Thankful on a Thursday

This week I'm thankful for...

1061. All the hard work that went into our backyard makeover {now we just wait for the grass to grow!}

1062. The kiddos staying healthy despite both Ben + I being sick.

1063. Regaining my voice after almost a week of struggling to talk.

1064. The love and support of an amazing man.

1065. Our successful trip to Portland. So many things could have derailed the whole thing, but everything went smoothly.

1066. A fantastic boss and co- workers. I love my job!

1067. My busy boys. Des is such a speedy crawler now, he has taken to following Kai everywhere. Kai LOVES it.

1068. Getting some fun crafty supplies in the mail.

1069. Morning coffee ala French press.

1070. God's word with me wherever I go. 

{YouVersion Bible app}

Now on to a VERY busy weekend!

what we've been up to...

Memorial Day weekend was quite the whirlwind of events for us.

Friday night we drove up to Portland for our first long car ride with both Malakai + Desmond. It could not have gone any better. Kai drew on his aqua doodle pad nearly the whole way up. I was pleasantly surprised that we never had to pull out the ipod for last resort video games! Desmond napped a big chunk of the ride and then woke up happy and watched Malakai for a while. He was pretty fussy the last 20 minutes, but nothing unbearable.

{I-5 NB}

After we settled in at Lindsey + Adam's place she and I left the boys to hang out (aka Ben got to do bedtime for both kiddos and he ROCKED it!). We went to downtown Portland for Carina's 30th birthday party at The Barrel Room. It was a lot of fun and I was so excited to be out with friends, I can't remember the last time I did something like that!

{Linds + Elvis, China Town, Carina + her fiancee Reid}

{Carina on the piano, me + Lindsey, Carina + I, Carina + her cake}

Unfortunately almost as soon as we got there my voice started to get scratchy and with the increased volume once the band started playing I was straining to talk loud enough to have a conversation with anyone. Linds and I were the last to go and got back around 12:30am. I found Ben in the guest bed passed out with Kai sprawled across the bed next to him. He moved Kai to his cot and we passed out until Des woke up at 5:30am, when my amazing husband woke up with him and let Malakai and I sleep in til nearly 7am. That's when I woke up with a very hoarse voice.

{Des + Linds}

We had breakfast with Linds + Adam before packing up to head home. We stopped to stretch Malakai's legs and have some lunch on the way down. Kai slept the whole way and Des fell asleep about halfway down after a bit of a meltdown that we had to pull over for. I drove so that Ben could catch up on sleep as well.

{Bridgeport Village}

When we got back to town, there was a whole crew at our place to greet us because it was phase 2 of our lawn replacement. Ben's parents had gifted us with a new lawn for Christmas and the weekend before they had tilled up and raked out all the old grass to prepare for trenching, laying pipe for sprinklers, filling said trenches, calibrating sprinklers, evening out the land, spreading base mix, grass seed and the like and then waiting for it to all grow. My brother, his friend, Ben, his brother and their dad all worked from 2:30 (when we got back) til around 6pm that day.

Sunday I had a rare day off of work, but I was sick so I didn't really get to enjoy it. My voice was even worse- I could barely talk. Ben and his dad got started in on the lawn again that afternoon and into the evening while the boys and I hung out around the house.

Monday rolled around and I had arranged for Ben's mom to watch the boys so I could get some things done, including rest! Ben, his dad, and his brother were back at the yard for the whole day. I ran a few errands and took my time, but when I got home to nap I couldn't sleep. I did a few things around the house before picking up the boys and having lunch with them and their grandma. Even though I didn't get the rest I was hoping for it was still a nice break.

{trenching for new sprinklers}

Once the boys were down for nap I still couldn't sleep and was now coughing. After they woke up we played in the house and checked out the new sprinkler system a bit. Ben + I were both so exhausted (he was sick too!) that we ordered in for dinner and took it easy.

Yesterday we both went into the doctor. Ben seems to have another case of bronchitis and possibly asthma? I don't know if I agree with the doctor's theory, especially since her remedy was a $40+ inhaler. Oy! My diagnosis is viral laryngitis, the advice- wait it out. My voice is coming back a bit but my throat is painful and my cough is worse. I still sound like a frog man.

Today I went to work- I don't want to fall behind and honestly it's easier to be there while being sick than to be home with my 2 energetic boys. It's better for them to have some time with Mima who is healthy enough to keep up with them.

As for our yard, it's a lovely field of dirt and grass seed for now, but over the next few weeks we should be getting some lovely new grass sprouting up!

