Noah has been calling Carson "bubby" a lot and I just absolutely adore it. It makes me smile everytime!
Of course he got it from me, I may have called both of my boys that way too many times.
Noah also just uses in the cutest way and at the sweetest times.
Yesterday Carson was whiny a lot of the day and at one point, Noah goes "Bubby, what's wrong, why you keep crying? You want fishies, bunnies, water, strawberry milk, chuck truck? "
I love that he was trying to help me figure out what was wrong. Granted he probably just wanted some peace in his playroom but it came out super sweet.
In the car the other day when it was snowing, Carson was crying and Noah said, "Bubby, it's okay. We be home soon, mom has to pay attention to the road"
The other sweet bubby's I hear are when Carson wakes up from nap or in the morning, Noah will say good morning bubby, or hi bubby, you awake? Or when he gets hurt, he will ask Bubby, are you okay?
I don't know what it is about that word because it would still be sweet if he said Carson in place of all those but when you use Bubby my heart melts. I'm so blessed by them with they are buddies. One lucky momma to call these two boys mine!
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Thursday, March 7, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Carson at 18 Months
Carson at 18 Months, you
- Are a cuddle monkey, if I had to describe you in one phrase I think that would do it. You love attention and cuddling when you are in the mood, and if you aren't then you are running around being a monkey, climbing and jumping onto everything!
- Have been getting lots of teeth the last two months. I think you are almost done besides your molars
- Down to 1 nap
-Bless me by how good you are in the car once we get you in, sometimes that can be the struggle
-Talk, talk, talk. I'm amazed at how many words you say now. You use a lot to communicate and tell us what you want but you also are repeating after us.
-You understand the word no and use it ALL the time. It's so cute, you say no and shake your little head!
-Are so good at saying Thank you. We didn't even really have to teach you it, you just started.
-Still love Elmo. You love little videos on the Ipad with him but aren't a big fan yet of the Full Sesame Street episodes. They don't hold your attention. You also do the happy dance when Thomas comes on because Noah loves it and gets excited but you really don't watch it after the opening song.
- On the same note, have the cutest happy dance. You tap your feet and run in circles
-Got out of your crib 1 night last week but haven't done it since. I'm not sure why it surprised me but you are a determined boy and you didn't want to go to bed. We will see how much longer you make it in the crib before we have to switch you.
- Are such a picky eater still! Ready for move past this buddy!
-Love to help mommy, you love shutting doors, putting things in the trash for me or picking up toys when I am doing it.
- On the same token you love to throw things. Normal for a toddler boy
-You know some of your animal sounds, and love doing facial features. Once you get going you want to point out everyone's everything and won't stop grabbing onto my eyelashes when you point at my eyes. I never have any to spare buddy, be gentle!
- Try to sneak outside every chance you get.
-Think the Ipad is yours and you need to watch Elmo all the time but yet constantly touch the screen so it's always stopping or switching to another app.
-Sometimes you tell us when you have went "poppy", others you tell us and go lie down by where your diapers are
-Love to be big and join in on stuff with the rest of the family. Some nights when we are going to watch something on TV with Noah and we get popcorn, you think you need some and you are the first to try and get out a blanket for us to use on the couch. You try to sit with us too but you just can't sit still for that long.
-Likes getting rocked and cuddled before bed, and after nap. When we are home, if I can I just sit on the bed with you after you wake up and cuddle. It's our sweet time!
-Loves your daddy more and more everyday. I think he's your favorite! The way you always get so excited to see him and follow him around is adorable.
- Love, love, love messing with lights
-Are starting to play more and more with toys finally. You and Noah really do try and play together sometimes. You look up to him and want to do what he does a lot. You are already best buddies!
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of great things you do right now but Carson we love you soo much! You are a handful but so cute, sweet, and silly too!
- Are a cuddle monkey, if I had to describe you in one phrase I think that would do it. You love attention and cuddling when you are in the mood, and if you aren't then you are running around being a monkey, climbing and jumping onto everything!
- Have been getting lots of teeth the last two months. I think you are almost done besides your molars
- Down to 1 nap
-Bless me by how good you are in the car once we get you in, sometimes that can be the struggle
-Talk, talk, talk. I'm amazed at how many words you say now. You use a lot to communicate and tell us what you want but you also are repeating after us.
-You understand the word no and use it ALL the time. It's so cute, you say no and shake your little head!
-Are so good at saying Thank you. We didn't even really have to teach you it, you just started.
-Still love Elmo. You love little videos on the Ipad with him but aren't a big fan yet of the Full Sesame Street episodes. They don't hold your attention. You also do the happy dance when Thomas comes on because Noah loves it and gets excited but you really don't watch it after the opening song.
- On the same note, have the cutest happy dance. You tap your feet and run in circles
-Got out of your crib 1 night last week but haven't done it since. I'm not sure why it surprised me but you are a determined boy and you didn't want to go to bed. We will see how much longer you make it in the crib before we have to switch you.
- Are such a picky eater still! Ready for move past this buddy!
-Love to help mommy, you love shutting doors, putting things in the trash for me or picking up toys when I am doing it.
- On the same token you love to throw things. Normal for a toddler boy
-You know some of your animal sounds, and love doing facial features. Once you get going you want to point out everyone's everything and won't stop grabbing onto my eyelashes when you point at my eyes. I never have any to spare buddy, be gentle!
- Try to sneak outside every chance you get.
-Think the Ipad is yours and you need to watch Elmo all the time but yet constantly touch the screen so it's always stopping or switching to another app.
-Sometimes you tell us when you have went "poppy", others you tell us and go lie down by where your diapers are
-Love to be big and join in on stuff with the rest of the family. Some nights when we are going to watch something on TV with Noah and we get popcorn, you think you need some and you are the first to try and get out a blanket for us to use on the couch. You try to sit with us too but you just can't sit still for that long.
-Likes getting rocked and cuddled before bed, and after nap. When we are home, if I can I just sit on the bed with you after you wake up and cuddle. It's our sweet time!
