Our Rock

I'm 23 weeks pregnant with twins today, Father's Day. This will bring us from 4 kiddos to 6. I still feel like there are times when we just sit in disbelief that this is our reality. Twins? Us?! Seriously?!? Now?!?!

Then, the next minute I find myself so beyond thankful for this unexpected blessing. Just because life is taking a turn we didn't plan or or expect, doesn't make it the wrong direction or a bad road to travel. 

But I know one thing for sure. I wouldn't want anyone in the drivers seat, leading the way than my husband, Ethan. He is, and has been the best leader I could have prayed for. And for him to continue driving so strong in a year that has been so challenging says more about his perseverance, character, and faith than anything else could. 

He's our rock. 

He has somehow found that wonderful balance between provider and involved father. 

He does the first day of school drop off and pictures. Every Year.

He plays catch and pitches balls to little batters. 

He helps pick out birthday and Christmas presents. 

He does the weekly grocery shopping, AND takes the boys with him!

He works long hours to provide me the opportunity to become a stay home mom while the twins are little.

He reminds me when bills need to go in the mail. 

He keeps tabs on our debt, credit scores, and safety. 

He suggests pizza nights when I'm too tired to cook. 

He makes sure the kids help clean up the kitchen. 

He sets up the projector and pops the popcorn for movie nights. 

He wears a tie to Mass every Sunday and pokes and prods kids to remind them to sit, stand, kneel, or sing. 

He loves a good date night with a bourbon or beer flight and spending hours and miles on the pavement on his bike.

He's not perfect, non of us are. But I am so thankful that he is the perfect one to fill the role of husband and father of our Weber Haus. I mean...there's not many father's out there that are so good at their "dad job" that they get promoted from "father of four" to "father of six" in one shot. You gotta be good at your job for a promotion like that! :)

Changes At Weber Haus

How does that saying go??? 

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

Apparently God had quite the hysterical laughing session with us at Weber Haus. 

Cause we had plans. Those plans were made as we would begin to transition, for the first time in over 10 years, into the world without babies and toddlers. God was laughing. 

Because... 

Yup. For those of you who have had children and can read a sonogram photo...that's showing two babies. TWINS! It's still as unbelievable for me to type it out as it probably is for you to read the words. But Weber Haus will become party of 8 by the end of September. For those of you who were wondering why I haven't been posting as many food and drink creations on Facebook, hopefully this news provides an explanation. I spent a good couple months not having an appetite for ANYTHING and feeling icky constantly. Thankfully that has subsided as my belly has started to grow...and I mean grow. I went from easily hiding it one week to full on baby bump the next!

With the unexpected news comes unexpected decisions. The thought of having to do, yet another set of maternity leave lesson plans is enough to send my anxiety through the roof (those who know what that includes...you get it). More importantly, to also try to find a daycare option that will have not one but two infant openings in January that ALSO doesn't cost more than my monthly take home. 

Spoiler Alert...there isn't one. 

Finally, the desire of this mama to get to focus on just being a mama...along with the amazing support and willingness of my husband (another post in the future about him and how awesome he has been through this entire experience) led us to determine that it is time for me to step away from the classroom and stay home. A time for me to be able to focus on the literal health and growth of Weber Haus and be fully present for them. I love teaching. And leaving the classroom is a difficult decision, but I do so peacefully. No ill-will for the profession, school, colleagues, or students. And that really is a good way to walk, because it leaves the door open to come in again when the time is right.

I plan to document our family's additions and our new path on here more often. Blogging has always been a sort of therapeutic outlet for me, and I look forward to writing more on our personal blog while I allow my teaching one to become more of an archive. As life balanced between school and home became more difficult, the writing got put on the back burner (or completely off the burner) and I'm excited to bring it back.

So...stay tuned! I'm sure they'll be much to write about in the near future :)

Something's Cooking in the Kitchen

 "Hope you like spicy!" he called from the kitchen as I let myself. 

He made me this meal after we had been dating for awhile. He liked to cook and was good at it. (Probably because he's a "follow the directions" kind of guy). Many of our dates centered around cooking in the kitchen. 

He poured a glass of white wine as I watched him finish up. "The real treat of this meal is the sauce. You just dip crusty bread in it. It's sooo good." 

