2012 Review Extravaganza: January, February, March

 I know I've said this the past 2 years but is it really that time again?

You see, 2 years ago, I decided on a whim to participate in a Review Extravaganza that 6 other blogger moms were holding. With every week I participated, my name went into a raffle to win prizes from each of the 6 bloggers. Much to my surprise, I won!

I loved receiving the gifts but my favorite part of it all was remembering back on my year and realizing how far we had come. So this is my 3rd year doing it and I am so excited to participate once again.

January:

January 2012, I started out the year by picking my words for the year: Organize and Prioritize. That is one of my favorite things to look back at because I have done a pretty darn good job of keeping up with my goals and words for this year. My house may be crazy but it's more organized than ever before. The majority of this year, we decided to stop trying for a baby and I had more time to prioritize and put my children first. That has been a huge blessing and I am so glad I have been present in their lives more this year.

Also in January, Spidey wore underwear for the first time. We didn't end up potty training him at that time but he started showing signs of being ready.

 Petey and I started 'school' together since she isn't doing preschool at all before starting kindergarten next year.

 And many trips were taken to Tucson to go visit my kids favorite little pup, Paco. Spidey was obsessed with that little doggie and still talks about him (my in laws no longer have him).

February:

 I got to meet my niece for the very first time. Unfortunatly, it was because my sister was sick after giving birth and my parents flew her down here so we could all help her. But I'm still glad I got to meet that beautiful little girl sooner than I was planning.

 Also in February, I reorganized the kids' closet and put all of their toys in the closet so they had to ask to get them out. It was a great idea for a while but I'm glad they have the opportunity to clean up their toys and play with them when they want now.

March:

 In March, we saw a cute idea on Pinterest and we decided to send hugs to my out of town sister. The kids loved decorating their outline and mailing it to Aunt Karin and Uncle Chris.

We also took another trip to my parents' beach house in Carlsbad and enjoyed the beach for a whole week. The fact that they surprised us and took us all to Legoland wasn't half bad either. :)

So happy I could link up with Emmy and the rest of her friends. I'll see y'all next week to recap April, May, and June.

House Remodel: Petey's Room

 Onto the second remodel post. Boss thinks I'm weird for posting these types of things. Do the rest of you feel the same way? What? No? Ok, good.

My little chickies have shared a room since Spidey was about 4 months old. As soon as they were both in toddler beds, they refused to even sleep in separate beds. It was super cute for a year and a half until recently, when they started to fight or play in their room until 10 or 11pm. We decided that we needed to convince Petey to be a big girl and sleep in her own room now.

At first, she was hesitant about sleeping in her own room with the possibility of monsters and ghosts lurking in dark shadows. She hasn't slept alone in a long time and was super scared about the change. So we did what any good parent does and bribed our little girly into her own room.

As soon as we told her we would decorate it how she wanted, she started to get excited and decided on a Hello Kitty room. I was baffled since I didn't even know she knew what Hello Kitty was but whatever gets her in her own room, right? We convinced her to ask Santa for her new bedding and in a couple of weeks, we'll see if he comes through with the gift she is hoping to get. I have a strong feeling that he found a great Black Friday deal and will not disappoint. :)

Anyway, as soon as the family room remodel was over, we started to get the playroom in order to get her new bed in there.

For months and months, this is what the playroom has looked like. It is always messy and I feel like no matter how many containers I get to organize stuff, Petey just gets frustrated and has a hard time cleaning.

Cue my greatest idea:

 On the left, you'll see in the pictues that I added fabric boxes to each square in her shelving unit for her toys. This has made life A TON easier, since there isn't one specific box for specific toys. Also, on the left, you'll see the big pink and blue buckets. I bought one for each of the kids' rooms for $7 at Target and it has been the best thing! They throw all of their random toys in their and it has made clean up time 100 times easier.
On the right, you'll see that I took pictures when we added her bed in the room. It was still a mess and we weren't done organizing just yet.

 Here is the "before" and "during" of her closet. It's mostly the same but we moved her drawers and bed in. Sorry the left picture is so blurry.

Are you ready for the final reveal? I love the pink and white room she has now. It makes me happy to walk and find it clean in the morning. She has even been making her bed, something we've never taught her to do! I don't know where she learned it but she has been awesome at keeping her room organized so far.

 Ta da! Notice the Hello Kitty lamp on top of her kitchen. That was supposed to be part of her Christmas gift but the first night she was in her bed alone, she had the hardest time feeling safe and going to sleep. She actually came out and asked for a night light so we got it out and every night, she's been asleep within 5 minutes if we turn that thing on.

 We also organized her closet a little better and added some drawers to her "dresser", which is really just crafting drawers. Oh well, it serves it's purpose for now. :)

I am so proud of this big girl and the fact that she is willing to sleep in her own room. I remember being much older than her and hating the fact that I slept alone. There were nights in high school where I would sneak up to my little brother's room and sleep on his floor because I wanted company. :) I know, I'm a wimp.

