Friday Favorites

Happy First Friday of 2018, friends!

And what a doozy of a week!

We made it back from Kansas on Sunday, laid fairly low until yesterday, when Sloane had a small surgery in the morning. Sidenote: Thanks to everyone that sent sweet messages and checked in on us! The surgery was very fast and we were home by 10:30 and she was back to her normal self by 10:45. She has a small bandage on her forehead and won't be able to take a bath or shower until Saturday. We will also have to work on the small scar that will accompany this, but we will take that versus the alternative.

But we have earned these Friday Favorites, so let's do it!

This first favorite is in honor of my dad. My anal retentiveness comes from him (Thanks, dad!) and he and I are in total sync when it comes to the organization of electronic cords. When I had left my charger at home during Christmas vaca, my dad told me where to go to find his extra chargers.

I opened the magic bag and behold - organized cords! And all because of these fastening wrap strips! For $6.99, you too can have an organized bag of cords! These bad boys are wonderful and keep everything together, rather than one big heaping pile of tangled madness!

So for the organized freaks like myself and my dad, or those that are eager to be more like us, start here! ;)

I've told you all about how I have an issue with following bloggers on InstaStories and buying everything they tell me to swipe up for (it is a goal in my life to have enough followers to be able to have you all 'Swipe Up' on my Instagram account - sad goals? Maybe. But it's a goal, nonetheless). This is one of those purchases! 

Loreal's Lumi is a liquid illuminator. You can use it by itself to contour, use above and below the brow bone to enhance your eyes or you can mix it in with your foundation to give a highlighting effect, which his what I do. It comes in three different shades: Ice for cool skin tones, Golden for warm skin tones or Rose for neutral skin tones. 

And don't you worry, my pretties... our favorite place - Target - sells these! 

We are staying on the Loreal Paris bandwagon for one more second. Back in October, I asked the question, "What's your favorite mascara and eye-makeup remover?" And holy cow - did I get responses! That has been one of my most-read and most-commented-on blog posts since I started this blog (who knew!). 

Everyone had great recommendations. But in the end, I decided to try a store-bought brand first. And to my surprise (and relief), Loreal's Voluminous Mascara has been great! It totally reminds me the Clinique version that we all raved about, but that only came in the "gift with purchase" set. Downside is that it gets a little clumpy sometimes, but bright side is that it goes on well and is less than $8. Win-win. 

So if you're hunting for mascara, I'd definitely give this one a try! 

My name is Allyson and I have an expensive shoe problem.

Hi, Allyson.

Good news is this problem isn't something that I take action on. As in, I want ALL of the expensive shoes but don't own one pair of them! So... maybe not a real problem? But I'm winning the lottery so ... SHOES FOR EVERYONE!

I saw these Everlane shoes (The Day Heel) on a blogger (shocker) and THEN I saw them in ruby red. Lawdy... this Kansas girl can't stay away from a ruby red shoe! :) I'm in love with them, but here's the deal - I wear dress shoes maybe once a week for maybe an hour and a half. I wear Uggs every day, all day. So spending $155 on a pair of shoes is tough for me... but these shoes. I need.

I LOVE this color as well - they are super classy with a pair of black pants. Oh Lottery Gods, come hither! :)

I bought this sherpa jacket from Amazon after reading about in from The Mom Edit. They showed theirs in an oatmeal color, and I honestly couldn't decide which color I liked more so I went with the gray.

It's more of charcoal (as you can see on me, in the left),  and probably not AS pretty as the version they show on the right (with their beautiful lighting). But it's unbelievably soft and comfy, which was the comment I got from most people yesterday - it looks soft and comfy!

It has two pockets in the front and a hood in the back... and it's perfect for those lazy days. I'm not one that finds sherpa to be something you wear out to something nice... but for those days where you just have errands to run and want to be comfortable, this is it!

