Smiley

I know I keep saying it, but Carina Jean is truly the happiest baby I've ever seen.  She smiles in her sleep, she smiles right as she begins to cry, she really is non-stop smiles.  Her Daddy calls her Smiley and after you watch this video, you will get a glimpse why.

Well, not quite...

Lately I have started to have the first of what I imagine will be many conversations with Samantha where she has me perplexed on the best way to answer.  Case in point, we were about to take the girls over to my parent's house on Saturday night so that we could go see the Billy Elliot play in Denver:

Samantha: We better bring a bottle for Carina because Grandma doesn't have boobs.
Me: Well, Grandma does have boobs, she just doesn't have milk in her boobs to feed Carina so you are right, we should bring a bottle.
Samantha: How about we bring that pump and we can pump milk into Grandma's boobs?
Me: The pump takes milk out of Mommy for Carina, but we can't use it to put milk into Grandma's boobs.
Samantha: Because Grandma's boobs are little?
Me: Umm...sure, it's because Grandma's boobs are little. 

It Takes a Village

As the proverb says, it takes a village to raise a child and that certainly rings true for all the help we will be getting when I go back to work. 

I will continue to work from home Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and my mom will come to our house in Boulder to watch both Carina and Samantha.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Samantha will be going to preschool in the mornings and my mother in law Judy will be watching her in the afternoons.  Carina will stay with my mom on Tuesdays and Dave's mom on Thursdays.

A little hectic but pretty incredible. Yes, I do know how lucky we are to have both of our families close by and to have mothers that are so generous with their time and love. 

Balance

I've had a lot on my mind lately but not a whole lot of time to write.  I am preparing to go back to work and while there are often times I am really excited to get back to parts of my job, I keep thinking that I am just figuring out how to mother two unique and wonderful kids - now I am going to be the mom of two little kids and a full time employee. 

About a year ago I wrote a blog post about the Four Burners Theory and I am constantly trying to work out in my mind how to get in all the areas of my life that help make me whole.  Forget four, I have a lot of burners that are important to me. 
  1. Quality time with my kids and husband 
  2. Meaningful relationships with friends and family
  3. Being an excellent employee
  4. Exercise
  5. Getting adequate sleep/rest
  6. God, spirituality, reflection, church
  7. Reading, learning
  8. Giving back, community service
I certainly don't have any answers on how to do it all.  I do believe that while you have children under the age of 5, there are simply some things that drop of the list. I think I need to pick my top four to burn up and do my best to balance or perhaps it is all 8 with less focus for each?  And, I suppose Carina is helping me prioritize by cutting out that sleep piece!

Happy Mother's Day

I am so lucky to be the mom of these two amazing little girls.  Not only that, but I have an incredible mom and mother in law as well.  Hope you all gave love to all the mothers in your life!

You can see our photos of Mother's Day and more here.

Last Boy, Newest Girl

My Papa and Grandma Modina came for a visit to meet Carina.  Here is a photo with my Papa, the last boy born in our family of girls, with his newest great granddaughter Carina.  She is the 23rd girl in a row since Papa. 
My Papa's older brother, Byron Allen passed away this weekend and we are all very sad for his passing.  I am sending lots of love and prayers to his children, grandchildren, my Papa and our family who is feeling the loss of a great man.