Is it crazy to move for weather?

This morning I woke up around 6 a.m. and realized we hadn’t taken our garbage to the curb – so I slid on some flip flops and walked quietly outside to do that. The sun was rising, the birds were chirping, and the morning air in my lungs made me feel so happy and alive. There are few things I love more than being outside as soon as a new day breaks!

It was already 65 degrees out, and I decided I simply had to get out for a walk. I walked two miles at 6:30 a.m., no head phones, just me and God and the birds and sky, and the sounds of the neighborhood waking up. It was such a glorious way to start my day.

Tonight after dinner the kids were playing at the neighbors’ house and I wanted to be able to hear them, so I brought my computer out to our back deck to get a few things done. And again, I just reveled in being able to be outside, finally.

When I look ahead to our impending big move, that’s what I’m most looking forward to. Being able to step outside each morning every single day of the year.

There are reasons besides weather that makes Arizona appeal to us – the landscape; its proximity to a lot of really cool places; its political climate; year-round baseball and the fact that it’s the home of Brewers spring training.

But the weather? That is still probably the biggest factor.

There’s so much sunshine. Months on end of perfect – like, perfect – weather, when much of the rest of the country is under snow and cold.

I get that some people just aren’t that affected by the weather. And that others in fact love winter and all that it brings.

But as I’ve grown and evolved over these past years and become more and more determined to live the BEST life I possibly can in the time that I’m here, I’ve slowly come to the conclusion that this cycle we go through every year here in Wisconsin is just NOT something I want for myself or for my family for the rest of our days.

We eagerly await summer all year – and then it’s over in the blink of an eye.

Even when it’s here, it still rains a lot of the days, and then some days are so humid it’s not at all enjoyable to be outside then either.

Fall comes and it’s so beautiful – until it’s cut short by snow, or rain and cold. And then the holidays are here, which makes us temporarily forget the bad weather. But then come January? The heaviness comes. Knowing that the next 4-6 months will just be … horrible. The dead zone of the year – every dang year.

And again – I know not everyone feels that way! But I do.

It’s also true that when we DO get those rare perfect days in the spring, summer or fall, we APPRECIATE THE CRAP out of them. And there is something to be said for that.

But I just want more of them. And I promise to appreciate them.

Early this year, I started saving winter-focused statuses that come up in my Timehop. There were quite a few of them – especially 9, 10, 11+ years ago! It’s funny, because even as I stopped lamenting so much on social media (because hey, I was running a business here now, and I didn’t need to be spoiling it with negativity!) the feelings actually got worse, not better.

I think having kids really amplified it. It’s tough keeping kids cooped up so much of the year. It’s tough BEING cooped up with kids so much of the year! It’s no fun sitting at a fall soccer game or a spring baseball game when it’s 40 degrees and rainy.

So – are we crazy to leave all the people we love in search of better weather? I think some people absolutely think we are. And I respect that, but I also disagree.

It’s sad to leave our loved ones – very sad. But they will always be our loved ones. We’ll still spend wonderful quality time together, and in between, we have technology. They’ll have a fabulous new place to visit in the dead of winter, and we’ll come home to visit, too.

I think when we look at our life long-term, and our kids’ lives, and their kids and so on, I think living somewhere warmer and so beautiful will be delightful for us all.

Could I be wrong? I sure could be.

But life is short, and we only get to live once – and I want to find out that answer for myself.

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AZ Bound!

I’m dusting off the old blog to share some news today, and hopefully to document this journey we’re about to embark on!

So, our house – the house that, in my last post on here, we’d only recently moved in to! – officially went on the market today and … we’re moving to Arizona!

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I know. It’s a little crazy. But we are REALLY excited!

I mean, we hope we’re moving to Arizona in the coming months.

Our house needs to sell, and the world needs to at least somewhat open back up. But – we’re taking it one step at a time and moving in that direction anyway!

WHY? is the big question everyone asks.

No, it’s not for a job transfer, and no, we don’t have family there!

The short answer is that we want to escape the cold and gray of Wisconsin and put down new roots as a family somewhere warm. And Arizona it is.

The far longer answer and the story of how we came to our decision is below, if you’d like to read it!

Dave and I met in 2001 when we were both 19 years old, and since pretty much the day I met him, he’s made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t like living in Wisconsin and would prefer to live somewhere warm. I always brushed it off, thinking well, bummer for you, buddy, because this is where we live. This is where our family is. And this is where we’re building our life.

So build our life we did.

We got married, got jobs, had kids, and moved from Muskego to Shorewood to Greenfield to New Berlin. In 2016 we moved into our current house thinking it’d be our forever home, or at least our home until our kids were grown.

But over the last year or so, we’ve both found ourselves feeling … unsettled. It’s hard to explain. But we both felt it.

In the fall our basement flooded because of a power outage and sump pump failure, and it was a multi-month project getting it back to normal. And we both think that that was the start of this idea turning into something real.

We realized that while we love this house (me especially – I simply love this house) we didn’t want such a BIG house anymore, and all the maintenance and upkeep it required.

But the idea of downsizing here, in a place where our kids are cooped up so much of the year every year, was really unappealing to us.

So we started really examining our feelings and what we wanted for our future.

We both REALLY dislike the cold and snow and wet and gray.

For years I told Dave oh, it’s not that bad, we get plenty of months of nice weather!

But really, we don’t. It’s a few, if we’re lucky, and then it’s back to hunkering down and surviving another winter. And for many people, that’s just fine. But we’ve both come to the agreement that we don’t want to live in that cycle anymore.

Now, I’m going to tread lightly here, because obviously nearly everyone we love lives in Wisconsin. And many love living here, or at least like it enough to not want to leave.

But the things is – God wired us all differently. He wired us to want and need and long for different things. And we don’t love living here. We love our PEOPLE, but we don’t love the climate or overall location.

Now, some may think it’s silly to move for weather, but I don’t.

We all know how sunshine makes us feel. It does something to us as humans – to our bodies, to our mental states, to our spirits. It makes us feel more alive, happier, and more motivated to accomplish things. It calls us outdoors. It makes us more active.

We are active people. And we just want to be outside. We want our kids to be outside. Every day. We want to go for walks and bike rides and hikes – often.

But do you know how HOT it gets in Arizona?! people ask.

Yes, of course we know that. It gets HOT, HOT, HOT.

Do I know how we’ll handle the heat? Nope, I don’t.

But do I want to go and find out? I absolutely do.

And what I keep saying about the heat is this – in the morning, it’s not as hot. In the evening, it’s not as hot. And there’s air conditioning, and a pool in the backyard, and yes, we’ll just have to avoid the outdoors for most of the day during those scorching months.

But it’s not much different than having to avoid the outdoors for 6+ months here! Though the difference is there’s still sunshine, and there’s still the mornings and evenings to be outside.

I can’t really describe it, but over the past six months, my heart has just completely opened up to the idea. I don’t even know where it came from or when exactly it started.

For so many years, it was a HARD no from me. Not because I didn’t want to live somewhere warmer, but because I just couldn’t imagine moving away from family. From everyone we love and everything we know.

The thought was unbearable, and in some ways, it still is. I certainly have moments when I think what are we doing? How will I handle this? Especially being so far away from my MOM?

But it comes down to what we truly want for our lives, and for our kids’ lives.

I’ve always been so jealous of people who were born somewhere warm and beautiful. And Dave and I have long talked about the generational chain – how you live somewhere because you were born there, and then your kids are born there, and then their kids. Even if it’s in a cold and crappy place that doesn’t make you happy – you stay because your family is there.

We started to realize – why not us? Why can’t we be the ones to break that generational chain?

It won’t be easy, I know – but then our kids will grow up somewhere warm, and their kids will be born somewhere warm.

Unless of course we decide it’s not for us and we come back! 😉 And that’s the beauty of life – you can always change course. I’d much rather do things and have them be wrong than always wonder what if, ya know?

And, well… I don’t think we’ll dislike it. I think we’ll probably love it.

So why Arizona?

Arizona has always been it for Dave – probably because the weather couldn’t be much more opposite from Wisconsin. Also because it’s a baseball mecca, and where his beloved Brewers have spring training, so we’ll always have that fun connection to home.

And while we want warmth, we don’t want the humid, heavy, wet warmth that comes with so many states. We’re sick of wet! Give us dry.

Obviously I had to go there first to see if I could picture myself living there. And yes, it’s a big decision to make from just being down there once, but I could just tell. I’ve been to a lot of states, and while I love visiting them, I couldn’t see myself living there. But I can picture living in Arizona very clearly.

Another factor is that neither Dave nor I has ever lived more than 45 minutes from where we grew up. We both stayed close to home for college; neither of us studied abroad in college (one of my biggest regrets in life); and we didn’t travel all that much before we had kids because we didn’t have the money to do that yet.

So while many people have the adventures young and then move back home, I guess we’re doing it the opposite way. We missed out, and we’re ready for that adventure now.

We both have jobs we can work from anywhere. Our kids are at really good ages to move. And it’s a good market in which to sell our house.

We just feel like – why not?

When I first started opening my heart to it, back in January, it felt like such an insane idea. Like, could we really do this? But now that we’re here, it feels very real, and not so insane.

Once that happened, though, the next month or two was fraught with absolute anxiety and worry for me. I had trouble sleeping, and a constant battle raged in my head. It was pretty awful, honestly. I just knew what it would do to those we loved, and I felt such pressure about making a decision that was likely right for us but that would also impact so many others who had no say in the matter.

Our families were in disbelief at first, and it didn’t go well when we first told them we were considering it. 

It hurt to feel such resistance from those we love, but we (I) also understood it. I’d be sad, too, if my child and grandkids were moving far away.

Thankfully, over time and through this forced-separation situation we find ourselves in, our families have made some peace with it.

