Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day friends!

I really love this holiday. Mostly because the whole fact that I get to celebrate it centers around what I consider my biggest accomplishments, my kiddos. I don't know if I could have every imagined how much I love being a mommy, but I really do. Now, don't get me wrong, it is by no means all sunshine and rainbows. Especially now that L is talking back and L2 is in the throws of the terrible twos, I often find myself yelling at them, and issuing time outs and counting down the hours until S gets home and I can hand over parenting duties to him. Some days being a mom is really, really hard. Some days it is disgusting. (This week we had a stomach bug run through the house that resulted in me cleaning up puke and many, many blowout and diarrhea diapers. It was gross.) I love being a mom, but I can honestly say I didn't love any moment of the bodily fluid cleanup that I endured this week. Some days I find myself getting so frustrated with them that I have to walk into another room and catch my temper before I go back in and start dealing with it again. I am by no means a perfect mom, but this is real life, and, damn it, I try. And some days that's all you can do. But, the bottom line is, even on the worst of the worst days, even on the days when they are driving me up the wall, I would rather be with them than anywhere else in the world. That's what being a mom is all about.... even when it kind of sucks, it's better than anything else you could imagine.

And I'm so lucky to have a husband who recognizes that being a mom is a hard, fulfilling, wonderful, challenging, frustrating and rewarding job, all rolled into one. (So is being a dad!!) I love that he gets that even though I stay home, I work hard, He gets it, and he makes me feel appreciated everyday, not just on Mother's Day.

But he did make today special for me. He let me sleep in (for all you mom's out there, you know that "sleeping in" means sleeping until 8) and then he made me a delicious breakfast of crepes and coffee and mimosas.

The boys gave me a card and L made me this beautiful necklace at preschool. I love it, and he is so proud of it. I definitely cried a little when he gave it to me.

My present from S was something that I asked for and have been wanting for a long time. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a gym/workout rat. I go about 5 days a week and love running and yoga. But lately I've been feeling a bit discouraged about firming up from the last pregnancy and I think I need to do something new. My gym offered a week free of personal training which I did and it was amazing. Having someone coach me and push me and show me new moves felt amazing. But, unfortunately, personal training is ridiculously expensive and there is no way we could afford it after the free week. (At my gym your looking basically at several thousand dollars) I was bummed, but it is what it is. Then the trainer I had been working with approached me and told me that she had a member who had moved and had a fully paid for personal training package that she was looking to sell. It was 62 one hour sessions for only $200 which is beyond a steal! I was so excited and when I brought it up to S he immediately agreed to get me them for Mother's Day. I start tomorrow and I am so excited!

Anyway, after our delicious breakfast we spent the day window shopping at Nordstroms Rack and the mall. (something I never get to do and requested). Then we came home and S let me take a long afternoon nap followed by a bubble bath while he did all the grocery shopping and gave the kids dinner. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

R's first food

Well, I finally bit the bullet and gave R his first food. Pureed organic Peas..... yum!!! (so yuck, actually... I can't stand the smell!) but regardless of what I thought, he loved them!

The truth is, I think he's been ready for awhile. He's had awesome head control since about 3 months, has been sitting on his own, and is constantly trying to grab out food when we are eating. I actually started L and L2 on solids (well, purees) at four months, but I held out with R until he was at least 6 months. A big reason I waited is because the more research I did and the more I talked to my doctor the more it seemed like even though he might be ready at four months, his body and his digestive system was really more likely to be ready closer to six. I also felt like with him breastfeeding like a champ and being in the 75% for weight while being exclusively breastfed, there was no reason to rush it.

And, honestly, I really could tell a big difference in the waiting for six months instead of starting at four. I remember with both L and L2, they really didn't like the first few tries, and they still had the "push out" reflux much more than R does. R was more than ready and I was really surprised by how much he seemed to like pureed peas!  (Did I mention yuck?)

OK, and here's my honest mommy part..... I think I am, no, I know I am, holding on to R's milestones a little longer. I think with L and L2 I was always so excited for them to hit that next stage, but with R I can see myself holding back a little. Not that I'm not super proud with every new milestone that he hits and not that I don't fully encourage him, but with every new thing he does there is this small part of me that wonders if this will be the last time I get to witness this. We haven't made any decision as to if we are going to add more to our family (and obviously R is only 6 months old, so we won't be making any for a while yet) but just the thought that he could be my last baby (OMG, that just made me tear up) is making me want to hold on to his baby stage just a little longer.

