a peek into summers past.

oh my goodness, i cannot believe that these photos were taken only a year ago!

hanging out in the backyard, in the peaceful countryside, soybean fields + purple flowers.

asher - just a year old, romping around in his cloth diaper, little peachy-pie hair curling in the wind,

roman - four, flying paper airplanes and always running commentary in his own little imaginative world...

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we have moved two times since then. to our little cabin house in town and now to our condo in colorado. it is just crazy to think what all can happen in a year. and yet, everything feels comfortably still the same. although they look a little younger + chubbier, the faces and personalities you see here, are just the same as the ones i am loving on today. 

asher, tearing about, arms always flailed out to the side, stopping here and there to notice nature's treasures.

and roman, leaving behind a fury of tape + paper, his mind spinning with thoughts and ideas.

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so here we are, another summer passing by, only to become another sweet long ago memory. i can already feel fall in the air, and slowly but surely we will need to start  hunkering down at home, busing ourselves with schoolwork and jobs, kindergarten at home for rome, and the never ending task of trying to entertain asher while he is climbing all over us reminding us to slow down 

because babies indeed do not keep. ;)

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p.s. thank you to those who left comments on my breastfeeding post. breastfeeding is something that i am so passionate about and i absolutely loved hearing the different takes on what breastfeeding has meant for you and your little lovely ones!

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happy friday!

i didn't used to like the idea of sharing my professional work on my personal blog. i like to be able to scroll down and just see uninterrupted photos of my boys, my family.
my blog is like a sweet little scrapbook. however, i have realized that my professional photos DO feel personal to me. after i put so much effort and care into them, i feel like i want to share them as many places as i can!

so there's a little preview of some photos i did for my sister's roommate for her graduation. you can see the rest of the photos on my sparse photography blog here.

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in other words, today is aaron's last late night shift at his job!
for the year, and maybe, probably, hopefully forEVER!
because in the next eight weeks we are planning to MOVE across the country!
but, more about that later ;)
for today, i need to start cleaning my house since my family is coming to stay the weekend and we are going to celebrate my sister's college graduation!
and right now, my little one is climbing up onto the sink to wash dishes
(his new favorite thing)
so, have a great weekend everyone!
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happy mother's day mamas!

spring.

spring things:

new growth, babe in the bushes, boys picking flowers, soft evening light + hair in a bun.

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i always get this high when spring comes and it seems like life will take this drastic turn for the better in every way. and it always does at first. i turn into crazy productive mode and spend hours outside as the sunshine warms me inside and out. the flowers are intoxicating and i'm wearing flip flops again and feel like a million bucks. 

of course, the crazy always dies down a little, and i realize that spring is just another season. 

with it, there will be good days and bad.

we'll still have days where mama has been up all night with her little screetch owl baby boy, and we'll watch countless movies all day until daddy gets home.

and that's okay.

no season in life is perfect, but with the bad there is always good and man, these days of  spring.
 these days of family hikes in the woods,
holding hands with my husband and looking at our two little boys wearing baseball caps and running ahead - they are good ;)

life right now.

 

we are in our new house now. some things are unpacked, a lot of things aren't. i feel a bit  overwhelmed because i have realized that we have too much junk and it bothers me. i mean my dream is to live in a one room teepee or a tiny tree house, but my reality is that i live in a three bedroom home filled with boxes upon boxes of STUFF that has nowhere to go but that i somehow feel the need to hold onto. sigh. comparatively we live very minimally and my husband and i feel very strongly about not owning lots of stuff. however, we have TOO much. i feel overwhelmed and stuck in our unpacking venture right now. blah. i took these photos of the boys a couple weeks ago before we took a family walk to the park. it was a very fun family fall-ish night. stress levels have gone down significantly by living in town. ahh the beauty of quick trips to the store! 

 

and in further news, my little ashey-pie was featured on spearmintbaby which made my day, so check it out!

life right now.

everything is back to "busy" around our house. however, our version of busy isn't terribly busy in comparison - so for that i am grateful.

summer is officially over, in a way. the weather is still mostly warm which is good because i can't bear to think about winter, christmas, thanksgiving, halloween, snow, ice, space heaters, coats,  boots, socks or anything related to COLD. there have been some sweaters and long-sleeved shirts here and there, and it's hard to admit but i've somewhat enjoyed it. hopefully by the time winter comes i will feel better prepared for it. and maybe not living in the middle of nowhere in a huge terribly cold farmhouse will help.

aaron and i have been back in school for 2 weeks now. there has been lots of whining, but also some happiness on both ends. we both feel a little more motivated this year. there is just more peace and clarity in our decisions right now and we have bigger goals and plans and priorities in mind. not to say that we have it all figured out in the least. i'm taking one class on campus this semester and one online. the best part about my on campus class is that aaron and the boys have taken me both weeks so far! i am so happy about that because i love long drives with my family and my coffee. (our school is over an hour away.)

there are homeschooling books all over the place. (i'll mention our start back to homeschooling another day.) we finally went to the library in the little town we live in (usually we go to the one in another town nearby) - and i was nicely surprised with it! i get to a point where i feel like i've read every book of interest in a library, so it is always nice to find a new one :)

we are moving sooner than later.  leaving behind all these pretty painted walls with nice lighting pouring in the windows and all the corn and soy bean fields makes my heart cringe. our new house has an adorable upstairs with white walls and wood floors and it has lots of trees and a woodsy feel - so that is good. and i like change. i actually LIKE moving. so for those reasons i am excited and happy.

these photos were taken at the end of july, the evening before asher's birthday at our neighbor's wood pile. i love how they are doing almost the exact same thing in these photos, it weirds me out when that happens. i guess they are truly brothers. and in just over a month they have already grown a little older and longer and bigger. sigh.

happy weekend.

many wishes for a weekend filled with cardboard box rocket ships, 

baby blond curls 

and rediculously cute little faces to you all!

end of summer + computer photos.

we've totally been immersed in and enjoying the end of our summer and also the end of our life here in our country home. i just haven't been taking photos, haven't been working out, and have been spending more time just soaking in summer and the days at home with my littles.

 life lately has been full of cleaning and organizing like a maniac, beginning to pack, signing a lease on our new  house in town that is tucked away just enough to make us feel like we aren't in town (thank goodness for my husband's fantastic house finding abilities), deciding on classes for the fall (i STILL have yet to register...), swirling ideas for romey's homeschool going on in my head constantly, joking around with roman and hearing all his wonderful plans for his "school" that he is creating, watching asher change from a baby to a toddler in a blink of an eye, cudding with aaron as the weather slowly is changing to fall.

and slowly accepting the change of it all ;)

time with my oldest boy during asher's nap.

and i had to include this one of asher when he fell asleep on my shoulder :)

2011.

2011

sick sick sick days of pregnancy.

my dream of having two little boys coming true.

a beautiful birth, a frighteningly long week at the hospital.

special moments at special places with aaron, my best friend of 11 years, my husband for 5.

moving to the country.

roman weaning at 3 years and 2 months, playing with his babies, talking to my tummy,

picking flowers for mama, becoming a brother, wanting to be just like dada – his “buddy”,

 becoming an artist, loving homeschool.

babywearing + breastfeeding.

growing asher, then watching asher grow.

(i'm pretty sure this is the ONLY photo i have of us as a whole family!)

thursday morning.

just some photos of our morning.

 holding my newborn. (there aren't enough pictures like this!)

asher having some "diaper-free" time on the porch, to help his poor little rash.

roman and aaron playing basketball together.

summer - please never leave!