... if I make a conscious effort to stop yelling at my kids when they are misbehaving and START being more calm.
You see, at our MOPS group at church one of the ladies made a comment about a little girl coming to her home one time and saying that she liked it there because her mom was so quiet or peaceful... something along those lines. Forgive me, I can't remember the exact quote. But you get my point, right?
Anyway, it seems like I am always yelling or speaking sternly to these two crazy kids of mine. "Don't climb on that, Stop hitting your brother, We have to share, We go pee in the potty, Don't put that in your mouth, Stop throwing your food, Please don't climb on me, Don't play in the cabinets, Get down before you fall."
Sound familiar? Anyone? Anyone??
Truth is, I have 2 little ninjas that are constantly searching for the next thing to do that will seriously injure them. NO joke. And my words seem to go in one ear and out the other. THEY. KEEP. DOING. IT. All the time. Ok, maybe not all the time... but they're boys- so what do you expect?
Anyway, for the next 30 days I am going to do a little experiment. I'm going to consciously make the effort to stop yelling and start speaking calmly to them when they are misbehaving. I'm anxious to see how things will change. Will they listen better? or worse? Will they too become more calm? Will the tantrums over sharing stop?
It's important that we set good examples for our children. They REPEAT everything. Gabe has heard me say "Go stand in the corner" so many times that he has started to tell Lincoln to "Go to the corner." Crazy thing is, Lincoln listens to him! haha. Back to the point, we MUST set good examples. Our children learn and are molded by what we say and do- by our actions. I know for a fact that I want my kids to be well mannered, well behaved children that people want to be around. I want them to love God and show him to others. I want them to be the friend that their friends know they can rely on and seek advice from someday. I want our house to be a "safe, fun" house that their friends want to come to.
So Mommas, do any of you want to join me on this little journey? It's bound to be a fun ride!
Monday, April 13, 2015
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Motherhood Perfection. It's overrated.
Hi! I'm Ami. I have a great family, a few great friends that I can call family and an awesome husband and kids. My puppy is always properly groomed. My car is always clean and my house is always spotless...
NOT!
Well, if you saw my fb posts you might get this impression. Truth is... It took me a good 10 minutes to get that one good picture of both of my kids smiling... and even then, one of them isn't even looking at me. I had to spend another 5 minutes cleaning that area they are sitting/standing in to free it from cars, cheerios and other random toys. That picture of our puppy Rylee was taken 4 weeks ago after she got groomed...I've been saving it for a rainy day. And I only post the cute pictures of my husband and I- which are few and far between. Those selfies? well most likely they were taken when I actually had to get "Dressed" like on a date night.
Truth is. I'm a Mom. Wife. Daughter. Sister. Friend. I have 2 boys that want and deserve my undivided attention 99% of the time. I rarely make it out of my house without looking like a bum who just came off the streets. My house is almost ALWAYS a disaster with cheerios, cars and random toys scattered throughout. I most likely have changed Lincoln's diaper 5 times in the past 20 minutes because he won't leave the stinkin' thing on (pun intended). There is a constant sound of cartoons playing in our house. And those kids... oh my, those kids... well they find every way possible to injure themselves.
I realized recently that from the outside looking in our lives may seem perfect. When I hop on facebook and see all these posts of everyone's "perfect" lives I easily become mad or envious thinking "well, how in the world do they pull that off?" AHA! Then it comes to me... we live in a day and age where media is overtaking our lives. It's so easy to edit those pictures or just post a happy status so everyone will think life is perfect.
There are days when I'd like to hop on facebook and post something like... "well, my kid took his diaper off in the middle of the night and peed in his bed, the husband got off late which means no play time for the boys and no rest for me, my house is a disaster and i don't even care at this point, and my kid won't sit on the dang potty to poop to save his life. 'i'm about to pull my hair out or lock myself in the bathroom...which is pointless since the boys will somehow find their way in."
Instead, it's usually a happy post about how loving my kids are and how they're brightening my day.
If we Momma's are being real... then let's be real about this. Yes, our kids are awesome and we can't imagine life without them. Everyone knows that. My kids are my world. But OH MY GOSH... there are days when I literally want to scream. There are those days at the store when I'm dragging them both out because they saw a toy they wanted and I said no and their screaming... and the only thing I want to do is spank their little behinds and put them in timeout. But I don't... because someone will see me and call DCFS on me when they should be wasting their time calling about the Mom that just called her daughter a little "B" and screamed at her the whole way out. I have those days where I literally feel like a single mom because my husband is off to work providing for us and he's tired and rarely gets to spend quality time with us unless it's on the weekend. And I don't complain because who am I to complain about my husband giving me this opportunity to stay at home. There are those days when we wake up late, throw on some clothes and make it just in time for Gabe to go to school. And there are those days when I literally weigh my options as to whether we can make it for 6 more hours without milk so I don't have to take the boys to the store and just wait until Jesse's home to watch them. Because we all know that going to the store alone is 100 times better than going with 2 kids.
We've all been there. We've all sat in the parking lot at Wal-Mart wondering if we really need those 5 things because disturbing the sleeping kids in the back is a battle that you don't want to fight. All of us Momma's have begged our kids not to go to sleep for 5 more minutes just so we can make it inside the house. And we're all guilty of feeding our kids quick and easy meals because we just don't feel like cooking. :)Let's be honest...we've all been there.
I'm not sure this post made much sense... but the point I'm trying to make is to not judge yourself so harshly Mom's! It's so easy to hop on Facebook and see all these wonderful posts and instantly compare yourself to others. It's easy to think that everyone else's life is perfect.... it's facebook- it's easy to edit and post what you want. Being a mom is a full-time job. It's hard. Really, really hard. And if anyone tells you different, they're lying. My life is far from perfect. But I do have a great family, great friends I can call family and an awesome husband and kids... I Really DO! I don't compare myself to anyone anymore... because quite honestly, those boys of mine... they are what make my world go round.
Night!
NOT!
