Moran Family Adventures: musings of a boy mom

One Of My Favorite Sounds The pitter patter of toddler feet. Who knew that noise would be so adorable? Because that's really what it is, noise. And yet to a mom, it's right up there with that sweet laugh. I think part of the reason I cherish it so much is because that sound will be so short lived. The small haphazard steps will turn into loud determined boy thumps in no time. But for now, I'm going to enjoy the pitter patter of my little man's tiny feet. When Matt is downstairs in the garage hitting golf balls, he says he can always tell when Jellybean is on the second floor because his footsteps are so distinct. This boy has one speed- fast. He can barely slow down! He goes from fast to faster, so maybe he has two speeds. I can always tell when he's in a really good mood by how quickly he moves his feet. One of his favorite things to do is take super tiny steps (yes, even smaller than the baby steps he already takes) but he takes them really fast. Another f

I'm trying to do many of the same things with Tater Tot as I did with Jellybean and that includes maternity pics. I was sooooooo extremely fortunate with Jellybean because my good friend Brittany lived right down the street and just so happened to be a professional photographer. Her talents are still unmatched, but unfortunately, she lived so far away this time around, I had to pursue local options. I went to Google to find a Virginia Beach photographer. When I e-mailed these photographers, I was appalled at how much their sessions cost! Really? You're going to charge me as much for a maternity session as I paid for my wedding pictures? Kind of absurd. One of the photographers reached out to me with a special he was running because someone cancelled theirs so I took it since it was significantly cheaper than what I was finding.  All my photo sessions have been outdoors in natural light. This particular session was in the photographer's home studio (yes I made sure t

So, I really don't think I'll be taking a 36 week picture, and that's out of pure laziness. It really needs to be something special for me to take the time to do my make up all fancy and get my hair pretty, let alone put something on that isn't a tank top and gym shorts. At this point in my pregnancy, my energy levels are significantly waning and I can't go wasting that precious energy on hair and makeup when there's just about a billion other things to do in my life! So here's my 36 week update: * Feeling EXHAUSTED. All the time! I wish I could let chores slide but.....I'm too OCD for that. Dishes, counter tops, cleaning up after my messy toddler.....these things don't wait for mom to get her energy back. * Rapid Heart Rate: I went to the ER the other day after calling the nurse and explaining to her that sometimes....when I'm literally just sitting down watching TV or surfing the web, my HR spikes significantly. It's so rand

A Trip To Richmond  So I've been here for about a year now and have yet to really explore the Richmond area. I keep finding myself drawn to just about everywhere else. This last weekend, my friend Amanda was driving from D.C. to Florida and going right through Richmond. Well there was no way I could pass up that opportunity to see her and it gave me a good reason to check out a new city.  We met at a "hipster" coffee shop which had really amazing breakfast and pretty decent coffee. Amanda's seen Jellybean when he was in my belly (does that count?), at around 2 months, and again at about 6 months. So now, at 15 months, when he's at that fun talking ,exploring, running around making trouble age, she was pretty impressed by just how much a kid can grow and change in such a short period of time. You're telling me! I feel like he was JUST a little baby that couldn't even lift his head. Now we're imitating animal noises and full of personality. Any

I'm trying to do a lot the things I did with Jellybean the second time around with Tater Tot. One of those things is maternity photos. Those pics will get posted when I get them back, but the reason I bring it up is I dressed Matt and JB up in "matching" outfits for our family maternity photos. I fell in love with how adorable they looked together that I insisted on stopping at park so I could take my own pictures of my handsome boys. I'm such a sucker for pictures and these boys of mine have stolen my heart so many times over I want to capture every moment on camera and share it.  I absolutely love the picture of them walking down the trail holding hands. That was actually Matt's (yes Matt, Mr. I hate pictures) idea. And the best part is JB hates holding hands so the fact that he did it that afternoon was an added bonus! We also took some time to play at the playground, and I of course snapped up a few more pictures.  Afterward we decided to check out

Matt's unit met up at a park with a trail running course one morning and he invited me to come along. Of course I'm in no shape to run right now and even walking long distances results in some not so fun pelvic pain, but I wanted to go knowing full well I wouldn't complete that 5 mile loop....yet! Despite our awesome jogging stroller, it wasn't made for a trail so we grabbed the Kelty backpack instead, which of course, Matt wore. This trail is, like I already said, 5 miles long, and circles a lake. Plenty of elevation changes and absolutely gorgeous! I hope to come back and attempt to run that thing (and finish it) once I'm in running shape again.  Jellybean loves being in the backpack. And he loves being outside. He had such a great time oooo-ing and awwww-ing over everything. He was fascinated! It must have worn him out because that kid knocked out in the backpack. He kept flopping around but it didn't wake him up!  Anyway, I had to go back to work th