Time to decompress

I love my kids. I honestly do. But staying home 24/7 can be an energy drain, as I'm sure many stay-at-home moms know. There's no time off, and vacations mean taking your work with you. But the rewards are endless. While my kids can fight like siblings do, they also have moments of pure fun. I was fortunate enough to catch them on camera a few days ago.

Kiersten is putting a ribbon hair tie ON Nolan's head,
which he then proceeds to shake off. This results in
uproarious laughter from them both. It's a contagious
laughter. I'm still grinning thinking about it.

Kiersten was invited to spend the weekend in south Georgia to celebrate her cousin's birthday, and to continue celebrating her own. With her out of town, Richard's mom asked to keep Nolan that Friday night until the next Saturday, bringing him back after his nap. Tiwsh my arm some more, why don't you? 

Friday night we enjoyed a home-cooked dinner of the coffee-rubbed steak I'd made a couple of weeks ago, this time using ribeye steaks. We had a slow Saturday morning, and Richard made bacon & egg "artisan" sandwiches on our 3-cheese garlic bread from a local bakery. Then we headed out to Hickory Nut Gap Farm. This place sources meat to over 30 local restaurants, including Tupelo Honey, where we had brunch for Kiersten's birthday weekend. Richard drools over the sausage, so we decided to go to the source. There's now a little pouch of it in our freezer. Hubby is pleased. 

After HNGF, we headed to Biltmore Village. I was in search of a large coffee mug, and we were hoping to find one locally made. We went to the newly-opened Southern Highlands Craft Gallery and the New Morning Gallery. I found several, and got some great gift ideas, but no mug really struck me as something I absolutely had to have. So we moved on. 

By then it was nearly 2, and we realized we were getting pretty hungry, so we made the decision to go ahead and eat in the Village, at The Cantina. It was fortunate for us, because this weekend kicked off the Village's Restaurant Week. Diners get 2 meals for $30, including appetizer, entree and dessert. Most of the restaurants there are upscale, so this is a wonderful deal. Our chosen appetizer was the Ultimate Queso Dip, and for dessert we ordered the Mexican torte. Our entrees are in the pic below.

Richard enjoyed a pork carnitas burrito,
and I, for the first time ever, had a burrito,
too! Mine was the Loco Chicken.

We took our dessert home because we were pretty full by that time. We had it later with some Pumpkin Spice/Espresso roast French pressed. Once Nolan came back home, I felt so mellow I couldn't believe it. I even was able to handle his exuberant running and jumping back and forth on the porch, and was energized enough to bake! So, my mom stress meter has been reset, and I'm ready to tackle another week of mommyhood. We're waiting on Kiersten's return, when the noise level kicks into high gear until they both get to bed. Bring it on, kids!

The only time his off switch works
is when he's sleeping.

Celebrating the life I helped create.

I started to tell my road-to-motherhood story, then realized it's pretty long and a bit sad. So, I'm just going to post here about how we celebrated our first miracle baby last week. 

Kiersten is at an age where she can anticipate things more. Nolan is still a toddler, meaning his world is all about the present, with impatience being his key trait. Kiersten gets excited about what's to come. So this birthday week was all about surprises for her. She called them her little "clues." 

We began the week at Nana & Papa's house for a little break for the Labor Day weekend. They weren't there, so it was truly like a "just us" type of vacation. Even if it was just for two days and one night. When we got home on Monday, she got to put up the family balloon birthday wreath.

That's her bike helmet..she was about to ride her scooter
when we caught her to put up the wreath.

On Tuesday I hung the zebra print lanterns I purchased at Party City. Two onto the chandelier over the dining table, and one just outside the door to her room. 

Wednesday I made rolled sugar cookies that Kiersten helped cut with castle and crown cutters. I iced them rather sloppily, but no one seemed to care.

On Thursday I began my craft project. It was acrylic paints on canvas, so I knew I had to give myself time for it to dry before painting on the song lyrics. That night I made sticky buns for her to have at breakfast. Richard blew up the zebra print balloons I was going to use the next day.

Friday was her birthday. She woke up to sticky buns and a new shirt. I surprised her by going to her school to have lunch with her, loaded with Panera for her (and Nolan and me) and Hello Kitty cupcakes for the kids in her class. Still mad at myself for forgetting my phone in the car. I have no pics of her at school. 

Oops - fingers on the lens!

When she got home, she was surprised by a mylar balloon on the newspaper box, latex balloons tied to the porch rails and a birthday banner on the outside of her bedroom window. She also got to hear the happy birthday song sung over the Voxer app from both Abi and her uncle Andrew (all the way from Japan!). Later she got to go out to dinner with all of us (Abi's treat), and we came back for cake and presents.

She even got a crown at school!

On Saturday we took her to the mall, where she got to go to Build-a-Bear. She chose a koala that she named Sofia (the second). Nolan even got to kiss a heart to put in it, so Sofia has twice the love! Afterwards, we finally took her to JUMP!, something she begs to do every time she goes to the mall. 

"I'm usually afraid of heights, but I wasn't
this time. It was SO much fun!"

From there we went home so I could make her birthday dinner of bacon-wrapped chicken, corn on the cob, and sweet potato fries. She declared this to be the "best birthday ever!" Thank goodness, because I had been fretting over not being able to give her a kid-filled birthday party. It's hard when she has her birthday at the beginning of the school year, especially when it's her first year there. We're hoping we won't have to move for work next year, and she'll have made lots of friends at her school. 

Happy birthday, Princess.

For more about what I baked, and for my craft project, check out my other blog.