A phase

Take a good look at that picture, ignore the flowers and admire the clean cleared off counters in the background.
We are in an interesting phase right now. The 'my kitchen is (almost) always spotless' phase. Don't hate there is a good reason. Usually doing the dishes is my most despised chore. I can load the dishwasher but the washing by hand stuff is not for me, I would rather do laundry or clean the bathroom. Everyone has some chore they really dislike that is mine, that and filling the car up with gas. I know that's weird, but that's me. While I really hate washing dishes by hand and yes I will let it sit for days a few odds and ends that is. But I also really dislike having a messy counter. What is one to do?

Right now, Dane's favorite thing to do is to help me unload the dishwasher first thing in the morning and he likes even more to help me wash dishes. So I let him, he stays occupied and is even a little helpful and I get the most annoying chore accomplished first thing in the morning. This happens many times throughout the day. So I take advantage, it is one of the few things where my 'little helper' is not counter productive, undoing everything I just did. And that folks is why my kitchen is almost spotless, most of the day, because we don't do anything else :o) The rest of the house is a different story, at least there is one area that is sparkling.

So he's not left out......

Belated Christmas post

Since I fell off the December Photo Project bandwagon I thought I would do a quick Christmas recap, more for my sake than anyone that could possibly read this blog. And so I can have it written down to remember. I have found myself going through old blogs trying to jog my memory.

Here it is in pictures.

Christmas Eve we got a nice snow storm, made for a pretty white Christmas. Dane loved helping Daddy shovel the snow and throwing snow on the dog. I was watching out the window and saw Andy toss a huge shovel full of snow off the deck onto Dane's head. I saw Dane's stunned reaction and was thinking seriously he is only 2 why in the world would you drown him in snow? Apparently Dane had been begging daddy to throw snow on him since it was so funny when they threw snow on Magnum. So daddy obliged, in his defense he didn't realize how much snow was on the shovel.

It's true they really only need cardboard and paper for Christmas. As I emptied a wrapping paper roll (it was the short kind from the dollar spot) I tossed it into Dane's stocking as an after thought. It was the first thing he pulled out and we had to do a lot of coaxing to convince him to find the rest of the stuff in his stocking.

Christmas morning was spent with my side of the family at our house. They arrived late Christmas Eve. It's always so much fun to have them here and visit with them. I wish we lived closer.

As you can see Cade was not lacking for attention. This picture cracks me up!

My family, the boys and I packed up and headed out to my Grandma Betty's house for a short visit. (Dane calls her 'Banda' Betty) Then my mom and sisters headed back to Colorado while I got to spend a little extra time with my dad and little brother.

While we were visiting Grandma and my aunt, uncle and cousins, Dane got to check out the family farm. I have many wonderful memories there from when I was growing up. Uncle Ryan took him down to see the cows.


And I sat on a tractor with him, in the shop of course. It was much warmer that way.
This is the point in the story where I forgot to take pictures. But we headed down to Campoint, Illinois last weekend to attended a family reunion on my dad's side and to hear my dad preach on Sunday in the church he grew up in. I hadn't been down there since before we were married. I didn't get to go to my Grandma's funeral last year, she was buried on Dane's birthday, though that is not the reason we didn't go. So my dad gave us a tour of his town, more of a refresher for me and then we visited the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. It made for a busy weekend but I am glad for the extra time with my family.

3 months

I still can't believe he is 3 months old already. He is officially in 6 month clothes. I am packing away the rest of his 3 month stuff as soon as I find time. He has entered into what I call the 'river dance' phase. That's where they kick their legs so fast and furious. The other night he surprised me when I got up to feed him and was not laying where I had put him. Hmmm.... maybe I am just really tired it is 2am, I thought. When we woke up in the morning sure enough he was laying sideways again, and I know I didn't lay him down that way, and he was still swaddled. All of that river dancing must be helping him scoot around. He is starting to grab for toys and all sorts of fun things. He just keeps getting cuter and more fun by the day. He still smiles easy and cries just as easy as he smiles. But we love him for it.

And because I didn't do a post for it, here is his 2 month growth picture with the giant bunny.

click here for the 1 month picture to see how much he has grown.