It Hasn't Been the Best Week Ever

Ever have one of those weeks where everything feels really hard? 

Nothing majorly wrong, but nothing majorly right?

Here's a little recap of what's been going on here:

Our First Trip to the Movies: 

For months Cullen and I have been planning our date to see Monsters University in the theater. It is one of the boys' favorite movies (we don't have many because Cullen is super sensitive when it comes to TV and gets scared very easily) and we couldn't wait to go to his first movie on the big screen. We had our date all set up for Tuesday morning when he decided that he really wanted Daddy and Bennett to come too. Even though I didn't think it was quite fair to take B since C had to wait until he was 4, Cullen was being so sweet about not wanting Bennett to miss it, so I decided to let it happen. 

Can we talk about how cute Bennett's 'thumbs up' are? This is the last happy picture of the day, soak it in.

We got to the movies for the 11 oclock show and parked to go through the mall since the boys had never been in an indoor one (our shopping center in Monterey was outdoor). We walked a good distance and finally realized the theater was inaccessible from the inside, so back around and out we went. Then got to the ticket counter and handed the lady a gift card I had never used, only to find out there was $3 on it. So $25 for movie tickets it was, followed by another $20 for snacks. Cue old lady phrase "when did movies get so expensive??" 

While walking into the theater, Kev gets a call from our mortgage company and needs to take it (more on that in a second), so I hit the dark room with two little ones and one big belly to find seats. Of course, in Northern VA, the theater is packed at 11am on a Tuesday and we have trouble finding seats and the boys are totally distracted by the big screen and I am carrying 20 extra lbs, 3 bags of popcorn and two icees. A sight to see for sure as I ushered them up the steps. Forty minutes into the show, C decides he doesn't like it and starts working himself up to the point where he doesn't feel well. So I take him and and BAM, throw up everywhere. $45 down the drain, literally, as we scoop Kev and B up to return home. 

Later that Day:

 C throws up again when we got home and then goes down for a nap. We debate between it being a little anxiety or a stomach bug. That afternoon I have a photoshoot with my first clients in DC (Shameless plug: Hire me DC friends!) and Kev was supposed to help his little brother go buy a truck while his little sister babysat the boys. I feel bad leaving Kate with a potentially sick kid, so Kev has to skip out on helping Mike which I know he was pretty bummed about. Naturally, Cullen acts totally fine the entire time I am gone.

Later that night: 

The sound of tears, then gurgling, then a midnight mad-dash to the bathroom. Not anxiety, definitely a stomach bug. Clean up throw up 4 more times during the night. Kev ends up on an twin air mattress in the office with Bennett so C can lay with me. Sleep obviously not a priority for any of us that night.

This seems appropriate here, even though vodka is not currently part of my diet.

Next Day: 

We have a home inspection set up for the house we are trying to buy. Our purchase has now come down to crossing our fingers that the house isn't falling apart and we can not be homeless anymore in a few weeks. C acts totally fine with my mom all day (but won't eat) and then throws up on the way home. Maybe its my Duck Butt that is offending his tummy so much?

The House Situation: 

After a month of searching and seeing 18 houses, we finally settle on one that checks all the blocks and that I don't hate (I saw A LOT of really bad, really expensive houses. This town is nuts). We make an offer. Three days later the sellers counter. We counter back. They accept on the offer on the contingency that we not ask them to fix anything after the home inspection. We assume that means that the house is falling apart. Interest rates go up from 3.7% to 4.5% during this debate and makes our house payment more than we were hoping for. Overall, the inspection goes well, but one wall is still making us a little nervous, so we are calling in a professional's opinion.
We will remain homeless for the time being.

The Bachlor Party: 

Kev left at 5am on Thursday morning for a Bachlor party. That same morning, C throws up again and B gets a random bloody nose and smears it all over me when we are away from the house and I don't have a change of clothes. Of course he does. 

The Baby: 

Is healthy and kicking and growing at a fantastic rate. But I.can't.sleep. And when you tie all that above in with a cranky pregnant lady, we don't have a pretty picture. 

Good news? 

These are not serious problems.  

Throw up and blood wash out with Oxyclean. 

I like Kev's best friend Chris and am glad they are spending time together, even if it wasn't the best timing for us as a family. 

My photoshoot went well and it was wonderful to reconnect with an old high school friend (see some pictures on my facebook page)

We have a lot of people who are related to us that don't mind having us as roomies for an undetermined amount of time. 

Hi Pop! You don't mind if we live with you until 2016, right?

The baby is coming soon and not sleeping is not so bad when you are holding a newborn in the middle of the night. 

We are leaving for vacation soon as we pick up Kev from the airport Saturday afternoon and although this lady will be shying away from a bathing suit, a change of scenery (out of the busyness of NOVA) is a welcome thought. 

You all still read my blog even when I haven't had time to post or to return any emails or comments back in over a week. Thank you!