-Loves your daddy more and more everyday. I think he's your favorite! The way you always get so excited to see him and follow him around is adorable.
- Love, love, love messing with lights
-Are starting to play more and more with toys finally. You and Noah really do try and play together sometimes. You look up to him and want to do what he does a lot. You are already best buddies!
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of great things you do right now but Carson we love you soo much! You are a handful but so cute, sweet, and silly too!
You Know you are mom When....
You know you are a mom When....
I just recently started following The Pink Momma which you can find here and today she did You know you are a mom, when and encouraged others to join!
Here is my list for a mom of two boys 3 and 1 1/2
1) You always carry some emergency treat in your purse for public disasters
2) Each time you clean your floors, they cleanliness is only a sure bet until the next snack or meal
3) You can never go to the bathroom alone, and if you try expect screaming or knocking kids at the door
4) When kids are awake and it's quiet, you know they must be into something they shouldn't be
5) Decorating revolves around my boys, nothing down low, no pretty glass vases or breakables on table, very simplistic
6) Everything dangerous takes much longer to get into, my house sports some sweet cabinet locks and outlet plugs. In a kid free home you could have half your house vacuumed by the time I can get my vacuum plugged in
7) The laundry is never "done"
8) It's never safe to walk downstairs in the dark. You never know what you may step on
9) They say microfiber furniture is easy to clean, not in this house
10) The "fun" apps that are most used on our ipad are PBS and Disney and children's learning.
11) You choose to take a phone call or make one, I need to be prepared for a huge mess all over the house or a chance of some major fighting
12) You buy batteries in bulk packs and you go through them like water
13) Dinner doesn't involve 2-4 courses, it takes half of the kitchen to make because everyone eats something different.
14) You catch yourself wearing character bandaids on a regular basis
15) You randomly hearing crying when it doesn't really exist. I call it phantom crying
16) When you put your 28 year old butt in time in your room to get a break for a few minutes
17) Your style for the day revolves around what you will be doing and where you are going with your kids. Will I be crawling around, chasing, sitting, holding (can't wear something easily pulled down)
18) When new decor is the latest picture that was colored or craft that was made
19) Jewelry becomes toys, or anything in the bathroom for that matter, sometimes a mom just needs to get ready in a timely manner and needs to not be pulled on
20) You start to get ready to leave 30 minutes before you actually need to walk out the door
But also you know you are a mom when,
You have a whole new definition for the word "love"
You get to love on, kiss and cuddle up with the best little things you have ever known!
Giggles and laughs have never sounded so good!
Your favorite place to be is with your family!
You have never felt so blessed than when you look into the faces of your kids!
Being a mom is hard, it's about making sacrifices every day, but at the end of the day I can't imagine life without our two cuties and wouldn't trade them for a thing!
Menu Plan Monday
Menu Plan Monday
What a great weekend we had, out to dinner with friends on Saturday then caught a movie with some chocolate and candy, made a quick day trip yesterday to see some family and ate at a buffet for lunch. Now it's Monday I'm ready to get back on the health bandwagon and eat some good for my body food this week! Over the last month I have gained back some pounds I lost and now I'm ready to say good bye to them! I have no excuses, I've ate a bunch lately and a lot of junk so unfortunately I deserved it!
Here's to a healthy week!
Monday- Crock Pot BBQ Pork Ribs (for the hubby, I'm making spaghetti squash for me) Baked red potatoes and Green Beans
Tuesday- Stuffed Pepper Soup from the freezer. Have I mentioned how much I love having food in the freezer before? Because it truly is one of the things that makes me happy! I need to start adding instead of taking away because there is only a few things left.
Also I don't like stuffed peppers so much but this soup I really do like!
Wednesday- Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot, Brown rice and carrots
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Clean Baked Ziti and salad
Have a great week!
Here's to a healthy week!
Monday- Crock Pot BBQ Pork Ribs (for the hubby, I'm making spaghetti squash for me) Baked red potatoes and Green Beans
Tuesday- Stuffed Pepper Soup from the freezer. Have I mentioned how much I love having food in the freezer before? Because it truly is one of the things that makes me happy! I need to start adding instead of taking away because there is only a few things left.
Also I don't like stuffed peppers so much but this soup I really do like!
Wednesday- Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot, Brown rice and carrots
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Clean Baked Ziti and salad
Have a great week!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Menu Plan Monday
Welcome to Menu Plan Monday
Sunday- Family Outing to Panda Express, fancy right?
Monday- Salisbury Steak/ mashed potatoes and gravy/green beans
Not my personal favorite but the hubs has asked for it a few times lately, so it finally made it onto the menu this week!
Tuesday- Homemade Pizza
Wednesday- Chicken and Rice soup
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Quesadilla Casserole I have had a certain mexican casserole that I have been making for awhile. I found this recipe about a month ago, tried it and we decided we liked it better so it's our new go-to Mexican casserole. If you are a clean eater this is a great mexican choice!
Saturday- Wait and See!
Happy Menu Planning
Linking up with www.orgjunkie.com for Menu Plan Monday
Friday, February 22, 2013
Name Calling
We have quite the name caller in our house right now. I have no idea where kids get the idea to do this? I'm sure he has picked it up from some older kids at daycare, church and other places he is around kids. But in all seriousness we as adults don't walk around calling each other potty names so where do they get the ideas. Noah has been calling us poopy, stinky, stinky butt, baby, cookie, coka( no idea what this is supposed to mean), toot, hippo, boba (another random), all sorts of food names and random toys as he plays with them. I probably laughed at first and created a name calling monster. Now he just thinks he is so darn funny and is always laughing at himself even if I give him that look. Thought about using soap as a punishment but seriously who has bar soap anymore? There isn't any in this house. I don't now how to stop this bad habit, sometimes it seems like 20% of my day getting on his case for it. I'll add it to my list of toddler isms I'm constantly working on! Another one is getting the word stupid out of his vocab. This is the kind of stuff they should of taught in college instead of so much other useless stuff I learned! This momma needs some help in the correction department!
