Happy Birthday Jax Thomas!!

My dearest Jax,

One whole year has passed since we first met.  A whole year…can you believe it?  I’m often left wondering where the days went.  Time sure does go fast.  I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday.  All 9lb 6oz of your chubby little self….you were such a handsome baby.  Mama was not prepared to fall SO IN LOVE with this new little boy!  But you turned me into mush and melted my heart from the moment I saw you.  I have never been so in love as I am with you and your sister, and your daddy too.  And I thank God EVERY DAY that you are mine…that somehow, out of that miracle that is pregnancy I got YOU!!!  Just so perfectly sweet my heart aches.  How blessed we are... 

You'll have to excuse me because, you see, your birthday is a hard thing for me to wrap my head around.  Not that I want you to stay little forever, but I get a little emotional thinking that, with each passing day, you are growing away from me.  Gaining independence.  Learning new tricks.  Living life through your eyes is the BEST and I don't ever want to lose that.  I have loved every minute of watching you grow this year.  You have thrown mama a few curve balls…no doubt.  Crawling before you could sit up?  Now what was that all about??  I never had a moment to let you just SIT on a blanket and play because you were already off and crawling, chasing that crazy sister of yours.  And soon after, you were walking…sigh!  You know, watching her is going to make you learn things so much more quickly…like I can’t believe when I hand you daddy’s keys and tell you to bring them to him, you walk down the hall and do it.  Amazing.  You are amazing.  It has been a JOY to watch you, cuddle you, feed you, soothe you…taking note of your discoveries and seeing your face light up with that HUGE smile!  You make me so happy, I just want you to know that!

Which brings me to now, on the eve of your 1st birthday...I wish you the happiest of birthdays little man.  You are one of my everythings...and I don't ever want you to be anything other than happy.  Happy with who you are, with how you treat people, with your life.  And I'm going to tell you this a million times as you grow older...but you can be ANYTHING you want to be and I will never love you any less.  I promise I will always have your back.  Always.  You can always and forever count on your mama, so please don't ever forget about me as you get bigger and less interested in being my sweet mama's boy.  

 

Jax Thomas, I love you little buddy!!  Thank you for making my heart so full!!!!  Here's to the first of a lifetime of birthdays we will get to celebrate with you!!

XO!

Mama

Thankful...

Sometimes I feel like a total mom-failure…for many reasons, but mostly because of my severe lack of time.  Darn job gets in the way of EVERYTHING, I swear!  Between work and sick kids and sick me (ugh) and Trav’s crazy work schedule and the upcoming months filled with holidays and both kids birthdays and our anniversary, I have no time for things like cleaning the house, laundry, finishing craft projects, etc.  Yep, not even time to carve pumpkins with my kiddos on Jax buddy’s 1^st Halloween this year…..how’s that for a total MOM FAIL?!  No bueno, my friends. 

I’m sure many of you read that sweet little blog post from a mama that talks about how “maybe next year” she’ll have time for x, y, and z.  And I relate to her completely.  I’m in that spot right now, smack dab in the middle of what I told my mom is the “depths of hell” with my children—not that I’m saying life with my children is hell, but that we are at the most difficult/time-consuming/challenging stages with the kids.  Jax NEEDS me for EVERYTHING.  He has separation anxiety when I get out of sight and has this cry, it’s this very particular cry, and all it means is, “Mama, pick me up.”    

And then there is Marley.  So opinionated and stubborn.  Her favorite word is, you guessed it, NO!!  She can go from sweet little girl to Marley Monster in about 1 second.  I can see the change happen in her eyes.  She challenges me on everything.  So many battles in our day…especially at bedtime.  Her excuses for not going to bed are endless (and hilarious).  The other night, for example.  I tuck her in, she has all her friends, she’s gone potty, had a drink of water, brushed her teeth….I’ve covered my bases.  I say goodnight and kiss her and leave her room.  Moments later she’s at her door (she doesn’t open it) saying, “Mama, I can’t see.  I can’t see my room.”  So I go back in her room and she has turned her nightlight off and she giggles at me, I turn it back on, tuck her back in, and leave.  I hear her shuffling around in her dresser and then she goes back to her bed.  Then, “Mama, I can’t find my sock.”  She wasn’t wearing socks when I put her to bed.  So, we turn the lights on, go through her blankets and find the missing sock.  And after all that, she decides that she doesn’t want to wear them anyway.  I kiss her and say goodnight.  “Mama, oh no, I lost my earring.”  So I go in and sure enough, she pulled it out and we can’t find it.  I tuck her back in and she says, “You smell like a chip, what you got in there?”  Points to my mouth.  I said, “Well, baby girl…mama is hungry.  I haven’t eaten dinner yet and it’s 9:30pm.”  Followed by, “I’m hungee too!”  And that is where I draw the line…I tell her that she has a really big day ahead of her and she’ll need to rest up.  Then I head to the kitchen, get myself a bowl of multigrain Cheerios, and call it a night.  Give myself another check mark for mom-fail…not being able to coordinate a “family dinner” time when I’m home alone with the kids at night.  Sometimes it’s just easier to not eat!