I have some guilt, for sure. But I also feel very strongly that it’ll be ok, for everyone. More than ok even.

We’ll get back for Christmas every year, and hopefully each summer, too. Arizona is a fantastic place to visit and I anticipate we’ll have plenty of visitors! I hope my parents and their spouses will want to come down every single year, and hopefully Dave’s parents, too.

Our visits won’t be as frequent, but they’ll be filled with making awesome memories together. And in between, we’ll have technology to keep in touch.

When I visited with Henry in March and my friend Stevi (who grew up in AZ and has lived there her whole life) drove us around, I just looked around in awe everywhere we went – surrounded by mountains, and so much sky above, and so much beauty everywhere. I kept saying “people just get to LIVE here.” She said my reactions made her really appreciate even more where she gets to live.

And we’ve gotten down to the nitty gritty details, too. Taxes on a similarly priced house in Arizona are about 1/3 of what they are here. That difference is a big chunk of my travel fund each year!

And our area in Wisconsin gets, on average, about 90 totally sunny days per year, and about 190 with at least some sun. Arizona gets about 300. If we stay there, and if we live another 50 years (hopefully more!), that’s more than 5,000 extra sunny days in our lifetime.

So that’s that. The mountains, sunshine, cactuses, palm trees, wide open sky and warmth are calling, and we’re going to go see if it’s the life for us.

We’ll settle in the Phoenix area, likely in Chandler, renting first and then buying when the time is right. If our house sells quickly, we’ll likely be moving right after the 4th of July holiday. School is more year-round there, and it’s set to start July 22 in Chandler – though I’m not holding my breath that that’ll be happening. So who knows when or where our kids will go to school, but we will figure it out!

When we do make our journey down, we’re going to drive first to Denver and stay a few days there to break up the trip and to have a little family vacation. I couldn’t be more excited to show my kids the mountains! And to visit there again myself, as it’s been since 2007 that I’ve been there! Then on to Phoenix we will go.

I’m also just so excited for how close we’ll be to so many places to visit. The Grand Canyon will be at the top of our list, and San Diego, and Disneyland, and about a million other places in Arizona, California and New Mexico.

This whole experience has brought us closer together as a family, too. We’re all sharing in the excitement, and in the dreaming about what life might look like once we do this big thing we’ve been talking about for months. I think Ben and Ellie can’t fully grasp it all, but they’re excited. Henry is the one I’d worry about, going into fifth grade already, but he’s really excited, too. Sad to leave his friends, but confident he’ll make new ones. He loved it down there when we went, and I’m really glad I brought him along.

It’s fun to think about what will lie ahead. Our future house, future schools, future church. The people we’ll meet and who will become part of our lives. The experiences we’ll have, the trips we’ll take. It’s all so unknown, and full of potential, and exciting.

I pray it all continues to go smoothly – we’re going to keep taking it one day at a time!

Day (Weekend!) in the Life: Winter 2017

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I missed doing a DITL post this past fall for the first time in years, and it makes me sad now that I don’t have it! What a busy and exciting time the fall was… we were settling into our new home, which we moved into in August, the boys started at their new schools, and Dave and I spent a week in St. Lucia to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary!

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Oh, and the kids were Star Wars characters for Halloween. That just needs to be documented on the blog. 😉

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So I’m back in (DITL) action, and since I missed the last one and since it was my birthday weekend, I decided to document two days in a row – Friday and Saturday. Then I threw in a little recap of Sunday, too, since that was my actual birthday!

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The dates are Friday, January 13 – Sunday, January 15, 2017

I’m 34 on 1/13 and 1/14, the big 3-5 on 1/15!
Dave is 34
Henry is 7 years, 3 months
Ben is 4 years, 11 months
Ellie is 2 years, 5 months

Last night was a full moon and no one slept well til nearly 1 a.m. Ben had a cough, Ellie woke up a few times, Dave was tossing and turning.

6:19 a.m. – I wake up when Ellie yells “MOM!” from her crib. The alarm goes off for Dave at 6:20 a.m. so that was good timing. I go get her and bring her into my bed where we cuddle for awhile before heading downstairs.

6:40 a.m. – Ben comes in and snuggles, and Henry, who’s been sleeping on our floor since about midnight, wakes up, too. We all head downstairs, and I turn on Little People, start the coffee and ask the kids if they want cereal, oatmeal, waffles or eggs today. They all vote cereal, so I pour them all a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Ellie and Ben also end up eating a berry waffle each.

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7:20 a.m. – Dave leaves for work, we all kiss him good-bye. He makes a comment like “well, it’s been a pleasure…” because we had kind of a rough evening last night and then a rough few minutes before he left this morning again. We often wonder if we just have unrealistic expectations of what life with little kids should be like – because holy hell, it’s chaotic and loud and frustrating a heck much of the time. Of course, all the wonderful moments make up for it a million times over! But still. 😉

I pack lunches for the boys, get clothes for Ben and Ellie, drink coffee and chat with Henry a bit. Once he’s all ready, I let him watch videos on my old phone for a few minutes before school. I put various fruit in Ben’s lunch and urge him to try them since the kids only likes apples and bananas, neither of which travel well in school lunches, since he likes his apple peeled, and he’s not great at peeling bananas on his own yet. Sheesh.

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8 a.m. – Henry’s all bundled up and ready for school, we give hugs and kisses and I watch as he crosses the street to wait for the bus with the neighbor kids. The bus comes at 8:02 a.m. and I’m in the kitchen when I hear it pull away – I very rarely miss watching and waving as Henry gets on the bus, but I got distracted today and it makes me sad! I wave to the bus anyway, even though it’s already down the street. I realize a few minutes later that I forgot to put Henry’s book that he had to read last night back into his backpack. I mean, it’s his responsibility, too, but I told him last night I’d do it and then I didn’t! Feel bad again.

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8:10-8:50 a.m. – I make myself eggs for breakfast. Ellie gets her own pajamas off and is running around in her diaper, jumping over a balloon and doing “ta-da!” with her arms every time. Ben gets himself dressed and brushes his teeth. We play and I clean up and and get Ellie dressed and then we get bundled up to head to Ben’s school, which is about two minutes away.

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9 a.m. – We drop Ben at school and tell him we’ll see him at 1. It is COLD today! On our way in, I’d seen a kid from his class wearing shorts and my first thought was crap! did I forget it was some kind of theme day today? Beach day? My fears are eased when I see two other classmates definitely not wearing shorts. I find out later his mom just didn’t want to fight that battle this morning.

9:15 a.m. – Ellie and I go to Target for just a few things – conditioner, Diet 7-up (for our drinks this weekend!), light bulbs. I end up buying diapers and wipes, too, since Ellie poops (of course!) and I can’t remember if I have a diaper in the van. (Of course, I had several.) Before the poop, we spend time looking at toys, since we’re in no rush today.

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9:50 a.m. – We head to the local library in our new ‘burb, where I’m finally going to get a library card. We came once before but my license didn’t have my new address on it and I didn’t have a piece of mail – so now I’m finally a card-carrying member of our new library. We have to park super far away because there’s an event happening in the meeting room and all the parking spaces are full. I’m annoyed because it’s freezing out!

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Ellie and I spend over an hour there, playing and reading. There are a lot of other parents and small kids there. It’s a weird feeling for me to just sit and BE with her, with no plans and nowhere to be; no reason to rush. I’m fully aware that I’m often way too much of a go-go-go person, constantly thinking about what I want and need to be doing next, and rushing around and rushing through time with my kids. So this is a good thing, and we both very much enjoy it.

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11:15 a.m. – We’re back home and we’re both hungry. I make Ellie a hot dog and give her some red peppers (which she doesn’t touch, of course, but I keep trying) and raspberries, and she grabs herself a yogurt when I have the fridge open. I have red peppers and turkey and cheese on crackers and a yogurt myself. Kind of random, but I don’t feel like a sandwich or a salad today.

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12-12:50 p.m. – I give Ellie my attention for the rest of our time together before we have to pick Ben up. She poops twice (gross) and she helps me sweep the floor with her little Melissa and Doug broom she got for Christmas, and otherwise we play blocks and princesses and beads.

1 p.m. – We pick Ben up from school, first going to his cubby to get all of his stuff since he’s in a different classroom on Fridays. I run into the mom of one of Ben’s favorite friends at school, who I recently became Facebook friends with. She’s carrying her adorable baby, and she says she has some questions for me. She asks about our Greens because her son is having some constipation issues, I tell her the Greens Chews might be great for him, and I tell her I’ll bring her samples next week. Then Ben’s teacher comes over and tells me that Ben had some trouble sitting still and keeping his hands to himself on the carpet today, so she finally made him sit in a chair and this “made him sad.” (He tells me later he’d cried.) She’s so sweet and I just love her – she says they’re working on sitting still and I tell her oh, we’re working on a lot of things with this one. 😉 He agrees to listen better next week, and we have a little chat about it in the car on the way home. Ben’s loving school and doing really well – I hope this is the first and last time the teacher has to talk to me about something he was doing naughty. Though I think we have our work cut out for us with Ben in the years ahead…

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1:15 p.m. – We’re home and I hang up coats and Ellie’s tired so I take her right up to bed. When I come back down, I spend a little time with Ben – we look at a Scholastic handout he brought home about the new president, and we learn things about the White House. Then he plays Osmo Words and I’m really surprised at how long it holds his attention. We got the system for Christmas – I’d asked my bro for it when he asked if we had any ideas for a joint gift for the kids – in hopes that it would make at least some of the kids’ screen time more educational – and so far both boys love it! Ellie’s a bit too young still but I’m sure she’ll love it too.

1:45 p.m. – Nap time is my work time and I let Ben have some video game time. He plays Minecraft while I return emails and get some work done. I make a cup of coffee in my Keurig, which I finally just got for Christmas (to us from us, ha.) I held out for a long time but I love it! We have it for our afternoon single cups of coffee – we still make a full pot in our regular coffee maker each morning.

