Psalm 23.

Finding hope and peace in these words this morning.

Strange.

So, today I was skimming through my stats on my blog.  I don't look at this often, because I write for myself and to remember little things that happen through the year, so I don't really care how many people read along.

However, I noticed I've been getting a lot of hits from google lately.  Strange... so I went to there, and googled "girl meets life".  If you do the same, you'll notice the first thing that comes up is not my blog.

Then this sequence of thoughts went through my head...
Crap. Someone else has the same blog name as mine.
Wait. Crap... what if she thinks I copied her?
Oh, crap. What if she copied me? 

So I clicked the link...

And saw she's way cooler than me. She has a "dot com". And followers and sponsors. And lots of comments. And even a facebook page. Crap, again.

We're total opposites... she's single and a city girl, and, well y'all know me already.

After skimming through the page, it looks like it was originally "girl meets health" and then she changed it to "girl meets life" in 2010. I remember when I was originally creating my site and trying to figure out a name, talking about it with my best friend (January 7, 2008 to be exact) and finally deciding on it.

What now?  Do I keep the same name... change it... fall off the face of the blog-earth...... ugh.

I'm bummed.

One on one.

For me, the hardest part of having 2 kids is the inability to give both of them the same amount of attention.  At this particular stage in the boys lives, Jaxon definitely needs more attention.  I am constantly getting him something, feeding him something, watching him so he doesn't run in the road, playing with him to keep him happy, etc.  Cohen is such an amazing baby that most of the time he is happy and content to just watch. He doesn't sit on the floor and cry (although we do have our days!) and for the most part is easy.  He doesn't like to snuggle or rock at night, he prefers to just be laid down.  These boys are polar opposites I tell ya!

Sometimes I feel like I have blinked and missed most of Cohen's growing up.  He is almost 10 months already people, and the enemy loves to make me feel guilty about how I took note of every detail of Jaxon's life... and you better believe his baby book was updated monthly, sometimes daily.  Or how I would spend hours upon hours just staring at Jaxon as a newborn. Yeah, I might have been a little overboard, but you can see why it makes me feel bad that I can't do the same with Cohen. It's virtually impossible... I mean, how can it be?  I have a 2 year old to juggle as well.

Talking to my Mom the other day, she told me to simply make the most of the (few) times that Cohen and I do have together, alone.  This little guy wakes up at least an hour earlier than his big brother each afternoon, so that hour of time... it's ours.  I put everything else aside and play, nurse, hold, snuggle, and just watch him as he takes in the world around him.

The other day I snapped a few pictures of us.  He was fascinated with the fact that he could see himself on the screen... such a ham!

 

 

 

 

 

 haha, cracks me up when he tries to nurse OVER my shirt ;)

see ya mom... 

I love you, little guy. Being second born will never define where you stand in my heart.

Brothers.

Love these progression of pictures...

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~ Marc Brown

Vacation in pictures.

Last week I tagged along with my parents and Sister on a vacation to Wisconsin Dells, and a quick stop in the Minneapolis area on our way home.

wednesday

 I was glad to be escaping the Kansas heat for a few days...

 jaxon was on cloud-9 riding in grandpa's car...

 cohen was happy to just be sitting next to mommy in the back...

 nap buddies... what else do you do for 8 hours?

the boys did perfect on the trip there.  perfect!

thursday

 grandma nancy and michelle drove to the dells to spend a couple days with us as well!

 we spent the day racing down water slides and tanning by the pool...

 later that night we walked downtown...

and through the river walk.

 loved spending time with my parents this week...

 jaxon and i enjoying the "glock"... i think that's what it was called? 

my dad + anything German = a happy guy

friday

 my parents and grandma took jaxon on a train ride (ps: mom, i need those pictures!), so what's a girl to do? go to starbucks with her sister, of course!

 then to the outlet mall...

 my sweet boy sleeping with his new train... dreaming of trains, i'm sure!

 always great to see grandma nancy!

after jaxon's 30 minute nap, we hit the pool again...

... where jaxon decided to be a big boy and swim by himself! {of course, with a life jacket}

 later that night we enjoyed mexican food by the river...

as you can see, cohen thoroughly enjoyed it...

a bath followed this picture pretty quickly.

 and after the boys were in bed, we played some cards in the hallway.

saturday

we packed our bags and headed northwest to the amazing state of minnesota...

where i haven't been for about 10 years... sad face.

 just as we were starting to enjoy some scenery...

 we heard this really loud noise, which yep, was a tire that blew.

we waited for over an hour on the side of the road (hello heat + 2 kids), but once we finally made it to the tire shop and found diet coke in the fridge and a dog for jaxon to play with, we were all happy again.

 and of course, ecstatic to be back on the road!

we eventually made it to my cousins house, dolled up before the family reunion, and made our way to my aunt's house.

hugs for momma before bed!

sunday

 i decided to test out the "caribou vs starbucks" theory, and was proud to no longer be a caribou coffee virgin.  however, i have to stay loyal to starbucks and say that i do prefer their drinks, although caribou was good.

 off to breakfast to see some more family...

 cari, we love you <3

said our goodbyes, and hopped in the car for another hour west to the family reunion...

it was held at a family members house, who lives on the lake... gorgeous home, gorgeous location.

 jaxon was quick to meet a new extended cousin that was his age...

then... 

we got back in the car (do you see a pattern here?)

headed south to go home

stopped at kallie and shane's new house on the way

fed some cows

ate some casey's pizza

made it to columbia at 12:30am

slept on my parents couch

left early the next morning for home

drove really fast

couldn't wait to see my hubby

monday

traveling is fun, but nothing beats being back home. 

home sweet home.