2014 Year in Review

Things have been quiet round these parts. I have spent this holiday season trying to just be present and available so that equaled not a lot of computer time, no blog posts and actually very few pictures taken. We are still in vacation mode here, things are a bit more relaxed and unorganized but it is time for Dwija's 12 pictures of 2014 link up and if you stop by often you know I love a link up. Plus this is a good one to look back at the year.

2014 was a pretty stellar year when it really gets down to it. I am a little bit blown away by how fast and not fast it seemed. I am also a lot a bit blown away that it's time to adjust to saying a new year. I swear it takes me longer to adjust as I get older. 

January was cold. So I bought some mittens proving just how effective commercials can be. Mostly I read a lot. Then I read some more. The month mostly involved a lot of normal life. We of course made normal life fun even in the bitter cold. 

Early February brought us the news that Baby 2 was on the way, though we didn't tell anyone. We did a few photo shoots, one that gave us this Toddler GQ picture, which may be one of my favorite pictures of all time. We watched the Olympics. I fell in love with a diaper bag. C fell in love with the walrus. After a long stretch of COLD it got above freezing for 2 days and that felt like summer. It's all about the perspective isn't it? 

March finally allowed us to not freeze!! The baby just only wanted Mac and Cheese, but still the world didn't know about her yet. We started our tomato plants from seeds. March pretty much just was. It was probably the all day sickness. 

April was kind of amazing. A new Pigeon book. We let the world in on our secret. Easter happened and it was so special. Husband turned 30 AND we were in Florida just the 2 (3) of us. We went to Magic Kingdom and it was a blast! 

With May came a whole lot of rain. I eulogized Barnes and Noble. C turned 2! We had an ultrasound. Just not a whole lot of blogging happened but it was okay because we did a lot of activities. Plus I love birthdays so it was fun to celebrate C!

When it finally warmed up in June we moved the tomato plants outside. We went strawberry picking and I hijacked Theme Thursday. I made some busy bags which have since been incredibly popular activities at our house. We attended two weddings, one as a family, one as a date. Overall June flew by which is the best kind of month.

With July came retrospective thinking. We had a quiet 4th of July, my favorite kind of holiday. We dog sat. We went to a baseball game. The weather was phenomenal. Seriously every July can be just like 2014!!

August is my favorite month of any year. 2014 did not disappoint. C moved to the big boy bed. We got to see Baby Girl's face up close. I let go of my panic. We celebrated four happy years of marriage. C and I went to Minnesota for a while. We went on a family trip to see the walrus in person! I turned 28. 

Finally Fall! September brought us ever closer to meeting our little girl. Labor day was great. I told you all about my birthday presents which were and still are amazing. I even got that diaper bag I obsessed over in February. Go figure. I managed to grow a tomato from a seed. C and I went on a lot of special outings while the weather was nice and it was easy. C went to the family apple orchard with his dad. September inched along slowly. 

The first 21 days of October were excruciatingly long waiting for one little girl to make her grand entrance. There was a lot of lamenting and cleaning. But she did arrive. Finally. 10 days late and in less than 2 hours. The last part of the month was spent adjusting to life with two kids, entertaining visitors, and Halloween. C was a walrus and M was a polar bear. Because obviously? 

November came in quickly with a photo shoot and turned into a humbling month of reality. I had to let go of some of my expectations and focus on the two little people who rule my world. Miss M turned one month old and I was able to get some things done. Thanksgiving happened but more importantly we got ourselves a new little Catholic. 

In December I escaped the house for some me time a few times. We went to Disney on Ice. We made our annual gingerbread house and time kept marching on. M turned 2 months. Christmas and now we are here at today. 2014 was pretty spiffy!

I mean I guess the highlight of the year was growing a tiny human who turned out to be one pretty great little girl. I learned a ton this year which is always good. And even though I feel like I didn't read a whole lot I actually did. Life is pretty good no matter how you spin it. The challenges just make the good times all the sweeter. I know that's lame but really, it's true. 

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Card 2014

Let's pretend I had all of your addresses and your favorite postal service employee has dropped this off at your home. 

I am going to sign off for Christmas festivities. Have a marvelous Christmas holiday! May your time be spent however you chose but with the love of the dear Baby Jesus with you always. 

Happy Christmas! 

4 Fun Days

The past weekend was pretty swell.

Friday we got a piano!

Go with me on this story okay? Husband's aunt and uncle live in town here. His cousin is a rather good piano player. They had talked about upgrading to a baby grand for a while. One of the music stores in town is going out of business and they decided this was the time. But they needed a new home for the old piano. 

It is a special piano, his aunt's parent's purchased it in 1974. They still have the original tag and sales promotional flyer. (We have it now.) I imagine it was bittersweet to say goodbye to the piano but I am happy that we are able to give it a good home and that our kids will be able to take piano lessons. 