But, my little guy is growing up and I couldn't be a prouder mama! And, with any luck, maybe I'll finally get a kid that's not a picky eater!!!

**Oh, and please excuse the quality of these photos! I was trying to take pics with my iPhone with one hand while feeding him!

the cupcake bandit

What do you get when you have a mischievous two year old with a huge sweet tooth who knows how to get the fridge open and combine it with some anniversary cupcakes?

Well, my friends, you get a little criminal in the making:

Our little cupcake thief. His execution of the crime was pretty good, however he needs to work on hiding the evidence!

six months

My sweet baby R is six months old!!!

He actually turned six months this past Saturday, but I was out of town for the weekend for a friend from college wedding and then yesterday was a rough night because poor baby had to get all his six month shots, so I'm just now updating.

OK, let's see. Well, at his appointment yesterday he was 18 lbs and some change, so in the 75% for weight and in about the 66% for height. He is officially sitting completely unassisted and he is also crawling!!! He's been trying and sort of army crawling for about a month, but he is not up on all fours and all over the place! He has also been pushing up on his little music table and getting his legs under him to attempt standing.

He is still exclusively breastfed. We will probably be introducing rice cereal this weekend and then other foods right after that. I'm very proud of the fact that he has had nothing but breast milk for six months! (And is super chubby, so obviously it's doing a body good!)

He is still not sleeping through the night, and we are still mostly co sleeping. He starts out the night in the pack in play in our room (he has outgrown the bassinet!) and then usually wakes up around midnight to come into bed. He cuddles with me the rest of the night and we usually end up side nursing about twice throughout the night while we both are still dozing. S is starting to bring up moving him to his room..... but I don't see that happening any time soon! Truthfully, I love having him with me, and as long as he's still waking up at night I would prefer to have him right there.

He is starting to babble a bit and he seems to love hearing himself "talk". He loves his brothers and L is really good at comforting him when he's upset, although he's really not upset to often. He's pretty easygoing and usually only cries when he is hungry, tired or poopy. (Except for last night after the shots.... he cried all night last night! Poor babe!)

He's very into toys now and I feel like I am constantly on the lookout for little toys that aren't safe for him. That's one of the hard parts of having three boys all at different stages, but the big boys seem to understand they have to keep the little toys away from R.

I can't believe he's six months. I know, I know, I say that every monthly update. But man, do we love this little guy. His brothers adore him and his daddy and I just can't get enough!

Happy six month birthday, my sweet boy!

Happy 6th Anniversary

Yesterday S and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary.

6 years married. That means we've been actually together for 10 years, since we started dating in 2004. So we've been together a decade. Just thinking about that makes me feel equal parts of awe and happiness. I mean how is it possible that we've been on this journey together for an entire decade?

Well, at 6 years in, things are certainly different now than they were on that warm April day that we said our vows. In 6 years we've added 3 beautiful children to our family. We've settled into life, we have a car payment and a mortgage. We often spend our evenings discussing the benefits of different preschools or potty training.

And in 6 years, we've learned that marriage can be hard, but that is really what makes it so wonderful. It's hard to always have to be willing compromise, it's hard to balance work and parenting and life and fun and everything else that life throws at you. But man, I wouldn't change any part of the last 6 years for anything. Every argument has made us stronger. Every hardship an trail has brought us closer together and made us stronger as a family. I truly believe that I can conquer anything in this life with S by my side. He's my best friend and my rock and I"m grateful for I'm every single day.

OK, enough of the mushy stuff. So, for our anniversary we slept in late and enjoyed mimosas in bed. No, just kidding. We actually had to get up early, grab some bagels and head to L's tball game! After that we headed out to the mall, where S bought me a new bathing suit as my anniversary present. (Side not, trying on bikinis is not a fun anniversary activity.... but I did find one that I like!) We had a light lunch at a new restaurant we've been wanting to try and then went home for naps and to get ready for the night.

