Love

I completely understand if you forgo reading this post and just stare at my smiley baby. He's quite the cutie.

For Christmas, I gave Matt Jazz tickets. It just so happened that the game was the weekend right before Valentines Day, so we decided to call it our Valentines date.


This picture makes me laugh because it was actually the best of three different pictures I tried to take. I kept putting my finger in front of the camera! It got frustrating, so I decided that this was the best that I could do.

When we go out, we always try to go somewhere that we can't take our kids to. That means that they can't have chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, chicken fingers, chicken bites, or anything related anywhere on the menu! This means we usually end up eating Thai food or Sushi. We ate Thai the last time we went out, so sushi it was!

We went to a place we had never been before. I HATE HATE HATE to do that. I have a certain item I get at every restaurant we go to. Mexican: Cheese Enchilada. Italian: Plain Ole' Spaghetti. Thai: Pad Thai & Panang Curry.... The list goes on! The point is, I don't like change. I don't like trying new things. Which is hard on my husband because he LOVES to do that.


Technically, it was Matt's night out because it was his Christmas present, so I consented to trying some place new. After a quick internet search, we decided to try Takashi. It was amazing! It was the best sushi we've ever had. When we walked in my first thought was, "Great. This looks like a place that won't give you a fork...." It was. Great sushi. No forks. I toughed it out and used the chopsticks. It was way worth it.

The game was fun. It's the first game we've attended where they've lost. It was sad, but I got to have ice cream, so I left happy. ;)

Matt and I have a pretty easy going marriage. Not because of anything I do, but because of everything Matt does. He's probably the most patient person I know. He has to be. Putting up with me and the kids would drive any moderately patient person CrAzY. But, not Matt.

I don't feel like I blog about Matt and I very much. Our kids are our life right now and we like it that way. However, we have our quirks.

For example, some of our favorite channels on TV are: The Food Network, National Geographic, Planet Green, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel... The list goes on. We both have a "inner nerd". In fact, we got so obsessed with a show about Egypt and mummies that if we ever see a show that's even remotely related to that subject on, we have to watch it. Pawn Stars and American Pickers are also two of our favorites.

We love games. Very rarely is there a time when we're not playing an on-going game of WordFeud on our phones. We start a game on our phones and sometimes it can take over a week for us to finish it, but we love it. We also love to play cards, but we hardly ever play just the two of us. It would get way too competitive and we'd probably end up in a huge argument. Playing with other people tends to keep us in check.

We both love to read. We couldn't live without our Kindles. More often then not, we read the same kind of books. However, I refuse to read the Wheel of Time series until Matt reads the Twilight series and vice versa. One day maybe one of us will cave, but I doubt it. Our inner nerd comes out in the books we read too. There's not many people in the world who will listen to you talk about a book written about the Watergate Scandal over the course of two weeks.

Matt has an uncanny talent of getting me to laugh about stressful days with the kids. For example, last week in church, Sloane fell off of a chair during Sacrament meeting and cut her lip open. She bled all over the sleeve of her dress. Normally I would've taken her home to clean her up, but it was the first Sunday that we were supposed to teach Sunbeams. There was no time, so I just rolled up her sleeves to cover the blood and took her into nursery. Her lip swelled up huge during the two hours she was in nursery. When we got home, we discussed what happened. Instead of blaming me, because I was the one who let her stand on the chair, Matt laughed. Which got me to laugh about it and made the situation a lot more bearable. Sloane lived and we moved on. With three little kids ruling our lives, these sort of experiences come up often and it's always nice to know that Matt's there to make me feel better. Our kids aren't going to be little for very long and I don't want to look back at this time in our lives and think, "That was so hard and overwhelming". I want to look back and think, "It was a crazy time, but we definitely learned to enjoy the chaos". Matt helps me do that.

