Put Yourself Out There!

My friend Nat had this on her blog, I had to steal it because I'm pretty much out there, I'm an open book and the people that I have really bonded with over the years have shared their vulnerabilities with me also. We are totally not perfect, if we were we wouldn't be here on this lovely earth together, we would be translated already. I'm glad I've been able to embrace my imperfections, embrace them tight enough to work on them so they aren't quite so bothersome or just love them. I'm so grateful to my awesome friends, my loved ones, for opening up to me so that we can learn from one another and help each other to find joy and happiness. I love this talk, it's one I'll refer back to over and over I think. It's a little on the long side but totally worth 20 min.

hmm, it's been a little while.

I'm the best blogger there is out there!!! It's been 5 months since my last entry, sweeeettt! I just love the summer time and spending my days outside, or just doing stuff I guess. I will not be looking forward to winter this year, summer has been so much dang fun, I will cry when it's over!

Chloe just had her second birthday! We had so much fun!

(I made her cute little outfit! Love it!)

Daddy found the perfect gift for her and she takes it everywhere with her. We got her "My First Purse", it's so perfect for her. We've learned how observant she is, when we are walking to the door to leave she gets out her keys, and usually has her phone in her hand too. It is the cutest thing.

(We took Jack and Chloe to the track the other day to run with us)

Connor and Jack got her some Zoobles toys, they are way fun too. Jack and Chloe will sit down and play with them for... minutes on end!

We were lucky to have Aunt Jody and the girls stop by and also my mom and Don came by too, they ate some cake and ice cream with us, it was super fun!

We are in the process of redoing Chloe's room. She got a new bed (I'm repainting it) and she has some new bedding on the way in the mail. It'll be super fun!

We love Chloe so much, she is so much fun! She has so much personality and she is so expressive, she's a hoot! Happy Birthday little munch!

Come Home to ME!!!

My sweetie has been gone since Sun. He get's home tomorrow!!! I don't love it when he's gone, I love having him home. He does so much to help out around here. Some need their partner to leave to realize how much they do. I do not need him to leave to realize, I know how much he does all of the time. I miss seeing his cute face when he wakes me up at 3:30 am to kiss me good-bye (per my request, he's never left without kissing me good-bye). I miss being giddy and excited for him to come home at 4:45, so I call him at 4 everyday to tell him he needs to leave (cause sometimes he doesn't realize what time it is). I miss the kids hearing the garage door open and they say "Daddy!" and run to the door to wait for him to come in, they almost dance out of their pants when he goes to the mailbox first. I miss asking him what he wants for dinner because I haven't prepared anything. I miss sitting on the sofa cuddling under his arm, watching TV at night to unwind. I miss him picking up the family room before he turns in at night. I miss climbing into bed with his warm body and putting my cold hands and feet on him (he never minds or flinches, but sometimes he says "holy crap!" I really really miss him rubbing my back at night. I miss him being home on Sat. morning, he always lets me sleep in and makes something yummy for breakfast. I miss him being home on Sun., he usually cooks and it's always yummy. We can certainly survive, it's just not near as fun without him to hang out with. Today I will share him with the Smithsonian because he got out of his class early so he can go have some fun, but tomorrow afternoon, he's all ours!

Crib Down - Big Girl Bed Up!

Chloe now has a big girl bed-bye bye baby (wiping tear away).
I found this little diddy on KSL for FREE! I LOVE free (thanks Tracy, your the best!).
It needed a little fixing up, I glued some split wood together and patched it. I made a trip to Lowes for some missing hardware, and Voila! Chloe's new bed.

She likes to play on it during the day and thankfully she fell asleep in it last night all by herself! The first few nights I had to lay with her (I'm sure that was quite a sight).

These are a few looks I'm trying out. We are lucky to have some beautiful quilts! I need to get a new sheet for the other quilts, and she needs a little pillow to match, but it's darn cute!

Jack loves it too!

P.S. That was the second time we did rollers in her hair... it. didn't. quite. work. out. either time. I'll keep trying though.

New Armoire

The Christmas tree is down, so we were able to put our new armoire in the house. We got it to store all of my sewing and crafting stuff in because I lost my sewing room. My sis-in-law Steff found them on Craigs list for $40 at a hotel surplus sale. I recruited my Pops to take me up to SL in his truck instead of borrowing his trailer (I'm so glad I did, these bad boys are soooo heavy!) Thanks again Steff!
Jack was great to help screw in the screws in the top.

Chloe and Jack found a great new place to hide, they played here for a few days straight.
It started here and...

Ended up here.

I don't have much in it yet, but it will get loaded soon!

Chloe + Spaghetti = Bath

More proof that everything must go in hair.

Blech! and Ahhh

I have a giant headache, the kind that makes me feel like I need to lean over the porcelain potty. I drank a little more than half of an extra large Mr. Pibb, after not having soda in a loooonnnnggg time. Too much caffeine maybe? Or the lack of sleep I've had lately? I finally have a 3 yr old who sleeps all night, but the toddler wakes up at 3 or 3:30 am no matter what time she goes to sleep, which is when Sean leaves for work, and I can't go back to sleep.

Right now I'm watching the 3 yr old bounce his head on his bed over and over, there's something wrong with that child but, boy, do I love him! Children can frustrate you like no other and make you love like no other, he's been mr. NO! lately, grrrrr, 'tis the time I guess. Lots of time outs and tears... from both of us.

All I ever wanted after having children is to be able to stay at home with them to raise them myself (and with my wonderful husband of course). As with most people I'm sure, financially, it's a challenge to do so. There are many days lately, when I have two screaming little ones or a mr. NO! in my face or I'm leaning down cleaning up dirt off the floor and down the stairs that was flung out of the plant pot (2 days in a row), that I think "I really don't like my job, really, really don't like it". Then I get the sweetest hug around my back to tell me that she's sorry, or the sweetest little voice saying "Mommy, help, pleeeeese?", or the little boy pinning the big boy on the ground trying to kiss him on the mouth, or the most awesome hug from my 9 yr old and he tells me that I'm "the best mom in the whole world!" Of course I'm not but it's so nice to hear. It's then that I realize how very very lucky and blessed I am, to have the job I've always wanted, and the best husband that there ever was to make it work for us. I'm so grateful for my life. I complain a lot, and I even caught myself saying "This has been the worst day ever!" but it wasn't. I'm so, so glad that I've never had the worst day ever, and I really hope that I never do, because that would mean that I've lost someone that I love so very much. I am so grateful to love so fully and to be loved. Nothing makes life better than that!