Music Monday

"Without you I was broken, but I'd rather be broke down with you by my side."

The lyrics above are from tonight's song, Jack Johnson's "Broken."  It's from the Curious George soundtrack and is on my mind after watching the movie this evening.  It's a mellow, happy song as is most of Jack's music and it makes me think of my Matty. And hubby too, of course!  

Curious George is such a fun, touching movie, full of great tunes.  George and  Matty are a lot a like: little explorers that often get in trouble, but their cuteness usually prevails ;)

Enjoy!

Our Organist

Matty is loving our newly acquired Baldwin organ:

sweet dreams

On the weekdays, I hardly ever see Matty in the a.m., which his a major reason why bedtime has become such a special time for us.  A few times this past week, I let him fall asleep in our bed and then transferred him in the middle of the night.  There is just something indescribable about these moments!  We play for a bit and as he gets sleepier he gets sillier.  When he gets a bit out of hand, I say to him, "ok, we're going to Matty's bed" and he immediately lies down and says "go night night."  A few seconds later he is back at it again, I tell him we're going to his room and we do the same routine a few times. After he finally settles down, he'll turn to me, grab me and says "hold you, hold you." Complete mush is the only way to describe my heart at this point. I love the sleepy smiles I get as he drifts into slumber, and I can only guess it's because his heart is so happy! I know mine is!

This past Tuesday was a rare occasion, but I was gone before he woke and came home after he was already asleep! It was really hard on me. That said, I made sure that we had mommy and Matty time before work on Wednesday. Here are a few shots from our morning. I'm really smitten with this sweater I thrifted a few weeks ago...he looks like such a big kid in it!

And yes, I am fully aware that he is in major need of a haircut!

Music Monday and A Mother's Gift

With Matty's 2nd birthday a little less than three weeks away, there is a lot of thought going into presents and party prep, but I also often reflect on the gifts I want to give him that he will keep for a lifetime. The kind he can't play with, but the kind that will make him smile anyway. The kind that will comfort him. The kind that he will turn to when faced with a dilemma. The kind he will teach his children...

I strive to be a person he can be proud of and look up to; one who instills morals, strong family values and traditions and optimism to name just a few. God willing, I will be around for 60+ more years, but when the day comes that I am no longer physically with him, I pray I'll know that I have done a good job and that Matty will hold close to his heart the many gifts I will have given him. The ones that do not have a price tag attached.

My friend, Joy, lost her mother two years ago and she recently shared a post about their last Christmas together. You can read it here. It is a beautiful display of what every mother wants for her children: to leave footprints on their hearts. Her mom was obviously a lovely lady, as is evident in Joy!

And her mom was very wise, especially when it comes to the Miami Dolphins. Hehe.

In keeping with the mother/child theme, for tonight's song I chose Carole King's, "Child of Mine."

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Happy birthday {yesterday} Dr. Seuss! Matty doesn't appreciate your books yet, but I'm sure he will in the future. This past Saturday, we took him to the Dr. Seuss story time at Target. The setup was cute: a colorful rug and Pillow Pets were placed on the floor for the kids to get comfy. There were goodie bags with snacks, juice, crayons and coloring books and bags of popcorn. Employees took turns reading.

Matty sat in the cart for a while. He didn't pay too much attention to the stories and when the newness of the goodie bag wore off, he wanted out. I stalled and walked him around the store for awhile because once Matty gets out of the cart, it's all over. On our stroll, we picked up a new Thomas the Tank Engine movie. Eventually, we made our way back to the story time area and I finally caved and let him out of the cart. He walked around showing all of the other kids his Thomas movie and saying "James" {the name of the engine on the cover}. It was too cute. I nearly started crying because he looked like such a big boy; all of the children were older and were amused by Matty. He did sit a few times, but only for a few seconds. It was as though he was trying hard to be a big kid, but he is still in that very busy toddler stage and just couldn't keep still.

Now, this trip to Target was all about not spending money. These days, I get really excited about having fun for very little or better yet, free!

I had my ten dollar Starbucks gift card that I received from Swagbucks.com, which I promptly used as soon as we arrived. I got a grande skinny peppermint mocha latte, a blueberry muffin and an organic vanilla milk for Matty and there is still $3 + dollars left. I also had a coupon for free Coffee-Mate Liquid Creamer and a coupon for Nice'n Easy Color Blend Foam hair color. I picked up my Coffee-Mate, but when it came time to check out, Matty was in tantrum mode, so as I wrestled to put his coat on him, hubby checked out and I forgot to give him the coupon. I don't normally even use cream in my coffee, so I was ticked because I was only getting it because it was FREE. And I completely forgot about the hair dye, which I guess ended up being a good thing, because if I would have had it in the cart, hubby wouldn't have had the coupon anyway. At least my coupons don't expire until May.

The highlight of my weekend took place on Sunday when I'm pretty sure Matty told me he loves me!

I missed Music Monday, so today I bring you a truly beautiful, classic tune with a timeless message.

It goes a little something like this:

You may say that I'm a dreamer.
But I'm not.

If you just laughed out loud, then you've seen Dinner for Schmucks. If you're like "huh?", you should definitely see it soon! It is funny, yet heartwarming.

Less Than One Month...

Matty has not eaten in his high chair for almost 6 months, but there it stands in its corner of the dining room, untouched, yet proud, knowing it did a darn good job. Today I cleaned it thoroughly and will be making room for it in the garage until we need it again one day, but for now, it will go into retirement.

I simply cannot believe 23 months ago yesterday, Matty was born. That means there is less than once month until he is two! Two. Although I joked here that I cannot wait for him to be two, it is hard to believe. Every day my baby is waging war against "baby"hood and the packing away of his high chair makes me sad. Ah, well at least I still have the diapers to cling to ;)

There will soon be an empty space where you stand, Mr. High Chair. Even though we burdened you with crumbs, sauce, and all things sticky, you were reliable, loyal, and never complained. Tonight, I dedicate this blog to you...

Music Monday

I know we are all ready for spring, but tonight's song makes me want to fast forward to December! I simply could not wait almost a year to share it, but yes, tonight's song is technically a Christmas kinda song, but too bad ;)

"All I Want for Christmas is Us," by Tristan Prettyman and Jason Mraz is the cutest, sweetest, sexiest song. Ever. What makes it even better, it that these two awesome musicians have also recently gotten engaged! If their interaction in this video doesn't melt your heart, you need a dose of love potion #9. Seriously.