Life Lately in Pics

Lots of walks happen in this house…but this little nuggets face is priceless! All that blonde hair!!

2014 Reebok CrossFit Games

Morgan loves shoes and they may be an understatement, she's obsessed!

Saying good-bye to Mo's binky was by far much more difficult for Mommy…she's been fine!

A rare Mo and Daddy moment captured!

We danced in some stuff falling from the sky. Addie said, "Hey mom, what's that? Rain?!?!"

Addie now dresses herself and accessorizes as she needs :)

On rainy days we go to eat doughnuts- Addison is infamous for only eating the icing!

A Sunday brunch photo op

Mo too!

Again in shoes, but these are her sister's shoes and it makes Addie irate when Morgan wears them!

Two can wear pigtails in this house!!

Oh how our days are filled to the brim, but we love them so!

Our Littes 1 and 2

Just a little phone picture purge b/c, lets face it, all you want to see are the girls!

 Miss Morgan playing with the highlighters in my office post Children's Hospital Visit. Morgan has complete kidney reflux in one kidney and a partial case in the other. This simply means the valve that keeps the urine traveling one direction does not work. Therefore, she's prone to kidney infections, which is dangerous for a 1 year-old. Morgan has only had 1 infection to date. Thank the good Lord!

 Addison has become quite the castle builder these days! Her serious face means she's hard at work.

Her hair looks so long and it is, but it is so thin! She can thank her Daddy for that later.

That little ornery smile is up to no good, but looks darn cute in the denim romper from MiMi!

We love to sit outside and play in the dirty water fountain!

Momma's solo plane ride to Houston for the 4th of July- sleepy baby selfie!

Minutes before this she was sticking her tongue out at me, I failed to get a good picture before we had to turn our phones off! We all survived in the tiny, cramped space we had.

Finally at Papa and Nana Jenny's house- she's loves the water, so the pool was a huge hit!

S'more mouth

Build-a-bear success…you can see part of Twilight Sparkle's purple pony head!

Happy 4th of July from Mo

I am going to be an Auntie to sweet Elena- Em and I at her shower in TX!

Daddy's little girl (Addison).

High fives in the water!

OCD just like Daddy, Papa, and Auntie Caitlin and she's very proud of it!

Our neighbors in South Elgin bought this blanket for her. Sadly, our first one is shredded from so much love. This is 'blankie' #2 and she loves this thing…maybe even more than her Daddy (jk!).

While Mom cooks dinner, lets kick back, lay on our bellies and act silly!

There are the highlighters again…something about office supplies is so intriguing! However, Addie was creative and made me a sun. Sweet girl!

Have no fear- Mo got to participate build-a-bear too! She loves her 'bear,' as she calls her 'lamby.'

Morgan loves to play babies and take them for walks :)

Date Day for Mommy and Daddy in Little Italy!

Wine tasting with Kendall and Christian was a great time!

Out cold

Monkey see, monkey do!

Happy Happy 30th Birthday to the most handsome, fun, strong, smart man we know! The girls tell him all the time he's their best friend b/c they love him so!

Daddy and his littlest girls hanging in the pool!

A Typical Monday Evening

Sort of...

I sat down to finally write a blog post and one of the littles had an accident. This is NO JOKE people. Writing on this blog is extremely hard to do!

A not so typical Monday night because Mike's working. However, it is typical for our family. It's almost 8 PM- bath time in this house. Dinner has been served and cleaned up, the kitchen tidy for tomorrows havoc that will surly strike promptly at 8 AM, Gracie pacing the outdoors as our friends come over for a late W.O.D., and our girls running like wild in the backyard.

I decided to grab the laptop, pour a glass of wine, and blog.

One has an accident, the other rarely lets her momma do anything without her. But here I sit.

Addie is riding her orange baseball bat like a horse, yelling "Giddy up, horse! Giddy up!" Morgan chases her, admiring her every move. We made chalk letters. Morgan, our brave soul, walks among the wood chips with her bare feet, learning which steps hurt and those that don't.

