Walk in Water Works

It's been awhile...  

I'll do a springtime highlight update to catch this ol' blog up but thought I'd skip ahead to the here and the now.

Watching the news last night, my trusty weatherman showed some sweet drone footage of Water Works park right now and I told Jed we needed to get there ASAP.  So much green, so many beautiful flowering trees!  So that's what we did tonight and Jed thought to grab the real camera, which I haven't picked up in months.  Literally.

I'm so glad he did!

Wyatt is very into David and Goliath right now and I think that's what he was doing here, ha.  We read it every single day in his toddler Bible and everything he plays and pretends is "the mean giant."  Except he says that he's a nice giant :)  My cousin and Grandma Charlotte mentioned an old Sunday School song called "Only a boy named David" and we found a real cheesy version on You Tube that we've enjoyed countless times in the last few days too.

I think I will treasure this picture until the end of all time.

She's definitely a silly one.

Tiegan is usually so full of smiles but she was pretty serious tonight.

It was a fun family night just to go wander around and enjoy the scenery!

Winter Wrap-Up

I do believe that spring has sprung but I haven't blogged in awhile so I'm going to rewind to the snowy, cold and blustery weeks we've just endured to catch up!

Valentine's Day was extra sweet this year.  Lainey got to decorate a Valentine's box for a party at church.  This was one of the highlights of my elementary school experience.  Target had the cutest decorating kits and fancy boxes but we went old school and wrapped her shoe box in a paper sack.  Then I let her loose with the glitter glue and stickers.  She had a ball.

I took her to Target to pick out Valentines for the party and shocker, she went with Frozen.  She's been working on writing so much lately and she signed every single Valentine all  by herself!  She's been writing her name on anything and everything ever since. I can't believe she can spell and write her own name... sniff sniff. I really feel like I'm going to blink and she's going to be off to college.

Dropping off the Valentine's was fun.

Eating a few sweet treats was fun, too!

But the best of all was opening her box full of cards, treats and trinkets from her friends!

We did a "love" and Valentine's theme for our preschool group the week of Valentine's Day too.  The kids loved sorting, counting, graphing and then of course eating little candy hearts as well as doing a craft with them!

On Valentine's Day Jed took Wyatt to teach him a thing or two about how to love his ladies well.  They went shopping for sweet gifts and flowers.  Oh and doughnuts.  They definitely know the way to our hearts! :)

Wyatt needs to hang out with more dudes.  Note his shoe selection.  He does this all on his own but we giggle and encourage him of course.

Tiegan continues to be a sweet sweetie and is smiling all of the time now!

Winter afternoons (or mornings or evenings in her case) are great for naps.  I am thankful that most days I get a significant window of time with all 3 sleeping peacefully.

Lainey is most certainly Tiegan's favorite person.  She talks to her all of the time and their interactions are absolutely precious.  Often she'll say, "I can watch her for you, Mom" (and she DOES)!  When I return she'll say "she was quiet the whole time!" :)  She's ALWAYS willing to fetch diapers or wipes or pick out her clothes for the day.  She is such a little Mommy and I love it. I can tell all of Tiegan's milestones will be exciting for her like they are for me.

We do A LOT of coloring and painting around here.  I like this shot because it shows my righty and my lefty hard at work!

Tiegan is definitely still the most popular person in the house.  They're always crowding around her in the bouncy seat or when she's in the swing.  I've had to start putting her down for naps upstairs to keep them away and more than once I've had to chase after Wyatt up the stairs as he goes to "check baby Tiegan!"

Not much has changed this winter with Wyatt and his love for his trains.  Thanks to my cousin Mike, our collection of wooden tracks has expanded so we have a set upstairs on his train table and I keep a bin of tracks downstairs too.  We play trains, we read about trains, we watch Thomas on IPTV or Netflix, we do train stickers, we listen carefully for the trains that pass not too far from our house, etc.  I hope one of these days we can get the kid on a real train!

Tiegan pretty much lives in her jammies.  It's just been so silly cold that it doesn't make sense to worry about a onesie, pants and socks versus a warm fleece sleeper.  I love putting her in my favorite items that Lainey wore.  This is my not even 3 month old baby snuggled up in a pair of 6 month size pjs.  She's growing TOOOOOO fast!

Winter treated us well this year.  We stayed relatively healthy and enjoyed our many at home days!  I can't say I'm anxious for next winter to come but I am sure there will be sweet memories to be made.

Getting Out the Door

Thus far, I've found one of the most challenging things about having 3 kids to be going ... anywhere.  We function pretty well inside these 4 walls but getting us all out the door is not an easy task!  I think this would be hard no matter what, but adding the fact that it's winter to the mix means we all need coats, scarves, boots/shoes, kids need mittens and hats (and you KNOW I'm putting those things on more than once because it takes SO long that at least one of them has taken them off in the process of leaving), diaper bag (with Wyatt diapers, Tiegan diapers, a blanket, wipes, a few toys and snacks... always snacks), water bottles, etc... OH and keys and phone, definite necessities!

Because I feel like I have conquered the world every time we do get out the door, it usually requires a picture to prove it.

After Tiegan's first doctor visit when she was 6 days old, we headed straight to our chiropractor Dr. Ann!  She confirmed Tiegan's perfection and gave her her first adjustment!

One night all 5 of us went to Target and Jed and I decided to divide and conquer, boys vs. girls.

We have had our preschool group a few times since Tiegan was born too.  It's always a little bit of a juggling act but we make it work.  I love these ladies and their kids and it's really always the highlight of our week to enjoy their company and watch our kiddos learning together.

I hesitate to post this one... how embarassing, but this is what happens to my living room when Jed plays in the band at church and I'm responsible for getting us all fed, dressed (semi-well) and out the door by 9:45.

I noticed one week by Wednesday we were all going a little bonkers and the kids were bouncing off the walls.  So the next day we went to the library!  I had avoided the library the last few months of my pregnancy because I literally could not waddle after Wyatt any more and losing a child at the downtown library is one of my worst fears.  It was actually a really great outing.  Tiegan slept most of the time and we got lots of new books to enjoy the next few weeks.

What's even better than just getting out is actually getting OUTSIDE!  Before all of this snow got dumped on us, we had a few really awesome days of 40s and 50s and SUN!  I wrapped Tiegan up in the moby and we walked down the street to the big open field and the dirt piles where they dump the dirt when they dig a foundation for a new house.  This is noteable because this is usually a DADDY thing, NOT a Mommy thing.  Daddy lets us go crazy outside and get extra dirty.  Mommy is usually full of "be careful"'s and "watch out for the mud!" But this time I let it go and got to just say yes.  We all had an awesome time.  The fresh air was just what we needed.

We also enjoyed an outing to the zoo with our friends Allison and Gwen the other day.  It was such a nice day we ran into several other friends too!  I was really proud and impressed with how great my big kids did walking the whole trip and staying close without the stroller!  There was no complaining even in the absence of snacks and water bottles!

Jed had the idea to go to the mall the other night, which normally would be pretty fun but it was CRAZY busy so instead of enjoying the train table at the book store, we got ice cream, which the kids probably enjoyed more.  Tiegan was, as you can see, not impressed.

I'm sure one day I'll look back at this and laugh at myself, whether it be when/if we have more kids or just when I'm more seasoned at life.  For now, I'm going to pat myself on the back and do my best to be thankful for our days at home and the outings we enjoy together, no matter how stressful they seem!