We don't adhere to very many parenting philosophies. We don't really read books about parenting or anything like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We've just always felt like we've been giving so many good examples of parenting around us that we can usually just ask for help or advice. One thing always rings true for us though. Matt is my teammate. We don't work against each other and we don't work separately. Both of us are always on the clock when it comes to our family. When Matt is at work, he's there supporting our family, while I'm at home holding down the fort. When he gets home, he immediately pitches in and lightens my load, but I try not to throw the entire task him alone. It works for us.

I love my husband. Sorry ladies, but I got the best one.

I'm wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day. Matt couldn't think of anything he wanted, so I bought us new bedding. Hehe.

Rob from the Rich...

While I take care of Pudee, the girls always seem to find the most interesting ways to entertain themselves. It can get very chaotic during the times I've locked myself in my room to nurse Pudee and give him at least a tiny bit of attention during our busy days.

Today, the girls were especially sneaky.

I walked out of the bedroom to find this. An empty plastic container. It looked vaguely familiar.



When I found the girls, they were giggling uncontrollably and looking very satisfied with their latest accomplishment.

Me: Holynd. What have you been doing??

Holynd: I stole all your Cakebites and shared them with Sloanie!

Me: Unfair! (Trying to hide a smile)

Holynd: Be happy Mommy. I shared!

Me: (Trying to sound mad). Sloane did you eat my Cakebites??

Sloane: (Forced cry). Sissy did!

They don't even have any loyalty to each other. Sloane sold Holynd out immediately. ;)

Dearest Husband,

I need more Cakebites. The roommates stole mine. :(

(Inside Joke).

Lots of Love,

Wife

Now, I must sign off. Sloane is crying at my feet, pulling at my pant leg right at this moment.

Happy Friday! Wahoo!

Maybe... Maybe Not.

Holynd was my binky lover. Sloane has always been my thumb-sucker. Holynd recently took up the thumb sucking habit too, but that's a whole different story.

When Pudee was born, he immediately took to the binky. I thought to myself, "Oh he's just like Holynd". However, there was one point during our hospital stay where he dropped the binky and found his hand. The sucking noise he made was so loud that it woke Matt and I out of a dead sleep! "Find his binky! Find his binky!" It was sweet, but at 2am after giving birth, it was only semi-sweet.

Every so often, Pudee finds his hand again. He still leaves me wondering if he'll always like the binky or if he'll end up liking his thumb instead.... Thumbs are so much nicer. They never lose them. But, you also can't take them away.

I love the face he makes at the very beginning when he first sticks his hand in his mouth. Classic.

Are Ya Ready For Some Football?!

When we moved into this house, Matt was really excited about the theater room. I remember thinking... why!? We are never going to use it! For the first five months we were here, I was right. We hardly ever used it. Matt would go in there to watch football every once in awhile, but other then that we spent our time out in the yard.

After I had Maddox, Matt and I started working out in there at night. It worked out nice because it was always way cooler then the rest of the house and there's plenty of room for both of us to workout. (Well, not really for cardio, but we don't do cardio workouts together anyway).

As the weather turned way cold, the theater room became our favorite room in the house. We still wanted to have friends over, but being unable to hang out outside posed a problem. Now, we set up tables in that room, make food, invite lots of friends over and have a blast! It works out nice because the playroom is downstairs too, so the little girls can play right next to us.


A super bowl party was a must.



My friend Nicole's awesome idea. 7 layer dip in individual cups. So yummy!

Don't mind the blurry picture. I was struggling.

Matt has always kept in touch with his friends from high school. Lucky enough for me, they married awesome people. ;) People who even have kids right around the same age as my kids, who could ask for more?!

The next day, I had no idea who had even won the game. Apparently, the four wives talk way too much.

Afterward, we enjoyed some Tom Papa comedy, The Voice and then, of course, even more chatting.

Changes...

Yesterday we...

*Got dressed



*Went to dance class

*Went to music class

*Took care of some visiting teaching

*Got a haircut

*Got a few manicures

*Enjoyed some cupcakes and sugar cookies

*Went to Costco

*Made dinner (I keep thinking cooking will start to get easier with the three kids, it's not... Sometimes I really want to give it up)

*Made Banana Bread (With Cinderella and Snow White. They helped smash the bananas)

*Bathed three awfully tired children

*Put them to bed early so that we could go out into the world again today...

