The Glory Month

June's "Glory Month" 

(*knocking on wood over here, of course, and readers beware of my rambling!)

Some people refer to a certain time period as the glory years of their lives - the times when things just seem to go well and all is good and in order.

Well, since Junie turned 6 MONTHS last week, I feel like we must have turned a corner into the "glory days" of this little Bug's existence. 

The following characteristics are nothing new about our June Bug, but I've appreciated them more than ever recently:

She couldn't be any more kissable or squeezable - her squishy cheekies are hard not to smooch on (she's storing up and getting big before she crawls and burns it all off).  

She has quite the personality and doesn't want to miss a thing or be left out (sounds like her grandpa and cousin, Ari, to name a few ;)).  

She's a drool monster with her two bottom teeth and more coming in and frantically grabs everything to put in her mouth.  

She's mobile by scooching around on her belly - luckily no crawling yet!  

She smiles and laughs all the time with her shiny eyes and mouth agape.  

She has a great scowl and her eyebrows give her away as to what she's thinking! 

I mean she's really such a baby doll and the cutest thing! 

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her, just as we do Addie, of course! 

You talkin' 'bout me?

A few weeks ago though (and tonight, unfortunately), I thought I was going to LOSE IT.  I mean really lose it. 

2 KIDS UNDER 2:

Bill and I have always talked about having a "bigger" family with kids close in age so they'd grow up together/be in school together; and we started having kids right away into marriage. 

But I have to admit, having a second one when AJ was 17 months old was initially shocking to our systems.  

My mom (who had 4 of us) and dear friend, Kristin (mom of 4) warned me of this - "Yes, the first one is a shock because it's new and your life will never be the same because you're a parent with much more responsibility; but the beginning with the 2nd one makes you feel like you really can't do or balance it all." 

It was/sometimes is harder than I ever could have imagined.  

(Funny that both of them have said that having more kids is a lot less shocking… haha).

I was needing some kind of break during the days and wasn't getting it because I just couldn't get the girls to nap at the same time (like today).  I really thought I was in crazy town.  I mean I was struggling to get enough rest, struggling to imagine having more kids, struggling to feel sane (well, that's a little dramatic, but you know what I mean), and on and on.  I was like, we only have 2 kids, what about those families with LOTS of kids or with with 4 kiddos under the age of 5, or families with multiples, etc.??!!  How do they do it?

 (And we have EASY babies compared to many others.)

How am I going to do this kept running through my mind!

And even though it's silly, it's easy to worry what other people think and say - oh you have it so easy - you only have two babies and you get to stay home - what's so difficult about that?

How could I be complaining with my situation and these awesome, healthy girls?

Good question. 

I thought I was going a little crazy.

You still talkin' 'bout me?

But the last couple of weeks have allowed me to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  

It really is all in how I choose to see it - which is how most of life is, right?  

And I LOVE the life we've been blessed with, even when it's harder than I want to admit.  

June still doesn't nap well (if at all), but she's been sleeping through the night for months now for the most part, and if I just plan on not getting a break then the days don't seem so long ;).

* I also appreciated coming across this Letter to Moms of One Or Two Children.  Which was REALLY encouraging and HYSTERICAL and something I'll probably continue to read when I think I might be losing it from time to time.  

And this wonderful post, Why Most Families Have Two Children.  

Definitely both worth the read if you have the time! 

So I think I'll enjoy this "glory" month, or this week, or this hour, or whatever it is and remember it when things get a little tough again, which will probably be when we start potty training Addie Jo around the corner, or maybe tomorrow with my luck! ;)

Oh what a wonderful life!!!

Is this Bug a keeper or what?!

7 QUICK Takes Friday

I can't believe Thanksgiving was really JUST last week??!!  WHAT?! Crazy.

But as I was scanning through my phone pics, I remembered it really was last week when I saw this -

Bill's Thanksgiving leftover plate

Okay, so I wanted to post a QUICK, and I mean QUICK, Quick Takes this Friday because we are busy elves getting ready for our trip to Michigan next week and I don't have a lot of time.
So rapido, rapido, aqui vamos! 

This BUSY elf has cookie dough literally falling out of the fridge, ready to be rolled out for cookies!

Here's the latest from Casa Williams this past week:
(linking up with Jen per usual)

1.) Michigan lost a heartbreaker to Ohio State last weekend by one point.  This one wasn't too happy about it - 

And what better way for Bill to wallow in his sorrows than to eat BUCKEYES - 

Get it? Ohio State BUCKEYES!

2.)  Since it's Advent, AJ has really enjoyed doing the Advent Calendar every day this week.
This one is just the sweetest with bible passages behind each flap:

Made in Germany from Frankenmuth, MI - so sweet! 

3.) We put up our tree on Sunday and the girls are still really excited about the Christmas decorations to the point that Addie keeps rearranging the ornaments every chance she gets (especially when I'm not looking)! 

This one likes the ornaments too!

4.) We've really started to see the Christmas spirit come alive all around us - especially right here in our neighborhood -

This house is one we love to take the girls to, just a few blocks away.

A crane to put up lights?  This is typical in our hood :)

5.) We went to the library this week.  

Addie thought this little girl was there to play with her so she kept saying, "Hi," and doing whatever she did.  

The little girl didn't seem too annoyed - 

6.) We also went to Christmas at the Zoo this week because it was WARM on Wednesday night and we knew it would probably the warmest night of December, so we headed out to see the lights - 

Nonetheless, June June was still bundled up!

Reindeer! 

This is AJ dancing a jig!

7.) And lastly, we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Nick this morning with the "gift in the shoe tradition" when Addie woke up!  

This is what this blonde mop found (well, they are for Junie, too)- 

Rapunzel and Tiana

Testing them out in her Little People Castle.

Phew, that was a QUICK Quick Takes, wrapping up the first week of Advent.  

Happy SNOWY Weekend, friends! 

O' Christmas Tree!

"Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. 

Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent…

If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. 

Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. 

Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time." 

Edward Hays, A Pilgrim's Almanac

On this First Sunday of Advent, we celebrated by getting our Christmas Tree as a family.  

I know it's the beginning of ADVENT, and not Christmas, but we wanted to have the tree all through Advent and then through the 12 days of Christmas - especially because we will be in Michigan during the middle of the month visiting Bill's family - and we won't really have time to decorate later in the month!

And it was a great way to start this wonderful season:

O Come O Come, Emmanuel!