Unexpected Travels

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. 

Makin' Plans

Christmas Recap:

Eric came down with the flu on the Sunday before we left for CA (on Tuesday!). Which meant that he immediately quarantined himself in his office and I had to do all of the prep for our trip by myself. Poor guy was still feeling pretty bad on Tuesday when we all got up around 4 am to travel and he stayed masked the whole day as we did the long trek- drive to the park-n-fly, shuttle to the airport, wait for our flight (which was delayed), board plane, wait on maintenance checks for half an hour, finally get in the air and fly to CA then not be able to land and have to circle for another little while because too many planes came into SFO at the same time, deboard, get luggage (thankfully nothing lost this time), take sky train to the rental car center, get rental car, install overpriced rental carseats (we didn't realize Levi would need on because he's under 8 and they charged us $100 each for Levi and Emery's boosters even though they are the super cheap ones that are like $40 from Walmart. Talk about making bank on something!), drive the 2 hour drive to my parents' house with a stop for Eric to puke and a stop for the rest of us to have lunch and then finally make it there. I mean, everything went smoothly for the most part but it still felt like a marathon. Once at my parents' house, Eric quarantined again in the queen bedroom until evening the next day when he was finally better and had been 24 hours fever free. And all the efforts we took paid off and thankfully none of the rest of us came down with his sickness and since then we have finally all stayed well! Being out of school and daycare definitely helps haha. 

Being in CA with my family for Christmas was so nice. It had been a while since I was in Santa Rosa in the winter and I had forgotten how beautiful and almost mystical it feels there with the fog and the trees. It was rejuvenating for me to be in such a beautiful place where I feel so much connection. Eric and I went for a walk with just Isla and talked about how lucky we both were growing up that we got to roam so much nature- him out on the ranch and me out in the big field in the middle of hillsboro circle and then Annadel as I got older. I, of course, did not realize when I was young how incredibly privileged I was to have so much natural beauty around me so close and the freedom to explore it- to climb the trees, try to catch the frogs and salamanders, pick the flowers and make bark "stew." Eric and I both wondered aloud how much these experiences shaped us growing up. We want the same opportunities for our kids- but it's not that easy. Where we live our backyard- while we've worked hard to make the most of it- is still just a smallish fenced area of grass, a single young tree, a struggling crepe myrtle and a little strip of crazy wild salvia and lantana all of which go completely into hibernation into the winter so the kids' area to "explore" is basically a brown patch. I try to take them to parks regularly but while there are some great playgrounds- the only thing close to a hiking trail is out at Erwin Park a 20 min drive away which is just too far in our busy lives for regular visits. Even their school experience is so incredibly different than my own. We took the kids to play at Strawberry (my elementary school growing up) I just wish my kids could go to a school like that- with a huge field, bordered by a lush creek, multiple recesses a day and lunch eaten outside. But my poor Levi gets just a single half hour outdoor recess all day and it's in essentially a caged playground with astroturf on the ground- it's honestly very depressing. But at the same time, there is much good about this area we have chosen to raise our children for now. We love being close to Eric's family, I love my job, the kids have great schools (aside from the lack of outside time), we have a good ward with lots of kids to be friends with ours and we love the conveniences and experiences offered by the metroplex- tons of restaurants, pro soccer and hockey teams, great and close hospitals, an international airport relatively close and things to do with the kids like trampoline parks and gymnastics gyms. Not to mention the cost of living here versus where my parents live! 

Anyway, I have digressed. Christmas break was great. It was so nice to be with all my family under one roof. I was especially so happy to get to meet my new niece baby Ava and hold and snuggle her. And to get to play games together as a family. I also got to meet up with Lauren Holmes for lunch one day and it was so good to get to catch up with her and chat. The kids also had a great time in CA. Isla LOVED grandpa and would often wander off to find him and snuggle and play with him. It was adorable. Here are some pictures from the trip:

I pretty much NEVER play my own piano but every time I go home I take time to play my parents'! Isla had a great time playing the piano too. 

It was just so cute how much Isla loves my dad! 

Isla and Patrick were cute together also. They did a little fighting over toys but also some really cute games of pass and also peek-a-boo with grandma and grandpa's closet. 

One of my favorite activities: going for a little kid-friendly hike up in Annadel. 

Emery's enthusiasm for life was especially fun to watch on Christmas morning! She just brings so much zest to our family! 

Eric and sweet baby Ava! 

Enjoying my snuggle time.

Levi loved being able to play dominion with the adults. He's gotten pretty good at it! 

So glad we caught a picture of our whole family together! 

Levi and Emery both got new puzzles for Christmas and had fun doing them with us. 

A highlight of the trip for the kids was going iceskating for the first time. I was really glad we went during "puppy skate" where they had chairs and buckets for the kids to use. Made it so much better haha

Now that we're home from CA and settling back into our daily routines, Eric and I have been taking some time to plan out our year. I'm excited for all the adventures we have coming up from our anniversary trip to New Zealand, Martino family reunion this summer in Nagadoches, TX, Walker Hayes concert, and many fun dates and family activities. And meanwhile through all of this our kids keep growing and maturing right before our eyes! 

Levi is slowly getting better at reading and gave a great talk in Primary today. He is back in Ninja class as of Monday and getting a little braver when it comes to heights! 

He took this picture of himself on his new polaroid camera and I swear it's like a preview of him as a teenager. 

Emery, our sassy girl, is growing like a weed and her hair is too! She has gotten so tall and her hair has gotten so long! She is still very nurturing towards Isla and is very firm in her convictions. She has big feelings and loves dressing up and doing art. 

Before Christmas, Eric took Emery on a sweet Daddy-daughter date to see the Nutcracker ballet. We thought she would love it because she loves dance but we probably should have managed her expectations a little better because it was a little long for her and she was ended up disappointed because she didn't get to meet the prima ballerina at the end like in her book Angelina Ballerina where Angelina gets to go the ballet, meet the ballerina and the ballerina gives her a pair of signed pointe shoes. Sorry Emery. Haha. 

This picture is just so Emery. In her new Anna dress and ready with a pose.

She also got curlformers for Christmas and I was really surprised how well they worked for her! She stayed nice and still while I put them in and didn't complain that they hurt at all when I took them out. And her hair curled better than I expected! 

Little Isla is growing up way too fast for me. She moved up a daycare class and now takes one nap a day which at daycare is on a little cot with her nap roll. I can't even handle that. She is starting to talk more and now sometimes says "no" "hi" "go" "up" and "dada" as well as "mamam" when she wants something. She also signs "more" "help" "please" and "all done." She struts around the house and school like she owns the place and has started to get a mischievous sense of humor. She still gives just the best hugs and kisses and her laugh is everything to me. 

She loves being outside and will bring me her coat and shoes to ask to go out. 

Sooo cute with her pout about the cold. 

But happy when she was free to move around. 

She just wants to be big enough to play on the trampoline with her siblings and their friends. 

The other big part of my life lately has been my hair. My curly girl journey continues and I am really loving the results although it is definitely more high maintenance than my previous practically no maintenance hair. I just started using Vida Bars shampoo bars and I LOVE them. I honestly had low expectations from bar shampoo and couldn't imagine it lathering well but it seriously has such a nice lather and I love going plastic-free. 

This was my first really wavy day.

And now it's curling up even more.

I can barely believe that this is my hair just with some curly jelly, plopping and drying with the diffuser! 

So yeah, our life is busy and a little crazy but oh so full and I am so grateful for it! 

I absolutely love Isla's little smirk in this picture. 

This is probably one of my all-time favorite pictures!!

Emery, "Mom! Take a picture of us!" Me: Happily obliges