Friendship and Imagination

I'm in a slight state of denial that my baby is about to turn 2, but I must confess that every day I'm amazed to see how much he's learning and growing....becoming a little boy right before my eyes...I am so incredibly grateful that it's my eyes that get to see the daily transformation.

He is so sweet and affectionate~ always initiating hugs, dancing, and hand-holding with his friends....

Walking the DC streets with Marilyn

And here is a sneak peak at what our days look like. He loves to "fix" things like Daddy....

And shop like Mommy....

We love you Judah-bean!

Party...in the name love.

Happy belated "Love Day" from the Nix family! It's been a busy but fun week here, complete with a "party" to celebrate V-day. Judah and his two leading ladies decided it would be fun to spend the afternoon making cookies and cards for their daddies. Okay, maybe the mommies contributed to some of the planning but the kiddos were definitely the life of the party! They had lots of yummy snacks, listened to some cool stories about love, explored their creative sides while making cards, and destroyed the kitchen! It was difficult to capture photos amidst all the craziness but I was able to get a few...

Pre-party....table full of goodies!

Let's get this party started people!

Finally....happy with his snack

Time to make cookies! They had so much fun but there were not many cookies left after all of the dough-tasting...don't worry, the mix is free of raw egg. This video is priceless...and yes, I did combine the words pandemonium and delirium~because that's what it was :-)

A series of attempts to capture smiles from all three...and yes, Judah's shirt appropriately says "The Ladies Love Me."

Oh well. 

An hour later, Judah is still trying to taste the dough.

A hug for his Valentine :-) 

At the end of the day, my home was a mess but my heart was full of love. Hope yours was the same, without the mess of course. Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

"Happy Day"

When you've been married almost 10 years, you learn to ask your beloved about their birthday expectations...especially when their birthday falls during the middle of the week. For his birthday this year, Jeff requested a nice evening "birthday party" at home with the three of us....no sitter, no fancy dinner at a restaurant, no extravagant vacation (that actually never happens)....just us in our (very) cozy condo. He also requested pizza and a cake (like I was not going to get him a cake).

This year, it was fun to have Judah's "help." Together, we picked out birthday cards, birthday balloons (he chose an Elmo balloon in the shape of a heart for Daddy), and decorated our place with balloons and other fun things. I think Judah is starting to "get" (and really enjoy) birthdays. Between two of his friends' birthdays in January and his Daddy's birthday this week, he's starting to learn to say "Happy Birthday" to others (well, it sounds more like a muddled "Happy Day"). He sometimes even says it to people who are not having birthdays...hey, maybe he's just wishing them a happy day :-)

Here are some highlights of our very own happy day this week. Judah and I are both so happy for Jeff's birth and his life. I'm honored to be his wife and love that I share the gift of parenting Judah with this man. Here's to many more, honey!

The birthday boy!

Birthday pizza! Notice how Judah did not wait for Jeff to blow out the candles.

Make a wish!

Judah had to make a wish, too!

After bath, Judah had fun playing with two of his favorite things...balloons and Daddy's umbrella ("breya"). 

Then someone got very sleepy...but he's still staying dry ;-)

Happiness all around! We love birthdays!!!!!!!!!!

Co-opping

Pretty sure that's not a word but it's alive and well in our home and in our neighborhood. It's the term I've claimed to describe the amazing friendship and lil' community that has formed in just six short months between our family and two other families in our neighborhood. Meet Natalia and Tara (and me, with the weird half-smile ;/).

Women with successful careers of production manager, teacher, and psychologist~ temporarily put on hold to stay-at-home and raise these lil munchkins....

"Why are you stopping us from play at our Christmas party?!"

I met Natalia and Tara (and their precious girls Sasha and Marilyn) at our neighborhood playground shortly after moving to DC last summer. After realizing we lived very near one another, we formed a fast friendship. That sort of happens here when you meet other stay-at-home moms in this city. We are few and far between because of the Nanny culture here so we (the mamas) tend to stick together. Anyways, we began setting up playdates and meeting each other at local activities during the week (story time, yoga class, etc.). Our children quickly became friends and we can hardly go anywhere now without Judah asking if Sasha and "Mar-Mar" will be there. They squeal with excitement when they see each other and there are plenty of hugs and kisses to go around when we say our good-byes. The three musketeers. 3 amigos. The triple-threat :-) Best friends. It has really been the sweetest thing seeing the three of them bond.

Two topics of conversation that seemed to frequently arise among the mamas were how we longed for "breaks"~both refreshing breaks (i.e., date nights with our hubbies) as well as working breaks, if  you will....time to clean, grocery shop, plan for the week, and simply finishing a project that's been on a to-do list for months. A second theme surrounding this idea was how expensive it is to live in the city~including the cost of child care. So.....under the leadership of Tara, we all put our heads together to come up with a plan to make the "breaks" happen... for FREE :-) I'm happy to report that several months later, we have a successful little "co-op" under way. Three Saturday nights every month, one of us "sits" for the other while we get that much needed time with our husband out of the house. It's pretty fantastic because 2 Saturday nights out of the month, I'm either reading my Kindle on my friend's couch while their child quietly sleeps or I'm out on the town with my hubby.This was so successful that we decided to try something similar during the daytime on weekdays. So three afternoons per week, we have a similar rotation. Two moms watch all three kiddos while one mom gets the afternoon to do as she pleases. Again, it's fantastic because three afternoons during the week you'll either find me hanging out with a friend playing with three adorable toddlers or knocking things off my to-do list while my own toddler is in good care :-)

I am so incredibly grateful for this resource, this time, but most importantly~these friendships. Truly a blessing. I share this with you in case our story can inspire other hard-working stay-at-home mamas who may be reading to engage in the same type of "co-operative." I promise, it will not disappoint.