Back for more...not kids, just a blog post

I find it pretty interesting that about every 2 years, I decide to write a post here. Every time I do, I think, "this is it...this is when I finally start writing more consistently and I keep far away friends and family up to date on the happenings of our world, and ...." 

And then, that's about as far as it goes. I write posts in my head, or in emails, or in small snippets on FB or group texts. So, I'm not going to pretend like this is anything but a simple series of words that I've put together tonight. Just this. A little small, tiny update about my world that is wrapped up in 3 small people. My people. 

Luca just finished his first season playing flag football. He loved having his daddy as his coach, and really seemed to improved during the 9 week season. He definitely enjoyed running down the opposing team and seemed to have a natural knack for defense. He's thriving in kindergarten, learning to read and write and the hardest of all, navigating the crazy world of peers. He loves math, games, wrestling, and has an amazing determination to accomplish whatever task he's working on until he sees fit to stop. A few months ago, he decided he wanted to learn to tie his shoes, so he practiced and practiced and practiced until he got it! He used that same focus when learning to snap and whistle and is quite impressive with the tunes he's able to produce.

Marietta continues to LOVE art, producing it wherever she goes, home or away...using a wide media range...from paper and crayons to scissors and cardboard, to tape and wrappers, and beyond! She also loves games, preschool, books, swings, and her new gymnastics class. On any given day, you may find her in a world of make-believe, playing doctor with her baby dolls, going on birth adventures to the midwife, or at an invitation-only fancy tea party. She dances, she sings (with gusto), she builds, she's awake and ready to go before the sun, and she's usually up to try anything once. Etta finished up her first season of soccer a few weeks ago, and though lacking a killer-instinct on the field, she happily enjoyed being part of a team. 

Cora Mable is such a joy to have in the house, collecting smiles from everyone she sees. Just in the last week, it seems she has finally mastered walking, getting more balanced everyday...and loving it! She loves books, music and drawing (especially if she gets her hands on a marker), and food! Seriously, this girl can eat! Some meals lately, she has out-eaten her big sibs (who are also great eaters too)...it's fascinating, and we're not sure where she puts all that food. She loves playing with her brother and sister, but also is able to entertain herself for chunks of time too (SO helpful for her parents). She's talking more and more, saying a handful of words very clearly and another handful of words consistently, but not so clearly. And she's showing us her not-so-little personality in stronger and sometimes challenging ways. Even when it's hard (aka, shrieking), it's still so fun to see her growing up. 

It's crazy to think that we've been here in our new house for 3.5 months already...in Kansas City for the end of summer, start of the school year, incredible World Series run and now with a quickly approaching cold front that will bring winterish weather here by the end of next week. We're adjusting and readjusting and still settling in in many ways (like all the unpacked boxes and things that have yet to find a place, ahem), but at least the front door is teal. I've wanted a teal door ever since my first house I bought in Kville 10 years ago. We never painted our Brookside houses' door teal (even though it screamed for it), and we didn't paint our front door in Maryland. I'm not sure why we've never just taken the (color palette) plunge before, because let me tell you, it's kinda magical. Once that door was teal, despite the clutter and (un)organization, the exploding playroom toys, the untidy shrubs and things that could be done in every room, I suddenly felt more at home than ever. 

