The Arena Update

Lovey Dovey

2012-01-25T17:00:00.000-06:00

Have your kids ever had a lovey?

lovey - (def.) Any item a child forms an attachment to and cherishes.

My good friend Sarah Jo has three boys and they all have different lovies (loveys?). In her own words, "Colin has Lambchop, Kyler has a cheetah that use to be name Cheetara (after Thundercats) but was recently renamed Snowflake and Micah has his yellow elephant Yumbo." I had to laugh when she once told me she had to order several more Yumbo elephants from an overseas seller on eBay because there was nowhere else to get them in the States anymore!

Isaiah had a pacifier when he was a baby and now at the age of four, he is pretty attached to a particular blanket as well as his lion and his Clifford stuffed animals. Micah was also a paci baby, but now he sleeps with his T-Bone stuffed animal most nights. He isn't really super attached to it though.

But Thomas is the first baby I've had who does not take a pacifier and has claimed a lovey as a baby.

Thomas has had this blanket since the day he was born. It was a gift from one of my co-workers and it was handmade by her grandmother. It's soft, stretchy, and very snuggle-friendly. It's definitely been his favorite blanket since he was a newborn because it was perfect for swaddling and I liked that it had enough large holes in it so I didn't have to worry about the whole suffocation danger thing when leaving it in the crib with him.

It wasn't until just a couple days ago that it dawned on me that this blanket was more than just a blanket. Thomas was tired. He was whining and fussing and just being a stinker. He wouldn't take a bottle, didn't want to play, didn't want to be held and so I decided to try and rock him in his little rocker chair thingy. Usually, that will do the trick and conk him right out, but this time he just continued to cry and cry. I cradled him in my arms and grabbed his blanket. I draped it around him so that a corner of it was up between his hand and his cheek. Lo and behold, that baby grabbed on to the blanket, pressed it to his cheek.....and his eyes shut. He was asleep in about 60 seconds.

Suddenly, I realized I had been completely blind to the power of the blanket. How many times had I seen him wrapping his little fingers around it and I would pull it away? So often, I would find him in his rocker seat with that blanket shoved up by his face and I would yank it down....and he would be crabby about it.

It's not just a blanket. It's a lovey!

Today I fed Thomas a bottle right before his nap time and I could see his eyes starting to droop. I grabbed his blanket, nestled it right between his hand and his cheek, and put him down in his crib. I turned on his Sleep Sheep and left the room.

Silence.

All hail the lovey.

Does your child have a lovey? What is it? Is it easier or more difficult to deal with a lovey or a pacifier? I'd love your feedback on this one....I'm new to the lovey at the baby stage!

Wordless Wednesday: "Brothers"

2012-01-25T14:42:00.002-06:00

(click photo to see it bigger)

Project Life Tuesday - Week 3

2012-01-24T03:00:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! This is my third year of doing Project Life and I have found it to be so beneficial to have this post planned every Tuesday because then I have a standing deadline to get my photos done! I'm doing things a little different this year and instead of the Photo A Day approach I've done for the last 2 years, I am approaching this year on more of a Layout Per Week basis. This means that some weeks might have more photos than others, some weeks will be missing days, but the goal remains the same: To provide a glimpse of our life and preserve it.

If you're taking on Project Life this year, good for you! I am so happy I decided to accept the challenge back in 2010! Welcome aboard and be sure to enjoy. This isn't meant to be stressful. It's a wonderful way to simplify scrapbooking and memory keeping. If you're looking for inspiration on what others are doing with their Project Life, you can check out my board on Pinterest and be sure to link up on The Mom Creative!

Please forgive me everyone, but the photos I took of this week's layout are awful. I just couldn't get the lighting and settings correct and two out of the three kids were screaming, so I had to kind of rush a bit and just git 'er done. Sometimes, that's just the way it goes.

I got wild this week and busted out a Design G page protector in the middle of my layout! It worked out really well as a way to spotlight two big events that took place - weaning Thomas and Ali's birthday party.

Left Page:

I included two 3x4 photos on this side of the layout and I must admit that it sometimes makes the journaling a little problematic. I've found myself adding little snippets on the actual photo with PSE, but that creates issues too. For example, check out that photo in the bottom right corner. Here it is closer up:

Love this picture. And I thought I was being all cutesey when I added the little quote from Walt Disney in the corner and gave myself a little pat on the back for being so clever. Until I went to Walgreens on Sunday afternoon to pick up my prints to find out that adding that quote and speaker to my photo created a copyright infringement and it was then illegal to print this photo!!! HUH??? I asked the guy at the photo counter to explain it to me because it made no sense. He said if I had just added the quote, but didn't identify the speaker.....it was fine. But because I added the speaker, Walt Disney, it was a copyright violation.

Yeah, as an English teacher, that made no sense to me. By citing my source, I was breaking the law?? What. Ever. I raised a bit of a fuss about how that was the stupidest thing I had ever heard so he gave me my print with a stern warning, mostly I think just to get rid of me. I guess I'll have to be more careful from here on out.

Moving right along.

Right Side:

That photo in the bottom left corner is my "Before" photo, despite it being taken after I had already lost 13 pounds. I'm looking forward seeing how different I look by the time this album is full. :)

Design G:

It's such a bummer these are sold out right now, but I highly recommend this page protector once they are back in stock. I found it so helpful to have some additional spots to include photos and journaling of some special things that happened this week without having to worry about committing to using this design again next week like some of the 12x12 page designs require. I used the first side to commemorate Thomas's departure from the world of breastfeeding. It's kind of a big deal to me to have made it to 4.5 months with this baby, so deciding to quit was a big moment for us. I used a plain 3x4 journal card to write down Thomas's feeding schedule from a particular day this week and then a 4x6 journal card to write up a little more about this transition.

The flip side of the Design G is dedicated to our friend's daughter's 4th birthday party. It took place on Saturday, the end of my Project Life week, so it worked out perfectly to have this whole day on this side of the page. Can you even believe that cake?

So, that's my Project Life this week! Here are a few more highlighted photos, just for kicks.

Thomas: 4.5 months

Apparently in this family, when the Packers play a horrible game and lose out on a chance to return to the Super Bowl, we take out our frustrations by hitting one another over the head with a dinosaur. The laundry basket is required safety gear.

Isaiah is such a big help with his baby brother. He seriously just loves to pitch in whenever and however he can! Love that about him.

All my boys!

Thomas got to try out solid foods for the first time this week, but he wasn't quite sure what to think. I'm not entirely sure if he even actually ingested any of the cereal, but at least we gave it a whirl. We'll try again soon.

He fights and fights and fights me at naptime. Then he finally falls asleep (because lo and behold, he is in fact tired!) so late that I have to wake him up so he doesn't sleep too late. Then I get this face for the next hour. Good times.

Thanks for stopping in for Project Life Tuesday! Hope you're having a great week!

The Baby and the Bath Water

2012-01-23T14:09:00.000-06:00

This just happened.

And my heart exploded from cuteness overload.

The End.

The Princess Cake

2012-01-21T21:49:00.003-06:00

I ate a piece of birthday cake today.

I rationed my points all day in anticipation of that birthday cake.

When I came upstairs from checking on my kids playing and saw that this had just landed on my friend's kitchen table, my mouth hung open like a fly trap.

Check. Out. That. Cake.

When it came time to eat supper, I took about an ounce of shredded beef and piled the rest of my plate with green beans. The plain green beans I had brought with me.

Yes, I brought my own green beans to a 4 year old's birthday party. You read that correctly.

When the time came, I was handed a gorgeous slab of that incredible cake and believe me when I tell you it tasted just as good as it looks. I had to take a break halfway through just because I'm not used to eating things that sweet anymore!

I blew 14 points on that birthday cake.

I should have only eaten half the piece though because I had a tummy ache and a headache within 10 minutes of finishing it.

Lesson Learned.

Victory

2012-01-19T22:19:00.002-06:00

Last night I made myself a turkey burger before I took the boys to church for Family Faith Night. I cooked my "burger," measured out a tablespoon....exactly a tablespoon of reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese to add to my Arnold 100% whole wheat sandwich thin.

Turkey Burger - 4 points
Sandwich Thin - 3 points
Cheese - 1 point
Oil to cook burger in - 1 point
Total: 9 points

All well and good until I get to the meal at church and find myself face to face with a dessert plate piled high with about six or seven delightful treats that were smothered in chocolate, oozing with marshmallow cream, and bulging with chocolate chips.

Things like this:

Source: tendercrumb.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

And this:

Source: bakedperfection.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I stared at that plate in front of the man across the table from me like a starving child. People, I could literally feel my mouth filling up with the sweet-induced drool.

And I didn't cave. I didn't give in to the overwhelming urge to run up to that food line and pick out one of those heavenly sins for myself. Heck, I didn't even snitch a bite of the cookies I had taken for the boys.

For me, that's a victory in and of itself.

Go me.

Closing the Milk Factory

2012-01-18T04:00:00.000-06:00

First of all, allow me throw myself a little party for nursing this baby for four and a half months. Yay me! That's easily the longest I have made it with any of my three kids, so I'm supremely proud of myself for that accomplishment. That being said, it's time to wean.

Ever since I started Weight Watchers at the beginning of the year and changed the way I eat, my supply has dropped significantly. Now that I'm not eating myself silly, my breastmilk just isn't producing the way it used to. Thomas will nurse for 15 minutes and pull himself off, but then scream 10 minutes later and suck down a 6 ounce bottle! He clearly isn't getting the amount of milk he needs from me. Could I try to pump for a while to build up a little freezer stock and still bottle feed? Sure, I could. But I don't want to. I really don't want to devote that kind of time in a day to being hooked up like a cow. He eats formula just fine and I'm really just fine with this transition.

Other benefits? I finally get my boobs back! I was so embarrassed when I was talking to a girlfriend the other day only to realize my left breast had been leaking all over my shirt for the last 5 minutes. Quite the fashion statement I was making that day as I walked through the grocery store.

Of course, once I'm done nursing, I lose 7 points off my daily allotment of food from Weight Watchers. On the other hand, perhaps that means I will drop the weight that much faster. I know a lot of people say that nursing actually helps you lose weight, but my experience has been the opposite. Nursing actually prevents me from losing weight. I remember the pounds coming off much easier with Micah once we switched to formula.

Plus, Thomas is getting ready to start solid foods, so I'm pretty comfortable with this whole thing.

Well, regardless of what happens from here on out, I am really at peace with this decision. Thomas is happy, I'm happy, everyone is peachy keen with it. Breastfeeding has never been something I have really enjoying and relished like so many mothers do. I wish it was. My reality is that I just tolerate it as long as possible for the sake of the baby and then I stop when I've had enough. My view is that any breastfeeding is better than none, so by giving Thomas this long has been doing my best for him. He isn't going to suddenly develop webbed feet or a third eye just because I decide to stop nursing. He'll be just fine. And so will I.

Project Life Tuesday - January Week Two

2012-01-17T03:00:00.000-06:00

Left Side: Someone I follow on Twitter posted this photo of the screen shot from her phone when she checked the weather in our area. I was just floored that it said 50 degrees for January 10th, so I had to have that in my Project Life album! The other 3x4 spot is filled with a photo of the Weight Watchers magazine that Evan's aunt sent me as a "Way to Go!" surprise. She's so good to me.

I like how flexible this weekly approach is and I took advantage of it this week. Isaiah and Evan were both home sick on Wednesday, so I included a photo of the little boy on the couch, an Instagram shot of Daddy & the baby, and a photo of the bath with glow sticks I gave the boys to cheer up my sick Isaiah.

For this 3x4 card, I used the digital paper from the Cobalt collection as the background and then included a 2.5x2.5 Instagram photo and some journaling.

So, that's how the album ended up for this week. Here's more on each photo if you're interested.

Sunday, January 8th - Thomas is starting to get pretty good at grabbing toys you dangle in front of him. He's even starting to cram them into his mouth. Looks like we'll be attempting some first baby foods soon!

Monday, January 9th - The boys were playing this goofy game where they took nearly every toy out of their toy basket using a hot dog grabber thinger (official name is escaping me right now) and dropped them in the "garbage" - aka the couch. This was the pile in the "garbage" when they went off to bed.

Wednesday, January 11th - Sick Day! Isaiah was up for hours the night before, throwing up seven times when all was said and done. Evan came home that night feeling awful too and ended up calling in sick on Wednesday morning. Isaiah spent most of his day laying on the couch and using his best sick boy whiny voice. Daddy felt better as the day went on and got in some playtime with Thomas. After supper, I surprised the big boys with a special bath time treat - GLOW STICKS!! I tossed about 6 of them in the tub and turned the lights off. They both thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Thursday, January 12th - After having a 50 degree day on Tuesday, we woke up to this mess today. I suppose we were about due for winter to finally arrive. This is Wisconsin, after all.

Friday, January 13th - Guess who can roll over from his belly to his back? Yup. This guy.

Saturday, January 14th - I brought the Bigs outside after I got home from work. Isaiah helped me shovel some lingering snow off the driveway and Micah threw snowballs at me. But, seriously. Look how gorgeous that face is in the snow. Love that kid.

Hope you're enjoying Project Life and thanks so much for stopping in to check out my photos this week!

P.S. Just in case you're wondering, I am still hurting pretty badly from the Packers loss on Sunday afternoon. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like my boyfriend just dumped me out of nowhere after the relationship was going so incredibly well. Ugh.

What's for Dinner?

2012-01-14T21:33:00.000-06:00

Food and I have a new relationship. We haven't really had "the talk" where we define exactly what we are, how serious it is, or if we really see this going somewhere, but I have a good feeling about how we're doing together. Things are still rather fresh and it's going to take some time and experience to feel completely comfortable with one another, but I'm learning more every day.

You see, Food and I go way back and it isn't all pretty. In fact, until very recently, Food could just as easily have been classified as an enemy than an ally. I would indulge in my favorites, relishing the flavor party and enjoying the experience, only to hang my head and wallow in guilt as I did the walk of shame to go put my PJ pants on because my jeans were just too uncomfortable to actually sit in after eating. Of course, the guilt and disgust I felt over my illicit affair with Food would only drive me right back into the arms I had just fled from, back into the bottom of a bowl of ice cream smothered in hot fudge and whipped cream.

Ok, I have to stop writing about all this food because I can feel a sweet craving coming on. Thank goodness I have the points available for today to go snag a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich from the freezer. Guilt free. No walk of shame.

Love it.

Since starting Weight Watchers, I now think of food in terms of its point value and its ability to nourish me. For instance, I'm much more likely to "spend" 9 points on a protein-packed meal like a breakfast burrito with ground turkey, a side of egg whites, and a banana than I am to waste those points on hashbrowns that will only turn to sugar in my body.

