Girls' Weekend

Michael:

has had some crazy stories from his time in the Emergency Room this month. It's been an interesting rotation. He really likes his 3pm - 1am shift, since he has the morning and early afternoon with us and gets to get some things done he doesn't usually get to. Then he still gets 5 or so hours of sleep, which is functionable. He had a boys' day Saturday with Westin and Bennett and took them to the zoo. I even came home to them all dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day, so he was really owning the dad role that day.

Maddie:

has been looking forward to this weekend for SO long! My Aunt Maria made plans to come to Time Out for Women in Visalia (an hour south of Fresno) and my other Aunt Tanya and my sister Alison decided to join her. It was such an unexpected, wonderful girls weekend with women that I have loved and admired my entire life. The four of us laughed and talked and ate good food and just had a great weekend together. I love them so, so much. They are such incredible women.

Westin:

had fun at his usual scenes this week -- Mornings with Mommy, preschool, zoo with daddy, library trips, park trips, backyard shenanigans, and doing who knows what in his room during "nap" time. He'll still take a few naps in the week but other days are full of building trains, garbage trucks, satellites, and airplanes with legos. We walked outside this week to see that our garbage man, Don, had left Westin a little garbage truck on the table on our front porch. That was so sweet, and it hasn't left his hand since. Westin wanted to make him a Christmas present last December, and they've been buddies ever since. Every time we see a garbage truck Westin wonders if it's Don driving. 

Bennett:

is busy! He's keeping up with Westin more and more. More running, more wrestling, more opinions, more ways of making us laugh. He loves animals so much. He's my pickiest eater and deepest laugher, best sleeper and just a joyful little soul. He's pretty independent at the Lutheran playgroup we go to and the older ladies get a kick out of him. I love watching him watch Westin. He sure loves his older brother.

Vegetable painting

Latest cross stitch commission. I love making these!
But lately I've been falling asleep when I stitch because life is feeling so busy... so tired.

This is what he does with his fingers when you ask how old he is, and it really makes people pause. Four? No... three?

Latest health challenge... it has been so much easier to give up sugar this time than last time. I'm almost relieved to not have to make constant "Should I eat that?" decisions.

Ali and I always wanted to be like Maria and Tanya when we grew up. I remember them babysitting us at their condo, and hearing about their trips all over the world. They're the best.

Time Out for Women was a fun break from routine. My favorite talk was from Alissa Parker, a mom who lost her sweet six-year-old daughter in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. I really want to read her book.

Ali was so happy to get in on the post-nap cuddles that happen around here.

They packed their bags full of oranges on the way home. I can't believe we have all the yummy (yummiest ever) oranges we could want down the street from us!

I love this video -- Ali was recording Bennett's chatty self and he totally said a new word for the first time. I feel like it's impossible to get stuff like that on camera sometimes!

Losing Routine

Michael:

is working all different hours now and it's an adjustment. He did a lot of 3pm to 1am shifts this week, which he actually kind of liked. He'd get some stuff done during the day that he usually can't get done, head to work, then get home and go to bed. Then I'd try to keep the boys away from him until at least 8am the next morning but... that's a struggle. If dad is around they just want to be with him so bad! That is one curse of a one-story house I think -- the whole house is used at all times, whereas Michael would probably have some chance of sleeping if he was upstairs away from us. But we've really loved living in a one-story overall.

Maddie:

got a babysitter on Saturday night so Michael and I could go to an adult fireside by Matt Townsend. He was really funny and it was nice to be out! We went out for mediterranean food before which we both can't get enough of lately. THIS is my new favorite recipe. Plus we've been making our own yogurt for a few weeks now, and turning that into homemade tatziki sauce is just my favorite thing right now. After the fireside we got dessert with our friends Emily and Jordan and it was so fun. I'm always surprised by how much more Emily and I can actually catch up when we don't have our 5 cute but crazy kids running around us!