Well, if you saw my fb posts you might get this impression. Truth is... It took me a good 10 minutes to get that one good picture of both of my kids smiling... and even then, one of them isn't even looking at me. I had to spend another 5 minutes cleaning that area they are sitting/standing in to free it from cars, cheerios and other random toys. That picture of our puppy Rylee was taken 4 weeks ago after she got groomed...I've been saving it for a rainy day. And I only post the cute pictures of my husband and I- which are few and far between. Those selfies? well most likely they were taken when I actually had to get "Dressed" like on a date night.
Truth is. I'm a Mom. Wife. Daughter. Sister. Friend. I have 2 boys that want and deserve my undivided attention 99% of the time. I rarely make it out of my house without looking like a bum who just came off the streets. My house is almost ALWAYS a disaster with cheerios, cars and random toys scattered throughout. I most likely have changed Lincoln's diaper 5 times in the past 20 minutes because he won't leave the stinkin' thing on (pun intended). There is a constant sound of cartoons playing in our house. And those kids... oh my, those kids... well they find every way possible to injure themselves.
I realized recently that from the outside looking in our lives may seem perfect. When I hop on facebook and see all these posts of everyone's "perfect" lives I easily become mad or envious thinking "well, how in the world do they pull that off?" AHA! Then it comes to me... we live in a day and age where media is overtaking our lives. It's so easy to edit those pictures or just post a happy status so everyone will think life is perfect.
There are days when I'd like to hop on facebook and post something like... "well, my kid took his diaper off in the middle of the night and peed in his bed, the husband got off late which means no play time for the boys and no rest for me, my house is a disaster and i don't even care at this point, and my kid won't sit on the dang potty to poop to save his life. 'i'm about to pull my hair out or lock myself in the bathroom...which is pointless since the boys will somehow find their way in."
Instead, it's usually a happy post about how loving my kids are and how they're brightening my day.
If we Momma's are being real... then let's be real about this. Yes, our kids are awesome and we can't imagine life without them. Everyone knows that. My kids are my world. But OH MY GOSH... there are days when I literally want to scream. There are those days at the store when I'm dragging them both out because they saw a toy they wanted and I said no and their screaming... and the only thing I want to do is spank their little behinds and put them in timeout. But I don't... because someone will see me and call DCFS on me when they should be wasting their time calling about the Mom that just called her daughter a little "B" and screamed at her the whole way out. I have those days where I literally feel like a single mom because my husband is off to work providing for us and he's tired and rarely gets to spend quality time with us unless it's on the weekend. And I don't complain because who am I to complain about my husband giving me this opportunity to stay at home. There are those days when we wake up late, throw on some clothes and make it just in time for Gabe to go to school. And there are those days when I literally weigh my options as to whether we can make it for 6 more hours without milk so I don't have to take the boys to the store and just wait until Jesse's home to watch them. Because we all know that going to the store alone is 100 times better than going with 2 kids.
We've all been there. We've all sat in the parking lot at Wal-Mart wondering if we really need those 5 things because disturbing the sleeping kids in the back is a battle that you don't want to fight. All of us Momma's have begged our kids not to go to sleep for 5 more minutes just so we can make it inside the house. And we're all guilty of feeding our kids quick and easy meals because we just don't feel like cooking. :)Let's be honest...we've all been there.
I'm not sure this post made much sense... but the point I'm trying to make is to not judge yourself so harshly Mom's! It's so easy to hop on Facebook and see all these wonderful posts and instantly compare yourself to others. It's easy to think that everyone else's life is perfect.... it's facebook- it's easy to edit and post what you want. Being a mom is a full-time job. It's hard. Really, really hard. And if anyone tells you different, they're lying. My life is far from perfect. But I do have a great family, great friends I can call family and an awesome husband and kids... I Really DO! I don't compare myself to anyone anymore... because quite honestly, those boys of mine... they are what make my world go round.
Night!
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Mouse
There's a mouse in my house. Jesse's at work. I'm doing the only logical thing I know to do: sit on the couch with my feet up until Jesse gets home...which is 4 hours from now. We've set traps and the stupid thing hasn't been caught yet. I hate these creatures. I hate it being in my house. I now have to scrub my house from top to bottom. I will not be able to function correctly until it is caught and dead. That is all for tonight. The boys and I are camping out on the couch. : (
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Catching up with The Schiff's
As I said, I"m making it my personal goal to update this at least once a week from now until the end of the year. Let's see how this goes. Anyway, let's do some catching up on the Schiff's. After all, that is what this blog is about, right? Our family and the kids! :)
A lot has happened since I truly updated this blog... Jesse got a new job! He got hired on with a company after working for a contractor for a year. We get FREE health insurance (amazing) and to top it off, he just got a pay raise. We took a few pay cuts with the past few jobs but now, we're back in business. :) The new mines that he is working at is also a 20 minute drive from home... so much better than the hour drive he was doing. The only downside is that he works like crazy and only gets every other Saturday off (maybe). Sundays are always a day off. The upside to that is more money...which means more things getting paid off... which also means a GOOD Christmas for the boys...which also means tht we are doing very well at the moment. BUT, we all know how our life goes so I don't want to get too caught up in the moment. But yeah, life is good. Let's pray it stays this way.
Gabriel started Pre-K this year. Seriously! WHAT!? I debated on him going but since his friend Madilyn was going to be in his class, we decided to take the big plunge and send him. It's only 3 hours a day, but heck- he seems to love it. A future blog post about this subject will happen with much more detail.
A few weeks ago the boys had their friend, Luke stay the whole weekend. It was soooo much fun. I just loved turning the monitor on and listening to Gabe and Luke have a conversation when I put them to bed. It was so darn cute. We had a busy weekend... again, blog post on this will happen soon as well.