And... it's $22. I got a small and felt the sizing was right on. Grab one before they are gone and won't be back until April! :)


That's a wrap for this week, folks. We are laying semi-low this weekend - probably a Costco trip where we will be strictly buying from the list, maybe a movie with Sloane to treat her for being so brave on Thursday and a big trip to UPS to ship off all of the gifts that arrived AFTER we left for Christmas break! Classic! :)

Have a great weekend everyone and stay tuned for a new and improved Tess and Elm, hopefully coming to you next week! EEK! :)

XXOO,
Allyson

Surgery is Surgery

We are kicking off the New Year by spending Thursday morning at the Children's hospital.

Insert a big wahhhh-wahhhhh.

Sloane is scheduled for a 7:30 AM surgery this morning and I can tell you that we are terrified. She has reason to be (it's her first surgery and surgery - neither how big or small - is scary) and I do not except for the fact my baby is having surgery.

She had a spot pop up on her forehead around February and after thinking it was a pimple and trying to mess with it (I'm on of "those" people) and being scolded by the Asian woman at the nail salon ("Leave her lone. She a child!"), I finally did the parental thing and took her to the pediatrician.

If you look closely on her forehead, you can see the spot!

She didn't have much cause for concern but said if it didn't go away in a month to see a dermatologist. I knew it wasn't going anywhere so we went to the dermatologist, who also thought it was nothing, but gave us a cream to apply and said to come back in a month.

We were no longer going to be in Bentonville a month from then, but whatever...

The summer went on, life happened and by September, I felt like it was starting to change color and get larger (and then smaller). We met a dermatologist here in Chicago and she felt like it wasn't a big deal but that it didn't need to be there. So we came back a month later and they sliced that sucker off (I can say it like that now but at the time, I was - and Sloane was - about to pass out).

Way to adult, mom!

They sent it off to be biopsied and called us a few weeks later. What she had was a Spitz Nevus (see image below).

I never feel I correctly explain what it is to people. What I know is that it had a form of melanoma 'attached to it' and thought it was benign, the dermatologist felt like more of the skin attached needed to be removed, but we had to see a pediatric plastic surgeon.

So... off we went to the big children's hospital here in Chicago (Ann & Robert H. Lurie's Children's Hospital to be exact) and met with a wonderful surgeon by the name of Dr. G (because spelling her last name and pronouncing may not ever be able to happen for me in the lifetime). She explained what we needed to remove and why. The why being that this area wouldn't affect her now, but it could affect her in 20 years. So it's best to remove it now and be done with it.

And that is what we are doing.

Bright and early. On the fourth day of 2018.

We haven't told her much about this because I have never been one to bring up big events, such as this, that might scare her for weeks until a day or so before. I remember her first dance recital - she was three. We had no idea that she would be in a recital, but sure enough, they wanted the young ones up on the stage to perform. Other moms said no, we aren't doing it. Some told their kids what they would be doing and the kids didn't want to do it. I never mentioned it to Sloane until we walked out the door. And though I was hesitant about the entire thing, I was SO glad I sent her to do it. It's one of those extremely happy moments in my life that I wish many others could have witnessed. She was carefree... and hysterical... up on stage!

Just before we left for her recital - she dressed in her favorite attire! 

So I won't change my approach now. Tonight before bed, I will walk her though tomorrow morning and explain as much as I know. She may or may not sleep with us (I do NOT like her to sleep with us - she's an awful sleeper!), but when you're scared, the best place to be is with mom (and dad). And we will get up tomorrow and go to the hospital.

It's not a long procedure, but she will have to go under anesthesia, which is where I could possibly lose it. But once it's done, it's done. She will have no pain. Just a scar we will have to work on. 

But she will be fine. 

But until then, neither of us will be fine.

Because surgery is surgery. It's scary, even if it is minor. And it's my baby. 

So here is hoping I can hold the tears in until after she is not in my sight anymore. And then happy tears when we see her again!

XXOO,

Allyson

The Yearly Family Pics

When we went home for my mom's surprise birthday party and Sloane's annual tailgate birthday party, I was crossing fingers that we would be able to meet up with Wrenn, our favorite photographer, to grab a super quick family session.

