Smile And Wave

Venturing Out

It took us about an hour but we got everyone fed, dressed, and ready to leave the house on Saturday. The weather was fantastic for spring in Colorado Springs and snow was in the forecast so even though the amount of energy spent getting all parties involved headed in the same direction at the same time was a bit ridiculous, it was worth the effort in the end. It usually is. 

We walked/scooted to a relatively new coffee shop, Fifty Fifty Coffee House, in our neighborhood that is officially my favorite in town. Their lattes and americanos are the best we've had in awhile and they have some great treats and breakfast food. The decor is kind of minimalist meets vintage meets Kinfolk magazine and it's always got a handful of students mixed in with middle-aged clientele. It's got a great atmosphere and the owner and employees are always friendly to us and sweet to our kids. Also, their couch is kind of iconic.

Brett and I sipped our coffees while our kids literally made themselves at home. Ruby had to introduce herself and bear hug all the dogs on the patio while our seriously untalkative son chatted for almost half an hour at a guy on the couch. I say at because Sebastian wasn't leaving much room for a two-way conversation. The guy was sweet about it and assured us he was fine with it and had a little brother himself. It was fun to overhear a few of the things Sebastian told him about our family. Smith slept through most of our visit snuggled up in my wrap which was just fine with me.

After awhile we walked across the street to Sebastian's old school and let the kids burn off some steam before heading home. The first few hints of spring were on the trees and it was so refreshing to get out in the sunshine as a family. I wouldn't hate it at all if we made it part of our Saturday routine.

I hope your weekend was lovely.

-Rachel

P.S. Wrap c/o Solly Baby. It's the fourth wrap I've owned and my favorite for this age. If you're in the market for one I can 100% recommend it. I've worn it almost every day these last two weeks. It's become a necessity for making dinner and lets me feel a little bit less restless when Smith won't let me put him down. 

Letting Go of the Excess

The last two or three weekends have been spent clearing out excess over here. I am pretty sure we can chalk it up to the nesting hormones because I'm usually not one to deep clean the whole place all at once. Brett and I are thankfully on the same wave length at the same time and are helping each other declutter hot spots, sort through our closets and get realistic about what we wear and how often, donate things I've been holding on to for years thinking I might get around to selling them again, and generally making our house feel more peaceful and much less cluttered as we prepare for a new family member to join us.

We've been in this home for two years this month and will be here for one more before Brett's time at Ft. Carson is up. Something about having the Christmas decorations up and feeling the long lasting effects of being too tired to keep up with the kind of housework that's necessary to not feel overtaken with toys and dirty laundry had me so unhappy with our space. I was talking myself down from the ledge of looking at other rental properties in town on a daily basis knowing the last thing we needed was to try and move on our own dime right before this baby was born. It was that bad, though, folks.

Finally, things just clicked and the overwhelmed feelings shifted to accepting I needed to start bagging stuff up and passing it along. It's been freeing and our home is feeling better and better each weekend. There is still more work to be done and possibly a visit from the Got Junk guys to haul off the two vintage couches that are too worn out for me to even feel good about setting out on the curb but we're making progress and I can feel myself enjoying our space again. Phew!

-Rachel

P.S. If anyone in Co Springs needs a vintage sheet fix, I dropped off three large trash bags at the ARC on Uintah on Friday. I bet they start hitting the floors soon.

Snow In Your Eye

We've had snow on the ground for almost three days now as the first major storm moved through Colorado Springs. It's been a welcome change even though it's going to be making me crazy come March. The kids begged to get outside and play in it after school and Brett made it home from work early so we put on the bare minimum for snow play in the yard and let them loose. 

It wasn't long before Sebastian started taking shots at me and his unborn sibling. Brett took care of that for me, though.

We only stayed out in the cold for about twenty minutes before their cheeks were bright red, fingers were numb, and their resolve had worn off but it was a great twenty minutes. 

I told Ruby she looked like a mix of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf. In return she gave me her signature smirk. The snow won't stay much longer (I hope) so I'm glad we took advantage of it while we could. I can't bring myself to put any Christmas decorations up until Thanksgiving evening but this weather is sure setting the mood!

