Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that Kent lent me some pajamas to wear after he packed up every single clothing item of mine in the moving van. Yes, that's really what I looked like when I woke up on our last morning at the old house.

I'm so thankful for all the help we had moving.  Thanks to everyone who came with strong arms, nourishing food and kind hearts.  We couldn't have done it without you! Here's our last picture at the old house:

I'm so thankful I caved and bought some Cinnamon Toast Crunch when Kael and I ran to the store at 6:00 Sunday morning.  That stuff is just as good as I remember, if not better.

I'm thankful for my pool boy.

I'm thankful for a b-e-a-u-tiful sunrise yesterday morning while I was out running.  It's easy to run with a view like that.

I'm thankful for my Bachelor of Arts degree but evidently it's not enough to ensure that I'm smart enough to run my new-fangled appliances.  I hadn't been in the new house 5 minutes and my fridge alarm started going off.  An alarm.  On my refrigerator.  Oh brother.

Speaking of appliances, I'm super thankful that our new washer and dryer arrive today.  But probably not more thankful than my mom is.  :) Thanks for helping us out in the meantime, Mom!

I'm thankful Kael's last Little League game was this week.  He had one of his best hits ever! All the way to the fence!

I'm so thankful that a heart doesn't actually burst.  Because mine was just so full of happiness the other night I honestly thought it might. Our neighbors-to-be stopped in and we just had the greatest time hanging out.  The kids all had fun together, our hubbies got along great...and we giggled like school girls about how wonderful our lives in this neighborhood will be.

I'm thankful for Sunday morning pancakes in our new house!

I'm sooo thankful for Tammy's help organizing things around my house.  She has such a gift for knowing right where things should go.  And folding t-shirts.  She whipped all of our closets, and the whole kitchen (including the pantry) right into shape!

I'm thankful that this move has brought the kids closer together.  They have become such good buddies lately!

Whew...it's been a crazy, crazy week but there is LOTS to be thankful for.  God is so good.  What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful I got to get away with my Kylee to see Pinkalicious at the DM Playhouse last weekend.  It was fun to have some mommy/daughter time which also meant that Kase took a bottle from Kent in my absence. Hooray!

I'm thankful for Kase's laughs.  He has laughed out loud at least 5 times now and it is the.sweetest.sound. Can you believe he's going to be two months old soon? Wish I could hit the pause button on this summer!

I'm thankful we've knocked out a few more parks from our list.  I think we've done 20 of 35 already!

I'm thankful/sad/excited that this is the last Thankful Thursday post I'll be writing from our current home.  Moving day is tomorrow!!!

I'm so so so thankful for my lawyer friend who was kind enough to do some quick paperwork for us at the very last second.  Thank you Dawn!!!

A bottle of wine and two Solo cups...

It had been a very long day of packing. "Want a glass of wine?" I asked Kent. He laughed.  "Our glasses are all packed; are we going to drink it out of plastic cups?" You bet we were.  I had just finished feeding Kase so Kent took over to burp him and tuck him in while I went downstairs to quick finish up some laundry. 

I came back up and found this:

A bottle of wine and two solo cups; at 9:45 they fell asleep.

And I fell in love. :)

On moving

I derive some pretty serious satisfaction from using up the last of something and throwing it away.  You can imagine how excited I've been each and every time I pitch another used-up item as we prepare to move.  A couple weeks ago I swore to Kent that I wasn't going to buy groceries again until after we moved.  Then we ran out of toilet paper.  And milk.  Twice.  But besides the absolute staples I've been trying to get creative using up random things from the freezer and pantry...and now our fridge, pantry, and freezer are nearly empty.  And so is my heart.  Not all the way empty.  Just a little bit empty.

You guys, I have been getting soooo excited with this whole idea of moving.  To a brand-spankin' NEW house, nonetheless.  As moving day approaches I'm starting to feel a bit of a pang in my heart.  The kids have been fairly vocal about their anxiety over leaving friends.  I've tried my best cheery voice and mommy-isms to calm their fears.  "You'll make new friends, and your old friends will still be friends.  You can never have too many friends you know!"  But as I walked over to retrieve Kylee from a neighbor's house the other day the tears started to well up in my eyes.  There's a certain easiness about this neighborhood.  A very certain degree of comfort.  And a sadness that comes with leaving a place we've called home for the last six plus years.  The first home that Kent and I ever owned together.  A sadness that comes with leaving the treehouse Kent worked so hard to build, the kitchen he remodeled and the friends that we've grown so close to.

