Day in the Life | Heads Up for Summer 2016

This is pretty wild, but I'm upping the dates for our quarterly DiTL by a few days. Usually I say from the first of the month until the 14th you can document and I post by the 20th. But now I'm saying from TODAY until Sunday, July 10th at midnight is your time frame. I want to have the round up post finalized and published before we leave the state later that week. Hope you can still participate!

(Spring 2016 round up post found here)
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The details:

Any time from today until July 10th you should record your day in detail. That gives you two weeks to decide on a day.

It can be as specific or as general as you want. I personally tend to record these days as a note in my phone, including specific times of day as I'm psychotic with details. Totally not necessary for you to do the same, as simple is probably better and means it's less overwhelming! I try to jot down quotes from the kids, to mention my thoughts as things are happening, and to keep track of the nitty gritty details in a day. I would probably remember enough if I just sat down and tried to type it all a day or two later but I don't trust my mommy brain *that* much. So a note on my phone is a must for me.

Snap pictures as you go along, the easiest method being with your phone but if you are feeling extra energetic, a 'fancy' camera also works for a post like this. Sometimes just taking a screen shot of your phone to remember the time of day, or an email you read, the weather forecast, et cetera is helpful as you write up the posts. I also like the seemingly random pictures of messy houses, meals, receipts, pets, the scenery from your parking lot spot, your house, and so on. Making collages for your pictures is helpful when it's difficult to choose which images to post (always a serious issue for me). Again, get as detailed or as general as you want with the pictures, but I think the mundane details are what makes these posts interesting. Don't forget to get pictures of YOU in this post, either. Get your friends and family involved. Maybe purchase a selfie stick (I just got one and you can bet your butt I'll use it this time!) but step in front of the camera for this post.

My method is that I just email myself the iPhone 'note' from the day, and then I paste it into my blog post as a foundation. I'll go back and clean it up, elaborate on thoughts/events, and make sure it's written in English instead of just abbreviations from my note. Then I will add the pictures after that. Whatever method works for you though, as there are many ways to write about a single day in your life!

It's a lot of fun to read back on my own posts, and it's also quite entertaining to read everyone else's day. If you want to play along this quarter, here is what to do:

1. Record any day from now until July 10th. Type it up and turn it into a blog post. You can do it!

2. Email me the following to mylifeintransitionblog at gmail dot com by July 10th at midnight:

*your blog title,
*your location (state or country is fine),
*the link to your post,
*attach the file of the photo you want to be featured in the round up post.
*optional: give me your Instagram name, perhaps I will attempt to tag everyone over there if extra energetic.

3. I will post everyone's link and picture by July 12th here on my blog. Get the popcorn and clear your schedule for this one!

I love reading these posts from women all around the world, and encourage you to try it even if you aren't a blogger. And it's definitely not just for mommy bloggers, either! You could turn these posts into a photo book, you could let them live online if you have a blog, or you could just look back on them and reminisce about the glory days once life settles down a bit more (ha!). Laura, the original founder of this Day in the Life link up, also records an entire week during one of these quarterly sessions. That is something I've never tackled before, but maybe someday if I'm feeling particularly adventurous. I know she makes those posts into a photo album book and her family is going to greatly appreciate the time it took to record every day events.

I will do these quarterly: January, April, July, and October. USUALLY, you can expect to record your day and post about it in the first fourteen days, send it to me, and I will continue to post the round up by the twentieth of those months.

So pick your day (or week) and get to it!

Summertime Does Not Suck

All I kept thinking today, when we pulled out the sprinkler and let the kids loose with the hose was: 'I love summer so much. It's a million times better than winter. A million and one times better, actually.'



Sure, winter is fine and snow before Christmas is great and all of that. I like hot chocolates and fires in our fireplace and cozying up under blankets. SORT OF. But right now, I do not mind the fact that we can literally just leave the house after throwing on some sandals. No snow boots, coats, snow pants, hats, gloves...none of that. Swimming suits from last year prove that the kids are growing, and this one is supposedly her favorite so she *had* to put it on today.



Truman has been enjoying Nate's 'vintage' super soakers from the 90s. He mostly loved to squirt me while I was taking his picture, go figure.