Which brings me to Travis…oh, my poor sweet hubby.  He’s working 16-18 hour days.  So busy with his “day” job, working for his dad, and then slammed with side jobs.  He has streaks like this and he looks exhausted and ready to collapse.  But he keeps his head up and just says, “When it rains, it pours.”  Of course, I miss him (and his help with the kids at night)…but the wheel keeps spinning and he is our rock that keeps our world moving ‘round. 

It doesn’t get much busier or crazier than our house.  And when the going gets tough, it’s so easy for me to say how much all this go-go-go just stinks.  But I’m quickly reminded of how fortunate we are and that kind of “brings me back to earth”…we are lucky to have good jobs and a roof over our head and food to eat.  Great extended families and friends.  Health benefits.  Most importantly, we have been blessed with 2 wonderful children, and not a day goes by that I don’t look at them and thank God that they are mine.  Marley and Jax…they just amaze me.  For all the craziness you two bring to my life, you pay me back 1000 times over with your hugs, smiles, laughs, and snuggles.  I’ll never in a million years be able to adequately express how much I love my babies and how much my life has changed, for the better, because of them.  And so, as we do at this time of year, I’m reflecting on all that I have to be thankful for…all my blessings, big and small.  

I’m sure that we’re all in the same boat when we look ahead to our upcoming calendars.  Busy months ahead with holidays and family get-togethers.  This year, we are hosting the Severson family for Thanksgiving at our house.  Just a few short weeks later, we’ll celebrate JAX BUDDY’S 1^ST BIRTHDAY!!!  We actually have tickets to Disney on Ice that night, December 6^th!  I’m sure Marley will get WAY more out of this family outing than anyone, but hey…it’s going to be fun!!  And Jax will get his Cookie Monster party on December 8^th!  Can’t believe my little man is going to be 1…oh boy!  Soak it up, mama...that's what I keep telling myself.

And don't forget...in just 45 short days Christmas is upon us!  My FAVORITE time of year!  Followed in January by Miss Marley’s 3^rd birthday!  Keep the craziness coming!!

Happy November to all of you!  Wishing you all a fabulous Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food, pajamas (hey…I’m especially thankful for pajamas or a good pair of yoga pants, oh and wine, can’t forget the wine)!!

XO!    

Adventures in Potty Training...

Bootcamp…potty training bootcamp.  We “quit” diapers cold turkey on Sunday morning.  We were forced to because the DIAPER FAIRY came to our house on Saturday night and took all the diapers out of the house, except for Jax buddy’s because he’s still a baby, you know.  She took all of Marley’s diapers and left her with a plethora of cute undies and a fun sticker chart!  In the week leading up to the Diaper Fairy’s visit, we talked all about her and what she was going to do.  She was bringing the diapers to other babies that needed them...and since Marley is a BIG GIRL now, she has no use for her diapers.  At 2 ½ years old, Marley is BEYOND ready and she told EVERYONE about the Diaper Fairy’s upcoming visit to our house.  So, Sunday morning came and thankfully went off without a hitch. 

Marley stayed in her undies and a t-shirt all weekend and we STAYED HOME!  The first day was a HUGE success, in my opinion.  She had 2 accidents (pee) in her undies early in the day…but then she got the hang of the kitchen timer that I was using to alert her it was time to sit on the potty chair.  By the end of the day, when the timer would go off, she’d tell me, “I don’t have to go potty yet, mama…5 more minutes!”  Her stall tactics did lead to one more accident (pee) on the couch, but she knew right away what she had done and wanted to change her undies and sit on the potty. 

