Happy Monday sweet readers! I have more dishes cluttering my counters and filling my sink than I know what to do with, a husband working nights, a heart aching for my Greenville home, and a bundle of nerves in my chest as I wait for news of something slightly terrifying and exciting. But my house is quiet as both husband and baby sleep, and my mind is swirling with the memories and sweetness of yet another weekend gone by.
As I scrolled through the pictures from the last few days it really struck me how different and yet how much the same life is here in Baltimore. We’ve been residents here for close to 2 months now, but adjustments are still slowly being made. Instead of our weekends being filled with visits to and from family and friends, lots of personal family time, and long trips in the car, we’re making the most of the little time we get with Daniel, spending hours on our front stoop, and taking numerous visits to city parks. And this weekend? It was a lot of Mommy and Ali time, a lot of baking, and a lot of regular, ordinary, routine moments that added up to amount to a weekend full of smiles, tears, sleepy eyes, and lessons learned.
{1} the best. Having restocked all my flours with the new month’s budget, I mixed up a batch of our favorite cookies Friday night. The texture of whole wheat is one of my favorites.
{2} good morning. Ali is pretty predictable in the mornings. She wakes between 7-8am, knocks on her door to request release {or beckons me with her penny whistle}, immediately asks to watch a show, follows me to the pantry and tries to bargain for 2 gummy vitamins instead of 1, climbs up in her chair and requests blueberries, cheerios, and “cold nilk” {emphasis on the cold} for “bekfust”, eats all the blueberries and orders more before touching a single cheerio, and then finishes her fare and calls me to join her in the first game of the day just as I’m sitting down to take my first bite. So I decided to throw her off a bit and invite her to help me make pancakes instead. It took a bit of coaxing, and a few blueberries, but she caught on and enjoyed the change.
{3} first-timer. Daniel had the morning and afternoon off on Saturday before switching to a night schedule for the week, so we all went out to the movies together for the first time. Her face was in complete wonder and stunned silence at the sheer volume and size of the movie. And I really think I watched more of her than I did of Despicable Me! Her reactions were just too hilarious not to be enjoyed. And while she got antsy towards the end and decided she needed to go the bathroom 3 times in a row, overall she did really well.
{4} sprinkles. I try to emphasize the loveliness and refreshment of rain to Ali whenever we’re caught in a shower. But I’m not sure she needs any encouragement. What toddler can resist a cool, fresh puddle, after all?
{5} new. After “sticking it out” the last week or so in July without restocking on all the extras , I think I went a little overboard this week with trying new recipes. I raided pinterest, drooled over one of my favorite food blogs, and got the biggest thrill out of the simplest of things, like studding onions with cloves for chicken stock. Can’t wait to share what I tried! I do think I might sneak it in to the Cooking On Easy Street series!!
{6} routine. I’ve been trying to have more of one since moving. After trying to get around to seeing everyone before leaving Greenville, we pretty much flung any sense of consistency out the window for a few months. But I think my girl thrives on predictability like her momma and having a solid bed-time routine is giving her some stability. Dinner. Play time. Bath time. Potty time. Pajamas. Teeth. Books. Songs. Prayer. Sleep. The bubbles get her into the tub every time. #sneakymomtrick.
{7} wiggles. Our church is within walking distance, a matter of blocks really. And service doesn’t start til 10:30. But when your kid wakes at 7:30 {or much earlier for some of you} that’s a long morning spent inside. So this week we took a detour to the park to let out the wiggles, and I think it worked out rather nicely.
{8} stoop. While mornings are usually for vitamin bargaining and park or museum outings, evenings are for stoop time and bubbles. It’s amazing how long a $1 bottle of bubbles and a magic wand will occupy her imagination.
{9} “watch this babe.” Aletheia has taken to addressing us by our first names or our personal favorite, babe, mimicking the way Daniel and I refer to one another. She’s always trying dare devil stunts and seeking an audience. It’s really gotten me guffawing when my tunnel-visioned-husband is so immersed in the email he is composing or the Wikipedia article that he’s reading that baby girl just stands there repeatedly calling for his attention over and over. “Danyl! Watch me. DANyl! danYL! Baaaabe, calk to me!” {Jumping from the stoop steps was her stunt of choice on this particular weekend.} For the record, Ali has two tunnel-visioned parents. Poor kid. Hope she never leaps while we’re not looking!
What weekend activities does your family most enjoy? Have weekend story-telling going on over at your little space? You should link up over here. It’s a witty, beautiful little community, and we’d love to have you.
{Re}visionary Life 