Confessions of a Tired Mommy....

It has been a long week and all signs are pointing to an ever longer weekend. So let's just get right to it....

 

1. Every Friday during nap time, I watch a Police Women of (fill in the city of the day) marathon. I love this show. People out there are so dumb. Seriously.

 

2. Speaking of, I have become obsessed with the OWN channel and the Weather channel. There are some awesome shows out there. Police Women comes on OWN, Ice Pilots comes on Weather. Are they stupid? Yes. Are they totally addicting? Yes. Do I want to move to Northern Alaska and become a police woman? Yes.

 

3. I can NOT get Jonathan to eat right now. Like, at all. He might eat a granola bar or some Cheerios throughout the day, but a real meal? Forget it. Last night it was a battle of wills unlike any ever seen in this house. I was determined to make the kid eat his dinner. So we sat there. Both of us near tears, for like 25 minutes. And then he started crying and just wouldn't stop. So I gave in. After 3 bites of this and a bite of that. I caved. He won. And what was I forcing him to eat? Chicken nuggets and french fries.

 

 

4. Now, this one might offend some people and I don't mean it to. I am not talking about anybody in particular....promise! But man, I am SO tired of being around people obsessed with how they look. So many people these days are so focused on being skinny, super hot, trendy, in style etc...it just gets exhausting for the rest of us. Like I said last week, I want to be healthy. Not a stick. I want to feel good, but I don't want to spend 20 hours a week at the gym. I want to have cute clothes, but I am not willing to spend my entire paycheck on the newest clothes. And to be honest, I don't really want to hear about how you do. And before you think I just need to relax and get over it, you all know the people I am talking about. The ones that are OBSESSED. That talk about it ALL.THE.TIME. Not just those that mention it sometimes or show off a cute new outfit....we all have to brag every now and then!!

 

5. Zack is back to working awful hours. Like, he doesn't get home until 9:00 or 10:00 multiple times a week. On those nights, I eat cereal for dinner and put my pajamas on around 5:30. Once the boys go to bed, OWN and The Weather Channel come on. Then I go to sleep at 9:00. That's cool right?

 

6. I have been walking circles around the mall lately to get out of the house when the weather is bad. Sometimes, a 70 year old couple passes me. And in my head, I justify it because I am pushing 70 pounds of kids and strollers and they don't have to push anything. Of course the older couple should be faster than me.....right? Would it be weird if I stoped them and asked if I could walk along with them for motivation?

 

Happy Friday everybody! Hope y'alls weekend is filled with as much awesome television and mall walking as mine will be!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

(For some reason, I can't upload pictures to the blog....I want to post this today, but I will come back later and try to fix it....maybe. Just imagine the cutest kid in the world, covered in chocolate cake.)

 

My teeny tiny, baby boy, who was never supposed to grow up, turned one today.

Man, I love this little boy. He is full of genuine happiness, joy and contentment. He loves his brother more than almost anything else in the world.  He could eat crackers, muffins or bread all day long but refuses to eat almost any other finger food. His favorite words are "Mama" and "Cracker" but he can be coaxed into saying "Dada, Nana, Papa, or NeNe" (his way of saying Honey). He sleeps with his blankie and a noise maker, but even then, sometimes still likes to wake up at night. He stands too close to the TV when it is on, still puts everything in his mouth, bites when he tries to give kisses and walks like he just got off a horse.

Basically....he is the sweetest, happiest little boy in the world. He has made our family complete and we couldn't imagine our lives without him.

Happy first birthday Matthew David Ley! May you always know, every single second of every single day, that you are smart, you are important, and you are so, so loved.

My New Years Resolutions

I want to be ahead of the game on this one and get these out publicly before I forget! Maybe if I type them out and actually post it for everybody to see, I will follow through with them.....maybe. So here is my list for 2013!

1. Be purposeful in bragging on my kids and husband. Everybody knows I love my family with my whole being. That should never be a question. But I am also very bad about being sarcastic, rolling my eyes, saying things that I think are funny but end up being a little mean etc...when I talk about my boys and Zack. I find fault in small things and then get embarrassed by them when we are out in public and end up apologizing more than necessary. This year, I want to be the biggest champion for my family. I want to share all of the wonderful and amazing things that they do with anybody that will listen. Instead of saying things to others that might embarrass Zack (all while rolling my eyes) I will brag about his commitment to his new job and the late hours he has been putting in to provide for us. Instead of apologizing when my kiddos are a little loud or crazy, I will laugh along with them and share something they did recently that was equally silly and crazy. I have been blessed with a tremendous family of boys and I need to make sure the rest of the world recognizes how awesome they are.

