A Day in the Life

I really am writing this post for memory purposes. I thought it would be really fun to look back one day and read about how our schedule was way back when. I like to run our household like a well-oiled machine and I believe we are getting there. I don't say one of the boys is doing something consistently unless they have been doing it for at least a week. For some reason that is my time frame. So this schedule has been consistent for about a week and a half now.

Hampton usually wakes up about 6:30/7am. I feed him and then we go downstairs to get breakfast ready for Everett and I. Then about 7/7:30 Everett wakes up. Everett and I then will eat breakfast together while Hampton swings nearby. Afterward we then all go down to the playroom where we camp out for awhile. Everett usually will watch a program in the morning. These days he is really into Elmo, Calliou, or Barney. Hampton is into discovering his hands or staring at his brother cross-eyed. At about 9 Hampton is then sent upstairs for a catnap. He naps from 9-10. I like the 9-10 hour because it gives me a chance to spend one-on-one play time with Everett. At about 10 Hampton gets up and eats again. From 10-11 both boys are up and "playing." I then try my hardest to encourage Everett to clean-up all his toys and then we go back upstairs where he "helps" me put Hampton down for a nap. At 11 Everett eats his lunch and then at 11:30 he goes down for his nap. 11:30-2:00 is a sweet part of my day. Both boys nap and I eat lunch, clean some part of the house, shower, nap occasionally, blog, catch-up on emails or phone calls, etc. It took a lot of work to coordinate this part of the day, but it has been so worth it! Then at about 2 Hampton wakes up and eats. At about 2:30 Ev wakes up and has a snack. Then Everett plays once again. From 2-5 Hampton is in and out of sleep, but for the most part we (especially Ev) can keep him up. Unless he has to work late, we can usually can count on Eric getting home around 4:30/5. Around 5 Hampton will grab another hour catnap. We usually eat dinner during the 5-6 hour while Hampton sleeps. If it is a bath night, both boys will get a bath. Hampton goes down about 7 and then Everett goes down a half hour later. By 7:30 both boys are in bed and Eric and I have time alone together. We usually watch television or a movie or just chat. Hampton will wake up again around midnight and then about 4:30 to nurse again before the whole day begins again. I haven't ventured out much alone with the boys. The schedule is going so well that I hate to mess it up yet. Sometimes when Eric gets home I will jet out to run an errand or two. The weekends the schedule sometimes gets moved around as well and especially on Sunday when we are at church all morning. Overall are days are about the same and at this point, I like it that way. When we were living in Louisville I always wanted to get out. Now that I have a house, I always want to stay at home. Even Everett will request to go home occasionally when we are out and about. That makes me so happy that he loves his home. It has been such a blessing to be at home more with the babies and finally life is being to feel "normal" again.

Spring Bunny

Look how sweet my little bunny is. Much to Eric's chagrin, Everett donned this cute little outfit today.

And look at this guy....he'd rather be the way he came into this world-naked!

Family Day/Date Night

Saturday was a busy,but fun day. Everett and Hampton's Gigi (Eric's mom, Gail) was visiting for the weekend. We went to downtown Hendersonville for the morning. Hendersonville is about 15 minutes away, so it wasn't too far. I love the Mast General Store. They have everything from laundry detergent to North Face apparel. I also love all the penny candy. After we shopped for a bit, we had lunch at a place called Mountain Deli. It was soooo good! I had the best chicken apple salad sandwich and Everett had probably the best grilled cheese of his life. I was so happy that Hampton liked the Baby Bjorn. This was our first time using it with him and Everett used to love it. Overall, both boys did excellent. No meltdowns, which equals a successful outing in my opinion.

That evening Eric and I went out on a date. I did not know if it was going to actually happen. A couple of hours beforehand was just pure chaos. Hampton's hardest time of the day is the late afternoon-evening and my goodness he was being a pill. In between screaming fits I kept asking Eric if he thought we would ever get out of the house. By 8:00 we decided just to flee. I am so glad we did because Hampton ended up doing fine and we had such a great time out. We went to Biltmore Park, an outdoor shopping center with a lot of fun boutiques and restaurants. We went to a pizza place called Brixx. It was so good! We then went to Cold Stone for ice-cream. I would rate this date in our top 5 for sure.

