I’m still here! I have so much I want to write about and share with you…if only there were more hours in the day. We are slowly acclimating to a new schedule and our new normal…it usually takes us a few months after a birth to find our flow. We’ve had really good days and really challenging days. But I feel the inspiration flowing again, so stick around! Lots of fun to be had this summer.

All my love…
Sara

The girls each created a little basket out of paper and we filled them with warm popcorn, suckers, tea, and bubble gum. For more fun May basket ideas…check out Pinterest!

“I added the exclamation points because IT’S SO EXCITING!”

Running out the door to give their baskets…

…to our neighbor April! April and the girls have developed a special friendship since we’ve moved in. They spend lots of time chatting and pulling dandelions.

She loved their creations!

*Traditionally, you’re supposed to leave it on the doorstep, ring the bell, and run away. If the receiver catches you, you had to give them a kiss

Happy May Day everyone!

Are you doing anything special today?

We ventured to Boulder on Saturday morning to meet our family at the farmer’s market. We enjoyed the HOT sun and some ginger lemonade…and then walked to Pearl Street for more people watching and play.

While we were there, Emma found her thumb. We’ve never had a thumb sucker…but she seems to like it. She usually just swings her hand around with frustration, trying to find her mouth…and once in awhile, she gets it there. It’s all quite cute.

Lucy Mae…my little sassy pants. Oh how I love her. It’s been a definite time of transition as she adjusts to sharing mommy and daddy. She is also changing so much developmentally right now…speech, motor skills, etc…she keeps us on our toes She is SO excited about every little thing all day long. It’s such a wonderful reminder to stand in awe of every day beauty and appreciate the little things.

Bella is back in Raccoon Clan this spring and loving every minute. This is from last week as she waited for her friends to pick her up.

Freshly picked eggs…a wonderful baby gift from my friend Michelle!

A lovely letter from Rachel paired with a big bowl of watermelon made for the perfect nursing session. Thank you friend! My mama heart needed it.

At one week old, Emma enjoyed her first adjustment from our chiropractor.

My little sweeties.

…and a smile. Nana and Papa left for home today…we miss them already!

This is the view I see for much of the day…the view from my nursing chair

…and when I’m in that chair nursing, I send texts to Matt like this one. He has been so amazing. So, so amazing. He is the best husband and daddy. And on his third time around…he’s pretty much an expert at all things baby

I made my first yerba mate latte in 9 months and it was sooooooo good. Well, at least the first 1/3 of the cup was…and then I couldn’t drink any more because the caffeine was a little too much for my caffeine-free body. Darn. I will just have to ease into it.

Seeing Bella and Lucy interact with Emma is quite possibly my favorite thing so far…they are incredibly sweet to her and their eyes just light up when they see her. I am SO excited to have three girls!

Babywearing a newborn = happiness.

Speaking of happiness…it’s a way of life around here! My mama brought me this awesome sign when they arrived. I adore it.

Lots of time has been spent hanging out on the porch, pogo sticking, bike riding, rollerblading, and walking Odie the dog.

It’s been such a blessing having my mom and dad here during this transition…they’ve been taking Lucy and Bella to the park and out and about every day. There have been endless hours of puzzle construction and make believe princess play. My daddy brings me sushi and watermelon. In fact, today when I ran out of watermelon, he brought me FOUR home within 30 minutes. He’s awesome. And lastly…I feel so blessed that they have been able to be with us for the births of all three of the girls…such sweet memories.

My friend Jen brought the most fantastic meal to us yesterday. Not only was it packaged beautifully inside and out, it was sooooo delish. Homemade hummus (2 kinds) with all the fixins to stuff whole wheat pita bread, sweet potato and pineapple salad and nourishing lentil soup. She spoils me.

And now…I will end this post so we can do more of this. Life is speeding by…but we’ll try our best to slow it down. Just for a bit

We are slowly getting settled into our new little house in Longmont…and we are LOVING having so many options for community and fun. I captured the girls snuggled up together on our chair…watching YouTube videos on how to give a guinea pig a bath We are considering getting 2 guinea pigs and they are in full research mode. When I’ve polled my friends, I’ve heard everything from “Yes! They are great first pets!” to “Oooooh…don’t do it!”. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for us?

We’ve spent several blissful afternoons with our unschooling community…it’s SO nice to be connecting again on a regular basis. It’s done SO MUCH for my mama heart.

Spending time with other moms and dads who view life/parenting the same as you do is very empowering and refreshing.

