What's the Secret?

Eight months ago I made a pretty dramatic career change. I went from a fulltime job to a stay at home wife and mom. The change within a couple weeks before welcoming home a new baby.

I felt a bit overwhelmed, excited, nervous, happy and afraid.  Part of me had thoughts like, this is going to be great!

• I will have a schedule and be able to keep up on the house by doing a room a day and a load or two of laundry.  Freeing up lots of time to cook, visit, and not be catching up on two weeks worth of laundry, bedding, and outdoor gear on a Saturday.
• I will have patience and want to do all sorts of activities with the kiddos because I won't be tired from work when I get home.  There will be more to family life than drop off/pickup kids from daycare, make supper, give baths, send too bed.
• We can help the Hubby on the farm more. I can go on parts runs and be more involved with the outdoor lifestyle we want for our family.

Then part of me thought....hold on princess. It will take a magical transformation for you to be scheduled, organized, and willing to take on extra. Do you even remember what it was like living with a newborn?  Getting up every 2 hrs to nurse? The baby is due in the middle of calving, which is shortly followed by planting season...which if anything like the past year carries right in into branding and harvest and the shipping and planting winter wheat. 

If you were feeling overwhelmed with 2 kids what makes you think you will inherit the patience of Mother Theresa after giving birth to the 3rd? Has anyone ever mentioned how patient and calm you are under all circumstances? No...hmmm....and you are expecting this to change how?

Well prayer, wishful thinking....hoping the boys are getting old enough for partial days with dad. Getting together with other friends with kids the same age....finishing the gates on the fence so I can kick them outside?

Ok mostly pie in the sky dreams and prayers for the unattainable hallmark movie of a vision in my head.   Oh and lots and lots of coffee....and openness to advice from seasoned moms.

My transition happened the end of February and is now November. 

I don't have a schedule, my baby is crawling but not sleeping. My oldest has preschool 3 times a week for a few hours and we go to church on Sunday.  That is as much of a schedule as I have. 

Do you have any advice for me?

Do you have a schedule to keep somewhat on top of things?

Daily/Weekly routines?

Happy Halloween-y

Halloween 2013

The Big D ended up being more of an engineer than the tank engine.  Unlike the Postal Service, both rain and wind can and did stop him....from wanting to wear a cardboard sandwich board costume.  we made it for pictures at the newspaper and two houses...then were officially done with Thomas the Train.

Luckily, we still had the engineer hat and coveralls underneath so he still counted as dressed up.  Best part - both of his costumes were free.  My nephew wore this costume for Halloween 4 years ago. So my sister spent all the time finding the engineer outfit (which  she probably already had because the Conman is a huge Train lover)

The PreSchooler loved, loved, loved his Halloween costume.  Which shouldn't be a surprise since he has been saying "I really wish I could dress up like Wall-E" for over a year...well before Halloween last year anyway.  Which lead to requests for Halloween 2 years running.  As easy as it was to pull together (last minute of course, as that is how I roll) I am now dealing with guilt for not making it for dress up earlier.  Both boys have logged tons of time in that box.

Last minute progress.  I wrapped up the costume around 3am on the 31st.

The boys and I went trick or treating with a good friend of mine and her oldest son (Ninja Turtle).  So whilst the dads drank beer, ate pizza and handed out candy out our house, the moms braved the elements for sake of sugar.  It turned into such a windy and cold night...and beings as I was pregnant tired lady - we weren't all night diehards.  But the kiddos had fun and I loved watching them try on each others costumes back at the house all while running around in a sugar daze with pizza sauce all over their faces.

Having investors at work didn't stop me from dressing up.  I wasn't brave enough for the toga, but I went as Medusa...which my children have never heard of and now my children chase me around trying to put Mommy's snakes back in my hair.

Veterans Day

In honor of Veterans Day I just want to say Thank You to all of our Veterans.  

