Christmas Pictures 2015

As in the years past we continued our tradition of taking Christmas pictures with Dustin's family. This time though instead of having them taken in our home we traveled to Gettysburg and had them taken at a beautiful hotel run by a family friend. And another family friend took them for us.

We took group shots,

Wrapping Up 2015

If my end goal for 2015 was to break my record for longest time away from blog updating I think I've done it. My last entry was for the boy's 1st and 2nd birthday party in August. But in my defense it is almost as those birthdays changed our life. It seemed the boys woke up, looked me in the eyes and said "you think this last year was busy? You've seen nothing yet Mom!" And I've been doing my best to keep up with our busy, running, exploring, climbing, learning, jumping, adventurous toddler boys. You may think I've just used way too many adjectives but if you've met my boys, you know they are all accurate!

The Boy’s Birthday Jam Session

Everett and Reid’s birthdays are eight days apart and so, because it just made sense, we decided that their parties would be combined into one. And this year as the boy’s birthdays approached and I browsed through Pinterest for birthday party ideas I kept coming back to two things. One, the boys love, love music and two, the boys love the show “The Fresh Beat Band” about four friends who have a band. It’s very colorful and full of musical instruments and songs. So I decided to go with a Jam Session party theme basing it on the colorful show they love but personalizing it for Everett and Reid. This also worked out because it was easy to stick within our small budget since I was simply buying colorful paper ware, all very inexpensive at Walmart, and due to Dustin and the boy's love of music, had many musical things around the house. One of the best privileges of being a mom is when you have the opportunity to do really cool things for your kids and for me, birthday parties are near the top of that list. This party was a blast to plan, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun planning anything. Everett’s first birthday party last year was fun but planning something that I knew for sure my boys would love made it all the more enjoyable to put together.

Reid’s 1st Birthday Letter

Dear Reid,

I simply cannot believe that you are one today. How is it that it has been a year since your little body was growing inside of me and I thought you were never going to make your way into the world? Yet once your little mind was made up you most certainly did! And from the very moment you made your way into this big, wide world you have shown us your spunky, nobody is going to stop me personality. I don’t think I have ever met someone who is as determined as you are. From the time you noticed him, you have set your mind to keep up with your big brother and sat, crawled, pulled yourself up and walked way before we were ready for you too! And at one, you already have a vocabulary and have no problem letting those around you know what you want or when to “op” (stop).

Everett’s 2nd Birthday Letter

Dear Everett,

You are two! I am not sure how or when that happened yet here we are. This past year has been so much fun as you are learning and growing so much and we are learning more and more about you. You are our cautious one who hesitates and assess each new thing, sometimes you need your dad or I and a little push, but as long as we are by your side you are normally up for giving something a go. And after you realize you can do it, with a focused mindset you try on your own and the triumph on your face as you realize you did it is such a delight to see! You can do anything you put your mind to Everett and I hope as you grow your dad and I can help you see and believe it for I know you will do great things!

Approaching the Toddler Years

A year ago I was weeks away from celebrating my firstborn’s first birthday and welcoming my second child into the world. And though I was very done with being pregnant and was ready to meet my second little man I was also unsure if I was ready to step into the world of two under two. Somehow, now a year later, I can say I survived that crazy and sleepless first year. I made it through, even doing it on my own at times when Dustin had to travel for work. I’m not sure how that happened, only that if I did not have such a large support system I would not still be alive today. Just kidding, I would be of course, I firmly believe that one of the gifts God gave women was the ability to “just do it”. In circumstances that seem near impossible or are just plain hard, somehow we manage to just do what needs to be done. Now, that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of meltdowns. I’ve called trusted friends in tears, I’ve withdrawn from the world when I felt overwhelmed, I’ve had ridiculous arguments with my husband simply because I was too tired to be reasonable and I’ve even wondered why I decided to have children. Yes, I’ve been there, done that.

Well Hello Paradise

It’s no secret that Dustin travels and he has traveled to and experienced many unique places. His most recent trip was to Hawaii but this time, thanks to accumulated airline miles, I was able to go too! The boys stayed with both sets of Grandparents to be indulged and spoiled and thanks to this they didn’t seem to miss us too much. In fact I’m pretty sure we missed them much more than they missed us! Dustin was scheduled to be there for two weeks and I flew out to join him making a total of ten days for us to enjoy the island. There are ton of pictures in those post, none of which I have edited, but even if I did they still don’t do the place justice!

InstaPost: Lake Tobias

Dustin was recently able to take a week off work and while we didn’t do too much one fun thing we did do was visit Lake Tobias. Lake Tobias is a wildlife park that is home to all sorts of animals some of which are “wild” on a large piece of land. These animals are visited by riding a safari tour which is very cool because they come right up to the open air bus.

Our animal adventure started with the safari tour.

InstaPost: Summertime Fun

Our Summer has picked up and we’ve been keeping busy with all the fun Summertime brings. Here are a few highlights.

Our church had a family cook-out in June and the kiddos were very into the water balloons. Though they were too little to really enjoy the full benefits of them they did enjoy doing their best to try and pick them up.

Special Moments

There are moments that occur on a regular basis in our home that are sweet, amusing or somewhat exasperating but are never the less moments I know we will look back on in fondness. Some with a chuckle and a shake of our head and some with a smile as the memory warms our hearts. And then there are moments that happen once and may or may not happen again but when they do they cause us to stop, smile and reach for anything that will help us freeze that time so we never forget it.

