one day get-away

Right now I am enjoying the quiet.  I know in as little as a few minutes I will be greeting my two oldest in our hotel room. I had a good night's sleep. I got up once to pump at 3am and then again at 7:15 Ella got up again at 6 but I got to sleep quickly after. So now that i'm finished (after 30 minutes of pumping!) I decided to blog during this peaceful time.  Usually at hotels, pumping is not so fun because I have to be super quiet and I'm usually cold. This time, I did well in the dark instead of bumping into things and making loads of noise, and I prayed the whole time. I prayed for my kids, and our time together, for rain which we are in almost desperate need within the next two weeks, etc.   I've come to realize that I only have one more month with Kate left before she goes to kindergarten. I know I will be so crushed, but it's good for her to go. It will be a little harder with Maddy because she won't have her big sister to play with but I'll have to pray harder that I can be more intentional with her and her activities. I got to spend loads of time with just Kate.... so this could be my time with her. Hopefully by then Ella will be old enough to where she isn't as fussy and doesn't need my attention as much. Maybe we can even get some groceries!

Yesterday, like most days, I have zero energy. Plus, Polly (our summer help) is usually so busy with all three families that I don't like to have a strict schedule or things for her to do all of the time. We just took it easy most of the day and especially in the afternoon.  I think once I start sleeping through the night, or even when I just have to get up once, that might make a difference with my energy levels. I thought by now my body would just get used to this, but it hasn't!  Anyway, we had a couple from church over on Sunday, so I tried to clean up any clutter around the house, and luckily on Saturday I made sure to get the kitchen as clean as I possibly could so when Polly came, there really wasn't a whole lot to do besides play with the kids. We are out of a lot of groceries so the only thing I could make was homemade mac and cheese, and I only had gluten free noodles left!  Peter has meetings this morning in Fargo, so we left after Kate and Maddy's swimming lessons and arrived at the hotel to basically give Ella a bath and have a snack and go to bed. The kids got to bed after 10 and I pumped until almost 11 and fell asleep quickly.  Now this morning I promised swimming and I have to figure out how I'll pump, then pack up, and then walk over to the mall for lunch and maybe a little shopping. Then we have to race back home for swimming lessons (hoping we can make it!) and not much time for anything else.  Anyway, as I was getting ready for the hotel, Ella was fussing really bad. It turns out she had pooped (finally) and after her change she still wasn't content. I put her pacifier in and she ever so gently laid her head on my shoulders and closed her eyes.  What a sweet moment! I just sat down and enjoyed her for a bit.  I feel like I need to do a lot more of that!  Soon I will order breakfast, pack, probably pump, swim, and then pump again and then go to the mall.  I hope it goes smooth!

kitchen

I realized that I had blogged a whole bunch about the kitchen, and then when it finally got finished, I never updated! I told a couple people I would send pictures of the cabinets we chose, and instead of uploading to facebook, I decided just to put them on my rarely updated blog.   Ok... here goes.

 detachable faucet:  this faucet is awesome. I only have to clean once instead of a separate sprayer.  It's nice because I can have a strong stream, a shower faucet type spray, a medium spray.

 LOVE OUR SINK!!
deep granite sink with a side for rinsing, which helps so that we put our dishes away right away!! We chose this because often with our old kitchen, we'd hand wash a lot of dishes, but then would leave them in the sink to "dry" instead of dry them ourselves. Now we are forced to!

I loved our old pot rock. Or, at least I loved not having to store them in a cabinet! Peter actually found this one at Lowes. It has a light built right into it so it's storage plus function!

The "island" is our baking center.  It's not done yet though, because we need a power strip along the sides.

Sugars and breakfast fixings.

This was supposed to be just for cookbooks, but I decided to easily store my recipe box along with my mixers for easy access.

Leather::: easy to clean!

love this too! We store all of our cookie sheets, cutting boards, and etc up here. Soooo handy.

pull out cereal cabinet

Half pantry-- all pull out because of how deep it is, and we purposely made it as deep as our fridge. We store all our pastas on the top (labeled, too) and cans, and snacks as well.

Colanders and pot covers

Bench storage for kid things-- coloring books, playdough, and then we decided to put the unused cookbooks to the right.

Our knives are under our utensils so that the kids don't grab for the knives! plus, i hated having them on the wood block.

Pull outs for all of our ziplock baggies and chips and bread on the bottom.

Open storage was supposed to be for plates and etc, but ended up decorational. I dont have a ton of white dishes yet so we'll collect over the years to strictly white.  Below is a sign painted just for me!

 kids can set their own table!

 trestle table for bench seating. also has a built in leaf and extends even more. We can fit 10 people around here! (most are kids)

Intentional

There's been so many times I think about writing and then forget.  Or, simply, I don't have time.  I feel like the stretch of super business is finally over, only to draw right into harvest! It doesn't have to be busy.... well, yeah, it will. It's not exactly busier for me throughout the day..... just at night I suppose when Peter is gone.  I usually spend a good 45 minutes to an hour with Ella before bed, and Peter takes care of baths, snacks, and putting the older two to bed. I nurse, and then feed, then rock, and then pump.  I'm going to have to figure out a different way to do this if he is going to be working later every night :( Yet, I don't want to always have to give up nursing..... because of it being SO busy the last couple weeks, Ella will only nurse on one side. She keeps spitting it out and then trying to latch on... she gets frustrated when it doesn't come out fast.  This morning though I enjoyed snuggling in bed with her and nursing her for a good 5 minutes and then holding her hand.  I've unfortunately noticed that the whole week I was getting a good extra half an ounce to an ounce has slowly disappeared. Once in a while I get more than I "should" but not lately.   It's kind of a disappointment. Peter says he can't wait until 6 months of Ella's life so that I can be done pumping. It has been stressful on all of us.  I just don't know how I could give it up.  I can't explain it, but it is just an attachment I have...and letting go of that is like letting go a little part of Ella! If only I had more milk.  Yet I make just enough for her..... why do I stress about it!

It will be nice, though, when I can be done. I just only feel better about it when she is 10 months or older. Even then I have a hard time letting it go.  I am excited (really excited) when i can have more time to exercise, read, and mostly sleep. Play with the kids........ be with peter.... more time to keep the house looking better...   I think i just need to be in prayer more that it is just a short time in life, and to enjoy it as much as I can!! My attitude is going to shape this whole summer.  I am blessed! Sheesh, I have three healthy girls! 

Today we got up, had breakfast, and went for a walk to the post office and to the store. Kate had colored some pictures for someone and wanted to mail it to them. So i let her write out her address and we got the stamps and she put it on and mailed it herself.  Then this morning we came home and made out own pizzas. Both of them rolled it out and decorated with their fav. toppings.  I want to be intentional these days to just enjoy my beauties.  They are super precious!