Family Night

Last Sunday night we had "family night". Cody and I decided to watch a movie with the kiddos (we let them stay up late (9p.m.) since they didn't have school the next day) and we ordered pizza (we usually make our own). It was quite funny because Cody and I had already picked out a kids movie and then Cohen came into the conversation when we were talking about dinner. I was asking Cody what he wanted to eat and Cohen answered "pizza from the pizza man." I looked at Cody and he looked at me and then Cody looked at Cohen and Cohen smiled. Then Cohen suggested maybe we could watch a movie too. I looked at Cody, Cody looked at me, Cody looked at Cohen and then Cohen smiled. Then He ran to Miayla and was like "whoa Mia, I just asked for pizza and they said yes. Then I asked for a movie and they said yes." Then she ran to us and asked if we could have a picnic and we said yes. They were both so excited and we loved that they thought it was all their idea:)

This is as close as Sawyer gets to a picnic...his chair got moved to the living room.
And yes, he only has a diaper and shirt on...he sweats a lot.



Cohen and Miayla at their picnic

I had to take another picture of Sawyer because he is just so darn cute and he was concentrating so hard on getting the meat on his fork. I think I watched him more than the movie.

I took a picture of him too because he is so darn cute as well and I am pretty sure I have spent whole movies staring at him too:)

Love them....

So I have one kiddo in the bath tub, one asleep on the couch, and the other one at "uella and papa's house.".... I have a ton of dishes to do, laundry to put away, a basement to clean, a ton of other things to blog about, but I wanted to blog for a minute on my family. I love my family. They mean the world to me. There is unconditional love there and I feel so blessed.

the last few days/ weeks at the Ayres household have been more chaotic than usual. It started with Sawyer not feeling well on January 11th and I took him to the doctor. He said he had a viral infection, give it a couple days, he'll be fine....since then he has had double ear infections and viral pneumonia. Then on January 13th, I took Miayla to the doctor bc she woke up with a fever and a cough. He told me she had croup, give it a bit, and she should be fine. Since then her croup has turned into pneumonia. She has been back to the doctor twice, one of those times ending in mono testing, strep testing, blood work, and two shots. She is feeling better today, but it was all very scary. (her diagnosis showed pneumonia). Then we have Cohen. Cohen first went to the doctor last Monday, the 24th, with a high fever and a sore throat. He had strep. Today was his last day of antibiotic and he woke up at 2:26 a.m. with 103.7 temp and a bad headache. The day ended with a trip to the ER, a febrile seizure, and a follow up tomorrow with the doctor regarding a CAT scan since the little man already has a bad history of migraines.. .. So here we are. Waiting. Praying. Crying. I think I would also add going crazy to that list if it wasn't for family and friends. Their prayers have helped us through this difficult time and will continue to help us until we are all better:) There are two individuals who have helped immensely, my brother and my father. This entry is about them.

My dad and I see each other about everyday....5 out of 7, but sometimes we see each other lots of times in one day:) He helps out in various ways, but he is a champ at getting Cohen from school. Cohen loves riding in papa's truck. This week he brought us donuts, pedialyte, and just stopped by to check on us. Today though, he went above and beyond yet again. Since I am pregnant, I cannot lift Cohen. After his seizure, I knew there was no way I could get him to the emergency room alone. I called Cody and he said he would meet me there. EXCEPT he didn't.... the kiddos and I were getting out of the car at the ER and he called me, informing me that he had a flat tire 2 BLOCKS AWAY! So we detoured and went to get him. There he was, in his suit, in the snow...walking toward us, just to get closer. After all the testing, we knew there was no time to get his truck so he drove us home and took my car and a change of clothes for after his 2 pm meeting...EXCEPT he didn't need them. While Cody and I were running in and out of places, taking care of kiddos, going to meetings, dad took care of Cody's tire AND found someone else to assist and they brought it home to us. Cody never touched the tire. Dad even called to remind me to close the garage, even though he told me 3 times while he was here, he knew I would forget. LOVE HIM.