My friend Sarah Jo asked me to write a post about the major diet changes I have made to help me drop 11.6 pounds in two weeks (can I get a WOOT! WOOT!!). So here goes.

The Big Changes:

No deep fried foods. At all. Ever.
Amped up the fruit and veggie intake a ton! If I'm craving a snack, I grab an apple, banana, or carrot sticks. I also eat a LOT more salad now and I throw spinach into every smoothie I make.
Tons and tons and tons of water. I carry a Camelbak water bottle around with me practically everywhere and I am sucking down water constantly. Again, if the snack craving hits, I clutch that thing like it's going to save my life and I just drink water until the craving passes. Cut out soda entirely.
Cut out the butter and "bad fats" as much as possible. Not once in the last two weeks have I added butter to any of my food, cooked in butter, or put butter in a single recipe. I use non-fat cooking spray at home and ask the kitchen at the restaurant where I work to do the same when they make my food. Instead of butter on a baked potato, use fat free salsa.
Switch out eggs for egg whites most of the time. Instead of a regular three egg omelet, order it with 2 whites and 1 regular egg. It quickly goes from a 6 point omelet to a 3 pointer!

Adjust portion sizes!! This has been a big adjustment for both myself and for Evan. Things we always thought were a single serving have actually turned out to be three! In order to know what you're eating, you have to really pay attention to how much you're eating. This was most difficult for me to adjust to with pasta. I was used to eating a plateful of pasta, usually drenched in sauce. Now I eat a 1/2 cup of cooked pasta as a side item.
Beware the sneaky things that can add fat and calories to your food without you even thinking about it. Cheese, salad dressings, condiments, and bread can quickly jack up my point count so I have to really be careful with how I use them.
Enjoy the foods you love...just in a different way. We have this amazing breakfast at Leystra's Venture Restaurant called the Ham & Cheese Skillet. It's made with hash browns, three eggs, cheese, diced ham, toast or pancakes, and your choice of bacon or sausage. Yikes. Delicious, but yikes. Well, I was craving one pretty hardcore today. So you know what? I had one. Except I created Sarah's Skinny Girl Skillet! This 8 point wonder consisted of a half sized hashbrown (cooked without butter) with grilled onion and green pepper added, egg whites only, half the ham, no cheese, no bacon or sausage and no toast. I enjoyed it with a side of salsa and found it very satisfying. Later, I indulged in "Sweet Saturday" by having a half a slice of pumpkin pie! No need to cut out all the fun stuff!

Obviously, I am no expert on this stuff. Heck, half the time I end up eating a Lean Cuisine meal for lunch simply because I'm stumped on what to eat and I just can't bring myself to eat yet another grilled chicken salad. It's only been two weeks, after all.

I do have a whole stack of Weight Watchers recipes on my counter I've printed out that I can't wait to try out. It's just a matter of getting organized and starting to meal plan, something I've always wanted to learn how to do anyway.

So, I guess it boils down to trial and error. I have yet to experience the challenge of eating out at a restaurant on a date night, enjoying a night out with girlfriends and cocktails, or a football party with nothing but pizza, wings and beer on the menu.

It will all be worth it when I hit that goal weight and I get to take a vacation for my 10th anniversary that involves a bathing suit and a beach. Right, honey? Honey??

Hope this helps.

Weighing In

2012-01-13T23:06:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure what the official stats are on how many people quit on their New Year Resolutions before January is over, but I am proud to say that both Evan and I are still on the Weight Watchers Wagon!

How's it going?

After my first weigh-in on January 7th, I had lost 8.8 pounds. I have to admit I was pretty stoked to lose that nice chunk of weight, right out of the gate, without adding any exercise to my routine. I had several people warn me that the first week can give you a false sense of accomplishment. Much of the weight lost is water weight and your body is responding to a sudden change in nutrition/activity.

Fine. Whatever. I lost 8.8 pounds! Quite frankly, I really didn't care why or how it happened. I just celebrated my victory with gusto.

After my first weigh-in, I started adding exercise into my life. The last time I exercised on purpose was before I was pregnant with Isaiah and I had a membership to Curves for a couple months. As soon as I got pregnant, I quit pretty much immediately. It's like I was looking for an excuse to stop sweating intentionally. Up to this point, I made jokes about how the only thing that would get me to run would be if something with fangs were chasing me, and even then I would probably end up with bite marks in my butt because there is absolutely no way I'd be able to outrun the vampire/werewolf/rabid dog or whatever it is that was out for my blood.

Source: someecards.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Yup. Running is not my friend.

Anywho, I started using the EA Active game for the Wii as my method of exercise. Even set on Easy, that thing had kicked my butt after only 2 workouts. I was hobbling around like an old woman and whining like a toddler due to my sore muscles.

Now I'm actually throwing around the idea of buying a used treadmill or even getting really crazy and attempting to run a 5K at the end of the summer.

Do I still hate running? Yes, I do.
Do I still despise exercising? You betcha.
Do I still drag my butt down the steps muttering curses under my breath when I have to workout? Uh huh.
Do I still feel like 20 minutes on that thing must be equivalent to a Last Chance Workout on The Biggest Loser? Ok....maybe not. But it does get me really tuckered out.

Source: facebook.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I guess the summary of my first 13 days on my weight loss journey is one of being hopeful. After a good start of losing weight, I am proud of myself for sticking to my points and for actually following through on exercising.

More than anything else, I am incredibly proud of my man. In his first week on Weight Watchers for Men, he dropped 12 pounds!!! Absolutely amazing, dude. I couldn't be more thrilled for you, honey!

We CAN do this. Together.

Sick Boys

2012-01-11T20:51:00.000-06:00

Oh goodness, was it ever a long night last night. Isaiah woke up at about 12:15 am just screaming. I went into his room and found he had thrown up. Of course it would be the kid in the top bunk who pukes all over his bed in the middle of the night. Yup.

I was up with that boy until dang near 4:00 am and he just couldn't seem to stop vomiting. In total, he heaved seven times. He was running a fever too. Poor kid. After he finally fell asleep on the little couch and I was able to doze a little on the side of the big couch he hadn't puked on, it seemed like only a moment passed before Micah was awake and running in to say "Good Morning!" Shortly after, I discovered that Evan had called in sick to work because he too was feeling terrible.

So, Isaiah and Daddy's day looked a lot like this:

Meanwhile, I found myself running around somewhat more than usual because I had Isaiah on the couch using the forlorn sick voice to call things like, "Mooommmmyyyy?? Can I have water please??" at the very moment Thomas is crying from his crib, I have the dishwasher open and half emptied, and a cereal bowl sitting on the counter with not-so frozen blueberries waiting for me to finally get around to making the oatmeal to pour on top.

Four loads of laundry, three meals, and one bathtime later....I walked back into the living room only to realize it still smelled like puke. Then I discovered my stupid phone was dead and wasn't taking a charge, no matter which outlet I tried to plug it into.

I think I may have earned a night off from the Wii workout because I've been running all day.

Project Life Tuesday - January Week One

2012-01-10T03:00:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! This is my third year of doing Project Life and I have found it to be so beneficial to have this post planned every Tuesday because then I have a standing deadline to get my photos done! I'm doing things a little different this year and instead of the Photo A Day approach I've done for the last 2 years, I am approaching this year on more of a Layout Per Week basis. This means that some weeks might have more photos than others, some weeks will be missing days, but the goal remains the same: To provide a glimpse of our life and preserve it.

If you're taking on Project Life this year, good for you! I am so happy I decided to accept the challenge back in 2010! Welcome aboard and be sure to enjoy. This isn't meant to be stressful. It's a wonderful way to simplify scrapbooking and memory keeping. If you're looking for inspiration on what others are doing with their Project Life, you can check out my board on Pinterest and be sure to link up on The Mom Creative!

Sunday, January 1st - Happy New Year! Micah has been on a big Star Wars kick lately and the boys were literally acting out the final light saber fight between Luke and Darth Vader as it happened on the screen.

Monday, January 2nd - Rose Bowl!! The Badgers from my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, made their second straight appearance in the Granddaddy of them All today. Unfortunately, they lost for the second time in a row, but at least my little Badger fans looked adorable.

After coming in from outside, the hat left Micah in a bit of a tousled state. I grabbed the camera quick and asked him to smile. This photo just kills me because it's so hideous that it's actually quite cute!

Tuesday, January 3rd - We gave Isaiah this play shaving kit for Christmas and the kids busted it out for the first time in the bath tonight. I swear they would have gone through the whole can of foam if I had let them.

Wednesday, January 4th - Thomas has started sticking his tongue out every time he smiles real big and I just LOVE it!

Thursday, January 5th - I signed up for Weight Watchers Online at about 11:30 pm on New Years Eve. This was my fifth full day on it and I couldn't resist weighing in a little early just to see if I was on the right track. I was thrilled to find out I had already dropped five pounds! Of course, 197 pounds is still pretty horrifying, so I'm bound and determined to drop this weight! Watch for me to be Tweeting under the hashtag #gettingmysexyback!

One of my big motivating factors for dropping the weight is feeling more comfortable being in photos rather than just taking them. This is a start!

Saturday, January 7th - Last night my husband signed up for Weight Watchers Online for Men and I can't even express how proud I am of him. I set his cereal out for him this morning before I left for work with a little love note, reminding him of how I am his #1 fan in this.

And the weather today was absolutely INSANE!! It's January 7th, but Evan was able to grill chicken breasts outside on our charcoal grill....in a sweatshirt. It was in the high 40s today, a legitimate heatwave for Wisconsin in January!

Now that you've seen each photo on its own, here's how the layout turned out for the first week. Not a significant change from last year, but definitely more flexible!

For this Instagram photo I took with my hubby's iPhone, I resized it to 4x4 and then just printed it on 4x6 canvas as a regular print. I trimmed it and stuck it on one of the large journaling cards included in the Core Kit.

One of my favorite things that I was able to use on this week's layout was the "I'm Totally Tweeting This!" card. I found it on Pinterest and just had to snag it for my own use. I loved grabbing this little tidbit from with Twitter feed to add more to a big topic for this week. It was a free download! I've provided the Pinterest link for you below if you want it.

Source: wildblueberryink.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Remember, Project Life is meant to simplify scrapbooking. It's easy to get overwhelmed if you see all kinds of amazing albums, but I really like to keep mine simple. Here's some other fun tidbits on how I spice up my Project Life and my process for 2012.

I love to use Thickers letter stickers to add the year or a little embellishement to the title page. Here's how the title page fore 2011 turned out:

As for additional products, I like using the 12x12 Big Envelope Pages to hold additional material, like in this layout from 2011 when I wanted to keep some newspapers after the Packers won the Super Bowl.

I also use regular 8.5x11 sheet protectors pretty often for including things like printed blog posts, notes from school or the doctor, or print outs of important news stories.

As for 2012, I am trying to work on the weekly layout as the week occurs so I don't fall behind. My other goal is to get my photos printed at Walgreens every Sunday so I can just pick them up after work and put them in the album when I get home so I'm all set for Project Life Tuesday every week. Here was my process for this week:

Choose and edit photos. Place a Post-It on each spot so I know what element/photo will go where. This made it very easy to change my mind and move things around.

Once I know where the photos will be that need journaling cards to match, I can start prepping those. I write out my journalling, stamp it with the date (date stamp is from the 2011 kit) and put on the arrow sticker to point to the right photo. Now all I need is the photos!

Hope you found this helpful if you are new to Project Life and enjoyable if you're an old veteran to it.

Have a wonderful week!

Monday

2012-01-09T13:48:00.003-06:00

What's going on today?

The boys are in their bedroom for naptime....not napping. This is nothing new to me at this point, but I've established the "quiet time" rule where they have to stay in their beds and stay quiet until I come in there to let them know that naptime is over. Every so often, this accidentally leads to them taking naps so I'm going to stick to it for a little while.

I've eaten only 11 points so far today. 2 for breakfast (fruit smoothie) and 9 for lunch (Lean Cuisine). I'm feeling kind of hungry, so I'll probably have to go snag an apple or some carrot sticks. The tummy's a rumblin'. On the positive side, I cheated and stepped on the scale again this morning and I'm down another couple pounds! I am this close to having lost 10 pounds already!

On the negative side, I feel like an 85 year old woman right now because I am so sore from working out on the Wii the last two days. On "easy" mode. It's really quite lame how out of shape I have let myself get. What feels even more lame is having to brace myself in order to sit down on the toilet because my muscles are so dadgum sore!!!

Check out what's on my couch:

It's a pile of dang near every single toy that was previously in the toy basket in the living room. For some reason, it suddenly became a game for Micah to pull a toy out of the basket and then give it to Isaiah, who would use hot dog tongs to transport that toy to the "garbage" (the couch) for disposal. In retrospect, I probably should have had them clean that up before naptime. I do like the little sun flare I caught in that photo though.

My dog isn't feeling well today. I think he has another bladder stone like he had back in August. It took him a couple days last time, but he was feeling much better by the time I actually got him to the vet. She said there wouldn't really have been much they could have done for him anyway apart from easing the discomfort of the stone, so I guess we just leave him be and overdose on the love. Poor pup.

I get to go over to my friend Jodi's house for a movie tonight. I've been friends with Jodi for about 5 years and still have never been to her house. Sad, huh? She is just the most hard-working, busy person I know and she never has free time to just slow down and sit. We had to plan this night a couple weeks in advance, just to make sure it would happen! I also have to plan to save 13 points so I can have two of her amazing peanut butter & chocolate balls her husband makes, along with 3 points for my popcorn.

How's your Monday?

Thomas - Four Months

2012-01-08T03:00:00.000-06:00

Hey there, handsome. Guess what? You're four months old already! Amazing, huh? Lots of big stuff around the corner for you, buddy. Pretty soon you'll be rolling over, sticking things in your mouth, and learning to sit up more and more on your own. Before I know it, you'll be wanting to eat solid foods and you won't want to stay put when I set you somewhere. Oh, but you're ever so cute, so I think I'll let that go. Here's what you're up to at 4 months old.

Weight is 15 lbs, 9 oz (70%) and height is 25.25 inches (70%). You certainly aren't the beast your brother Micah was, but you're a healthy boy!
You've started sticking your tongue out when you smile real big. It's incredibly adorable.

You snort sometimes when you get a good giggle going.
Most of the time, you go to bed for the night between 8:30 and 9:00 or so. You will wake up somewhere in the 5:00 or 6:00 am hour and nurse, but then you go back to sleep for another couple hours.
Yes, we are still nursing. I'm amazed at this. Never before have I nursed this long and it is so amazing. You do get a couple bottles of formula/breastmilk combo every day, but you're great at both!
I think you're going to have hazel eyes.
On January 7th, you rolled over from your belly to your back for the first time. Knock it off.
Still such a sweet boy. You like to lie on your back for a while to watch all the activity, but you lose patience with it quickly and want to be picked up and held up so you can have a better view.

