Hoarders: Maughan Edition

{Disclaimer: As embarrassing as this is to post, my house will NEVER look like that first picture again. Ever ever ever.}
The other day, Boss and I went out on a date and my mom watched the kids. In the middle of our lunch, I proposed to Boss an idea that I thought he would absolutely hate. The kids room is unbearably cramped between the two beds and all of their toys. I asked Boss what he would think of moving them to the master bedroom, since we don't need a lot of space between the two of us.
I also wanted to give Boss a push to sort through a bunch of his old school stuff. And by that, I meant I wanted our room to NOT look like an episode of Hoarders. I know, it's scary. Boss actually had a desk in here but needed it for something else so in that time crunch, he just took all of his school stuff out of the desk and layed it ALL over our floor (and I think that happened 3 months ago). I was getting sick of the mess on his side of the bed...

...and I had a big mess on my side of the bed too. We also hadn't found a place for our food storage and had it stacked up in piles around our room. It was bad.

Boss said he would think about the idea and about thirty minutes after I dropped him off at home, he sent me a picture text with all the kids clothes moved to our nice, big, beautiful closet (Yeah, I miss it) that said, "Let's do it!"

I was so happy that he agreed and that we think alike. If I had gotten the ok from him, I would've started moving stuff immediately too. We are so much alike in that way. :)

So here is one before picture of the kids room. It doesn't do the room justice because Boss had already moved Petey's humongous play kitchen and a couple of other toys into the main room.

For the past two days, our main room looked like this. Has anybody seen my son? I think we lost him during this process. :)

This afternoon, we finally got the kids toys put in their new room, along with their beds (which we had moved the night before).

Can you tell we were tired? Boss fell asleep on Petey's mattress.

In the kid's old bedroom, Petey actually slept in that crib but with the side off (day bed style) and Spidey slept in a pack'n'play. The reason being that two months ago, we planned to buy Petey bunk beds and put Spidey back in the regular crib. It seems that everytime we are ready to buy them, something has come up that we've had to spend the money on instead. "sigh" Someday, she'll have bunk beds but for now, we decided to just put her on the extra crib mattress we had in the garage.

Here are the kids playing with their toys. Now they actually have room to play! (Can you tell our girl is the oldest? Seems like every toy we own is PINK! Spidey is having a birthday next month and I need to get him some more manly toys)

And here is our new room. We are packed tight in it(Seriously, our bed takes up at least 3/4 of the room) but all we do in there is sleep anyway.

There are a few things we still have to put away but we are pretty much there. I went to the store at 10pm last night and bought 8 rubbermaid boxes so Boss could decide what books/papers/etc to keep and what to get rid of. And we filled all 8! But as long as everything is organized and put away, I dont mind if he keeps it.

During our little remodel, Spidey kept us on our toes. That kid is such a busy body! We tried to put him down for a nap today and the next thing I knew, he was laying on the couch watching a movie with Petey. So I tested it out. I put him back in bed, turned off the lights, and watched as he climbed right out of the darn bed! "sigh" Luckily, the crib had a couple more inches to go down and he can no longer get out...for now, that is.

I also walked past the bathroom to see this...Spidey sitting IN the sink, brushing his teeth with his toothbrush and Petey's toothbrush. "sigh"

And if I havent already proved my point, here is my little climber, standing on top of his sister's play kitchen.

What am I gonna do with you, Spidester?!

And that's how Suze sees it.

It was a bad day, Not a bad life.

Last month was a hard month. I was diagnosed with PCOS, my husband had his appendix removed, and at the end of the month, my sister moved away. I was delt a lot last month and I wanted it to stop.
But so far this month, I have started fertility {hi, it's me. i feel like crap} and now my only sister in law is moving away and taking my only two nieces with her {not that she would consider leaving them here. :)}.
I am SO done with change. Actually, I was done with change after being diagnosed with PCOS because that was a huge lifestyle change. Some days, I just dont want to deal with it. I want to forget about this past month. I want to be 6 months pregnant and not starting a round of fertility. I want to eat SUGAR. There are so many things I'd like to change about this month but apparently, things aren't done changing. My normal is no longer normal.
I havent cleaned my house since probably Thursday. Seriously, I have not a single clean bowl in the kitchen. I've been told that that happens with fertility. I feel like the life is being sucked out of me and I haven't done hardly anything in the past 5 days.
I really like the quote that is the title of my blog post. "It was a bad day, not a bad life." I am going to have many bad days but I certainly don't have a bad life. I saw The Help in theaters tonight...and I certainly don't have a bad life.

