Friday phone dump

Happy Friday!

I love doing these weekly photo collages from my iphone photos (plus a few extras to fill in the spaces...I like it with 16 photos the best). I've been saving them and printing them as 12x12 prints to go into Michael's scrapbook and I like how I have a little weekly account of our daily happenings around here. I'm also doing the February photoaday challenge so if you are doing it also you'll see some stuck in there but I will hopefully compile a big collage of just the photo challenge photos at the month's end.

We had a good week with good weather, friends and playtime. In case you are wondering...yes, Michael did wear a red shirt every day this week. :o)

Have a great weekend.

February!

Can I get a woo-hoo for a new month?

Woo hoo!

I am so happy January is over. A new month and fresh calendar pages means we are 31 days closer to SPRING and SUMMER and SUNSHINE and (every mom's dream) PLAYING OUTSIDE!!



I get excited and sad when a new months turns over because it is one more month that we've been without Trace. I get excited because I made it through a whole month (where at the beginning I feel like I couldn't even make it through an hour) but my heart hurts because it means we've been without him for just that much longer. We are closing in on the date where we will have not had him for longer than we actually had him. My mind barely wraps around it.

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Switching gears now....

Micheal loves all things Cars and so when this little set popped up at the consignment store I knew the price was right. At $4.50 it has exceeded its expectations for an afternoon of entertainment and become one of Michael's favorites.

McQueen is a favorite around here for sure and he seems to always be in Michael's hand. He even sleeps with him and kisses him goodnight...it's bad. You know what is really bad? When we lose McQueen. We had an episode yesterday where he was left in Scott's car and we couldn't find him. I think I need backups!!



I love, love, love watching Michael play. The gears are turning away in his head and I would love to jump in there and see whats going on. He is such a sweet boy and I am so thankful every day that I have him in my life. It is such a hard thing to be faced with two of the most powerful emotions every day of my life- joy and anguish. Joy that I have Michael and got to have Trace but anguish that my family is not complete here on Earth.

A person would easily think there could only be one of those emotions at a time but in my life they are both ever present. How can I not be joyful when I am surrounded by my family? But how can I not be anguished knowing that my family isn't complete? It is exhausting.

I'm trying to find a little good in every day to pull me through this crazy things called life and most days it is my sweet Michael....playing with his cars and being his curious self.

Instagram friday

Picnik

Did you guys hear that picnik is closing? I am sad. I used it sometimes but unfortunately not enough to warrant a membership. However, they are offering all the premium features for free from now until they shut down in April so I've been having lots of fun making up these fun collages. You should give it a try!



This is a random selection of photos I've uploaded to blogger since I've started my blog (you can pull photos from facebook, picasa, flickr to work with on picnik).

Its so funny to look back on some of them...you can tell I really have a limited selection of topics that I blog about! :o)

Things that are making me happy today

1. My photos:



2. Balloons and cookies:

You know you are having a trying day when you have to text your husband "bring home cookies". And then it's awesome when he delivers. With sprinkles. And a balloon.

3. The concentration of a little boy hard at work:

4. Watching my boys play outside.

And that is all. We are home sick today and staying inside because of the weather!

Survival mode...it's finally Friday!

Happy Friday...we made it!! Hurray!

I feel like I am 100% in survival mode this week. Am I the only one? The crummy weather for sure has to have something to do with it. Michael and I have been trying to get out of the house but it's been cold and driving even in a little snow makes me super nervous. Also, I am sooo tired already of getting all of Michael's winter gear on him before leaving the house. Who's with me on that one? I feel so bad even complaining about it all because really...it's been a great winter and I need to remember that.

Now that I'm done complaining (sorry!)....stay warm out there this weekend!

Missing my baby today

I'm missing my baby today.
Today would have been Trace's 8th month birthday.
Can you even believe it? I know I can't.
I wish he was here.

(Trace's last day with us)

(3 months old)

We love you, Trace.