Take 8: Scarlett & Maxwell

Scarlett Turns 9 & Maxwell Turns 5

Birthdays this year were different. As was everything. Scarlett turned 9 in May and Maxwell turned 5 in June. Every year we rotate between having parties and doing experiences. This year was supposed to be an experience or travel for them, however....you know. Corona. So we just had special small parties at home with a few things that they each asked for. Scarlett wanted stuffed animals and lasagna. Maxwell wanted Dino cupcakes and presents. We made their days special by doing whatever they wanted throughout the whole day. For Scarlett, she woke up to the back porch decorated for her. Maxwell got up early to help me. He was so proud to tell her that he helped wrap her presents. She was so excited over just simple decorations and a few small gifts. I made her lasagna for lunch and sang to her over ice cream cake. I have thrown Scarlett many elaborate parties. But it was this year that she exclaimed, "This was the best birthday ever!" Which just goes to show that the little things really are the best. I love how appreciative my kids are. Of course Maxwell can be a tad greedy when it comes to gifts lol. But for the most part, they are really both so appreciative and love everything that we do for them. 

Maxwell woke up to the kitchen decorated in dinosaurs. He ate about 3/4 of the cupcakes in one day lol. But I didn't mind as much since I made them from scratch and they were organic. We went out for pancakes that morning. It seems to be a ritual for Maxwell each morning on his birthday. Then we came home and let him open some presents. Maxwell is all about the presents. So he got a new Spiderman bike and helmet! His knees were hitting the handlebars on his old one. He also got a remote control monster truck and a couple small things.
They really were so pleased with the small little events that we had for them. My kids are getting so big. I secretly cry sometimes thinking about how quickly the time has gone by. I cherish these wonderful childhood moments. It does get chaotic at times. But having them little is such a fun time in my life. We made the best of our social distanced birthdays this year. Hopefully next year we will be able to travel a bit more. But for now, the smiles on my kid's faces was proof that we were able to give them a special birthday just the same. 

Pieces of April. 2020

It was a low key April. We did a lot of gym prep and hikes/nature walks. The kids were in their glory staying home with us. It had it's challenges but for the most part, it was a nice slow down. A time that we will probably never get again for quite some time. It took some getting used to. It was strange to have us all in the house at one time, with no rushing to leave or driving kids anywhere. But once we got over the shock of change, I realized that this was a pause in time that we will never get to experience again and we should take advantage of it. Suddenly we had more time. Suddenly it was a 7 day weekend. All the things that we wished for, right?? Sure online learning wasn't our favorite or trying to get work done with kids home 24/7, but it still had it's wonderful moments. Hikes and lots of time in nature. Connecting. Games and playful time with the kids. And of course, lots of time to soak up this new baby of mine. Can't say I minded a glass of wine at 4pm now and then. Ha. And I certainly enjoyed time. Time to watch my kids grow. We hardly ever get that. I learned that we as people are rarely happy with what we got. We yearned for 7 day weekends and then when we got it, we groaned and moaned that we had to stay home with our kids. Life is about enjoying what we have here in front of us, RIGHT THIS MOMENT. We can always wait for things to be better or more this or that. It won't matter. It will never be enough unless we can learn to appreciate the now. The moment that we are in no matter what stage. This is the lesson I learned here in April. Indeed this pandemic has taught me lots. Patience. How to slow down. Conquering my fear of missing out (FOMO). Change and how to adapt quickly. I'm not saying every moment was bliss. I had moments of boredom being the extrovert I am. But we all adapt and learn when we have to, don't we? 

Mother's Day: Camping South Padre Island

We surprised the kids with a little adventure for Mother's Day week. We told Scarlett it was an extra surprise for her birthday...and it was a little bit of my Mother's Day gift as well. We pulled up a 34' Class A RV to the front of the house and loaded it up for the week. Food, games, bedding and cookware. We rented it from a place called American Dream Vacations.

