Day 643 | Happy Heart Day!

A little glimpse of what our Valentine's Day celebration looked like. Feeling lots of love today!

Day 642 | Date Night

Dinner and a movie. This is crazy. 

Babysitters are the best. 

Day 641 | Feeling Lucky

An impromptu dance party with the boys post-dinner. 

I don't know what, exactly, it was about today but I'm feeling incredibly lucky tonight.

Maybe it's that my whole house is clean without me cleaning it (part of my bday present from Chris was a housekeeper...best gift ever!). Maybe it's the super thoughtful and happy bouquet of tulips that arrived at my door today (thanks, mom and dad!). Maybe it's that it's been a shockingly pleasant streak with the boys lately. Maybe it's because we're one day into a luxurious four day weekend. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I actually am the luckiest girl ever. 

That's probably it. 

Day 640 | Me vs. Rx

For a long time, I've avoided taking medications. I've never been able to properly articulate why this is, but I think, at the root, I just want to give my body a chance to fight off whatever's going on before intervening. After all, that's kind of what it's designed to do (not for everything, though!).

After my experience with my pharmacy and getting a prescription filled this week, I realized that the other reason I prefer not to take medication is because the whole "filling a prescription process" is a joke. And not a funny one.

In order to get my prescription filled after my dermatology appointment last week (my body can't sufficiently handle my hormonal acne, it turns out), it took three visits to the pharmacy, two calls to the doctor's office, and several annoyances along the way. For starters, on my initial trip to the pharmacy, they informed me that the drug wasn't covered by my insurance and that it would cost $470. I'm sorry, what?!? No, I'm not paying $470 for an elective medication. Are you kidding me?

After far too much rigmarole, I received a call from the doctor's office that there was a coupon online for the medication. Yeah right, I'm sure this coupon will drop the price significantly enough to change my mind. Doubt it. I printed it out feeling very leery: the vocabulary was confusing and vague so I brought it in assuming the worst. About 15 minutes later I walked out with my prescription after paying...wait for it...$10.

[shaking my head + rolling my eyes]

You've got to be kidding me with this process, right? I printed out a public coupon and saved $460. There's something seriously wrong here.

Day 639 | Green Oatmeal: I can vouch

It's been almost 3.5 years and I've never actually eaten the green oatmeal that I serve the boys. I've tasted it several times (so I knew it wasn't terrible), but it's never been my breakfast.

Over the last month, I've given up cereal as my go-to breakfast option. It dawned on me that the boys are eating super healthy, nourishing breakfasts and I eat, basically, a bowl of sugar. Not anymore! I've been eating what the boys eat every morning. We've been a bit out of our green oatmeal routine lately (yogurt with berries and granola or apple/cinnamon/raisin oatmeal have been the top in the rotation) but today was my day to prove to myself that if the boys can eat, I can. And, guess what? I couldn't even tell it had kale in it. No seriously.

Today's version of green oatmeal:

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 frozen cube of kale
• scattering of raisins
• a dollop of applesauce (to add sweetness)
• Mix oatmeal, water, and raisins. Add kale cube. Microwave for 90 seconds. Stir in applesauce (this helps cool it down).

I promise you can do it! 

Day 638 | This Kid

Chase is about the cutest version of himself (ever!) right now. He's hysterical, and sweet, and adorable all at the same time.

Two of my current favorite sayings of his:

1. "You're my special girl." As in: he wants something from me. He'll say, "Mom, can you help me get dressed this morning because you're my special girl." How could anyone say no to that?


2. "I love you so much I believe in you." I mean, amazing, right? We've adopted this new phrase as a family mantra. It's just about perfect and it's all him.

Day 637 | Another Train Enthusiast

While we were waiting at the chiropractor yesterday (yep, the back pain has resurfaced...boo!), Robbe put together this whole train track by himself. It took a lot of hard work and concentration, but he did it! I was pretty impressed.