My kids, despite stressing me out a little bit sometimes, are still pretty darn cute.

'Merica

Follow me on Instagram @katedaffodils for our beach trip updates. I will try to pop in midweek with a blog post. Until then, thank you for your continued support during this transition- I appreciate it so much!

Party at The Farm

After growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, a few years ago, my parents traded in their neighborhood home for a small condo near their business outside of DC and a property about two hours southwest in Luray, VA. Even though we didn't grow up there, it quickly became a place for family and friends to gather on the weekends to party. This weekend was no different, as our friends Katie, Chip and their baby Nash came up from NC to visit. Katie is a long time family friend, one of my older brother's best friends from college who we became close to as neighbors in Winston. We had such a fun weekend and it was like 2 years hadn't passed at all since we last saw them.

Saturday morning started out with Bloody Marys (as it always does, Fritz is the professional Bloody Mary mixer) and my Grandma and Grandpa Ray decided to join the party as well.

A few hours later, the front yard was bustling with people, as my brother Joey, his girlfriend Caitlin and her nephew Sam showed up, as well as Uncle Bummy and Kathleen and their two friends Virginia and Trewhitt. 

The rest of the day was spent outdoors, as so many have been since we arrived in VA a month ago. 

Sweet Baby Nash

Cullen and Bennett loved on Nash all weekend. They are both going to be such good Big Brothers to Baby 3. (And is it just me, or do they both look SO old in these two pictures?)

Kev hadn't seen Cullen's motocycle yet, so the next few hours were spent racing through the fields. I have a feeling the training wheels will be off his motorized bike before his pedaled one...

I told my Dad no jump for C until at least next summer though. My Momma Heart couldn't handle this quite yet. (But you can see C off in the distance looking back at his Uncles... he is totally thinking about it, isn't he?)

And because motorcycle riding in 90 degree heat will make some boys pretty sweaty, it was straight into the pool from there.

Kev and I ran to the grocery store and when we returned, someone had taught both our boys how to jump off the diving board.

After a dinner feast prepared by my mom,  late afternoon lent itself to a trip to Wisteria Winery right down the road.

 And then the night ended with watching the Super Moon rise over the bonfire and laughing until way past our bedtimes.

At some point that night, we decided that this fall, we are going to hire a band, rent out tent spaces and have the First Annual Fritz-tival at The Farm, so go ahead and reserve your tickets for that now.

Thanks to Katie and Chip for coming, Brothers and friends for hanging out, Grandma and Ray for making us laugh, and Mom and Dad for hosting all these people who eat all your food and drink all your beer- it was a great weekend.

And He's Back

One month, 3000 miles and his second completed Master's Degree later, Kev is back with us on the East Coast. You might recall that the boys and I flew early because of the preggoness, to save some rent money (yay for a new couch!) and so Kev could focus on getting his thesis done. And even though the boys have had a few 'best days ever' since we've been back, there was nothing better than being able to cuddle up with Daddy last night. (And a BIG thanks to my inlaws for having the boys and me all week while we anticipated Kev's arrival!)

As I type, the three of them are out getting doughnuts (and no one is here tapping on my leg repeating Mommmmyyyyyy) and we are all so happy to be reunited. We have a busy few weeks ahead with a visit from our best friends from NC at the farm this weekend, Kev going back out of town for 3 days next week, his family's annual beach trip (7 boys in one house ages 6 and under!), my first DC clients for Daffodils Photography and the potential to close and move into a house before Kev starts work here (should hear something today, fingers crossed). Somewhere in there, I'll keep growing this baby and hopefully his arrival will follow all of those events shortly and he won't torture me well into August.

Thank you for all your prayers for Kev's safe travel and good vibes for the house. My time to respond to emails and visit blogs has been short, but I hope to catch up with you all soon. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

32 weeks: What the Duck?

While on our little hike Over the weekend, my mom happened to snap a few pictures of me and the boys. If you have been around here for a while, then you know that I am rarely in the pictures, especially when preggo, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw this guy on my SD card Sunday night:

The first thoughts to pop into my head were:

Will I literally be shaking a tail feather soon? (And did I just reference a rap song from 2003?)

Is my spine going to break in half from that indent as the baby continues to grow for eight more weeks?

Are we sure there is not another child growing in my backside?

Is Daisy Duck jealous of my curves? (Likely)

I didn't have the crazy back curve, duck looking situation with my other boys and with this one, it started soon as my belly popped out. I actually can't neutralize my spine if I try. Anyone else's body do this? I will be able to stand up straight again one day, right?

 Until then, I guess I have to just deal with the fact that I am really Ducking pregnant. 

***

PS- We put an offer in on a house yesterday- keep your fingers crossed that we hear some good news today!