Sure the perfectly nice house we're moving to is in a perfectly nice neighborhood and is practically on top of a perfectly nice school that will be filled with perfectly nice kids for mine to be friends with.  Almost certainly there will be no snakes living out my new front door.  But be assured, dear readers, we are not moving to a "better" neighborhood.

I will miss my friends.  I will miss the backyard neighbor girls getting away with shouting from their backyard towards our house, "Kylee, Kylee!!!" every five minutes until she either comes out and plays or another neighbor shouts back, "She's not home, she's at the pool!".  I will miss neighbors bringing me donuts on Saturday mornings because, she says, "I don't cook on Saturdays and you looked like you could use a donut." I will miss impromptu get togethers around the neighbor's fire pit.  I will miss knowing right where to go if I need to borrow some sugar.

The adjustment will be tough, but I believe a fresh start is good for everyone now and then.  Here's to making new friends, but keeping the old.

Old friends, come visit me, k??? :)

Happy Father's Day!

This afternoon we spent some time at my parents' house enjoying some of what my dad does best- homemade ice cream!!

Then back home to try to capture a picture on Kent's first Father's Day as a father of three.

I live with a bunch of hooligans. :) Love 'em to death.

We miss you, Ama and Grandpa!

Is there anything cuter than kids in pajamas? Yes...

Matching pajamas!!! They were a gift from my mom at Easter. Since she's out of town, I'm hoping she can check the blog and see a few pictures of her cute grandkids! 

We love you Ama and Grandpa!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful I got rid of so much stuff at the garage sale! Also I'm so thankful for my mom, grandma and mother-in-law's help this last weekend.  Cindy was on big-kid duty, Grandma was on Kase duty and Mom oversaw the garage sale while I floated between.  Sometimes it really does take a village, right?

I'm thankful Kent has agreed that all garage sale money should be put towards really fun stuff for the kids like a trampoline and bunk beds  practical, necessary things like a new washer and dryer.

I'm thankful my favorite niece is spending a few days with us this week.

I'm thankful for my mom's homemade banana bread that she delivers to me weekly. Mmmm.

I'm thankful for my first postpartum run.  It felt amazing.  Also am thankful I stashed some tennies in the back of my closet that I'd gotten at Christmas so I could have "new" tennies to run in!

I'm so thankful our new house is almost done! I stopped by yesterday and saw the counters and appliances were in, exterior paint and stone were finished and the stone fireplace was done.  I cannot wait to move in! Kent gets the credit for making most of the decisions on the house and I LOVE it all!

What are you thankful for this week?

Growing up!

Here's Kase when he's one week old.  

Never too young to be a Hawkeye! 

Kase was just over a month old here. 

These are pictures of he and I when he was 6 weeks old. 

Here he is today! His outfit says Mommy's Major Hunk and has camo pants that go with it.  A gift  from my  friend Rachel, this is hands down Kent's favorite thing Kase wears. :)

I don't know where the last six weeks have gone! He's growing up too fast already.  I would love to write more but  I've got a sleeping baby in one arm and I'm typing one-handed so I guess I'll just stick to pictures today. Have a great week!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful my sister called me to let me know The Color Run is coming to Des Moines in October.  I had so many friends run Dam to Dam last weekend and I'd love to do it someday, but for now I'm good with 5Ks.  Who wants to join our Color Run team???

I'm thankful the summer library reading program has officially started.  My kids look forward to filling out their reading logs as much as I look forward to the free ice cream tickets they earn. DQ, we'll see you soon!

I'm so thankful my grandma came out to snuggle Kase a couple days ago.  I've been trying to get ready for a garage sale this weekend and she was such a big help- holding Kase, bringing lunch, spoiling my big kids. :) It was a great day!

I'm thankful we've crossed off more than one third of our parks already!

