Conversations with Bryce #1-Wish I could give you the world!

Out of the blue, in the middle of playing...

Bryce: "Mommy, do you still love me?"

Me: "Of course I love you!"

Bryce: "You dooo love me a lot??"

Me: "Yes, I love you so so much! I will always love you!"

Bryce: "So then Mommy? If you love me, would you give me a chocolate kiss?? Just because you love me so so much??" (big grin). 

Of course I couldn't say no to that. He knows I couldn't say no to that...

I love this kid!

 Anything to see that smile!

Plate by Batton Clayworks

I would give you the world if I could, my child. Since I can't give you everything, a chocolate kiss will have to do.

Family Vacation Road Trip Part 3: Destination Sandbridge

With full hearts, and energized spirits, we left Great Grandma Kirk's house (read about that visit here), and began the final leg of our journey to the beach! 

Day 4: 285 miles. 5 hours 37 minutes drive time. 7 hours 45 minutes drive time. 

Purcellville, VA to  Alexandria, VA to Sandbridge, VA (THE BEACH!)

We got onto I-95 with high hopes of a good last day of driving. We had only 4 hours drive time to the beach from Great Grandma's house....or so we thought. 

Then we ran into traffic. So. Much. Traffic.

Luckily, there was an HOV lane we could take...

but ohh (insert choice swear word here), we completely missed the HOV entrance. 

So there we were, in heavy traffic, going very slowly, watching the cars in the HOV lane zoom by, and realizing the red on the GPS went on for many...

...many more miles. 

That's when I started to snap at my husband and everybody else in the car. My husband joined in, and so did the kids. I could only imagine how this looked from the perspective of the cars around us. Then I noticed the car next to us with parents and 3 kids in the back seat who were obviously also traveling somewhere. Mom and Dad were yelling. An older kid in the back was screaming. Mom was leaning over the middle console trying to calm backward facing baby and Dad was obviously frustrated as he was trying to navigate the 3 lanes of barely moving traffic to pull over. Wow, look at that family! Sheesh, they should really cool it or they are going to crash that car. Seriously, how can they possibly think all that snapping and anger is helping their situation?? Good thing we aren't like that...Oh, wait....we are EXACTLY like that! (insert choice swear word here once more). Well, at least I can take comfort in the fact that we aren't the only family who loses it sometimes more times than I care to admit. 

FINALLY, we were moving at a good pace again, but our original easy 4 hour drive time to the beach ended up taking over 6 hours. Adding over 2 hours to that drive would have been frustrating on any road trip, but on the fourth day of driving, after 1640 miles already, on the very last leg to our destination for the rest of the week, this was a nightmare.

In the end, we DID make it to the beach that evening with a promise to the kids that they wouldn't have to get in the carseat again for a week! 

We didn't even care that it was raining when we arrived because we were just happy to make it there! Plus, we knew we'd have many sunny, fun on the beach days coming up. The traffic was far behind us so instead of feeling overwhelmed by car horns, screeching tires, and sarcasm, we were able to relax to the sound of the ocean waves and laughter! So. Blessed.

Family Vacation Road Trip Part 2: One More Stop, Sorry Kids

We woke up at Grandma and Grandpa's rested, energized, and ready to get to the beach THAT day...finally! We were able to promise Bryce we would have our feet in the sand that day....BUT, we had to make a stop in Alexandria, VA first (which I fully explained to Bryce to avoid making the mistake I made on Day 1 ). GREAT GRANDMA'S HOUSE! 

Grandma Kirk hadn't met Nathan yet so we of course wanted to make time to go see her. I miss this woman and love her so much. She is almost 98 years old, lives on her own, and has an outlook on life that I wish I could have. Her positivity is amazing. No matter how I feel when I arrive at her house, her presence is enough for me to be overwhelmed with feel good, positive, life is awesome thoughts and feelings. I seriously want to be just like this woman. 

I always leave her house with a fun Grandma Kirk phrase that makes me smile. Last visit, she said in response to others who complain about the younger generation, 

"We had our generation, let them have their's!"

This visit she was talking about her recent trip to her local grocery store and said, 

"Ohh, if I could write a book about all the people who have been so nice to me. There are just so many nice people!" 

Wow! I seriously want that attitude every day. I want to be just like her. How often do I go to the grocery store and fail to see all the nice people? Not because the nice people aren't there, but because I'm too focused on the negative to see them. 

