Regroup

I posted earlier about having a rough day with my little Lovey-Asher. I had a million things to do today and didn't get to any of them and spent most of my day feeling frustrated. I think there are a lot of factors that added to my frustration, not just Ashers random behavior.

1. Weather. It is raining, then sunny and hot, then severe storms with hail. My house is like completely different temperatures in every room. My room is a steady "humid laundry mat" temp, which is making a restful sleep extremely difficult to achieve.

2. Finals. This is Hubby's GI finals week. Translation: Single Mommy for about 2 weeks. :(

3. Not sleeping well. See #1.

4. My flippin jaw is hurting like crazy. This severe weather is causing my jaw to ache like i'm 100 years old. Imagine the worst tooth ache you have ever had, but it is every tooth on one side of your face. *Send sympathy this way*

So here I am having a rough day and I put my boys to nap and come crash for the remainder of the afternoon. I wake up to a phone call from my Dad offering to take us out to pizza because he heard I was having a rough day. Score! Get the kids up from nap and I was so happily surprised to find my lovey was BACK! Happy, smiling, bouncing around. Apparently he just needed a 4 hour nap to regroup and so did I.
He did great at the restaurant and we came home and played together and watched the storm outside. After the kids were in bed for the night, I got the sweetest email from my friend. She is such an encourager, always has something positive to say and constantly praying on my behalf. I can't even explain how much I appreciate her friendship.

I was catching up on some blogs and realized how even though I had a not so fun day today, how much I have to be thankful for. My bad days are so few and far between. I have an amazing, faithful, loving husband who I am so very proud of. Parents and a brother who love, love, LOVE us and our children beyond words. I have friends who support and listen, but most of all encourage and that is so priceless. Then there are my precious healthy boys. They are my entire world and I don't ever want to take a day for granted with them, even if it isn't a smooth day. I want to be so careful to not wish time away, because I know first hand, just how valuable time is.

Izzy and I did our "5's" before bed and he also wanted to do "Highs/Lows" before we prayed.

Izzy's:
High- "Playing Play-doh on the deck with you. It was so fun and I like being with you."
Low- "I get sad when it is bedtime because I know after we pray I know you are going to leave me for a long time and I won't get to see you until tomorrow and that makes me miss you too much."

Annnnnnnnnd I'm back. The time we spend talking before bed is the sweetest time of the day. No matter what has happened during the day, everything melts away when I hear him say something like that.

This Mommy is thankful for good family, good friends and two amazing little boys that overflow this house in love. Some days, just may be a little louder than others. :)

And the whines don't stop!

I am not sure where my little lovey is today. He has been replaced with a toddler who looks like him, but who has been whining since he woke up this morning. Gone is my happy boy who rolls with the punches and instead I have heard nothing but, "uh-uh" all day. He points to something, I give it to him and then he bawls hysterically that I gave it to him. He is a 1,000,000 piece puzzle today and I just can't figure him out. It kind of started last night at dinner, when I couldn't figure out what he wanted to eat. Apparently, he wanted waffles and sausage. You can imagine how many food items I suggested before I got to that. If he starts to cry or throw a fit, I sit him on the stairs for a time-out. Normally he immediately stops, smiles and says sorry with a hug and we move about our day like it never happened. Not today. He throws a fit, I put him on the stairs and then he cries so hard he hyperventalates and chokes on his own spit. I have been consistant all day, but it is tiring. I had a list of things to accomplish today, but I crossed out Tuesday on the header line and wrote Wednesday in its place. Hopefully, that title can stick and I can actually accomplish something other than discipline and eating in a day.

My gut says we are in the midst of a growth spurt, because Lovey wants to sleep non-stop. Yesterday when he was just playing, he passed out in Izzy's bed and slept about 90 minutes. His nap isn't until 2, so that threw our schedule off for the day and hence the not so easy dinnertime. He wants to be held constantly, he wants to sleep all day and night, and he doesn't want to eat. The only person in the house he hasn't gotten offended with today is Izzy. His eyes lit up when he got out of school and he smiles at him constantly. If I say something to him, he scowls and says "uh-uh."

Thank goodness for Izzy's sweet demeanor. I really needed it today. He came home and saw how Asher was reacted to me and said to Asher, "Ash, whats the deal? We are having big problems today. We need to watch that attitude." LOL!

After lunch, I took the boys out to play with some Play-doh on the back deck and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Thought it might help Asher to relax and ready him for nap. He cried at the sight of it, until Izzy sat next to him and then he got into it. How can a kid get upset about Play-doh? This just proves that today, no matter what I do, it just isn't going to make him happy. Izzy saw that I was frustrated and he said, "Mommy, you know why I love you? Because you are the best Mommy in the whole world. You love us and you play fun stuff with us. And we just really like you." Isn't he the sweetest? It is like he can read my mind and just when I am about to lose it, he says something to raise my spirits.

Today has been challenging for sure, but I know that everyone has bad days...even toddlers. Hopefully a good nap will do the trick and my little lovey will return. Either way, I know the first thing I am offering him for dinner. :)

Weekend full of Candy!

Our weekend was full of sweet treats, so of course my kids had the best weekend ever. Saturday was our friend Eden's 1st birthday party and we celebrated her with a super cute Candyland party. Her Mommy worked so hard and it was ridiculously cute and all of the kids were very happy with the candy decorations. :)

Something very big happened while we were at the party too. Asher who is beyond shy and very clingy in large groups of people, actually went into the play room and played by himself for a large part of the party. I hope this is the start of him feeling a little more comfortable with people he doesn't see on a regular basis. I know my back would really appreciate a break from carrying around a 30 lb toddler for insane amounts of time. He refuses to go to nursery at church, and instead sits very quietly on my lap for the service. But I do have to hold him the entire worship portion and yesterday I spent the rest of the day in spasms! Crossing my fingers...hope this happens a little more often!

Easter Sunday was lots of fun too. We went to church and had an amazing service and Izzy walked away with a much better understanding of exactly why we celebrate Easter. After lunch, we gave the boys their Easter baskets full of fun little treats like, puzzles, movies, punch balloons and books. Uncle Jarrod and I hid what seemed to be 1,000 plastic colored eggs filled with coins and candy. Expecting my boys to bolt out and fight over the eggs, I was surprised when Izzy quietly and calmly just walked around with a big smile asking politely if it was ok if he got each one. Asher walked out and burst into tears when he couldn't figure out what was going on. We had him watch Izzy for a minute and then he was off to find some too. It was so sweet and they were so kind and helpful to each other. Izzy left all of the "easy" ones for Asher who gave big "gasps" of breath when he saw a new egg. Of course I took a million pictures.






The kids played in the yard after the egg hunt and then the whole family (minus Daddy he was studying for finals :( watched a movie and relaxed a bit. The kids were so wiped that by 6:32, I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Asher telling me he was done and ready for "ni ni". After he was asleep, we set up Izzy's new big boy bed, and he loved it. It has 3 drawers for storage, and before I could even throw away the packing trash, he had them filled up with underwear and socks. He is so cute.












This morning, I was cleaning and reorganizing Izzy's closet and Asher climbed into the new bed, got under the covers and motioned for me to turn off the lights. He pretends to be Izzy a lot, so I didn't think anything of it. I walk into the kitchen for a minute and walk back into Izzy's room to find Asher fast asleep! I guess the 14+ hours of sleep he got weren't enough and he needed a morning nap.

This was a great weekend. Lots of candy, fun and great memories. Mommy is W.I.P.E.D. Lots of consecutive nights with little sleep, my calendar is blowing up and my kids and I want to spend every second we can running around outside. This makes for a very tired Mommy, oh and my back is still a hot mess. I think I will take this rainy Monday and give myself a little break. Mommy needs a hot pad and a nap.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Mommy's Favorite Things!

I love Sam's Club. Now I love it even more for offering the latest of my favorite things list. Mott's Sliced Apples.



They are cored, sliced and pre-packaged into a nice little bag making snacks and picnic lunches so easy!

My kids have both wanted at least one bag each day and there is no waste. If I were to offer Izzy a whole apple, most of it would go to waste after just a couple of bites. Mott's has made it possible to offer my kids a healthy snack on the go with no time or energy required. And you know what they say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Let's hope that holds true. Either way, this little item will be on my grocery list every week!

John Mayer

Hubby and I had decided we wouldn't exchange gifts on Christmas and focus on the kids. Well, only one of us actually followed through with that promise. I was handed a handwritten letter full of lyrics from every John Mayer song you could possibly think of and they were arranged in the most romantic and creative way. I couldn't even read the last couple of paragraphs because I was crying too hard to see. Then, I saw the tickets to the JM concert, which brought more tears and lots of kisses. :)


Monday night was the concert and it was A. MAZE. ING.


Our friends, Nate & Amanda had tickets to the show as well, but we had no idea where we would be sitting. We met for dinner before the show and had a great time catching up like always. We were so excited to get to our seats, we parted ways and promised to text throughout the show. Funny thing, our seats were about 7 apart! It was so much fun to get to look over and see how much fun they were having and we did text the entire show. We had great seats on the floor and I got so many good pics of JM.



