Most mornings look about like this these days. Snuggling Kinsley in the early hours of the morning while Ryan watches Barney and I do my devotions.
Bananas don't last long in our house these days. They also don't get eaten. Ryan just likes to take them out of their peels and leave them all over the house :(
In case anyone forgot, this one has huge beautiful blue eyes too...and a love for Chinese food :)
The last day before our tree came down. Also, I love my new mug from TJ Maxx!
Pizza night yields no leftovers these days. This means my boys are growing :( For the record, this was a JUMBO, not just a large :(
For those of you who wonder what "he lays in bed most of the day" means in terms of the effects on the household, it's not just psychological: He literally was laying there so much that he rubbed the sheets to shreds.
For my non-Minnesotan friends, this is a sun dog. It happens when it gets extremely cold. If you want to read up more, here's some info on wikipedia.
Cashel doesn't quite fit anymore lol
Kinsley was not so fond of coming along on date night. I thought she'd nap better with us than at home with the wild hooligans and the babysitter. I guess I was wrong.
Time can just stop now. She's getting so big too quickly!
By the end of the month, these clothes were too small :(
I am loving this developmental phase where she can't crawl yet, but will entertain herself with toys for short periods of time.
Ryan has this thing lately where he likes to dance with his pants around his ankles. Mark can't handle him having them down, so he pulls them up constantly, and then Ryan pulls them right back down and squeals and runs around the kitchen lol
I love how these brothers love each other! Both big kids are so sweet with Ryan! They can't wait to show him the world. It melts my heart!
They *almost* made a snowman :)
We got a little snow, but as long as the temps are warm enough, it isn't going to keep us down!
Ryan loves his baby sister to pieces! He is working on saying her name, and currently calls her "Ki-y"
This guy lol
This kid is usually a pretty happy little dude, but this is probably the happiest I've seen him. He LOVED sledding!
Some days are just a little crazy. This particular one, my boss was gone, and my baby girl ended up throwing up at daycare, so she had to go home. With Mark's teenager-like driving (that is truly seeming to get a little better), I had to go pick up Kinsley to take her home to sleep off whatever her poor little tummy had going on,
but the second I got back in my van to take her home, ALL systems ended up going down at work (which ended up being way beyond my control, and there was nothing I could do except communicate about it), so I had to bring little miss with me to answer a few calls, make a few calls, and make sure things were stable before heading home. I guess that's a good way to describe what it's like to be a working Mom to 4 under 6 with an unemployed, mentally ill husband. Most days aren't THAT nuts, but obviously every once in a while they are.
Seriously...all the time.
He is such a funny little toddler. I hate to squelch his squeals and laughter and what not, but 9 times out of 10, he's the reason Kinsley ends up waking up from her naps early. #TheStruggleIsReal
Cashel has gotten really big into taking pictures of me. This one actually turned out pretty good!
All the heart eyes for this guy :)
I seldom have pictures with this one these days, but to be fair, he doesn't slow down much.
Oh my goodness do I love this little lady :)
If it isn't like this when I'm nursing Kinsley in the recliner...
...it's like this.
This was SO GOOD! It was my first time attempting to make chicken alfredo pizza, and I would absolutley make i again! Granted, next time I would hope to have mozzarella cheese on hand instead of colby jack.
I swear this belly pooch is never going to go away. I feel like I'm running on ice when I start trying to work out again or eat better. The second I do, it's like the rug gets pulled out from under me and I start stress eating again and it just doesn't end well. I'd LIKE to at least cut it in half in the next few weeks so I don't look like a stuffed sausage when I go to my baby brother's wedding in early March.
We celebrated Mark's Mom's birthday with presents and a cake. The boys decorated it, and I'm pretty sure they are not going to get that privilege again. Or, at least, not without me standing right beside them. This is what happens when I ask Mark to "just supervise so that it's not a disaster while I go nurse Kinsley quick". Let me also say I will never buy those little tiny white balls that go on there. Oy! Clean up was pretty epic :(
Let it be known that THIS can be over soon. -38 wind chill? You've GOT to be kidding me.
We got these awesome new rugs for our living room and kitchen under the table, and I LOVE them! They warm up our space SO much more. I don't know why we didn't buy them YEARS ago.
Without fail: Day 1 of my "be better in the eating" challenge, and my sweet (or evil?) co-worker shows up with cinnamon rolls from River City Eatery.
She does love her Daddy, even if she seriously prefers her Mama.
