This little pumpkin...

And this little pumpkin is all worn out :). 

Today, as always, I'm thankful for the two little pumpkins in my life!

You Never Know

You just never know when you'll get your next favorite picture. 

It may just happen unexpectedly, say when you promise to take a little boy down the hill to play after he wakes up from his nap.

You may have secretly hoped he would forget so you could finish the project you had started.

You may have contemplated even taking the camera.

You may have thought, really we have to take the cowboy boots AND the hats?

But then there's this.

The reminder that this was the best part of my day.

Two boys, just happy to have each other.

And no, it's not really about the picture. 

It's about the memory, and the feeling, and all that is good about love.



Miles (6 1/2 months) & Mason (2 1/2 years)

Not So Little Anymore

We've reached another "Miles-stone" :). 5 months.

I find it odd how quickly I've forgotten what life was like prior to our addition.
Was it only 5 months ago that we still didn't know if we were having a boy or girl?

When I think of 5 months, it just seems sooo much older than 4 months...I don't know why.
At the beginning of the 4th month he was just a little baby... and now, well he's a BIG baby.
At his last doctor's appointment he was 75th percentile in weight, but 97th in height!  LONG!

But I feel like I'm trying to keep him little. I want to just hang on...

I don't want him to have to start accopmlishing things.  It's nothing but hard work from here on out, buddy.  Daddy's going to try to make you crawl and walk long before you and I are ready!

So far Miles' biggest accomplishment has been rolling, he's done both ways. But then he got fatter. Or lazier. He prefers sitting up now.

But what he lacks in physical accomplishments, he more than makes up for in socialness. It seems he's a cream-soda kid of sorts. Easy-going with lots of bubbles. He has these big eyes that search your face and than instantly light up when you so much as glance at him. And the squeals, wow! He is so squealy right now! He has a whole repertoire of squeals, each with a specific purpose.

 

 

I'm glad only God knows his future. Because right now I just want to hold him close and protect him, keep him small and never let anything bad happen to him. Maybe I have issues. When the time comes for him to "grow up" I'm sure I'll be ready then. But for right now, he's just my baby still. Although I have begun planning his 1st birthday.... cause it's never too early to start plannin' for a party!!!

 

 

P.S. This post is late. I'm blaming it on the unfortunate and untimely death of my computer. Miles is now 5 1/2 months and rolling every which way at the blink of an eye!

Blog Miracle

Wow! First of all I would just like to acknowledge the fact that it's a miracle I got pictures and text on this post! After my Mac unexpectedly died, I feared I would never blog again. The pain was so great. I may need some therapy... or chocolate... or both.

Anyway, enough negativity. We have had a "fun, fun, fun" summer as a certain 2 1/2 year-old would say :).

But it would take too long to make chronological sense of the pictures.

So here are a few from last week!

Miles weighed in the 75% for weight and 97% for height at his 4 month check up. He's now 5 months and just peachy.

He just discovered his feet. He's loving those little piggies!

And of course who could pass up a 25-cent pair of glasses to add to the dress up stash?

Lookin' good bro! I love those boys :).

And now calling all people who know anything more than I do about PCs (which doesn't take much)... how do you highlight text/pictures to rearrange? And is there a way to sharpen pictures for the web?

Not So Long Ago...

We took a trip not so long ago.... it was only May.

After Scott and Melissa's wedding we got some special cousin time at Noah's house. Miles (11 weeks), Mason (2 1/4), Noah (6 1/2 months)

Mason enjoyed Noah's toys, he thought he was pretty "trong" (consonant blends beginning with s are still sorta tricky right now) using this one as a barbell.

And of course, what more could a little boy want that a big box?

The perfect hideout for him and Great Grandma Gwen!

Closing the doors to keep GGG all to himself :).

And we enjoy the small town park, Mason makes new friends every time... mostly girls. The last girl he befriended kept commenting on his "Justin Beiber haircut" :)

And our shoes never stay on for long. Sometimes I feel like I should make him keep them on and then I decide I don't really care. I may regret this and feel like a horrible mother if he steps on a nail and has to have his foot cut off. But for right now, I think it's important for him to enjoy summer, bare feet and all :).

