Beauty

I don't know what came over the little people in this household on Monday, but it was scary.  The day was a vicious cycle of temper tantrums, crying and a complete lack of productivity on my part.  I threw a personal pity party and felt utterly defeated.  At the end of the night I pushed the giant pile of clothes off of my bed and threw in the towel.  I woke up in the same funk the next morning as I was greeted by the overflowing dirty dishes in the sink.  I am such a visual person that sometimes something as insignificant as a messy kitchen can completely throw me off.  I sat at the counter and opened my Magnificat in hopes of finding the pick-me-up that I needed to jump start my day.  As I poured my coffee and started to settle into the beautiful scripture, I was interrupted by a complete ragamuffin requesting my help in her search for "magic beans."  I begrudgingly followed her to the refrigerator and this image stopped my in my tracks.  I had to grab my camera.

Something about the combination of shirtlessness, diaper butt, and having to stand on tip toes to reach the drawer really got to me.  It was exactly what I needed.  I decided to look at the day through a new set of eyes.  To use my camera to look for the beauty in these slow and simple days at home with my babies.  It was wonderful.  And the magic beans ended up being cheese slices. 

quintessential cora

I ended the day with a full heart, giving thanks for these little darlings.  

   

February Happenings

Molly's baby shower.  

We had a wonderful afternoon celebrating new life and we cant wait to meet Fisher!

i love this lady!

gorgeous goddaughter

cousins

Mim and Evelyn got to meet each other.  Mim has two daughters, 3 granddaughters and now 3 great granddaughters!  No boys allowed.

We also had a fantastic time celebrating one of our favorite couples, Matt and Alyssa.  Their wedding was SO much fun.  I would expect nothing less from those two.  

And there was a lot of hanging around the house.  Such is life with a newborn.   

Evy had her first bottle and Cora HAD to have one too. 

The rice box.  A pinterest idea gone bad. I will be finding rice for years.

Evelyn: One Month

Evelyn Clare, 

Oh my goodness, you are just the sweetest little love bug!! You are so so cuddly and adorable.  Cora always squeezes you and says "oh precious."  You are excelling in all newborn categories, including being held all the time, sleeping and eating.  Speaking of your eating skills, those cheeks!! They are out of this world.  And your fluffy hair is pure greatness.  For nine months I got to have you all to myself, but I always struggled with the fear of something going wrong since we lost the little one right before you.  To be able to hold you and watch you all day has brought me so much peace and joy.  This month has been amazing.  Your daddy and I just gush over you and your pure sweetness.  We are thoroughly enjoying your "newborn-ness" because we know it will be gone all too soon!  We love you and the way you have forever changed our family!     

Panna Maria

A couple weeks ago we went on our first road trip as a family of four.  Thankfully it was to one of our favorite places in the world.  I don't know what it is about Panna Maria, but it is such a special place.  Just a little Polish paradise.  Grandma and Popo told us that when their current priest was assigned to their church he said was getting to, "live in heaven." Agreed.    

There is something so cool about watching your kids explore your grandparents' house.  Cora was obsessed with Grandma and Popo's toy box.  These toys have seen a lot of love over the years.  

Evelyn was a little angel the whole time.  I don't think she was put down once the whole weekend, which was fine by her.  

We spent Saturday morning at the farm.  Cora would move there if we would let her.  She is STILL talking about it every single day.  She'll say, "rode tractor, daddy and pops"

And "feed cows, baby cows, where did baby cows go?"

And "rocks in water"  

We were all so at peace out there.  Our ultimate dream is to have a farm on our own little piece of Panna Maria where we can live with our 10 kids and just do farm stuff (whatever that is) all day every day.  

These two are just livin the dream.

That night, we had a ton of family come over to meet and celebrate sweet Evelyn.  

Evelyn got to meet original Evelyn for the first time.  They were both smitten.  

We spend the evening, making cookies, eating dinner, and listening to stories about "the good ole days."  But Memaw was so funny.  After they were all talking about how difficult it was back then, she said, "I don't know why they call it 'the good ole days,' that sounds pretty terrible."  I could listen to their stories for hours.  Grandma's stories about how she used to come in from the fields and butcher chickens for lunch amaze me.  Sometimes I am too lazy to even make a sandwich.  

Until next time, Panna Maria.