Our week

I always have mixed feelings when I don't blog for a week.  I feel bad because I don't want to get behind and I know grandparents like to see the kiddos, but it's usually good when I'm not blogging because I'm really busy just enjoying life.

Anyway, last week was one of those busy weeks and a good one too.  The first part of the week was busy with Peter finishing the tile project.  I'll take pictures as soon as I clean up the bath toys from drying all over the floor :-)  He did a fabulous job and I love it.

We also got ready for Peter's folks to come for a visit.  Benjamin was really looking forward to Poppy & GongGong getting here!  They arrived Wednesday night and left Monday morning.  We shopped for furniture for their new house on Thursday, then Peter and I went away for a night at the coast on Friday night.  The boys did great and we enjoyed our chance to "take a breath" and enjoy time together.  We had a blast eating yummy food, watching the waves and sleeping in.

There was already an EPIC girls event scheduled for Friday night that I had to miss in order to have our night away, but I was in charge of prepping the games so I went ahead and followed through on that.  It was "Minute to Win It" week so I planned out 12 games for the girls to do.  They worked as teams and though it took a bit of work to get them all ready, the girls said they really had fun, I wish I could have seen them do the games.

The rest of the time was spent staying up way too late playing games, attending church, playing with the boys and just enjoying each other's company.  We love having them visit and were sad to see them leave!

Benjamin & Peter mowing the yard before his parents came

 

a few of the games for EPIC

 

the view right from our balcony on the coast

(we kept our door cracked open all night and slept to the ocean breeze and sound of the waves......so wonderful)

 

before heading to our fabulous dinner in the small coastal town

 

drinking Starbucks while watching the waves......boy, we look rested!!!

 

I think Poppy sure enjoyed playing with Jonah

 

lots of fun stories with GongGong

 

bonding over shared raisins

 

 

All in all it was a great week, I can hardly believe it's already mid-March and that Easter is in less than 2 weeks?!?!? Craziness.

 



Small changes & ordinary days

Nothing too crazy going on this week.  We've done the typical "goings-on" of a normal week for us.  Went to the park, Costco run, Wal-Mart run, piano lessons, home group, soaked up the sunshine yesterday, went to the library.

My boys are at a fun age but also at an age that's pretty physically demanding during the day.  I'm always wiped at the end of the day.  And if I'm being honest, I've had far too many moments lately when I've lost my cool in frustration and not had the patience I should have with them.  So I'm trying really hard to combat that by doing a lot of little changes that hopefully will have a big impact.

First, I'm not letting myself spend more than a few minutes on the computer in the morning.  I get a lot of emails from people so I want to stay on top of that, but I'm finding that I can check it once in the morning and once before lunch and that's enough.  I was spending way too much time being there with my boys, but not "being there."

I'm also trying to make sure I have my own personal time for devotions.  This is improving and I want to keep it going.  Benjamin and I have also worked on memorizing Bible verses together.  He's really good at it and its so important.  I did this really well awhile ago and I want to get back to that.  It helps me keep focus when I'm disciplining him because I can say something like, "let's remember our verse, God tells us to be kind and compassionate to each other.  That's why it's not okay to hit our brother."  It reminds me that I'm not supposed to raise "good kids" who can follow rules really well but raise kids who want to love and obey Jesus.

On a totally different note, I'm also trying to make sure I get dressed in something other than t-shirts everyday.  And wear jewelry, comb my hair, look presentable.  It does wonders for my mood when I feel a bit more "put together" and the whole act of getting ready for the day helps me fight off the feeling to fall into the lazy "parent from the couch" routine.

Anyway, just a few things on my mind lately.  Here's a few pictures from the past couple of days.

 playing with our new toy from Wal-Mart

 swinging fun

Jonah has to get used to sitting in the grass, ha ha

on a tractor with a "lightsaber" to fight bad guys

he loved stacking the pieces into towers and knocking them over



 my sweet boy wanted a pic with mommy

getting ready to go to the library

Lots of stuff

Creative post title of the week goes to me......clearly.

Anyway, my kiddos are in bed so I have a moment to blog.  Actually Jonah's been in bed since 7 because of his teething no nap habits lately and Ben was listening to Disney stories on cd.......but now they're both sleeping!

There's just been a lot going on around here so I thought I'd recap the best way I know how.  Bullet points.

*  we've been getting little snippets of spring-like weather and it's making me ready for sunshine and warmth.  I took the boys to the park yesterday for over an hour and they had a blast.  And even though it's still work to take a 1 year old and 3 year old boy to the park, it's a wonderful perk of being a SAHM.  I remember sitting in my cubicle on a sunny day and just dying to be able to enjoy it.

*  we went for our first family walk in awhile last Saturday just to get out of the house, even though it was still pretty chilly.  We went to visit the nearby neighborhood horse, he totally remembered us as the "carrot people" and came running when we got close

*  this picture may or may not have been forced, er, encouraged, but it gives me hope that maybe someday these two will be the best of friends

(love my boys and their Floppy dogs)

*  Peter is slowly but surely updating the vinyl flooring with tile in our guest bath.  We have a deadline with the in-laws coming next week, and then he'll do the same thing in our master bath.  Hooray for talented husbands :-)

*  Why is it that every time you convince yourself that you're going to wake up at 6:30 to start exercising, your child decides to wake up at 5am for an hour??  Exercise fail.  Will probably comfort myself with ice cream.  It's a vicious cycle isn't it?