C LOVES the piano and I'm not saying my kid is a musical savant or anything but he is already very interested in learning and (with the help of Husband) can play one song. He is very good at playing only one key at a time and not banging away. He's always had big hands and can already spread to 5 keys but can only put power through to his four fingers. I never took piano but I am sure glad that our kids can! 

Friday night was also the Elf Twitter party. Always a pleasure. 

M mostly slept through the fun but C enjoyed his first viewing. Did you know that there's a walrus next to the arctic puffin? Yeah I didn't remember that either. Of course my little walrus fan caught that right away and was his favorite part for sure.

Saturday brought a big day for us as C gave up his nuki. We'd been phasing it out since he turned 2. Mostly only in his bed, but when M was born it sort've had a resurgence. It started phasing out again and lately he mostly has just chewed on them. So we've been redirecting his and slowly pilfering them away. Honestly I'm not sure he's noticed that they've been gone since Saturday. So technically I guess it is the cold turkey method but he was more than ready. 

Yesterday we made one solitary batch of Christmas cookies. My favorite are peppermint meltaways and they're so good. I wasn't feeling very Christmasy and those always fill me with happiness. I let C help me with the glaze and the crushed peppermint pieces. They turned out with a tad more glaze than normal but that's okay. 

 

Today, Little Miss M turned a whopping 2 months old!! I can't stand it! Who said she could get so big?! She had her doctors appointment this morning and did very well considering. She got hot pink bandaids which is kind of cute. 

We have brought the swing back up and she has really taken to it. I made lunch today without anyone screaming! Perfection. 

That's about what I know. Certainly getting ready for Christmas around these parts. 

Not Much Is New But I'll Post Anyway

Once upon a Tuesday one michevious toddler kept climbing on top of the chest that lives in the playroom. (Until Friday when we are getting a piano!!) I repeatedly told him to get down from the chest and typically he complied until he didn't. This time he didn't he looked at me and said "Mom, shake it off." Then proceeded to sing "Shake it Off" while dancing on top of the chest.

It was cute. But frustrating. Story of my life these days with him. He's keeping me on my toes that's for sure.

One little girl over here is 8 weeks old already. Where on Earth has the time gone already?! I can't stand it.

When we were still in our brand new just home phase a friend brought us dinner. It was Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas. And they were SO GOOD. We made them ourselves last week for dinner and I prepped the chicken this morning for us to have them again today! 

HERE is the recipe. My hacks are to mix the marinade in a bowl with a lid and just keep the chicken in that instead of transferring to a Ziploc. Also who has heavy cream in the house all the time? I just use a little splash of milk--less calories, still delicious and I always have some on hand. 

I am the stereotypical Minnesotan born who thinks not really spicy things are in fact really spicy but even with the tablespoon of chili powder it isn't overwhelming and we buy the mild green enchilada sauce. If you really like spicy stuff I imagine the recipe lends itself well to being kicked up a notch but I don't know about it. 

That's the story in our neck of the woods! 

Gingerbread: Like a Fiddler on the Roof!

Families create all sorts of traditions around Advent and Christmas. And sometimez people get caught up in "Do All the Things!" I get it. I want that idyllic childhood feeling of Christmas for my kids too. But we have resolved ourselves that there's only so much we can do AND that our oldest is only on his third Christmas. Which means there is plenty of room for evolution in the traditions over the next few years.

But there are two things we have done every year that we intend to continue every year. The first being Disney on Ice, which we went to at the beginning of the month. We love Disney and while a trip to the parks might not be feasible annually, especially with littles, a trip to the ice arena for Disney magic is. They have a tendency to come around the same time every year and so it has become a tradition for us that kicks off winter and Christmas for us.

The second thing we do is gingerbread house day! For whatever reason, I had it in my head that I wanted my family to build an annual gingerbread house. I honestly have no idea why, it is not something we did growing up but it seemed like something we should do. We like to bake. We like to decorate. We like details. Why not make gingerbread houses?

The first year I thought we should get a kit and keep it simple. Husband was not content with that idea and just dove into the deep end of crazy. We made our own gingerbread and royal icing from scratch. Somehow using things we had around the house primarily (though we did go buy some candy) we wound up with a house we were pretty proud of. It was modeled after our house, which was still very new to us at that time.

2012

Last year we invited Kathryn to come over and do gingerbread houses with us. We had learned some lessons from the past year and went into the night with a little bit more of a decorating plan. We stuck with our same gingerbread and royal icing frosting and once again we were happy with the results.

2013

This year my entire plan was to get away from the red/white/green theme we had the previous years. That was not a great basis for a plan and we were definitely slow to start with the whole process. A lot of time was spent on Pinterest and Google Image search trying to figure out what ideas spoke to us. As it happens, red and white houses speak to me.

