Simple pleasures...

As life has gotten quite a bit crazier in the past month, I am learning to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. The new sunset background on my gmail page... laundry clean and folded... a pumpkin spice latte... a walk by myself in the crisp fall air... meals shared together as a family. These things are not every day occurences anymore. So when they do come, I am learning to accept them as gifts, enjoying the bit of rejuvenation and sunshine they bring to my chaos.

Trevor, Mia, Clara and I enjoyed a lovely fall day today. Trevor blessed me by watching both kiddos while I went to the gym for a work out... we did a bit of reorganizing and cleaning out the house.... played together... and spent a few hours at one of our favorite spots, U Village. Mia insisted on getting her hair cut, so we did that too! Although we have a lot of things on our 'to do' list... it seemed a day of R&R was in order. And enjoyed by all!

Trevor and Mia sipping hot cocoa and pumpkin spice lattes... mmmm good!

Mia getting her hair cut at Kids Club... playing with the ponies the best part!

And a lollipop and balloon afterwards!

Mia has been feeling the effects of a new baby in the house... and has needed lots of time with mom and dad recently. There have been many moments of frustration and "why is she doing this???" but we have forced ourselves to slow down a bit, and lay on the love. When I stop to think about what a drastic change this must be for her... from being the sole recipient of ALL our attention to always being asked to "wait," "be gentle!" "don't touch Clara!"... it's no wonder she is struggling! I am having to dig deep to find the patience and words to deal gently with my first babe. But it is a valuable lesson for me as well. Even though I am a girl who likes to be on the move... slowing DOWN has it's benefits!

On Friday we went to a cute little farm in Edmonds with some friends from my work called Fairbank Farm. They gave us a tour of all the fun animals and even had a pumpkin patch! It was rainy, but fun to get out of the house for a bit.

There were about 10 miniature goats... Mia was so funny because she did NOT like the smell of poop and plugged her nose when we first arrived. She said, "mommy I need to go home... it smells STINKY!" She eventually dealt with the smell after she saw how cute the goats were.
Ducks bred without quackers... the quietest bunch of ducks you've ever seen!

Sweet Clara at 7 weeks old... she truly is the sweetest! Starting to coo and smile a lot!
And starting to sleep 8 hours at night! Thank you, babywise :)

I was thinking that Mia and Clara were looking more similar... but they look quite different here! This picture is of Mia, also at 7 weeks.

When she is not sleeping (which is a lot!) Clara loves to make eye contact and really checks you out. She gets very excited when we coo and talk to her.

Grandma and Grandpa Muljat with the girls!

My girls and I :)