Other than that, it's just the usual grind around this house. Summer has come and gone and it's officially FALL! I LOVE FALL! Who's with me? I LOVE everything about fall... especially the fact that I get to where hoodies and UGGS and not feel bad about it. haha. Lincoln is his crazy, busy normal self. That little boy sure keeps us on his toes. About 2 months ago he fell while playing with Gabriel, hit the corner of our tv stand, and cracked a hole in his head. I. WAS. TERRIFIED. Luckily Jesse was home and was able to calm us both down. I took him to the emergency room and waited 2 hours only for them to tell me that it was already healing and nothing to be concerned about. I'm really glad I sat in a waiting room full of sick people to be told that. YEah, a lot of fun. Seriously though, that little boy climbs on everything. We joke and say that he is constantly trying to find a way to kill himself... but the sad thing is, it's true. Everything he's not supposed to do, he does. We recently moved both boys into their own room (they share). We'd always wake up to find them both standing at the door. We just couldn't figure out how Lincoln was getting out (we never had this problem with Gabe) because he never did this while he was still sleeping downstairs. Well, obviously he was climbing out... so we turned his crib into a daybed. Now, he just climbs into bed with his big bro every night. It has got to be the cutest thing I ever did see. They truly are best friends and I Love that.
I still can't comprehend that Christmas is almost here! Where in the world did this year go!? I've gotten a little headstart on my Christmas Shopping... but we still have quite a bit to get. I had made a list of specific things I wanted to get the boys... I've gotten most of the things on my list. Now, it's just a mtter of finding little toys here and there for them. Again, this year we aren't buying all BRAND NEW toys. For as much as the boys play with things, we figure buying some used things is just as good. They'll never know- plus it saves us a bunch of money. I mean really, toys are EXPENSIVE these days. We spend a certain amount on each boy (give or take)... so I set aside 1/2 of that amount for brand new toys and the other half for some used things we find at goodwill, savers and swap pages on fb. Gabe really wanted a pirate ship and a big firetruck. I got lucky and found both at the kidsignment sale this past month. I spent 10 bucks on a ship that is normally $45... and 5 bucks on a huge firetruck that I'm sure both boys will love. I also found 2 Imaginext dino's for $5 on a swap site that Gabriel is going to love. One big present that I'd like to get Gabriel is a Tricycle. He seems to really like them now... so we told Santa that's what he wants. haha. :) I'll post more on our Christmas shopping later... once we're all done. Don't want to give everything away now!
Ummm, did I mention that I had my first Migraine/Sinus Headache last month. OH. MY. GOSH. I honestly don't know how people with chronic migraines do it. I had one for 1 day and thought I was going to die. Literally. Well, more like I wanted to just crawl in a hole and not come out until it was better. This thing woke me up at like 4:30 am... it was the WORST Headache pain I've ever had in my life. I thought I had had a migraine before but after this one I now know I was wrong. Anyway, I took everything I could that day... tylenol, excedrin, ibuprofen and nothing worked. I couldn't even move without my head pounding. I couldn't sleep because the pain was so bad. Plus, I had to take care of both boys who just didn't understand that Mommy was in terrible pain. I took all the advice people gave me... Wrapped my neck and head in a cold towel, took a warm bath, kept all of the lights off, took excedrin migraine, drank caffeeine... NOTHING worked. I just got sick and threw up anything that I tried to eat or drink... which wasn't much bc I didn't eat hardly anything because my head hurt too bad to even walk to the kitchen. So eventually, I was just throwing up water and tea. YUCK! ARound 5 that evening my mom ended up taking me to an Urgent Care Clinic. The PA came in and after discovering that this was my first migraine, she sent me to the ER to make sure it was nothing serious. We had both boys with us and sitting in an ER with them just wasn't going to work. So I decided to just go home and tough it out. Thankfully, my dad met us on our way back and turned around and took me to the ER. We were there for several hours... I got a CT scan to make sure there wasn't anything serious. Thank God it came back clear. The dr. came in, asked me a few questions, and then pressed on all my sinus points. He then concluded that it was a Sinus headache and said the goal was to get my pain level down. Honestly, my pain was at 10! It took them FOREVER to bring me medicine. So there we were... sitting in a dark room because the light hurt. Finally the nurse showed up with a round of meds that was supposed to make me feel better. I got a steroid shot, Zofran, Sudafed and Dilauded for pain. It took another hour or 2 for those to even kick in. They sent me home with some medicine and pain killer to take if it got worse. I came home and sat on the couch for about 2 hours, drinking tea- waiting to feel well enough to go to bed and sleep. I had gotten sick on the way home and threw up.. again. So there I sayt... just waiting to feel better and not throw up anymore. FInally, I made it to bed (Jesse was sleeping and getting up for work a few hours later) and slept the whole night. My mom took th eboys to her house... knowing that I was in no shape to take care of them that night. Plus, it was close to midnight by the time we got home... and the boys were already asleep. They didn't mind getting to have a sleepover with Mama & Papa though. I woke up the next morning feeling much, much better. Never again do I want to experience a painful headache like that one. I honestly just wanted to curl up in a ball, crawl into a hole and never come out.
Alright, that's about all I got for tonight. My house needs picked up and then I'm going to bed. We're going to the pumpkin patch and a birthday party tomorrow... so I need some sleep! :)
Have a good one!
A lot has happened since I truly updated this blog... Jesse got a new job! He got hired on with a company after working for a contractor for a year. We get FREE health insurance (amazing) and to top it off, he just got a pay raise. We took a few pay cuts with the past few jobs but now, we're back in business. :) The new mines that he is working at is also a 20 minute drive from home... so much better than the hour drive he was doing. The only downside is that he works like crazy and only gets every other Saturday off (maybe). Sundays are always a day off. The upside to that is more money...which means more things getting paid off... which also means a GOOD Christmas for the boys...which also means tht we are doing very well at the moment. BUT, we all know how our life goes so I don't want to get too caught up in the moment. But yeah, life is good. Let's pray it stays this way.
Gabriel started Pre-K this year. Seriously! WHAT!? I debated on him going but since his friend Madilyn was going to be in his class, we decided to take the big plunge and send him. It's only 3 hours a day, but heck- he seems to love it. A future blog post about this subject will happen with much more detail.
