Momma = short order cook, v-day card creator, maid, chauffeur, laudry mat, personal entertainer...etc., etc.

Hello from the far, far land of "my kids rule my life - so I really don't get to have one right now" land. In this land you are required, as mother and queen of the throne, to do whatever needs to be done (make "required" homemade v-day cards for school events (2 hrs people!), clean puke up in the middle of the night, examine and cheer for pee pee and poo poo in the toilet) with a smile, song, and dance. Literally. We need music here! However if the radio is on, "Mommy no sing. Mommy! NO SING! NO SING!!"

In this land, your iPhone is not your iPhone, your iPad is not your iPad - it is the children's. In this land, kids routinely and one at a time, try to sneak into bed with you at all hours of the night and if you are asleep try to talk, play, pull your hair, and touch your closed eyelids to get them to open. When you open your eyes, most likely you will hear, "Hi Mommy, you sleepin?" If you lock the door to your bedroom they stand outside and pull/shake the door until screaming, "Open! Open! Open!" Sufficiently waking the other child up as well.

In this land every night at dinner you bribe children to eat their vegetables. Eating vegetables has now turned into a full production of having to cheer for each pea, each kernel, each floret placed in the mouth. Also, making sure the vegetables get all the way down into their stomachs instead of into the toilet when someone says, "I go pee pee" right in the middle of eating a veggie.

As I sit here writing this with the dishwasher humming in the background, realizing I need to start the washer running, and my work computer beckoning me to do just a few more emails, I wonder about this "my kids rule my life - so I really don't get to have one right now" land. What would I do if I wasn't queen? I would have much nicer clothes, pedicures and manicures, a cleaner house and toned muscles (yes - I would LOVE to be able to go to the gym more!). But I also wouldn't be the magical boo-boo healer (I mean it doesn't matter what hurts after I kiss it! So cute.). I wouldn't have the mommy dance, or be the mommy tickle-monster and hide-n-seek mommy (they hide in the same spot together every time).  I would be me but not me. They have made me better, stronger, able to do more with less, able to shine bright on even the worst and most stressful situations because I am super-mommy in this land.

But digress, I am tired and run-out tonight but writing this out makes me feel happier and better! Thanks!

Eloise is 2!

Eloise had her second birthday this past weekend. It was a Minnie Mouse party and our first shindig in our new house. It was great to see family and catch up! I can't believe that it has been 2 years since our little girl came into our lives. She has been a bundle of crazy-red-head joy since we have had her. From her sweet laugh to her infectious grin - Eloise is amazing and I am truly blessed. Love to you all!

PS - Eloise has a crush on her soon-to-be new uncle mike! It is super cute!

Back in business baby

Oh how the time flies! Within the last 9 months we bought a house in Fishers (that's right baby - we're legit Indy-ites - and we're moving this weekend!!); Jess started a new job; my job has somehow gotten crazier-busier (yah, I making that a word); Eloise is walking/talking/potty training; Sawyer is our adorable, rambunctious 3 yr old who sings his own version of "twinkle-twinkle little star" and in it - rockets shoot to the star and get the star for us; I tried joining a book club (I am reading the books on insomnia nights like these - but never have time to go!); we went to Conner Prairie a bunch; we went to the lake house with Jess' family; Eloise (at 18 months) jumped off the diving board at my aunt's house and swims like she was born to; I started a hobby of creating photo books of our memories and failed miserably at it; we had a couple of star wars slumber parties with our cousins; I ran a ton this last summer and got my second turf toe injury that sounds made up - but I promise - it kills (but yes - I am still rocking the heels - it has to happen!); we made new great friends with our neighbors and some families from the kids' school and checked out Mass Ave a bunch; my sister got engaged and I will soon have a new brother law!; Sawyer had his first baseball game memory; Eloise had her first pigtails; and I think that covers the high level activities. In between all of that, I would sometimes look at the last post from Jan. and be a little sad. Tonight I am remedying that. That's right baby - back. in. business.

Enjoy the photos - love to you all!