Westin:

always thinks preschool is the highlight of his week. He also loved having dad around in the mornings and helping him with his projects. They picked out some plants at a nursery, redid our front walkway landscaping, fixed some headlights on Michael's truck, fixed a couple things around the house, and just played a lot. He just loves being dad's helper. He's also finally got his somersault down and loves to show that off. Bennett tries to copy it and kind of just flops on the ground with his face on the floor, kind of like a slug. It's my favorite. Westin also loved making a fire with daddy on Friday night and roasting hot dogs all together. He asks to do that so often.

Bennett:

has such a funny personality these days. He keeps bringing me random things from the cupboards he can reach, like a box of pasta or a full box of granola bars, which means he's hungry for a snack. Which is like, always. He's been playing with Westin more and more and they're so funny to watch. We moved him out of our closet and into our guest room but I'm moving him back.... darkness equals sleep. He's waking up 90 minutes earlier since we did that. He also was really sick the first few days of this week with some sort of stomach bug. Poor guy. And poor parents. Still not going to give details there but just know, it was rough... But he's doing better now. We had a fun week playing together and getting used to dad's new and always-changing hours!

My friend sent me this picture of Bennett sitting by me in the Sunbeams class. Maybe he'll skip the nursery phase? :)

We went to nursery for the last hour of church together to start giving him a taste of it. (He's 18 months in two weeks!) He was super sad when I left to take a little girl to her mom, but bubbles were a definite highlight of his day.

Westin has always gravitated toward elderly men in his life. Bennett seems to be partial to any potential babysitter. He was just laying on her shoulder and was so mad when I took him away so that she could go to class. Sometimes my kids act like I'm their least favorite person in the world in public... really cool, guys. Good thing I do EVERYthing for you. :)

Getting ready for the day.

One of my recent cross stitch orders. I love this family.

Running around River Park on Friday night. We went for ice cream and almost came home with a Husky puppy...
there would have been some buyers remorse there. But man they were cute.

Now begins the stage where he won't let me feed him anything... so messy. Sigh.

Post-nap cuddles with the Great British Baking Show.

Super offended I won't open this pizza crust for him that he found in a cupboard.

Scripture study. He's really soaking that in.

Wednesday. Garbage Day. The best day. Our garbage man, Don, always honks for the boys.

Planting with daddy.

Fixing up the place.

New Rotation!

Michael:

is DONE with his oral surgery rotation of his second year. That feels so good to say! He's now on a one-month Emergency Department rotation that is full of random days and shifts. He either works 11pm - 8am, 7am - 4pm, or 3pm - 1am. It's hard to switch those around and sleep when you can, but he is going to be home more overall. We're soo happy to see him more this month and that he's done with first call for all of residency.

Maddie:

stayed busy with the boys this week. They had to stay up late Tuesday night to go to a stake temple recommend interview with me. Those are the moments that feel like residency to me... not the most ideal situations but we figure it out one day at a time. We also played at Chick Fil A and Bennett got stuck at the top of the play place. I figured my next kid would do that since Westin took forever to even climb up a playground, so I knew I had it coming. We also went to the Lutheran Church playgroup, story time at the library, preschool, and a fun Costco and Home Depot trip with daddy on a morning he was home. I'm also going to write down that for the record, this was the most disgusting week of motherhood I've ever had. There was so much poop and throw up in my week and that's all I'm going to say about that. Let's not end on that. I also was able to go to Sister Lawrence's scripture class where she talked all about the metaphor of Christ as the bridegroom. Her class is such a highlight of my weekdays.

Westin:

is happy to have dad around more but is pretty confused at all the switching of schedules. But he's getting to be old enough that if I give him a heads up of when he will and will not see Michael, he seems to understand it pretty well. He got to go on a date with me to church today while Michael stayed home with a sick baby Bennett. Then he went on a date with daddy to pick oranges this afternoon. He loves one on one time and I love when he's able to get some of that.

Bennett:

is such an animal lover, and also seemed so much bigger at our routine stops this week. He wanted to be on the computer at the library (while holding the mouse to his ear to "talk on the phone"), paint at our playgroup, climb the play place at Chick Fil A, and just try to keep up with the big kids. I don't have a baby anymore and it's so sad! But he is such a joy. He has been sick this weekend and it's so sad. He's still a happy little guy through it all.