For naptime, we had a new package of Minnie Mouse “nighttime undies” (pull-ups).  Thanks to my friend, Sarah for the “nighttime undies” term!  I think it really helps to get rid of the word “diapers” altogether!  Just an example of how smart my little monster is…she put her nighttime undies on and laid down for her nap.  About an hour later I heard her playing around in her room, drawers opening and closing.  So, I walk in and I instantly smell poo…..fearing another disaster, I frantically look around her room for where she might have smeared it.  Nothing.  And she looks at me and points to the pull-up laying on the floor, “Mama, I went poop…so I took that off and wiped my butt.  And I put beem  (cream) on and new nighttime undies.”  And there she was, all dressed in new clothes and a new, dry pull-up…she kissed me and went back down for her nap!  Sweet little thing!

Day 2 was even more successful!  She started out with 2 accidents (pee) in the morning…but quickly got excited about her potty chart and the prizes.  No more accidents all day, 11 times in the potty, poop in her pull-up at naptime.  She was 1 sticker short of filling her entire potty chart and collecting her BIG PRIZE, which is really a little shopping trip to Target to pick out a new toy or maybe a Disney “pincess” movie! 

She went to daycare on Tuesday morning…bag full of undies, rubber training pants, potty chart in hand.  And on the first day she struggled.  I’m sure there was so much excitement there.  Her friends.  A different routine than what we have at home.  More commotion.  All good things for Marley, but she’ll need to learn to adjust to that.  Day 2 at daycare was much better, according to Robin!  And yesterday morning, when I left the house, I gave Mars a big pep talk!  Funny how when you change your tone to pure EXCITEMENT kids get excited too!  So we high-fived and talked about getting more stickers on her potty chart at daycare!  She seems to be "getting it" a bit more each day and I’m hoping she finishes off the week on a high note.  Daycare is closed for the following 2 weeks, so this potty training boot camp couldn’t have come at a better time.  Travis will be off and home with the kiddos for the 1^st week and I’ll be off the 2^nd week.  Crossing my fingers that by the end of September we have an (almost) potty trained little lady in our house!

On a side note…seeing her cute little butt in a pair of big girl underwear does make me a bit sad.  Like another teeny part of her being a baby is going out the door.  Well, it’s the last baby part about her, really.  Independence gained for her.  Less dependent on mommy.  I’m excited for her, but sad at the same time….because where have the last 2 ½ years gone??  She’s no longer my rolly-polly, chubby-cheeked, drooly baby girl.  No.  She’s a knobby-knee’d, tall, stubborn and comedic little miss.  All running and jumping and hippie dancing across my living room floor!  Yep, she dances like a hippie.  Like she should have dreads and be at a Fish concert or something.  It’s hilarious!

Anyway…this weekend I’m packing up Jax & Marley and spending the weekend at my mom’s.  Travis has been sledge-hammering up our basement floor…sounds fun, huh?  Our basement remodel is officially underway and we’re hoping to have it complete by Thanksgiving.  This weekend they are putting the “guts” (new electrical and plumbing) in the basement and it’s going to be a loud, noisy mess.  Travis has most of the framing done already and is hoping to have the new laundry room tiled within the next week (after the plumbing is all re-worked).  A laundry room…gasp!  I’ve never had one of those!  I’m sooooooooo excited!  I’ll post some pictures of the progress after the weekend…

Happy weekend everyone!   

Craziness & Random Tid-bits...

Sick in August??  Seriously.  Can’t a girl catch a break?  How am I supposed to tackle folding the growing mound of “clean” laundry while feeling like a complete piece of crap?  In a daze, ears popping, sore throat, just-enough-energy-to-get-through-the-day kind of crap.  But I have to do it.  As I was cleaning up the kitchen last night, I heard Travis and Marley talking in the basement.  I heard him turn the corner to the laundry room and then I heard him laugh!  He said something about the “clean” pile of laundry looking exactly like the big mound of “dirty” laundry.  He knew I could hear him and he said to Marley, “Tell momma she’s CRAZY!”  And Marley runs up the stairs and says, “Momma, you crazy girl!”  Haha!  You’d be crazy too, Marley, if you were doing laundry for a family of 4, one of which changes her outfits a MINIMUM of 4 times per day and also proceeds to dress her babies in clothes too.  So, counting Baby Bella, we’re technically a family of 5.  The laundry is out of control.  It is.  Laundry, you are the devil.  That’s all I have to say about that…

And you know what else is the devil?  Dog hair.  Ugh.  Bless her heart, I love my Sasha pup to the moon and back…but she is a shedding machine.  Little clusters of black lab dog hair everywhere.  What I hate the most is picking Jax up off the floor and he’s all wet, slobbery face and hands and dog hair is stuck all over his mouth and in between his fingers.  He’s oblivious to it, but just looking at it drives me nuts and makes me itch! 

