greatest hits

*i now introduce you to my list: greatest hits, featuring the most memorable bits of my week. if i don't write them down, i just may forget them. see, aren't lists handy?

1) a letter in the mail from the sweetest four-year-old.

(thanks, aly-bug!)

2) this haircut.

3) dinner with my girls.

no boys allowed to this going-away party.

4) this baby bump. kelly isn't finding out the sex, and won't tell us their name ideas...so we are placing wagers! i have changed my tune and now predict a BOY named JOSEPH. we'll see in december. until then, we'll just continue to rub her sweet belly.

5) a trip to the farmers market with this cute fruit taste-tester.

6)a very thoughtful gift in the mail from my mother-in-law. i must say, this has been a very good mail week.

until next week,

the end.

xoxo

days like this...

sing it, van...

there are days like today when:

• chris is out of town and we don't get to look forward to him walking through the door to sweep us off our feet.
• ben wets his pants. twice.
• ben forgets to "aim" properly and momma gets soaked. momma doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
• ben views nap time as optional.
• the dog chews a beloved stuffed animal.
• every time momma hears the word "no" (which is very, very often), her face starts to twitch uncontrollably. help.
• august starts to feel like the longest month in the history of months (mother's day out hasn't started yet, and neither has momma's job).

but then i remember:

• we are so lucky to have a man that (when in town) walks through the door every day excited to sweep us off our feet.
• ben poops in the potty now, and not in his pants. that's major.
• most of the time, pee actually ends up in the toilet.
• our dog just misses daddy, like we do.
• even though "no" is a ben favorite, so is "i love you" and "momma, you's happy? my's happy!" also, "actually" is a new word in the repertoire, which is quite hilarious, as is the substitution of "one day" for "right now" (ex. "my's hungry one day.")
• today is the last day of august.

here is a little video of our pantsless wonder introducing the dinosaurs.

to see more of our summertime fun, click here.

greatest hits

i am drawn to bloggers that make lists. like taza's happy lists or kate's bits of my weekend.

maybe i just love lists in general

(big surprise, i know).

so without further ado, i now introduce you to my list: greatest hits, featuring the most memorable bits of my week. if i don't write them down, i just may forget them.

see, aren't lists handy?

1. singing duets with this guy.

we are part of a lady antebellum cover band.

2. laughing at/with this guy. in this particular picture, i asked him how old he is and this is what i got.

he's two, mind you.

3. mastering the whole poop-in-the-potty thing. actually we are just celebrating ben's accomplishment, considering chris and i mastered this feat some 29 years ago. i have no accompanying picture.

you're welcome.

4. stringing new lights on the tree in our courtyard and the groovy effects it gives this picture.

5. spending time with my besties, singing and laughing and trying not to cry, as we prepare for sweet sarah and travis to move across the country.

6. having a real musician (and friend) at our party, which lead to 3 a.m. sing alongs to this song.

7. dance parties for one. sometimes i just have to dance. especially while listening to vampire weekend.

and sometimes it might embarrass others/myself.

so be it.

image via

8. looking like this after a morning at the gym. working out with a trainer has reinforced many things i already know: i will never enjoy running, i will never want to go to the gym, i sweat as much in forty-five minutes as three grown men do all day, and i love the feeling right after i successfully complete a work-out ALMOST as much as i like buying pants in a smaller size :)

until next week,

the end.

so long, thomas...

meet marcy dinosaur and emily dinosaur (or as ben says, "elomy").

and here you have the class pets, ben dinosaur and daddy dinosaur.

as you can see, ben dinosaur and daddy dinosaur are human ben's most favorite. they are the new thomas and percy.

(mommy dinosaur, maggie dinosaur, aly dinosaur and caroline dinosaur not pictured)

recently, human ben was having a difficult day (in a terrible two year old sort of way), so human mommy decided to take his trains as a punishment of sorts. human ben was devastated, for approximately 5 minutes. it's as if a veil was lifted. he discovered neglected toys. he found life after thomas. and he never looked back.

ben lately

here at 'camp pee-in-the-potty', our days look a lot like this:

followed by a little of this:

streaking is one of ben's favorite camp activities.

and after a little bribery and coersion, this happens.

so far, so good. we've managed to achieve success with only a few major meltdowns from ben (and a couple from momma). whew.