I hugged and kissed my favorite, but unless you know them pretty well I would recommend sticking to a handshake :)

The boys and I gave lots of love to Daddy today, which seems to be just another day to him.  I'm just so grateful that he is home this year.

They Say Everyone Has a Twin

This weekend the boys and I were vegged out on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons.

There are many parts of parenting that are no where near the Hallmark visions that danced in my head pre-children, but nothing beats cuddling on the couch, sharing a blanket...and two quiet-not making a mess-angelic-sitting still-distracted little boys.

A commercial with Shaquille O'Neal came on advertising spray-on Gold Bond and my newly minted 4 year old got huge eyes and suddenly yelled out:

4 Year Old: Hey that looks like Uncle Don!

4 Year Old: Mom, he looks just like Uncle Don!!!

It was so funny and adorable.  So far all I can come up with is they are both quite tall...and have a mustache.
Don't worry I labeled the comparison so you won't get them mixed up.

**PS - I'm trying to convince my BIL to shave his head and carry around a basketball for Halloween.**

It's Alive!

I may or may not have covered in my blog that I have the black thumb of death and have limited abilities in keeping things of the plant variety living.  Which leads to an overenthusiastic amount of happiness of having one seemingly happy thriving plant (and one still technically alive and green - thriving would be a stretch).

So when my littlest farmer decided to harvest leaves off my houseplant I was less than impressed, angry, heart broke, enraged, distraught, full of negative emotional response.  A stern lecture and and warning did not help.

My plant was the victim of a repeat offender.

The Big D will proudly smile, raise his hand, and say "me - I'm do it!" when asked why there are more of mommy's plant leaves on the ground.  So I can' t promise that it won't happen again.


I'm so sorry plant - please live.

*It is 1 year later and my plant is alive and thriving.  Also rarely harvested. I bought the boys their own plants to help take care of

..so far its working.

A Nicer House

Earlier this week, as requested by the boys', we stopped in on a Great Aunt for a visit.  Apparently a long overdue visit as they enjoyed themselves so much they didn't want to go home.  The next day following our visit began a relocation discussion.

Pre-Schooler:  Where are we going? 

Me: We are going home. 

Pre-Schooler:  Why are we going home? 

Me: Because that's where we live. 

Pre-Schooler: Well...I don't want to live there. 

Me: Where should we live then? 

Pre-Schooler:  Well...we could live with Brenda! 

Big D: Yay! Bwenda! 

Me:  Why don't you want to live at our house? 

Pre-Schooler:  Because our house is not nice. 

Pre-Schooler: But, Brenda's house is really nice, we should just live with her. 

Big D:  Yay, Live Bwenda! 

Me:  Why isn't our house nice? 

Pre-Schooler:  Well...its not as nice as Brenda's.  We will live there now. 

Big D:  Go Bwenda's now?

In my defense...though Brenda's house may in fact be nicer than mine...I feel it is at least in part due to her having grown up children and not Toddlers.  Also further inquiry into what constitutes "nice" was found to be "no toys all over the floor in a mess".  Which leads me to bet that niceness exists in the home that small children do not.

Communication is Key

Conversation with my Hubby last night.

Me: So have you noticed anything different? 

Hubby:  {Looking around} Well, you haven't cut the Big D's hair 

Me: No, he still won't let me any where near him with the clippers.

Hubby: Smart kid...I don't know what do you want me to notice?...that your plant is still alive? 

Me:  Yes, my plant is still alive, but that's not it either.  It is around that area though. 

Hubby:  You spent more money on a mirror. 

Me:  Yes, and I hung it up a couple days ago.  Now the wall doesn't look so empty. Better right?

Hubby: {no comment}

So I learned two things last night.

1.  The empty space on the wall only bothered me.
2.  Apparently I am really proud of my single living plant...and giving bad haircuts.

My Husband is a lucky man :)

Just a Little Fish in a Big Pond

I signed the Toddler up for Pre-School swim lessons in May.

He absolutely loved it!

He also learned things like:

The diving board looks like a much better idea when you are in line.  