I think this is why God made toddlers so cute and funny to make up for their frustrating orneriness!
I think this is why God made toddlers so cute and funny to make up for their frustrating orneriness!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Moving On!
What a year we have had so far in the sick department. We were all healthy for the most part until right before the New Year, Carson got bronchialitis, then I got it, next Noah. All healthy for a week or two then Carson got it again. Everyone healthy again then Noah got chicken pox, then 2 days later Carson got the chicken pox and bronchialitis AGAIN! Poor guy just couldn't get rid of it. This last time they sent us to get a chest xray to make sure they weren't missing something boy was that fun taking a chicken pox kid in to get an xray while he was already cranky! Everything turned up clear but they decided to put him on Prednisone liquid version for kids to try something a little stronger for him since he kept getting it back. I will never unless it is absolutely necessary let him take that again. For 4 days he pretty much screamed at me non-stop. He would hang on my feet and scream like he wanted me, then I picked him up and he would try and push off me while screaming. He hit, he clawed, he bit. Needless to say it was the roughest 4 days of motherhood so far! I'm surprised he still has a voice left. It took me a few days to realize it was from the medicine, then I remembered how I felt on Prednisone and it made a lot more sense. I felt so bad for Carson though because he got the chicken pox worse then Noah and had his other stuff going on on top of it. Poor guy couldn't breathe, he wheezed so bad! The important part it we have moved on, the medicine has wore off and I got my sweet little, fun loving boy back thank goodness! Missed him so much! It was only 4 days on the medicine but seemed like so much longer!
Here are our chicken pox boys in jammies which they sported for pretty much an entire week. Noah would put clean jammies on after his bath and keep them on until the next bath. I wanted them to be as comfy as possible.
Carson didn't want his picture taken and was trying to hide.
This is how Carson really felt all last week. (Sorry Carson had to include this one, will be sure to tell you how you acted this week when you are older! )
Taking an oatmeal bath. Carson absolutely hated baths while he had chicken pox. Last night was the first time we got him to sit down without being forced to sit. Got some good pictures of Noah's full body chicken pox but was just too busy during Carson's stint and this is the best we had. His poor head was just covered!
And Awww.. This is what we have been up to the last couple days. Back to reality and sweetness. Noah was reading books to Carson yesterday. They have just been playing and interacting a lot together.
This morning they were holding hands running around circles
And back to making messes and getting into trouble together.
I'm glad we have the chicken pox done and over with for good (hopefully). They are all scabbed up and healing and hoping they won't end up with too many scars! Honestly they weren't that bad to deal with, yes it was some extra work, oatmeal baths, anti-itch cream, lavender lotion, some extra whines, and I didn't get anything done for a week but I did get in lots of extra cuddling and if it wouldn't have been for that darn prednisone we wouldn't of had those 4 awful days on top of chicken pox!
However, I'm glad to feel like we are back to our normal life. I feel caught up somewhat. They have been so happy and have blessed me so much the last few days with their playing, smiling, laughing, kisses, and funny talking.
Menu Plan Monday
Our weekly menu plan.
I made our plan on Saturday and last night watched Hungry for Change, next weeks will probably look a lot different. I have a love/hate relationship with documentaries like that. Makes me feel guilty about alot of things we have in this house. Over the last half a year I have really been trying to change the way we eat but we still have a long way to go, especially with the boys!
Sometime this week I will be trying this for me but not expecting Matthew to eat it since he doesn't like the texture of pasta. I've heard this is delicious and I finally found some Spaghetti Squash yesterday so I'm anxious to try it! You can find the recipe here for Spaghetti Squash with Grilled chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes.
Monday- Beef Stew over rice (weird I know, but that's how Matthew likes it!)
Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner
Wednesday- Chicken and Broccoli with rice
Thursday- Nuxoll Burgers on my grill pan and these potatoes
Friday- Chicken Fajitas
Have a great week!
Linking up with Menu Plan Monday at www.orgjunkie.com
I made our plan on Saturday and last night watched Hungry for Change, next weeks will probably look a lot different. I have a love/hate relationship with documentaries like that. Makes me feel guilty about alot of things we have in this house. Over the last half a year I have really been trying to change the way we eat but we still have a long way to go, especially with the boys!
Sometime this week I will be trying this for me but not expecting Matthew to eat it since he doesn't like the texture of pasta. I've heard this is delicious and I finally found some Spaghetti Squash yesterday so I'm anxious to try it! You can find the recipe here for Spaghetti Squash with Grilled chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes.
Monday- Beef Stew over rice (weird I know, but that's how Matthew likes it!)
Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner
Wednesday- Chicken and Broccoli with rice
Thursday- Nuxoll Burgers on my grill pan and these potatoes
Friday- Chicken Fajitas
Have a great week!
Linking up with Menu Plan Monday at www.orgjunkie.com
Monday, February 11, 2013
Running Update
It has been over 2 weeks now since I started running jogging. I tell you it has been up and down and I actually have only gone running jogging 6 times since I started. I'm still doing some of my other workouts depending on time and weather and running on the days that it works out. Although this is great for now I know when training official starts I will have to run more often and attempt to stick to my schedule and not whatever Jen wants to do that day! In case you don't know, I don't do well with being told what to do. I'm not too good at following workout schedules!
This is the rundown of what I have done so far!
Wednesday- 2 miles
Friday- 1.50 miles after an elliptical workout (I'm scared to run in the dark and had to wait for it to get a little lighter for my liking)
Sunday- Treadmill attempt and miserably failed. I really dislike running on a treadmill. It was Super Bowl, and 9:00 pm and I ate way too much that day, but it was hard. Like really hard. I walked 3 laps and only did 2.50 miles total
Wednesday- 4 miles Say What????? I woke up, went outside and ran, and ran and thought maybe I did 3 miles. Clocked it and was ecstatic that I ran 4 miles. After my treadmill run I was discouraged and really needed a boost to help me believe I can do this. That run sure did it for me!
Saturday 3 Miles and it felt great!