Chicken Dippin' is his signature meal. It comes from a cook book our brother-in-law has since gifted us. We make it twice a year. My birthday and Valentine's Day. We make it together, even though he is perfectly capable of fixing this dish on his own. There's just something that brings us back to those dating years when we're in the kitchen together. It doesn't happen as often as we would like, but when it does, we always have a good time. 

I give him a hard time about following everything little detail of the recipe... 

"you can just eyeball it you know..." 

Followed by, "seeee this is why we follow the recipe." 

And usually ending with him mentioning how much he loves cooking dinner with me. I just love hearing that. Not because I need the help, but because its our quality time together. We laugh, reminisce, plan for the future, and dream. The kitchen is a big part of who we are. We have seen our roles go from dating, to engaged, to married, to married 10 years with four kiddos. The kitchen has been a part of each of those stages. The food we make, the laughs, the yells of "I'm cooking...can you change the diaper?" Cooking has been through it all. 

And when we think of the future stages of parenthood we know that the time we'll get to spend together will grow as our kids fill their schedules with new friends and hobbies that don't involve us. One of the things we look forward to is getting to spend more time around the cookbook and stovetop. Something's always going to be cooking in the kitchen at Weber Haus. 

The Final Fourth

This little nugget joined our family on Monday afternoon, February 25th, 2019.  Today he turns one. I went in to be induced that morning and he was out "like a linebacker" by 3:00 that afternoon.

It didn't take long before we realized that little Austin Joseph had his own way of doing things. I mean, I should have realized this. I'm not new to the "mom" role and I've had the opportunity to discover how different each baby is...but I had the confidence of an experienced mom with a full bag of tricks ready to throw at this little guy and all his demands.

Until my bag of tricks didn't suit him. At all.

This little bundle of joy has really made me stretch my "mommying" skills.

At a time when I'm stretched pretty thin as it is (but that's another post for another time).

He is our Final Fourth.

He completes our little family. Or big family depending on your perspective.

Austin Joseph, AJ. Today you have been our 6th member for a year.

A year of your silly little hair flip.

A year of figuring out how you want to sleep. Never the same way two nights in a row. Swaddled, pacifier, in the swing, in the crib, in a sleep sack, just a diaper. No consistency with you kid.

A year of your big little appetite.

A year of your sisters dragging you from place to place.

A year of earning your nickname as "monster-baby". A loveable way to describe your uncanny ability to get into EVERYTHING you're not supposed to. Dog food. Trash can. Billy's potty. If the door's been left open. You. Are. In.

A year of smiles, slobbery baby kisses, love, and hugs. And much more to come.

It's a Good Time for Good Habits

So... my last post on this blog was over a year ago on February 9th. I had just completed Katerina's birthday post (over two months late) and we were still awaiting little AJ and I was MIS-ER-A-BLE waiting those last few weeks.

I wanted to blog more.  I planned on it while on maternity leave. I even started a couple.

Didn't happen.

Wanna know why?

Life hit us with a few big turns. Putting blogging about our lives at the back burner. Trust me. It's not for the lack of things to talk about. I've got some good stuff to share with you. Funny. Deep and meaningful. True insight into what goes on inside my head and what's been consuming our lives for the last year.

It just hasn't been a priority.

I want it to be again. I miss it. I really do love putting words down for us to read years later and smile, laugh, and cry as we remember the feelings that went with each story. I love sharing our lives and what comes our way.

Lent is approaching.

Seems like a good time to get back into a good habit.

Stay tuned...

This Girl.

This girl turned 5 in November.

Five.

So I thought it appropriate to share 5 things about little "Kit Kat" that you may not already know.

#1: Her name.
Ethan and I are planners. Not only have we found out the gender of each of our babies, we had the names picked out since before we were married. Although, just because we are planners, it doesn't mean that we aren't flexible and willing to change plans. As it so happened with Katerina. She was "supposed" to be Claire. I love that name. Always have. Still do. BUT while on leave after Jackie was born, Ethan decided to dive into our family tree. Me, being the history teacher, loved hearing all the different unique things about our families while he poured over all the materials. One very interesting thing he found... we both had a Katerina deep in our family history. He immediately fell in love with the name, and suggested that if we have another girl someday we call her Katerina. Unique. Beautiful. And very "princess" sounding. Paired nicely with Jacqueline. I had no objection. Turns out...there was no other name that would suit this little princess!

