Monthly Archives: January 2021

We had a great week! Gussie was sick on Monday, but luckily it was just a little cold and he was better within a day. Xander also ended up with sniffles, but luckily he got better quickly too. They were both busy at school.

Our nightly routine now includes going to the basement- Nate beats me at pool (but I am getting better!) and the boys play with the hot wheels. I filled the mini fridge with drinks and so after-dinner juice is a thing (for now). After we play, we have bath time, play time and then end our night snuggled together with books. They are really enjoying having a special stack of books to choose from each week. 

On Wednesday, my mom came over to watch them and they built a snowman in our back yard. 

Hudson is 6 weeks and getting cuter each day! He will be home with us soon! I’m not sure we are ready for potty training, middle of the night wake ups, and puppy sass, but it’s coming! 

On Saturday, I did a small home improvement project that is my most favorite thing I’ve ever done. I painted our basement stairs and I can’t think of any other project that has ever sparked as much joy as this! If I could paint our entire house (including the outside) in bright rainbows, I would. For now, the basement steps will do. 
. 

Augustus has been struggling with bedtime and often asks to snuggle with Xander. On Saturday, Xander said no, and Gussie cried. But then Xander said, “ok ok. But no potty talk allowed and no saying ‘poop'” which Augustus agreed to right away and then scrambled up to the top bunk and they both fell asleep immediately. They literally could not be cuter together.  

On Saturday we went sledding, which is becoming our regular weekend thing. It was a little chillier, but we were there with some friends, so that was fun. 

 

For about a week, Augustus has been suggesting we have sundaes on Sunday. I had everything ready, but the boys were going to Grandma’s on Sunday. So we had sundaes on Saturday. 

 

On Sunday the boys went to my mom’s house and I spent most of the day working on my biggest order yet. 25 dozen cookies (300 cookies, which means 600 shells!). Once all of the cookies were made, filled and decorated, I had to pack them into 6 packs and then bag them. It was quite a project! 

 

  

The boys spent the night at my mom’s on Sunday and Nate and I went out for sushi. We didn’t take any pictures, but we should have! It was the first time out to dinner in forever and it was great! 

. 

Today was MLK day, so daycare was closed and Nate and I were both home. We slept in and relaxed. I did some experimenting with candied fruit and then the boys came home after lunch. It was a busy and very fun weekend! 

Last Sunday we went sledding for the first time. The boys loved it! Augustus was on his sled and down the hill before I had closed the van doors. It was a blast and will maybe make a long winter bearable. 

. 

 

. 

. 

I added new shelves for my sprinkles- I don’t think I’ll ever be done adding shelves to this house. It’s going to be the most organized house in the world when I’m done. 

Our puppy turned 5 weeks old. The breeder sends us photos each week and I messaged her back saying that it looks like he is getting sassier. She agreed. We’re very excited for him to come live with us! 

On Friday, we went back to the sledding hill, this time with Xander’s bestie from school. We sledded for 2 hours! 
 
I was busy this week with cookie orders. I got a custom order for “board books” for a baby shower. I got to break out my new airbrush, which is a fun toy from Christmas. In other exciting news, we got the pool table assembled! This is Nate’s family’s pool table and it has been in one million pieces that we have moved several times. Finally we have a space for it and had someone come out to assemble it. 

. 

Our basement is much fuller than when we moved in, but we each have our own space for fun stuff- the pool table for Nate, the treadmill for me and a hot wheels zone for the boys. 
 

On Friday night, we had pizza and movie night. As soon as we suggested it, the boys ran to their room to get into pjs and came down in shorts and no shirts. 

Nate has continued on his handy-man phase and fixed our clogged sink this weekend. He is way handier then he claims to be! 

The boys have recently gotten into video games, which is fine, but we had to make some rules around when they get to play. We have a new schedule hung up that helps them keep track of when video games and ipads are allowed and when they are not. We’ve also started a new way of focusing on reading by choosing just 12 books for the week to keep down in our main living area. They have a nice big bookshelf that holds all of their books, but I actually think it is a little overwhelming. So each Sunday, the boys pick 6 books each and every night we read 2 from the stack. We’ve discovered books we’ve barely read and they are really enjoying it. We have family reading time on the couch each night before bed, and it’s a better routine than our random reading schedule that we were following. 

