I have compiled a list of the worst songs of all time. (Ok, well…some of them aren’t THAT bad, they just go around and around AND NEVER LEAVE YOUR FREAKING BRAIN ONCE THEY ARE HEARD.)

This list was really quite easy to compile.

Do you know why that is?

BECAUSE JONATHAN STARTED PLAYING THEM ON HIS LAPTOP.

AT MIDNIGHT.

RIGHT AS I WAS ATTEMPTING TO GO TO SLEEP AFTER A 19-HOUR WORK DAY.

It started with this earworm that took me most of the 90′s to eliminate from my head:

And the situation quickly deteriorated to this:

Then there was this little bit of AWESOME. (Um. This thing loops for TEN HOURS. My favorite comment? “I watched for an hour and a half. And then I stabbed my sister.” (Pretty accurate. Although, I would REALLY like some of whatever this guy was smoking during filming.)

And this was just…cruel. IT’S LIKE HE WANTS DIVORCE, PEOPLE.

 

I may never be able to sleep again.

I know I’ve tortured you by sharing my pain.

As a thank you, let me give you this to make up for it.

;)

Butterlump is getting so big.

I don’t know where the time has gone.

He was THIS just yesterday, I swear!

He’s getting so much more independent.

He is a freaking tornado of movement and speaking and singing and mimicking and getting into everything all wrapped up in a 2.5-yr-old.

I love it.

No, that is a lie.

Much of the time I totally hate it.

It makes me weep and wail and gnash my teeth.

(Well, everything except that “getting into everything part”.)

Aaron is almost surely my last baby. I have been soaking in every single second of his baby and toddler years.

A huge part of me wishes that I could keep him small forever.

I have always been almost fanatically in love with my babies. It is hands down my favorite stage. While I rejoice at their healthy and normal growth patterns, I also mourn every single time they grow out of their clothing and make a new milestone. (OMG! HE HAS OUTGROWN THE STRIPEY FEET PAJAMAS! HE CANNOT OUTGROW THE STRIPEY FEET PAJAMAS! NO!!!! WAIT, WHAT IS THAT THAT YOU SAY, OH INTERNETS?! YOU CAN CUT THE FEET OFF OF THE STRIPEY FEET PAJAMAS AND PUT THEM ON BACKWARDS SO THAT HE STOPS REMOVING HIS PAJAMAS AND TAKING OFF HIS MESSY DIAPERS IN THE NIGHT SO LORALEE DOESN’T WALK INTO THE FREAKING EXCREMENT APOCOLYPSE EVERY FREAKING MORNING OF HER LIFE????!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And that is just what we did. (It totally works, too. Best pre-potty training toddler tip in the freaking world, that. AND HE CAN STAY IN HIS WEE OUTFIT THAT MUCH LONGER!!! WIN!)

Isn’t he cute?

I am a total piece of mush when it comes to him. Where I had little problem towing the line with my other children and got very frustrated with their toddler antics, for the most part, I just think Aaron and everything he does is adorable. (Ok, there was the time that he dumped a 5-lb. bag of flour and a gallon of milk on my sofa and floor. I didn’t think that was so adorable. Neither did Jonathan. He picked up the entire sofa and threw it outside. Put that SQUARELY into the “getting into everything” category.)

I can’t bring myself to say no to the kid. Well, I DO say no, but not as much as I have with my other kids.

And I don’t push independence with him like my older children.

I’m finding myself avoiding things that I know he ‘should’ be doing.

Big-boy, NON-BABY things, namely.

Which brings me to the current issue we are facing.

I still give him a bottle in the morning and at night during snuggle time. (You can see the evidence in the photo I took 5 minutes ago with my phone. You can also see evidence that Butterlump has taken to getting up and playing with his toys at night. We clean his room every night and every morning. You can see WHY. The thing with the blanket is something he’s done as long as I can remember. When he was a baby he would burrow down in his blankets and start snoring. It was like having a Tribble laying next to me.)

So, yup. I still give my 2.5-year-old a bottle.

I know.

I KNOW.

But dammit.

This is my last baby.

And it involves some of my favorite and most precious moments.

Like snuggle time.

I LOVE snuggling this kid.

He was the sweetest little baby, but not overly snuggly. Those moments that he WOULD lean into me I treasured but they were rare. In fact, the times that he was snuggly was usually when he was munching on a bottle. I could (and did) watch him for hours like that. REMEMBER THIS 15-SECONDS OF ADORABLE?

Butterlump totally knows how to work me.

When I go to put him to bed (which we call “Soft Blankie Time” in our household) he looks at me with those big, blue eyes and says, “NO soft blankie…I snuggle with you, mama!”

I KNOW it is a total manipulation and bed and nap time avoider AND YET I CARE NOT. BECAUSE *SQUEE*!!!!! WIDDLE BUDDERWUMP IS SNUGGELING WID HIS WIDDLE MAMA!!!!

I am totally a sucker.

(Darn kid can work the system almost every time.)

And when we are all snuggled in together he turns to me and says, “Boddle! Go get, mama!”

And I always comply.

I KNOW he can’t stay that way forever but when we are cuddled up and he is with his bottle, it reminds me of times when he was a little baby wrapped up in my arms.

AND I CANNOT THINK ABOUT TAKING HIS FREAKING BOTTLE AWAY YET.

I can’t do it.

Can’t.

C-A-N-T.

(Ok, maybe W-O-N-T is a better word to use, BUT STILL! It’s in the “THINGS LORALEE WILL NOT BE DOING AT THE MOMENT FOR WHATEVER REASON” category.)

