Stitch Birthday Prep

 E's birthday this year was rather last minute. She had wanted to do a Stitch birthday but in the beginning of January all luau decor was out of stock. So we decided to go with a craft themed party. I headed to the dollar store for a few random items and low and behold all of the summer stuff was out!! I grabbed what I could and a stitch party was set in motion.

We made water bottles. The prep for this was simple but time consuming!

I love my Cricut!!

I made a balloon arch and tissue papae flowers to decorate the wall. The nice part was this party was pretty easy to throw together. E loved the final result. 

I love being able to do these things for my babes! 

Aloha friends! It's time to party!

Zoo Day

 Papa was kind enough to let us use his membership and come with us for a date to the zoo. It was a much needed day out of the house!

We asked Sprout which animal he wanted to see and without question he wanted to see tigers. They were sleeping but he was very excited. 

 

 We just about had the zoo to ourselves as it was a chilly day. 

CHOOOO CHOOOOOO!!!!

Petting the sharks and sting rays.

We rode the carousel a few times. 

We conviced Papa to come too. 

I could not stop laughing at him sitting on the tiniest Red Panda. ahah

 

We took Roo to Find Dory. I don't think you could have found a better baby.

It was such a great morning!!! Thanks Papa!

Sprout Time

 

Real talk time: This boy. My Mama heart has felt so heavy and I've felt a lot of Mom guilt over him. He is a very busy, talkative, ever moving, hyper child who is full of so much LIGHT. I feel like he is constantly at an energy level of 11 and I'm constantly trying to ground him. I feel like I tell him to be still or to "shhh" 100 times a day and it genuinely breaks my heart. I feel as though I am trying to shove all of his energy into a box just because life happens and I need to deal with Roo, or chores, or all of the other things that take up a Mama's day. It is hard.

Yesterday morning was one of those heavy "Mom Guilt Mornings" where I was counting down the seconds until he got to go to school, when really I should just be so grateful he's mine & he's safe. Off he went, I picked him up and he told me happily about his day. We got his brother and sisters and they played outside until dinner. He came in ready to snuggle and my arms and heart were so ready to love on him. Here I was full of guilt for him not having a great day and he was just as happy as could be living his best life.

 

I climbed in bed and decided that the guilt needed to go. Will it be gone forever? Absolutely not. Do I need to give myself more grace? Yes. Could I be a little better and change my approach to Sprout by carving out some special time where he gets to shine in all his wiggly, talkative glory? Also yes. So today we broke out the Home Depot craft that I neglected to do for Valentine's week and I soaked up some time with this boy. Have I figured out a way to let him be himself and help him direct is energy? No, that will take time. But I'm putting the guilt aside and focus on things I can DO. Oh Sprout, you are so loved.

February Phone Favorites

February, I started off kicking butt and then things rapidly deteriorated. I feel like I'm sitting behind the 8 ball. I started projects and was on a rolllllllll but then things came up and we had to hit pause. Regardless, it went by all to fast. Here is a round up of our Phone Favs.

this boy could push the button on his my vest for hours. 

There's something about a baby wearing your shoes. 

A sweet little gift from Gram. She's been sick with Covid and this was the sweetest little surprise. 

We made a million trips to Home Depot.

The sunrises in KC are some of my favorite sunrises ever!

2 pancakes for 2.22.22 & 2.2.22

Some of the cutest sword fights ever!

Jakob had Lasick surgery and he says it's a total game changer. His eyes were dry and scratchy for a few days, but now they feel great. Still dry some days but he's loving it and I'm not going to lie, I am obsessed. He looks so much younger without his glasses. My husband is a fox!

He had to sleep with little night sheilds for the first few nights and they made me giggle. 

Obsessed with his cowboy boots.

My amazing helpers cleaning the van at the car wash. 

Sending funny faces to Daddy at work.

