This and That

It was a happy weekend :) My 26th birthday was on Friday and we celebrated it by meeting my sister and her husband in Dallas.I always feel like the age I am turning seems so old! What am I going to think when I turn 30?? Not saying that I think my 30 year old friends are old or anything, but for me to turn that age seems strange. I have four more years though before I have to worry about that (whew!) Anyway, I wanted to take my camera to Dallas, but when you already have to keep track of a million kids items; it just seems to be a hassle. So, no pics... :(
 I do, however, have some pics of this handsome boy...

Never gets old! Gotta love the spit-up on his leg in this last picture. I did eventually wipe it up :)

In other news... I remember when I used to stand in Add's room thinking it would be so great when she was actually old enough to play in it. Yea, I take it back. This is what her room typically looks like now-a-days

A HUGE mess!! Maybe it will look less messy when I paint the walls.... or not.

Oh,man... I got caught.

Soooooo Tired

This picture pretty much sums up my mood. Tired and dreary. Yes, I edited the picture.. it was a little bit more upbeat, like I was at one time. I think the kids have conspired against me because somebody is always awake when I want to sleep. Here is how it works:
1. Brandly is sleeping, but Addi is wide awake at 7 am
2. Addi decides to sleep until 9:45 but Brandly thinks eating, at the wee hours of the morning, is a good idea
3. Brandly is napping, but Addi has no idea how to talk quietly so Brandly is woken up
4. Addi finally falls asleep, but Brandly belts out a cry and now both children are wide awake
5. Addi falls asleep and Brandly decides to stay up until 1am.... then Addi chooses to wake up bright and early (see point one)

.............. it goes on and on. I will get to sleep someday right?? Brandly will someday sleep through the night or maybe even four to six hours. I am just wondering why I get these babies who don't sleep for long periods of time? At least Brandly doesn't stay up until 5am. Yes, that's right.. Addi would stay up until FIVE AM some nights. I would just sit in the living room and CRY! Sooooo thankful Brandly has only pushed it to 1am.

So here is to happy, sunny AND sleep filled days!

She looks like such a little baby in this pic, but it was only taken 3 months ago.
They grow up so fast!

Miss Addi got her first big "ouchy". I don't even know what happened as I was out of the room. All I heard was Addi crying and I immediately knew something was wrong... there was just something in her cry that told me that she was hurt. I came rushing to her and found this lovely cut under her eye..

Excuse the grape jelly

It doesn't look so bad anymore, but I have no doubt it will leave a scar on her perfect baby skin (going to try some vitamin E). I have my suspicions that the cat got tired of little miss trying to put a bib on her and retaliated with a swift kick from the hind leg. This was later confirmed when Addi started saying, "Kitty ouchy".  I couldn't tell if it needed stitches so I went ahead and took her to Urgent Care, but they said that they wouldn't be able to put stitches on such a small cut (it was pretty deep though). So, we stopped and got some peroxide and Elmo band aids to cover it up.

Clearly, she isn't too upset over it. She cried a whole minute when it happened and hasn't cried since (even when I put the peroxide on... what kid doesn't cry over that?). The only time she has gotten upset, in the past 24hrs, is when I told her that she couldn't have a band aid so her ouchy could air out a little. I am sure she will probably milk it for months now just so she can have a band aid.... she thinks its cool:)

So, before Addi received her mysterious cut, I took these pictures.

 This has been part of our morning ritual...eh ok... weekend ritual for a couple months now. It would be a lie to say I put on make-up everyday because it only happens maybe once during the week. She has pretty much ruined all my make-up brushes and concealers as she is in the strange habbit of spitting on them....I don't know either. I guess I have an excuse now to buy new ones... someday.

He is ALL Boy!

I had no idea that boys are "boy" from birth. Does that make sense? I mean all the qualities in boys, that I am not such a fan of, start from birth. I am talking the stinky, smelly, always dirty, I'm a BOY kind of qualities.

I had no idea there was such a difference between boys and girls so early. Addi had her fair share of gross moments, but nothing like her brother. Brandly grunts, sweats, poops, passes gas, and smells like it's his mission to prove his manhood. I have literally been sprayed with poop, peed on an insane amount of times, and covered in spit-up. I change my and his clothes at LEAST three times a day. He is a boy..... all 11+ pounds of him ( he is already in 3-6month clothing).

He is uber sweet though! He will fall asleep in my arms (which was only a dream with Addi) and smile just because...... he pretty much melts my heart!

