Priorities

One of my Facebook friends posted this quote recently: 

Priorities. Not a very big word but sure makes a BIG difference.

 

 

I would not say that my priorities have changed, but my routine has recently, which has lead me to consider how my priorities fit into each day/week.  As a result of my job change in early July, I now have a different work schedule.  I still work the same number of hours a week, but they are spread out differently into four shorter days a week.  I was having some trouble managing my time at home the first few weeks, but I feel like things are starting to fall into place better.

 

One of the biggest changes has been in priorities for my Wednesdays off.  My goal for Wednesdays off is to enjoy my children.  The tasks at home will get done and my kids will not remember how clean the house was but they will remember time with Mom.  I am especially aware of this with Luke because I will only have full Wednesdays with him during the summer (which is only 4 more for this summer!). 

 

Today was wonderful:)  I woke up with the goal of enjoying the kids.  We saw the free showing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Wehrenberg (Luke's pick of course:)), picked up a birthday gift for Luke's friend, picked up lunch at Culver's, saw Daddy at home for lunch, Luke and I did a few little chores around the house while Nora napped, made breakfast for dinner, and did some more football gear/shoe shopping for Luke tonight. 

 

It may sound like this day was not all that exciting for Nora, but that is certainly not true:)  I had my reservations about bringing Nora to the movie, but she did great! 

 

Ready for the movie to start

Lounging in her stroller

 

Dozing in her stroller

She also got to sit in the big cart at Target with Luke for the first time, which she thought was great:)  She sat still in the straps the entire trip around the store!

 

 

She also thoroughly enjoyed breakfast for dinner and got some time in her swing in the backyard while we watered the yard/garden.  As for running errands, she loves being in the backseat with Luke.  We regularly hear her giggling at something little he's doing:) 

 

All in all, my priorities have not changed, but my time management has adjusted a bit:)



Love Blogging

This is why I love blogging: 

I just went back to the first blog I started when Luke was born.  I wanted to read about Luke as a one year old. I found that he and Nora are very similar, though I believe Nora is bigger than Luke at this age (if memory serves me correctly he was only 20 lbs).  While on our old blog, I found a picture of Luke in the bathtub at a year old and had fun comparing the picture of Nora in the bathtub at the same age:)

  The picture quality is very different, but they are both on their knees pulling up on the side of the bathtub:) Pretty similar looking babies!

High Five for Friday!

I realized last week after posting my High Five that I forgot to include my favorite pics from the week!  How absurd!  I guess I'll have to make up for it this week:)



I've so enjoyed our outside space this summer.



Settlers of Catan with Greg & Cally
Brent won the first game and I, miraculously, won the second:) 

Playing together at the doctor office. 
I love how they love each other:)

This girl is always trying to stand up in the tub!
(P.S. doesn't this look like Luke???)

What's more fun than playing in a box???

Practicing her nun-chuck skills at Ethan's
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party

A view of my beautiful walk back to my parent's after work. 
(Mentioned in last week's High Five) 

#1

This High Five is actually a couple weeks late, but I kept forgetting to mention it.  We are so very grateful that my dad (aka Papa) is back on his feet after surgery Memorial weekend and aggressive antibiotics through the first week of July!  Papa has been our in-home childcare since October (when I went back to work after having Nora) so he shares a special relationship with our kiddos (Nora especially).  He was not able to help with the kids during his recovery and we are so happy he is back to 100% and able to hang with the kids again while Brent and I are at work:)  He is such a blessing to us in so many ways and we are so happy he is feeling better and able to enjoy this first summer of retirement.

#2

I got to have lunch with three lovely ladies (Liz, Janet, Kate) this week that I spent A LOT of time with growing up!  Kate, Janet, and I have known each other since elementary school and we spent tons of time at each other's houses growing up.  The three of us started going to school with Liz in middle school, but I don't recall actually meeting Liz until high school.  Even though we spent a lot of time together through high school, we haven't all gotten together for nearly three years.  It was so lovely to catch up and see their lovely faces! 

#3

We're celebrating ten years of marriage today (which I've already posted on), but today's the actual day:)

#4

I got to Skype with another lovely friend, Krista, this week.  She and her family moved to Arizona this spring and I miss her terribly.  It has been so great to be able to see her face and hear her voice via Skype so I can get my Krista fix:) 

#5

We had a great day celebrating my cousin's wedding last Saturday and got to see most of my Dad's family.  It was a beautiful day, with great food and company, and fun dancing with the kiddos:)

Our One Year Old

At one year old, you are:

