Five on Friday

Happy Friday! What a week! N was supposed to have a game tournament game Tuesday (same night as T's practice) but with the crazy weather it was postponed two nights. So last night he had his second tournament game and came out with a win - phew. It's been a week where the weather has really determined schedule which is hard to plan for (luckily our sitter was available last night).

I'm linking up with April, Natasha, and Christina for Five on Friday today and talking about random things that have been on my mind.

1. Chris was in Charleston this week. He texted me this and I had to laugh. If 15 years ago you'd told me that my hip hop/rap loving boyfriend who was obsessed with sports was going to send this text I wouldn't believe you.

2. The text also relates to one of our favorite shows that is back on Netflix! Master of None is so well done and Aziz is hilarious. I love the first few episodes are in Italy and in Italian. I can pick a few words out here and there. It makes me think of our honeymoon in Florence. We dream about going back (and maybe learning the language a little more).

 (photos of photos because I have no clue where the memory card for these are)

3. N and I just started the 2nd Harry Potter. I'm so excited he loves the series. I also don't want him to get too far before he's older though (I think he needs to be a little more mature to understand the later books). I'm getting a summer reading list together for him and T. The book Wonder has been all over my Facebook feed (especially since it's becoming a movie), so I'm planning on ordering it. Any suggestions for other good reads? Diving into books with the boys is one of my favorite things!

4. Summer....oh gosh it's right around the corner and I have nothing planned! We haven't even booked our beach trip. I need to come up with some ideas and fast. I loved our day trip to Asheville over spring break and I know the boys will want to spend some time with my parents to visit their pool and the museums, but some nice random fun things around the city would be fun too (what are they I wonder...). They both want to try soccer, so I need to to hunt down some type of soccer thing.

5. Alright what have you guys got for Father's Day?! I'm struggling. Chris did an amazing job with Mother's Day (funny enough he gave me my gift the Friday before because he was so excited, it all worked out since he spent Mother's Day in the hospital)! He made a comment when he gave me my gift that he's "all about experiences" now - so I feel like I need something good. I'd thought about a trip to Charleston because there are friends there he's wanted to visit for the past year, but it's hard to organize with the kids. Any suggestions?

I hope your week has gone well and you are looking forward to a long weekend. We hope to find a way so show our gratitude for those who gave their lives for our freedom.

Monday

Yesterday I...

...didn't get anyone dressed, including myself.

...didn't cook a meal.

...didn't leave the house (except to play in the yard).

...cleaned up 3 accidents (dog and toddler).

...had a margarita and a glass of wine (whoop whoop).

And I won't complain about it one bit! It was amazing. I did laundry, built blocks, watched "bet you can't laugh" videos with the boys (we all belly laughed), and snuggled a baby. These are the days...

Week in Review

I decided to change my usual "weekend review" to "week in review" because it's easier to capture our experiences this way.

With Chris recovering from surgery I'd love to say this was a low key week, but it was far from it. We started with N having a Monday night baseball game. Since my parents were still in town to help I left T and KC home with my mom and took Katherine and my dad to the game. Katherine was an angel baby and played on her mat and slept during the game. We were home by 9 and my parents headed back home.

Tuesday I left Chris to rest and work at home while I took the girls to music. Their last class is this week and it is making me so sad. We can't do classes over the summer since the boys are out of school. After music we always go to lunch with our buddies and then visit a bike shop to see Winston (the most adorable golden retriever). Tuesday is also piano and baseball practice day. Since Chris is coaching he needed to go, but promised to take it easy (I'm not sure he did).

We had the cleaners come on Wednesday, which I was going to reschedule so Chris could rest but he laughed at that suggestion. We headed to brunch at my favorite spot and then visited the ducks.

Thursday was a nice break with playing outside and Friday was back to baseball practice before games on Saturday.

The Saturday games could not have gone worse. It was awful to watch. After a full day at the field we were ready to relax and order pizza.

Since the boys played so poorly Chris took T to the field bright and early Sunday morning, while I took the rest of the crew to church. We stopped for coffee. Since we are regulars there during the week, another regular stopped to say hi. He saw N with us and said, "You have three kids?" It made me laugh and respond, "I actually have four." Since the boys are usually in school when we go I think I blew his mind. The kids were so good at church, but KC did not want to be dropped off for Sunday School. She didn't cry and she was excited when I picked her up, but man her face. Also I was so excited because their lesson ended up being Daniel and the Lions and I'd dressed her in a lion dress!

Last night both girls kept Chris and I up. I'm a tired mess right now. I noticed Katherine is getting a tooth (and I may have cried... I just don't want this baby to grow up) which may be why it was so hard to get to sleep.

