Quote for today

Wow.  Today has been quite an adventurous day in motherhood already this morning :)  So I thought I would share an unplifting quote that has made me smile today.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

 

-Majorie Pay Hinckley

Lucky You!...

...Another massive, all-inclusive, cath-up blog!  Isn't it lovely?

Well, after the last time I blogged I had my wisdom teeth out.  Yikes.  It was not fun.  My mother in law took care of the girls and I for the first couple of days, then my mom picked us up on her way home from parker and took us to Thatcher for 4 days.

The girls loved my mom's big tub!

Being home was so great.  Granted I WAS on drugs for the first couple of days.  :)  But really, it was nice just to be HOME.  Ya know?  My mom took such great care of the girls and I, and my sister Emily puree'd a bunch of yummy food for me, which fed me the whole time I was down there.  It was so nice to be around my family and not have anywhere to go (nobody really knew I was there), I stayed at my mom's house until the day I left.  I got to sleep and rest and just be.  I LOVED it.  It was good for my soul.

Em's catering :)

It did make me miss being in Thatcher and remembering how simple and easy life was for me there.  sigh.

Izzie stands in the corner all the time now.  When ever Lily is in the corner (and crying/throwing a fit), Izzie goes and stands in the corner on the other side of the door and "fake cries" intimidating Lily.  It is pretty funny.  I will also sporadically find her standing in the corner randomly thoughout the day.  When I ask her what she is doing she looks at me and grins, then sticks her nose back in the corner!  She's a silly girl.

Lily's latest trick on the other hand is getting into bed with Isabel.  That wouldn't be so bad except that she often also empties out ALL the clothes in her and Izzie's dressers and throws them in the crib and on the floor.  Then when she is in the crib with Iz, she strips them both down, INCLUDING Isabels diaper, which often leads to Izzie peeing on piles of clean clothes.

I feel like since I came home life has been NON-STOP!  It has been crazy.  Here are the highlights.  :)

General Conference.  AMAZING. "Nuff  said.

Easter.  We had a great Easter.  We went to matt's parents and our grandparents and all Matt's siblings were there.  We had (way too much) yummy food (which I could finally eat after the surgery), and the kids had and Easter Egg hunt, which they loved.  It was a really nice day.

The girls have been doing alot of reading lately and I often find Lily "reading" the books to Izzie, this I LOVE.  She even does the animal noises and voices.

I joined a gym :)  I forgot how addicting working out can be.  Especially when you put your kids in KidCare while you are there so they aren't crawling all over you.  It is much easier.

Lily helps me wake daddy up in the evenings so he can go to work

 

It was incredibly windy and that coupled with the fact that it is spring made for nasty allergies.  The kind where your allergies get so bad you pretty much have a cold and feel horrible with all the drainage and the headache, etc.  Yucky.  Plus I was losing my voice off and on (due to said drainage) and we had to sing in Stake Conference.  Which ended up being a pretty mediocre performance on Matt and my part (we did a duet), which was disappointing.  There were alot of factors that made it that way, it wasn't awful, just ok.  The rest of the meetings were WONDERFUL.  LOVED it.  So uplifting and inspiring and just plain GOOD.  I love this stake.

The night before Matt and I sang in conference was my birthday party.  It was like, TOTALLY rad!  It was 80's themed and we had a dance.  We set it up in the church's gym.  It was a ton of work and by the time it was starting I really didn't even want to be there, I was feeling sick still and I was WORN OUT, but as soon as the music started and I saw how AWESOME people looked (everyone dressed up), I got so hyped.  And I ended up having SUCH a good time.  I think that most of the people who came had a good time.  It was great to get to be silly and stupid, and also to dance with my husband.  I had a blast.  I felt a little weird initially about having a birthday party (since I am a grown-up...kind of), and I wasn't sure if people would come, or if they would really get that into it.  But people did.  we had about 30 something people and 90% of them dressed up and danced and seemed to have a good time.  I am glad I did it :)

You know your husband is sexy when he can rock a mullet!Matt's Brother Barry had a fake mustache and chest hair.  He was SO Magnum PI.  It was HILARIOUS!

The Earl SiblingsMatt and I

***I actually wrote this post 2 weeks ago, but I have been waiting on my friend Elisa to send me her pictures (her husband Jeff took a bunch at the party)...hint, HINT Elisa!  :)  So there may be other b-day pics added...eventually****

I am SO over March...so why isn't March over??

