesday, friends!

thus far

my two and a half week old son gained two pounds since his two day appointment #kidishuge

the three of us survived jude's doctor's appointment and two unexpected catch-up immunizations for joseph #sweetboydiscoverstheringpop

made it to the afternoon of mama and boys day 2 with only one minor (mama) break-down at miss ann's house #chocolateicecreamisinstore

going on a coffee date with dada and jude while joseph plays at a friend's house this afternoon #pumpkinspicelatteorchaihmmm

both of my sons are sleeping #mamahurrytakeanap

jude victor linneman

jude victor linneman.
born at 10:53 am on september 25, 2011.
9 pounds and 12 ounces. 21 and 1/2 inches long.



early saturday afternoon, the maybe-this-is-labor contractions of the week prior became oh-this-is-actually-labor contractions. we went to the hospital around 9:30 that night with intense contractions and thoughts of a babe by early-early morn. oh, what have we learned about waiting? little boy's birth was hard. harder than i remembered birth being. jeremy and i had a conversation in the middle of it to that extent: me -- "i forgot this was going to be really hard." jeremy -- "i know. it's hard." after a long night of start and stop posterior-babe labor, shortly after the sun came up on sunday, our little boy, jude, was born. i got to hold him right away. he had angry eyebrows. i'd probably be angry, too. moreso than joseph's birth, i was very surprised to meet a baby at the end of labor.

joseph got to meet him about an hour later. he brought baby kobe, the teddy bear we'd planned for him to give the babe for weeks leading up to his birth, saying, "here you go, jude."

it's been a good week. we were able to come home a little over 24 hours after jude's birth. jeremy's mom came in town last wednesday, and over the past week provided more rest than i ever thought possible to a home of new-again parents, a babe, and a two-year-old. we have been so well taken care of.

joseph has already taught jude how to suck his thumb and how to make tunnels in mama and dada's bed. he also began using "mm-hmm" for yeah, yes, and general enthusiasm about an idea, which is even more adorable when he realizes halfway through that his answer is actually no. "mm-hmm-no. no."

tonight, jeremy celebrated with another new dada and friends. and i was blessed by a beautiful simple joseph in airplane jammies jude sleeping in my arms three stories and joseph singing amazing grace bedtime.

i love these boys so much. all three of them.







welcome, jude.