Well…. I have a few pictures for ya today. Quite a few. 🙂
I was telling a friend recently that we basically spent April – September of this year laying lower than normal while trying not to over-commit or over-extend ourselves during the end of my pregnancy then into the beginning of our lives with Jillian on the outside.
Something happened in October though where we began to fully (err… mostly) feel like ourselves again and were empowered to get out and do more as a family. Lengthier “Slice of Life” posts have resulted. 😉
In an attempt to finally play some catch-up, I’m going to spit out lots of pics but keep descriptions and stories to one-two sentences (gasp!) Is that even possible for this chatty storyteller? I guess we’re about to find out!
Here’s a slice of our lives from the last month or so.
I’ve done all my babies’ monthly pictures in this chair; Here is Jillian’s at four months (November 11th)!
I tried out a new-to-me restaurant in Huntsville called Domaine South with my friend Crystal, and she ordered/built us this board that was outrageous! It was such a fun lunch spot, and I can’t wait for another reason to grab a friend or family member and go back!
The girls’ sweet second-cousin Gloria and her parents Madeline and Chris took off for Ecuador last month as they embark on their new chapter in life as full-time missionaries. They came up to Madison to spend an evening with us before they left, and we had a wonderful time with them as usual.
We have been really loving our new, comfy living room sofa and hope to do a full living room post soon! It’s a good family cuddle sofa for sure!
Our oldest turned SIX on November 17th. Her birthday fell on a Sunday, so we celebrated all weekend long, starting with that big “half sleepover” party.
We snagged this new console table from Home Goods, which has doubled as a good family selfie assistant. 😉 Also, this is so real life with Sadie’s goofy face, Hadley upset about something, Teddy on my lap even though there’s two feet off to the side for him to lay on, a full laundry basket waiting to be folded, Barbies, a baby activity center, throw blankets everywhere, etc.
On birthdays, we have always used our birthday plate, which is something my kids really look forward to! Hadley’s birthday breakfast request was a McDonald’s chicken biscuit and chocolate milk, so the birthday girl got what she wanted.
We went to church on her birthday and then headed straight for a big lunch at Olive Garden with her grandparents. Pasta is her favorite food, which makes Olive Garden her favorite restaurant.
Olive Garden gave us this big private room with a round table, which made conversation and the meal in general so enjoyable.
We love Grandma and Grandpa!
Sometimes Jamie and I just stop, look at each other, and gawk about how we have kids who are this big already. It’s mind-blowing!
We love Miya and Papaw too!
These girls have really gotten into their swing set, and it’s the cutest thing. Sadie especially loves to swing and has done a killer job figuring out how to pump her legs herself.
My sister got Hadley Pretty Pretty Princess for her birthday, and the big girls are OBSESSED! They ask to play it every single night, so fair warning if you get this for your own little princess. 😉
Jamie tries to flex his hours and take off work the Friday before a drill weekend (so that he doesn’t end up working 12 days in a row), and he planned a date for us on his recent Friday off. We ran errands and stuffed our bellies at the new restaurant Super Chix in Huntsville. So good!
I used some reward credit money during a big sale at Pottery Barn and snagged all three of these overscaled entryway hooks for $30 total recently. They are huge but were so easy to install on the wall and really dress up this simple area. I get giddy watching a home slowly evolve!
The girls spontaneously helped my parents decorate their tree, and for some reason we all enjoyed watching them do their thing.
My parents had invited us over on this particular Friday evening to enjoy their outdoor fireplace in their new home, but the rain came spontaneously and swiftly. My dad didn’t let the rain stop him though from enjoying some fireside chats with Hadley. 🙂
One of my favorite rituals during a rainy weekend morning is taking a blanket and a hot cup of coffee and enjoying it on our covered back patio. I shared this on Instagram and had many of you shared that you really enjoy this too!