This week we are working on potty training, attending our last music class (cue the tears), hoping baseball practice and tournament games get rained out, have our first set of EOGs (hence the hoping for rain to cancel baseball), and Chris has a quick trip out of town. Phew! I hope you're having a good start to the week.

Weekend Review: Mother's Day Weekend

 This was definitely a weekend we will remember. We started it off walking the boys to the bus stop and playing some catch before they "caught" the bus. They always wave to us (well unless they're mad at us) and it really is the sweetest thing. The bus turns right at our corner and so we wave them off down the street.

Chris worked from home and we made a trip to Dean and Deluca for lunch and the walked over to Paper Source for the best Mother's Day cards (don't be jealous of our awesome 1966 countertops).

 It was pretty chilly Friday so this girl was bundled up. She is getting so big and active. I've noticed she will get fussy if she doesn't have some "floor time."

Saturday started off bright at early with baseball pictures at 8am and a game at 9am. It was a big win (over a coach who yelled not so nice things) and we followed it up with another game and another big win (over a team that smashed T's nose). Afterwards we headed home ordered our favorite Chinese food, ate outside, and lit the firepit for smores (note: if you have a movable firepit and put it over grass it will kill said grass and I definitely should have known better). 

Sunday morning Chris was up super early and it wasn't to surprise me. He was sick. The poor guy would get sick and then apologize to me, like he could control it. The boys were up early so my parents and I grabbed bagels with them (my parents were visiting). KC slept in (thank goodness, she's a monster when she's tired). I'd left Curious George on and milk and crackers (her favorite) out by the couch so she wouldn't have to disturb Chris if she woke. When we returned she was still asleep. I checked on Chris and he was worse. It didn't take long to convince him to visit Urgent Care (I know it's bad if he's agreeing to get medical help). So by 9:30 we were at Urgent Care. It took them about 30 minutes to tell us he needed to go to the ER for a possible appendicitis and off we went. Chris went through scans and fluids and sure enough he needed his appendix out (or appy as the medical community referred to it - "oh he's here for an appy"). We were transferred to a room and told to wait.

It wasn't lost on me that it was Mother's Day and here I was, once again, relying on my mother (and father) for help. They (along with Chris' mom) watched the kids all day. I didn't get a chance to see KC at all on Mother's Day which I tried not to think about (and let's be honest, she most definitely in the terrible twos phase so it's not all bad). I had two pumped bottles frozen and once those were gone my parents brought Katherine to hang out at the hospital (and honestly since I didn't have my pump I *needed* her to come to the hospital as 9 hours without nursing a baby who eats every 3 can get a little uncomfortable). 

Around 8:15pm they came to take us to pre-op where we said our goodbyes. Katherine and I hung out in the waiting room having zerbert blowing contests. At 9:30 the surgeon came out to say it went great and he was recovering. A nurse took me back to visit him and he looked so much better! We all spent the night in the hospital. Chris took two work calls Monday morning and we were released around 11am. 

I was so excited to see KC, but she was definitely holding a grudge about us leaving without saying anything. She loves my parents but she doesn't handle change very well, especially unexpected change. It took her a day to warm up to me. 

N had a baseball game Monday night. My parents stayed to watch the kids so we could both go. And against doctor's orders Chris coached 1st base. I joke we were the last ones to leave the ball park as he hobbled back to the car. Since then we've been taking it easy and enjoying the time together. I've told him not to try this plan of emergency surgery with non-vital organs next year to get out of Mother's Day again (I mean who needs a gall bladder ;) ).

Thoughts on Thursday

I cannot believe it's already May. And almost half way through it at that. Mother's Day is this weekend and I haven't purchased a present and we have absolutely no plans. We used to have brunch at the Morehead Inn and it was gorgeous and lovely. But recently we've gone more low key. Chris usually buys me a new dress as a present, but with nursing this year I don't think he'll go that route. When I was pregnant a few years ago I asked for a dogwood tree. I'd like that still, but we need to have a stump removed before we can put one (or three) in. Chris says he's ahead of the game this year and I'll be surprised (he loves to purchase a present the day before he needs it, or sometimes the day of).

(old pics from Mother's Day at the Morehead Inn)

Yesterday N had another midweek baseball game and we asked our sitter to stay with the other three. It was just as good as last week (but this week N's team won). We headed to our favorite french cafe after the game for treats and enjoyed the time just with N. I'd love to take advantage of having time with just him and then with just T more and hopefully as time and schedules allow we can do that. I think the most worrisome thing about parenting 4 kids is whether or not they are getting enough attention (other than worrying about their health and safety). It's easy to dismiss the older ones because their needs aren't as physical as the younger ones, so I hope we make an effort to keep them in the spotlight when we can.