• Saving several words: hi, dada, bye bye (sounds more like da-di, usually accompanied by a wave), all done (sounds more like da-da with all done inflection, usually accompanied by the sign)...sometimes it's tricky to know what you're saying since most of your words start with a "d" sound, but we can usually tell based on context:) 
• Using the signs for "more" and "all done"
• Pretty good at throwing fits to show when you are displeased with us
• Sleeping 12-13 hours/night with morning and afternoon naps
• Eating just about anything and are transitioning to whole milk great!
• Able to get to standing position and back to sitting/crawling by yourself quickly now
• A lover of music and dancing to it
• A lover of books!  You sits and page through board books while chatting along telling the story:) You're not such a fan of sitting and listening to books read to you though (you always tries to steal the book)
• Understanding more and more every day.  You'll wiggle when Daddy asks you to wiggle, you respond to our questions of "more" or "all done" while in your high chair, and you respond to "no" or "no touch" pretty well (though we still have progress to make in this area:))
• Very stealth at stealing Luke's glasses from his face
• A healthy, happy little lady:

Weight

21.8 lbs

60%

Length

28.7 inches

34%

Head Circumference

18.5 inches

92% 

A year's worth of laundry basket pictures:)

Ten Years

I've been reflecting on ten years of marriage with Brent (officially on Friday) and some of our highs and lows.  But mostly, I've been thinking of the things that have unexpectedly become our reality.

Ten years ago, I never would have expected...

• Brent and I would love gardening together.  Neither of us had any experience with gardening (the vegetable or flower variety), but we've really enjoyed gradually learning more about it.  One of our favorite things is to walk around Sargent's exploring plants and deciding where our favorite plants could fit into our yard/landscaping.
• Our children to be 6.5 years apart in age.  I knew a family growing up who had three daughters who were each seven years apart in age.  As a teenager, I thought that age gap would be great.  As a married woman, that was not our plan.  We started trying for a second child when Luke was 2.5 years old.  You can do the math...it took a while.  Now that we have our two blessings 6.5 years apart, we love it!  Luke is an amazing big brother to Nora and their age difference has revealed many perks. 
• Brent to be working in banking.  When we were married in 2003, Brent still had one year of school left at Crossroads College to complete his psychology degree.  Throughout the psychology program and his internship with a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist he was very interested in the field.  But, he also realized how wearing it would be on him.  In 2005, while I was pregnant with Luke, he started working at Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union as a banker and the rest is history.
• We wouldn't be dog owners.  As soon as we could have a dog where we lived, we "adopted" Cougar from Brent's parents.  Cougar, a yellow lab, had been Brent's dog since middle school and our plan was to take him as our own once we had a place.  We also wanted a puppy to start out our family, so we found Goliath, a mastiff, the month after we moved into our house.  We learned a lot about dog ownership, especially puppy ownership, through our experience with Goliath, and then Kobe, a german shepherd, a few years later.  The main thing we learned:  we are not cut out for dog ownership for many reasons.  Cougar has left this world and Goliath and Kobe both have homes much better suited for them.   We've learned that we prefer raising children;)
• We would be runners.  I should clarify.  Brent is a runner.  I am someone who runs sometimes because I know it's good for me.  The point is, though, that neither of us ever considered that we would choose to run miles without being chased:)  I ran track in high school, but only sprinted and hated running even a mile.  Brent ran a lot playing sports, but again mostly only sprint distances. 

It's interesting to think of what the next decades together (Lord willing) have in store for Brent and I, and I can't wait to discover them with him by my side.

Getting Ready

Registration....check!

 

Weigh in....check!

 

Gear purchased....check!

 

One Picker boy awaiting his first RYFA football season...check!

 

Little boy football gear

I'm still waiting on a few things though...

 

...Luke to see what he thinks of actually playing and tackling in pads.  He's always loved playing football with Brent, cousins, uncles, Papas, and friends, but that's been a little more low key than actual tackle. 

 

...This mom to accept the reality of her son actually playing tackle football...

...already...

...*breathe*...

...at least I have a month until practice starts...

High Five for Friday

#1

As a result of my new job, I now park at my parent's house and walk to and from work.  It is a lovely seven block walk through historic southwest Rochester and I love it!  The streets are lined with beautiful mature trees, shaded sidewalks, and unique older homes to admire.  One thing I love about my walk is smelling the trees and flowers.  I remember as a kid walking on some of the same sidewalks with my mom while I collected black walnuts to bring home for the squirrels to eat (wasn't it sweet of me to do some of the squirrels' work:)).  As I was walking back from work today, I recognized the smell of the black walnuts and it brought me back:)

Black Walnuts

#2

We had the opportunity last weekend to share a lot of time with family, some that we rarely see.  Brent's dad's family had a reunion at Ruth & Kerry's house while Kerry's sister, Kathy, and her husband, Jerry, were in town from Texas.  We had a nice day visiting on Saturday with Kathy and Jerry, and Kerry's brother and wife, and Kerry's mom and step dad.  Then on Sunday, we celebrated Nora's birthday with my parents, Bridget and Ross, and my grandparents.  Both days were beautiful for playing yard games and grilling.