Sunday 3.5 miles in the wind and rain at the end. I probably walked about .25 miles of this one. That wind was not my friend!
With almost a month yet until my training schedule actually starts I'm feeling pretty good about it! March 10th should be the week I start training and it's a 12 week schedule. By then I feel confident that I should be able to increase a little more and be ready for some more consistent running. I have always wanted to be a runner and know that "true " runners love running and I'm starting to get that. It's stress relieving, it's a workout, and I have kind of enjoyed pushing myself. It's cool to see progress and I want to push myself to run more each time.
For all of you current runners if you have any tips or tricks for me I would love to hear them because I sure do have a long way to go yet!
This is the rundown of what I have done so far!
Wednesday- 2 miles
Friday- 1.50 miles after an elliptical workout (I'm scared to run in the dark and had to wait for it to get a little lighter for my liking)
Sunday- Treadmill attempt and miserably failed. I really dislike running on a treadmill. It was Super Bowl, and 9:00 pm and I ate way too much that day, but it was hard. Like really hard. I walked 3 laps and only did 2.50 miles total
Wednesday- 4 miles Say What????? I woke up, went outside and ran, and ran and thought maybe I did 3 miles. Clocked it and was ecstatic that I ran 4 miles. After my treadmill run I was discouraged and really needed a boost to help me believe I can do this. That run sure did it for me!
Saturday 3 Miles and it felt great!
Sunday 3.5 miles in the wind and rain at the end. I probably walked about .25 miles of this one. That wind was not my friend!
With almost a month yet until my training schedule actually starts I'm feeling pretty good about it! March 10th should be the week I start training and it's a 12 week schedule. By then I feel confident that I should be able to increase a little more and be ready for some more consistent running. I have always wanted to be a runner and know that "true " runners love running and I'm starting to get that. It's stress relieving, it's a workout, and I have kind of enjoyed pushing myself. It's cool to see progress and I want to push myself to run more each time.
For all of you current runners if you have any tips or tricks for me I would love to hear them because I sure do have a long way to go yet!
Menu Plan Monday
Our Menu for the week!
Sunday- Chicken Pot Pie
Monday- Steak, Mashed Cauliflower, Grilled Veggies
I just got a new grill pan for the stove and can't wait to use it!
Tuesday- Slow Cooker Ham, Potatoes, Green Beans
Wednesday- Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole (carry over from last week) I have had two sick kids, pretty much one attached at all times. I'm lucky I made anything last week!
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Tacos ( my homemade taco seasoning is Here if you haven't tried to make your own yet, so easy and so much better for you. I just make a bunch at a time so I always have it)
Linking up with Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday
Sunday- Chicken Pot Pie
I just got a new grill pan for the stove and can't wait to use it!
Tuesday- Slow Cooker Ham, Potatoes, Green Beans
Wednesday- Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole (carry over from last week) I have had two sick kids, pretty much one attached at all times. I'm lucky I made anything last week!
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Tacos ( my homemade taco seasoning is Here if you haven't tried to make your own yet, so easy and so much better for you. I just make a bunch at a time so I always have it)
Linking up with Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Chicken Pox
Noah has been such a good sport about them. I figured when he saw them he would freak out because anything other than normal doesn't generally fare well with him, but he just smiled and gave me a hug. I love this boy so much! He has blessed me so much in how he is handling these. Last night it took him a few hours to fall asleep and today nap didn't work out he just couldn't get comfortable but he has still been in a good mood. Of course he has cried and whined some but not nearly as much as I expected. He hasn't wanted me to put any anti-itch medicine on him because I did a few yesterday and he told me it made them hot and he didn't like it, well today after he was struggling with some I talked him into putting some medicine on them and then he started laughing and then wanted medicine all over. He was jumping up and down telling me how it wasn't hot, it was cold and that I made him so happy! He just kept saying " look mommy, I'm smiling, you make me so happy." I could learn a lot by how he has handled these! We have been doing lots of cuddling, TV watching, and trying to keep him entertained when he needs a distraction!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Menu Plan Monday!
I'm back at it! I used to post menus all the time and fell off the bandwagon, so since I still menu plan each week I will try to share. It takes me forever usually to find/ decide on what to make so I love reading other posts and searching Pinterest for ideas. It takes even longer now that I'm trying to make healthier meals and cut out all the processed junk I can!
Monday- Baked Pork Chops, Smash Potatoes, and Green Beans
Tuesday- Shepherds Pie (from the freezer, love having frozen meals!), and corn
Wednesday- Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Homemade bread
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Chicken Enchilada Bake with Whole Wheat Tortillas
Today I'm linking up with Org Junkie for Menu Plan Monday
Monday- Baked Pork Chops, Smash Potatoes, and Green Beans
(photo taken from http://thepioneerwoman.com/)
Wednesday- Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Homemade bread
(Photo taken from http://picky-palate.com/)
Friday- Chicken Enchilada Bake with Whole Wheat Tortillas
Today I'm linking up with Org Junkie for Menu Plan Monday
Friday, February 1, 2013
No More Perfect Days
This morning I was struggling! I was losing it and getting grumpy fast with the boys. I had a lot of things on my mental to-do list and I wasn't getting anywhere. I got out my No More Perfect Moms book and went to the chapter on No More Perfect Days and reread the parts I had underlined and read just what I needed to hear! Here are few snippets that I needed reminded of:
Motherhood is the ministry of availability ( I need to be available to my boys, even if it doesn't fit in my "perfectly laid out plans for the day". Carson isn't feeling well, no matter what I wanted to get done this morning, he needed my attention, he needed held, he didn't care if I got the kitchen cleaned up after breakfast or if his laundry was folded. I definitely need to work on being more available to them! )
Control is a mirage. The only control you and I can really have is self-control. ( I'm a control freak what can I say, when things don't go my way, I can get easily angered and frustrated. I so often blame my anger on the boys because something happened in a way other than I wanted, but in reality they didn't do anything wrong they are just being imperfect kids and making my house an imperfect place and I'm working on getting to be okay with that!
And my favorite!
