Saturday, February 7, 2015

Updates, 100 days, and Oatmeal

Life with three children ages six and under can be messy at times.
And chaotic, even for the most organized mama, like me.
I like to have things planned out, scheduled, organized, and clean.
Something I am definitely learning during this season of motherhood is that sometimes it is what it is.
And that joy can still be found 
in the oatmeal on the floor and in the crayon drawings on the new train table.
: )

To combat my wild schedule, I bit the bullet and ordered an Erin Condren Life Planner.
I have been window shopping her site for at least six months.
I had to persuade David that spending $65 on a planner was worth it, but I think he, too, understood my need to have a better way to keep track of the comings and goings.

Point in case:  I totally forgot a play date and didn't show up or call.
I've never done something like that before.

Thankfully, she currently has five kids at home and was so gracious and understanding!
{Sorry, Pamela! XOXOX}


An update on the kids:

At age two, Henry is starting to talk in small snippets of sentences.
He loves to brush other people's teeth, just not his own.
He loves oatmeal, yogurt, blueberry muffins, and cookies.
He could drink a full gallon of milk every. single. day. if we let him.

He sleeps through the night so hard that we often don't hear a peep from until at least 8:00 every morning, if not later.

He is a book worm already and enjoys trains, bugs, cars, and dinosaur books.
We read to him for 20 minutes every night and put him to bed fully awake.

He loves to gives hugs and kisses and put on other people's shoes.
He plays independently and rarely requires me to entertain him. 
He likes to mimic Harbor by sitting at the homework table with paper and crayons.

He loves to slide at the park, the bigger the better.
And he wants to touch all the dogs and point out all the airplanes he hears overhead.

He is a great cuddler and lays his head on your shoulder when you squeeze him.
When I rock him at nap time, my heart cries that he fills my entire lap now.

He has started yelling, "You!" when we say, "Love you!"
He is truly the apple of my eye!





Harbor, at age six, is in love with school.
He has only missed one day this entire year for sickness.
And he cried when he couldn't attend.

He is in the Gifted program and reading on a 2nd grade level.
He never has to be asked to finish his homework or complete his Math.
He aims to please and wants to be the best at everything.
He is honestly harder on himself than we are.

He loves to read Magic Tree House chapter books and play with Lego's.
He refuses to break his Lego's a part after finished, and we therefore have a huge 
and growing collection sitting on his dresser.

We still read to him at least 30 minutes every night, weekends included.
It is my favorite time of the day to be with him.
: )

He is a wonderful big brother and asks to hold Hollin almost daily.
He hates white milk but loves sweet tea.
He loves broccoli and wants to eat a salad at restaurants when we eat out.
He is such a big help to me.

When I see him in carpool line, my heart leaps each and every day.
He is quiet and reserved at home and I have to pry and work to get details about his day,
 but he is so sweet and such a good boy!





New potty training undies that we aren't quite ready to use, but still getting excited about! 


I recently had a girls' night with Harbor's teacher and two other moms as a local bakery.
The husbands kept all the kids so we could visit.  Hollin went with me since I exclusively breastfeed and we had a great time.  I got there at 7:30 p.m. and looked at the clock and realized it was 10:00!  I don't think I've had a late night like that since Hollin has been born.
I made cookies and brought them to the bakery for a little extra fun!



Valentines have been made and the kids just had their "100 days of school" party this week.


100 days smarter!
{I wish kindergarten could last forever!}




Despite living in Colorado and having an abundance of snow, school has only been cancelled once.
I bundled up the little ones for a quick photo shoot in the front yard.
I happen to love the snow, even though driving in it isn't the most fun.










And a dear friend of mine, Melissa, is starting a photography business
 and asked if the kids would model for her.  
We had a great time and I'm thankful to be in a few pictures as opposed to behind the lens.


As a side note, I'm knee deep in hair!  
I've hit the postpartum stage of losing it all and having baby bangs.
David recently remarked that I have a blonde halo around my forehead.
Ha!
I was tempted to decline being in the pictures, but I know the right thing is to be in them and just own this season, bald or not! 
: )









Hollin, at five months, is such a tiny little thing.
A sweet thing, but a dainty one!
She is almost six months, but just now coming out of three month clothing.