After watching that incredible movie (seriously, please go see it if you haven't already), I drove home with my children and talked to Petey about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This was our conversation, word for word {I recorded it on my phone}:
Me: Who's Heavenly Father?
Petey: Our president.
Me: I thought that was President Monson.
Petey: Oh. But Tom Monson talks to Heavenly Father and tells Him things.
Me: Yeah you're right.
Petey: We have to go talk to Him.
Me: When does He talked to us?
Petey: When we go to the temple, He hears us.
Me: Yeah thats true. He hears us there. How do we talk to Heavely Father?
Petey: We push a button and walk back to the door.
Me: We push a button?
Petey: Yeah to talk to Heavenly Father.
Me: Who are we talking to when we pray?
Petey: Grandma.

The rest of the conversation isnt recorded but dont worry, I explained to her that when we pray, we are talking to Heavenly Father...not Grandma. :)
I know my Petey girl doesn't know everything but she is grasping so much right now. I'm grateful that I get to teach her what a special daughter of God she is.
When we got home, I didn't want to put the kids to bed so I held them and we rocked and sang songs. It was such a peaceful time and I hope I never forget those feelings.
After a depressing, not so good day, I am such a lucky momma to be able to come home and be with the people that mean the most to me.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Sneak Peek + Funny Story = This Blog Post

Hi there.
I've got a quick story and a sneak peek to tide you over until I can write down the full tutorial for these super cute pants Petey is wearing. Aren't they adorable? Or am I the only person that loves tulle so much that Ill put it on ANYTHING?

So anyway, about that story. As I was looking at this picture of Petey and her perfect beauty pagaent pose (which was completely unprompted by me...she comes up with these poses on her own!), it reminded me of when we were at Disneyland last month. Petey was wearing her cute Tinkerbell dress up and I had her hair done quite perfectly. Well, some woman (late 20's, dress smaller than one of my socks, bottle blonde hair, stripper heels, orange tan, etc) came up to us and was gushing about how adorable my daughter was. I kept thanking her but she kept saying it over and over (maybe she was drunk now that I think of it). Then, before she walked away, she said, "Your daughter has the perfect looks. You should put her in beauty pagaents." And I had to stifle a laugh as she walked away.
I'm sorry but we are not beauty pagaent people. As much as Petey may or may not thrive in them, she isn't doing them. At least not until she is of the age where she is older and more independent and understands what pagaents are all about. I will NOT be on the next episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. Sorry.
But doesn't this picture make you think she'd be perfect for them? Where does she come up with this stuff?

And that's how Suze sees it.

PS: Did you even notice her feet are in perfect 5th position? She starts dance on Wednesday---maybe she'll be ahead of the class. :)

Wonderfuls

I have all sorts of wonderfuls to blog about. It's been a pretty darn happy weekend (even through my aches and pains). We have had some wonderful days with some wonderful people. Thursday, we headed out to Queen Creek to spend some time with cousins. Both of my silly kids love wearing their sunglasses. Sadly, Spidey broke his right after I took this picture but oh well. They were $1. :)

Juli and I helped the kids paint some paper plates (that I'll someday get around to making into little shakers). If you look closey {or click to enlargen the picture}, you will see that Miss B tried to eat the orange paint. Silly girl. :)

My cute kids hanging out on the couch.

Spidey wishes he was big enough to ride Leezer's bike. :) But he had fun sitting on it for a while.

Then we headed to Boss' aunt and uncle's house. We LOVE spending time with them and they LOVE our kids. Gigi kept pulling Spidey's shirt over his head and he would run around laughing.

As you can see, the kids kept trying to pull their shirts over their heads after that.

:)

My kids are crazy! :)

And of course, no day would be complete without Spidey cramming some type of food into his face...this time it was a pink cupcake. :)

The next day, we went to help one of Boss' friends set up his proposal for his now fiance. Spidey had a lot of fun sitting in the pink princess car and pretending to ride it around (the battery was dead).

And of course, this is what Spidey looked like during dinner time. Of. Course.

This was yesterday...Of. Course. He is sooooooo messy!

