Life

Saturday, 1/25

1. A picnic in the park with my family.

2. 2 of my favorite girlfriends, Jenn and Crystin, coming over to play with their two cutie pie kids! So good to see and catch up with them. So nice to know that despite all the changes, nothing's really changed!

3. A date night out with John to celebrate his new title - "Director of I.T. Operations!" Couldn't be more proud of him and all his accomplishments!

Sunday, 1/26

1. A red balloon at Publix that entertained Hart for the first half of our hour long grocery shopping adventure.

2. A pedicure with my baby girl. She picked our colors! We are ready for Valentines day!

3. Sunday night dinner at our house with the whole family...Coach and Gigi, Papa, Brannon, Heather, and Ava! A noisy, fun-filled night! The best kind!

Monday, 1/27

1. Figuring out the reason for Hart's recent fuss fests were because he's getting all 4 of his molars at the same time!

2. Isla running up to our car in car line after school. Love being greeted with her smiling face.

3. The gorgeous day that allowed us to play outside after we haven't in forever.

Tuesday, 1/28

1. Signing my oldest boy up for VPK and the second one up for his first year of preschool.

2. Making our new baby boy his nursery mobile.

3. Going back to blonde!

Wednesday, 1/29

1. Hart playing with my hair while he drank his bottle at nap time.

2. Picking up Leo from school and having him say, "today was such a fun day! And I love you so much!"

3. Being 30 weeks pregnant and feeling this baby boy wiggle around all day in my belly.

Thursday, 1/30

1. Isla's excitement for her 100th day of school celebration!

2. Hot chocolate and popcorn as an after school snack!

3. A game of pirates with the boys before dinner prep.

Friday, 1/31

1. The last day of January...and hopefully of this cold weather!

2. Talking about our day trip to Disney being only 3 days away. The whole drive to school consisted of which rides to go on and in what order.

3. Leo getting chosen to take "Brownie," the class bear, home for the weekend. He gets to take him everywhere and we have to document his travels with photos. Leo will share his report when he goes back to school.

 

 

 

Life

Saturday, 1/18
1. Attending a Ballerina Tea Birthday Party with Isla. Seeing my girl dance in a tutu makes me tears eyed. I love the age, 6!
2. A mid day nap knowing John is awake to take care of the kids if they wake up from their naps.
3. Hanging a mirror on our dining room wall!

Sunday, 1/19
1. Coffee in bed while watching the morning news
2. Grocery shopping with just lil Hart tagging along. Special time!
3. Sunday night dinner charades.
Monday, 1/20
1. A day with all 4 of my babies.
2. Watching them play outside for 4 hrs straight! 2 hours in the backyard and 2 in the front!
3. The smell of Hart and Leo's newly painted rooms!
Tuesday, 1/21
1. Taking the boys to the library.
2. Falling asleep holding Leo's hand at nap time.
3. Listening to Isla talk the painters' ears off for an hour after she got home from school!

Wednesday, 1/22
1. Playing with the boys all morning upstairs, uninterrupted!
2. Falling asleep holding Palmer's hand at nap time.
3. Smiling because I love our new colored walls.

Thursday, 1/23

1. Our school day morning routine! Even though it's hectic and rushed, I love all that it involves. Being greeted by sleepy faces in our bed, hot coffee, making lunches, breakfast at the kitchen island, and getting my babies dressed and packed into the car...all in an hour and a half!

2. Leo staring at a Hart at lunch time and then saying, "I love you, Hart!"

3. John walking into the house after a long afternoon.

Friday, 1/24

1. Hearing from Leo's teachers on a phone conference that he is doing great in school and kids fight over who will sleep next to him at rest time.

2. Switching out pictures in frames around the house.

3. A recital in the loft after dinner.

Life

Saturday, 1/11

1. MShack with the family at The Town Center

2. New Master bedroom bedding

3. Hart running up to me with his arms outstretched ready for me to scoop him up!

Sunday, 1/12

1. Editing Christmas photos and reliving that day!

2. A rainbow colored sunset seen while driving home from our family dinner at Napolis where everyone ate everything!

3. Me and Isla watching Live with Kelly and Michael at night on the couch...our new ritual. We both think Michael is hilarious!

Monday, 1/13

1. Palmer kissing my belly because he "wants to give baby a kish."

2. Fancy Monday night dinner...which means we sit at the dining room table to eat by candlelight and the kids get to drink juice out of wine glasses.

3. Bedtime routines...each night john puts two to bed and I put the other two. We switch off and I love the individual time reading books to each and hearing them say their prayers and whatever else they want to talk about.

Tuesday, 1/14

1. Seeing our sweet baby boy at a 28 week ultrasound due to a scare. All is fine and he is 3lbs and beautiful! I love his lips already!

2. Isla telling me she wrote 4 boys in her class love notes because they asked her too. (She's 6...is this really already happening?)

3. Text messages from John with only 3 little words that mean so much!

Wednesday, 1/15

1. Playing "bad guy" and "bugs" with Palmer and Hart.

2. Surprising the kids with strawberry cupcakes after school.

3. Planning April birthday parties...even though they are 3 1/2 months away.

Thursday, 1/16

1. My mom cooking me breakfast at her house.

2. Standing with Isla and watching our lawn guy completely butcher our crepe myrtle tree down to nothing, looking at each other, and then cracking up about how Daddy would flip out when he saw it.

3. Making birthday photo books for each of their four birthdays last year.

Friday, 1/17

1. Hart turned 14 months. He's still such a baby and it kinda makes me sad that he will soon have to share his momma with someone new on the way.

