Hi and Bye

Oh, hi there. Do I look wide eyed and a bit frazzled to you? Well, trust me, that's how I feel. It's been a crazy, stressful, non stop kind of day and I am one exhausted momma.
But I seriously havent blogged in 8 days. What the???
I apologize for that nonsense. But itll be another 8-10 days before you get another blog post. Because we are headed to the beach. Heck-freaking-yes.
But in case you feel like you missed out on the last week, here are some updates:

Spidey is still the cutest little boy in the entire world. He talks like crrrazy and is always doing the funniest things. Yesterday, he had a messy diaper and Boss said, "Bubba, you stink." and Spidey quickly retorted, "No, YOU stink." He is just full of the sillies. He likes to reach for a person, pretend to grab them and then pretend to eat what he grabbed. ??? Yeah...you'd probably have to see him do it to imagine what I'm explaining. But it's weird and funny all at the same time. {Yes, my son pretends to eat people.}
Petey and I had a HARD day today. I was so tired by the end of today and so was she. And bad choice after bad choice got her sent to bed at 6:30pm. Our day went as followed: Dentist appt at 7am, work from 8-12pm, DES office from 12:15-3:15pm, Dentist appt at 3:30 (they messed up my porcelain crown so it had to be sent back to the lab and they put it in that afternoon), Oil change at Walmart from 4:30-6:00pm. And that's around the time when the meltdown ensued.
But the greatest part about today was that it was my last day working! I've been filling in at my dad's office for the past two weeks and now it's over. I had such a great time but I missed my kiddies SO darn much and now I dont ever want to leave them again {except when they're throwing huge temper tantrums.}.

Also, my big sister recently announced she is pregnant! Who am I kidding, she told me she was pregnant the day she took the test. But she announced it to the world a week or two ago and I forgot to tell you. I am SO excited for another little baby to join our extended family. And I'm even more excited about the possible fact that Petey might not be the only granddaughter anymore! {Because when youre planning a trip to Disneyland, it's hard to convince your sisters who have all boys to stand in line with you and your daughter for 2 1/2 hrs to meet the princesses.}

And my other big sister is now a married woman! The last of us sisters to get married. Yippee! (Besides my youngest sister who, as you might remember, has special needs and wont ever get married.) It was a fun-packed weekend and Petey was the cutest little flower girl---except that she forgot to throw any flower petals on the ground as she walked down the aisle. But when she came and sat down next to me, she said, "Mom, can I throw the petals on the floor now?" Yeah...I guess we didnt explain that one well enough to her.

Also, Boss has 1 more week (actually, less) of summer school with two more classes under his belt. And the fall semester starts in 2 weeks! He is such a hard worker.

You see, SO much has been going on and we are ending the busy month of July with a huge vacation! Ill tell you ALL about it {maybe in more than one post} when we get back! See you in another 8-10 days. :)

And that's how Suze sees it.

Little Tiny Braids

Is anyone else out there as weird as me?

Wait, dont answer that. I don't want to know.

Well, sometimes when I get out of the shower, I braid my hair so that when it dries, it will be crimpy. The other day when Petey got out of the bath, I had missed her a lot that day and wasn't ready for her to go to bed so I decided to stay up and braid her hair into a bunch of tiny braids so her hair would be crimped and not have to be done the next day.
Flash forward to the next day...Petey refused to let me take the braids out of her hair. She refused to let Boss take them out of her hair. She refused to let Grandma take them out of her hair. Get the picture? We all tried convincing her but she loved those darn braids.

For 2 whole days, that girly refused to let us take them out.

Well, today was the day, folks. Boss' aunt finally convinced Petey to let her take the braids out. Wow, that was some crazy hair! Too bad I didnt take a picture. But just get a mental image...Gracie said she looked like Bellatrix Lestrange (and yes, I did just google that name to ensure I spelled it correctly).

Have a wonderful night. I miss blog hopping to all of your blogs daily but dont worry, soon enough you will have me back.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Lastest and Greatest

Just some silly pictures as of recent. Spidey likes to walk around with his favorite blankey in his mouth. Boss thought it was funny to bite on the other end.

The first day I worked, I came home and this was the first thing I saw. Petey in some weird, pink pajamas. First of all, it's HOT and second of all...they just look weird. But her and daddy thought it was funny.

A cute picture of Miss Petey sleeping in the car the other night. :)

Petey and Wilbur Force today on his birthday!