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3:45 p.m. – Ellie wakes up from her nap and is adorable, as always. I love the way she smells and I could just eat her up. She asks for water and Chapstick when she gets downstairs. I have a few more things I want to get done, so I give her the iPad and she sits down next to me to watch it.

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4:05 p.m. – Henry gets home on the bus. My heart always leaps when that boy of mine gets home for the day. He’s not wearing his hat, even though it’s like 8 degrees out. He’s had a good day. He gets a snack from the pantry, so the other kids follow suit. We talk about his day and I finish uploading pics to my computer. Ben asks me to hold his pads while he boxes, so I do that for a few minutes and ouch, that kid is tough! I go upstairs with Ellie for something and realize she’s pooped yet again (she’s having this issue lately – will poop just a little bit at time, like five times a day!), so I change her, then empty all the garbages upstairs, then semi-clean the kids’ bathroom because the sink and mirror are disgusting.

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Once I’m back downstairs we open the new humidifier that came via Amazon today. I know one little humidifier isn’t going to do much for the air quality in our whole house, but it’s a start. I turn it on in the kitchen right away. Within minutes Ellie is running laps around  the table and putting her hand through the mist when she knocks it over and says “sorry Mom!” and I kind of freak out because it’s brand new and there’s water all over the floor and I’m not sure if she’s broken it. Luckily she has not. I take the garbage out and wear Dave’s shoes to do it. The kids watch from the door.

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5 p.m. – I preheat the oven for pizzas, since Friday night is pizza night in our house. We’re up to three pizzas in our house on Fridays if they’re thin-crust ones! We have leftovers, but still. Two just isn’t enough. 😉 I put Beauty and the Beast in the XBox for us to watch and the kids bring blankets in so they can have a picnic with their pizza. I get a DuraLog from the garage to light a fire – I’m pretty much obsessed with my fireplace and will light a fire as often as I can! It’s the weekend and it’s cold and it feels like a good night for one. I open a bottle of wine, pour myself a glass and make salads for me and Dave to eat with our pizza. Balance. 😉

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5:30 – Kids are eating their pizza, I’m eating my salad, I’m loving the movie. Henry’s curled up on the floor with his new Build-a-Bear, Oliver.

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5:50 – Dave’s home and our pizza is ready. We sit at the table and eat and talk about his day. The kids are done by now and only half interested in the movie, so they’re running around and playing and being fools.

6:30 p.m. – I’m slightly tipsy after a couple glasses of wine and suddenly my whole family is downstairs in the basement watching some wrestling match. I sit on the couch and message with my friend Marit, who’s in MN and also currently tipsy, and then I watch the end of the movie by myself. Ellie comes up as the closing credits are going and I sing to her, which she does not enjoy.

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7 p.m. – I take Ellie upstairs for bath, as she’s about due for one. She requests color tabs and bubbles and she enjoys her solo bath, since more often than not she takes a bath with Ben and has to share the tub. We exchange a few SnapChat videos with Auntie Kate and Ebby.

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7:20-8:20 p.m. – Bedtime chaos. I get Ellie out of the bath, brush her hair and read her some books. We go into my bathroom where she brushes her teeth and I blow-dry her hair. The boys get their pjs on and brush teeth, while breaking for rough-housing every few seconds. Ben asks me to do a Boomerang video of him leaping out of his toy box, which leads to a whole series of Boomerang videos – the kids leaping out of the toy box, Ben kicking, the kids doing the dab, the kids jumping off the bed. Then we move to Henry’s room where Dave jumps on their big bean bag and makes them go flying, which we also Boomerang, and it’s quite hilarious.

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I snuggle with Ellie in my bed for a few minutes, per our nightly tradition (since she doesn’t have her own bed for us to snuggle in yet!) and I put her down. I snuggle Henry for a few minutes and scratch his back, as I do every night, and then I snuggle Ben. He recites his “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer for me, which I just taught him like a week ago and he picked up in an instant – makes me happy and proud. I go downstairs, and of course am called back up by Ellie for a drink of water within about five minutes.

8:45 p.m. – Sit down to type this up, and I’m tired from the wine and just ready for bed. Looking forward to my birthday weekend ahead and am thinking I’ll just turn in early for a change tonight! 9:30 p.m. – Head upstairs after my internet time and read a little bit and get ready for bed. Turn on the fireplace in our room because I’m cooooooold. That thing gets hot and I wouldn’t turn it on if the kids were around. Sure makes our room nice and toasty, though!

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Once ready for bed, my nightly ritual includes writing a few quick notes about my day, answering the question in my Q&A book and reading today’s passage from Jesus Calling. I see on my phone that I didn’t check on the kids and take their pic til 10:38 p.m., so I’m not sure what I did all this time. I think I may have gotten sucked into Instagram.

In bed by 10:40!

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Saturday, January 14

6:45 a.m. – Kids are up and it’s been a semi rough night because Ellie has a bit of a cold and woke up quite a bit. We head downstairs while Dave stays in bed and I check my phone. See the happy news that Andrea’s baby boy has arrived!!!! I’m so excited and message her back like four messages in a row. Nothing like a brand new baby!

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7-9 p.m. – Typical Saturday morning. TV and some drawing for the kids; I make coffee and drink coffee. Dave gets up and together we make breakfast. Mostly him, actually – I think I mixed up the pancake batter. 😉 We have a big breakfast together and then Henry asks to go outside and it’s sunny and beautiful. Cold, but the sun is so welcome, and Ellie comes out to play, too.

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My mom is taking the kids overnight tonight and will be driving my van, and it’s long overdue for a clean anyway, so I spend the next 45 minutes cleaning and vacuuming it out in the garage. Henry helps a bit. The kids go back inside when we’re done, and I leave to take it through the car wash and put gas in it.

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It’s about noon by now, and everyone in town it seems has had the same idea to get their car washed on this sunny day. I wait in line about 20 min and text Dave to put Ellie down for an early nap, since my mom is coming at 3 today. I use the time to post a giveaway post on Facebook and Instagram – sharing some It Works love for my birthday! After I go through the car wash, I hit up the gas station and also buy fire wood so we can make a fire tonight.

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I get home and eat some lunch – cheese and sausage and crackers and red peppers and yogurt. Usually nap time is work time but today I spend way too much time reading reviews of local sushi places. I decide on one for the evening finally. The boys have their video game time while E naps, and Dave runs out to get me a birthday present. Comes home with roses and a card, plus an Ulta gift card which is what I asked for. He’d texted from the store to say whoa, the line is long, is it always like this? Ha.

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The doorbell rings and it’s the mail lady with our mail and an It Works box, which must be our brand new product that I ordered – our Shake. I got it in Chocolate and of course we have to try it right away, and Dave, Henry and I all approve. Which surprises me since it’s vegan and I figured it’d be very plant-y – but it’s super good!! Henry says it tastes like “cold hot chocolate.”

I take a shower and put on makeup, and then Ellie wakes up around 2:30 and I get clothes for everybody and pack their suitcases for grandma’s house. Once we’re all downstairs, they’re adorable walking around with their new suitcases, pretending to go to Florida and the airport and a hotel. Someday they’ll get to go on some big travels with those suitcases. 😉

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My mom shows up around 3:05 and we’ve got the kids ready to go! We visit for a few minutes and then pack up the kids in the van, giving them lots of hugs and kisses and telling them we’ll see them tomorrow! I tell my mom to drive super safe, say a prayer to God to keep them safe, and off they go. She texts 35 minutes later to tell me they made it.

I go upstairs after they leave and curl my hair, and we chill for awhile. I think I watch a Modern Family that I have on the DVR. Dave makes us each an Old Fashioned, and we head out for dinner around 5:40. Early birds! We head to a sushi place in Brookfield called Fujiyama, and we have a great experience there. I have a yummy pomegranate martini, and we get edamame and dumplings to start and then a big old plate of various sushi rolls – heaven!!

The overhead lighting in the restaurant is terrible, so I snap a pic of us outside. When I look later, it’s completely blurry and all I can do is laugh. I swear I wasn’t drunk! Take a couple more once we’re back home in our kitchen. 😉

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After dinner we stop at the grocery store to get a pint of ice cream. Dave tells me I’m boring in my usual selections – mint chip, cookie dough and fudge brownie – so we go with 100 Grand. We come home, Dave lights a fire and we watch The Big Short. About halfway through we get ice cream, and we each eat like three big scoops – way too much. Between the ice cream, the drinks (had some wine with dinner too), and a week of sleep that wasn’t great, I’m just done, and I start falling asleep when we still have like an hour to go in the movie. We don’t finish it and I say good-night and head upstairs.

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Pretty sure I was asleep by like 10:30, and slept pretty well that night.

The next day is my birthday. 🙂

I lay in bed awhile after waking up, and I head downstairs by about 7:25. Dave sleeps til 8:30. I enjoy the quiet house, drinking my coffee and sitting on the couch under a blanket. I turn on the TV and watch CBS Sunday Morning.

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I head upstairs to shower by like 9:30, and we leave the house at 10:15. Have breakfast at a cute little place here in New Berlin, then head to my mom’s to get the kids. We visit for about an hour then head home.

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Ellie naps on the way home which of course ruins any chances of a real nap the rest of the day. It’s a great day, though, just hanging out as a fam. We make another fire, we watch the Packers game (beat the Cowboys, whoo hoo!) and we eat spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread for dinner.

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Then they all sing happy birthday to me and we feast on chocolate cake and ice cream. It’s been a wonderful birthday weekend – bring on 35!

Day in the Life: Summer 2016

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The date is Friday, July 8, 2016.