A few weeks ago the boys had their friend, Luke stay the whole weekend. It was soooo much fun. I just loved turning the monitor on and listening to Gabe and Luke have a conversation when I put them to bed. It was so darn cute. We had a busy weekend... again, blog post on this will happen soon as well.
Other than that, it's just the usual grind around this house. Summer has come and gone and it's officially FALL! I LOVE FALL! Who's with me? I LOVE everything about fall... especially the fact that I get to where hoodies and UGGS and not feel bad about it. haha. Lincoln is his crazy, busy normal self. That little boy sure keeps us on his toes. About 2 months ago he fell while playing with Gabriel, hit the corner of our tv stand, and cracked a hole in his head. I. WAS. TERRIFIED. Luckily Jesse was home and was able to calm us both down. I took him to the emergency room and waited 2 hours only for them to tell me that it was already healing and nothing to be concerned about. I'm really glad I sat in a waiting room full of sick people to be told that. YEah, a lot of fun. Seriously though, that little boy climbs on everything. We joke and say that he is constantly trying to find a way to kill himself... but the sad thing is, it's true. Everything he's not supposed to do, he does. We recently moved both boys into their own room (they share). We'd always wake up to find them both standing at the door. We just couldn't figure out how Lincoln was getting out (we never had this problem with Gabe) because he never did this while he was still sleeping downstairs. Well, obviously he was climbing out... so we turned his crib into a daybed. Now, he just climbs into bed with his big bro every night. It has got to be the cutest thing I ever did see. They truly are best friends and I Love that.
I still can't comprehend that Christmas is almost here! Where in the world did this year go!? I've gotten a little headstart on my Christmas Shopping... but we still have quite a bit to get. I had made a list of specific things I wanted to get the boys... I've gotten most of the things on my list. Now, it's just a mtter of finding little toys here and there for them. Again, this year we aren't buying all BRAND NEW toys. For as much as the boys play with things, we figure buying some used things is just as good. They'll never know- plus it saves us a bunch of money. I mean really, toys are EXPENSIVE these days. We spend a certain amount on each boy (give or take)... so I set aside 1/2 of that amount for brand new toys and the other half for some used things we find at goodwill, savers and swap pages on fb. Gabe really wanted a pirate ship and a big firetruck. I got lucky and found both at the kidsignment sale this past month. I spent 10 bucks on a ship that is normally $45... and 5 bucks on a huge firetruck that I'm sure both boys will love. I also found 2 Imaginext dino's for $5 on a swap site that Gabriel is going to love. One big present that I'd like to get Gabriel is a Tricycle. He seems to really like them now... so we told Santa that's what he wants. haha. :) I'll post more on our Christmas shopping later... once we're all done. Don't want to give everything away now!
Ummm, did I mention that I had my first Migraine/Sinus Headache last month. OH. MY. GOSH. I honestly don't know how people with chronic migraines do it. I had one for 1 day and thought I was going to die. Literally. Well, more like I wanted to just crawl in a hole and not come out until it was better. This thing woke me up at like 4:30 am... it was the WORST Headache pain I've ever had in my life. I thought I had had a migraine before but after this one I now know I was wrong. Anyway, I took everything I could that day... tylenol, excedrin, ibuprofen and nothing worked. I couldn't even move without my head pounding. I couldn't sleep because the pain was so bad. Plus, I had to take care of both boys who just didn't understand that Mommy was in terrible pain. I took all the advice people gave me... Wrapped my neck and head in a cold towel, took a warm bath, kept all of the lights off, took excedrin migraine, drank caffeeine... NOTHING worked. I just got sick and threw up anything that I tried to eat or drink... which wasn't much bc I didn't eat hardly anything because my head hurt too bad to even walk to the kitchen. So eventually, I was just throwing up water and tea. YUCK! ARound 5 that evening my mom ended up taking me to an Urgent Care Clinic. The PA came in and after discovering that this was my first migraine, she sent me to the ER to make sure it was nothing serious. We had both boys with us and sitting in an ER with them just wasn't going to work. So I decided to just go home and tough it out. Thankfully, my dad met us on our way back and turned around and took me to the ER. We were there for several hours... I got a CT scan to make sure there wasn't anything serious. Thank God it came back clear. The dr. came in, asked me a few questions, and then pressed on all my sinus points. He then concluded that it was a Sinus headache and said the goal was to get my pain level down. Honestly, my pain was at 10! It took them FOREVER to bring me medicine. So there we were... sitting in a dark room because the light hurt. Finally the nurse showed up with a round of meds that was supposed to make me feel better. I got a steroid shot, Zofran, Sudafed and Dilauded for pain. It took another hour or 2 for those to even kick in. They sent me home with some medicine and pain killer to take if it got worse. I came home and sat on the couch for about 2 hours, drinking tea- waiting to feel well enough to go to bed and sleep. I had gotten sick on the way home and threw up.. again. So there I sayt... just waiting to feel better and not throw up anymore. FInally, I made it to bed (Jesse was sleeping and getting up for work a few hours later) and slept the whole night. My mom took th eboys to her house... knowing that I was in no shape to take care of them that night. Plus, it was close to midnight by the time we got home... and the boys were already asleep. They didn't mind getting to have a sleepover with Mama & Papa though. I woke up the next morning feeling much, much better. Never again do I want to experience a painful headache like that one. I honestly just wanted to curl up in a ball, crawl into a hole and never come out.
Alright, that's about all I got for tonight. My house needs picked up and then I'm going to bed. We're going to the pumpkin patch and a birthday party tomorrow... so I need some sleep! :)
Have a good one!
Seriously, I have NO excuse (Gabriel Lee is 3!)
I really wish I had a good excuse as to why I haven't updated in FOREVER. But the honest, blunt truth about it is, I have none...unless you count being extremely tired and busy every. single. day. after chasing around 2 very, very busy boys. Yep, that's my only excuse. Anywho, so much to write about... So much to catch up on. I'm making it my mission to finish the rest of this year out strong on this blog. Let's see... there's Gabriel's Birthday, Jesse's new job, Gabriel starting School, Florida Vacation, Gabriel's first trip to the dentist and of course Halloween (but we still have a week until that!)