But I was determined. I picked a Cape Cod style house so Husband got off and running with the making of the gingerbread templates, dough and baking. I was still unsure as to how we would decorate. But we also decided that this year C was old enough to have his own house. 

This was not without drama. He took a bite out of one of his roof pieces and was not a happy camper with the build the house and wait for the icing to dry prior to decorating. (Noted and we will pre-build his house next year.) But all in all he was happy and we were happy and the house turned out pretty cute. He was the most excited that his house had a door. I hope he stays this easy to please. 

C's House 2014

 As for us, after bedtime we got to work. We once again had Kathryn join us for our gingerbread night and we once again had a good time full of conversation and lots of laughter. Once again we stayed up WAY TOO LATE but we think our house was worth it:

2014

The night time view:

Every year is a learning experience and this one was no different. I am thrilled I stuck to my plan of using color, albeit it more subtle than I originally thought. This year I was definitely the designer and Husband was the contractor. One needy little girl prevented me from doing much until the Christmas lights and the wreath but that's okay. I was present and it was my idea. I also made the middle of the process Walgreens run to get the gum for the siding. 

We love our tradition and hope it continues for many years to come.

Two Steps Forward One Step Back

For weeks I have been unhappy with the state of C's clothes storage. In the battle to have a house that I am not embarrassed by I have focused on the downstairs primarily. I have tidied the bedrooms but really they haven't been my priority.

But his clothes were bothering me. Things have been haphazardly put away for weeks. And it's been a long time since I've sorted through and taken out the things he has outgrown. So last night while putting laundry away I just did it.

The things that didn't fit were removed. And the shirts were grouped up correctly. (Short sleeved/long sleeved/sweatshirts and sweaters/dress) Socks, pants, pajamas everything was perfect. I was soaring on the feeling of accomplishment.

I felt so good I moved on to M's room. I sorted out the newborn things, it's crazy that she has been here long enough to outgrow things. She still is so little. But changing daily. It was good to do an inventory however and get her dresser reorganized. It's always a crap shoot how you set up a dresser and a closet, now seven weeks in I know better how to arrange things to it's easier to utilize.

After her room I moved on to ours! I cleaned up and put away some piles. The top of the dresser is kind of our dumping grounds for "this doesn't look right but I am not going to hang it back up right this second" items. Then I organized our sock drawer hamper . Once again I got rid of gross ones and worn ones.

I went to sleep happy. And woke up to a toddler who had emptied all his clothes onto his floor. Back at square one with that room I guess. Ah well. Toddlers. Husband, bless his heart, refolded them but all that I had sorted out got mixed back in. But there we go.

Doing the laundry? No problem. Folding? Got that covered. Put away? Well at least it ends up in the right room. It's a vicious circle my friends.

A Movie, 3 Books, Some Netflix and Television

Last night we were scheduled to have book club. I really needed a night out of the house so I was looking forward to it. But it got rescheduled to next week. I took the already assumed night away to finally go see Mockingjay. This weekend's plans didn't quite work out due to the photo shoot Saturday and just a general tiredness on Sunday.

Going last night was a great idea because Tuesday is bargain night anyway. PLUS I am signed up for the concession coupons and most of the time I want to see a movie the coupon is ridiculous. ($2 off a bottled beverage. Who buys $4+ bottles of water at the movies?) But this week's was good. Free small popcorn with a drink purchase. So my ticket and treat was only $1 more than a normal ticket cost! Sweet!

The movie was really good. Fairly true to the book certainly. Do you like to go to the movies by yourself? Some think it's weird but I really like it. It's so relaxing. I really needed that because yesterday was one of those days as a parent that was rough. Nothing bad exactly happened but M was really needy and I couldn't do anything but hold her all day. It took an hour to fold a basket of laundry.

That's not bad in the grand scheme of things but frustrating because I actually am at the point where I want to accomplish things again instead of just sleep and I just can't. No matter the best laid plan I am just unable to get done everything I want to in a day. We're just not back at the stage of life yet. And that's just going to have to be okay with me. I'm working on letting it be okay at least.

It has been a while since I have told you what I've read. The answer isn't much but here are some:

Sandinton by Jane Austen and Another Lady. (One of the unfinished manuscripts finished by "Another Lady")

Verdict: Sloppy Austen and since she only wrote until chapter 11 we'll never really know how she intended to end it. However not a bad book once you get all the many characters straight.

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner

Verdict: I admit that this is the first book I ever didn't finish and still went. But I blame the less than 2 week old baby at the time of book club. What I did read I thought was well written but sad. The group seemed to enjoy it even through the sad subject matter. I am planning to finish.


The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen

Verdict: Saying that Klassen's writing is comparable to Jane Austen on the cover is insulting to Austen. Not a terrible book but certainly a predictable one. With some truly eye rolling/cringe worthy lines and foreshadowing.

