Flashback Friday

Will Flashback Friday EVER be on a Friday?
At least I came closer this time...only 4 hours til midnight and then it technically will be Friday. :)
Tomorrow is going to be busy with a funeral and other plans so I decided we'd better get this one up a little early since this weekend also holds a very Special Event.

This picture will probably always be one of my favorites. This is around the time Petey was learning to walk and I was flashing pictures left and right. This face has so much sass in it and is so much MY daughter. I also loved when her hair was this length and I did the two tiny piggies on top of her head and let her curls down on the bottom. I LoVeD this time with Petey. She was developing so much personality all at once and I loved everything about her...including her sass.
And this is Spidey yesterday...standing for long periods of time a whole TWO months earlier than his sister did. He may not seem fast to you since he will have his 1st birthday next week but he's done almost everything exactly 2 months before Petey and I just find that so funny. This boy will be walking in weeks and I just dont want to let him grow up! He was supposed to be my baby for a long time but apparently he has other plans of his own.
Spidey also took his first steps yesterday. He took 2 steps in a row but it took a lot to even get him to that point so we'll see how long walking takes.

I'm so proud to be the momma of two great children. As I'm writing this, Petey is snuggled at my feet asleep...because that's what non-napping toddlers do. They zonk out at 8pm every night. At least mine does. It's such a beautiful thing and I'd take 8pm bedtimes over naps any day. :)

And that's how Suze sees it.

Monday Madness

What made me smile today?

Those big blue eyes on that sweet little girl of mine.
What was the highlight of our day today?

Eating dinner at this yummy place where the Boss is currently employed. Petey was yelling across the restaraunt, "Daddy! Daddy! This food is yummy!" Everyone thought it was adorable.

What made me frustrated today?

Having a migraine the size of Texas which has caused me to "almost throw up" 4 or 5 times. Would somebody explain to my brain that staring at a computer will only make this worse?

Our Monday Madness was anything BUT madness today. We made it to 3 different stores, spent time with some of our favorite people and Spidey went to bed at 7pm! Hope you had a Monday with not so much madness today too.

And that's how Suze sees it.

J-E-L-L-O!

Lately Ive been looking for some easy peasy things to have ready for my kids at lunch time. Lunch time seems to come very soon after breakfast time for us and falls right before Spidey's naptime so it can get disasterous if it isnt done as quickly and efficient as possible.
My awesome mom gave me this idea a while back and our whole family has loved it.
Jello with whipped cream in individual containers. Easy. Peasy. Lemon. Squeezy.

Obviously there isn't really a recipe that goes along with this. Just mix up the jello, pour it into individual containers and after it's been in a fridge long enough for the jello to start forming, add the whipped cream.

Ta da!

I've given it to Petey a couple of times but it also makes a good snack for me after the kids are in bed. If you get the sugar free jello and fat free whipped cream, it makes a nice healthy snack.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Flashback Friday

( ...even though it's being posted on Saturday)
Ive decided Friday posts are going to be flashback posts. I love looking back on the hundreds of pictures I have. It's actually something I just do from time to time, not just when I want to make a blog post. :) Hopefully Ill be able to keep up and post every Friday but if not, youll get the post a little late, like you are today. :)

This picture is one of many from our very first trip together. How lucky we were that our first trip was going to Hawaii with my family. It was beautiful. I'd been there once before when I was a freshman in high school but it really just isn't the same as going with someone you love as much as I love the Boss. I was pregnant with Petey here and sick as a dog but it was still a trip worth taking.

Do you want to know why we went to Hawaii?

Yes, it's true. We are THAT much ASU fans. Go Devils! This is actually the reason we went when I was a freshman too. My dad loves ASU and almost never misses a football or basketball game...home games AND away games.

I cant wait to go back to Hawaii again some day. It was the most fun trip we've had together since we got married.

And that's how Suze sees it.