Hot, dark, and blessed

So we've been without power at our house for about 73 hours now. We are part of the 1 million-ish people in the DC area who lost power in a crazy storm last friday night. It was ridiculous. Ours came crashing to a hault at 10:30pm with a flicker, flash, and a boom. They're telling us now, that we should have power "by the end of the week." End of the week? Eessh...that seems pretty far away....I'm hoping for sooner.  Amazingly enough, through the 100+ degree heat this weekend, and the cranky (and not sleeping well) kiddos, to the cold food stashed at a friend's house, to our green and debri-filled pool to our dark house...I have felt just SO thankful!  SO thankful in fact, that I made of list of things I'm thankful for, today...in this moment: (in no particular order) 1. That my whole life I've been blessed to live in houses that were cold or warm when I wanted them to be...where I could turn lights on and off with the flip of a switch. Amazing! People, lots of people go their lifetime without experiencing that. 2. That I have cold, clean running water. I mean, that's incredible. I move a lever, and water rushes out. There are so many people in the world who cannot say that. Many people work SO hard everyday to get/collect tiny amounts of not-so-clean water. 3. I have a husband who loves me, really truly loves me. A husband who I was able to have a lovely, funny, fun-filled dinner with last night. Yes, we were both holding an exhausted and completely asleep child the whole time, so our arms were numb, but hey...it counts as a date if the kids sleep the whole time and we're out of the house, right? 4. Caring, fabulous, awesome family who loved on my kids tonight so I could have the night off (even though, they're without power too!) 5. Friends who have offered there house to us as a place for our cold food, and ourselves when needed. 6. That we were home, safe and sound, when the storm hit...and we were not hurt at all! 7. For our air-conditioned minivan, big enough to hold lots of snacks, changes of clothes, and toys...enough goods to live on, easily. 8. That Dom and I both have jobs, that while not absolutely perfect, are places we can go to do work we really enjoy. 9. That my mommy's coming for a visit next week :)  10. That my sweet little Luca and Etta are healthy and vibrant enough to be wearing me out everyday 11. That our basement is 27 degrees cooler than our 2nd level 12. That God's grace is enough 13. That it will NOT reach 100 degrees tomorrow (hopefully) 14. The pure excitement and joy on the kids' faces when they pick veggies we've grown in our garden 15. For this ipad. Shallow? Maybe...but true all the same.

An Accurate Glimpse

Twice in the last few months, we (the kids and I) have spent time with some non-parents...more than just a few fleeting moments anyway. I didn't realize how often-or not often as it turns out--that we do this. We're really surrounded for the most part by other families....not daddy at work necessarily, but me and the kiddos during our day to day.

One friend, after spending the weekend with us, stated that she was exhausted....blown away by the amount of energy it takes to parent (I had been very thankful at how "smoothly" our weekend had gone kid-wise, included a round-trip to Austin). After experiencing the life of a household with adorable, small children--the pure joy, smiles, belly laughter, wonder, hugs, tickles, always having a child on you, hilarity, meal time, park time, and playing, oh the playing--my friend exclaimed, "oh I can't wait to have kids; they're so fun and so wonderful!" And after experiencing (the same weekend) life of a household with sensitive and--dare I say--cranky small children--the tantrums, stubbornness, meal time, always having a child on you, bed time, screaming at 3am, the 5am wake up, mucus, diapers, laundry, and the choking baby--my friend also decided, "oh, I am SO glad I don't have any kids. I wouldn't know what to do!"

Yep, welcome to my world of being a stay-at-home mom-mom. The high highs, the low lows.

Life As I Know It

The last 6 months have been so full. Full of change, work, friends, travels, adjustments...LIFE.
I'm not going to try and cram the last 6 months of our life into this blog post. Just know, there's been alot. Some great, some not so great. But we are thankful for this season of our life. And so very thankful for each other.

Right now, the weather is incredible. We had a 13-day streak of going to a park that we ended today. Not intentionally, of course, but as a result of a long Etta nap (which I'll never complain about), an upset little boy, and then a hand burned on a toaster, it just happened. Some days are starting to get pretty hot here already if you can believe it, and we are looking forward to swimming...but not those too hot, hot days. Trying to soak up as much as we can now.

Dom's applying for jobs for starting in the fall....it's crazy that we're only here for another 4 months. Our time here started off so slowly and now seems to be going very quickly (probably cause I have friends here now, and actually do things OUT of the house). We have SO many possibilities for the future and though, I will be sad to leave in July (if we DO indeed leave), I am really excited about our coming adventure and all the possibilities that come with it.

Luca's a pretty hilarious two year old. He's so smart and loving and curious...and full of tantrums these days....so I'm working on being patient with him and daily trying to teach him patience too. We're learning together. Our days are hard, sometimes very long (especially if daddy's working late), but so full of wonder and joy too. I don't think I've ever appreciated my mother (or any mother for that matter) more than I do these days :)

Etta's 7 and a half months old, crawling up a storm, pulling herself up, and has been cruising the furniture for a month already! She's definitely a go getter. And so, so sweet. The last few weeks it seems she's become even more of a momma's girl, sometimes crying when I walk 5 feet away from her. Sometimes this is exhausting, but I know it won't last forever, and then she has a smile that is infectious and seriously, just the most adorable face that you've ever seen! We're seeing her little personality shine more and more. Seeing her and Luca interact is simply precious.

All in all: we're all growing, we all get tired and a little cranky sometimes, but we play, we sing and dance....and we laugh. A lot. It's good. Fabulously hard and good.

Here Comes That Rainbow Again

Hello World!

