Tuesday, January 29, 2019

- Winter ONEderland! -

This sweet girl has been a little snow goddess from the beginning...
...which is why I had absolutely no trouble deciding on the theme for her very special first birthday party!  

Welcome to Scarlett's Winter ONEderland!  
Oh Sissy girl, we've loved you since the moment we met you [and, really, for 9 months before that, too!]! You brought a new dynamic of love to our family and expanded our hearts in ways I didn't even know was possible.  You fit into our lives so perfectly; so much so that we hardly remember our lives without you here!
 

^^ What a huuuuuuuge difference one year can make!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Scarlett Clare! Mommy, Daddy and Harper love you to the moon! :-* :-* 



- Farewell, 2018! -

Ohhhh, you were a great one; in fact, you were the very best one yet!  We welcomed our littlest family member in January 2018 and celebrated our sixth anniversary in November 2018; in between those events were plenty of other parties and holidays, but mostly just lots of "ordinary" days spent with all of the people we love the most!  A small recap:
Harper heard that New Year's Eve was a fancy affair, and this prompted her to don her fanciest dress to bid farewell to 2018:
^^ And Scarlett's shirt says it all: she is truly "one of a kind!" We may or may not've been in bed before the ball drop, but we celebrated the last day of the year with food and fun and family and wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
So... CHEERS TO 2018!  As all good things must come to an end, we end this chapter knowing the next chapter [AKA 2019] will be even more exciting and full of happiness and love! 

xoxox

Sunday, January 20, 2019

- The {Inaugural} Christmas Letter: 2018 -

I always look forward to retrieving the mail during the month of December, because there's something special and magical and just ...so fun! about opening up everyone's family Christmas cards.  The well wishes written on the cards seems to bring a warm Christmas cheer into our home, and seeing the smiles and joy in people's photos is so heartwarming. I especially love when a typed-up letter of sorts falls out of the envelope.  Life is busy and full of a lot of hustle and bustle -- especially during the holiday season -- and it's nice to sit down and read about what's really going on in someone's life. ...You know, to have more to digest than the typical path-crossing-at-Schucks-or-Target that is, "Hi, how are you!" followed by, "Oh, great, how about you?" followed by both parties walking away briskly and going about their business. <-- All of this busyness is why I decided to add that little bit of extra love to our family's card this year.  And so, *ahem*...

*****


A {bellowing}  H E L L O  from the other side…



We hope this blurb finds you well!  It’s wild to think it’s Christmastime again; another year up and another year down, another 365 days of dreamin’ big and livin’ large in the Fleming abode.  This past year was the best year!



The first week of January 2018 brought us bambino numero dos, and life has been hop! hop! hopping! ever since.  Our Scarlett Clare is a beautiful blend of sweet and sassy: a spitfire in the making for sure.  Her world revolves around her big sister, and vice versa, too.  They really are the perfect duo, and we absolutely love their love.  It’s totally true what they say:  sisters make the best friends!



In August, we broke ground on a shiny new HOUSE!  We elected Brian as the general contractor, and so – as you can just imagine – every piece of the project [so far] has been well planned and perfectly executed.  As he was busy working on walls and roof this month, Harper was busy adorning each stud with a large “H” via a fat blue Sharpie.  [She loves to scribe/scribble all the letters and is working hard at perfecting her name, but her favorite letter is, of course, allllways H!]  Overall, the girls and I are just hanging on for the ride – usually at home in survival mode while Daddy works evenings and weekends at the new pad.  Of course, we trust that it will all be worth it in the end and are already pretty pumped for move-in day!  Click on over to our blog to follow the progress with #ourforevahome!



Lastly!  A couple weeks ago as we were decorating the house for Christmas, the glass ornament we bought six+ years ago on our honeymoon slipped off the tree and shattered into a thousand pieces on the floor.  Delicate Hawaiian seashells and fake blue sand and a little piece of my heart gone in the .blink. of an eye!  I was so sure this was just foreshadowing the beginning of the infamous “seven year itch” [#happybelatedanni, Brian!], but no! Nooope. Not the case here.  We are truly living our very best lives and are confident that the best is yet to come!



And so!  Without further ado, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and holy 2019!  Know of our love and prayers for you both now and in the coming new year… Of course, we always count you – our beloved friends and family – among our greatest blessings!



All our love,  
Brian, Bridget, Harper & Scarlett 

*****


Merry Christmas, dear, sweet friends of ours!!! You are so very loved.



- Musica trivia who? -

It's not often -- not often at ALL -- that we get to spend time with these fine humans sans our two tiny offspring. But lining up a babysitter so we can support some friends who are raising money to Stamp Out Cancer? YES, yes, please!
I contributed a grand total of: NOT ONE THING to the music trivia answers [where be all the questions about Jesus music?!]..... But thank goodness for this brilliant bunch: 
Meanwhile, I kicked back and noticed that the eats and drinks weren't too shabby...
...and we ended up in second to last place, which really isn't too bad at all! 
Thanks to this crazy crew for a super FUN [and kids free!] night! 



- "THE BEST DAY EVER!" -

For the last 6 months or so, a sheer curtain of anxiety + depression dangled over me every time the thought of working Christmas came to mind.  2018 was my year to clock-in for the absolute worst, always dreaded 7a-7p Christmas Day nursing shift, and OH. THE. GUILT! 

Because........ How do you explain to a 3-year-old where Mommy would be when everyone woke up on Christmas morning?  And missing the entire 14+ hours of Scarlett and her excitement and awe and sweetness on her very first Christmas...oyyyy ugh rawr.