I say super quick because we aren't the family that changes clothes and gets millions of shots.

We are the family that gets the group pics, the individual pics, and if we are lucky, a few others... but we just want the basics. Mainly because there is always someone that doesn't want to participate. So we just don't have time for the 'extras'.

And Wrenn knows this about us. Six years later and two kids later, she knows how we work.

She's seen us through the newborn years, the screaming toddler years and now the little girl/boy years and back again. She knows what we need... so knocks it out as quickly as possible!

God love her.

Maybe one day, the weather will 100 percent cooperate and just be a beautiful day, rather than randomly freezing freezing cold or nice and toasty (when we all have decided to wear clothing for fall temperatures). I did grow up in Kansas, so I should know better.

Thank you, Wrenn... for always capturing us in the midst of madness! As frustrating as family pictures can sometimes be, we have learned that it is what it is and what we get in the end is so worth it.

Even when we look at each other and say, "This is so not worth it!" :)

Another year down. Many more to come!

XXOO,
Allyson

Life Lately

Oh friends... it's definitely time for a Life Lately. Since I was 100 percent MIA last week!

First off .... HAPPY HALLOWEEN! So glad this day is here... my kids have had a countdown. Apparently this is their new favorite holiday! We have a busy day of school parties and trick or treating this evening. We will be slash I will be ready for bed at 8:30 pm!

I'd also like to start this post off by saying that if I had five extra hours to get Two Dots, LipSense and blog work accomplished, I'd really be feeling on top of the world! Sadly, I don't have the power to extend my day any more than I do... which means that sometimes, one of those three things has to take a back burner.

It has been LipSense for a few months, but starting November 1, I'm announcing a new monthly giveaway and going to start sending out samples of samples of other products in our SeneGence family for those intrigued.

Two Dots took a backseat all summer until September and now I'm working my fanny off to make it better and bigger. Making it better isn't as hard as making it bigger. I feel clueless as to how to stretch our fanbase without asking everyone to share our social media pages constantly. Which I don't want to do. So... I'm brainstorming a lot. I don't want to think negatively but I know that if we stay 'stagnant', Two Dots will probably have to close it's imaginary doors. Which is sad to think about and something I don't want to have to think about. SO... I won't! I'll figure it out! :)

Me, ubering to Stylemax, a local Chicago trade market to look for clothes for Two Dots! :) 

We are just about to finish out our second month of school and I kind of feel like we have found our groove. I still am yelling at everyone when it's time to leave for school, but I find that to be inevitable. Matt went to a Montessori Parent Education night last week and came home feeling much more knowledgeable about the school we were sending our kids to than when he walked in to the meeting.

And thank goodness!

To say we knew very little about Montessori was an understatement! I think he felt pretty upbeat about how the kids are being taught with only a few questions that he hadn't gotten answered when he came home. It's definitely a different world than what these two small town public school kids are used to. But luckily for Sloane and Reece, they really don't know much of a difference except that there aren't desks to sit at... they just have their own personal rugs.

So hippie, right?! :)

Sloane is doing well. We are most proud that she is finally remembering kids names, which is a real struggle for her! I still sometimes worry when I look out the window and I see her kind of wandering around the playground by herself during recess. I wonder if we've done the right thing by moving them so much. But right or wrong, it's a part of our life and our journey right now. I pray that it makes her a stronger and braver kid in the long run. And I hope we eventually can get to our forever home so she can make some forever friends.

And Reece.

Oh Reece.

Despite the constant worry I have for him in certain areas, being social and friendly is not one of them. This kid will walk up to complete strangers, say hello, ask them how they are, tell them his name and then proceed to tell him the names of everyone around him... "my mom, my dad, my girlfriend Sloane..."

Just last week his teacher had responded to an email I had sent her and finished it off by telling me how proud of him she was. He has some small meltdowns every once in awhile, but she has found a way to make them minor. And his hugs and smile make her day better.

So... there is a chance my son might be a school janitor (I mean... I could be a great school janitor) or he might be rocket scientist. But either way, he will be the friendliest one you will ever meet! :)

I meet with the special education coordinator and his teacher this week to go over his IEP plan and see what needs to be adjusted with that. This kid is saying bigger words than his sister so I'm not sure if speech will be what needs to be tackled anymore. He is getting one-on-one reading help daily, which is nice. Other than that, we are constantly working on sight words and he is obsessed with making signs and hanging them up all over the basement.

Not sure what they say, but... they are up!

He was very upset he didn't have homework like Sloane so Matt  gave him some homework... he took it very seriously! :) 

And Ms. Tess. Well. She is a mess. We are officially closer to being two than one and I can feel it! The girl can throw up a 'tude in the snap of a finger! It's quite amazing! At least three times a day, I have to apologize to someone for her nasty look she is giving someone. And tell them that she does it to everyone.

It's exhausting! ;)

We've spent some time at the pediatrician lately as well as a kidney ultrasound last week. Apparently she has two tubes running from one of her kidneys to her bladder rather than just one which is causing her to have some small issues. We meet with a urologist in a few weeks to see what we need to do. I'm just praying its not surgery! But we will cross that river when we come to it.

We've had lots of visitors lately -- Matt's dad and girlfriend came up a few weekends ago and then Michael and his girlfriend Jami came this last weekend. Jami found the magic touch with Tess because Tess gladly would sit in her lap and hang out. Which doesn't easily happen for many! :)

Michael, if you are reading this (which I'm sure you will get to at some point)... we love her and I need her as my sister-in-law. No pressure. ;)

We have one free weekend before I head to Kansas City with all of Two Dots in tow to attend the Gift Gallery for the second year in a row. We had a BLAST there last year and are so excited to attend again! The vendors are LEGIT people - if you are in the KC area and need to get some Christmas shopping done, make a stop at the Cure of Ars Catholic School off of 95th and Mission in Leawood, Kan. You will not be sorry!

Lauren, Sam, Perry and Cohen come up right when I get back from KC and then my best friend arrives after that until the Wednesday of Thanksgiving, followed my parents for Thanksgiving!

Busy. Busy. Busy.

And I prefer it that way!

XXOO,
Allyson

School is Back!

We are officially full-swing into the 2017-18 school year.

We went from having nothing on the calendar to being triple-booked three times a week. And I'm not even exaggerating!

How does that happen? How do we go from having literally nothing to do to having 10 things to do in the span of a week?! Zero to eighty in five seconds.

I am not complaining though! I live for routine. My kids maybe don't live for it, but man, do they function better when they are in one.

Thanks to routine life and staying busy, Tess is FINALLY sleeping better! The girl is getting a fantastic nap in the afternoon and then going to bed at 7 pm and hasn't been waking up until six. And even if she does wake up a little before six, she sits and chats in her bed, rather than wailing like a lunatic!

It. Is. The. Best!

So an update on school...

If you don't follow my InstaStories on Instagram, you didn't see last week's story on the madness of drop off and pickup at the kids school. I'm coming to terms with it... the madness... and that maybe this is the best way to do things in the city. A parent of a new girl in Sloane's class was talking to me one morning at drop-off and they moved to the neighborhood just to attend this school - they moved like 10 blocks south. I asked if this 'arrangement' was normal since they came from a setting very similar. His answer? Yep.

So basically I'm the out-of-towner who needs to shut her pie hole and adjust.

But for the record, I still think there has to be a better way to perform these tasks... ;)

Reece has really seemed to enjoy school. On the second morning of school, he did ask if he could just go to school the next week. But since, he hasn't fought having to go! After the first day, I asked if he had gotten in trouble (because I had seen him sitting in timeout at recess that afternoon -- FYI: our apartment is directly across from the school so I can see everything!) and he said yes, because was talking too much. So... besides sitting in timeout for not following rules on the playground (which I later found out was really not that big of a deal, but at the moment, I was kind of freaking out), he was asked to remember the class rules and take turns talking.

Who does that kid belong to?! :)

His assistant teacher is named Mrs. Michelle. And that is also the name of the former principal at his preschool he attended in Bentonville. And at In His Image, he saw quite a lot of Ms. Michele. So much that he named her Ms. Michele Office. So he made sure to tell me that Mrs. Michelle is not who you see if you are bad like Ms. Michele Office.

Annnnd I laughed for awhile!

Sloane is doing well... so I think. She doesn't say much... and trying to get her to tell you two things she did that day besides swing at the playground and eat lunch is like pulling teeth! There are a few things that she finally has mentioned to me that have happened at school that I had to get straightened out (nothing major), but in the end, it sucks being the new kid. Especially when you are the new kid and not Reece - carefree and doesn't know that he's the new kid.

I feel for her and say prayers that she will start to remember kids names in her class ("Mom, that girl is in my class!" "Cool! What's her name?" "Ummm.... I don't know!"), and make a few buddies so she can relax a little. WhenI drop her off in the morning, she waits in a line with her other class mates and she's always at the end... slowly walking in and always looking for me. I give a big wave with a big smile on my face, she sees me, waves and smiles and goes in.

Can I just say that my kids are better than me in so many ways? There is no way I could have been "the new kid". There was a point in my life when we almost moved from Sedan for my dad to take a new job and in the end, my parents kept us where we were. And praise the Lord because there is a really good chance that I would have become a hermit!

But on to week two we go with a lot of new activities starting this week including Catechism tomorrow (both Sloane and Reece will go - this should be interesting...) and Sloane starts a dance class on Thursday that includes ballet, jazz and tap - I'm fairly certain I will ask to participate as well!

We are full-throttle into the school year... and that's the way I like it!

XXOO,
Allyson

Life Lately...

Hello out there!

It is I, keeper of the blog. Absent for four months because well... life.

I'd like to start off by saying that by no means did I want to go four months without blogging. I truly love it! I'd also like to say that the last four months may have been the most chaotic of my life! So blogging/Two Dots/LipSense was pushed to the back-burners because... life.

Most of you that read this follow me on social media so you know the gist of what has been going on in the Clark household since March. But to recap:

• Matt took a new position with Coleman in January and started traveling back and forth from Bentonville to Chicago during the week. 
• Sold our house in White Oak Trails in Bentonville.
• Moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Rogers, drove the kids back and forth for school. 
• House-hunted for MONTHS with zero luck!
• Grew accustomed to 2 AM wake-up calls from Tess, who basically wouldn't go back to sleep. She eventually got back to her sleeping routine right when it was time to move again! 
• Sloane graduated from Kindergarten, we said our goodbyes and moved in with my parents in Manhattan while we crossed fingers we would find a place to live! 
• Found a place to live IN THE CITY, where I had zero intentions of living with my family. Life is funny.
• Found out Reece would have to start kindergarten because he turned five before August 1. It's a joke of a rule and absolutely NOT in the best interest of the student, but... ya can't fight city hall (or the Chicago Public School system in this case). 
• Moved June 26 and couldn't fit most of our big furniture in. Fun!
• Packed as much fun into a month as we could in Chicago because I think Matt forgot we weren't just visiting, but actually lived here... 
• Busted pipes in our basement while Matt and I had went away for a weekend. 
• Followed that up with me spending four days in the hospital to end up having my gallbladder removed.
• Followed by Tess back to her old tricks of sleeping SUPER poorly. 
• Followed by more busted pipes in our basement...

And in to September we have rolled... 

Our summer vacation lasted approximately three months and nine days. Our complete life flip lasted five months and five days. There is no better way for me to say this but to say that these last five months have been nothing short of a shit show. And I mean that in the most endearing way possible! 

