Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day again. My 5th one as a momma to children of my own and it's been nice so far. Eric made me overnight oats for breakfast which was delicious and got me some pretty flowers and the kids did some art for me. Also, Eric wrote me the BEST song ever and the kids danced to it while he sang it. It's awesome. And Levi's card he made me cracks me up:

He says: "It's you and me with the fridge between us and I'm grabbing the "L" from my name. And on top of the fridge is a yellow candle holding up a plate with a can of tomato soup on it!" Ok buddy haha. 

 Pregnancy has FINALLY eased up on me a little bit. I've been having more energy and been getting back to doing some things which help me feel like me such as going out with Eric, working on the murphy bed again, taking care of our plants and doing our own laundry! I'm still nauseous often but not to the level of before and I've gone two whole weeks now without throwing up!! Which I'm pretty sure is a record for me for any pregnancy. This past week I backed my Zofran down to 4mg/day which meant I was a little more nauseous in the evenings again but not like before. I can still help with bedtime. And the nausea is managed as long as I eat something with protein any time I start feeling a little sick.  And I've gotten to start feeling baby move every so often! Which is always so reassuring and helps remind me that pregnancy is about a baby coming... not just about me feeling like death haha. And next week we get to find out the gender! I keep feeling like it's a boy but also kind of slightly wishing it is a little girl to be a best friend sister to Emery. And I'm crossing my fingers for curly red hair although I think the likelihood of that is pretty slim! 

 So yeah, its been a relief to be feeling a little bit better and getting back to a little bit of normalcy around here. For my birthday, Eric and his parents are making the back patio expansion + covered pergola happen so I've been excited planning and imagining for that. Our yard has come such a long way from the patch of grass it was when we moved in! It already looks so much better and is so much more functional with the trampoline, tree and beautiful, colorful flowers all along the fence on the side and a brand new crepe myrtle in the corner by the trampoline. I feel like we will spend even more time out there once we've got a larger covered back patio. I can't wait to BBQ and have friends over! Eric is finally fully vaccinated so we are venturing back out into the social scene which is so nice. Today we get to go to family dinner for the second time since COVID. We all got together for Easter which was so nice and we are all so excited to get together again. I just love Emery's relationship with Maren and Silva and I love spending time all together as a family. Here are some pictures from our Martino Family Easter Egg Hunt:

These sweet cousins are just the best.

We joked that this kind of looks like an engagement picture haha

So yeah things have been looking up a little bit around here. Eric got a job offer from his brother which he thought long and hard about and prayed about and we discussed a lot. Ultimately he decided to turn him down but it did open his eyes to possibilities I think and made him realize that he's ready to be done with MedQ and move on to another opportunity. But he says he's going to wait till after baby comes to search for a new job in earnest. Even though things at MedQ aren't great, the convenience of him working from home with flexible hours is still so needed right now and logistically makes the most sense for us for now. 

Anyway, as is appropriate for Mother's Day here is an interview with my children I actually did a couple weeks ago. I asked them the questions separately so they didn't hear each other's answers and some of the questions I didn't ask Emery because I knew she wouldn't understand them.

1. If you won a million dollars what would you buy?

    Levi: Million Lego piece set. Star Wars of a Mega Star Breaker

2. What do I always say to you?

    Levi: Good morning

3. What job would you like to do when you grow up?

    Emery: Doctor

    Levi: Artist

4. Who is the strongest person you know?

    Emery: Me!

    Levi: Dad

5.Where do babies come from? 

    Levi: *shy smiles and taps my arm*

6. At what age do you become a grownup?

    Levi: I don't know

7. What wild animal is your favorite?

    Emery: elephant

    Levi: cheetah... no! Lion

8. What would you do if you couldn't find your underwear?

    Emery: go to the store

    Levi: *laughs* then: not wear it

9. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?

    Levi: mac n cheese

10. How much does it cost to buy a house?

    Levi: um... $1000 no $2000! 

11. What are you scared of?

    Emery: Unker (Thunder)

    Levi: monsters

12. What is your favorite game to play?

    Levi: Castles of Burgundy

13. What is your favorite color?

    Emery: Pink

    Levi: Pink

14. How old am I?

    Emery: 2

    Levi: 22

15. Who is the president?

    Levi: Joe Biden!

16. What kind of car do you want when you grow up?

    Levi: It depends on how many kids I have. If I have a lot probably a minivan. 

17. Where do you want to live when you grow up?

    Emery: in my crib

    Levi: Probably Texas... oh! I mean the North Pole!

18. Who is your best friend?

    Emery: Mayin (Maren) and Silva. I like them, both of them. 

    Levi: Jaxon... I mean, Mattie!  With the orange hair. 

19. What's your favorite thing to do?

    Emery: watch something

    Levi: games

20. What's the safest place in the world?

    Emery: bedroom

    Levi: *shrugs* I don't know

21. Who makes you laugh the hardest?

    Emery: books

    Levi: *shrugs*

22. Who is your favorite old person?

    Levi: *laughs* probably Oma

23. What's my favorite thing to do? 

    Emery: watch the kids

    Levi: I can't read your mind! So I don't know! 

24. Who loves you the most?

    Emery: Mayin and Silva

    Levi: Jaxon probably

25. What year is it?

    Emery: May

    Levi: May. No, not May, April! 

I just love the things they say! Also, I asked Emery again recently what we should name the baby if it is a girl and she said "Pink Baby" haha. And she has started calling flies and other small flying bugs "bad guys" haha. My Emery is getting so excited about her upcoming birthday and her brand new big girl bed that she will be getting soon! She and Levi really are the light of my life!

Emery: "For if bad guys coming so I can tell Levi!"

We tried dyeing some Easter eggs naturally this year. They were a bit underwhelming as you can see. The tumeric (bottom left) worked the best. The one that's brown (bottom right) was supposed to be green. I used parsley and chamomile tea but... that didn't really work out. And the top left one was supposed to be pink. I used craisins and strawberries but... I guess purple is kind of close? Haha

They have started wrestling more which is fun until someone gets hurt (usually Emery even though she's always the instigator). 

She kept yelling "The Mighty Untidy Titans!" Over and over again. Thank you Bubble Guppies

Emery has gotten incredibly difficult to feed lately. She pretty much only wants to eat fruit, chips and lunch meat. This evening she climbed on Levi's chair with him during dinner (it is SO HARD to get her to stay seated in her own chair) and he managed to make it a game so she actually ate a little bit of carrots and corn. I call that a win. 

Levi had his kindergarten tour last week! I can't believe how big he is, but also he is sooo ready for kindergarten and I know he will do great! His math skills blow me away. Like this morning he was like, "We had 12 gummies so we split them so Emery and I both got 6." and I was like "if there were three of you how many would you each get?" and he was like "four." 

I heard a lot of giggling going on towards the end of "quiet time." Turns out that this is why. And I couldn't get it all off so now it looks like she has a nasty bruise on her knee haha. 

Emery always asks for her hair in braids. Really she just wants to keep her hair down all the time, but if I tell her we have to put it up (which is pretty much every day to try to keep her from looking like a total wild thing and to help keep the tangles under control) she always asks for a braid. Usually she insists on one braid but this day I convinced her to let me do two braids and it was so adorable!!