Cleveland, Aasta, Chill

So, Matt spent a month in Cleveland... okay so it wasn't a month - a week, okay so it wasn't a week but 4 long days with those people feels like a very long time. Don't get me wrong I love my children - with all my might. But the opposite of that love is mealtime with them. That is a painful agony especially with Eleanor. Who is working on utensil usage, optimal chew, the gag reflex, and testing my patience. I often have to hold milk hostage for bites of vegetables and it's always a crapshoot on the efforts of eating... some times served meal will go over AMAZING... it's gobbled up and more is requested. The next day or the next week, we can have that same meal and she will tell me she doesn't like it and that it's ucky. The line cook is never impressed with the critics take. If my daughter ever reads this down the road - when someone cooks you a meal - eat the damn meal. If you don't like it, make the damn meal yourself. These nights I didn't even eat the damn meal because I was juggling between both kids - after they went to bed I ate cereal because cereal never fails a person.

Then Matt would call and want to talk about his beer flights or restaurant food or time alone in his hotel and I silently hated his guts and thought about calling in a 3:00am wake up call. Or calling when Grady was waking up to have his bottle.

 

We ended the week with a friend's wedding. Aasta and Quinn had previously got married but they were having their reception and after the rif, it was the first time I knew I'd see a lot of people that were impacted. The couple has a great relationship and I've watched Aasta bloom into a beautiful boy stepmom and she wears the role well so I was excited to go. I'll admit, it would have been easier to not take the kids but Eleanor made Aasta's night. I was a little shocked to turn around and witness the enjoyment of the cupcake but how could I really be too upset.

The weekend was pretty lowkey after the whirlwind of the past month. We pulled out the pools and water plays - they played to their heart's content. We also flipped Eleanor's seat from rear facing to forward facing. She wasn't too sure but we did sell it that she was getting a new chair so we could give her old chair to Grady. It's weird to have her looking that way, she seems so grown up.

Her words are starting to take off and her expressions and personality are not in short supply either.

After Aasta's wedding, sitting on the patio with the kids in bed.
MJR laying on the grass: it feels good to be home.
ALR: It feels good to have you home.