5 Weeks in Texas, and I'm still not used to all the pickup trucks.

I'm feeling rather accomplished right at the moment. Two pretty much sleeping kids, 3 loads of laundry done, dishes cleaned, homemade Tom Yum and ice cream eaten, and a tank top with only a small amount of spit up on it. Now that's a good day. We're coming off of 3 very unsuccessful nights of sleep for Luca, so a nap really helps us all.

Besides keeping us awake, Luca is chattering up a storm, putting 4-6 words together, talking hilarious gibberish, and "reading" lots of books (he points to a word, we say it and he repeats). And not to brag or anything, but he knows all his numbers, all his letters (though F and E are still a little tricky), and can identify 18 countries on his placemat map of the world. He has become very independent with daily activities, wanting to do things himself unless stated otherwise...many times leading to much frustration, but also sometimes resulting in great pride.

"Uca Do It!" --eating (this includes preparing the food, microwaving, scooping into bowl, filling cups, serving himself, highchair positioning and maintenance, cleaning up self and tray, etc), closing doors (house and car), buckling, phone calls, diapering (especially when there are snaps involved), laundry (into the washer, putting soap in, turning the knob, into the dryer, pushing the button), unfortunately he's not much of a folder or put-awayer...kinda the opposite actually. And of course, turning any fans or lights on or off. And toilet flushing.

Somedays, I do better than others appreciating his independence process. Especially when there's screaming and crying involved, but I am trying to be as patient as I can with my little two year old, and I do marvel at his growth and development as a person on a daily basis. He really is just a fascinating little creature.

And gorgeous miss Etta is growing right along too. I'm excited for her 2 month check this friday. As we do not have a scale at our house, I've just been guessing at her weight for the last 5 weeks, and I don't think I'm a very accurate estimator (from working on a mother/baby unit, you'd think I'd be good, but I'm really not). She's still sporting her beautiful dark hair, more rolls, and this last week, has really been smiling a lot, though I can't seem to capture a good one on camera.

Dom is still enjoying his internship. He's adjusted his schedule to work longer days Monday-Thursday, and then only half a day on Fridays....which is very nice for us, so we can do something fun when he gets home (even if that means I get a nap). He also joined the counseling center's rec softball team...though their first game was rained out. We joined a gym too and will be excited when Etta's old enough to enjoy the childcare there, so we can all go together!

I've had a few fun outings with the kids while Dom's at work with new friends we've made (and with my mom while she was here)...the best so far was the local children's museum this week. It's not big and it's not glamorous, but its affordable and Luca (and I) doesn't need something huge...we need something out of the house. Luca played with the trains, construction trucks, in the market, the garden, the music room, and painted in the art area. We spent 3 fun hours there. Sold. I bought us a membership.

Lone Star

So, I was right. I'm not very good about consistency with writing. At least, I know myself, right?

Well, we've done it. The move. The big, big move. We are officially inhabitants of Texas. College Station--it's supposed to be 102 degrees for the next 7 days--Texas. And I am very thankful to have a wonderfully working air conditioner. I was brave enough to head outside with the kiddos today, albeit-straight to the car, to the bank to set up a new account, and then to the one grocery store we hadn't scoped out already, then straight back home. I'll still count it a success. Don't think we're gonna make it to the midweek farmer's market though. Just too sweaty out there. And I have two sleeping children for the time being...and you never know when that'll happen again.

Speaking of two sleeping children, or the lack there of....our trip to Texas began last Friday, the 6th at 3:50am when we drove out of my parents driveway. We, consisting of me, my mom, Luca and Marietta. It ended at 8:53pm when we parked the car at our new place down south. That's right, 17 hours of travels. For the record, the average driving time from KC to the BCS area (that's Bryan/College Station...which is what they call themselves down here) is about 11.5 hours. As you can see, we shattered that time in our own special way. After a broken down car in South Haven, KS and lots and lots and LOTS of stops, we made it.

Silver lining: I am thankful.

Thankful for working cars. thankful for cold air. thankful for mothers. thankful for distractions. thankful for car snacks. thankful for breastmilk. and thankful for being reminded that I am not in control.

Today is day #5 here in Texas, and I must admit, it's gonna take a while to feel settled, calm, and "normal", but hopefully we'll get there.

Fabulous Father's Day Fanfare Fotos

My daddy and I at dinner

Dom and Luca at Red Lobster

Playing in the fountains

Luca going down the slide all by himself

Daddy and Luca slide time