{this moment}

***

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{pretty happy funny real}

It's Thursday again - woo-hoo!

Pretty

Rainbow above the salmon pool down at the local hatchery. (Which we have been visiting often as of late!)

Shamelessly stolen from my husband!

Happy

FINALLY got a game night together and got to play my favorite game -
Settlers of Catan! Has anyone played this? It's sooooooooo much fun.
I didn't win but I'm ok with it because I had a great time.
Though this morning I felt like I had a hangover -
not because I had anything to drink but because we stayed up past midnight playing!

FUNNY

So these are my first and second born side-by-side both at about 10 months.
Since this is our first time going through this (one child following the footsteps of her big sister)
I can't seem to get over how fascinating this process is! Our first two clearly look very different from each other...
but of course they are both so wonderful and perfect!

REAL

Since our dishwasher pooped out on us...I have been getting in some extra dish washing "fun."
I actually don't mind washing dishes by hand so much. If I could do it in peace (maybe listening to a Taylor Swift CD)
Problem is there is a toddler to entertain and a near-walking baby to keep an eye on
so this chore tends to take much longer!

More over at my favorite blog ----> Like Mother Like Daughter

Happy Thursday!

Sugar coating?

I keep thinking about my post yesterday and how I said I get to "hang out" with the girls all day. That is definitely sweet (sugar coated) way of looking at things. It is true that I love laughing with them, playing, reading, tickling, kissing, hugging, teaching and comforting them. Those are just a few of the rewards of parenting little kids. Just this morning Louisa made me laugh so hard when she mimicked me perfectly but instead of saying 'Yes mama' when I asked her something she said in a flawlessly sweet voice...'noooooo mommy' Oh how I was laughing. I feel like those moments hold a mother together when the load of responsibility becomes quite heavy. The phrase "a mother's work is never done" just couldn't be more true. And lately I have been feeling it more acutely due to various developmental things going on with both Louisa and Josie. I thought about my post yesterday as I was putting in one last load of laundry at 11pm, then again this morning when Louisa was a total grumpy gus and kicked her sister (oh yes!) and then they both cried and fought with me about eating breakfast. I thought, wow - I shouldn't post things that are misleading on my blog! Sheesh, I am not really 'hanging out' with my children - I am nurturing them and changing their diapers and it sure is a lot of WORK! But you know, when I think about it even more - I actually think it's okay to post stuff like that. I love taking pictures and I love focusing on the good instead of the difficult. Those of you out there who have children know that there is a lot of hard work involved. And, to my lovely friends who have yet to join the parenting club - please always assume that my sweet pictures usually have more to tell. Don't let that scare you away from having children. Oh please please....that is not what I'm trying to get at - not at all. I just wanted to put out a little (*) so that you know. Hanging out with a 2 year old is really not the same as hanging out with anyone else. It is pretty much like hanging out with a tornado, or a monkey. But you know what else I keep thinking about? When I am 80 and looking back at these pictures I bet I'll only remember the good parts. I will remember the laughing, the cuddling, the sweetness, the goodness, and the love. I am going to guess that I most certainly will be sugar coating my parenting experience and I'll wish it didn't have to go by so quickly. So with that in mind, I'll allow myself to blog about the good parts of parenting whenever I want, and I won't let the hard days define my blog, or my attitude. ;)

Funny girls

Hey! How cool is it that I get to hang out with these silly gals all day?

(Kind of looks like I have 6 kids instead of 2...hehe)


Maven. (You're welcome Mike)

pretty happy

So I'm taking my cue from Like Mother Like Daughter and going to do a quick post that doesn't actually include all the categories. I'll just do the first two and leave it at that!

To start: the lawn got mowed this week. And here's the thing - I mowed it! Not that this is a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. It's just that I haven't mowed a lawn in about 4 years. I used to mow our lawn when I lived with friends in a little house before we got married. Since then there hasn't been a need. We've lived in our current home for 5 months now and Michael has always been on top of it. But this week I wanted to surprise him. So I did it and it was kind of fun. I mean, it was just something different to do. (Ask me again in a few years after I've done it more and I am probably not going to label this chore as 'fun.') But now the lawn looks good in time for the fall weather coming in!

Pretty

In some ways I feel very silly bragging about mowing the lawn...
But that is partly the goal of this weekly post. It is all about "capturing contentment in everyday life"
And if I find contentment in mowing the lawn of our very first property...
then there you go. :) 

Ok so here's the happy photo:

You see, the reason I was able to mow the lawn during the day was because the girl's uncle came over to play with the girls for a little bit. I'm just very happy that family is around to help out and to be a part of our lives. I mean, it's not just Pat that's been able to play with the girls lately, we've just had the blessing of lots of family involvement all around. My mom, my sister, Mike's mom and dad, aunts and uncles and cousins...just plenty of reliable family members who want to be a part of our lives. It's so good, and so uplifting. And this weekend, Lou's most favorite cousins are coming to visit!