It's almost laughable (now) at all of the things that we have done/dealt with/participated in/fallen for. I will also say to you that I thank the heavenly stars that my kids are so adaptable and for the most part, go-with-the-flow! They did NOT get that from their mama so I will go ahead and give Matt the props for that. The number of times that I have wanted to plop down and cry or run outside and scream have been plenty. But somehow... here we are. All in one piece and looking back at March like it was 10 years ago (because believe me, it feels like it)! 

Why did I choose today to return to blogging? 

No. 1 reason is that two of my kids are back in school! ALLELUIA! 

Today was the first day of school for the Chicago Public Schools (which is so bizarre since everyone else started school way back in August). We walked Sloane and Reece over to school this morning, which is conveniently located directly across the street from us, and after a few hugs and reminders that I would be there to get them after school, in they walked. Since Sloane was going in to first grade, they asked us not to walk them in, but since Reece was going into Kindergarten, we got to walk him in. He has a locker, which he immediately put his backpack in, and then barely told us goodbye as he walked in to his classroom. 

This is not a surprise from this kid because he has done this every time we have taken him to school. I have to beg for a hug! 

For those of you that know Reece, you will laugh at this. But every time we get on the train, he sits down, and starts chatting with the person next to him. We walked through the DePaul campus the other day and a girl was sitting at a picnic table and he stops ands says, "Hi! I'm Reece! How are you?" "This is my mom, my dad, my girlfriend Sloane, Tess, my friend uncle George (otherwise known as my brother, Jordan), Alex and Anderson." 

The kid strikes a conversation with ANYONE and EVERYONE. Stranger danger? He knows no stranger. And as scary as that may be, I keep telling myself that maybe one day he will strike up a conversation with someone who hasn't made good choices and maybe not very friendly... but Reece will spark something in them to make them flip their life around. 

Or maybe they will tell him to stop talking! 

I don't know! 

I am excited to pick them up and see how their day went. I'm excited to report back to you all about what I find out (like why Reece was already sitting in timeout at recess when I drove by this morning)!

So thank you all for following along on our crazy journey the last three... err... almost six months. It's been a wild ride thus far. I can only pray that life slows down, we get back into a routine and it's smooth sailing! 

.... OK, I can't even type that without laughing! 

Until next time, friends!

XXOO,

Allyson

PS. My LipSense Labor Day sale wraps up today! If there is a fall color you've been hunting for, now is the time to buy! Everything in five percent off plus free shipping through tonight! Check out my Facebook page to see what I have in stock. I also have Lexie Beary, Dark Pink, Caramel Latte and Luv It coming in this week - all fantastic fall colors! :) 

Life Lately

Well friends ... life lately has been a big bummer!

If you didn't see my Facebook video I posted last week on my Tess and Elm Facebook page, I talked about the big bummer.

Which was how we were under contract on a house (FINALLY!) and then had the inspection done where they found a huge crack in the basement wall. We had to have a structural engineer come to look at it to see if it was a major or minor problem.

Turned out to be a major problem. A sixty thousand dollar problem to be exact!

And not 60 thousand dollars that we felt we should have to pay (and not 60 thousand dollars that I thought the owners were willing to pay either).

I was correct because they respectfully declined to pay for it. So we had to say goodbye to the house that was too good to be true for us!

We are sort of in a weird place right now. We just kind of don't know what to do. Matt came home Thursday night from Chicago and said he had a great idea and after the showered, he would let me know what it was.

I was sort of thinking it was going to be this fantastic, genius idea.

It was a house boat. He wanted to buy a house boat.

Needless to say, my sails deflated (pun intended) quickly and I went back to looking at my phone for houses.

I know that a house will work out for us. It's just obviously not even close to being on my time frame. I finally decided to just start emailing a few preschools in the areas we want to be in and will probably just sign Reece up for something. The kid has to go to preschools for so many reasons, but mostly because mom cannot teach him anything. Teaching was not my calling in life and when you know your strengths and weaknesses, you admit them!