So happy that this weekend is over because Kev gets back at the end of the week and we are definitely ready to be reunited as a family. He finished his thesis last week and we are so proud of him.

Thanks for all your feedback on our housing situation on Friday. I am going back for a second look at a house this afternoon and crossing my fingers that I get a warm and fuzzy feeling about it and we can put in an offer. Fun fact: This is our 4th house and Kev and I have never been together to pick any of them out. Welcome to life in Army.

  (And if you are wondering why we don't just wait until Friday...good stuff doesn't stay on the market that long around here. It is insane!)

Onto the weekend... the boys are continuing to have the time of their lives:

And since they have been helping Papa with chores, I think my dad figured it was okay to teach them how to do one more important job

 Bennett's pant-less parade marches on

 And everyday is spent outdoors until the sun goes down.

 On Saturday afternoon, we ventured up to the top of the Mountain for a little nature hike. I almost forgot how much greener Virginia is compared to California.

And on Sunday, Uncle JoJo surprised us and came down for the day. The boys followed him everywhere and made sure they did every activity possible. While they were riding motorcycles, playing football, jumping in the pool, playing golf, having snacks and building castles, I was able to get laundry put away, clean our sections of the house and pack to ready ourselves for another week on the move. Thanks Uncle JoJo for being an awesome Rent-A-Dad.

Of course, we didn't forget our real Daddy who spent the day in Vegas with his younger brother on the first leg of their road trip. 

 Hope you had a great day with the Fathers in your life and your week is off to a glorious start. 

Wish us luck with the house today!

Time/Money/Space

So we are house hunting, and it isn't going quite as easily as I hoped. 

Most of our conversations go like this:

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy is this house $29038402398402983409238498 dollars and only 900 square feet??? We keeping have more kids and then downsizing. What am I going to do if it is raining one day and I can't send the rugrats outdoors? Let them play in the pink tiled bathroom all afternoon?! But it could be worth it because the commute is only 5 minutes.

-OR-

O look, this house is only $3294820984 dollars, AND has four bedrooms, a kitchen with appliances, grass, a working shower! Let's buy it! {Start typing on Google maps} O wait,  you would be spending approximately 6 hours each way in the car to get to Post. If we were still in California, you could commute to San Diego and back. Only, this house is actually only 23 miles from post, traffic is just that bad. Terrifying. 

So tell me, what is most important to you:

Commute, Cost or Space?

And then pray that we find the right fit soon.
(Because this preggo is getting a teeny bit dramatic about it.)

***
Also on that note, a huge thanks to my mom who kept the boys for me out at the farm yesterday and today so I could house hunt and go see my new OB. I slept for 12 hours last night, (12!) and feel like a new person. Moms are the best aren't they?

Happy Weekend!

A rainbow we spotted earlier this week.

I'm Open! I'm Open!

With all the free time I have these day (bahahahahahah) I've decided to go ahead and open Daffodil's Photography up to clients in the DC area! Time goes by faster when I am overly busy, plus Momma could use a pre-natal massage, so feel free to book away.

Here is a quick sampling of my prices and packages, you can view the full list by clicking on the Daffodil's Photography tab across the top of the page. 

Family/Couple Session:

30 minute session

1 location

15 edited digital files on a CD

$100

*Additional $25 for more than 4 people

Maternity:

30 minute session

Option of 1 additional outfit change (not included in time limit)

20 edited digital files on a CD

$120

Newborn:

45 minute session

Up to 3 outfit changes (not included in time limit)

Up to 2 locations (including in nursery or outdoors)

Minimum of 25 digital files on a CD

$135

Engagement

45 minute session

Up to 2 outfit changes

Up to 2 locations (changes not included in time limit)

30 digital files on a CD

$150

You can email me at Daffodilsphotography@gmail.com, visit my Facebook Page or leave a comment anytime for more info.
I am excited to work with you!

One Day, I'll Look Normal Again

And shortly thereafter, I have multiple weddings to attend. 

After a seemingly long hiatus of friends getting married, Kev and I four weddings lined up for this fall. The first one is just a few weeks after baby is scheduled to be born and I am crossing my fingers that I will be ready to dance the night away and celebrate our friends' love. Of course, among the many perils of new motherhood, is the ever-changing post partum body and it is not an easy few months weeks while you wait for everything to shrink back to normal-ish and become less squishy. Getting dressed for a formal event can be especially challenging since I don't think leggings and a Tshirt is acceptable attire for an evening wedding.

So when Shabby Apple's Vintage Clothing contacted me to see if I was interested in a new dress, I knew I could find something perfect for my soon to be in-between body. I have narrowed my choices for our first wedding down to a few, take a vote and let me know which of these Vintage Inspired dresses you think I should get:

At Last

Boogie Woogie

Maid of Honor

Tiber

Thanks for your input!

*This is a sponsored post, but all opinions (including those about my squishy, weird post-baby body) are my own.