We are slowly creeping towards springtime and FINALLY the plant world is starting to wake up outside. The Bradford pear trees are blooming white now and my Salvia has burst forth over-enthusiastically from its mulch bed and is threatening to take over the whole garden area. I am determined to have a lush and healthy lawn this year and no chiggers! So I have downloaded a calendar that has when to do everything for your Bermuda lawn in north TX and have put reminders in my phone to follow. We did the pre-emergent crabgrass control yesterday, and I've researched and purchased the best post-emergent weed control for broadleaf weeds too. I am planning on rocking the garden area instead of mulching it this year in another effort to stave off chiggers and have started spraying the wolf pee again to keep the bunnies away. And I've pruned our crepe myrtle and lace bark elm and remulched around our front trees (disturbing a hibernating little snake by one of them!) and am hoping they wake up soon! Like everything in my life, I have big plans!
As it's getting lighter and a little greener around here, I've felt my mood and energy levels picking up too. Pretty sure even though our winters aren't harsh here and there's still sunlight I have seasonal affective disorder. I don't even necessarily realize I'm down so much as I really notice when I start to perk up again. I'm like the plants in my garden- drab when it's cold but coming to life when it starts to warm up.
I bought myself some succulents for my bathroom to help bring more green and growing to my life! I love them.
Anyway, our family has been keeping busy as usual. Levi had his birthday earlier this month so we had a little party for him yesterday with just his closest friends and it was so cute. He had a great time and I feel really blessed that he has such a good group of friends from school! They are all big Pokemon enthusiasts and he got even more Pokemon cards and paraphernalia to add to his collection. For his birthday we even got him a new Pokemon bedding set which he loves. He also continues to love Legos and I recently got him some boxes to organize his Legos by size- a huge project that is maybe halfway done. I do feel like sorting them this way encourages his creativity and use of the Legos because he can more easily find the pieces he is looking for. I get sucked into sorting them. I don't know why but it's weirdly soothing to me- I guess I like bringing order to things even though the task is tedious.
Levi's birthday present from Papi and Nona was a big hit with Levi and Emery!
Levi and his besties: Kyler, Evan and Teddy (not pictured: Ashton who couldn't make it)
Can't believe how grown-up he's looking! At his annual well-child check found out he's still in the 77th percentile for height and 73rd for weight so he's a big boy!
Also this month Levi had spring break and we wanted to do something special as a family so we went down to Granbury TX to stay in an airbnb for the weekend and visit Dinosaur world down in Glen Rose. It was a nice little get away! We stopped at a trampoline park on the way down which the kids loved and which helped break up the drive there. It was really nice to escape the constant to-do lists that are here at home on the weekends and just be together as a family.
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Emery LOVES gymnastics and trampolines. I have to say, she's pretty good for her age! She can do front rolls and back rolls and hold herself up on the bar and walk the balance beam without falling. I'm proud of how well she listens in gymnastics class and tries her best.
The trampoline park was a big hit for both the kids and gave Isla a chance to nap while I wore her instead of in her carseat-which I'm sure she preferred!
Dinosaur world was cool- life sized Dino replicas and a sandbox with dino "bones" the kids could excavate- which they loved. Emery was not a fan of all the walking and may have dramatically dropped to the ground on the path more than once saying she couldn't walk any farther (ALL the tears) but she and Levi both liked panning for gems and getting some semi-precious stones so that cheered her up.
While in Glen Rose we also visited the most po-dunk TX restaurant ever: the Green Pickle Grill- complete with green walls, green tablecloths with pickles on them, pickle paraphernalia everywhere and pickle puns on the walls like "We're kind of a big Dill"
The food was pretty good though and the portions monstrously large! |
In other news, we took Emery to an ENT regarding the persistent fluid in her ears and her recurring infections and we've decided to go ahead and get tubes placed. So she has surgery on April 6th. I'm a little nervous about putting her under but I think she really needs them. And I am hoping that it will really help her with her speech and especially her volume modulation. Although I'm not sure if she's loud because she's not hearing well or if it's just her personality! My girl loves to live large and has tons of zest for life!
Speaking of my girls, Isla is growing so fast! I cannot believe she is almost 6 months old! She is so sweet and such a good baby! She can sit up on her own briefly now and rolls to her belly all the time but instead of rolling back over usually fusses to be rescued when she's done with tummy time. She has rolled back to her back a few times but usually she doesn't. She has been napping better at daycare and we just started trying to transition her to a zippy out of her swaddle since she's rolling now. Her schedule is ALL OVER the place and she never eats or naps at consistent times. But she is pretty good about going down for naps on her own in her crib- it's just a toss-up whether she'll sleep 20 minutes or more than an hour! Her nighttime sleep is a bit of a rollercoaster too. She went through a couple weeks where she slept from 8 to 5am-ish but usually lately she wakes up once sometime between 2 and 4am to eat and then goes back to sleep. But the last two nights have been horrible and she has woken up and stayed up multiple times a night and we are very tired. Wish we knew why she is struggling and wish she would just sleep through the night but I guess we just aren't blessed that way. I do have serious envy though of all the people whose babies sleep through the night from young ages. Especially the ones who never had to do anything and baby just does that. I feel like we do ALL the things- consistent bedtime routine, white noise, don't rock or feed to sleep, use probiotics, keep the lights off, use a sleep sack, etc. And yet... my kids struggle. But in spite of these sleep issues, Isla is typically very good-natured. She fusses when something is bothering her or she's ready for a change in position or something but as soon as we talk to her or pick her up she calms down right away and smiles at us. She doesn't seem to fuss or cry for no reason- I can usually always tell why she's complaining! She loves watching her siblings and thinks Levi and Emery dancing is just the funniest thing. She has started sitting her in her high chair with us at the table for meals and is VERY interested in our food but I haven't let her have any of it yet. I did make a first foods calendar and plan for her though and we're going to start this week! I am so excited to see what she thinks and hoping her GI tract tolerates it ok!
My smiley girl!
Getting so big and prop sitting up!
And already trying to get those hands up and free to play!
She loves being able to sit at the table with the family for meals! Even though she leans a bit in the high chair. I prop her up a bit with dish towels but she tends to grab them and chew on them haha
Anyway, that's how things have been going. Here are more snapshots of life in the Martino household- full, crazy, messy, awesome life:
Emery still LOVES to "hold" Isla- who is not nearly so enthused about the experience.
Although Isla loves to watch her siblings she clearly does not trust them to hold her! Her face is like "rescue me" hahaha
Emery has been struggling a bit with nightmares and the other night I found her sleeping in Levi's bed.
Levi has been working on his reading and is slowly getting better at sounding out words. Emery insists on trying to and loves to try to read by repeating words I tell her.
Love their relationship.
On Friday I took the girls with me and we went to the zoo with my friend Kailee Ennis and her kids. I can't believe how big Emery looks in this picture! I think its her super long hair that she loves and refuses to let me cut.
Emery had an absolute blast playing at the zoo with Addie! They're such cute friends!
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