It's Coming!

The 4th of July is coming!

It's only a few weeks away, which is very exciting in the Hershberger household.

It's like our favorite, probably right after Christmas.

After all, without the 4th of July there would possibly have been no "us". It's where our story began. So we like to make a pretty big deal about it. And thanks to our super talented friend, Cody, we now have pictures in festive shirts before July is even here!

Miles, 3 months

Mason's new shades arrived on our doorstep as we were taking these pictures.

Perfect timing!

He kinda likes them :).

Check out Cody's shop on Etsy to get your hands on one of these cool shirts!

You May Now Kiss the Bride!

I love weddings, especially the cake. Not that it's the BEST part... but it's pretty close. This past weekend we celebrated with Dustin's cousin in Omaha.

So I thought Mason maybe needed a haircut before attending such an event, but it didn't happen. At the length it is now, no one seemed to notice the few extra inches anyway :).

Behind cake, bubbles are the next best thing at weddings. I also like the dancing, but since I have no moves I usually try to position myself on the outer perimeter. Since we have two young kiddos, we missed out on the dance this time.

We're not always able to make it to Omaha for O'Dell family events, so we were excited to see everyone and also have them meet our littlest "M"

Miles Moses.

At family events such as these I enjoy how your child can disappear for hours at a time,

until feeding time anyway. They get loved on,

and upon their return they have the scent of three different perfumes :).

My wonderful husband looked especially dapper all dressed up in this rockin' tie, a great present from my stylish bro this past Christmas.

Also, in case you haven't seen Dustin recently, don't be alarmed that his hair is much shorter these days. We initiated a hair "phasing out" over the past year, cutting it progressively shorter and shorter every few months...

we didn't want to scare the kids you know and just whack it off all at once.

Miles at 10 weeks.

The reception was at this place. It had character.

The kids had once again disappeared, I'm sure they were in good hands.

So my apologies for a pic of just us. I know, boring.

While waiting to enter the reception, I thought Mason was being all cute and playing hide-and-seek. Little did I know he actually was just using this spot to do his duty. I've already decided that potty training will occur no earlier than August.

Call me selfish, but I want to enjoy all of our summer activities

without being tied down to a potty chair.

While trying to keep a 2-month old and 2-year old inconspicuous through speeches and toasts, I didn't have time to play with my camera much.

I enjoy how you can really feel the warmth of that night through the pictures, though.

Love this pic of Cousin Noah and Aunt Laura.

Note the hand cupped strategically under chin.

Noah's a spitter, so you always

have

to

be

prepared!!!

I was giving Dustin a lecture about proper etiquette at a wedding before he told me they were out of plates...

sorry babe!

Finger foods were a hit with Big M,

which was nice because the main dish was so good I didn't really want to share.

On the subject of 2-year-olds and life... there's a lot for little ones to learn. Well, even adults have a lot to learn still. The great thing about having a 2-year-old, though, is that every day there are multiple learning opportunities. Chances for you to show them how the world works, to learn about authority, rewards, consequences, and in general just how much FUN you can have in the world God created!

But at the reception Mason learned the hard lesson of EXCLUSION.

A bunch of little girls playing ring-around-the-rosie,

and no boys to befriend!

They were actually very sweet girls and there is a happy ending to come later.

And another learning opportunity,

staying seated in your chair

and clapping

when appropriate.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE cake? How awesome is this?

We've also been working with Mason on identifying and dealing with his emotions. I've seen a little improvement, the departments of patience and perseverance still need a lot of attention. I found a nice little chart that depicts happy and sad faces, which I am laminating for the fridge. He is very interested in sad faces.

I wonder what he would think of this guy?

P.S. That is NOT my thumb. Just in case you were thinking it looked a little manly.

So at the end of the night, we had made new friends and had celebrated in and remembered the wonderfulness of God's creation of husband and wife.

Hard to believe that almost 5 years ago we took those same vows. So thankful for the life he has given us together and for Dustin, who is the love of my life!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Scott O'Dell!!!!