Jenna Andersen's List: FMB-Family Life

Last week, my family (like my kids, husband, and I, not the whole circus of a fam damily) went to Utah for Spring Break.

Our husbands are amazing and completely take over at home, holding down our respective forts while we’re gone.

Sara and I are off again! I promise you guys, my kids, my husband, myself, and an OB-GYN who thinks I’m a tiny bit crazy that we’re not going anywhere else (and by we, I mean my growing fetus and I–Sara’s anniversary is coming up) until I go to the hospital to have this baby.

(Travelling around the country while pregnant)

Caleb came down with a nasty cold on Sunday and we had to take him to the doctor on Monday. Luckily, he is fine and it’s just a bad cold, but I hate that he is sick. He’s fighting a fever, cough, and  hoarse voice. The only good part is that he loves snuggling again. I love my Caleb snuggles.

Josh does most of the grocery shopping now that we have Caleb. It is easier for him to stop at the store on his way home from work than for me to take Caleb during the day. I always give Josh a list of what we need for the week. He does a pretty good job at sticking to list, but sometimes he comes home with “surprise” items like toffee bars, Golden Puffs, or donuts. Well, this week he came home with a good surprise-strawberries. They were on sale and looked really good so he picked up a couple of packages. Good job, honey!

I’m super lucky to have her as an older sister! It has been so fun to move here to France at the same time. We can go up and visit them in Normandy and they can come visit us in Paris. Last Friday she took the train to Paris so we could spend the day together without kids. I thought it might be fun to list our itinerary here. Here is how to spend 8 hours in Paris. This is perfect if you don’t really want to site see and just want to get some good shopping and exploring in.

Everything is starting to feel so surreal here. We only have a couple weeks left and I get sort of weepy every time I eat a croissant or look at the Seine. I took the boys to the park and they both just randomly stopped and sat down together so I snapped this photo. I wonder if they (or mostly Moses) will remember any of this.

We are still trying to appreciate the little moments. It rained today but the skies cleared this afternoon for a little bit and we were sitting on our sofa with the kids talking. The sun was out and the window was open and a crisp spring breeze was coming in the room. We just sat there for a few minutes watching all the busy people on the street below meeting their kids after school or picking up a baguette from the boulanger for dinner

Gabrielle's "Living with Kids" series highlights different families who live in beautifully designed homes with young children. 

Based in Europe, they make it a priority to travel with their 6 kids in tow.

The kids go back to school on Monday, so we are planning to have a laid-back weekend. Me & Ben Blair: tackling some simple spring cleaning. The kids: hanging out and enjoying every last little bit of Spring Break.

on the car ride over, i think eleanor was carefully scheming on how to make this dinner the most eventful ever. for a little one who normally behaves quite well when we're out and about, this meal was the exception. she got down to visit all the cooks in the kitchen no fewer than 23 times... and kept standing up to climb onto the table and dance. wiggly, crazy, silly, squirmy child! toddlerhood is going to be quite the adventure...

also, side note-- juggling a nap schedule/ sleep routine for a 14 month old is hard when you're not at home. i feel like we just undid all of the hard sleep training work we accomplished over the past few months... please cross your fingers that ends up not being the case. yikes.

[from a post about a trip to NYC]

when i watch josh and eleanor play together, i feel like the luckiest woman on earth.  i loved watching them chase each other around the property, josh tossing E up in the air, and hearing her giggle while they hugged. the afternoon just felt pretty special on that grass... like we were the only ones there.  i loved every minute of it.

we just got back from spending a few days together in florida.
one last hurrah as a family of 3...
(or 4 as i always say because i like to count kingsley)

March was definitely rough for us. I think we spent more time being SICK, then we did being healthy. Ugh.

Keep reading to see more photos from things we’ve done this week out and about San Francisco…

[Pictures of what her family has been doing lately around SF]

We are so excited to pick up Jared tonight from his week long ski trip in the Tetons (love this image from the trip right here!). Henry is especially excited to show him the loot brought by the Easter bunny while he was away. Is it feeling spring-y yet where you live?

I’m signing off a bit early this week since we are headed out to do some camping in Yosemite! I’m hoping for no snow (unlike where Jared camped last week in the high Tetons- image above), lots of sunny days to hike and explore, and an endless supply of marshmallows to roast over the fire.