#3

I've recently learned that several friends are expecting babies!  A few of these friends have had a long wait for their pregnancies so my excitement for them is compounded:) I loved pregnancy and all of the expectation, planning, and hopes that went along with it so I love celebrating along side friends as they experience this amazing time in life.

#4

We got our baby back this week with the help of antibiotics! She had a cold for a week and was quite fussy, so after the typical questioning (is it teething, is her throat sore from her cough, are her ear hurting), we got an appointment and learned she has an ear infection.  This "high five" is not for my sick baby, but rather my feeling-better-with-the-help-of-antibiotics baby:)

#5

I'm sitting on the deck with my laptop on a beautiful evening typing this post.  Enough said:)

Mommy & Daughter

I took this picture of Nora last week while we were celebrating her first birthday...

 

And it got me thinking about a picture of me at a year old...

 

See any resemblance?

 

I sure do!

High Five for Friday

#1

We got to spend an entire week at Pine Haven Christian Assembly with lots of wonderful friends and their families and a few family members of our own.  It was so fun to all be staying at camp where our kids could play together and we could catch up.  We also go to spend a lot of time with the Ericksons while they were in town from Baltimore.  It was a busy, fun-filled couple weeks!

Riggin kiddos at Rochesterfest parade (before camp)

Nora and Aunt Cally

Enjoying a walk along the river and time at
Silver Lake Park with Ericksons

Sweet Mya

Nora loves to swing

I think every adult got a turn to hold
or push each child:)

Doubling Up!  Holly pushing Jael and Mya

Jada asked Luke if he would hold her hand...
pure sweetness:)

See, different kiddos with different adults:)

Miss Jada at Luke's baseball game

#2

We celebrated Nora's birthday with the Picker side of the family and friends last weekend.  She got some adorable outfits, fun toys, and a walker toy/trike that plays music and makes sounds.  The clothes all fit great and she's having a great time with her toys:)  We will celebrate with my side of the family this Sunday.

"Riding" her new trike:)  She really just
sits on it and bounces to the music.

#3

The kids got to spend Thursday and Friday with the Blue Papa and Gma while Brent and I worked.  Gma was off work so they had their days filled with fun plans and the kids were spoiled with tons of attention:)  Luke even got to have a sleep over!

#4

I started my new job this week.  I've met most of the new team I work with (many of whom have been very welcoming and helpful) and have started a small amount of training.  I'm hoping to dive into more training next week so I can start contributing soon!  I'm adjusting to the schedule change and how it impacts life at home.  I'm hoping to get that worked out just in time to go on vacation again the beginning of August;)

#5

I know it sounds simple, but we've had some beautiful weather recently!  It was 80s and sunny all week at camp and it's been great since we returned home as well.  The l-o-n-g winter is still in the back of my mind, so I am extra grateful for the beauties of summer this year!

Farewell Baby Nora

I put our "Baby Nora" (as she is known to many) to bed for the last time last night and Toddler Nora awoke this morning:)

Last night as Baby Nora

 After a day with Papa and Gma while Mommy and Daddy worked, we all met up at Luke's baseball game.

 

Playing with Gma

Fake laughing with Gma

Cuddles with Daddy and chatting with Papa

Daddy and his One Year Old

Attacking the camera

Luke playing first base

He got a lot of action including a catch from his buddy, Carson,
at third base, and a grounder right to him for an easy out.



Attempting a pic of Mommy and
the One Year Old...

As good as we're going to get:)

Happy Birthday Baby Girl .....  er, should I say Big Girl:)

 

More to come on her One Year Update, pics, and stats.

Perennial Paradise

This spring/summer is the first time Brent and I have planted perennial flowers and I'm loving watching them grow and bloom!

 

Day Lilies

Only the yellow flowers have bloomed, but we're patiently waiting for the pink plants to flower too.

Hydrangea

I've always been fascinated by hydrangeas, but my love for them truly began on our honeymoon to Cape Cod ten years ago. I finally have my very own periwinkle hydrangea!  

 

Clematis

This baby has done the most growing of all of our plants.  It is easily 3 times the height when we planted it in June and we got our first flower!  I just love these huge, purple flowers.

 

Lamb's Ears

We went out on a limb buying lamb's ears.  Other than the info on the tag at Sargent's, we didn't know anything about these plants.  We just liked the fuzzy appearance to their leaves.  They have grown a lot too and sprouted these purple-ish flowers.  I expected them to stay flatter to the ground, more like a hosta.  Surprise, surprise:)

 

 

We're excited to add even more to our landscaping through the years.  I love the anticipation of our perennials growing back and blooming for years to come!