Actually standing on it is a whole 'nother story.

Once off the diving board you realize you forgot how much fun it looked, back in line.  

Repeat as necessary.

"I still really love water"
(but if you get out of the pool for a potty break without a towel you will get cold)

"I want googles like Taylor"

Scored some goggles!

Toys in the pool are awesome

 (The bathtub at home, however, is now much less impressive)

Its fun to share floating devices with cute little girls.

In my mind he did really well.
Of course I don't know how to swim, but he looked like he did great from my nice dry bench.

They wore floaties on their arms and had lots of pool toys.  

Give that boy a noodle (or even without) and he gets himself around the pool.

  He also really liked kicking while holding the side of the pool. 

 I didn't notice him blowing bubbles at the pool...in our bathtub yes.
 (Blowing bubbles was a lesson they tried to teach them for getting used to the water I guess)

Understaffed...Still Loved

In the last few months I crossed another First off my life's list.  Not one I was particularly ready or wanting to cross off, but such as life.

I received my first "I just don't love you anymore!"

Of course being the 3 years olds mother who happens to gets kisses, hugs and plenty of "I love yous" it takes more than a little boy throwing a fit after getting in trouble to cause me doubts.  But, I can't say it didn't hurt.

He has thrown out the "I don't likes" and "I don't love" Daddy before, and even brother....but it was a first for Mommy.  It was also not the last.  I have received several more.

Coupled with my mom's visit the proir weekend when he asked if she could be his New Mommy.  I asked who I would be and got "I don't know" with a tone of "I don't care, you have already been replaced".

This lead to the Big D joining in on the fun, but needing more clear roles starting calling me Grandma.

Thankfully a few months later and I haven't been grandma since, and they seem content with me as mommy overall....however Josh did mention that he needed 10 mommies this weekend.

At this time we are not taking applications, despite being 9 mommies understaffed.

On Board With Cardboard

Halloween is approaching.  Apparently my children are also approaching the age of wanting to pick out their own costumes.

Wall-E

The PreSchooler actually wanted to be Wall-E last year, but I made them both minions instead.  He has periodically reminded me all year though that he wants a Wall-E costume.  So no amount of suggestions have changed his mind.  We are now committed...and also off put by DIY tutorials with months worth of effort, or a $50 purchase price with horrible reviews.  I'm leaning towards cardboard box, paint, duct tape, and my sister's creative talents.

The Big D has changed from Buzz Lightyear, Fire Fighter, and Bob the Builder/Fix it Felix (all easy-ish custumes...mom was rooting for using the tool belt we already have and possibly a hat).  However he has now settled on a Flying Tractor.  I thought time and reminding him of other possibilities would help...but nope, Flying Tractor it is.

I'm open for ideas!  Please comment.

***Bonus Question: Do costumes bring out your crafty or your checkbook?***

Although I did buy costumes one year (Star Wars) I much prefer the old fashioned home made ones.

2009 - 

baby was 2 weeks old - nothing 

2010 - 

Spider 

2011 - 

Star Wars (Chewy & Darth)

2012 -

 Minions from Despicable Me

Sprinkle Showers Bring...Babies

Last weekend a good friend and I threw a baby shower for my sister.  Or a sprinkle shower/meet and greet as the focus was on meeting her newest cutie pie rather than soliciting gifts...lol

It was a lot of fun, colorful, simple and for once actually turned out as good as it did during the planning stage in my mind. (That is a scary place my friends...in my head that it.  Not the party.  That wasn't scary at all)

 For as much scheming and plotting I put into the decorations I didn't take any pictures.

But, I did of the important part - the people.   Although I did miss a few sneaky guests, and a few I took off guard pictures so they didn't turn out. Oh, and little boys who were too busy to be bothered with a baby shower played quietly in the next room...away from my camera.

(I promise not to post unflattering pictures of friends and family on my blog)

 Two of the sweetest women I know.  