Dave and I are 34
Henry is 6 years, 9 months
Ben is 4 years, 5 months
Ellie is 22 months

5:47 a.m. My day begins with Ellie whining for me in her crib. We’re in the rising-before-the-sun stage with her – three for three on that – and this is actually better than some days. Of course, she’ll randomly sleep til 6:30 sometimes (even 7 a.m. once!!) but usually it’s well before 6 a.m. I bring her into my bed to snuggle, and within about five minutes she’s saying “show” “show” from behind her nuk.

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6 a.m. I bring Ellie downstairs and she’s saying “hungry” so I make her a waffle and pour her some water and get her all set up on the couch. Little princess always insists on a blanket, her lambie and her nukie, though we’ve been attempting to keep the nuk solely for car rides and bedtime now that’s she’s pushing two years old. We’re successful about 95% of the time, and today I take the nuk with me and put it in the cupboard in the kitchen.

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I turn on the TV and Dave must have been watching the news before bed because that’s the channel that’s on, and the first thing I see is “5 police officers killed.” I went to bed having just heard the news of what had happened in Dallas, but I hadn’t seen any coverage yet. Ellie doesn’t protest as I watch a few minutes of the coverage before turning the channel to Sprout for her so she can watch the shows she likes – Little People and YaYa and Zouk.

There aren’t really words for what a heavy, heavy heart I have as I go back upstairs. I just can’t believe this is our reality these days. Shooting after shooting. Such hatred. It’s terrifying and just completely heartbreaking.

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6:20 a.m. I go back upstairs and lay back down for a minute, having plans to shower later in the day when Ellie naps, but then I decide it’ll just be easier to get it done now. I get back up and head into the bathroom. When I emerge from the shower at 6:28, I hear Ben’s up and I say good morning. Ellie climbs up the stairs, crying for her nukie and throws a fit on our bed when I tell  her no.

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Dave’s in the shower now; I head back downstairs and get Ben some cereal and Ellie some yogurt raisins that she’s pulled from the pantry. I pick my battles with this one. I get ready upstairs – put on makeup and blow-dry my hair – with various interruptions, mostly from Ellie. She insists on being in the bathroom with me while I get ready, and like always, I’m thankful that I don’t have to do this every morning like I used to! She puts contact solution in her eyes, and she reaches for her toothbrush and dumps all of them on the floor. She flushes the toilet for no reason – heaven help me. I put on a wrap because I’m going to Florida next week and would like to do two before I leave, if I can remember!

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7 a.m. Henry gets up and I kiss him good morning. He’s my favorite in the mornings since, at almost 7 years old, he’s finally learned how to really SLEEP at night. Falls asleep fast and sleeps all night til 7 most days. Alelujah! I come downstairs and pour myself some coffee; Ellie brings a book down and insists I read it to her – an American Girl Itty Bitty Baby book, which is one we never really read together. We settle onto the couch to read.

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7:20 a.m. We kiss Dave good-bye before he heads to work. Henry takes our picture.

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Ellie is in RARE form this morning. I’d blame it on her early rising, but she rises early most days but isn’t normally the bear she is today. I threaten her with an early nap several times and she always says “noooooo!!” and stops crying for a bit. Henry asks for my phone and goes outside to take a picture of the “accepted offer” sign in our yard (yay!) and then of course takes some selfies, too.

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The little kids ask for chocolate milk so I make them some, easy on the chocolate. The kids go back and forth from upstairs to downstairs and back again to grab blankets and pillows so they can jump off the couch – their annoying new favorite thing to do, and I allow it because, well, there’s not much room to play in our current house! Once we have nice furniture and more room to actually play – no way, man.

I check Timehop and see that I did my summer DITL on the same day last year – the day we had our inspection on the house we ended up thankfully not buying. Funny that we’re on almost the same exact timeline this year – this time with a house that I think, God willing, IS meant to be!

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I ignore the kids awhile and sit in front of the TV and watch more coverage from the night before. I break down crying in my coffee, and then turn the TV off.

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The kids fight here and there and my coffee hasn’t kicked in and Ellie’s still being just a bear. Henry’s upstairs attempting to take his mattress off his bunk bed (I’ve just changed his sheets) so they can jump on THAT and I tell him no WAY. Ellie has removed her diaper. I live in crazy town. When she cries yet again for seemingly no reason, I decide to put her down for a nap – it’s like 9:15 a.m. I close her door and prepare to hear her wailing for awhile, but she actually quiets right down and goes to sleep. Probably just happy to have her beloved nukie.

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I come back downstairs and cut up a cantaloupe while I cook my breakfast. I sit in the living room and eat it in front of a few minutes of Live with Kelly. I miss Michael.

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I’d told Henry he had to wait til Ellie’s nap to play video games, and lucky him, she’s taking an early one, and I want some peace, so I let him and his bro play some video games and tablet. Last weekend (4th of July weekend) we had a 5-day technology hiatus, which was really nice for all of us – though man, parenting is easier with electronics to keep them busy!

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I do some internetting – Facebook, and then I pay an infuriating library fee, since I know we’re going later and I don’t want any fees on my card!

Long story short, I checked out Anne of Green Gables a couple weeks ago when I saw it in the kids’ section because my BFF is obsessed and I’ve never seen it. I watched 45 min of it the night I got it, and when I went back a few days later to watch more, the disc was just GONE. Vanished. Not in the XBox, not in any of our DVD cases, not in the toy room, the cupboard, on the bookshelf – NOWHERE. So I had to pay the fee for losing it – $29.99!!! So maddening, especially when I could buy it for half that on Amazon AND since I didn’t even get to watch the movie!! Darn kids. No more movies from the library.

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10:15 a.m. Ellie wakes up after an hour-long nap and is in a MUCH better mood now. We snuggle on the couch and open up Snapchat to send Auntie Kate (Dave’s sis) a snap. Her husband is a cop and I’d texted her earlier to let her know we were thinking of them. This honeybee filter is new and it changes your voice and it’s hilarious. (Video)

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We go downstairs to get laundry and bring it up to my room to fold. Ellie alternates between messing up my laundry and making a mess in her closet. She really is quite the mischief maker.

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I tell the boys to turn off their games and everyone gets dressed for the day.

They head into the kitchen and ask for their daily Chew – Henry doles them out today – and I tell them to clean up the sun room. They do, and then we play and clean up the rest of the house before I make lunch around 11:30. The mail comes and Ellie gets a new pair of sandals that I’d ordered from Old Navy. She insists on putting them right on and keeping them on – they’re super cute!

I make PB&Js for lunch for them and a taco salad for me, since we had tacos last night and have some leftover meat. I give Ellie pretzels after she expresses that she does not like Sun Chips, but then she throws them on the floor and later stomps on them and makes a big mess.

The boys eat their whole lunch so they each get three Starbursts for dessert. Ellie is mad that she doesn’t get any, but she didn’t eat her lunch. I hear her in the kitchen as I’m still eating – she got herself up on the counter and is trying to get her OWN Starbursts. Naughty!! I tell her if she eats more sandwich and grapes, she can have a Starburst and so then she eats what I tell her to.

I sweep up the mess while the kids play.

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The neighbors are having a rummage sale down the street and I told them we’d stop by, so that’s where we head after lunch. I grab a $20 and Henry grabs his own $5 bill. They’d asked if I wanted to participate in the sale, but unfortunately I’ve taken three HUGE loads to Goodwill over the past month so really have nothing left to get rid of!

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We peruse the sale and chat with the neighbors and the kids go in the backyard to play for awhile. A half an hour later we walk home with a set of magnetic building toys, a paper shredder and a pair of Menards carpenter pencils, all for a whopping $5. I borrowed Henry’s $5 bill, and when we get home I give him a $10 instead – his five back plus five for his allowance. We try to give him $5 every two weeks for helping out around the house, but sometimes we both forget! It had been awhile, and I didn’t have a five to give him so it worked out. The kids play with the new toys and we try out the paper shredder, and then I tell them it’s time to head to the library. We need to get there and get back so that Ellie can take another nap.

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1:30 p.m. We head to the library and spend probably 40 minutes there, playing and picking out a bunch of books – mostly beginner reader books that Henry can read to us. We’d probably have stayed a little longer than we did, but Ellie decided to poop so we had to get outta dodge.

2:30 p.m. Back home, we read a Berenstain Bears book together (after I change Ellie, of course!) while Ben turns on the “sports game” (Kinect Sports) since it’s his turn for the XBox. We put a sticker on Henry’s reading chart after he’s done reading me the book. I tell him he can watch some YouTube videos during Ellie’s second nap. This is admittedly a day that’s heavy on the electronics – usually we limit it to 1-2 hours total, but today is probably slightly more! Eh, whatev.

2:50 p.m. I put Ellie down for her second nap. She naps almost two hours this time. Normally she just takes one 2- or 3-hour nap in the afternoon, but the two naps today worked out well since we have plans for the evening that will keep her up late!

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I spend Ellie’s nap time drinking iced coffee and doing more internetting – reading and watching news, scrolling FB, posting to our team page, reading Julia’s DITL, doing some money stuff, since June commissions posted today (whoo hoo!) and I want to figure out what we’re going to save where. I fold more laundry, and then put together a little welcome packet for my newest distributor, Elizabeth, who I have plans to have coffee with the following day.

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5 p.m. We make pizzas, as we always do on Friday night, and I have the glass of wine I’ve been looking forward to all day. I just have one since we’re heading out shortly after Dave gets home from work. We’re heading to a church festival in Kenosha to see a Beatles tribute band with my Dad and Barb and Al and Kris.

We watch Star Wars The Force Awakens with our pizza, and Dave gets home around 5:30 (earlier than usual today, traffic must have been light!) and changes his clothes and eats some pizza. We get the kids ready, I change my clothes and we head out around 6:15 p.m.