But not a single nurse volunteered to make a holiday trade [rightfully so, I suppose!], so we adjusted our family's schedule and "bumped up Christmas Day" onto Christmas Eve...
...and no one seemed to mind at all! There was a few hours to play with new babies and Barbies and EVEN a really cool Barbie Dream House before heading off to Christmas Eve Mass at our parish.
We may or may not be in trouble with this sassy girl!
Then! Before I even had time to sit back and dread it, Christmas morning at 5:30am rolled around and I headed into work....... And actually, it wasn't that bad at all! Lots of Christmas JOY for being able to share and celebrate this special holiday with friends who [over the many years!] have very certainly become family. We had a great day delivering lots of little miracles! And plus, dolla dolla bills -- in the form of "time and a half!" -- stackin' up in 'da bank? Don't mind if I do! :)
 
Meanwhile, it doesn't even look like my kids missed me at all! 
The next day [December 26] was filled with a combo of relaxing, playing, and Harper running all around yelling, "THE BEST DAY EVER!" on repeat.

Merry Christmas, all! Here's to joy, peace, and all the things that Christmas brings.....and to next year and not having to reschedule these things! :D



Sunday, January 6, 2019

- Spreading Christmas Cheer -

I never got around to posting about this before Christmas, but wanted to update everyone who purchased a Santa plate to help us raise money to adopt a family this year.  My sister-in-law and her kiddos wanted to join in the cause, so they made and sold some delicious cake pops. We gathered all the cash from both of our projects and hit up Target!
It was a little chaotic chasing four kids through the toy section and trying to maneuver two cart fulls of stuff, but we got it accomplished!
After a little frozen pizza and a lot of wrapping...
...we met the St. Vincent de Paul coordinator in town and filled her car with gifts for the family we were assigned.
I don't know the family personally and I probably never will meet them either, but I think of and pray for them often -- especially while we were at Christmas Eve Mass.  I won't share their story here, but I hope they felt the spirit of Christ during this special season.  May God continue to wrap His arms around them and fill their hearts with peace, joy, and most of all -- love!



- Harper, meet Rudolph the Fox... -

I mean...

Meet Rudolph.......AT The Fox!

Because when Daddy snags some Fox Club tickets from work, you put on your Sunday Best and hit up "'da fee-a-ter [theater]" with your faves!!!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Harper's first time at The Fox -- yes, please!
The show was kind of corny, but she loved it nonetheless...
She also REALLY loved the club seats and our waiter's costume almost as much as she loved the food and drink service!  I think she was getting a little bored during the second half of the show, because she kept whispering in my ear, "Mommy, let's get out of our seats and go look at sumpin' fancy!" She insisted on taking my picture in front of lots of things, but I'll spare you of those [not attractive] photos!
We bumped into Rudolph himself [and his snowman friend] on the way out...
...and capped off the night with a super sweet treat at The Fountain on Locust!  And best of all, we've been singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" at the top of our lungs on repeat since this event!

Thank you for tagging along with us, Grammy Ann! And thank you for watching Scarlett, Grammy Resa and Papa Mark! It was really fun to get all gussied up and take JUST Harper on a "date night" in the city! 

xoxo



- Harp's FIRST haircut! -

Many moons ago, Harper requested to go to "'da s'lon" and get a haircut.  I was mortified! She had been watching some YouTube show with Barbies operating a salon, so surely it was just a random, wild idea that would quickly fade from her memory... Therefore, I blew her off for a while, reassuring her how beautiful her hair was and encouraging her to keep growing it out. But she kept at the begging, and so eventually I agreed to her idea [thinking I could probably muster up the courage to watch my hairdresser whack off just an inch or two]. 

So!  I scheduled her an appointment with my stylist in August.  She was so excited to go...
...until she wasn't. As soon as she got up into the chair and Debra put the cape around her neck, a huge sad face and a single crocodile tear emerged.  Oh sweet girl!  We let her hop down, and she walked out of the salon saying she would come back some day when she was "an older girl."  Meh, no problem; I'll look at those beautiful, long locks a little longer. ;) :)

We didn't talk about it again for a few months. But as the days went by and her hair grew longer and longer and longer, it was becoming a true nightmare to get a comb through her tangly mop [especially after a shampoo sesh!].  My bribing and her crying just wasn't worth it anymore!  I asked her if she'd want to get a haircut -- "just a little trim!" We talked about the salon adventure back in August..............

Me [hoping for a change of heart]: "Did you like going to the salon and sitting in that special chair?"
Harper: "No, it was scary!"
Me: "What was scary about it? You've seen Mommy get my hair cut before..."
Harper: "BECAUSE, Mom! I finked 'dat woman wif 'da scissors was gonna cut my eyeballs out!"

HAHAHAHA! Hahah, it took all I had [and more] to validate her thoughts and ease her concerns without literally rolling on the floor laughing my @$$$$$ off.  One of the most hilarious Harper-isms to date! :D But I assured her that Debra would never cut her with the scissors, let alone jab at her eyeballs. And so she agreed go back...IF she could sit on my lap during the cut...
And this time, SHE DID IT! :) :) :)  Her brave face was quickly replaced with her thrilled face, and she was so proud of her little souvenir ponytail!
We paid and left and she wanted to go here, there, and everywhere showing off her "older girl cut!" 

^^ Disclaimer: I'm not denying that this is quite possibly the weirdest sh*t ever, but! My mom has a box in their basement of hair from her first childhood haircut... AND my first childhood haircut... and Harper just thought it was the bee's knees and wanted everyone to run around for the rest of the evening showing off their disgusting ponytails of hair.  Scarlett -- I'm already sorry you might be a part of this crazy club some day!

Anyway! So proud of my older girl and her new do! She really does look older now... Be still my mama heart! </3