House Remodel: Family Room

 Oh, what an exhausting project this has been! We started remodeling our house a little over a month ago and the process of getting everything done was kind of a disaster, in my eyes. I'm sure it wasn't actually that bad but I'm kind of a dramatic person...

Anyway, we decided if we were going to do it, we might as well do it all! Included in this remodel/project was the family room, kitchen, and Petey's bedroom.

First, the family room:

Left: Before pictures, Right: After pictures. I decided I wanted to go from beige/brown to grey/black so we painted all of the walls, Boss painted the dresser, we got a new area rug, and to make things even more exciting, we added new blinds. They are bee-oo-tiful!

This is what my house looked like for a week. Boss would paint each day after work and the kids and I would hang out in my bedroom during the day. It was not fun.

Sorry for the horrible lighting but the lighting in my house really just sucks. Oh well. As you can see, the family room was completely "under construction" and it was all I could do to stay sane during that week.

In the weeks since, I've started hanging pictures back up and trying to organize everything. It has literally taken me all month but I think it's safe to say our family room is back in order.

That last picture just shows our cute picture frames by the front door. They are located on the slanted wall right when you walk in and I love those pictures. We have individuals of our kids, a family picture, and then a separate picture of our extended families. Boss' family picture hasn't really been updated since our wedding but we're working on that. :)

That is all I'm posting for now. The kitchen is not completely back in order and I'll save Petey's room redo for another day as well. Hope you enjoyed this long awaited post. I'm just happy my main room is not as chaotic anymore!

PS: The only thing I am still looking for is a new couch for the family room. I know the exact one I want but it's going to be a little while before we can get it. So for now, beige couches in a white/grey/black room will have to suffice. :)

Petey's Dance Concert: Take 1

 If you are my friend on Facebook, I'm quite sure you're sick of hearing about my little girl and her dance concert on Saturday.
Since I danced for many a year back in my younger days (ha! I'm only 25.), I was excited when Petey showed an interest in dance. She took some classes last year at a small studio in someone's garage but this year, she was ready for the real stuff. Ok, I'm totally kidding. She's not some professional-looking little dancer but she really does love what she does and I'm very happy that she loves it so much! So we decided to put her at a bigger studio and see how she liked it.
So far she has done fabulous. She seems to be picking it up really well and talks about trying out for the SNS team next year. We are big fans of Club Dance and Petey loves her teacher, Miss JaNae. Actually, Spidey loves her too! He always talks about Miss JaNae and says that she is his teacher too.

In one of Petey's classes (her SNS team prep class), they got to be a part of an extra performance before their holiday recital. Of course, I was excited that we would get to see her perform one of her dances twice.

Petey has been anticipating her performance for weeks and finally, Saturday was the big day.

We woke up and started on her hair and make up. She looked so cute but WAY TOO OLD with that make up on. It totally made her day since she is obsessed with make up these days.

 I snapped some pictures of her in her dance costume before she performed.

 Aside from her shins being covered with bruises, this is my favorite picture of the day. Isn't she just gorgeous?

I also had to get a picture with her friend, Scarlette, who is in a different class and performed that morning also. I have known Scarlette's mom since junior high and I am so glad that she referred us to Club Dance. Like I said, we absolutely love it!

Last, I've posted the video of Petey's performance. She is third from the end. She was a bit nervous when they got on stage but we thought she did excellent! I was so proud to watch her perform with the group and know most of the choreography.

I was on my Youtube page and watched the video of Petey's dance recital from last year. Here it is if you'd like to compare the two. What a huge improvement!



On a funny side note, I need to get a video of her practicing her dance at home. Spidey has been watching her and he actually knows a lot of the dance by himself and does it around the house, even if she isn't there. I love my littles!!!

And that's how Suze sees it.

My Little Buddy

 Oh my little Bubba. What can I say about that cute little face of yours?

Spidey is my little buddy but boy howdy, he wears me out. I often wonder how such a little guy can have so much energy.

 This kid can get me so frustrated and yet, how can you not smile when he smiles like that?

 It's been a hard week for this momma. The yelling has escalated and my lil bougar boy hasn't been on his best behavior.
On Monday, we were leaving a friend's house and he picked up a big rock and heaved it. I asked him to stop and he replied, "No, mom, I'm just so angry right now!" As much as I appreciated the correct explanation of feelings, it makes me sad to see this little guy get so angry.

 I can't quite figure out whether he reminds me more of Boss or I. Maybe he's a mixture of both? His personality is not quite what I expected from my perfect little baby who hardly ever cried.

And yet, the good outweighs the bad a million to one. He will always be my little buddy.

When I'm scared or frustrated, I can count on my Spidey to be there with a smile like the one above.

Life gets me so worried sometimes. I often wonder if our situations will become better or if they still have some worse times ahead. I often wonder how the kids will grow up and if they'll always know that they are children of God. Life scares me...a lot. But seeing the carefree personality this little guy has gives me hope because he is so full of love.