I am one lucky momma to be this entertained by two very special little people. They make me smile every day.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Sassy Zebra Dress

As you know, I'm obsessed with Pinterest. My husband is actually not one of those who hates pinterest because I've actually put it to good use. Yes, I can easily spend 3+ hours searching for cute ideas if I don't set a limit but usually, I'm pretty good about it.
Tonight, as I finished another pinterest-inspired project, he actually said that he liked Pinterest, since it gets me to sew and create more often.
Which brings me to...The Sassy Zebra Pillowcase Dress.
I first saw my inspiration for this dress here. It is adorable and I wanted to recreate it. Then I saw this dress and realize how much easier and cheaper it would be.
So off we headed to Hobby Lobby for some $.87 bandanas!

How did I get so lucky to have such a beautiful, happy little girl?

I actually never even clicked on that second link before making this dress. I just looked at the picture and created it on my own. As you can see, just sewing the two bandanas together was the wrong idea. It was HUGE around Petey. I got frustrated and almost gave up but decided to stick with it.

So I cut off about 4 inches on one side, sewed it back up and added a little piece of elastic to the chest area to scrunch it up a bit.

Simple and cute.

Here's the back. I cut a slit in the back of the dress so the tulle would be tied back there instead of on one of the sleeves.

Well, after Miss Petey went to bed, I decided the dress needed even more so I added a 3-layer tulle ruffle to the bottom. And yes, you read that correctly...I did a ruffle! Not a pleat as I did with the last skirt I made Petey. I don't even know what I did differently but I successfully did my first ruffle tonight. And I think it looks pretty darn adorable.

Petey will probably be wearing it to church tomorrow so I'll try to get more pictures of it on her.

Thank you, inventor of Pinterest!

And that's how Suze sees it.

Baby Day

Yesterday, we had a very special morning. Baby L got to come over and spend the morning with us. Baby L's family goes to church with us. They needed a sitter for a couple hours and we were the winners! I could've held her forever. She just stared at me, occasionally smiling, but mostly just sucking on that cute little pacifier. I wasn't quite sure how the kids would react to her since I wasn't going to be giving them as much attention. I couldn't believe how much they loved on her. Petey made her smile so many times.

Poor Baby L. My kids wanted to constantly be touching her. Good thing they had clean hands.

Petey kept saying, "She is so much cute, Mom."

And when I finally let her hold Baby L (yes, I was being a baby hog), she had the most geniune smile on her face.

Of course, when Spidey wanted to help hold her, Petey's smile dwindled a little bit. I guess she felt the same way I did. We never wanted Baby L to leave!

Having Baby L over that morning reassured me that we are ready for a baby. It may be in nine months and it may be in five years, but we are ready. Even Boss (the one who usually has to take a couple of days to calm down each time I've shown him a positive pregnancy test) talks about how much he wants a baby. It makes my heart happy to know that whenever it happens, we will have so much gratitude. We know how much of a miracle babies are. We may know that we are ready but we also know that God knows what is best for us.

I wish we could have a Baby Day all of the time. If anyone (*ahem, Leyla or Lindsey*) wants to let us watch their baby for a couple of hours, we would LOVE to. :) It's a win-win situation.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Ok, God, I hear you now

Today, I was driving.
Today, I was crying.
Today, I was crying AND driving.
Today, I had way too many overwhelming moments.
Today, my PCOS kicked my butt. I hope it doesn't do that tomorrow.
The cramps were horrible, the hormones were even worse.
But today, I lived. I shared memories. I breathed. And I even smiled.
Today was good.
Hard but good.

As I was driving today, I thought about the many times this week that people have stressed how important health is with PCOS. I thought about how my diet has to change and how I need to get on a better exercise routine. And then I thought about what God must be feeling. I wonder if he is up there saying, "Suzanne! I gave you a good body. Please keep it healthy! It is special."
It is special. I am special.

I've had family members express their amazement when they see me passing up a cookie or soda (A lot of these have been expressed by my proud husband). I've been asked how I seem to be doing it pretty easily. Well, honestly, I am doing it because I feel I have to. This isnt just about me looking fat or skinny anymore. It is about how long I will live, how many children I will be able to have, and hopefully, it'll keep me from getting diabetes. (please, please, please, please, please!)

So I'm doing what I can to keep my quality of life the best I can make it. And hopefully, soon down the road, it will help me conceive and bring another healthy baby into this world. But for now, I am staying busy with the two that I have. :)
They are just too cute for words. Lately, they've been much better friends and I love that about them. Their friendship hasnt come as easily as I thought it would, since they are so close in age. They have such different personalities but I'm glad they have learned to play well together.
Though, I'm not glad that Spidey has learned to do this. "sigh"

And that's how Suze sees it.