-Rachel

 

Accidental Fun in Manitou Springs

Ruby declared it wasn't the best day ever as we trudged our tired legs up the side of the mountain in Manitou Springs where we'd managed to find a parking spot halfway in some overgrown bushes on the side of a residential street. The houses we passed each had their own stories to tell and a few were quite spooky even without the help of manufactured Halloween decorations. We'd driven over after a cranky morning in search of coffee and breakfast and got curious enough after seeing the throngs of people flocking to downtown Manitou to get out and join them.

I always bring my camera on these little family adventures even when it's looking like noone is even slightly in the mood to have their photo taken. Rarely do I regret it. What was going to be a desperate attempt to reclaim our cranky morning with sugar and carbs turned into a memorable experience we'd skipped out on the year before because we really had no idea what the big deal was about coffin races. While we were all still too short to actually see them race, we did get to sneak peeks through the crowds as they paraded around the course. 

The coffin races are a fun way to celebrate the historic town of Manitou Springs but specifically draw attention to the tale of Emma Crawford-a young woman who came to Manitou with hopes that the mountain air and natural spring waters would help cure her of her TB. Two years later she died at the age of 19 and was buried at the top of Red Mountain as requested. Twenty years or so later her coffin was relocated because of railway construction up the mountain and then seventeen years after that-after years of storms-her coffin was dislodged and slid down the mountain only to be destroyed at the bottom. Some of her remains were later found by two boys playing nearby. 

The town helps keep her memory alive in quite an entertaining and playful way by building all kinds of themed coffins that a woman will ride in while four pallbearers push their hardest to the finish line. There are contests for the best coffin, best Emma, etc. but it was just a really festive atmosphere with loads of adults dressed to the nines in their Halloween best. We stayed until the kids had seen as many coffins as they could handle and then we did a round at the Penny Arcade just off the main street. 

There was cotton candy, a balloon, and some photo strips involved so when Ruby declared it wasn't the best day ever I decided she was mistaken. We had a lovely afternoon getting out of the house and doing something new. I've been feeling like a bit of a Halloween grinch this year and chalked it up to exhaustion and being distracted with the fact that Brett will be home soon but our little taste of the coffin races has turned that right around.

I hope you've had a lovely weekend yourself!

-Rachel

These Days

My house hasn't been clean enough to share many candid shots since Brett left but I've spent the last three weekends purging and organizing-the kind that needs to happen before you can even really think about cleaning. You know that kind? The kind where there are so many things out of place-so many things that don't even have a place-that you're just cranky all the time and want to move because you really can't stand how bad your house makes you feel? That.

There are still some things that need work but it feels so good to have one less couch in the living room, a visible laundry room floor, and all the drawers and closets cleaned out. 

Nothing like company coming two weekends in a row to light a fire, am I right?

-Rachel

P.S. Not sick anymore, yay! Sebastian is still recovering from three days of a fever and lots of bed rest. We thought he was better but I hear him coughing in there now. Sigh...

Doing Stuff Again

Labor Day weekend was great over here. I woke up early on my 32nd birthday to a beautiful, crisp morning. I was sitting on the front porch with my coffee and enjoying the quiet when I saw it - the first of the hot air balloons rising above the tree line. I yelled across the house to Sebastian to get his shoes on and then woke Ruby up and threw on a dress. As we were walking through our backyard to the car we were startled by the sound of propane being released into the balloons above. They got so close we were able to talk to them!

We made it to Memorial Park where the annual Balloon Classic was already underway hoping we could catch the second wave of balloons ascending. I just kept thinking we were so lucky to be a mere three blocks away from such a beautiful event.

We ran into some school friends and got a good look at some of the prettiest balloons on the field. Then the kids got a tip that a local weather anchorwoman was signing weather workbooks, and even though they've never actually seen her on tv, were thrilled that a local celebrity wanted to talk to them!