What do you do when you want to suck your fingers, but it's too cold to be outside without mittens on? lol
I can absolutely see these two going into business together some day. Cashel would totally be the business man (Architect maybe? Engineer?) and Kendrick would be the muscle (Construction foreman? Whatever uses big, loud equipment and makes a lot of noise?)
I finally got around to taking down *most* of the Christmas decorations.
I wish I could just focus on these two or just the big two sometimes. I love having four kids (really, truly),
although some days I feel like I am in over my head.
This is reality: Mark usually goes to bed before even the babies do some nights. I never know which night is going to be like this, so I can't really plan ahead for back up in the bedtime arena, so I usually just corral them all and read books together and then send them off to bed. But yeah - usually he's passed out, and I've got a little lady who stays up at least 30 minutes later than he does. Not every night, but most nights.
These boys :)
Cashel is such a wonderful big brother! He loves this little lady so much!
How did I ever get so lucky?
The best part about having two queen beds in a hotel room? Pretty sweet jumps!
I'm constantly humbled by these kiddos. Sometimes I feel like we need to constantly be doing something in order to make memories. For Cashel's birthday, we spent a night in Minneapolis. After lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, a little time putzing around at Nickelodeon Universe (in which the big kids didn't even want to go on a single ride - what?!), and swimming, Mark passed out at 6:30pm. I was so frustrated, being left with 4 little kids in a hotel room with no food (and, of course, he had eaten all the boys' leftover pizza and they didn't eat more than one piece each), so I was at a loss. I finally decided to go on down to the front desk and buy some (very expensive) microwave popcorn and a couple bottles of apple juice, and we had a little picnic in the pull out couch and watched Big Hero 6, which just so happened to be on TV. Cashel was just beaming, and he said it was the best night of his whole life. I spent the whole time beating myself up because it was such a lame night, since we couldn't go anywhere or do anything fun (bowling, a movie, etc.) because Mark was such a dud. Cashel reminded me that it was the best night ever because we were having fun snuggling and having snacks and just being together with his family. Note to self: We are enough.
One of THE most frustrating parts of Mark's disease has been his complete inability to be reasoned with. With his early bedtime, he wakes up every morning significantly earlier than he thinks he should, and then can't go back to sleep. Well, with a 6:30pm bedtime, he was up at 2:30am wide awake, hungry, and out of his mind with what to do. Seeing as how we were all sleeping, he couldn't watch TV very loud, he no longer has a smartphone, and he just didn't know what to do with himself. He called the front desk at 3am asking when they started serving breakfast, and they said 6am. I happened to be up at 4am feeding Kinsley, and he was just beside himself. I finally logged him into his Facebook on my phone, and let him browse it for a while, but he was really worked up. I asked him if he thought 6am was too late to start serving breakfast, and he said most definitely it was. I asked him why he thought that, and he said, "Well what about those of us who wake up at 2:30am ready to eat?" I asked him if he thought 2:30am was an appropriate time to wake up on a normal day, and he said that it was, and that he couldn't go back to sleep. I told him that waking up at 2:30am was going to feel like a normal time to him when he went to bed at 6:30pm, as that would give him a full 8 hours of sleep, and he looked at me like I had 3 eyes. This is a pretty normal thing, although it's usually more along the lines of like 8:30pm-4:30am, but the same confusion and distorted perception of reality. Oh, and he also continued to update me every single minute leading up to 6am the last 20 minutes.
I don't wanna talk about this...
He is so beautiful!
He wanted a green dinosaur cake with red hair this year :)
Couldn't get a smile out of this kid because a few seconds before I tried taking the picture, he found out that his own personal cake that I made with the leftover batter, Mark ate it that afternoon. He was SO upset.
There is just so much wrong with this picture...and yet so much right. The wrong: Unpainted toenails (because #winter), snow, winter coat The right: Flip flops, wood chips, visiting a park with the kids in January in Minnesota, capris.
Somedays this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic. Other days, when I desperately need Mommy time, it makes me want to crawl out of my own skin. This particular day, it was the warm fuzzies.
Kendrick's big thing lately is opening up Kinsley's jammies and giving her zerberts on her tummy. She giggles and giggles :)
A rare 5 minute nap while the babies napped. However, I had made Kendrick a promise to take him sledding, so it didn't last much longer than that.
We made it down the hill about 7 times before Mark texted to say that Kinsley had woken up. Back home we went :(
Since sledding got shortened considerably, Kendrick changed his focus to building a snow den.
I caught Kendrick in a rare nap at daycare one afternoon. I very seldom catch him sleeping these days, so I had to snap a pic :)
Meanwhile, Cashel had a fun day in Mankato with Grandma Pam and Aunt Jess to celebrate his birthday!