Since we've done books and the one movie I've seen since March (of new releases anyway) I may as well let you know what's been on my Netflix queue lately. I am not one of those fancy Netflix is paying me to tell you what I'm watching people but just in case you're interested.

Scandal: Loved it. Drama. Love. Politics. Cleaning up messes. That Shonda Rimes knows she's good. 3 seasons available but season 1 has only 7 episodes and season 3 is only 18 episodes because Kerry Washington was pregnant.

House of Cards: Slow to start but I got hooked by episode 6. Which is actually a long time for me to give a show. Usually if I don't care by episode 3 I am done but my brother really recommended it. Dark show. Between this show and Scandal I am further convinced I would HATE politics. 2 seasons, 13 episodes each. Netflix original show so episodes vary in length between 45-60 minutes.

Cutthroat Kitchen: A good brainless cooking show with a twist. I love it. Husband thinks it's mean. A great middle of the night show to watch however. Collection of 24 episodes.

Last Man Standing: A comedy about conservative dad of 3 daughters. Tim Allen's show. A very funny show but maybe it's because the character reminds me of my dad. Either way I am totally bummed I finished this show. 3 seasons available. (Between season 1 and 2 one of the daughters changes and the grandson magically ages 3 years.)

On the air still I am down to just The Good Wife and The Amazing Race. I had to give up on The Big Bang Theory and Grey's Anatomy because they're on at the same time and that same time is before bedtime. (So is The Amazing Race but that's something you can watch without having to be totally engaged.)

Sick of my thoughts on media? Me too.

So How Was Your Weekend?

Once upon a time last week I saw this picture on the interwebs. 

It's on many blogs and web searches so I have NO idea who actually took it. If it was you and you want me to take it down I will. Well I liked it. And we still hadn't taken our Christmas card picture. So we lovingly borrowed their set up idea. Here it is in all it's glory. 

Not quite as many lights (ours weren't icicle lights so they made more straight lines) and you can see the strings with nothing else in the picture. But not bad for our dining room turned into a photo studio. What you can't see is the light kit and the wooden chairs holding up the sticks with the Christmas balls hanging on them. I am ruining the magic. 

This is a spectacular outtake from the photo shoot. You see, C decided he had no interest in holding his sister so when I would place her in between his legs he would lean back or lay down. Jokes on us! As it happens however both kids took pretty good pictures on their own. Well, C's is great. M is 6 weeks old so it's kind of hard to make her do much of anything but we did catch one or two smiles. 

In the end we have a Christmas card I really like. You'll have to wait for that though! 

Have a good Monday everyone. 

Some Quick Quick Takes

It's Friday!! Time for some quick takes. Who is shocked that Kelly is taking over? *crickets* No one right? Because I saw that coming ages ago. Nevertheless hooray for Kelly and the new home of quick takes.

1. Last night it was our third annual Disney On Ice experience. This year was different because for some reason they blocked off our typical seats. I know that sitting in the same seats for just two years does not a tradition make really, but I was quite disappointed that we couldn't sit in the same spot. I figured we'd just move over there but they had curtains up. Oh well. Our new seats weren't all that different.

It was more exciting than years past because C can really talk and enjoy. He did most certainly enjoy. My phone has been acting up so we didn't get good pictures. Only on Husband's old school flip phone that is 5 years old!! Super great quality.

2. I will say that if next year's show is only ho hum then we'll make it a 4 year tradition only. It was SO good the first year, music from a lot of different Disney shows with cool costumes and lots of skaters. Last year it was like short condensed versions of Disney movies. But there were a lot of characters. This year Mickey introduced Cars, Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell and Toy Story 3. It was okay but I am hoping for a different kind of show next year. 

3. St. Nicholas comes tonight! I am pretty darn excited!! He is bringing some books and pajamas. I didn't even get the chocolate coins like I had planned but since he doesn't know he's supposed to have chocolate coins who cares?!

4. I am trying to be super mom today! No not really. But am on my second load of laundry and I have high ambitions of taking the garbage out and putting some dishes away! Maybe I will really have a party and vacuum. Oh so exciting stuff over here!

5. I may finally go see Mockingjay tomorrow. I was pregnant with C when Hunger Games came out and Husband and I went to the midnight release. When Catching Fire came out I went with a friend of mine but to the 8:00 on Thursday showing. (That was a much wiser choice than a midnight start time.) It kind of bugs me I still haven't seen Mockingjay but tomorrow may be the day. Or maybe Sunday afternoon.

6. I am waiting on a few more packages to arrive and then the wrapping will begin. I suck at wrapping. (Not just saying that either.) So wrapping is Husband's contribution to the Christmas present giving process.

