Since I’ve had oh so much extra time on my hands lately, Ben had to hand out store-bought valentine’s this year to his classmates. And I was totally okay with that. Even happy about it. They were cute little robot cards that I had picked up at Pottery Barn Kids a few weeks ago. Perfect for a little boy, right?

He was so excited about them. And even more excited about the chocolate hearts that I decided to attached to each one of them. And when I was busy trying to get Christopher and I dressed yesterday morning, he decided to eat as many chocolates as he could. Whoops.

Ben also decided to leave me a cute little Valentine’s Day surprise in his room. Heart stickers applied around the base of his lamp. I just had to smile and laugh. It was one of those moments that is both adorable, and at the same time you are praying to God that you will be able to clean it up…

My mom got the boys really cute Valentine’s day cards. (She always manages to find the best cards!) And I think the one she got for Christopher may be the cutest Valentine’s Day card I have ever seen. So I had to share. It’s a pop-up card. And after all of Ben’s shenanigans lately, it has been placed safely up on a shelf, far, far out of reach of toddler curiosity.

The hubs and I are exchanging cards tonight, but he brought me home a beautiful blush pink rose yesterday. It was perfect. And absolutely made me smile.

Speaking of making me smile, Christopher hit the 15 week old mark yesterday. I’ve been so bad lately about pulling out my dSLR camera. But I managed to capture this cute shot of him on my phone (for Instagram), dressed all cute for the day in a top that his aunt and uncle got him for Christmas.

My sweet little Valentine, already melting my heart.

So tell me, how was your Valentine’s day? For those of you with kiddos, did you send them off with homemade Valentines to hand out? Or did you go with the store-bought variety like I did? I don’t know about you, but I totally found myself rolling my eyes at the cuteness of the handmade Valentines that Ben brought home. There are a lot of moms that have way more time than I do right now! I don’t know, maybe next year. Or maybe a few more years down the road… Maybe.

Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! And have a wonderful weekend.

It took us a couple of days to name him. Wanting to make sure that his name felt just as perfect for him as his brother’s had felt. Christopher Turk Thompson was the winner. I call him Mr. Christopher. The hubs calls him C.Turk. It’s perfect. Just like him.

Turk is a family name—my grandmother’s maiden name. And I have a few other cousins who also gave it to their children as a middle name. After naming our little guy, we found out that there is a character on the TV show Scrubs whose name is Christopher Turk. Having never seen the show, we had no idea. We knew there was a Turk character, but a Christopher Turk? Finding that out made us laugh. Obviously, we are not the only people that think it’s a good sounding name…

I already have a hard time remembering life before Christopher, even though that was only thirteen short weeks ago. He is one happy little guy. Smiling all the time. And much more chill than his big brother. I feel so lucky to have a fairly easy baby this go ’round. Of course, I’m not a first time mother either. So that helps. But, he’s definitely easier. And I make sure to tell him everyday just how awesome he really is.

We are all pretty smitten with him. Even Ben, who has been a fantastic big brother—I’m so proud of him. And it just melts my heart to see him shower his little brother with lots of love and kisses. Oh, the bond of brotherhood.

I feel so very blessed. So very lucky to be mom to these two boys and part of this wonderful little family of four. My heart is full and oh so happy.

*All Photos by Katie Welsh.

With a two month old in my arms, my two year old all of a sudden seems like a giant! Getting so big. So fast. Like I blinked, and he went from a tiny infant to a boisterous little boy overnight. And the reality of the new year, just seems to reinforce the feeling that time is slipping by much faster than I would like.

{My Full-of-Personality 2 Year Old}

Now three weeks in, I think I am finally ready to embrace 2013 and let the motivation of a new year help push me back into regular life. It’s actually pretty good timing, as my littlest will be 12 weeks old tomorrow. (Yikes! That went crazy fast, right!?)

{My Littlest at 11 Weeks}

So I’m giving myself this one last week of “maternity leave.” One last week of just surviving. And then next week, I’m jumping back into it—trying to establish a routine, tackle some projects, and begin working towards the goals I’ve set for myself. Best of all, I’ll be getting back to blogging and you can expect to start seeing some weekly action around here once again! Aren’t you all excited now?

Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend, and I’ll “see” you all back here next week. 2013? Bring it on!

That said, I have all intention of being back to blogging regularly real soon, and I promise to share highlights from my absence—and of course that includes all about the addition of our newest little, Mister Christopher! So while I may not quite have my act together yet, I still thought I’d pop in today (on the last day of the year!) to share our holiday card.

I got our cards through Minted. And the photo of my boys was taken by the talented Katie Welsh. I only wish I was that skilled behind my lens! But seriously, does that photo not melt your heart?

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season. That you have a fantastic New Year’s Eve. And that 2013 finds you happy, healthy and thankful for all the blessings in your life. I know that I am!

Peace. Love. Joy. And a Happy New Year!

In the space, we painted the walls with tone-on-tone stripes. Painted the ceiling. Painted out the illusion of crown molding. Installed new electrical and a ceiling fan. And installed new base and window trim.

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I had every intention of refinishing the campaign dresser I found to use in the little man’s big boy room. I even bought the paint. But lack of time and energy resulted in the decision to just use the dresser we had picked up awhile back from Ikea. I’d love it to be a slightly darker blue. And I’d love to change out the hardware. But for now, it works.

We pillaged a few things from the nursery to make the big boy room have a hint of familiarity to make the transition for the little man a bit easier. We took both the bookcase and the nightstand, along with all the books, toys and one of the lamps. I’m not sure we’ll keep those items in the room, but until I figure out alternatives, the nursery will be fine without.

There is still quite a bit to do. Touch ups to make. Trim to finish. Real window treatments to install. Art and accessories to select. And quite a few things other things yet to figure out and purchase. But the transformation from what it used to look like, is coming along. Here is a side-by-side comparison for you:

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And while I might not be ready to call the space done, I’m ecstatic that we finally have the little man in his big boy room and have the nursery is now freed up for his little brother’s impending arrival. The rest of the details will just have to happen as they happen. And I think I’m actually feeling okay about that. Or at least content in the fact that the little man seems to love his new room. And to be honest, the hubs and I kind of love it too. We might even be a bit jealous…