A Little Devine

CHRISTMAS 2018

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone!  Just wanted to post these pictures from Christmas here on the blog for you all to see.

THANKSGIVING 2018

First off, Merry Christmas Eve for all those who celebrate!  The holiday season is always busy for us, so sorry for the lack of posts since the beginning of November.  These pictures were taken on Thanksgiving, which we celebrated at my house this year.  I was so grateful that my parents, brother, and his daughter were able to fly out from California to spend the week with us.  We also got to spend the day with my grandmother, who’s currently battling cancer.  

FIRST SNOW

I’ve finally gotten around to editing these photos from last Thursday.  We honestly weren’t expected to get much snow (if any at all), but we ended up getting around 5 inches in the end.  Isabeau and Everly couldn’t get enough of it!  We had to drag them home when the time came for it.  All of that snow is gone now, unfortunately.  

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to get on here and say a belated Happy Halloween to all my followers!  This year, Isabeau was a witch, Everly was Cinderella, and the twins were unicorns.  We just went around our neighborhood to do some trick-or-treating, meeting up with some of Isabeau’s classmates.  I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween!

Day in the Life - Evening October 2, 2018

This is the the third of three posts that describe what our day looks like (for the most part).  All of the pictures were taken on Monday, the 24th, and I’ll try to describe when our routine is different in certain areas.

6:00pm We aim to sit down and eat dinner at 6:00pm everyday, though this isn’t always the case when we’re very busy.  We actually managed a 6 o’clock dinner on Monday.  We had 5-cheese lasagna.

6:45pm Around 6:45pm, we start settling the girls into our nightly routine, which starts with bathtime.  Isabeau can bathe herself, and often uses the shower upstairs to get ready for bed.  Julius and I alternate between bathing the twins and Everly.  Currently, we’re using Cetaphil Baby products on the girls.

7:20pm We’re usually done with baths around 7:00pm, which is when I sit down and feed the twins before putting them down for the night.  I usually wake them around midnight for another feed and diaper change.

8:00pm We aim to get the girls to sleep by 8:00pm most nights.  While I’m feeding the twins, Julius reads Everly and Isabeau a story (currently they are reading the first Harry Potter book) before putting them to sleep.

If you’re wondering what we do after 8 o’clock; it honestly depends on how our days went.  Most times during the week, we don’t last any longer than 9:00pm before going to bed ourselves.  Usually after the girls go to bed, we catch up on chores that didn’t get done during the day or we sit and watch some tv.

Day in the Life - Afternoon September 24, 2018

This is the second of three posts that describe what our day looks like (for the most part).  All of the pictures were taken on Monday, the 24th, and I’ll try to describe when our routine is different in certain areas.  I apologize for few pictures for this post.  Our afternoons go from calm to hectic really quickly.

11:00am The twins usually need another feed around 11:00am.  This tends to be one of their longer feeds and they usually last until about 3:00pm.  I usually eat my lunch during this time as well.  Today that was a pizza baguette with a green smoothie.

12:00pm I usually start preparing Everly’s lunch at noon so that it’s ready when she wakes up from her nap.  I was feeling a bit lazy, so she had leftover black bean soup from Sunday’s dinner.

1:00pm On Mondays, Everly has a playgroup meet-up that I take her to with lots of little kids her age.  Usually, we go to the park, but we went to Twinkle Playspace this time due to the weather being awful.

2:00pm Everly tends to take another nap around 2:00pm.  This is her shorter nap, which usually only lasts a little more than an hour.  We’ll likely start weaning her from this nap soon, as she fights it more and more.

2:45pm Isabeau gets out of school at 2:45pm.  She walks home with a neighbor for the beginning of the week, while I pick her and our neighbor’s daughter up at the end of the week.

3:00pm Isabeau is usually hungry after school, so I tend to give her small snack foods to hold her over until dinner.  I didn’t get a chance to take a photo, but she had apple slices and fruit snacks on this day.

3:30pm If Isabeau has homework, this is usually the time we set aside to work on it.  I also start preparing for dinner around this time, so that all I have to do is have someone put it in the oven if I’m not available to do so myself.

4:00pm Julius gets home from work anytime between 4:00pm and 4:20pm depending on the traffic.  If he’s not home by 4:15pm on Mondays and Fridays, I usually have our neighbor come and watch the younger three girls until Julius gets home.

