2000

So for the non-medical professionals in our lives 2000 signifies 8 pm. In the Byrge household this signifies the most magical time of the day, CUDDLE TIME! Our day is always full of mundane activities...making breakfast, lunch, dinner and a litany of snacks throughout the day. Running errands, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn. There are bills payed and laundry done when the boys nap. Trips to the gym and miles are run...etc. etc. etc. All the things anyone who is reading this has, is, or will experience. So needless to say, by 2000 Josh and I are both exhausted. I recently was on the receiving end of some of the greatest advice I have ever been given by a very insightful friend (you know who you are ;) ). She explained to me what a gem is. We are not talking about the diamond in your engagement ring or the amethyst on your necklace or the pearl in your ear, people....we are talking about a Genuine Encounter Moment, or GEM for short. These are the little miracles in your day, the moments that take your breath away, the moments when you can see what really NEEDS your time, focus, and energy versus what WANTS your energy. This is all still new to me, but it is radically changing the way I raise my boys and how I navigate through my day. Gems are things like putting a dishrag down the very moment your baby tugs at your saddlebag and asks you to dance silly in the kitchen just because. A gem is letting several loads of laundry pile up so that you can take your babies to the pool...again...because you know it is purely joyful to them (even if it is 98 degrees and 80% humidity to get to the pool, travel to and from the pool, and clean up from going to the pool). Gems are hearing your 2 year old say to you completely unprovoked for the first time "momma, I love you to the moon and back". Henri is going to be 4, really in a few short weeks, and for the first time, I am truly learning to prioritize my kids when they have one-on-one time with me. It can be shameful to admit this or it can be liberating...today I CHOOSE liberating. I am learning to say to myself "Self, any single person that I know that may walk through my door right this second as I type this blog could give two shits about the fact that I should be exercising instead of blogging. They could care less that I have yet to clean the kitchen from dinner, I have 3 loads of laundry that need to be taken care of, I have a bathroom that is 5 days removed from a sponge and bathroom cleaner, and I have paperwork that needs to be filed. What any one of those people cares about is that I am happy as a wife, momma, and friend." Sounds like a super ridiculous pep talk, but I need it every.single.day. These gems are helping me on a daily basis refocus my energy. The only person that has expectations of me that are unrealistic is me...so I have to let it all hang out. I have to be all-in in this one life that I have to be momma and wife. In the words of Robert Plant, "I have been dazed and confused for so long it's not true". These unrealistic expectations have had me in a haze...it's time to clear the fog and move on. So what about that magical time. When 7pm roles around it is time for bath, vitamins, zyrtec, and story time...but when 2000 roles around, that is when the magic happens. That is when the Earth quits spinning, the wind stops blowing, the phone doesn't ring or otherwise signal the need for something else, and I have the GEM of my day....I rock two of the most beautiful babies God ever created and give them the sense of love and security they need and deserve. So whether it's with your kids, your nieces or nephew, your spouse or your friend...find a way to make a GEM and daily part of your life...it's revolutionary. xoxo Mel Two candid shots of our sweet little nuggets and a shot of sunset facing west up our street!

Long time lost..

It has been over a year since I updated this blog...and it' sad. I have recently stolen some inspiration from a dear friend (BFO) and I realize how much I need this blog. I need it as a creative outlet (despite not having a creative cell in my body). I need it so my family can have frequent updates on our boys. I need it simply as a few minutes a week to escape. Although some of this blog will be mundane and seem like the official recording of our life, it i s a life that I believe is extra-ordinary. So feel free to stick with us on the blog or not! Regardless, it will be an exercise in therapy for this busy momma of two beautiful babies. Since the last post both of the boys have had another birthday as have Josh and I. Graham began walking and graduated from physical therapy. Josh and I have crossed several items off our bucket list. We bought our dream house in Wildwood, became landlords (not a bucket list item!) ran a half marathon, became an aunt and uncle again, had the boys dedicated at church, and generally had a ton of growth as a family! This summer is in full force here and we are loving all the time outside. The boys went "camping" for the first time two weeks ago in the backyard. We are ready to make outdoorsmen of our little boys!! They loved it and Josh and I are confident they will love the trails. Today marked another fun fun activity. The boys got a season pass to our local pool and they were in love!!!! I suspect this momma will be spending a lot of time there (in shorts and a t shirt!) this summer. The boys also went fishing for the first time this past weekend and they are looking forward to getting all tuxed up for their Aunt Natalie's wedding in August. The next post will most certainly contain pictures with a better update. Live Mighty, Mel

Easter, Moving & A Whole Lot More

From Josh & Mel on Date Night -

First, we'll explain date night. We've realized that only taking time for us every few months doesn't work, so whether we go out or stay in, date night now comes once a week. This week, we are looking at family pictures and sharing our awesome month with you.