I'm super behind on my photo blog, but I have some catch up to do at home and at work before that gets updated. It'll get done soon though...I hope!

7 months

{I wrote the following update and then let it sit as I haven't had time to add the pictures...Des turned 7 months almost two weeks ago on the 10th...May is about to disappear just as quickly as April did! Needless to say he is already doing much more since I wrote this post, changing way too fast!}

On Thursday Desmond turned 7 months...already. April sort of disappeared for us, which has me a bit worried about how May will go!

This past month Desmond has started to say "dada" all.the.time. He did (for the record) say "ma" first...but he really only says it when he's mad. Nice huh? He also says "ba" and recently started mixing them together a bit. He will even start practicing his new words in the middle of the night, cute.

He's crawling, albeit clumsily. But there is forward motion now instead of just ending up wedged under something because he's scooted backwards. His increased mobility over the last 4 weeks leaves nothing at floor level safe anymore. I've been sweeping and mopping like a crazy woman...as well as cleaning up spit-up every two seconds (see: happy spitter). He is very good at grabbing anything and everything. He has long arms and incredible aim. Jewelry and cutlery beware.


Des' sitting skills have improved as well. He was toppling over quite often because he'd want to try to go get something or he'd get really excited and straighten out, only to fall backwards. Now he's mastered rolling to the side to get on his tummy from sitting, as well as getting into a sitting position from being on his belly. All these things we take for granted until we see a little person struggle to learn them. He gets frustrated, but does fairly well.

The DAY he turned 7 months his first tooth broke through. The night before was obviously a rough one. Little tooth is on the bottom in the middle. It is sharp and I'm praying hard that he doesn't become a biter like Kai was.

He is still waking in the night to nurse, but typically only once which is manageable for the time being. Although, I'm thinking we'll try to wean him of that feeding soon since he doesn't need it and we all could use the continuous sleep. Easier said than done of course. He naps regularly and goes down easily for the most part, he is leaps and bounds easier than his brother was in the sleep department. Actually, he's still easier than Malakai is right now when it comes to going to sleep and staying asleep.

As you can see Desmond has a head full of hair and I'm not sure we'll make it to his first birthday before he needs his first haircut. Malakai had very short hair at the same age, but developed sweet curls that I became quite attached to. His first haircut was at almost 15 months old. Looking back at pictures of his little psuedo-mullet, I think it'll be easier to cut Desmond's when the time comes...as long as he doesn't go and sprout little curls anytime soon.

Thankful on a Thursday

Thursdays are always so busy for me that I often forget to post these. Perhaps it's bad timing, or perhaps it's when I need to pause and reflect the most.

This week I'm thankful for

1051. an upcoming opportunity to see an out of town friend for her 30th birthday.

1052. days when naps coincide and everything falls together smoothly.

1053. daydreaming of a possible 5 year wedding anniversary getaway with Ben.

1054. 30 minutes of quiet in the sunshine, all by myself.

1055. patience coming at just the right moments.

1056. watching Malakai and Desmond start to play together.

1057. getting to order new cordless room darkening blinds for all 3 bedrooms!

1058. the opportunity to redo our backyard complete with sprinkler system.

1059. quiet evenings curled up on the couch with my hubby and our favorite shows.

1060. this blog. while it's far from perfect and surely not as interesting as it has been or could be, it's a great way to record our family's history and connect with those that have stuck around through the lulls. Thanks for reading!

Mother's Day 2012

This Mother's Day I somehow got spoiled enough to be celebrated for the entire weekend. Friday night we went out to eat at Red Lobster with Ben's parents which was more to celebrate our finalized refinances, but we did Mother's Day gifts as well.

We gave Grandma Debbie a card colored by Malakai + a gift card to a local garden supply so she could pick out some flowers, veggie starts, or hanging baskets. Debbie gave me a potholder that she had decorated with the boys. I have one from two years ago with Kai's hands and this year I got foot prints from both boys.

After dinner the boys took some time to marvel at the lobsters, or "monsters".

On Saturday Ben made me waffles and gave me a map of what we'd be doing that day to celebrate Mother's Day.

First we went to the church for a Mother's Craft day for mom's to bring their kiddos and create crafts together. It was a ton of fun! Malakai and I did a few crafts while Des got passed around. Then Kai got a bit antsy so Ben (who was there serving treats to all the moms and kids) took him outside to play and I got some time to just make something on my own, which NEVER happens at home so it was really enjoyable.