Twice tonight, Mr Spidey bonked his head on the piano in the exact same spot. By the second time, I wasnt as sympathetic. :) But I did love on him and snuggle him after this picture.

And let's end with the cutest picture from tonight...I LOVE this boy!!! He makes my days so happy. It's incredible the amount of love you can have for such a tiny little kiddo.

Hope you've had a great weekend. I am back to work tomorrow. Only 2 more weeks and we are off to California! (Can you tell Im excited?)

And that's how Suze sees it.

Working Mom vs SAHM

Well, yesterday I went back to work. It isn't permanent but for two weeks, I will be a full time working mama.
I was excited and sad to say goodbye to my two little chicklets yesterday morning.
I really do love working for my dad. I love the people, the children, and the atmosphere. I even love the drama. :)
But I love my kids more. And I want to be with them more.
Yesterday went by so fast and I had such a good time at work but when I got home, it was especially nice to have two little people run and grab onto my legs and tell me they love me.
But my goodness, it took about 20 minutes for my stress levels to rise high above normal. The kids were wild and crazy and I was tired.

My dad jokingly asked me when I was going to come back to work full time (I must be pretty good at what I do) and I thought about it for a while that night.

Being at work isnt actually the hardest part of being a working mom. It was the coming home and not knowing what my kids' routine had been that day that was more stressful. I didn't know how much they had cried, laughed, gone to the bathroom, played outside, etc and I couldn't detect the moods they'd be in.

It was harder for me to be a mom when I hadnt been with them all day.

I never realized how much this is true. Today was the same. I came home, we had a great 20 minute reunion and then I was worn out and was counting down until bedtime.

I am so darn grateful for the opportunity I have to help out and go back to work when needed.

But my goodness, I am so grateful to be a stay at home mom every other week of the year. I have now fully experienced both sides and would have to say that I'd rather raise my kids every day of the year than work 9 hours a day and come home to them with only 1/4 of my regular energy.

The only other downfall to working has been the sadness of Miss Petey. This morning, she woke up before I went to work and said to me, "Mom, could you please snuggle with me before you go to work?" And right before I left, she said, "Wait! Just one more thing...I love you so much!" It melted my heart!

And that's how Suze sees it.

PS: I may not be around the blogging world much the next two weeks. Working full days, my sister getting married, and a trip to California (Hello, Disneyland!!!) are going to take precedence over my blog. But Ill stop by once in a while. :)

Cheese Sandwiches and Cucumbers

Did anybody else dress up in their dad's big t-shirts growing up and put a belt around it to make it a dress? Oh, that was just my sisters and I? Oh, ok, nevermind.
Petey found her uncle's shirt the other day and decided to put it on. Aunt Andrea had the idea to put a belt around it and it made Petey's day! Seriously, it was adorable.
But back to the point which I haven't started to make yet...

Four days ago, Aunt Andrea bought Petey some special pinkalicious cupcakes from the store. Petey was told if she finished her dinner, she would get to have one.
It was pizza night and Petey did not finish. {My weird little one doesnt care for pizza like the rest of us.}
The next afternoon for lunch, we tried again. I cant even remember what we were having but Petey did not finish her food again.
It was really surprising me because usually she will do anything for a treat.

Yesterday, we had cheese sandwiches and cucumbers for lunch. Miss Petey was doing so good until it came to the crust. But I stood my ground. If she wanted her pink cupcake, she would need to finish the crust and the cucumber.

She thought about it, all the while staring at that pinkalicious goodness in front of her.

And then...she pushed through and ate all of her food! Every. Last. Bite.

Sweet {literally} victory was hers that day.

And victory was also mine. I wasn't a pushover. I'm usually not that way but there are still times I give in. I hate giving in. I only do it when I'm being lazy.

I stayed strong and I'm sure that pinkalicious cupcake tasted all the more amazing to her after what she had to accomplish to get it.

And that's how Suze sees it.

My 300th Post

Today, as I signed in to blog about nothing in particular, I realized this is my 300th post. I started this blog when that little boy in the box was a week or two old. I wanted a place separate from my family blog, to post about my feelings and the emotions that were going on after just having a baby. It has turned into a place where my opinions, crafts, and sometimes family adventures are stored.
I feel like today's post should be something special...but I've got nothing.

I did take Miss Petey swimming at Perry Pool today with my sister and K Bear. She had a blast. Isnt she just adorable?

I cant believe how much my kids have grown up on this blog. Petey was 16 months old when Spidey was born and she is now a little over 3 years old.

Time sure flies.