We went on to get coffee and breakfast before heading home to open presents over the phone with Brett and enjoy calls from my family. One of my sweet friends dropped off a beautiful, embroidered Mexican dress and another sweet friend doorbell ditched locally made ice cream and pumpkin bread. That afternoon I dropped the kids off for a play date with my friend, Jessa's, kids and met my friend, Tara, at the movie theater downtown to watch The Butler (wearing my newly hemmed Mexican dress, of course). She then treated me to my favorite things at Shuga's before I brought the kids home and shared my ice cream. The best part was that I was able to enjoy such a full, exciting day! 

Sunday I was able to CLEAN MY HOUSE! Well, half of it. It was big. The energy was there for the first time in weeks and the laundry got folded, the messes were put away, and even though there were still dishes in the sink, my counters were mostly cleared off and clean! I can't tell you how good it felt. One of our sweet friends that was in town from Oklahoma took my kids to a bounce house so I could have some time to do whatever I wanted so I found myself at Barnes & Noble with my first pumpkin spice latte! It was stormy and cool out and my house was clean-ish and I got to end the night with one child falling asleep in my lap while I caught up with Ashleigh. Sigh...

Labor Day brought us more hot air balloons as they closed their weekend celebrations. We watched them from our front porch before realizing they were landing in the park across the street. I made the kids get their shoes on and we raced down the alley to watch a hand full of balloons land in our park. Most of the neighborhood showed up with dogs and kids in tow to see one of the balloons barely clear some power lines and another land in the street. 

We ended the long weekend splashing around in Fountain Creek and later nursing sunburns. I got started on my first baby project - a log cabin quilt in mostly Denyse Schmidt prints - and ended the night so thankful for how lovely and full our weekend was. As I mentioned on Instagram, what could've easily been a sad birthday followed by a long weekend on the couch was actually one of the best weekends we've had since Brett's been gone. I've got a lot of friends and family to thank for that. 

I hope your long weekend was restful and fun. 

-Rachel

P.S. Feel free to keep up with our everyday over on Instagram while I work my way back over to this blog! You can find me at @smileandwave.

Radio Silence

Well, hello there! It's been awhile, hasn't it?

To say life has been challenging this month would be fair but a more accurate representation would be that being in my first trimester and having to care for two children while my husband is deployed has been one of the most overwhelming, difficult, frustrating chapters of my life so far. 

In another month I'll be feeling well and have the energy to keep up with housework, come up with creative solutions to space issues in the form of diys, and be able to create special memories with my kids (or at least get out of the house for more than groceries) but right now I'm fighting hard to keep my heart in a place of gratitude and my eyes on the bigger picture. 

It's been easier to just distract myself with Netflix each night when the quiet finally returns to the house rather than open up Typepad and stare blankly b/c all of that creative energy is apparently being channeled to my uterus these days. I've got nothing but hormones and feelings over here and most of the time they aren't exactly inspiring and constructive.

Thankfully, I know this is merely a chapter and this too shall pass. I'm learning things.

I have a continuous loop reel of things I tell myself to get through the frustrating afternoons when Ruby has managed to litter the entire house with toys and blankets to make a messy situation even worse. She's enjoying creative play and messes mean I have a healthy, active child. When Sebastian wakes me before dawn with slammed toilet lids and cabinets I must remind myself how great it is that he's independent enough to take care of himself until the rest of us join the world. And when he wakes me up the same night to crawl into bed because of bad dreams and I can't go back to sleep, I'm thankful he feels safe being close to me.

On the most nauseous days when all I want is for someone to take care of me I realize...I'm doing this. One difficult day at a time. Encouragement from friends both online and in town has been priceless as well as phone conversations with my mom where I just talk and talk because I have so many words saved up. I know this time will make me more sensitive to the needs of other military wives/moms because now I know. Now I know sometimes a friend surprising you with ice cream or direct messaging you on Twitter to ask how you're feeling or planning a trip out to visit can make those hard days easier. 

All of that to say, blogging may be spotty for another week or two. I'm hoping with the end of my first trimester in sight, I'll be back with regularly scheduled programming. I appreciate your presence here and the encouragement and well wishes we've received during this time. We are so excited for this baby despite the timing of things and know that I am well aware things could be worse. It was almost a possibility that Brett would have been leaving in March to a much more dangerous place to do a much more dangerous job for a much longer period of time. And I would've had a newborn and two kids to manage on my own without family nearby. I have a friend who has been in that situation (plus another child) and will be saying goodbye to her husband again in March. PERSPECTIVE.