Your cheeks are incredibly kissable. They always look pink because I just can't help myself.

Love you, kiddo. Just please slow down a little bit, ok?

Bringing Sexy Back

2012-01-07T19:15:00.001-06:00

(My apologies if you already have that song by Justin Timberlake stuck in your head.)

Ok, this is going to be a big embarrassing, but let's talk about it anyway. It is the New Year, after all, which seems to me is the perfect time to discuss self-improvement.

I'm overweight. According to my BMI, I am obese. Obese. I don't even like looking at that word because even the word looks and sounds gross. I am obese. Yikes. When did this happen? Wasn't I just blogging about how I had dropped a chunk of weight and was feeling so good about myself?

I remember now. This happened:

No doubt it was worth it to gain back all the weight I lost to welcome that sweet boy into the world, but oh do I have my work cut out for me now.

So, here's my big announcement for 2012.

I am getting my sexy back, baby.

As of 11:35 pm on New Years Eve, I am a member of Weight Watchers Online. I track my points every day and am starting to work on integrating more activity into my daily life. And you know what? In my first week, I have lost 8.8 pounds!

So thrilled! I can't wait to go from this:

August 31, 2011. Thomas's delivery day!

To this:

Weighing in on January 5th - 5 pounds lost in 5 days!

And back to this:

March 2010 - With a 6 month Micah, down about 30 pounds!

And maybe, just maybe......down to something like this:

My Wedding Day - July 3, 2004

Yup, I'm excited. And the very best part of this whole thing???

EVAN IS DOING IT TOO!!!

Stay tuned, folks. This will be fun.

Follow our weight loss journey on Twitter under the hashtag #gettingmysexyback

A Feast for Crows

2012-01-04T22:17:00.000-06:00

Do you know what happens when you find yourself immersed in a really good book? Things start taking a back seat. Important things. Things like showering, sleeping, and blogging.

I have a problem.

George R.R. Martin wrote a really good series and I'm only in book four out of the five that are out right now. And then he's going to come out with a sixth book and thank God for Kindle or Evan and I would have to box it out to see who got to read it first.

I promise to write a four month post for Thomas. I have big plans to write a post about the crazy New Year's resolution I adopted. And I really need to fill you in on where I'm at on my Project Life stuff.

Big plans, people. But if you'll excuse me, I must retire to the world of Westeros.

P.S. The first four books in the series I'm reading can be found here for Kindle and here for "real" books . Enjoy, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Project Life Tuesday - Final Week of 2011!

2012-01-03T03:00:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! We're finally at the last week of photos for the year of 2011 that I've been taking every single day for the entire year. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!

Sunday, December 25th - Merry Christmas! We arrived back home safe and sound and the boys got to tear into their last round of presents before we watched the Packer game. I think they're really going to enjoy their Boot Scoot Bikes come spring!

Monday, December 26th - Several people went in on this massive gift for the boys. It was probably a total of 8 boxes or so that all went together to create this huge race car track for these remote control cars. Daddy helped them put it together and they are just in LOVE.

Tuesday, December 27th - And when they're not playing with their remote control cars, they're cuddled up on the couch staring at their new electronics. Since Isaiah got a Leap Pad for Christmas, Micah has been able to claim the Explorer and he is suddenly really into watching the letter factory video from Leap Frog on it. It gives me a solid five minutes of quiet some days!

Wednesday, December 28th - Fat Man's Christmas! We went out to Joe and Jess's new house for the first time and celebrated another Christmas together as friends. We've reached the point now where the number of kids is equal to the number of adults. Scary to think that next year we might be outnumbered!

Thursday, December 29th - This is what happens when I am at work and I ask Evan to make sure to take a photo for me. He tells Isaiah to launch himself like a rocket and to "not tell Mommy!"

Friday, December 30th - Thomas will be four months old tomorrow already. I'm really glad I decided to do this monthly photo next to the teddy bear because it is already neat to see how much he has changed.

Saturday, December 31st - This is how we party on New Years Eve. Big boys in bed, Lord of the Rings in the DVD player. Yeehaw.

Whew!! 2011 is finished! Well, at least it's finished on the blog. :) I am caught up through September in my actual Project Life album as far as writing the journaling cards goes. I've been trying to tackle one month at a time in a sitting, so it shouldn't really take me too much longer to get caught up.

As for 2012, I'm taking a slightly different approach than I did in the last two years. I have previously done the whole photo every day thing, but I'm finding it much more appealing to look at 2012 on more of a "per week" basis. There are just some days where you have a lot more going on and you get so many fabulous photos and it would be nice to feature more of them versus trying to force a photo for every single day. The way I figure it, I just need to make sure I keep taking plenty of photos (not a problem) and to try to focus more on the small moments, the little things that make our life right now unique. The kits for Project Life in 2012 are so different and I went slightly nuts with the products I picked, so I do have a lot more opportunities to be flexible with my album in the coming year.

Are you on Pinterest? I've created a board on Pinterest of Project Life inspiration that I'd love to share with you and I'd be thrilled to see what you're finding inspiring! Let's follow one another! www.pinterest.com/slkooiman

Anyway, I'm going to keep trying to do Project Life Tuesday mostly just because it gives me a deadline to stay on top of my photos, but it's going to look very different. Bear with me as I work through some trial and error to see what's going to work for me.

Happy 2012 and I wish you a very happy New Year!

Hat Head

2012-01-02T15:03:00.002-06:00

Even the cutest kids have their moments when they look....ummmm....not quite so cute.

Oh Micah.

Ringing in the New Year!

2011-12-31T20:53:00.001-06:00

The Bigs are in bed, Thomas is getting ready to settle in for the night, and we grown-ups are gearing up for a big time throw down New Years Eve celebration for the ages!

That's right. We've busted open a box of reduced fat Wheat Thins, a Lord of the Rings DVD is in the Blu-Ray player, and I'm rocking my pink plaid PJ pants.

Oh yeah. It's gonna be epic.

Happy New Year everyone!! Here's wishing you can stay awake until midnight!

Now and Then

2011-12-29T09:48:00.002-06:00

December's been good. Evan had a handful of vacation days left to use this year, so he has been home a couple days each week for the last couple weeks, which has been wonderful. It's freed me up to go grocery shopping with just Thomas and even by myself once. It's such a blessing to have him around during the day and the boys just go crazy for it.

There's been a lot of this going on:

And a lot of this:

Micah is actually pretty stoked that Isaiah got a LeapPad for Christmas because that means he gets to play the Explorer a lot more now. He loves watching the Letter Factory video and is starting to learn his letters.

December has been delightfully uneventful. By comparison, 2 years ago today I was in the hospital after gallbladder surgery. And just last year, I was starting to suspect I might be pregnant. Wow, just typing that sentence had my eyes watering up a little. You know, I still haven't even thrown out the tests I took. It's crazy, I know. Who in their right mind hangs on to pee sticks for a year? I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I've had them in my hands several times, ready to just toss them in the trash, but I've always looked at those pink lines for just a second and that has been enough to make me put them right back in the medicine cabinet, tucked safely behind my deodorant. I just can't do it. I brought this up to Evan the other day and he chuckled for a moment and then I asked the question I've been avoiding, but I had to know....once and for all. "We're done, aren't we?" He paused for the briefest of seconds and that was all it took to start the waterworks. While the drops fell silently down my face, he explained that he loves our boys so much and is so happy with the way our family is now, but that he really strongly feels we are done. I guess I was still holding out hope that maybe a few years down the road, perhaps when Thomas is 3 or 4, we might consider one more child. Looks like I can put that idea to rest and start getting rid of the clothes as Thomas out-grows them. Hard for me. Looks like those pee sticks will be staying put for a while.

No plans with us for New Years Eve. Heck, I'll be lucky if I'm even able to stay awake until midnight. Last night we stayed up until 11:30 watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory and my eyes were burning. Considering I have to work at 8:00 the next morning, I think I'll just have to be content to stay up long enough to see the ball drop.

So what's going on in 2012? Wow. A lot, hopefully. Despite the slowdown of the winter, we're hopeful that the coming months will show an increase in interest and traffic on our house and that we'll get the sale we've been praying for. Evan has to start driving to his new location 4 days per week within a few weeks, so we're anxious to get the house sold and move to our new city. It's so scary, but it's a change I think we'll end up enjoying once the massive stress of it all dies down.

In 2012, my boys will turn FIVE, three, and one. Oh mylanta.

In 2012, we will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary.

In 2012, we will move to a brand new city where we know a total of TWO people (outside of Evan's work, that is).

In 2012, I will have to leave the job I love and go on the hunt for a new one. Boo.

In 2012, I will rekindle my scrapbooking hobby. I don't care how busy I am. I absolutely must make time to document these memories. Project Life is wonderful for this, but I really miss the experience of traditional scrapbooking.

It's going to be a biggie.

In case I don't see ya, Happy New Year!

Project Life Tuesday - December Week Four

2011-12-27T03:00:00.000-06:00

Sunday, December 18th - We celebrated my mother in law's birthday today at Chuck E Cheese of all places! The boys had an absolute blast. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Monday, December 19th - I've really been enjoying this whole Elf on the Shelf thing. This has to be one of my favorite set-ups I put together for the kids to discover in the morning. All day, Isaiah was chattering on about how "the Roundup Gang trapped Buddy!"

Tuesday, December 20th - Thomas has been practicing in his Bumbo lately and Isaiah is always right there, ready to entertain him.

Wednesday, December 21st - When a great sale hit the website of Lisa Leonard Designs, I jumped on it to order Christmas ornaments for the kids. They arrived today and I am absolutely in love with them.

Thursday, December 22nd - Finally, we got some substantial snow! Getting some decent snow cover inspired the kids to request some outdoor play time so they got to get all bundled up in their new snow gear and help Daddy shovel the driveway and roll around in the snow.

Friday, December 23rd - Day 1 of our Christmas extravaganza! We kicked things off at my Grandma's house where the boys received the first of several components of an awesome race car track.

Saturday, December 24th - Not your typical Christmas Eve photo. My mother accidentally inherited this (nasty) lizard and my boys found it fascinating. I skittered away quickly after taking this photo out of fear that my sister might make me touch it.

Only one more week of Project Life 2011! My 2012 kit is already in house, but I haven't set it up yet because I'm going to take a different approach next year. That and I want to try to get caught up on writing my journaling cards from 2011 before I jump into 2012!

Have a great week!

The Morning After

2011-12-26T09:26:00.002-06:00

Ah, the best laid plans. We thought for sure we'd have no problem bringing everything home this Christmas. In the past, we've had to leave a good deal of the kids' gifts behind for someone to bring to us at a later date because our car just couldn't fit everything. This year, the van gave us a false sense of confidence. We were almost able to pull it off, but alas, the picnic table didn't fit in the van! :)

What a whirlwind of a couple days. We returned to our hometown for Christmas and everyone was spoiled rotten: the boys with their mountains of gifts, me with two bottles of Prairie Fume that I practically polished off myself, and Evan with a Packer victory. That last one spoiled me too.

I think the most stressful part of a big holiday like this is the process of loading the kids into the van multiple times. For some reason, that never goes smoothly. Anyone else?

Evan is home today, so we're kind of in recovery mode. I need to put my nose to the grindstone and get these three photo books done so I can get them ordered before my coupons expire and go grocery shopping (french fries are on sale!). We still have a pile of boxes that we need to bring downstairs and open up for the kids, along with train tracks to build, race tracks to set up, and movies to watch.

It might be a kickin' back kind of day. It would be great to get out and snag all kinds of after Christmas deals, but that would involve me doing my hair and putting on real pants and I'm thinking that's not really going to happen today. Yes, I do realize I already mentioned my need to go to the grocery store and I am fully aware of the predicament that puts me in regarding the whole "no real pants" concept. I'm still working that one out in my head.

For now, I'm going to enjoy a cup of coffee while the kids enjoy Curious George with their Daddy and work on those photo books. I'll change out of my PJ pants at some point. Maybe.

Hope your Christmas was amazing and you have a wonderful last week of 2011!

That reminds me. I have leftover cake. That will go beautifully with my coffee! Merry Day After Christmas!

Christmas Ramblings

2011-12-22T10:01:00.004-06:00

The big boys are outside helping Daddy shovel the driveway and playing in the snow, armed from top to bottom by their new snowsuits. Except for Isaiah. I bought him a red hat and glove set to match his new snowsuit, but when I was getting him dressed, I could only find one glove. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be busting out brand new stuff, but only find one glove? Ridiculous.

Our basement looks like this now:

Of course, a good number of those gifts will get loaded into the van to go with us when we head back to the hometown for Christmas, which means that we have to have the stockings stuffed and all the kids' gifts out and ready to open before we leave. Here's to hoping I don't forget.

Oh, and we need to make sure we bring Buddy the Elf with us. And the boys' Teach Me Time clock. And Isaiah's Leapster Explorer.

Sorry. Not sure when this blog post turned into a To Do List.

Thomas is playing with my toes right now. I'm drinking coffee. It's quiet.

How long do you think they'll stay out in the snow? :)

Off to work on photo books. Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Blessings of the season from our family to yours.

By the way, The Descendants is a terrible movie. Just thought you should know.

Merry Christmas!

Project Life Tuesday - December Week Three

2011-12-20T04:00:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!
Sunday, December 11th - Isaiah picked this puzzle out of the Treasure Chest as his prize for earning enough stickers on his bedtime reward chart. He put it together and took it apart over and over and over. Not bad for a fifty cent toy.

Monday, December 12th - I invited two of my friends over for a little girl talk time tonight and made this batch of brownies as our snack. They were good, but they were definitely the most expensive brownies I have ever made! Gluten free does not come cheap, but Auna is worth it!

Tuesday, December 13th - My sweet angel.

Wednesday, December 14th - My crazy darling.

Thursday, December 15th - As much as he hates tummy time, Thomas is starting to really improve his neck strength.

Friday, December 16th - The boys' stockings arrived and I got them hung up next to the Christmas tree. Someday I will have a mantel over a fireplace to hang them "with care," but this will do for now.

Saturday, December 17th - Evan wrapped Micah up in this blanket so well that the boy couldn't wiggle his way out! Isaiah apparently found it to be hilarious!

Really fun week! Can't wait to enjoy Christmas and to share photos with you!

Why I'm A Slacker

2011-12-19T20:33:00.000-06:00

"Mommy. Why haven't you been updating the blog recently? I disapprove." -Thomas

I know it's been quiet around here lately. Forgive me. I'm a bit swamped right now doing any number of the following things at any given moment:

Nursing
Sorting through a year's worth of photos to choose which ones to include in three different photo books
Walking around the house and bouncing a fussy three month old
Nursing
Creating the previously mentioned photo books because I gotta get those suckers finished up to Christmas so I can just slap the Christmas photos in there and get them ordered before my Groupon expires on 12/31
Trying to get Micah to nap
Nursing
Failing to get Micah to nap
Reading a ridiculously good book that is sucking up all my time because I have become physically incapable of putting it down
Nursing
Making Pretzel Hugs
Sneaking bites of cookie dough from the freezer
Getting ready for our Christmas Extravaganza!
Nursing

So, yeah. Lots of stuff. Hate to bullet point and run, but I am going to have a prayer of getting Project Life Tuesday up tomorrow, I have some photo editing to do. Catch ya later!

Best Toy Ever!!!

2011-12-14T06:30:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe it. It took months of work before we were able to give the boys this toy. It was all worth it to see their little faces light up when I presented them with one of the "5 Best Toys of All Time" according to GeekDad.

Enjoy this video of my children demonstrating how to use this incredibly versatile toy.

Aren't you so jealous? I'm sure if you really go wild with your plastic wrap or aluminum foil, you too can score one of these for your kid in time for Christmas! Hey, it's easier to come by than a Leap Pad.

Project Life Tuesday - December Week Two

2011-12-13T03:00:00.000-06:00

Sunday, December 4th - The tree is up, so it's time to get some presents wrapped and under it! I hauled up all the gifts I had ready to go and set Evan to work wrapping them. He does all the gift wrapping in our house because he's really good at it. I'm absolutely terrible. Thanks honey!

Monday, December 5th - Bath night! This is Thomas's signature look.

Tuesday, December 6th - The boys were watching Glee with us (don't worry, we're careful about which episodes we allow them to watch) and couldn't resist dancing along with New Directions at Sectionals!

Wednesday, December 7th - Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf, got into a bit of a disagreement with Rex last night and found himself in a bit of a spot this morning.

Thursday, December 8th - I'm going to have so many photos of Thomas just smiling that sweet smile of his, but I can't help it. I just love it.

Friday, December 9th - Buddy came back from the North Pole with a gift for Isaiah and Micah. They found him this morning perched on a pile of books, bearing their new copy of The Polar Express.

Saturday, December 10th - Micah was in a MOOD tonight. Big surprise, it came after a day with no nap! He was crying constantly for no reason that we could discover. Evan finally got him to hold still long enough for a cuddle, but he continued to shudder and sob the entire time.

My Project Life 2012 kit should be arriving this week! I have my page protectors already, but I'm just dying to bust open that new Cobalt Core Kit!

Christmas Card

2011-12-12T16:18:00.001-06:00

I'm pretty sure most of our Christmas cards have arrived in mailboxes now, so it's safe for me to post it on here. Consider this my "Merry Christmas!" to all of you, from our family to yours.

Yes, I realize there is a typo on my Christmas cards. No, I did not see it until after they were printed and in my hands. At that point, I just had to suck it up and send them out anyway. Don't think that wasn't difficult for me.

I sent out 60 cards this year, which is a ridiculous number for us. I never send out that many, but I got my cards at such an affordable price, I was able to order more than usual. I still found myself having to cut some people from the recipient list!

I kept our costs down by designing the card using a free template from Becky Higgins and then having them printed on Mixbook, using a Groupon I bought a while back. I was really pleased with the results!!

By the way, many of those fabulous photos were taken by my gal pal Jenn Van Wyk. Gotta give props where they are due!

P.S. Did you find the typo?

First Time for Everything

2011-12-10T20:46:00.001-06:00

It's moments like this that make me glad I have a blog. I love having an easy way to write down all these hilarious things that I can torture my children with later.

While I was in the living room nursing Thomas, this happened. Here's Evan to tell you all about it:

My poor little boy has had his first taste of manly pain. I took Isaiah and Micah in to brush teeth tonight and part of Isaiah's ritual is that he does his pre-bed business at that time as well. Tonight, he got ready and pulled the seat up with one hand. As he did, both of his feet slipped out from underneath him and he came down on the edge of the toilet. It was the money shot. The full set, right on the lip of the toilet. He caught himself before he hit the ground. Then he stood up and, after a moment, it hit him. That poor little boy. I could see it in his eyes. When I asked him where it hurt (I was pretty sure, but I wanted to get him talking to see if I could get him settled down). He said "My penis". I could only tell him that I was sorry he got hurt, and I know how he feels. 5 minutes later in the living room he was still walking gingerly and mentioned that it still hurt. Ouch buddy, been there.

What my darling husband failed to mention in that little account was the part where he had to excuse himself to come into the living room and laugh it out while Isaiah bawled his eyes out in the bathroom. He figured it probably wouldn't be cool to laugh in front of his son right after his first nut shot, so he politely retreated into my presence to get it out of his system. Classy, dear.

To top it off, this was Isaiah's prayer at bedtime:

Dear Lord,

Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Micah, and me. And Thomas Evan. Thank you for Josh and Caleb and Josh and Caleb's mom. Thank you for Grandma and Grandpa and Great Grandma and Coleen's house and bible school. Thank you to make my penis all better because that really hurt. Thank you for Garret, Sarah, and Haley. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Deck the Walls

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Even though it's not remotely Christmas-related, I wanted to share a little item we recently added to the wall of our master bedroom. I've had this print hidden away in a drawer since around the time Thomas was born, but I finally got the frame for it this past weekend when Michael's had a great sale. Yup, I will wait that long to buy a frame if the price is right. I'm psychotic.

Isn't it great?! It's a custom silhouette print I only purchased because of a voucher I got from Heartsy. I can't even tell you how much time I took starting at the little black figures she had to choose from, trying to decide which ones most accurately represented our boys.

Yes, I realize Thomas is unable to stand up yet. I figure it won't be too long before that happens so I am planning ahead. Sheesh.

Sorry about the reflections in the glass.

Here's how it looks up on the wall. I love how this print ended up accidentally matching our bedding and our bedroom perfectly. I totally didn't do that on purpose! On the other side of the bed is a collage of black & white photos of the boys' newborn photos.

Love it, love it, love it.

I wasn't paid or compensated in any way to brag about this print. I just really dig it and wanted to share it. If you want to check into getting one, check out the Le Papier Studio on Etsy.

Project Life Wednesday - December Week One

2011-12-07T14:26:00.001-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life ~~Tuesday~~ Wednesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!

Sunday, November 27th - Isaiah had a family quilt square due for preschool tomorrow, so I had to get cracking on getting it done. I painted each boy's hand and had them put their print on the paper. It worked out ok!

Monday, November 28th - Just shy of three months old. Honestly, how cute is this baby.

Tuesday, November 29th - Don't tell the American Pediatric Association, but Micah turns into a bit of a zombie when he's watching something on TV he really likes.

Wednesday, November 30th - The boys were my helpers with whipping up our first batch of Pretzel Hugs. Oh my goodness, were they ever yummy. Definitely will be making more. Lots more.

Thursday, December 1st - I was interviewed for the local news this morning and the story ran on the 6:00 news tonight. I was at work while it aired, but the kids really got a kick out of seeing Mommy and baby brother on TV! (click here to see the news story)

Friday, December 2nd - Oh, you know. Just relaxing before nap time.

Saturday, December 3rd - I just love this half smile/smirk thing he does. Just melts me.

Again, sorry for the delay this week! Hopefully I can get my act together for next week. Only a couple more weeks left of the photo-a-day format since I'm changing things up for Project Life 2012. Almost there!

I Blew It.

2011-12-06T09:13:00.001-06:00

No Project Life Tuesday today. To be perfectly honest, I completely forgot until about 11:00 last night. No photos edited, no blog post written....nada. I just totally spaced on it. I could feed you my list of excuses about our Open House, the Badger game, the Packer game, yadda yadda yadda. There really isn't a good reason I didn't get around to doing it this week.

So, keep your fingers crossed for a Project Life Wednesday this week!

But it might be Project Life Thursday. Who knows.

Bad blogger.

The Early Adventures of Buddy the Elf

2011-12-04T15:59:00.001-06:00

Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf, arrived at our house the day after Thanksgiving and has been very busy keeping an eye on the boys every day since. After the boys go to bed each night, Buddy flies back to Santa to report in on their behavior and then comes back to the house and finds a new spot to land.

This has been so much fun....for me. Have the boys whipped themselves into shape and started acting acting like little angels? No way. Are they concerned that the elf is going to rat them out to Santa if they push each other or steal their brother's lightsaber? Not a chance. But I tell you what, I have a blast finding a new place to move the elf every night. It's creative, silly, and even somewhat mischievous. I have a whole Pinterest board just for Elf on the Shelf ideas. So yeah. Isaiah comes running out every morning to try to be the first to find Buddy, but so far I think Mommy is having the most fun with the whole thing.

Here's some of Buddy's recent exploits for your enjoyment. (All photos taken with Instagram on Evan's iPhone.)

I'm saving some of my really fun ideas for a little later. Like this one:

Source: flickr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

and this one.

Source: Uploaded by user via Sarah on Pinterest

and this one.

Source: raeoflight-photography.com via Sarah on Pinterest

See what I mean? Really fun for me.

Welcome WISC-TV viewers!

2011-12-01T17:15:00.000-06:00

Hey y'all. Yup, I just busted out a y'all despite the fact that I'm born and bred here in Wisconsin. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Anyway, just wanted to say a big hello and welcome to those of you who are visiting The Arena Update for the first time after seeing our little story on WISC-TV news this evening. It was so strange to be talking to a reporter about my normal life, my kids, and this blog. Wild!

If you're looking for the post about the Craigslist scam, you can find it here. As I mentioned in the segment, I did not fall for this scammer's tricks and I wrote about it so other people could also avoid being scammed. This person has swindled people out of laptops, jewelry, cameras, and other valuable items. Do NOT let them get away with your stuff or your money!

There's lots more to explore while you're here. I split my time between being a stay at home Mommy to three young boys and a waitress, so I always have something to talk about. I blog about things like struggling to get my toddler to sleep, how we manage our finances, the Packers, making homemade baby food, adventures with my Crock Pot, and sometimes just about how being a parent is really hard and yet really amazing.

I hope you'll find something you enjoy. Thanks for being here! And just for reading this entire post, here's a random cute photo of my little Thomas, who made his TV debut today!

Oh, and for those of you who didn't see the news, here's the link to the story (with video!) on the Channel 3000 website!

Pretzel Hugs

2011-12-01T13:32:00.001-06:00

Pretzel Hugs have changed my life.

Ok, not really. But they're really, really yummy and they were super-easy to make, even with my two little "helpers" getting in on the process. If you're looking for an easy holiday treat to make with your kids or even just to snack on yourself, give these a go! I found out about Pretzel Hugs on Erin's blog; apparently they are a Christmas tradition for her and her girls!

What you need:

Pretzel Snaps
Hershey's Hugs
Green and Red M&Ms

Arrange the pretzel snaps on a baking sheet.

Enlist your "helpers" to unwrap the Hugs and place one on each pretzel snap.

Attempt (and fail) to keep your "helpers" from sneaking some of the Hugs into their mouths.

Bake in a 200 degree oven for about 7 minutes.

Once the Hugs have got a good melt going, quickly place a red and green M&M on each pretzel/Hug combo, again doing your best to keep your "helpers" from snitching the M&Ms you just sorted into a red pile and a green pile and counted to make sure you would have enough.

Pop your tray of Pretzel Hugs in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours) to get the chocolate to set. I like to munch 'em cold, straight outta the fridge, but Erin suggests letting them sit to bring them to room temperature first. Try both ways, eat them all, then make more. Enjoy!

Thomas - Three Months

2011-11-30T13:25:00.001-06:00

Where do I even begin on how wonderful this baby is? I remember back when we were discussing the possibility of having a third child and how the only thing I could come up with to say was that it really felt to me that someone was still missing. There was a key part of our family that hadn't arrived yet.

He's here now. And he's a perfect fit.

At 3 months old:

Thomas has that trademark bald(ish) head that all my babies have sported. Don't worry son, the hair will come later.
Sleeps through the night most of the time. He's taken to waking up to eat the last couple nights, but in general he is a wonderful sleeper. Usually goes down for the night around 10:00 and sleeps until 8:00. Can't get much better than that.
Ticklish! Get him in the right mood and tickle the right spot and you'll get this:

Loves to observe. Sometimes he just wants to be put down on the floor so he can watch his brothers cause a ruckus.
Still a pretty good eater, but has recently started to reject taking a bottle more often. I'm really hoping this doesn't lead to a full on regression and refusal to eat from the bottle because that could spell big trouble for us. I love that he's so into nursing, but I need him to be bottle friendly too.
His hemangioma has intensified in color and even become more raised up from the surface of his arm recently.

He hates, hates, hates having Tummy Time.
Usually takes a little cat nap in the morning, a big long snooze in the early afternoon, and then a teeny catnap again in the late afternoon/early evening. Not really on a tight schedule yet, per say, but this is definitely his pattern.
Wearing all 3-6 month clothing now. Not sure on his weight.
Eyes still have a bluish tint. Wondering if they'll turn dark soon or if they're going to stay a blue-gray. Maybe he'll end up with Daddy's eyes?
We see this face a lot:

Thomas, you are so much fun. I love to snuggle with you, talk to you, smell your head, and watch you sleep. Stay a baby for me for a while, ok? Love you, sweet pea.

Project Life Tuesday - November Week Four

2011-11-29T03:00:00.000-06:00

Sunday, November 20th - Well, I'm about 4 years behind, but I finally filled out the paperwork to get Isaiah on the waiting list for season Packers tickets. So, he might get the call that it's his turn around the time he's looking for something new to do with his free time since he retired about 10 years ago. Maybe he'll pass the tickets along to my future grandchild. Who knows!

Monday, November 21st - His face might be misleading in this photo, but I promise you that Isaiah was actually pretty excited to show me his turkey hat he made in Glory Bees this morning.

Tuesday, November 22nd - Micah got the idea in his head today that he wanted to ditch the diapers and wear undies. I went along with it for about two hours and two pairs of undies, but I put the end to that little experiment after watching him pee on himself not two minutes after I asked him if he needed to go potty. He's just not quite ready yet.

Wednesday, November 23rd - Aren't babies funny? They can sleep through anything and can also fall asleep in the strangest of positions.

Thursday, November 24th - Happy Thanksgiving! For the first time in several years, my husband's grandmother got to see all her grandkids at once for the holiday and she asked me to get a photo of all of them. Good looking crew!

Friday, November 25th - A new tradition began in our house this morning when Santa left a new book for the boys and a scout elf had taken up residence on our shelf. The boys named him Buddy and are looking forward to seeing where he moves around to every day!

Saturday, November 26th - "Brain Freeze!!!"

Thanks for stopping! :)

Meet Buddy the Elf

2011-11-25T10:29:00.001-06:00

This is Buddy. He's our elf. This morning, the boys came into the living room to find that Santa had left them a new book to read. I read their new book to them and they heard all about how Santa sends these elves to watch the kids and report back to him on their behavior. Isaiah soaked it up like a sponge and when the story was over, I pointed up to the shelf and said.....

"Wait....what's that??"

And there was our elf. Perched up on the shelf by a photo of Thomas, the jolly little guy smirked and watched over his charges with authority. Yet, there was a very important task left for the boys to do.

They had to name him.

"Isaiah, what should we name the elf?"

"Ummmm....how bout......Elf."

"No sweetie, he needs a name. What's your favorite name in the whole world?"

"Ummmmm.......Caleb."

Caleb is our neighbor's name. He's in Isaiah's preschool class and I thought that might be a bit confusing. After offering up some suggestions like Bob, George, Frank, and a multitude of other choices, the boys finally agreed on a name for their elf.

Buddy.

So, Buddy has arrived at our house. He'll watch over the kids from his spot every day, fly back to Santa at night to report in on whether they're being naughty or nice, and then assume a new spot before the boys wake up in the morning. Isaiah's already decided they're going to race to see who finds Buddy first in the morning.

Just for the record, we don't really do Santa in our family. We are careful to explain and emphasize that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. We have compared Santa to Shrek, in that he's a character. That being said, this just sounded like a really fun Christmas activity to do with our boys that I knew they'd enjoy. And if it helps their behavior as a result, so be it!!

Can't wait to share all the adventures of Buddy the Elf with you!

Does your family have an Elf on the Shelf? What have been some of your favorite Elf hiding spots?

Give Thanks

2011-11-23T13:13:00.001-06:00

Lots to be thankful for this week. Heck, I have lots to be thankful for every day. Roof over my head, jobs that put food on our table and clothes on our backs, family who love us, a God who never fails. But today as I sit in my new pajama pants and the spirit of the holiday starts to take hold, I'm particularly grateful for these crazy boys that scream through my house.

I'm thankful for this turkey.

I'm thankful for this stinker.

And I'm thankful for this goofy guy.

The idea that the Lord would choose to bless me with such beautiful children still boggles my mind a bit.

Oh, and I'm also thankful for the DVD player in the minivan. Big fan of that come tomorrow morning.

On that note, here's wishing you safe travels to wherever this Thanksgiving takes you. Here's to a Packer victory! Here's to good food, good conversation, and a whole lot of grateful hearts.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Project Life Tuesday - November Week Three

2011-11-22T07:50:00.001-06:00

Sunday, November 13th - Evan sent me this photo he took with his phone of the sitting room area in the Presidential Suite he got to stay in at his hotel in Qingdao. They had accidentally given away his room, so he got upgraded for free! Swanky stuff!

Monday, November 14th - My mom came over today to give me a some help with the boys. I got my grocery shopping done and she got some quality time with her grandsons.

Tuesday, November 15th - Today was Ashley's turn to lend a hand! I took Isaiah to his 4 year checkup while she hung out with Micah and later in the day, they roped her into some artsy fartsy time at the table.

Wednesday, November 16th - I took these photos with my cellphone and sent them via text message to Evan's phone so that they'd be the first thing he saw when he turns his phone on tomorrow upon arriving back home. I love Thomas's face in both of them!

Thursday, November 17th - Daddy is finally home!! He brought back this gift box that was given to him over in China. The fan is lovely, but that rolled up scroll underneath it is just gorgeous. It's HUGE, but gorgeous.

Friday, November 18th - The boys' new clock arrived today, and not a moment too soon. It's the Teach Me Time Clock and it acts as a nightlight and then you can set it to glow green when it's ok for them to get out of bed in the morning. I'm desperately hoping it will help with the new 5:30 am wake time they've developed since Daylight Savings Time.

Saturday, November 19th - We hosted our annual Fat Man's Thanksgiving celebration today and the boys made a great meal, as usual. What I didn't expect was what would await me when the girls and I came upstairs to start cleaning up.

We're so happy to have Evan back from his trip to China! After a really busy weekend, we're trying to get back to business as usual. Have a great week!

Day Ten

2011-11-16T22:01:00.001-06:00

Here's what I have learned after ten days of being on my own with three kids (ages 4, 2, and 11 weeks).

1. The kids miss their Daddy.

I saw a difference in the kids' behavior almost immediately after Daddy left and it became more crystal clear to me than ever that they absolutely adore him. That's not to say that they don't love me as much, but there is just something special about the relationship my sons have with their father. I can't replace that. I can try to wrestle around with them, but it's just not the same. I can't toss them around like Daddy does (my boys are HEAVY!) and my Kiss Monster just isn't quite as intense. There's just something about Daddy and you can see it in their faces and hear it in their squeals of delight when he comes in the door every day. When he's not there for an extended period of time, the whole dynamic of the house changes.

2. It's ok to accept help when it is offered.

I've never been very good at taking help when people offer and I'm even worse at asking for it. I never want to put anyone out or feel like I'm adding a burden to anyone. It wasn't until I recently that it finally clicked in my head that there are some wonderful people out there who find sincere joy in reaching out a helping hand to others. My parents, my in-laws, my friend Jodi, and a number of the girlfriends I have from church are these people. They played with my kids so I could go catch up with a friend from high school. They took care of the baby so I could take a shower. They brought me supper so I wouldn't have to cook and spoiled me with an incredible pampering gift basket. In short, these wonderful people blessed me over the last ten days, making this whole thing so much easier.

3. It is perfectly acceptable to just survive.

You might think this really wouldn't have been too much of a struggle. I mean, I spend most of my time being a stay at home mom anyway, what's a few more hours/days? It becomes difficult because Evan being gone throws off the whole balance we have and I find myself getting further and further behind on things like cleaning, laundry, cooking, and the other day-to-day things that I usually have help with. These struggles are compounded when you add in two boys who are suddenly getting up at 5:30 every morning, a two year old who still has major sleep issues, and an infant. Surviving is just fine.

4. I can totally do this.

I am perfectly capable of taking care of my three sons. It may not be easy, it may not be pretty, and it certainly isn't perfect, but I'm the one God chose to be their mama. And I can totally do this.....when I have to.

That being said, hurry home honey!!

The Bedtime Bear Award

2011-11-16T03:00:00.000-06:00

Bedtime has been difficult in this house for quite some time. There have been nights where it literally takes us hours to get our darling 2 year old, Mr. Micah John, to bed. He would get up out of bed over and over, cry to be cuddled, scream, holler, and just cause havoc in general. Unfortunately, this was dragging down the sleep of his big brother, otherwise known as his bunkmate. Poor Isaiah was left up there on the top bunk, just trying to ignore the distractions of little bro.

Anyway, if you've read my blog before, you know about the sleep trouble. You know it extends to naptime as well. You know this. It was time to try something new.

After yet another frustrating go-round Sunday night, I made something up. Right there. Spur of the moment. I created The Bedtime Bear Award. I explained to the boys that whoever stayed in bed and slept like a big boy would win the award in the morning.

Then I realized I had no idea what I was talking about.

When they were finally asleep, I turned to Google and started looking up reward charts, bedtime routines, prize ideas, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I couldn't find a reward chart I liked, so I emailed Evan and he made one up for me that came out to be just what I had in mind. So, here's how it breaks down.

The Chart

It tracks the bedtime behavior that I want the boys to work on. Every time they complete that task well, they get to put a sticker in the corresponding box on their chart. I'm charting a week at a time and if they hit 25 stickers in a week, they win The Bedtime Bear Award! Remember, I've done this for all of a couple days, so I have no clue if this will actually work. I may need to reduce it to 20 stickers or change that part up completely, but this is what we're trying out for now.

The Prizes

So what do they actually win? Here's what I did to tempt my little boogers into behaving.

I evicted my black boots from their box under my bed.

I covered it in wrapping paper. Christmas paper is all I had, so that's what I went with. I suppose it would have been cooler to use like Spiderman wrapping paper, but I didn't have that.

Then I dug in my gift stash and did a little poking around Walgreens to find some prizes to fill the "Treasure Chest."

Berenstein Bears books I already had stashed away.

Cars - $0.89 a piece at Walgreens.

A few coloring books. 2 for $1 at Walgreens.

The puzzles were also 2 for $1 at Walgreens.

The pencils were 4 for $1 at Walgreens, the metallic stickers were $1 each, and the CARS stickers on the left were buried in my junk drawer.

Yes, I even raided the boys' Halloween candy that they've forgotten about. I have no shame.

Then I tossed it all in the box and wrote "TREASURE CHEST" on the top with a big Sharpie.

I showed the boys the contents of the box and explained that they would get to pick a prize out of the Treasure Chest if they won the Bedtime Bear Award for the week by filling their chart with stickers.

Now all that remains to be seen is if it actually works. I'd like to say it magically whipped them into shape the very first night, but that's not the case. Isaiah (the 4 year old) is all about it and even thanked God in his prayers for the Bedtime Bear Award. Micah (2 years old....TROUBLE) did much better at the getting into bed, saying prayers, tucking in part, but still didn't go to sleep on his own. He got up three times in the first 20 minutes and cried himself to sleep because Mommy wouldn't lay down and cuddle with him.

To help with all this, I also ordered this clock from Barnes and Noble.

It's called the Teach Me Time clock and it glows green when it's ok for the kids to get up out of bed in the morning. My guys have been getting up at 5:30 ever since the time change and that is definitely not acceptable in my world. I hate mornings. Mornings are evil.

Apparently it also talks and helps them learn how to tell the time as well. As long as it gets them to stay in bed until 7:00, it will be worth every penny of the $36 price tag. I'll be sure to report in on the effectiveness of this little number. I can tell you that Isaiah is stoked to get it.

So, that's what's shaking when it comes to bedtime in our world. It's a whole new approach that we're very new to, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it makes a world of difference. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 1/7/12:
Bedtime has improved significantly! We used the reward chart for about 5 weeks and then kind of just forgot about it after we came back from Christmas and the boys haven't even asked about it since. They know to clean up their toys before bed, we read books, say prayers, turn out the lights, and that's it. No more fights, no more drama. They just know they are to go to sleep. And then they stay in bed until 7:00 am thanks to that miracle of a clock!! At about 7:03 every morning, they run into my bedroom yelling "Cwock Gween!!!" Love. It. Naptime is still kind of hit or miss, to be honest, but it has definitely improved.

UPDATE 1/9/12:
The reward chart I used is now available for download! My husband actually created it in Excel, but I took out the things specific to my kids, so it is more generic and ready to be adapted for your use. Download yours HERE!

Project Life Tuesday - November Week Two

2011-11-15T03:00:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!

Sunday, November 6th - First thing Micah did after getting dressed was grab his brother's brand new lightsaber and start a duel with Mommy. Grandma's already said she's going to get Micah one of his own with the sounds and lights!

Monday, November 7th - We had a significant amount of birthday cake left over after Isaiah's birthday party. With Daddy gone in China, it's up to us to finish it off. I love that my Micah John eats the frosting first. Just one of the many wonderful things about him.

Tuesday, November 8th - We spent the day at my parents' house today. That little wall has height markings for both my sister and me since we were teeny tiny and now my kids are starting to add their marks. Such a simple, but cool way to record memories.

Wednesday, November 9th - Today is Isaiah's 4th birthday!! I made him birthday pancakes this morning, he got to bring birthday treats to preschool, and then we drove into Madison to take him to the Nitty Gritty for lunch so he could really enjoy being the special birthday boy. We also got the first snow of the year today, something Isaiah says God sent him as a birthday present!

Thursday, November 10th - This is just one of Micah's mischief faces. That boy can get into trouble like no other and you can always read it all over his cute little stinker face. Just makes me want to tickle the snot out of him! :)

Friday, November 11th - I'm so in love. If he's sleeping when The Bigs are finally napping and the house is quiet, I spend several precious minutes just staring at this guy.

Saturday, November 12th - Spent the day at the in-laws' house so the boys could get in some serious playtime and Mommy could get a little break. Aunt Ashley also got some Thomas snuggle time, so it was win/win for everyone.

And thus ends our first seven days of Daddy's business trip to China. It hasn't been easy and we're all anxious for him to return, but we're surviving. There's a lot of "fake it 'till you make it!" going on around here.

Side note....I'm thinking of taking a slightly different approach to Project Life 2012. Instead of doing a photo every day like I've done for 2010 and 2011, I'm considering switching to just doing a weekly layout. Some days just have better photo potential than others and then I can easily include 5 photos from one day, but then skip the days where nothing really drew my camera's gaze. Sara does a great job of this over at Peterson Stories. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Sunday Stuff

2011-11-14T21:47:00.001-06:00

No Packers game on Sunday afternoon, so I was stuck watching the Bears vs. Lions game. I thought it would be a good contest, but it ended up being the Stafford Sucks Show. The Bears won big and that's something I can never stomach very well.

So, I opted for the next option available to me. I folded laundry. The two baskets of laundry that had been sitting there, staring at me, taunting me for the past two days. Yeah, I finally folded the stupid things.

Thomas was a big help, as you can see. What was an even bigger help was that big brothers both stayed asleep long enough to let Mommy finish.

Later, Thomas was subjected to the humiliation of Tummy Time.

He was less than amused.

Our bedtime routine Sunday night prompted me to institute a new approach to the bedtime issues we've had. On the spur of the moment, I created the "Bedtime Bear Award" and tried to bribe the boys into going to bed nicely so they could win the award.

I spent the rest of the night Googling reward charts and eventually emailed my husband in China to ask him to make a chart for me. I'll share it along with the prize system I pulled out of my butt very soon.

I'm watching the Packers beat the crap out of the Vikings. One of my favorite things to do, really. Also, I love this commercial. It makes me smile every time. Enjoy, friends.

See you tomorrow for Project Life Tuesday!

Presidential Suite

2011-11-13T22:15:00.001-06:00

We can all join in a collective jaw-dropping, breath-catching, curse-uttering moment here. The hotel Evan stayed at in Qingdao accidentally gave their rooms away, so they made amends by putting up Evan and his colleague (Joe) in the friggin' Presidential Suite.

Evan sent me these photos he took with his phone and I dang near passed out like Scarlet O'Hara with a corset pulled too tight.

It's such a shame to have to see the poor guy slummin' in like that, isn't it? Don't worry, folks. He only had to stay there one night, so he didn't have to suffer long.

Stinker.

Wishin' and Hopin'

2011-11-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

I was on the phone with one of the boys' grandmas the other morning and she reminded me that I really need to get moving on Christmas lists. I almost objected, but then realized that (holy crap!) it is indeed November already! So, enough slacking off. On with the lists!

Here comes my typical disclosure statement when it comes to these wish lists. I write these up and put them up on the blog for the benefit of those who are actually interested in gift ideas for us because they are contractually obligated to shower us with swag. If you don't know me from a hole in the ground or have no intention of spoiling my kids even worse than they already are, feel free to click on any one of the wonderful blogs I have listed on the right side of my page for more entertaining reading.

Ok. That's done.

Isaiah's List

Bike helmet (both big boys are getting one of these bikes for Christmas from Mommy and Daddy so they'll need to protect their melons!)
Cars 2 Leapster Explorer Game
A Leap Pad. This is a BIG gift, like an iPad for kids. It uses the same games as his Leapster Explorer (yay!) so there would hopefully be less fighting over that item. (Here's the case for the Leap Pad)
Books! Here are a few suggestions: Bear Feels Sick, Finn Throws a Fit, Llama Llama Home with Mama, Llama Llama Holiday Drama, If You Give a Dog a Donut, The Polar Express, Heaven is for Real (for Kids), Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
PJs or clothes (size 5T or Big Boy 4/5)
Undies (see sizes above) and socks (shoe size 10)
Preschool activity books to practice writing, letters, numbers, etc.
Life series from The Discovery Channel
Kung Fu Panda 2 or The Smurfs on DVD (Blu-Ray pack preferred)

Micah's List

Bike helmet (see above)
Leapster Explorer (Only if his big brother doesn't get a Leap Pad!)
Undies (size 3T/4T) and socks (shoe size 8W)
PJs or clothes (size 4T)
Books (see above for suggestions)
The beginnings of a Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Set. He got to play with this at our neighbor's house and just loved it! Isaiah was pretty enthralled too, so this would be a really neat thing for them to play with together.
Despicable Me on DVD
Darth Vader Electronic Helmet
Fisher Price Shake n' Go Cars 2 Race Track
Bean bag chair

Thomas's List

Activity mat
Exersaucer (This one by Kolcraft is really cute and reasonably priced at Target)
Books! Suggestions: Board books by Sandra Boynton (we have Moo! Baa! La La!, The Going to Bed Book, and Barnyard Dance already), Llama Llama Nighty Night, Where is Baby's Belly Button?
Sleepers/PJs (size 6-9 months and up)
Long sleeved onesies (size 6 month and up)
Packers/Badgers gear (size 6-9 months and up)
Plastic bibs
Scout from LeapFrog
Sleep Sheep

Sarah's List

$$ to go toward upgrading my DSLR camera.
Tripod for my camera
16 GB memory card for camera
Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy on Blu Ray, STAR WARS Original Trilogy on Blu Ray, or Harry Potter Collection on Blu Ray (Yes, I am a big nerd.)
Case for my Kindle Touch
New set of baking sheets
Cast Iron skillet
CD: 21 by Adele
New queen bedding set (Something like this would be nice), Queen sheet set to match
Gift Certificates (Kohls, JC Penney, Old Navy, Amazon, Cloud 9 Salon, Gussy Sews)

Evan's List

New glasses
Cover for Kindle
Cash for clothes or gift certificate to JC Penney
The Big Bang Theory - Season 4
Cell phone holder for car (Like Jerry Kooiman's)
Name plate for new office
iPhone/iPod speaker dock
Blu Ray DVD player (ours is somewhat....ummm...unreliable)

Well, that should be enough to keep Santa busy. :)

Teammates

2011-11-11T21:24:00.001-06:00

Oh, this week. This week has not been incredibly fun. We've made it through six full days with Daddy gone and I'd be lying if I said it's been easy. I am just really not cut out to do this single parenting thing. Hats off to those of you who do it because it is HARD.

I've yelled more this week.

We've watched more TV than we should this week.

Tonight, I took the boys up to the restaurant I work at after supper. We shared a chocolate malt AND dutch apple pie because Isaiah couldn't decide which he wanted. I never pump them THAT full of sugar, but I usually work on Friday nights and I was missing seeing my friend Jodi. Heck, I was missing seeing adults.

On the drive home, Isaiah said something that made me cry.

Isaiah: Mommy?
Me: Yes, baby?
Isaiah: You know....we really love you a lot.
Me: Awww, thanks sweetie. I really love you guys too.
Isaiah: Yeah. We love you a lot.....but you need Daddy. Daddy needs to come home 'cause you can't do it by yourself.

Can't argue with him there.

We make a good team, that hubby of mine and me. And the boy is right. I'm making it work, but I just can't be the best parent I can be without my teammate.

For Daddy

2011-11-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

Despite the fact that Evan can't view any of these cute videos we make for him because the stupid Chinese government censors all the video hosting sites, we keep making them anyway. If nothing else, I can share them with you all here on the blog and we can ooohhh and awwww together and perhaps we can collectively send some "your babies are really cute and they really miss you" vibes to Daddy over in China.

Oh, those boys. They can be little charmers when they want to be.

The View from Above

2011-11-10T20:46:00.000-06:00

Just allow me this moment to really give myself an enormous pat on the back because I am still nursing this child. Those of you who know me well are fully award that breastfeeding is so not my thing and I have really disliked it with my first two children.

This one is different, folks. I don't know if it's because he's my baby, because he's been a proficient nurser from the get-go, or if it's that while he's nursing seems to be some of the only one-on-one time I get with him, but I am (dare I say it?) actually enjoying breastfeeding Thomas.

With Micah I had to quit nursing before he hit two months old simply because I couldn't keep up with him and he was lazy on the job. I made it to about three and a half months with Isaiah. I would be thrilled if I could keep it up that long with Thomas.

But what's not to love about that view? I still wish I didn't have to whip my boob out all the time, but I guess we can't win 'em all. I still say this accomplishment earns me the right to a belt celebration.

Birthday Morning

2011-11-09T14:40:00.000-06:00

It's tough to give Daddy the update on what's happened on your birthday when there are...ummmm....distractions.

He Made Me a Mommy

2011-11-09T05:00:00.036-06:00

On November 9th, 2007 at 8:25 pm, this boy came into my life after 12 hours of labor. He was rough on me coming into this world, but he's been the absolute joy of my heart ever since.

Isaiah Robert is named after his grandfather, his mother's father. It suits him because he takes after his Mama in so many ways. This guy is a mini-me. He has my eyes, my emotional mood swings, my affinity for cuddling up in a soft blanket, my love of a good movie.

He used to be afraid of balloons, but now he's afraid of the dark.

He sleeps with Clifford the Big Red Dog and his name blanket that Aunt Maribeth gave him.

I really wish he would try some new foods without throwing a fit because I can only feed him peanut butter sandwiches, pasta, and chicken nuggets so often before I worry he'll actually turn into a chicken nugget.

Isaiah wants nothing more than to please people. He loves to be the center of attention and he will go out of his way to make sure you find him charming. Again, I have no idea where he gets this.

He is a champion sleeper. While Micah rages and screams in the room next door, Isaiah is passed out in Mommy's bed. That boy loves a good nap....yet another quality he got from me.

Although he has absolutely zero regard for lyrics or melody, Isaiah loves to sing. He loves to sing the songs he learns at Glory Bees Preschool, the ABCs, the theme song to Little Einsteins, "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen, and this little number by Luke Bryan.

Yup, not making any of that up.

I love you, kiddo. Happy 4th Birthday, Isaiah. Thanks so much for making me a Mommy.

Now please start eating your vegetables.

Project Life Tuesday - November Week One

2011-11-08T03:00:00.005-06:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!

Sunday, October 30th - Evan brought the boys to his parents' house for a visit while I was at work. Apparently, Iron Man was a closet cowboy. Who knew!

Monday, October 31st - Happy Halloween! Micah wore his brother's Spiderman costume from last year, so I had a couple superheroes on my hands!

Tuesday, November 1st - Isaiah actually has a lot of moments like this. He'll suddenly get really serious and pensive, but he rarely wants to talk about what he's thinking about so intently.

Wednesday, November 2nd - We had a much needed bath night for all three boys tonight. Now that he can hold himself up much better, Thomas enjoyed his bathtime experience much more!

Thursday, November 3rd - Today was a big day! Thomas started cooing and he also discovered how to stick out his tongue. Tell me this isn't the cutest Gene Simmons impression you've ever seen.

Friday, November 4th - Poor Thomas. Stuck between Clifford the Big Red Dog and a dog's butt.

Saturday, November 5th - We celebrated Isaiah's 4th birthday party today so Evan could enjoy it with us before he left for China.

I have to include two photos for today, because this photo of my mother and her grandson just kills me.

It should be an interesting week at our house! Thanks for checking out my photos!

Waiting Again

2011-11-06T13:22:00.000-06:00

I don't usually repost things I've already posted on the blog in the past, but today I just feel like I need to share this one again.

Waiting (originally posted March 8, 2010)

We stayed up way too late,
Knowing it would bring the morning that much sooner.
Neither of us really cared who won Best Picture.
You woke in the dark and so did I.
I pretended to be asleep.
You came in quietly to say your goodbye
and took me in your arms.
"Get home safe" is what I said.
"Please don't go" is what I meant.
I went through the motions,
hair, makeup, toothbrush, diapers, lunch packed.
Your oldest was reading a book when I went to him.
He cried and screamed when it was time to go,
asking for Daddy.
I held him in his carseat and we both cried.
He patted my back and said, "Sorry Mommy."
He said, "Bye Daddy!" when we turned onto Grand
like you were in the car in front of us.
Your sons miss you already.
And so do I, my love.
Get there safely, return to us swiftly.

I am not a food blogger.

2011-11-05T22:20:00.000-05:00

Usually my idea of "making dinner" involves boiling pasta and heating up some Prego to toss on top of it. If I feel like getting fancy, I might mix in some browned hamburger or maybe even sneak in some pureed carrots or wheat germ to convince myself that we're eating healthy.

I am not a food blogger.

My photos of food are....well.....sucky. I grab my camera, set the white balance for either incandescent or fluorescent depending on whether I'm taking the photo on the table or the counter and snap a couple shots. That's about the extent of it. I read Ree's blog and I'm in awe. Not only can that woman COOK, but she takes photos of her food and her cooking process that make my head spin. Goddess.

I am not a food blogger.

That being said, here's some yummy stuff I made recently during my recent love affair with my Crock Pot.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of family size Cream of Chicken soup, 1 regular sized can of Cream of Chicken
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1 bag of frozen peas/carrots mix
1 tube of Pillsbury (or Food Club!) buttermilk jumbo biscuits

1. Combine all ingredients except the biscuits in slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours
2. Tear biscuit dough into pieces or cut in quarters and add to chicken mixture. Stir gently. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until biscuits are fluffy.

Props to my girl Christie for hooking me up with this recipe. I thought it was yummy and my hubby loved it. Pay no never mind to what the boys thought.

They can be freaks who think that anything other than a chicken nugget is inedible. This is a good meal and it's totally worth making!

Creamy Chicken and Potatoes

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp poultry seasoning
8-10 small red potatoes with peels (I cut mine in half)
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream

Sprinkle chicken with poultry seasoning and place in sprayed slow cooker. Arrange potatoes around chicken. Combine soup, sour cream, and a good amount of black pepper in bowl. Spoon over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

This one was also really good! The chicken was tender and the potatoes cooked perfectly. It reheated really well too. Even the kids ate pretty well with this meal, but they had to dunk their chicken in ketchup because, once again, they're freaks.

And in case you're wondering about that apple crisp I had sitting next to the Crock Pot, I'll share that recipe quick too. It's from my mother in law, but it has a major flaw. Do yourself a favor and double it.

Apple Crisp

3 cups apples (I used Golden Delicious and Macintosh)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp flour
A couple good shakes of cinnamon

1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soft butter
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt

Peel, core, and chop apples. Mix with 1 tsp flour, sugar and cinnamon. Spread in bottom of buttered square pan. Crumble remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over top of the apple mixture. Bake in 375 degree oven for 35-45 minutes.

Yum. I made this two nights in a row it was so good. In case you missed it the first time I showed you this photo, here's Micah's thoughts on the apple crisp:

Remember, I am not a food blogger. This is just some good food I've managed not to ruin recently. Just as a heads up, you might want to take advantage of the sales at your grocery store coming up here and stock up on some canned pumpkin. I have a great recipe for "Jack o Lantern Pancakes" I plan on sharing with you soon!

Thomas - Two Months

2011-11-04T05:00:00.014-05:00

I love that Thomas turned 2 months old on Halloween because then I got to take his monthly photo in this cute little skeleton outfit!

Just for fun, here's how Micah looked in this same outfit at the age of 7 weeks back in 2009:

Anyway, back to Thomas. He continues to be such a wonderful baby! He has such a sweet disposition and just loves to watch his big brothers in action; he'll focus right in on them when they're getting into trouble.

At his checkup, he weighed in at 13.1 pounds (81%) and was 22.7 inches tall (40%). To be perfectly honest, we're pretty sure there was some human error at some point on the height measurement because that's been all over the place. Head circumference was 41 cm (74%).
He's getting really close to making sleeping through the night a habit. The first time was at about 7 1/2 weeks and he slept from midnight to 6:45 am. He consistently will sleep 4-5 hours at a stretch overnight now.
Thomas continues to do really well at getting himself to sleep. I wake up, nurse him, burp him, and lay him down awake. He might squirm and wiggle a bit, but he usually can manage to fall asleep on his own.
This boy is starting to get better and better at eating (sometimes 5 ounces at a time), but continues to struggle with pooping and gas. Sometimes he will go for 3 days or more without having a bowel movement. His little legs will be churning and pumping like crazy as he struggles with the tightness in his belly.
Still nursing! This is a big deal since I had quit nursing Micah already at the 2 month mark (I checked the blog to verify). We're very proud of this accomplishment!
He is really good at this whole smiling thing.

Apart from when he's gassy, he is a very quiet and calm baby. He really hasn't even graduated to cooing yet. We barely hear a peep out of him!
The mark on his right elbow has gotten significantly darker since we first noticed it a few days after his birth. It's now a very dark red and is raised slightly off the skin. At his checkup, we confirmed that it is a hemangioma and should fade on its own in a few years.
His eyes are still a bluish/gray so it's hard to tell yet what color his eyes will end up being.
No indication yet that he's planning on rolling over any time soon, but his neck is really strong!

We like him a lot.

The Daddy Effect

2011-11-03T21:39:00.001-05:00

Today was an exercise in futility. Two days before Isaiah's birthday party and I have a ton of stuff I need to do in order to get ready.

I had two baskets of laundry to fold, which I managed to complete right before naptime. I came back into the living room after putting away one basket's worth only to find that Micah had demolished all my nice piles of neatly folded laundry. I quickly re-folded the clothes with furrowed brow and tossed them in their respective drawers before shuffling the kids off to bed.

Of course, no day is complete without the usual naptime song and dance with Micah John. I kid you not when I tell you that he literally laughs in my face as I am firmly explaining to him my expectation that he will stay in bed and go to sleep. Such a stinker! The second time I came in to check on him, I found that he had yet again emptied out all the drawers and threw the clothes everywhere.

That would be the third time I had folded most of those clothes. Within an hour.

And then there was supper. I prepped a meal of Chicken & Dumplings and made it in the Crock Pot. It turned out really well and I set it out on the table. The second Isaiah set eyes on his meal, he burst into a massive fit and proceeded to sit in his chair for a solid ten minutes, bawling his eyes out. Meanwhile, Micah was happily taking bites of his meal until he caught on to what Isaiah was up to. Then he too proclaimed he was "all done" and started throwing his food. I told him twice that we don't throw food and to stop his behavior. He chucked a hunk of dumpling at me.

Guess who got a Time Out?

When he returned to the table, Micah still stubbornly refused to continue to eat anything. Then he busted out his favorite trouble-causing trick. Putting his feet on the table.

Yup, someone got another Time Out.

And Isaiah still refused to even try a bite of his supper.

Until Daddy got home. Suddenly, both boys lit up like Christmas trees. All it took was one instruction from Daddy and Isaiah ate all the chicken out of his bowl and was quickly gobbling up his share of the apple crisp dessert.

As for Micah?

He ate dang near half of Daddy's bowl of Chicken & Dumplings and then made sure he too got apple crisp.

Me? I wanted booze. I felt like I'd spent the whole day in a rocking chair. Working hard, but not getting anywhere.

At least this guy didn't jerk me around:

Wait until I show you Thomas's Gene Simmons impression. It's classic.

Oh, and did I mention I also had to wash our bedding because the dog barfed on our bed? Yeah. That too.

Grandpa's Horse

2011-11-03T05:00:00.001-05:00

"Killer" Pork Recipe

2011-11-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Evan didn't even get to enjoy this meal with us when I put it on the table because he wasn't home from work yet, but when he reheated his plate about 3 hours later his response to his first couple bites was, "Wow honey. This pork is killer!"

Win.

Country Ribs in Gravy

3 pounds country style pork ribs
1/2 cup ketchup
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 can beef broth (I used the lower sodium stuff)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Place half the sliced onion in the crock pot. Place ribs on top of onions and cover with remaining onions. Combine remaining ingredients in a jar and shake, shake, shake! Pour seasoning liquid over the ribs. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour; reduce heat to low and cook 3-4 hours longer. Remove ribs to serving platter and keep warm. Meanwhile, make a rue in a skillet on the stovetop with butter and flour to thicken the cooking liquid for gravy. Yum!!

I served this with mashed potatoes (Shhh....I used the instant Betty Crocker stuff) and steamed broccoli. The gravy was definitely the finishing touch that took this to "killer," but the pork really was great. So tender, it just fell off the bones.

Make this. Soon. The man you feed it to will thank you.

Project Life Tuesday - October Week Four

2011-11-01T03:00:00.002-05:00

Sunday, October 23rd - I found the perfect shirt for Micah on the Old Navy website in the clearance section. I think it suits him wonderfully!

Monday, October 24th - Honestly, I ask the child to smile and say cheese and this is what I get.

Tuesday, October 25th - I can't wait to tell Isaiah's homecoming date all about this little gem. Nothing says "I'm a Mom!" like having to teach your boy how to poop outside while wearing a baby on your chest. Good times. For the whole story, click here!

Wednesday, October 26th - Fortunately, Isaiah was in a much better mood to smile pretty for me today.

Thursday, October 27th - I keep trying to catch Thomas on camera in a full smile, but I always seem to be just slightly too late and all I get is this smirk.

Friday, October 28th - Evan's aunt Maribeth sent us these juice box holders because she knows I have some trouble with keeping Micah from squeezing juice all over himself. He actually took a good nap without any trouble today, so he was rewarded with a juice box when he woke up! He's still kind of groggy....

Saturday, October 29th - Out of nowhere, Isaiah suddenly got it in his head that he wanted to carve a pumpkin today. I had about a million other things to do, but we managed to work it in and the boys had a blast!

Not to be confused with last year, when Isaiah said the pumpkin was too "Icky!" for him to touch it and I ended up taking this photo:

Oh what a difference a year makes! (Photo taken October 19, 2010)

Feeling Funky

2011-10-31T14:29:00.000-05:00

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. It all started with that whole drama last week with the nasty comment and then became deep set after a regular customer at work asked I had had my baby yet since she thought I still looked the same and couldn't tell for sure.

Ouch.

Nothing boosts your self esteem like being told you still look like you're ready to give birth when your baby is about to turn 2 months old. Awesomesauce.

So, that launched a week of me being down in the dumps, crabby, and HUNGRY. I would bounce back and forth between eating practically nothing (including Evan's amazing chicken on the grill) and binging on Halloween candy. Seriously, my relationship with food sucks and when something gets in my head like this, it gets even worse.

I'm feeling a little better now and have stopped being quite so manic depressive about the whole thing. I've amped up my water consumption and tried to get my sweet tooth under control a little bit. I'm attempting to make some better choices with my food and I'm telling myself that I will lose the weight if I just give myself some time. It's just such a struggle for me. I feel like if I look at a french fry, I can feel my butt getting bigger.

I did take a big step and got myself in a photo with Thomas the other night.

That's progress, people.

Anyone else have a very love/hate relationship with food? I'm thinking about asking for a year's membership to Weight Watchers Online for Christmas. I think I'd do well with that program. Has anyone tried it? Thoughts?

Oh, and just becuase it's cute, check out this Instagram shot of some happy little nursing hands.

How is it that hands can be so cute???

Photo Fun

2011-10-30T18:14:00.000-05:00

Evan's Aunt Maribeth sent us these juice box holders just because she's awesome. I gave Micah one as a treat for taking a great nap without causing a fuss, but when I asked him to smile I got this.

But....after a little cropping and processing with The Pioneer Woman's "Seventies" action, it looks quite a bit better, even if he didn't smile!

Evan is loving his new iPhone. I am loving the Instagram app on Evan's new iPhone. I swear, the moment he sets foot in the door I am stealing that thing and snapping photo after photo with that app.

I think I might be tempted to trade in my Droid for an iPhone next year simply so I can have this app. I'm obsessed.

Pork Chops with a Side of Envy

2011-10-28T14:16:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering about yesterday's pork chops, Evan said they were awesome. He and the boys wolfed them down. Apparantly they are especially good with garlic mashed potatoes.

Not that I would know this firsthand, since my darling husband didn't even save me a taste of said "awesome" pork chops that his darling wife had made for him even though she was going to be at work and wouldn't be able to enjoy them with her family yet still decided to gift wrap a supper for them complete with broccoli already chopped up and ready to go in the steamer and a blue Post-It with specific instructions for the teeny tiny bit of prep work he had left to do to get a delicious meal on that table while I was stuck wearing pantyhose and an unflattering men's shirt and serving people coffee and eating a grilled chicken salad since I apparently still look 9 months pregnant after having a baby 8 weeks ago but who's really counting and getting upset about what that stupid customer said?

I'm sorry. Where was I?

Yeah, so apparently the chops were good. Whatever. Get the recipe here, try them yourself, and then you can be the second one to tell me how yummy they are. You're welcome.

Moving right along....

Jessica wrote an amazing post at InCourage this morning. It was the kind of post that immediately hit me right where it hurts and connected with me. She wrote about jealousy. Holy Hannah, do I struggle with jealousy.

Source: mypinkcloud.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

There is this woman who comes into the restaurant with her family every so often and she looks AMAZING when she's pregnant. No, that picture isn't of her, but it's the same kind of concept. I mean, this chick can strut in wearing 4 inch heels with her 3 year old and 2 year old in tow and she is rocking that preggo belly like it's a Prada bag. Girl looks incredible. Don't even get me started on how drop dead gorgeous she is when she isn't growing life in her midsection. See? I'm doing it again. I get so jealous of that woman every time she's in. I immediately start comparing how when I'm pregnant, I swell up like a sponge and gain a third chin versus how she looks like she's just got a basketball discretely hidden under her form fitting top that accent her still perky boobies.

Jealousy is tough stuff and Jessica's post mentioned so many of the nasty little covetous things that go through my head more often than I care to admit:

"She is skinnier than me.
Look at that outfit, she must be rich.
I wish our house would sell fast like their’s did."

I would probably also have to add things like:

Her house is always so clean. What I wouldn't give to be that on top of things.

She is a much better mom than I am. Her kids are perfect!

Why is it they get to take family vacations to all these amazing places? I wish we could afford to go somewhere half as nice.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. And you know what? If we're being totally honest here, blogging doesn't help. On many an occasion, I have felt that green fire of jealous broiling up in my gut from reading Jessica's blog. She gets to travel to so many cool places for her "real job" as well as her blog. Jealous. I can literally feel my hair curling when I read Erin's blog. She just seems so perfect, friends. She's gorgeous, thin, has an incredible house, drives a brand new Honda Odyssey Touring Edition, shops at Anthropologie, wears cute boots, and travels on shopping trips to New York City with her husband. And then there's her HAIR!!!

Again, I could go on and on. Sure, blogging is a great way to vent, to share ideas, to journal, and to connect with others. It's also a dangerous gateway to Jealousy Land. Pinterest can do this to ya too, if you're not careful!

In the meantime, I'm going to go shuffle through my cluttered house (that's messy because we're blessed to have a home and stuff to put in it) and throw in a load of laundry (in the washer and dryer I'm blessed to own) since I've worn the same shirt for three days in a row now (since I'm blessed to have several more items of clothing I can wear in the meantime) and get ready for work (because I'm blessed to have a job that's flexible enough to still let me be a full-time mom to these crazy kids).

Jealous?

Just Another Day in Paradise

2011-10-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

When Evan arrived home last night to an assembled plate of food straight out of the Crock Pot, he couldn't help but ask me, "What's with being all Suzy Homemaker lately?" I can't say I blame him for wondering what had been slipped in the Kool-Aid. I'm hardly much of a domestic goddess by any stretch of the imagination, but I blame Pinterest and Crock Pot Girls for inspiring me to take at least a teeny step in the direction of attempting more for meals than chicken nuggets or pasta.

So, here's what's in the Crock Pot today. I won't even be home tonight to enjoy it with the boys since I'll be at work, but hopefully they like it!

Pork Chops with Tangy Gravy

4 – 6 pork chops (can still be frozen)
sliced yellow onion
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 packet brown gravy mix
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

Lay the onion on the bottom of the crock pot and put your pork chops on top. Mix everything else up in a jar (I have one with a lid that I fill and shake!) and pour it over. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours. The onions will be caramelized and the pork chops will be tender. Serve over rice or with mashed potatoes.

I can tell you that this little beauty is already smelling yummy in the kitchen! I only have two chops in there because only The Bigs and Evan will be eating this tonight. I've got two boneless chops ready to go for another recipe tomorrow!

After I got the Crock Pot running, the boys goofed off, played with Play-Doh, and chased each other around the table while I made lunch.

They also tried to get Thomas to smile.

Once again, he was too quick for me to catch the full smile, but I managed to snap a shot of the smirk at least.

After The Bigs were sitting at the table enjoying their lunch, I couldn't help but get a little mushy about the moment. I had our Veggie Tales station playing on Pandora and the song was a kid praise version of "How Great is Our God." Looking at my kids and hearing that song just made me so grateful for my little stinkers.

I'm going to try to keep up my little Suzy Homemaker routine for tomorrow with another pork chop Crock Pot recipe which I'll try to share on here. This weekend, I'm hoping to attempt a double batch of these pumpkin Rice Krispy treats so I can lure my neighbors over to hang out with me. They're even gluten free so I can really tempt Auna!

Source: homestoriesatoz.com via Sarah on Pinterest

If they turn out to not be too difficult, I'm going to try to make a batch for Isaiah's preschool class as a Halloween treat. Wish me luck!

I hope you're having a wonderful Thursday!

Hamburger, Squats, and Skunks

2011-10-26T20:33:00.001-05:00

I had an appointment last week to get a Mirena IUD. Of course, since I'm the stay at home Mommy of three under the age of four, my brood came with me. We occupied The Bigs with tape measures and gave them strict instructions to stay up by Mommy's head. At a moment where a speculum was being used in conjunction with some kind of torture apparatus on my cervix, I couldn't help but wince a bit. Isaiah grabbed my hand and lovingly stroked it while gently reassuring me, "It's ok Mommy. It's just a piece of hamburger."

Laughing hurts like a son of a gun during a pelvic procedure. Just so ya know.

I took the kids to the park yesterday afternoon. Despite the gorgeous weather of the morning, the afternoon took a blustery turn. We had literally just arrived and the boys had run to the play set with gusto. I was still standing by the open minivan door and had just finished getting Thomas strapped into the Ergo when Isaiah came toward me with a look of sheer panic on his face.

"Mommy!! I need to go poop!!!"

The bathrooms were locked. I was left with no choice but to teach my oldest how to cop a squat and take a dump outside. And I managed to accomplish this feet with a baby strapped to my chest and a two year old standing next to me, just dying to know what his big brother was up to.

I tweeted this little gem under the hashtag #MomWin. I plan to tell this story when I meet his first homecoming date.

I found the perfect T-shirt for Micah. Thank you Old Navy. The fact that it was on clearance for $3 meant that it was really meant to be.

How's your week going?

Project Life Tuesday - October Week Three

2011-10-25T05:00:00.001-05:00

Sunday, October 16th - He likes to work on his tough face sometimes. It will serve him well when he's giving the lineman across the line of scrimmage this look through his facemask.

Monday, October 17th - Somewhere in the middle of a nearly three hour bedtime battle last night, Micah turned suddenly and ran smack into the bedpost and split his eyebrow open. It really wasn't bad at all (no stitches needed), so we slapped a Band-Aid on it and continued to try to get him to go to bed. All day today, he kept pointing at it and saying, "Owie. I hit bed."

Tuesday, October 18th - I busted out the art bin for some serious mess making time. I taught Isaiah how to use a scissors (the kid kind of course) and attempted to show Micah how to glue pictures onto paper.

Wednesday, October 19th - What can I even say about this photo? I'm so ridiculously in love. (Thomas - 7 weeks old)

Thursday, October 20th - I was this close to catching his massive grin on camera, but ended up being a split second too late to capture it. This is still pretty good though.

Friday, October 21st - Speaking of being madly in love, this photo just makes my heart go pitter pat. God is good.

Saturday, October 22nd - What? You mean you don't set the table shirtless? You're missing out, man.

Just another crazy week, folks!