Some of these special and regular moments are:

Snuggling up on the couch and watching movies with Dad.

Cherry Pickin’

He looked as though he had gotten into a toddler brawl but the real truth was he had gone cherry picking. My grandparents were in town for the weekend and one of their favorite things to do is to go strawberry picking. Unfortunately the strawberries were done for the season, at least in our local area, and so cherry picking it was.

Outdoor Treasures

Summer has officially arrived bringing with it the heat, humidity and longer days. And every summer signs pop up in our neighborhood announcing the annual yard sale and anyone who wishes to participate sorts through unused, outgrown and no longer wanted items for yard sale enthusiasts seeking new treasures. The first two years we lived here Dustin and I skipped out on participating or shopping but this year I decided to venture out in search of yard toys for the boys. And I found some; for $10 dollars I scored a little tikes mini playground set.

Insta Post: Hershey Happy & Drum Concerts

One thing I look forward to every month is when Dustin and I are able to pass the kiddos off to grandparents and spend some quality one on one time together. Life’s current circumstances cause us to sometimes lose sight of how much we really do enjoy being together and it’s nice to slow down and have fun together again. Not that we don’t with the boys but it’s a different type of fun that for obvious reasons often takes precedence. Date nights are my favorite but even better than a date night is when grandparents willingly take the boys overnight and we are able to get a date night and a date day.

A Few of Our Favorite Things

“Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt into spring, these are a few of my favorite things” is a song Julie Andrews once sang in one of my favorite movies, “Sound of Music”. And in the Kramer home we have a few favorite things as well though they aren’t girls in white dresses, not yet anyway, these are a few of our favorite things currently.

Reid Harrison's 9 Month Pictures

On May 26th Reid Man turned nine months. We didn't take any "official" nine month photos but the other day I grabbed the camera and took a few shots. Except for this one, one of the best, which was taken by Dustin.

Ohio & Italy

The work travels for Dustin are still in motion, each month or so the trip slowly creeping up, arriving, requiring Dustin to pack, a trip to the airport to drop him off and phone calls and texts while he is away all while counting down the days until he is home. They said the trips would get easier and while we did not believe them in the beginning, now we have acknowledged this statement as truth. We are three months shy of the first anniversary of the very first work trip and we are starting to feel like old pros. One of the more recent trips though was hard for me. Not just because I missed him, not just because it was an overseas trip which means talking to him is more difficult due to time differences and being careful of crazy phone charges but because the green eyed monster came to stay while Dustin was gone. Because this trip was to Rome, Italy and boy, did that green eyed monster move in and make itself right at home! Never before did being a stay-at-home mom seem so insignificant, challenging and to be quite frank, boring. I know, I'm sounding selfish and very unsupportive of my husband but I'm being real here. When you're married you're supposed to be happy when they are happy, excited when they are excited even if it's only for one person but that is easier said than done, especially when you expect that marriage means you experience new things together not apart. But we got through it and Dustin had an awesome time and was able to see some very cool and historical things!

Thankfully, the first half of Dustin's trip my in-laws kept me busy. A trip to City Island, and another trip to Ohio to see my father-in-law's extended family kept the boys preoccupied and busy.

Little Man Reid

Reid Man is nine months old now, an almost one year old. Say what?! I still so clearly remember the day I found out when I was pregnant with him. It's so hard to believe that he has been here for almost a year already.

Little Man Everett

As before stated Everett is twenty-one months. My firstborn is almost two and no longer a baby but a toddler making his way to becoming a little boy. He is getting so big and the baby look is just gone. I'm not ready for this! As overwhelming as the baby stage is, watching your babies grow is just a reminder that there will be a day when your arms are too short to hold them. Nothing makes me more aware of this than when he gets a haircut. Once all his curls are gone all I see is the face of my baby growing older.

A "Helpful" Lie

There are times in life when, regardless of their faith, people tell lies. Nothing too major but a small, white lie that they believe will help another person get through a hard time. When we found out we were expecting Reid and wondering how we were going to manage many told us that the first year was the hardest and it would get easier once it was over. But as we near the end of this proverbial first rough year we are realizing we bought into one of those seemingly harmless white lies. Because the real work is just beginning.

A Red Blessing & Baby Discoveries

We said goodbye to our old BMW this week. We’ve had this vehicle for six years and I can remember standing in the driveway of my in-law’s neighbor’s house looking it over. Dustin and I had only been married a month and while Dustin had a vehicle, I was in need of one. I had quite a bit of money saved up from a job I had had since I was fifteen years old and we knew we had enough to pay cash if the price was right. And though we were very interested in this white ‘97 BMW it was a little more than what we were looking to spend. Long story short, the amount Dustin and I decided was the max we could afford was the exact amount the neighbor dropped the price down to. Considering it was $1,500 below the asking price we were shocked and very excited. I’m a little sentimental about these things but that is because it is a reminder of where Dustin and I were when we first started our life together. The BMW and the story that comes along with it is a just another testimony of how God orchestrated every thing for us. We knew that we wanted to spend our lives together but the doors that opened for both of our jobs and the vehicles we drove, among other things, proved that God was on our side, helping and blessing us as we started our journey together. We now live in another home, Dustin works another job, even I have another occupation, and now we have another vehicle and every single thing mentioned is just another added item to our testimony list of God’s many blessings in our lives. We haven’t always been faithful to Him but He has always, always been so incredibly faithful and good to us. In the material blessings yes, but also in the many spiritual and emotional blessings as well. God is so very good.