I apologize for not making this post more exciting. :)

And that's how Suze sees it.

My Sister's First Word

I have a very special little sister. Actually, I have 4 of them but this particular sister is quite unique and so very special to the rest of us. She is autistic and doesnt speak at all. She is 20 years old now and the youngest of us sisters. {She's the one in the middle}
I remember when we were little, I used to have dreams that she would speak and wake up believing they were true...like she was just fooling us and choosing not to speak.
Well, it isnt true. As smart as she is {and she is smart}, she doesnt speak. She can read and type on her communicating device but her mouth has never created true pronunciations of words...

...until today.

Currently, we are staying at my parents' house and babysitting my little sister while my parents are out of town. As I walked down the hallway today, I was stunned to hear what sounded like talking coming from the playroom. I quietly peered through the door to see my sister playing with her blocks and saying, "Mommmmmmm-ma." quite clearly, over and over again.

I quickly called my older sister in the room (the one on the right in the picture) and she told me to record it on my phone, which I did. I sent it to my parents and told them to give me a call when they were free.

When my mom called, I didnt quite know how to feel. Was I supposed to cry at this enormous break through? Was I supposed to laugh? Call someone? Announce it to the world?

Because I am not sure my sister knows what she is saying, this may not constitute a "first word" label but it is honestly the first thing she has ever said, besides her constant humming. So with permission from my parents, I knew this was blog worthy.

My sister is such a special, smart girl. She is always surprising us with something new. I think she was around 12 years old when my parents learned that she could read and type on the computer. It seems that ever since then, she is always learning something new. A couple years back, we learned that she has the entire hymn book from our church memorized. All 300-and-something pages of it! We like to play a game where we will write down the name of a hymn and have her read it, and she can flip straight to it.

It amazes me how special this young girl is. She has touched my life in so many ways and I am so lucky to be learning from such an amazing daughter of God.

I heard from someone once that Heavenly Father sends these special children to earth with their handicaps because he is protecting them for much greater things in the next life. I believe that is true and know that my sister is truly perfect.

And that's how Suze sees it.

4th of July

How grateful I am for my country and the freedom that I have. It is hard to express how I feel about America because I have lived here my whole life and have never experienced anything but my freedom. I often take the things I have for granted so it is nice to have such a wonderful day for us all to reflect on the many freedoms that we do have.
On the 4th, I had the freedom to: *Melt in the sun watching David and Petey...

...at their swim lessons. (Are you loving Petey's face in that picture? She is SO bubbly and talks like crazy now at lessons.)

*Have a BBQ with extended family (no pictures to prove it...but it did happen).

*Swim at my parents house and watch Petey jump off the diving board {after a while, she started doing it without floaties but I didnt get a picture}.

*Light fireworks with family.

*See K Bear's dad having to plug his ears because the fireworks were loud.

*Watch Aunt Gigi and Spidey get excited for the fireworks. This was right after Spidey said, "Whoohoo!"

I am so grateful for my country, for my family, and for my freedom.

And that's how Suze sees it.

What do you do?

What do you do when the power goes out? (explanation of why the power went out on Jenna's blog. )
Well, since we weren't home at the time of this occurrence, Boss' Aunt put on a movie for the kids on her laptop.

And Spidey snuggled with a zebra twice his size.
For the record, our power never went out but we were waiting for Kaitlyn (Boss' cousin) to get her senior pictures done...which were actually cancelled, due to the power being out there too.

And dont worry, after the movie was over and SRP told us that the power would be off for at least another hour (it ended up being 5 hours total), we drove to my parents house and went swimming. Their house was 84 degrees when we left and I don't even want to think about how hot it got in the next 4 hours after that. Yuck!

Now onto my second question...What do you do when your broken toilet floods part of your house and the carpet in your kids' bedroom molds?

You rip out the carpet and tile the floor in their room. But first, you have to take everything out of their room. This is what my family room looked like early this morning.

I took the kids to their summer movie program while Boss and Kaitlyn kept working in their room. It was Spidey's first time going and he did so well!!!

Petey loved it, as always. Despicable Me is such a cute movie.

When the kids and I got home, my family room looked like this! And Boss had even ripped out the carpet. He bought the tile this afternoon and is currently laying it out in their room.

Luckily, we are living at my parents' right now, babysitting my lil sis, so when we get home, the kids can enjoy their newly tiled room!

It has been a weird and slightly exhausting week but I love my life and wouldn't trade it for anything.

And that's how Suze sees it.