For the past week I've been trying to get in a thirty minute workout sometime during the day. It makes me feel so much better, but it also makes me feel so out of shape. The college me is laughing at the 36 year old me right now. I like the Pop Sugar workout videos on youtube. I'm hoping to fit back into all my clothes in the next few weeks (thanks to nursing I think a little cardio is all I needed to start making changes).

No crunches, pushups or squats needed here, this baby is perfect :)

I love these shoes, but need a sale (livie and luca) (freshlypicked)

And KC has these shorts I'm obsessed with as well.

I'm starting to find it necessary to list out what I need to do during the day. Especially if it's something little. I get so distracted or something comes up to deal with that I start to feel like nothing will get done. Yesterday I walked upstairs to put deodorant on 4 times...finally got it the last time (which was right after I grabbed my keys to head out the door). I slowly feel as if I'm losing my mind - but I love it too. It is pretty great to be so needed and so busy (even if it's with diaper blowouts or a tantruming two year old who needs to be calmed). 

I hope you have a great Thursday!

I'm linking up with Annie, Natalie and Julie :)

Weekend Review

Yesterday this sweet baby turned 5 months old. She is the easiest going baby and just so sweet and social. Her one issue is she hates to sleep alone. This girl loves being with people. She sat through five hours of baseball games Saturday, even with some rain, and never complained. She took a bottle and went to sleep with our sitter Wednesday night, something that never happened when KC was her age. She's just an all around easy baby (and I hate that she's getting so big so fast). And KC is by far her favorite person right now. She will follow her with her eyes where ever she goes and KC is the only one who has gotten a laugh out of Katherine so far.

Speaking of baseball games, N pitched for the second time ever. It was a little rough to watch, but he's wanted to pitch since his first game and it finally happened.

This guy lost a tooth after his game Saturday. I may have yelled multiple times for him to get his hand out of his mouth on the field. His tooth was so wiggly for a few days and then at dinner Saturday night it went missing!

Last Wednesday my friend and I took our kiddos to pick strawberries. We had the farm to ourselves and enjoyed a wagon ride to meet the animals at the barn. All the kids loved the baby cows, Penny and Queen Charlotte. Even yesterday I was explaining to neighbors who KC was talking about when she mentioned them. They were able to feed them, and the goats, which was a real thrill. 

Wednesday night N had a baseball game. We tried once to take all the kids to a 6:30 game and it ended up with me watching from the car with the kids going nuts. So this time, we asked our sitter to come watch the other kids. It was amazing to sit and actually watch the game. Chris is usually in the dugout so it was just me on the bleachers cheering my boy on. The team played so well (and lost), but we took our big guy out for a treat afterwards and then headed home to a quiet house full of sleeping children. N has two more midweek night games and while it was pricey ($60, phew) we may do it again!

Last week also included a couple dentist appointments, a first grade concert, mother/son night at the elementary school, and watching a friend's flag football game. I'm ready for a low key week! I hope your Monday is going well - we're all still in jammies!

Weekend Review

It's gloomy again here. We went on a coffee run this morning before Chris headed off to work which made for the perfect start to the day. We have nothing on our agenda so I'm really hoping to get a few things done around the house. I love Mondays as a time when the house is a little quieter and we can breath after our crazy weekend. 

This weekend was lots and lots of baseball. We purchased a new fire pit and I'd promised the kids I'd put it together for roasting hot dogs and smores Saturday night. Honestly the last thing I wanted after spending 9am - 4pm at the field was sit outside and put something together, but I did. And even though we never really got the fire going, it was enough to have our treats. Every one slept really well.

Sunday we let everyone sleep in. T was up first, he always is, and he is always in the best mood bright and early. He snuggled with Katherine and me and I cherished the moment. He didn't ask to turn on the tv or play xbox, he just played with her and asked to hold her. Once everyone was up we grabbed coffee and bagels and returned home to play in the yard and take a walk. The rest of our day involved ice cream, more outside time, and had it not poured off and on, we would have had dinner outside.

Everyone was so dirty this weekend, it required baths/showers every night. We are usually a twice a week kind of parents, but this weekend they probably could have used two a day. Baths are also a really good way to keep KC contained. And as much as she loves a bath and washing her hair, she will not let me give her a pony tail or pull it back. She is constantly brushing it aside with her hands. It drives me nuts. What's the trick?! I think I'm just going to get her a trim and keep it short until I can reason with her.

KC also painted her own nails this weekend (and a couple of mine). My dad was down for two days taking out two trees and continuing a fence and needed just about five minutes of my time. In that amount of time KC had painted her finger nails blue and when I was texting a picture to mine friend, two of my toe nails ended up purple. 

 I hope your week is off to a good start. This is our one day this week that isn't super busy so we are going to soak it up.