We need perspective to keep us from reacting when our plans fall through. We need the perspective that the moment we are in is just as important as the moment we planned on that didn't happen the way we thought it would. We need to embrace "what is" instead of "what could have been"
This morning that " what is" turned out not to be so bad. It's now naptime and I got the "what could have been" taken care of and by living in the moment I was in, I got some good cuddle time in with my sweet little babies who just needed their mom to be "available" for them!
( All underlined sections were taken directly from " No More Perfect Moms" by Jill Savage)
Motherhood is the ministry of availability ( I need to be available to my boys, even if it doesn't fit in my "perfectly laid out plans for the day". Carson isn't feeling well, no matter what I wanted to get done this morning, he needed my attention, he needed held, he didn't care if I got the kitchen cleaned up after breakfast or if his laundry was folded. I definitely need to work on being more available to them! )
Control is a mirage. The only control you and I can really have is self-control. ( I'm a control freak what can I say, when things don't go my way, I can get easily angered and frustrated. I so often blame my anger on the boys because something happened in a way other than I wanted, but in reality they didn't do anything wrong they are just being imperfect kids and making my house an imperfect place and I'm working on getting to be okay with that!
And my favorite!
We need perspective to keep us from reacting when our plans fall through. We need the perspective that the moment we are in is just as important as the moment we planned on that didn't happen the way we thought it would. We need to embrace "what is" instead of "what could have been"
This morning that " what is" turned out not to be so bad. It's now naptime and I got the "what could have been" taken care of and by living in the moment I was in, I got some good cuddle time in with my sweet little babies who just needed their mom to be "available" for them!
( All underlined sections were taken directly from " No More Perfect Moms" by Jill Savage)
Thursday, January 31, 2013
I'm Doing it!
Ever since my mom started running marathons years ago I have always wanted to run one with her. Well a few weeks ago she asked my sisters and I to go to San Diego for a girls trip and she was going to run a marathon while she was out there. One day I thought, how cool would it be to run with my mom while we are out there. Then I remembered a marathon was 26.2 miles and it's only 4 months away so I went to the details of the marathon and saw they had a half as well. Perfect! Then doubt set in and I just wasn't sure if I could do it, I brought it up to my sisters and now we are all going to go for it together! I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and terrified to fail but I think it will be an awesome experience. I'm not sure if we will even get to run with mom since she is still doing the full marathon but we will still have a great time and get to experience the atmosphere together!
I do have to admit I kind of tested myself yesterday before I made my final decision. I haven't ran since probably June. I workout generally about 5 days a week but running isn't part of my routine. So yesterday since it wasn't freezing like today, I decided to go out and run and see what I could do. I ran a little over 2 miles and only stopped for about 10 seconds at one point to get my breathe back. I felt like I could of done more however by the way my muscles feel today I'm glad I didn't. Apparently you use a lot of different muscles then the ones I have been using. Most of the training schedules I found start 3 months before the race and have you running about 2.5-4 miles per day in the first week. With that being said since I ran a little over 2 yesterday with technically a month until training begins I know I can build up to 3 or 4 in that time. So here goes to training for my first half marathon, The San Diego Rock and Roll!
Wish us luck!
I do have to admit I kind of tested myself yesterday before I made my final decision. I haven't ran since probably June. I workout generally about 5 days a week but running isn't part of my routine. So yesterday since it wasn't freezing like today, I decided to go out and run and see what I could do. I ran a little over 2 miles and only stopped for about 10 seconds at one point to get my breathe back. I felt like I could of done more however by the way my muscles feel today I'm glad I didn't. Apparently you use a lot of different muscles then the ones I have been using. Most of the training schedules I found start 3 months before the race and have you running about 2.5-4 miles per day in the first week. With that being said since I ran a little over 2 yesterday with technically a month until training begins I know I can build up to 3 or 4 in that time. So here goes to training for my first half marathon, The San Diego Rock and Roll!
Wish us luck!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Things Noah Says
This morning Noah and Carson were sitting at the island having breakfast and I was just listening to Noah talk because that is just what he does now and I turned to Matthew and said "I want to freeze Noah where he his, can you help me do that". He told me he couldn't and then he sat by the boys after getting himself a poptart. Noah then decided he wanted a warm pop tart like daddy ( he has never had them warm before). Matthew got him one, then gave it to him and in that short time he already decided he didn't want a warm pop tart and started whining and pushed it away. Ahh the normal every day with a 3 year old. They can whine a lot, throw fits, talk back, and change their mind ALL the time but they say some of the funniest stuff. I need to start writing down a lot more things since I don't remember anything, but I did remember a few.
Last night in the bath, Carson had already gotten out like 5 minutes before and Noah was still playing. I was trying to talk him into getting out and he said "mom, I have work at my job, there's still jobs to do." For some reason he thinks he thinks playing with his toys in the bath are his jobs. This isn't the first time we have heard something about his jobs before.
A few nights ago when I was putting him to bed, he told me when he gets bigger he is going to drive my car and daddy and mommy are going to sit in the little boy seats in back. Yeah I don't think so!!
Then Noah has a slight obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine. I think it's weird because I don't understand how any kid could love Thomas, the show is so weird and BORING! But anyways the sayings they use have made their way into Noah's daily language. Scary! We have got to change something here. Anyways he says buckers all the time when he is talking about his engines because on the show they always say buffers, which I'm guessing they are talking about a part on the engine. They also say Bust by buffers which we have heard quite a few times from our little guy. Now the lastest he has added is instead of like darnit or shoot on the show they say fizzling fireboxes and you guessed it someone is always saying fireboxes.
Then Monday was the kicker, we were driving around town and Noah saw 3 train cars sitting on the tracks and said "mom, look there's 3 buckers." Shortly after he follows with " oh no mom, the buckers are stuck on the branch line".
My favorite other things he says are in his sweet times when he just decides to tell me, Mom, I love you. There just isn't anything better. He usually rubs my face or my arm or something when he says, it kills me every time. He also can be just as sweet with Carson and he calls him buddy alot and will just rub part of him when something is wrong. Such a blessing to see them love each other and get along so well at times.