7. I have a crying baby who says that it's time for me to wrap this up. Happy Weekend!

Thoughts

One time my baby turned six weeks yesterday. So that means I had my 6 week postpartum appointment today. It was fine. 

If by fine you mean waiting 40 minutes before being called back while your car seat hating baby glares at you. For the record, she only hates the car seat if she's not in a moving car. So going home for Christmas should be fine. And after 1.2 seconds of glaring she switched to all out baby screaming and promptly was rescued from the torture device that was holding her captive. 

But whatevs. Otherwise I am healthy. I wasn't expecting any differently though. Apparently the doctors missing the birth is not something that ever happens at my practice because 3 different people were like "Oh we heard about you." 

In completely unrelated news I am spectacularly failing at Advent this year. Our Jesse tree is set up but not one single decoration has been placed on it. And my Advent candles should arrive sometime today. Because while I planned ahead and figured out all the Christmas presents and such, the Advent preparations just apparently slipped my mind. 

I still need to figure out Christmas cards too but I have every hope that they will be in the mail by this time next week. Which is still plenty of time I think. We haven't even received one yet. 

So instead of blathering on about nothing I am going to go do something productive. Like read my book club book. Or nap. Either way. 

As They Grow

This is mostly for me to remember what they were like at their specific ages but you may find things interesting too. 

An outtake from the post-Baptism party. 

M at 6 weeks old today!

• Is starting to smile real smiles and make good eye contact
• Loves to be held most of all
• Can roll from tummy to back both directions now. (Added to the right yesterday.) 
• Uses the above skill to get out of tummy time frequently. 
• Probably going through a growth spurt because ALL THE SLEEP and eating just enough before drifting off again. 
• Knows when the family is eating dinner and demands to be held during it. Doesn't matter if she has just eaten or was totally asleep. 
• In 0-3 month clothes, most are still way too long in the legs. 
• Has started appreciating the full swaddle. 

C at 2.5 a week ago today!

• Loves animals. (Figurines, pictures, videos etc.) But the walrus is still the best. 
• Loves to make messes. 
• Definitely expresses his twoness with fits. Sometimes for no reason at all. 
• Very generous with hugs and kisses
• Really starting to get an ear for singing and I think it's the cutest thing ever. 
• Wears 3T shirts but just only barely into 2T pants and they're long and no matter how much I adjust the waist still loose. 
• Still naps but it varies now if he'll go right to sleep or stay awake for a while reading in his bed. A few times he's skipped it all together and it hasn't ruined everything. 
• Loves any kind of water activity. Swimming, showers and baths. Getting out is the worst part. 
• Hasn't determined hand dominance yet. Automatically reaches for markers etc. with his left hand but is more precise with his right. 

Often heard phrases: 

"I Help You" (I need help.) 

"What are you doing?" (About 80 times a day.) 

"Mmm [insert food he's eating here] tasties. It's tasties." 

I love my little minions. C is generally quite good with M and he makes her smile which is about as good as it gets with this age! 

The Past 5 Days: Pizza, Thanksgiving, Pool Party, Baptism and Family

I hope you all have had a wonderful first day of Advent and a very happy Thanksgiving weekend. There's been a lot going on here the past 5 days, lots of fun and lots of exciting things. Hang on to your hats because this post is going to go fast and be loaded with pictures. 

On Wednesday Husband took the day off to prep for the weekend. We were hosting so there was some last minute cleaning and food prep to do. Also on Wednesday C turned officially 2 1/2. My parents and my brother Peter arrived that evening after a slightly icy and slow going start. Peter met M for the first time. He called her Baby Slaggy because he thought Slagathor would be a good name for the baby.We had a pizza party and had a good time! 

My mom made C a laminated sheet of animals from National Geographic magazines. It is his favorite thing. Here are Peter and C enjoying the sheet. 

Thursday morning brought making Monkey Bread and watching the parade. That was really fun and we had a good time! My family arrived from the hotel and we spent the afternoon playing games and chatting. My brother S arrived mid-afternoon and it was his chance to meet M for the first time. That was swell. Husband and I prepped a turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, glazed carrots, corn and rolls. It all turned out GREAT!! 

C and I made everyone a turkey as a place setting earlier in the week. 

We had pie for dessert. My blueberry loving boy enjoyed his blueberry pie enormously. 

M joined in her first holiday game night. (She's holding her dry erase marker.) When my family gets together we play games. It's what we do. The game of this holiday was primarily Say Anything. It was really fun!

Friday was kind of a typical day. Husband went to work. My kiddos and I went to the hotel to visit and so C could go swimming. I took pictures but on my mom's phone so I don't actually have any. He had a blast! He also took a shower afterwards but since we were at the hotel he used big boy not tear free shampoo and Dove Men's body wash. I though that was SO funny because he smelled just like a little man the whole day!

