...a sneak-up to some crazy friend action. #busted

After filling up on s'mores, the kids took it inside for lots of crazy fun. They were trying to talk us into letting them have a sleepover... this is not so much their best argument :)

life lately.

life lately has included...

A successful first day for Jackson at his new preschool. I worked off-site so that I could take my buddy and pick him up on his first day. We even squeezed in a back-to-(pre)school breakfast- so fun. He was nervous at drop-off but all smiles when I picked him up and his teacher said he did amazing. 

A little late- but last Sunday we celebrated Grace's 6th birthday. Jackson LOVES his Grace (almost as much as her birthday cupcakes?). 

One evening this week some girlfriends and I went to a "do it herself" workshop at the Home Depot. It was hilarious and we even picked up a few new skills. What is TPI you may ask? Well, that's just some new power tool lingo I'll break out at some point with Dan- I'm sure he'll be impressed ;). 

Soccer Saturday returned after a bye-week. Jackson blew us away  with how much he continues to come out of his shell and was aggressive and scored his first goal! So proud of my little man. And some of his favorite fans came to watch too which was a big bonus. 

I am continuing to figure out the balance between work and home. We're getting there. Each week it somehow gets a little easier and a little harder at the same time. I know that makes no sense- it's just that with each week I seem to figure some things out while other parts get more challenging. Thankfully, the good still far outweighs the hard. Friday night we went to a dinner party with my work team- I loved meeting their families and loved that they met mine. I want them to know my babies, I want them to know Dan because those people that I work with are so much more than that and I need them to know the most important parts of my life, my family. 

And all of that work-week struggle makes the weekends so, so much sweeter. It makes us that much more intentional with how we spend our time. 

We really are so, so blessed. 

back to school week! (jackson's last year of preschool)

Jackson has exactly two days left of "summer vacation" before he starts back to school on Thursday. This year he's going to a new school which we are super excited about- he'll be there all day Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm not even going to think about the fact that this is his last year of preschool. I refuse to believe that any of my children will ever be old enough to be in Elementary School. Ever. Lets just go ahead and freeze them as they are, shall we? 

 

Jackson's back to school photos from last year HERE.

jonah's first visit to the ZOO!

(life lately)

Life lately has revolved around mastering this new routine- the one that involves lots of work and fun with the babies... and fun at work and the work of raising babies. You know, all of that. Lucky for me, I love my new assignment and more importantly, I love the people I work with. I don't so much love the heavy, heavy traffic that has become a part of too many morning commutes, but that aside, it's all good. Exhausting, but good. 

Speaking of babies. Mine are pretty cute. 

And sometimes the work + babies thing is too much. Like when I'm rushing through making baby food and the majority of the butternut squash ends up all over my kitchen instead. Fun. Or when I'm running late to soccer practice so have to show up in my dress clothes and heels- in the rain. But, then, there's Friday night and snuggles on the couch with the sweetest three monsters I've ever known and it's all good again. 

how to get a "full night's sleep" - a tutorial.

I've been back to work for almost 3 weeks now. I have been averaging less than six hours of sleep each night- and rarely have those hours been all at once. And so, yesterday, I hit my wall. I was emotionally, physically, mentally exhausted. I NEEDED some rest, but with 3 sweet babies to take care of (on my own, Dan was stuck at work until late), I needed to improvise. So, our evening went something like this:

5:30pm: Pick-up babies, come home, cuddle, dinner, play, etc.
6:45pm: Put Jonah down for a mid-evening nap (he so needed it, he's not sleeping a lot either with his poor teeth bothering him)
6:50pm: Break all rules by letting JP & AD eat a snack on the couch AND watch a show (we're crazy, I know) while I cuddle with them and close my eyes with one hand on each child so that if I fell asleep I would wake if they moved. 
7:30pm: Jonah's back up- feed him, play with him, get him in his pajamas.
8:00pm: Dan is finally home! Ask him to feed Jonah his bedtime bottle while I get the other 2 ready for bed. 
9:00pm: Break some more rules by laying with Audrey during bed time so she actually stays in her bed. I fall asleep too. 
Midnight: I wake up to Jonah crying. Go feed/cuddle him, get him back to sleep. 
12:30am: Do some cleaning up (although not enough) before crashing back in bed.
3:00am- you guessed it, the Peanut, she's awake crying. Bring her to bed with us. 
3:30am- Jonah is awake. Oh, good, because I missed him so during that 3 hour break.
5:15am- Jonah. Again. I beg Dan to try to quickly feed him before he has to leave for work in 15 minutes. THANK goodness, he is able to fit that in. 
5:50am- my alarm starts going off. Again, being the rule-breaker I am, I begin implementing the snooze button strategy and don't get up until 6:45!! It's Friday, we're getting crazy around here. 

