Step by Step Parenting

It’s hard to believe that a week ago, we were somewhere on our journey home from Utah. That truly feels like forever ago! 

Real life hit hard once we got back, so much so that I didn’t go to work Monday simply so I could do everything that needed to be done. I had to pick up our dog from the sitter, go to my annual check-up at the doctor’s office, do loads of laundry, run to the dry cleaner, and tons of other super exciting adult tasks. Fun, I know.

It was nice to get everything done, though, and I look forward to enjoying theses last few weeks of summer before another school year begins. I start my third year of law school at the end of August, and I’ll graduate in December. Post-graduation, I’ll study for the bar like it’s my full-time job, and I’ll sit for the bar in February… literally on the twins’ first birthday. Yes, I will probably cry.

So in a lot of ways, I will be in the “final crunch” or “homestretch” from August 31st until February 24th. It’s extremely daunting, but if my husband and I can work together to pull it off, we can finally, FINALLY put a really difficult chapter of our lives behind us. That’s not to say that there aren’t more difficult chapters ahead — we’re not that naive — but I very much look forward to getting a job and not living off of student loans.

With that being said, here’s how one of my last somewhat carefree weeks went:

This Week In Review

One of the biggest things to happen this week is that I am nearly done pumping!!! Ahhh!!! I have been taking the weaning process super slowly over the course of several weeks, just to avoid a crazy hormonal crash or any infection, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. On Tuesday, I stored away milk for the last time, and by Saturday, I was able to go a whole day without pumping for the first time since the twins were born. It’s hard to describe how amazing this transition has felt, mentally. I am so proud of myself for making it to five months of exclusively pumping, and I am feeling more and more “like myself” every day. Hooray!

The twins continue to grow and change each week! Evelyn is so, so close to crawling. She can get herself on all fours, and from there has sometimes scooted herself forward, or she’ll rock back and forth. Emersyn is still working on it… she’ll lift her arms and legs off the ground at the same time and just scream, seemingly frustrated that she’s not moving. It’s hard not to laugh just a little bit! Evelyn, who has never loved drinking from a propped up bottle as much as Emersyn, has taken matters into her own hands, literally, and has learned to hold her own bottle! When Kevin saw this, he said, “Aw, that’s one less way she needs us!” Of course, they will continue to need us for a lot, but it is a bit of a bittersweet milestone.

The older three kids were happy to be reunited this week, as they are most Sundays when we get the kids back. Although it was so nice to have the extra one-on-one time with Eloisa last week, I know she missed Kennedy and Thomas sometimes. They spent all week playing and bouncing off of the walls of our townhome, which is starting to feel smaller and smaller by the day! But anytime I feel guilty about this, one of the kids will comment about how they miss our old apartment, which was even smaller, or I’ll remember how before we knew we were expecting twins and tried to put Kennedy in her own room, all of the kids cried because they wanted to be together. I think the only two people bothered by the close quarters are Kevin and I.

Speaking of Kevin, Saturday was HIS BIRTHDAY!!! My husband is my best friend and my favorite person ever, so I had a blast celebrating him alllll weekend, and I got the kids on board, too. On Friday, my parents came over and watched the kids so that Kevin and I could go on our first datesince the twins were born back in February. We went to Carrabba’s for dinner, where we ate so much that we couldn’t even order dessert, followed by a stroll around Barnes & Noble. We were only out for around two hours, but it felt incredibly nice to enjoy a proper date for the first time in what feels like forever.

On Saturday, Kevin’s actual birthday, he sadly had to leave for work at 5:00am, but I didn’t let that stop me. The kids and I baked his birthday cake while he was gone, and as soon as he came home, we surprised him with cake and presents. Then on Sunday (today), the kids and I helped me do breakfast in bed for Kevin (chocolate chip waffles!), and we’ll head over to my parents in a bit for more cake and presents. Like I said, we’ve had a blast celebrating him all weekend long, and he’s the best husband and dad ever, so he deserves it!

This next week will be our first week with just the twins in almost a month, and honestly, I’m looking forward to it. It will be nice to be able to focus 100% on them without feeling like I’m neglecting the older three kids, as well as catch up on some cleaning and some alone time, something I haven’t had in what feels like forever! It will be our last slow week for a long time, and I’m both nervous and excited for everything the rest of this year will bring. Kennedy will start third grade, Eloisa will be in first grade, and Thomas starts kindergarten. The twins will start solid foods, learn to crawl, and begin to babble more and more. There will be more birthdays, holidays, good days, bad days, and mundane days, and I’m ready to embrace it all.

God Is In the Details

It’s been brought to my attention recently that I’m actually pretty awful at self-care, especially when it comes to money. As I’ve mentioned before, money is pretty tight right now, and anytime there’s extra cash, I find myself using it to pay bills or by something for the kids. With five kids, there’s always something we need, whether it’s new pajamas or more shoes or school supplies. Even when I’m gifted money, say for my birthday or holidays, I rarely spend it on me.

On Friday, I had to take my car in for an oil change. I had the passing thought of stopping to get myself a yummy drink — maybe a pink drink from Starbucks, or something new from Dutch Bros — and bringing my laptop with me, so that I could enjoy a little treat and get some writing done. After thinking about it, though, I decided that I didn’t want to spend the $6 or so that the drink would cost me. I would just bring my own water, and be okay.

Before I could leave, though, I had to take our dog out for a walk. I hadn’t made it 100 feet away from my house when, guess what I found?

$6, just laying on the ground. Almost exactly enough for the drink that I had been thinking of getting!

There was a time in my life that I would have just rolled my eyes and called it in a coincidence. And maybe that’s all it is. But I’d much rather take it as a tiny sign that God is aware of even the tiniest details of our lives, and that none of our struggles are too small or too silly to Him.It’s like He knew that I wouldn’t treat myself unless money literally fell from the sky, so that’s what happened.

I have seen God show up in my life in big ways plenty of times. But it’s important to remember that He is always there, no matter how big or small our concerns seem to us. And I’m so thankful for that.