Let's start with Gabriel's 3rd Birthday!
I honestly still cannot believe that my tiny baby boy is already 3 years old. Seriously, how did this happen? It just doesn't seem possible. He's growing and learning so much every single day... it's unreal. We don't take Gabe's birthday lightly around here... maybe that's crazy to some people but the fact that he is a healthy, strong, smart boy is something to be celebrated- considering where we started. My little 2 pound baby is now a whopping 25 pounds. And yes, every little thing he does is cause for celebration. So, on his birthday we take a little extra time to celebrate his life.
This year, we wanted to do something a little different for his birthday. We've always had a pool party in the past but with this crazy weather and it always being so hot we opted for a party indoors somewhere. SI Bowl was the perfect place for us. They have the smaller lanes for Gabe and his friends and a party package that was a great deal. All we had to do was bring the cupcakes. They did everything else...including clean up. Which I must say, was awesome. All of the kids got to bowl for one hour and then we had the party room for about an hour as well. Everyone also got $1.00 worth of quarters to play games in the arcade and pizza and soda. The only extra thing Jesse & I purchased was extra pizza for everyone. So easy and SO much fun. Gabe LOVED it. All of his cousins and friends got to come and they had a great time. Though the bowling probably would have been more fun if we had just done a free for all instead of making everyone wait their turn...hah! It was SO much fun watching all the kids bowl and play.
The theme of his birthday was Disney CARS of course. His FAVORITE! I made him a CARS shirt and we had the cutest CARS cupcakes that I bought from Wal-Mart. Seriously, Wal-Mart has some delicious Cupcakes/Cakes! :) At the end of the party, they let all of the kids sign a bowling pin and Gabe got to bring it home. Now, he will forever know who all came to celebrate his birthday with him! That evening when we got home, we played and played with all of his new toys. Everything from Spiderman to his magnatile blocks. He thoroughly enjoyed every single thing! He's so loved by so many people. It's amazing.
The morning of his birthday, Gabriel woke up to presents, balloons and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY poster hanging in the living room. We're still in the stage of.... I wanna play with the first toy I get. Regardless, he loved all of his gifts.
My little man is growing up so fast on me. I hate it. I hate that my little baby is gone... but I love watching him grow and seeing the young man that he will one day be.
Gabriel Lee:
Weight: 25 pounds
Shirt size: 24 months/2T
Pant size: 18 months-24 months/2T
Movies: CARS, Monsters Inc., Despicable Me, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
TV Shows: Curious George, Mickey Mouse
Food: Macaroni, Pizza, french fries, PB&J
LOVES:
His "Beet" aka. Blanket
Brother
Rylee
THE MOON
Mowing with Papa
Going to Rodney's
Watching Tyler ride his vroom-vroom (aka dirt bike)
Dear Gabriel Lee,
Oh my goodness, I still can't believe that you are 3 years old. Even sitting here (4 months after your bday) I can't get over that you are growing up on me. You are the sweetest, most handsome little boy. EVER. You have a little bit of both Mommy and Daddy's temper which at the end of the day, isn't always a good mix. You sure know how to drive Mommy crazy but you also know how to be sweet and get your way. You got your daddy wrapped around that little finger of yours... which is quite possibly the reason why you (and Lincoln) have everything you could ever want or need. I love getting to watch you grow and learn new things. You are always coming up with something funny to say or do. You have more energy than anyone and at the end of the day, I find myself exhausted after keeping up with you and your brother.I know I say it every year, but I'm so proud of how far you have come. It seems like just yesterday you were this tiny little baby boy sitting in the incubator (remember that? You told me the other day that you remember your time in there. haha). And now, you're this big boy who runs, plays, laughs and occasionally cries...but seriously, it's amazing. You've overcome every obstacle they said would be in your way. You are so nice and polite to everyone (don't know where that comes from) and you have a heart of gold. I love you more than the universe little man.
Love,
Mommy
Let's start with Gabriel's 3rd Birthday!
I honestly still cannot believe that my tiny baby boy is already 3 years old. Seriously, how did this happen? It just doesn't seem possible. He's growing and learning so much every single day... it's unreal. We don't take Gabe's birthday lightly around here... maybe that's crazy to some people but the fact that he is a healthy, strong, smart boy is something to be celebrated- considering where we started. My little 2 pound baby is now a whopping 25 pounds. And yes, every little thing he does is cause for celebration. So, on his birthday we take a little extra time to celebrate his life.
This year, we wanted to do something a little different for his birthday. We've always had a pool party in the past but with this crazy weather and it always being so hot we opted for a party indoors somewhere. SI Bowl was the perfect place for us. They have the smaller lanes for Gabe and his friends and a party package that was a great deal. All we had to do was bring the cupcakes. They did everything else...including clean up. Which I must say, was awesome. All of the kids got to bowl for one hour and then we had the party room for about an hour as well. Everyone also got $1.00 worth of quarters to play games in the arcade and pizza and soda. The only extra thing Jesse & I purchased was extra pizza for everyone. So easy and SO much fun. Gabe LOVED it. All of his cousins and friends got to come and they had a great time. Though the bowling probably would have been more fun if we had just done a free for all instead of making everyone wait their turn...hah! It was SO much fun watching all the kids bowl and play.
The theme of his birthday was Disney CARS of course. His FAVORITE! I made him a CARS shirt and we had the cutest CARS cupcakes that I bought from Wal-Mart. Seriously, Wal-Mart has some delicious Cupcakes/Cakes! :) At the end of the party, they let all of the kids sign a bowling pin and Gabe got to bring it home. Now, he will forever know who all came to celebrate his birthday with him! That evening when we got home, we played and played with all of his new toys. Everything from Spiderman to his magnatile blocks. He thoroughly enjoyed every single thing! He's so loved by so many people. It's amazing.