Obviously not a resolution

It has been several months since I last posted. It has been a hard and busy start to our New Year and we have had lots of changes. Sawyer started preschool, Jess is interviewing with a few different companies, Christmas was spent in Memphis (which was very fun!), and we said goodbye to Sadie (and it still breaks my heart). Everyday is a different struggle and I sometimes think, "How are we gong to get through this year?" And then, I am reminded how blessed and lucky I am when Sawyer and Eloise are cracking up in the other room - about who knows what - but there they are laughing away and you cant't help but feel joy for who knows what is so funny. When Jess and I are able to get away from the kids for a Sunday afternoon and just run errands while the grandparents watch them. Life is good, busy, hard, full of dirty dishes, poopy diapers, toys everywhere, and never enough hours in the day. But we are happy! Who couldn't be with these sweet faces? Love to you all!

Chaos = my life (disclaimer - this is such a lame title but I am too exhausted to make it cool. My bad.)

There are times in your life that when you look back on them you are like, "How did I get through that?" And then you are like. OMG, thank GOD. And then, you tell the people around you, "Can you believe I just got through that chaos? That is amazing!" And then time passes, and you reflect on stuff, and you share your story to friends - and then after a couple years, it is not that dramatic anymore. You try and tell your story to other people, but you have lost that edge. Things soften. You move on. Rice crispie treats get made with white truffle oil... and things get back to normal. But - during this time when we are in another crazy time - right now - I need point out stuff.

1. My husband is the most amazing person- but will never be a stay at home dad!

2. My children are great - but tiresome. Wow - they can get into a lot of stuff very, very quickly!

3.  I have realized through everything that I have amazing family and friends.

Love to you all!

Busy but AWESOME

My life right now is busy.  Work, sick kids, teething kids, and of course the never ending loads of laundry. However, there are some AWESOME (yes capital 'awesome') things that are happening in our lives right now.

First off - we painted the garage! This may not seem exciting to the everyday person but it is SUPER exciting for us. It was almost 7 years ago when I convinced my friends (all from Meade St.) to come and paint my garage - and Jess never liked that color! So now we finally have a color that he likes.

More exciting - Eloise is crawling! Yes, and also doing a downward-dog yoga pose every time before she moves forward. It is super cute.

Sawyer is talking up a storm and tonight we had our first "night-night" talk about the day and what we did. I asked him questions about our day. E.g., "Sawyer, you were such a good boy today at the pool, and you went down the slide by yourself. Did you have fun?" "Fun" "We played outside and had popsicles too - what did you like best, popsciles or playing with Sadie?' "Sadie - popsicles"

That kind of conversation went on for another 15 minutes or so but, this is an amazing conversation with my son! He usually just says, "Read." Which means he wants to read in his bed per what we have scheduled.

We have two children and are crazy busy, and we constantly say to each other, "I can't wait to go on vacation with you again someday." But then there are many moments when we look at each other and say, "Isn't this awesome? We had such a good day with our kids."

I hope that everyone who reads this thinks about a time in their lives when they thought they couldn't handle it, and then they could because of random awesomenesses - love and love life.

Jess is turning 37!

Tomorrow is my fantastic, awesome, hilarious, cool, great dad, best friend, soul mate, man of my dreams, guy who gives me butterflies still, birthday. He is turning 37 - the big 37. Not a huge birthday for the ages, no one really celebrates 37 with any special flair. It is really no big deal. Just 3 years shy of the "Four and Oh." But, because I have been a slacker over the last few years, this year I am going a little overboard on celebrating my husband's day of birth. Co-workers today mentioned maybe I felt a little guilty...And I absolutely agreed. Midwestern guilt making up through-and-through. So, let this be a lesson to all of my friends and family - if you want me to throw you an awesome party, please feel free to impose some guilt on to my conscious.

Enjoy the photos!

Easter photos

I am up late cleaning the house, working, doing laundry, etc. and I thought I would take a short break and update the blog! Hooray for me! Boo for the late night. However, I am getting a ton done because everyone is asleep. Also, coincidentally, when I walked up stairs to take a break - one of my top ten fav movies of all times (Cold Mountain) is on and playing my favorite part. How great is that? OK - enough of the chit chat - I really got on to post some photos from Easter. Love to you all! PS - the order of these got all weird so please disregard the ordering. It is not correct.

My bad and Eloise is 5 months old!