2. The way Palmer says "to" when he means "for." Like, "I want to be Darth Vadar "to" Halloween!" Or "I want a rocketship "to" Christmas!"

3. Deciding on paint colors for 5 rooms in our house! Painter comes on Monday!

 

Our Christmas

 Christmastime is my absolute favorite time of the year!  There is nothing better than the sights, smells, and activities that come with the Holiday season.  We made crafts, decorated many batches of cookies, baked, went on Christmas light sighting adventures...including one at our very own splash park which was amazing, and spent so much quality time together as a family.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect 2 1/2 weeks (except when John woke up on Christmas morning with Strep Throat.)  I actually hated sending them back off to school January 6th.  That one line from "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas" which says, "and mom and dad could hardly wait for school to start again," did not apply to me.  I'm happiest when my whole family is together.  Here's a glimpse of our most wonderful time of the year:













(Christmas Eve at Coach and Gigi's)



(Seeing The Real Santa while caroling at Ponte Vedra)



(The best moment of all...)





















(The scene all morning...loved every second)



(Snow ball fight)













A Very Merry Christmas!

Life

Saturday, 1/4

1. Sewing a pillow for new baby boy's nursery.

2. Finally finding the right color paint for the guest room/Leo's room, 7 samples later.

3. Roasting marshmallows and playing games around the neighbor's fire pit.

Sunday, 1/5

1. A family trip to St. Augustine (exploring the fort. Lunch at a mermaid cafe, a stop for treasures at the pirate store, and ice cream cones)

2. Patting my little 6 yr old Isla's back to sleep for a nap. (Love that she asked me to)

3. Sunday night dinner with the whole Shea clan.

Monday, 1/6

1. Breakfast at Gigi's.

2. Finding a coffee table for our study.

3. Snuggling under the warm covers and watching tv on such a cold night.

Tuesday, 1/7

1. Looking in the rear view mirror at Palmer who was sitting in the backseat waving at me.

2. Having my Isla give my pregnant self a foot massage. She calls it playing Salon, I call it heaven!

3. Realizing new baby boy will be here in less than 89 days!

Wednesday, 1/8

1. Mopping my floor at nap time to some great tunes.

2. Getting Isla ready for ballet...especially braiding her hair! I'm so blessed to have a little girl!

3. Talking with John after all the kids were put to bed. Love the chats with my best friend!

Thursday, 1/9

1. Hart's lil giggle when I chase him.

2. Leo saying "I love you Mommy," and "I'm having so much fun playing with you today!" Also, every time he says the words "yestertime" or "yesteryear"....one meaning yesterday and the other meaning last week.

3. Playing laser guns with Palmer and Leo. So many times when I was little I wanted to join in on my brother's game if laser tag with the neighbors but was never allowed. Now I'm going to get to play whenever I want with my four boys!

Friday, 1/10

1. While buying paint samples at Home Depot, Palmer and Hart were waiting patiently in the "car cart." I was waiting for one of them to start picking on the other but instead Palmer leaned over and gave Hart a big kiss on his forehead!

2. Blowing bubbles in the driveway with boy #2 and boy #3.

3. Cereal and crackers and cheese for dinner.

Life

Thursday, 1/2
1. Isla felt baby 5 kick for the first time! She gasped and said, "oh my gosh!"
2. Palmer's drooly kisses on my cheek.
3. The sound of raindrops on our roof at nap time.

Friday, 1/3
1.  Palmer brushing my hair this morning in the playroom.
2.  My mom knocking on our door at 3:00 p.m.  She played with the kids while I lay on the couch fireside and enjoyed a nap.
3.  Leo asking me at bedtime if I would play superheroes with him in the morning.  When I said, of course, he then asked worriedly if I was able to talk like a boy? :)

2014

I've been pretty bad about updating the blog in 2013. I guess raising 4 children, maintaining a home, and being a wife to the greatest husband ever are to blame! I mean, I still have all of our christmas pictures to edit not to mention writing a post about our new baby on the way...  So in 2014 I've decided to do something new.
Each day I will jot down 3 things that I was thankful for and "that gave me life" that day.  I read about this in a magazine and fell in love with the idea.  "The point is that saying thank you actually makes us grateful. Writing down gifts means we notice them, re-live them, and absorb them. Our days are breaking open with goodness, splitting little seams and cracks where light leaks out. You can give these moments a glance and move on, or you can dwell on them, collect them, savor them and say thank you. It is in choosing to recognize the light that we are changed. Beyond feeling thankful, our whole person becomes oriented toward gratitude."  
This will be my way of taking my crazy days and putting them into perspective. At the end of each day I will reflect back and remember the moments that made me smile and these memories will be written down for me to remember always.   Let's just hope I can keep up with it!  I'll probably post them every Friday but I'll go ahead and do today's, the first day of 2014!

1.  All 4 of my babies joined me and John in bed this morning.  Isla, Leo and Palmer walked downstairs and crawled into our bed while John carried Hart down to snuggle up with us as well.  The first seconds of 2014 were filled with what means the most to me, my family!

2.  Sitting in the rain in 50 degree weather while watching Georgia play Nebraska in the Gator Bowl is not what I'm saying thank you for, but sitting there in the company of John, my Dad, and my brother is!

3.  Having Isla, Leo, Palmer, and Hart greet us at the front door with huge hugs and smiles and chants of "we're so glad you are home" topped off the day! 

Happy New Year!!!!