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7 p.m. We arrive in Kenosha and find a parking spot a few blocks from the church. Dave had driven since I’ll drive home, and I used the time to make some collages for this post. It’s a gorgeous summer night.

The crowd is very diverse and the police presence is noticeable and I’m definitely on edge walking into the festival after all that happened in Dallas the night before. I have my three precious kids with me and the last thing in the world I want is to put them in any situation where something bad might happen. I try to ignore the feelings and just enjoy myself, and once I get past the uneasy feeling, I do have fun. And I find myself wanting to just hug people, since I know a lot of them must be a bit on edge, too, and yet all most of us want is to just live our lives in peace.

We find the fam by the stage, and then we venture out to walk around the fest a bit. We buy some tickets and the kids jump in a bounce house for a good 10-15 minutes, then they play a few games and win prizes like suckers and fruit snacks – and an annoying musical instrument for Ben. Henry asks for a snow cone and I tell them we’ll get some a bit later.

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The band is supposed to go on at 8 p.m., but shortly after 8, they announce that “George” got stuck in bad traffic because of an accident and won’t be there until closer to 9. What a bummer! The band ends up not going on til 9:25, and we’d been planning to leave by 10, which didn’t leave much time for music.

The kids get snow cones – yum – and those occupy them for a good long time. We visit with Al and Kris and then go back to our seats before the band comes on. When they finally do come on, Henry and Ellie and I go up in the front and dance by the stage. This makes me feel semi-self-conscious, but it’s a fun time. Ellie is a little star, twirling in her dress and just dancing up a storm.

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10:40 p.m. We finally leave and I’m bummed we didn’t get to see more music, but it’s waaaaaaay past the kids’ bedtime and Dave is d-o-n-e, too. The kids did SO great being up so late, though, and they were actually really well-behaved the whole time we were there. Just a really fun summer evening! They all crash on the 40-min drive home.

11:30 p.m. We put the kids right to bed, the boys still in their clothes. Ellie wakes up briefly while I change her diaper and put jammies on her but then falls right back to sleep in her crib. She wakes up at 5:47 a.m., ready for the day, and I have to tell her no freakin way, little lady – and she does fall back to sleep til about 7:20. Still not late enough but oh well! Ben sleeps til 7:15, Henry til 8.

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12:28 a.m. I’m up waaaaaay too late, even making it past Dave tonight. I’d cleaned up just a bit and posted to Instagram and taken a quick bath. I’m tired!!!!! But it was a really good day with my babes. The next morning we head back out for an excursion to Green Meadows Petting Farm in Waterford with my mom. Another GORGEOUS day and we have such a fun time!! But after three days of activities – zoo Thursday, festival Friday, farm Saturday, I am wiped and it’s time for these kids to have some down time. We lay low on Sunday.

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One month til we move into our new house – our “forever” house, we hope! And we have lots of fun things planned for this month and the rest of the summer. Life is good!!

These are the days.

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Oh, these kids of mine. Growing up so fast I can barely keep up, and yet I’m loving the ride so much it often takes my breath away.

Henry’s in soccer, has his grown-up teeth coming in on top and bottom, is reading like a champ and will officially be a first grader in just one more month.

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Ben is in tee-ball, loves his one day a week of preschool and can’t wait to go to 4k every day in the fall, is a total pop culture sponge, is still obsessed with pro wrestling, and has a crazy knack for making us laugh hysterically, burst with love and then explode in anger all within a few minutes of each other.

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Ellie is talking up a storm, is the most loving, hilarious little girl, and POOPED ON THE TOILET yesterday morning for the first time ever – and yet is completely addicted to her nuks still and insists on a nighttime bottle like a big old baby. I freaked out so much when she pooped that for a second I think she thought I was mad at her, but then she realized I was just excited – it was so cute how proud she was. Girlfriend will probably be ready to potty train by summer, like before she’s even two, which is just nuts to me!

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We’re all eager for summer and all the fun it will bring, and we’re pretty much chomping at the bit for the day when we can move into a bigger house. But life right now is just… so good. These days with young, growing kids… springtime… so much still to look forward to…

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This season of life is just really something special!

The why.

In the past couple of days, I’ve had two blog readers reach out to me via email about my job. Those kinds of emails are always a pleasant surprise… I told someone tonight that a few of my very favorite and best teammates have come that way – as a random email from a then-stranger!

It made me realize that I still have people out there reading this (even if I really only post for Day in the Life these days!) and that what I’m doing is of interest to some of them.

So I just thought I’d share this video here. Take it or leave it. 🙂 But I recorded it this past week … It’s just under six minutes long and I talk about why I decided to pursue network marketing and why It Works was the company for me.

I know it’s not for everyone, but I can’t put into words what it’s meant for me personally and for my life. And for so many around me.

I’ve been timid to share here because I don’t want my loyal blog readers (again, even though I’m a total fail as a blogger these days!) to think I’m trying to “sell” them anything. But I’m beyond that at this point… I see what this company does for people, and I’d be a jerk NOT to share once in awhile. Because I know there are people out there just waiting for something like this to come along, who are looking for an answer…

Looking for another stream of income, a way out of debt, a way to breathe easier, a way to stay home with their kids… a way to make some new friends and grow as a person… a way to get on a path toward being healthy… a way to shake things up, take on a new challenge and have some new adventures. Whatever the reason, I know people are looking.

This is my site where you can see the products and read about the company. My email is enevicosi@gmail.com. If you have ever considered doing something like this, this company is a pretty incredible one to do it with. And being mentored by someone who’s found success is one way to help ensure you’ll be set up for success, too!

Hope you’re having a great weekend. xo

Day in the Life: Spring 2016

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The date is Monday, April 11, 2016.

I’m 34
Dave is 33 (for one more month!)
Henry is 6 1/2
Ben is 4 (+ 2 months)
Ellie is 19 1/2 months

I was due for a weekday this time, and the last weekday I did (in fall) was one when the kids were home with me, so this time I picked a Shelly day. My nanny days are all super different – working at home, working at Barnes and Noble, running errands, going to appointments, volunteering in Henry’s classroom, having lunch or coffee with someone, going to yoga, getting things done around the house, etc. etc. etc.

Today was extra different since it didn’t involve much work or getting stuff done – I spent the day with my mom instead! She was given a “bonus” vacation day this week so she asked if I wanted to spend the day together shopping and going to lunch. Um, yes!

But let me start at the beginning…

Somehow DITL days always bring out the worst when it comes to sleep in our house! The boys have been sleeping great – going down easy, sleeping til a reasonable hour (6:30 or even 7 some days!) (though they do often get up to pee in the night) – but now Ellie is the one waking up at night. It’s usually once a night, and she usually just wants her diaper changed and then will go back down. She’ll often point to the door, meaning she wants to snuggle in my bed with me for a few minutes, which I allow and then take her back to her room.

This night, though? She’s had a weekend of not much napping and is all out of sorts – she wakes up around 1:30 and after some snuggles in my bed, she refuses to go back into her own bed. Every time I try she just cries and cries. So finally we fall asleep together in my bed around 2:30 and I sleep pretty uncomfortably til 5:45 when I put her back in her bed finally.

6:03 a.m. My alarm goes off and I’m TIRED. I’d gone to bed before 10 the night before because we’d just had an awesome but EXHAUSTING weekend, plus Dave and I both have a cold coming on. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been sick and I’m not a fan! I try to get a good night’s sleep, but of course Ellie throws a wrench in that.

I jump in the shower, and think about how rare it is that I actually have to do this these days – rise before the kids and get all ready (shower, hair, makeup, etc.) Usually I can sleep til 6:30 or whenever the kids decide to get up.

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6:25 a.m. I’m out of the shower, Dave gets in, and of course Ellie wakes up. So I’ll have to do my makeup and dry my hair with her at my feet.

6:40 a.m. The boys are up and Dave gets out of the shower – the gang’s all here. The boys are fighting immediately, of course. Ben tells on Henry saying “Henry said he’s going to AL-bow me” and they proceed to have a minutes-long argument about how to correctly say EL-bow.

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6:40-7:20 a.m. I get myself ready, taking breaks to intercept Ellie when she gets into things she shouldn’t – my makeup cabinet, the garbage, the tissues. Dave takes the kids downstairs and gets them all cereal. When I’m ready, I pick out clothes for all of them and bring them downstairs. Get myself some coffee and then we say bye to Dave, who leaves for work around 7:20 each day.

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7:20-8 a.m. I hang out with the kids and Henry gets ready for school. He asks to watch videos on the computer (that and playing video games is pretty much all the kid wants to do these days, but we do our best to limit his time!!) and I tell him he can once he’s all ready, so he hurries to get dressed, brush his teeth, pack his snack and get his shoes on. Ellie occupies herself by “washing” the walls with a baby wipe, an activity she does often.

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I pack Henry’s lunch – pb&j (always), a clementine, some baked chips and a few Starbursts for his dessert. I write the teacher a note telling her I’ll pick Henry up today, and I include my RSVP for the Mother’s Day Tea his class is hosting on May 6. 🙂

The kids play with Henry’s keyboard and dance to the music it plays. Ben asks if he can wear his pajamas and robe to Shelly’s so that he can “be AJ Stiles” (a pro wrestler) and I say fine, so I pack up his clothes in a bag. I do “Superman” on my legs with Ben and Ellie a few times.

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8 a.m. Shelly arrives and we chat for a few minutes. I ask Ben to pick up his zombies before he leaves and Ellie sweetly tries to help him and he just gets mad at her, which makes ME mad. I hug and kiss my babies good-bye, and then later I feel bad for being mad at Ben when I’m not going to see him all day, so I text Shelly to tell her that.

