(Day 59) and so we celebrated.

Today was a normal day. Cleaning, feeding kids, putting them to sleep...

Cuddling them as soon as they woke up from their naps when they were still warm and snugly...

This picture makes my face look really fat, which I promise it's not and just normal

Feeding Brielle fruits for the first time...

 Verdict:

Not a fan of peaches 

Applesauce was tolerable.

But rice cereal with mama's milk: fav

Playing outside in the snow...

Munching on some snow

But even with all that normal, today was also a very non-normal, and special day in our house. Richard got his MCAT scores back today...and (drum roll) he knocked that ball OUT OF THE PARK. To give you some sort of way to understand the magnitude of it:

--The school in Arizona (one of our top picks) said he needed above a 20 and he was in

--Average MCAT scores for Podiatry schools are 21 and at tops 23

--He only took 2 weeks of the first half of Physics and Organic Chemistry (both a 2 part class) which was just review and they taught him hardly anything. Those classes make up 1/3 of the test. and he had never taken them.

--Unlike most people who take months to study full-time for the MCAT, he only was able to study very few hours a day for less than 3 weeks

--And he had 2 kids, one less than 5 months old (aka no sleep)

Ok all that considered, we found out that he got a 28!!!! That is huge!! So with his GPA and MCAT sores, not only is he a shoe-in for Podiatry school (no pun intended...), but he is also a candidate for the most "high end" M.D. (medical) schools!!! That is the average score that students going to medical school has! I am so proud of him. When he was talking to the other students taking the MCAT, they couldn't NOT believe that he was taking the test without having taken Physics or Organic Chemistry. They thought he was crazy and everyone told him he wouldn't get above a 21. That's what we were hoping for. But my husband is a genius, so of course he went way above and beyond what people expected. He just does that.

So we celebrated by taking the kids to McDonalds for a fun family dinner/outing. Liam had a blast. He went through the play thing all by himself, played around and came down the slide by himself. For the first time. Richard and I looked at each other and with that look of "how did time go so fast" on our faces, realized, 

our little boy is grown up.

It's funny what the sight of your kid playing in the McDonalds play place all by himself can do to a parent.

(sorry for the merciless bragging...after all the hard work and worry y hubby and I have put into this huge test, I would say we deserve a moment of ridiculous bragging.)

(Day 58)The facts

It's the fact that...

I was tired today because I was busy laughing, talking and giggling with my hubby until too late

I am sore from literally running all day which enabled me to get so much done today

I was able to function today and actually get stuff done without a nap, even though I didn't sleep much last night

Even though I spent all day putting kids to sleep (one would wake up right as I was putting the other down for a nap), at least they slept well

Richard surprised us by coming home early today

Liam ate really well today and downed 2 pieces of my homemade pizza for dinner

I had just enough quarters to do all the laundry

The kids went to bed without a fight

There is almost no snow on the ground and it's almost march

While reading Liam books today, I found out he can count to 10

Liam loves his sister so much he has to hug her, especially her head (just like I loved to do to my younger sister...)

They are starting to play together and make each other laugh

This small, heaven-on-earth moment happened today:

"Yes, I might be cute and small, but I will still dominate"

I freakin' love this picture! He was trying to make her smile

Once again, smiling at brother

It's the simple fact that those 3 are mine forever that makes my normal Monday full of laundry doing, grocery shopping and house cleaning where I wasn't done and able to sit down until well after 10pm, and my whole body aches from all of said work, heaven on earth.

(sorry about the picture overload and the run-on sentences. it's late)

(Day 57) Sundays

I have said before that I love Fridays best. But I can't ignore the fact that Sundays are amazing too. They might even trump Fridays for a couple reasons (GASP):
--Richard has no option to do homework so that isn't a knife hanging over our head when we are spending time together as a family
--We can't feel guilty for not doing the laundry, deep cleaning the house etc.
--We have every reason to just relax together
--We get to go to church and have our spirits feast on truth, rejuvenating ourselves for the rest of the week
--It's a day to start over and realign yourselves to do better in the upcoming week
Convinced?

Sundays really are the bomb (was that too sacrilegious?) and today was an especially good one. We were able to slowly start the day, napped while the kids napped, went to church and were spiritually uplifted in wonderful ways, made goals to do better this week (go to bed earlier + instead of watching TV shows after the kids go to bed, do creative things together + work more on our spirituality), had a yummy dinner, put the kids to bed, picked up the house together and are now enjoying the quiet of a clean house. And homework wasn't mentioned once. I say, that is heaven.

Hiding in a fort we made him before getting ready for bed. 

