Monday, March 26, 2018

Salem Lucille: 5 Months

Dearest Salem Lucille,








How are you nearing a half year old?! This past month was one of ups and downs. You started solids including rice cereal, bananas, apples, and pears. You are seeming to enjoy them more and more. You have continued to fight the winter weather and teething congestion this month. I am anxiously awaiting for a tooth or two to pop through!



You love your exersaucer and babbling away. You have really begun to find your voice and it suits you well. You have also started to play with your car seat toy and I can hear you batting away at it as the car ride moves. 




You celebrated your first St. Patrick's Day and you truly are one of our lucky charms. You enjoyed a little four-leaf clover purse filled with your green teether to get in the holiday spirit!



You have rarely met a day that you didn't love! I love watching your personality flourish and grow! You adore your siblings and light up at the sight of them. 



As always, I cannot wait to see what is in store for you in this beautiful life!

I love you!

Love,

Mommy



Friday, March 23, 2018

Brighton Kevin: 2 1/2 Years Old


    Dearest Brighton Kevin,

    The last 6 months have been so big for you! You became a big brother to your baby sister. You took it in stride and very seriously. Always asking, "hold da baby." You call her "baby Salmon" which get quite a giggle from us. 





    You love to ride in Daddy's FJ and his "lightnin'" as you call it. You would ask everyday about the cars and always notice if they are missing from the garage. 

    You are in the big toddler class at school. Your teachers are Ms. Beth and Ms. Debbie. You just love them so!

    You know your friends by name and light up at the sight of them at school: Lainey, Packy, Livy, Alice, William & Wells. You are such a friendly little guy that I have no doubt you'll be one of the most popular kids in school. 




    You love to come out of school and beam with pride at your art projects shouting "I made it." I love how you are so proud of yourself for working hard.

    Finally you were able to step into the sports arena. You had been dying to try tennis so in January you started up with a 30 minute lesson with Coach Steve. You love being on the court and get quite a temper when you don't hit the balloon with your racquet!




    You also started soccer which is going great. Your little legs stretching, running, and kicking are super cute. You take such pride in having your own sports to play.  


    You have moved up to 30 minute swim lessons because you are such a little fish! I enjoy watching your progress each week as you swim around the water.

    With growth comes attitude which you have definitely found at times. I think you are trying to keep up with your siblings and hold your own. On the days where it is just you, me & Salem, you love to show love and affection as you relish in being the big brother!

    I am excited to see what the next 6 months old for you and all your big boy glory!

    I love you!

    Love,

    Mommy


     

    Monday, March 19, 2018

    Catching Leprechauns: St. Patty's Fun 2018

    After the month of love, comes the month of luck! Two little leprechauns, Lucky O'Reilly & Colin McDoogle, stopped by for some tricks & treats! Despite the elaborate traps that the kids made, we weren't able to catch them this year!

    We also made lots of green treats including shamrock shakes, lucky charm pudding, and luck-o-irish snack mix. And of course our traditional leprechaun breakfast!

    The kids wore lots of green and four leaf clovers to bring us all the luck in the world!





















    Thursday, March 1, 2018

    A Lenten Promise

    I never took pin to paper on the type of mother I wanted to be. I didn't have some grand plan on how benign a mom would go. I didn't have specific aspirations or dreams for my kids. In my heart, I've wanted them to be kind and empathetic. To play sports to help facilitate teamwork and accountability. I always knew I wanted them to be happy. To look back and see their childhood as joyous. To have them remember experiences rather than things and to have the support of an extended family. Aside from Ryan & I, I wanted them to have my parents, siblings/their spouses, and nieces/nephews to lean on and love & be loved by.

    But I didn't have a manual for how to do all of those things. I just kept being myself and reminding myself of my mind & heart. Of who I am and how I was raised. I read articles and educated myself on the challenges of motherhood. Somewhere along the way, I began to raise my voice. Then I began to yell. At first it wasn't all the time, but slowly I could feel myself losing control of how elevated my voice would become when the kids weren't listening. Which started to feel like all the time!

    A mixture of mom guilt followed by reassurance that this was the way to get their attention and then usually tears for my helplessness was a constant cycle. I kept telling myself that I could not continue this way. That we could not operate like this. That there had to be a better way.



    So on the Tuesday night, eve before Ash Wednesday, I knew what I needed to give up/change/work on for Lent. I would not yell at my kids. I would not raise my voice at them. I would change the way we all operated and communicated.

    We are two weeks into this Lenten season and I am incredibly proud of myself for my commitment to my promise. It was 11 days before I raised my voice at the kids. And when I did it, it was short lived and they got the message. Which is in essence how raising your voice should work (not often, brief, yet attention getting and helpful).

    I have been conscious of my tone and my blood pressure rising. I have given myself timeouts and walked away from them in the house if needed. I have given my children grace which is something that I lost awhile back.

    It certainly is not easy. There are 4 of them and 1 of me. They are loud in general so I used that as an excuse often to why I needed to be louder and yell more. But I do hope and pray that I am changing the dynamic with how we communicate as mother & children. I pray that my Lenten promise becomes our way of life and not just a 40 day challenge.