friday four.

ahhhh friday, how i love thee.  this week has possibly been one of the longest, most challenging weeks in my life as a mom.  bella has been not sleeping during her naptime, thrown some pretty heavy duty tantrums and has all around just been an absolute pill.  last night, nick was mowing our lawn after work.  before he was even done i stopped him.  i threw up my surrender flag: "i'm done.  i need HELP!"  we've had some lovely moments this week and some not so lovely ones.  let's see what i can document for you in this week's friday four.

nick
i would say the highlight of his week would have been swimming on wednesday, after working long hours in the hot sun. our themometer above our sink read 100 degrees. while i'm not sure it was exactly that hot, it was still pretty warm. he had texted me earlier that day asking me if i wanted to take the girls and go swimming at my aunt's house when he got home. so, we packed up the girls and all of our pool-gear and it probably lasted a total of five minutes. nick had all but dove in the pool when emmy started screaming and bella kept yelling "i don't wike it, don't wike it!!!!!" and refused to go near the water. ahhhh, so much for that plan. nick dried off, we packed up and headed back home. like i said, this would've been his highlight. the best part? the whole drive home bella kept asking him "you have fun swimming, daddy? you have fun?" hmmm. since he's not here for me to ask, i'd have to say the high of his week was hanging out with lots of family and friends. nick is such a social guy... he gets his energy off of hanging out with people and just values relationships like crazy, which i totally love. friday and saturday night we spent having dinner with friends. sunday he got to play golf, we ate lunch at the marina with my brother-in-law's family and that night our entire extended family came to our house for a cookout. it was a great day for my baby daddy. and does he deserve it or what?(the answer is YES).

meg
sunday was a day i had dreaded for months and months since my dad had passed.  but it ended up actually being a really special day.  so incredibly thankful for all of the texts and messages that friends and family sent me telling me they were praying for me and my family.  such a blessing; i certainly felt those prayers!  the highlight of my week was definitely having a girls night with some of my closest (and oldest) girlfriends wednesday evening.  i am so blessed that a few of my best friends from high school are in the area and we typically get together at least once a week for a playdate with our kiddos, and once a month for a girls night (mamas only!).  i can't even begin to say how much i love having friends who have been in my life for so long, who know me so well, and who have little ones the same ages as mine!  it refreshes my soul.  we met at a restaurant on the river, ate on the patio and chatted the night away.  i'm pretty sure we closed the place down.  love these girls so much!

bella
even though it's been a super tough week with my little miss sassafras, a really really great thing happened.  bella has had exzema ever since she was tiny.  we've always tried to control it with different lotions and creams, but this past weekend it was the worst it's ever been.  her poor little arms were so red that her skin had broken and she was bleeding.  i just couldn't take it any longer.  we made an appointment with her doctor, and after looking at my poor pumpkin's skin, she prescribed a medicine and gave us a new regiment to try.  we've been giving her baths twice a day with oil, then putting a topical steroid on all her "trouble spots" and lathering her skin with eucerin.  i noticed a huge difference just after the first day... and now, after three days of this new routine, her skin is *completely* clear.  it's seriously like a miracle!  i just kept telling her how happy i was that she was better and the other night when i was putting on her cream she said "it's so much better, mama, so much better!" like music to my ears.

emmy
my little emmy ems is just the happiest thing.  i can't get enough of her.  she is just super smiley and loves to be held and talked to.  i just want to squeeze and squeeze her.  probably the high of her week was getting wear her oh-so-stylish bathing suit for the swimming (or non swimming) debacle on wednesday.  she may have been fussy, but boy did she look cute.

add several tantrums and battling for control with our too-big-for-her-own-britches too year old and that pretty much sums up our week.  there you have it--the lovely, and the not so lovely.  but the kisses, the smiles, the coos, the snuggles and the "i love you, mama"s make it a little better :)

until next week...