insta-Q1

insta-january 

(none, we basically just hunkered down and tried not to get Covid in January, ha)

insta-february

2.14.22

I asked the kids to sit down on the porch ao o could snap a valentine's picture of them. (my front porch is my favorite picture taking background.) Austin leaned his head on Lydias shoulder and she leaned her head against his and it melted my mama heart and now this is the photo I am posting instead of a posed picture with a pink floral wreath.

I love these kids so much and love how much they love each other.

insta-march

3.10.22

I took some extra time last night to sit woth Caleb and listen to him talk. We dished up ice cream cones and sat criss cross on the bench of our kitchen table facing each other. We laughed as he told me something funny Lydia had said and then he told me about some of his favorite Paw Patrol episodes. I tried to memorize every second of the overgrown hair curling around his ears and his grey eyes sparkling with joy (and mischief). Soaking in every last bit of his four-year old self. And then just like that he went and turned 5. Five seems like such a milestone, and Im just so glad we got to celebrate him today.

3.15.22

In our house, on your half birthday you get a little bundt cake (@nothingbundtcakes) to celebrate. You get to blow out the candle and make a bonus half-birthday-wish. We cut the cake in half and the half-birthday person gets one half and everyone else splits the other (which is basically just a single forkful each).
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I really try not to miss the kids half- birthdays, and I usually pick myself up a cake (because I like cake and I like celebrating birthdays, even half ones) but this week was my half birthday and I had only briefly thought about grabbing a cake. But the night before the 15th, David showed up after work with a half-birthday cake for me. The next morning he gathered the kids around before he left for work and said all sorts of kind (generously kind) things about me and they all sang and it was just such a special moment for me. I'm grateful for a husband and kids who make me feel loved and appreciated. I stayed in my pajamas all day and it was cozy and lovely, and I wanted to remember how this simple thing filled my cup and has made me smile all week long.

3.24.22

I was in the car with my mom and dad this week after a super fun evening at my sister's house (meeting her new puppy 😍). David had taken the kids home early and my mom and dad were going to drop me off on their way home. My dad asked "Do you want to see the house we lived in when you were born?" Uh, YES!
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We pulled up and my dad said "This is where your mom was standing, at the end of the driveway, with a stopwatch in one hand and the car keys in the other when I got home from a mandatory school field trip for my college coursework, late of course." My mom had been having contractions all day and in the pre-cellphone times couldn't do more than just wait for my dad to come home. I love how they laughed together as they reminisced like it happened just last year, not 34 years ago.
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I love the thought of those two young college students bringing me home as a tiny baby to this small basement apartment and I feel grateful for the love that I have been surrounded with since day one. I don't remember this home, I probably couldn't even pick it out on the street again, but this part of my story is special to me and I enjoying hearing about it. So grateful for these parents of mine! 😍❤️😍 @lwalker23