Sunday, August 30, 2015

R's big boy bed!

See this little angel here???


Don't let his adorableness fool you.


A few days after S left, this little stinker decided he was over his crib and started climbing out…


ALL THE TIME!!!


I was hoping it might just be a one off, and he'd quite doing it, but no such luck. Neither of the other boys ever even attempted to climb out of their cribs, so I was not expecting this.


After a few days it got to the point where he wasn't even fussing or calling me to get up anymore… he was just getting himself up. The other morning I actually woke up, rolled over, and he was sleeping next to me in bed!!!


So realizing he was not going to stop doing this, I finally caved today and changed his crib into a toddler bed, and put a baby gate on his room so even if he gets up he can't get out.


I'm not ready for this. At all. First of all, where did my little baby go? This is just another "baby" milestone for the books and it makes me sad, in a bittersweet way. Secondly, I hate that we are celebrating a big milestone without S here. It makes it really "real" that he is going to be gone for the next few months and is going to miss out on stuff.


Anyway, we switched to the toddler bed at nap today, and an epic battle ensued. While R seemed glad to have his "big boy" bed, he was not happy about the baby gate on his door.


We spent over an hour with him sitting at the gate and shaking it and crying. But I stayed strong and….


I eventually won the battle!!!


And here's our big boy settling in for his first night in his "real" bed.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

DIY

This project is actually a few weeks old now, but with S leaving last weekend things got crazy and I kept forgetting to post! I'm pretty proud of this DIY though, so I wanted to share it!

A couple of months ago some friends of my parents (who are also wonderful and babysit for us occasionally!) gave us a cabinet that they were planning on just donating to Goodwill. It was a really nice piece of furniture, but totally not my style. I was hopeful though that I could breath some new life into it and find a place for it in our house, since we are always in need of more storage!


Needless to say, it sat in our front room for almost two months before I actually got around to doing anything, but I finally settled on the perfect color of Annie Sloan Chalk paint and got started.


I've been wanting to try the chalk paint for awhile, I've heard amazing things about it. Anything that makes a DIY project easier and done in less steps (no sanding, no priming) is awesome and worth a try in my book!


Well, that paint did what it was promised! I was done with painting in two days, and that's because I took my time. I could have done it in a day easy. Once it was painted and sealed I headed to the craft store to get some new handles. I found some beautiful ones that I love and look so good! Once it was done I realized it was a perfect fit for an empty wall space we have between our kitchen and our living room, and I could store some of the kitchen stuff we have crowding out pantry in it!




So there you go! I think it turned out pretty well!

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Big changes

So, I mentioned a few posts ago that we had some big changes coming up.

No, not pregnant. Let's just get that out of the way.

Here's the thing. My husband is a hard worker. Like, and incredibly hard worker. He often works 60+ hours a week in order to provide for our family and keep me home with our boys. I can tell you he definitely works harder then I ever have at any job. And he's a good employee. He cares about his job. He takes pride in his work.

And all that hard work is paying off. He just got a promotion that he worked super hard for. Words can't even tell you how proud of him I am. He deserves this. He earned this.

But here's the catch. Here's the thing that going to be bit of an upheaval for our family. This amazing promotion requires some intensive and long job training. At the companies headquarters. In Pennsylvania.

For ten weeks.

Yeah, I said ten weeks. As in, almost three months. As in, he won't be coming back until late October, at the earliest. Let that sink in for a minute.

So, I'm having a lot of mixed emotions right now. Like I said, I"m proud beyond belief. I'm excited for him. I'm devastated at the thought of him being gone for so long. I'm scared about doing this parenting thing on my own for so long. I'm going to miss my backup, my partner, and my best friend.

He's leaving tomorrow. By tomorrow night he will be alone in an apartment and we will be fending for ourselves. The boys are sad, and I'm sure there will be some acting out in the next few weeks as they adjust. We've tried to explain it to them, but I'm sure they won't actually get it until he's gone.

So, that's where we are at right now. Excited, scared, proud, sad. Lot's of emotions. But we are ready for this. This is our chance to support daddy, because he always supports us!

Friday, August 7, 2015

L2's first day of Pre-school (year two!)

Ok, here we are a few days late, but L2 had his first day of Pre-school (year 2) on Wednesday!



I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive about him. He loved school at the end of last year, but I'll never forget his first day. I dropped him off and he clung to me and sobbed. When I finally peeled myself away, and left the room, I could hear him wailing and pounding on the doors with his little hands. Pretty much enough to break a mama's heart and make me feel like I had just ensured he would need years of therapy. 

Luckily, this year was a completely different story. Seriously, I could barely get the kid to say goodbye to me. He ran right into the room, put his backpack down, and started playing. When I asked him for a hug and a kiss, he ran over, gave me and R a quick smooch and ran back to playing. Trust me, I know it's a great thing that both of my kids are adjusting to school so well, but part of me is like, "seriously, are you guys going to miss me at all?"


Apparently the answer to that is: "No, not really."

But that's ok. I'm glad they are loving it and I'm glad they are excited to go learn. This week has been an adjustment, and I"m exhausted, but overall it's been great!


Monday, August 3, 2015

L's first day of Kindergarten!

So…. this happened today.


My baby started Kindergarten. I"m still having trouble wrapping my head around that. My baby. He's almost six years old, and now he's in "real" school. For the next 16 years of his life. (Yes, L, you will be attending college.)



S took the day off work, and we spent the weekend preparing. I am so excited about the school L got into, and even more excited that his best friends also got in, and they are in the same class! He's in full day kindergarten (that a big deal here in AZ, with all of our public school issues), and they wear uniforms, and take PE, and art, and music and technology. It's a dream school.



We woke up early and made the boys blueberry muffins for breakfast (L's favorite), and then packed up all of his stuff and took the requisite pictures. I was having a hard time and I jokingly said to him, "Let's not do school this year. I'm going to miss you too much. Let's start next year." Do you know what he said to me? He said, "relax mom. I'm not going to spend the night there, you can pick me up at the end of the day. And I will still be here in Arizona. I'll help you our for the first few weeks, until you can stop crying."

I love him so much.



(L fixing his hair while he was getting ready for school!)

We left for school early because they had a special "boo hoo" breakfast for the kindergarten parents. L went right into his classroom, put his stuff away, and sat down at his desk to start working. I literally had to tear myself away, and I walked out of the room crying. I think S was a little embarrassed of me! Luckily I had a few mom friends who's kids were also starting kinder, so they were right there with me with the tears!




He looks like such a big boy!





It was a bittersweet day for me. I'm so incredibly proud of the boy he is becoming. He is smart, and funny and kind. He is everything I could have ever hoped for. But today was a big wake up that he is not my baby anymore. He's a big boy, and starting school is just the first step in his independence.  Oh, I need to stop or I'll start crying again!!!

I'll just leave you with a picture with L and his best friends after their first day of school, which they both agreed was "awesome!"