That month has been full of action. We are rapidly approaching our move to "Yuppieville",we have entertained a few out-of-town guests and celebrated Easter with local friends. Here are the highlights:

Dad and Lad came in for a 4-day Halloween convention (yes a Halloween convention) - apparently the largest in the US. They both really spend the whole year waiting for this "holiday" and this convention was equivalent to two kids in a candy store. They were able to get some quality time with the kids however, and they were very sleepy as you can see.







Josh's Mom made a turn-around trip just for fun.



Took the kids to the zoo and they saw the baby elephant with Mamaw Joanie.


Hannah Kate turned 1 - Happy Birthday! We were lucky enough to help a dear friend celebrate her first birthday. The Broges have been our St. Louis family since we moved here and we are so blessed and thankful to have them. Both of our families have done some crazy growing in the past 6 years, but they remain so good to us...check out the play date pictures as well!



Easter-egg hunt with the Broges (It's hard to get a family photo these days!)



Easter lunch & another Easter-egg hunt (who can have too many?) If you thought a family photo was tough, try getting six beautiful active babies in one!!! What a bunch of cuties!



General photos of the boys - Enjoy!



Graham recently got his AFO braces to help him learn to walk and he is using them to really stand a lot more. He and Henri always enjoy looking out the back door to search for our neighbors cats.



Can't get over that babies beautiful eyes....Henri also really enjoys reading to Graham any chance he gets.



That beautiful baby is so candid...he looks more like his Daddy everyday.



It's funny how Graham is starting to get around, and we are finding ourselves taking the same pictures of him as we did with Henri...in cabinets, on the dishwasher..etc.

Good friend becomes family

I could fill this page with a lot of words...kind words, thankful ones, humble ones...but it would take weeks to get them right. Josh and I are blessed with many great friends that help us whenever we need. We are so thankful for each and every one of them (you know who you are).

Having said that...every now and then..a friend crosses the line into the family. Tricia...we love you and are thankful for you every day. My boys love you and will understand someday how lucky they are that you are in their life...God bless your heart and caring spirit with our family.

Is it so?

Wow....

Have we not posted since the beginning of November?.....fail! There is so much to catch up on. Let's see...in November, Graham and I turned another year older and we were able to spend Thanksgiving with our family in Cincinnati! Christmas was ushered in quickly and I suppose that is about the time the blog really got away from us. The boys are keeping us soooo busy. January was very busy with work, therapy sessions for Graham, and playdates for the babies. In February we began the search for a new home and listed ours for the second time in as many years. We really feel like now is the time for us to move. That has been an exhausting job to say the least.....but yesterday we signed papers on what we hope pans out to be our dream home...pictures to come soon. I became a godmother to the beautiful Addison Riese at the beginning of the month and it was one of the greatest days of my life..it was sweet really. I took a trip to Keystone Colorado to present some work that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of, and as always, the kids made it interesting while I was there. I could ramble for hours about all the juicy details from the last four months...but it would bore you, and infinitely worse, waste your time....so I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

p.s. You will notice no pictures from Thanksgiving or Christmas. Thanks to our little guy Graham, our old camera was dunked in a vodka/tonic on Thanksgiving thus ruining the camera and requiring a new purchase.




Baby Addi and Aunt Mel (that's a real smile on my face!) Cutie baby on her baptism day.





That innocent face....one of my favorite shots from the new camera...we were thankful to have some really mild winter days and get in the yard to play!



Graham's smile here caught me off guard, he was chasing Henri under the slide!



It's so fun to see the boys finally begin to play together and entertain one another...even in the tub.



Drumrollllll ladies and gentleman. Graham has been working so hard with his therapist and here are some of the first fruits of his labor. He is really getting good at getting on all fours these days and beginning to crawl a bit. He still prefers to scoot...Henri has began calling him "scooter", but he is doing great. In other news Graham was fitted for his AFO orthotic braces and those should really help with getting him on his feet and a few steps closer to walking!!



I normally never put pictures of just me in the blog...but going to conference is by far one of my biggest professional accomplishments and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity. How about that view?!



Stay tuned...the next blog post promises to be much sooner.

Fall Fun

Whew...October went by in a hurry here at the Byrge house. We were very busy squeezing every ounce of daylight and warm weather out in play dates and outside play. We kicked the month off by celebrating our buddy George's 4th, yes 4th...eeek birthday. He wanted a scary theme so Henri and he did Halloween crafts. Henri and Graham both really enjoyed George's toy selection. They really had a great time!



Craft time for the boys!

Graham has hit some major milestones this past month! He has mastered the cheerio and contrary to our history, this boy is now eating anything we place in front of him. He is getting much better at using his signs and for sure signs when he is finished. He is beginning to babble a little bit more and has discovered that he really enjoys and everything his big brother is doing! He turned eleven months old this past month....and he is for sure gearing up for his first birthday.





I participated in a 20 mile bike ride (yes I survived) this past month to raise awareness for bike safety. The Project Jennifer had their inaugural event and I had a blast. The weather was picture perfect and I was able to join some of my co-workers for the ride. We rode in memory of our co-worker Dr. Jennifer Cole and I am already excited about the idea of doing this annually.



My friend and boss Mary and I at the bike ride.

We had some great family time this past month and took advantage of the unusually warm weather by getting the kids to as many parks as possible. Henri is really beginning to engage Graham in his play and it is really neat to watch. Graham is all to eager to join him!





We had a wonderful visit from Aunt Andrea and were able to have many outings with her while she was here. She went to the pumpkin farm with us, we went to Boo at the Zoo (save your money, not that impressive :( ) and Grant's farm. The boys can't get enough of the one on one attention they get while she is here and we are looking forward to seeing her later this month at Graham's first birthday party.















My bestie Andrea and her nephews....she loves those boys spoiled rotten.


Henri is really taking an interest in cooking with his Dad. He loves putting on his apron (thanks Aunt Mary Jane's mommy) and helping any way he can. This past month he baked his first batch of brownies with Dad, and much to my chagrin, Dad indeed let him lick the spoon...salmonella anyone?





Ewwww....he loved it.

We took two different trips to the pumpkin farms this year. Henri could have cared less about a single pumpkin, but that kid sure did have a thing for the tractors. He wanted to ride them back and forth the entire time we were at the farms. This year we tried Rombach's, but we are still partial to Eckert's in Belleville. The boys loved carving their first pumpkin together and Josh did a great job on design and engaging both the boys in the big project. Graham certainly enjoyed eating more of the pumpkin that carving, but a great time was had by all.















By the way..this is what Graham thought of Boo at the Zoo this year.



We were able to do trick or treating for the first time and we joined our great friends the Broge's. So it was to be that the three little pigs went trick or treating with the zoo keeper and the tiger. By the end Henri had picked up on what the girls were trying to teach him and he had many reservations about leaving the trick or treating scene to head home. We suspect next year will be a big hit for both of the boys.



Our cutie zoo keeper and tiger.

We ended the month very exhausted but no time for the weary. We are gearing up for Graham's big first birthday bash in Cincinnati and going home at the end of the month to see family for Thanksgiving. We have been busy checking out our new church and are excited about the possibility of getting involved and meeting lots of new friends.

So until next month....stay warm and healthy (bug season is upon us) and Happy Thanksgiving season to everyone!

The end of a great summer

Although this summer had it's fair share of really difficult moments.....it was filled with a lot of fun. We closed it out with busy days as usual. In really huge news....Graham has mastered sitting up this past month. Hard or soft surface..no matter. He is loving the new view and really stretching his horizons.




Papa and Gigi came for a long weekend and we all went to the transportation museum. Henri could not get enough of the trains, and Graham really seemed to enjoy the rides too. There were some pretty interesting cars there..and it never hurts that we got a sweet deal through groupon.





Josh and my dad spent the majority of the weekend working on a huge train table for the boys. They built and painted it and then Josh nailed the track together. I can tell that this little table (that is not so little AT ALL) is going to be a lifesaver this winter. Henri can not get enough it and I'm sure Graham will enjoy getting his hands on it too.




Despite my rigorous objections, Henri had his first run in with a garter snake. Josh let him touch it and give it some water. At first he was fairly hesitant, but within a few minutes he was all about it and asking lots of questions. Let's hope neither of the boys bring one of those into the house to me some day.


Henri had another really big febrile illness that took him out of play commission. There is something cute about a sick baby that crashes on a couch mid day despite the fact that they feel so terrible. He then proceeded to pass it on to all three of us.



Graham continued the family tradition started with Henri and got his tubes put in on the 16th. If you recall....he wore the same pj's for the surgery that Henri did. Henri was 8 months older than Graham when he got his tubes. Again, a cute baby in a not so cool situation.




Graham has been working very hard at therapy and with a whole lot of work has finally sorta gotten the hang of eating dissolveable solids like cheerios. He loves working with them and seems so intrigued. He turned 10 months old :( already. He seems to really be entertained more and more by Henri's silly antics and is really trying hard to "talk" back to Henri when he engages Graham.





We are gearing up for Halloween festivities here and a big visit from Aunt Andrea and Jen. Hoping this finds everyone enjoying the fall weather and some great football!!!