Seeing this photo just makes me smile and takes me right back to the a-ha moment Lucy had this week. She realized that it was ok to get dirty and be dirty and not have to wash it all off immediately. She’s normally does not like things on her hands. She doesn’t like even a drop of water on her clothes. But when I explained that she could stay outside with her dirty hands and PLAY and HAVE FUN, it produced a new spark and excitement in her eyes. Revolutionary! She got very excited and ran out to make more mud and more mess…and didn’t come in for another 30 minutes. Just the fact that she can play outside makes me incredibly happy. We were unable to do something that simple in Nederland because of the land/terrain we were on and the ice/snow.

Sisters feeding the mailbox a delicious little letter.

On Tuesday, it was  a balmy 70 degrees! We spent much of the morning and early afternoon playing at the park and soaking up every last bit of sunshine.

Lucy raced after Bella on her Plasma car…wanting to be just like her big sis.

Today we spent all afternoon at a a nearby bounce playhouse/gym…because the temp had dropped back to 37 and chilly! The girls played so hard for 4 straight hours and are sleeping VERY soundly as I type this in the quiet of the night

And lastly…a few things that are making me happy this week. A new painting from my friend Lisa…this photo just doesn’t even do it justice. The colors in this original are so gorgeous. I can’t wait to hang it in the perfect spot!

I’ve been loving the kombucha…which is funny because I haven’t always been a fan. Trilogy and Gingerberry are my favorite right now…but their chia-filled fruity friends are a close second! Bella loves them too…which makes me happy. Although as with anything (even “good” things)…I try to keep our intake moderate and not go crazy with it. I will eventually need to start making my own because we go through it pretty quickly! If you’ve never tried it…give it a whirl! But don’t give up if you don’t like it on the first try. Experiment with different brands and flavors until you find one you like.

And lastly…this little gem of encouragement that my friend Alicia of the fabulous Milagro Girl sent out on her Insta.gram feed this week. It really resonated with me and I’ve gone back to read it many times for inspiration. I hope you feel the same way.

So many great reminders…but to sum it up, LIVE AN AMAZING & FULL LIFE!!

What is inspiring you to do that this week?

We had a wonderfully productive weekend…cleaning, purging, & re-organizing. It’s so amazing to me how different I feel when I have clear spaces and an uncluttered life. Oh what joy! If you want to declutter your life, but have no idea where to begin…check out the 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp. This is the perfect “kick start” for your decluttering resolutions

This little space is right off of our kitchen…I like to call it my “mama cave”. I just hung some white twinkly lights and added more fabric for diffusing the sun. I like to keep white Christmas lights up year round! Here is a great compilation of spaces that do the same (including my friend Denise’s bedroom).

I finished my first “wearable” knitting project this weekend! What a thrill. It’s so fun to get it off the needles and realize that all that work ends up in something beautiful. This cowl is so warm and softer than anything I’ve ever felt! For those of you that are knitters, I used Mirasol Ushya in cornflower with a size 17 needle.

On another note, it was my 5 year dreadiversary yesterday! I will be writing about it soon. The rainbow-colored dread on the right is wrapped with the yarn I used for my first knitting endeavor…to remember the journey!

Next up…a scarf for Lucy’s new baby “Ali”.  I have another cowl in the works with the most amazing yarn that seems to be sold out everywhere. The Malabrigo Rasta line…it’s so fantastic! I was able to find the arco iris color at the yarn shop in Bozeman when we were there…and now I wish I would have bought more! I LOVE Piedras as well.

Here is what it will look like Delicious.

Helping Daddy is so much fun! We had a little snow over the weekend…and Lucy enjoys any excuse to get out into it. It’s always fun to get snow on the weekends when Matt is home…we snuggle in by the fire,  make yummy food, and enjoy the change of scenery together.

We had a birthday party for Baby Ali…complete with play dough cake. So sweet to see my girls take care of a “baby”…as I know they are preparing their hearts to welcome the real thing

My mom and dad gave me this bible study for Christmas and I can’t wait to start it. Most Beth Moore studies are done in small groups, but I’ll be doing this one self-paced and using the downloadable online videos. Looking forward to being challenged!

I enjoyed a huge green smoothie yesterday after not having one for MONTHS! I go in and out of craving them when I’m pregnant. This one had banana + peach + pineapple + water + spinach. For those of you new to green smoothies, here is my “how to” video and you can purchase a Vita-Mix from me here.