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8:15 a.m. I comb Henry’s hair and get him his coat, and I hug and kiss him good-bye a few times before he heads out the door to wait for the bus. I wave at the neighbor, whose daughter rides the bus with Henry, and I watch out the window as he waits and chats away. The bus comes around 8:20 and we wave before he hops on. As always, I think ‘there goes my heart’ as the bus drives away.

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8:30-10 a.m. Mom is set to arrive at 10, so I have an hour and a half to make and eat breakfast and get a little work done for the day. I have to tend to the messy house first, so I clean up the living room and kitchen, unload the dishwasher, and clean some unwanted food out of the fridge.

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Then I check social media a bit and make myself eggs, hash browns, sausage and a banana for breakfast. I’m eating as clean as possible these days in an effort to shed about 10 lbs before summer – and breakfast is definitely my favorite meal of the day!

My breakfast is ready right at 9 a.m. – perfect since that’s when Kelly and Michael starts. 😉 I like to watch the first 10-15 minutes on days that I can, which is usually a couple times a week. I eat my breakfast and then sit down at my computer around 9:15.

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I’m hosting an accountability group on Facebook for a group of teammates and customers who are doing the It Works System together, and I do a motivational post on there to start the week. Then I do some coordinating for an upcoming volunteer effort I’m heading up – a group of teammates and I are going to cook weekend brunch at the Ronald McDonald House at the end of the month, so I message all the people who were interested to get a final count before I start assigning food items and planning details!

9:50 a.m. I head upstairs to get dressed so I’m ready when Mom gets here.

10:05 a.m. She’s late. 10:06 a.m. I look outside and she’s sitting in her car talking on the phone.

10:10 a.m. She comes inside and we hug hello. It was my brother she was talking to.

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10:25 a.m. We chat a bit and then hit the road!

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. We shop at a newer mall near us, the Mayfair Collection, hitting up Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth and DSW. Mom’s on the hunt for a spring jacket and buys a cute blue one at Saks.

I’d been at Nordstrom Rack a few weeks prior and a dress I’d bought for Ellie didn’t make it in my bag, which made me really sad. I’d spoken with three employees that afternoon and two of them basically told me well, it’s not here so you’re out of luck! But I took my receipt back today and they found another one in the same size and gave it to me – I was very happy!

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I buy a pair of Sperry Topsider flip flops at DSW, identical to a pair I already have, only in white instead of blue and white because they are SO comfy and cute.

12:15 p.m. We have lunch at Corner Bakery. Mom has a sandwich and soup, I stick to my eating plan and get a chopped salad and water. It’s pretty good, but I would have preferred a sandwich! We sit and eat and talk for about an hour, then head to TJ Maxx.

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1:15-2 p.m. We shop and try on some clothes. I pick out one top to buy.

2 p.m. I go out to my car to call a woman who wants to become a customer (BOGO wrap deal is happening today!) and would rather me take her info than sign up on the site. Fine by me! I met this woman through my last job and we had lunch together probably three times during my time there, and I always admired her so much – a working mom with three kids – two boys in college and a girl in high school – who managed to juggle it all and find success in her career. It’s nice to chat with her again – and whoo hoo for a new customer!

2:10 p.m. I head back inside and look at kids’ clothes and kitchen stuff. I pick out a cute dress for Ellie (I can’t resist!) and a little food storage container.

2:45 p.m. We head home, stop inside the house to drop off our stuff and grab some water, then head out to pick Henry up at school.

3:25 p.m. We arrive at Henry’s school and head into the gym to get him. His class is walking in right as we get there, and my heart bursts when I see his little excited face!

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3:30-4 p.m. We hang out, Henry and mom chat, Henry asks if he can play a video game, I tell him yes but that I’m setting the timer for 40 minutes.

4 p.m. Shelly brings the kids home and I’m happy to see my babies! She tells me that unfortunately Ellie was kind of a monster today, not wanting to nap or eat much. She looks super tired.

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4-5 p.m. We hang out…. I snuggle Ellie, talk to Ben, put my new customer’s info into my website, drink my Greens for the day, have a snack of cashews, raisins and a clementine, talk with my mom some more. She leaves at 5 p.m. after hugs and kisses from everyone.

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5-5:45 p.m. I realize I should have been using some of the time my mom was here to actually prep dinner and get the kids ready for swim class. Tonight’s Ben’s final class, and he’ll be in the water all by himself. The previous seven weeks, I’ve been in the water with him, and I’ve been bringing Henry along too so that he can swim a bit after the class. It’s been such fun to have that swim time with my boys. Tonight the plan is for all of us to go since Dave hasn’t been to one of Ben’s classes this time around yet. (He takes Henry to his on Saturday mornings.) But I’m realizing now that Ellie will just be a nightmare, and one of us should probably keep her home.

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I make the kids chicken tenders for dinner and I grill Dave and me some burgers, which are leftovers from last night. Make some Brussels sprouts, too.

Henry can’t find his swim trunks and keeps asking me to come down to the basement with him to look for them in the laundry pile, since he’s too scared to go by himself. The mood in the house is quite chaotic and stressful right now. Burgers nearly burning, Ellie whining, Henry whining, Ben probably whining, everything a mess, feeling rushed…

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5:40 p.m. Dave gets home and I tell him yeah, Ellie and I can’t come. I’m sad I won’t get to watch Benny during his last class, but oh well. The house is a disaster and Ellie’s going to have to get to bed.

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5:45 p.m. I kiss the boys good-bye and of course Ellie is upset that she doesn’t get to go “‘side” so I tell her to put her boots on and I grab our coats and we head outside for a bit. She rides in the police car and on the big wheel and then we walk down the street for awhile. I push her in the swing a few times – SUPER high! – and she squeals with happiness and also says “brr! brr!” and then we put the toys back in the garage and head inside.

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6:30 p.m. We’re back inside and Ellie’s so tired – I say “let’s put on some music and clean up this house a bit.” We sit on the couch to find a music station – I pick the 80s station – and she snuggles right into me, so I decide not to move for awhile. We listen to one song, then I change the channel to Nick Jr. and Bubble Guppies. Soon I hear her breathing deep and I realize she’s fallen asleep on me.

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7 p.m. I’ve been on the couch under my sweet sleeping baby for a half an hour now and I realize dinner still needs to be cleaned up. During this time I’ve watched Bubble Guppies (ha) and played on my phone a bit. I also took some pics of us and posted to Instagram about the BOGO wrap deal.

7-7:30 I clean up dinner and the house while Ellie snoozes on the couch. The boys get home and tell me about swim class – Ben has his certificate saying he completed the course, and Henry’s moping because they didn’t get to spend much time in the water after class. Apparently you have to be six or older to be in there without a parent, and Dave didn’t have his suit, so Ben didn’t get to be in there after class and they cut Henry’s time short. Oh well – he gets to go to his class again on Saturday.

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7:30 I take Ellie upstairs. I give her a bath almost every night but we skip it tonight because she’s so tired. I change her diaper and put her jammies on, and we skip books for her tonight, too, heading right downstairs to make her bottle. Yes…. Ellie still gets a bottle before bed, at nearly 20 months old. I guess I’ve become that mom who holds onto parts of the baby stage as much as she can with her last child! Ellie still lets me hold her and rock her and feed her a bottle before bed, so I’ll take it! The rest of the time she drinks from a cup like a normal 20-month-old. 😉

7:48 Ellie’s down and I come downstairs to see the boys. Henry wants to look at his new National Geographic Kids magazine, since he sees the sphinx in there, which he recognizes because his class has been learning about ancient Egypt recently. (Seriously, the things they teach in kindergarten nowadays!) We read some really cool facts about monuments around the world.

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8 p.m. Upstairs to brush teeth and do books – we read more of the magazine, and I read Ben one Dora book. I take a pic of Henry on his bed pretending to read a Minecraft book, since he needed to bring a picture to school of him reading at home. I was a day late on that assignment, oops.

Henry asks Dave what he’s wearing to bed later, since he wants to match. (They both have red plaid pj pants, and Henry wants to wear his and a white undershirt on the same days Dave wears his to bed! So cute.)

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We tuck the boys in by about 8:15, give them hugs and kisses and then head back downstairs. 8:15-10:15 p.m. Dave and I plan to watch an episode of the show we’re watching right now (Catastrophe on Amazon Prime) but I tell him I’m going to get a few things done first. I exchange text messages with an Instagram follower who ends up signing on as a customer about an hour later. Nice!

I chat with a few friends on FB messenger, and then I realize my friend Lauren is hosting a Zoom meeting tonight at 9 pm so I decide I should probably hop on, especially since I didn’t really work much today! I log into Zoom via my phone for this one, though, rather than on my computer, so that no one can actually see me (ha) and so that I can begin typing up this post while I listen to her. Multitasking at its finest.

I get a good chunk of this post done, and the Zoom is done at 10. Do a bit more chatting, then close my computer at 10:15. Oh, and I eat some apple slices with peanut butter because I’m hungry.

10:15-10:20 p.m. I tell Dave well, crap, we didn’t get to watch our show AND I’m doing a terrible job tonight of sticking to my resolution to get to bed before 10:30! I always stay up way too late and I’ve decided to start making a conscious effort to get to bed earlier – it was going well til tonight. I give him a kiss, take a selfie with him and then head upstairs.

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10:25 p.m. I take a bubble bath, make a collage of the day and post it to Instagram (it’s tradition, after all), check on my kids, then psst Dave up to come tuck me in.

10:50 p.m. Lights out! I’ve taken some nighttime cold medicine and it knocks me OUT. Good thing Ellie sleeps ALL night, 7:30-6:30! The boys both sleep til 7:15 a.m., which is late for them. Ben’s up once to pee around 1:30 a.m., and I am just out of my mind groggy as I get up with him and walk him back to his room.

I’m still groggy feeling when the alarm for Dave to get up goes off at 6:20 a.m., and I lay in bed til Ellie wakes up, then bring her to bed with me for a bit. We head downstairs around 7 and a new day has begun!

