Seven

It's the last day of February and I FINISHED writing all of my Performance Appraisals last night!!!!

1. Sunday Night Off

Having Sunday night off was absolutely wonderful.  It was nice to be able to enjoy more time as a family.  The day was not full of worry about my sleep schedule and we were just able to "BE."  It was easy, relaxed and perfect.  

Cameron was reading the night story in my lap but Jack needed to push his way in and be super silly.

2. Dot to Dots
For Christmas we got the boys a huge book of advance Dot to Dots.  They are multiple colors and go into the 1000s.  On Sunday afternoon we pulled it out and all sat down while Jack was sleeping and did one.  Can you see Cameron hiding next to the couch in this picture?

Some of these moments when we are ALL sitting down and doing the same thing are my favorite.  It's like we are individually getting our mediation and clarity in for a few moments but we are all in the same room, sharing the space.  It always makes me happy.

3. Scotty's
Since I didn't work on Sunday I actually ordered TWO martinis at Scotty's.  Per usual -- all the boys did great and we had a wonderful time.  Jack is OBSESSED with my parents and so it is fun to watch all of them interact.  It's also fun to not have to worry about meal planning or dishes.

4.  Owen
This child of mine fell straight out of the apple tree.  It's insane how our personalities and ways of thinking are so similar.  Mike pointed it out a few years ago but as time moves on it becomes easier and easier to see.  One of my favorite things about Owen right now is his connection and love for Jack.  These two are constantly together running laps around the house.  They play for hours.  Jack is constantly asking for him and Owen usually steps up the plate and begins to wrestle and chase.

6. Jack's two year old visit
Jack successfully made it through his 2 year old visit without a hitch.  He has the focus and determination of a 30 year old -- this kids OCD is out of this world.  So grateful that our check up is filled with coloring, laughter, and good news!

7. Hawaii planning

I know that I have gone a little overboard today with the post but there are LOTS of things that I am grateful for these days.  Last night Mike officially booked our first activity in Kauai.  Though I have eaten an insane amount of cookies lately and not really ready for my bathing suit -- holy hell I can not be more excited to take a trip in 24 days and explore Hawaii.  This is truly something that I have dreamt about and I am PUMPED.

Sweets

1. Euchre at the Stahly's 

Our kids are ALWAYS asking to have playdates so we finally made it happen.  It was great to let the kids run around in all directions while the adults eventually sat down for a game of Euchre.  Don't let these pictures deceive you -- we usually had some type of child or interruption but overall it was absolutely wonderful.  I am so grateful for their friendship.  I have a feeling we will be doing this a LOT and traveling down this life together.

Yup--we got them all to sit down for approximately 3 minutes.

 2. Baby Longoria
Kara and Suz are having a BABY!  Jack and I headed over to the baby shower yesterday afternoon.  I think that it was my favorite baby shower that I have attended in awhile.  Though I didn't really know anyone except the guests of honor, Jack kept me completely entertained and made my heart smile.  He was in a great mood and was showing off the entire time. (In usual Jack fashion.)  He knew no stranger and laughed and laughed and laughed.  He made my heart smile.

Oh I should also mention that they had TONS of popcorn which is something that we love AND I was able to have a FatTire beer which was something else that I love.

3. Jack doesn't like the cold.
Clearly he makes good decisions.

Yesterday morning the cold weather hit again with snow showers!!  Cameron wanted to go out and catch some snow on his tongue so it little brother fashion Jack needed to go out too.  Once the door was open Jack would take a step outside.  We even tried to push him.  You could see the terror on his face - he wanted nothing to do with the cold.  After the door was shut and Cameron moved on -- he was mesmerized by the snow and wanted to try again.  He had the exact same results.

 For those of you looking closely -- I still have the ugliest fake flowers out in my pot from maybe 2 summers ago.  AHHHHHHHH!!!!

