{Life Post-Christmas}

Life has been much slower these past few days and it has felt really good after a whirlwind December.  Chat went back to work (night shift) on Friday, so it has been pretty low key during the day and then just me and the boys at night.  We have spent time at home indoors for the most part since the weather has been cold.  Since it is not too freezing right now, the boys are spending about an hour outdoors before the rain and more cold weather approach this afternoon.  They are loving it!  So since I have free hands for a few minutes, here have been a few things that have gone on over the past couple of days...

• Did I mention we took Luke to Christmas Eve service?  Did I mention we had to get there 45 minutes early to get a seat?  I used to think Chat and I were smart people.  Not so much.  We made it to after the homily and then surrendered and left.  Your welcome to the lovely, well-behaved families sitting around us.   
• Here are the cousins post-Christmas Eve Mass (if you saw me, I would have a large glass of wine in my hand behind the camera) and post-Christmas Eve meal.  Luke had yogurt all over his shirt, Ben was starting to meltdown so he was in his pjs and Molly had just puked all over her pretty dress.  But they were all smiles.  Love toddler-hood!

• Both boys have extra-wide, very large feet.  Because of that I only buy their shoes online other than crocs (one of the only two or three brands that fit them).  So to say I don't get their feet measured that often is kinda an understatement.  I realized Luke's shoes seemed a bit small so I printed out a foot chart to measure it at home.  To my surprise he was measuring over a 10.5.  I looked at the size of his shoes I put him in every day...an 8.5.  Mother of the year.  Yes, I immediately went online and ordered new shoes.  They will arrive on Thursday where I will promptly put them on Luke's feet.
• Ben learned to get up on the our climber and go down the slide all by himself. He is very proud of himself.

• Luke learned how to turn on the gas stove last night.  To make matters worse, our printer cord was laying over that burner (no, we usually don't have the computer on the kitchen counter with its wires laying about).  It scared the dickens out of me and I think him since I started yelling like crazy.  I wanted him to get scared and know what a serious situation it was so he would never do it again. 
• About a week and a half ago, our garage door broke. We are finally getting it replaced today and a certain baby is glued to the door and is loving watching it all happen. Or maybe because it is closer to the food...(see next bullet).

• Ben has turned into quite an eater lately.  I cannot fill this boy up!  He is always in the kitchen and moaning for food.  I try to distract and play a lot so he doesn't graze all day long, but it is very challenging.  I am thinking it is a growth spurt because the last two weeks have been all about food!  I weighed him yesterday and he was 29 lbs 15 oz, so almost a pound heaver than just 2 or 3 weeks ago at his 12 months check-up.  He only gained a couple of ounces in 3 months and then a pound in a couple of weeks.  Clearly a growth spurt!
  
• Someone is really into power tools!  Luke discovered his love of building at Chat's stepdad's house this past week.

• We have the boys almost on the same nap schedule and it is HEAVEN!  We let Ben take a 10 to 20 minute power nap in the morning and then we put them both down for a long nap around 1:00 or 2:00.  They both sleep about 2.5 hours and it is glorious.
• The boys ate an entire carton of strawberries in less than 10 minutes on Friday night.  I have a feeling this was a glimpse of how these two growing boys are going to eat us out of house and home over the next decade!!

• Luke's Thomas the Train obsession is still at an all-time high.  And we have a slight tunnel obsession too!  If he can make it into into a tunnel, he will including your body parts. 

• Since Chat is working tonight, we are actually going on a little date-night tomorrow. And when I say night, I mean late-afternoon/evening.  Chat's mom is coming over around 4 or so to watch the kids so we can go grab an early dinner and a glass of wine to toast to the new year.  We will be back in time for baths and bedtime and to tuck our little ones in. 

I think last night we started to get a bit of cabin-fever, which is perfect timing since we have a fun NYE get-together to go to at a friend's house tonight!  I am thinking we might make it till 8 pm before heading home and this mama hopes to be fast asleep way before that ball drops.  My how times change once you have children!