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And since these DITL posts are really the only time I blog these days, I like to give a bit more of an update for my future self to look back on! The weekend before this day was a really awesome one – we went to Chicago with Andrea and Jim on Saturday so I could get her her Louis Vuitton bag for promoting to Presidential Diamond recently, and we had a lovely dinner out after. Then Sunday was Amanda’s baby, Vivian’s baptism, and I was honored to be named her godmother. Dave and the kids joined us for the luncheon afterward.

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As for life in general… We’re all ready to be done with winter and welcome the warmer months, finally. The boys are wrapping up swim classes and now we head into soccer for Henry and tee-ball for Ben.

We’re not moving, again, since we really do have to wait until I have two years’ worth of income with It Works to show. So August is the earliest we can make a move – we’ll see if we do that, or if we stay put even longer! We’re anxious to get out of our 1,300-square-foot starter home, but we know we’ll find our next (hopefully forever!) home when the time is right.

Henry loves kindergarten, and I can’t believe the school year is nearly over. Ben has loved being in 3k, too, and I kind of wish I would have enrolled him 2 or 3 days a week instead of one, but oh well. It was a good opportunity for him to at least dip his toe in the water! This coming Friday we get to take home the school’s pet hamster, Dit Dot, for the weekend. We’ll see how that goes!

I have some travel coming up – I’m going to New York City in May for a weekend with my mom and brother, and then in July I’ll head down to Florida for a few days for an It Works corporate event. I have a fun retreat lined up for October, too. Then the most exciting travel plan is that Dave and I just booked a week-long trip to St. Lucia in November for our 10th wedding anniversary! I am SO excited to think about spending a week in paradise with my hubby. It gives me huge anxiety to think about leaving the kids for so long and being that far away, but hopefully I can get past that! We have three sets of loving grandparents and a wonderful nanny who will all take turns holding down the fort with our three kids, so hopefully all will go smoothly!

Henry and Ben’s interests have stayed mostly the same – Minecraft and Battlefront (Star Wars) for Henry; wrestling for Ben. Henry has lost four teeth now, two on the bottom and two on top.

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Ellie is changing constantly, and her personality is becoming more animated and hilarious by the day. She is still the happiest, most good-natured little person, though she definitely shows us her sassy and stubborn side more and more, too! She’s noisy and rambunctious and tries real hard to keep up with her brothers. She’s TOUGH and she scares us with how daring and rowdy she can be. She’s also super girly, though, playing with her baby dolls and carrying around purses and bags and wanting to put my Chapstick on all the time. Her hair is getting soooo long and beautiful, though we still need to keep it pulled back 100% of the time or it’s just in her face. She’s completely addicted to her nuks, wanting one in her mouth every second she’s at home. We need to break her of that habit soon, I know! We all just love her so darn much, though – two years after first finding out her gender, I STILL feel that excitement and giddiness over having a GIRL! Our bond is something very special!

With that, I’m off, probably til summer DITL, but who knows! Excited for all the fun that spring and summer will bring!

Day in the Life: Winter 2016

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The date is Sunday, January 24, 2016.

I just turned 34.
Dave is 33.
Henry is 6.25.
Ben is almost 4.
Ellie is 17 months.

I was due for a weekend day this time for DITL, and this day was one where we had no plans set up.

6:30 a.m. I’m up with the three kids, as it’s Dave’s day to sleep in a bit. He did the grocery shopping last night, and the boys are excited because he’s gotten them each a “muffin in a cup,” which sounds to me like it’s basically giving them cake for breakfast, but they’re actually not so bad for them. We make them in the microwave right away and I think they taste pretty bland, but the boys like them.

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7:30 Coffee is made and I make us all breakfast – eggs, sausage, hash browns. Henry’s been bugging me to set up his fundraising site for his upcoming Jump Rope for Heart event, so we set that up and make the first donation, and he’s excited about the prizes he’s already secured.

8 a.m. Dave gets up and come downstairs. We hang out awhile and then I go upstairs to take a shower and get ready for the day. The kids come up to visit me a few times.

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9:15 a.m. I make Ellie a bottle and get her down for a nap.

9:30 a.m. I have a conference call with an It Works teammate and a few of her new distributors who live down in Florida. I give them a bit of training and answer their questions; they all seem very nice.

10:45 a.m. Henry and I leave together for church. We found a church through a friend of mine, Amber, who’s also an It Works teammate (she and her husband DJed our wedding!)… I had been watching her post about it and had been thinking about giving it a try for months, and Henry and I finally went the night before Christmas Eve and LOVED it. This is our third time back, and Amanda (the BFF) and Vivian (the most beautiful baby ever, 1 month old!) are joining us this morning, too.

11 a.m. We get inside and chat with Amanda; Henry meets the baby, and we grab some coffee and hot chocolate. Amber finds us and we all go in together to find seats.

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11:05-12:05 The service is wonderful again, I just love it. Beautiful live music, a wonderful message from the pastor about forgiveness, and communion (which they only do about once a month, I guess.) After it’s over, I hold baby V for a few minutes (LOVE HER SO MUCH) and then we head out of the auditorium. Amber introduces us to the pastor, and we all chat awhile. We hug Amanda and Vivian good-bye and then head back home.

12:40 p.m. We’re back home and Ellie is still napping – more than three hours! Girlfriend is going through a growth spurt for sure. She wakes up within about five minutes of us being home, so that was good timing! Dave and Ben just hung out and played some video games while we were gone. Give her piggytails on top of her head today instead of her usual ponytail, since her hair is still in her face a lot of the time – this style suits her well, I think!

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1:30 p.m. We have lunch – grilled cheese, and I have soup, too. We all hang out, play, read books, etc. and after an hour or so, everyone starts going a little stir crazy.

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Dave and I at one point talk about moving out of state, as we often do (Dave pushes for it nearly every day) and he says, “I’ll even move to Colorado.” He knows that’s the only place I’d move if we were to actually leave Wisconsin – which we won’t, since my family is here and I’m not going to leave them. But it’s fun to think about, so I hop on the computer and check out Colorado real estate. I drool over the houses and the mountain views, and I can’t get over how much more you can get for your money there than here. And they have mountains! Seriously wish we could start a pilgrimage and all move out there.

Ellie and I take some selfies after reading her first words book. She starts asking for boob, as she often still does, even though we’re 99.9% done nursing and have been for awhile. She’ll still nurse once in awhile for a couple minutes, and it shocks me that there’s still anything actually there for her.

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Dave takes the boys down to the basement to try out a new pitching machine Ben got for Christmas that we haven’t opened yet. Ellie and I check it out for a few minutes and then decide to run to Target together. We’re not really in *dire* need of anything, but we have a list of things we’re running low on, so we decide to get it out of the way and have a little girl time. I give Ellie a sucker, can’t really remember why.

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3:30 p.m. Ellie and I head to Target, and we take our time meandering throughout the store. We hit up the baby section and I pick her out a pair of jeggings and a couple of shirts, since she could use a few new things. We have diapers and wipes on the list, and they’re both on special – buy three boxes of diapers, get a $20 gift card; buy two boxes of wipes, get a $5 gift card. So I spent like $100 just on diapers and wipes, but hey, we’re stocked up for a good long time!

We need a bunch of random things – the list grew and grew as the trip approached – light bulbs, batteries, snacks, hair product, dish detergent, cleaning wipes; I need a new straightener because mine just died the other morning; stickers for Henry’s 100th day of school project … can’t remember what else. But $215 later, we’re out of there and headed back home. Ellie’s a dream the whole time – she’s just such a delight, I can’t get over it. Always happy and agreeable, and she says hi and waves to people everywhere we go – a little charmer, for sure!

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4:45 p.m. We get home and the boys are all still downstairs playing baseball. Henry gets Dave’s boots on and comes outside to help me carry the bags inside.

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We all head downstairs and they demonstrate to me how to load the balls in the machine. I’m shocked at how fast they come out and I freak out that they’re just flying across the room as Ellie is running around – she nearly gets clobbered! And then of course, poor Benny does take one to the face.

I take a turn and we get a little video, and it’s all quite entertaining for awhile.

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5:30 p.m. We head upstairs to start dinner, and we each get a drink because – well, just because! Beer for him, wine for me, and we’re having burgers for dinner. The kids play/run/fight at our feet in our tiny kitchen as we get stuff ready.

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6 p.m. We eat dinner. Henry and Ellie have hot dogs, Ben has chicken nuggets (because the weirdo doesn’t like hamburgers OR hot dogs) and he declares “this is the best party ever!” which is what he says when he enjoys a meal. I take Ellie’s picture and she blinks, which she finds hilarious, so she purposefully tries to blink and close her eyes as I take more pictures – I get about 10 bad ones of her and it’s quite funny.

They all eat well and winter is dumb (ha) so I declare we can all have ice cream for dessert.

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7 p.m. I take all the kids up to bath while Dave cleans up the kitchen. I rarely do all three at once these days, but Henry doesn’t want to wait so they all bathe together. Before he gets in he slicks his hair back and says he’s Wolverine. He’s the last one out of the tub, so he gets stuck cleaning up all the toys.

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7:15-8 p.m. Bedtime is sort of a fiasco, as it often is. We’re just ready to be DONE for the day, and it’s hard to wrangle everyone. Ellie’s running around when I’m trying to brush her hair, Ben needs something downstairs, Henry can’t find the pajamas he wants to wear. They both want to read different books.

I take a lot more pictures because I realize I haven’t taken as many as I normally do for DITL.

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Ellie sucks down her bottle and asks for another, which is weird! She drinks another four ounces of while milk on top of the five she already drank.

I put her down, but she hears us reading and wants to join, too. While she’s up, both boys take turns crawling onto my lap in the rocking chair and pretending they’re babies. I enjoy the snuggles.