Above all the shops and restaurants are luxury condos. Eric and I joked that if we didn't have children and were just focused on our careers ,we would live here. We would go out to fun and trendy restaurants to eat, see more concerts, travel to all the European countries we have been dying to visit, drive up the California coast...... SLEEP IN on Saturdays! It would definitely be a different life.

But this is good too........

In fact, this is pretty much perfect.

Target Attempt

Today I decided to be brave. I pushed fear aside and went out with both babies by myself. While I was laying in bed this morning I thought of about 20 reasons why I should not go out, but in the end I gave it a whirl. At about 9 am I had both boys freshly diapered, adorably dressed, and ready to go. At about 9:30 we were back home. That's right. Our trip to Target lasted about 10 minutes. Take a look at the face below and you'll see why. That's okay. I had gotten what I went for and Everett got a juice box. Successful trip in my opinion. We were invited to a playgroup tomorrow and I can think of about 100 reasons why not to go. We'll see! I love the "chub" Hampton is getting. Hopefully he doesn't pick up the nickname "Ham." He is putting on some weight for sure. I secretly pray that he is just as chubby and round as Everett was as a baby. I am not sure he will be as bald though. He has some hair!

I am happy this afternoon that both boys took a nap at the same time so that I could finish dressing my dining room table. I found the place settings at Target and the lantern at HomeGoods. The lantern actually is a flame less candle that lights up.

Overall I have had a good day. I have learned to be thankful for the good days and pray extra hard through the difficult ones. Each week will have its ups and downs, but I have never felt so blessed than I do now.

A Place to Cook and a Nook

I finally have space to cook now! I have really enjoyed our kitchen. I really like our gas stovetop and oven. I never knew water could boil so quickly. Also, I consider crushed ice to be a luxury and was thrilled to see our fridge had this feature. We now also have a proper pantry and plenty of cabinet space.

I love our breakfast nook. This is where we eat breakfast and lunch. Eventually we will add two more chairs to our table, hopefully in red. The thing I love most about this spot are the amazing mountain views. I pray they aren't covered up too much when the trees blossom fully. Also at night you can see the sun setting over the mountain range. It never gets old and it always takes my breath away. So blessed to be able to witness God's beauty in this way.

A Place to Dine

This is where we try to eat together as a family every night. It is difficult sometimes with a newborn to prepare some kind of meal every night, but we will get there. Right now it is dressed for Easter, but I need to change that out now for something "Springy."

Sittin' Room

I have always wanted a yellow living room with bright red couches. I love it. This is what I refer to as our "sitting room." It does not have a television, so therefore we go and we sit. Well...and chat, read, play, etc. I wasn't sure how often we would use this room, but suprisingly it has become a favorite. This is where at roughly around 4:30-5ish, the boys and I patiently wait by the window for "Dada" to arrive home from work. Did I say patiently? No. I anxiously wait for him to come home. When I see that car pull into the driveway, I almost giggle with glee. Relief has arrived and his name is Eric.

Not Half Bad

We have been working hard since we moved into our house unpacking, organizing, painting, decorating....One of my least favorite rooms was our half bath downstairs. It was just very blah. So when my Aunt Jenny came to visit a week ago that was one of the rooms where I needed her expert decor opinion. She actually helped me with many things throughout the house. I now need to insert a very grateful thank you to my mom who visited last month and basically painted my entire house. She jokes that I was a bit of a slave driver and she was just cheap labor, but I seriously could not have done it without her. Did I mention she was doing all of this in the midst of me just having had Hampton? Thanks Mom! So here is the new half bath! I may have to just really hydrate our company we have over so they get to use it. Ha!

Peanut Picasso

Over the weekend I had Everett finger paint a couple of canvases for his room. I really don't know who had more fun. My favorite moment is when he covered his hands in paint and then clapped thus resulting in paint splatters everywhere. Fun.

Well Hello There!

Well hello there green! Oh how I have missed you these past few dreadful winter months!

Yesterday I took some pictures of the flowers that have blossomed in our front yard. I was pleasantly surprised. There is something about the Spring that makes me feel so healthy. Something about the burgeoning flowers and greenery, the warmth, breaking out the flip-flops....it's wonderful. Everett even wore his first pair of shorts for the season the other day and I could just eat up those little toddler legs with a spoon! Happy Spring!

Brothers

Just a little bit of brotherly love.....