She is nursing exclusively and is a very laid back eater.
Compared to the boys, her latch is more relaxed, like we have all the time in the world.
And for her, I do!
: )

I plan of introducing cereal for the first time at six months.
She sleeps in a bassinet beside our bed and sleeps through the night most nights,
 occasionally waking to nurse once.
She has a beautiful white sleigh style crib and custom made bedding, monogrammed,
but I haven't the heart to put her in it, though I'm sure she is ready.
I just adore having her near me.


She babbles and smiles and will laugh out loud from time to time.
She loves to be held and snuggled and smiles at most anything.

She does, however, have a very serious face for strangers.
She cocks her eyebrows up and sets her mouth in a straight line.
No amount of baby talk can crack her serious face if she isn't sure about you.
: )

She enjoys bouncing in her jumper and having tummy time.
She cries seldom, but when she does, she really does!
She sounds like a car alarm with a slight pause in between yelps.
When she cries like that, all the boys, big and small, come running for her.

Her hair has a touch of red and her eyes are a deep blue.

I love her little face so!

What would I have missed had we only had two children?
Oh, Hollin! 
 You are mine and I am yours! 

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Henry's 2nd Birthday Party {all the details!}


Henry's favorite toy right now is the train.
We can't leave Barnes and Noble for him playing with the train table
and every movie he loves is train themed: Polar Express, Dinosaur Train, and Thomas.

It was an easy choice to have a train party.
I wanted his eyes to widen and his little mouth to drop open.
I wanted him to feel really special.

I can't believe he is two years old.
I'm resisting the temptation to link to his birth post and reminisce over all his newborn photos.
But I digress.

We started looking at train tables and I didn't fall in love with anything.
They just weren't sized right for our space and I honestly didn't love my color options.

When David offered to build a knock off Restoration Hardware train table, my heart skipped!

He started by buying some black iron and painting it a glossy black in a little paint booth he set up in the basement.


He took over my craft room and built a top that was perfectly sized for our living room.


He painted it a nice peaceful cream.


I began work on a train banner for the mantle.


I also made a quick train shirt during nap one afternoon.



And stayed up really really late {like 3 a.m.} baking train cookies and whipping royal icing.


This is only the 2nd time I've ever used royal icing- and let me tell you- there is a definite learning curve!  They are far from perfect, but little Henry's eyes bugged when he saw them and he yelled, "Trains," which made my late night worth it.
They also tasted like heaven on earth, which means everyone wins!
: )


We kept the party very small with just our little family of five.
Living far from home means no family, but they mailed gifts and cards and money for our baby boy, and for that we are SO thankful!

I served my cookies on a pretty platter and we sang Happy Birthday.





And then Henry came into the living room and saw his table for the very first time.
Oh, he was so surprised!
He stood so still and finally looked up at us and grinned.
It was a moment, y'all!
Precious is what it was!

Aren't those black iron legs to die?
I am always so impressed with David's work.
He is really great with the details.


Since I opted for a soothing color scheme, David worked in the fun and color with all the accessories.
He ended up buying three of four train sets in order to get all the pieces he wanted.
It was a labor of love and David and I have already joked that this will be in our house for our grand kids to enjoy. It is sturdy and gorgeous and not going anywhere.
: )






The banner was a fun photo back drop!







I reused a party hat from Harbor's 4th birthday in Chicago and added a wooden train piece.




We set up the tripod and took a slew of pictures.










Henry was so sweet and happy to have a cookie in one hand and a train in the other.
It doesn't take much to impress little ones.

Me and my birthday boy!



And Harbor thought my cookies were awesome, which made me feel good.
He has requested a monsters party for his 7th, so time will tell, but he later drew up a few monster cookie ideas for me.  
He is a mess!





It was a small, but perfect "two-toot" birthday for my Henry!
Happy birthday, sweet cakes!
Mommy loves you!
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