The Everyday

Macy is our little "nuggler" (a term coined by dad). She loves anything soft, but her sleep sack is hands down her favorite thing! She'll snatch it out of her crib just to snuggle with it. Today's summer activity was "Teardrop Park." A bit of a trek down to Tribeca but worth it. Such a great park! + -Awesome slide -Tons of shade (great for a hot day) -Water features -Sand  -Entertained kids of all ages -Accessible stations going there and coming back -Not crowded - -Water area kind of smelled gross -Have to plan ahead of time because it's a little bit of a haul.

 Long run Saturday! 14 miles today. Woohoo! This training cycle I've been trying to intentionally take my long runs really SLOW. I've heard from multiple sources (repeatedly) that long runs are the time to just take it easy. Runs throughout the week are supposed to test speed/incline/etc and long runs are supposed to be enjoyable. I heard that when I trained for the St. George marathon too, and somewhat did it but this time I'm working on doing it more consistently.  With that, I've always found it hard to listen to books or podcasts when I run. I've never understood how people do it! I am so focused when I run and just want music to pump me up. However, as I've been taking these runs slow I've found that I can actually listen to books because my brain power isn't maxed out trying to push pace. I also found on this run that silence was nice. Which lead me to an insight. When life is busy, it's hard to focus on anything except what's right in fron...

What a Saturday!! In the morning I went for a run. 12 miles and some change! My body has been feeling good and I'm starting to experiment with fuel. I'm so grateful for Marty who is staying at home to watch the girls while I get these long runs in. Another thank you to Marty for letting me rest after my long runs. I went home, ate something, fed Macy, and then passed out for an hour. While Macy and I napped, Marty and Emi went to the subway station to do a children handoff. (For a very exciting reason!!) A friend here jet-skied to the Statue of Liberty with her husband and said it was sooo fun. Ever since she told me that, I've been wanting to do it! Our friends, Sarah and Davis, agreed to do a child-swap with us so that we could both try it out! While Sarah and Davis made their way to Hoboken, Marty took their girls and Emi to the park, brought them to our place for lunch, and then Marty and I made the trek to Hoboken with four little monkeys. It involved a transfer from t...

I'm revisiting my goals for the year--one of those being to blog weekly.  So here we go! We got back from Utah late Sunday night, and have just been settling in to life in NYC. Today we tackled grocery shopping! I love a full fridge. Besides that, we took it easy and played around the apartment. We also took a short trip outside to puddle jump after the rain this afternoon and enjoyed each other's company. Something that I loved today was watching Emi and Macy interact with each other. They're so cute and make each other smile (which makes me smile and feel all the warm fuzzies). Today Emi noticed that Macy might be thirsty and so she prepped her a bottle all by herself. Is that not the sweetest? I'm so grateful for my cute girls!

I wrote this awhile ago but never posted. Putting it on here for memory's sake! Summer is in full swing in NYC and it is HOT. High of 92 today and low of 75. Kinda nuts. I've organized a summer calendar of activities to do with kids around the city and this was the first week launching it! Because Emi's preschool gets out a few weeks earlier than the public schools, many families are still in school. However, I figured I may as well start the calendar this week because ultimately it's about making the summer enjoyable for me and the girls. I've planned 3 days a week of activities, so that way I have flexibility to do things on the other days (ie grocery shopping, downtime, etc). Usually Mondays will be playground days, Wednesdays will be activities close-ish to home, and Fridays excursion days. This week the schedule was a little bit different but we're just getting in the swing of things. This week's agenda: Brooklyn (L'Appartement 4F and Pier 6 and bon...

Things I'm grateful for today: -We were running very late for music this morning, and instead of rushing I just walked at a normal pace and it was so pleasant!  -Spending time outside with the girls. Emi ran around a field with friends for an hour and then we played at the playground after school with some drizzly rain. -Playing "Silver" with Keith and Jonelle O. and getting to know them better. -Snickerdoodles!  -I got to shower by myself this morning! -Macy took 2 great naps today. And I also got to nap. -The green beans Marty made at dinner today were sooo delicious. -AC Window Units in our apartment. -Marty heard back what his grade was on one of his classes (it was good!), and also finished his last final. -The mom who stopped me and told me I was doing a good job as a parent as my child was having a meltdown (and that the tantrum days will pass).  

