Walter Mitty and Mojo Ranch

Jim and I got to go on a date night this past weekend. And it was wonderful! 

We got to see a movie! That may not seem like a big thing to most people. But to put it in perspective, the last movie Jim and I went to was before we were married. Hadn't been in a theater for over 4 years! And what a great one to be the first in-theater movie of our married lives. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fantastic movie. We enjoyed it very much. We also enjoyed being able to sit through a whole movie! If you have, or have had, toddlers you know exactly what I'm talking about.

After the movie we had dinner at The Brewhouse. They have, as their name would suggest, a great selection of beer, which was fun for Jim. He loves to try new ones. He got a nice stout porter from a local brewery, which got his approval. And they have a wonderful menu. If you stop over, we highly recommend the jalapeno bacon cheeseburger with mojo ranch, which is a wonderful spicy ranch dressing. And don't forget to dip the fries in the mojo ranch as well. Mmmm... Just thinking about it is making me hungry!

I do not have any pictures from our evening out for two reasons. First, I was enjoying the company so much that it never crossed my mind. And second, because we both wanted to be "unplugged" that night to focus on each other. So aside from check-ins pertaining to the kids, we didn't have our phones out. The best part of out time on the town was uninterrupted conversation. Catching up with each other. It was overdue. And very delightful.

Having three young children makes it both more difficult to get out for date night, and more important to make date night a priority. Little people can require so much of parents that we often get very focused on accomplishing all that needs to be done; becoming consumed by diapers, feeding and nap schedules, and the continuous circle of dishes, laundry, and house keeping. Not to mention peek-a-boo, "I'm gonna get you", tickle wars, and "daddy's a horsie". Can't forget those. Sometimes we get so caught up in being parents that we forget who we were first: husband and wife. 

After our date, when thanking my dear friend for being so kind as to watch our children for us, I said something that I would like to repeat here, because it hit the nail on the head for what had been occurring in our home recently and what a change that night out had made: 

"We really needed to remember that we are a couple, and not just a couple of parents." 

Our little pioneer

My how time sprints by when we are busy living life. Having three little ones to chase, and tend, to laugh with, comfort, scold, and snuggle, to teach and learn from, can sure make the days pass with amazing speed.

Sweet baby Garrett is now three and a half months old. Adorable. Quick to smile; just on the verge of laughing. Intentionally grabbing things. And very talkative.

(Be prepared for a lot of cute baby pictures!)

Here he is ready for church a few Sundays ago.

As you may know, his first few weeks of life had a couple bumps. But things were ironed out and he was well before long. For a couple weeks. Then we got a bit of a shock one night when we were changing his diaper. He had developed an inguinal hernia, a hernia in the lower abdomen. It was quite a scare at first, but inguinal hernias are, for the most part, pretty benign. However, if they are not repaired, they can become a very serious health issue. This is part of why we call him the pioneer. He is the third child, but the first to ride in an ambulance (which was my first ride in one as well), the first to be hospitalized and get an IV (which occurred during those first bumpy weeks). The first with a medical condition requiring major action, and so will be the first to have surgery. Yes, my sweet little baby is scheduled for surgery on Valentines Day. They had wanted to schedule it sooner, but then he came down with RSV, a particularly nasty upper respiratory virus that can be pretty dangerous for babies. He weathered the virus pretty well and did not have to be hospitalized, which we count as a major victory. But to be on the safe side, his surgery needed to be postponed, and the doctors policy is a minimum of 6 weeks for an illness such as RSV. So Jim and I will be spending Valentines Day together... in the waiting room at the Children's Hospital. No parent is comfortable with the idea of surgery for their child, especially their baby. And we definitely have some anxiety about it. But we trust in the Lord. We know our children are in his hands. And in what safer place could they be? 

Baby smiles... the best.

It should be an outpatient procedure. Very non-invasive. He will not even require external stitches. After a few hours in recovery he should be allowed to go home. And he should be fully healed and back to himself in about a week. His hernia does not cause him any pain right now, but it does seem to cause him a lot of gas issues. Bubbles often get trapped in the hernia and can cause him a fair amount of discomfort. Needless to say, Jim and I will both be very relieved to be on the other side of his surgery, with a healed and healthy baby. 

