everyday Ann

living the ordinary seeing the extraordinary

The Latest

1.  She is walking!! And could not be more proud of herself! Now constantly on the go. I thought she would be a really late walker being she didn’t crawl until 11 months, but 3 months later she took her first steps and is off.

2.  A few weeks ago we threw my parents a semi-surprise 6oth birthday party at a hotel and waterpark. We rented a 3 bedroom condo and had a great weekend with all of us together for a few days. As much as Grace likes her bath time she was not a fan of the water, but the boys were pretty courageous in trying water slides they said they would never go down.

3.  The boys had their first official school project through their homeschool co-op, building a bridge out of popsicle sticks. They could enter it in the longest bridge or strongest bridge contest. They went for the longest and I struggled to fit it in the van. Proud of their achievement, winning the longest bridge.

4.  I realize I am probably late to the party on this, but a few weeks ago I discovered Blessed is She. My only regret is that I didn’t know about it sooner. I signed up for their emails, which are the Mass readings for the day with a beautiful reflection that follows. This has been perfect for Lent.

5.  Baby continues to grow, 17 weeks! Things continue to go well with the exception of having trouble regulating my progesterone. I have had a few big drops in my levels leading to a few big scares and last minute ultrasounds to check on the baby. Every time a strong and beautiful heart beat and a very active little jumping bean. Leaving it in God’s hands and trying my best not to worry about the numbers.

6.  We have our anatomy scan in a couple of weeks and the question is are we finding out the gender. Good question, I still don’t know. This time around I am leaving it up to Aaron since I was pretty adamant we were going to find out with Grace and he has always leaned more towards leaving it a surprise. I am not sure what is driving me more crazy not knowing the gender or not knowing if we are going to find out the gender.

7.  And that’s the latest around this household as we anxiously await for it to feel just a little like spring in the perpetually frozen tundra. I see 54 in the forecast, yay!!

Linked with Kelly.

3 Under $30

I am finding myself at the awkward stage of pregnancy, all of my clothes getting too tight and maternity clothes still too big. My stomach is definitely expanding, some days it seems by leaps and bounds, but the official bump is still forming and right now it just looks like I have been hitting up cookies and donuts really hard.

Lately I have been wearing pants with a stretchy waist band more than I care to admit, but have been scouting out some clothes to make myself a bit more presentable. I don’t want to spend a lot on maternity clothes since it will only be worn a few months, so I am trying to find tops that have enough flow and can still be worn postpartum. A few finds this tee and this tunic. While the search continues accessories always fit!

(Don’t forget you can earn cash back when ordering online by joining Ebates!)

24.50 // LOFT

24.00 // francesca’s

22.99 // Target

 

In the Trenches

In my mind I had the evening all planned out. Aaron was out for a few hours with the boys and Grace was ready for an early bedtime after missing her afternoon nap. I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish after putting her to bed and having silence in the house. I sat down to write a post and soon after I hear Grace crying from her room. I go in comfort her and get her back to sleep. Fifteen minutes later she wakes up screaming, same routine. Thirty minutes later I do it all again.

One of the harder lessons of motherhood is my time is not mine whether it be day or night. You are at the status of always being wanted by the little ones in your house and while I appreciate the fact that my children find comfort in my being with them at 4:00am there are days when it starts to weigh on you. It never fails every time I plan to get up early to get a head start on the day Grace always seems to have the same idea.

Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love and adore my children and love being a mom. It’s just that some days are really hard. There may be no particular reason. Sometimes it’s everything adding up, lack of sleep, lack of balance, lack of adult conversations, lack of sunlight and warm weather. When I feel myself getting to my breaking point we switch scenery fast, if weather permits go outside or load everyone in the van to walk around a store or take an afternoon drive.

In any state of life there will be moments when the days are difficult, but I have found that the vocation of motherhood has with it an even higher calling. We are called to completely give of ourselves at any moment of the day and to do so joyfully and with great love. Not an easy task and something I have fell short of many of times, but an ideal I will daily continue to strive for.

While the world devalues the importance of motherhood and tells us we aren’t living to our potential if we don’t have a professional title, what they don’t see is the souls we are shaping, the lives we are forming and the hearts we are teaching to love.

Some days it can feel like we are in the trenches, but it is the hard work, sacrifice and love that nobody notices, most times not even ourselves, that is making the most impact in the world.

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”  Mother Teresa

(My entertainment as I prepare dinner, music to my ears!)

The Things They Say

They always keep it real and honest sometimes with a bit of sass, but always giving us a laugh.

K: Mom you look like a princess today.

After hearing the baby’s heartbeat.
E: That is really loud, I think the baby should turn that down a little.

Trying to make it out the door for confession.
K: If you don’t go to confession you are going to hell.

Me: How loose is your tooth?
E: It’s not even loose, it’s in there like a rockstar.

At the grocery store.
K: Mom, can I please be a check out person?
Me: No, not until you are older.
K: How about when I am 18?
Me: Sure.
K: Yes, I am almost 18!!!

Asking to take a picture of him in front of a school project.
E: Should I stand here like a model?

Walking in the door after a haircut.
K: Hmm…let me see.
(pause as he takes a closer look)
K: Yep, your hair looks really nice.

The boys trying to think of baby names and my response to every one is you have a cousin or uncle named that.
E: All of the names are taken. We should probably just use Packer ones.

After I helped Aaron type something on the computer.
K: Maybe it should go on the blog.

Trying to fold a shirt and struggling with the sleeves.
K: Enough with all this drama!

Makeover

It has been three years now since I started the blog and finally decided or should I say got around to giving it a little makeover and refresh just in time for spring. I hope you like the new look!

I have enjoyed sharing my journey and heart with you and hope you have found something to take away in reading. Life this past year has been a crazy adventure, but I hope to dedicate more time to this space as it’s also something that brings me joy.

I would love to hear from you, send me an email, everydayann@gmail.com what kind of posts do you enjoy reading the most or would you like to see more of.

Make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on the Everts’ latest and greatest!

(And now hoping Grace sleeps through the night, the time has gotten away from me.)

Writing about everyday life including marriage, motherhood, infertility and adoption. A little fashion and if I am feeling crafty a couple of DIY.
Writing about everyday life including marriage, motherhood, infertility and adoption. A little fashion and if I am feeling crafty a couple of DIY.
Writing about everyday life including marriage, motherhood, infertility and adoption. A little fashion and if I am feeling crafty a couple of DIY.