Today I am working from home with a sick kiddo. He’s just mildly sneezy, but I have a lot I need to accomplish the rest of this week and today was going to be pretty quiet for me anyway, so I am hoping that a day of rest cuts this cold short, rather than end up with a sicker kid later in the week. 

A quick story from this morning. Xander and Augustus were both up before Nate and I. Xander ran up the stairs and was standing next to my bed holding a steak knife, “where’s the butter?” I had barely opened my eyes but when I saw him holding a very sharp knife (that looked HUGE in his small hand) it was just the jolt of adrenaline that I needed to jump out of bed. I carefully took the knife as he explained, “I’m making toast for me and Gussie and I can’t find the butter.” We went downstairs, found both the butter and the butter knives and all was well. He had 2 plates laid out. He had 4 pieces of perfect toast made and stacked, ready to be buttered. He’s a resourceful little dude! And I didn’t even need a cup of coffee after jumping out of bed. It should be a good week! 

We’re expecting!!! In March, we will welcome another boy into our family!!

The week since Christmas has flown by in the blink of an eye. We played some family laser tag (a very fun gift from Santa), practiced putting (Santa was good to Nate as well), and played with lots of new toys. The boys went to school on Monday and Tuesday and Grandma Debbie’s house on Wednesday. I took this week off and spent time packing up Christmas stuff, re-organizing the boys’ playroom, baking nonstop, etc. 

A good news update- Xander’s arm is NOT broken and he did NOT need a cast! We had an ortho appointment on Tuesday and the specialist said based on what he was seeing on the x-ray that it was just a bad bruise. He didn’t even x-ray it again. I am so so relieved. The splint was super itchy and really bothering him and a cast would have been SUCH a pain! On our way home, he suggested that we make Oreo Fluff to celebrate him. A great suggestion! We swung into the grocery store and came home to make celebration dessert!  

I thought I was done baking after Christmas, but New Years was calling, so I made a few more batches and was happy to sell some boxes. 

A friend of mine recently asked me if we had settled into the new house and I said yes, except that every time I turn around, I find a new place I want to put a shelf. The biggest reason I wanted to buy a new house was that we ran out of space in our old house and had a toy shelf in the dining room, and random things in every corner. Moving was a good opportunity to purge- we took SEVERAL trips to the goodwill, sold things on facebook and filled 2 bagsters. But moving was also our chance to have a place for everything and if something doesn’t have a place, we don’t need it. I’ve bought approximately 100 bins of all sizes since we moved in. I have sorted, labeled, and organized since we moved in. I am proud to say that this house is VERY organized. And this week, MORE organization! 

I am most excited about a set of small shelves that I added for my vast collection of food coloring and flavoring. 

Nate doesn’t consider himself to be very handy, but he’s actually really capable of home improvement projects. He added shelves all the way to the ceiling and I am so excited about how much more organizational area it gave us. 

Before

 

After

About a month ago, I went to a used furniture store “just to look” to see if I could find a cool cabinet. In the front of the store, I found the perfect cabinet! I was literally in and out of the store (including loading said cabinet into my van) in 10 minutes! It’s been crammed in a corner for a month waiting for the Christmas tree to go away, and I was very excited to get it in place and fill it with precious items. 

Tonight my mom came over and cooked us a decadent lobster and shrimp dinner. She also brought very loud noise-makers for the boys. It was a fun evening. I am doubtful that Nate and I will even make it to midnight, but it was a good NYE! 
. 

 . 

As 2020 comes to a close, I know it was a tough year for a lot of people, but our family was super lucky to have a pretty great year. I discovered the library app and have read 43 books since August. I have baked nonstop. Nate golfed a lot this summer and fall. We bought a new house and have done 1 million small projects to make it home. The boys have done so many sweet, funny and fabulous things which I have tried to document in photos and weekly blog posts so that someday, they can look back and have record of how beloved they are. I hope 2021 is better for everyone and that our family continues to grow and learn and do our best. 

I’ll end this year snuggled into bed well before the ball drops. But here’s a recap if you aren’t on my Christmas card list-