Little Brother

If you look through all of my old posts from these past 3.5 years, you'd find a reocurrence when it comes to this boy. I may talk about how crazy he is but I always brag about how lucky I am to have him.

When we got pregnant after Petey, I envisioned my life with 2 little girls who would be the best of friends. I actually knew from the very beginning that I was pregnant with a boy but I didn't think about it much until it was confirmed. I have so many sisters and I could just see my two little daughters growing up together and helping each other out. For some reason, when we found out he was a HE, those dreams vanished and though I was excited for a boy, I didn't see my kids as being best friends. I couldn't imagine them growing up and doing things together and looking out for each other.

Well, folks, it's only been 3.5 years since my kids have been siblings on this earth and I'm here to say that they are best friends! Spidey has eased my worries by being the sweetest little brother a girl could ask for {minus all the punching and kicking he does}. He will often run up to Petey and tell her he loves her, that she is his girl, or that she is a beautiful princess. He likes to kiss her for way too long. He loves to lay next to her and watch movies. He absolutely loves to be mischevious with her.

Now that I've seen my kids interact with each other at similiar ages (3 and 4 seems more similiar in age to me than 1 and 2), I can envision the future of a protective brother, of a caring sister, of two helpful siblings. It makes me happy to think that they'll have each other.

Spidey likes attention and is easy to please if you play with him. Today, I decided to let him pick something fun for him and I to do while Petey had a friend over. He asked if I would hold a pillow up so he could 'punch it like a ninja'. We also played steam roller on my bed for a little while. It was a great day with my Spidey. I cannot imagine my life without him in it. He brightens my day and makes me a stronger person and a better mother. He is teaching me so much and I'm lucky to have him.

Thanks for being my son and being a greta little brother, Spidey. We ALL love you.

The Messiest Of Messy Boys

 In case you've ever wondered whether my kids keep me on my toes...

Luckily, no poop was involved in either of these pictures. One was mud, the other was chocolate.

But seriously, Spidey, can you be any messier?!!

I guess he probably could. And even if he is the messiest kid in the world, I am so glad I get to be the one cleaning him up left and right. I'm glad that he's mine. I'm also glad we have a shower nozzle that unhooks from the wall so I can spray him down whenever I need to.

I love you, Spidey boy.

Sister Crockett

I know I've mentioned Boss' aunt and uncle before on my blog but just to refresh your memory, we love them a whole lot. They have 3 amazing teenage girls who love our children and we visit them often. {They only live 15 minutes away}

Their oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, made a huge life decision a couple of months ago when she decided to serve a full time mission for the LDS church. Everyone was so excited to hear where she would be going and when the call finally came, we rushed over to be there when she opened the call.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Watching her open her call was emotional for everyone there. I met Kaitlyn when she was a little 12 year old girl and now she is a 19 year old woman.

Well, today Kaitlyn left. She got on a plane and headed to Utah to the Missionary Training Center where she will stay for 2 weeks before heading to Pennsylvania. We went over yesterday to visit her one last time since she will be gone for 18 whole months. At the end of the visit, I wanted pictures of her and my kids so we can compare these pictures in another 18 months. Of course, they wanted to get some with their favorite Aunt Gigi as well.

It has been fun to watch Kaitlyn grow up. She has been so helpful to me since I've become a mother.

I know she loves my children and they both adore her.

She is kind, compassionate, and beyond mature for a 19 year old. She has a strong testimony and I've loved hearing her share that testimony on different occasions these last couple of weeks.

I know she will be an amazing missionary. I have no doubt that she will change peoples lives and that hers will forever be changed because of this experience she is choosing to take on. I can't imagine leaving my family for a year and a half but I am sure the sacrifice is worth the blessings.

We love you, Sister Crockett. See you in 18 months.

The 6th Year

 Yesterday marked SIX years since I made the decision to get married.

I remember being young and in love, both of us working full time and thinking we were super poor, and living in a tiny apartment in North Mesa.

I remember celebrating our one month anniversary and wondering how it could've already been a whole month!

I remember our one year anniversary, when I was on bed rest with Petey but we snuck out to eat anyway.

I also remember the hard times, like when I miscarried our first pregnancy and Boss stayed home from work for 2 days to make sure I was ok. He carried a mattress downstairs and put it right in front of the tv so I could watch movies while in and out of sleep. I was in a funk for weeks and he stuck by my side.

