Mother's Day Weekend

I know Mother's Day can be hard. If it's hard for you, then please know that I am thinking of you and praying for you.

Also, I didn't mean to take a week hiatus, but that's life sometimes, right? One thing led to another and another and bam!, it was the weekend.

I posted something on Instagram last week and I thought I'd share some of that here as well. I don't ever want to be phony, but at the same time, my first priority is maintaining the appropriate privacy for my family's sake. Last week brought some challenges. And a series of events opened up some very painful wounds, which I am currently processing and praying about. Yes, I did have a lovely Mother's Day weekend, but there are some big things going on behind the scenes which are just plain hard. Sorry if that's confusing or obtuse. I'm just trying to be real.

Yesterday was just the most gorgeous day. I did not have to prepare or clean up a single meal. Hooray! My only request was a new picture out front with all my children, so after church, we were playing around outside waiting for the guys to get home. Come to find out, they'd gone off to pick up something that Caleb had ordered for me and then came home with sushi for lunch. :)

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

ha ha ha

We did some errands on Saturday and then I picked out a few new plants plus a gorgeous new tea rose bush. Then my Mom and Dad gave me a pretty Knockout rose bush. They'll both be going out by the pool and I cannot wait to see everything in bloom this year! This tractor did not come home with us, but the cute driver did.

I feel like the only appropriate caption for the above photo is simply: "Hey, Girl."
ha ha ha

Ethan's girlfriend came over that night to watch a movie with us, which is always so fun, but something had popped in my neck and shoulder and I spent the night icing and wincing from pain. Ouch. Thankfully it was much better in the morning.

We brought Levi and Isabelle to a favorite local farm for an hour after nap time and it was so nice. What was NOT so nice was that I forgot my phone on the counter on the way out the door. Oops. So no pics but we had a fun time. We got home and Ethan came outside to play frisbee with me, and then these two just played and played. Such a beautiful, beautiful afternoon. My heart felt incredibly full sitting out there just taking it all in.

We ordered this swing set right before the cruise, and sometimes Levi wants nothing to do with it, and other times, it's like he's training for a toddler ninja tournament. So funny.

We had steak marinated in one of my favorite homemade marinades, the first corn on the cob of the season, and for dessert, they made me some delicious chocolate-covered strawberries, as well as some cheesecake ones- they were dipped in a cream cheese topping and then rolled in graham cracker crumbs. They were SO GOOD. Levi thought so too, ha!

 

 After bath time and getting Levi to sleep, Caleb and I headed out to build a little fire in our fire pit. We're going to make a bigger one near the pool this summer and I know we'll be spending many hours out there together. Isabelle came outside and sit with us, and we were surprised when it was suddenly nine o'clock. The bats had begun zooming overhead anyway, so it was a good time to put out the fire and head inside. I know bats are good and everything but I do not care for them when they're practically dive-bombing my head.

It was a great weekend and I felt very loved. I hope you did too! :)

Life Lately- Mother's Day & Levi's Dedication

This baby. I can't even. I am so smitten and amazed and humbled and just so in love with this little fella.

His little personality is really emerging and he's such a sweetheart. He can be really easy-going and chill...

 ...and other times, not so much. ;)

He has the most adorable snort-cry I have ever heard!

I should probably feel bad when he's upset, but mostly I'm just laughing a little because it sounds so ridiculously cute. #fifthchildprobs

But our nights are horrendous.
I'm trying so hard to take it all in stride because I KNOW these days are fleeting (the nights, too, even though they seem like they are unending), so I don't mind too much. I can usually comfort him somehow, but there are times when he just cries and cries and cries, and that's so hard.

 I admit that the better part of our mornings consist of lingering in our pajamas. Oops.

I do get things done, I promise, but I'm soaking it all in because I know these days will be gone before I know it. And before I'm ready for them to be. Wait. Did I already say that?
I'm so tired. :)

We discovered that Levi prefers sleeping on his tummy. I won't lie, this instills panic in me because of all the recommendations. One afternoon I was getting dinner ready and so I put him on his tummy for some tummy time, and when I went back two minutes later, he was out. He has wanted to sleep this way ever since. 