How many times am I too focused on my own complaints, trials, inconveniences, injustices, or just thinking of myself too long to see the good around me, the good in other people, and the good in the world (yes, honestly, this world is actually NOT all terrible)? How many times am I too busy judging instead of looking at the good or approaching the person and/or situation with love and positivity?

She of course has a few complaints at her age, but she seems to still always have this incredible positivity on, well, just about everything! I've only been blessed to know her for about 8 years, so of course I don't know if she has had this positivity and uplifting personality her whole life, but all of the family I talked to confirmed that this is just her and she has always been the way she is. 

The kids were so good! Bryce went right up to her with a smile and HUGE hug and Nathan was content and happy being in her arms, reaching for her, and listening to her talk! It warmed my heart (and her's) to see the kids react that way toward her. 

What a great visit! Then we got in our car once again, and drove away with her standing in the doorway, waving goodbye, with a big smile on her face (as she ALWAYS does). 

We drove off with wonderful positivity and joy in our hearts that we thought could last a lifetime....

....until we hit I-95... 

Family Vacation Road Trip Part 1: The Drive East

Call us crazy, but we hit the road for a very long drive out East to Virginia Beach for this year's family beach trip. 

The drive actually went very well considering we had a 5 month old and a 3 year old in the car with us!  We enjoyed a few moments of complete silence with both sleeping (although that was rare). 

Our nice, spacious, comfortable car was one of the best parts of the drive. There were MANY moments where I was thankful for the comfortable car.

Day 1: 819 Miles. 11 hours 40 minutes drive time. Home to Florissant, Missouri  (north St. Louis). Total travel day including stops was just under 14 hours. We wanted to make it all the way to St Louis so our second day of driving could be under 6 hours. Both kids did great this day and we were making some pretty good 3 hour stretches! 

Fun notes from our first drive day: It only took 20 minutes in the car before Bryce said, "Are we to the beach yet?" Also, our 3 year old became a big kid and even renamed his lovey from the cute little kid name of "ed-time bear" to a very well pronounced mature name of "Night Time Bear". I was still a little sad about that one many miles later.

Yay! We made it to St. Louis!!! (this photo was taken on the drive back because we made it into St. Louis around 11 pm. We weren't thinking of taking pictures at that point!) 

Lesson learned from day 1: put myself in a 3 year old mind set when talking about/planning trips like this. Instead of talking so much about our "beach trip", "leaving today for the beach", the "long drive to the beach.",  I probably should have articulated more that we wouldn't actually arrive at the beach the day we left. When we said we were leaving for the beach that Wednesday morning, WE knew it would take us 4 days before we were actually at the beach, but Bryce really thought we would be there THAT day! Bad Mommy failed to put together some fun crafty pinterest tracker idea to let him know that we were going to a hotel first, then the lodge, then grandma and grandpa's, and THEN the beach. Of course at 11 pm when we arrived in St Louis, after being on the road ALL day, he wasn't in the mood to even try to understand this. Tears. Then the "But I want to go to the beach!" turned to, "I WANT TO GO HOME!" Unfortunately, that wasn't the only time we heard that phrase on this trip. We did talk him through it, he ended up liking the hotel room with his own bed, and he understood the trip better after that first night. 

Day 2: 367 miles.  5 hours 32 minutes drive time. Florissant, MO to Mason, Ohio. Destination: the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio for some FUN!

 

This day was much more challenging than the first, even though it was the shortest of the 4 days it took to get to the beach. The biggest meltdown trigger for Bryce is lack of good sleep. When he doesn't get enough sleep, watch out. Gee, I wonder who he gets that from... Because we arrived so late that first night, we were a bit overtired, cranky and defiant for the drive, BUT we made it to the lodge with plenty of time for the pool.

Somebody is a bit antsy!!!

The Lodge was awesome! There was so much to do. We will make a trip back someday when the boys are older, and when we have more time for them to be able to enjoy it more!

Bryce even got to sleep in a wolf den!! So neat! Best of all,
he slept GREAT! We were all in bed by 7pm that night.

Day 3: 454 miles. 7 hours 26 minutes drive time. Mason, OH to Purcellville, Virginia (Grandma and Grandpa's House!)

After a good night's sleep, day 3 was great again. My only complaint is that Baby showed us these 3 days that even in the car, he'll only nap 30 minutes at a time. We were told that the baby would be super easy because he'd probably sleep for longer periods of time being rocked in the car. Not our baby! He really did well. It just took a bit more effort keeping him happy than expected.

