My sister called at 4 today and invited us over for carnitas. If you remember I posted yesterday about being prepared for tonight’s dinner. Well you can’t pass up a dinner invite for carnitas, especially when you know Tyler will have some awesome guacamole made too. 

So we glady joined them! Enjoyed some great company and delicious food! And now tonight’s dinner plans will be a dinner I make next week.

Our dinner for tomorrow is planned and I ran to the market tonight to get the few ingredients we were missing. This makes me happy to know tomorrow I can simply come home after work and cook. No stopping at the store and making the night longer. Simple thing that will make a difference. 

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This video is too sweet. Reagan is the best little mama! 

When all the sudden your baby comes running around the kitchen island with a handful of chips in each hand. You just have to take a picture of the naughty little one who pulled the whole bag off the counter and helped herself to two very large handfuls. She was so happy with herself and she made us laugh! Don’t worry I only let her eat one handful of chips. I couldn’t steal all of her joy or treat. 

I didn’t write Friday or Saturday because Ryan had to have an unexpected surgery. And I honestly didn’t have it in me to share. 

On Thursday night he thought he ate something bad, but I didn’t think much about it. Then he got progressively worse through the night. I stayed up and worried as he tried to get comfortable moving between the couch and bed. And when at 4 am he said the pain was on his right side, I knew it wasn’t just an upset stomach. 

I had my appendix out when I was 8 years old. And I remember vividly the right side pain. And last year one of our good friends had the worst experience with his appendix. So when he mentioned the right side, I automatically thought  it’s your appendix. At 7 am we made our way to the ER. And after some testing it was confirmed it was Ryan’s appendix and surgery was scheduled for that afternoon.

Situations like this are hard for so many reasons. You never want to see the people you love in pain. Surgery is always scary. Waiting for long periods of time between testing, results and surgery makes for a long day.

But In the midst of a medical emergency there was so much to be grateful for. First that we caught the appendix issue really early and Ryan is recovering beautifully.  We have family here to help us with Reagan. My parents got her to daycare on Friday and kept her overnight too. We have such amazing friends, who all showed so much concern and love for Ryan. And I got to spend 2 whole days with Ryan. Granted we weren’t doing any fun, but we were together by ourselves, which never happens. So we will cherish the time. 

In my early twenties I decided I needed more hobbies, so I decided I would start lighting the candles I had but never burned. And yes I realized candle lighting wasn’t really a hobby per say, but a hobby is something you do intentionally and enjoy. Which was what I was essentially doing when I lit my candles. 

Now when I think about calling candle lighting a hobby, I giggle a bit, because I would literally tell people I took up the hobby of candle lighting. OMG! 

But that hobby of mine has stayed with me. I still love candles. I always light them, they smell better and have character once you light them. And tonight after dinner, bath, play time and even some house pickup, I sat down to watch some tv and I lit my fresh cut lilac candle for a little ambiance and aroma. 

After all, sometimes little things like lighting a candle bring a sense of joy and peace when you reflect on a busy day. 

It’s a chilly rainy night in Grand Junction. After a night of lots of playing and family time, I slipped away for 20 minutes after Reagan went to bed. And just stood in a hot shower. Letting myself enjoy the warm water and letting myself just be. Sometimes a hot shower is just what you need to end the day.

My dad loves ice cream more than anyone I know. My sister and I also love good ice cream. And it appears so do our girls! 

Tonight Ryan, Reagan, Stanley and I went to Graff Dairy. A local ice creamery that is AMAZING. The best thing on the menu a traditional vanilla chocolate swirl cone. Ryan got the traditional cone, I tried something new, and Stanley got a pup cup of vanilla ice cream. Stanley also loves ice cream and will still licks if you aren’t careful. 

When we got home miss Reagan was sharing with me. Then decided she needed some of her daddy’s. So she requests a bite from him. Over and over she says bite. Bite. Bite. And watching her try to figure out how to eat an ice cream cone was adorable. She just loves ice cream. We all do. And sometimes a family ice cream run is just what you need to end the day.

I spent some time organizing and budgeting tonight. Fun? Not so much. But it makes me feel better to get a few things checked off the must do list. And once you get done with the organizing you feel so much better. 

Being a mom brings me more joy than I can explain. I am grateful for the girl who made me a mama. Thankful for the man who gets to be daddy along side me. And honored to be a mom!