Fill in the Blank Friday

1.  When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is,   look at the clock and decide how tired I am based on how much sleep I got. Then I get up to go to the bathroom and then get back in to bed to cuddle with Brett and Ems since she's the one that wakes us up! 

2.   I can hardly wait for   this fall....it looks like we might be going to HAWAII!!!! 

3.  The quickest way to my heart is    a hand written note or card filled with affirmation or cleaning my house      because     they are my two love languages! 

4. A little known fact about me is that    ?? I can NEVER think of anything for these questions!! 

5. The best part about my job is    as a Realtor I get to watch people as their dreams of home ownership come true and be a vital part of that which is both fun and rewarding! My favorite part of being a stay home mama is when I get both of my kids giggling together, usually through tickles and snuggles. Also, watching Emersyn grow up and mimic so many things that I do...a great reminder that staying home with her is valuable and she's learning. 

6. Something I just couldn't live without is    Everett's sleep sack/swaddler. It makes him go to sleep amazingly easy!! 

7.  Something useful that I wish I knew how to do is   SEW! But someday I shall learn!! Someday... :) 

8 Months Old

My dear sweet Everett....how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....

I love your sweet puff eating face. You LOVE puffs now and if you're in your high chair you screech until someone sprinkles some puffs onto your tray! I love puffs too....they buy me time when I'm cooking dinner and getting your food ready. 

You continue to be the happiest, sweetest, smiley-est baby ever! 

This past Easter you rocked your first necktie. There are many more neckties in your future. Mama loves a good looking boy in a tie! 

You will hang out with anyone and flash them your darling grin which brings them immediate joy!! 

We took your first trip to the beach this past month and you were a little unsure, probably mostly because I let your sister hold you up for this picture. 

You continue to look super handsome in sweater vests. 

You adore your seester. 

You bring your grandparents and great grandparents a lot of happiness. 

You love playing with other babies. 

Everett, you are growing and changing so quickly! You now sit up on your own entirely and have started to wiggle on your tummy which I bet is going to turn into an army crawl pretty soon. I'm not encouraging mobility though so if you want to take your time learning to crawl and walk, that would be great! :)

You adore your Daddy. When he walks into the room, you look at him like he's a celebrity. When he talks to you, you light up and laugh ecstatically. It's so so sweet.

You are still wearing a size three diaper, though I think you need a size four when you go to sleep at night. You wear clothes that are 9months, 12months, and 6-12 months depending on the store that it's from.

You love sleeping in your car seat. If we are out and you are tired, you just want to be strapped in your seat and left alone. Emersyn was like that too. You sleep great in the car and have only cried in the car maybe 3 or 4 times in your whole life.

You aren't as into binky's as Emersyn was. You like it when you go to sleep at night but never hang out with it during the day. You don't really care about it in your car seat either. When you go to sleep in your crib, you like to snuggle up to your Glow Seahorse that Emersyn got you for Christmas. We still swaddle you at night because you still love it, though I recently learned that you don't need it. Daddy put you in your crib the other morning while we were all getting ready and you were crying because we knew you were tired. We didn't swaddle you because we needed to leave the house soon but you still passed out anyways. It was darling to see you sleep unswaddled.

Everyone always asks me if you are always as easy and pleasant as you are when we are out and I say, YES! You are an amazing baby and we're pretty sure that every day is the BEST day of your life.

I really appreciate that you've started sleeping through the night again. :)

Everett David, I just love being your mama. I can't say it enough. Daddy loves being your Daddy and your sister is pretty much obsessed with you. Life is good baby boy, and we are one blessed family.

All my love,

Your Mama

True Love

Yesterday was Brett's grandma's memorial service. It was a busy day for our family but filled with wonderful memories. She lived an amazing life of service. I learned so much about her at the service that it made me wish I had gotten to know her better in a way, though she was *sick* for much of the time that I knew her. Hearing about her life made me feel like we would have been friends with similar interests if we had been peers in the same age group.

It's a funny small world out there. One of our good friends grandma set up Brett's grandparents (Gayle and Art) on their first date. They met in July of 1950. They were engaged TWO weeks later...then married three months later. Their first child was born in July of 1951, a total honeymoon baby. They had seven children. I think that is just about the sweetest love story ever. The flowers on Gayle's casket were from Art and they said, "Love of My Life, 61 years". Their love was inspiring and I just adore Brett's grandpa even more then I already did, now knowing more about their incredible relationship. He was Gayle's caregiver for 15 years after she developed a rare muscle disease. The Pastor read a letter from Art to Gayle at the funeral and it was very special.

It was not the best idea to bring a 3.5 year old and an 8 month old to a 90 minute funeral service but we survived, basically taking shifts out in the lobby with the kids. I felt bad because I wanted Brett to be able to be in most of the service since it was his grandma but since I was singing, I had to be there to not miss my cue.

My singing went well. It's always interesting singing in new place with a new sound system but it went well enough and I was honored to be a part of such a neat service.

Life is slowly returning back to normal. We have logged many many miles in the last month or so and it is tiring. Most of those miles have been family related and that's important but still exhausting (and expensive...gas prices stink!!).

Driving home from the funeral yesterday, I looked over at my husband for the past 9 years and had no doubts that we will be married for at least 61 years and that at the end of our lives, people will blog about our cute love story too. :)

Monday Miscellany

I've decided that Monday Miscellany posts are just a good way to recap what's going on. I'm thinking of doing a daily blog challenge in May because I miss blogging!

{1} Everett turned 8 months old yesterday. How can that be? He is the most precious baby boy EVER. I need to write his 8 month letter since I skipped his 7 month one, ahem. I skipped his 5 month too but no one's keeping track, right? Good thing he's a guy and probably won't care when he's older. :)

{2} We had an amazing time in Sunriver the weekend before last!!! It was so fun to get away with friends and relax. The house that we stay at is incredible and there's plenty of room for kids to play and adults to chill. I can't wait to go again. Here are some fun pics from our trip!