And that, my friends, is a easy 12-step process on how to trick yourself into beliving you got a full night's sleep. No joke. I feel like a million bucks today. 

Update! I received a phone call from Jackson (& Nanna) at work- Jonah has his 1st tooth! I'm so, so happy because 1) it's a fun milestone and 2) MAYBE HE WILL SLEEP TONIGHT!!

bedtime shenanigans.

pillow mates.

This is what I have woken up to almost every morning for the past 5 months or so. Her name is Audrey and she's a nightmare. A literal nightmare when it comes to sleeping. It started when Dan was working a crazy work schedule and wasn't around for 3 months, Jonah was a newborn, she was transitioning to a big girl bed and I was on the edge of losing my mind... the Peanut picked up on the opportunity to take full advantage and her perfect sleeping habits went out the window. I was hoping we would be through it by now, especially being back to work full-time, and some nights things are somewhat better, but most of the time not and there is no disciplinary strategy that works- I've tried them all, I've tried them all consistently. On nights like the ones we've been having - when Jonah is up to eat at least once, if not twice, and Audrey screams for me from her bed around 4 (like clock work!)... I try to remind myself that everything with kids is a phase- the good and the bad. Oh, Audrey, please tell me this phase is ending soon. You are the sweetest pillow mate, the most beautiful face to wake up to each morning, but I need need some peaceful sleep desperately. One day, they will all sleep, right? I'm sure of it. At least that is the hope that will get me through... monsters.

soccer saturday.

Today was game #2 for Jackson... and what a difference a week makes. His nerves were gone, he's becoming such good buddies with his teammates and while we lost official count, his team scored something like 20 goals. They were on fire and so fun to watch. And the views of his smallest fans on the sidelines weren't bad either...

{jonah daniel} SIX months!

Jonah is officially "half zero" as Jackson says. That's six months for you common folk. That means I only have 6 more months of having a baby... and that hurts my heart to think about. It's a shame being pregnant and going through labor is so awful (thanks a lot for that, Eve!), otherwise I'd give birth to more in a heartbeat. Please don't mention that to Dan, I don't think his sanity heart could handle it. The past couple of weeks have brought a lot of changes for Jonah, but you would never know it, except for maybe that pouty lip he has given me a few times when I leave in the morning... that's enough to break anyone's heart. I'm so thankful for this little guy- Jonah, you are the sweetest, the absolute sweetest and we couldn't love you more. 

#8

When did my Saturdays turn into soccer games, lawn-mower shopping and Costco trips? Apparently today. I'm not sure what is more shocking- that Jackson is old enough to have soccer games or that I'm old enough to have a kid who plays soccer. Either way, it was a pretty adorable morning at the fields. After his game he whispered in my ear, as if revealing the biggest secret, "Mommy, at first I was really scared, but then it was so FUN!" And so are most of the best things in life, little buddy.

 

 

at the end of the day...

Today I'm wrapping up my first week back to work, my first week on my new assignment, my first week leaving my THREE(!) babies. Leaving them to head to the office will never be an easy thing to do- but as I've said before, very rarely is the easy thing the right thing. And right now, this is the right thing for our family. 

These past few days couldn't have gone better. I am tired- TIRED, I tell you, but everyone is happy, everyone is taken care of. Jackson- notorious for sleeping in- was up  early Monday morning, reporting to Nanna that he just couldn't sleep because he was too excited to spend the day with her. My babies are excited for the adventures they are having while I am off having some of my own- how lucky are we? 

So lucky. And I'm so blessed- I get to play so many roles in this life of mine- some more important than others, of course, but as I've been talking with my team this week, I firmly believe that I will excel at all of them and that each of the roles I play enables me to excel at all the others. They are interconnected. It's something that I think of as exponential success- success in one area can enable and multiply ones success in another area.

And with all of that said- I love, LOVE, that at the end of the day we are just a family full of love, blessings, challenges and hopefully a whole lot of adventure who is just trying to make the most of each day, wherever that day may take us.