* * * * *

And now…as I write, I’m listening to Bon Iver.
Thinking I might go knit something.
Or read a little bit.
Right after I put my babies in the bath and to bed.

Enjoy your evening…xxoo

**Please note: some links in this post are “affiliate” links, which means that if you click and purchase them, I get a little bit of that sale. Thank you for supporting me in this way!

It was wonderful being with family…but it’s also so good to be back home. We’re filling our bodies with healing whole foods and nourishing green juice. We’re drinking lots of water and sleeping soundly. I am in full nesting mode and this weekend we will be having a massive organizing session and house clean out. Can’t wait!

Hope your holidays were wonderful…I’m looking forward to a great 2012!

See some of our holiday photos on Facebook here and here.

We had a delicious lunch and then took a little walk…

…over to The Yarn Shop! It’s so funny getting into a new hobby and realizing that there are stores that have been there all along to support said hobby, but you never paid attention until now! Bella and I had a blast looking through all the yarns and spending some Christmas money and gift certificates that we had.

Is there anything more yummy than hand-dyed purple yarn?!

On our way back, we came upon a young man stuck in the ditch…he has slid off the road on an icy patch and couldn’t get out. My amazing husband used his tow strap to pull him out and send him on his way. We had a great talk with the girls about how we should always help others when we are able.

Upon returning, I started my very first knitting project…a dish rag with happy rainbow yarn! It’s going well so far…learning from mistakes as I go. Just like life

Before bedtime, Uncle Ryan taped tons of glow sticks on giant punching balloons, turned off the lights and let the kids go crazy! I don’t have a photo, but they sure had fun. We’ve had a wonderful time in Bozeman with family…tomorrow is our last day here and then it’s back to Colorado for a day and on the airplane to Iowa the next. Life is always an adventure! Hope your Christmas was joy-filled and wonder-full. xxoo

We started our morning at one of my favorite restaurants in Boulder, Brasserie Ten Ten. I love their simple and delicious French fare…and you cannot beat the ambiance. We talked and talked and laughed harder than I’ve laughed in awhile.

I have dreams of their Eggs Florentine: poached eggs, seared greens, tomato confit, english muffin & hollandaise. Like I said, very simple…but the taste is outstanding. I savored every bite without having to take anyone to the bathroom in the middle of it all.

Next on the list was a leisurely walk down Pearl St. with stops at some of my favorite stores. We spent a lot of time in Peppercorn, a fabulous home/kitchen store. I have a little bit of an obsession with the gorgeous Le Crueset cookware line. I’m thinking of asking for one for Christmas. I spend so much time in the kitchen every day…one of these beauties would make me happy every time I touched it.

I can’t pass up an opportunity to meander through a bookstore without children…and Boulder Bookstore is a mighty fine place to do that. And when I have a voracious reader at my side, it’s even more fun. Natalie and I had fun picking out random titles and laughing at their contents. I ended up picking out a spy novel at her suggestion and it’s great so far!

I love love love a little store on Pearl called Bliss. So many fun things to look at. Lots of stationary, paper, cards, candles, jewelry. A store you can get lost in.

We ended our day with steamy cups of almond milk Bhakti Chai at The Laughing Goat. After sitting down at the very last open table, we continued chatting about marriage (have you read her guest post on that topic yet?), travel, holidays, and more. So good to catch up. Our time was coming to an end…it all went by WAY too fast, but I was so thankful that we had that time to celebrate my 35th birthday together.

Are you wondering what I bought with my birthday cash?! I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous Anthropologie mug forever. I’ve been longing for it ever since my friend Khrista starting posting photos of her beauty with gorgeous lattes. As a side note: her blog is a beautiful place to hang out. Go there!

I love salt. And I REALLY love it when I’m pregnant. While we were at Peppercorn, I spied this mortar & pestle and tons of delicious gourmet salts. I’ve wanted one for awhile, and this was the perfect time. I also picked up this cute little handmade & fair trade salt bowl and spoon at Momentum. I found some yummy plum colored hand warmers there as well.

And lastly, Natalie made me this awesome hand painted sign…”Let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see”. Ahhhhh…yes my friend. Let us. Thank you for sharing in my beautiful day!

Snow against weathered wood and aspens…I love it.

Still coming down.

A few days prior…my burly mountain man worked on getting all of our firewood in order.

He had an enthusiastic (and cute) little helper.

I’m sure glad we were prepared…

…there is nothing quite like a crackling, toasty fire inside with the snow falling outside!