The one of the right will be given her first grand baby by the one on the left :)

 Baby girl did so great, she got passed around for 3 hours and never fussed.  She must have been feeling the love.

We rediscovered my grandma is the biggest baby hog in the world...but really it shouldn't have came as a surprise.  Anyone who gave birth to 16 kids obviously likes babies.  And as a cousin and I also discussed, by the time you have 85 grandchildren, you have earned as much time holding a baby as you want.  My grandma's motto is always "don't worry, I'll give her back when she crys"

My favorite project is actually the post shower project.  I am making custom thank you cards for my sister, that will include a picture of each guest and our sweet little princess :)  Possibly a picture of my sister opening their present...if it wasn't one of the ones I caught her in a weird angle with a half open mouth and looking slightly possessed.

***Bonus Question(s):  Are you honestly a fan of shower games?  I am not, so we did a door prize...and thats it.....and we got compliments for not having silly games.  Are we a fun hating somber bunch or normal?***

The Toothbrush Doctor

My little boy is growing up so fast.

A couple of weeks ago he had his first Dentist appointment. I'm not sure what all he did, because he was a big boy and happily went back to go all by himself.

Telling stories and looking forward to picking up his prizes.

When he came back I got a big high five and a smile that never dimmed.  He was soo cheesy all the way back to daycare.  He showed me his loot. He picked out TWO prizes for sitting so good for pictures (I'm assuming they did x-rays) and showed off his new Pirate Toothbrush.

Josh: I liked the toothbrush doctor and I had fun. But I don't like getting shots.

Me: Did you get shots?

Josh: No mom, I saw the toothbrush doctor, not the shot doctor. {implied Duh}

Me: Right

Josh: I can't wait to tell my all my friends!  They will be so surprised!

The report I received from the office, was that he is doing a really good job brushing his teeth.  I have to make sure I do a quick once over on his far back teeth because they have deep grooves. (Which would have been more concerning if I didn't have them same thing and get them sealed.)

I am proud that he wanted to make the Toothbrush Doctor a thank you card :)  Partially because it is cheaper than his other request of going back to the Dentist office everyday.

Yes, the person with the out of control red hair is me.  
And I must say, he really does capture Mommy in the morning :)

Kidlet Wisdom

Toddler: Do you stand on tables? 

Toddler: No, because Daddy will spank you and when Daddy spanks you, it hurts! 

K: Ya, my Daddy spanked me last night too! 

M: {K}, why did your Daddy spank you? 

K: I don’t know, I think I was rotten or something.

Just your typical everyday daycare table conversation during snack time.

Toddler: Mom, are you wearing shoes in our livingroom?

Me: Yes, I am.

Toddler: No, you shouldn't be.  Please go in the kitchen or take your shoes off.

Proof he is listening

Toddler: Do we stand on chairs? (pause, then matter of factly) No

Aunt B: imagine Cartman Whatever, Whatever, I do what want. 

The Big D: peeeease and thank

Not to be confused with your typical everyday please and thank you. Thank

Proud Auntie

So I posted earlier showing off some of my sister's maternity pictures...but lets be honest, what we have been dying for ever since are the BABY pictures!

My sweet niece was born September 4th.  19 1/2 inches long, 7 pounds 6 ounces, and ever bit of the precious beautiful girl I knew she would be.

Really only big sister and Auntie cast votes for team pink. (Sorry team blue)

The pictures were taken by the very talented Britny Sportsman, who is just starting out in her photography career.   But, can we agree she does an amazing job?

This precious smile melts my heart and makes me want to play hooky from work and drive the 76 miles for a snuggle.

I also get to be this little sweetie's godmother.  So I'm thinking I may need to take a roadie to find a similar baby ring and necklace that I gave her big sister (and that my sister I had received as gifts at our baptisms)

Love you sweet little girl, I will try to share some of the cuddles at your shower this weekend :)

I spent her BIRTHday hanging out with and watching her big sister and brother.  It was a long day and a long wait, but we all agree.  She was worth it.