Week at a glance (and a little bit more...)

 I guess I took a month off from blogging... Sometimes, I feel like the last thing I should be doing is wasting my time getting on the laptop to blog because there's a million other important things I need o do while JJ sleeps and Eva is at school.
   However, looking back I'm sure those "really important" things were mundane things like unloading dishwasher, folding laundry, or taking a shower.  Haha.
  The past month has been a busy one with me turning 30 (gasp!) , JJ's chronic ear inf, and the usual craziness of Jay's business.  Here's a good look at what we all do in the morning at 7 am before the craziness begins...

Schwartz family in the morning looking a little rough

my cuddle bug

 Since, I don't want to blog about a whole month, although we had a fabulous easter with the whole family over at our house,  I'll stick to this week.

Monday - Had a great time with friends Andrea and Lauren and their babies/child at my Big Backyard at Botanical Gardens. Between the three of us, we had one 1 month old, two 3 month olds, one 7 month old, one 2 year old, and one 3.5 year old.  We looked like the traveling kid circus.   That is until....we saw a couple with (no I'm not kidding) a set of triplet toddlers AND a set of triplet newborns!!! We just all stared in disbelief that anybody would want more kids after 1 set of triplets.

Tues - Yay Stomach Bug! No, actually it was awful.  Eva recovered fast but there was a mountain of laundry to do.  Luckily, she was the only one that got it AND nothing came out the other end (sorry if that's too much info).

Wed - What did I do Wed?  Oh yeah, I procrastinated finishing laundry by having the twins come over to visit :)  JJ loved touching Harry's toes and looking at pretty Posey.

 

Harry working on his dance moves

 Thurs - My FAVORITE day of the week!  JJ and Eva both go to school! And I get to go to spin class and then whatever else I want to do.  Actually, I end up frantically running into a million stores and then cleaning the house so its not that glamorous.

Friday - Today was fun - finally got to meet my friend Laura's baby Henry.  And I cannot believe I didn't get a picture.  He has the most hair I've ever seen on a baby :)  He is a cutie and mom and baby are solely nursing.  You go momma Laura!   Heading over to my mom's soon to get plants to go in the front where we now have a huge sun spot.  Oh yeah, thank goodness the sun has returned!  I can't take one more rainy day!

 Jay and I worked together as a team to paint the back room a soft green- amazing that Jay actually painted!  I love how it turned out!

 
 

I figured out how to make cake pops - thanks Katie Baker for helping me!

I got my monogrammer to work again for a day 

                                my weekly craft project - painted burlap for an upcoming baby shower (yes, I know, its chevron)

             

                Eva's Easter Goodie Basket
  

                                                  

                                                            this is the Easter Bunny that woke up Eva - poor girl

       

watch out - we have a jumper in the house!

somebody needs to tell Eva that one day this little squirt is going to be a lot bigger than her

 
















                

Spring Break

  I just realized I haven't blogged since the 1st!  Having the stomach bug and dealing with JJ's 2nd ear infection has left me a little behind.  Anyway, this week is Eva's "spring break" so we had been having fun spending time together and getting out of the house.


Friday - My friend Andrea had her 2nd child - baby Logan! I forgot how little they are in the beginning.  So excited to have lots of playdates with big brother Landon and baby Logan.

Monday - We have hot water!  We finally hire plumbers to hook up an instant, tankless water heater (not sure if I said that correctly) so it won't take 2 minutes to get hot water in the kitchen.  And the temperature is set at a safe limit so nobody will get hurt. This is also really cool because 2 people can take a shower at the same time and nobody will run out of hot water.  Its the little things that excite me these days.
My friend Katie had her baby Jackson! I cannot wait to see him - he looks beautiful.
And JJ is sitting by himself! He loves sitting up and playing with Eva like a big boy!  I still won't put him on the kitchen floor or any hard surface just in case.

       

Tuesday - Craft day (or attempted craft day) at Aunt Shannon's.  We attempted to make burlap door decorations but the 4 kids age 4 and under kept us from doing much.  Who would have thought?  I finished the decorations later and they came out pretty cute.

   

   

Wednesday - I meet up with my friend Lindy and her daughter Kylie who is Eva's age.  We went to storytelling at the library and checked out some good books. Then we grabbed lunch at chick fil a - Eva had a blast!

          Thursday - I went to the dentist and I have no CAVITIES!!! This is huge for me because I always have at least one.  But I have been using Rx toothpaste, flossing everyday and I guess its working.  Its a pain but its definitely worth it.  Afterwards, we went to the zoo with the cousins and the twins.  I don't know who was more tired at the end - Eva or me - but it was a lot of fun.

   

Friday - Tomorrow Jay and I take off to Hot Springs without the kids!  Can't wait!

Past Week Happenings

   

  1.  Monday - JJ turned 6 months!  Halfway to a year already!  JJ did great getting his shots, he only cried for 30 seconds afterwards.

           

2.  Tuesday - stayed in at the house and did fun stuff like make play dough.  I learned that you really need to add the food coloring when the ingredients are wet but Eva didn't care about getting purple hands of course.

 
          2. Wednesdays are Eva's favorite day of the week because its "cousin Olivia day!" Today was a special treat because Robinson Tree Company came to remove the stump with a huge truck and claw-like thingy.  I tried to find the name of the claw-like thingy but to no resolve.  The girls were somewhat impressed  but not nearly as impressed as Jay.  I couldn't get the video to upload :( here are some pics
 

3.  Thursday - While both kids were at school, I went to spin class for the first time in over 2 years!  It was brutal but I hung in there and made it through the entire class!  I am really enjoying the DAC gym, trying to make it 3 x a week is my goal.

