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Big Boy

ByKristin August 24, 2011August 21, 2016 Ben, Cate, motherhood

Ben’s crib has been converted to a big boy toddler bed! On the day he turned 21 months old, we decided to go ahead with the move. He hadn’t climbed out of his crib yet, but Greg and I have been anticipating our vacation. We leave a month from today to spend nine nights in Ellsworth, Maine and Boston. We’re already going to be flying with two small kids, a car seat, a stroller and all our luggage, so we thought we’d be better off if we could leave the pack-and-play at home.

We shall see.

But the first night was a success!

There was much excitement!

And then he settled in.

Ben is the type of kid who goes and goes and goes until it’s time for bed. There’s not much winding down time for him. But once he’s there, he likes his bed and sleeps well. But for some reason, he cried for 20 minutes after Greg sang and prayed with him. Tears don’t usually accompany bedtime around here. I’m not sure if he recognized his bed being different, if he missed his bumper pad that he often snuggled close to, or if there was something unrelated on his little mind. Even in the crying, he didn’t get out of his bed.

Well, not until 7:05 this morning when I heard him playing with the door stop spring that makes the fun vibrating sound when touched. That’s much greater success than I anticipated from my boy who likes to be on the move and into everything.

Yes, part me of me thinks it’s crazy he’s approaching 2 years old. Then I think about when we switched Cate to a toddler bed, and I realize time certainly flies in this season of motherhood. Cate was almost 23 months and we were anticipating trips to Texas and New Zealand a few months later. We obviously knew less about what we were getting into and allowed for much more time to train her to sleep in a bed with more freedom.

One night of freedom for Ben was a success. Now I can only hope this is a sign of what’s the come.

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Nine years ago …

ByKristin August 3, 2011August 21, 2016 Greg, life

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On what was the hottest day Louisville, Ky., had experienced in five years, Greg and I were married. I don’t remember it being hot. I remember thinking I didn’t want to bawl when my closest friend walked from the bridesmaid lineup to the microphone to sing “How Beautiful.” I remember thinking I loved the flowers next to the yellow dresses. I remember thinking how nothing seemed to be going wrong. And I remember ordering Domino’s Pizza when we got to our hotel room.

That was nine years ago.

In some ways, nine years seems like a long time. Especially when I start listing what’s happened in those nine years: We lived a year in Lexington while Greg finished law school and I worked as an education reporter. And then we moved to Murray. Greg passed the bar and started his career as a lawyer. I started a job I had no idea I’d love. I was diagnosed with diabetes. We couldn’t get pregnant. Greg started a real estate investment company and his own law practice. We adopted our daughter. I quit my job. We moved about a mile away. We adopted our son. My father-in-law passed away.

And that’s just the big things.

We’ve been on tons of trips in that time too, including Lake Tahoe, New York City, Florida, Gatlinburg, Greece/Italy, New York state, Branson, Hilton Head, Chicago and New Zealand. We’ve celebrated nieces and nephews and siblings’ weddings. And we’ve made dear, dear friends along the way.

And, honestly, each year has gotten better and better. Perhaps it’s that fact that makes it seem like nine years has flown by.

Happy anniversary, husband. I didn’t plan for our life to be like it is, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m so thankful to have this life, with you. Here’s to at least 41 more!

You can read other anniversary posts. 5 years. Six years. Seven years.

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“lately”

ByKristin May 13, 2011August 21, 2016 Uncategorized

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Some recent scrap pages have been requested. I used to post what I was working on, but, well, then I had two kids. Lately, meaning the last month, I haven’t really scrapped at all. You know, we’ve been busy with birthdays {Greg celebrated his 33rd birthday, I turned 32 and Cate is 4 now, but only hers made my blog … twice.} and holidays.

But lately in a broader since, like the last six months, I have scrapped some. I *usually* scrap chronologically, so I’m into May 2010 in that sense. But before I dived into “Life in 2010,” I worked on an album about our trip to New Zealand in August 2009. And now I’m starting to work on a “Trips of 2010” album, which will include our road trips to Hilton Head, Chicago and Branson.

I often remind myself that scrapbooking is a hobby. Yes, I want to preserve memories for our family as time flies by too quickly. Yes, I like to have a creative outlet. But it’s also a hobby. I don’t want to pressure myself to get “caught up.”

But, yes, of course, I’d like to have more time to sit and scrapbook, but it’s not worth sacrificing the actual making of memories to do so.

So, now, enough with the words, onto the pictures, which are not the highest quality because the layouts are in the page protectors. Oh, yes, page protectors. I’m finding myself using the divided ones of various sizes often. I just put them all in the same three-ring binder. It helps me organize multiple pictures from the same event and keeps me going once I do get a chance to sit down at that table of mine.

This is a 12-inch-by-12-inch layout with nine 4-inch squares.

I do some one-picture layouts. This one is a 6-inch-by-12-inch layout.

Again, a one-picture layout. This time it’s a 8 1/2-inch-by-11-inch page.

And Ben makes plenty of appearance in the album. That’s right, there are plenty of pictures of my second born. They just don’t get scrapped as quickly as early years Cate’s did.

And then the New Zealand album ….

A 12-inch-by-12-inch layout served well as the opening page.

This shows the layered look of using different sized page protectors. That 12-inch-by-12-inch layout leads into the 6-inch-by-12-inch divided layout. Another thing I liked about making the New Zealand album is I used one pack of patterned paper, so it’s coordinated all the way through.