In-N-Out

Would he not make the perfect advertisement for them? I'm just saying. :)

My boys.

Isn't the cutest picture ever! Jr absolutely ADORES his dad. As you can tell :-)

XOXOXO

2011

I am not going to lie, 2011 was the probably the hardest year of my life. I started it losing my dad to a long fight with Parkinsons. From there it seemed every trial was thrown right at me.....just smack right in the face. But I strongly believe everything happens for a reason. Although I might have disagreed a couple months ago, I know this past year has made me so much stronger in som many different ways.

This poem has been a favorite of mine since I was little. It is so true and gives so much comfort.

On a lighter note..... I am sooooo excited about what 2012 has in store for us! Bring it on!

What they don't tell you about babies

First of all, no one talks about having kids or teens, it's about babies. Guess what? Babies are easy. And ridiculously temporary. Have all the babies you want, but know that they turn into something else entirely and then you're dealing with this:

{1}Your house will NEVER be clean again. Ever. It seems like a small price to pay for a cute little family, doesn't it? Sure, but if you pride yourself on a clean home, you better look for another source of pride. Or a cleaning lady and a daycare that keeps your kids out of your house seven days per week.

{2}You will NEVER sleep again. Having a kid up at 5am or awake until 10pm is not unusual. Hopefully you only have one or the other. And age doesn't effect this; in fact, babies sleep BETTER than kids. You will begin to define a good night's sleep as just having one kid in your bed and only waking up three times for various ailments, bad dreams, accidents, etc. And that's after they've gotten up seven times before even falling asleep for water, to complain that someone's being too loud {oh, the irony}, or to ask what we're doing tomorrow.

{3}You will ALWAYS be dealing with food. It's a constant stream of packing lunches/snacks, listening to complaints about how disgusting/too cold/too hot/can I have chocolate milk instead?/that's not how so-and-so makes it, and cleaning up. And don't tell me to just have the kids clean up. Mine do. Have you seen how kids clean? Have you seen how husbands clean? It's about the same. So you're STILL cleaning up after clean up. And yet, it's never clean {see #1}.

{4}You will NEVER see an empty laundry basket. Self explanatory.

{5}You will NEVER be alone. And out of desperation, you'll start inventing ways to be alone: arriving an hour early for doctor's appointments, purposefully waking up at 4:30am just to enjoy a cup of coffee, or going back to work.

If you have a baby or are thinking about having babies, I'm sure you're shaking your head and mumbling, I would never let my life become like that. That's ok, I said the same thing. It's self-preservation. No one wants to think that a little teeny tiny baby will turn their lives into a disheveled, chaotic mess. Don't worry - babies don't. It's those dang kids.

These 2 kids keep me going a million miles a minute! I love how close these 2 are. I can already tell they are going to be best friends for life. You will have to excuse the individual pictures but it is seriously impossible to get them to stand still together for a picture! I can't believe my "baby" is going to be 3 next week! Wow! I promise I will be back soon to give a real update! Until then......
XoXoXoXo

What are we doing with today?

How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, “I’ve been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step—tomorrow”? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do something about them today.

President Thomas S. Monson

Some thoughts......

I have so many things that I want to do in my life. Long term and short term. It seems that lately there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. It has been almost 6 months since I have been back at work full time, I still haven't quite found that balance between work and home! I am getting there but I have lots of things I want to improve. Maybe if I list a few of my goals it will kick my butt in gear!

Goal #1

Planning dinners for the week. I am not sure why this is so hard for me, but it is! Maybe the problem is that I don't really actually like to cook! :-) Fortunately, I married someone who is a great cook and loves to do it. Unfortunately, he works long hours and is usually home after dinner time has long passed. And by the time I get the kids and get home it is about 5:30. Sophia is usually starving by this time and all Jr wants is my attention.

Goal #2

Work out at least 5 days/week. This is something that Jeremy and I are doing together. Every night before we go to sleep we go The Biggest Loser on the Wii. We have been pretty good at sticking to it and it is actually a great time for me and him to spend together while the kids are asleep. Now don't get me wrong.........there are some nights we are both beyond exhausted and collapse into bed before we can even think of working out, or the other nights when Jr. refuses to go to sleep and my workout is constantly interrupted by his screams of "mommy!" from his room. But such is life! The intent and want is there so hopefully we can stick with it.

Goal #3

More time for myself. Now this is a hard one, because I am NEVER by myself. Even in the bathroom, there is always at least one kid pulling on me or wanting my attention (you mothers out there know what I mean). But lately I desperately yearn for this, so I have decided if I get up at 5am every morning I can at least have 45 minutes to myself in complete silence. And of course there are lots of mornings where my bed is just way too warm and I am too comfortable snuggled up to the husband to get up that early. But it's a goal and I am going to work at it! I think it is a great way to start my day!

Goal #4

Finish school. I am now back in school. I am doing it online, hopefully it will fit my schedule better that way! I'm a dork and I really love school. I love learning new things! And I have worked so hard over the years. I was put off track a bit when I had kids, but I am back on track! I am doing it!!!

I have soooooo many other things I want to do and strive for every day. As soon as I can figure out the balance between a 1 year old and a 2 year old, I'll be good! Ha! That won't ever happen. But no matter what I do or don't get done every day it is so fun to see my babies discover new things every day! It reminds me of what is really important in life!