Well hopefully the title explains it all and if you need a little help reading between lines please see:

• sorry, my bad for not posting in like forever
• it is completely not my fault - I have two children, a 14 year old needy dog, and when I am not taking care of those three I like to hang out with my husband or work (yes work, I do work full time - and I do like my job!)
• also, when I am not busy with the above I am doing laundry, cleaning, or trying to convince my two year old son to use the toilet and/or eat his dinner

In spite of all of this, Eloise went ahead and grew up! At 5 months she is smiling, rolling everywhere, bouncing in her door chair, talking to herself (and to us), pulling her pacifier out of her mouth and staring at it while she sucks her thumb, eating pears and rice cereal, standing, and almost sleeping fully through the night.

But enough writing here are some photos of Eloise! My parents were in town this last weekend too, so we have lots of poses with them. Love to you all!

No more poop in the tub and the terrible twos

Seriously, mommy can't handle anymore poop in the tub. I won't go into the gross details but this is unusual behavior for him. Terrible twos? Yes. Is poop in the tub the worst thing that has happened over the last two weeks from our terrible two. No. Nope. Not at all. WARNING: if you are thinking about having children, do not read further - my son might change your mind.

Before I recount a few of these stories, please know that I love my son. He is amazing, smart, cute, and so fun. He has this really cute thing of holding my whole face when he wants to have a smooch. Sawyer is the best but he is two years old.

Fireman Sawyer:  Last week Sawyer pulled the fire alarm at his nursery school. Here is a link to the building overview. At least over 2,000 people had to evacuate because of my son. Cheers.

Balls: Sawyer's most favorite thing right now is throwing balls down our basement stairs over the kid gate. And then after he has thrown all the balls, he climbs on to the gate and tries to rip the kid gate down while screaming, "Balls, balls, balls!" When I don't let him go get the balls, there is a major melt down. Balls.

Don't feed Sadie: Sadie is our 14 year old dog. Sawyer loves to throw food at the dog, which is a no-no. Sadie has to sit in the living room during meal time, but Sawyer still tries to feed her by throwing food across the kitchen when I am not looking. Sadie loves Sawyer, and has gained some weight over the last few months.

Oh no, oh no, oh no: Instead of saying "No" all the time, Sawyer runs around saying, "Oh no, oh no, oh no..."  This is really cute - but after you have heard, "Oh no" a million times in an hour - it kind of wears on you.

Tattoo face: Lately when Sawyer is coloring or painting, or whatever with crafts - he successfully also draws on his face. Yes - in the movie Eat, Pray, Love - one of the characters says, "To have kids, you have to be committed. It's like getting a tattoo on your face." We have taken this analogy to a whole new level. See image below. 

OK - enough of the terrible twos. My son is still amazing! Eloise is also awesome - next post will be all about her. Love to you all and enjoy some photos!

Sawyer is two!

Currently, right now, as I write this, there are yellow cake cupcakes baking in the oven for Sawyer's birthday party at his new school. I am so excited about him turning two and this post is dedicated to it - but first - I need to write about how proud I am as a mom about my son.

This last two weeks Sawyer has started "school" (school/daycare). Montessori on the Mall in Denver has been a life changer for us. Sawyer has started to obey better, listen better, talk more, sit still longer, etc. etc. When I bring him into the classroom - he immediately runs around, other kids come over to play with him, he does not care at all that I am leaving, he wants to play with the kids! I am so proud of how he is growing up. He is the kid who will steal your toys but he is also the kid who will give you the food he is eating to see if it will make you happy. Sawyer is wants to run around and get into everything - but he also wants to give hugs and kisses to everyone he meets. He literally runs up to people in the park and gives them hugs. When I pick him up at school, he holds my hand and drags me around the room to show me what he has been up too.

My baby is turning two. I can not believe how time has flown by. We started this blog as a post for family to stay updated with our wedding plans - and now here I am writing about my son, who is two. Crazy beans.

It makes me kind of choked up - but that is cool, right? I am 32 years old, making cupcakes, and crying about how awesome my children are. Yah, that sounds about right. LV to you all. :)

Here is Sawyer at his first birthday.

 Cupcakes for the class.

 Tonight, goofing around while he opened a present.