Life Lately... and Thankfulness!

Good morning! I'm going to attempt a little combination post of what's been happening with us lately in addition to a few words of thankfulness in there with Thanksgiving being tomorrow and all.

Earlier in November, my sister flew in to visit for a few days and (as I suspected), we had a smashing time. The girls loved having Auntie Robbo around to read stories, dote on them, and  make elaborate play-doh cupcakes. They also enjoyed riding her down the playground slide like a toboggan.

 Fortunately, I fed Robbyn lots of coffee and pastries to keep her going strong in Auntie Mode.

Joe was very nice to keep shooing us out of the house and we managed several fun outings. We shopped in Stillwater one day and met Michael and McKenzie  at The Wedge & Wheel and shared an out-of-control cheeseboard. It was a fantastic time (Until Rosie decided that bread and cheese isn't a proper lunch and got real mad. Fortunately, that was toward the end of the meal.)

Things got even more sisterly as we also had dinner out at The Craftsman and brought along my birthday-having sister-in-law. It was a delightful evening, we ate all the things , talked about all the things, and even shared three desserts at the end!

I'm so glad Robbyn was able to swing in and visit. I'm always a little more inspired and energized after we've spent some time together. First of all, she's a babe so I always feel motivated to, you know, change out of my sweat pants and put on some make up. Plus, I love rehashing our childhood, especially since having two girls of my own really gives me flashbacks all the time. And I love how she just gets me excited about life, everything from our next big steps, to thinking up new ideas for our small side businesses,  to trying new recipes, to planning trips, etc. I really really have the best siblings.

 Even better, she was able to accompany me to my first ultrasound with this third babe and that was extremely special. I can't tell you how much I love having a new little one to stare at on our refrigerator!

Rosie recently went through a tough week where there were lots of tantrums. And crying over everything. And then I was crying of course, because I felt frustrated and also helpless. I even brought her into the doctor because I was concerned that maybe I was missing an ear infection, painful teething, or something else causing her discomfort. They said she was fine... just two years old. Awesome.

Fortunately, some one-one-one time seems to have remedied things and she's back to being energetic and cheery for the most part.

I've found that my greatest cure in life and my secret to maintain sanity on the treadmill that is parenthood is time to myself in anyway, shape, or form. I do not feel guilty about it in the least. Be it a ladies night out or reading my library book with coffee in the morning before the kids up, it's my way to feel human...like ME! I will say, being able to wake up before the girls do is probably the things that sets me up most for success on any given day. Sometimes I whisper to my coffee like a crazy person "I WILL do better today!" Kidding. (No, I'm not.)

All of that self-care and de-stressing is quite important because the holidays are seriously upon us!

Last weekend Cece and I had a fun date together grabbing some Starbucks (hot chocolate for her) and shopping for new Christmas decorations. We had a lovely time together and I can't believe how grown-up she is getting. I already know I am no where near ready to have a big-kid, but ready or not, it's happening. I feel like raising girls in our current world is a mighty challenge, but one that I need to tackle head-on. Because I feel at the end of the day nothing in the world is more important to me than raising strong girls in this world who know that they are so very loved.

Speak of the girls, we recently bunked them up in an early effort to make space for the new baby. We got them new beds and rearranged their room. And now, it's pretty much my most favorite space in the house. Someday I'll get around to posting more pics of our whole house as I've been wanting to give a little bloggy tour of our new place... but I keep wanting to take photos of the rooms when they are actually clean and that keeps not happening.

And if we're going to be real here, their room usually looks more like some variation of this. ^^^

Which is still awesome.

Here's a recent pic of the two boo-boos together. I found matching Christmas PJs last week and couldn't resist already giving them to the girls. I'm still awed at how big they've gotten... and at the fact that I'm still a mom. It's been almost six years and I still feel like I can't always process that this is real life. Some days I feel like I'm a teenager and still waiting for the adult to show up!

So that's a few of the things happening lately.

Sometimes it's easy to feel overwhelmed. There was a good chunk of time this month where Rosie was having her epic tantrums, housework and projects needed doing everywhere I looked, I hadn't been caught up on editing photos in months, and it was hard to be on any kind of media without getting all of the post-election news and problems with the country and the world. It feels a little hard to be going into Thanksgiving and the holidays with everyone so divided. Sometimes it feels like a lot.

But. I am thankful for so much. This has been a big year for us (and a pretty wild year for the world).

How much more could I ask for? Joe and I come from two wonderful families and have two lovely healthy girls and one more baby on the way. We're living in a neighborhood and house that is so fantastic that I can't believe it's ours after almost six months. And even though I dabble in photography, I'm massively thankful that our life has worked out where our home and kids are my first job. I haven't quite figured out how to express gratitude without sounding braggy, but I just want to make it clear that I don't take what I have for granted for a moment.



Lastly, I just wanted to express my thankfulness and love for my husband who has made my dream life possible through his hard work everyday. And what's more, I love how he still comes home tired as hell and still helps me around the house and still has energy and smiles and silliness and stories and tuck-ins for the girls when I feel like I am running on empty. So, Joe, if you actually get to reading this... thank you for all you do! It's not easy, and we're both often exhausted, but there's not anyone else I want to be this exhausted with.

This is a photo of us from Thanksgiving 2006. Look how rested and relaxed we probably were ten years ago, haha.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! May your hearts be full and your pants be stretchy!