Today was great.  I got to workout, take a nap, shower, grab a bialy at Kossars, and spend quality time with my family. What more could a girl ask for? Anddddd... We had the biggest win today. Before we headed to art class, Emi put on her coat and shoes without me even asking. She has never gotten herself ready to go out the door without reminders. I was (and still am) blown away! (Marty told me that it just goes to show how much Emi loves her art class.) Mom and Macy time while sister was at preschool.

Today the girls and I went to Marty's CBS Matters. It's basically just an opportunity for CBS students to share "their story."  Marty had invested a lot of time in the past few days in preparation for his presentation so I was excited to see the final product. He did an incredible job.  The thing that I was most touched by was that the majority of his presentation was just talking about me and the girls. He had lots of Emi videos he was excited to share, and lots of pictures of the girls and our family. He talked about our family so much so, that after the presentation was finished and there was time for a Q&A someone raised their hand and asked "What are you doing for your summer internship?" He had neglected to mention anything about what HE was doing (this is business school after all! and an internship is a big part of it!) because he was just caught up in talking about how being a dad is his favorite hobby and showing off our family. I will never fo...

This morning we made our way to the Statue of Liberty! Visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is on my "must do" in NYC list.  Spoiler alert: It was amazing. Statue of Liberty: I really enjoyed the Statue of Liberty. It was so beautiful to see all the details on Lady Liberty--especially the fabric on her dress. The way they made the copper look like it was real fabric was insane to me.  Our tickets allowed us access to the pedestal. It was cool, but I wouldn't feel the need to do it again. If I were to go back I would like to go in the crown! Unfortunately if you have kids with you, you can't do it. Otherwise, we would've done it this time. Funny enough, Emi was sad that she couldn't go in the crown. She told me when I put her to bed tonight that she was going to dream about going in the Statue of Liberty's crown. hahah. She also requested that Marty and I take her back to the Statue of Liberty for her birthday! Another funny tid-bit from our trip...

Today felt like summer! High of 84 degrees. I'm alive again :) The day's itinerary included workout class, 2 separate outings to the park with friends, a few visits to the community garden, and preschool. It doesn't get much better than that. I finally had the chance to wear my new shirt that works with the new garments! The community garden's flowers smell amazing. In addition to looking beautiful! "Bitsy boots blast off!" Iykyk

Time is flying. Macy will be 8 months next Friday! It's been so fun seeing Macy's personality start to shine through. Macy loves grabbing everything. We call her our "snatching machine." If you try taking anything she's snatched out of her hands she gets verrryyy sad.  Her favorite thing to hold is stuffed animals. She is happiest when she has a binky in her mouth and a stuffy in her hand. Macy loves Emi so much. Emi can make her laugh better than anyone else. Macy and Emi started sharing a room recently and it's so cute to see their special bond. Emi came out of her room this morning, and told me she had been reading Macy a story while Macy was in her crib. *my heart melted* Macy is just along for the ride. She is fine with us taking her anywhere, and will just sit and watch contently in the stroller.  We love our Macy girl! Macy living her best life.

Emi's bedtime routine has evolved into a full on production. It ends with Marty or I lying in bed with her, scratching her back, her begging us to lie in bed with her longer (both of us cave)... until we have to insist that it's time for us to leave her room for the night.  Even though it's a whole ordeal... I secretly love it. I love that special time with her and I love getting to reflect as I scratch her back. I have recently felt that as much as I love her, she's His. It's a gift that I get to raise her, and I'm filled with gratitude for that chance. Emi and I enjoying a run together today! Emi even pushed me in the stroller ;) Emi drew this yesterday (the first time we've seen her draw people), and both Marty's and my hearts almost burst.