Am I a crabby pants today or what??  Just sick of being sick and in need of a vacation……good thing I’m off for a week in September!  Perfect timing!  Miss Marley has been good at keeping me laughing when I’m being grumpy mama.  Girl never disappoints.  She’s walking around with the thermometer the other day and she says, “Better take my temperature.”  She sticks the thermometer under her arm and a second later says, “WOW!  79!  Yep, 79!”  And I couldn’t help but laugh.  Poor girl would be dead if her temperature was 79.  And then I thought, how does she even know what number seventy-nine is???????? 

She’s really big into agreeing these days, always saying, “I like that too.”  Or pointing out something that she likes, marshmallows, for example.  Calls them “maa-shows” and she LOVES them.  We were playing on the floor in Jax’s room after bath time the other day and she points to Jax’s privates and says, “Mama, what is that?”  And I responded and told her it was Jax’s penis.  I’ve never been one to make up silly names for body parts.  Just call it what it is.  She looks at me and says, “I like penis!”  Shut.  The.  Front.  Door!!!  I mean, what do you say to that?  How do you respond?  I just laughed and shook my head!  And thought, ok…moving on.  New subject! 

I tell you, navigating this twisty-curvy-tangled road of parenting is not always easy.  How will I always know what to do?  Or what to say?  Or how to discipline?  Or how to explain things in a way they will understand?  Hmmmmm????  Guess I’ll just fly by the seat of my pants and cross my fingers that they turn out ok!  And I suppose I’ll say a prayer for myself, that I can guide them as best I can to be polite, sweet, humble, honest little human beings.  That’s all I ask!  Fingers crossed ;-)

On a bright note…the poop escapades of last month seem to have subsided.  I woke up the other morning to Marley’s voice on the monitor.  She was yelling for me.  And I went to her room and she was sitting on the floor, new diaper in one hand, box of wipes in the other, and she said, “Mama, I went poop.”  And I thanked her for telling me before going on a wipe-poo-on-the-walls rampage.  Then, as I changed her diaper, I said, “Icky poop!”  And her response?????  “That’s a deuce, mama!”  Great.  I just love it when her father teaches her things.  You know, like really important things.  Like to call her poop a deuce.  Yep, that will impress the boys later in life.  Perfect….sigh…(crossing fingers again, this time for daddy…he needs help, hehe)!!!

And so here we are, back at Monday.  Ugh!  But come on, it’s State Fair time!  This has me quite excited!  It’s a tradition for us to go every year, probably a tradition for most Minnesotans, and as we’ve grown our family, it’s gotten to be more fun!  Looking forward to our first fair adventure with Jax…he had his fair share of cotton candy and Sweet Martha’s and deep-fried pickles last year while he was in my tummy.  I suppose this year won’t be quite as fun because he’ll just have to watch all the yumminess…but I do know a spot with some amazing peach frozen yogurt parfaits.  There’s hope, Jax buddy!! 

Jax is standing, by the way.  Standing.  By himself.  Oh, I love him!!

Those thigh rolls aren't too bad either!

TGIF!!

This picture is the basis of my blog post today. 

 

I’ve never felt pulled in so many different directions at once…..wanting to be here, needing to be there, feeling guilty, feeling sad.  Miss Marley was asleep when I ran out the door this morning.  I HATE not seeing her in the morning, but on about ½ of my mornings, that is the case.  Such is life.  Today, I had ran out to the car and was about to leave when I realized I didn’t have my keys.  I turned to walk back inside and I saw Marley…smiling at me out her bedroom window.  As I got closer to the house, I saw her mouth moving and she was saying, “I love you, mommy.”  And I about died.  So instead of heading back in just for my keys, I went to her bedroom, opened the door, and she was standing there with the BIGGEST smile.  She said, “I’m all done sleeping!”  And I sat down on the floor by her and hugged her and kissed her one too many times (if that is even possible).  We talked about our fun weekend plans.  Going for a walk tonight with daddy and Jax, an outing to the zoo, family movie night with popcorn…yay!  Marley and I have a morning date to go to the Mpls Farmer’s Market…..I told her we’d go get a bunch of fresh fruit and come home to make something yummy!  She requested we stop for a do-no (donut) on the way there and reminded me that, “mama need coffee!”  Yes, I will need coffee!  Can’t wait for a the weekend ahead! 

