- Egg Painting -

I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't beat for family traditions, and egg painting at the local pottery joint every spring is quickly making its way to the top of my FAVE SEASONAL TRADITIONS LIST!  This was the third year for Easter egg painting [check out last year here ...and the year before that here!], so we're working up a nice little collection [6 eggs now, to be exact! ;)] and I am so excited to watch the basket grow in the decades to come!  We left Juliette home with Daddy this time, but maybe next year will be her artistic debut! :)

 

- Muffins with Munchkins -

Muffins [and coffee] and time with my middle munchkin?! 

YES, PLEASE!

Scarlett's teachers hosted a Muffins with Munchkins event at the Pre-K this past week, and I was honored to be able to attend!  She was so excited to show me around her classroom and point out all the things she plays with at school and all the craft/arts projects she's made, though I believe she was MOST excited to make me a cup of coffee in her teachers' Keurig and mix "just the right amount" of creamer in! :)  After finishing muffins and coffee, we made a flower craft together.   

As 1:1 time can be hard to come by with the middle child, it goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the morning! I absolutely loved seeing Scarlett in her element and interacting with all of her friends; it was also nice to put a name to a face of kiddos that we've been hearing stories about since the first day of school. Grateful more than ever that our children are blessed with wonderful teachers, great friends, and an amazing school!  Thank you, again, so much to the teachers for hosting such a memorable morning!  This momma's heart is full. <3

- 33 -

I feel like I'm getting to that age where it's better to say I'm "celebrating my 30th birthday...............for the third time!"  Gosh, where do the years go?!  I'm totally the age now that I thought was "SO OLD" as a kid.  But I can't deny that each year brings more friendships, more love, more happiness, more wisdom, and more joy; so maybe being, "SO OLD" isn't so bad after all! 

My birthday was on a work day this year, and my co-workers did not let the day go by quietly!  Thank you guys for the banner/decor, Starbucks, pastries, book, and super sweet card.  [I secretly love spending my birthday at work, and it's pretty obvious why! ;) ]

^^ My birthday was also this special lady's last day [...I'm not crying, you're crying!]. We wish you all the best, Chris! 

Then! The party continued after work with all kinds of fun surprises from my family!  Grammy, Scarlett and Juliette picked out an Edible Arrangement, Brian bought flowers and made an amazing dinner, and Harper penned the most adorable list of rules.  "Do what mom sas for her Brithday," and, "Put a smil on your face for mommy," might just be the most adorable rules I've ever heard lol!!!

After sharing the homemade red velvet cake from Grammy, Juliette spent many minutes playing with the birthday balloons and I spent MANY HOURS feeling like the most loved birthday girl in the world!  

Can it be my birthday again tomorrow?!  ...Or at a minimum, does Harper's list of birthday rules still apply tomorrow?  ;) :) 

CHEERS TO 33 AND FEELIN' FREE!

 

- St. Pat's 2022 -

When these little leprechaun babies jump, click their heels, and shout, "KISS ME, I'M IRISH!" you betta' believe it that you won't have to ask me twice!   My momma heart pumped green blood today for these adorable [somewhat]Irish lasses!

 

The holiday was actually much more anti-climactic this year than usual: a) because 3/17 fell on a Thursday when Brian and I both had to work, Harper and Scarlett were at school, and Juliette was at daycare; and b) because the weather was cold and crappy; and c) because Brian hit the road for Indianpolis Supercross on St. Pat's weekend and I wasn't brave enough to take all 3 kids to a parade in the city by myself!  So long.story.short:  St. Pat's 2022, you were just alright... And St. Pat's 2023, we're already dreamin' big for ya!

But!  I did love Harper's pot o' gold where she elaborated that she's "lucky to be a girl, lucky to have a family, lucky to have a houes [house], and lucky to have a school to lraen [learn]" ...and Scarlett's orange name beard and leprechaun trap and St. Patrick masterpiece.  Plus, not pictured: Juliette eating a large bowl of peas to celebrate the primary color of her heritage. :)

 

Lastly! A little shamrock shoutout for these adorable Cecilia Clare & Co. sister shirts, tutu, bows, and more!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from our crew to yours!

- Because TIME FLIES... -

Wow!  I just scrolled back through months' worth of posts, and I FOR REAL cannot even wrap my mind around how time just   f l i e s   right on by! Blink for 0.03 of a second, and *POOF*, it's Friday; blink again for another 0.03 of a second and *POOF*, it's April.  Oh!, you have a newborn baby that you want to snuggle every tiny inch of?  Blink and *POOF*, she's seven months old and sitting up and playing in a pile of toys all by herself.  Your oldest daughter went into 1st grade knowing about 50 sight words and so eager to learn more?  Blink and *POOF*, she's snuggled up in her top bunk bed reading Junie B. Jones chapter books all by herself.  You have a 4-going-on-14-year-old daughter who was juuuust learning to use scissors and glue not that long ago?  Blink and *POOF*, she's spotted at the dining room table with scissors, glitter glue pens, pipe cleaners, pom poms, and a random stash of other craft supplies that she's molded into the perfect masterpiece all by herself.  

A very large part of my momma heart loves seeing my babies learn and grow and become more accomplished and independent each day; but, another -- probably equally as large -- part just aches at the way time continues to *POOF* on by in the blink of an eye!  While my brain tells me to teach them more so they can survive without me, my heart tells me to cling to these special days when they truly do still need me!  ...Whiiiiiiiich is the reason why I absolutely love to use this blog as archive for even the smallest things that we do!  The days can be long, but the years are OH SO short; and when the days turn to years and the years turn to decades, these beautiful babies of ours will grow their wings and fly the nest and I just know I'll LOVE having a collection of little memories waiting here in this safe space to look back on and smile at.