The morning of his birthday, Gabriel woke up to presents, balloons and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY poster hanging in the living room. We're still in the stage of.... I wanna play with the first toy I get. Regardless, he loved all of his gifts.
My little man is growing up so fast on me. I hate it. I hate that my little baby is gone... but I love watching him grow and seeing the young man that he will one day be.
Gabriel Lee:
Weight: 25 pounds
Shirt size: 24 months/2T
Pant size: 18 months-24 months/2T
Movies: CARS, Monsters Inc., Despicable Me, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
TV Shows: Curious George, Mickey Mouse
Food: Macaroni, Pizza, french fries, PB&J
LOVES:
His "Beet" aka. Blanket
Brother
Rylee
THE MOON
Mowing with Papa
Going to Rodney's
Watching Tyler ride his vroom-vroom (aka dirt bike)
Dear Gabriel Lee,
Oh my goodness, I still can't believe that you are 3 years old. Even sitting here (4 months after your bday) I can't get over that you are growing up on me. You are the sweetest, most handsome little boy. EVER. You have a little bit of both Mommy and Daddy's temper which at the end of the day, isn't always a good mix. You sure know how to drive Mommy crazy but you also know how to be sweet and get your way. You got your daddy wrapped around that little finger of yours... which is quite possibly the reason why you (and Lincoln) have everything you could ever want or need. I love getting to watch you grow and learn new things. You are always coming up with something funny to say or do. You have more energy than anyone and at the end of the day, I find myself exhausted after keeping up with you and your brother.I know I say it every year, but I'm so proud of how far you have come. It seems like just yesterday you were this tiny little baby boy sitting in the incubator (remember that? You told me the other day that you remember your time in there. haha). And now, you're this big boy who runs, plays, laughs and occasionally cries...but seriously, it's amazing. You've overcome every obstacle they said would be in your way. You are so nice and polite to everyone (don't know where that comes from) and you have a heart of gold. I love you more than the universe little man.
Love,
Mommy
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Lincoln Alexander turns ONE!
Well, here we are... about 3 weeks late. But hey, it's better late than never, right!?
LINCOLN ALEXANDER IS ONE YEAR OLD!!! I know, I'm still in shock over it. On May 2nd, we celebrated Lincoln's FIRST Birthday! How is it possible that my baby boy is already ONE! Seriously!?
Lincoln's actually birthday was pretty much like any other day. Jesse had to work and I was prepping for his birthday party the following day... as well as putting the finishing touches on packing for Florida for the boys & I. I had a lot to do... buy balloons, decorate the building, make his minion car, finish making decorations... the list goes on. Luckily, it all turned out great! :)
The only downside to this wonderful weekend of celebrating was that Jesse had to work (BOOOO!) But, we didn't let that interfere too much in giving our baby boy (aka: Baby Ninja) a full on celebration. The theme of his party was SOCK MONKEYS! Little did I know that you can't really find sock monkey decor... so most of the ideas I grabbed from Pinterest and got to work. It turned out soooooo cute. I just loved it!
The day of his party was great. Our family and close friends were there to celebrate with us. Rachel & I decorated the night before so pretty much everything was done except a few minor details I had to finish that morning. I brought the bounce house for the kids and the Batmobile for them to play with. The kids had a blast! We had Little Caesars pizza, fruit, and cupcakes. The cupcakes weren't exactly how I wanted them to be... but hey, don't sweat the small stuff, right? And Diana (Jesse's mom) got the cutest sock monkey smash cake... seriously, just check out the pictures!
I was sooo excited to see how Lincoln would do with his smash cake. On Gabriel's first birthday he wanted nothing to do with the cake. In fact, he's not much of a sweets person besides cookies or coo-coo's as he calls them. Anyway, I took Lincoln's shirt off, sat him in his booster, lit the candle, and we started singing. I was totally prepared to jump in just in case he decided to go for the candle... apparently I wasn't prepared enough because he went straight for it with 2 fingers and yep, you guessed it... That was the end of the birthday song. HALT! CRISIS! But nothing that a little hug and kiss couldn't cure. We were back on track and he was LOVING every single bite of that cake!
The party was wonderful... it could only have been better if Jesse would have gotten to be there. Lincoln is so blessed with great family and friends. He got a TON of new movies to watch on our trip to Florida that evening (blog post about that later this week...)
Now here's what my BIG ONE YEAR OLD NINJA is up to these days:
Weight: 20 pounds
Height: 30 inches
Favorite Foods: ANYTHING & EVERYTHING
Drinking: Whole Milk and Apple juice
Favorite song: Pat-a-cake
Loves::
- Playing with his big brother
- Eating
- Dragging all the pots and pans out of the cabinet
- Bath time
- Laughing at Rylee
- Playing outside
- The Pool
- Mickey Mouse
- Curious George
- Monster's, Inc.
- Despicable Me
- Grapes
- Strawberry Mum-Mum's
Dislikes:
- Carseat (this comes after a 12 hour car ride to Florida & Back)
- His big bro beating him up (He's learning to fight back)
Teeth: 8 (4 on top & 4 on bottom)
Dear Lincoln,
MY OH MY! I still can not believe that you are ONE year old! Time sure does fly by. It seems like just yesterday that you were being your stubborn little self and refusing to come into this world... hence the 5 LONG hours of pushing you put me through. haha. That's ok though... because in the end, we got to meet you. Our beautiful baby boy. I can't believe how big you have gotten this past year. You are growing so well. You LOVE to eat... your favorites are pancakes, pizza, grapes, bananas, and quesadillas. Though, you will pretty much eat anything & everything you can get your busy little hands on. You LOVE to watch and play with your big brother. You try to copy every single thing that he does. He likes to push you around a little, but you're learning that you are big enough to push him right back. Despite having your "brotherly" fights... you two really are best friends. Your big brother LOVES you so, so, so much. You had your first trip to Florida and the beach this month. And though, that 12 hour car ride ruined every single car ride since for you... you had a great time. You LOVED the pool, ocean, and sand. You and your brother had a blast and I honestly think it took you about a week to recover from the trip.