Bananas don't last long in our house these days. They also don't get eaten. Ryan just likes to take them out of their peels and leave them all over the house :(
In case anyone forgot, this one has huge beautiful blue eyes too...and a love for Chinese food :)
The last day before our tree came down. Also, I love my new mug from TJ Maxx!
Pizza night yields no leftovers these days. This means my boys are growing :( For the record, this was a JUMBO, not just a large :(
For those of you who wonder what "he lays in bed most of the day" means in terms of the effects on the household, it's not just psychological: He literally was laying there so much that he rubbed the sheets to shreds.
For my non-Minnesotan friends, this is a sun dog. It happens when it gets extremely cold. If you want to read up more, here's some info on wikipedia.
Cashel doesn't quite fit anymore lol
Kinsley was not so fond of coming along on date night. I thought she'd nap better with us than at home with the wild hooligans and the babysitter. I guess I was wrong.
Time can just stop now. She's getting so big too quickly!
By the end of the month, these clothes were too small :(
I am loving this developmental phase where she can't crawl yet, but will entertain herself with toys for short periods of time.
Ryan has this thing lately where he likes to dance with his pants around his ankles. Mark can't handle him having them down, so he pulls them up constantly, and then Ryan pulls them right back down and squeals and runs around the kitchen lol
I love how these brothers love each other! Both big kids are so sweet with Ryan! They can't wait to show him the world. It melts my heart!
They *almost* made a snowman :)
We got a little snow, but as long as the temps are warm enough, it isn't going to keep us down!
Ryan loves his baby sister to pieces! He is working on saying her name, and currently calls her "Ki-y"
This guy lol
This kid is usually a pretty happy little dude, but this is probably the happiest I've seen him. He LOVED sledding!
Some days are just a little crazy. This particular one, my boss was gone, and my baby girl ended up throwing up at daycare, so she had to go home. With Mark's teenager-like driving (that is truly seeming to get a little better), I had to go pick up Kinsley to take her home to sleep off whatever her poor little tummy had going on,
but the second I got back in my van to take her home, ALL systems ended up going down at work (which ended up being way beyond my control, and there was nothing I could do except communicate about it), so I had to bring little miss with me to answer a few calls, make a few calls, and make sure things were stable before heading home. I guess that's a good way to describe what it's like to be a working Mom to 4 under 6 with an unemployed, mentally ill husband. Most days aren't THAT nuts, but obviously every once in a while they are.
Seriously...all the time.
He is such a funny little toddler. I hate to squelch his squeals and laughter and what not, but 9 times out of 10, he's the reason Kinsley ends up waking up from her naps early. #TheStruggleIsReal
Cashel has gotten really big into taking pictures of me. This one actually turned out pretty good!
All the heart eyes for this guy :)
I seldom have pictures with this one these days, but to be fair, he doesn't slow down much.
Oh my goodness do I love this little lady :)
If it isn't like this when I'm nursing Kinsley in the recliner...
...it's like this.
This was SO GOOD! It was my first time attempting to make chicken alfredo pizza, and I would absolutley make i again! Granted, next time I would hope to have mozzarella cheese on hand instead of colby jack.
I swear this belly pooch is never going to go away. I feel like I'm running on ice when I start trying to work out again or eat better. The second I do, it's like the rug gets pulled out from under me and I start stress eating again and it just doesn't end well. I'd LIKE to at least cut it in half in the next few weeks so I don't look like a stuffed sausage when I go to my baby brother's wedding in early March.
We celebrated Mark's Mom's birthday with presents and a cake. The boys decorated it, and I'm pretty sure they are not going to get that privilege again. Or, at least, not without me standing right beside them. This is what happens when I ask Mark to "just supervise so that it's not a disaster while I go nurse Kinsley quick". Let me also say I will never buy those little tiny white balls that go on there. Oy! Clean up was pretty epic :(
Let it be known that THIS can be over soon. -38 wind chill? You've GOT to be kidding me.
We got these awesome new rugs for our living room and kitchen under the table, and I LOVE them! They warm up our space SO much more. I don't know why we didn't buy them YEARS ago.
Without fail: Day 1 of my "be better in the eating" challenge, and my sweet (or evil?) co-worker shows up with cinnamon rolls from River City Eatery.
She does love her Daddy, even if she seriously prefers her Mama.
What do you do when you want to suck your fingers, but it's too cold to be outside without mittens on? lol
I can absolutely see these two going into business together some day. Cashel would totally be the business man (Architect maybe? Engineer?) and Kendrick would be the muscle (Construction foreman? Whatever uses big, loud equipment and makes a lot of noise?)