Of course now I can't put him on his baby pillow because that doesn't seem at all safe.

I'm really happy that our longer stretch of sleep is still happening most mornings from about 4 until 8am. No matter how rough our night was, having that extra time of sleep makes it seem a lot better. And it allows me to get everyone ready for school. Sometimes I lay right back down after getting everyone off for the day. I did on this day because our night was bad bad bad.
How sweet is my view when I open my eyes?
We were meeting up with one of my dear friends at Panera on this day!  

 Levi was a perfect angel baby the entire time out.

It was so nice getting out and catching up with a friend.

He still gets lots and lots of attention. There is never a lack of willing arms to hold him.

 Whether he likes it or not. ;)

I love how he studies Daddy's face

Ha Ha, Sophie thinks this is her new special bed. I find her in here several a times a day lately.

On Mother's Day, our church had a baby dedication for the new parents.
We send in some pics ahead of time, and they show them while we talk with the pastor and review the birth stats in front of the congregation. It feels special.
Levi didn't make a peep until the very end.

 He made lots of peeps after we got home.

My Mother's Day request - a picture of all five of us...wait, SIX of us!

 This is so special to me because everyone is genuinely smiling here. Sure, it has been a little hard, but for the most part, Levi has given us all such new joy. This photo lets me see it clearly.

My parents went on a trip to NY for their anniversary on May 10th, but of course they stopped in before they left. I love this one.
Levi doesn't look too sure of what's going on, ha. He is a complete and total Mama's boy, that we know for certain already.

I haven't decided if Levi enjoys being worn too much or not. Sometimes he settles right in, but other times, I can tell he knows it's just a surrogate for the real thing, and this boy loves being held. Between the six of us, he is in someone's arms nearly constantly. He won't learn to walk until he's three!

Here we are enjoying the sunshine and waiting for Isabelle.

We had another fun outing at Squam Lakes Science Center in Holderness, NH. It's such a pretty drive out there, especially when someone is quiet in the back seat.

He wasn't. For very long, anyway.

We survived.

They added this exhibit and learning center earlier this year - it was so cute!

We hung out on this nice deck for a long while, waiting for the crowds to disperse a little inside. There were water tables and other fun little stations set up on the deck.

This cracks me up. Total selfie fail! Look at that pout on the right!

  Levi slept in the stroller for a long time, but when he woke up he was hungry and inconsolable. It took quite a while to calm him down enough to feed him, and then we had a major blow-out that needed to be dealt with on a bench outside an exhibit. Classic.

I know it's normal, but baby acne drives me nuts. Thankfully it isn't too bad. And he relaxed on Daddy for the rest of our time there.

I look at Caleb and think, how could he possibly be a teenager? HE was my baby not that long ago. But it was. Ugh, time is brutal.

Isabelle loved the deer wandering around. We like this place because there is so much natural habitat left intact, and here we were walking along a high boardwalk that looks out over the animals. 

 This one got really close! I love the look on her face!

I can't believe it's only a few more weeks until summer! I'm ready...and I'm not. Mixed feelings, ha ha.

Hiking the White Mountains: Coppermine Trail (And a Fun New Nightgown!)

My kids roll their eyes when they hear me say how amazed I am that little old New Hampshire has such breathtakingly beautiful mountains because they probably hear it no less than 70 times a year.

And then I proceed to wonder- aloud- how impressive some of the other state's mountains must be if we have these.

Now their eyeballs are literally bobbing around in their sockets.

I think it will be one of those charming things I'm long-remembered for.

"Hey, remember when Mom used to say...?" Insert laughter, smiles, and nostalgic joy.

Mother's Day was gorgeous. The kind of day that beckons you to the great outdoors. 

 That water was friiiiiiiiigid - Caleb had to walk through the brook to get there...he was the only one. =)

 We had The. Longest. Winter. Ever. this year, and what is she super excited about?

Finding snow.

