odds and {week}ends

its been an interesting week. busy, and busy is good {especially for a mama and a baby who dont have mother's day out for the month...sheesh}.

i received a large order of aprons, and {again} had maybe too much fun picking out the fabrics.

perhaps my new favorite:

so all my "down time" has consisted of sewing. and cutting. and sewing.

and i love it.

i spent the entire day tuesday cleaning out our closet. and a few others in the process. mimi generously offered to keep bennett, so i got to work on the one project i knew i could never start and stop. it had to be done all at one time. i realized i am a pack rat of clothes. if it fits, i dont throw it away. ever. even if its from sophmore year of high school and i havent worn it since, well, sophmore year of high school. or even if it would be considered slightly, um, tacky in this day and age, but had once been found quite stunning in my eyes. it, too, had a place in my over crowded closet.

not anymore.

would you like to see my ten year collection of jeans? sure you would

{do i have to admit that there were about 5 more pair on the floor? no? ok then i wont}

i wasnt lying way back when, when i said i had a slight obsession.

all i need to say is the day was very cleansing. and therapeutic. and exhausting.

who knew the floor of our closet was, in fact, carpeted?

on another note, bible study started back up, and it was time. there is something so accountable {?} about it that it just makes my weeks {and my weekly outlooks} better. plus it is refreshing to gather with such amazing girls and discuss faith and our journey to become less anxious. we are reading "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. we have read one chapter and already i am hooked! it is a must read.

bennett is jabbering like crazy these days, trying his darnedest to sentenc-ize things.

"more babies, more more more babies"

"help mama"

"down mama"

"up mama"

"milk peese mama"

"yum yum yogurt, more yogurt, yum yum"

or when leaving anything {lunch, la, daddy, dog, elmo dvd, legos, bed, etc}:

"byebye ____. byebye"

pretty much just enter in any noun in place of "babies," "milk" and "yogurt" and you have about 95% of what i hear during the day. {it might get a weeee bit repetitive, but its still music to this mommy's ears}

every time i say "bennett you are being so sweet" {sweet being the operative word} he starts kissing.

e v e r y t h i n g.

books, chairs, windows, cars, buggies {eeeew - ive stopped saying this in public places...}, knees, eyes, hair, feet, floor, fireplace, you get the idea.

he insists on having ice in all his beverages. he walks over to the ice maker puts his cup on the ledge and says "iiiieeee. moh iiiieeee mama"

he insists we listen to "the itsy bitsy spider" song on the cd in the car my friend jacqueline gave as her daughter meryl's party favor {thanks jac!!! :) haha}.

im lucky, though, in that the way he insists is silent - he does the itsy bitsy spider movement with his hands and thats it {thank goodness}. you should see the way his face lights up each and every time it starts to play.

he can pick out florida, georgia, texas, and alabama on a map. {thanks to a long tuesday with mimi and doc, while mama was elbow deep in tacky, but sentimental, clothes from the late nineties} and he can now say alabama {sounds like "ayalala" or "abadaba" or something to that effect}

he spanks himself when he throws something off his high chair. {taps the top of one hand with his other....i guess he is paying attention, but dooeeesnt quite get it yet}

hates time out {sitting in a corner of the hallway, looking at the corner. i only have to leave him there, wailing, for 10 seconds for him to then immediately tuck in his tail and look up at me with doe eyes in complete submission, and do whatever it was i was asking him to do (bc thats usually why he goes...wont clean up, wont come here, wont stop throwing things off his high chair, etc)}

i have learned that he is a sweet little friend. well, so far. we crashed my friend erin's playgroup on wednesday and both had a blast.

hes a jumper folks

bennett, colin, and walker

babies dont look at cameras...

all the babies, except for two, were boys, all within a couple months or so of bennett. it was perfect. bennett hasnt developed a sense of "MINEMINEMINE" yet, but i know its just around the bend. so for now, im enjoying the happy-to-share stage. we both left with a little skip in our step; bennett bc he finally got to play with some friends since he has been away from MDO for two weeks; me bc i finally got to talk with adults during the day :).

do any of you stay-at-home moms feel that way sometimes?

husband walks in the door after work and is inundated with stories, thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears, tears, eyes rolled in the back of the head hands thrown in the air accompanied with stuff everywhere and a baby in outstretched arms? anyone?

well, this lady-with-outstretched-arms realized mommies need playgroups, too. and regularly at that!

overall, this was a wonderful week of cleansing closets, jabbering bennetts, inspirational studies, frantic sweat-shop sewing, and rejuvenating playing.

we even squeezed in lunch with one of my favorites {and bennett's too...that rose is a cutie...they just sat and smiled and laughed at each other. it was great}

heres to a great week-ending!

my reading material for the next couple days...