I'm going to choose to be optimistic at this point because I'm tired of being sad about it. And on that note...

Other things going on in our life... school is almost out! I literally cannot believe it. I can't believe that I have sent Sloane to school nine months of the year and not once forgot her snack or water bottle that she was supposed to have.

I DID forget to sign a homework folder every once-in-awhile but hey, it was a learning process for us all!

What a school year though... it is truly amazing to watch your child come home and read to you. Or write sentences. I have loved watching Sloane in her first year of school and how she has grown.

Maybe someday she will learn to pick up the tempo a little bit...

But I'm not holding my breath!

As for Reece... he has no idea how to read or write a sentence and I'm really just excited for him to write his name. I think its a little bit of the boy in him, but his care level for that stuff is non-existent.

Can someone confirm or deny this with their own boys at this age?!

We've made big strides in other areas, especially in the swimming department. Once we finished up with occupational therapy in December, I knew I needed to keep pushing him in the areas that he needed to work on. One of those was the water.

The kid loves baths and to put his head under but the pool is a different story. After taking group lessons that were filled with Reece screams, he took private lessons for a month and man... Ms. Lisa was amazing! He still screamed here and there, but he is now putting his head under, going through the extremely loud maze of squirting water at the community center pool to go down the slide and is going down the bigger slides as well.

He has come a long way and I'm hoping we can keep this up -- I don't want him to put a floatie back on!

And as for Ms. Tess... she loves me. Like... a lot. And if mommy is not holding her or she can't see me, she's crying. Loudly. Every once in awhile she will venture off to play with some toys but no more than three minutes later and she is back at my feet.

God love her.

But sometimes I need a break!

Oh... and Matt is in Chicago every week.

Did I mention I need a break?

We seriously miss him... it definitely has put a strain on us as a family and in our marriage. If you can avoid the life of a weekly traveling husband/dad, I recommend it!

And that's life lately for us. We have a busy month ahead and then what comes after school is out is still unknown (say a prayer that the unknown starts to become a little more "known" for us soon)!

And we all know how much I love the unknown!!!!!


XXOO,
Allyson

An Apology to My Oldest Two

I wanted to take a minute and take advantage of the platform that I have here to apologize.

To my oldest two children.

Though they may never read this, I can at least feel at peace that I have said my apologies.

I have said many times over this past year that I have really tried to soak up as much of Tess and her "babyhood" as much as I could because this is it. She's the final baby - the last piece to our Clark Family puzzle.

And I feel like, for the most part, I have done a pretty good job of it. And I've enjoyed it! She's been a great third baby for our family. I can list off the things that she has done over the past year, when she has done them and what she is currently doing.

And this is where I need to apologize to my other two.

When Sloane was born, it was just her, Matt and I. And during the day, it was just her and I. Unless she was sleeping, we were together all the time. Sloane was also a pretty good baby, not an amazing napper, but other than that, we had very few complaints.

We had twelve blissful months together until we found out we were pregnant with Reece.

I feel like Sloane's "babyhood" was gone the day I took that pregnancy test. From that moment on, I was tired, in pain some days and just didn't want to do much.

I didn't want to do much and had a girl that was walking, talking, in to everything. You know... she was being a normal toddler.

And then just after she turned 20 months, her brother arrived.

So basically, I had two babies to take care of.

Tack on being even more tired, having a baby who cried all the time, and then a toddler in to everything, my patience was basically at a negative six.

Sloane could be doing nothing, but it didn't matter. I felt like I was a my wits end with her every second of the day!

I remember my friend Abby coming to visit us at the height of Reece's constant crying from severe acid reflux and Sloane just being 2. Matt was on a work trip so Abby was "in it" - she saw it all. I remember being in the car and just losing it on my kids because I couldn't take it anymore.

Was it anyone's fault? Poor Reece could not help that he was in pain and at such a young age, he couldn't verbalize so he cried! And Sloane? Sloane was being 2.