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8 p.m. Everyone’s in bed and Dave and I head downstairs, ready to collapse. He heads to the couch to watch some SNL from last night, and I plan to join him for a bit but then remember a few things I really wanted to get done before our team calls tonight, which are at 8:30 and 9 p.m. (Usually just at 9 but we have an extra tonight!) So I sit down in the dining room with my laptop and don’t get back up again til about 10 pm. Time flies when you’re having fun. 😉 But no TV for me tonight, oh well.

Of course, there are a few interruptions thrown in during this time, too, from Ellie who wants more bottle still, and Ben who just doesn’t want to go to sleep. Signs of things to come this night…

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10 p.m. Take a bubble bath and read my book awhile – Big Little Lies, loving it. Finished What Alice Forgot recently and LOVED that so ordered two of her other books, too.

10:45 p.m. Bed!

And something’s in the air tonight because it’s a ROUGH night of sleep in our house. Which, of course, happens quite regularly, but this night it’s extra bad. All three kids are up at different times, and Ellie’s up for like 90 minutes straight – I finally take her downstairs around 2 a.m. and make her ANOTHER bottle, and we share a bowl of cereal too because hey, I’ve been awake nearly two hours and I’m hungry now. And in the morning, girlfriend feels heavier, I swear! Growth spurt, for sure.

Henry has a bit of a cough right now, and Ben’s having a rough time with some anxiety. He’s always worried about us leaving him, which is very irrational – “are you going to leave the house?” and “you’re going to leave” (as he cries.) If we leave the room, he’ll either follow us or yell “where did you go?!” And at night, if he wakes up, he’s scared to stay in his own bed. It’s not a fun phase, and I really hope it passes quickly.

The following day, Monday, is just a rough, rough day – I’m lucky to say I very rarely have BAD days, but this is a bad day! I send Henry to Shelly’s with the other kids because his homework calendar had said “No School, Professional Development” on it for this day. Which I thought was weird, since they just had off last Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. day – which was also on the calendar. I should have double-checked with the school year calendar, though, because he actually DID have school.

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I had an appointment at the dermatologist that morning, and my GPS brought me to the wrong place (much further from my house than the actual destination), so I was late for my appointment by nearly 15 minutes, and as I finally arrived, the school called to check on Henry. Gah. The appointment took longer than expected, I had to have a mole removed, which I hadn’t anticipated (yuck), and when I got home, I was just so TIRED and frustrated that I didn’t have the motivation to do anything.

Took a nap, which I hate having to do – hate wasting any of my day! – and when I woke up, I got the sad news that the wife of a man I’ve known a long time and am very fond of had died of cancer, much too soon. Had a good sob about that, and then the kids came home. Just kind of a wash of a day. Was very glad to go to bed early and start fresh on Tuesday.

Aside from the stir crazy Sunday and rough Monday, life is really good in this season of life. Henry loves kindergarten and recently lost his third tooth, Ben likes preschool and is a hilarious, sweet boy when he’s not being super anxious and/or naughty and/or keeping us awake at night, and Ellie is positively a dream boat, as she’s been since the day she was born. I still look at her and marvel at the fact that she’s mine. She’s the sweetest, happiest, most amazing little girl and I LOVE the age she’s at right now.

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I did discuss with Dave on Sunday how it really is quite sad how every year at this time (Jan-March), it feels sort of like we’re only half-living, being cooped up inside, the weather gray and cold, just biding our time til we can LIVE and get out and do things again. Hate that! But I have a trip to Florida coming up next week for It Works’ annual conference (can’t wait!) and then Dave is going to Arizona in March for Brewers spring training with his brother, so at least we both have things to look forward to in the near future!

And once in awhile, winter is fun, like a few weeks back when we all went sledding on a sunny winter day!

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And soon it shall be spring again, and time for another DITL …

Til then, blog world!

Halloween 2015

This Halloween just needs to be documented on the dusty old blog. I don’t know how many years these kids will let me dress them in a “theme,” but man was I excited that they all went for it this year.

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We’ve heard numerous times while out in public with Ellie – especially when she still wore pigtails on the regular – “oh, she looks just like Boo!”

I decided a few months before Halloween that the kids simply must dress as the characters from Monsters Inc! The decision was obviously based around Ellie, so it’s funny that her “costume” was the easiest and most low-maintenance of all – just a pink shirt and purple leggings and pigtails! I did iron on the word “Boo” on the back, just for the heck of it. And put a little blush on her cheeks to make her look a little more cartoon-y. 🙂

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I’d gotten Ellie a zebra costume at our local consignment sale, for just in case the Monsters Inc. thing didn’t work out, so she had to don that for a few minutes, too. I cannot handle the cuteness.

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Halloween was on a Saturday this year, and we’ve had the most BEAUTIFUL fall, so it was a huge bummer that the ONE freezing, raining day we’ve had in months had to fall on Halloween! So trick or treating was semi-miserable, and the photos aren’t as sunny and cheerful as I would have hoped; but the boys are at the age where they will do pretty much anything for candy, so they didn’t care about the weather, and Ellie was still pretty oblivious about it all. And so easygoing anyway, so she was a trooper!

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We trick or treated in our neighborhood, and then went over to Amanda and Mark’s and trick or treated there, too, and stayed for dinner. The next day dawned warm and gorgeous, of course – oh well!

I sure love these little monsters of mine!!

Tis the season (of life) for all joy and no fun

Loud, busy, chaotic, exhausting, exciting, messy, joyful. That’s life right now, in fall of 2015 with three small kids ages 6, 3 3/4 and 14 months.

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I think I’ll look back on this time with incredible fondness and pride as well as with relief that we’re through it.

For the longest time I’d say to Dave “enjoy these days, we’re going to miss them so much.” He’d tell me “no, I really won’t miss this.” And I thought he was kind of a jerk for saying that, even though I do realize that moms tend to get more out of the whole baby and small child phase.

But lately, I’ve begun agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

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There’s truly nothing in the world like a little baby, and small children are adorable and snuggly and highly entertaining much of the time. But they are also hard work, man. And I’ve been really feeling that whole “all joy no fun” thing these days. The truly FUN times I have in life right now are the times when I’m away from my kids, if I’m being completely honest!

Family outings that are just Dave and me and the kids are a bit more fun, because we have no one around whose opinions we have to worry about. We tag-team the kids, we deal with the low points, and we mostly enjoy ourselves. But taking the kids anywhere where there are other people we know, especially to other people’s houses? Just not that much fun.

I think it’s because we’re surrounded by people who don’t have little kids, and we see them right in front of us enjoying themselves – eating, drinking, sitting down, having conversations – and we can’t for one second do those same things. We are chasing and correcting and feeding and entertaining. We’re changing diapers and breaking up fights and making sure they don’t break things or hurt themselves; we’re dealing with all the needs needs needs that small children have. We’re tired, and annoyed, and we find ourselves longing for the days when we could do those things. Or for the days when we’ll once again be able to do those things.

Doing things with people who also have small children is more fun, for sure, and also comforting, since we’re spending time with other people who are in the trenches just like we are. But still, the FUN factor goes way up once the kids are, you know, in bed. 😉

I also feel like our parenting is on constant display when we’re around others, and I’m on edge about whether my kids will behave, whether they’ll say please and thank you without being reminded, whether they’ll eat anything or throw a tantrum or walk on the carpet with their shoes on or climb on the back of someone’s couch.

And at home? Chaos 75% of the time. Ellie may be the craziest 1-year-old any of us has ever known. If she’s awake, she’s being a tornado – climbing, running, making messes, causing mischief anywhere she can. This makes it fairly impossible to do anything (like cook, in particular!) that involves not being on top of her every second.

If the boys are in the same room, they’re likely fighting with each other. Or asking for something. Dave and I joke that holy hell, once Ellie can talk, watch out, because we already feel like there are SO MANY PEOPLE talking at once most of the time. I think our tiny house just magnifies it all, too. We can’t wait for more space!!

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And I get it, it’s a season.

I also think that in a few years, I’ll probably look back and think oh, it wasn’t so bad. And oh, I miss having little babies so much! But at the same time? I’m so EXCITED for that next stage. We’re getting a taste of it with Henry, and it’s AWESOME. Self-sufficiency. A true interest in the world. Being able to DO things like go on bike rides and play ball and go down water slides. Fun stuff!

I thought perhaps once Ellie hit one, I might feel like hmm, maybe I do want one more baby! But nope. I’m 110% D-O-N-E having babies, and that feels good. I have the three kids I always dreamed of and I’m so VERY thankful for it every single day. And the idea of moving forward now as a family of five is just so cool.

The end of diapers is in sight. The end of waking up multiple times each night is in sight. (I hope.) The end of car seats and strollers and sippy cups is in sight. In a few years we’ll be able to start taking vacations as a family. Having game night and movie night as a family. I’m really excited for stuff like that.

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But my goodness, even just looking through photos right now for this post made my heart burst – I can only imagine how I’ll feel looking through them years from now when all of the hard parts have melted away in my memory. There are so, so, so many happy moments; these kids are SO damn cute and lovable; and I know these are precious days!

Even as they make me want to PULL MY HAIR OUT on a daily basis, too.

One thing I’ll really miss about this stage? I love that our kids are still all OURS. Their world is our world and that’s about it. We haven’t yet reached the stage of tons of activities and sports, and sleepovers and birthday parties, and all the emotions and turbulence that comes with getting older. I know that life will become harder in many ways, shuttling kids all over the place, dealing with tougher problems, and homework, and other parents, and the list goes on. And like I said – truly nothing compares to a baby!

But the day that we can go to someone’s house, and I can pour myself a glass of wine, sit down and have a conversation while my kids play in the other room? That’ll be a great day.