Week 3 :: January 11-17 :: 2014

Pictures, friends, errands and school

This was one of those weeks that really seemed to FLY by!  I can't believe I am already back here writing about it!  The week started with a Broncos game!!  We also had our first ever visit from a cleaning lady, a busy week at school and lots of errands.

I really hope the cleaning lady will be a regular thing!  It is incredible to have someone else help out!  It gives me more time and energy to do what I really love to do; spend time with my kiddos!  I am so, so thankful that John is supportive of this decision!  I know I COULD get all the cleaning done, but man, it was awesome to just come home to a clean house!  

My favorite part of the week was spending time with my new favorite friend, Heidi!  We got together on Monday to take pictures of the babies!  Then on Thursday we went back over to learn a little about photo editing with Lightroom!  I have a feeling I have a new obsession!  You kiddos thought I took a lot of pictures before, but just you wait until Dad gets me a new lens for my birthday!!

Part of the reason I am so excited to have Heidi as a friend is that she has a little girl for Kurtis to play with!  Kurtis doesn't get many play dates since moving to Denver and it is great to have finally found a mother/child combo we both enjoy!  The two kids are great together and get along really well!!  

We also had a playdate for the babies this week with my hairdresser, Colleen, and her 9 month old twin girls.  It was great!

The rest of the week was made up of errands and chores.  We had a busy/productive week!  And Vince got 13/12 on his spelling this week!!  Yay!

1. My precious girl waiting for the boys to get out of school

2.  Catching snowflakes on a snowy morning

3. My beautiful Broncos Fan!

4.  Quite possibly my favorite Dominic picture to date!  That boy LOVES his toes! (this was taken at out 'photo session' at Heidis!

5.  Damon catching snowflakes

6.  I love the crap outta these Broncos kids!

7.  another cute one from the time at Heidi's

8.  Kurtis and Alyssa playing in the bubbles!  They are too adorable!!

9.  a selfie on a chilly day

10.  Dominic loves to be held in a ball!  I can't get enough of this cuddle time!

Week 2 :: January 4-10 :: 2014.

Back to School, masks, illness, doctors, museums and solid food...

Well here I am on Sunday morning.  I had originally meant to write every Friday night... so much for that idea!  I don't know if there are any other moms who will even glance at this blog (after all, it is not meant for that), but I hope that any that do, can relate!  I did think that I would be able to stick to my schedule for at least a couple weeks, alas, it didn't work out.  It's all part of embracing the chaos...as is letting my 3 year old pour cup after cup of water into the food processor container (you know the one with the hole in it that never allows the container to fill up and instead drains it all over the floor) while I try and write this post!  That's what towels are for, right?! At least he is being quiet and he is trying to clean up the water with a towel while he works!

The main reason I didn't get around to writing on Friday is that I was EXHAUSTED!  I don't use that word lightly anymore.  In all honesty, I cannot remember a time that I wasn't at least a little bit tired (being pregnant with and having brand new twins will do that to you!), but this week was extra tiring.  Mainly because Annika is sick.  I got a grand total of about 17 hours of broken sleep between Sunday night and Friday.  Thankfully I got a good nap on Friday after school and a better night sleep the last two, so I am feeling refreshed and almost ready to face my week :).

My exhaustion is nothing when I think about the rough week my poor girlie had :(  She has another respiratory infection,, an eye infection, an ear infection, and croup.  Boo!  We went to the doctor on Wednesday and then again on Friday.  She is on antibiotics, steroids and eye drops.  She got super hoarse and her cry is nothing short of the most pathetic sound I have ever heard.  Poor little lady!  Luckily, as of today, she seems to be on the mend and is such a happy baby princess!

In addition to doctor's appointments for Annika, we also had a procedure for me to see if my tubes had been successfully blocked after my Essure placement in September.  They are not.  Another boo.

Overall though, it was a pretty good week!  I never like one of the kids to be sick, but Annika is such a trooper and it didn't seem to affect any of the others.  This big boys went back to school on Monday.  It is so bittersweet.  I miss them terribly and want them to do everything with me (forever if possible!), but they are happy at school and it is nice to spend more quality time with the other three without having to think about Vince and Damon.