Hard is hard and none of us can truly do this on our own. And if you've got a friend who is moving through a hard time, chances are she probably likes ice cream or coffee and there's never really a bad time to drop one off on her doorstep. Just pretend you don't see her disaster of a house through the window. 

-Rachel

How We're Doing Over Here

It's been almost five weeks since Brett's deployed. There have been some welcome distractions such as that first week with Midwest family and friends and we've been fortunate enough to be able to Skype with him almost every morning but I'd be lying if I said we've got this. I'm starting to see how it's playing out with both kids in ways I didn't notice right away. I'm in a stronger place than I have ever been when he's been away for a month or more with training but I, too, feel his absence every other hour. 

And yet, summer is the best time of year for him to be gone because there are so many more opportunities to get together for play dates and the likelihood of the stomach flu hitting all three of us at once is pretty slim (yes, that's happened). We can be lazy if we want or spontaneously go to the movies without worrying about school the next morning. We can let the laundry go a bit and wear the same shorts three days in a row. We can pass the time with popsicles and swimming pools and let the warm evenings put us to bed. 

At the same time, though, I'm more than ready for school to start and August to mostly slip away as we attend swimming lessons in the morning and inch closer and closer to September. September means we're halfway there and at least there's pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween costume planning to keep our minds busy and our emotions at bay. 

We're developing our struggle muscles, as my mom says. I'm much more of a mother and a wife than I was even three years ago because of the Army. I'm learning from those around me that have done it for far longer and our kids are adapting in necessary ways. I'm also surrendering my expectations for awhile. Life is more challenging right now so it's okay that there are always dishes in the sink and overdue library books. I'm channeling all of my energy into taking care of my family and myself right now and my dear neighbor friend, Rachel Burch, once reminded me that as long as my kids were safe, fed, clothed, and knew that they were loved, that was enough. 

This part is temporary so I'm going to keep my eyes on the big picture when I get too lonely and feel the satisfaction of crossing off each day that brings us closer to being under the same roof again. 

-Rachel

 

Stock Tank Swimming

A stock tank swimming pool has been on my wish list ever since seeing some on Pinterest last summer. I asked around about where to find them and then, after weeks of sitting on the fence and after some gentle prodding from Brett to go ahead, drove twenty minutes south to a major feed and supply store with my back seats folded down in the Volvo. I arrived with two minutes to spare before closing time and had a female employee take me out to the side of the store to show me the stock tank inventory. 

There was one left and it was all mine. She called for a few male employees to carry it to my car before we decided to just haul it to the front of the store ourselves. I went in to pay and the two employees carried it out to my Volvo and waited. I told them I could take care of the rest but they didn't believe that I could lift it in myself, much less that it would fit. I adjusted all the seats and they shoved it in, teasing me the whole time that I would probably need a hemi. I gave them my sweetest smile as I gently closed the trunk with 1/4" to spare. 

It's been a great decision to add this to our yard. It's not only something I can stand to look at every day but the kids and I all love being able to cool off on these warm afternoons when the house is hotter than the yard. In the fall I'll probably use it for toy storage and seating and can someday repurpose it into a little garden space. It was a bit of an investment when you consider how cheap plastic pools are but I know I won't have to buy another one for the next five plus years. For those that have asked on IG, there is a valve on the side near the bottom that drains the water when it's dirty and I've got a makeshift cover on it to keep the bugs out and to make it safe for any critters that roam the yard at night.

One of these nights I'm going to steal out there after the kids are asleep and enjoy having it all to myself.

-Rachel

Sunshine In Their Hair

We rarely arrive back home from a trip to my parents' before the sun goes down but this trip, in the thick of summer, brought us in during the golden hour. I asked the kids if they wanted to go pick flowers and they said no. Then I asked them who would pick flowers for a dollar and next thing you know they were frollicking through the sunflowers on the side of the road. 

They found some cacti and Sebastian ran circles around Ruby while she collected wildflowers. I just kept focusing on them and aiming at the sun. These are my new favorites.

-Rachel