#2: Her Emotions.
There are kids (and adults) out there who struggle to identify exactly how they are feeling during certain situations or how to express their emotions appropriately for the situation. Not Katerina. Not by a long shot. This girl is in touch with her emotions and wears each one right on her sleeve. There is never any doubt about how she feels. You'll know. Just by the look on her face. And in case you missed it...she'll tell you.

#3: Her Buddy
When we brought home our new little puppy, Rocky we knew our kiddos would love him. We didn't really know who would take to him the most. Katerina didn't waste any time taking charge of the new addition. Tagging along with Daddy to Rocky's training sessions allowed for them to build a pretty special bond. She loves it when she can bring her "buddy" inside. She is charged with keeping him under control and knows that it's her job to put him in the kennel. That dog listens to her better than he listens to me. And why wouldn't he... she just loves him so!

#4: Her Sweet Tooth
Pancakes - Yup. Doughnuts - Of course! Cereal, ice cream, candy - all acceptable options for breakfast in Katerina's eyes. This girl LOVES her sweets! Want her to finish her healthy lunch or eat those veggies at dinner??? Just tell her she can have a cookie or a root-beer float when she's done and it'll be gone in no time.

#5: Her in the Kitchen
Katerina LOVES to help in the kitchen. Every meal, even if I'm just warming up leftovers, she wants to be a part of the action. Up on the counter, wearing her apron, and helping with the food. I love involving her (even though many times it is easier to just do it myself). I can always count on her to want to be a part of it! Now that she is five I need to start teaching her how to do more than just pour in liquids and dump in cake mix. Time to break out the knives and kitchen tools...as scary as it may be, I need my kiddos capable in the kitchen! I have no doubt she'll figure it all out!

Happy Birthday Post little Kit-Kat! (Even though it is a few months late) :)

My "One-Word" of 2019 & Goals

So...2018 ends today.

Reflection is the key to self-growth, and as I look back on the year there are many things that I'm proud of, and things that I'm looking forward to working on in the new year.

I think it is important to look at ourselves as a work in progress, as opposed to a "one and done" shot of improvement during the month of January. With that in mind, the first thing I look for is my "One Word" of the year. Last year my word was CONSISTENT. What I love about the "one word" idea is that it can encompass many different areas of our lives. Instead of focusing on one thing...family, health, career, etc...the "one word" can apply to improving anything that falls within the focus.

Last year I focused on consistency. I found that when I was doing things, I really looked for "how is this consistent with who I want to be." It doesn't mean that I was perfect...but I was FAR better at focusing on consistency than I ever had been at any "resolutions" I had set.

This year...I'm not going to forget about my "Consistent" focus from last year, only now I'm looking to add to it with this year's focus.

BALANCE.

This. Is. Needed.

Trust me.

The addition of a fourth child will come in March (or hopefully February) and the previous 6 months haven't been easy on this mama's mind or body. Once most women reach baby #4 they decide to become a stay-home-mom. Especially when the four kiddos will be under the age of 7. I'm not choosing to stay home. I want to keep teaching. BUT...as I progress in my teaching career and family life continues to multiply, it has become obvious that a work-life vs. family-life balance has shifted dramatically since we were new parents 7 years ago. Trying to figure out what that looks like is part of the reason for my "balance" focus of 2019.

The other reason for the "Balance" focus has to do with my other "goals" of 2019. Keep in mind that I don't look at these as all things I'm trying to start on January 1. These are things I want to try and tackle throughout the year as step-by-step improvements to achieve a more balanced lifestyle.

For me, a 2019 Balanced Lifestyle consists MORE or LESS of...

MORE: Books and reading at night before bed.
LESS: Screen time and aimless scrolling of my phone

MORE: Bags of donations and trash
LESS: Clutter and just moving things from one storage location to another

MORE: Water
LESS: Non-Water

MORE: Stretching and moving
LESS: Sitting in the recliner

MORE: Blogging and captioning our REAL lives and not just the "picture perfect" moments. Although, I will still post those picture perfect times too!
LESS: Online "window shopping"

MORE: Continued focus on a consistent healthy choices for my family and myself
LESS: Moments of  "gluttony" on my favorite unhealthy choices.

MORE: People surrounding me with the same mindset and goals I have. Positive people help promote a positive lifestyle.
LESS: Negativity and people who spread it.

Achieving any goal we set is a step-by-step process. One slip-up doesn't mean that we failed, it's that we continue to move past it towards a bigger dream and better things to come. Great things come in small steps, not the 31 days of January!

What is your "One-Word" for 2019? What are you striving for?