So blessed to have my little talker enlighten every day with his complex thoughts (for a 3 year old anyway) and silly ideas!
Last night in the bath, Carson had already gotten out like 5 minutes before and Noah was still playing. I was trying to talk him into getting out and he said "mom, I have work at my job, there's still jobs to do." For some reason he thinks he thinks playing with his toys in the bath are his jobs. This isn't the first time we have heard something about his jobs before.
A few nights ago when I was putting him to bed, he told me when he gets bigger he is going to drive my car and daddy and mommy are going to sit in the little boy seats in back. Yeah I don't think so!!
Then Noah has a slight obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine. I think it's weird because I don't understand how any kid could love Thomas, the show is so weird and BORING! But anyways the sayings they use have made their way into Noah's daily language. Scary! We have got to change something here. Anyways he says buckers all the time when he is talking about his engines because on the show they always say buffers, which I'm guessing they are talking about a part on the engine. They also say Bust by buffers which we have heard quite a few times from our little guy. Now the lastest he has added is instead of like darnit or shoot on the show they say fizzling fireboxes and you guessed it someone is always saying fireboxes.
Then Monday was the kicker, we were driving around town and Noah saw 3 train cars sitting on the tracks and said "mom, look there's 3 buckers." Shortly after he follows with " oh no mom, the buckers are stuck on the branch line".
My favorite other things he says are in his sweet times when he just decides to tell me, Mom, I love you. There just isn't anything better. He usually rubs my face or my arm or something when he says, it kills me every time. He also can be just as sweet with Carson and he calls him buddy alot and will just rub part of him when something is wrong. Such a blessing to see them love each other and get along so well at times.
So blessed to have my little talker enlighten every day with his complex thoughts (for a 3 year old anyway) and silly ideas!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Budgeting
I never did a New Year's Resolution post this year and I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do or how I really feel about them. However I knew this year I wanted to focus on Budgeting, to me that means actually sticking to one, as one of my big goals. Last year I did well the first couple months keeping track and trying to stick to one. Then... I don't know what happened but I just eventually quit trying to stick to the plan. So again this year that is at the top of my list.
I redid our spreadsheets at the beginning of January and found a neat app I put on my phone to help me out. (more on that in a minute) Everyone has their own way of doing budgets but this is what we do/ will be trying this year.
For the areas that require checks or AFT and Income I use a spreadsheet that has the Company/ Bill date/ Amount Budgeted and then the Actual. Then it also has spots to record budgeting income and actual income. Now I'm fully using my spreadsheet as always but also will be doing a version of the envelopes system. We started out last year using the envelope system but I don't like getting all that cash each month and I would always somehow get the money mixed up, forget to bring cash with me or something that would get me them thrown off. Thus the month would be messed up and back to the credit card I would go. We usually end up using our Credit card for everything and then write a big check each month paying it off. We get rewards this way, it's easy for us, and we don't buy things we don't have the money for. Then I was looking at budgeting apps trying to find something that would help me out and I found the perfect one and another perk it's free! It's an electronic version of envelopes. This way we can still use our card, get rewards but use technology envelopes instead. The app is called EEBA. We created an account and now Matthew can log on on his phone, I can on mine, we can log on, on the Ipad, the information we need is always with us and it's simple to use. To start all you do is set up your envelopes, fund your envelopes with your monthly budget. Then each time you use money from that envelope record the transaction and the app keeps tracks of it all for you.
If you aren't familiar with the Envelope system watch this video by EEBA here.
If you want to find out more about EEBA go here.
If budgeting is on your goal list this year, I recommend you check it out. I may have busted my budget already this month ( We had Noah's birthday party and bought new lights for the house) but I do like it and will continue to use it! It's only a few more days to a new month and I can stop looking at those darn negative signs on some of my envelope categories.
I also wanted to set a smaller goal each month to try and achieve. This month may sound silly to some but I wanted to not buy any clothes for the boys or myself. For me this is a big deal. I tend to buy a lot of unnecessary clothing for all of us. We all have plenty to wear so it shouldn't be a sacrifice but it is. It's good for me because 1)helps those budget categories and 2) Just because we have worn it a few times doesn't mean we can't keep wearing it. I need to work on gettting over being bored with our current clothes, especially with the boys because they definitely don't care what they wear! I'm proud to say it's January 26th and I haven't bought anything for the boys and I haven't spent any money on clothes for myself either! Believe it or not I actually got our statement from Old Navy and I have a $38 credit on my card. I don't think that has ever happened in my lifetime! Woo hoo!
I redid our spreadsheets at the beginning of January and found a neat app I put on my phone to help me out. (more on that in a minute) Everyone has their own way of doing budgets but this is what we do/ will be trying this year.
For the areas that require checks or AFT and Income I use a spreadsheet that has the Company/ Bill date/ Amount Budgeted and then the Actual. Then it also has spots to record budgeting income and actual income. Now I'm fully using my spreadsheet as always but also will be doing a version of the envelopes system. We started out last year using the envelope system but I don't like getting all that cash each month and I would always somehow get the money mixed up, forget to bring cash with me or something that would get me them thrown off. Thus the month would be messed up and back to the credit card I would go. We usually end up using our Credit card for everything and then write a big check each month paying it off. We get rewards this way, it's easy for us, and we don't buy things we don't have the money for. Then I was looking at budgeting apps trying to find something that would help me out and I found the perfect one and another perk it's free! It's an electronic version of envelopes. This way we can still use our card, get rewards but use technology envelopes instead. The app is called EEBA. We created an account and now Matthew can log on on his phone, I can on mine, we can log on, on the Ipad, the information we need is always with us and it's simple to use. To start all you do is set up your envelopes, fund your envelopes with your monthly budget. Then each time you use money from that envelope record the transaction and the app keeps tracks of it all for you.
If you aren't familiar with the Envelope system watch this video by EEBA here.
If you want to find out more about EEBA go here.