the road goes on forever

these are my people. (pictured from left to right) meet leslie. she loves dancing, jim carrey, and foul language. meet marcy. she loves being bossy, taking care of people, and thinks she is a dixie chick. meet joni. she is fearless, loves music, and laughs louder than anyone i know. meet becky. she is a little naughty, a lot ambitious, and is a really funny story-teller. meet chance. she wants to be a hippie and/or a surfer girl, will jump in the middle of every picture you try to take, and can make you feel like the funniest person in the room. meet kelly. she is at times painfully honest, kind, and could eat candy for every meal. meet susan. she is the baby of the group, brave, and has a wonderfully dry sense of humor. meet ryan. he loves emily, taking care of his friends almost as much as he loves making fun of them, and is hands down the funniest person in the room. meet emily. she loves ryan, gives great compliments, and just might be the most mature one of the group. meet suzy. she loves military boys, tupac, and will never be too old to watch mtv.

these are the things you learn about your friends from college. the people that became your family when you moved far away from your own. the people you shared bathrooms with and roomed with in the dorm and in crusty apartments. the people that gained the freshman fifteen with you. these people have gotten you into trouble as well as out of trouble. the people that grieved with you after bonfire fell. the people that picked you up from class and took you to the bar. the people that slept on your couch even though they lived just 1/2 a mile away.

it's been a long time since those days and we still manage to see each other, tell the same stories over and over, and never tire of them.

tks, i love you more today than ever and i am so incredibly proud that our friendship remains a priority to each of us. thanks for the laughs and the pickle shots.

i will never forget it.

whoop! (that was for you, suzy).

to see pictures, click here.

a trip to remember

we just returned from the most magical trip to a place where everyday is a picnic,

a place where ballerinas roam free, where the whole world is a stage,

a place where cousins can safely ride on the backs of tigers,

a place where magic happens in forest cottages,

a place where babies both look and smell this sweet,

a place where group hugs are the norm,

a place where there is always someone to play with.

we can't wait to go back.

to view our complete syracuse album, click here. (fingers crossed that this works!)

go, cubs, go!

(originally written about a month ago)

chris can check it off the bucket list! we went to a cubs game (he went to two), and they won! so not only did he get to see his beloved cubbies, we are now convinced that they won because we were there. i have a feeling that there will be more trips to chicago during baseball season in our future. ben is too young to enjoy it now, but we know that it is just a matter of time before he will fall in love with baseball.

we crammed a lot of goodness into just a couple of days. we didn’t exactly escape the heat, but at least as texans we are pretty used to soul-crushing temperatures ;) we went with some of our dearest friends, which makes this about the millionth vacation i have taken with jennifer since our youth group days. we stayed in a really incredible hotel in a good location. i truly do not have the proper vocabulary to describe the delicious awesomeness of the hotel bed. see? we were able to spend some time with one of my oldest friends who is a chicago resident. we shopped. we cheered for the cubs. we drank beer in the second oldest baseball stadium in the country. we won! we had a dance party. we rode on a boat. we learned about architecture. we ate deep dish pizza and chicago dogs. we ogled at the beauty of chicago. we went to second city and laughed non-stop for 3 hours.

the only thing i could possibly complain about was the heat. but then we came home and were immediately suffocated by to 90% humidity. we missed our baby. and truly, i am so happy to be home with nothing to do but laundry.

bus ride with the browns

friends since seventh grade

the BEAN!

go cubs!

the drunken party that is wrigleyville

in limbo

hi, my name is cortney and i am a blogger. by accident, really. but a blogger nonetheless. i have been in mourning for the past month because my previous blog is mad at me and is refusing to publish. the nerve! doesn't it know that we have been on two trips since then, taken a bazillion pictures, and desperately feel the need to share them with the grandparents of our child!?!

doesn't it know that i have a toddler? and that 1 month in toddler time equals what seems like a lifetime of changes my child is making. did i mention that we pay to use our other blog, you know, the one that hates me? i finally asked myself, "self, why are we paying for a blog that doesn't work???" i didn't like the answer, so in desperation, i created a FREE blog (what a concept) so i could at least post something. i have no idea what i am doing, so bear with me, please. i have to figure out a way to display albums or share pictures (i will accept any blogging advice). but for now this will just have to do.

thanks for being patient. and welcome to our new little blog, all five of my dear readers!

see? if i didn't blog, where could i post pictures like this one?