Hey, How Ya Doin?

So it's been what, almost three months since I last posted? I've missed this space and sharing about life and the girls.  I think about posting a lot and even write posts in my head and think about what photos to put with it. Then I sit down and I got nothing.  All the words leave and I can't think of what to write. My brain is exhausted and I don't have the energy to write. And then having to find photos and watermarking the photos.  It's just too much for me right now.

I knew having two kids would be harder than one, and it is. It's stretched me and grown me in ways I never imagined.  And while it's hard, I'm enjoying it.  I'm finding that it's often the things that are challenging that the things worth doing.

So, in a nutshell:


~Munchkin turned three last month.  We had a friend party for her at a local park.  On her actual birthday we went to the zoo where she got to ride a camel. She was so super excited and keeps asking to go ride them again.  I love how she comes up with something new everyday.  The other day she had sour cream for the first time.  She dabbed her finger in it and put it in her mouth and then said "Oh, that's tasty!" She kills me...where did she get that?!?!  Right now she's the Munchkin frog and I'm the Mama duck.  We'll work on biology, I promise. (In case you're wondering, Daddy is also a frog and Nana is a giraffe.  Punkin is sometimes a fish, a frog or a duck.) She LOVES going outside to play, especially when she gets to swim in her pool.  She's always asking to play with her friends.  We're still working on sharing and playing with others but she's getting it!

~Punkin is nine months.  She's 19 lbs 11 oz and is 27.5 inches long.  I knew there was a reason I prefer to wear her instead of just carry her! In the past week she's cut three teeth, bringing her total to five.  She's standing on her own and is starting to cruise too.  She's taken some steps with the walking toys. She loves clapping and I am her favorite person in the whole wide world. I think it has something to do with the mama milk!  She is just the happiest baby. She loves her big sister. She loves to crawl (yup, she's crawling, unlike the aforementioned big sister, who skipped that skill!) over and play with Munchkin. She often just laughs when Munchkin yells NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in her face.

~The Man graduated with his BA in history. This fall he'll be starting an online Master's program, also in history.  His eventual goal is to get his doctorate.  We both think he'd enjoy teaching someday and will hopefully be able to do it at the local community college. He's staying busy this summer with lots of outside projects (like cutting down trees and making a turn around at the top of our driveway.)  The girls love having him around more and I know he loves spending more time with them.

~As for me, I'm hanging in there.  Sleep is still lacking and I'm extremely grateful that I have both my husband and my mom here to help me.  Raising children really does take a village and I really have no idea what I would do without them. I've had some days where the baby blues were pretty bad but so far I really haven't had any postpartum depression.  Coffee is my BFF.  I've been making an effort to read again and I'm enjoying it, even if I'm only rereading favorite books.  Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and Anne of Green Gables are old friends, as are Katniss and Tris.  I seem to reread these books several times a year.  I should probably read more than young adult stuff but hey, at least I'm reading!

As of this week The Man and I have been married for six years. We celebrated but watching  Mockingjay, eating in (The Man cooked brisket...yummy!) and by going out for dessert. It was simple and very much us. It was so nice to have just us time without the kids. We love the kids dearly and love doing things with them but sometimes we need to be us. We're in that stage of life where full time work and school and two little kids demands a lot. We do what we can to stay connected like texts during the day to let the other know we're thinking of them, letting each other take turns sleeping in, surprise flowers or a favorite meal. It works for us.

I'll try not to stay away so long but I can't promise anything. I'll be back at some point but until then, be blessed friends.