Ty and I owned our own camper back before we got pregnant with Scarlett. It was a smaller Fifth Wheel but it was perfect for just us. Then Scarlett came along and as newbie parents, we didn't use it as much. We ended up selling it a couple years later. We talk about buying another one. We love the adventure of traveling and now that we are in Texas, we are pretty central to go anywhere. With the gym opening soon, and Vera still a baby, we figure right now we have enough on our plates. So we keep this in our back pockets for when the time is right. But this trip was such a fun week away. Especially since the last vacation that we really took was before I got pregnant with Vera. I was feeling super sick and had no interest in going anywhere.  Then after she was born, Coronavirus hit so we have been in this house here for months and months and months. Texas opened back up it's state parks and beaches the week before we went. We decided we wanted to visit South Padre Island. We stayed at a KOA since we have stayed in an RV at another KOA in Cape Cod before and it was nice.

The 5 hour drive there was comical. The rain started in and the wiper broke. We had to stop numerous times during Flash Flood Warnings to try and fix it. We had planned to get there at around 7pm but didn't end up getting there until 10pm. So we set up in the dark with the kids all asleep. But we woke up the next morning to the best ocean air hitting our faces and the sound of birds chirping. We ate breakfast outside and enjoyed the sunshine. We still had work to do so we kept the weekdays focused on that while the kids played in the sand and playground right in front of our site.
We are a family that loves adventure. We aren't the type to stay home because we have young kids. When Coronavirus hit, we had to change our entire lives. I can't say it was easy. But we managed to get creative in ways that we could stay away from people and still go on an adventure. We had a fun time camping on the ocean, watching movies from the outside of the RV and cooking camp style. Another great Mother's Day weekend!!!

Pandemic Picnics.

We needed to get out of the house. We needed some new scenery. And not easy to do during a pandemic. When we are feeling a bit cooped up, we always turn to nature. We love hiking and nature walks. You can't go wrong out in Mother Nature. So here are some fun photos from a picnic at Castroville State park here in Texas. Fresh air and a place to run around. 

Post Pregnancy Journey: Sample Week: FriYAY!

Friday:

Early Morning Workout: 2 mile walk & Tone It Up App Core Restore & 1 yoga or stretching session. 
Drink Lemon Water & take Vitamins

Meal 1: Oatmeal with papaya, blueberries, bananas and a scoop of greek yogurt and fill water bottle 32 oz.

Snack 2: bowl of cherries & dried apricots

Meal 3: Avocado Toast: Toast Ezekiel bread and then add a layer of cream cheese. slice up avocado and then sprinkle with Everything Bagel seasoning.

Snack 4: Stuffed Dates & Refill water 32 oz.

Meal 5: Healthy Orange Chicken with Broccoli

Snack 6: Mango Avocado lime salsa and tortilla chips (This was leftover from Tuesday's salmon recipe) and a Waterloo.

Total Water Intake: 64 oz.

Selfcare: My walk in am and some wine while binge watching some shows with Ty after the kids go to bed.

Time With Kids: Family walk/bike ride with the kids. 

Post Pregnancy Journey: Sample Week: Thursday

Thursday:

Early Morning Workout: 2 mile walk & Tone It Up App Manhattan Beach Booty 
Drink Lemon & Ginger Water & take Vitamins

Meal 1: Mermaid Smoothie Bowl (LOVE this one) and fill water bottle 32 oz.

Snack 2: Iced Coffee Protein Shake & an Apple w/ PB drizzled on top

Meal 3: Zesty Tuna Lettuce Wraps 

Snack 4: 3 dried Apricots, small scoop of almonds & some papaya cubes

Meal 5: Ty cooked me some marinated filet mignon with roasted potatoes and a salad. I generally don't eat a lot of red meat but this was such a tasty meal that he made for me. If I do eat red meat it's like once a month and organic filet mingon. I have thought a lot about becoming a vegetarian again. I was raised as one and I think there are many positives to this. Meats that I do not eat: Pork, ham, hamburger, duck or venison.

Snack 6: Mango Avocado lime salsa and tortilla chips (This was leftover from Tuesday's salmon recipe) and a Waterloo.

Total Water Intake: 64 oz.

Selfcare: My walk in am & some time with Ty alone. Mocktails on the porch. Try this Strawberry Kombucha Mojito recipe HERE. 

Time With Kids: Tonight we are going to play charades as a family for a bit before they go to bed and before Ty and my alone time.  The kids love this game!!