25 Random Things About 28 Year Old Me

1. I have three gorgeous children who light up my life, one handsome husband who is my soul mate, and one dog who I like 80% of the time.

2. I still wear flats most of the time, but it is probably around 80% of the time now rather than 98% like last year.

3. I multi-task all day long. I'm very productive this way as it meshes well with my short attention span.

4. I start every morning with big gulps of a warm (not hot) cup of coffee. I'm angry at everything and everyone until I have done this. It's irrational anger but I can deal with it...for 10 minutes.

5. My favorite movie is still the 6 hour long 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice. Neil just got it for me as a birthday present...or should I say I bought it and told him it could be part of his gift to me. He is such a thoughtful gift-giver.

6. 10 years ago I never thought I would love this town as much as I do now. Big city opportunities with a small town feel. Perfect for me.

7. I think I have my shopping under control. Two mortgages will do that to you. But I still get the urge whenever I am under a lot of stress.

8. I started by own business this past year on a day that I was feeling overly confident due to a good hair day. Risky - yes. Good decision- absolutely.

9. I often miss the poor lighting of my old bathroom. I looked younger, less tired, and needed less make-up in that mirror.

10. My computer desk is always a mess. This is due to the multi-tasking that takes place in this part of our home. It drives Neil crazy.

11. When I need a break I read celeb gossip magazines while drinking coffee and eating chocolate. I justify this by pointing out there are far worse vices in the world.

12. Low-fat still tastes bad to me. When people point out that they used low fat stuff and then add "you can't even tell," I have to bite my tongue to not shout 'Wrong!' I can always tell.

13. I dislike the #13. The TV volume has to be either at 12 or 14, never 13.

14. I have a headache about half of the time I am awake. Thank you genetics. I chase it away with what Neil calls my 'morning cocktail' of tylenol and coffee. I often wonder what this is doing to my organs.

15. I could hug my children all day long. They give the best hugs. All three.

16. I'm tired by 9pm but rarely go to sleep before 11:30pm. Darn you Jimmy Fallon for being so hilarious.

17. I am on a constant quest to find the perfect bathing suit. So far I have yet to find one that makes me look like I did when I was 20.

19. I can forgive but can not forget. I've made peace with this aspect of my personality.

20. I almost always have all three kids with me...grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, quick errands, school pick-up, etc. Baby in my left arm, Lana holding my right hand and Landen holding her hand; this is how we take on the world. I count my lucky stars that they are so well behaved.

21. I would like to learn how to ballroom dance. I plan on making Neil take classes with me when the kids decide we are not cool to hang out with anymore.

22. I'm a pretty private/guarded person.

23. I try everyday to be a better mom to my children. They deserve me at my best.

24. I have transitioned from a stay-at-home mom to a work-from-home mom. I'm so lucky to be able to be with my babies all day (which I love) while earning some extra building a business I love.

25. Every day I feel incredibly blessed to have such a happy and love-filled life. I just couldn't ask for more (except maybe a little bit more sleep). ;)

Another year older. Life is good.

"From me. To you." The Beatles

New House! (The top half)

Here it is! I guess I should really say here it is now. As soon as we are back down to only one mortgage the color will become a slightly different neutral and those green shutters and garage door will be changed to a different, but still undecided, color.
Here is the entry-way before (get a load of that light fixture!)...
And here it is now...

Living room before...
With two of these in it...
And here is the living room now (new, much prettier ceiling fans). Still in need of window treatment and wall decor...
Dining room before (complete with 1960's style light fixture)...
And after...still in need of some artwork and window treatments. I can visualize both but have yet to find them in stores. The computer desk has also been relocated to the lower level.
Pass-through window to kitchen and kitchen which we didn't do much to other than add our things and a newer and better smelling refrigerator. It still needs window treatments, a rolling island we have been shopping around for, and a back splash.
Hallway to the bedrooms with new light fixture and paint...looks almost the same as before.

Babies room before...

And after (just about done)...



Big kids' room before...

And after (in need of window treatments and some more wall decor to be put up)...


Our room before...

And after...


Upstairs bathroom (kept the paint, added our things)...

And the biggest change is all of the hardwood floors. They were in really bad shape. Here's just a taste...