Now Anthony. Anthony is my favorite brother. He brings me soooooooooooooooo much joy. He is so witty and so sweet and so "him" that it's impossible not to love him. Does he drive me crazy? yes. Does he call me multiple times a day just to see what I am doing or to see what the kids are doing especially his buddy, "baby Sawyers."? yes. Does he tell stories that at the end you are wondering what just happened and think "is that the whole story?" yes. Would I change any of it? NO. Would I take a bullet for the kid? you betcha. Do I love him more than he'll ever know. YES. Tony helps out all the time. I try not to take advantage of him, but the kids love him and I love his presence, so it is hard not to. Since Cohen, I really have tried to not ask him to do so much. I know none of this is his responsibility, but he is great with the kids and I know I can count on him. When cody is out of town, he stays with us. (yep, I'm a huge scaredy cat. guns or no guns). He will also pick up Cohen if I need him to, or come by if I need to go somewhere on a whim. Or watch the kiddos if Cody and I have to go to a meeting. He goes to ball games and dance recitals. He was even going to eat lunch with Cohen today had he gone to school for family/pizza lunch. Yesterday he became an honorary tooth fairy when he went out of his way to pick up a tooth pillow so the fairy could visit Cohen. Today he also went above and beyond. He came and got Sawyer as soon as Sawyer woke up this morning, so that Sawyer wouldn't be around the other two sick kiddos. When he got here, he put the car seat in his car before I could even open the door to say hi. he also got here at the exact time cohen was having his seizure. He was helping me try to help him, and when Cohen was done, he held him and carried him back to the couch so i could quickly change and get to the ER. He has had Sawyer all day and offered to keep him overnight, so I wouldn't have to take him over in the morning since he will be spending another day with uncle "nony.". He even skyped through out the day because he knew I would want to see Sawyer and maybe a little for confirmation that he was keeping him alive:) He is an amazing 25 year old (single too, ladies:). He will make a great father....one day. LOVE HIM.

My mom is off tomorrow, so I am sure she will go above and beyond as always, especially with making me yummy comfort foods, and holding my babies with such a selfless love. All of her help is a whole other entry in and of itself. And I have a now very wrinkly little girl, so I gotta get her out of the tub:) Please continue to pray. Thanks

UPDATE: After taking Cohen to the doctor, they informed us that Sawyer should be no where around him and said to keep Sawyer away until at least Sunday!! So my brother kept him all day Thursday, and friday-sunday (overnight). Isn't he just amazing?! Anthony...not just Sawyer:)

Double Date

This post can start many ways. It can start by me saying that when I met Cody, I never once thought about what kind of father he would be. It can start by me saying I didn't want kids back in the day. It could also start by saying that mornings are hard for Cohen and nights difficult for Miayla. All of the said statements would be true, and all statements would lead us to where we are today. The shortened versions would go something like this: When I met Cody, he was handsome (still is, I could stare at his ass in jeans for hours, sometimes I do). BUT he was definitely not the one that I stepped back and wondered what kind of father he would be. Maybe I didn't think of him like that because I was not in the market to have kids....not at that time, possibly not ever. We laugh today about how I told him early on in the relationship that I thought 26 was a little young to get married. (we laugh bc the joke was on us with being 27 and having 4 kids and 5.5 yrs of marriage:) But it wasn't until a certain dinner at olive Garden one night, that he mentioned something about what he would do with his kids one day, that I actually stepped back and thought about him in that role. It was then that I realized, he would make an excellent father, a fun father, a cute father:) And as fate would have it, it is a good thing that I was right. Although Code does have some small maturity issues, he is an unbelievable father. And one thing I love about his fathering abilities, is that they compliment my mothering abilities perfectly!! I only want to raise good, christian kiddos, that love God above all, and treat others with kindness, and always remember where they came from....and maybe go to Notre dame, and of course not marry anyone that I don't approve of, or maybe even never move out, and take care of me when I get old, but never think of me as old.... I'm digressing. Anyway, we want them to be loved, know they are loved, and know that we will always be there for them.

This is where Cohen's fearful mornings come in and Miayla's bad nights. If you have had the privilege of putting Miayla to sleep you know that she is a bundle of trouble. She needs a drink of water, to brush her teeth, to get a band or five, find her sheep blanket and horsey, to tell about some odd medical condition she is currently enduring, leaving her unable to sleep-latest one---"every time I close my eyes, my ribs hurt." or just plain diva-ness "princesses don't sleep, they just lay here and be beautiful"--this is where Sleeping beauty saves the day. Anyway, it is difficult. So what do you do when you can't fight it anymore? you make a game of it. Who loves dessert more than Miayla (besides me)? NO ONE! So for every night she goes to bed properly and STAYS THERE, she gets a happy face and after so many happy faces, she gets to go on a date with her daddy to a special place for dessert. Guess who got 15 perfect nights in a row??? :) yeppers, the princess. And guess who is on her way to another great night time record? yeppers, our princess.