WARNING: I AM GRUMPY & TIRED...SO...sorry about that

this is definitly in the "ugly but honest" journal categories 

When we left Thatcher on the 3rd of March Lily was just getting a nasty cold (if you live in AZ, you or someone in your family probably had it this month), well she got it and then so did I, and then so did Isabel.  So we had about 2.5 weeks of "the cold".  Then just as Lily was getting over it, her fever spiked up again and she was REALLY grumpy, although she was no longer coughing and her nose wasn't really running much either.  I wasn't sure what was up with her, she had never had an ear infection before and when I was asking her, she kept saying that her ears didn't hurt, but lo and behold she DID have one.  Not really suprising with the HUGE amounts of "drainage", which is my nice way of saying snot out the wazoo, that we all had with this cold.  So 2 days after the fever spike she has her 3 year "well-check" and thats when the doc confirms that it is indeed an ear infection and writes her a script.  About a week later the same thing happens to Izzie, with the fever coming back and the misery, after a day of this I asked my Brother in Law (he is a PA) to look at her ears, and she has an ear infection too.  So the next day we take her to the doc and she also gets a prescription for an ear infection.  That same day I woke up knowing I HAD to have a sinus and ear infection, I give it a day or 2 to be sure (WHY?? I am an idiot...I was just hoping it would go away), then go to the dr and get some antibiotics myself.  Izzie and I are just finishing them up this week. 
 
Matt has been busy with school and work.  He had his spring break last week, but between work and Dr appts, we didn't seen much of him.  We were planning on having a temple day and then spending the night with his sister in Chandler, but Matt found out the Sunday before that they had rescheduled a scout/young men's snow day activity for that day, so we cancelled it.  So the girls and I ended up seeing less of him during spring break than we usually do during a normal week.  That made me a little sad if I am being honest, but he had a good time in the snow, so I am glad.  He came back bruised and sunburned and worn out, which is how you SHOULD look if you are tubing right?  It was probably a good break for him to get out and do something fun outside away from his family, work and school responsibilities.

So that is March so far. And I am getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, so I am sure that it is going to be a lovely rest of the month :)

Oh and Lily has regressed in her potty training after doing so well before she got sick, so that has caused some frustration for me, I am not gonna lie.

I have really been feeling pretty worn out and pushed to the limit the past few weeks.  I am starting to feel pretty inadequate when it comes to being able to "do it all".  Do you ever feel that way?  Trying to be a good wife and mother (which is a lot of work, some days it is quite a battle to even attempt to be the kind of mom I wish I was), trying to be a good person, fufill my household, personal, church, and family/friend responsibilities.  It just seems like a lot sometimes.  Plus I miss my best friend.  Alot.  This whole Matt being unavailable 80% of the time and us both being tired and worn out thing, is rough on me.  Especially this month with me being sick and taking care of sick kids, it has been rough.  Most of the time I truly feel like a single parent and that is hard.  I see other people who have SUPER busy husbands and more kids than I do and I just don't know how they do it.  I am overwhelmed.  And lonely.

And I am eating my stress.  Yeah...I gained 5 lbs this month.  I keep resolving not to eat junk, and then I just give up an hour later.  I know in my MIND that if I was eating better and excercising I would probably feel better, and lets face it, excercise is a much healthier stress release than a cheeseburger and onion rings.  Back before I had kids when I felt overwhelmed I would run a couple of miles and feel in control and then feel better.  Running felt good.  Now I am so out of shape that running just hurts, so I feel down and decide to just give up and eat something (usually when I am exhausted at 8pm and the kids are finally sleeping and I am alone and worn out).  Not a good cycle right? 

Maybe having to get my wisdom teeth out won't be such a bad thing.  Maybe not being able to eat junk for a couple weeks will help me break some of these bad habits.

Anyway, I know I should stop complaining.  I have a lot to be thankful for.  2 beautiful kids.  A place to live, the ability to buy a cheeseburger when I feel like it.  The opportunity for Matt to go to school and pursue a career he is interested in.  His job.  Our extended family & friends.  Our church responsibilities that give us purpose and bless our lives.  Not to mention, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The forgiveness I can recieve on all those days when I fall desperately short.  The peace and light and joy it brings.  That is the greatest blessing of all.

It's just hard to remember that sometimes, when you feel sick and are running off 5 hours sleep and cleaning up "potty accidents", trying to keep your 1 year old out of it (who is crying and sick and miserable climbing all over you), while your 3 year old stands in the corner screaming and crying, and you haven't had more than a 5 minute conversation with your husband in a week.  Ah, the glamourous life I lead  :)

****BUT on a truly glamourous and happier note, I am going to have a birthday party in April.  I haven't had a birthday party in years and years.  In fact I don't even remember??  My fabulous friends Lisa and Sara, from our fabulous ward suggested I have one, at first I said no, but then I thought about it, and why not??  Nobody has to bring presents or anything, but it seems like a good excuse as any to have a party and get together with friends.  It's a theme party (because we are fabulous) a, like, totally righteous, 1980's dance party.  It's going to be awesome dudes.  I am just worried that I will forget to invite people who might want to come...so if you read this and would want to come let me know and I'll add you to the list :) ****

Thatcher - Part 2 :)

So the day before we left Thatcher we went up on Mt Graham and had a snow day!  Lily ended up sick afterwards and since then all us girls have passed it around...but it might have been worth it!  It was Lily's first time in snow and it was a gorgeous day, we pulled off into a road side "undeveloped campsite" and it was perfect for all our needs.

There was a great little hill for sledding down

And a nice little flat spot for building a snowman

Just before we left a couple people pulled over to take some pictures and we asked them to use our camera to catch one of all 3 of us.

It was a great little family day.  Which by the way, have I mentioned those are scarce lately?  Even on our trip, Matt spent most of the time holed up in a bedroom doing schoolwork.  But he took this 1/2 day off and managed to go out to eat with a friend from Nursing School and even out to eat with me once!

Trip to Thatcher - Part A

The Sunday after LilyBug's B-day we left to Thatcher right after church.  We had a BLAST we got to spend some time with my family, which was great.  My mom spoiled the girls, which she of course loved and so did they.  Here she is letting Izzie play in her cereal cupboard and eat cereal right out of the box (if only she was around to clean up the messes that have been made since we got home!)

Isabel also loved going down the slide that Grandma keeps in the family room now that she is finally big enough to climb up and go down!

My mom also took the girls out for a walk one beautiful morning.  That is perhaps (other than my family/friends) the thing I miss MOST about living in Thatch.  Getting to walk (or jog) around the neighborhood at anytime of day or night, by yourself or with the kids, and feeling completely safe.

We got to spend a little time with GG on two different days, and I just wish it was more.  I wish that the girls had more time to really get to know her and establish a relationship with her.  She is such a HUGE part of my life and I miss her most of all.

I LOVED gettting to spend some time with both my sisters and their husbands.  I love those girls and miss them.

We also had a birthday party for Lily on Monday night it was perfect.  Nice and small, just my family and my good friend Cindy with her 2 kids. Here is my closest sister in age, Emily and her daughter Ava.

My mom and I made a cake.  She wanted to do a carosel since Lily loved riding the merry-go-round on her B-day, but we weren't sure how to do it.  I went to the store and got some plastic animals and I figured out how to make them on poles and stuck them in the cake, my wonderful mom (who always does a different themed cake-she is no repeater) has been doing homemade cakes for all our birthday/anniversaries/weddings/etc my whole life.  I have never seen her do one twice and she is SO great and it is always fun to see what she comes up with.  She frosted it and made the top.  It definetly isn't her most glamorous creation, but I think it was great for a 'fly by the seat of your pants' operation and it was a fun afternoon spent making it.

At the party Lily got a bunch of dress up clothes, since she is really into dress up now a days (along with some real life clothes that are SO adorable!)  Here she is with her cousin Ava (the only other girl on my side) trying some of it on.

Here she is with her cousin Ava (the only other girl on my side) trying some of it on.

We also did a pinata with the kids, which was so fun!  Lily got to pick it out and help me fill it with candy before the trip.

Lily got to have 2 turns and in the end, I helped her out and we busted the head off :) What can I say...I am selfish, and breaking pinatas is one of my favorite things.  I think they should be present at more adult parties.  What?  I am just saying.

Here the kids are enjoying the fruits of their laborAnd my nephew Kaleb sporting the pinata head as a new fashion

Coming in Part 2...a trip to the snow :)