PS: When I was a freshman and we went to Hawaii, I won a hula hoop contest during half time at one of the games and got a free xbox game...which I traded for $20. haha. This last time we went in 2007, I was asked to do the contest again and failed MISERABLY since I didnt take into account the fact that I was pregnant and could not hula hoop as well as I had before. It was slightly embarrassing and Im sure everyone was wondering what a pregnant lady was doing entering a hula hoop contest. :)

Monday Madness

What stressed me out today?

First, Petey drank 1/4 bottle of Motrin. After hanging up with Poison Control and finding out she didnt drink enough for it to be toxic, she spilled a bowl of just-off-the-stove-boiling-hot-macaroni all over her body. A quick phone call to pediatric doctor Grandpa and she is just fine. Her foot was red/purple but it's gotten tons better throughout the day.
What did I do that was fun today?

Took 4 toddlers to Hobby Lobby and after getting there, the two potty trained girls both needed to use the potty. Nice Aunt Juli took them to the bathroom while I stayed out with these two cuties.

What made me laugh today?

Spidey started doing this funny move. Hilarious if you ask me. He loves to look at me upsidedown now.

What made me smile today?

Seeing Baby B smile this big. And I LOVE that one eyebrow up. :)

How was your Monday Madness?

Meet Fred (Tot School)

Meet Fred.

Fred is the newest member of our household.
Fred is always hungry.
But Fred is a picky eater.
On this particular day, Fred only wanted to eat purple pompom balls. And then he wanted to eat only pink ones. On another day, Fred got really particular and only wanted to eat red triangles. Get the picture?
But Fred is no match for Petey. She knows just what to give him to make his tummy feel warm and fuzzy.

And that, my dear friends, is Phase 1 of our tot school. Petey enjoys learning and I enjoy watching her and teaching her. Thankfully, my sister in law was a 1st grade teacher and now that she is home with her chicklets, she handed some fun stuff and ideas down to us that we can use at home.

To end this post, here is another sneak peek for Petey's Halloween costume. Any guesses now? The first sneak peek was the hot pink/black/white tutu. :)

The Friday Loves

I love when the weather cools down just enough so we can go outside and play in the grass.

I love that my son has been sitting in a chair blowing spit bubbles for 20 minutes entertaining himself.

I love that friends came over and visited yesterday and today.

I love that I have a good relationship with my sister in law and that our kids are learning to get along.

I love that my husband works as hard as he does and yet is still finding time to spend with me tonight.

I love that I can skype and see my sister's face and my cute nephew too.

I love that I stay home...and that Heavenly Father has blessed me with as much patience as I have...because even though I have hard days, I am pleasantly surprised as to how much patience I have.

I love that I am losing weight. I know, months ago you were supposed to hold me accountable for that but somewhere along the way, I got lost and stopped doing it. But here I am, back and better than ever. The new # is 166. See? I did lose some weight since last time we addressed the situation.

I love being able to craft.

I really just love my life, especially today. And I probably love you too.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Today was the day

Ladies and gentlemen.

Today was the day.

Today I took them for granted.
Today I wondered if I had made a mistake by quitting my job.
Today I felt like a bad mom.

This morning, my Petey girl was on one. The first time out was given and she yelled out, "Mom, I peed my pants!" The second time out was given a while later and the same response came from that girl within minutes. The third time. And then the fourth time. By the fourth time, she was taking a time out in her bed (which is what happens if she cant stay in the time out spot) and she peed all over her bed. I knew it wasn't an accident. I was pretty sure by the first time out that they werent accidents. And by that fourth time, she really got to me.
I yelled.
I cried.
I prayed for the strength to overcome my anger and anxiety.
I cried some more.
And she looked down at me and asked, "Mommy, when I make bad choices it makes you sad?"

The rest of the day went ok. Little mishaps here and there but we made it out just fine.