*  Friday night we had another EPIC girls group.  This time I hosted at my house and we had nachos and warm chocolate chips cookies (don't ask me how many I had)  I shared a devotional on the importance of choosing good friends and being a good friend.  It really got me thinking about how blessed I am to have some really wonderful friends.  But more on that in another post

*  After we had food and devotionals we went Cosmic bowling.  As in bowling from 10pm to 1am.  YIKES.  Did I mention I'm getting old and can't "hang" with the late night stuff anymore?  We had 15 teens though (boys were allowed at this event) and I have to say it was a blast.  I didn't get to sleep until around 2am and was up before 8 since a couple teen girls stayed overnight and needed breakfast before heading home, but it was so much fun.  Love getting to invest in these girls lives, what a blessing.

*  My days can have really frustrating moments but also the most amazing i-can't-believe-this-is-my-family-how-did-I-get-so-lucky kind of moments.  I love my boys

*  Jonah is still taking steps and getting more and more confidence with this whole walking thing.  I just need to keep working with him everyday until he prefers walking to crawling.

*  This evening we were relaxing before dinner and Jonah insisted on laying with me on the couch.  Peter would try and come near him to take him away and he would scream like a raptor at him.  It was hilarious.  Peter tried to pick him up, he screamed and cried until he was back with me.  And he stayed there for a really long time.  I pretended not to like the fact that I was clearly the preferred one of the evening.  I don't think I was very successful in hiding my enthusiasm :-)

*  Don't worry hubby......I still kinda like you.  Even if your son doesn't, ha ha!

12 Months!! - Jonah

A little over a month ago, Jonah turned 1 so wanted to capture what he was up to at 12 months for my memory!

Height - 30 1/2 inches

Weight - 19lbs (though before he was sick and not eating for a few days, he was almost 20lbs)

Likes - bathtime, playing piano, playing the guitar, climbing the stairs, reading books, playing outside, riding your fire truck, playing with Benjamin

Dislikes - you still fuss when it's time to get your diaper changed.  You don't like to wait for your food and you don't like it when something gets taken away from you.

Eating - You are still a champion eater.  You switched from breastmilk to whole milk with ease and now drink about 14 ounces a day.  You eat anything and everything most days.  Usually a banana and egg or pancakes for breakfast.  You love fruit, eat most veggies, love noodles and may or may not have had your first bit of hot dog (and loved it of course!)  You eat a lot!  You're learning to use a fork and spoon and love that independence.

Sleeping - You are still a good sleeper.  You sleep from 8pm everynight until somewhere between 7:45 and 9:00.  Most days its about 8am which is a nice break since your brother wakes up at 7.  You take one nap a day usually about 2 hours, sometimes 1 1/2, sometimes 3.  You still have your Floppy, paci, and white noise machine.

Personality - You have become quite the talker.  We love hearing you babble all the time and you have said quite a few words incredibly clear like bath, dog, water, banana, light, ball, and lots more.  You are still sooo ornery.  You are goofy and have the biggest cheeseball smile.  You are feisty and pick on your brother so much.  You are stubborn and are not deterred from doing things very easily.  You are affectionate and cuddly.

Highlights - We celebrated your first birthday!!!  You weren't quite walking at 12 months but you were just learning to stand on your own.  You went to the zoo, played with Auntie Amanda, celebrated your first Christmas.  It was a great, memory filled month for you.

Jonah Caleb you bring so much joy to our family.  We are so so grateful for you and just love watching you learn and covering you in kisses.  A year with you just flew by and though it's sad to see you slipping out of the baby stage, we are loving each new day with you.  Happy 12 months sweet boy.  You'll never know how much we love you.

A night off

Last Sunday afternoon, I went to Portland.  By myself.  For the night.

No really.  Last Sunday afternoon, I went to Portland by myself for the night.

My sweet husband had not only given me the coffee gift card for Christmas but had given me a "certificate" for a night away.  Best gift EVER.

Of course my husband knows that I talk about having a night away to relax but then I can never ever bring myself to do it because I miss my family too much.  So, he finally convinced me and off I went.  I also had a massage/facial groupon from forever ago that I never had a chance to use so after checking in at the hotel, I went to my spa appointments.  Amazing. 

I was starving so I went to grab some takeout at what my husband knows is my love language....Cheesecake Factory.  Fried mac and cheese, baja tacos and chocolate cheesecake?  Yes please.  I stuffed, and I mean, stuffed my face full of food while watching the Oscars and it was wonderful.  I relaxed with my laptop and browsed the cable channels.  I seriously don't think I had a coherent thought for at least two hours and it was bliss.

And then I slept.  Uninterrupted.  And when I woke up at 8:30, I went back to sleep for another hour.

I showered and lazed around, finally checking out around 11:15.  I grabbed a coffee, hit a few Goodwills, shopped the Outlets, and ate a long, relaxing lunch at Paneras before heading home around 3.

It's funny because in my head I was expecting this "getaway" to be this amazing, ridiculously relaxing experience.  And if I'm honest, it wasn't this life-changing, now I can be super-mom, kind of moment.  But it WAS a much needed breath of fresh air.  A chance to have a few moments of me-time, and a chance to sleep.  And one of my favorite parts was just blasting a good worship song in the car, enjoying a long drive in the sun by myself.

Peter, thank you for this thoughtful, thoughtful gift.  You always take such good care of your family and good care of me as the mother of your kids and as your wife.  You have totally figured out that if you give me 8 hours of sleep and a slice of cheesecake, I'll be your BFF for life :-)