I needed a vacation.  So when we decided to meet up with Andy's parents in Oklahoma, I'm sure you can imagine my relief. I had spent too much time in the confines of my house after Brandly was born and I needed two days in a different environment.

Turner Falls was where we spent part of our trip. A waterfall basically turns into a giant swimming hole.

I am feeling so much better after a long weekend!!

Frugalicious

I don't know about you, but I tend to get bored with my house...... A LOT! I can't tell you how many times Andy has come home and found the furniture in new positions. There are so many things I would love to buy for my house, but being on a tight budget means that the wallet must remain tightly closed. When the nesting stage of my pregnancy came in full swing, I was desperate to make some changes in the house.The great thing about the changes I made is that they were really cheap (I'll explain with each picture)  I am going to apologize ahead of time for the poor quality of these pictures. It was late and I didn't care to make them pretty.


I have been wanting to put something on my ugly slidding glass door for awhile now. I am not a fan of the chunky white blinds that tend to get hung on sliding doors and there are already full curtains hanging near this door.... so how about a valance? It took FOREVER for me t find fabric that I liked! This fabric was ordered from JoAnns and was kind of expensive, but worth it when you really like it. My original plan was to put one of those curved shower curtain rods up (which I am still going to do), but TJ Maxx was all out and I was not about to pay full price. So, for now a cheap little rod from Target will work. This little valance really warmed up the dining area and makes it much more pleasant to look at (although it is hard to tell from this picture....and yes, Andy is sewing in this pic but I promised I wouldn't tell).




So, my kitchen lead into our tiny laundry room.. which leads to the garage. Nobody wants to look at your washer and dryer! I decided to use the rest of the fabric from the valance to create some curtains to block the view. Worked out really well and they keep a TON of heat out from the dryer and garage. So, for both the valance and curtains; I spent about $40... not too shabby.




In the hallway between the kid's rooms was this tiny little nook that needed something. We had all this extra wood from the dog house that we took apart in our backyard that needed to be used. Andy made this EXTREMELY simple shelf for me and I had some frames laying around that needed to bed displayed.... so there you have it! Cost a whole $4! I am going to have Andy build a bench underneath to store games and puzzles, but that is for a later date.




Nothing fancy here. My Mom had this bench down in the storage room and was kind enough to let me snag it and I have had the hook thingy forever.... put them together and suddenly my entry way looks much more friendly :) Ok, I have an idea and I need your opinion: I am thinking of painting that whole wall with chalk board paint.  Thoughts??




Let's just say TJ's clearance section makes me happy!


So, here is your challenge: Look around your house and see what you can rearrange, paint, build, etc.... It might change your world (or at least make your home a happier place)



I have been thinking about this for awhile now.... how hard it is to be a mother. I have wanted to write about it, but the words just never came. Today, it all came to a front and suddenly words are pouring out of my mind.

It has been a hard week. Addi has been extremely difficult and I am exhausted. I don't know if she is acting out more than usual or if I am just used to being one on one and now it's two on one..... and I can't keep up. Throw in some serious after pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep and you have a hot mess.

Today she pushed me to the limit and I lost it.

                                                    She saw me at my worse.

It took everything inside of me not to throw in the towel and lock myself in my room. The refiners fire is burning hot and strong and I about crumbled underneath of it today (who knew it came in the shape of a cute little curly head blonde).

                My impurities and imperfections are numerous.

 I am extremely impatient and selfish. Normally, they aren't tested so intensely and I have sometimes convinced myself that I have worked them out, but today proved that they are still there and as ugly as ever.

By the time Andy got home, I was on the very last string and it didn't take long for it to be broken. I didn't even realize I was yelling until Andy kindly reminded me that I didn't need to take it out on him. All I could say was, "ALL DAY.... IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS ALL DAY!"

                                              It was then, that I saw myself....
and it was then that I finally decided that it was time to take a time out. So, here I sit. The only thing that will soothe my soul is to bring myself before Christ and lay it all down..... and to this computer and spill it all out.

        Thankfully tomorrow is a new day and his grace and forgiveness never end.

I pray everyday for the patience and love to parent the way Christ calls me to. It's never easy and I stumble sooooo often. I want so badly to be the mother she needs me to be. I don't want her to look back and remember that I was always on her case. I want her memories to be sweet. Yes, I have/get to be her parent and that means that there will be days where discipline is required, but hopefully it will be done not out of anger, but love. I have a long way to go..... a lot to learn.

So, keep the fire burning as the impurities will only melt away as the fire burns on.. some days hotter than others.