Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Entrenched.

Before we had kids, "getting away" meant far away. Like, on a plane. To a beach. With drinks and sand and books and guacamole.

Guacamole is definitely one of my love languages.

When you're in the trenches of parenthood, "getting away" takes on a broader definition. Like a trip to Target alone. Or a root canal.

Seriously. Some days a root canal would honestly be preferable to one more minute in my house with bickering children. At least I'd be alone and the only one screaming.

Nate and I are definitely in the trenches. And it's not fun. Filled with beautiful, joyful, precious moments with our sweet kids that we will surely miss someday? Yes. But fun for us as a couple? Eh. Honestly, right now it's a lot of work just getting from point A to point B every day without biting each other's head off. Turns out when you spend 15 hours a day giving everything you have to your children and job, there is very little left to give your spouse. These days the bulk of our conversation takes place on the couch from 9-10pm and is usually a combination of the following statements:

"Should we water the flowers?" (Yes. Ugh. Be back in a minute.)
"What do you want to watch tonight?" (Arrested Development.)
"Do we have any ice cream?" (Silly question.)
"Will you get up and get it while I switch the laundry?" (Sure.)
"Did you remember to give the dog her pill?" (Yes, Abby. I always do.)
"Don't forget we have to take more diapers to daycare." (Run upstairs for diapers.)
"I'm exhausted, let's go to bed." (Finally.)
"Ugh, the sheets are in the washer. Let's just sleep on the mattress pad." (Too tired to care.)
"Will you let the dog out while I get us some water?" (Sure.)
"ARGHHHH, the outside light is still on!" (I'll go back down.)

Riveting, right? I just can't understand why we're not having more fun!

Thank the good Lord for grandparents. For our anniversary this year, Nate's parents gave us a gift card to a hotel in downtown Minneapolis. It graciously included free childcare, which was a good thing because my feelings on staying in a hotel with small children lie somewhere between "NO" and "HECK TO THE NO."

Saturday morning we shipped our kids off to grandma and grandpa's, traded our minivan for my mother-in-law's convertible, and headed downtown for 24-hours of much-needed fun.

It's amazing what 24 hours can do for a relationship. 

Look, I got dressed and put on makeup! On a weekend!
Hot dogs at the Walker. Enormous.
Cute hubs.
So close.
Game faces. (He beat me by 2 points.)
Amazing.
Sorry, I'm one of those annoying people who take pictures of my food.
Bacon confit. If you insist.
Well-rested and well-fed.
Wind in our my hair.
We may not have gotten away away, but we did get far enough to remember just how happy we are to be in the trenches together.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Free to be you and me.

No better way to celebrate freedom than with friends who let you be who you really are...who don't care how messy your house is, how dirty your kids are, or whether you serve them leftovers on a major holiday.

Or who are maybe just too polite to say anything.










  

 


These two. Seriously.






Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Proof.


Photographic evidence that Audra has teeth. I know you were wondering. We were, too.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Priorities.

Life has an annoying way of derailing my plans.

Plans for redecorating.

Reading.

Writing.

Painting.

Crafting.

Working out.

Baking and eating to negate the working out.

I had a lot planned for myself this year. But it turns out there are simply not enough hours in the day for my plans. I'm too busy kissing skinned knees and reading bedtime stories and defusing tantrums and teaching little boys how to ride their bikes and blowing bubbles and catching bugs and singing songs and giving baths and dressing up like superheros and eating cheese balls at the beach.

And, at the end of the day, spending a few minutes picking up toys because arggghhhhh.

I want balance. I strive for balance and will continue to do so. But there are seasons of life when it just can't be had. Right now my babies need me more than I need to update my blog or paint my bedroom. And that's okay. Hard to accept some days, but I'm working on it.

My plans can wait. My time with these precious littles can't.

















  









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