Joy of LOVE days twenty, twenty one, twenty two & twenty three!

Gotta get caught up on all of the Joy of LOVE goodness, here!

20: when they’re home

Andrew took the kids to church on Sunday morning, so I could rest my knee/ankle injuries in peace.  When the kids came home, Kennedy was so happy to see her Momma!  I love this little Bean so much – she’s such a happy, little thing!

21: hands

This is a picture of my hand, but I took it because we had a little in-home date night – which definitely says LOVE to me!  I had gotten the good report from my doctor about the injuries from my fall, and we put the kids to bed a little early, and had sushi in the living room to celebrate!  And, if you’re wondering, sushi from BJ’s is actually pretty good!

22: face

Look at this sweet face!  Bennet is getting so smart – too smart for his own good!  You can see the mischief in his little eyes in this picture!  Who knows what this kid will do next!  That’s why I love him!

23: facebook

The assignment for this day was to go through old Facebook photos and find an old picture of you and the person you love.  The cold weather always makes me reminiscent of our days in California, and this photo of us on Pismo Beach is one of my favorite pictures we took in those days!

joy of love days seventeen, eighteen and nineteen

17: staying in

When Bennet and I spend time at the house together, I just like to be near him – snuggling, playing, reading books – whatever we do when we “stay in” ends up being special.  We’ve had some amazingly nice weather this week, and we found ourselves on our back porch, snuggling on our porch swing quite often.

18: going out

We’ve been so blessed to get out for lots of date nights lately.  I love getting to go out with Andrew and have some kid-free time together!  Even when the night ends with some broken bones like this one did, I still love getting to go out on the town with my sweetie!

19: when they’re gone

My aforementioned broken bones have made Andrew have to play the Mr. Mom role around the house.  When I took this photo, he was “gone” upstairs – giving both kids baths and putting them to bed.  I’m so blessed to have such a helpful, loving, wonderful husband to take care of me and the kiddos.

joy of love days fifteen and sixteen

15: kiss

My sweet Bean.  My last tiny baby.  I just love to kiss all over her and love her.  Her sweet, tiny feet are one of my favorite parts of her body.  Tiny toes, tiny heels, tiny shoes – I’m so smitten by this baby girl – every part of her!

16: together

Today’s Joy of LOVE prompt was to take a photo of you together with some of the people you love.  As with anything involving toddlers and infants, it did not turn out well.  I couldn’t get Kennedy to look at the camera, and Bennet wouldn’t stop covering his eyes.  Sheesh.  I love these babies, though – cooperative or not!

joy of love day fourteen

14: wedding band/jewelry

Instead of taking a photo of one of my loved ones’ jewelry or wedding band, I decided to photograph my own.  Valentine’s Day marks six years since Andrew proposed to me – and I am sometimes amazed at all that we have experienced together in those six years!  I took this picture this afternoon at the playground with the kids.  As I set my rings down on the wooden playground equipment, I thought to myself how blessed I am to be married to Andrew and have two children who are so beautiful.  I love Andrew for many reasons – one of which is that he works hard every day to provide for us, so that I can stay home with the kids.  When I look at my wedding ring, I think of how much we’ve grown together since the first time Andrew put it on my finger.  I love getting to spend every day married to him.  Sigh.

joy of love days twelve and thirteen

12:  the eyes

My baby girl has the most beautiful blue eyes.  Even in a black and white photo, you can see the light and sparkle in her gorgeous eyes.  What a beauty my Beanie is!

13:  routines

Our bed time routine for the kids starts with their nightly bath.  Kennedy is loving bath time even more now that she can sit up and play with toys!

joy of love days ten and eleven

10: space – where they are comfortable

Bennet’s room is his very own space in our house.  When we lived in our old house in the city, we planned to have the kids share a room.  I’m so glad that we moved into a bigger home, where each child will have a little place of their own as they grow up.  Most days, Bennet completely wrecks his room at nap time.  Here – I came upstairs because he was in trouble for not napping, only to find his room trashed and his pants and underwear off.  I guess he figured he could do whatever he wanted to in his space!

11: dreams

Bennet was playing in the living room this morning and I asked him, “What do you want to be when you’re big like me and Daddy?”  His answer?  “Diego.”  He probably only said that because he was playing with his Diego play set – but the beautiful thing about being his age is that he can change his dreams and plans for his future as much as he wants!

joy of love day 9

09: passions and hobbies

As is the case with most 2 1/2 year olds, Bennet has many passions and hobbies, most of which change on a day-to-day basis.  Things he loves pretty consistently, though, are trips to the library, reading books, and making crafts with Momma.  Here – we went to our local library for a Valentine’s Day Story Time.  Bennet was pleased that we got to got to the library, read Valentine’s Day books, and make Valentines!

