Lately

Oh wow, what a week! Today marked our 5th doctor appointment since Max’s surgery and thankfully, that’s the end of it for the time being. His ultrasound checked out beautifully – no concern of a tumor or any organ abnormalities. We met with his pediatrician and at this point she’s actually questioning the hemihypertrophy diagnosis. So we’ll be meeting with a geneticist in the coming weeks to get the final word. That will then dictate our next step, if any. Please be praying that this all turns out to just be precautionary. That would be the greatest blessing to get a clean bill of health for my little man.

Outside of sweet Max things have been happenin’ around here! Here’s the breakdown of our “lately” and a few of my favorite things.

Hannah leaves tomorrow for Aaron’s basic training graduation – yippee! I haven’t mentioned much on them recently, but at basic no news tends to be good news. Aaron has been at the top of his class (er, company, troop, whatever the technical Army term is) and we’re so proud. Pretty much, from what I’ve gathered he’s on his way to being a General :) Jemma is still convinced that Aaron is flying in an airplane to camp. Oh, to live in the here and now of being almost three. Wedding plans are keeping Hannah busy and I can’t wait to compile a post of all the little details soon! Oh to be young and in love with Pinterest at your finger tips. 

Katie/Kiki heads back to school next week and I, therefore, lose my summertime nanny. What a shame. I’ll most likely have a breakdown when it all sets in, so be prepared. 

With the thought of homeschooling in the future I really really want to incorporate travel into my kiddo’s learning – this has me brimming with dreams of our adventures. 

I requested this meal from The Cozy Apron while Max recovered (him physically and I emotionally) and Hannah sweetly obliged. I discovered it via the awesome newsletter, The Gathering (sign up here), created by Lacy from Living on Love.  It was freakin’ divine. Like, I can’t wait to eat it again. We enjoyed it will a side of Success Rice and everything melded together like magic in my mouth. Peruse some other recipes inspired by Success Rice here!

A dear mama friend sold us her organic double futon mattress for $100! I’ve been holding out to transition Jemma from her organic floor bed crib mattress until we could save for something quality, because hello! she spends 12+ hours each day on her mattress and I want it to be awesome. So, yay! Jemmie has a big girl bed now! AND, apparently she loves it because lately she’s been ending up in our bed every. single. night. but since she got her new bed she’s had two nights in a row of night time independence. Tears and cheers. Tears and cheers. 

Oh, and fun story. This bed frame was my grandma’s bed originally. Then it became mine in high school and now it’s Jemmie’s! I remember sleeping in it with my grandma when we’d have sleepovers. It was always pushed up against the wall, save a little gap where stuffed animals and blankets would fall. She’s always say, “I hope YOU don’t fall down the bing-bong!” I can’t wait to share family words like “bing-bong” with my kiddos as they grow :) Such precious memories.

Um, this post pretty much finalized my decision to never go back on the pill. Because, ohmygoodness, “one oral contraceptive contains the hormonal equivalent of eating 3,431 lbs of hormone-injected beef.” Bring on all the babies! I kid, I kid.

And, back to the bed stuff … Jemma’s new bed was partly spurred by our shifting space upstairs as we plan to welcome an international high school student for the school year. She’s coming from Korea and arrives in early September. We can’t wait! I’m hoping and praying she jives wonderfully with our family and if she allows I’ll definitely share more about her soon!

If you’re local to the PNW/Greater Seattle area, don’t forget to like olymama – the kids and I just discovered the best chiropractor and I’ll be sharing about him over the blog soon!

Jem begins preschool in September! Just two days a week for 2 hours in the afternoon and I know she’s going to love it! Max and I will get some one on one time too – I can already see him fist bumpin’ me with excitement over that :) And yes, I cried when her welcome packet arrived with her name tag. Sappy mom of the year, right here.

Last, but not least, I ordered this for myself in the name of “back to school”. Ellie is having a sale where all pieces are just $24.50 – just 4 days left!

So, friends – what have you been up to lately? Isn’t it kind of crazy how busy August can be? With Max’s birthday – which I have photos of to share soon!, back to school and our anniversary – 6 years on Saturday! I’m thinking August will always be a marathon for me!