Was she really napping?

Kate just meandered down the stairs after her nap. She looked like this:

This girl takes her clothes off any chance she gets. Basically, whenever she is alone I catch her trying to take off her pants or she's yanking at her shirt. I have no doubt that she's going to love running around in nothing but a diaper all Summer long.

A Bun in the Oven.

I'm 26 and soon to have three children. Occasionally, I stop and ask myself if I'm crazy. Come September I will have three kids that are four years and under. These days are exhausting and beautiful, messy and exhilarating. It's easy to get bogged down in the mundane tasks of picking up the play room over and over and over. But whenever I stop, like really stop, and look at my beautiful little humans, the fatigue melts away and I'm overcome with joy. 

All true accomplishments in life require effort. Climbing a mountain, running a marathon, getting your undergrad, masters, or doctorate degree, excelling in your career, etc. You have to balance your workload, manage the stress, grow, learn, and become. You set goals, you have set backs. But in the end it all comes together and you achieve what you've set out to do. 

It was during a rare, but relaxing, morning shower when it sunk in that motherhood is a true accomplishment too. Yes, you could say that "anyone can be a mom" but each day that I nurture, break up fights, make meals, and play in the sunshine-- I learn. I grow. I change. This accomplishment takes an entire lifetime, but it shouldn't go unnoticed. I'll never have a graduation, a pay raise, or a medal, but I realized how important it is for me to recognize my progress and importance as a mother. 

So yes, maybe I'm a little crazy. Perhaps I never change out of my yoga pants. And it wouldn't be a lie if someone told you I don't shower every day. But I am thrilled (and frightened) to add to my brood. My life won't look glamorous and you may wonder why in the world I do what I do, but I love it. I am becoming a better me while helping my little humans be the kind of people that make the world a better place. 

Bring it on #3!

Sledding with Daddy

We've had a weird Winter. Toward the end of February I became worried that we may have missed our chance to introduce Vince to sledding. We had a decent snow and I made the boys pack up and move out right away so we didn't miss another opportunity. Paul was the perfect mentor for Vince. They started slow until they made it to the top of the hill. They both got a kick out of it. I'm already excited for next year when Kate can join the troublemakers.

Sneaky Babe on Board

I had an 11 week OB appointment today. I am queen of the worrywarts so of course I was concerned about a missed miscarriage. These days, women are very open about infertility, losing a baby, and lots of other personal issues. I think it's wonderful that people can share their experiences, but it certainly fuels the fire of my worries. I was so anxious before my appointment!

I arrived and didn't even have a wait. My doctor is nice but I just wanted him to get to the fetal heartbeat so i could breathe a sigh of relief. Finally the time came to take a listen! He moved it all over and took his sweet time, but we couldn't find a heartbeat. I was certain that something was wrong but the OB stayed calm and said for peace of mind he'd let me get an ultrasound. I took less than a minute for us to find that precious little heart beating. I also couldn't believe how different the baby looked between week 7 and 11! I could see him wiggling in there and my heart felt so happy!

We definitely have a trickster in the making. Only 11 weeks old and trying to give me a heart attack.

Good thing I love already love you, Sweet Babe!

February Tidbits

 We did our best to brave the February weather. We got quite a bit of snow which made us go a little bit stir crazy. The cold weather also got to Vince and he came down with the flu. Once he recovered we got back into the swing of things. I made a carrot cake (just for the heck of it) and Vincent volunteered to peel the carrots. It was like the angels were singing and I was in heaven as he did the dirty work. Don't worry-- I know I'm a lucky lady!

Snow, squishy grass, or sunshine, we tried our best to get some outdoor time. Being cooped up doesn't sit well with these little ones. We also made a special trip to visit the Ohio Griffioens. They were all singing in church and we decided to join them so we could have an excuse to visit. We ate some yummy food, played Bonanza, 7 Wonders, and Qwirkle, sang, watched Inside Out and enjoyed some good old fashioned family time. We actually had some beautiful 60 degree weather during our visit so the kids got to run around outside too. A pretty good start to the month so far!