I finally got around to taking down *most* of the Christmas decorations.
I wish I could just focus on these two or just the big two sometimes. I love having four kids (really, truly),
although some days I feel like I am in over my head.
This is reality: Mark usually goes to bed before even the babies do some nights. I never know which night is going to be like this, so I can't really plan ahead for back up in the bedtime arena, so I usually just corral them all and read books together and then send them off to bed. But yeah - usually he's passed out, and I've got a little lady who stays up at least 30 minutes later than he does. Not every night, but most nights.
These boys :)
Cashel is such a wonderful big brother! He loves this little lady so much!
How did I ever get so lucky?
The best part about having two queen beds in a hotel room? Pretty sweet jumps!
I'm constantly humbled by these kiddos. Sometimes I feel like we need to constantly be doing something in order to make memories. For Cashel's birthday, we spent a night in Minneapolis. After lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, a little time putzing around at Nickelodeon Universe (in which the big kids didn't even want to go on a single ride - what?!), and swimming, Mark passed out at 6:30pm. I was so frustrated, being left with 4 little kids in a hotel room with no food (and, of course, he had eaten all the boys' leftover pizza and they didn't eat more than one piece each), so I was at a loss. I finally decided to go on down to the front desk and buy some (very expensive) microwave popcorn and a couple bottles of apple juice, and we had a little picnic in the pull out couch and watched Big Hero 6, which just so happened to be on TV. Cashel was just beaming, and he said it was the best night of his whole life. I spent the whole time beating myself up because it was such a lame night, since we couldn't go anywhere or do anything fun (bowling, a movie, etc.) because Mark was such a dud. Cashel reminded me that it was the best night ever because we were having fun snuggling and having snacks and just being together with his family. Note to self: We are enough.
One of THE most frustrating parts of Mark's disease has been his complete inability to be reasoned with. With his early bedtime, he wakes up every morning significantly earlier than he thinks he should, and then can't go back to sleep. Well, with a 6:30pm bedtime, he was up at 2:30am wide awake, hungry, and out of his mind with what to do. Seeing as how we were all sleeping, he couldn't watch TV very loud, he no longer has a smartphone, and he just didn't know what to do with himself. He called the front desk at 3am asking when they started serving breakfast, and they said 6am. I happened to be up at 4am feeding Kinsley, and he was just beside himself. I finally logged him into his Facebook on my phone, and let him browse it for a while, but he was really worked up. I asked him if he thought 6am was too late to start serving breakfast, and he said most definitely it was. I asked him why he thought that, and he said, "Well what about those of us who wake up at 2:30am ready to eat?" I asked him if he thought 2:30am was an appropriate time to wake up on a normal day, and he said that it was, and that he couldn't go back to sleep. I told him that waking up at 2:30am was going to feel like a normal time to him when he went to bed at 6:30pm, as that would give him a full 8 hours of sleep, and he looked at me like I had 3 eyes. This is a pretty normal thing, although it's usually more along the lines of like 8:30pm-4:30am, but the same confusion and distorted perception of reality. Oh, and he also continued to update me every single minute leading up to 6am the last 20 minutes.
I don't wanna talk about this...
He is so beautiful!
He wanted a green dinosaur cake with red hair this year :)
Couldn't get a smile out of this kid because a few seconds before I tried taking the picture, he found out that his own personal cake that I made with the leftover batter, Mark ate it that afternoon. He was SO upset.
There is just so much wrong with this picture...and yet so much right. The wrong: Unpainted toenails (because #winter), snow, winter coat The right: Flip flops, wood chips, visiting a park with the kids in January in Minnesota, capris.
Somedays this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic. Other days, when I desperately need Mommy time, it makes me want to crawl out of my own skin. This particular day, it was the warm fuzzies.
Kendrick's big thing lately is opening up Kinsley's jammies and giving her zerberts on her tummy. She giggles and giggles :)
A rare 5 minute nap while the babies napped. However, I had made Kendrick a promise to take him sledding, so it didn't last much longer than that.
We made it down the hill about 7 times before Mark texted to say that Kinsley had woken up. Back home we went :(
Since sledding got shortened considerably, Kendrick changed his focus to building a snow den.
I caught Kendrick in a rare nap at daycare one afternoon. I very seldom catch him sleeping these days, so I had to snap a pic :)
Meanwhile, Cashel had a fun day in Mankato with Grandma Pam and Aunt Jess to celebrate his birthday!
