The A Team Week 24: The Pros and Cons

This week had its pros and cons...its ups its downs...things we loved and things, well not so much...

The "Not-So-Much": (since I don't like ending a post on a sour note, I'll start with the cons).

Glasses:(  On Saturday, Eric and I finally got around to getting our eyes checked and shelling out the cash for new glasses (it had been 5 years!!).  While it is a pro that we can both see well again and through new, clear (unscratched) lenses, I can say that I really hate looking for new glasses.  I hate change and committing to something that sits on my face all day every day is tough.  If I could have bought new lenses for my old frames, I would have just to avoid the search, but alas...

Sickness:(  While Avery and I were able to stay healthy for most of the week, other than some congestion and sore throats, Asher and Eric were not so lucky.  Asher awoke on Wednesday night screaming like he had a few weeks ago.  When we checked on him down stairs he was acting as though he was in terrible pain and grabbing his throat.  We checked his forehead to find a sweaty little boy with a low-grade (100ish) fever and thought that one of us would be missing work and staying home with him the next day.  Surprisingly though (& a pro), the next morning we were greeted by a happy, fever-free boy that seemed to be back to his regular self despite the previous rough night.  We hoped that would be the end of sickness in our family, but by Saturday night, Eric was also not feeling well and therefore spent most of Sunday resting on the couch, making for a tough day for both of us as I'm sure any parent could tell you that 1 cold + 1 parent = 2 exhausted parents.

Sticks & Stones:(  Sometimes, being a parent is absolutely wonderful and other times...well, it isn't.  Earlier in this week I experienced a wonderful (pro) moment when I knelt down next to Asher, wrapped by arms around him, gave him a long, tight squeeze and then kissed him on the cheek.  He snuggled into my embrace and then said, "Thank you Mommy, Thank you," as if it was one of the greatest gifts he'd ever received.  Then, on Friday came an opposite (con) moment that strongly went against the old childhood rhyme.  When I walked into the boys' daycare on Friday night to pick them up, Asher was right in front of me.  He took one look at me and then yelled, "NOOOOOO Mommy!!".  Then, before I could even respond he said, "I don't like you Mommy."  These words hurt...majorly!  I stood in the doorway as though someone had punched me in the face with tears welling up in my eyes.  Those words from my boy were some of the most hurtful I've ever received.  I know he didn't mean them and that he was just not ready to leave daycare yet, but it hurt nonetheless.  I told him that he hurt my feelings and could see the remorse in his eyes, but it really didn't make either of us feel any better.  That evening, Eric got home from work and could tell something was wrong.  He asked Asher what was a wrong with Mommy and Asher replied, "Mommy Happy".  Knowing that wasn't the case, he asked me what happened and I told him.  Then, he packed up the boys in the van and took them grocery shopping to give me some time to myself at home.  When they returned, Asher came right into the office, handed me a box of Cadbury caramel eggs and said, "Sorry, I wub you Mommy."  ...he may have hurt my feelings, but I know that he loves me and didn't mean it and I also know that he has a great daddy to set him straight.

...And the Loves:

Carrots:)  At this point, Avery has had rice cereal, peas and carrots.  He ate the first two okay but didn't seem to be crazy about them.  Then they had the carrots and he was one happy (& very messy) little guy!

Avery LOVES carrots!

Friends:)  On Wednesday, Asher, Avery and I went to the Laillet household rather than playgroup since it had been a while since we were able to have one-on-one time to catch up.  The babies enjoyed gabbing to one another and attempting to pull/play with each other's hair, Britni and I enjoyed talking and catching up on life while watching and entertaining the kiddos, and Asher and Theo enjoyed playing trains, reading books, exploring Lilou's room and being superheros!

SuperAsher & Super Theo!

I love Asher's face in this picture

Cookies:)  On Wednesdays Asher always has so much fun at playgroup (or in this case Theo's house) that we've been having a hard time convincing him it is nap time afterwards.  Today I decided to bribe him and he went to sleep without a peep and took a great nap.  What did I bribe him with?  Cookies, of course.  Since I had an unopened bag of M&Ms lying around, I decided to try to make M&M cookies (something I actually haven't done before).  I am not a big fan of regular M&M cookies because they are always kind of flat and dull so I searched for a different recipe and found an oatmeal M&M recipe on Pinterest that looked good.  Asher and I had a good time whipping them up on Wednesday afternoon and then gobbling some up after dinner that evening.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) Eric, who is a very picky dessert eater, wasn't impressed by my cookies, stated that he wasn't a fan of oatmeal cookies (something I didn't know, but doesn't surprise me) and wouldn't eat them, forcing me to eat the majority of the batch myself.  I am still working on them, but they are quite tasty if I do say so myself!

Water:)  Ever since our Florida vacation, Avery LOVES the water and gets really excited when he gets a bath.  Like in Florida, he will wiggle in his chair every time I sit him up until he is almost completely in the water so that he can kick and splash to his little heart's content.

Not only did the kiddos get to enjoy their bath time this week, but they also got to enjoy playing in an actual pool as we began our swim classes at the Pleasant Prairie Rec Plex for the year.  ...AND not only did they get to enjoy swim class, but they got to do so with their friends Lilou and Theo too!

Theo & Asher playing on the slide after swim class

Avery & Daddy after class

Another benefit of swim class is sleepy babies afterwards!  ...if only I was able to get a nap at the same time!

Eric trying to convince Avery to sleep later in the day...his face can tell you he wasn't interested as he watched me everywhere I went.

Changing Seasons:)  On Saturday we finally got around to taking our seasonal winter family photo.  We figured we better do it now or never since the forecast was full of Spring-like weather and our snow wasn't going to last much longer.  We got our photos and thankfully the forecast was correct, both Saturday and Sunday did some major damage to our snow piles!  (yay!)

With the warmer weather (Saturday was in the high 40-low 50s!) we even got to break out the grill for the year and enjoy some yummy burgers for dinner!

With the changing season this week, also came the time change.  Normally I would despite Spring Ahead, as it means loosing an hour of sleep.  This year though we actually gained an hour of sleep, because both the boys slept until their normal time but it was one hour later.  Thus, we all got to sleep in until almost 8am! 

The time change also means no more driving home at night...at least not if we leave work when we are supposed to that is!

I love this picture.  A simple happy moment with my whole family enjoying a lazy mooring in bed.

So, as you can see like most times in life the week held good moments and not-so-good moments, but to have the family and the blessings that I have I will take it all!  We truly are blessed, and even the tough times are worth every second!  God has truly Blessed us Beyond Measure.