I realized today how hard it is to be a mother...and especially a full time stay at home mother. This is something I didnt quite understand before. I have such a deep love for my children that I didnt believe it could be the hardest job I've ever been given. But with hard work comes some of the greatest rewards I will ever experience in this lifetime.

One of those rewards was hearing Petey ask me if her bad choices made me sad. It was the realization that I am teaching her something. That she does learn from me. I want my daughter to trust and respect me, not be afraid of me. This is why I've decided to start a "yell chart". Slightly like a pott chart or job chart, I will put a stick on it if I can go a whole day without yelling. I feel like a child for having to do this but whatever it takes to be the best parent I can be, Ill do.

Wish me luck! And try not to think I'm too crazy. I really try to stay calm more often than it probably sounds.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Monday Madness

Today's Monday Madness:

What made me frustrated?

The fact that I vaccumed yesterday and my rug looked like this today.

What made me feel blessed?

These shoes were given to us by a friend and since my boy is growing up, they now fit him! With him probably walking in another month or so, this was a huge blessing to have some free shoes to start us off.

What made me smile?

Seeing my 3 favorite people play at the park and then crash in the grass.

What made me relieved?

No, we didnt find our mail key but I stalked out the mailman today and showed him my license and he gave me my mail! And though the new mail keys are going to cost $40, I will keep them safe this time. This picture shows what'll happen to you if you dont get your mail for over a week.
What did I need?

Our quiet time. Every day when Spidey goes down for a nap, Petey gets to lay on the floor and watch a movie and I get to blog...or clean...or do something else (obviously today, it's blogging).

And that's how Suze sees it.

Flashback

Both my chubbies at 11 months old. Love it!

(and seriously, did anybody notice Petey is playing wih a BOX CUTTER? I am such a horrible parent...especially since I dont think Ive ever noticed that until today)

I am really becoming quite thankful for my camera. It takes images like this......the old one took images like this (and yes, I edited it all funny but the fuzziness in the image is so noticeable when you compare the two).

These are my kids both in the grass for the first time. Petey was around 7 months and Spidey is 11 months so a big difference in size. Their reaction was much different. Petey didn't like it. Spidey started crawling as fast as he could.

I love flashbacks so much.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Some sort of princess

Mmm. The other day, I made this for dinner. My mouth is watering just looking at it. Chicken salad on hugo-ginormous crossaints. My sister in law taught me a new way of making chicken salad. I used ranch dressing in the place of mayonaisse. It is seriously delicious. I then put the chicken salad on the crossaints, added some butter to the crossaints, and broiled them for maybe 3 minutes. Sweet, salty, and crunchy. 3 of my favorite things. :) You should try it too.



Can you guess what this girly is going to be for Halloween? Ill give you a hint. It's not a ballerina. And she's not wearing that shirt...plus many things will be added. But she is wearing this awesome tutu I made. Boss thinks it's too big but I LOVE how huge it is on her.

It's been an exhausting week. I wish I could just sleep all weekend but I love having this time with just my kids. Friday went considerably well with 3 crazy boys in my house + my two crazy kids but it wore me out. By 1pm, I was having a hard time staying awake but dont worry, I didnt fall asleep. :)

Lead Me

There is a special song I listen to when I'm having a hard mom day or just a hard day in general. It is often played on 89.9 which is a family Christian radio station. Today as we were headed home from a wonderful day at my sister-in-law's (cant I just call her my sister and skip the "in law" part?), I sang it to myself. It wasnt playing on the radio and my ipod is dead right now (with the cord somewhere lost), so I just sang it. To give you a background before typing the chorus, the father is singing about his wife and kids and the chorus is them pleading with him to be the spiritual leader of their home.
"Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Dont leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?
Show me you're willing to find
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone."
When I first heard this song, the second verse really hit me hard because he sings about his kids, "I see their faces, Look in their innocent eyes, They're just children from the outside. I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine, They're indepedent, But on the inside I can hear them saying."(and then the chorus is sung). I guess it just reall my hit me because I was leaving my kids for 8 hours a day at the time and thinking they were indepedent enough not to need me.
Now that I'm home, I realize how untrue that is. My kids need me.