now Cohen, his is a bit more difficult and this is why we originally came up with this idea. He is incredibly sweet, but very sensitive. He has a heart of gold and gets anxiety about many things. We have many routines with him, but mornings are still a little hard. So when he wakes up and has a good morning, he gets a happy face and after so many, he gets to go on a date too. Do you know who loves breakfast more than Cohen (besides me)? NO ONE! So after so many "happies" we get to go to breakfast together BEFORE school. Once he is to school he is usually fine. We try to teach him that it is a safe place and that just because he is there, we are still accessible. The school knows that sometimes he needs to just check in and they allow him to call, fairly freely:) I've gotten calls about forgotten chap stick, one about how he saw a red yukon go by and wanted to know if I had drove by. I laugh, but really, I feel blessed that he is surrounded by people who hug him when I can't and pray with him, while I am praying for him. It's just the getting there that is sometimes the difficult part. Except now:) He is doing great with his "chart" and everyone here is happy! Here are pictures from our dates! We both went last Thursday and they both picked Spangles... or as Miayla says it "spangles it just tastes better."

it was a bit chilly in there, especially when you add an orange juice slush:)
Thumbs up for french toast sticks and hash browns:) PS, I am no longer a morning person, (really not a night person either now that I think about it), so there are no pics of Cohen and me together on this date:(


Cody and Miayla are like those annoying couples that sit next to each other in the booth instead of across from each other.... sheesh;)

Somehow Miayla got two things....maybe I should try sitting next to him after all for two desserts:)

Such a cute couple--this is where Cody says one of the desserts was his....he would lie for her though... This date was short bc they got cold and left.....

And finished their date "snuggled" up at home on the couch

until.....

the infamous party crasher came:) Gosh he is a cutie.

yay for double dates!!

The little things

Wednesdays are my "domestic day". Well, more so than normal. The kiddos are either at school or Kids Day Out so I get the freedom to run in all sorts of directions running errands and getting in and out of stores QUICKLY:) It's my day to remind me that I am 100% a stay at home mom/ trophy wife:) Dinner was normal, no fun food: tater tot casserole, fruit salad in yogurt sauce, and french bread topped off with mini ice cream sandwiches. I say it is no fun, but really the kids scarf it down so it can't be that bad right? Then there was chaos, running, dance parties, buddy baths, bedtimes, and kisses. And now there is nothing but silence. As I sat down to breathe, I looked around and I noticed lots of little things. Normally I would make an extremely unpleasant why-can't-anyone-pick-up-their-stuff noise, but tonight I didn't. Because they are little reminders that even though it is quiet, they are still very much all around me. And all of these caused me to smile. This is what life is all about. I have the privilege of being surrounded by people that love me and a family that is fantastic. Sure, we have our flaws, but it's the imperfections that make it fun. My house will never be clean. I am over it. It will never be a perfect model home or one out of the pottery barn catalog. (although all those fun storage ideas would be AWESOME and if anyone wants to nominate me for a fun make-over, I'll gladly accept:). But it has the marks of a family, and for that I am grateful.

Miayla's guitar because she will be the next T-Swift.

Miayla's song that she wrote (all music notes with stick people) because she

will be the next T. Swift.

A finger puppet and a "school" puppet on the table.
I forgot to mention we also had a puppet show:)

Sawyer's binkie... they are everywhere:)

The kiddos getting tucked in by Cody. They love him

Miayla playing with her new pinwheel that Cody and her bought

on their "date" this past Sunday.

3/5 of my happiness:)

Family Festivities

Today was a day FULL of family and all the love that surrounds them. I am fortunate enough to come from a great family and to have married into one. The first "family" event of the day was Sunday Mass....nothing out of the ordinary, but extra special on this Sunday for some reason. Maybe it was b/c I knew Cody was leaving for Minnesota later in the day and I just wanted to take him all in. Maybe it was at one point in Mass BOTH kids were sitting on his lap (not mine) and it allowed me to FINALLY take in where I was at as well as what I have been blessed with. I looked over at them and just a true sense of peace and joy came over me. The next event was family dinner. This happens the third Sunday of every month and is rotating between my mom and her sisters. It is always a great time and I truly look forward to it. There are so many laughs and just a deep sense of belonging. These are the women I admire and the mothers I look up to. If you ask me, family dinner does not come soon enough each month. Then we were off to Norwich for a birthday party. Cody's family is very down to earth and welcoming. Although it was just another birthday party (we have lots..it is a BIG family with lots of kiddos), it was the normal everyday stuff that sticks out. How everyone helps each other without really having to speak and how you get that big family feeling just being there--you know the kind in movies, at holidays, except it wasn't a holiday. I was surrounded with lots of laughter today and my kids are very lucky to have both sides that love them tremendously. I have been trying to slow down in life and take more in. And to top it all off, my little brother Anthony went to my house before I got back and walked through it to check for bad guys:) I am a BIG whimp and freak out whenever cody is out of town. T (anthony) is one of my best friends and I would be lost if anything ever happened to him. He showed me to what extent he would go for me...well him and Cohen's Driver--golf club:) Today I stepped back and looked at what was around me and who I could lean on if anything ever happened. Who would help no questions asked? Luckily, I found a lot!