Neil worked long long long days and refinished them himself, saving us about $3000, which is what the lowest estimate we got. Look how pretty they are now...

And that's the upstairs! We still need to put in lots of baseboard trim and add some final touches here and there but we are settled and love our new home!

The downstairs is a work-in-progress and I hope to add pictures soon!

"Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be..." The Beatles

Lucky Charms

These were from last month, and as you can guess, St. Patrick's Day. They are too cute not to share, plus they are a reminder of how lucky I am.

Covered in his babies on his birthday!
"People tell me I'm lucky." The Beatles

And I'm Back...

But you're probably wondering where I've been. Well, briefly, I've been:

Raising gorgeous children

Cleaning

Organizing

Packing

Buying a new house

Painting

Writing

Publishing

Moving

More Organizing

Decorating

Returning Emails and Phone Calls

Dealing with one child's hearing problems

Dealing with another child's eczema and food allergies

Being thankful the third child is healthy

Praying

Enjoying what Macaroni Kid has brought to my life

Volunteering

Scoring thousands of test problems

And taking life a day at a time with Neil at my side.

It has been a really busy few months for us. And I know everyone is busy but we take it to a new level. Really we do. But we are here and we doing well and most importantly, we are happy. And blessed. Really really blessed.

I hope to make time to update more often. I have loads to tell you all about. And I have tons of pictures to share too! Check back, because I'm back.

"Get back to where you once belonged." The Beatles

Leya's First Ever Birthday!

One year ago today we were blessed with the birth of our littlest Sweet Love, Leya.

Dearest Leya,

You are a complete joy and I count my lucky stars every day to be your mommy. At just one year old your dainty little self is full of personality. You are the most curious of the bunch. You are constantly investigating every nook and cranny of our house. And mischief follows you. You get into things that your brother and sister never thought to do. I want to list them here so I never forget your silly shenanigans:

1. You love to play in the houseplants, grabbing handfuls of dirt to sprinkle around and sometimes even taste if we turn our backs on you for longer than a second.
2. You also find the bathroom to be the most fascinating room in the house and can't understand why we won't allow you to splash your little hands in the 'pool.'
3. You love your toys, especially right after I've put them away, and food tastes so much better when it is on your brother or sister's plates.
4. The stairs are your Everest that you are determined to climb.
5. You are certain that tupperware lids and pot lids are better kept in the family room.
6. You love to color with markers...on your face and shirt.
7. And I'm pretty sure you'd feel right at home with a nudist colony.

Your daddy thinks you would have been better named 'Chievious' so we could call you Little Miss Chievious. :)

When you aren't trying to figure out the world around you through hands-in exploration, you are so super sweet. You have a beloved (filthy) blanket known as Stinky Binky that is your security object. You hug it and hold it close, especially when it is time to sleep, and your eyes light up when you catch sight of it when you haven't seen it in a little while. For your birthday I was determined to find you the perfect first baby doll. I think I succeeded. Seeing you wrap your arms tightly around her in a hug brings me so much peace. I know babies learn from example and I'm so glad to see you have learned how to love, and you are such a good mama to your baby doll. You are very affectionate. When someone familiar picks you up, your wrap your arms around them in a tight hug and nestle into their neck/shoulder or chest. You are a cuddle-bug! You give big open-mouthed kisses but only when you feel like it, which lucky for us is pretty often. Your love your brother and sister to the moon and they love you right on back.

You are an animal lover as well. You say dada and this sometimes refers to our dog. You follow her around and go into giggle fits when she lets you touch her. You have a love/hate relationship with our hamster. You cry and cry for us to either hold you in front of her cage or have us put her cage on the coffee table so you can watch her. Then you squeal and giggle in delight...until you decide holding her would be far more fun and them scream and bang on her cage. It doesn't get any better from here.

You have been self-weaning for a few months now and we are down to nursing mainly before bed time. You really liked having a bottle of formula to carry around with you and today we began the switch to whole milk. You do great with it. You still wake up once or twice a night, nurse for 5 minutes and go right back down.

