In Honor of Father's Day

We have a couple of rotten boards under our eave, and my husband is going nowhere near that! So, I, in all of my "we're-so-poor-because-husband-started-business" glory, have been stalking the how-to internet videos, convincing myself that I can do this.

It's easy to focus on everything my husband does NOT do & it got me thinking about everything he does.

There once was a good chunk of years where I was convinced that MY husband was going to grow into the kind of man I was used to growing up around. The kind of man both my brothers had become, the kind of man my dad and pawpaw are. You know, the ones that work hard and never get bored, and can fix anything, and figure out how to fix it when they don't succeed the first time. The kind who own yard tools and garage tools and work clothes and jumper cables. Those men know where spark plugs are located in vehicles and change their own oil. You know, all of those absurd things! 

I later realized he would not ever grow to be this man. That's not who I married. But luckily so, because we would definitely butt heads. We are the epitome of opposites, and that's such a fabulous thing for us and our children. We balance each other perfectly. My kids have a dad who adds the compassion, laughter, calm, and patience where I lacked. He has taught me to laugh at mistakes, not sweat the small stuff, give people the benefit of the doubt, take risks, and love all all things .

You know, "make lemonade" and all those other "cliche" things. 

Now, I've taught him a couple of things, too, but that's a whole other post!

My kids have a dad who loves their mother. Loves, loves their mother!!

They have a dad who does dishes, does laundry, vacuums, changes diapers, and bathes kids.

They have a dad who cooks breakfast every morning, waits for the bus, and brings them to school.

They have a dad who laughs at pre-teen obnoxiousness when I can't take another minute of it.

They have a dad who's calm heart can instantly put a baby to sleep.

They have a dad who prays for our family, cares about our health, and wants us all to live a better life.

And, they have a dad who wants to give them everything he has. Every part of him  and every thing he will work for.

So, when he still won't fix a couple of rotten boards? I'll let that slide.

Self-Sustained with Squash

Yes, we live in the middle of the city. Yes, I would love to live on a farm somewhere and be self-sustainable, but that is not going to happen anytime soon.  In the meantime, we have squash!
We planted our very first garden this year, and Adam is so impressed with the fact that it actually worked, that he is taking great care of it.  He and Adeline go out every day and harvest the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers.  We are still waiting on the dozens of tomatoes.  Their boots sit outside the back door for when they walk out, and it's just the cutest thing ever! 

Look Who's Sitting Up

Such a cutie!  We went for her six month checkup, and the doctor asked if she was sitting up yet.  I said no, and the Dr. said "yeah, I bet she can sit up." So, of course, we run straight home and try.  Viola!!

Our Little PreK Graduate

It's been such a fun ride with Adeline.  She's spunky, outgoing and steals a room when she walks in!  She has her daddy's clumsiness and athleticism (ironic, I know), and the inquisitiveness and eagerness of any four year old.  We are so proud to be her parents.
She graduated from Kids R Kids pre-k.

 

 

6th Grade Spring Concert

Baylor played in his 6th grade spring band concert.  He plays the trumpet.  He's too cool to pose for pictures or even make it easy on me when snapping pictures, so this is all we got!

Olive

Olive is almost 6 months old.  I can't believe it.  Look at the big, gummy smile!  I can't wait until summer to be off with all three kids. Only two more weeks!

Best Seat in the House

Almost six months in, and this is still Ollie's favorite place to be in the evenings!
Look at all her Mohawk hair in the first picture. Ha!

 

 

Crab Catch

Baylor and his friend, Trenten, go crabbing down by the boat launch in our neighborhood.  They're getting better and better at trapping crabs, so this weekend we boiled some of them. They were delicious!

Something in Small Talk (occasionally)

I'm not a big small talker. If I do chat with people, it's usually very genuine. Sometimes, though, people can say the perfect things at the perfect time. Maybe that's why we need small talk with random people each day. The littlest things. Things that they may not mean anything by, but the receiver is hugely grateful. I try to keep this in mind when I say good things about people to others. I often think to myself, "the person I'm talking about needs to hear this", so I make sure to tell them.

