Early Morning Run in the Country

I was never one to wake up early in the morning. Before kids even getting up at 7am felt like a stretch and anything earlier than 6am (unless we were going wakeboarding or snowboarding) was unthinkable! But being a Mom has taught me that there is no such thing as sleeping in anymore. And the truth is I would gladly trade all the years of sleep for moments like this morning...

Ollie and Jed had us up bright and early, and up for them means being outside! I have actually come to love this time of day that we share together and today it wasn't just me and the boys, it was Saturday morning so Dadee was home too! Matt and I were hanging out on the back porch when we looked over to see Ollie (still in his undies) running full speed down the driveway with his head down, arms pumping as hard as they could, and legs flying while he kept a determined look on his face. It was seriously the cutest thing and I realized that he's been watching my scouts race on the driveway for the last few weeks as we've been working on physical fitness. A few minutes later his disappeared inside the house and then reappeared in front of me with his "running pants" on asking me to tie his shoes.

My favorite part is how he scrapes the dirt with his foot a few times before he takes off!

Pretty soon he had Dadee and Jed out there racing with him too. (Jed obviously had not taken time to go get his running pants on, and the bottle...he hasn't had a bottle in a year but somehow they found a bottle last night and Jed decided he wanted Orange Juice in it this morning. He has the kick you have to do in the dirt before you run down though!)

I think Dadee may have lasted one race and then he was off to the swing...the swing that he's kind of too big for!

The boys weren't ready to stop though, they had a few more races left in them...

Crossing the finish line as the sun came up...

And then Jed was all worn out too...

But not Ollie, he was done running but that didn't stop him from finding other things to do. Like finding a wooden sword and Karate chopping the tree...

And after the pipe ricocheted into his head he decided that the tree won so it was time to play football...

I will get up early every morning if it means spending it with you!

#allboy

#countryliving 

Jed's Second Birthday

Life has been hectic lately to say the very least! So for Jed's birthday this year we opted for keeping it simple- just a few cousins and a backyard BBQ. We did ask Jed if he wanted hot-dogs or pizza and he yelled out HOT-DOG! That was his part of the party planning. I did get on Pinterest a month ago when I somehow had a free moment and started pinning away ideas on a secret board for his Hulk Smash birthday party. But somehow all the time slipped away from me so this did not turn into a party that anyone else is going to be pinning pictures of but Jed thought it was a smash anyway!

One thing we did not account for was the heat! Matt had thrown together a firepit in our backyard on Labor Day and it was warm but then, but somehow tonight seemed hotter! Nici (a family friend of ours) came over and planted a kiss on Jed's forehead for his birthday- the kiss stayed with him all night and I think Nici nearly melted in her sweater and boots standing by the fire pit in nearly 100 degree weather! The kids didn't seem to mind though, I think anytime there is fire involved it is exciting and they loved cooking their own hot-dogs!

After hot-dogs, Matt busted out the marshmallows for Smores- also a big hit!

And then it was time for the pinata...Hulk pinatas are hard to come by and when you're doing a last minute trip to the store you get whatever is there- luckily Jed likes Ninja Turtles too so he was not at all disappointed (I guess that means we get to save the Hulk Smash party theme for another year since nothing but his presents really ended up being anything about Hulk!)

After we got everyone excited about the pinata we realized we needed to find some rope so...we let Jed open presents. He got all of his favorite things...a monster truck from his cousins...

And Ollie could not wait to give him his Hulk and Iron Man, Jed was excited about the bag alone!

Once he laid eyes on Hulk it was over- He found his new best friend!

Dadee also gave him a Hulk costume, Jed tried to put it on after he opened it haha!

And candy from the cousins- always a Smash! (Sandee got her braces off today so she sent along her celebrating balloons with the treats for Jed, I'm sure her orthodontist appreciates the plug- and Jed loves balloons so it's a win win! I'm just writing this so that if Jed looks back at these pictures someday and wonders why we were trying to get him in braces at two years old I will have an explanation! And hey, he's going to need braces anyway so now we won't ever forget who to call!)

He looks all business covered in his presents...

Dadee finished getting the pinata setup and it was time for the highlight of the night. We had to drag Jed away from his presents to take the first shot...

He hit it a few times and then ran away yelling "Hulk Smash" because he cared more about getting back to his new best friend than sticking around for the pinata!

Everyone else was happy to get their turns...

Meanwhile, Jed was busy transforming into the Hulk- right out of comic book!

Joshua got the winning hit!

I love how Trace grabbed one piece of candy and ran away happy as can be!

Ollie is usually the one that just grabs one or two candy's and gets too busy eating it to realize he can get more, not today! He's finally figured out how to hoard it. And good thing because he's going to have to share it with Jed since he was still off trying to get Hulk out of his box!

It might have been small and simple but we all had a great time! Matt and I stayed outside for hours after everyone left, just sitting by the fire and enjoying the boys. (By then it had cooled off enough that it was nice to sit outside!)

Jed finally crawled into my lap holding his Hulk and fell asleep. 

I got to sit outside looking up at the stars snuggling Jed, thinking about how he is not such a baby anymore, about how much I love him, and how very very blessed I am to be his mother. My heart is still so full thinking about the last two years, and how two years ago today we were in a hospital room with Sarah waiting for this little guy to arrive. The sweetest moments in the world were had after he was born. I will never forget the tears and his tiny little hand reaching out to touch Sarah's face. 

Nor will I forget the way he lights up when he sees her- we got to FaceTime with Sarah today before the party and he was excited to show her his ninja moves and his toy gun. So grateful to share all of his milestones with her!

Happy Happy Birthday little man! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us this year!