Just me trying to combat the week I'll always remember as the most disgusting ever. I'll spare you details.

Westin loves when I leave him at preschool now and never wants me to stick around. In fact all of the kids in our group now stay without their mom and it's really fun! So Bennett and I did a mystery shop date at Jamba Juice and he felt so big. Plus he had a waffle, so, he was happy.

Chicken... He was so happy with this chicken leg and honestly I couldn't watch him eat it.
Something about eating meat off bones is just so nasty to me. 

The kids made "Get Well Cards" at story time at the library and I thought these band-aid/tissue butterflies were so cute.

Another cross stitch order shipped out! I love Larissa's cute family.

Game time at the library.

"Talking on the phone," so busy.

Being hoodlums at my church interview. They actually did really great. We had a busy night of piano lessons, quick dinner, interview at the church, then seeing dad before bed since they were up late.

Painting at the Lutheran Church's "Mornings with Mommy".

We may have just discovered The Fitness Marshall on YouTube and when I can't get to a High Class, I don't hate it.

Back to Reality

Michael:

had to go back to the residency life after our fun Arizona trip and we missed him. Luckily Monday was a holiday, so even though he was on call we were able to see him for a little while that afternoon. When he got called back in around 5:30 we decided to just all go with him. He knew it'd be a quick check on a patient and then we thought we'd go get dinner after. But that kind of turned into a longer check on a patient, two IMpatient boys in a hospital waiting room, and me suddenly realizing I had just willingly brought my two small children to the germiest place ever. It all seemed like a good idea in the moment! And really it was fun, we just grabbed dinner at the hospital together after Michael was done and ate in the Physician's lounge with him. Westin and Bennett were not very well-mannered but... they're still fun and cute. He also found a little nature walk for us on Saturday that was equal parts ghetto and pretty, depending on where you turned your head. #Fresnolife

Maddie:

taught preschool and sharing time this week. Westin loves preschool! All the kids can go without their mom staying now, and they really do feel like a cute little group of kids having fun learning together. It's fun to have it on Fridays and end the week with friends. I have some more cross stitch orders and added another piano student to my week, so life feels busy with fun things! I also found out my two aunts and my sister are flying here to go to Time Out for Women and I'm feeling so lucky to have a visit from some of my favorite people. That's going to be such a fun weekend and I love looking forward to things.

Westin:

stayed up late Saturday night to have a movie and popcorn night with mom and dad. He was so stoked about it. We also went to Rubio's for dinner before so it was a good way to end the week. I'm starting to see glimpses of that sweet 4-year-old stage people talk about. And I also see many glimpses of the threenager stage people talk about too... highs and lows, man. Toddler life. He's finally in his big boy bed for good because we put the wall back on his crib. Part of me wondered if he would actually still want to be in that thing even with four walls back on... but luckily he's good with the toddler bed now. It's so funny to me that he never climbed out of his crib and finally had to be evicted. Kid likes security.

Bennett:

has full blown entered the SCREAMING stage. Oh man, I feel like Westin was just in this stage! Because it leaves a mark on you haha. His most tempered moments right now are direct eye contact, chucking his binky across the room, then making this noise and face at you like, "Fix this!" It's pretty maddening and hilarious. I'm starting to transition him to nursery because I know it will take a while. Today I was teaching sharing time and Michael was at the hospital, so I really just hoped he'd be ok in there. He lasted 10 minutes... Haha. Baby steps! He was also in heaven when we watched a chihuahua puppy this week. The dog was so laid back for a puppy and such an easy little thing to have around. We have some fun routines happening with our weeks and life is good!

Bennett brought his animals to Kitty so they could look outside together.

Almond blossoms are out in full force!

Bennett and Westin both love Braelynn so much. She's such a good helper at preschool.

Snoop the little chihuahua.

E for Egg day at preschool.

Q tip painting is the only way painting doesn't drive me crazy!

Green eggs and ham.

Winnie always has an eye on Bennett's binky. She knows he's got a dependency there.

"Helping" dad at work.

Ten points if you can find Bennett.