I packed 3 small bins of activities and pinterest ideas for my 3 year old. I only had to break into 1 of the bins, using only a couple of the planned activities. He was EASY! Although our 5 month old still did well, he wasn't nearly as easy!

Seriously, who knew we would need to pack more toys and distractions for our 5 month old than for our 3 year old?!?!

 I forgot how beautiful the drive out east is! It was nice to see these roads that I recognized telling us we were close to Grandma and Grandpa's house!



WE MADE IT TO GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S HOUSE!!

Stats of the first 3 days from home to Grandma and Grandpa's house:
Total Miles: 1640
Total Time: 24 hours 38 minutes drive time (not including stops).
Meltdown Moments: Only about 2 small ones from Bryce.....and maybe also a couple from Mommy. 

And no, we are still not to the beach yet....

Lesson in New Life

Bryce has asked us to read an Easter book at night over and over again about Jesus's gift of New Life. In the book the kids are going on an Easter Egg hunt and they comment on a Robin's nest filled with 4 eggs which means baby Robins will be here any day. He was always SO excited about that part.

Then, yesterday I found a nest on the beam just under our second level deck. It had 3 eggs yesterday and a 4th egg today. Actually, it had 2 eggs yesterday when I saw it, but we found one more on the ground. We put the 3rd egg back in the nest. I learned from some of the information I read today that Momma more than likely tossed that one because it was infertile or something else was wrong. Oops. I hope that doesn't affect the other 3 in there! After looking up some more information, I found that Momma will probably only lay 4 eggs (sometimes 5) and now she will start the incubation period of about 12-14 days. She will only leave the eggs for about 5-10 minutes at a time. (I did learn about this process at one point, but it was YEARS ago!)

Of course I have noticed Momma bird close by watching me each time I go out on the deck today. Every time I went out on the deck she flew from the nest to that same branch and watched me until I went back inside. This worries me because if she needs to be sitting on those eggs constantly for the next couple of weeks, I don't want my presence on the deck to disturb her. I'm really hoping she gets used to us walking around on the deck...

So, seriously, I'm very worried about this. I am a complete worrier anyway, but I really want these little robins to make it! We are out on our deck all the time, and Bryce is always playing out back. I am wondering if I can/should keep us all off of the deck for this month, yet we LOVE it out there. I will do what I can to leave the nest and that area of the deck undisturbed, but I'm hoping that Momma bird will want to stay and take care of them and we can all coexist without any issues. The other problem is after they hatch and decide to leave the nest. Then I need to keep them safe from both the dog and the 3 year old after they hatch and leave the nest, yet before they take sustained flight.

This is super exciting for me because I've never actually been able to see the process up close (it's the little things in life right?). I will try to take photos of each phase (from my phone because I can't get a good enough shot through the boards with my Canon...although I may try to experiment a bit more with that).

Let the journey begin!

Brothers

The more photos I post of the boys, the more people tell me they look alike. This is funny to me because when they first handed me Baby N, I thought he looked NOTHING like his big brother. I never have thought they look much alike. I guess to me, Nathan just looks like...well...Nathan. The comments from others made me very curious so I put together some comparison photos of each boy at the same age (luckily, I've taken a thousand photos of each and this was pretty easy to do). I can point out some differences, but after putting the photos side by side, I give in...they really do look alike.

What do you think???

Big Brother  |  Little Brother

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

3 Months Old

3 1/2 Months Old

And one more... (this one convinced me more than the others)

About 2 Months

There will be no denying they are brothers. I am now very excited to see if Baby N will grow more and more like his big brother, or if his appearance and personality will start to look very different. 

It is definitely fun watching these two grow up!

Whatever Works #1

As a mom, I have heard and repeated many times the phrase, "Eh, whatever works!" This is my first post with a "whatever works" moment. I am hoping to post many more of these, because these moments do seem to come up often. 

I have had days with both kids where nothing seems to work. They won't sleep, they won't listen, I can't get anything done, and nothing goes the way I need it too. Then (usually by chance), I will come across something that does work. It is usually something pretty random. For example, I found that running water was the best soothing sound for Baby N when I thought he was hungry for more milk than I could supply, so I started the warm water to heat up pumped milk. Within 10 seconds, that screaming baby in my arms was fast asleep! 

Sometimes, the things you least expect (or the things you aren't supposed to do) are the things that end up actually working to achieve at least a little sanity or peace in the day. 

