Day 644 | The Year of More

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Something about another trip around the sun that makes you reevaluate your life, you know? I’ve committed to a “year of more” for my 32nd year. More what, you might ask? Read on.
  1. More appreciation: my goal is to be more appreciative of the little things in life that I take for granted: being healthy, baby giggles, warm hugs, etc.
  2. More mindful: this time with my boys is so fleeting and yet it doesn’t feel like it sometimes. I feel a tide shift this year: the boys are in a better place, I’m in a better place. I’m going to try to live in the moment more and be consciously present.
  3. More support: we haven’t made any decisions about a big move, yet, but the writing’s on the wall for there to be more help in my current situation in DC. Fingers crossed.
  4. More sleep: do moms ever sleep normal again? I can’t really even blame the kids anymore…it’s just always something. Some how I’m going to get back on the sleep bandwagon again. This year is my year.
  5. More flexible: I’ve been working on this one lately. And I’m making progress. No, seriously. We’ll see how much further I can go. 
  6. More decisive: you would not describe me as a decisive person. Something to strive for...
  7. More sympathetic: I didn’t really think my lack of sympathy was a terrible flaw, but now that I have two kiddos (who tend to get sick/hurt on a regular basis), I really need to up my game, here. Oh, and also for my poor husband’s sake.
  8. More patient: see above. Two kids + no patience = :( . Two kids + patience = :)
  9. More generous: I want to get better at helping people. Maybe that’s little things (helping watch a friend’s baby when they’re in a bind) or maybe it’s bigger (starting to volunteer), but either way, I need to start giving back more.
  10. More vegetables: we can all be a bit more healthy in what we eat, right?
  11. More me-time: this is probably the most elusive on the list. But it definitely needs to be here and needs to be addressed.

Day 641 | Feeling Lucky

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An impromptu dance party with the boys post-dinner. 
I don't know what, exactly, it was about today but I'm feeling incredibly lucky tonight.

Maybe it's that my whole house is clean without me cleaning it (part of my bday present from Chris was a housekeeper...best gift ever!). Maybe it's the super thoughtful and happy bouquet of tulips that arrived at my door today (thanks, mom and dad!). Maybe it's that it's been a shockingly pleasant streak with the boys lately. Maybe it's because we're one day into a luxurious four day weekend. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I actually am the luckiest girl ever. 

That's probably it. 


Day 640 | Me vs. Rx

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For a long time, I've avoided taking medications. I've never been able to properly articulate why this is, but I think, at the root, I just want to give my body a chance to fight off whatever's going on before intervening. After all, that's kind of what it's designed to do (not for everything, though!).

After my experience with my pharmacy and getting a prescription filled this week, I realized that the other reason I prefer not to take medication is because the whole "filling a prescription process" is a joke. And not a funny one.

In order to get my prescription filled after my dermatology appointment last week (my body can't sufficiently handle my hormonal acne, it turns out), it took three visits to the pharmacy, two calls to the doctor's office, and several annoyances along the way. For starters, on my initial trip to the pharmacy, they informed me that the drug wasn't covered by my insurance and that it would cost $470. I'm sorry, what?!? No, I'm not paying $470 for an elective medication. Are you kidding me?

After far too much rigmarole, I received a call from the doctor's office that there was a coupon online for the medication. Yeah right, I'm sure this coupon will drop the price significantly enough to change my mind. Doubt it. I printed it out feeling very leery: the vocabulary was confusing and vague so I brought it in assuming the worst. About 15 minutes later I walked out with my prescription after paying...wait for it...$10.

[shaking my head + rolling my eyes]

You've got to be kidding me with this process, right? I printed out a public coupon and saved $460. There's something seriously wrong here.

Day 639 | Green Oatmeal: I can vouch

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It's been almost 3.5 years and I've never actually eaten the green oatmeal that I serve the boys. I've tasted it several times (so I knew it wasn't terrible), but it's never been my breakfast.

Over the last month, I've given up cereal as my go-to breakfast option. It dawned on me that the boys are eating super healthy, nourishing breakfasts and I eat, basically, a bowl of sugar. Not anymore! I've been eating what the boys eat every morning. We've been a bit out of our green oatmeal routine lately (yogurt with berries and granola or apple/cinnamon/raisin oatmeal have been the top in the rotation) but today was my day to prove to myself that if the boys can eat, I can. And, guess what? I couldn't even tell it had kale in it. No seriously.

Today's version of green oatmeal:
  • 1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1 frozen cube of kale
  • scattering of raisins
  • a dollop of applesauce (to add sweetness)
  • Mix oatmeal, water, and raisins. Add kale cube. Microwave for 90 seconds. Stir in applesauce (this helps cool it down).