I woke Porter up from his nap at 4pm, knowing he would LOVE to get in on the water fun in our backyard. It took him about one minute to join in the action, and I think he likes summer infinitely better than winter, just like me. What a difference seven months makes, huh?




Cecelia hates to get her face wet, it's a real challenge to keep her calm if she gets splashed in the tub or the pool. So at first, she was not too excited about the sprinkler or her brothers having the hose. She didn't exactly get her face completely wet, but she did start to embrace the cold water and random droplets on her head.


I love how Porter fits right into the madness around here. He thinks he is as big as Truman and Cecelia. While holding a hydrangea he ripped from our bushes, this guy had the time of his life tonight.




The look of pure childhood joy.


Isn't messing around.


Days like this, when they are giggling and smiling and getting along, are simply the best.


Even with momentary dips in the mood.


Because those smiles come back before you know it, and then I get all sentimental about life and contentment, our blessings.


I also really enjoy watching the kids experience summer. While growing older, and keeping us highly entertained.


I had a flashback to my chubby red-headed baby girl a few summers ago, and now there's this long and lanky thing in front of me. Going to school in the fall. Turning into such a personality, so big that I can't remember a time when she wasn't talking (non-stop).


Tonight as Cecelia read to Porter before bedtime, she also decided to sing him a few songs. One of them said something about 'some people don't know you, but everyone loves you because you are the best baby around.' One of them also said something to the effect of, 'And we didn't even have to throw you in the garbage can!'.

These kids and summer are an excellent combo, indeed.

Porter at Twenty-Three Months

'He'll be two NEXT MONTH,' is what I'm telling people lately when they ask Porter's age. And all of a sudden he seems to be every bit of age two. Every.stinking.bit.

There was a span of about ten days when I swore that Porter was getting sick. He was incredibly cranky, and irritable, and would melt into a puddle (of high-pitched screams) whenever he couldn't get his way. He was clingy and basically a hot mess for those ten days. Nothing ever came of it, I don't see any gigantic teeth gleaming through his gums or any obvious illness that peaked. I think it was just a phase, the start of his two-year-old personality. When looking to Nate for comfort and guidance regarding this wretched phase, he simply said, 'How old is Porter going to be next month? Don't you remember CC at age two?'

Big guy!!


Long legs!


And I honestly do not recall her tantrums, although I'm sure if I read back over the blog archives it would all come flooding back at me. All that I remember about Cecelia was that she was an excellent big sister when Porter was born, and she would have been about twenty-six months then. Nate rolls his eyes at me when I claim recall failure but I truly blocked it out of my memory. Survival mode at it's finest, I guess (or newborn memory blur, take your pick).

NEVER FORGET, JULIA OF THE FUTURE!


This one cracks me up, shopping at Target, tears rolling down his face, but obliged us when we had him try on a hat. He wants that toy which is not for him.


Back to Porter: he seems a little less psychotic these days compared to that rough little stint, but still throws himself on the floor and chucks trains at his siblings, throws his food down, and yells things like, 'NOOOO, CECE!' on the regular.

His newest naughty habit is that when we tuck him in for bed or a nap, he always demands to sleep with approximately 800 trains in his crib. But now we will say goodnight, walk downstairs, and about 5 minutes later we will hear each and every train crash to the floor as he tosses them over the edge of the railing. Then he will do a grand finale by throwing his beloved Duckie lovey over the crib rail (we can watch the whole show on the video monitor), and will start yelling for me. I will retrieve Duckie and usually some trains, he will quickly flop down onto the mattress pretending to be innocent/tired, and will eventually fall asleep. But the sound of trains smashing on the floor will be a nice marker for this time in our lives with Porter-P. A part of his soundtrack to life, if you will.

An old shirt of Nate's from the 80s.


Besides pushing some major buttons, Porter is pretty much amazing. He is hilarious and a total copy cat when it comes to his siblings. He will fake cry if Cecelia is wailing about something for real, he will follow Truman around and do anything the kid wants, and he will sigh EXTREMELY loud like his mama does sometimes.

Must run down this hill a hundred times, mom.