For our date night our neighbors were nice enough to watch the big boys for us and we took baby R and headed down to downtown Phoenix to my new favorite restaurant, Postinos. (The same place my mom, sister and I went after the botanical gardens) We enjoyed delicious food and drinks and a relaxing dinner where R was beautifully behave and we didn't have to worry about toddler tantrums or sippy cups or ordering of the kids menu. It was pretty wonderful. We were home early and spent the rest of the night watching movies and just enjoying each others company.

It may not be flashy, and our anniversary may no longer involve fancy jewelry or nights out on the town, but I'm so in love with my life it's almost unreal. 

Happy 6 year anniversary, baby. Here's to about a million more!!!

Family visit part 2

OK friends, I'm back to finish our family visit post! Honestly, while  these memories are one of the main reason I started this blog, these big family visits are probably some of the hardest for me to sit down and recount. The reason is because I don't always take enough pictures, and I certainly don't sit down and write about things as they are happening in real time. I desperately want to preserve these memories, but not at the expense of missing them while they are happening. I guess what i"m saying is I tend to put down the camera and the iPhone and computer during these times and try to just live in the moment, and I know that while my kids will love having these pages to look back on and read, they will love even more remembering that I was there and present.

OK, that was basically my disclaimer for only having pictures from a few of our event and not the whole week. We did a lot, and as always the kids were so excited to go to the Phoenix Children's Museum. We don't go as often as we should, mostly because its far away, but the cousins love it and so do L and L2. Even baby R was able to enjoy the baby room!

We spent an entire day here, and S took the day off so he could come and help me wrangle our children. Seriously, the museum is fun, but it is also big and crowded and I had no desire to try to keep track of all three of our brood by myself.

The noodle forest... terrifying for parents and a blast for kids!

The cousins hanging out

We also went to the pioneer museum, and my mom, sister, and I snuck away to the Chihuly exhibit.... but I have not pictures of these events so you'll just have to take my word that they did indeed happen.

We ended the week with Easter. My Nephews spring break always coinsides with Easter and it's always the perfect way to end a great trip. We decorate eggs an buy mimosa makings and pastries and my dad makes eggs Benedict. I try not to go to crazy with Easter presents, but this year i did get the boys a bubble machine that a few of their friends have, and of course we got copious amounts of chocolate and candy. (Have you ever tried the Reese's Pieces eggs? They are to die for!)

And then, sadly, the trip ended. My sister and her family flew out early Monday morning and my parents left on Tuesday. I'm not going to lie, I got a little teary. I wish my boys could have this time with their cousins all the time, and I wish we had the support and love of family around all of the time. And poor L and and L2 were devastated. They love their cousins and they don't understand why they can't play with them all the time. 

So this week has been a bit tougher. There have been more tantrums and more tears and I have had to try harder to hold my patience and remind myself that they are sad and this is the only way they know how to express it.

But we are moving back into normal, and the weather is getting hot again, so we have pool days and  camping trips and splash pad play dates to look forward too!

Camping round two and a visit from Family

For the past week and a half, we have taken a complete break from real life. L has not been in school, I have not gone to the gym, and S has taken several days off of work.  For the 5th year in a row we had our annual "family visit" over my nephews spring break, and our house was filled up with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, her three kids, and even my brother for one night. Luckily we're able to spread out a little between my parents vacation home and our house, but it is still crowded, and loud and messy .... and probably the most fun we have all year.

The last three years we have gone camping at Lake Pleasant, and this year we were especially excited to go since we have our pop-up trailer. (I was also especially excited that I wasn't pregnant this year. Last year I was about 7 weeks pregnant with R and so horribly sick the whole time... it was miserable!)

(R taking a nap in the trailer)

Camping with six kids is no joke. I love our camping trips and they are a lot of fun, but I would not necessarily call them relaxing! You always have to make sure the little ones are being watched, and since they are constantly running around everywhere it's kind of like trying to watch 25 games of ping-ping at the same time.

But the boys had a blast, and the adults had fun too! There was fishing and hiking and kayaking, and of course playing in the dirt! (what is with boys and just playing in dirt? It makes me itch just watching them!

We ended up staying for two night and three days, and I've decided that's about my camping limit. There is only so long I can go without showering and sleeping in a sleeping bag!

I'll cover the rest of the visit on my next post! Everyone just left on Monday, so we are still trying to get back into the groove around here!