My child, you are growing up so fast. I look forward to seeing the young man that you will one day become. I can already tell that you are smart, quick to think, tough, and loving. You're definitely going to be a little heartbreaker one day.
Love,
Mommy
LINCOLN ALEXANDER IS ONE YEAR OLD!!! I know, I'm still in shock over it. On May 2nd, we celebrated Lincoln's FIRST Birthday! How is it possible that my baby boy is already ONE! Seriously!?
Lincoln's actually birthday was pretty much like any other day. Jesse had to work and I was prepping for his birthday party the following day... as well as putting the finishing touches on packing for Florida for the boys & I. I had a lot to do... buy balloons, decorate the building, make his minion car, finish making decorations... the list goes on. Luckily, it all turned out great! :)
The only downside to this wonderful weekend of celebrating was that Jesse had to work (BOOOO!) But, we didn't let that interfere too much in giving our baby boy (aka: Baby Ninja) a full on celebration. The theme of his party was SOCK MONKEYS! Little did I know that you can't really find sock monkey decor... so most of the ideas I grabbed from Pinterest and got to work. It turned out soooooo cute. I just loved it!
The day of his party was great. Our family and close friends were there to celebrate with us. Rachel & I decorated the night before so pretty much everything was done except a few minor details I had to finish that morning. I brought the bounce house for the kids and the Batmobile for them to play with. The kids had a blast! We had Little Caesars pizza, fruit, and cupcakes. The cupcakes weren't exactly how I wanted them to be... but hey, don't sweat the small stuff, right? And Diana (Jesse's mom) got the cutest sock monkey smash cake... seriously, just check out the pictures!
I was sooo excited to see how Lincoln would do with his smash cake. On Gabriel's first birthday he wanted nothing to do with the cake. In fact, he's not much of a sweets person besides cookies or coo-coo's as he calls them. Anyway, I took Lincoln's shirt off, sat him in his booster, lit the candle, and we started singing. I was totally prepared to jump in just in case he decided to go for the candle... apparently I wasn't prepared enough because he went straight for it with 2 fingers and yep, you guessed it... That was the end of the birthday song. HALT! CRISIS! But nothing that a little hug and kiss couldn't cure. We were back on track and he was LOVING every single bite of that cake!
The party was wonderful... it could only have been better if Jesse would have gotten to be there. Lincoln is so blessed with great family and friends. He got a TON of new movies to watch on our trip to Florida that evening (blog post about that later this week...)
Now here's what my BIG ONE YEAR OLD NINJA is up to these days:
Weight: 20 pounds
Height: 30 inches
Favorite Foods: ANYTHING & EVERYTHING
Drinking: Whole Milk and Apple juice
Favorite song: Pat-a-cake
Loves::
- Playing with his big brother
- Eating
- Dragging all the pots and pans out of the cabinet
- Bath time
- Laughing at Rylee
- Playing outside
- The Pool
- Mickey Mouse
- Curious George
- Monster's, Inc.
- Despicable Me
- Grapes
- Strawberry Mum-Mum's
Dislikes:
- Carseat (this comes after a 12 hour car ride to Florida & Back)
- His big bro beating him up (He's learning to fight back)
Teeth: 8 (4 on top & 4 on bottom)
Dear Lincoln,
MY OH MY! I still can not believe that you are ONE year old! Time sure does fly by. It seems like just yesterday that you were being your stubborn little self and refusing to come into this world... hence the 5 LONG hours of pushing you put me through. haha. That's ok though... because in the end, we got to meet you. Our beautiful baby boy. I can't believe how big you have gotten this past year. You are growing so well. You LOVE to eat... your favorites are pancakes, pizza, grapes, bananas, and quesadillas. Though, you will pretty much eat anything & everything you can get your busy little hands on. You LOVE to watch and play with your big brother. You try to copy every single thing that he does. He likes to push you around a little, but you're learning that you are big enough to push him right back. Despite having your "brotherly" fights... you two really are best friends. Your big brother LOVES you so, so, so much. You had your first trip to Florida and the beach this month. And though, that 12 hour car ride ruined every single car ride since for you... you had a great time. You LOVED the pool, ocean, and sand. You and your brother had a blast and I honestly think it took you about a week to recover from the trip.
My child, you are growing up so fast. I look forward to seeing the young man that you will one day become. I can already tell that you are smart, quick to think, tough, and loving. You're definitely going to be a little heartbreaker one day.
Love,
Mommy
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Parents of Preemies Day
These next few days are BIG ones for us. Lincoln turns ONE on May 2nd, his party is May 3 and that same day the boys and I are leaving for Florida with my Family. But what I want to focus on right now is the day after that, May 4th. This day, May 4th, is Parents of Preemies Day. A day fully dedicated to celebrate the parents of Preemie babies.
Most of you know that almost 3 years ago, Gabriel Lee was born 10 weeks early. After 2 weeks at home on bedrest & another 2 weeks on bedrest in the hospital, Gabriel made his very, very early debut into this world. He weighed 2 pounds 3.6 ounces. He was the smallest little baby I had ever seen before. What was supposed to be the most exciting day in our lives quickly turned scary as we realized that our baby boy was ultimately fighting for his life.
Those days seem to blur together now... you know the days that I thought would NEVER end. The countless nights in the hospital, the alarms going off, nurses coming in and out, and doctors constantly giving you good and bad news. Yeah, amazingly, those days seem far away now. But those details, those moments that we spent with our baby boy those first few weeks of his life, those will forever be in my heart.
I remember staring at this tiny human being, hoping and praying that he would be alright. It was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. Terrifying because I didn't know what our future held with this baby boy. Exciting because there he was, MY SON, this tiny little life that I created... I was staring at him. He was the most incredible child I had ever seen.