The other day I took Porter grocery shopping alone, while Nate took the big kids to Costco. P and I had a blast together and I think he really eats up alone time with one adult! But I had to get a video of him saying 'Yuppie Hill' over and over and over again. Yuppie Hill is the brand of eggs we buy and I said the name once in the store, then he became a broken record and repeated it a million times with his baby lisp. I freaking love this kid so much, he is so weird and delightful.

Chocolate face, can't quite reach the pedals.


One big occurrence for mister P is that we switched him to forward facing in the car seat. Yes, it is one month shy of two years and I realize it's incredibly unsafe compared to rear facing, but even if we waited until three years it would always feel scary at first. The first time he rode facing forward he was giddy and smiling and kept looking at Cecelia as if to say, 'Hi! I can see what you see now!'



Favorite hobbies include splashing in every single rain puddle available, then complaining about being wet. Searching for a Bobcat working truck that he calls a 'bot-cap'. Looking for the wild turkey that has been hanging around our house lately, along with bunnies, birds, and squirrels. Porter loves animals so much that the other day, out of the blue he said, 'Mommy? Zoo, animals, big!, lion, bear, tiger, scary.' I mean, how is his little mind working like this now? He was just sitting by himself, playing with his trains when he told me he was thinking of the zoo animals and how some of them are 'scary.'. So, so fun!

Another favorite phrase is ,'No, I do it.' I hear this constantly when I try to pick him up to walk down the sidewalk, or help him up our stairs. In fact, he won't really ride in the stroller anymore unless we force the issue by using the straps and several snacks for distraction. He also likes to ride on Cecelia's hot pink tricycle but it takes about a million years for us to get anywhere this way. One Saturday morning we took a family walk to the Farmer's Market, Truman and Cecelia rode their bikes while Nate walked along side of them. I got stuck with Porter on his tricycle and it literally took us an extra hour to get to the Farmer's Market, including three failed attempts at me putting him in the stroller until I finally just dealt with the tantrum and booked it with the screaming child hanging halfway out of my stroller. He also hates diaper changes and brushing his teeth---basically anything that he cannot do alone is the WORST according to Porter.

Our epic trip:


What happens when we put him in a stroller?


Lois noticed that Porter is incredibly smart when she said something about how we were going to our friend Sam's party later that night. Porter looked at her and pointed up the street, right to Sammy's house, and said 'Sammy party!'. I mean, how does he know directions like that already? Blows my mind and never gets old to see him start to seriously understand the world around him.

I've had at least three people come up to me in the past week, asking me if *that* is Porter? These are other parents who last saw Porter in the spring and all of a sudden he's like a different child: tall, lean, a little boy instead of a baby. Waahhhhhh!!

Showing me his belly after eating a big meal at Culvers.


Sleeping is about the same, one long nap from around 12:30-3:30, bedtime at 7:30, up for the day around 7:00am but his record of sleeping until 9:00am has been attained several times. Thank goodness for summer schedules and Grandpa Tony, who Porter adores and requests after every nap. Tony now has all three kids on Mondays and Wednesdays as I work from about 9-3, then Friday mornings when I try to be home by 1:00. So far so good, and Porter is doing a decent job sharing Tony with Truman and Cecelia now.

Bros.






Eating isn't his favorite thing, but he'll graze most of the day and sometimes surprises us with what he can put down the hatch. Newest favorite is mayo on bread, cut into strips. Not a big fruit or veggie guy but we are working on it. Will eat any type of sugary treat you place in his vicinity though, so watch out.

Smoothie love.


S'more love. (and those baby blues!)


Porter always amuses us and he is a great mix of sugary sweet with a pinch of salt. I don't know how we got by without him in our family and I have a feeling he will be our wildest child yet!

The littles. Their relationship is something to behold, I love watching them interact (most of the time, anyway).


Matching tank tops!!! Not sure how long this will last but Truman adores it, so you better believe I will oblige as long as possible.


Nature walk in the woods with these two, we saw a deer and Porter almost lost his mind.


Catching some butterflies, duh.


