Ballet...

Sep 24, 2015

Last Tuesday was the day Scarlett has been waiting for for at least two years...her first ballet class.


Karate...

Sep 18, 2015

At some point quickly after moving into our new house Dominic and Scarlett started playing "karate". Ultimately this just means, pull all the sheets off mom and dads bed and jump around until someone gets hurt while listening to loud music on moms phone.  It usually gives Chris and I enough time every evening to make dinner before someone is kicked in the face or falls off the bed.

A death wish...

Sep 16, 2015

My kids have no fear and sometimes I swear they are actually trying to hurt themselves.

Bringing out the big guns...

Sep 14, 2015

It has been way too long since I actually took a picture that wasn't a "quick, catch that moment" shot on my phone.  It felt good to hear the click of the camera and to try my best to manage the manual setting on my DSLR again.  P.S. My kids are getting too big, too fast.

First day of Kindergarten...

Sep 9, 2015

And not a serious face in sight...

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Thankfully we got that scraggly hair into a pony tail before walking out the door.

Scarlett started her first day of Kindergarten at the local elementary school.  Her teacher seems great and she is only in a half day class so we wont have to miss her for too long.

The new normal...

Sep 4, 2015

Maxwell was born at the end of Chris's school year, in fact he ditched the final week of school in an effort to add balance amidst the chaos that we felt from becoming a family of five.  Needless to say summer came, and with it a new routine, or lack there of.   Summer was a total blur of sleepless nights, dirty diapers, warm milk, first flights, last minute trips, family and friends, and absolutely no structure.  For this total type A personality, summer was simultaneously refreshing and extremely stressful.

Thankfully this weeks rainy forecast marked the beginning of a much anticipated fall and the familiarity of our tenth school year.  Chris and I both agree that even though we loved being able to spend the summer together as a family, there is a rejuvenating energy to the beginning of a new routine. We have reached a place in our lives where we can finally cultivate the expectations that we desired when moving to Washington last year. We both feel energized by our chosen vocations and look forward to creating a rich home and family together in this next season of life.

So this week I am soaking up the full experience as stay at home mom and loving on all three of my babies before Scarlett goes off to Kindergarten, and shortly after that, high school.  I am enjoying the tiny bit of chaos that comes from the final days of summer while looking forward to fully embracing the next 18 years of our new normal.

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I hate croup...

Sep 2, 2015

Ever since Dominic was a tiny baby, if there was a virus in the air, he caught it.  No matter what. Scarlett would bring home a runny nose and Dominic would catch a runny nose, sore throat, stomach bug and runny poops.  Every fall he suffers from at least one, week long stint of barking cough and runny nose.  Chris and I didn't think much of it and had the humidifier on stand by as soon as the weather turned anything below 70.

But last night was different.  Last night was scary.  There is no way to describe the feeling of watching your child struggle for breath.  Coughing and crying, coughing and crying, searching for air.  Between the gasps for breath I heard myself pleating for him to calm down, soothing him with words that I knew would make no difference to a scared two year old.  Encouraging him to take a sip of water only to watch him cough it right up.  It was terrifying.  Thankfully Chris kept his cool as I sat shaking in the corner searching for our nearest ER.

I sent Chris off with an address and a piece of my heart, praying for God's hands to be on my son as he struggled for each life breathing gulp of air.  Thankfully two hours later Dominic was laying in bed beside Chris with a steroid pumping through his body, a dinosaur air mask and a hospital bracelet gripped in his tiny hands as souvenirs.

Croup.  Apparently now there is a name for the previously routine cough that we so quickly brushed off as a common cold.  So as with all virus's we were told, stay home, drink lots of liquid and rest easy.  So yesterday we did just that.  The kids and I didn't leave the playroom for anything other than food and water, we watched 4 movies, filled our chalk wall with modern interpretations of the people we love, and never changed out of our jammies.  It was the perfect day.

So croup, I do not wish you to return with such vigor ever again, but I do thank you for the excuse to embrace a rainy day vibe with my kids and give them both the day of their dreams.

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