calistoga

I feel I still need some time to process this past weekend, but I figured if I wait too long, I might not ever post. 

We went away for my dear friend from high school's wedding. I felt so honored that she invited us and even more so that we got to experience the day with her. Weddings are such a joyous, monumental event, and I love getting to take part in them. It was also interesting to reconnect with friends from my past, several whom I have not seen in nine years. It was neat because the last time I saw a lot of them, my future was pretty unknown and I had no idea where I would be. I certainly had no idea I would be a wife and mother of two living in Colorado. Life is so strange the majority of the time. 

This trip was also the first one that we have been on since we had Madison. All of our trips in our marriage have been planned around seeing family, but this was one was pretty much just for us. If it was not for pumping every four hours, I might have forgotten we even had children! We were able to do nearly all the things we love. We had the most wonderful breakfast every morning, explored the town by running six miles, leisurely strolled through the shops, went to a few wine tastings, climbed up a trail that overlooked wine country, and worried only about ourselves. I think the trip was just fantastic, but it reinforced to us that we need more maintenance time together. We just can not keep going that long without connecting. 

I think the grandmas were thrilled to spend so much time alone with the girls. I am so thankful that our girls have such devoted grandmas to love them well. 

I hope this is a start of many more vacations and exploring together with my mate because all of this crazy would not be possible without the two of us! 

Trying to take pictures when it is just the two of us is always fun, reminds me of the honeymoon! 

easter then and now

We just got in from a full day of celebrating Christ's glorious victory over death, but I thought I would share a few pictures. I finally decided to dress the girls in matching dresses and loved every minute of it (until they both got matching strawberry stains all over them). 

I thought it would be a fun to compare last year's photo with this years. How much can change in a year is fascinating. I loved celebrating this day all together. 

kitchen progress

Will took Madison and Eliza to soccer alone today. This gave me some time to put some actual thoughts together. 

I thought I would share a kitchen update. We still have not completely finished, but we are about 90% finished. It was a long process, but I think that it was totally worth doing it myself. It still amazes me that we have the power to change something in our house. I tried to really take my time with the painting, but even with trying so hard to do a good job, there are still imperfections. I have to keep reminding myself to focus out a bit and not put so much emphasis on having it all perfect. 

This was when we first hung all the cabinets back up.

And this was after I forced Will to attach all the handles on the drawers and cabinets. After getting advice from another blog, I found all the pulls and handles on Amazon. 

So the next thing we have to do is cover the ends of the cabinets with wainscot. This is a task that only Will can really do. It requires a good amount of cutting, measuring, and nailing. I have my fingers crossed it will be completed before we leave for California. 

I have been making a few decorating updates around our house since Christmas. Hopefully, when the kitchen is finished I can do another house tour of sorts. I just love the white and I am so thankful we finally decided to do it. 

ten months

This was the only photo I was able to capture of her. I forgot how difficult it is to take these photos once they become mobile. Below are what the rest of the photos look like, my poor, tortured child... 

At ten months:

* She is a full blown crawler. I had about week of thinking that she would never traditionally crawl, but she finally figured it out. We say she crawls like a bear. I think my favorite noise right now is to hear her hands hitting the ground as she crawls, I love that, "thump, thump, thump." It took her another week or so to realize she could move freely about our house. Now, she is into everything. She figured out how to pull open doors, drawers, and cabinets. She knows how to shred toilet paper and splash in Aspen's bowl. Such a fun and tiring time for me. 

* Her and Madison have pretty much had some version of a cold this past month. Eliza's mood has been decent, but she has a lingering cough and runny nose. It has been a stay inside and do nothing kind of month (well, that is pretty much how the past ten months have been, so not much was really different).

* Her attachment to me is making itself known. I am extremely flattered. I love that she wants to snuggle in my arms and reaches for me when she is with someone else. However, we have not been able to drop her off at church because she just screams. We are also trying to eliminate the night time feeding, but she will not settle down until I comfort her. It might be a long couple of days for little miss when we are out of town. 

* I am loving the sister bond that is forming between the girls. Yesterday, Madison jumped into Eliza's pack-n-play after her nap. Will said that Eliza was laughing the most she ever has. Eliza allows Madison to do nearly anything to her, she just loves the contact with her big sister. 

* Eliza gives kisses! I just think it is the greatest thing when babies can finally start showing you affection. She will give us kisses on the nose and the shake her head furiously afterward. I just love it. 

* She can understand a lot of what I say. When she picks something up she is not supposed to eat, I will tell her, "no, no, Eliza," and she puts it down. She will even look at me before she picks up something to see if it is ok. I am sure Madison was doing this, but it feels really early. 

* I swear she can say, "Hi!" If I appear in a room she is in, she will look at me and say, "hi." We say, "hi" back and forth quite a bit. This is for sure earlier than Madison, I am going to go ahead and declare this as her first word. 

Overall, she has been quite a delight this month. We will be celebrating her first birthday before we know it. I just love this age so much and am excited we have made it through those difficult first months. I am still tired the majority of the time, but our days are much more predictable and manageable. I have really been enjoying the dynamics of our family right now. 

the tale of two sick children...

If I struggled to blog with simply having two children, its clear that having two children that are sick make it that much harder. It has been three weeks, going on four, of non-stop ailments. Eliza had Roseola for a week. Then Madison had fever, cough, stomach bug. Then they both had runny noses and coughs and a lingering stomach bug. And now this week they are still going strong with the runny noses and coughs. I am feeling more drained by the day, but I am still trying to keep a positive attitude. Thankfully, they have been sleeping well for the most part, so that helps with my attitude. 

Despite the sickness, we have been slightly busy with some fun things. We went to Estes Park about three weekends ago to visit our friends that moved there. It snowed and was quite chilly, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We are looking forward to spending many more weekends up there this summer. It feels so wonderful to reconnect to a side of us that has been a bit covered with this parenting thing. 

I also decided to paint our kitchen cabinets. Since I sit inside all day, I just stare at all the items I wish to change in our home. I finally decided I was tired of being overwhelmed with the prospect of painting them myself and just go for it. I am taking it in steps and trying to be patient with the process. I still have several more coats of paint to put on the drawers and cabinets, but I am pleased with the progress. I am getting a bit anxious to see it all completed, I think it will look wonderful. 

We signed Madison up for a toddler soccer team for the next five Saturdays. She had her first gathering this past Saturday. I think it was a lot for her to handle because it is a coach-led activity, but I think she will grow so much more confident through the experience. It was a great family activity and I really loved creating those memories together. 

Will has been trying to use some of his paid time off for himself. He went rock climbing last week for a few hours and is snowboarding today. I am always thankful that he can partake in activities he has not had much of an opportunity to do since becoming a dad and full-time employee. 

We finished watching Friday Night Lights for the second time last night. It will probably always be my favorite show of all time, besides the first season of Felicity. The show stirs so many emotions and relevance to my own life. It definitely does not help with my longing for Texas. It also tempts me to get the phrase, "Texas Forever," framed somewhere large in my house. But, if I can not live in Texas, I think that Colorado is a pretty close second. 

The next big adventure we have coming up is our trip to California for a wedding. We will be going with out the girls and I can hardly wait. We have not had any breaks from the girls since Christmas and it has been an incredibly long four months. We are itching for this time to finally be able to hold a conversation with out  any interruption, except to maybe refill our wine glasses. 

Well, the sound of my child coughing and gagging in her room is my cue to finish this up.