I promise you can do it! 

Day 638 | This Kid

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Chase is about the cutest version of himself (ever!) right now. He's hysterical, and sweet, and adorable all at the same time.

Two of my current favorite sayings of his:
  1. "You're my special girl." As in: he wants something from me. He'll say, "Mom, can you help me get dressed this morning because you're my special girl." How could anyone say no to that?

  2. "I love you so much I believe in you." I mean, amazing, right? We've adopted this new phrase as a family mantra. It's just about perfect and it's all him.


Day 636 | Winter Biking

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After nap, Chase requested a bike riding outing. As kids from Wisconsin, Chris and I immediately said no...because it's early February. Definitely not prime bike riding weather.

And then, upon reflection, we realized that it was in the mid-forties outside. That's totally acceptable outdoor biking weather (even for me!). We all had a blast and Chase is getting really good at his balance bike (apparently buying it at age 2 was a little early). 

Maybe we're not ready to trade Washington, DC, winters for Wisconsin winters quite yet. 

Day 635 | Seriously Social

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Oh, and Chase spent some time with this lion, too.
Today was a day. We managed to see three different sets of friends (four if you count the sweet friend who is part of our babysitting swap and stayed with our kiddos after bedtime) over the course of today. Whoa.

We met a new friend at the Building Museum for a play date. So fun meeting new people!

Another friend hosted us for [a delicious] dinner and lovely conversation. 

And yet another friend let us crash their house post-bedtime for a glass of wine and kid-free communicating...the night before their due date, no less!

We feel very social and very lucky for the people who have crossed paths with us in this city. 

Day 634 | Succulents

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It's my latest attempt at nurturing a succulent garden (thanks for the early Valentine's gift, Chris!). And I think (I think!) I figured out the secret: don't water it. No, seriously. My recent success with my surviving succulents (only two, sniff, sniff), is that I completely ignore them. Think, water once every few months. Crazy, right?

I'll let you know if I can keep this beautiful collection alive this time around. I'm optimistic!

Day 633 | This is 9:30am?

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Check out what my 9:30am looked like today!

My friend took Robbe for a few hours (as a new childcare swap we've started up) and I spent 2.5 hours working this morning (latte, plus music, plus candle, plus new succulent garden). Even better than that, because I worked in the morning, I had a luxuriously long and leisurely naptime to do whatever I wanted (that included working on Chase's class Valentines and Robbe's birthday invite).

Why didn't I set this up earlier?

Day 629 | Hot Russian

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I had an amazing epiphany yesterday: a hot version of one of my favorite special occasion cocktails. Enter the "Hot Russian". It's a

White Russian

with steamed milk instead of cold milk (we never use cream).

It makes me beyond happy to have a delicious cold-weather cocktail to turn to when I just need a quick warm-up on a Friday night. Yay!

Here's the recipe Chris perfected last night:

  • 1.5 oz Kaluha

  • 1 oz vodka

  • Steamed milk (we used our latte maker!) to fill the cup

You won't be disappointed.

Day 628 | Spreading His Wings

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We went to our first non-family friend birthday party today. Chase got the invite totally on his own merits and both boys were beyond excited to help celebrate.

Chase participated like a champ: ran in the relays, took tons of photos in the "photo booth," sang Happy Birthday, and said his please and thank yous. Robbe had a blast, too, mostly by eating his weight in hotdogs. Heehee. 

Such a fun family outing. Thanks to Claire and Alice (the joint bday girls) for inviting our little sweet pea.

Day 627 | Caulking

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The boys played "caulking the ceiling" for a good 45 minutes tonight while I prepared dinner. It. Was. Glorious. They played together without any intervention from me. You understand the miracle here, right?

Why caulking the ceiling, you might ask? We had another leak problem pop up a couple of weeks ago and had someone in last week to determine the cause. Until it rains, we have a hole cut out of our ceiling so that we can peek back in to check for any further moisture. The workers did a lot of caulking and apparently Chris and I have been talking about it enough that it has become a part of our child's vernacular. 

Day 625 | In Home Day Care

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I'm thinking of expanding my childcare capacity...ok, not really, don't freak out. The last few days have proven that I could actually handle another wee one running around, though. We watched a friend's three year old over the weekend and now we got to hang out with another friend's 1.5 year old this morning (and this time it was me solo). Both experiences were exceedingly positive. It helps that our friends have the best kids.

And no, don't freak out [again], no third baby plans around here in real life. I'll stick to watching our friends' babies when I've got the energy for it and when I don't have to actually rear them.