Today's post comes on a day when my 3 year old has tested my every ounce of patience, and my 3 month old has been fussy and decided naps really aren't necessary. With the mood these two are in today, it's no surprise this "whatever works" post is showing the ONLY way I've been able to get my baby to sleep today; the ONLY way I've been able to get even a minute of quiet time.

Today Baby N would only nap swaddled, in the carseat, rocking, on the deck (which apparently added a little extra jiggle to the rocking necessary for him to fall asleep)....

Awww, finally some peace... with the added bonus of wonderful fresh air! 

Whatever Works

 

A Mind of his Own

I am not sure why I need reminders to put myself in my child's mind before assuming anything. I am a parent. I love my children. This comes naturally right???

The sample from the MOPS craft for the 2-3 year olds yesterday:

 Bryce's finished craft:

Although I know he is only 3 and crafts are NEVER like the sample, which I also know is absolutely fine, I still found myself start to wonder if he didn't understand where the animal stickers should go, if he's having a hard time following simple directions, or if he truly couldn't care less where those stickers went and just wanted to go play instead. (Seriously, after typing this paragraph, I'm reminded of something else: I really need to stop over-thinking things.) So, I asked a simple question.

Mommy: "This is a cool craft you made."

Bryce: "Yep, I made that!" (He's very proud of himself these days which I really do love.)

Mommy: "Why did you decide to put all the animals on the rainbow?" (thinking he would just shrug and say "because I wanted to" or not answer at all.) 

Bryce: "Because they are all sliding down the rainbow. It's fun!"

Mommy: "Ohhh..."

Sure enough, look at the angle of most of the animals. It is clear they are sliding down the rainbow. He wasn't being random. He had a plan.

And here I assumed he didn't care and was just slapping the stickers on the paper without putting much thought into it....

Ok, so this craft wasn't a big deal and it truly wouldn't have mattered if he put thought into it or not, but it was a reminder for me to not jump to conclusions, get mad at him, or assume he's doing something "wrong" when he's actually just thinking differently than I am. Kids really do have a pretty awesome thought process and I am seriously amazed when I hear about his thinking and ideas. Why does it seem as parents we often think a child, even at 3, needs to be thinking the same way as the adult or doing things exactly the way we say to do them?! (please tell me I am not the only one who falls into that mindset at least some of the time!)

But, this reminds me of another situation:

We came home from MOPS and I asked Bryce to hold the door open for me because my hands were full. He ran in and let the door close on me. I opened the door and struggled to get in, very irritated that he wasn't doing what I had asked him to do. I let the door latch behind me which made him VERY angry. I didn't understand why he was crying and he was too worked up to tell me what happened. Finally, he pointed at the door and said "open", then pointed to the playroom and said "wedge". Apparently he WAS doing what I had asked after all. He wasn't playing in his playroom, but was instead looking for a wedge to put under the door to keep it open for Mommy. Good idea. Not what I was thinking when I asked him to please hold the door for Mommy, but good thinking. Thankfully, I held back my frustration and listened to him in that moment. 

I admit, I am not always good at keeping assumptions out of the situation, holding my temper, and listening to what is really going on in his little mind. I have very often jumped to the conclusion that he just isn't listening and maybe even being naughty. Then, after my overreaction, when my anger is all out in the open, and when I find out what really bothered him, I'm left apologizing and feeling like an idiot, laying awake at night, praying for grace. I am sure that never happens to any other parent right?

I hope I can always remember to encourage him to think through other ideas, even when it is different from how I think it should be.

Today I am embracing the amazing ways kids think, and the times I'm able to remember to put myself in his mindset before jumping to my own conclusions. 

Finding the Time

I have heard numerous times how very important it is for a mother to pursue her own interests, but seriously, where is the time a mom needs to do that?? She can totally make it happen. It may just look a bit different after kids....

Pursuing my interest WITH my child when I don't have enough time to do it on my own!

Mommy's View

______________________________

Bryce's View

Following Mommy's Lead

Bryce's favorite subject for his photography is Baby Nathan.

Mommy followed HIS lead on these. We both took photos of whatever he wanted.

Although I absolutely still need my own time, working on photography with my 3 year old was pretty fun! If I can't get out to do it on my own, at least I can still take some shots to work on photography while at home with my kids. 

I now wonder what interests and hobbies Bryce will pursue as he gets older...