The last month or so has brought some unexpected traveling for me. I am not a spontaneous person and so this kind of thing can make me feel uncomfortable, but I feel like my experiences with the pandemic really helped me learn how to roll with the punches more and be more flexible. I feel like I have improved at not letting my anxiety get out of control and being more open to creative solutions to unexpected setbacks. I am learning to let go of my deathgrip on my own plans and see how things can be good even when they're not what I pictured. I'm definitely not perfect at it but there's for sure been progress.
Anyway, the first unexpected trip was for a completely great reason! I hadn't planned on going to CA for baby Ava's blessing but then my parents offered to pay for it and Katie invited me so after I talked to Eric and I went for it! And oh my goodness, it was lightyears easier traveling by myself than with my three children! Haha. I enjoyed a little break from my to-do list and quality time with my parents, Katie and Kendall and baby Ava.
We had a little luncheon after the blessing and oh man it was FREEZING but I was glad for the opportunity to talk with Oma, Aunt Lynn and Troy and Michelle.
I even got a sweet smile out of baby girl!
I returned to TX and we promptly had a giant snow/ice storm. Not as bad as the one two years ago, but enough to close schools for the entire week. Once again Eric and I were juggling work and childcare and basically just being exhausted trying to do everything. Thankfully, my boss let me take some PTO and we made it work. It was a shame that for all the inconvenience there wasn't even much snow on the ground for the kids to play with. Mostly it was just super super cold and icy.
Isla was devastated when I wouldn't let her go outside to play in the dusting of snow with her siblings because it was just too cold for her. I am the meanest mommy for preventing frostbite.
Isla was much happier a couple days later when it was slightly warmer and I allowed her outside as bundled as I could get her. She didn't last long though because right after this picture she biffed it on the trampoline and her pants got soaking wet and therefore freezing.
After the ice storm, things settled back into normal for a little bit and I was busy prepping for me and Eric's New Zealand trip (later this week!!!!!). I checked my passport and made sure it was still valid for the whole time we would be in NZ. Eric and I applied for our NZeTAs and got approved but after chatting with my mom on the phone on Thursday afternoon I felt like I should dig deeper into the passport rules. And to my horror I discovered that the passport had to be good for three months following our expected return date! Well my current passport was set to expire at the end of March! So I immediately called the federal passport office and thank heavens was able to snatch up the last available in person appointment for an emergency passport renewal prior to our trip. Unfortunately, instead of being at the local office in Dallas, this appointment was in Houston. Sooo, Thursday evening I had to hurry and get passport photos, fill out an application, make plans for Isla and Emery's care and cancel Isla's well child checkup. Then at 4:15 am Friday morning I woke up and drove to Houston! I was kind of freaking out worrying about everything that could go wrong but thankfully I was able to get there safely, get my passport renewed and get it back the same day! And while I waited for it to be processed I had almost 4 hours to kill in Houston. So I chose to see it as a little mini vacay and went to a free contemporary art museum, the Houston sculpture garden and walked around the Houston Japanese gardens which were pretty even though it is winter. I also ate a DELICIOUS lunch at the cafe at the museum of fine arts. It was actually really nice and relaxing. So, in spite of the stress of this super unexpected hiccup that almost made us not able to go to New Zealand, it all turned out ok. And surprisingly the 4 hour drive each way was not even too bad.
I'm pretty sure this salad of croutons, fresh mozarella, basil, cucumbers, olives, and artichoke hearts was speaking my love language. Haha.
After all the driving I did on Friday, I was not super keen on doing any more driving, but we had promised the kids we would go to the aquarium on Saturday since it was our last Saturday together as a family before Eric and my trip. And actually, I'm really glad we went. The aquarium was very crowded yesterday but also very cool and the kids all loved it. It was fun to watch Isla pointing around at everything and saying "oooh" haha.
Emery and Levi were both excited the whole time we were there to see the flamingos. They have funny faces in this picture because they were making bird sounds. Haha. I get that flamingos are pretty cool but oh man they stink. I honestly was much more impressed by the walk through shark and sawfish tunnel. Now that was cool!
Anyway, that's those are the major things we've been up to lately. Eric and I are soooo excited for our trip this week and the kids are very excited to see their grandparents. Here are some other little snippets of our life:
Levi and Emery love building Legos!
For our Valentine's date this year, Eric and I went and did a couples' painting class. It was really fun and Levi loves it so it'll be hung in his room :)
Isla loves to sneak into Levi's room and snuggle in his bed! If I can't find her that's where she typically is.
You can't really tell from this picture but Emery has an especially cute hairstyle in this picture.
Love Sunday afternoon snuggles with my man and our baby!!
Emery put the crown on Isla and she thought it was so cool. She went over and looked at herself in the mirror and everything.
Levi's fall soccer team finally got together to give out medals and eat pizza. The wind made it sooo cold but the boys still had a lot of fun running around and playing together. They're a great team and I'm hoping Levi can be with them again in the fall.
Emery decided to write a thank-you note to Santa for her Christmas presents! So cute!
Girlfriend can definitely be stubborn though. On this occasion I made the mistake of letting her ride her bike to the park. She did fine on the way there and she and Isla had fun at the park but then on the way back she, predictably, gave up and sat down. She was like "My legs are tired. Imma sit here. Imma stay here for quiet time." It took all my patience and persuasion to get her to ride/walk her bike the rest of the way home!
Baby girl is getting really good at pointing to her body parts when named. She knows nose, ears, mouth, chin, hair, head, belly, hands, and toes.
She is getting so big and independent. She likes to carry her own lunchbox and do things herself. I weaned her this past week which is soo sad for me but she is doing ok with it and has been going to bed well with just a little snuggles from Daddy.
She is such a climber and tries to get into her crib when she's ready for bed.
She also does this. Haha
She discovered her pockets the other day and now loves to put her hands in her pockets when wearing her coat and it is so cute!
She has learned to push the chairs around to access things. Unfortunately this includes pushing a chair over and pulling open the fridge! She even tried to climb into it the other day!
I love my growing up Isla girl in her cute boots! She is seriously getting so big and talking so well! She says: up, go, no, dada, mama, bibi (binkie), buh-ee (bunny), uh-oh, hi, buh-bye, goo-go (Google), and ch (treat or cheese). She is also imitating a lot, words like ball, car, bumblebee, etc. I'm excited but it's also a little bittersweet because my baby is quickly becoming not so much a baby anymore.