 

2. Make it to Sunday worship service more often. We are good about going to Sunday school as much as we can, but we rarely go to service beforehand. The main reason being baby nap schedules over the past 3 years. We went to service this past Sunday since there were no ABFs and I was reminded of why I love it so much. The number one way I connect to Jesus is through music. There has never been a doubt it my mind about this. As soon as the band starts playing, I just zone out. I feel connected. My heart literally feels happy. I feel closer to the Lord at that moment than at any other time. And yet, we rarely go to worship. This needs to change in 2013.

 

3. Get back in shape and be more healthy. Not lose weight, but get in shape. Before the boys were born, I worked out every single day. I drank lots of water, ate lots of fruits and veggies etc...When I was pregnant, I was even better. I was so conscience of what I put in my body and what I did to stay fit and strong for my little ones. The past year......not so much. I am not looking for a magic diet or crazy work out plan. I don't want to do P90X or Insanity or anything else along those lines. I just need to make exercise a priority again and make sure I am eating enough fruits and veggies. Less carb loaded snack foods and more protein rich, better for you snacks. You know....just be healthy.

 

4. And finally, I want to make a difference in the lives of others. I have an incredible opportunity to influence the little lives in my class at school, the little boys asleep in their bedrooms right now, my friends and other mommies....And I need to do something with it. I don't know how or what I should do, I just need to do it. I recently spent some time with some of Zack's family members and they are doing just that....making a difference in the lives of so many others. Mine and Zack's included. They are just kind, generous, real people. I want to be like that. I want to know that the way I behave, the words I say, the impression I give off.....that it influences others.

 

So there they are. In writing. The four things I am going to work really hard to accomplish in 2013. 2012 was pretty amazing, but I have even bigger hopes and plans for 2013 (And NO...they do NOT include more babies....)

 

Happy New Year! Here we go! 

My Christmas gift to you....a blog post.

Well, it appears that I forgot about this here blog....my bad.

 

Let's just recap the past few weeks, shall we?

 

(And I am fully aware that using a recap as my first blog post in over a month is a cop out.)

We got new laminate flooring in our living room (thanks to our wonderful families for all their help!)

Jonathan learned how to take up carpet...

 

 

 

Jonathan had his first Christmas pageant at school.

Someone started walking...and hasn't stopped since....

My little angel at the Christmas Eve children's service

Christmas Eve service

 

We hung stockings for Santa and put out carrots for the reindeer (although, Jonathan seemed to think they were more for him than for the reindeer....)

 

 

Santa came!

We ate. A LOT.

We tried to make our first gingerbread house....Nailed it.

Jonathan got his first bike! And then told me he didn't want it anymore.

 

Matthew agress that December was pretty much awesome.

 

Zack, Jonathan, Matthew and I all wish the very best for your family this season and the new year! May God bless y'all as graciously as He has blessed us!

Post Thanksgiving Confessions

Its been a wonderful week at our house. Lots of time with Daddy, lots of eating, lots of family fun, a billion errands (which, in case you don't know us well, is our idea of a fun afternoon!) and lots of relaxing. So here we are, Saturday. The back end of vacation. As we end Thanksgiving and embark on the holiday season, I need to get some things off my chest before we get any further into the festivities.

 

1. Even though I have been home from work and Zack has been home to watch the boys, I haven't worked out at all. A few walks to the park here and there, but other than that, nothing. And I am the Queen of Excuses, so don't try to top me.

 

2. I just ate my 4th box of Nerds. But they are the fun size, so it's cool.

 

3. For my morning "snack," I had leftovers. I justified it because I didn't have an entire plate, I just took a spoon to the Tupperware. Like 10 times.

 

4. When I am on the Pinterest food board and somebody "accidentally" pins their new workout routine to it, I get pissed. If I am lusting after fatty desserts, I don't need to know how you rocked out your post baby bod. In fact, I don't EVER need to know how you did it.

 

(Why are all these confessions about food??)

 

5. So, our Christmas tree looks like a super hot mess this year. There are no lights on the bottom, Jonathan helped me put the ornaments on (think 4 ornaments on a branch...) and our angel for the top has lost her wings. And you know what, I absolutely refuse to change a thing. Our tree is a symbol of us working together and I love it.

 

6. I vacuumed out my car today and had to empty the vacuum immediately because of the large amount of Cheerios and raisins. Some of them were fuzzy....it was nasty. Those carseats are like a big garbage disposal that just also happen to save lives.