...But therein lies the next problem!  After scrolling back through pages and pages of posts, I see a birthday memoir here ...a month-by-month milestone there ...a Scarlett-isms blurb here ...and a rare holiday chronicle there.  And it kind of makes me sad, because I know these fun events are just small drops in the large bucket of joys we share inside our home from day-to-day life.

And, TBH, I want to remember all the joys.  The smallest of joys, the biggest of joys, and even the mediocre and in-between and not-all-THAT-special of joys.

AND SO!  I'm making a few promises to myself:

...a promise to try harder with blogging...

...a promise to prioritize collecting photos and putting pen to paper more frequently...

...a promise to increase in writing with a little more rawness and detail and emotion so I can always come back here and remember in full detail what are sure to be the very best days of my life.

Time might fly, but I'mma make sure that the memories we've made won't fade!

- A splishin' and a splashinnnn'... -

We had SO MUCH FUN last weekend at the YMCA for J-Bear's first swim!  [*Mom guilt ensues* that she is 7 months old now and we haven't dipped her in a pool yet; though we just signed up to be Y members two weeks ago and where else indoors can you go with an infant during the winter?!]  Anyway!  This sweet girl came out of the womb hating water but has super recently changed her tune and been soaking up every second of bath time; so, needless to say, it wasn't much of a surprise that she loved being push/floated around a very large [and very warm] pool in her inflatable chariot!  The more splashes, the better for this girl! 

Friday night family swim.....we'll see ya again real soon!

- Will you be my GALentine?! -

[HALLO to the worst post in the history of bad posts, but it's now 2 months past V-Day and my excitement from the day has faded and so! Pics to prove we celebrated and two whole sentences to make it sentimental.]

These little gal-entines HAVE OUR WHOLE HEARTS!  Happy Heart Day from our crew to yours!

[Treat bags crafted by Momma for my work party + Harper and Scarlett for their school parties! Also! I am so proud of the way Scarlett writes her name!!!]

[Alright, more than two sentences. Valentine's Day fell on a Monday this year, so while Mommy and Daddy were at work and Harper was at school, Grammy, Scarlett, and Juliette celebrated with a Valentine's Bash at the local children's museum! They even bumped into one of Scarlett's friends from dance class and her mom!]

[After work and school, Daddy cooked us a steak dinner and we celebrated with cards and flowers and chocolates, OH MY!]

[Still the worst post ever. HEARTS AND HUGS 'TIL NEXT YEAR!]

- SEVEN MONTHS -

Pretty sure I've said this every single month so far, but SEVEN MONTHS is the best month!!! For real this time. :)

J-Bear, you are A DREAM!  This month was a big turning point for you as you've totally mastered rolling over [back-to-tummy and tummy-to-back; there's no stopping you now!] and sitting up like a big girl!  You seem much more content now that you can sit up in a pile of toys and play the day away.  Harper and Scarlett love to build you a little fort to sit in, and you absolutely love chewing on every bone toy they throw your way while always whipping your head back and forth on a 180* range to catch every glimpse of action going on.  You love to have a [large] bowl of Gerber oatmeal for breakfast and aren't shy to indulge in pureed green beans, peas, or sweet potatoes for lunch!  At dinner we've been repeating the veggies and/or mushing up a [sort of rotting] soft banana.  You love Ritz/club crackers and Gerber Puffs as well!  The pediatrician instructed us the day of your 6-month visit to feed you peanut butter that afternoon and then eggs the next day [apparently new research is showing that early and frequent exposure to high-allergen foods decreases chance of food allergy?], and you nailed it with both. The only foods we've found so far that you repeatedly shudder at are applesauce [too tart?] and fruit popsicles [too cold?], but we'll give ya another shot to acquire those tastes!  

 

We've had a horrible time with patchy/dry skin for the past 1.5 months. It weirdly started right around  6 months when you first had the baby oatmeal, but the pediatrician reassured me that it was probably just dry skin from the dry, cold winter air and/or eczema [?] and nothing rash-wise related to grain/gluten/foods.  We limit your baths to every 4-5 days and rub you down with Aquaphor or coconut oil a couple times a day!  Most recently I've had great luck with Young Living Kidscents lotion and Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy [some sort of thick night time balm that Aunt Hollie recommended!], and -- PRAISE THE GOOD LORD -- your skin is like 90% baby soft again!  I am so happy to find two lotions/balms that work, because you are really enjoying bath time lately and totally loved your first swim at the YMCA... So if we get your dry skin under control, I see lots more water time in your future! :)

 

 

The beginning of this month started out a little rough as you slipped down a deep, dark hole of being SO SPOILED with always wanting to be held and only being able to nap in someone's arms!  I hit my breaking point with all of it a few weeks back and decided it was time to sleep train!  After just a week of riding the struggle bus, you and I got it all figured out. I AM SO PROUD OF US!  You are napping multiple times a day in your crib like a champ and waking up happier than ever. Go girl, go!  

 

No teeth yet, but you continue to gnaw and chew on literally EVERYTHING you can get up to your mouth!  You found your tongue this month and have it stuck out most of the day. :)  When your tongue isn't out, you're babbling constantly and making all kinds of new sounds! You take bottles without a problem these days, but you still 100% prefer to nurse if mommy's kitchen is open for business [which, conveniently for you, it is open 24/7 other than on Mondays/Thursdays when I go to work!].  

 

This month, you celebrated Harper's 7th birthday, Mommy's 33rd birthday, and your very first St. Patrick's Day! We are so very lucky in love with you!!!

 

 

On to another month of growing and changing and hitting new milestones!  Thanks for bringing all of us along for the ride... We are enamored by you, Juli Muffin!!!