Addies Third Birthday - Day

I have found a quiet minute where I can't do much else so I feel like its a great time to get some thoughts out. This poor little blog space, I swear I will give it some more attention. 

We pick up my new used car on Thursday when I am back in town. My head seriously is spinning. This past week was bananas. I mean it seems like every week is crazy cray. I now realize why people retire, if I am doing this #*^% for years and year and years I am going to need a few years of sitting. 

Last week was Addies third birthday, I tried to post a bunch of pictures on Instagram and facebook to keep everyone in the loop. We had an amazing day, it was one of the best. I always knew birthdays were special and even when Daniel and I were dating I would make a big deal of both of our birthdays but having given birth it takes on a whole new meaning. I can so easily be brought back to the day, the minute she was brought into the world. I know all the details, they are engrained in my mind. 

We asked Addie what she wanted for her birthday and her response for weeks was that she just wanted pink cupcakes. Uh sure. I am not pushing the issue because I know in a few short years it will be a laundry list of items so for now I am embracing her simple requests. There were a few things up our sleeves for her day, most importantly was her My Little Pony quilt we were making. It had taken Dan about ten days to sew the front and a handful of days afterwards for the two of us to tie the blanket squares. All in all its a great blanket and she loves it. It is very heavy so she can't throw it around like her smaller ones but now she has a big kid blanket. The ponies she can rattle off their names are surrounded by pink glitter fabric. I look forward to her loving on this blanket for years and years. We decided to give her a few presents spread througout the day and it was wonderful. I want to do that every year. Daniel took the day off of work and we snuggled on the couch under her new blanket and watched Up. It is such a cute movie but gosh darn I forgot about the first ten minutes. Cry fest much. After the movie wrapped up she opened another gift, her My Little Pony shoes, those were a big hit too. Girl loves those ponies. Then we went bowling. She really liked it once she got the hang of it. Daniel and I were close but he ended up winning, he told me I was cheating because of the bumpers. Just wish I could have used those bumpers for another few pins and I would have been the winner. 

After bowling we came home to make cupcakes in ice cream cones and had a pasta dinner. It was just a great day one for the record books. I loved celebrating her, I have loved having a day all about her since the day she entered our life. 

Right before bed we let her open her last present for the day and she got some new Doc McStuffins jammies. If we could buy her the world we would. Needless to say after a very eventful day she cozied up under her balnket and fell asleep. 

I tell her all the time to stop growing and she tells me how smart she is and how she has to keep growing. This little girl of mine is so freaking amazing. She grows and learns daily. I am SO beyond thankful that I have these days with her. She will be starting preschool next year and then my time with her will be less and less. Right now its just the three of us and I love it. It is worth more than any amount of money. 

Looking forward

Christmas is in like days. DAYS away, but it just doesn't feel like it here. Tongiht Daniel spoiled us by cooking his family dinner. I try to keep it light on the weekends, mainly becuase I am sick of cooking. Although we are trying to eat out less which means cooking on the weekend too. 

I am still getting my Plan to Eat (P2E) all situated, I was really good about meal planning before Jackson came and now I am getting back into it. I started restocking our fridge/freezer since the middle of October and had to figure out a new system of groceries and planning. I waited until the Black Friday sale for P2E and now am getting all my stuff together. 

There has been a lot of getting back into the swing of things so having Christmas just kinda snuck up on us. Now we are ready, pretty much Addie is just getting a nice Christmas. We have just been getting stuff we needed for the last three months. I am not as excited about it as last year but last year everything was normal and she was my only little baby. I think Christmas Eve I will start to feel it but as for today, I am just gearing up for anoher Monday. At least story time is coming back, Addie needs to get out!  

I am very much looking forward to 2015, this is where I feel the excitement. This year has just been so heavy. Thats really the only word that comes to mind. There have just been so many things on our shoulders, just so many. Granted not all of them have been bad things, some very VERY good, but just a large amount of things. I remember feeling like I got my stuff together when Addie turned 8 months and now watching Jackson hit the same milestone I have some stuff together, and its just different stuff. 

So this week will be Elfis' last days, we will make sure to feed the reindeer and pick up some cookies for Santa. I am looking forward to doing more stuff for the house and enjoying some family time. Then we ring in a NEW Year, closing out our year of New things and moving onto a year. We have some events coming up as life is constant but it should be a little slower. Phew. 

Addie just turned three and I wrote a post about it, I will publish it after this one. Jackson is 8 months old and we found his first tooth today! 

And Christmas is Thursday. 

Merry Christmas!!! 

year in retrospect :.2014.:

year in retrospect

I think this year has taught me a lot, more than I could have ever imagined. There have been situations that were quite literally life changing. I was putting together our Christmas cards and wrote a synapses of the year. I used up almost the whole space. It is overwhelming. It is that feeling you have right when the rollercoaster peaks and your about to roll forward. This feeling has shown up more times this year than probably ever before. Addie turns three in one week. I have a three year old little girl. She is absolutely amazing. The rate in which she learns and the funny things she says. The way that I can see her do what I have taught her, it is a wondrous thing. She comments on the beautiful days and sings the ABCs to her brother when he cries.

When thinking about the year I just get this feeling of being blessed. That is the best word to use as it describes so many things. Our home is new and beautiful because of the hard work we do and the choices we have made. In those two aspects of life I am so pleased to have gotten to this point. I have learned to be humble and remember that I have to have today as I am not promised tomorrow. The latter of the two has been a concept that was harshly brought into my life years ago, it is something I have held close to my heart since then. Bringing life into the world of my own flesh and blood has made this a part of my everyday life. I am teaching my children to cheer for one another, to love deeply and be so thankful for everything. I am exceptionally proud of that.

This year has also solidified my marriage in a way I could have never known. We are stronger, we are a constant work in progress together, growing in the same direction. Our relationship has attributed to the humility. I am so fortunate to have a life partner who respects me as much as I him. A majority of my adult relationships were tried this year. I feel like adding a baby gives you a slight pass to be absent but with that addition came one thousand miles.  One valuable nugget of information has been that things work out as they should. The people who come into your life, there is a lesson to be learned, a reason behind it all. At times it may not be for you but rather for you to pass the lesson to them. If you make good choices you will lead your life down a road that leads to other good things.

The most magnificent piece of it all has been my faith. My ability to trust and believe. Let me tell you it is not easy. It is a challenge, not a struggle but a challenge . I look back and all the signs that pointed in one direction, in the gut feelings, the things that went my way and didn't. Most days I am in the happiest place of my life. There are many days that my faith is challenged, it is then that I look for my pillars of support. My friends, family, children - the things that make me most happy.

As we enter the final month of 2014, I reflect at how different my life is from a year ago. I am thankful for it all. The peaks and valleys, the highlights and dark moments.

My hope for 2015 is to continue to work on faith, believing in myself and my family, trusting that everything works as it should and bringing the best of myself everyday. It may not be the best in all things but the best in something.