Weekly Update: March 6th to March 12th

Weekly Update: February 27th to March 5th

Well, it's been A LONG TIME since I actually updated this blog. After years of writing regularly, a newborn baby, a busy business, a husband in a new job, a car engine rebuild (TWICE!), among other factors all led to me casting aside something that has meant so much to me. SO... I've decided to write weekly again to share pictures and stories from our family each week as a means to preserve these memories and turn them into a photobook for my kids. So, here goes! :)

This week was a BUSY week with a STEM book fair event I led, doctor's appointments, hair cuts, hikes, family get-together, and more. So grateful for my sweet little boys and how much I learn from them each week. The last year has been an intense year emotionally for me. I've worked through a lot of struggles on so many levels since Lincoln was born. I love my boys, but I have seen the need for me to have time to myself to think, meditate, write, and build my business. 

The mundane bits of life can seem to overwhelm at times. Those times have gotten fewer as Lincoln gets older, but they are still there. In those moments, I crave to get out and have adventures. The first half of last year, I felt so often that my mind and even body were in a straitjacket. I felt so trapped in my mind and in my own as a result of having a baby. It was so rough to feel so stuck and want to get out of my own house and out of my own head for a little bit. A friend suggested going on walks to think and clear my head and it totally helped me. Thankfully, last summer when the sun starting shining and we were able to have more outdoor adventures again, I felt so much happier and able to cope better with life. The straitjacket feeling lifted and my mind started coming out of a fog. I think it also helped that Evan lost his job, which was a huge stress to our family.

Anyway, there were so many factors at play, but I am feeling better little by little as we are navigating life. It definitely is MUCH harder parenting two kids as opposed to parenting one child. Harrison is such a good older brother and really loves his little brother, Lincoln. Every morning, he wants to hug and kiss him and same thing before bed. Ha... and pretty much all the moments in between. I'm soaking up this time where they both love each other so much and so sweetly as I am sure before I know it, they will be fighting over toys and more. Ha!

Here are a few snapshots from our week...

As I loaded the boys into the van to take Harrison to preschool on Monday, they both had books and started reading. It made me so happy to see their love of reading even at such young ages! I hope they have a lifelong love of reading like I do!

Set up from my STEM event on Monday night

On Tuesday morning, I had a doctor's appointment to get some information from some recent blood work and this quote jumped out at me. "Don't try to comprehend with your mind Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition." Madeline L'Engle

Oh my goodness... DYING over these brothers reading side by side!

He was so proud of himself that he climbed onto his brother's bed and got his brother's book.

Enjoyed a little night stroll with my boy and our dog before bed. Sometimes it's just so nice to get out and walk in the rain. I wanted to document this sweet moment with my boy and how much he loves holding my hand and spending time with me (and a flash doesn't work with selfies, so foot shot it is!) In other news, I know you're totally jealous of the not matching pants/rain boots combo. Aren't you supposed to mix patterns with LLR? Ha... kidding! They were the easiest boots to slip on so I went with it. All my UBAM peeps will appreciate what it took to get these rain boots. If you can believe it, they are my first ever pair of rain boots!

Another reading shot... this boy loves reading so so much and it makes me happy. In fact, he throws more "fits" over us not reading enough to him than anything else. Ha!

Lincoln got his first hair cut on Thursday! We thought we were doing family pictures on Friday, but our niece had to reschedule. At least we already have the boys hair cuts for it! I was a little sad to see his adorable wings cut off, but his hair kept getting in his eyes so it was time to cut it. He did an amazing job. He sat so still the entire time until about 1 minute before Becca was done. Becca said he was the best baby whose hair she's cut. Win!

Lincoln loved playing with Carter who is only 3 months older.

Harrison's turn to get his hair cut. 

He got to watch a show while he got it cut so he did a great job too.  

From what I wrote on Instagram: "I took a new trail today and it was amazing how the same mountain looked so different from a new viewpoint. Never be afraid to take a different path. Never stop trying new things, making new friendships, challenging your beliefs, and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. Self-awareness, strength, understanding and even empathy can grow as a result of a fresh perspective." So grateful I go to go out on another hike. It really fuels my soul. 

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed meditating from the top of this hillside. I closed my eyes, the wind rushed up and swirled around. It made me so happy to just connect with the universe, get some perspective, and ground myself again.

 I love how much this baby loves to sing and dance now as of the past few weeks.

My boys love the book store as much as I do. We literally have hundreds of children's books in our home, yet my boys (and I) still love going to the book store and library to get new books. I'm not sure where they get their love of reading from. This is how we do the book store on a rainy Saturday. Both boys wanted to read, even the baby in the pack was pulling books off the shelf to read. Ha!

Harrison has been into turning his Legos into droids as he calls them. This kid loves building Legos, which makes me so happy to see. Reminds me of me when I was a kid. Well, I should say my brother because he loved building with "mini Legos" as we call them. I wasn't really allowed to play with his Legos, but I always loved playing with Duplos. Lincoln is loving playing with Duplos now, which is so fun to see and makes all the money we spent on them worth it.

Loved that the baby was reading in the reading corner and Harrison was reading on the couch. Can't get enough of these boys loving reading!

Harrison and I built this... Lincoln was determined to take it apart.

Rachel came to see me us on Sunday. It was so nice to see her! We had a great chat and it was so fun seeing her love my boys!

Zeke came over before church while his parents had a church meeting.

More singing and dancing

I about died when the boys came up dressed like this after Emma dressed them up for the ballet. Ha! We had a fun family dinner at Nicole and Paul's on Sunday. Evan met up with us after work.