Yesterday was a very special day because M was Baptized after the 4:30 Mass. It was a beautiful little service. There was another Baptism during Mass but I like the afterwards ceremony better because it really is all about the Sacrament of Baptism, with a mini homily and the blessing of the parents. Deacon Bob did a great job and really made it special for us! 

Just about to the actual Baptism part. We're very reverent. No seriously though, this was a fluke that this picture was taken and turned out halfway decently. I just think it's too funny. 

Washing the sin away! Praise His Glorious Name!

During the parents blessing. My brother S and our friend Lisa are the Godparents.

A new little Catholic! 

After the Baptism we had a little gathering at our house with my family and Lisa and her husband. It was a much smaller ordeal than C's Baptism after party and therefore was much less stressful. 

Today my family left and Husband's brother's family popped in for a visit. Well, I was expecting a short few hour visit and got a whole day visit. M met her cousins and the final uncle and only aunt. So now M has met almost all her major family players with the exception of her great-grandparents on my side. I took exactly zero pictures of their visit however. 

This evening we watched a Christmas movie and set up our Christmas trees. 

We let C decorate the tree first and he just piled them all on balanced on the branches. But he had fun which is the most important part. 

After bedtime we redistributed the ornaments. We have yet to bring up the tree skirt or any of the other Christmas decorations from the basement but we certainly will tomorrow. We also haven't added our ribbon to the tree yet. 

And with that, we head to bed because hosting for 5 days in a row is exhausting. But we are so glad we didn't have to travel, were still able to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and induct our little girl into Catholicism. Success! 

Being Productive Energizes Me

Hello and happy Monday! I am not usually a Monday person (at all) but I am still pumped by this weekend and it has carried over into today. I'll take it.

Saturday brought the opportunity to sleep in a little. M was content going back to sleep after her 6ish feeding and I was not complaining. We slept until about 9;00! Heavenly! While the girls stayed in the boys went out. They got an oil change, did the grocery shopping and C got a hair cut. How's that for all before lunch?!

During nap time we did a photo shoot of Miss M because she turned one month!

She really has such a serious face most of the time. 

Saturday night was Family Movie Night! We watched Enchanted. I picked it because I am kind of over some of the other movies C has been watching nonstop. And he loves music. Joke's on me because we have been watching "Mouse and Bugs" (Happy Working Song) on near repeat since then. But we had a good time watching as a family and had fresh oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as a picnic. We all sat on a blanket in the living room and we of course did "clink" (cheers) many many times with both cookies and our milk.

After bedtime on Saturday the adults really partied hard. We moved our entertainment center, vacuumed and dusted behind it, took the blinds down and put the insulation plastic over the windows. We also rearranged some furniture so that there's a table by the chair I use when I feed M. Pretty exciting stuff I know.

Sunday afternoon was equally exciting. We did the insulating wrap on the big front window while we waited for Kathryn to come over. Then Kathryn and I went out running errands. I checked off everything on my list.

• Baptism Outfit for M
• Ham for Thursday
• Tights for me for Saturday
• Order Baptism Cake
• Stamps

Kathryn was able to start her Christmas shopping as well. Our productivity continued into the evening with a tasty dinner and watching The Good Wife. (Better than last week's episode for sure.) And of course the ever popular at our house, insulating wrap on yet another set of windows. We finished up the night putting stamps on the birth announcements so they could go in the mail. 

This morning we woke up to snow. And I've somehow managed to be fairly productive. We started our place cards craft for Thursday, I did a load of laundry and I'm about to make applesauce to can. Snazzy stuff. 

Have a swell day! 

4 Weeks

Broken record over here but how have FOUR weeks passed already?! It's so hard to believe!

Going from one kid to two has been a major learning curve for me. There were things I didn't anticipate being hard that seem impossible. (Bath time.) There are things that I anticipated being hard that for the most part have been easy enough. (Making sure C gets enough attention and is still being read to.)

I can safely say that four weeks in we are passed just surviving and we're on our way to thriving! That is certainly not to say there haven't been plenty of weak moments. There have been times when I am brought to tears with how inadequate I've felt. But somehow, our house hasn't fallen into a complete mess. Sure, the living room isn't picked up as often as I'd like but prioritizing has been key for us.

C has been a rock star. There have been fits and he is more attached to his nuki again (we had gotten to just in bed and we've regressed a little bit) but I'm not worried. He genuinely loves M and tries very hard to be helpful. Obviously some days are more helpful than others. My goal for the next few weeks are to reincorporate learning time back into our days.

