wednesday, in pictures.

When I woke up last Wednesday the first thing I did was pick up my camera. I started taking pictures, and a few hours later decided to take pictures for the entire day so I can figure out what exactly it is we do all the time (of course, every day is different, but really where does that time go?).

9:30 // we climb out of bed. Bruce stayed in the bedroom with the kids while I threw breakfast together. Bruce had to be at work at 11 on this day so breakfast was fast. The kids ate toast and bacon, dad ate this quick scramble of eggs with veggies we already had cooked that I threw in. He's the only one in our house who likes scrambled eggs. Fried or poached is the only way the rest of us enjoy them.

10:00 // we all start moving around. One of my resolutions was to make the bed every morning once we were all up, but Bear loves getting cozy after everyone has left. So I let him sleep. And snuck in some cuddles.

12:00 // Dad has gone to work, the crazy has set in. I washed one of Hank's wool covers while he discovered he could climb into the bathroom sink and turn it on (thank goodness for Penny's "baby alert" calls). He also destroys some puzzles and manages to pull off his diaper. Little boys are something else.

1:00 // Instead of finishing up some chores I had to do, we filled up little sister's drawers with her clothes and diaper covers. I'm so, so excited for April to come. Except we are pretty sure she is not going to have a name. That's a whole different post.

1:30 // We play. We laugh. We have fun. This was a good day, except when Hank fell off the couch after I took that top photo. He is still rocking the bruise from it.

The next few hours we went to Target to pick up some snacks for a road trip and to visit my grandma. The camera stayed at home.

5:00 // Hank finally naps. Penny and I pull out her new art set from Christmas, and we test out the watercolors. Note: they are terrible and we should invest in some higher quality ones, because she really does love watercolors. I avoid the pile of laundry on my table. It isn't going anywhere.

7:30. Dinner has been made and eaten (leftovers, they were boring and not photo worthy). We made gluten-free brownies for dad. Silly to even call them gluten free, they are the best brownies I've ever tried. Snap a quick photo of my growing belly. 

8:45 // Dad is home! We aren't excited or anything. The kids went to bed about an hour later and we got to settle down into our own adult time. It was a nice day. 

my semi 52 week project.

This is me trying to take more pictures. Trying to get completely comfortable with my camera again. Trying to capture my children since they tend to grow overnight. I saw a lot of people do this last year and thought it seemed so hard. But why? It's once a week!

Hank ::: I don't know what he was upset about. But that pouty face breaks my heart. You can bet I went and scooped him up, just not before snapping a picture.

Penny ::: we got this organizer a few weeks ago with some baskets for their toys. Mama needed a quick pick up, and we can just pull a basket out and let them go to town on it. She decided this one is a rocket ship, but needed to be bigger for her co-pilot (brother).

Ideally I would like to get pictures of the one in my belly once a week as well. I am going to be gentle on myself though and focus on getting pictures of the two that are running things around here. Maybe next week baby #3 will make the cut. 

rebuilding.

New year, new start. 2013 was not my year. I didn't even realize it until it was almost over. I'm almost positive I had some post partum depression I was not dealing with, then added on hormones from a new pregnancy and, well, that's some ugly stuff. I was not a good mother or wife, and I'm not proud of that. My marriage hit a rock at the end of December which made me wake up and realize how terrible I had been acting. Ever since then though, things have been great. The fog has been lifted. I'm seeing clearly now and everything is completely different, in the best of ways.

My goal for this year is to focus on rebuilding. Rebuilding my relationship with my husband, with my kids and myself. Rebuilding our life and focusing on being happy, despite whatever bad things the new year could bring. 

I have a few small goals for the year:

>> Give birth to a healthy baby.

>> Be patient. Use every situation as a learning opportunity to gain more patience. 

>> Get outside every day for at least 10 minutes. It's hard during the freezing temperatures and 100+ heat, but completely doable.

>> Keep up with my cleaning schedule, but forgive myself if things simply do not get done when I expect them too.

>> Make my husband and marriage a priority. I have a hard time letting go to time to myself and leaving the kids, but it's a change I have to make.

>> Don't yell. The dog eventually stops barking, the 4 year old stops being a pain, and the baby eventually sleeps. Yelling makes it worse. I must remember that.