joy of love day eight

08: gift from the heart

Today’s prompt is about a special gift given to you by the one you love.  My first impulse was to photograph the necklace Andrew gave me after Kennedy was born – a sweet pendant with both of their names engraved on it.  When I went to take it out of my jewelry box, however, I saw this one – the necklace Andrew and Bennet bought for me on my first Mother’s Day as a Mommy.  I came across a blog the other day where the mommy writing credited her oldest daughter with being the one who “made her a mommy.”  I found that thought to be so beautiful.  Bennet will always be the child who made me Momma.  He changed my entire outlook on the world – my priorities will never be the same – I will never be the same.  Bennet was born just a few days before Mother’s Day and I vividly remember going to the mall with a few-day old baby (to buy nursing bras!) and having Andrew say to me, “As hectic as things are right now, we may not get out again before Mother’s Day, so let’s pick out a present for you together while we’re here.”  I wanted a piece of emerald jewelry because it was Bennet’s birthstone, and when I saw this necklace, I loved how the setting had emeralds and diamonds all around it.  The girl behind the counter said, “This is an eternity pendant – it’s supposed to symbolize love that will never end because it will go around and around like the circle.”  My post-baby hormones could not handle such a beautiful thought, and as my eyes filled up with tears – Andrew told her we’d take it!  Those early days with Bennet were such an exhausting, challenging time, but more than all the tears and the drama and the stress – I remember being indescribably in love with my sweet, baby son.  Even now, with all of the tears, drama and stress that parenting a toddler brings – I sure do love that little boy!

joy of love day seven

07 generations

My grandma, my mom, my first child (the dog) and the kids.  Counting me, that’s four generations (and a dog) who all live within a few minutes of each other.  What a blessing that our little ones will grow up so close to my mom and my grandma.  It’s one of the reasons we bought our new house in the town that we did.  It made sense, if we were going to leave the city, to be close to home.  I love these two women more than words can describe.  I love seeing my kids spend time with them even more than that.

joy of love day 6

06: the ones they love

Bennet loves a good Slurpee.  A few weeks ago, when we’d first started potty training, we told him if he “stayed dry” in his class at church, he could get a Slurpee at 7-11 afterward.  He had an “accident” that week, and then in the weeks following, he seemed to forget about the Slurpee offer.  When we picked him up today, one of the childcare workers told us he had peed on the potty there – which caused Bennet to immediately begin saying, “I get Slurpee?  I get Slurpee?”  We’re not sure what jogged his memory, but we decided to follow though our promise and stop at 7-11!  Bennet’s a lot like his momma – he loves presents, prizes and special treats!

joy of love day five

05: love to hate

Tonight, at dinner, Andrew remarked, “Someone’s going to have to rinse the baby off with a fire hose.”  Truer words were never spoken.  Kennedy is the messiest eater I’ve ever met.  I love her and I think she’s the most beautiful Bean ever – but I hate cleaning her off after mealtime!  Tonight, I even had to clean under her chin, in her neck fat, with a wet paper towel!  Ew.

joy of love day four

04: what they wear

“What They Wear” was an appropriate prompt today, as this morning Andrew said to me, “Is what Bennet has on okay? He picked it out himself.” Surprisingly, his choice wasn’t bad – warm-up pants and his favorite t-shirt, a Diego shirt I found recently at a thrift store. Bennet is getting more and more independent every day – using the potty, picking his own clothes, and always speaking up with his opinion about everything! He’s growing up, but I love how he still says, “Momma, I snuggle with you?” and climbs up on the couch next to me.

joy of love: day three

03: then and now

I had planned for my “then and now” photo to be of Sophie today, but being conscious of the daily theme of this project has my eyes open to photo ideas all the time. Bennet was at preschool this morning and, as Kennedy and I were walking into Target to run some errands, I was reminded of the summer, when she and I spent many a Tuesday or Thursday morning browsing through Target while Bennet was at school. We had just moved into the new house, and she was still less than a month old. We’d get to Target, where I’d feed her a bottle in the Starbucks there, while I drank an iced chai latte. Then, we’d shop – spending way too much money on things for our new home. I remember people stopping me to admire her, and how they would comment on how well I was doing to be out and about so soon after delivery. I’d then wow them by telling them I also had a two-year old, who was at preschool, and that we had just moved into a new home, which was why we were there shopping. She was so tiny then. I cannot believe she is almost seven months old. Just like old times, she fell asleep in the shopping cart, and I was able to snap this beautiful photo of her outside in the parking lot, using the bright sunshine that we’re lucky enough to have today as my lighting! Oh, baby girl, can’t you just stay this small, and sweet, and sleepy-faced? Please?

As much as I miss my teeny-tiny newborn of “then,” I am so completely smitten with this beautiful, silly, happy, little girl that I’m blessed to spend every day with “now.”

joy of love: days one and two

I recently came across a 28-day February photo class – The Joy of Love - offered by Willette Designs, and I was so excited! While I’m still taking photos of the kids with my feeble point-and-shoot, I have a fancy camera on my “want” list for when we sell our city home and have some spending money! When I saw this class, I thought it would be a nice opportunity to learn some photography techniques for when I have my dream camera to use! I signed up last night and, since that put me one day behind, I had a double assignment to finish today. Here’s what I came up with for days one and two!

01: what they do

One of the things that Bennet is always doing right now is learning. He loves to explore and discover, and is so hungry for information. In this photo, he is playing with a little laptop that plays alphabet games and teaches about letters. He really concentrates when he is trying to learn something. I love how interested he is in the world around him!

02: how they look

This is how Kennedy looks at her big brother. She is so in love with Bennet, and is interested in everything he does. I love seeing my kids interacting and playing together!

I can’t wait to use this class as an extra-special way to spend some time taking a close look at the people I love.