M is doing well at 4 weeks. She can roll from tummy to back to the left. She is starting to make real eye contact and respond to my voice. When I smile at her she smiles back (my favorite) but she does kind of have discontented resting face right now. She has the most squishy cheeks and I could kiss them all day. She is very different than her brother and while that is 100% okay it has been a major eye opener for me. I am thankful she doesn't cry as loud as C did. Her favorite things include eating and being held. She does a really nice job sleeping at night though so I try to humor her as much as possible with the being held during the day.

She is definitely our kid in that she is all torso with short legs. C was just the same. The result is her newborn clothes are officially a little snug but she is swimming in the 0-3 month clothes. He feet don't go anywhere near the feet in footie pajamas. 

Look at all that extra fabric waiting to be filled in.

From a few minutes ago. She has since woken up. 

As for me and Husband we are good too. 

All in all, it's crazy that it's been 4 weeks already!

Warm and Toasty

Well I sort've dropped the ball on the Week in My Life posts. Friday/Saturday/Sunday just kind of fell by the wayside. Oops. But no bother, the first 4 days were a pretty good overview on my life. Honestly, it's that my normal blogging time is either in the morning or during rest time. And typically M doesn't let me do much else but hold her during those times.

And I could stay up to write but I'm going to be honest, in our newborn parenting stage we have become senior citizens and the entire household is upstairs in bed by 9:00 nightly.

But right now she's sleeping without being held so I am going to try and pound out a post quick.

First the big news: our house is warm!! Our furnace has gotten slowly more and more temperamental and we had the guy come out and look at it yesterday. This is kind of a long complicated story but I'll make it quick.

The guy came out at 8:30 and by 9:30 gave us a clean bill of health on the furnace and was on his way. Only for the furnace to act up and die by 10:00. He came back about 11:45 (we called right away) and was with us until 2:30 making sure the furnace was playing along and working well. So to the tune of $700 our house is warm and cozy. Totally worth it. Plus, that cost also includes a check and cleaning of the air conditioning come spring.

We also ordered our Saran Wrap the windows kits (you know what I'm talking about right? When you use a hair dryer to shrink Saran wrap to make windows not drafty?) off of Amazon. (SO much cheaper than Home Depot or the Ace Hardware store prices.) So we'll be able to do that this weekend and the house will be even warmer.

In other news M's baptism is officially scheduled. After a very complicated process with some disorganized individuals in the Parish office I am very happy to say it all worked out great and I am looking forward to next weekend! It's handy we could combine it with our Thanksgiving weekend when my family is in town anyhow.

It snowed over the weekend. Not a lot, just about an inch but C very much enjoyed it. He got to play outside on Sunday for a while and LOVED that. The only thing about the snow is that he is fairly convinced that snow = Christmas. So he wants to watch Christmas movies and sing Christmas songs. He would also like a Christmas tree. I have given in on the movies and music but I am holding out on the tree until after Thanksgiving!

With that, M has woken up so I should go rescue her. Happy Tuesday!

Prepare to Be Bored: My Everyday Life

I've done the vague overview of my day and then two stories from my day. Today we get the full on what one of my days is like post. There's only going to be one because at this point in life every day is pretty much the same. My days are really not exciting. But there's a certain beauty in the monotony of my every day. 

Husband woke me up at 7. This is actually new to this week. Prior to the arrival of M in our world I would sleep until 8 and C would play in his room or in our room and let me. Now I have to be on my A-game all day so being conscious before Husband leaves is a good thing.

We went through our new-typical morning routine where everyone does their own thing and we all make it downstairs by 7:30. Husband washed some dishes for me before his departure. I "made" a breakfast for C. He gets a blueberry Nutragrain bar. And milk. Apparently my child is being sustained on Nutragrain bars as that was his "main item" for dinner last night as well. I suppose there are worst things to eat every day.

The morning passed with little of interest. We played cars and animals. We read books. We changed diapers and while we're down on the floor we do tummy time. And I had to bribe C with pictures of tractors (Google Image Search) to get out of M's car seat and bring her nuki back while I fed her. Yesterday it was the rock n play. I think he's just testing me.

We got okay mail. A card from my Grandpa. An American Girl catalog. No bills. Some junk. What am I saying? That is a GREAT mail day.

I turned on Despicable Me. There comes a time every day where I just need to get something done and that is where Despicable Me comes in. I do try to keep the TV off for the rest of the day to make up for this assembly of minions. During the movie I folded the laundry I washed and dried yesterday and M did more tummy time. C quoted the movie to me and unfolded everything in his pile. 

After refolding the pile I started prepping lunch. The menu included shrimp poppers, green beans, corn and apple slices. I was trying to use up our Connell Reds because it's not my favorite apple variety. We ate and C actually ate one of the shrimp poppers. For a kid who eats little to no meat it was a rare sight.