Tonight I didn't want to go to the gym. It's Monday, and I'm tired. I spent most of the day cooking Sunday, but I didn't get as much prepping and cooking done for the week as I'd like. I've been kinda bummed with myself because I can't kick my little chocolate habit right now even though I try to teach my kids about healthy eating. And someone complimented me tonight. Complimented my cooking each week, and that all of our meals are Paleo. Complimented the fact that we have three little kids, but we are here at the gym. And, that I looked like I had it together!! That was the best. The point here is that, boy, did I need to hear that on this day! Say kind words. You may never know who needed to hear them at the time you said them. :)

Olive Fun

Oh no, we may have a thumb sucker  :(

14 Weeks

Fun at the gym!

Rodeo Houston

Had a great time at Houston Rodeo 2014!

Baylor Has Good Stuff to Say!

Olive is 3 Months

Sweet girl! Ollie is working on playing on her tummy. She loves sitting up and talking to us. She will start at daycare with Adeline mid March. Things are going to get busy around here!

Crossfit After Baby

Well, I did go back to Crossfit after baby. I went back at 6 weeks. And, it's been 6 weeks since I started back. And let me admit right now, it is not easy! As a matter fact, it's harder than I ever imagined it would be. I continued crossfitting while I was pregnant, after all!! Shouldn't this be a breeze? That was my intention. Going back post baby has been very humbling. I will go as far as to say that it hurt my pride. Beginners are doing way better than I am! I refuse to say to people, or myself, that "I just had a baby". I'm not going to lie, though, I love when other people say it for me. That way I feel like I have an excuse for this body that does not look or work the way I want it to!
Nothing feels right in the gym.  Things I was really good at before now feel foreign.  My form is off, the weights are heavy, and my endurance is shot. I don't know at what point it will feel better, but it will feel better. I'm sure of that. So what's with the bitch-fest? Surely you're asking yourself that.  Why am I still going to crossfit if it's so horrible? There are a couple of reasons I'm still going.  Number one, I remember how much I loved it before.  Two, I am an example to my family.  Three, my wonderful, encouraging husband is keeping me going. He's being so supportive and offering to keep the baby. Or he comes with me and tells me how awesome I'm doing.  And last, I couldn't be in a better crossfit gym.  It's full of supportive friends, other mommies who are rocking it, and great coaches.  I've talked about Crossfit Bay Area many times on this blog, but I appreciate our crossfit community now more than ever.  They have always been accepting of families with children, and now their support of all the new crossfit babies has been overwhelming.  How can a new mommy not appreciate members who will hold babies, coaches who will find pacis, wear babies, and rock carseats during WODs! 
This is truly a gym family in every sense. To everyone who has been helpful along the way, this mommy is so appreciative!


Coach Troy holding Ollie & snapping a selfie!

Ollie's front row seat to Mommy's workout!

And other CFBA babies, members, and coaches...
 
    

A Little Cleaning

Adeline goes on cleaning spurts some days where she will clean her room really good, rearrange, clean out her closet, etc. (see, there's a little me in her). She even turns down playtime with the neighbors if she's in the middle of a cleaning spree. This was her most recent project she just debuted to me....

She's been working for two nights matching, folding and organizing her pajama drawer! Sweet girl :)

Janese Family Update

Olive is 10 weeks old already! Currently our family of five is enjoying bath time for this little one, lying on mommy & daddy's bed at night and making her coo and smile, and giving little tootie bug lots of snuggles and kisses. 

Mommy is enjoying time home with the girls, sweet baby breathing, quiet nursing in the night, and special looks of adoration from my husband :)

I'm not sure if daddy is enjoying this or not. I know he wants his sleep back, and his wife back. If he wrote on this blog from time to time we would find out! Daddy is getting special time putting the older two to bed each night and playing special games that they only request from him. Also, lots of one-on-one time with Baylor each evening (I really appreciate that one). And coming to the realization that his two girls have him completely wrapped around their itty bitty fingers.

Adeline and Baylor love Olive.

Baylor is actually loving and excelling at karate! He just got to move up to intermediate classes & got a new, red gi (aka karate suit)! Middle school seems to be going well, grades are good, and health is holding steady.

