March 2020 Recap: Start of Quarantine

Pre-COVID the girls and I went to the outlets shopping while Jimmy was on a hike.  Somehow I did not capture a pic of Maggie but should have as this was our last outing for what would be months.  

Bella pre-COVID.  Her world got better not having to be in her crate daily.  

March began with the eager anticipation of spring and quickly was overcome shadowed by the news of COVID-19, schools closing, and state mandated "shelter at home" for safety.    We did our best to adjust to virtual schooling, working from home, virtual church, and more time at home together.     We embraced the slower pace with more meals at home, more time in the evenings to snuggle and talk as we did not have swim practice, an evening commute or homework.    How long will this last?  We did not know as we entered into a very unknown for all of us.

The first weekend the girls were out of school we decided to get outside and hike with the Boring's.  We knew going into this the reduced connectivity with family and friends would be the biggest challenge.  

Schooling the girls made the transition well to virtual learning.   Gracie managed it independently while Maggie required some follow up.  She thrived on the Google chats and STEM projects assigned.

Maggie would join me on the porch to do school while I worked.   

Any change Maggie could do art/ crafts/ STEM she was all in! 

We got lots of Bella snuggles!  

This girl the past 9 months has become terrified of thunderstorms.   She hurdles over us, sits by our heads, and pants until she can calm down.   Ya'll.... I did not even have our girls as babies in bed with us!  She is rotten! 

We said see ya latter to the best neighbor and dog walker that exists.  When we decided to get Bella we knew we had to have someone let her out 2x a day and we would only do that if it was Gail.   Gail moved to a different state and we miss her terribly. 

 While we were very limited on who we would see and where we would go to protect those most vulnerable, we did enjoy seeing my Brother and family.

O how I adore these kiddos!   Gracie and Silas have a sweet special bond! 

lots of cousin playtime! 

And we enjoyed most of all time as our family of four!  

We decided to take this downtime to start getting her comfortable in the car!  

A little review of where she parked.... 

Daddy is the best driver, but I did take her out as well a few times.  

Lots of games! 

How they look at each other!!!    

I posted this on FaceBook and wanted to be sure I had captured it here.   It was hard and beautiful all at one time.  And there are moments we will evaluate what we choose to keep and what we choose to move past.    

lots and lots of porch time!   

I love this more and more as the girls grow up.  They are so uniquely created and therefore should be parented with that same uniqueness.    My prayer is that I always remember there heart and their uniqueness as we raise them into adults.  

YES and Amen! 

As spring brought warm weather we enjoyed some of our first pool days! 

Some days were just exhausting and hard....and it showed!  

Maggie thrived daily on bike riding.  She was blessed to have a new neighborhood friend and they would take off each day together.    This girl could be on her bike for hours!