A few days after Gabriel was born, he actually lost weight. That was scary... it was a constant battle but I could tell that he was a fighter. He wasn't going to give up. This tiny baby was the biggest fighter ever. We spent almost 4 weeks in our local hospital. It was an early Sunday morning phone call that woke us up... the nurse on the other line said they were life-flighting my baby to Cardinal Glennon because they didn't know what was wrong with him. How could this be? Why were we told he was doing fine? So there we were.... driving as fast as we could to get to the hospital so we could see our baby before he was flown to a hospital 2 hours away. We couldn't fly with him. He wasn't even a month old yet.
That drive to St. Louis seemed like it took forever. But luckily, this hospital, Cardinal Glennon, was amazing. Gabriel started to thrive there. Turns out, he needed a blood transfusion (duh, if you take blood from a tiny baby everyday...you probably need to put more in. But that's a whole different level of aggravation that we won't go into now). Anyway, I remember walking into our new private room and meeting with the doctor and nurse practitioner. I immediately felt at ease knowing that these were the people who were going to be watching over my child.
We spent about 4 weeks at Cardinal Glennon and every day Gabriel seemed to do better and better. Our prayers were being answered. Our little boy was growing right before our eyes and exceeding all of the expectations. He passed test after test with flying colors. To put it simply, he was amazing.
I spent a lot of my time blogging while at the hospital. I also found comfort in reading other blogs of mothers who had been or were going through the same journey. It was nice to know that we weren't alone and even better to hear all the stories of babies growing and seeing them on their 5th, 10th, and 20th birthday. One day, that will be my child. I also found a lot of comfort in music. Two songs in particular: George Strait's "I Saw God Today" and "Wires" by Athlete. Both were songs that Jesse and I listened to A LOT during those days.
Today, as I look at Gabriel I am amazed at how far he has come. He may be a little small for his age but that boy has the biggest heart. He's so funny, smart, talented and handsome. He's definitely going to be a heartbreaker. Sometimes I forget about the tough road that got us here and I have to remind myself to take the time to remember and truly be thankful for these days with my boy. He is the strongest person that I have ever known. To fight such a hard fight in the first months of his life and to be doing so well now is truly astonishing. There are those days when he is driving me crazy and there are the days when he is as loving as can be. I thank God for all of those days... I thank God that I can hold my boy in my arms and know that without a doubt he is healthy & strong. I thank God for our Miracle Baby.
So, on May 4th, I encourage you to stop and take some time to recognize any and all Parents of Preemies. It's not for the faint of heart...that's for sure. But it's a journey that is truly remarkable.
To read the full story of Gabriel Lee click HERE!
Most of you know that almost 3 years ago, Gabriel Lee was born 10 weeks early. After 2 weeks at home on bedrest & another 2 weeks on bedrest in the hospital, Gabriel made his very, very early debut into this world. He weighed 2 pounds 3.6 ounces. He was the smallest little baby I had ever seen before. What was supposed to be the most exciting day in our lives quickly turned scary as we realized that our baby boy was ultimately fighting for his life.
Those days seem to blur together now... you know the days that I thought would NEVER end. The countless nights in the hospital, the alarms going off, nurses coming in and out, and doctors constantly giving you good and bad news. Yeah, amazingly, those days seem far away now. But those details, those moments that we spent with our baby boy those first few weeks of his life, those will forever be in my heart.
I remember staring at this tiny human being, hoping and praying that he would be alright. It was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. Terrifying because I didn't know what our future held with this baby boy. Exciting because there he was, MY SON, this tiny little life that I created... I was staring at him. He was the most incredible child I had ever seen.
A few days after Gabriel was born, he actually lost weight. That was scary... it was a constant battle but I could tell that he was a fighter. He wasn't going to give up. This tiny baby was the biggest fighter ever. We spent almost 4 weeks in our local hospital. It was an early Sunday morning phone call that woke us up... the nurse on the other line said they were life-flighting my baby to Cardinal Glennon because they didn't know what was wrong with him. How could this be? Why were we told he was doing fine? So there we were.... driving as fast as we could to get to the hospital so we could see our baby before he was flown to a hospital 2 hours away. We couldn't fly with him. He wasn't even a month old yet.
That drive to St. Louis seemed like it took forever. But luckily, this hospital, Cardinal Glennon, was amazing. Gabriel started to thrive there. Turns out, he needed a blood transfusion (duh, if you take blood from a tiny baby everyday...you probably need to put more in. But that's a whole different level of aggravation that we won't go into now). Anyway, I remember walking into our new private room and meeting with the doctor and nurse practitioner. I immediately felt at ease knowing that these were the people who were going to be watching over my child.
We spent about 4 weeks at Cardinal Glennon and every day Gabriel seemed to do better and better. Our prayers were being answered. Our little boy was growing right before our eyes and exceeding all of the expectations. He passed test after test with flying colors. To put it simply, he was amazing.
I spent a lot of my time blogging while at the hospital. I also found comfort in reading other blogs of mothers who had been or were going through the same journey. It was nice to know that we weren't alone and even better to hear all the stories of babies growing and seeing them on their 5th, 10th, and 20th birthday. One day, that will be my child. I also found a lot of comfort in music. Two songs in particular: George Strait's "I Saw God Today" and "Wires" by Athlete. Both were songs that Jesse and I listened to A LOT during those days.
Today, as I look at Gabriel I am amazed at how far he has come. He may be a little small for his age but that boy has the biggest heart. He's so funny, smart, talented and handsome. He's definitely going to be a heartbreaker. Sometimes I forget about the tough road that got us here and I have to remind myself to take the time to remember and truly be thankful for these days with my boy. He is the strongest person that I have ever known. To fight such a hard fight in the first months of his life and to be doing so well now is truly astonishing. There are those days when he is driving me crazy and there are the days when he is as loving as can be. I thank God for all of those days... I thank God that I can hold my boy in my arms and know that without a doubt he is healthy & strong. I thank God for our Miracle Baby.
So, on May 4th, I encourage you to stop and take some time to recognize any and all Parents of Preemies. It's not for the faint of heart...that's for sure. But it's a journey that is truly remarkable.
To read the full story of Gabriel Lee click HERE!
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