4.  Friday - I spoke to eva's class on career day.  The children were all very attentive and engaged which made me feel good.  I talked about the 5 basic food groups and brought some of Eva's fake food and had the class tell me what food group it was in.  I have to say, I really enjoyed it and it made me want to be an early school teacher!  Maybe I'll get my masters in teaching...

Halfway to a Year

  Wow, I could say where has the time gone but I know exactly where its gone.  In and out of carseat.  Naptime.  Holding.  Rocking.  Bathing. Pooping.  Cleaning. Laundry. Lots of Laundry.  Feeding.  Oh yeah, and lots of Loving.
 

JJ who I like to call "my buddy" at 6 months has really let his personality shine.  He is a a happy baby unless you take something out of his hands like the remote.  He will let out some grunts followed by a cry that stops as soon as the remote is placed back in his hand.  Loves to smile and laugh - except for when I try to take a picture. His smile will last about .002 seconds in front of the camera. Lots of "raspberries" and squealing. And he is very ticklish. Oh, and we call him Mr. Sweaty Feet because his feet are really sweaty!!  Eva calls him stinky feet and they do kind of smell sometimes which makes me really nervous how bad they are going to smell when he's 16!  Good thing I splurged and bought odor barrier in his carpet pad.

"tickle tickle"

JJ's favorite things at 6 months:
squash (dislike apple/pear)
Sophie the giraffe (chew toy)
Eva
Remote
crinkly noises
bath time
laughing
being outside especially in ergo carrier

"not big on smiling for the camera"

   We are sleeping better except sometimes after his 3am bottle he thinks its time to party.  Must take after his Dad. Baahahaha.
  He has 2 nice chompers (I forget the technical term for which teeth they are).  Since breaking through the gum (doesn't that sound pleasant), the drooling has stopped and the late evening fussiness.  Hopefully, we get a little break before the top teeth come through.

 

  JJ can sit unassisted for a few seconds with the help of his hands but then topples over.  He has really out grown his infant bathtub but not ready for the big tub with Eva.  What is a 6 month old to do?
           I love my buddy so much!  Truly is a joy and I hate when I cannot be with him because that's all I think about (thankfully, I'm usually with him 24/7).  Hoping these next 6 months slow down. Ha!

                   


 

JJ 1st day at PDO & Craft of the Week

  Today was a big day for baby JJ and for me when he went to PDO for the first time today at St. Lukes.  This morning showed me that I am truly grateful that I do not have to get two little ones ready for school 5 days a week.  I give big time props to those parents that do it because it is STRESSFUL.  I would be getting JJ ready and I look over and see Eva pulling all the covers off my bed I just made.  It was like one step forward and one step backward. frustrating.  Anyway, we finally made it out of the house and made it to school by 8:30.  Its so nice to be able to drop both kids off in the same place.  JJ will only be going on Thursdays which is so nice so I can do stuff like go to dentist, vacuum car, or maybe a lunch date kid free!

   I was walking down the hallway to get JJ and could hear his giggles :) makes me so happy that he's so content there.  Also, on Thursdays only one other baby is in there so he gets lots and lots of attention. I am very pleased.  I picked him up early so we waled to the gym where Eva was doing gymnastics.  I knew that by letting me see her I was potentially creating a disaster, but to my surprise she waved and kept on going!  She would get on the bars and afterwards look at me for approval and I smiled and clapped.  She's getting to be such a big girl. 

I always like to add my craft thing of the week so here are the painted plant containers i did.  Now, all I need are plants to go in them.

What its like to have a 4,3,2, & 5 month old

  As I hear the thunder boom, it sounds like we lucked out and got some outside play in before the rain rolls in.  The cousins came over for a day of crafts, hide-and-go-seek and lots of playing.   Its so much fun to see how far they have come with sharing and their language development.  The days of "use your words" every 5 minutes are over.  Thank goodness! It used to be non-stop "mine!mine!" so we've come a long way. 

 I bet Eva will talk for JJ for at least the first 5 years and he won't be able to get a word in. I think my sister translated my mumbled words for at least....wait....she still does! 

The one thing I know for sure is that as difficult and tiring these early years have proven to be, it is flying by way too fast.  I guess that's why I seem to take a picture every 2 hours.  Jay is always telling me to put the camera down, but I know that one day he'll thank me when he looks back at all the pictures and says, "I can't believe they used to be so little."

Everything was good until the princess castle came apart

I told them we couldn't go outside until someone put Olivia's shoes on.  As you can see, Eva was quite the helper.

JJ wearing the shirt I painted - he's thrilled!

                                          

Weekend Fun

We had an awesome weekend!  My friend Anne came over to watch the kiddos - thanks Anne! - so I could go see my very pregnant friend ,Katie, at her baby shower. She looked fabulous as she always does.  It was a rushed day as I had to leave early to get to Alaina's reveal party which I will blog about later because she wanted to wait until today to tell her co-workers.

          On Sunday we had a family outing to Shelby Farms (our first time actually to take Eva).  It was a little windy but walking through on the trails it was fine.  Eva pretended she was little red riding hood and we were running from the big bad wolf.  It was a gorgeous day - not a cloud in the sky.  JJ slept the entire time in the ergo on me (love the ergo).

 

Eva on Hay

Eva did great walking about 2 miles!!   We even got really close to a hawk!  It was in a tree and it never flew away even when we went right beneath it.  Eva said, "that's a big bird!"

 
  Eva was so tired at the end, she forgot about going to the playground at shelby farms.  oh, I almost forgot, I gave Eva a haircut!

 
   She looks so much older now :(  Not ready for Eva to grow up.