Social Distancing :: Day 55

Texas implemented phase 1 of their reopening strategy last Friday. Not a ton has changed, but more businesses and restaurants could open at a 25% capacity, with social distancing measures. Many places have still chosen to stay closed, or operate at their previously limited capacity anyway. Some have flung open the doors, not really abiding by the social distancing measures. So we'll see how it all shakes out in the next couple of weeks, particularly as they look ahead to implementing phase 2...

For us, not much has changed. We're still hanging out, trying to survive our days at home with 3 little ones. I think we have reached a new/good rhythm with potty training, and most of the craziness is behind us {I hope}. But really, until we are able to leave our house and experience the whole potty business out in public, I don't feel like we can truly say the twins are potty trained. 

Outside Time

We have continued enjoying the beautiful weather and getting as much outside time as we can. We spend time in the backyard, and the newest pastime is digging in the dirt. We have worked so hard to get our grass to grow, fighting the weeds and actually having grass...and now our kids are just ripping it all up haha. But they're having fun, so...

We have also been taking lots of wagon rides to see the fountains. We go to see the "big fountains" over at Melissa City Hall, then walk back by the smaller fountains at the end of our street. The kiddos are always on the lookout for birds, butterflies, frogs, and turtles.

Pooh Bear Love

Eli and Maddie never really had attachments to any loveys or stuffed animals. They have favorites, for sure, but nothing like our dear Aiden's love for his Pooh Bear. Oh man. "Love" probably isn't even a strong enough word for what Aiden feels for his Pooh Bear haha. I'm pretty sure Pooh Bear is Aiden's best friend. He takes him EVERYWHERE. Pooh helps calm/console him for just about everything. He can never be very far. He can put him down, even leave him behind {he doesn't sleep with him or take him places...usually}, but he is always looking for Pooh Bear the minute he wakes up and comes back from playing outside. And Pooh gets LOTS of kisses before Aiden can part with him. During our time at home, we have allowed him to take Pooh outside some and even on walks with us. So Pooh Bear is really starting to stink LOL. We're probably going to have to give him a good Febreeze bath pretty soon :)

We should have known then... {just 4 months old!}

A boy and his Pooh Bear

{iPhone Rewind} :: April

Not an uncommon look for him :)

We have really enjoyed our Koala Crates!

Enjoying the new book Grandma and Papa sent him in the mail...while waiting for brother and sister to go potty

This is where I live. Wandering goats...

With my old lady fur baby :)

Love my Snuggle Bug

Just relaxing on the blanket with Mama

So proud of his construction LEGOS

I love this little girlie!

Dude's got things to do...and he wants to make sure he looks good doing it.

He wants so badly to be like his older brother and sister. Every time we're in the bathroom, he will climb up on the stool to try and wash his hands.

Introduced the twins to Candyland! 

Daddy built a little tent for us to enjoy picnics and Daniel Tiger under :)

Reading time with all my babies

He wants ALL the balls

We have spent a A LOT of time dressing up :)

Siblings bonding over...toots. Yep. That's right. They sit and giggle about toots now.

So I definitely broke the side mirror on our Pilot while backing out of the garage. Not my finest moment. We were able to get a few other maintenance issues taken care of at the same time, so hopefully we're set for awhile...

We have loved all the amazing weather and have spent a lot of time playing outside!

Digging up dirt and pulling up grass/weeds has become his favorite pastime...

Maddie's favorite pastime has been collecting rocks...

He whips out the "cheese!" as soon as he sees my phone. But I gotta hurry to catch it :)

She kept saying she was Jasmine {from Aladdin...she's never seen the movie, just a picture in a princess book}. I think she's confused between Jasmine and a nun :)

Social Distancing :: Day 45

I feel like this week has felt full and even busy, despite our quarantine. There's never a lack of activity with 3 little ones, but I feel like we had enough variation in our routine this week to make it feel a little less mundane and daunting. It's crazy to think we are starting out 7th week in lockdown mode...

Working from Home

I am still working part time from home, so nothing has really changed for me in this season of social distancing. Many of my colleagues are now working from home, but otherwise, my role has been unaffected. This past week was crazy, because there were 2 board meetings for which I helped prepare, and it's the end of the quarter, so everything is naturally more busy. But I just do my best to work around the chaos, and the kiddos have learned to {sort-of} roll with it. As always, I'm just grateful that my job doesn't include a lot of video or conference calls :)

This week was also Administrative Professionals Day, and I received a sweet delivery from the executives! I am so thankful how the Lord provided this job 8 years ago. And all through a conversation at Starbucks! My boss's wife was a customer where Mike worked as a barista, and she was so kind to ask how she could pray for us. Mike mentioned the need for a closer job for me...and rest is history! It has been such a blessing for us, and I have loved serving alongside the executives. I truly have the utmost respect for the leadership, and I am just so thankful that I can still be a part of the team, even working remotely now for almost 5 years.

Quarantine Birthdays

Mike and my moms' birthdays are back to back, and we were able to celebrate them both in fun ways this year. We were able to do a drive-by birthday parade for Granny, since she is in town. Everyone loaded into their cars and drove by to drop off cake and gifts, and chat a bit from a distance. Granny was surprised, and loved getting to see her crew, even if she couldn't give them hugs.

We were able to do TWO birthday Zoom calls with my mom {the first was a last minute call since my brother had a change in his work schedule. The second was so my Dad could join and celebrate with us}. My mom didn't have any objections to talking with her people twice in a day :)

Since we couldn't be with/near my mom this year, we had some chocolate covered strawberries delivered to her door. A good way to provide a sweet gift, while abiding by all the social distancing rules. We'll just have to celebrate even bigger next year!

At Home Haircuts

Mike asked me to buzz his hair, which is something that I have done several times before. It's less scary than actually cutting it, but it still makes me nervous every time. It's why I have so much anxiety about cutting my boys' hair. I envision chili bowl haircuts, or mullets, or something equally terrifying. Hence, Aiden's crazy hair :)

Maddie's hair had gotten pretty long, and I somehow felt more confident in trimming her hair. I guess I thought mistakes on her hair would be less noticeable?? So I set her up to watch Daniel Tiger and set to work. Turns out it's not quite as hard as I imagined it to be, and {thankfully} mistakes are less noticeable. Granted, I only meant to give her a trim, and she now has a proper little girl short-hair cut, but it definitely could have been worse haha. Thankfully no one can look too closely right now. And she doesn't sit still long enough for you to really see it anyway. And yes...those layers in the back were on purpose. {Not really, but we're going with it}.

We waited a week and then I decided it was finally time to buzz the boys' hair. I figured that would be less likely to mess up, that we could live with buzz cuts for awhile. Eli was up first, ready to have a haircut "just like Daddy's." 

And then it was Aiden's turn. He didn't do so well with his first or second haircuts, which is partly why we have just been letting it grow. And then we discovered his adorable red curls, which is another reason I have not wanted to cut his hair. But alas...it was WAY past time. Poor kid couldn't see and ended up a sweaty mess after being outside for 5 minutes. And this time, he just hopped up onto the chair and sat {pretty} still while Mike ran the clippers through his hair. He wasn't phased by it at all! I think he was so proud to be sitting in the chair like a big boy, and having a haircut like Daddy and big brother.

And I basically haven't stopped crying since...because he looks SO BIG. Like a proper little boy, not my little baby with the mess of curls on his head. I'll just be over here, crying, waiting for those precious curls to grow back...