Sprout could eat pop corn for every meal. Okay, March, we've got this! Time to finish up some projects, and kick some butt. (spoiler alert, I did not kick butt ;))

E is 10

+ E is one smart kid. She loves everything about school. She loves to learn and is a little sponge. If she isn't able to go to class because she's sick or of the weather she will cry. Bless her heart.

+E loves to read. not only does she read, she reads massive books. 700+ page books without even batting an eye. She has an amazing memory recalling the smallest details. I will often come upstairs after working out in the evening to find her still awake a book in her lap reading away. 

+E is creative. She is always looking up crafts online and trying to make up new little projects. I love to see the things thats he comes up with. Her art is getting better too!!

+E is one of the most thoughtful people I know. She knows how to read a person, room or situation. She specifiaclly goes out of her way to help people, leave notes, tidy a room, play with a baby, start a meal. She is always the first one to help and the last one to stop working. 

+She is the best mini Mama. She knows how to distract Roo in the most amazing ways. I watch her and think, man, she's better than I am. She just GETS it. If he's crying she pulls out a toy or if he wants something he shouldn't she hands him somethng else so effortlessly. I am just in awe of her. 

+She is a fantastic and at time, complicated blend of both Jakob and I. She has my heart, love of being with people, and energy, combined with Jakob's demeanor for knowledge, calm demenor, and stubbornness and eye for money. Its so strage to see how we have each played a roll in who she is becoming and I love watching her grow up into this incredible person. 

+E loves her friends and is quite social but more often that not will choose to be at home with us if given the choice. Her best friend is Lucy and I love seeing them together. 

+E's love language is words of affirmation and gifts.

+She love to save her money. She's so possessive of it and I love seeing her figure out ways to earn money. I was at the dinner table with her shorty after her birthday and I told her that I only had her for another 8 years and then she would be going off to school. She looked at me straight in the eye and said "Mom, do you have any idea how much rent is? Never mind, food, gas, insurance and a car. There is no way I want to be paying for all of that while I'm in school. No, I think I'll stay home fro awhile." My jaw hit the floor. What 10 year old thinks like that?! We'll see how she feels in a few years but gosh darn it I was proud of her!

+And to to reiterate and becuase I feel like I worded this well on Instagram, here is the caption about E from there: T E N. I have been a pile of emotions all day (but we'll save most of those for mother's day.) This girl. She's my best friend, her Daddy's kiddo, our Mini Mama, our world. She is compassionate, patient, loving, empathetic, strong, confident and unique. She understands things without being told, she is always the first to help without being asked, and tries her hardest to serve everyone. She loves all things Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Stitch. She is creative and loves to make anything she can. She loves to read and will read 3-4 books at the same time. She is funny and I love our conversations that usually end up with us laughing until we cry. She's the best Mini Mama and can take care of the boys better than I can. When I grow up I want to be just like this girl. She is all the good things in this world. Happy Birthday Peanut. You are SO LOVED!

 

Oh and a couple of out takes because it was cold and snowing and I asked her to jump and they make me laugh!!

 

E's Birthday

This year we were trying to think of a theme for E's party and nothing was feeling right. We wanted to to a Stitch party but in February Hawaiian things were difficult to come by. So we opted for a craft party again. I could tell that she was bummed. then one day while at the $ Tree, I found a stash of summer things!! We were both so excited! Last minute change of plans and a Stitch party was in the works.

The day of her birthday was a very relaxed day. She went to school. I picked her up and we got a mint milk shake. 

We had Ramen for dinner and Papa & Gram came along with the Dyches. It was so good to be with people that we love! 

For E's special treat with Daddy, she picked out donuts due to tradition. She's big on things like that. 

I ordered this Stitch MONTHS ago. I knew what it was and so I never opened the box. When I went to wrap her gifts I opened the box and gasped. I thought that this Stitch would have been half the size. He was huge!!!! I mean I'm not mad but he was more than I was expecting for sure. I don't think E minds though. :) Happy Birthday beautiful girl!!! You are so loved!