January Recap

Can you believe such a tiny little bean could disrupt life so forcefully? With the nausea, exhaustion, sensitivity to smells, bloating, and irritability... Well, let's just say it's a miracle we made it through January!

That being said, we still did our best to make our most of the cold, dark, Winter days. We barely had any snow until January hit. The first snow we played in was half freezing rain. When we went to dig we found that our yard was completely iced over and crunchy. The kids had a blast stomping around the yard. I couldn't get enough of how cute the kids looked in their snowsuits!

Wintertime also means lots of indoor playing. The kids would drop whatever they were doing when Dad walked in the door to run and tackle him. They quickly learned that Paul is the best indoor jungle gym you could ask for. We did our best to get out a few times. Our biggest outing was a trip to the bowling alley. The kids loved it! When I was pregnant with Vincent I bowled a 180. I was hopeful that this pregnancy would lend itself to a similar outcome... but I barely broke 100! I didn't mind though because I couldn't stop laughing at how hard Vince had to work to carry his bowling ball to our lane. He was a trooper and didn't complain once!

Another notable event was a special girls night I took with Heather. We went to the Detroit Temple together! It was her first time going and we were the only ones there for the evening. It was fun to get the special attention for Heather's first trip. The workers were so kind and the spirit was strong. Going to the temple is always amazing. We celebrated afterward with some Dairy Queen. Delish!

Other than that, January was filled with lots of puzzles, books, and playtime. I love this stage of life. The stage where we have no real commitments. We do what we want. We wake up when we want. We play all the time. It's just so fun!

Half Bathroom Update

The half bathroom as seen on the day we moved into our house:

Before: Floral wallpaper with upper and lower border, old light fixture, ugly bathroom hardware, dirty floor and baseboards, cream paint on ceiling, doors and trim.

I got so sick of this bathroom that one evening, when Paul & Vince were out camping, I ripped off the wallpaper on a whim! It was hard work but I just wanted it GONE. I was overwhelmed when we were left with yellow, glue stained walls. It was just as bad as the wallpaper I had torn down. The walls sat that way for months while we tackled other projects.

About 6 months later I hit another breaking point. I'd had enough of the nasty glue walls. Paul and I committed and during Christmas break we tackled the bathroom update. I had no idea such a small room would require so much work. Here's what we did:

Steamed and removed the glue wallpaper gunk
Removed the heinous light fixture (which revealed that the electrical was placed in the center of the room instead of to the left over the sink. Ugh!! It was impossible to find a light fixture that could cover the electrical box so we decided to center everything)
Patched holes and damage from wallpaper and light fixture removal
Sanded the walls down
Washed the walls down
Scrubbed the dirty tile grout from grey to white
Painted the door trim from cream to white
Primed the walls (we chose grey primer since we were going to paint the walls grey anyway)
Discovered bits of residual wallpaper backing (it bubbled up when we painted)
Re-scraped the wallpaper bits
Sanded needed areas
Primed walls again x 2
Painted the ceiling from cream to white x 2
Painted walls Amherst Gray x 2
Installed new light fixture
Measured, cut, painted and installed new baseboards
Caulked baseboards into place
Installed new sink hardware
Caulked sink top to pedestal and pedestal to floor
Caulked around toilet base
Installed new toilet paper holder and towel hook
Built frame for mirror
Painted and adhered frame to mirror
Installed mirror into the bathroom
...I'm sure I'm missing something. But for real. Tiny room still = a lot of work!

I still have to decorate but I am so pleased to finally have a nice looking half bath. Hooray for home improvements!

During:

Left: The floor is clean at the top and dirty on the bottom   Right: Clean grout! Some areas need to be fixed

 After:

 And here's a side by side of the before and after. We're so happy with how it turned out!