4:30pm Isabeau has ballet classes on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  Her Monday class is at 4:30pm, which is a bit of a time crunch.  Her Monday class ends at 5:30pm.  On Wednesdays, she has piano lessons at 5:00pm.

Day in the Life - Morning Routine September 25, 2018

This will be split into three different posts: morning, afternoon, and evening.  All of the pictures were taken on Monday, the 24th, and I’ll try to describe when our routine is different in certain areas.

6:00am I usually wake up anywhere between 5:30am and 6:00am to feed the twins.  I usually get myself ready as well, while Julius watches the girls.

6:20am I wake Isabeau up for school at 6:20 so that she has time to get dressed and eat breakfast before going to school.

6:40am After helping Isabeau with her hair, I start making breakfast for everyone.  Today, I went simple and made toastimals, which are toast with your choice of spread and various fruits that you can cut to depict animals.  Their breakfast varies between eggs, pancakes, waffles, or toast most days.

6:50am Julius is usually the one to wake Everly up for me, as I’m usually making breakfast.  Usually, we get her dressed before breakfast, but that didn’t happen today.

7:00am The girls eat their breakfast.  After breakfast, we let them watch cartoons in the sitting room.

7:30am I usually aim to leave the house to get Isabeau to school by 7:30am. As for Isabeau’s unifrom, she decided to go with the skirt and shirt with a cardigan instead of the jumper today. It takes us about fifteen minutes to walk to school.  School starts at 7:55am with a morning prayer, which I usually stay for.

8:30am The twins usually need fed again around 8:30am.  Julius also leaves for work about this time.

9:00am This is different almost everyday.  Today, we received our weekly grocery delivery.  On Wednesdays, Everly has a class at a local play gym where she does lots of little crafts and songs.

10:00am Everly takes her first nap around 10am.  She sleeps for about two hours.  I usually feed the twins again between 10:30am and 11:00am.

The Twins’ Baptism September 21, 2018

We had the twins baptized last Saturday (the fifteenth) at our local parish.  Overall, everything went as well as it could.  Towards the end of the service Everly wouldn’t sit still and was running all over the place, but we made it through!

Meet Isabeau September 18, 2018

These past six months have been an absolute roller coaster for our family.  We’ve faced many hardships, but have also been so blessed.  One of those blessings has been Isabeau.

I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned what Julius does for a living on this blog.  He’s actually a social worker.  Upon starting in New York after our move in January, he met Isabeau.  Isabeau had been going through the state system for almost two years due to her mother being unfit to care for her.  In April, when she was taken from her mother again, we made the decision to foster her in our home.  She’s been living with us ever since.

If you’re wondering why we haven’t posted any pictures of her until now, we decided that it would be in her best interest to not post anything of her, since we weren’t sure how long she’d be staying with us.  

As of today, we’re glad to say that we’re working with Isabeau’s mother and the state to work towards adoption!  There’s still so much to be dealt with, but by December, Isabeau will officially be a Devine.

So, I’d like for you all to meet Isabeau Cecilia.  She’s six years old and she’s just started first grade at a local Catholic School.  Her favorite color is pink and her favorite food is chicken and rice.  She just started ballet and she’s really enjoying it.  Her favorite subject in school is math so far.  

We’re so happy that Isa has become apart of our not-so-small family, and cannot wait to show you more about Isabeau and her personality.

Two Weeks as a Family of Five August 12, 2018

I’ve got to be honest with you guys.  The past two weeks have been a sort of mini-hell.  Between Everly’s meltdowns and the twins’ needs, I feel like I’m going crazy!  My daughter has decided that the terrible twos are coming a year early, and I was not prepared for it what so ever.

If you can’t tell from the first paragraph, Everly has not reacted well to the twins’ birth.  Honestly, even phrasing it like this is truly understating her reaction.  She was curious at first, but now she’s realized she has to compete for the attention now.  When I say she’s having meltdowns, I mean she’s having a full on tantrum, throwing herself on the floor and screaming at the top of her lungs.  I feel bad for our neighbors, honestly.  

Things are getting slightly better (by slightly, I mean a smidgen).  Everly’s tantrums only seem to happen about once or twice a day now, and she’s even started to show a slight interest in her siblings!  This may seem like it’s not an improvement at all, but it’s a small victory for us.  My biggest hope is that she’ll stop having these tantrums come the end of August, but that might be asking too much.