Sometimes when I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all my responsibilities, it helps to remember that we don't have to do it all ourselves because family is there to step in and love your kids and be there when you need them.

So even though family can drive you crazy sometimes (naturally), I'd sure rather have them around than not. You know what I mean?

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. With loads of friends and family around to make life pretty happy! 

Funny story

...well I think it is anyway.

So yesterday my husband comes back from Target with this (from the dollar section of course)

-"Oh. That's nice." I say, unconvincingly.

-"Yeah! I thought so! It will be really nice having something especially for popcorn" (He's very proud of himself)

-"Ok so where were you planning on storing it?" (Since we are already pretty tight on kitchen cabinet space. Believe it or not, we really are)

Then, my stubborn, and quick thinking husband goes:
-"I'll store it under my nightstand on my side of the bed."

I just had to laugh. I felt a little twinge of guilt like...do I really give my husband such a small little patch of his own in this big house? This is the only place he could think of storing his prized popcorn bucket? Isn't that kind of mean of me....?

......Naaaaa! ;)

On Helping mama

I was a nanny for several years before getting married and having my own children. The children's mother would always ask me to get the little ones to help out with chores. Oh, how that would test my patience! Instead of taking 5 minutes to unload the dishwasher, it would take 25 minutes since I had to help out the 3 year old while keeping the older kids on task and so on and so forth. I just remember feeling like it was a lot to ask me to do that. So many times I wanted to just say 'go play and I will take care of this!!' But of course now that I am a mother I realize that it is such an important part of the whole growing up process. Kids need to learn to do stuff. Even though early on it makes everything take longer, it is so essential that it does happen. So I can understand why she wanted me to try and get the kids to help out. Of course, I don't include Louisa in every little chore I do, she's still only 2 and a half...but more and more I am trying to be a good, patient teacher. And she can be such a sweet little learner. She melts my heart when she says things like "thank you helping me mom!" -like she did after we made lunch today. Oh and then we got a little silly....

Ah, so much fun.
I love that big/little girlie of mine :)

But - in the spirit of not sugar-coating too much on this blog...shortly after we took these photos she kind of started to melt down because it was naptime. Which didn't surprise me too much. But - what did surprise me, (and kind of bother me) was that she lied down for about 30 minutes then got back up! So, as of me finishing up writing this, she is still awake. Boo. But, we will try again soon; Mama teachers need their rest too.

Sharing the love

It's pretty fun seeing how much these girls interact these days. They really do love each other's company. That was easily the best thing we ever did for Lou: having Josie. One of my greatest wishes as a mother is that my children grow up close and that they always find a friend in one another even when they are old enough to have their own children.

{phfr}

Pretty

Lou's art wall (she's 2 1/2)
I always smile when I glance at it
I love her faces the most

Happy

Happy that Josie finally fell asleep on my back
There is somethin' going on with this girl.
She is a major fussy bucket and has been resisting sleep!

Funny

Don't you love that profile? That toddler physique?

Real

A few weeks back I picked up this hanging fruit basket at a garage sale
I was so excited to put it up. It reminds me of my grandma for some reason
But - it was kind of a let down once I got it up. I feel it's too big and dominates my kitchen window.
(I don't know though, what do you think?)
Also, I seem to suddenly have a fruit fly problem :/
Any suggestions on how to get rid of them fast?

...

 Well that's it! Life is pretty ordinary around here.
Oh, at Like Mother Like Daughter, brave Bridget cut off her pony tail to donate! I am always in awe of gals who do this. If I had long beautiful locks I don't know if I could be that generous. Not that I will ever have long hair like that (curse my slow growing fine hair!!). But that is a really great thing for girls to do and I really admire it.

Upstream

My camera was running out of memory so it kept cutting my videos short. 

They seem so pre-historic to me.

Look mom! Fishies!

Looking at some educational thing. Josie enjoyed picking up specks from the ground :) Hey - I gotta let her out of the stroller sometimes!

I actually caught one guy - see him in the top left corner?

Checking the salmon out as they head from the stream to the fish ladders

They have all these sprinklers set up over the pools. I wonder why? Maybe to keep the birds away or something?

It's so great how Louisa is really into letters these days. She is starting to ask me what every letter is. And she likes to tell me, too.
She is usually about 1 for 10 or something like that. But it is amazing how quickly toddlers do catch on! She knows the letter "L" for sure! :)

Artsy self-portrait. 