Brothers

2011-10-24T14:23:00.000-05:00

If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.

Lemons to Lemonade

2011-10-21T12:30:00.002-05:00

I've started typing this post, then erased it and started over again probably three or four times now. There's so much I want to say, but trying to figure out the best way to make sense of the jumbled thoughts in my head right now is proving to be more difficult than my sleep deprived "I have a 7 week old baby" brain can handle. So, I'm just going to roll with it.

First and foremost, I am extremely humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of supportive and amazing comments I have received in the last couple days. Comments on the blog, Facebook, Twitter, and emails have been pouring into my inbox and each and every one has touched my heart. I heard from family members, friends from high school and college, former co-workers, people I know only in the "online world," and even from total strangers. It's been incredible.

It's so easy to feel lost.

One of the reasons I chose to share the tough moments of raising my boys here on the blog was so that if other mothers were experiencing similar struggles, she would know that she isn't alone in that battle. Unfortunately, I still felt somewhat alone in my battle and my negative self-talk was starting to get to me. The voices in my head were telling me, "You're a bad mother. If you can't control that boy at 2 years old, what's it going to be like at 12? You'd better get it together or you're going to ruin that poor boy forever!" Nice, huh? When that comment showed up on the blog, Suesie333 really didn't say anything that the negative voices in my brain hadn't already whispered in my ear time and time again.

This just in folks. God knows what he's doing.

After my initial meltdown after reading the words that pierced my heart like a dagger, reading the outpouring of loving word from so many people was exactly what I needed. If ever I felt alone in my struggle with a tough toddler, I didn't anymore. In fact, those of you who commented that you appreciated reading about the difficult times as well as the good will also benefit from reading a few of these gems. I want to share some excerpts from the messages I've received with you in the hopes that you find them as uplifting and encouraging as I did.

We all have frustrations and difficulties. The easy thing to do is ignore them, or hope that they go away. Then they just fester and eat away at us from the inside. What takes courage is sharing our struggles, reaching out for help, showing our own weaknesses in the hope of moving forward.

I could have written that post on more than occasion about Willem. He was and still is a very strong-willed child- just more, more demanding, more willful, when he laughs, he laughs louder, when he screams it is like fingernails down a chalkboard. He is by far the most challenging to me on many levels. I can offer you hope. He is getting better. Part of it is age, but he will also ALWAYS be all of these things. And I, too, have wanted a fourth child but thought, "How on earth would I handle it when having Willem is actually like having two or three with just him- and what if I got another super spirited child? It doesn't mean I don't love him to pieces...

I think ALL moms have those days (or even weeks) whether or not they are willing to admit it or not. Being a parent is TOUGH! There is no instruction manual. Each child is different, so what worked for one will not necessarily work for another.

In mom's groups this is the kind of stuff we talk and vent about. It is better than throwing poor little Micah out the window!! I had the urge a few times when Oliver was little. He was the same way...still has it occasionally when tired. Just remember it gets better. Nursing was the worst. He learned that while I was nursing he could do whatever he wanted. Oh that year was really tough. I used to put the back of Thane's nuk in my mouth and bite on it. I think it was the only way to not totally lose my temper.

I was so stressed by my 2 and 3 year old that I actually couldn't wait to go to work most days. Not sure if you'd remember that or not, but I felt like all I did all day, every day was holler at them. Your blogging about your frustrations is healthy and therapeutic for you. And honestly, you're probably voicing what so many parents of toddlers are thinking. I know I've been there, and would never judge another parent being frustrated about the behavior of their child.

And that isn't even close to all of them, people. Mamas coming out of the woodwork to share their stories of frustrations and difficulties! This is a tough, tough job and we are definitely in it together. I had gotten so caught up in convincing myself I was failing that I completely forgot that I'm not the first woman on the planet to deal with a strong-willed little stinker!

Second, I also received a lot of feedback on the idea of making the blog private. My husband is 100% against it since it has introduced me to so many wonderful friends and that I continue to receive a couple emails every month from people who nearly fell victim to a Craigslist scam if not for my blog post. Since we wives never tend to listen to our husband's opinion as the be all end all, I still wasn't convinced. Once again, it took some wonderful emails from friends like Marissa, family members like Maribeth, and complete strangers like Sandra to convince me otherwise.

Ok, you win. We'll stay public. :)

Lastly, and most important, I want to ask you to take a moment and say a prayer for the person who left the original comment that started this whole drama. I don't know Suesie333. I have no idea where she lives or what her story is. It could very well be that this woman has struggled with infertility for years and years and would love nothing more than to have a child of her own, but is unable to. Or perhaps she is in the process of adopting a child. Or maybe she lost a child. It could be that she was raised in a home where she was that tough to handle kid who heard a lot of screaming from her parents out of anger. Whatever her story, what she saw was this young mom with three kids complaining on a blog about how terrible her two year old is. She saw that boy's cute face (because let's face it, Micah is pretty darn cute) and just got too upset not to leave a comment. So please join me in sending up a prayer of love for Suesie333. I pray that whatever is troubling her, whatever hurt has been done to her that caused her to lash out at a stranger, would be eased by the peace of our Father. And despite what my husband said in his protective alpha-male moment, I say she's welcome to stop back again soon and know that there was a community of people with a prayer on their lips....just for her.

And we'll talk again soon. I promise.

I can't wait to tell you all what Isaiah said while we were in the clinic for my appointment to get an IUD put in. Everything is funnier when you're in stirrups and there's a clamp on your cervix. Trust me.

Until then.

Because I Love Him

2011-10-20T03:00:00.002-05:00

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't care if he took a nap. But I do, and I know that his body needs rest.

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't insist that he clean up after the messes he makes. But I do, and I want him to learn to respect his surroundings.

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't give him Time Outs when he misbehaves. But I do, and I want him to learn that his actions have consequences.

If I didn't love him so much.....I woudn't respond when he has tantrums and acts out. But I do, and I want him to know how to treat others with love.

If I didn't love him so much....I wouldn't care that he acts defiant and refuses to listen. But I do, and I want him to grow up to respect his parents.

If I didn't love him so much....I would give him everything he wants. But I do, and I want him to appreciate the gifts he has.

If I didn't love Micah so incredibly much, I wouldn't have the frustrations that have plagued me as of late. Babysitting is easy, but parenting is HARD. I'm not here to bend to his every whim. I'm here to raise a boy into a man. I'm here to be a parent.

And I make no apologies for that.

Getting Real

2011-10-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I forget that there is no sarcasm font I can engage on my keyboard. I forget that everything I post here on the blog or on Twitter is out there for anyone and everyone to see....and to make opinions about. I originally started this blog as a way to keep our family updated on the cute things Isaiah was doing, when he was busting out new teeth, or trying to graduate from scooting to crawling. It worked very well for that purpose. Over time, it evolved into more of a platform for a wider variety of topics. I wrote about my kids mostly, but also about faith, shopping, relationships, and opinions. I've tried to keep it real and show both the fun and the frustrating, the triumphs and the trials.

I met some of my most amazing friends through this blog. My neighbor from 4 houses down on my street had never met me until she stumbled across my blog and contacted me. Now I would call her one of my closest friends and through her I have met a network of other amazing moms that have welcomed me into their fold with open arms. Through that connection, we found new friends and a preschool for Isaiah and a church family we were so painfully missing. Without the blog, this would have never happened.

What I forgot was that writing about my experiences and opinions implicitly invites others to share theirs. Usually these are very positive and helpful, creating a network of mutual support. Every so often, there is an outlier. When one of these comments arrived on my blog tonight, I was totally blind-sighted.  I felt like I'd been kicked in the the gut. It hurt so much to think that the things I had written or Tweeted made it sound like I don't love my kids or that I can't handle them. Have I been struggling lately? Yes. Is Micah proving to be a challenge unlike anything Isaiah ever presented at this age? Absolutely.

But let me make one thing perfectly clear once and for all.

I love my children.  ALL of my children. And anyone who suggests that a single one of those boys would be better off being adopted by someone else or that I am unfit to be a parent to them clearly doesn't know me or my kids.

And after I sobbed, shuddered, and choked on my tears for about 30 minutes after reading the comment, I realized that perhaps I don't need to share every single detail about everything with everyone. Maybe I shouldn't have felt the need to write about the difficult side of parenting. Perhaps I should have stuck to posting cute photos of faces smeared with baby food, the news of new teeth, and excitement over first words.

Or maybe I should just make the blog private from here on out. Because if there's one thing I've never been very good at, it's swallowing that someone thinks that way about me. Even if I don't even know who that person is.

So here's the heads up. If you've read this entire post, it probably means that you're either related to me or a friend who has seen me without any makeup and wearing my husband's UW-Platteville sweatshirt.  If you fall into one of those categories, not much will change. After the blog goes private, you'll have to request an invite to view it with an email address. I'll continue to post, you'll continue to read as you see fit. If you'd rather not stick around, I understand. I can guarantee that one Suesie333 probably won't want to keep reading and that's just fine. As much as I welcome comments on the stuff I write, I can't pretend that reading this particular one didn't affect me deeply. I apologize to Suesie333 if I made it seem like I think Micah is horrible. I've been madly in love with him since the first time he locked in on me with those blue eyes. I want you to know that I cried and cried....and then wrote this. Thank you for making me realize that my words have consequences, but I didn't realize it would be such a harsh lesson.

This Child is Driving Me Crazy

2011-10-19T10:14:00.005-05:00

My poor cuticles and lips tell the story - Mommy is stressed. I've been gnawing on them pretty much constantly in between hollering things like

Micah! Do NOT lick the patio door!

and

BOYS!!! Mommy just wants to go potty BY HERSELF for ONCE!!!

and

That's it! TIME OUT!

I know I keep writing about how frustrating it has been to parent Micah lately. I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record and you're probably really starting to get sick of hearing me complain. But believe me when I say that my frustrations with him are literally dominating my entire day.

He usually starts his day with a good dose of screaming and crying in the hallway for no particular reason. This morning, this step lasted for about 12 solid minutes.

A couple nights ago, it took 3 HOURS to put him to bed at night. Over and over, he got up out of bed, flipped on the light, and caused trouble. We'd go in, turn the light off, and put him back to bed. I'd be lying if I said we were able to resist the urge to do some serious hollering. Somewhere in the second hour of that torture, I tried to bring him out of the room since I didn't want his ear piercing screams to wake up his big brother on the top bunk....again. Unfortunately, he turned and ran smack into the bedpost and split his eyebrow open.

Lovely.

The light switch is now taped down with Scotch tape.

The new trick he's learned is to tell us that he needs to go poop on the potty. Then we sit in the bathroom for the next 15 minutes while he makes goofy faces and screws around on the toilet and avoids going to bed...or poop. We did that twice yesterday when it was supposed to be naptime before I finally had enough. I put him back in his bed repeatedly until my lip was bleeding from all the stress-induced chewing. Three hours later, I just accepted he wasn't going to nap and opened the door to let him out.

And found this:

Every single drawer was emptied. This is why we had to move Isaiah into my bed for naptime. After getting yet another Time Out for this latest stunt, I set the kids up at the kitchen table to color while I nursed Thomas.

Not five minutes later, Isaiah comes in and tells me "Micah's coloring on the floor."

After another Time Out, I gave Micah the Magic Eraser and put him to work cleaning it up. I then made the mistake of going to the bathroom for a couple minutes. When I emerged, Micah had gone into the second bathroom and emptied the entire toilet paper roll.

He hits his brother. Paints on his arms. Colors on the table with marker. Colors on the TV with crayons. Says the word "No" like he's trying to make sure it isn't eliminated from the English language.

Just before bedtime last night, I was nursing Thomas and Micah suddenly chucked his plastic toy camera directly into his baby brother's head.

He went to Time Out AGAIN, came back and said he was sorry, then sat on his Daddy's lap for about 3 minutes.....and then threw his toy dinosaur at his baby brother's head.

Micah was actually ~~kicked out of~~ gently asked to leave the toddler room at church.

I'm afraid to cut his hair too close to his head out of fear that I'll find a birthmark in the shape of a "666."

The Omen? Anyone? (Relax.....it's a joke.)

Nothing we're doing is working. Time Out after another doesn't phase him. As I've confessed before, we've even swatted him good and hard on the backside more than just a couple times. He's defiant. He looks you right in the face as he ignores what you're telling him to do.

My child is a little stinker.

And I don't know how to fix it. I know it's probably just a phase he's going through - heck, it's not called the "Terrible Twos" for nothing, but he's really pushing the limits.

It's stressing me out more than I can even describe. I feel like a failure. We can't even take Micah out in public anymore. We can't go out to eat if he's with us and grocery shopping with him has turned into a nightmare. I give him the opportunity to walk with us like a big boy, but it only took about 5 minutes of freedom on Monday before I caught him throwing tomatoes and avocados on the floor. I gave him one more chance to listen to me and be good, but he moved right along to tossing a bunch of bananas at me. He was confined to the cart for the rest of the trip and I was that mom - with a screaming toddler in the cart, a baby up front, and all her groceries crammed on the bottom rack of the cart to keep the toddler from pummeling them with his constant kicks.

More than ever, I'm realizing Evan has been right all along. Having a fourth child would be a BAD idea. I feel like I can't even manage the three I have.

Project Life Tuesday - October Week Two

2011-10-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2011 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their projects over at The Mom Creative!

Sunday, October 9th - Isaiah just loves his baby brother. I chase him around all day long trying to keep him from pulling his fingers off or smothering him. He means well though, as we can certainly see in this look he's giving me.

Monday, October 10th - When I'm not protecting Thomas from his big brothers, they're usually doing something like this. Micah is getting pretty good at tackling his older brother.

Tuesday, October 11th - It was kind of dreary and rainy today so I busted out the art tub. My little artists painted me some lovely masterpieces, but an impromptu bath was definitely in order afterwards since Micah insisted on painting himself as well as his paper.

Wednesday, October 12th - Evan finally got to ditch his old phone that wored about as well as a paperweight and upgrades to an iPhone. As you can see by the smug look on his face, he's pretty psyched to have entered the world of The Smartphone. I immediately borrowed it and downloaded Instagram.

Thursday, October 13th - My college friend Marissa sent me this Washpod and Thomas gave it a whirl for the first time today. It's definitely going to take some getting used to bathing him in something so unique, but I think overall he liked it! (Please excuse my alien arm in the photo.)

Friday, October 14th - Ummm, so yeah. I think we're potty training? Out of the blue, Micah asked to go poop on the potty and he achieved success on the first try. Only time will tell if it's a fluke or if he's really ready to ditch the diapers.

Saturday, October 15th - Isaiah found this styrofoam skull in the woodchips by the playset and became immediately attached to it for some reason. He carried it around all day, made it talk, and named it "Frank."

Have a wonderful week!