It's a Marrvelous Life: Adeline's blessing, visits from fam, 2 kids

Adeline ages 2- 6.5 weeks (not in order)

My great grandma made this blessing dress for me. I thought it was neat that Adeline could wear it for her blessing too.

More sibling love

Everett likes his sister. He makes sure we don't leave places without her. He often says, "I/Ebbit hold it" and tries to pick her up. He likes to point to the parts of her face and identify them. He likes to look at pictures of her. A couple of times he has tried to include her by throwing a toy at her. He tries to help her when she is crying by bringing her a blanket, patting her on the head, or sticking a pacifier in her mouth. (Though one time he kept yelling at her, "stop" when she was screaming, and sometimes he'll just cover his ears.) He also puts food in her mouth.

I was blessed/grateful/lucky to have extra family in town for an entire month starting a few days before Adeline was born. They cycled in and out. First came my mom, then Dallin's mom. Then Dallin's sister Shannon with her son Axel, and then Dallin's dad and other sister Aerin. And finally, my dad. I really appreciated all of the help taking care of my kids and my home. And it was just fun to see people and have them here for Thanksgiving, Everett's birthday, and Adeline's blessing.

Everett and Axel are too fun to watch play together.

I got both boys to look at me by telling them I had a tablet.

The boys were eager to help Grampa fix the chairs.

Everett went around saying, "fix, fix, fix" with "tools" on random objects for the next couple of days.

Playing Ring Around the Rosie

Note the cute cowgirl boots.

When I took my dad to see some Spokane sites, we happened upon some raccoons at Spokane Falls.

Eventually, the visiting family had to go home, and I had to get used to life in my new two-kid reality.

I had prepared for this time before Adeline was born by making over a weeks worth of slow cooker meals and freezing them. (recipes) These did not turn out as tasty as I had hoped, but they were convenient.

Now I've just reached this mindset that I can only do so much, so I'll do as much as I can. I try to take the time to treasure and enjoy my kids. I accept that our house isn't very tidy all the time. I try to prioritize but still end up spending too much time on things that aren't as important (e.g. this blog post), I've gone over to Julie's house a few times, to do laundry and see Grandma and Grandpa. That's been nice. It entertains Everett, gives my arms a break, and gives an opportunity for socialization with family. And I've discovered that if we're not in our house, we can't make it more messy. :)

I snuck away to my book group and Relief Society Christmas parties. My book group did a book exchange and also surprised me with children's books.