I heard the lead singer of Sanctus Real (the band) talking on 89.9 about this song one day. He spoke of how his wife sat down with him and explained to him that he was the patriarch of their home and no matter what dreams he was chasing by becoming a famous singer, their family needed to come first and their faith needed to come first. He sat down with her and together, they wrote this song.

The message is so important, not only for husbands/fathers but for all family members. There are days that my 2 year old and I are constantly on each other's nerves and I feel like giving up as a mother and then I remember the most important reason for being on this earth because I do believe it is the most important reason I am here. Motherhood. We will get through the terrible 2's and 3's and 4's and 5's all the way to the terrible 16's. :) And as we lead each other, we will be blessed.

Staying home has really, and I mean really, made me realize just how much I love my husband. As he leaves for school, comes home, leaves for work, and ends his day around midnight, my love for him has grown so much stronger. We are a much happier family since we made this important change in our lives and I just cannot believe how hard he works for us. I love him more today than the day I married him. And even moreso than I did the days our two beautiful children were born.

And now that I've written this beautiful novel, it's time for bed. :)

And that's how Suze sees it.

My Mom

I love my mom. She has always been there for me. And she continues to be an amazing person.

I was having a hard day today. We cant find the stupid key to our mailbox, my house is always messy, and I'm always worried about our financial situation. And as I'm about to have a break down in the grocery store, I received a nice phone call from my awesome mother, asking me if she and my nephew can come by tomorrow to hang out with us.

That is support. I love how much she loves me and I love how much she loves my husband and kids.

I love my mom.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Mula

Today I realized how blessed I am. Ok, fine, most days I have some sort of realization like this. Maybe someday the staying home part of my life will be a "normal" routine and I wont as often realize how special it is but for now, I dont take it for granted.
Anyway, back to the point...I was realizing how blessed I am as I looked into the hazel eyes of my chubby little boy's face. Money is going to be really tight these days and I am not always sure how things are going to work but every time I get fearful of the future and for a glimpse think about going back to work (I know, it's been 3 weeks, I'm so dramatic), something happens. Like today, when two people contacted me and need a babysitter for this week/next week. Oh the extra money REALLY helps. And I know I have days where I'd just rather be home with my kids and nobody else's kids but I'm trying not to be spoiled. When you pray for a way to stay home and people contact you about babysitting, you take the opportunity you've been given. At least I do. Or did. :)
Friday will be our biggest Suze's Daycare day yet (and no, I didn't name my daycare that...because I dont have a professional daycare so why would I name it?). Three kids besides my own ALL day long! Ranging between the ages of 15 months to 3 years old. Please cross your fingers for me. :) I'm sure it'll be fine and 1 one of the kiddos is not one of my normal babysittees so it wont always get that crazy here at my house.
I'm just nervous, that's all. Money was never really tight when I was working and we took a lot of money out of our budget when we decided it was time for me to quit. So I'm hoping we can make it work. I'm praying we can. But I'm still scared.
So that's where I'm leaving it.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Icky Feelings

Sometimes I just have icky feelings.


Do you ever have icky feelings?


Do you ever covet other people?


It's icky.


Don't do it if you haven't already.


And especially don't do it when you have such a great life, like I do.



So why do we do this? Covet other things or other people.



Maybe because this world tells us we need something bigger and better, someone to give us more presents and spend more and more money. The world tells us that money will bring us happiness.
I'm here to tell you the truth. Money does not bring happiness.

This brings happiness...

...and I created him. And he is mine. And he is my husbands. And with Petey, we are a family.
A happy family.

So please remind me not to covet.

Please tell me that a bikini body, flowers every day from my husband, and a million dollars would not bring me the happiness I want.

There are 3 people who surpass everything else in the world and bring me the most joy.

And that's how Suze sees it.