If budgeting is on your goal list this year, I recommend you check it out. I may have busted my budget already this month ( We had Noah's birthday party and bought new lights for the house) but I do like it and will continue to use it! It's only a few more days to a new month and I can stop looking at those darn negative signs on some of my envelope categories.
I also wanted to set a smaller goal each month to try and achieve. This month may sound silly to some but I wanted to not buy any clothes for the boys or myself. For me this is a big deal. I tend to buy a lot of unnecessary clothing for all of us. We all have plenty to wear so it shouldn't be a sacrifice but it is. It's good for me because 1)helps those budget categories and 2) Just because we have worn it a few times doesn't mean we can't keep wearing it. I need to work on gettting over being bored with our current clothes, especially with the boys because they definitely don't care what they wear! I'm proud to say it's January 26th and I haven't bought anything for the boys and I haven't spent any money on clothes for myself either! Believe it or not I actually got our statement from Old Navy and I have a $38 credit on my card. I don't think that has ever happened in my lifetime! Woo hoo!
Monday, January 21, 2013
No More Perfect Kids
In "No More Perfect Moms" by Jill Savage one of the first areas of a mom/woman's life that she covers is No More Perfect Kids and this chapter sure spoke to me a lot! Not to far in the chapter I read this:
"Their imperfections are not a reflection of you. You can't "control" them into perfection...... The most beautiful thing you can offer them if your imperfect self who does her best to handle their imperfections with love and grace."
Ahhhhhh, insert a huge sigh of relief.
My one year old throws extreme temper tantrums , my 3 year old doesn't listen well and talks back a lot, and most days if I let myself I feel like I have completely failed as a mom because they don't act how I "feel" they should. I can easily look at other moms and compare my kids to theirs and wonder how/why theirs behave so well and mine are out of control.
Something I have learned is that I need to have expectations but I also need to expect for my boys to fail. My boys are not perfect and never will be, it just doesn't exist.
This chapter made me think about when the "mommy monster" comes out and I realized so many times I turn into the "mommy monster" when they don't act as if I think they should, when they drop their sippy cup on the floor after I have just mopped, when Noah talks to loud while Carson is napping, when water gets out of the tub. I expect way to much out of them and in my disappointment, I mess up and turn into someone I don't want to be.
This week I want to focus on those times I turn into the "mommy monster" and to be more aware of how it happens and I'm sure the majority of the time I am going to realize the problem isn't my boys, it's my unrealistic expectations. Then in those moments I want to show them love and grace instead of anger and yelling.
In case you haven't signed up for the January No More Perfect Moms Email Challenge, it's not too late you can still sign up here and I highly recommend it, there have been some awesome emails!
Here is one from January 8th on No More Perfect Kids, good, good stuff!
Day 8
“You know, motherhood has caused me to come face to face with my less-than-wonderful qualities. Sometimes my kids bring out the worst in me. However, God doesn’t waste a thing. He uses my kids to bring me to Him. When I come face to face with my shortcomings, my weaknesses, and my sin, it’s a reminder of my need for a God who wants me to be more like Him each and every day.” –Jill Savage, NO MORE PERFECT MOMS
Motherhood brings with it a wide range of emotions. It’s amazing the different feelings our kids can arouse in us in the course of one day. Joy, frustration, love, and anger can all bombard us in the span of an hour. With the wide range of emotions, it’s easy to feel like a failure when our words or actions don’t match up with the love we have for our children.
Our kids seem to learn from an early age how to push our buttons, making us want to raise the white flag of surrender and shout, “I can’t do this!” We can’t do this on our own, but things are possible with God’s help. Yes, raising kids is messy, and many times we fail, letting our emotions get the best of us. However, with God’s grace, we can learn from our failures and become more like our Creator in the process.
Challenge: The next time you let your emotions take control, take a minute to honestly apologize to your kids. Admit that you failed and ask for their forgiveness. Not only will you be setting a positive example on how to handle imperfections, you’ll draw closer to your child and your God in the process.
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Noah at 3 Years
Noah at 3 years old you
-Are completely potty trained! Finally! So proud of you!
-Are so stinking cute, silly and funny and at the same time the biggest back talker at 3, how does that happen?
We have some work to do in that department for sure but I know you are 3 now and for some reason 3 year olds start to think they have that right already.
-You outsmart me all the time, talk and act just like me at times, my outbursts come back to bite me because I hear you say my responses all the time. The other day you told me "mom you know better". You also talk British a lot. You are always saying " I not" with a pouty lip and your arms folded.
- Are so smart and I couldn't be more proud of you. I always remember back to when we thought you had speech issues because you weren't talking. Now if you are awake you are talking. We can have real conversations with you. You understand everything, never forget anything we do/say and surprise me daily with the things that come out of your mouth.
-You can count to 10, and know most of the numbers to 20 you just sometimes skip some. You can sing your ABC's and can recognize them all. You can now sing lots of parts of songs like Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves you, Row Row, This little light of mine, Old MacDonald, Head and Shoulders, and your Thomas the Train theme song.
-You can get yourself completely dressed but don't always want to. Some days Noah wants to do it and others you want us too. We never know what kind of day it is!
-Finally eat everything yourself. This was a long process and we still worked on it a lot this last year
-Are a fruit lover and finally eating more foods each month. We have been making you try a lot more lately.
Someday I will be making the same dinner for all of us!
-Are such a little helper!
-Can be such a lover. You love kisses and hugs from us, you tell me you love me (my heart melts every time), and sometimes want me to rock you after you see me rocking Carson at night. You are getting old for that but I don't care, you let me I 'm doing it! You also have your moments with Carson. The other day you were so loving to him. At one point I even shed a few tears.
-Love Thomas the train anything. You also still like Lightning McQueen and the Crew. It amazes me how much you get into it. I never thought I would be one to get into character stuff but seeing how happy it makes you I can't help it.
-You love puzzles, doing art stuff, making messes and all things boy. You enjoy doing learning stuff too, which I love! You used to pick something and play with it alot each day but now most days you move around from toy to toy playing with all sorts of different stuff
-Can be so quirky. I could go on and on with examples. But we have learned once we do anything for the first time, that's how you want it done each time. And you and Carson both ended up super scheduled. Maybe I'm to blame for that!
Noah one day you have me wanting to walk out the door or lock myself in my room, then the next I just can't help but want to give you a big hug and kiss you all day. You make my temper go crazy and my heart so happy! I love you so much! You are a true toddler, and we have ups and down but I wouldn't trade you for anything. I love this age you are at. We have so much fun with you, love your imagination and personality!
Love you Noee!
-Are completely potty trained! Finally! So proud of you!
-Are so stinking cute, silly and funny and at the same time the biggest back talker at 3, how does that happen?
We have some work to do in that department for sure but I know you are 3 now and for some reason 3 year olds start to think they have that right already.
-You outsmart me all the time, talk and act just like me at times, my outbursts come back to bite me because I hear you say my responses all the time. The other day you told me "mom you know better". You also talk British a lot. You are always saying " I not" with a pouty lip and your arms folded.
- Are so smart and I couldn't be more proud of you. I always remember back to when we thought you had speech issues because you weren't talking. Now if you are awake you are talking. We can have real conversations with you. You understand everything, never forget anything we do/say and surprise me daily with the things that come out of your mouth.
-You can count to 10, and know most of the numbers to 20 you just sometimes skip some. You can sing your ABC's and can recognize them all. You can now sing lots of parts of songs like Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves you, Row Row, This little light of mine, Old MacDonald, Head and Shoulders, and your Thomas the Train theme song.
-You can get yourself completely dressed but don't always want to. Some days Noah wants to do it and others you want us too. We never know what kind of day it is!
-Finally eat everything yourself. This was a long process and we still worked on it a lot this last year
-Are a fruit lover and finally eating more foods each month. We have been making you try a lot more lately.
Someday I will be making the same dinner for all of us!
-Are such a little helper!
-Can be such a lover. You love kisses and hugs from us, you tell me you love me (my heart melts every time), and sometimes want me to rock you after you see me rocking Carson at night. You are getting old for that but I don't care, you let me I 'm doing it! You also have your moments with Carson. The other day you were so loving to him. At one point I even shed a few tears.
-Love Thomas the train anything. You also still like Lightning McQueen and the Crew. It amazes me how much you get into it. I never thought I would be one to get into character stuff but seeing how happy it makes you I can't help it.
-You love puzzles, doing art stuff, making messes and all things boy. You enjoy doing learning stuff too, which I love! You used to pick something and play with it alot each day but now most days you move around from toy to toy playing with all sorts of different stuff
-Can be so quirky. I could go on and on with examples. But we have learned once we do anything for the first time, that's how you want it done each time. And you and Carson both ended up super scheduled. Maybe I'm to blame for that!
Noah one day you have me wanting to walk out the door or lock myself in my room, then the next I just can't help but want to give you a big hug and kiss you all day. You make my temper go crazy and my heart so happy! I love you so much! You are a true toddler, and we have ups and down but I wouldn't trade you for anything. I love this age you are at. We have so much fun with you, love your imagination and personality!
Love you Noee!
Noah's 3rd birthday Party
My baby is 3!
Noah turned 3 on Jan 11th and we had his party on Saturday with lots of wonderful family and none other than a Thomas the Train theme. Noah asked me for a James Birthday, but apparently most people don't care about James so we had a Thomas, James and Percy party since I could find lots of stuff with all the engines on it. Of course the cheap balloons are always the favorite. And in my normal fashion didn't think about taking pictures before hand so none of the decorations. My camera was dead, our Ipad worked for a little bit then died so we have some pictures from the beginning but nothing after that. I really need to work on getting better about that.
Birthday boy while we sang Happy Birthday
Don't want to get our hands dirty!
Sometimes he really gets into card opening, others not so much!
He got to eat cake, candy, open presents, and play with his cousins. I don't think he could of asked for a better day!
Christmas Wrap Up, Better Late than Never
December was a month with it all. Great memories, family time, lots of food, stress, messes, fun, fun fun, toys everywhere, sickness, many trips out to look at lights and so much more.
I love the holidays so much but I was ready for January. I needed things to slow down and ready to get this house purged and organized. We have so much stuff and now you really notice it since we just gained a whole new army of toys. Haven't came up with a solution for that problem yet but we will. That's my goal for the next few months.
This year it really started to get fun with the boys. Both of them loved the lights and we went out many nights to look at them and took extra detours on our way to things to see some extra ones. Noah understands so much and blessed my socks off when he pointed out baby Jesus at all the houses around town. The way he says it too is just downright adorable!
We started some new traditions with the boys and can't wait to keep them going as they get older and into them more!
And I tried to just have fun!
Here are some pictures from our month. I'm awful at taking pictures and remembering too. I wish I could hire a full time photographer to capture all the moments I never do.
Carson being silly with my sunglasses at one of our doctor visits. Looks healthy and happy, yeah he had bronchialitis.
Noah eating and Carson chilling.
We usually make gingerbread houses or trees, we switched it up this year and made trains out of rice krispies treats. I spent hours trying to shape it into the perfect train shape or I may have bought a kit from Wal-Mart because this year my theme was having fun and making things easy.
Noah had fun, that was the important part!
We saw Santa. He surprised us at Papa Bob's and Nana Jill's. The look on his face! Priceless.
We had fun looking for Choo-choo the elf each day and seeing what trouble he caused.
One night while looking at lights Noah told me wanted to tell Santa he wanted 2 candy cane lights. The next night Santa surprised all of us with not just 2 but 6 candy cane lights. Noah loved them!
We are so blessed to have so many family members and got to spend time with most of them at all the different Christmas get togethers. And of course most kids favorite part, opened lots of presents.
Then after Christmas Noah got to go sledding for the first time in his own back yard. Not a big hill by any means for perfect for his first experience. He loved it and enjoyed after as well by the fire with hot chocolate. And ever since each time he goes sledding he has to come in, sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate. My son is a creature of habit!
What a great month!
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