When I was pregnant with Maddox, life seemed to be easier. That seems dumb to say because of course it was easier, I only had two kids! But, I think what I'm trying to say is that it was simpler. There were just quite a few changes that have came, or are coming quickly, that I kept myself from thinking about because of my pregnant-state. The first of the year brought a whole bunch of realizations that I wasn't really ready for.

I completely FAILED to realize that Holynd would start Primary this year. I really just didn't think that this change was even on the horizon. In fact, I had no idea she was leaving nursery until I received a note on my door from the Primary Presidency welcoming Holynd to Primary as a Sunbeam. I cried. I cried a lot. However, I told myself over and over that it was just Primary. That's it. One change: Primary. I could live with that.

A few days after the New Year, I found myself facing another change. Holynd wanted to start taking dance class. She had been to dance class with a friend and LOVED it. I promised her during her Potty-Training-Regression Phase that if she stopped having accidents she could take dance classes. She stopped having accidents and, boy, she did NOT let me forget that she wanted to take dance class. So, we started dance class. I cried again. Is she not my baby anymore? But, again, I told myself that she was still a baby. It was just dance class. One hour, one day a week. I could handle that.

During our first day of dance class, the other dance moms were talking about a music class for the younger siblings. When asked if I wanted my younger child to participate, I brushed it off. Ok, if Holynd is still a baby, then there's no way Sloane could take a class!? She's so young! But, after a little research it was determined that Sloane was very much old enough to take a music class. It seemed so unreal. I decided to go ahead with it because it's really hard to say 'yes' to one child and 'no' to the other, especially when they're so close in age.

How could two of my kids have lives outside of the house? Ever since Holynd was born I've been so comforted by the fact that we had our little life inside the walls of our home. There was nothing for us on the outside but an occasional outing. We had this comfortable routine where we could keep our own little schedule and not have to bother with anyone elses. I've loved that little bubble. Now all the sudden there's dance classes, music classes, hair appointments, playdates, birthday parties, activities, etc etc etc! And it's not going to get any better!

About two weeks ago, we decided to register Holynd for Preschool. This was a real heartbreaker, but I knew there was NO WAY she was going to walk passed the backpacks at the store without demanding that she go to school this year. I knew of a lady in the ward that taught Preschool and had heard really good things about her, so when she announced she was registering students for next school year, I jumped at the chance. I told myself I could do this. It wasn't a big deal. One, just one of my kids would be going to school. That was it. One kid, two babies at home. I would have so much time to spend with those two babies before they would have to go to school. Years, I told myself. I won't have to worry about those two babies going to school for years. YEARS! After all, we had decided to let Sloane hang back awhile so that she and Holynd wouldn't be back-to-back in grades. Phew... Glad I won't have to worry about that anytime soon.

But, alas, reality would rear it's ugly head again.

I realized that once Sloane goes, Maddox will immediately follow.

Panic. Anxiety. Stress. More panic. Nausea.

Everyone keeps talking about how hard having three young kids at home is, but I realized that the hard part will be sending them out into the world one right after another.

Holynd graduates.

One year goes by.

Sloane graduates.

Maddox graduates.

...and then what?! They didn't tell me to prepare for this. Everyone told me to prepare for the chaos. The chaos that I've grown to love so much. The chaos that makes Matt and I laugh so so hard at the end of the day. Now I feel like I've lost so much time and my little guy is only 3 months old!

Less and less of our days are going to be spent at home. Pretty soon, instead of fighting cabin fever and loneliness, I'm going to pray for a day just to be home with my little ones. It's going to be a very hard transition having Holynd go to school, but I didn't realize that I would be going through that transition over and over and over again.

I know a lot of people who say that they LOVED sending their kids off to school. They loved the freedom and the go-go lifestyle. But, I can honestly say that I've really enjoyed having little kids at home. I really have. I'm going to miss our bubble.

I think my hair is turning grey... is it grey? Be honest.