4. Halo Top Ice cream

This is my newest addiction and I must say -- I am pretty obsessed.  I can now officially join my husband in his ice cream addiction and he will buy me a pint when he makes a special trip for ice cream.  I have not officially tried all flavors but I am close.  Yum. Yum. Yum.  hmmmmm.....I wonder if I should start bringing these to work to fight off my cookie addiction.

5. LDI
This is a picture of my 4 different drinks and my purse stuffed with a scarf and extra sweater.  On Friday I attended my first LDI.  I have heard many things in the past few years from Mike about what happens at these events but I was more impressed with the Network than he ever led on.  It was nice to sit and not have anything extra added to my "To-Do" list or receive a million emails that day.  It was nice to sit and talk with JoAnne to get to know more about her and her life.  It was a long day of sitting BUT the food was wonderful and it was a nice change of pace.  I am looking forward to the next one in a few months.  (Yes -- I am a nerd)

6. Cookies
One great thing about Mike being my husband is the mass amounts of sweets and snacks around the house.  This is also a TERRIBLE thing which has helped me gain a lot of weight but on Thursday night when I got home from work I ate my feelings in Cheryl & Co cookies.  Yes, plural. The house was asleep, my day at work was rough so I decided to come home and have a beer.  Then I proceeded to have some cookies while folding two loads of laundry.

Progress

A quick update before a quick 5.  Mike sat me down a few times last week and encouraged me to keep working towards the 70.3.  I have found that working out and working towards this goal is something that helps keep my anxiety levels down a notch.  So...for now...I am back at it.  I am not sure how this will all end up but I am excited to be trying.

Thank you Mike for pushing me!!

1. The fastest and best
Yesterday I decided to go on a long run because I was never able to fall back asleep.  This ended up being the fastest, longest run I have completed in years.  My heart and lungs felt great the entire time but my legs and mind started to tinker out on the last mile.  I felt like I was sprinting though it was staying consistent with my other miles.  I am excited about the progress and I am excited to see where I am going.

2. Kids Baking Championship
Last night exhaustion hit me hard around 5pm.  It was an easy choice to turn on the TV and let the kids catch up on Kids Baking Championship.  They eventually got bored and asked to play computer games.  I sat there thinking..."wow -- I can't imagine if families do this every night.  I would be miserable"  Regardless, it was nice little break in our house.  One last thing -- I was in bed promptly at 745pm.

3. Taxes are DONE
This year I went back and forth more than once regarding hiring an accountant to do our taxes.  Finally I gave it and bit the bullet.  SOOOOOO happy that I did and I plan on doing this every year in the future.  Our taxes are completed AND we are getting money back.  Not nearly as much money in years past but not having to owe anymore money makes my soul excited.

4. The grill
Kara and John were getting rid of their old grill so now we have a new one!  Last weekend Mike made hamburgers and they were amazing.  He plans on making more burgers tonight since Cameron is obsessed.  Grateful for the grill and grateful that it is grilling season again.

5.  Little League
The boys are signed up for little league again this year.  It will be interesting to see how we make all of this work but at least we are trying....right?!

Work. work. work.

1. February doesn't last forever

It's been a weekend of work.  I have been doing performance appraisals for hours and hours and hours.  It was the first beautiful weekend out and though I was able to enjoy some of the sunshine I still started and ended my day with laptop in hand.   My goal is to write all of the PAs in Feb and then deliver all of the PAs in March before our vacation.  This is a serious, insane goal.  I still have 10 more to do which doesn't seem like a lot but I realize that next weekend will also be filled with paperwork and laptop time.  Glad February doesn't last forever.

2. Bier Brewery
If this doesn't make the list a lot -- it should.  We love coming here and enjoying a beer.  This weekend Mike did a major overhaul to the shed and garage.  After cleaning up on Saturday we decided to hit up Bier for a few drinks before picking up Jack from my parents.  I snapped this picture to show you Mike's tiny beer.  It was cracking me up.

3. My parents help ALL THE TIME
As I just mentioned, my parents watched Jack for a few hours on Saturday so we could get some uninterrupted work accomplished.  On Monday my Dad picked up the boys after their weekend in Chicago.  It is all of these things over and over and over again.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

4.  We all sleep through the night....usually
The past few days Jack has gotten up a few times a night which is WAY out of character for him.  Last night was the worst.  I was at work until 4am and from the start Mike and Jack were on the struggle bus together.  At 422am, when I was home, every member of the house was awake in some fashion.

Needless to say, we all recovered.  Clearly he must be teething or something.  These nights remind you how much you enjoy sleep and give you a brief glimpse into the not so distance past and the remind you that this use to be EVERY night.  Ahhhhhhh..  So grateful that we are all sleeping though the night and that these are random occurrences.

My gym buddy

 5. The struggle is usually lightened with comfort food
I have been struggling at work to get all of my tasks and goals accomplished.  It seems that there are just not enough hours in the day and I am still trying to figure out how to navigate that and work more efficient.  One of the nights this past week I was having a rough time getting motivated so Mike suggest I have Jimmy Johns deliver.  It was pretty fabulous.  I was still not able to get all of my shit done but at least I felt better about life in general.

6. Brothers
It must be added again.  Watching these boys play together is my favorite thing in the world. You can feel the happiness that radiates from their souls.

Tea

It's not a good morning.  I feel broken and defeated.  I decided to pull out some tea in efforts to calm my soul.  I am not sure what else to say besides that.  Sometimes  Many times this life shakes us up a bit and spits us out.  We have to figure out how to stand, put our shoes back on, and determine the smartest step to take next.  I sort of feel that way right now.

Life has been crazy lately.  I have added and added to my plate.  I have big dreams, huge goals and I LOVE to make them happen.  Right now I am at a crossroad where I have added to much.  I sort of knew that this was coming.  Awhile ago I was going to take the 70.3 off my list but after a few days of throwing it around I decided to keep with my goal.  I am at the time were it officially has to be taken off my plate.  I am at a place where I am shaken by life and/or broken by the weight of responsibility and need to figure out how to move forward.  I think that the only way to successfully do that is to take something off my forever long To-Do list.  I am not taking it off my bucket list just yet.  I still hope to one day accomplish this goal but 2017 does not seem to be the year.

As I sit and sip my tea I think it's appropriate to jot down a quick five.  It's days like today that stopping and reflecting really make a difference.

1. My tea
Yup, you guessed it, I am breaking back into my tea habit.  Starting today.

2. Jack likes daycare
A few weeks ago Jack moved into a new room at daycare.  This morning was the first time I saw him run to his teacher to sit on her lap and give her a morning hug.  We loved the teachers in his previous class so it made me happy to see that he is falling in love with the teachers in this call as well.

3. Phone deposits
Being able to deposit a check on my cell phone has been a time saver.  I know this is little AND I really don't have that many checks to deposit BUT when I do -- it makes me happy I can do it from the comfort of my own home.

4. Sunshine
Yesterday it was sunny all day long.  Boy oh boy does sunshine help everything be a bit more wonderful.

5. Free Stitch Fix
I recommended two people to Stitch Fix so I had $50 in rewards to spend.  I received a Fix this week and was able to buy my sweater for $1.  That's pretty awesome.

Denver 2017

TRIP REPORT

The first of many family trips with the Harris family has come and gone.  It went pretty much according to plan.  I felt all the feels that I imagined, the hards were has hard as I imagined and the crazy was as crazy wonderful as I imagined.  The only thing that I could not imagine was all of the puke near the end...but hey..that makes for a good story, right?!  I am not sure how to navigate through the trip so maybe I will just add some captions to the pictures and go from there.  

I decided to start out with one of the best pictures from the trip.  For real.

The flights there were not too bad.  We had to wake up SUPER early because they were at 6am but overall things went pretty smoothly.  We were able to all pack in one bag and even brought all of the car seats to cut down on rental costs.  The trip home was a different story.  Cameron puked before the plan even took off!  It was EVERYWHERE.  Almost every part of his body was covered.  He puked on me, Jack, the floor, our bags, coats -- but at least he didn't puke on any other passengers.  He slept the entire ride home and never got sick again!

Exhausted and refusing to give in.

We arrived on Sawyers birthday.  It worked out great because not only were we there to celebrate but he constantly had a stream of presents.

We could not have asked for better weather in the beginning of February.  We were able to play outside every day and rarely needed coats.  It was absolutely wonderful. 

Out celebrating Sawyers Birthday.  We practically had the place to ourselves and the kids had over 1000 tickets

Breakfast shot.  The food we can put down is amazing.

On Thursday Mike and Jess headed to Breckenridge to snowboard.  Originally our plan was to all go and send the kids to ski school but after some sticker shock we realized that I should stay back with the kids while Mike and Jess take the day.  Mike was in heaven.  So grateful that he found energy and felt refreshed after spending hours doing the thing that he loves.  He sent pictures all afternoon and it looked absolutely beautiful there.

 While they were on the mountain the adults headed to Rose Medical to present the Daisy Award to Heather our favorite ICU nurse.  I have been thinking about this day for a few months and I was excited to head back with my dad (WHO IS ALIVE) and thank her for helping guide my family through this terrible ordeal.  It was an honor to read the nomination to her in front of all of the leadership and her colleagues.  Later that afternoon I even received an email from the hospital president thanking us for taking the time to come into the hospital.  I can not say thank you enough to Heather.  I hope she knows what a difference that she made in our lives.

At the Children's Museum 

 Though these trips are H.A.R.D. we are going every year to make sure we keep Erin's memory alive and always have a connection with her children.  As life continues to change and grow and evolve I hope that we can move right along side with them though we are miles and miles away.  The comforting thing is knowing that Jess is doing a wonderful job at keeping Erin's memory alive.  Eloise would tell me stories (clearly he told them to her) and there were pictures and memories all around the house.  It's super, insanely, terribly sad to not have Erin here but grateful that her memory is still carried with us every day.

Jack was stuffy and had a snot nose almost the entire trip.  On the last night he sounded like he was puking in bed after a few long coughs.  At 2am I picked him up and as the hours went on he started actually puking all over me.  Now here is the thing.... It was our last night so I had no clean clothes to change into.  He also wouldn't let me put him down.  It was pretty gross.  We eventually figured out a towel system where he would start puking on me, I would grab a towel and then we would clean up the mess.  Around 6 am he fell back asleep on me for 20 minutes and never puked again.  At first I thought it was all the phlegm but when Cameron puked on the plane I knew it was a small stomach bug.  (I then I puked once we got home -- yuck!!)

Rock climbing at REI.  This store was massive.  It really makes you want to get out and enjoy life.

We are exhausted with LOTS of laundry and we both have a work To-Do list that feels a mile long.  I am so grateful that we make the time and find the money to do these things that are important to the soul.  And so so grateful for my partner in crime who helps navigate these insanely crazy waters.  

Jack is TWO

Yesterday we celebrated Jack's second birthday.  He woke up to presents, never took a nap and ran himself crazy playing with Cameron and Owen all day.  It's absolutely mind blowing to think about how much has changed in the past two years.  This kid is the perfect balance of loving and kind while at the same time determined and persistent.  He is the typical two year old who wants what he wants, when he wants it with no exceptions.  His absolute favorite things in life are his brothers, Mickey Mouse, milk, yogurt covered raisins (he usually just eats the yogurt), mom and dad, and books.  He is talking like crazy and putting more and more words together.  There is no doubt in my mind that he thinks he is seven.  He loves to wrestle with his brothers and get chased around the house.  The three of them can do this ALL. DAY. LONG.  He loves to show off for visitors, prefers to eat a diet of meat and carbs, and would choose to play outside if given the option.  He is obsessed with the fish at Cabelas, enjoys his friends at daycare, and is starting to have a love for the gym.  He has easily captured all of our hearts and we are so insanely grateful for sweet baby Jack.  

He wasn't a fan of the singing.  It seemed to absolutely stress him out.

Homemade pizzas on Friday night to start the celebrate early.