If you are in the area and you haven't checked out the salmon hatchery, you really must. Especially now - when the salmon are starting to come back up stream to spawn and then die. We have visited the hatchery all summer...since it is just fun walking around and seeing some of the little fish they keep. Now that it's September it's really exciting. I'm pretty sure what we saw in the video are the Chinook. They are the largest of the salmon species, and the males have a hooked jaw by the time they come back to the streams. They are kind of breathtaking...just seeing how big they are and how their bodies are already starting to decompose. (Yeah, I know, icky) But I was talking to a guy who said that if you go over to the Ballard Locks, you can see them at the start of their journey home to die and at that point they are still very bright and silver-y. By the time they make it here though, they are starting to look pretty sad. But they sure do put up a fight, you can't deny that. They battle the current in order to come back to start the new generation. The ultimate sacrifice, you might say. I know I could draw some sort of profound conclusion about that but....that's ok. I'll refrain :) I'm sure you can think of something good yourself.

The girls and I just had a great time today and I'm sure we'll be going back many times in the next few weeks to see the amazing salmon. So cool.

Is "Naptime" one word or two?

I'm not sure but I do know it is God's way of showing me He loves me.

Wellll...that may be a bit overly dramatic. But seriously, what would I do without naptime? (spell-checker says it's two words but I like it better as one....) Anyway, NAPS are essential in my world. They re-energize me and also give me a sense of perspective about the day. When things are just starting to get too tough and too overwhelming, there is always the golden afternoon nap (and when they are really little, two naps!) and everyone knows that sleeping babies look like angels on earth. You forget for the moment how much work they and how needy they are.  There they lay, eyelids flickering. It's too sweet for words.

I have been blessed with relatively easy napping schedules with my kids from the time Louisa was born. I myself have always been a napper. I just feel such a lull in the afternoon and it has always made me feel 100% better after laying down for a bit. Sometimes I just need a 20 minute power nap...sometimes longer (I feel like since being pregnant I've needed more sleep) but always something. I hope and pray I will always be able to do this. Even when my kids are older and past the napping 'stage.' Well, I'm really hoping it isn't just a stage. When they are older they can have a resting period, even if they don't fall asleep, so that mama (and any babies) can make it through the day in one piece. I have also heard  that people who nap live longer......

So yay - viva la naptime!!!
So what about you, what's your napping philosophy?

a Poison Control kind of morning

Oh. What a look, right?

Louisa gave me a scare this morning. She had been so difficult since she had woken up earlier than normal, plus she has a runny nose, so at about 8:00 I decided to put her back in bed to see if she'd listen to music or read for a bit to calm down. Well, she was quiet for about 20 minutes, but then she came out to the dining room and, with a big grin, told me she had eaten medicine! I was thinking, oh dear, what is she talking about? Well, she had emptied the little bottle of Hylands brand C-Plus Cold Tablets, which I had left on the bookshelf the night before (my mistake.) I estimated there was about 1/3 of it left, maybe a little less. There are 125 tablets in the whole bottle. Even though they are homeopathic, I was still alarmed. On the back it says to call poison control immediately in case of accidental overdose. I was kind of shaking and I swore a couple times (I never swear) but I wasn't freaking out too much (hmmm...maybe I was.) I called and it turned out that Hylands is pretty good and they only say that because they kind of have to. The lady (who was very helpful and kind) said she might have diarrhea and possibly an upset stomach but she would be totally fine. Thank goodness. My first call to Poison Control...oy! My mom has many stories of having to call them, and even having to take me in. Apparently I was quite the adventurous medicine swallow-er when I was a baby. Anyway...that was the worst part of the morning but it's not even noon yet and everything else seems to be unraveling. I finally got Josie to take a nap after she resisted it for a long time. There are just little messes all around the house driving me crazy. I look like a crazy person with my greasy hair and husband's shirt on. I don't know why I am on here when I should be showering or doing something productive. Well, I do know why. Sometimes it just feels good to write it out and put it behind me so I can move on with the day.

I'm just going to take a deep breath....say a prayer...and direct my energy toward getting by until nap time when I am planning on eating chocolate and watching Parks and Recreation (starting Season 3 on Hulu!)

So um...thanks for listening! Hope you are all having a better morning that didn't include a phone call to poison control.

 Oh, and tonight I am hoping to try this Rose with dinner. We found it at Trader Joe's and I had to get it! Yes, mostly because of the name. Josephina! :) Just another incentive to survive until evening time.

7 Quick Takes

1. It's been an emotional week for me. I was magically transformed into a dog person. After it quickly became apparent that it just wasn't going to work out, I still wanted to keep her so badly. I keep thinking about that puppy. There is so much love in my house already so I know I'll be okay...but just having her follow me around, sleep on my feet, cuddle with me...

i miss her.