But back to my story about this morning…I drove to work feeling SO SAD.  I often am envious of the girls I know that stay at home with their babes.  Not envious because I think it’s easier than working……I’ve been home for almost 2 weeks in a row with both kiddos and I know it is NOT an easy job.  Being a stay at home mama, in my opinion, is just as hard as being a mama that works full-time out of the home.  What I’m envious about is all that EXTRA time that they get to see their babes.  The mornings that they get to spend having breakfast with them.  The play-dates, the fun outings, the trips to the pool, the ECFE classes.  I would love to have a little bit more time at home with my children.  More than the 2-3 hours I get with them each night after work.  It breaks my heart to think that I’m missing out on my babies growing up.  Missing so many smiles and hugs and kisses and laughs.  The bottom line, however, is that I know that I NEED to work.  Our family needs me to work.  And the benefits of my job are important to our household…..and in our family, they do outweigh the benefits of me staying home.  So, while I miss my little ones, I’ve come to terms with the roll I play in our family.  It doesn’t stop me from feeling heartbroken from time to time.  And it seems that summer is always harder than any other time of the year.  Let’s face it, being a mommy is no easy task and I’ve drawn inspiration and strength from all of my mommy friends, whether they stay at home or work out of the house.  We’re all in the same boat…raising our families, struggling with our own issues, trying to give everything we have to make our babes happy and healthy and secure.  Hooray to all you mama’s out there, for giving it your best everyday! 

But today…….today for me, I feel sad.  And I can’t wait to get home from work and just BE with my family.  Yea, with these guys.....

  

On another note, I found one of my old baby pictures last night and I actually think there is quite the resemblance between me and my little buddy.  What do you think???

 

Happy Friday to you all!  Wishing you a great weekend with the people you love!  Make it count!!  Here’s me being all “motivational speaker-like”, but my point is, don’t take anyone or anything you have for granted!  Love, love, love while you can!!!

Days like this...

Can’t a girl catch a break……seriously?!  Do you ever feel like the world is out to get you?  Bad things happening everywhere you turn.  One set-back after another.  That’s ME right now.  Ugh!  And to top it all off with a big fat cherry on top, I get into a fricken accident on my way to daycare pick-up last night.  I never swear and I rarely even use the term “fricken”…so it’s an indication that I’m really mad and frustrated.  My phone must have been trying to lighten the mood because when I typed the word “fricken” into a text message to Trav, my spellcheck changed it to “frogmen”…as in, “Seriously, one frogmen thing after another!”  Whatever that means.  And then I thought, seriously, who would EVER use the term frogmen???  And I got a little more mad!  Anyhoo…I’m getting off track here.  My SWEET minivan now has a smashed in driver’s side door…..and to be quite honest, it looks a whole lot LESS COOL, if that is possible, than it did before. 

So there’s my rant for the day.  I’m lucky that I didn’t have the kids with me.  I’m lucky that I wasn’t on the highway and that it was just a side street and traffic was only moving at a mere 20 mph (which was really ticking me off because I was going to be late to daycare pick-up).  I’m lucky that my minivan is still functioning and that no one was hurt.  I’m lucky that the girl that hit me was driving a big old beat up Suburban and she said nothing happened to her car, because the accident was both of our faults. 

I’m lucky that my hubby can bear with my crabbiness and grumpy self sometimes when I get overwhelmed with all this crap that life throws at me…whew!  Thank God he is so great at diffusing anxiety or I’d be a walking time bomb!  He’s all, “We got this babe…it’ll be alright.  No worries!”  And I’m all, “The world is going to end.  Why me.  Stupid, stupid, stupid me.”  We’re a good match, you see. 

And good thing because we’ve got the monster to contend with…Miss Marley has been changing her own poopie diapers lately.  Yea, all by herself.  Last night was round 3 of what Travis and I have “coined” the Poop Massacre.  She came out of her bedroom, all smiling at me…and I look down at her and she looks like she is rubbing brown lotion all over her arms, up to her elbows, squishing it in between her hands like it’s soap.  I stopped dead in my tracks and my mouth fell open.  And then I looked in her bedroom.  Yea, let’s just say that was pretty fun (rd 1 and rd 2 cleaned up by Trav, poor guy).  All over her carpet.  All over her little nightstand.  Seriously, what is her obsession with poop.  As I was tucking her in last night I told her, “See Marley, your room stinks now.  Smells like poop.  Poop is gross and it belongs in the potty and we DO NOT touch it.”  And she said, “Momma, mell (smell)…ugh.  Gwoss.  Spway some of your fume (perfume).”  And so I did and then she was happy.  Please God, let her make it to the potty next time or else I might throw up.