I was dying inside when I heard it was going to be a snow day today after Emi just had a week long break from school. However, it ended up being a great day! We played a lot inside, enjoyed some Gabby's Dollhouse, and went out into the snow. This storm was different than the one we had a few weeks ago, in that the temps were not close to 0 and it didn't feel as windy. Which made it easier to enjoy being out in the snow! Macy was zonked! In Emi's words: "I'm a snow ghoul." For dinner we picked up Mimi's with Courtney, Michael, and Marlie and ate together at the Belnord.  And now that I've enjoyed the day, school can start tomorrow ;)

We relaxed and knocked out our grocery shopping this morning. In the afternoon we went to meet our mid-winter break crew at the Safari Playground, only to discover it was closed! We aren't the type to let obstacles ruin our fun so we re-routed to the "Purple Park." Emi played for a bit, but then all the fun we've been having this break caught up to her and she started begging me to go home. I'm not kidding--asking over and over "Mommy can we go home?" while I was trying to feed Macy. Poor girl was exhausted.  We made our way back home, and Emi cuddled up in a blanket and watched Miss Rachel and Gabby's Dollhouse. Sometimes you just need your comfort shows to get you through the day! ...And then both girls went down for an early bedtime.

The mid-winter break festivities continue! Madness Pt 1: We made our way to Costco via bus today. It was quite the trek with our crew--6 children, 4 and under--but we really wanted to check it out and eat at the food court. haha. It was very exciting arriving at Costco and they had lots of good stuff. Unfortunately I had 0 space to haul it back with me so I opted to just enjoy looking around. The actual store wasn't too packed, but the children were crrraazzyyy. At one point Sarah, Nika, and I were in the check out line, and our girls were all lying on the floor hahaha. It was super embarrassing but I was also like "these children never have space just to run around in the winter" so I could see why they wanted to just be kids and get their wiggles out! The actual eating was also chaotic. We were trying to juggle taking kids to the bathroom, finding a place to sit in the 6 table food court, keeping the babies happy, and navigating around missed nap times. haha. Even with ...

This week is mid-winter break, which means we'll be doing fun activities at friends all week! In the morning we went to the children's museum! It was packed. But still a good time! After we were finished playing in the museum and about to head out, we hopped on the elevator to go downstairs, and just as Emi was about to hop on the elevator door shut. It was the SADDEST thing ever. I could hear her screaming as our elevator went to the main level, and as soon as we got there I ran upstairs as fast as I could and there she was (with a nice family who was watching her). She gave me the biggest hug. So traumatizing! After the incident, Emi bounced back quickly and we walked over to Popup with our friends. It's all about the cream cheese amiright?! And then home for a nap for Macy and I/quiet time for Emi, and then Aunt Courtney and Marlie came over! After quiet time, Emi came out of her room with this toy and wanted me to "glue it to her nose" so she could be a unicor...

 My Valentines! 

In my ElEd program at BYU, they taught me the importance of recognizing the good things students did and then letting their parents know about it! I tried really hard to do that with my students, and would shoot their parents an email saying a quality I admired about their child. It was received very well but I didn't think too much of it. Fast forward to now, and I got my first text from Emi's art teacher saying "she's such a great friend to her classmates." I have felt SO proud of her all day.  I had no idea that such a small gesture could make such a big impact.

Emi got to pass out more Valentine's today! Art class and preschool. Her preschool friend's birthday also happens to be this weekend, so there was a birthday celebration too!  Emi has loved giving out her Valentine's--she worked really hard to write her name on all of her preschool friends' Valentines. She also has loved getting Valentine's! It's so nostalgic for me to have these Valentine's exchanges. Speaking of nostalgia, I made the girls/Marty and I our annual Valentine's cookies. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was the one coming home from school with a big Valentine's cookie awaiting me. It's so special getting to recreate that magic for my own kids. Emi was sooo excited! She was also very excited to see Valentine's sheets on her bed last week. I put them on her bed while she was at school and was hoping she'd see them when she got home. I really wanted her to be the one to notice them, so I just kept waiting for her to not...