 This was a really beautiful trail, complete with a mountain brook bubbling alongside you almost all of the way. There were several rocky areas which would not be suitable for very young children or for older folks who are a bit unsteady on their feet. As you near the waterfall, there is a rickety bridge to cross, which my angelic children would never, ever dream of hopping, jumping, shaking and/or swaying upon just in the hopes of sending their mother over the edge. Both figuratively and literally. Go figure.  ;)

I like steady ground. What can I say?

Now onto the fun summer nightgowns. I don't think I've shared this yet...sorry if I did and just forgot. It's a fantastic option for those of you who have something particular in mind but A. you don't sew; and B. you can't find it in stores or online.

Design Your Own Nightgown

 For Baby, Little Girls, & Teens

You can visit my shop, Rose & Ruffle, HERE for more details. Thanks!

Have a super weekend!

The Best of our Busy Week

I was just going to type "Happy Monday morning," but since here we are already at Wednesday, I think the ship may have sailed on that one. I don't ever want to forget the snippets of my life with these crazy-wonderful people, so today is definitely a more journal-like post of the past week or so.

Caleb with me, pre-game (they won!)

This is pretty much all I'm ever able to capture for one of Ethan's soccer games.

A big blurrrrrrrr. Boy is fast! ;)

Ah, and the big braces day! We had to commemorate by going out for lunch.

Plus, I was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to eat later on once the soreness kicked in. Such a nice time, just the two of us.

Mother's Day flowers we arranged for Mimi and Grandma.

(I didn't notice the tag until afterwards...oops.) I don't care how many commercials lately try to steer me away from flowers, it's never going to work. Flowers are always the best!

 I got whisked away for a Mother's Day hike up in the White Mountains. I'm going to do a separate post on that because, well, it deserves it. =)

This turkey of mine, taking an icy cold dip.

Such a beautiful day!

Visiting with Great Gram on Mother's Day

Caleb and Daddy are missing- they had gone to give Grandma her flowers only to discover that she was was with my s-i-l and her family for the twentieth time that weekend. So they dropped them off. Great. That made me pretty annoyed to have missed out on this for nothing.

 Moving on. These two are something else. 

FYI, I don't do elevators. And of course they all jump to make poor Mom howl. It works. Every time.

This is them last week. Something about staring in each other's eyes until they became a cyclops? Love is weird, I guess. ha ha

 And this boy. This friendly, talkative, adventurous boy of mine. Well, he has a fierce competitive streak, and I got to watch him pitch for the first time the other night. I am a wimpy sports Mom- I watch with a giant pit in my stomach because I get so nervous for them. Every. Single. Time. Every. Single. Sport.

The parents were really great this time, encouraging Caleb the whole time; in years' past, it's the parents who yell the most awful things when things don't go perfectly well. I've kept my distance a little bit because I don't know them, but maybe I'll put in a little effort this week.

He pitched like a pro, by the way.  ;)

Since most of the places I want to bring the boys aren't even open yet (Memorial Day weekend, which stinks, in my humble opinion), we opted for America's Stonehenge in Salem yesterday. It is touted around these parts like some magnificent, awe-inspiring wonder of history.

Um, it's a bunch of rocks.

Neat, but awesome? I think not.

This spot looked a little more interesting in person, but it's still nice.

Fuzzy alpacas on site. A sign said they make wonderful pets. Hmm.....

I thought we were going to be able to get close and pet them, but no. Don't they look like they want me to come see them???

We bought a special rock in the gift shop in honor of our day at Stonehenge. I thought it might look more impressive if they'd bothered to remove the "Made in Brazil" stickers from them, but oh well. I'd planned a little ahead and found a Domino's pizza place because I had a gift card, so we enjoyed a lovely pizza picnic. With supremely overpriced but pretty yummy pastries from the local bakery next door, I might add. 

The funniest part of the day?

One of the pizza guys kept giving us extras, even though the gift card was already emptied out, which was nothing out of the ordinary...except that Ethan couldn't get over the fact that the guy was working so hard to impress me. Ha Ha! Ethan was thoroughly disgusted, and kept letting me know it. It's like all of a sudden, he sees things differently, and stuff like that doesn't get past him like it used to. I thought his being protective of his Mama was so cute. (And for the record, all I did was smile, and say "thank you.")

Okay, busy day ahead. Have a great one!