I am currently in the “Justify At All Costs” mode.

I tell myself lots and lots of things to make me feel better about it.  Like, “I give him a sippy cup during the day! It’s not like he’s ONLY using a bottle!!!” and “Isn’t it better not to overly push your kids to excel at too young an age?! I am SURE there are studies out there!” and “HEY, YOU JUDGEY-JUDGEY-MCJUDGERPANTS! I AM PRETTY EFFING SURE THAT EINSTIEN AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND MOST LIKELY PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN USED A BOTTLE DURING SNUGGLE TIME WITH THEIR MAMAMAS SO YOU CAN ALL JUST FREAKING BITE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(Hmmm….that last one might have been more in the “Angry And Hotly Defensive” vs. “Justify At All Costs” category. I’ll have to check and get back to you on that one.)

But still, there is SOME truth to all my goings on.

I mean, it’s not like he’s going to go hit the hay in college with a bottle, right?

(At least that is what I like to tell myself.)

At then end of the day, I know he can’t be a baby forever.

Much as I wish it were so on some days.

I know this is something that I am going to have to put a deadline on and face.

Eventually.

I’ll let you know when that time comes.

Because, damn.

I think I am really going to need a hug when it does.

Remember how there was a house that I loved a whole, whole lot?

That I wanted to buy and live in more than anything?

Yeah, that one.

After 2 weeks and SIX rounds of intense negotiations…

The offer has been accepted, signed, sealed and delivered.

Given our huge disappointment this summer when the house we were purchasing fell through right at the end, I can’t quite stand up and cheer. While everyone involved has assured us that this time everything is clear sailing, I still don’t feel totally secure and comfortable with it all yet.

I probably won’t until the keys are in my hand.

But…

I DO feel comfortable and secure enough now that the negotiations process is done to show you some photos of the cute-as-a-button house I am (hopefully) going to be waking up in by next month.

Here she is:

Cute, no?

(Sorry for the size and quality of some of these. This is the listing photo, since it was rainy the day I had my camera with me and I thought I would be going back to get better shots, but like many things, that didn’t happen. )

It doesn’t have any yard or landscaping since it is a new build, but we’ll have all winter long to figure that out. The good thing is that all along the back yard there are huge mature trees, so that adds enormously. (And a new lot with huge trees on it in Utah is so flipping rare, people. Utah has few native trees, and those were mainly in the mountains. The pioneers and occupants on brought in and planted most of the foliage in this state.)

When you walk in the front door, you see straight through to the huge windows of the great room to this view:

I just wish you could see the huge pastures behind the trees better. They are full of haystacks and serene looking cows. And more trees. :) And since it is protected land my view will never change.  WOOT!

The great room is light and airy and full of windows.

(This is the view if you are standing in my kitchen. You can see a quarter bath on the right, which leads to the hallway going to the front door.)

And now for my favorite room in the house: The kitchen:

I love it.

It’s big and the dining area is big. We are extending another row of tiles and then putting in dark hardwood in the great room and hallway to match the island. It is so pretty.

We are putting in stainless appliances. Well, it’s not actually stainless. It’s called Clean Steel by GE. We could have picked stainless but I was sold on it when I went to their headquarters this summer. It’s the same look but SO much less upkeep than true stainless.

I LOVE MY FRIDGE: (Sorry for the varying sizes of these photos. Some were snagged online. This is as big as it gets, folks.)

And I am beyond excited for granite countertops!

By the fridge is a big pantry:

And next to that, coming in from the garage is a great mudroom. I love the bench and shelving.

Backing up a bit now. This is the entry:

On the left is a “bill pay nook” (A small office with two built in desks. One right below the window and one on the facing wall. They are in now and and same color as the banister.), The stairs going to the second level where all the bedrooms, a bath and the laundry room are.

See that window above the garage in the photo of the exterior?

Guess whose bedroom THAT is going to belong to?

It’s totally perfect for him. He LOVED watching out of windows and his favorite thing in his current bedroom is to peek his little head out of the window when someone is pulling into the driveway. I love the wainscoting on the walls and how bright everything is. And the closet and built ins will be perfect for his little things.`

The boys love their rooms and their cute bathroom: (There are tons of pegs and hooks and bead board and closet space.

The storage in this house ROCKS. My linen closet IS HUGE. And I have an ACTUAL LAUNDRY ROOM. Not a hallway. Not a closet. A ROOM. WITH A SINK.

I love my bedroom.

It’s the perfect size.

We have the same huge window and view as the great room downstairs.

I ADORE my closet. I dig the built ins.

And after 10-years with tons of people and one bathroom, I love my master bath so much I could marry it. There are more built ins (even the wall opposite the toilet has a floor to ceiling built in that mimics the one by our huge vanity.) And a large tub that will fit my big husband and a separate shower. (I am not sure how I will adjust to a glass shower enclose and door but we’ll see.)

There is a basement that is unfinished. We’re going to throw our current couches, a big piece of cheap carpet, the Wii, Rockband and a TV and let the kids have it as their hang out until we decide to do something with it. (And it has a HUGE cold storage room down there too. Woot for storage!)

All said it comes in a whisker shy of 3,000 sq ft.

So there ya go.

It’s not the grandest, biggest, flashiest house but I love every inch of it.

It’s home.

:)

Don’t forget to enter into my birthday giveaway! I’m giving away $600 to spend at Amazon, iTunes, American Express, Target and Mcdonald’s. (Plus a really, really pretty book!) Giveaway closes Friday, so enter here!