The 6th year of our marriage tested us more than any other year so far. I think back to 7 months ago when most days were met with arguments from two very stubborn people. I remember thinking I was ready to throw in the towel. I remember being scared, so very scared and sad. I also remember the day we took a step in the right direction that will forever change our lives.

 One of the best days I can remember from this year was one where Boss had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt. It was that day that I realized marriage is supposed to be this happy. Boss and I had gotten used to being annoyed with each other. It was on that day that I realized I had fallen in love all over again. I could remember all of the reasons why I married him in the first place plus a million new reasons.

Though I originally looked at this year as the hardest year we've faced, it has also been the best. I couldn't be happier with the man I chose to be my forever best friend. He truly is one of a kind and I love him more than I did the day I married him.

Some of my favorite things from our 6th year of marriage:

Watching Boss be a groomsmen in his best friend's wedding. He looked so handsome and did a great job.

Redecorating/rearranging most of our house.

 Celebrating 27 years of his life together as a family.

Boss taking time with the kids by himself on weekends so I have some 'me' time.

 Attending ASU basketball games together.

Boss deciding on a new career path.

Me deciding on a new career path.

Getting new family pictures.

Starting regular date nights together.

Buying a new van.

Our trip to Carlsbad.

Boss calming me down on the phone after Petey cut her hair.

Taking a spur of the moment trip to Utah to visit some of Boss' old friends.

The very first time that Spidey 'poop painted' and I called Boss crying because I was so grossed out he left work early and cleaned it up for me.


Boss is the guy I chose to marry and looking back on the past 6 years, I don't regret my decision. He has made me happier than I ever knew possible and I know he loves me.

Here's to another trillion years!

Party Til Your Pink

 Petey went to the cutest birthday party on Saturday for one of her best friends from dance class. It was at Pout in Pink, which is a cute little boutique about 10 minutes from our house. They hold birthday parties there and make these girls feel like little princesses.

Here she is waiting in line for hair, make up, and nails. :)

 She picked purple nail polish and they put glitter on top. So cute.

 They also did her hair and make up but unfortunatly the hair was falling out right away so I had to fix it. Can you see the glitter on her shoulders? They dumped glitter in their hair and let's just say our whole family/house is sparkling these days...

 Then she got to make her own place mat.

 Next was dress up time.

 After dress ups, they each took a turn walking down the runway for all the moms.

 Posing for a picture with the photographer.

 The girls on either side of Petey go to dance with her and they're the two kids she talks about the most. It's adorable.

 They each got to take some photos so they would feel like models.

 Here are most of the girls from the party.

 Bell blowing out the candles on her cupcake.

 They got to decorate their cupcake and of course, Petey had to pick pink sprinkles with pink jelly beans. :)

 She took a bite out of her cupcake and I was laughing because it looked like hot pink lipstick.

 After presents, they got to play freeze dance which is one of Petey's favorite games. She even won a round and was so excited to be the last one dancing.

It was such a cute little birthday party and I'm glad that she was invited. It's exciting to see your little girl making so many friends before she even starts kindergarten.

Day to Day

 The day to day stuff is good. My life is busy and happy most of the time. I love the day to day stuff. I love being with my kids all day long. I love the extra kids that are in and out of our home.

I love the carefree time when I choose to get on the floor and play with my kids.

 Unfortunately, that doesn't happen often enough but when it does, we are usually all laughing really hard.

 I love dropping everything we are doing when we hear that friends are at the park.

 I love watching my kids play games without a single worry in the world {something I wish I had}.

I love that even though we don't have a baby of our own, almost every day we get to experience what it'd be like to have that baby #3 with us. Boo is a baby I watch every week but he sure seems to fit right in with my kids with those big blue eyes. Petey would hold him all day if I'd let her. On this particular day, he stayed in her arms for an hour and a half while they all watched a movie together.

I love my day to day. I love my family. I love the opportunities I've been given in my life.

Most importantly, I'm just thankful that I have good days. They make my bad days worth it. Being a mom has proven to be a hard job for me and I often feel like I'm failing but I was told a couple of weeks ago that the good thing about motherhood is that when you mess up, you get another try the next day...and the next day after that. Even when I'm not doing a great job, I can always change and try harder the next day. I can always improve and try to be the best mother for my kids. That is what life is all about in my opinion. My children are my greatest responsibility right now and I feel so lucky to be trusted to raise them.