I'm thankful Kase seems to be feeling much better than he did yesterday afternoon. 

I'm thankful the weather is going to be nice for my garage sale.  

Happy Thursday!

Ugh.

My tears fell hot on his cheeks where they met his own.  I held him close as I cried, and he cried harder.

Colicky? Sick? I didn’t know.  He hadn’t been himself lately but I guess I was still learning who ‘himself’ was.  I was still learning his ways.  I was desperately trying to remember how to be the mother of a newborn.

It had been the worst kind of day.  Kase’s unsootheable (I know that’s not a word but there’s no other way to put it) crying had made my nerves so raw that I was completely on edge. When I talked to Kael and Kylee, I hated every word that came out of my mouth. “Don’t chew on your toys”, “Stop picking your nose”, “Put your toys away”.  Everything that could be nagged about-I nagged about it.

I figured that if Kase was going to cry at home he might as well cry while we’re out and about.  I wanted Kael and Kylee to still have fun, so off we took to hit up a few parks.

Kylee had thrown wood chips at another girl at the first park and I could tell she felt worse about the fact that she got caught than she felt about throwing the wood chips.  As I talked with Kylee the girl and her family left before I could send Kylee over to apologize.  As luck would have it, we happened to see the same family at the next park we went to.  Kylee was a mess, absolutely refusing to go apologize unless I went with her.  I had just gotten Kase lulled off to sleep but I really felt Kylee needed to make the apology so Kase and I walked over with her.  She whispered a completely inaudible apology and started to walk off.  My blood pressure rose and evidently so did my voice as I called for her to come back and try again.  The peaceful babe in my arms awoke with a start and screamed.  Kylee did attempt another apology to the girl, this time it couldn’t be heard over Kase’s crying. We left anyways.

I held it together, sort of, until we got in the car where I started in- ranting about how disappointed I was in their behavior (Kael had been yanking on some kid’s shirt at the park so hard it nearly ripped so as far as I was concerned they were both in trouble), telling them I was mortified (Kylee was just mad that she didn’t know what mortified meant), and trying to teach them a lesson over Kase’s endless cries.

Life is a funny teacher.  In that moment, I learned a lesson myself.  I couldn’t help but notice that my raw emotions, edgy tone and angry eyes were taking a toll on everyone. The kids don’t need me to haul them to the pools, the parks, and ice cream shops to enjoy their summer.  What they really need is a role model.  Someone who is strong, yet calm when the chips are down.  Someone who keeps their cool.  Someone who can relax, and laugh when things go wrong.  Someone who does the right thing- always. I was not being that model. 

Fast forward a couple hours and we’ve regained composure a bit.  The kids are playing quietly in their rooms while Kase sleeps.  We are all, without a doubt, ready for Kent to be home and lighten the mood up around this place. 

Fun with baby Kase

Is there anything better than a baby smiling in his sleep? If only I knew what he was dreaming about. 

Which way to the gym?

My boys in blue.

Kase's first "swim". :)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Our weekend went a little something like this...

I enjoyed some time out with my big kids and crossed something off that's been on our Summer Bucket List for the last 3 years- Movie Under the Stars! Kael and Kylee were elated to get to stay up so very late watching Toy Story 3 up at Wagner Park.

Hit up a few more parks:

Spent some time having a fire, s'mores, sparklers and Bomb Pops with some neighbors that we're truly going to miss.

Went to the pools.  Yup, both. 

Here's Kael during a pool break.

Here's Kylee during a cool break.  :) It was a bit chilly but that didn't stop us from going!

Watched Kael's baseball game, then out to lunch with family.

Sent the big kids for a sleepover at my mom's then hosted a sleepover here in return while Mom pulled middle-of-the-night duty with Kase.  She rocks. 

Showed up early at church to check out the new children's wing, but evidently not early enough for donuts.

Creeped the progress at our new house by peeking in the windows to see if carpet/appliances were in yet.  Technically it's going to be ours, so that's fine, right?

Kent caught up on a few episodes of Swamp People while I secretly wished that Duck Dynasty wasn't over for the season.

Yes, our weekend was just.that.good.  Yours??