Here is a quick list of the highlights from our week:

• decorating Mardi Gras masks with Denver Broncos themes!
• getting my washing machine fixed!  (who would have ever thought I would be super excited for this?!)
• Going to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with Kurtis, the twins, Chloe and John.  We had a fabulous time even with the massive tantrum Kurtis decided to throw.  My favorite part of his best three year old tantrums are the exact moment his focus switches and he goes from hellacious flailing to the sweetest, "I'm good mom!" in the blink of an eye!  It may take me a few seconds longer to switch gears, but he doesn't seem to notice/care!
• Playing Mario Kart with Vince 20 minutes past bedtime to win a new cup together
• Feeding Annika and Dominic peas (they liked them) and avocadoes (they LOVED them)
• Well check appointments for Annika (who was not all that well that particular day, but very well in general) and Dominic!  Annika is 12 lbs 6 oz (almost triple her birth weight!) and 25 inches long.  Dominic is 12 lbs 1 oz and 26.5 inches long.
• Calling 911 for the first time!  The only reason this is a 'good' highlight and not a bad one is that it was no one was injured.  Kurtis locked himself in the car and proceded to buckle his seatbelt.  He can buckle up by himself, but not unbuckle.  We were at the grocery store and I had to call 911 in order for the very sweet dispatch lady to place the call through to the fire department.  About 6 extremely nice firefighters showed up at my car in about 3 minutes and had Kurtis out in less than 7 minutes.  They were awesome! (And attractive at that, I told my single cousins we might have to set up a similar situation when they are out here next month!)
• Watching my boys jump on the trampoline together
• When I asked what happened to the brand new pack of tortillas I bought and Kurtis told me, "Rampage ate them (very matter of fact).  Sorry mom!"  Which I took to mean, "I fed them all to the dog!"
• Damon and his brilliant mind!  He asked some amazing questions on the morning car rides this week.  I am in love with the way his brain works!

And my hour is almost up (I had to go stop Kurtis from flooding the kitchen and break up a quickly escalating argument between Shark Boy and baby Shark Boy (aka Damon and Vince), and replace a couple pacifiers).  Time to go watch the Broncos win an AFC west division championship!

Week 1 :: January 1-3 :: 2014

Alright, here we go!  I am giving myself exactly 1 hour, 1 hour every week to document our lives. Luckily this week is short, since I already spent about 15 minutes trying to download and start up Wordpress before realizing it was sucking my time away!  I am familiar with Blogger and, for the sake of time and ease, just going this route.  Who knows, it may change as the year goes on, but if I don't get started, my hour will be gone and I won't have anything to show!

As way of introduction, I am writing to help preserve a few moments.  I feel like I am so, SO blessed to have the life I am living RIGHT NOW!  I want to capture as much of it as I can, and I want to have a place for my young children to look back on what life was like before they can really remember it for themselves.  A place for Vince and Damon to be able to relive some of these times through my eyes as well as theirs.  In order to continue living the life I so treasure, I can only allot a small window of time each week to this project, but I think it will be an hour well spent!

As time passes I want to describe each child as I see them in a current moment, but for now, I will just give ages.  Vincent is 6 1/2 and in first grade, Damon is 5 and in kindergarten, Kurtis is 3, Annika and Dominic turned 6 months old this week!  The only quick description I can think of is that I have the most incredible kiddos on the planet and they are basically perfect little people who I want to encourage to be exactly who they are!  I love each of them to the moon and back!  Along with their daddy, they are the beginnings of most of my smiles! They are the best, most amazing things in the history of EVER!

Back to my documentation:

This short, three day week was fun!  On the 1st we drove back from a quick trip down to Durango, CO.  I had Kurtis, Damon and the twins with me, while Vincent rode with John.  Kurtis and Damon were amazing in the car!  We even got Happy Meals to celebrate the end of our road trip!  Annika and Dominic were also good little travelers and only really fussed when it was close to eating time (we had to stop twice to nurse).

On the 2nd we had a play date at Chuck "E" Cheese's with the McCanns.  It is so much fun to get together with them!  You all play so nicely together!  I even love how when someone took a token from Kurtis that all the older kids helped to get it back and stood up for their friend/brother!  After Chuck 'E' Cheese, we went over to Sam's Club for some ice cream and then headed home.  We always get comments when we are with the McCann clan as there are 9 children and two moms...  Luckily you were all VERY well behaved and we got through the day without incident (even dividing up and cashing in tickets!)!
It was also the twins' 6 month birthday!  That is crazy in and of itself!  I am trying so hard to savor every moment with you two.  Breathing in every last drop of BABY time, but it is still going by WAY too fast! Here is a SUPER fast update on the twins... You are still on the tiny side of things, but getting bigger and stronger every day!  I am only up for doing this blog because you are both such wonderful little sleepers (thank you!)!  Eating is going well, we will start solids next week.  I am looking forward to seeing what lies ahead this month for you two darling angels!

The 3rd was a day at home to get settled back in after our trip.  Most of the day was spent playing with new Christmas toys and cleaning up a bit.  These are some of my favorite days!  Vincent loves them too, because one of his biggest joys in life is staying in his P.J.s all day long!  You three big boys played so well together and I love to listen in on your interactions with one another!

I am not prepared for the two big boys to go back to school, but I guess I had better get ready!