The Archie Archives

I'm so ashamed that I've waited so long since updating this blog! Life around here is happening at warp speed! We have a two year old big boy, who hasn't used his paci in a week. And a 9 months old busy baby girl, who is crawling and cruising furniture and has 5 teeth! Last night, after dinner, Justin and I watched the ball drop with the neighbors, Meghan and Daniel. Jack and Ella didn't last all night. We had a little pre-party fun with them though. We made a fancy punch drink for Jack and pulled out party hats.

Ella wasn't really feeling the festivities...Jack was :)

Sadie was in a bit of a party mood too! :)

New Years is such a fun holiday. It's amazing what each year brings, the surprises, new friendships, new opportunities, and blessings. There are some sad goodbyes too, but each year is so richly blessed and it's so amazing to me that you never see it coming! At the beginning of 2013, I never would have dreamed I'd be pregnant with another baby by the middle of the year. The beginning of 2014, I was close to a my due date after having just moved into our home. Now, in 2015, we look forward to a quiet year of just enjoying these beautiful babies and hopefully taking a little more time to ourselves.

We started out the day with brunch at Eli's table, followed by naps for everyone back at the house, and dinner at PF Changs. The day flew by, but I really enjoyed it. Ella wasn't really feeling her nap at the beginning.

Dinner at Changs was SO good! I forgot how good that place was. Jack was most interested in the huge horses outside. But he ate his dinner well too. In the last few weeks, he has become so picky, so sad! He was such a good eater! Now all he wants is fruit snacks. He and Ella both went bonkers for the coconut ice-cream that came with the banana spring rolls. Eating that ice-cream was literally the first time Ella had been quiet all night.

While I'm not much for New Years Resolutions, since most of them are abandoned by mid Feb, I've adopted a new slogan for 2015. It's, "I'm in no hurry." I tend to create stress on myself by creating these unreasonable expectations. Who, me?? (Sarcasm) And really, who needs the pressure of trying to get two kids dressed and out the door in five minutes, and for no reason...we're just going to the park. We're on our own schedule, no reason to rush. Or I blow through dinner or shopping or whatever the task maybe, sucking all the enjoyment out of it, just to rush on to the next task, and for what? Just to get more done? To be productive? I''m done with trying to be ridiculously productive. I mean, you have to save SOMETHING for tomorrow :)

Our lives are so blessed and so rich and so full, that sometimes, its as if, I have to create my own problems just to give myself something to worry or stress about. "Oh, I didn't get those cute pintrest Christmas ornaments done!" I'm done with all that. I'm done with prescribing to unrealistic expectations about how my life should look right now. There is going to be laundry up to my ears. We are going to have toys scattered around the house. My care is going to be a disaster and I'm going to run late for work/church/dinner with neighbors. Try as I may, we won't be able to do/make/create every cute handprint craft on pintrest. And that's okay. At the end of the day, I'd much rather have taken a moment to snuggle Ella, play trains with Jack, pet a dog, rub my husbands back, take a deep breath and just BE in the moment. Distraction is a tool of the devil and a very crafty one. It blinds us to the true spoils and riches in life. It prevents us from enjoying our precious days on earth. And it creates feelings of dissatisfaction and inadequacy. I'm over that. As often as I can, I will do my absolute best this year, to not let my need to move at the speed of light get in my way of just enjoying my life. Because, it is a great one. And the only one I'll ever have. So, if I had to come up with a new years resolution...that's it.

This year, Justin and I want to plan a trip. I'm going to start looking into traveling to California. We want to do wine country. We'd also like to keep up with our lunch dates that we do at least once a week. And also make more time to go out in the evenings, to movies or dinner. Yep, it's going to be a great year! I hope everyone else is as excited about 2015 as I am! Lets use the time we have to look for opportunities to bless others! Look at my sweet potato giving her baby doll a hug before we went our morning walk! I just love her!

Just a quick entry with lots of pictures...First, a few of the babies with the lovely BB. BB takes them everywhere! Jack is counting to ten now!! Not my doing. And he knows several colors. He is talking so well and continues to be well manners, all in part, thanks to BB! She is truly an answer to prayers.

Every day, they have a different plan. The children's museum, library, the park, etc. I love getting pictures of them during the day!

Baby in a basket! Cute! And who is that doll baby in the mirror :)

One morning, a firetruck was in the neighborhood. Jack decided he had his morning planned out. Haha!

The kids playing at the mall, the same day, with BB.

Visit to the library and Jack admiring his stickers...

And this is happening. Not with any great consistency, but very exciting. Sorry Jack. Mommy is just so excited! I hope these pictures are covering everything once they are posted. From what I can tell, they are G rated.

And after a quick potty break, Jack enjoys "PZZZ!" Or Pez. He loves them. And his favorite Halloween candy was smarties. Yuck :)

He's pretty cool in his dinosaur coat and house shoes (not shown).

Last weekend, we went to Lowes and stopped to look at the snow village. They were very amused with all the moving parts and music. Daddy was too!

Ella's face on the left is funny. She's all snuggled up in daddy's coat. It was chilly that day.

Jack is still obsessed with trains, "choo choo" as he calls it. Every morning and every evening its, "Sit, Pay, Choo choo." He's also started naming all this dinosaurs. Frank and Tony (they're from Long Island), Rocco and Chichi (the purple dinosaur) are friends, Bonehead (justin named that one and it stuck), Bo, and I'm probably forgetting a few others. Watching him become a little boy, developing an imagination, is so fun. He makes voices for his toys and fun little situations for them. It's great.

And, I was so glad we got the little laugh in the hands thing (on the left) that he's been doing lately. It's precious! He gets so tickled and throws himself forward burying his face in his hands. I love it.

Then, he had to be like daddy. Daddy had a cold and had fashioned himself nose plugs...so naturally monkey see did too!

These are two cute dudes.

A few weekends ago, before Halloween, we went to my folks house for dad's birthday. It was also the kids first "burnin."

Jack couldn't get enough of Aunt Tay!

My girl loved the marshmallows...

It was lots of fun.

We also went to the best corn maize ever in Grovetown. Katie, Justin, and I ventured into the maze. Thankfully we made it out, but only after forging our own path through the corn :)