A day does not pass without me retiring the words "please share" and it's utterly exhausting. Yet, I wouldn't change a thing for the world. Some days my patience are short and I lose my temper (whether out loud or quietly within). Other days, I seem to have this never-ending peace and calmness over me....saying to myself over and over, "This is just a phase, soon it will be gone, and I will long to have these days back."

Speaking of 'phase'...little has decided she must sleep with mommy. I despise being woke up to her little feet kicking my ribs, but I know this will pass. She will not be 18 sleeping in my bed.

I am very happy to report that Addison and Morgan are playing together...almost non-stop all day every day. When one is sleeping, the other asks where she is. If one of them is out of the house, there are questions and inquiries about the missing sibling. I love it. I hope they grow a bond that nobody else knows or understands. I love my sisters with all my heart, but none of us were 21 months apart.

Well, there went my 10 minutes of free time. Ha ha ha- I still laugh at that phrase. I was high-fiving my daughter who was playing golf and baseball with a stick and a rock, as she exclaimed "I win!!", reminding little that sand does not mix well in our hair, and refilling my wine glass. I have toys covering my living room floor, 3 laundry baskets full of laundry to be folded and put away, and a dog that I meant to walk. But...those can wait until tomorrow. For now, it's bath time with my littles who one day won't be taking a bath anymore :)

AND...We're Back! Cali Style!

I'm seriously depressed that my last post shows our Miss Morgie Moo at 3 months!

So, here's to keeping up with my blog. I miss it. I am hoping to make time each week for a post. I need
to blog. It's the best kind of therapy!

I will back track on our life for almost the past year later.

For now, I want to update the world about my precious girls, our new living arrangements (no snow here!) and life as a mommy-daddy stay-at-home, go crazy duo!

Here are our girls in the past months:

{San Diego living has been rough- Sunday NFL Game Day in the sand}

{Morgan turns 11 months, Addison wants to participate too!}

{one of us is potty trained and still loving her 'magic shoes' (thanks to Auntie Mel Plouv}

{her eyes are green and she doesn't look too much like her Daddy- whew!}

{lil Miss Into Everything b/c I must do what my sister does}

As all of you know, we moved to San Diego, CA for a job opportunity Michael could not pass. We were timid. I cried hard when we were visiting. Thinking- this isn't home, we will never fit in here. It seemed so hard and cold and unwelcoming.

My gut told me to go. My heart told me to stay. Such a tornado of emotions. I am a wife. I cannot avoid backing up my partner in life. This is his dream. He had given presentation after presentation to the man behind this job several times, year after year. It had finally come. I should have jumped for joy! But I couldn't. I made a wonderful life in Chicago. I had an extended family that became my best friends. People I wanted to be with every.single.day.of.the.year.

That alone doesn't happen. Everything was smooth. Mike worked for the airline. Left for 4 days straight, came home and was a full-time Dad. I worked at a pre-school whose education surpasses everything I've ever know for its students. My oldest daughter attended school there...with me. I loved it. Like any mom, I dreamed of a paycheck flying into my bank account while I stayed home with my beautiful daughter. I was a hop, skip, and jump away from immediate family. I spent hours, days, weeks, and even months there. THAT is where I brought our first baby girl home to. Why/How could I ever leave?

Then December, 2012 arrived. Morgan was born. Michael accepted the job offer. My world went into a whirlwind of chaos.

Today is February 5th, 2014 (Happy Birthday to my niece, Ryane!). We have lived in San Diego for nine months. We love it. Most importantly, our girls love it. They throughly enjoy being outside to the f.u.l.l.e.s.t. I can't express that more. My husband is home more than I could have ever DREAMED of for the life of a pilot. I long for sunshine, in fact, I'd say that my body demands it. Sure enough- San Diego has ample amounts of sunshine. Gracie is happy to have a backyard. Off leash she can roam, lay, kick dirt, and peer at passerby's all day long.

That makes 5 for 5. A win is a win. And it's truly a W for The Buttenob family.