The good, the bad, and the 13 lbs I'll never see again...

I have very good days and I have days that take all the energy I can muster just to get through.

On the days that aren't good, I feel alone and I see only the tunnel vision of my trials.

On the good days, I can see my blessings and my vision is opened up to all of the good things in my life.

It's hard not to feel alone when you're closest friends don't quite understand what you're going through but I know they try. I'm so very grateful that they try.

Last night, I had a dream that I had a little baby girl and I got to be a stay at home mom with her being a newborn and it was heavenly. In my dream, I kept looking at her and saying, "This isn't a dream I'm going to wake up from, right? It feels real so it isn't a dream." Then I woke up. Sometimes I wish I could just keep on dreaming. But then I remember that if I choose to keep on dreaming, I would miss out on reality with Petey and Spidey.

The reality is that we're quite happy as a family of 4. Other people's lives seem to shake my ground and make me think I need another baby today but I don't.

I am so thankful for motherhood. My mom told me yesterday that maybe Heavenly Father isn't sending me another baby yet because I've already created 2 perfect ones and she is right about that. I know she was kidding but they really are perfect.

On a side note, I have lost 13 pounds in the last 2 weeks. I'm headed on a 50 lb weightloss journey {I know you've heard that before but I'm hoping to stick with it this time}. Petey told my sister the other day that I'm eating healthy to make my belly smaller so we can have more babies. I can't remember telling her that but it's slightly true. I do think that weightloss will help with pregnancy, if God intends for us to be 3rd time parents. But if He doesn't, I'd really like to be able to keep up with my kids all the time and be there for my grandkids and maybe great grandkids.

So...on that note, have a great day! I plan on making today a good one.

Easter Weekend

 Since the day after Boss' brother got married was Easter, we mixed in a couple of Easter activities that weekend. My first set of pictures is from Easter day and then we'll skip back to the Friday before since I don't feel like reformatting all of the pictures. :)

We let the kids hav a slumber party in Spidey's room and when I went in there to wake them up, my boy was all smiles and Petey was still asleep.

 After some coaxing, they were both up and ready to find their Easter goodies. Spidey took one look at his new helmet and said, "This is amazing!"

 After looking at their goodies, it was time to get all ready for church. My mom got the kids Easter outfits this year and I think they both looked absolutely adorable.

 I got Petey that white hat to go with her dress. I just couldn't resist. She looked adorable. {And no, she didn't wear those flip flops to church}

 This picture is my favorite. My kids have this special bond that I adore. It makes me so happy to see them loving each other.

 After Easter dinner at Boss' grandparents, we headed over to my parents' house to get a picture of all the granddaughters in their matching dresses. How cute are they?!

 Ellie gave me lots of smiles that night. My sister's kids don't smile easily as babies so I love getting smiles out of them.

Ok, now onto Friday and the Easter egg hunt at my parents house.

 We sent Ellie out first so she could grab some eggs before the older kids went outside.

 Then it was time to let them all loose. The 3 oldest started running further out into the yard...

 ...Spidey played it safe and just grabbed the ones near him. He actually ended up with more eggs than anyone and started giving away eggs to the other kids by the end because his basket was full.

 This is one of Spidey's bestest friends, Hurley. Hurley is seriously the best dog I've ever met. She lets my kids play with her whenever they want. Spidey loves giving her hugs and chasing her around the yard. I'm not kidding when I say I wish she were our dog. Even Petey plays with her and Petey isn't the biggest animal fan.

After the Easter egg hunt, we went to the Easter pagaent with some of our family. We didn't get there early enough this year to be where I wanted in the grass but our seats were still pretty close.

We stopped at Cafe Rio, which made the kids happy.

Boss' brother, Fatty, {seriously} and his wife, Katie, and my sister, Andrea, and her husband, Jp, joined us. I asked Boss to get Spidey in a pull up and his pajamas and Fatty helped him by wrapping Spidey up in the blanket while Boss got him dressed. It was pretty funny.

 

The Easter pagaent was beautiful, as always. My kids enjoyed most of it but I'll admit that we let them play games on my Kindle when they were getting tired.

 

I am so grateful for Easter and the opportunity that I have to remember what my Savior did for me. It was a wonderful weekend and I feel so blessed to be a part of such wonderful families.