By the time Reece turned one (and most of his "babyhood" was a complete blur), Sloane was two and a half and in the middle of the Two's. I felt like by now, I had a semi-grasp on life.  I could leave the house with both of them, go to the Aquarium, the zoo, out to eat... I felt like we had somehow regained some normalcy.

But as soon as you think you've got it under control, life jumps back in! Life with little people never truly  gets easier because kids are constantly transitioning from one new life concept to the next. We moved from Minnesota to Arkansas, throwing our kids another curve ball, waiting to see how they reacted to all the change.

And then we just kept it coming.

"We are moving!"

"We are living in a hotel for a few weeks!"

"We are sending you to new schools!"

And eventually...

"We are having another baby!"

And now here are. My six and four year old's have lived a lot in their short time on this world. They have traveled all over, lived in the North and the South, have seen four feet of snow and seen no snow, have dealt with tears from their crazy mom who sometimes just feels like she has no clue what she is doing.

And I'm sorry to them for that. I feel like now, with Tess, that I have been able to enjoy so much more of her time as a baby because I wasn't raising two other babies beside her. They are now big kids who can go to the bathroom by themselves and can go to bed without getting up repeatedly for an hour while I held on to the doorknob .

Life is different now. It's easier (despite the crazy that we are currently in with moving). It seems to be going fairly smoothly for us and I do not take that for granted.

I know that God gives you the kids you have for certain reasons. All three of mine have taught me such huge life lessons in their short amount of time that it takes me aback sometimes.

Sloane is the slowest person you are ever going to meet and will test your patience because of that. But she has a heart of gold and loves to do nice things for people all the time... just because. Life lesson.

Reece has struggled a lot over the past two years, but has made huge, GIGANTIC leaps as well. He has overcome so many fears that I could hug him for days because of it. Life lesson.

Tess smiles. And is happy. And loves to laugh. Particularly at her daddy, brother and sister whom she adores. So, her life is pretty simple, which sometimes is the way to be.

Life lesson.


XXOO,
Allyson

Valentine's DIY from a Non-DIYer

I am one of those Pinterest people that absolutely loves Pinterest and pinning 256 things per hour. But very rarely applies those pins to real life.

Except on Valentine's Day Eve.

I finally put my pinning to work!

Sloane had to have a box for all of her Valentine's from her school party - another of those momentous "firsts"! Since I knew I would be making this by myself (I knew it would be once everyone was in bed and I knew that Matt would probably be watching TV on the couch -- but to his credit, he wasn't even home so I can't give him crap for this one), I knew the task could not be too difficult or time consuming.

I pinned some options and after reviewing my pins, I narrowed it down to the easiest one, showed Sloane, got the approval, and moved forward.

Below was my inspiration:

Hello Kitty

After single-momming it for the day and everyone was bathed and in bed, I began my chore for the evening. Operation Sloane Valentine's Day Box commenced!

Thank you to Two Dots for donating a box for this event.

Also on the crafting island for the evening was a large stack of white tissue paper, a thick pad of construction paper with numerous colors, a knife, two pairs of scissors (large AND small) and two kinds of tape. A glue stick would have been a better option that double-sided tape, but go figure - I didn't have any. I don't know how because I could swear to you I've seen 30 random glue sticks lying around recently. But not tonight, not when I truly needed them!

A Coke was also apart of this evening.

You can be sure that this part of the box-making process was where I used the most brain power. 

I spent the most time cutting out small oval circles for eyes. Because they had to be perfect (not because of Sloane but because of my over-analness).

 And BOOM.

Just like that, I completed my first real do-it-yourself project and it didn't take me days to complete or tons of money. 

Just some peace, caffeine and patience when using double-sided tape on the entire project. 

I'd deem it a success! She had a smile on her face the next morning and when I asked if I could throw it away when she got home, she was very angry with me and said "Hellll no, Ma! Back off!" 

Or maybe that's just what I heard. :) 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

XXOO, Allyson