I love my Spidey more than words could ever express. I will forever be grateful to him for being the light in my dark times and the laughter I need when I'm about to cry. His hard times make me sad but his happy times make me happier than I ever knew was possible.

Thanks for being my little buddy, Spidey. I love you forever.

My Uncooperative Little and My Other Little

 It is almost December and I have a little secret. I am DONE! Not only am I done with shopping, I have even finished wrapping the presents.
I must be superwoman. Or I'm just super excited for my kids' Christmas presents.

Anyway, now that I've finished my Christmas shopping, I decided to get started on some other projects. One of those projects was some new pictures of my kiddos for myself and extended family members.
Since the weather is beautiful and my kids are always perfectly dressed and coordinated (ha!), I decided today was the perfect day. But a little 3 year old who shall remain nameless decided otherwise.

The pictures weren't as easy as they normally are.

 I didn't have two kiddos excited to smile for the camera.

 In most of the pictures, one of my little rascals wasn't looking at the camera.

 And by the end, one of my kiddos was even getting a little bit frustrated and started saying, "Mom, I'm just so angry right now!" {At least he's appropriately sharing his feelings with me, right?}

 But somewhere along the way, I got some good shots of my littles.

 Every once in a while, the kiddo who didn't want to be in pictures would look up and give me a cute smile.

 And some of the time, he even matched his sister's poses, though I could not figure out why this was the favorite pose of the afternoon for my oldest little.

In the end, I came out with some super adorable, goofy, and beautiful pictures of my children. This last picture is my favorite because it is so my children!

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for these two. Every day, I love them a little bit more, even on the hardest of days {which included today}. They are not the easiest or most even tempered children but they are perfect in every way for our family.

I am so excited to enjoy December and do some fun things with my littles. I would say that this is my favorite time of year but really, I love every day with my family. I am the luckiest momma in the world.

And that's how Suze sees it.

The Importance of my Eternal Marriage

Tonight, I want to blog about the thing I am most thankful for at this very moment in time and that is my marriage.

Months ago, I didn't think I'd be married today. My attitude was in the wrong place and I just didn't think I was going to continue on with the eternal commitment I had made. Around the time that my husband decided he didn't want to continue to go to church with our family, I decided that was the final straw. "Poor me", right?

Big. Fat. Wrong.

Let's start with what changed my outlook on this not-so-big-but-seemed-really-huge trial. From the time I was a little girl, I judged those who stopped coming to church. I thought it was the end of the world for their happiness and for the happiness of their family members. I knew nothing like that would ever happen to me because I wouldn't be able to handle it (Kind of how I viewed infertility before becoming an infertile person. Ironic? I think not.).
The morning my husband told me he didn't have a testimony and wanted to stop going to church with us, I thought it was all over. I was angry and scared. I cried more in those first weeks than I did when I was diagnosed with infertility. I would write little odd things on my blog about going through something really hard but I didn't want everyone to know what was happening. It was hard feeling alone and I will forever be grateful to my best friend/sister who was the only one I really talked to in those weeks. I didn't feel like this was something we were going to be able to get through. I didn't feel strong enough to handle this.
But one day, things started changing. I began to view my husband as a child of God. I began to see this as his trial and realize that I am here to love him and support him. I realized this not-really-my-trial should have never had a 'poor me' sticker attached to it. I started realizing that my husband didn't feel like he is a child of God and that began to make me sad. Que this post. I hoped by some miracle that this trial would last weeks for him but such is not the case. Boss is figuring out his life and in the mean time, he is the best husband a girl could ask for.

What I've learned through this is that my eternal marriage is more important than what is happening at this very moment. There are days that are hard. There are days I'm worried probably more than you can even imagine {or at least I hope so}. There are days I want it all to end. But just like anything else in life, even on my hardest days, I've learned to trust in God's plan for our family. He knows what our life is and where it is going. I have faith that He will never leave me when I'm feeling lonely. He loves me. He loves Boss. And He wants us to be together forever. And guess what? I want us to be together forever too.

Everyone has trials. Everyone is dealing with something of their own. There have been many times I've been afraid that our family is being judged, just as I did to others as a kid, but what I've learned is that all I can do is make sure I'm not judging others. We don't know every personal story of everyone around us so why do we judge them for what we see on the outside?

If I could ask for one thing this holiday season it would be for more love. Not love for me but for my husband and for all of the others who are struggling to find out who they are, just as he is. I would ask that you reach out to someone you know and just love them. Don't judge them. Don't try to force them to do something. Just love them. Unconditionally love them as God loves all of us. I can bet you anything that God doesn't look at Boss and others and think, "Wow, you're making a stupid decision right now. How dumb! How frustrating!" He gets sad because He wants His children to know of His love but all He does is keep on loving us and hoping that we'll recognize and feel it. That's what I pray we can all do for someone close to us.

I am so thankful for my family and for the knowledge I have of God's love for me. I am thankful for the abundance of blessings in my life. I am grateful to know that no matter what trials come my way, I have faith that I can get through anything with God by my side.

And that's how Suze sees it.