Playful Rooted

I’ve been super inspired by a trend I’ve noticed recently – bloggers who have seemed to go back to the “early days” of blogging (like 10-12 years ago, before social media was such a thing) and who do a really good job of documenting their families’ lives on their blogs. I think with the rise of Instagram, etc. lots of us started “microblogging” and sharing brief moments of the everyday, but we started to lose the depth that’s inherent to blogging. There are pros and cons to both, but a few people I admire seem to have returned to sharing more on their blogs, and I look at those posts as such a great time capsule for their family.

I often look back on certain times of our life and wish I had been better about capturing things that I could reflect on and remember later. I definitely regret not making more of an effort in the past, so my goal is to do better going forward. (And at the same time give myself grace because time just flies these days.)

Anyway, all that said, here are some things we’ve been up to lately!

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Luca turned five-and-a-half in April (sob), and to celebrate, we went to Red Robin, where he ate his weight in French fries. I was surprised at how easy it was to navigate Red Robin’s allergy-friendly menu. Of course there weren’t a ton of options for alllll my restrictions, but the allergy menu itself was super thorough and impressively organized. (And happily, I did get to eat a ton of French fries, too.) I also had a very cute, very wiggly dining buddy.

Ben’s mom was in town briefly a couple weeks ago, and it was so great to see everyone’s favorite Momo. The kids have the best time with her, and Ben and I had the pleasure of leaving all three kids at home with her while we popped out for a coffee date! This happens so rarely anymore that it was worth capturing, even though most of our conversation revolved around replacing part of our fence. Super romantic. 😉

The Made in KC Cafe is my favorite coffee place lately; their seasonal drinks are always unique and delicious, and they have excellent seating both indoors and out.

I started the first Harry Potter with Luca this week, and it’s been so much fun to introduce him to one of my very favorite book series! We are loving the gorgeous illustrations, and he will literally sit for hours and listen to me read this book. I’ll have to slightly modify the scarier parts in the end, and I already know he won’t be ready for the second book yet as it begins to get darker. But this has been really fun and something I’ve looked forward to for years!

I got my first-ever jury duty summons recently! This is another thing I’ve looked forward to for a very long time, is that weird? I was practically giddy when I got it, and Ben was super jealous. But alas, as a nursing mother and primary caretaker of three small children, I’m not a viable candidate. 😉 It was easy to get an excusal; I just had to call my OBGYN’s office and have them write this super verbose letter:

I’m not sure if or when I’ll get summoned again, but I think it would be very cool (although maybe stressful?) to serve on a jury one day!

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We’ve been getting monthly deliveries from Kiwi Crate for a few years now, and I think they’ve really upped their game recently (and their game was already good!). Our most recent box included a “Farmer’s Market” activity where the kids could create, price, and sell produce. It was very cute, and this tag that Luca wrote just slayed me. I can’t believe he’s old enough to sound out and write “carrots cost $1”. My baby!!

Speaking of babies, this one is growing like an absolute weed! We haven’t even had her for two months and I feel like she’s already doubled in size! Since she’s a mix, we have no idea how big she will be (well, we have an idea, I guess: 45-70 pounds, but that’s a huge range!). All we know is that she’s growing so much every day, just like the rest of our kids! She continues to be super cuddly, cute, and a ton of fun. Everyone has said, “YOU ARE CRAZY” for adopting a puppy right now, and trust me, I get it! But as it turns out, I am loving having a puppy, even in this crazy phase of life. She’s a very good girl and so smart and quick to learn new things. Yes, I wish I had more free time to train and entertain her, but she’s doing really wonderfully in our crazy home and is definitely part of the family already.

Moms, have you heard of Peanut? It’s basically a mom-friend dating app. I might share more on that later, or it might be self-explanatory? Either way, I met the greatest mom friend on there recently, and the kids and I have loved getting to know a new family with kids their same ages (including the baby!). They introduced us to this new-to-us park that we’ve driven by a thousand times but had never been to, and the boys spent about half an hour straight rolling down this hill and climbing back up. Cheers to new friends who are also navigating this crazy phase of life!

I’m working on a post all about what I’ve actually been eating these past few months with Pria allergic to almost everything under the sun. It’s been pretty tricky, but I’ve finally found some go-to meals and snacks (and unexpectedly learned a lot about myself too – more on that later!). This is one of my favorites and I would be remiss not to share it:

Gluten-free (or regular) bread, toasted and topped with almond butter, sliced apples, and desiccated coconut sprinkled on top. Try it! Try it! It’s so good.

I thought for months that Pria was teething, and for months, nothing. It got to the point where I wondered if she had any teeth at all in there. (I wish I were kidding, but I’m not; recent experience has taught me that anything is possible.) Until now! Can you spy that little tooth breaking its way through her gums?!

It sounds crazy, but it has truly been a relief for this anxious mama that my baby does, in fact, have teeth. 😉

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Luca and Sawyer got a new small animal net the other day and we immediately went to the lake in search of frogs or fish to catch. They found nothing except lots of smelly lake shells to add to their nature collection, but it was very cute watching them work together and spend time by the water.

We’ve been working in our front and back gardens a bunch, clearing out deadnettle and weeds and planting new things. Zinnias, dahlias, phlox, and lantana in the flowerbed in the front, and soon there will be lots of veggies and herbs in the back. Next, we desperately need to install chickenwire around the vegetable garden to keep a certain dig-happy puppy out of it! I also just ordered a drip irrigation kit for the veggie garden, and I am SO jazzed about it. (Things I never thought I’d say.)

Target had their car seat trade-in event a few weeks ago, and the timing coincided perfectly with the expiration date of our trusty infant car seat. This seat carried all of our tiny babies (and a friend’s baby, too!), so I felt bizarrely sentimental about letting it go.

But onward and upward and all that jazz.

Pria’s now in a convertible car seat (thank goodness for Diono’s three-across installation) and she is SOOooo proud of what a big girl she is! Kill me with cuteness.

Have a great week, friends!

xo!