Afterwards we headed to lunch and sat outside, which is one of my favorite things about summer time. It was a beautiful 80 degree day (quite rare for these parts if you aren't familiar). Next we headed home for nap time.

Lastly Ben thought we could go out to eat and then to the park by our old house, we compromised and packed a picnic dinner to take with us to the park. That way Kai wouldn't have to try to sit still for the 3rd time that day and we wouldn't be spending extra money. It was a lot of fun to see how the neighborhood has changed and play in the sun.

On our way home we picked up some ice cream for after the kids went to bed and then we went to bed early!

Sunday morning I headed for work (church) and while I was there Ben called me on facetime and showed me pictures online of my present from him...

he made me two trellises for my sugar snap peas! This was something I had saved on Pinterest and he and I had even discussed making at some point. He made them while at work and is finishing them up. I am so excited!

After church (work) we headed home and ate leftovers for lunch and watched a few shows while the boys napped. Once they woke up we headed out to G'Pa + Mima's to celebrate Mother's Day with them. On the way there Ben gave me my last gift that he and the boys had made together...

Something I had also pinned! Apparently I made Mother's Day gift ideas easy on them without even trying. I love it and it's in the frame that I got for my first first Mother's Day. (Speaking of, I just came across this surprise post that Ben wrote last year, I'm one blessed gal!).

Once we got to my parents' place we enjoyed the first swim of the year (the pool was FREEZING though) and ate dinner. We also gave my mom a card colored by Kai and a gift card to a garden supply place as well.

I enjoyed a restful weekend surrounded by loved ones. I'm so blessed to be loved so well by my husband and children.

Thankful for Mothers

I know I'm late on my thankful post, but better late than never. I wanted to be sure to share my thankful list as it relates to mothers + mothering.

I'm thankful for...

1041.  the opportunity to mother my children every day. I get to learn and grow with them and I find that to be a huge blessing.

1042. my mom. She is thoughtful, caring, loving; everything a mother should be. She is my best friend and a fantastic grandmother to our boys.

1043.  my mother-in-law. She has become like a mom to me over the past 6 years and I'm increasingly grateful for our friendship. She's also a wonderful grandma.

1044. My gram. She is such a fun lady and we don't see her often enough.

1045. Ben's grandmas. I've enjoyed getting to know them over the years and they are so sweet with our boys.

1046. My late great-grandma. I miss her tons, I often wish she could be around to meet my kids and see me as a mother.

1047. Mama friends. I have so many friends of all ages with kids at every stage who are great role models for a young(ish) mom like me.

1048. Getting to parent with Ben. He is such a great father and husband and I credit him with much of my ability to mother our sons well. I especially look to him for guidance in being more patient; with our boys and with myself.

1049. teaching my children. As a teacher I enjoy and look forward to teaching my kids at home, but will most definitely be sending them to public school once they are kindergarten age (and of course supplementing their learning at home then as well!)

1050. the funny + sweet moments. As I write this, Malakai began to stir during his nap...and is currently falling asleep sitting up. Yesterday he called me a "stinker". Desmond's belly laughs are the best pick-me-ups of all time, and I just love watching his little personality begin to shine through. Watching my sons play and interact is one of the best rewards parenting has to offer.

{the three of us on a typical day; Kai trying to help Desmond out with a "rope"}

Motherhood has it's ups and downs and it would be very easy to get caught up in the difficult parts and be ungrateful for the rest. Just today Kai threw a pretty epic fit that had me clenching my teeth. Every single day I choose to love mothering, even the hard parts. 

{mama + her boys}

What/who are you thankful for this week?

comparing my boys...

I never got around to posting the comparison photos I did of Des + Kai at 6 months and suddenly Desmond is 7 months...so here are both 6 and 7 month comparisons.

Whenever I look at photos of Kai as a baby, it truly makes me wonder what people are talking about when they see Des and say "he looks just like his brother!"

Thankful on a Thursday

A quick list...

1031. Our church D-Group.

1032. Kai's desire to play with his baby brother.

1033. No desserts in our house at the moment (I'm really bad at resisting)

1034. Running water, of which we were without for 24 hours.

1035. my upcoming hair appointment (I only go once or twice a year)

1036. when Kai snuggles.

1037. Desmond's new sounds (he said "ma!")

1038. late night talks with Ben, even when we wake up exhausted the next morning.

1039. a sweet sleepy baby.

1040. my sister, the best babysitter out there!