2. Just having Tessa around for that short amount of time actually taught me a lot. My whole life, I have never understood people's fascination with pets. I thought most pet owners were delusional, crazy people who either wanted to replace having human babies with animals or liked animals better because they automatically liked you. Sounds harsh? I was. I really was. But Tessa taught me that you really can have a connection with an animal and a bond can be created relatively easily. Honestly, I am still reflecting on all of this. It was all so surprising. My husband is still so surprised at my behavior this week. At least now I can look at people with animals more charitably. I'm really glad it all happened, even though my heart is still kind of reeling.

3. Oh, I want to write more about Tessa...but I should probably talk about other things that happened this week. Like I could talk about my real babies. :) Well, Josie had her 9 month check up today. That girl weighs 20lbs! That kind of shocked me. She is such a chunker! And that is 99% mama's milk because she hasn't really gotten into solids yet. Just starting to in the last few weeks. I've been feeling kind of low on energy and it occurred to me that I might not be eating enough. If Josie weighs 20lbs that very well be the case. She's getting all my nutrients! Oops!

4. Maybe I shouldn't be eating green olives and Pepsi for my afternoon snack either....

yah yah, no need to tell me soda is bad for me. I know it is. It's just so gooooooood on a hot summer day.

5. Can anyone identify this bird right off the bat for me? There were two in my yard the other day and I was really curious about them. Woodpecker maybe? I love how there are tons of varieties of birds in my new area. I am thinking about getting into bird-watching one of these days. I like birds.

6. My mom and Louisa.
They are buds. My mom started school though this week (she is a para-ed in a special needs classroom) so it's kind of sad that she can't just come over whenever anymore. But we'll still see her often, just more on the weekends probably.

love you nana!

7. I am getting so excited to see Fr. Baron's Catholicism series. We are going to buy it, even though it's pretty expensive. It will be airing on PBS soon. It makes my heart swell with pride to see this project being completed. I hope it helps lots and lots of people better understand the Catholic church's contribution to humanity throughout history. It is truly phenomenal to take in how much the church has done. Despite it's flaws and sinful members. A businessman entered the church because he said - if an organization can last for 2,000 years in spite of such flawed people, it's got to be divinely inspired. Anyway, I hope everyone decides to watch it. Even if you're not Catholic. Well, especially if you're not. You will be surprised at what you're missing out on :)

Well - it's already the weekend! I had been looking forward to the weekend all week. I think it's still going to be warm around here. We are going to a wedding tomorrow then....? Oh, definitely going to visit Tessa. Looking forward to that for sure! :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

The story of how we had a dog. For 24 hours.

Tuesday morning I woke up and checked my email......I open an attachment.

Oh dear. That is one cute puppy. Like seriously way too cute. Wait Kayleen. You don't like dogs, remember?You have never been fond of the furry creatures. Wait wait, stop. What are you doing? Did you just forward the email to your husband? Why?? Oh um, he wrote back. He is wondering if I really want a puppy. Do I really want a puppy? No of course not. But then again, why am I drawn to this little black, white, and tan pup? Well, he is obviously very interested. After all, your husband loves animals. He never dreamed I'd agree to getting one. So, not surprising he jumps on the idea. Wait, now you are going to call the owner? Oh, you are the first interested person to call? Sure, you'd love to come see her! Today, 4 oclock? Okay. Well, then, once you meet her, of course you you love her instantly. Love? Kind of a strong word, don't you think? Am I suddenly a dog-lover? How did this happen so fast? Bring her home. Cuddle, pet, talk to her. Rub her sweet furry ears and he silky coat. She takes to you right away. She follows you around into every room. She doesn't like leaving your side. She falls asleep on your feet. She's a charmer. She licks Louisa and Josie. Louisa and Josie squeal everytime she gets close and laugh and clap their hands. Oh, aren't you glad we got her? Yes, very glad. But....then after a few hours, your nose starts run. Your eyes feel slighly watery. You sneeze. Then, you sneeze again. Oh. my. goodness. This isn't good. But hey, she's still an adorable puppy. Maybe we can cope. Oh no, Josie sneezes. And then, it becomes pretty obvious. The writing is on the wall. You cannot keep her. She will make your kids stuffy and sneezy and unhappy. Why oh why did you let her into your heart so quickly? Why did you act so quickly? Well. I guess it's just one of those things.....

Well, there you go. That is the story of how we had a dog for just 24 hours. The great news is that our sweet lady pup already has a new home. And, get this. She is less than 5 miles away, at Mike's parents!!! It's really rather perfect. We get to still be a part of her life, but we won't have to worry about being severely affected by the allergies (though of course when we go visit we will have to be careful.) Mike's parents have taken her in and I know they will be a good match for her. They will walk her daily and talk to her and be with her all day since they are retired. It should be great. So it's bittersweet but I don't regret responding to that email Tuesday morn!

*Notice I did not say what her name is. Though if you read my facebook you would have known. That's because there is still a chance she will be re-named. We will see and I'll let you know. Like I said, I'm happy that she will still be part of our lives now!!