Everett and his future betrothed 

My friend Vanessa's daughter Audrey was amazing with the kids...even fed Everett bottles for me, score!  

A sisterwives moment, ha ha ha. 

{3} I'm digging the way that blogger is uploading photos now!

{4} On Saturday we celebrated Brett's grandma's 96th birthday at the beach! It was a beautiful day at the coast!

Ems and I made this canvas for Grandma Stanton. We used 96 buttons for her 96th birthday.  :) 

{5} I'm DESPERATE to go on a vacation with my husband. Or just an overnight date somewhere. I'm finding that quality time is more important of a love language then I thought.

{6} This week Brett's sweet grandma went to be with the Lord, a very sad day for our family. She was an amazing woman and has left quite the legacy behind. Her funeral is tomorrow and I am going to be singing a song, "Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone". 

{7} My BFF in Idaho found out this week that she is having a baby GIRL after two boys. I am ecstatic for her!!!!! 

Fill in the blank Friday!

1.  Today is a great day because,  it's Friday which means Brett is off for the next two days!! I also get to hang out with some of my favorite kiddos (in addition to my own) while their mama plays in an orchestra tonight. It's also a good day because I'm starting a new adventure in getting healthy via Take Shape for Life. Oh boy, wish me luck. 

2.   Tomorrow I will   enjoy driving to the ocean to celebrate my kids' great grandma's 96th birthday. Brett isn't able to come; he's redeeming a Groupon that I bought him for Christmas for a 5 hour grilling class with some friends. He'll have a great time but I wish he were coming to the lunch. It's supposed to be the warmest day of the year so far on Sunday in the high 70's. I'm stoked!!!! 

3.  My favorite time of day is     nap time       because     it just is. :) I adore spending time with my kiddos but nap time gives me time to breathe and think and watch TV get stuff done around the house. I also love the evenings after dinner before the kids go to bed. 

4. Sometimes you just have to    let things go in life and not over think.

5. A song that I just can't get enough of lately is   "We are young" by Fun . Love it!!!! 

6. My favorite accessory is   painted nails. This may not count as an official accessory but after our weekend in Sunriver, I've renewed my love for painted nails. 

7.  My favorite thing about this week was   spending time with Brett's grandpa after the passing of his grandma. Even amidst total sadness, Grandpa lit up when Everett gave him his signature grin and that made my heart so happy. 

We will miss you Grandma Jensen!!! 

Easter

Wow, it's been awhile since I blogged. For the sake of documenting, I'm still going to post about Easter even though it's been a little while.

I've decided to make hosting Easter at my house a tradition. I love the spring decor and making a pretty table scape. It gives me a good excuse to decorate for spring too. This year I knew well in advance that I would be hosting which was a pleasant change from the past couple of years of frantic thrown together holidays. Emersyn's first Easter was spent at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I was not pleased. Spaghetti is like the polar opposite of what Easter dinner should be. Anyways, it was fun to know that Easter was at my house and be able to do what any planner likes to be able to do....plan and create a Pinterest board of course. :)

The menu for Easter dinner was amazing!!!

Source: melskitchencafe.com via Patti on Pinterest

Source: melskitchencafe.com via Patti on Pinterest

These biscuits tasted just like the ones from Red Lobster.

Source: marthastewart.com via Patti on Pinterest

Brett ranted and raved about these potatoes for days. They really were delicious and a fun different take of our normal *cheesy* potatoes side dish.

Easter morning was kind of crazy. We had to be at church by 8:40am and since we all had to get up and ready, we didn't have time to do Easter baskets before hand. I almost skipped first service so that we could enjoy our morning as a family but I felt like I had committed to choir and didn't want to bail on that commitment. My kids are not early risers most of the time so we had to wake them up to get ready for church, another reason for limited time in the mornings. We went to church, enjoyed a light brunch there along with amazing music and then headed home to get ready for dinner. Brett put the kids' Easter baskets in the entry way and we *joked* that the Easter bunny had stopped by while we were at church. ;)

I always have so much fun putting together their Easter baskets. I usually just get them things I've been wanting to get them anyways, despite the holiday. Emersyn has been wanting an umbrella for awhile so I was so happy to put one in her basket. Everett got some sippy cups and a couple shirts that were new in his closet. I just folded them nicely into his basket and he never knew the difference. :)

Emersyn wore the dress she wore for our friends wedding last year for Easter and it worked out perfect. I got her a blue and yellow sweater to go with it to match Everett and they looked darling together. I curled Ems hair too and it actually held the curl for longer then an hour, a new record!

I love a pretty table! I did this entire table scape for super cheap.

I already had the baby food jars.

The wheat grass was $.89 in the bulk section of Fred Meyer.

I paid about $.50 for the potting soil.

I already had the burlap and tiny clothespins.

The place cards were $1.50 at Joanns with a coupon.

I divided up one bunch of flowers from Trader Joes that cost $5.99.

My embroidery floss eggs cost about $2 to make.

That was it!

We got some new white dishes from Ikea and I just love them! My every day dishes are very Italian looking and even though I love them, they don't mesh well with holiday tables. Now I can have fun plac emats for different occasions. Yay.

After our delicious dinner we did a family Easter Egg Hunt with Emersyn's cousins.

After the Jensen's left, my brother and his wife came over and got some cute pictures of my kids. I LOVE when other people take pictures of my kids, makes me so so happy. I feel like I am always the one with the camera so when someone else captures my kiddos, it brings me joy.

It was a wonderful holiday!