Adeline just finished a season of cheer classes. She loves to helps me do anything and everything in the kitchen. She knows and can tell Adam anything about cooking, nutrition, grocery shopping, and picking out foods. She also loves dressing herself in sassy outfits that are "shiny"! 

The Seasons of Life

I love reading. Mostly nonfiction, though. It can be anything. Everything, actually. Books, magazines, newspaper articles, blogs, Facebook, pamphlets at the doctor's office...factual things and people's true writing just sparks my interest.

Tonight I read a blog entry about being a mother/having babies. My thought was that it would be another sappy mommy moment where I shed a few tears, but I swear this writer went into my brain,  at this very moment in my life and stole my words! So boy, did it hit home. Here's just a snapshot of her post on her family's completion:

"And yet there is The Ache.

Always The Ache, right underneath my lungs, in the pit of my gut, the ache of what that means and the grief of moving on, of love, of knowing: No more babies. No more nursing quietly in the night. No more flour sack of milk-drunk baby bliss. No more gummy smiles. No more tiny diapers. No more baby clothes. No more crib. No more baby wearing. No more new baby smell. No more of the millions of moments that knit your heart so completely to another small soul."

http://sarahbessey.com/learning-live-ache/

Wow! Maybe I read because I like to soak up knowledge. Yes, on some days. Some days it's because I'm bored. But on some days, like this day, if I wouldn't have taken the 5 minutes to read this little gem, I wouldn't have been reminded to soak it in, one day at a time. This season will change. Soak in the next one. It will go by fast. I have taken notice of older women telling me lately what a wonderful time this is in my life. Maybe they did before, too, and I wasn't listening. Now I'm listening. At first it worried me that maybe they were implying that it's the best time & it won't be this good again. Now I don't worry about that. Now I know that they just mean the seasons of life do change. Enjoy them. I will miss them when they're gone, but if I enjoy every single moment, I will have all those memories to share in the next season. I'm glad we made the decision to spread our children out. They're currently in 3 different seasons. I'm lucky enough to have that school ager, the preschooler, and the infant. All filling my heart with different experiences, and it will continue to be that way throughout  our lives. Feeling blessed!

     

Baylor is Officially an "Almost Teen"

Can you believe it? 12 years old! I know, I can't either. How does that happen, you wonder? Well, let me tell you-- somehow they keep getting bigger every year! Even when we don't get older...they still do! ;) The new baby has made me an emotional wreck. I was trying to smell all the kids the other night to soak it in and remember what they smelled like and looked like on this day. I know that won't work, and I won't remember, but on the bright side, they let me get close enough to cuddle and smell them! Happy Birthday, Baylor!

 

Birthday dinner at Ichibon!

 

 

His bedroom door!

Sweet Memories

Mommies and grandmas and aunts and maybe some daddies, too, do you remember those first weeks of newborn life? I'm trying to store memories, but I know this will be a very hard task for me. I rarely remember details like that. I barely remember when Adeline was that little. And Baylor? I remember even less! Having a newborn in the house again, however, brings back many of those memories and I want to hang on to them.

Do you remember that tiny baby breaths when they are snuggled close to your face? Or the way they limp themselves into a little ball of yumminess at your neck when you put them on your shoulder? Do you remember sitting in a chair rocking that tiny bundle and closing your eyes thinking to yourself  'I could sit here forever'...then in the very next thought,'This will end so fast'. Today my baby is 6 weeks old. She cooed some today and smiled a couple of times when I talked to her. I responded with such mixed emotions. She's no longer a newborn. Those precious first few weeks that I want to hold on to so badly are gone. Those are the weeks we want to replay over and over. And I was a lucky one. I had those first few weeks 3 times. Some people only have it once, some never. We are so lucky that those precious early weeks are replaced with smiles, and then coos,  laughs, lots of milestones, adoration from a child that believes you are the most important person in the world, games of peek-a-boo, "dada", and "mama"! Because, of course, what else would distract us so much that we don't notice those fleeting, sweet moments being replaced? I know why, my friends. It's God's way of distracting us so our babies can grow up.