Enough medical chitchat. 

Garrett is not only a pioneer for unpleasant things. Among other things, he is our first real passy baby. What a difference it makes for nap time and "getting the bottle ready" time! The first two only had interest in them for a few weeks. 

Once upon a time, in my pre-parent days, I was determined to be anti-passy. Any time I need a good laugh, I just look back to those pre-parent days at all my ideals and the things I believed would be absolute certainties for my parenting. Oh what a picture we paint of our dreamy perfect world through those rose colored glasses. All the "I would never"s and "I will always"s. Always gives me a good chuckle. Here in my real world of mothering, that passy is a blessing. I think it is definitely a contributor in Garrett's calm demeanor, and helps me maintain mine as well. :)

Some footsteps he is content to follow. He loves the jumper, just like his big brother did. 

Its been an adventure. We are so thankful to have him.

He fits right in with our busy little family.

Doesn't let much get him down.

Had to add this great sequence of faces I was lucky enough to capture on my camera.

He sure does make our world a brighter and happier place. 

A few more weeks will see my big boy's second birthday and my little boy's surgery and recovery. 

Life sure is busy. And it will only get busier. But I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Turtle Party

Hard to believe my big girl is three! 

(And that I am so behind, nearly a month and a half, in posting about her birthday!) 

That little girl is about the most amazing little person I have ever known. 

And she is growing up into a beautiful young lady. 

She also happens to really love turtles. Which made for a very fun birthday party theme! Mama got to bring out her crafty/creative side. I made her turtle cakes. It was so fun! Though credit must be given to my wonderful husband, because without his help and problem solving abilities I wouldn't have pulled it off. 

I had an idea for the turtle cakes. Did a lot of research. Saw a lot of ugly cupcake "turtle cakes" that I didn't want to resort to. And a lot of over the top, professional style cakes that I don't yet poses the skills for. Decided to try my own way. Ran into a bump, literally. How would I make it rounded for the shell? Really didn't want to cut and carve and such. Hubby to the rescue! "You could use your Pyrex bowls. They are oven safe, aren't they?" Yes, yes they are! Had to guess on the baking times, don't recall what they were.

Round shells, a whole cupcake for heads, halved cupcakes for the legs. And a bit of the excess, that was removed to make the bottom flat, cut into a triangle for the tails. 

Coming to life...

Turtle cakes! So fun to make! And the birthday girl got to help, which made it all the more special. 

On to the important stuff: the party! 

We didn't lollygag much, straight to the cake! Yum!

Daddy bringing the cake. And my dear friend Denise, aka Super Mom, holding her baby and mine. :)

She made sure it was front and center for her.

She wanted the turtle head. Haha. And, in true toddler fashion, ate only the frosting.

Presents!

Always lots of helping hands when its present time. 

She was quickly crowned princess of the party. 

Audrey helping her figure out a new toy. Audrey is quite knowledgeable about princesses. Whereas there is rarely princess talk in our house. For this gift, it was good she had a subject matter expert available. :)

She was wonderfully spoiled. And loved all her gifts. 

She was especially excited about having her very own lip gloss. Which she, of course, later tried to eat.

Coloring and playtime

After gifts came coloring. She loves most anything artistic. And coloring is something everyone could enjoy.

The long curtains for our sliding glass door are always a favorite among littles!

Here are a few of the turtle coloring pages we printed out. We had many more, some more difficult and more lifelike for the bigger kids, but also a lot of fun simple ones like these. Turtles are just fun and cute! 

As a belated birthday present, she finally got her blanket... 

that I started working on before she was born! Ahem... I was busy...

She loves it! It was a long time coming, but so worth it. 

My sweet three year old! Such a smart, helpful, creative, loving, fun, sweet, incredibly responsible for her age, beautiful little lady. A great big sister to her little brothers. A much loved, and truly wonderful, daughter.

My Big Girl!