Because I was feeding M, I got C up for rest time late. (1:10) The result is 30 minutes of him not in his bed while M fed on the other side. I am not good enough at nursing yet to be able to just wander around the house so I hollered but eventually put M down and went up to put him to bed. After I tucked him in for the second time he asked to sing the Sunshine song. (You are my Sunshine) We sang it 3 times. Once he helped sings, once I sing his own special C version and once just normal but by myself. He wanted to sing Baby Beluga but I just said I love you and have a good rest, This was enough to get him to sleep. Ten minutes late to nap sure puts a spoke in his wheel though.

I came back downstairs and because M was sleeping I started to clean and tidy the living room. I got about 7 minutes in and M woke up. We snuggled and M took a nap snuggled on me. I may have dozed off but mostly just perused the internet. I did make a phone call and send some emails out so it was not an entirely unproductive rest. With 15 minutes left of rest time I put M in the rock n play so I could finish getting things clean. The room is driving me nuts so even if it's a complete mess just a little later it will be worth it to me to have it clean for a few minutes. After I got the floor picked up I dusted the coffee table and television. The sticky hand prints were no match for Pledge Multi-Surface!

At 4:00 I woke up C. He is a beast because his nap was almost an hour short. I bribed him downstairs with the prospect of vacuuming! He bought it. We vacuumed and life was good.

We Skyped with my brother at college. Then we looked at pictures of penguins. Google image searches are pretty nifty for distracting/entertaining/appeasing 2 year olds.

We read his new dragon book and looked at pictures on my phone. Husband called right in the middle of that which brought on a total meltdown. Husband got home. We (M and I) Skyped with my dad while C had a fit. (No idea why.) Then we all convened to the kitchen to make dinner. C was still throwing a fit so I thought we could bake a cake. That didn't work well. He had to go to time out for a bit with Husband. When he was back under control, the cake went in the oven. Husband made eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes for dinner and C licked the beater.

Since he was already messy we added some blueberry syrup to his pancake. He did a good job eating it AND had 2 pieces of bacon. It was a record setting meat eating day for him. Al Roker has weather forecasts but C had meat eating!

After dinner we all went immediately upstairs for showers. C went first. He may or may not have revolted when it wasn't his turn anymore. I got to go next and then M. Once we were all in pajamas and smelling good, we went back downstairs for the last few minutes of Wheel of Fortune.

We sort of watched The Big Bang Theory, or rather it was on. It is hard to watch shows with toddlers and newborns around. Plus... central time zone is dumb because shows start before bedtime! So during that there was more reading and playing.

We Skyped with my parents until Husband to C to bed at 8:00, right on time. After I was done talking to my mom, we got ready to go upstairs for the night. I frosted the cake and put the lid on it and the last 3 members headed up the steps.

We updated some addresses on our spreadsheet because we have birth announcements to send. Now it is 10:22 and I am going to hit publish and go to sleep!

And that was my Thursday in a nutshell. I make no apologies but it wasn't a super exciting day.

And I Feel Good

This morning I was minding my own business on the couch. I was holding my favorite 3-week-old. (Seriously, it's been 3 weeks already! It's going warp speed!) We were, of course, watching Despicable Me because my favorite 2 year old loves to watch the minions. 

Through the blinds came a sunbeam and it was directly in my eyes. Most people would be annoyed by this. I did, in fact, find it distracting but I just embraced my sunbeam. The day after M was born, Husband went to work and my mom came and sat with us at the hospital for the day. Our room had a big window and it was sunny. 

As it happens, my mom and I have a philosophy which basically says to enjoy sunbeams. We just close our eyes and hum. In fact I am under strict instructions, when my mom is old and senile, to spritz her with perfume, wheel her into a sunbeam and put a piece of chocolate in her mouth. Needless to say we quickly indoctrinated Little Miss M into our "enjoy the sunbeam" group. 

My mom even made up a song called "In my Sunbeam." 

So this morning when the sun was shining, I just held my girl and closed my eyes and hummed. 

Look at that gorgeous sunbeam!

It is cold here now. With no end in sight. Definitely too cold to go play in the yard just yet. (I mean I guess technically we could all bundle up but that takes a lot more effort than I am willing to put in at 8:00 AM.)

Besides, we were watching Despicable Me. 

So I just enjoyed the sunbeam. I even sang "And the sun shines just for me, and I feel good." Are you a Boy Meets World Fan? No? 

I'm not crazy. It's just one of the funniest episodes. Here. I'll stick the video in here. If you are not a "video in a post" kind of person I'll tell you that the song I am talking about is in the first 35 seconds of this episode.

And this morning? This cold Wednesday morning, the sun was shining just for me and I did feel good. I am glad I took the time to just enjoy it too because a little while later I would go and make my oatmeal and when I got back the clouds had overtaken the sun. 

But my heart is still in that moment. Snuggling a baby, a cheerful toddler and a sunbeam. Life is good. Days are made of the little perfect moments.