{2012- A Year in Review}

{My Top Ten List of 2012}

1. In April we welcomed little Faelan Seeley Ellsworth to our family! He is the happiest baby I have ever seen and such a blessing to us all!

2. In July our little men turned 2! We had a pirate party planned but just as great plans go (especially right after having a baby) it didn't work out... BUT my Grandparents blessed us with a little water party at her house for the boys and our good friend's (Keren, Anna & Joel). It was so much fun.
I'm looking forward to their third birthday, I have something fun up my sleeve. ;) 

3. I started doing yoga with my sister-in-law Harleigh, I can't even begin to tell you how much this has impacted my life. So Amazing.

4. The KC Zoo. We have spent many but not enough days at the zoo! My Grandparents got us a Zoo membership and we are loving it! The boys now know the names of almost every single animal and ask to go to the zoo every day!

5. We are still living in the same duplex. Which is such a blessing, rent is cheap, there is enough room for our little family. I am so very thankful to be here and not where we came from.

6. In September Joshua had been at his new job for one year. Such a great blessing.

7. In November Joshua starting working the day shift! It isn't his favorite, since now he has to work in the freezer and it gives his shoulder trouble. But it is great for us at home getting to see our #1 man more often! Us being able to eat dinner together every night, as a family is something no one should take for granted.

8. We started shopping at the Farmers Market even more then the year before and I'm hoping to shop there even more then that this year. Also we are planning to have a little container garden in the backyard.

9. We bought a van! It was such a blessing and came at the perfect time. Thank you Cousin Melissa! She asked me if we had found one yet and we really hadn't looked so I got on craigslist and found the perfect van for us. Less then our budget even! I don't know how I lived without a van before! ;)

10. There were several tragedies this past year involving shootings and people losing the ones they love. This is certainly not a top ten favorite from 2012, but when stuff like that happens you begin to understand why is it so important to be awake and intentional with your time and with the ones that you love.

{A little of my heart this week}

I cannot believe we are heading into a new year already! I'm excited for what it will bring and a little nervous. When you have babies you just envision them growing up laughing and playing having a grand ol time going on vacation and learning how to ride a bike.

But...

Our world is a scary place, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Oh how true that feels now in the days after such a horrific event.

I don't want to miss out on the good memories being worried about what tomorrow will bring, and I don't want to be so carefree about the future that I am not present in this moment. 

I think that sums up what I feel I need to take into the next year, being awake, not distracted by things that do not matter (facebook, hygene (hehe) ;) , ect).

My dear sister in law said during yoga class, nothing is a challenge everything in manageable. (She says a lot of very inspiring things.) That is my new mama mantra "This is manageable" ... deep breath...

Balance.

December at the KC ZOO

Here are some pictures from our zoo trip! 

{So Very Blessed and Thankful}

Wow. Just Wow.

The owl hat I took into The Olive Branch sold the very first day they had it. I am so thankful for this time of the year and all the blessings that The Father has poured out on us.
I now have quite the tall order from the store, and a private order from a customer... I am just feeling so thankful for this opportunity to do what I love. I have an amazing husband who supports me no matter what I'm into (knitting, crocheting, homemaking, now yoga, gardening in the spring) He is right beside me 100%. I am so very blessed. I am able to stay home with our boys, and love on them all day and if the house is a mess and he comes home to happy kids and yarn everywhere, he doesn't complain. He pitches in and does what he can to help the evening go smoothly. I am so very thankful for his day shift. The boys wait at the window for daddy to get home and get so upset if they hear a truck and it's not daddy.

 We all love him so much.

{Sleep, where art thou?}

It is 4:00 in the morning. The big boys have already been awake for an hour. I guess that's what happens when they fall asleep before 5pm and stay asleep. I was in bed and asleep by 10:15, probably even before then. whew. This is not what I had in mind when we hit, daylight savings and  Joshua's shift change... but here we are. I tried several methods of getting them to nap yesterday, at one point they were laughing so hard at me they were falling off their beds... they sometimes don't take me seriously.

I took my very first yoga class on Saturday, it was so awesome! It is exactly what I have been needing in my life. In my normal fashion of diving head first into new things... I bought a new mat and started checking out studios online, it is quite expensive (taking any and all donations you have to offer) ;) I did find a website online that has free videos so I can at least do that until I can fit yoga classes in our budget. I am quite sore however, after not doing much physical activity the last three years while being pregnant I am even more out of shape then I even thought. It's a good sore though.

Ok I'm outta here, I have two little people needing my full attention.

{animals, animals, animals,.... yes we are going to see the animals}

::Warning:: Lots of pictures! :) 

Our day at the Kansas City Zoo

Our amazing G-MAW (as the boys like to call her) got us a zoo pass for their birthday and it's one of the best gifts they have ever gotten! It keeps on giving! :) 

My handsome men walking into the zoo. 

The polar bear

They would stand there all day if we would let them. 

(blurry sorry) 

Faelan sleeping the morning away. 

We got to see something REALLY cool at the zoo! 

This tiger wants the ball. 

...And this tiger was not going to let him play with it...

Once the other tiger got closer this tiger jumped at him and roared so LOUD! 

such a cool thing to see in person! 

Some hornbils that Mahon was really into.

Happy even riding in his carseat

On the train! 

Love my guys! 

mama and faelan

Neat looking bird. 

Waiting for the tram...we are tired. 

{Our new normal}

Routine.

It has taken 3 years and 11 months to feel like we have a routine down with Joshua working nights.  The house has been fairly clean, laundry getting worked on everyday and I have had great nights with the boys lately. The last two days have been quite rough but I didn't get enough sleep and I have been stressing about a few things.
 I was trying to think of what was making the good days good... really I should call them smooth days. I had coffee before noon, Joshua started unloading the dishwasher when he got home at night (this is a HUGE help! for some reason waking up to an empty dishwasher and sink makes me feel amazing) I wasn't on facebook or the computer / ipad as much.

    {It's amazing the amount of things you can get done when you aren't wasting time.}

I was trying to be intentional with my time and trying to just be awake to whats around me. We also have been following a good evening/bedtime routine, which includes no tv after 7pm, reading books to calm down and a bedtime snack. We actually just stopped watching tv after dinner completely, it is amazing how just turning off media can change your whole day!

Tonight is our very last night alone without daddy!! We are very excited! I have an idea in my mind of how our mornings will go but not really for the rest of the day... I'm a little scared... nap time has always been our biggest challenge since changing to toddler beds before F was born. Only Joshua can get them to fall asleep. There will be a lot of day's without naps... I don't try to schedule everything down to the minute, just a general order that we do things in. I am looking forward to having coffee in the morning with Joshua, and I am blessed to have a coffee pot that I can set at night if I want to. I am thinking the order will be... Coffee/husband time. Feed the dogs. (the boys have been waking up at 7am which will be perfect). breakfast. brush teeth. Dress the boys..... then I'm not sure what will happen...Probably that will be just in time to watch Super why and Dino Train... I of course do dishes and feed/dress F between all that... If anyone has any thoughts on an afternoon routine please share your ideas!

Wish me luck as we head into this very new and different season for us!

p.s. how can you not just LOVE this little face???

Never underestimate the importance of being properly caffeinated.... ;)