You are a fabulous eater. Seriously you eat with such gusto that we have a hard time keeping up with you. I'm usually the last one done eating since I am so busy cutting up your bites for you. You now reject baby food and eat whatever we are eating, unless it has eggs in it. Then you get our go-to Velveeta Shells and Cheese or an egg-free Gerber Graduate meal. As far as we know, you are still allergic to eggs. But I pray everyday that you will outgrow it soon. We are actually waiting for some test results right now that will tell us more about your egg yolk allergy. Fingers crossed and prayers up. If I put the food on a fork for you, you will feed yourself with it. Yes, I believe you are gifted.

You are still a dainty little flower, weighing in at 14 lbs 10 oz and 27 inches long. Just like your sister, you are no where near the chart but keeping to your own growth curve. You are a healthy little thing too! Always bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready for the day.

You have 5 teeth and are working hard on getting number 6.

You love your shoes, bring them to us to put on you and often chew on them (yes, sometimes when they are still on your feet). You like to brush your own hair and if you know a bow is in your hair will take it out immediately. I have to immediately distract you after fixing your hair so you will leave the bows alone.

You took your first steps 9 days before your birthday! You love walking and are getting really good at it. You are still wobbly and most often have your hands out in front of you or above your head trying to hold your balance but you are learning fast.

We love you so much sweet baby Leya. Happy First Ever Birthday!
"She's happy as can be..." The Beatles

Sequence of Events

This is the true story of a day in my life:

Baby is fussy.

Pick her up and walk her around house on my hip.

Baby projectile vomits in the hallway.

All over the red rug.

All over my one of my boots.

And all over herself.

I go in the kitchen to get a towel.

Baby throws up more all over floor.

I set wipe her down and clean up the kitchen floor so no one slips and falls on baby vomit.

I take her in living room.

Strip her down to her onesie and sit her on the floor.

Find Lana sitting on the heater vent in hallway rubbing red rug with her hand.

Hear her say "Mommy the carpet is wet."

Pick Lana up and wash her hands.

Baby is crying.

Pick her up and set her in front of toys.

Scrub red rug.

Take baby up for bath.

Set her in her room to get towels.

Smell something foul.

Think she must of pooped.

See it.

Yes, poop.

All over her leg.

Her foot.

And the rug.

Pick up baby and set her bathtub still dressed in onesie.

Meet kids at the door of her room and caution them to stay out.

Because now I see poop everywhere.

On blankets.

On toys.

On rug.

Pick up baby and get clothes and diaper off.

Run bath.

Hold baby bum under running water.

Rinse her well.

Set her back down in tub.

Naked this time.

Run bath and give her toys.

Throw poop things in sink or laundry pile.

Begin scrubbing rug.

See baby fussing from where I'm scrubbing.

Step closer to her to console her.

See poop floating all around her.

Think about running away from home.

Sum up courage and stick hand in poo water to open drain.

Pick up baby while tub drains and use one hand to rinse her with a cup.

When tub is drained, quick bath to baby to get poop off.

Clean baby goes in crib.

She yells while I scrub the rug.

Rug clean to satisfaction.

Dress baby.

Look at clock.

It is 8:57 A.M.

Think it is going to be a long day.

Head downstairs.

Discover dog drank my coffee.

Cry.

Think about running away.

Put on some big girl panties.

Make new cup of coffee.

Fix breakfast for the kids.

Sit with coffee.

And write "Sequence of events" email to husband.

Because sometimes you have to see the humor through all the poop.

Later that day Neil came home from work with a pizza and instructions for me to grab a book, head to a massage appointment (that he secretly scheduled and surprised me with), and have dinner at the restaurant of my choice with only my book to keep me company! Horay for eating a meal with no one touching me! He also told me to not come home until I was sure the children were in bed. Have I mentioned lately how much I love him?

"So go away and leave me alone, don't bother me." The Beatles

So Much Snow

Wow we are getting a ton of snow right now. As much as I dislike winter, I'm kind of glad to see the snow back again. Landen had been very worried that he wouldn't get the chance to go sledding or have a snowball fight again until next year.

These pictures are from the last big snowfall. I know, what a bad blogger. No worries thought, one of my New Year's Goals (not resolution...if you follow my Macaroni Kid work you know what I'm talking about) is to be better about keeping this blog up. If not I will surely regret it one day.

Here goes some winter fun...starting with getting bundled up!











And what happens after playing outside...

"Listen, the snow is falling over town. Listen, the snow is falling everywhere." John Lennon (of The Beatles...as if there were any other.)