 

7. My sister and I are watching Undercover Boss right now and we are both crying.

 

8. Zack and I are FINALLY replacing the horrible carpet in our living room. But we are so, so cheap. So, last night while were talking with the guy in the flooring department at Lowes, I was explaining how I really liked one style, but I didn't want to pay that high of a price. I basically wanted him to show me something comparable with a lower price tag. He pretty much made fun of me and laughed in my face. And for a split second, I wanted to punch him and rip his dangly earring out of his ear. Luckily, my kids were with me so I had to be on my best behavior. And yes, he had a dangly earring. I mean, that's cool and all, but it doesn't make you better than me. You chose to spend your money on flashy jewelry.....I chose to spend mine on everything else.

 

9. In the car, I force the boys to listen to Christmas music. This is non-negotiable for the next month.

 

10. Zack has a CPA conference (I know, don't let the excitement overwhelm you) in Las Vegas in a few weeks. Earlier this month, he had a conference in New Orleans. I am happy for him to be able to travel a little and get out of our crazy house for a while.....but.....I secretly hope the conference gets canceled and he doesn't have to go. Even more honest......I wish I could go instead.

 

And that's that. Hope you all enjoy the next few weeks with your family while you celebrate the holidays!!

One year ago today

A now, a trip down memory lane....One year ago, the day before Thanksgiving, our lives took an unexpected turn. I was 31 weeks pregnant with Matthew and had just come home from a family breakfast to IHOP (pumpkin pancakes are the freaking bomb you guys.) About 5 minutes after we got home, I got a call from my OB-GYN saying that my pre-term labor test had come back positive, I was officially on bedrest and there was a decent chance that my baby would be born within 2 weeks. Obviously, this phone call put a halt to all Thanksgiving plans, pregnancy plans, and most importantly, our plans to hit up the mall that afternoon....For the whole story, you can go back and read it here.

I spent the rest of the week on hospital bedrest. Everybody was pretty sure Matthew was going to come almost 10 weeks early. It was scary and stressful and pretty annoying that I was eating my Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital and not with my family. However, we made it past that first hurdle and I spent the next 6 1/2 weeks on strict home bedrest. If you need a reminder of how that super fun time was spent, you can refer back to my bedrest survival guide posts. :)

It was not the holiday season that I wanted. It wasn't the way I wanted the season to go for Jonathan and obviously not for Matthew! At the end of it all, Matthew stayed put just long enough. 7 weeks later, just 24 hours after being taken off the medication that was keeping me from going into labor, I was back in the hospital delivering a beautiful, HEALTHY, baby boy.

So this holiday season, I am vowing to make it memorable (in a good way. Not in a "holy crap, if I move a muscle the wrong way my baby will be born 10 weeks early and be in the NICU for weeks" kind of way...) We are going to sit around our table tomorrow and be thankful for our healthy babies. We will decorate our house for Christmas just a little more than before. We will spend the holiday season shopping, going to parties, making cookies, forcing the boys to make handprint art to put all around the house, eating more than necessary and just spending as much time possible as a family.

It's been an amazing year since that phone call last November. And this week, I am especially thankful for my wonderful, sweet, kind, nutty, super fun and most importantly, healthy little boys. Thank you Lord for protecting them, every step of the way.

Around Here....

You guys. I have not been feeling the whole blogging thing lately. I just don't feel like I have anything to say that hasn't already been said on Facebook or to you guys in person/on the phone. So, I am not going to make excuses or anything.....I just don't want to blog a lot right now. Maybe I will get back into it soon....we will see! As for today, things have been crazy around here the past few weeks. We made it through Crazy Sick Week 2012, celebrated Halloween, went to some fall festivals, had some visitors and Zack and I were even able to get away this weekend without the kids! Here are a whole bunch of pictures to show off what we have been doing!

 

My sick little Matthew

 

Jonathan enjoying his first corn dog at the Katy Rice Harvest Festival.

 

 

 

Insula play group Halloween party!

 

First time bowling at the Talan Holmes Bowl-a-thon! He loved it!

 

Carving pumpkins with Daddy.

 

Happy Halloween!

 

First time trick or treating

 

He was not thrilled that he couldn't eat all his candy that night....

 

It's been a fun month, but I am ready for the holidays and for my boys to be healthy! I can barely wait to celebrate the holidays with my sweet kids and family AT HOME and not in the hospital/on bedrest like last year! Oh, and I am already listening to Christmas music. Sue me.