these days

we've hit the mid-morning lull at our house. well...as much as things ever get to be a lull around here. the kids are deep in play (for the moment, anyway) and i am sitting down and catching my breath. last night's dishes have been put away, the breakfast dishes have been washed, today's batch of formula has been made, both kids are dressed, we've played with playdough, and played several rounds of go fish and hi ho cherry o. i've fixed love's lego "wall of jericho" more times than i can count (apparently it's not quite as strong as the real thing was), and i'm ready to sit down and have a little break. 

jeremy has been working full time plus plowing snow, so we've had some long days around here with him gone. i haven't been having the greatest patience with parenting lately, but i've really been trying. getting asked the same thing over and over and over and over again really starts to wear on me. the constant demands from little people and the lack of time to do things that i want to be doing are hard. it's hard to sacrifice so much. the other morning i woke up in a really crabby mood. jeremy had been out plowing all night and stopped by the house for five minutes before he quickly left for a full day of work (what a wonderful guy, right?!). despite me being crabby, he was very patient, loving, and encouraging (as he almost always is). after he left, i had my first cup of coffee and gave myself an attitude pep talk. things looked up after that. it was more the coffee than my pep talk...amazing how much a little coffee can do. the rest of the day wasn't perfect, but it was ok.

i have found some time to do things that i want to do, and i've been making some really good things lately.

i made a batch of this granola (without the protein powder). in a bowl with greek yogurt and sliced strawberries it was a yummy, healthy, and easy weekday breakfast. we ate the whole batch, so tomorrow i plan to make some more.

we were getting a snowstorm the other day, and that always puts me in a baking mood...so i made a batch of these cupcakes (didn't use the xantham gum, or the protein powder - just added a bit more almond flour and some vanilla extract). they have been on my "things i want to make" list for a while. they are so, so, so good! i think they might actually be the most delicious cupcakes i have ever had in my whole life. 

i also knit a pair of slippers! i can't believe it...i've never been a knitter. i have knit a couple of scarfs, but always with a lot of frustration. i just never found knitting to be enjoyable and had given up on ever knitting anything else. then...i was inspired to try a pair of slippers. i pulled out some yarn i had from some other project that i couldn't do, found a really good tutorial online, and went to work. it was an easy, quick project that i found really enjoyable, relaxing, and satisfying. i was so inspired by the fact that i actually did it. i've already started another pair.

 

love has been playing with trains lately. a lot. we set up the train tracks...and then spend the rest of the day crying, consoling, and fixing when little brother grabs the layout and destroys it. (or sometimes i just say no to setting up the tracks because i don't feel like going through all of that everyday!). 

love turns three in a little over two weeks. three!?!?! how did this happen? she is definitely acting like a three year old...there is lots (and i mean lots!) of drama in our house, demands for things she wants, occasional tantrums, and opinions about things. some days are very, very challenging (and each day certainly has it's challenging moments at the least). at the same time...jeremy and i were talking last night about what a good big sister she is, how smart she is, and how she is really starting to come into her own little person. we love her so much..."terrible" threes or not! 

i recently came across a poem that i wrote down and posted in our house so i see it everyday. it reminded me so much of this stage of life with her and i found it encouraging. it's titled, "our lady of perpetual demand" by emma walton hamilton.

"i want, i want, i want! 

you say,

when can i have it? when?

another day it's

no! i won't! and no, no, NO! again.

i sigh. 

i ask for manners.

counter, "i don't want to hear it!"

but in my heart i celebrate

your dazzling strength of spirit."

a couple of weeks ago i got out our rice bin for love to play with. it was a cold, winter day and we were all feeling a little stir crazy! i gave her strict instructions to keep the rice in the bin...left the room for less than five minutes...and came back to find that the dump truck had removed almost all of the rice from the bin and dumped it in another part of the kitchen. of course, i couldn't get mad...that's just something that a kid would do. anyway, it was easy to clean up.

and then there's this kid...he is 9 months old already!

last week, he started pulling himself up to a stand. this week he is cruising all around the furniture and pulling himself up on everything! he is so proud of himself, and we are so proud of him too! unfortunately, this has resulted in a lot of falls, which is just what happens when someone is learning how to stand up, but still no fun. he is getting his third and fourth tooth this week as well (the top, front teeth). he's been handling these two teeth coming in pretty well...better than the bottom two.

last week, jeremy taught him "so big!" he holds up his hands when we ask him how big he is and we say, "so big!" he is so proud that he can do it. it's so cute. i remember love doing the same thing. this age is so much fun with him.

and one last photo from a recent expedition out into the snow. perhaps jobot is crying because he is wearing pink? or maybe because he is wearing my mittens on his feet because we don't have boots in his size? or maybe because he is so bundled up that he can't sit up? seriously...there could be many reasons. oh, the things we do just to get a little fresh (cold!) air in the winter in michigan. poor kid. good thing he won't remember it.

p.s. that mid-morning lull i wrote about at the beginning of this post? yeah...it lasted less than ten minutes. a naptime initiated, a train track built, and a gazillion interruptions later, and i am ready to publish this post. such is this life.