what it feels like to be back home

so we're home, and it feels so right. now that the boxes are unpacked (or just thrown in the attic) we feel as though we're home and exactly where we should be right now. we had hesitation coming back, but now that we are here I'm happy with our decision. there are still daily reminders of the destruction that sandy bestowed upon the jersey shore and our house, like the debris that litters the beach out front or our torn up yard, or the fact that the boardwalk we would take evening walks on is no longer there. we are beyond grateful that we were able to come home, as so many have not been able to yet or will never be able to. I'm happy to say that I'm finally sleeping at night now, and I haven't had any nightmares since coming home. It's so nice to be able to wake up and not feel so down and unmotivated. since being home for the past few weeks we have been able to attend our playgroups, and library classes and I feel our little routine we enjoyed before the storm setting in again. I even got out to a moms night last week with some ladies, yay! I'm feeling like myself again, and finally moving on from this horrible storm.

valentines day

i love valentines day, and not because of the commercialized part of the holiday with chocolates and roses and expensive menus at restaurants. but for the part of the holiday to say I love you, and little surprises, and pretty pink decorations. yes, I love valentines day.

what Aiden and Ella are eating

a super easy and healthy flavored yogurt for today. my two love their yogurt. they eat it in oatmeal, use it as a dip or just enjoy as a quick lunch. I still use the full fat yogurt for my guys since Aiden is on the smaller size and I like to give him as much calories as we can get in him. anyway, full fat yogurt is actually hard to come by I find unless you buy the baby yogurt. some store don't carry the larger containers of full fat yogurt. when we were up north the store in town only carried fat free yogurt so I was left to buy the baby yogurt. the baby yogurt is great and all but it's expensive and I find it way more affordable to just buy the larger container and mix in our fruit and grains. any veggie or fruit purée will work and we like to add in some oat bran and or some flax meal for added nutrition. this morning I made a blueberry and spinach purée, added that to their yogurt along with some oat bran and mashed banana. it was gone in no time. and made this mama especially happy that I got in them two fruits and a veggie..... score for me :)

a birthday

yesterday we celebrated Keith's birthday. he worked in the morning but then took the afternoon and evening off to hang out with us and enjoy his day. It was a nice little day indeed.
we had lunch at one of our favorite vegan spots, picked out cupcakes, "cheated" and had lobster for dinner, and ended the night with a family movie night. happy 32nd to my main man.

happy birthday trey

yes I know I am crazy haha but every year we like to do something for trey on his birthday. today is the little mans 8th birthday. and even though he's a nasty little thing, I just love him to pieces. happy birthday trey!!!

a little valentine tradition

I'm a big fan of valentines day. I love all the pink, all the hearts and all the love haha ok that was a little corney, but I really do. so last year we decided to start a valentines day tradition with the twins. the days in February leading up to valentines day we (Keith and I) write little love notes to the babies the night before and put the notes in their mailboxes for them to get the next morning. the notes are just short and sweet saying something we love about them or something we loved that they did that day. i love getting them all excited to check their mailboxes in the morning and then reading them their notes. this year I found tiny mailboxes in pink and blue at target that are just perfect for this.

and so it begins

today is a big packing day. our temporary condo is a mess now with boxes everywhere and closets pulled apart. the plan for today is to pack, drop the twins off at my grandmas in PA, pick up the uhaul truck and load up everything. we leave tomorrow morning around 6:30am to hopefully get to our house by 9am and finally move back home. it still doesn't feel real, but it's happening!