One more month until TWO, Porter!! Love you so much, you little stink pot. ;)

Truman's last day of SK

Senior Kindergarten is finished, and Truman is on his way to FIRST GRADE, guys. He has learned so much this year, it's hard to even describe the value of this school year. He can write (most words are phonetic and freaking adorable), and full-on read pretty much anything these days. He loves math and is scary-good with remembering numbers, requesting math equations at the dinner table many nights. His favorite class was PE and least favorite was music.

(First day versus last day, entirely too big).


Mostly I want to remember how much Truman adored his Senior Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. C. I will admit that I assumed nobody could top his teacher from last year who we love and adore like woah (Mrs. K, her girls have babysat our kids, we are Facebook friends, etc). This year Mrs. C quietly stole the show and won Truman's heart like nothing I've seen before. She is kind, has a soft spoken authority over the kids, and calls our children 'gems' and books 'treasures'. She gets the credit for teaching Truman to read and she continued to carry his love for school....almost TOO much love for school, actually. Because my big guy has been really, genuinely upset all week when he talks about school ending. My Truman, with his big, sensitive heart, doesn't love change (who does?!) and the end of the school year has been a tough one for him! But alas, I continue to remind Truman that he gets more time with ME and his grandpa and his siblings, time outside, time at fun camps, time traveling....so much fun awaits this summer, I can barely handle it (even if Truman is completely apathetic about the concept of summer). He will come around, but let it be known that he loves his teacher something fierce.





Yesterday I had him write his teacher a letter to help him sort through his feeeeeeelings. This guy is a top notch kid, I know I'm biased, but he just is!!


Nailed the 'sibling shot' this morning!


Today was the last day of school. We had a nice breakfast together and Truman was extra excited for the day ahead. He semi-happily took my standard 'last day' pictures on the porch and we walked him to school for the last time as a Kindergartener. Oh, how he has grown!! I just cannot get over it, sorry for all of the comparisons....well, sorry, but not sorry.

First day of JK, last day of JK, first day of SK, last day of SK. TIME FLIES, LADIES!


Again, Sept 2014, June 2015, Sept 2015, June 2016. Wow.


Making it a tradition, I suppose.


Little girl is about to follow in his footsteps. Last day JK, first day SK, last day SK.




I took the kids to Culver's tonight as a special treat and they all hammed it up and ate a ridiculous amount of food. Tomorrow marks the start of summer and Truman will be home with Tony for the morning while I see a few patients, then the weekend begins. Oh, what a summer it will be. Guaranteed to fly by in the blink of an eye, sort of like the entire school year.

And come September, we will have a first grader and a Junior Kindergartener walking to the same school, at the same time of every single weekday morning. Two school kids? I cannot even. (So I won't and I promise to enjoy the summer).

Yes, today was a great day.

Would have been

Today would have been Kellan's fourth birthday, just a week after Cecelia's.

I've been thinking about Brad and Becky all day today, knowing that I can't even wrap my mind around their pain in losing a son. A birthday that should have been full of superheroes and presents and a party and a tiny little body bombing around on his big day, is instead full of loss. The absence of Kellan, the void he's left here, the unimaginable loss of a child. It doesn't seem real, even five months later. I'm sure his first missing birthday is a tough milestone to pass for his family, I just can't even go there.

I told Cecelia that today was Kellan's birthday and she put on her inquisitive face. 'But God and Jesus don't know it's his birthday. I wonder what kind of presents he'll get in heaven? I hope he isn't getting wet in the rain.' We talked about how Kellan would have loved to have a superhero party and decided to sing him Happy Birthday. As soon as we were done singing, the wind started to blow Cecelia's hair and I was sort of speechless as I caught it on video. It gives me chills to watch it and the gorgeous rainbow that came after the storm tonight also seemed too perfect (although I didn't get that one on camera!). It might be a stretch to say those were signs from above that Kellan is still with us in spirit, but I choose to believe we'll meet him again someday.

Today was an ordinary day for us. A simple, mundane, ordinary day with our three healthy kids. Kite flying. Playing on the playground. Buying and planting flowers for our yard. Laughing together. Playing with the vintage Super Soakers Lois found in their basement. Eating dinner as a family. There is so much breathtaking beauty in the ordinary, and I thank God for the privilege of each passing day.