And so it goes………life is never dull in my house.  No time to sit still and rest with the crazy bunch that I live with.  Good thing that Trav and I are eyeing up a trip this coming winter because MAMA needs a break.  A little mental health vacation where all I do is suntan and speak to my husband about things not involving Marley’s poop and Jax’s teething and car accidents and such.

Think I’ll go home tonight after taking care of this car repair business, hug the babies, put them to bed, pour a big ol’ glass of wine and just sit still for an hour or so, brainlessly watching Bravo or something…now, does that sound exciting or what?!

My babies...

Just an update on our crazy little family (mainly because I feel as though I’ve neglected Jax and his baby days—truth is, we’ve just been SO busy)…

Something about that 6 month mark with a baby that makes you feel like, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…I’m alive, I’m out of the dark, we’ve made it!!!  Because man, those first 4 months, and maybe 6, are tough!  I think the first 5 were miserable this go round because poor Jax was sick constantly.  Nothing too serious, but always a cruddy cold and cough that made all of us sleep-deprived!  Despite that on-going cold, Mister Jax is the world’s most smiley baby!  Seriously.  The kid can’t stop smiling!  And it’s like an all out, wide as his face, twinkly eyes kind of smile.  Infectious!  On Friday, my little man turned 7 MONTHS OLD……I’m not quite sure where the time goes, but it sure does fly!  He’s been crawling since about a week before his 6 month birthday, and he pulled himself up to a stand last weekend…milestones that Marley didn’t hit until she was 8 ½ months or so!!  At this rate, he’ll be walking come fall.  Oy vey! 

I truly do LOVE this baby stage…all the smiles, the peek-a-boos, the giggles, the drool, the curiosity.  He’s ALL boy, but he is SWEET!  Trav gets a bit frustrated because he is a total mommy’s boy!  If I walk out of the room, he can go from happy to a crying mess in about 5 seconds!  And as soon as I’m back in sight, he’s happy again!  Last week, my heart about melted when I went to hand him off to Trav and he VERY CLEARLY did the whole, lean into mommy/wrap arms around my neck thing…………awwwwwwwww!!!  I could’ve just eaten him up—my little sweet boy!

Here's what he is especially loving at the moment, besides MOMMY:

1.  The Batman song...Trav started singing it to him one day and he got so happy.  Now, if he hears, "Dun-a-nunna, dun-a-nunna, BATMAN" he breaks out in the biggest smile!

2.  Patty-cake & peek-a-boo!

3.  Sucking his thumb...this must be genetic, I swear!

4.  Marley, except I suppose when she pushes him over and then he cries...darn sisters!  His eyes are glued to her when she's around, curious as ever and wanting to be off and running with her!

5.  The apple and cinnamon puree I made for him!  Yum!  The boy loves to eat!!

6.  Bedtime.  7pm sharp.  He doesn't like to rock...just wants to eat and then he's ready to lay down, wide awake in his crib.  He does his whole "restless leg" re-arranging for a minute (must get that from his father) and then he's passed out!
 

Miss Marley continues to chatter away, get into trouble, and make friends with every spider, bug, toad, animal that comes her way!  A daredevil, to say the least.  But I am not going to get in the way of her and all her tomboy-ish bravery!  You go, Mars!!!  She’s all dirt and funny faces and jokester by day, and sweet, baby-loving, momma hugging girl by night.  She can’t fall asleep until I sing her “Rock-a-bye baby”!  And the other night, when we were getting ready to say our nighttime prayers, she starts off by saying, “Thank God…for ev-y-ting!”  Couldn’t have said it better myself, baby girl.  Wise beyond her years!

So we’re all good—busy, but great!  We have a couple crazy weekends coming up…trips to the cabin, a trip to Chicago to visit auntie Brenna (which we are soooooooo excited about), and another trip to Fifty Lakes, this time with all of my sister’s kids in tow.  I really wish I didn’t have to work all summer long, so I could just soak it all in! 

Wishing you all a fabulous and safe summer!