Ten Months Old!

Double. Digits. I can't believe how fast this time has gone by. We are having a blast! The boys' tenth month was largely taken up by travelling to Arizona for Christmas and spending time with Daddy during his break from school. They are turning into little boys. Every day they look older to me. They are changing so fast. And it is exciting and heart wrenching at the same time. I love them to the point of bursting. Someone recently described that feeling as knowing what it feels like to be perfect, in that moment. I have experienced more perfection over the past ten months, and the year prior, than I probably deserve. But oh, I am grateful for that.

A lot of their tenth month was also spent trying new foods. Most of these experiments ended in diaper rash and upset tummies. Rookie Mom.

I have two very different boys. One evening I just put their dinner on their tray for them to play with and feed themselves. They were going through a very independent phase and I wanted to see how they did. Within seconds Nash's dinner was all over him, the tray, the floor, etc. And then I watched Gray stick out one very deliberate pointer finger and weasel one green bean away from the rest of the meal and put it in his mouth. He takes after his dad. Neither of them like messes very much. It cracked me up.

We still go in every night to kiss the boys before we go to bed. More often than not, the lighting in there is so angelic on their beautiful little faces. I probably have over 200 pictures of the boys just sleeping away, but trying to capture that feeling of perfection is so important to me. I hope one day Nash and Granger can realize exactly how much joy they bring to me and their dad.

I am quickly falling in love with Texas. We have been spoiled immensely. The weather is gorgeous all through the winter. Maybe a week of nasty cold weather, but other than that you can get outside with little kids and not worry about anything! There are so many kid friendly things to do here! Each city puts up a different lights show and we met up with our Chiropractic Intern, Mike and his wife Meg to check out a few of the cities. It was so nice to get some adult conversation, beautiful surroundings, Christmas cheer, and time out of the house. We grabbed hot cocoa from Starbucks and drove around a beautiful neighborhood after a nice long walk through Frisco Square. The boys love all the lights and I love walking arm in arm with Cameron.

Right before we drove to the airport, we stopped at another lights display at Vetruvian Park. There are over 200 trees there all wrapped in a single color. The boys loved it. Nothing was flashing, they could just focus on the one color. They were so intent with their focus. It's so fun to me to see them discover the world around them. Through the park there were beautiful bridges and this large water canal with walking paths all around it. My favorite lights display hands down. The reflections in the water made everything so peaceful and sparkly. It was gorgeous. We will be making this a tradition for sure.

As soon as we got back from Arizona, it hit us just how sick we all were. Cameron and I didn't feel great, but the boys were absolutely miserable. We took them to urgent care only to be told that they didn't accept patients under 2 years old. So we took them to a pediatric urgent care, only to be told that they didn't accept our insurance. So we took them to the hospital. After a long wait we were told it was a virus and there was nothing we could do for them and to give it another 4 days. FOUR DAYS? Are you kidding me? So we took them to see the chiropractor. They see a pediatric specialist there named Sarah. She is brilliant. The boys turned the corner the very next day. I am so grateful this is the profession and career path we are on. It is such a powerful and non-invasive and EFFECTIVE approach to healthcare. It brings me a lot of comfort to know that in just a few short years, Cameron will be able to adjust our family whenever the need arises. Also, as I was going over the paperwork from the hospital, we were billed for "ear wax removal" for Nash. What a joke.

Since we only had a few days before Cameron started school again, we decided to make the best of it. After all, we were all on the mend. Maybe not feeling 100% better, but we were getting there. Some friends of ours told us about Canton First Monday Trade Days, so we packed up and drove an hour out to small town Texas and enjoyed the biggest flea market I have ever seen in my life. Warehouse after warehouse had shops with everything you can imagine. We bought some spice mixes, salsa mix, and a bunch of wooden letters. And we bought a red velvet funnel cake and a massive corndog to complete the experience. And then we walked outside and discovered a football field full of yard sale style offerings. Except they were awesome. Old metal signs, marquis, stools, vintage toys, vintage everything, kitchenware, birdcages, you name it. It was a DIYers dream. We only had our little civic with us and the stroller took up most of the trunk. Plus, we had no money, but oh I would have loved a whole day to just browse all the trash to treasure that was there. Too fun.

We got out of the house the next day to do some shopping with Christmas money. We had a few returns to make and ended up just walking around the mall. I was on the lookout for some Bath and Body Works deals I had seen in Arizona, but didn't want to pay to ship them back to Texas. Lucky enough we found exactly what I was looking for in the malls here. It's a detox sleep lotion. And it is magic. Last two were pulled off the shelf for me. I only bought one. I should have bought both. Hate that. What I love though, is how proud Cam is of us. He loves pushing the stroller and getting out of the house with us. And the boys absolutely adore him. 

And then Cam went back to school. The next few days were a little rough. The boys had become accustomed to being played with constantly. Cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles. They were pretty spoiled. Then, they had a few days with Dad and me. And then it was just me. There was an adjustment period for sure. At the same time, Nash figured out how to MOVE. And quickly. He ate a bunch of dirt out of my clementine tree and got a nasty stomach bug from that for the next week. Poor guy.

The second day of the trimester went a lot better. There was a massive Texas rainstorm right after breakfast. The boys were in their highchairs when it hit and were whipping their heads back and forth so fast trying to figure out what all the sounds were. Not scared at all, just completely curious. I live for their curiosity. I love watching them discover all the new things in this world.

In the days of trying to figure out how to entertain these yahoos, we discovered the window behind the couch. They love standing up against the couch cushions. I pull the blinds up so they can see out the window and they play "king of the blinds string." I love watching them interact with each other. This game gets pretty intense. So fun!

For the first family night of the year, we make new years' resolution posters. These hang in the bathroom all year. Cameron and I have done it every year since we got married and I did it all growing up with my family. This year, the boys got to participate. Their goals make me so happy. I love that they are a part of our family and I am a firm believer in starting habits as early as possible. They are also a good reminder to me of the things I want to be teaching them this year.

I love their little bums. They are getting so big and strong!

We went through all the clothes [again] and got things organized for this next stage of their lives. After hanging up all their dress shirts it hit me just how lucky I am to have all these little details of little men all through our house. It makes me so happy to see their little orange shoes in our shoe basket by the door, or their toys in our bathroom, or their sippy cups and bottles in our cup cupboard. They live here. In my house. They are mine. I think that is so cool.

We are learning how to share more and more. I guarantee you Gray will start caring when Nash takes the toy he is playing with, but for now he is easy going. I try to teach Nash to find a different toy when he wants the one that Granger is playing with. And surprisingly it's pretty easy right now. They are both such happy boys!

Beautiful blue eyed boys. We still love going to Costco. The lights and sounds and colors are so fun. And the double seated carts are life changing. I hate going to the regular grocery store because we look like a circus act trying to fit everyone either in the cart or strapped to me in a carrier of some kind.

They are so well behaved. They are so fun. They get into messes, but oh they are loved. They are both ticklish and I nibble on their necks all the time. Their giggles are addicting. I couldn't live without these boys. Them and their dad. They are my world. And it is such a beautiful world.