Our Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day this year. The main thing I love about Valentine's Day, or what it means to me, is that it is simply about love. Not just romantic love, but the love you have for the ones in your life. I want to show my family that everyday, but it is fun to have a day solely dedicated to that concept. And Eric truly outdid himself this year. In the midst of my workday Monday I received these. I was so surprised!

On Saturday night Eric also made me a very special meal. He made lo mein, homemade egg rolls, and homemade crab ragoon. For dessert he made perfiderols. Delicious. On Tuesday I wanted to make the children a special treat as well. A few weeks ago we switched to all natural eating and only whole foods. I thought it would be tricky to find a dessert that contained no refined suga,r but luckily I found a recipe for whole wheat brownies. They were sweetened with all natural pure maple syrup. They were very rich and the boys loved them!

For dinner I made a slow cooker whole organic chicken.

And roasted asparagus. The meal was a hit!

Speaking of things I love- I love this little thing! She has been a bit fussy lately. Perhaps teething? But even through all that she is the sweetest baby. I love her pouty face she is making.

Oh the love.

I just love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

 

 

Snowy Day

Saturday was a bit snowy and a true winter day. We embraced it. And spent most of the day at home together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tired, Fussy, Happy

I feel so frazzled lately that I am not sure where exactly I left off with the blog. The day to day chores and mothering is sometimes overwhelming. I feel like I am constantly chasing messes, cleaning, cooking, baking, doing laundry, et cetera et cetera. It is hard work, but good work. Anyways-it has left me overwhelmed at times and my brain is fried and my muscles are sore by the end of the day. I also have been bombarded at work with long shifts and a big caseload. Not a bad problem to have at all-but 12-13 hour shifts leave me exhausted as well. Blessed to only work outside the home two days a week though. Enough complaining. Here are thoughts/what has been going on in pictures.......

I know I am a bit biased, but this little girl is beautiful! I love her pouty lips, her cute button nose, and her deep blue eyes. She smiles with her entire face as well. I am in love.

Proof though that she is not always happy. Fussiness if thankfully very rare however.

Noni came to visit over the weekend and we all picked right where we left off.

 

And Gigi has been here the past two days. Sweet Eleanor fell asleep in her arms this afternoon.

Today we went to the library for storytime. Hampton loves it!

This picture is a bit blurry because I was in a hurry to snap a photo of both boys together. They have been playing with one another more and more lately. When Everett is trying to get Hampton to go somewhere with him he takes him by the hand and leads him. This has led to me witnessing my two boys walking around the house hand in hand. My heart can't take it! Sure they bicker about sharing and Everett will give the occasional shove or even hit Hamp, but they do have their sweet brother moments. I chose to store those memories away.

We have had a good few days. I am looking forward to a quiet weekend with absolutely no plans. Just the day to day-plus Dada!

Quiet Morning

Today we had a quieter morning. A morning at home. We read books. We played with blocks. With played "store" with the play cash register. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches and black olives for lunch. Eleanor and Hampton are now napping, but my Everett is at my heels refusing to rest. I tell him he can be up, but I still have work to do. He seems okay with that just to be near me. One day I know I will miss this. 

Crooked glasses and cheesy grin......

Such a beautiful boy-if I do say so myself!

She loves to stick her tongue out!

 

I am loving this pose! He loves the camera. I get it out and he automatically says "cheese!"

Eleanor with her Valentine's book

 

Everett reading to Eleanor

 

And Hampton reading on his own

Yesterday Morning I Went a Little Crazy

My last post was about getting back on track with our daily routine and we are still getting there. So yesterday morning I thought I'd throw a monkey wrench into the whole deal and go crazy. Well- not really...but there were many moments during the morning that I did think that exact thought. I always wanted to be the type of mother that could handle taking our 3 young children anywhere by myself. I envisioned myself toting them with me to run any errand, the doctor's office, etc. Well maybe one day that will occur, but right now it can be a bit nuts. However yesterday I felt energetic and stir crazy in the house, so I decided to take them on an outing. We decided to go the story time at the library. It was a little hairy getting out the door, but once we did we got there and had a lot of fun! The boys really responded to the songs and stories and their favorite thing was dancing with scarves. After we left the library I decided to take them to get Everett's hair cut. It desperately needed to be cut and we just couldn't find the time. So off to Great Clips we went. When we got there it was a bit of a wait and Eleanor needed to nurse, leaving me powerless to control the boys. Thankfully they entertained themselves without getting into too much mischief. Everett had some apprehension about getting his hair cut and halfway through the haircut I took over the shears and cut his hair myself! I still had the pay the full price though-ha! When we left the salon I think I might have even heard a round of applause. I also think my husband was a bit impressed I took that on myself. I am gaining confidence though. Children are unpredictable and not every outing is a success. We have found we measure success by the number of meltdowns that occur/don't occur. It is always a risk, but many times there is a great payoff. I didn't bring my camera with me to document our morning, but I leave you with a picture of my gal-she rolls with the punches and is entertained by the daily chaos that is our life. I love her!

Getting on Track

I don't even know where to start. I feel like it has been so long since I've posted anything. Our whole goal last week was to get back on track. Eric took some vacation days. I took Ev out of preschool for the week. We stayed home. It wasn't relaxing. It was a lot of work. But any given day is a lot of work around here with three children 3 and under. Everett is doing better. The amount of seizures has gone down (maybe 1 a day. Many days go by where we see none) and he is adjusting to his medication. His behavior isn't ideal, but definitely manageable. I think a lot of what we're seeing is being a 3 year old as well. I might add-a very strong-willed, passionate, emotional, active 3 year old!

So last week we painted.......
 

Everett loves an art project........

 

 

And we played with dry beans. The boys loved this!

 

And we watched movies.

And just spent time together......

 

We got back on track. And now I am ready to embrace this week with new eyes. I will pray for patience, guidance, and for joy. So far, so good.