He was jumping and moving around so much in his little fort I couldn't get a clear pic!

 Yesterday, my sweet, beautiful, active, smiley, happy, cheerful, always-moving, social baby girl 

"turned" 6 months old!! I can't believe it. How is it, that only 6 months ago she joined our family?

It feels like it was the fastest 6 months of my life, but at the same time, it feels like she has been apart of our family forever. Maybe, it's because she has been :)

Hands in the mouth: a constant for her

I LOVE this pic. Richard was talking to her and she was smiling so big at him! She loves him.

About to get ready for bed

I am now ready to start the week.

Even with Richard having to take a hard test and another 3 days of being alone while Richard heads to yet another Podiatry school interview looming ahead this week,

I am ready.

Bring it.

(Day 53) This too shall pass.

It's a flaw of human nature to feel like whatever hard thing we are enduring, will last forever. That nothing will change and we are stuck in the hardship we are facing. I like to think of it as: we are blinded by the darkness of a temporary trial and can't see the fact that there is, indeed, light beaming at the end of the tunnel. 

That blindness sucks. Can I get an "amen"?

If I have learned anything through my 2 years of parenthood it is this: This too shall pass.

I have been thinking about this phrase a lot lately. As a lot of people can attest, I am in the hard part of parenting. The grunt work. The sleep training 2 babies at the same time. Teaching my 6 month old how to take a bottle. Teaching her how to eat solids. Teaching my 2 year old to be obedient and to share. Trying to make things for dinner that my 2 year old will allow near his face. Cleaning the house as said toddler runs behind me undoing everything I clean. Trying to juggle 2 very different sleeping schedules everyday. Making all of this work in a tiny apartment. All that "fun" stuff. 

But having done all those things for the past 2 years straight, I have come to realize something. This too shall pass. The baby will eventually sleep without her swaddle. The toddler will eventually eat. The house will eventually stay clean (even if it's only for minutes). Eventually, the grunt work will be over. I refuse to be blinded by the sometimes tempting mindset that things won't change and the "hard" will always continue. Cause that thought is more daunting than the actual work.

And obviously, this doesn't apply just to parenting. For example: Richard is still in school and I need to remind myself, that one day he will be in a job he loves with awesome hours. The crazy school schedule will end. This applies to everything in life. Everything hard. Don't allow the human tendency of feeling like the hard won't end take away the beautiful fact that there is light gleaming ahead of you. 

Little man in mid-jump while we were puddle jumping...taken with my phone

Because it all will end.

Not just the hard, but all of it. 
The hard and the wonderful that is simultaneously occurring along with the "dark". Get what I am saying? It's a round-about thought I  have been constantly trying to remind myself of thinking about a lot and wanted to share, but it's sort of hard to convey.

While the hardship and the grunt work is occurring, there are specks, large and small, of glorious moments of beauty that will also end with the stage of life you are in. Because it all ends. That's the double edged sword of it all passing.

So while eventually my kids will sleep, eat and learn to share, they will also stop needing me, stop loving me completely unconditionally, stop needing me to kiss their owies, stop needing me to come and give them hugs after nightmares, stop giving me slobbery kisses and stop needing me as much as they do now. Eventually Richard will have an awesome job he loves, but he will also stop having the flexibility to come home after classes for lunch for hours if he is ahead, or leave for the day at 10-11 and we will have to live a normal 8-5pm tax-paying-mortgage-slaved adult life.

My point: Not only is there light at the end of the tunnel, but there is also light in  the tunnel. 

And that is a light I wouldn't miss for anything.

So while I take comfort in the fact that 

This too shall pass,

I must remember that not only will the hardships that might be present end,

but also the wonderful that occur right along side the hard.

If anyone reads this:

Whats the light in your tunnel?

And if you aren't sure, ask someone not in your situation. The grass is always greener on the other side :)

Anyways, thought I would share the thoughts I am having. Because who knows. Maybe somewhere, someone might need the same pep talk I am giving myself. 

...I seem to do a lot of pep talking to myself...o my. Pathetic? Maybe.

(Day 52) It's ok.

It's ok.
To stay in your pajamas all day.
To take a nap.
To not do your make-up.
To not do your hair.
To not deep clean the house.
To not run errands.
To not even leave the house.
To not make an extravagant meal
And instead...
Read books with your son while laying on his floor
Dream of houses and rentals where you might live in 5 months
Enjoy the fact you already cleaned your house the night before
Take extra long admiring your pretty baby after her bath
Let your little man play in the sink with running water
Not let your body be cold by going outside
Just enjoy the moment.

Little cheezer. As soon as the flash from the camera went off he would give his hilarious smile without fail.

He loved playing with the camera remote

I let him play with the remote for awhile because he loved watching the light flash and then giving his cheesy smile

It's ok.

To every once and awhile slow down, take a breather and enjoy the normal "nothing-special" days.

Guilt free.

In fact, you probably should.

(Day 47-50) The sweet, the funny, the sad and the cute.

Yeah ummm where did this week go? And the weekend? Blasted by me in epic speed. So I am behind in my blogging in bad ways. Here is my catch up from this week:

***

Day 47

Thursday

"The Sweet"

He is very proud of his contraption :)

Liam loves playing in the potter box when Brielle isn't asleep!

Since Brielle was about 3 weeks old, she has been sleeping in the living room. She was way too noisy to sleep with us (snoring, grunting, you name it) and I don't want to put her in Liam's room until she is not eating at night. The living room worked for awhile, but as she got more aware, as soon as we put her to bed, we couldn't use our living room. We were annexed to our bedroom. It was fun, for awhile, to have the excuse we couldn't pick up the house after the kids went to bed, but that got frustrating to not be able to do that if I really needed to. So for Valentines, Richard designed and built on Thursday a contraption we lovingly call the "Potter Box" (reference to potters room under the stairs...sad i know). It's just a box he built around her bed that doesn't allow light or much sound in. Basically, he gave me access to my living room after Brielle goes to bed!! It's been awesome. She loves it and sleeps so well in it! (don't worry, it is totally safe and ventilated so it's no danger to her in anyway). 

My hubby is so sweet and wonderful! 

Day 48

Friday

"The Funny"

We have started to drink yummy green smoothies in the morning for breakfast and Friday morning Liam had the biggest seed stuck in between his middle teeth! It was really funny looking :)

Day 49

Saturday

"The Sad"

So after dinner on Saturday night, we were watching some of the Piano Guys music on youtube (love 'em...) and one of Liams favorites came on. Of course he requested for us to listen to it over and over again and while it was playing he was dancing so cute and Brielle was also moving all over the place to the music (whats new? she is ALWAYS moving!) as well. I got the camera out to record both of them cause it was dang adorable. And this is what happened 3 seconds after I turned it on: 

Poor girl! She is always launching herself everywhere and because she randomly launches, we frequently almost drop her and or she will almost whack herself on something hard. This time it happened.

And don't worry, I laugh too every time I watch it. 

I might be the worst mom in the world. 

But I know she was fine, it sounds way loud because she hit the keyboard and it mostly just scared her. She was totally and completely fine. 

So keeping that in mind, I have to say, it's pretty hilarious....I am the worst...

p.s. I freaking love how excited Liam is in this video and Richards face on the moment of impact...

Day 50

Sunday

"The Cute"

throwing it back to daddy

Today while I was making dinner and cleaning the house, Richard sat down and tried to teach Liam how to catch a ball :) It was so cute and watching them play and the joy on Liam's face was one of those moments where I feel the spirit whisper to my soul that my life is perfect and I am greatly blessed. 

And I am filled with such gratitude beyond words for my wonderful little family

because they are the reason my life is "perfect".

(Day 45) Heart day of love

Yes, blurry. I know. I didn't know my camera was on manual focus.

(like my ridiculous name for the post? I couldn't come up with anything, so Richard named it...haha)

***

I will admit it. I am spoiled. Rotten.

I have the bestest of the best hubby and I count him as my greatest blessing. Anyways, before I get too mushy, I will just leave it at that, even though I would love to go on an on about him and how wonderful he is.

Valentines this year was awesome! Richard stayed home with us as much as he could, which was so nice! He cleaned the house and then made us a delicious dinner. Huge steaks, asparagus, his "signature" potatoes, garlic/parmesan rolls and our favorite Sobe drinks. It was so good. We had planned to have strawberries dipped in chocolate, but stayed outrageously full all night. If I didn't have a raging sore throat right now (it sucks. It came on after all our Valentines festivities though, which was greatly appreciated), we would be stuffing our face with strawberries dripping in chocolate. 

Also, yesterday Brielle had rice cereal for the first time! I am not sure what she thought of it. She made "gross" faces but then lunged with a wide mouth towards her spoon for more, and grabbed the spoon to shove it in her mouth. Silly girl.

I am finally caught up. I don't have a post for today, Day 46, cause I am sick. I spent all day lounging in my pajamas, at the doctor or filling my prescription for my nasty sore throat and achy body. Poor Brielle has the same thing. Tomorrow I will take a picture...