apr 30

you know what's sweet, looking over during bible study to see your little three year old laying on a futon like a teenager, in the dark room next to us watching a movie on the iPad - it gave me a glimpse of micah in like 10 years - then he fell asleep on the way home and i got to carry his heavy, limp body to bed and my little baby was back.

apr 29

sometimes i like staying home all day, and other days i want to leave the minute we finish breakfast - so we did some early morning errands and were back by mid-morning, but that urge to escape had left as quick as it came.

apr 28

should have spent the day cleaning, but instead we painted and played and lounged in our jambes all. day. long.

apr 27

and just like that it happens, you get thrown back into real life after a short forgetting.

apr 26

when you're away from your kids people love to ask how you're doing and if you miss them - and i always, somewhat embarrassingly say, not really - see, i honestly love being with my husband more than i love being with my kids - and i love being with my kids a lot.

apr 25

as we drove away for a quick 36 hour getaway/marriage retreat, we realized we hadn't had a true night away since before nyla was born - and she's almost 17 months old.

apr 24

last minute prepping to leave for a couple days with my man - I keep reminding myself as I pack for myself, and both kids, that all the work to prepare will be worth it come tomorrow at noon.

apr 23

these are some long days when Curtis doesn't come home until after bedtime - lucky for me my mom let's me invite ourselves over for dinner.

apr 22

making lists and doing dishes and laundry and food prep for the short week before we leave our kids to go on our first marriage retreat - super excited to get away, but preparing to leave always comes with its share of stress.

apr 21

it was too nice to clean today (75 degrees and sunny) so we grabbed an iced chai, grabbed grandma and played all morning at the playground (found out the hard way how hard it is to get sand out of a black girl's hair/scalp), then i sat outside reading a book while the kids napped before heading to a friends house for dinner and fire pit smores in their backyard until almost 9:30pm - it was the perfect spring day if you ask me, even if the kids didn't go to bed until after 10pm.

apr 20

although nyla was too sniffly to go to sunday school on easter, i actually got to sit through my first sermon in months, albeit while entertaining a wiggly 16 month old.

apr 19

finally feeling better enough to celebrate our niece at her jumpy house birthday party - we all left sweaty and exhausted but it was so good to get out of the house and actually interact with people again.

apr 18

ahhhhh - the man of the house is off today and i feel like i can breathe again (figuratively, not literally as my allergies are killing me!) - or at least take an uninterrupted shower at my leisure.

apr 17

it's the second night in a row that he isn't home until after bedtime and boy am i exhausted taking care of these little whiney sickies all by myself.

apr 16

no one wants to babysit sick kids, so i stay home with two hacking, dripping kids as he goes to lead bible study - just another motherly sacrifice i guess.

apr 15

finally got some antibiotics for my kids - sinus infections all around and an ear infection for nyla - hoping this kicks the last of a month of sickness to the curb.

apr 14

some mondays are just best spent at home - catching up on life and nursing us all to health.

apr 13

there's nothing like driving all the way to church with two semi-sick kids and feeling crummy yourself to keep your man company because he had to be there to give the before worship greeting during the service just to arrive and learn that he doesn't have to do it anymore - needless to say we stayed for worship and then we trucked it back home.

apr 12

it was a beautiful day for a small, simple and quiet baby shower - what a difference the baby shower next month will be compared to today.

apr 11

i keep thinking about something one of the ladies from the county said to me last night - she said, "promise me you won't go the private adoption route again." now, i know what she meant, i mean, her job is to help recruit foster parents and i know the need she sees every day is so large, but why does there have to be this tension between private and 'public' adoption or domestic vs. international? we're talking about kids here - whether in county or out of country, every child deserves a family that loves them, how great that some people are led to foster a neighbor or adopt from around the globe - but i'm still processing through this one today.

apr 10

tonight we went to a "foster awareness party" hosted by friends and put on by the cuyahoga county children and family services department - what an interesting evening meeting their social workers and employees and some of their current foster parents - our hearts are so drawn to children without families and yet, although we went totally open to whatever God has next for us we both left not feeling pulled one way or the other to specifically pursue this route - right now at least.

apr 9

both my kids slept til almost 9 today (what?! this has never happened before!) which would've been enough to have a good day but it was sunny and 45 degrees out (but it felt like 60 in the sun) so we spent until lunch playing outside - now naps & then a visit from our favorite (and only) social worker to finish up our home study update - it's been a good day.

apr 8

on Sunday I treated myself to a chai after a retched morning with the kids at church and as I was turning the corner onto our street it fell out of the cupholder and every last drop spilled at my feet - so today I got another and guarded that baby with my life until we got home from our errands.

apr 7

every week i try to stay home for at least one full day - we usually stay in our cozies and do a lot of playing and cleaning and planning and cooking and reading and coffee drinking - today was that day for this week - start off slow and ahead of the game and hopefully the rest of the week won't feel as hectic.

apr 6

want to know what really frustrates me - the one sunday in months that i was going to be able to sit in the sermon at church and both kids throw hissy fits when it's time to go to sunday school which led to each of us having an angry/stubborn child and neither of us heard the sermon - but on a brighter note - all the tears and drama led to two very exhausted kids when it came to nap time.

apr 5

you know what's cute - going to dinner in chinatown with friends and micah and their youngest daughter ask to sit next to each other - then proceed to "read" books together until our food came - first date?

apr 4

after a couple sick weeks for all of us, I'm looking forward to a nice, healthy weekend spent with friends.

apr 3

when it comes to baby #3 i'm pretty much the holdout - not that i don't want another, but i'm not sure if i'm ready - but today was one of the few days lately when i looked at both kids playing and thought to myself, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to throw a baby into this mix - but shhhh, don't tell curtis i said that.

apr 2

call us crazy but we really love when our kids go to bed at night - i do at least - some days i even have a countdown to bedtime - but it sure was cute when we told micah he wouldn't have to go to bed at bible study and he could stay up and watch planes on the laptop while nyla slept upstairs at our friend's house.

apr 1

60 degrees and sunny means a walk with grandma after running errands and a brand new baseball hat for my coolest little dude.