From 2 to 3...

Um, diaper sizes, that is.  Not children, or number of part time jobs I work in addition to being a stay at home mom, or anything crazy like that.

Sorry if I scared you/got your hopes up.

But seriously, the difference between size 2 and size 3 diapers is crazy enough.  I generally don't get all sentimental when the boys outgrow their clothes, but for whatever reason if I'm going to tear up over anything growth-related I do it when they move up a size in diapers (I'm sure it will be tears of a different kind when M moves out of diapers completely, but we're definitely not there yet).

How can size 3 be so much bigger than 2?  And how can my little Liam already be this big, and almost 6 months?

And on the other hand, why isn't he 2 yet?  No, not really.  But kind of.  I promise I'm not wishing time away (too much), but I have to admit that despite the occasional (or not so occasional) tantrum and the constant "No! Self!" I am loving the sleeping-through-the-night (mostly) and communicating-pretty-darn-well (in general) of toddlerhood.

But happy-baby-bouncing-and-smiling-all-the-time is pretty awesome too :)

A lot can happen in three years...

Dad and Dene' are talking about special places in Lincoln and Dubuque (respectively) this week, and--how convenient--the Colorado Cranes had an opportunity to revisit a very special place in Denver this weekend.

image credit

The Inn at Hudson Gardens will always hold a very special place in our hearts.  A little over three years ago (three years, three months, and almost two weeks, to be a little more precise) Alex and I had our wedding reception at the above location (with significantly barer surroundings, both in January and this weekend).  Last weekend Alex's cousin Heidi and her husband celebrated their wedding reception at the same location. It was so much fun to take a nice little stroll down memory lane (although I must admit both evenings are a bit of a blur; the first because I was the bride, the second because I was dividing my attention between an over-active toddler and an over-tired infant).

Dancing to Jim Brickman "You Are the Love of My Life"

My dad toasting us

Fast forward three+ years...

A sippy cup for toasting instead of champagne flutes

Handsome handsome boys!

Snuggly baby, happy daddy

I can't wait to see what the next three years, three months and two weeks bring!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 27) and a Theme Thursday... all on Saturday

--- 1 ---

Surprise, I'm late!  But in my defense this week has been ridiculous.  I feel like I use that excuse explanation a lot, but seriously.  It was.

Hey, look at that--Grace did a reverse order link up this week!  Lucky me :)

--- 2 ---

Speaking of defenses, Alex is DONE with his thesis.

Written. Submitted. Defended. DONE.

--- 3 ---

He only has one week left of class, a presentation, and one exam standing between him and his MA.  I am so incredibly proud of him!!!  And so incredibly ready for him to be done.  I don't know who is more excited for graduation--him or me.

--- 4 ---

I'm pretty sure correct grammar would be "he or I," but that sounds silly.

--- 5 ---

Speaking of silly (and grammar, for that matter), M's current obsession is Veggie Tales.  Ergo, I have rediscovered Silly Songs, and I think I'm enjoying them at least as much as he is.  Maybe more.  Especially this one.

And I love it even more because we did School House Rock Live! my senior year of high school (and I got a part without having to sing a solo... probably because I was a senior and president of the Drama Club, but whatever) and this is way better.

--- 6 ---

I completely missed Theme Thursday this week, despite it being the easiest theme ever for the Corner--boys.  Seriously Ashley, how did you let that one slip past you?

Reference Take #1.

But anyway here are my boys playing, so I can go ahead and link up anyway despite being a super-duper late cheater mccheaty pants.  (I'm still loving fine-tuning my depth of field for close-ups.  I promise I'll do something different someday.  Maybe.)

Thomas! Our favorite!

Flutterbye!  Our favorite!

--- 7 ---

I had a revelation today: Michael already speaks Spanish!  Allow me to elucidate:

Ehmo = Michael's version of Liam = derivative of William = Guillermo in Spanish = Llermo for short = Ehmo

Didja follow?  Pretty impressive, isn't he?  But I'm still going to pick up those Little Pim DVDs from the library (I actually requested them... just need to get myself to the library before my hold expires).

Go see Grace for more quick takes, and continue to pray for Jen and baby Joseph (they're home!)!  
Happy Friday Saturday :)

Snow and stir-fry

This is what it looked like outside today:

(Yes, those sad little green things at the bottom are Thursday's tulips.)

