five for friday

Whew, it's been a while to say the least! I don't know what happened, but somewhere between winter illnesses, careers, grad school, side jobs, and crazy kids, we have lost all track of time. That doesn't mean that we aren't painfully aware of time flying by, and the kids growing up too fast as always. I keep wanting to come back and post, and then feeling so overwhelmed by how far behind I am! I'm going to take a little tip from Tiffany today and steal her five for friday, it feels like the best way to catch up on the most important (or maybe just my favorite) things from the past couple of months. Thanks for the inspiration today, Tiffany!

{one}

Many holidays have come and gone since my last post. I always love Valentine's day, spoiling my kids and ordering in food. We sent these little pictures out to our family, and I loved the way they turned out! What's not to love about these two little cuties on Valentine's Day?

{two}

We have been battling illness, after illness, after illness around here. That has made for lots of indoor playing and lounging around. Not to mention, I may or may not have severed a little one's finger in the door back in January, yikes! Poor Laurelei, she had her very first emergency trip to the hospital, and it was a scene! Luckily, we are all in a state of recupperating and very, very happy to be there. Fingers crossed (poor choice of words, maybe?), we'll stay there!

{three}

I did it again. I redid another room... Laurelei's! I can't take all the credit though, as I rarely can, because Matt came up with and built the most exciting part of the room. I will have to come back and share more details of this sweet space soon, but for now, here is a quick iphone picture of the space! Did I mention that I want to live in this room now? It's way cooler than mine!

{four}

Our babies are changing. As Laurelei continues down the path of 4 years old, she has mellowed out just a tad. She spends more time engaged in one activity. Whether it is drawing, coloring, or playing with her LeapPad, she gets engrossed in an activity like never before.

Abbott on the other hand, has developed a little attitude to go along with his 16 months! He loves food. He can't get enough of it! He has mastered a few words now, but by far I think 'MORE!' is the clearest. He plays his little heart out all day everyday. Lucky, this has come with some good solid sleeping through the night too, so yay for that!

Oh how I love these little ones so!

{five}

On a completely unrelated, or somewhat related I guess, note...I have a new favorite thing. Laurelei and Abbott is always saying or doing new things and I think, "I will rememeber this forever!" Um, wrong. I tell a few people, maybe write it down in some obscure place, and then forget about it eventually. Well, not anymore!! I finally got myself a 'One Line a Day' journal, and I am so excited to use it. You can use it for five years, and just keep adding too it. I think it will be a great memory keeper if I can remember to use it. I am really excited about it! It doesn't hurt that it's one of my favorite shades of blue, tiny, and leather bound. Win, win, win!

Happy Friday all!

positivity is key

Sometimes we just have to do things we'd rather not do. Well okay, let's be real. We pretty much get to do things we don't want to do all the time. It's a shame that it has taken me the better part of 26 years to discover that positivity is key to getting us through these things we'd rather not do. I guess it's better late than never, right?

I decided that the only thing that was going to get me through going back to work was positive thinking. It's not that I don't like my job or don't want to work in general, I just really didn't want to leave my sweet babies. L and Abbott mean the world to me. They are beautiful, snuggly, sweet little children and the mommy in me just wanted to be with them.

Someone told me before I went back that being away from them during the day would just make the time I had with them sweeter. I didn't want to believe them, I mean who could ever think that there could be a positive outcome for having to leave you kids? But, as it always seems to go, they were right. Snuggling with Abbott each evening and listening to Laurelei sing songs at bedtime is just that much greater, now that I know what those moments are worth. Each second I spend rubbing their sweet cheeks or kissing their sweet faces mean so much to me every night.

Plus, I get 20 sweet kids to love on during the day too. Positivity really is the key.

sweet baby times

I'm convinced that no matter how much babies change so quickly, there are somethings that will stay exactly the same. Those deep eyes staring up at you, that sweet little round nose. Nursing Abbott has been such a blessing. The quality time I get to spend with him is awesome. It allows for ample staring time. I feel like I know every single little detail of his precious little face.

 Last night at around 3:26 in the morning (yikes!) I was reminded of what a privilege it is to be him mommy and to be able to take on all the feeding responsibility. It has been a bonding experience unlike any other. Laurelei was not able to BF exclusively because of her anemia, so this has been a whole new experience for me. At first I felt a lot like other new mom's I am sure. It was a little lonely. I was up in the middle of the night all by myself, so tired, so sleep deprived. I felt like I was tied to a chair the first couple of days, feeding non stop. That has all changed though. We are still on a 3 hour feeding schedule, but it doesn't seem lonely or limiting at all. We have learned to adjust our feeding times to fit our schedule for going out and being active. We have cut down our feedings to just one in the middle of the night (fingers crossed!) I am actually starting to think that I might be sad when that one goes away now. The middle of the night feeding time is our favorite.

Sweet Abbott has started to respond to things he likes with a smile. Every night now at some point I begin to hear the familiar sounds of a baby stirring. I get him quickly so as not to wake Matt and L. We snuggle into the recliner and Abbott begins to eat. And now, every night, about 2 minutes into our late night feeding he stops, looks up at me and smiles one big smile. It makes this mommy's heart melt and I instantaneously forget that I was so tired. I think it's Abbott's little way of telling me he appreciates me and he's happy to be awake in my arms, even if just for a few minutes. (It could also be him preparing me for the ten minutes after I change his diaper where he is wide awake and talking up a storm, daring me to be frustrated at his sweet grins and coos! Just like big sister this little schmoozer is!)

I know that going to back to work is going to be hard. We've been down that road before. I think giving up the day time feedings and snuggle sessions is going to be killer. However, I also know that somewhere in the middle of the night I will probably still be reminded of these sweet little mommy/baby times, as he doesn't seem to be anywhere close to giving up that feeding, which is okay with me! (And maybe, just maybe, I am writing that down so I always remember those words came out of my mouth when I go back to work! :)

Big and little things...

Here are some of the big and little things I'm loving this week...

one.  I'm loving that my husband told me the bathroom will be done Saturday. SATURDAY!!! Then we can get our dusty house back in order, get the last bit of baby goodies down from the attic and be ready for baby!!! Yay!! Oh, and L will get to take a bath in her new tub, no more kitchen sink! :)

 

two.  I'm loving my sweet husband for taking such good care of me. I was totally pampered yesterday with a manicure and pedicure at the Baby Belly spa. It was such a great way to relax, and got me out of the house for a little while which felt pretty good I must say.

three. I'm loving that after a couple of days of absolute toddler-tantrum torture, L and I had the best morning ever today. We ate breakfast, got dressed without a fit and cuddled for a little extra time. The new morning routine seemed to work great, so I'm hoping for a repeat tomorrow for sure!.

 

four.  I'm loving these project ideas from Pinterest! (And that I have a little time to maybe get them done in the next couple of weeks?)

five. I'm loving that I have gotten to have some quality time talking to good friends this week. My best friend Jessica from Dayton called and we finally got to chat for a few minutes! And of course Katharine always provides a good laugh and lots of perspective, we need to do that more often ok? :) (I do not love the fact that both of these great friends don't live in town!)

six. I love that Abbott could be here in just about 3 weeks! I will be welcoming that little boy with open arms and simultaneously loving the fact that the longest pregnancy ever will be over. 

(and this is the last time I do show this picture I promise, but I am loving these pictures 

my sweet husband took still, and all the positive feedback about them :)

{linking up with finding joy}

and
{linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday}