Thankful Thursday - 146

This week I'm thankful for...

1. My brothers. I don't see very many families who are quite as close as my brothers and I. Given the choice, we will happily hang out with each other on any given day and it's always a good time. We are all very different, but we share the same values and are able to be vulnerable and honest with each other. Is it a fluke? Is it something my parents did raising us? Whatever it is, I wish for my children to share this together some day. 

2. Purging. I went on a bit of a rampage this week clearing stuff out of our place. The amount of stuff we have kicking around is driving me bonkers. A lot of it is because with having kids come a lot of stuff, but I'm trying to cut back where I can. It feels so good to have clear floors and an organized closet!

3. My Little Muggle. How cute is this? I can't even.

4. Sherlock got groomed! Finally Sherlock is getting a little love. 

5. Family Photos. This was a last second decision because I realized it had been almost exactly a year since we took photos at my parents' house with Dom. You can tell by our disheveled appearance that it wasn't planned and we weren't mentally prepared haha. 

Last year... looking more rested and put together!

6. Not cooking. We were out for dinner Tuesday and Wednesday night this week. I enjoy cooking, but only when I have the time, energy and forethought for it. It's great to not know what we're eating for dinner and then be invited out. Yes please!

Nice visit with Omama as well! Bonus!

7. Janine is in town! Janine and Jaia came over for a visit the other day. She's posted on Instagram now, so I guess it's official... Janine is also pregnant again! A baby boy due December 30!!! 

Dom seemed pretty infatuated with Jaia. He was so cute, always looking her straight in the eye when trying to communicate something to her. And then playing peekaboo around the swing.

Jaia was really good and gentle with Emilia. Gives Janine some hope for when baby #2 comes this year!

She's so cute it hurts.

Kisses! Em is all in haha.

Aaaanad just for good measure, here's a couple funny pictures of Dom from the last couple days :)

Weekend of Babies, Goodbyes, BEER, Parties & Sunshine

I. Am. Exhausted!
Last night David wanted to watch a movie or hang out, and I said, "No. I am being selfish with my time tonight and only doing what I want to do." I felt a little bad, but mostly I have no regrets. I read my book with a glass of wine, and then watched Netflix like he wasn't even there. I had the snacks I wanted and went to bed when I was ready. 
The rest of the weekend was so jam packed I didn't have the chance to do what I felt like doing (not that I'm complaining; it was packed with wonderful things!). 

This is how I felt all weekend. And then I crashed.

Thursday afternoon Emilia rolled over for the first time and was super excited about it! *See above picture*. That evening we went to my Opa & Oma's to say "See you next year" to my cousin Carmen who is off to Brazil for a year to go to school. She's still in high-school, but decided she wanted to do an exchange program and go to a country where she knows no one and doesn't speak the language. Man! So adventurous! I would barely go to the mall at that age by myself!

"Oh no... What have I done?!"

Carmen & Emilia

Dominic was a social butterfly at the party. However, at one point I found he had hoisted himself onto a chair outside and was sitting at the table all by himself while the rest of the party was inside. Ah yes... So much of myself in him.

I am holding my cousin Brad & Anita's baby, Charley, who is 5 weeks older than Emilia. My brother Jeff is holding Emilia. 5 weeks and a few pounds apart! 

On Friday Rachel, Rebecca & Gramma came to visit for a few hours during the day. There was a short period where Rebecca and Emilia were awake at the same time so we took a couple photos. Rebecca is almost 6 weeks, and Emilia is 15 weeks in these photos. 

Cousins!

Check out that ridiculous pout! <3

Gramma with her two granddaughters!

Later that evening, after the kiddos went to bed, we were invited over to Jeff & Marta's. I thought we were just going to have some snacks and drinks at their place, but NO! I was mistaken! We were going to walk to the nearby breweries and go beer tasting! Much more fun, but also much harder to limit the amount you're drinking and the time you're out until! (Sorry to my mom & dad who were babysitting...). We had a BLAST, but I don't recommend drinking a lot of beer when you're not used to it and still having to parent two kids the next day (Zzzzzz...). 

Twin Sails first, then on to Parkside Brewery, and finally over to Moody Ales.

I was telling Jeff at the first brewery that there is no such thing as a candid photo of him. He vehemently disagreed. I took this picture approaching our second stop and noticed the next day that there is, in fact, NO SUCH THING AS A CANDID PHOTO OF JEFF! Haha.

It is seriously so special that me and the boys all get together so often. Our group has doubled in size with everyone's partners and it is so much fun. I hope our kids still love to get together long after they're grown up.

On Saturday afternoon we went to David's parents' house where they were having a 56/62 party. Larry was born in 1956 and turned 62 this year; Shelley was born in 1962 and turned 56 this year. Yup. That's reason enough to party! We were just there until bedtime for the kids, but still got to enjoy some visits, beer pong, appetizers and drinks. 

The little hoodlum and I

On Sunday we went to church and then Sabbathed. Rested**. As mentioned above, I had a lovely selfish evening and may do the same tonight because David is out doing an evening shoot! 

{**As I finished writing this post, I realized I also cleaned/vacuumed our bedroom, re-did the linen closet, organized Emilia's room, vacuumed the stairs, did the dishes, parented two kids and did/folded 3 loads of laundry... It's sad that I consider this resting?!}

Sunday was also Sherlock's 4th birthday! We gave him some extra special treats and play time in the evening, and brought out a special ball from the toy box!

Dominic has been bonkers lately and has energy up the wazoo! David was home for a bit today while Emilia was napping, so I took Dom to the park to burn some willies. He has had such a development boom in the last couple months. I'm actually kind of sad that I stopped writing his monthly posts after 18 months. I feel like he's developed more in the last two months than he has in the last 6! He's 20 months today, so here's a mini update of his new abilities/words. 

• Every day is a new word. The latest ones are: Beep beep beep (as he backs up), Dice, Guitar, Van, Woooowwww, Boobies, Nose, Weeee, Grapes,  
• The list goes on and on, but I'm not going list off all the words he knows. These are just from the last week or so. 
• He is in love with airplanes and stops everything to watch airplanes go by
• He picks up new sign language first try. 
• He HATES having dirty hands and feet. It's comical how much he despises it.
• He loves to draw/color, and often draws pictures of Oma (Ohhh-Ma!), Opa (Ma), and Mommy. 

He melts my heart.

Thankful Thursday - 145

Last week we were at the cabin and Dominic was really sick with a chest cold. This week we thought Emilia was coming down with the same cold. It looks like we may have escaped it. I'm wondering if she got antibodies from my breast-milk or something; still not entirely out of the woods, but it's looking better!. It's especially challenging with the horrible air quality we've been having. We have to keep all doors and windows closed to protect her little lungs. It's been stanky hot in here!

Still things to be thankful for this week if I just change my perspective...

1. Indoor activities to beat the smoke. The air quality here this week has been hazardous at a 10+ rating (whatever that means), so it's recommended we stay inside. Especially with a little baby. Tough to go from being outside all day every day at the cabin to being cooped up in our house!

First time in the jumper. Just hanging out!

Opa & Oma took Dom to Prince's (local grocery store in Oroville) on the really smoky day at the cabin and he picked out a couple toys. The buggy is one, which I brought to the grocery store yesterday with us. It was pretty darn adorable! I must admit, that he gave up halfway through and lifted his buggy into my big buggy and came and sat in the toddler seat. That made things MUCH quicker for me at the end. Grocery shopping took a solid 3x longer than it should have.

Dom spent some time in the dog food... only tried to eat one kibble. The rest of the time was spent scooping and pouring, and pretending to add craisins, sprinkles and almond slices to the food. I call it making potions. 

I tried to be a fun mom and make him a sensory bucket with rice. It took about 45 seconds for a whole cup of rice to be dumped all over the floor. I kept my cool and just cleaned up after haha!

2. An amazing vacation destination. Every year since I was a baby we've gone to the cabin in Oroville. We are so so blessed that my Opa & Oma had the foresight to purchase this property 25+ years ago. 

3. A Thoughtful Gift. Apparently David has been listening to me all these years! Gift giving is not my love language... at all. Right up there with physical touch! My first Mother's Day, David had appendicitis and we weren't able to celebrate. The second one, Emilia was just 4 days old so I was not in a go out and celebrate mood. David assured me that we would just postpone Mother's Day. Sounds good to me! Little did I know, he'd spent months compiling submissions from family and friends to put together a magazine for me. I'd share all the pages, but there are like 18 of them, so that's a bit much! I totally cried when he showed me. I'm not typically a crier about sentimental things like this. 

This is the absolute perfect Renee gift. Something that he put SO much thought and time and effort into. Between that and the beautiful words people shared about how they see me as a Mom... gentlemen, take notes! Best Mother's Day gift ever!

4. Great Laughs. The first night at the cabin it was just us and Scott & Ashleigh. We broke out a few drinks and played "What Do You Meme". I hadn't played it before, but it's sort of like Cards Against Humanity with pictures instead of a card. HILARIOUS! This was voted the winning match of the game (of course it was my card that won). 

"When you're cutting wrapping paper and the scissors start to glide"

HOW RELATABLE IS THIS! Haha! And the owls face... best.

5. Baby snuggles. Baby snuggles will never NOT make the Thankful Thursday posts. I got to visit Elissa the other evening and have some happy awake time with little Makenna who was 2.5 weeks old at the time. What a sweetheart! All these adorable happy babies! 

CHEEKS!! Her eyes are so dark already. I love it.

Okay, mostly awake time... Also, check out those arm rolls!

6. Nice Toddler Moments. Let's be realistic... Dom isn't always a good time lately. He's started up with his crazy unreasonable tantrums. Must remind myself of the sweet moments to keep me sane!

We went for a walk and he initiated holding hands! That is a first. Melted my heart. He's pointing to an airplane here.

He has had a major development boom and growth spurt the last two weeks or so. Lots of new words (No, Mommy, Grapes, Bless You, Tow Truck... to name a few), new behaviours, new communication and understanding. Super fun!

He loves his little sister so much. She was in her Bumbo the other day and he brought a book over and sat in front of her, seemingly to "read" with her.

He loves his cars, and has just started lining them up. Just like Henry, Katrina's oldest. 

He got to come get Emilia up from her nap with me for the first time. That smile is literally the face he has every time he sees her. <3 <3

And then there's this... turned our backs (I was feeding Em on the couch 4 feet from him) and lotion EVERYWHERE! We laughed it off. 100% our fault.