And this is how I feel about it*:

Die, winter, die

*Even after I remind myself to be grateful for the moisture, regardless of the state in which it arrives, and to be grateful I don't live in North Dakota.

On a yummier note, I was feeling kind of left out reading about the delicious meals in Dubuque and Lincoln, so I decided to jump in with tonight's dinner: my take on Pampered Chef's 30 minute Korean Beef Bowl:

The beef is sliced very thin and marinated in oil, vinegar, soy sauce, pepper,sliced green onions, and garlic powder, then stir-fried with broccoli, carrots, and bean sprouts.  Serve over chow mein noodles (or rice noodles, or soba noodles, or rice, or nothing) and enjoy!

Prayer Request

I know so many of you who visit Crane Corner (despite my inconsistent posting--good thing I have cute kids) are such diligent and faithful prayer warriors, and we are so thankful for all of your prayers for our family!

I want to beg your prayers for a family in desperate need.  Baby A has a mysterious medical condition which continues to elude the many doctors and specialists he's seen in his few short months of life.  You can read more about his story here.  Please join me in praying for healing for him, provision and peace for his parents and older brothers, and wisdom for his doctors.  His special patron saint is St. Andre Bessette.  The Crane boys and I will be offering Baby A and his family up as our intention at Mass tomorrow, and we invite you to join us in this and any other way you can pray for them.  And if you have a few minutes to leave an encouraging comment for his family over at Fabrics and Fun, I'm sure it would be most appreciated!

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit"  --Psalm 34:18

Thank you!!!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 26): Easter Edition

--- 1 ---

Happy Easter!  I've been meaning to blog about our absolutely lovely trip to Lincoln for Easter.  I figure it's less than an octave after the Easter Octave so I'm not really late... something like that... so here are 7 quick Easter takes!  Alleluia!

--- 2 ---

We always get thoroughly spoiled in Lincoln.  Michael probably would've been happier if we just left him there to watch movies and read stories with Grandma all day (Grandma probably would've been happier too...)

--- 3 ---

It was a trip of firsts for Liam: first time in Nebraska, first time meeting his aunt and unlce, first roadtrip... He also got his first taste of solids (banana).  He was not particularly impressed.

Ne' and Ty are waaaay better than bananas

--- 4 ---

I got to see my beautiful sister (and her wonderful husband) for the first time in almost a year.  One. Year.  That is ridiculous.  We used to play "house" all the time with our bedrooms as our houses (right next door to each other, of course) and our favorite dolls as our kids (three little girls each) and our husbands who had jobs where they were always traveling (because we didn't have any boys to play house with us).  Little did we imagine how differently life would turn out--especially concerning living in different states (soon to be different states halfway across the country)... but Alex and Ty are waaaaaaaaay better than anything we imagined about "Mark" and "Tim."

Godmother and Godson

--- 5 ---

We stuck pretty close to my parents during our visit, but we had some friends and extended family who were kind enough to come to us.  Visits included an Easter egg hunt with our beautiful little friend Eleanor and lots of playing with trains (of course) with cousins (of varying degrees of removal and/or relation by marriage, depending on how you look at it).

--- 6 ---

Okay, searching out pictures is taking way too long... at least these will be quicker for you to read than they are for me to write.

kite flying

--- 7 ---

Happy Easter!!!

Go see Grace for more quick takes, and say a prayer for Jen and baby Joseph Thomas!  
Happy Friday :)

Theme Thursday: Grow

Just a leeetle bit late with my Theme Thursday post this week.  I really did take the pictures yesterday, but just didn't get around to posting them.  It's actually somewhat miraculous that I managed to take five precious minutes out of the boys' overlapping nap time to walk around the yard and snap a couple shots of beautiful green growing things.  Hooray spring!

I should have take a picture of the daffodils when I first noticed them on Monday. Tuesday we were in (hopefully) the last death throes of winter.  We didn't quite get the 10-14 inches of predicted snow, but the daffodils were decidedly not a fan of the single digit temps.

The tulips fared much better...

Everything is starting to turn all sorts of green, but the willow is my favorite right now.  The buds are still tiny, but the branches are a gorgeous delicate green, especially against the blue sky (blue sky not pictured, because it has been MIA for most of the week).

Go check out everything growing over at Clan Donaldson!