The show KILLED. I screamed like a little girl the ENTIRE show. I couldn't help myself. Hubby kept telling me to settle down, but I couldn't. It was too much fun. We danced and sang with the crowd and towards the end, Nate and Amanda snagged seats right in front of us so we could watch the encore together. John came out in a KC Wizards jersey which brought the house down, of course. I think Hubby's favorite part would be the 10 minute drum solo by Steve Jordan. I was a little concerned I might have to do CPR, because Hubby didn't breathe for a long time. He was so happy.



I could write an entire post about the strange people and odd attire that were present at this show. One chick showed up in a skin tight leopard dress with the most horrendous shoes I have ever seen. I wish I had the guts to take a picture so I could post it here. It would for sure give you a good laugh. A couple my parents age were two rows in front of us and they slow danced in a slightly inappropriate manner for the entirety of the show. John Mayer brings romance. One row behind us were 20-somethings who dressed in their best Jersey Shore outfits, decided they would jump throughout the show. It is always so fun to go to concerts and people watch. People are so interesting. I could do that all day.

I am so thankful to have such a loving hubby, that he made such a special night for us. And then to top it off, a surprise night with our friends. It was the best!



Great memories, what else could you ask for in a Christmas present?

Big Boy

Wednesday was a normal day. One small thing happened that made me realize, my little Izzy is growing up right before my eyes. Recently, he has refused all help while getting ready in the morning. He showers himself, dries off, and dresses himself. Every day he does it correctly, I move his pirate and it makes him so proud. Wednesday, he did his routine, but this time said, "Mommy, I am big now. I am going to dry my own hair and you don't help me at all!" He did it, he blew his hair dry and combed it. Of course, I am a complete control freak so I had to re-comb, but essentially, he is at the point of not even needing me in the morning. 4 years old. *sigh*

In the last two months, I have watched Izzy really change from a little preschooler to a big boy. He requires much less direction and I find myself not having to tell him what comes next. If I ask him to clean his room now, within just a few minutes, I walk into a perfectly cleaned room with every item in its correct place. The only help he needs is making his bed, which I gladly do for him. If I tell him we are going somewhere, there is no need for reminders for shoes and jackets, by the time I wrangle Asher he is already in his seat buckled and waiting patiently.

This whole growing up thing makes me so proud of Izzy because he seems so responsible for 4 years old. Yet, I still have that pang of heartache, that hits every time I see him accomplish something else without my help. We are inching closer and closer to complete independence.

I really appreciate Izzy so much. He is such an obedient, sweet boy. He sets an amazing example for Asher and I need to remember to praise him more for it. He has really made our lives so easy and full of love. It has been amazing having him home all week during Spring Break and I am really sad to see him go back to school. How is Mommy going to cope when my little guy is in full day Kindergarten next year? I don't think my heart can take it...

Tot Skate!

Spring break has been so amazing so far. We have had a family game night, a play date with friends, and today, roller skating for the first time!

Izzy has begged me for the last year to take him skating, but I didn't know a preschool version was offered at a local rink. A friend of mine takes her two cute daughters about once a month and as soon as Izzy is out of school for the summer, we are going to join them. It was so much fun and I am so proud of Izzy. When we first got there, he could barely stand up on his own and by the end, he was doing the limbo and skating around the rink without help! Isn't it amazing how quickly kids can pick things up? If only my body would cooperate like that! Asher just walked around pushing a little toy and he loved being a part of it. He copied everything Izzy did. At one point, Izzy was holding onto the wall for dear life and Asher followed behind him doing the same. It was the cutest. Asher and I even had a chance to dance under the lights to a little Miley Cyrus.

After skating and our snack, our friends met us at a local mall where we brought Happy Meals and had a picnic indoors! The kids laughed and played hide-n-seek and red light-green light. We had so much fun. Next week we are going to meet for another picnic and ride the Easter train. I can't even wait for those pictures!

I had to post this video, because every time I watch it I bust up laughing. This is Izzy on his first attempt to do the Limbo. He could skate around fairly well, but trying to skate and duck under the pole, well lets just say he found it difficult to remain on his feet! God Bless him, he just kept getting up and trying again. His legs just seemed so long in comparison to the other kids and it just looked like a cartoon where their legs are just flying around.

I love to see my kids smile and today brought lots of smiles and memories.



(Sorry it is sideways. One day I will figure out which direction I need to hold my camera! :)