One day I will shower and get ready for the day in peace. For now, this is generally the scene when I’m in my bathroom. 😉
Three year olds are funny little creatures. The other moms and I were cracking up at a birthday party recently to see that our girls had lined themselves up like a train to watch their little friend open her birthday gifts! Ha.
This girl is JOY. I wish I would have named her that because she is the biggest ray of sunshine.
There is something oddly empowering about tackling days with all three kids while Jamie is at drill on the weekends. I love these girlies of mine and our “girls days” (as Hadley calls them!)
Both Jillian and Hadley caught the flu at the same time (24 hours after me), so the three of us had three days at home to all recover together.
Sadie was sad that she couldn’t be as affectionate and “all over” her sisters like she usually is (we tried our best to keep her from getting the flu too!), but since both of these girls were sick, they had lots of snuggle time together.
Jillian is officially sleeping in her own room at night. I almost cried the first night I got in bed without her bassinet right next to me, which was a surprising emotion to feel because I never felt emotional about this transition with the other two.
The recovery from the flu is slooooow. Good grief. We rested, rested, rested while my house resembled a small pharmacy.
We found a gingerbread house kit in our Christmas decor box, which I gave the girls to tackle last Friday after school. I hot glued it all together, did (a terrible job at) the icing, and then let them have a ball. They made a huge mess, but I was proud of myself for letting them have a good time and not being too crazy about the mess that was our eating area. 🙂
Saturday morning pancakes are still a favorite for Jamie and the two big girls. You can find the recipe they use here! He recently used food coloring to make them Christmas colors, which thrilled the girls!
We got a late start with getting our house decked out for Christmas thanks to our beach trip and the flu, but we still got around to putting up a tree and some minimal decor. We get our tree from Trim-A-Tree in Athens, which is a place we truly adore.
Jamie and Sadie got our their matching gloves that Sadie made her at school and helped haul our tree in. 🙂 She loves to be our big helper!
My brother David came up from Birmingham for the day and got stuck making a load of Christmas cookies with us. We used Jessica Garvin’s recipe, and the girls had an absolute blast!
My eating area was once again a total mess, but seeing the kids have fun with my brother was 110% worth it. He did a great job supervising, and the mess was nothing that Jamie and I couldn’t tackle and clean in 10 minutes.
On Sunday, we grabbed our neighbor besties and headed two hours north to Nashville to the Opryland Mall and Hotel to experience the Ice! Exhibit. Poor Sadie was the wreck while we waited in line because she lost sight of us for about 5-10 seconds, which really scared her (I don’t doubt that it did!) It took her a hot minute to calm down and pull herself together before we headed inside to have fun.
We just love these people! Their friendship is easy and comfortable and just plain fun.
We hemmed and hawed about whether we should take Jillian but ultimately decided to leave her with my parents for the day. I’m so glad we did because this was not a great atmosphere for a baby!
We had a great time but honestly it was a little bit underwhelming. The ice sculptures were impressive, but our expectations were that it was more like an ice playground. These slides were the only ones they had though, and the lines to go down each time were pretty long.
It was nine degrees inside the exhibit, so 30 minutes was enough fun for us before we bolted out of there. 😉
We spent the rest of the day running around the mall and the gorgeous hotel. The kids had so much fun together, and we grown ups did too! Fun memories.
There was some small talk about snow on Tuesday, but with the temperatures expected to sit around 33 degrees, nobody held their breaths that we’d see any. Sure enough, the snow came down heavy around 4 p.m., and our town erupted! It was a total shock to everyone!
The neighbors all ran outside, snowball fights ensued, and we parents all enjoyed some spontaneous fun together while our kids were in Heaven. It was so awesome!
Hadley worked so hard on this snowman base!
Whew! Thanks for hanging in there. I hope you’re having a wonderful December and doing your best to enjoy the holiday season despite the busyness that I know we’re all experiencing. Two weeks and counting until Christmas Day! Wow. Wow wow wow. That’s all I have to say. Where did this year go? My gosh.
Let’s chat!
Have you seen any snowfall in your area yet this fall?
Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo