About Me

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I love being a mother, taking pictures, and lazy days on the beach.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Trip to Montana and other fun stuff

I don't have any photos ready to add now but I'll be sure to get them out there soon.

Motherhood : The boys have been challenging me lately with their need to challenge each other. They love each other, but they compete with each other. Brenden is sensitive, Logan is oblivious to anybody but himself. I'm definitely spending a lot of time trying to teach them manners and volume control. Its like when they are in competition mode, their ears stop functioning and its all about who can beat the other at whatever they are competing for. Like if we are in a mall, if one wants to be the leader, the other keeps walking faster until they are both running far away from me, not listening to a word I say, only intent on beating each other to the front of the pack. Its definitely a challenge for me. I'm always having to come up with new ways to beat them at their own game. They keep me on my toes!

Brenden: He has had a cold lately which leaves him in a grumpy mood and very clingy a lot. He's not wanting to go to bed alone at night and uses the "I'm scared" phrase a lot. Its hard to tell when he's really scared or when he just is trying to milk some extra attention out of you. If he had his way he would have someone glued to his hip at all times. Thats just the way he is, he loves company and companionship. They are doing a dance recital next month. The other day I was playing Pandora and had a kids station on. The song from Toy Story "You've got a friend in me" started playing and I saw Brenden doing some choreographed dance moves. That must be the song they are dancing to in the recital. It was beyond precious watching him sing the song and dance along. Makes me excited to see him perform. He's in an older class than Logan so they will not be performing the same song or at the same time.

Logan: He's wearing UNDERWEAR!! He still has accidents but has made it the past 2 days in a row at school wearing underwear. As long as you make him try about every 1-2 hours and stay one step ahead of his bladder, then he can stay dry all day. Oh the glorious day... a home w/out diapers! Its like getting a pay raise! He's been a bit rotten lately. I say rotten but I never mean it in a mean way. He just doesn't listen and doesn't care what you think. He thinks he's funny no matter what he does. Last night Sean was bathing him and he dumped a bowl of water right on the crotch of Sean's pants and then just smiled like it was an accident.... that little stinker! He likes to throw things a lot too so we've had to put several of his toys in time out for unauthorized flying through the living room. I'm not sure how to get through to that boy. He's just so happy-go-lucky that telling him he's doing something wrong doesn't register at all. He just says "no its not!" and keeps on going with what he's doing. I dread his teenage years :)

The whole family took a trip to Montana to visit Sean's parents. It was a really lovely trip. His parents have a nice property with a great view of the "beautiful mountains" (as Logie calls them). The boys loved getting to play outside in their big yard and taking walks to go "exploring." I'll try to get some pictures of our trip out there tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Words, no pictures

I use a lot of my blog space as an online photo album for my boys. Its great for this but I also want to make sure I capture my words, my thoughts, their growth. I know years from now I will look back on all of this and be thankful I did more writing. I want to make this a regular thing, to focus on my words and leave out the photos. I want to do 3 topics - Motherhood (my thoughts), Brenden's update, Logan's update.

Motherhood:
Motherhood continues to be awesome. There are moments where the noise gets under my skin or the tantrums drive me insane but for the most part I'm crazy about being a mom. My mornings are full of hugs and giggles. My evenings include being a human horsie ride, teacher, artist, a giant, a monster, a little friend, and so much more. I can't ever sit or lay on the floor without having little boys pile on top of me. This is why I don't do situps anymore (certainly not because I'm too lazy!!). They want me to be their playmate and I love that about them. I worry, as boys, that they will one day decide Mommy isn't cool enough to do boy things with them. We have wonderful discussions during dinner about our day, about our dinner, about what they get for dessert if they eat all their dinner. I love that the boys talk to each other now. Its so cute to see their little conversations come to life. Our night usually consists of baths, teeth brushing, story time, and if everyone cooperates and was a good boy, then we all pile in the bed as a family for 30 minutes of Nick Jr and snuggle time. I smile just thinking about it. My dreams of being a mother always included a little girl, but now that my house is full of boys, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Brenden's Update:
Brenden is my big boy that wants to stay a baby, Logan is my baby that wants to be a big boy. I'm not saying B is immature really, he just loves to be babied. He loves hugs and cuddles. He likes to be pampered and have you do things for him. He likes the attention and I like that he still needs me. I have to force myself to back of and encourage his independence. I always call B my baby even though he's my oldest child. If I ask Logan for a hug and he says no I can always count on Brenden to run into the room and say *I* will give you a hug mama. He's moved into a big boy bed and is doing really well. He's been sleeping better at night. No matter what time he goes to bed he always seems to want to get up at 5:00 - 6:00 a.m. Lately we've had to wake him up in the morning for school. Fingers crossed that this is a winning streak. His saying of the week is "what in TARNATION?" I have NO idea where he learned that but its so hilarious to hear it pop out of his little 4 year old voice. Logan has been getting a lot of attention for potty training lately and Brenden has been an awesome big brother, cheering his little brother on. The other day he came running into the bathroom when I was getting ready for work announcing that Logan had just went potty and was beaming from ear to ear. I hope they remain best buddies! Its so precious seeing them bond.

Logan's update:
We are on the potty training roller coaster. Sometimes he's way up and sometimes he's way down. He does really well at home but at school he's not going so much. You'd think it would be the other way around with the special bathrooms and the teachers taking the kids potty 'round the clock. This weekend Logan pooped in the potty. As soon as he finished he stood up and looked in the potty and said "look! I pooped in the potty! That poop came from my butt!! Poops live in butts." I just about died. I can't make up that kind of material. He said that last part so matter of fact, like he was sharing valueable information with me. Logan is a really good eater. He'll eat just about anything, even if he doesn't like it, he'll at least try it first. He's very strong willed. He will tell you no, and tell you how things are, even if they arent' that way. If you tell him no he'll say "mama, you don't tell people no!" and point his little finger at me. Everything is about "you don't tell people... (insert word)" His other thing is to say "he's not berry nice!" If we're watching TV and someone on the show is being mean he'll say "he's not berry nice" -- I'll have to record it because the way he says it is just adorable. He even goes through his story books and randomly picks a character to be the 'not berry nice" one. Its his catch phrase in our house. He also has a little turtle shaped Easter basket that used to belong to Brenden. Logan puts things in it and says its his purse and puts it high up on his shoulder and carries it around. So when we go places and I say I need to get my purse he immediately says "oh I need to get my purse too" and goes to grab his little turtle basket. He'll be moving into the older 2yr old class soon and I look forward to that. His buddies are all in that class now and I know he misses them.
That about sums up the updates for this week. If I can, I will try to do this weekly because I think so much changes each week, or even if its the same thing every week, I just love having it written down somewhere. Love those little guys. They make my world go round!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Spring has sprung

Well I could brag about our awesome spring but since we really didn't have a winter this year its tough to tell when exactly fall ended and spring began. It really feels like summer (80+) around here.

Logan is 2 and a half now. He's a mix of pure silliness and pure trouble. He's not Brenden at all. He's got his own mind and he speaks it regularly. At the same time he's the silliest thing ever. He makes me laugh constantly. He and Brenden are still taking dance at daycare and will be having a recital in the spring. I'm eager to see how it turns out. This will be more formal than tthe one we had back in the winter. They are doing matching costumes and performing on a stage at a middle school. I'm eager to see how much better they are getting. Logan is getting much taller. He and Brenden can wear the same size shorts almost! Now if we could only get him potty trained. He's so stubborn. Whatever you tell him not to do, he'll do it just to prove to you that he's got his own free will.

Brenden is sharp as a tack. He's in Pre-K now and is learning lots. He knows how to count syllables, the days of the week, months of the year and was even telling me how Neptune was the 8th planet the otehr day. He counted to 100 by 5's. Thats the first I've ever seen him count in increments. He's such a sponge when it comes to learning. He's a good kid. He's moody and sensitive at times, but I'm really proud of the big boy he's turning into.

I got them a John Deere Gator off of Craigs List. The boys love it. Logan's legs aren't quite long enough to be the driver but he definitely enjoys being the passenger. They are already dragging out the baby pool and slinging sand all over the deck. This used to drive me nuts by my husband kindly reminded me that sand washes away and only costs $5 a bag and if it makes them happy and entertained then the $5 was well spent and not wasted. True. Hard to give your kids tons of fun for only 5 bucks. So ignore the sand everywhere in the photos, its how they like it!

Here comes a picture overload!! Love my handsome silly boys! Life Is Good.
































Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Prayers

Today I was reflecting on how much my prayers have changed over the past few  years. I remember spending nights begging and pleading with God to make me a mother, to heal my relationship with my husband, to make me strong, to make me understand, etc. Last night as I said my prayers I realized that I no longer pray for God to grant me anything. I say prayers of thanks, for my family, for making me a mother, for making me stronger through difficult times, for making me smart and hard working, for giving me a good job, for everything. I pray now for the people around me, with problems WAY bigger than my own. We don't always understand why the Lord gives us difficult times, but if we can have faith and push through the hurt and the pain, we come out on the other side better, stronger, smarter, more empathetic, and more thankful than ever. I am so thankful for my life. I don't have it perfect, but I have too many wonderful things to focus on the things that aren't perfect.

Thank you Lord for making me the person I am today! And thank you for blessing me with the best 2 sons a mother could ever beg and plead for! I am SO Blessed! Amen.

As promised - Here are the photos from B-man's birthday party


My baby buddies


Blow out the candles


Homemade pirate cups


Goodie boxes


Walk the plank matey!


My 4 yr old love!


Daddy's boy


Pin the tail on Skully (give mama props for the free-hand sketch of skully!)


Jake cake


He is beyond happy that its his birthday. I LOVE this shot!


Make a wish sweet boy....



Logan "i dont care if its YOUR birthday, scoot over and gimme some cake!"


Icing face


Birthday presents!


Dont ya love his pirate sweater <3


Happy Birthday to my sweet boy. I LOVE you so much!!!!!!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Speedy update

I just wanted to take the time to give a speedy update and post a few pics from my phone. We celebrated Brendens forth birthday recently. 4? Really?!?! How did that happen already? He's such a sweet big boy now. We had a pirate themed party for him. It was a lot of fun. I will add pictures later. I want to make them smaller for the. Log so they don't take so long to upload. I recently cut my hair short and really love it. It's fun and bright and easy to style. I needed an upgrade to me! Nothing new with the boys. They are getting bigger and smarter by the minute. I love them to death. They really make me feel whole My pirate boy


Tackle daddy!!!








Sweet Logie


Mommys new hair!


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