Meltdowns Pearls and Harry Potter

So yesterday started out with a meltdown. You know, just the regular (or in my case annual at most) weeping whailing and gnashing of teeth. But through this delightful (haha) experience I stumbled upon a profound pearl of wisdom...usually great things come from meltdowns. It often provides deep clarity which was the case yesterday. So today I am grateful for the hellacious morning yesterday and the clarity and happiness that followed. Now if I could just figure out how to consistently make it through stores without G having meltdowns I would be all set! Hey a girl can dream right?? As I side note I have accomplished some pretty random fun things the past few weeks. Two weeks ago I read the entire Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban book...in one week! Ok so to most people that probably would t be any big deal but seeing as how it took me about 4 months or so to finish the second book I was stoked. Then last week I made 2 twin size quilt tops both from patterns I designed and had never done before (as well as the first hundred pages of the next Harry Potter- I'm getting addicted). All in all two successful weeks! Now what have you been working on?? Or wish you were? I'm always looking for new ideas! :)

Internet anyone??

I am blaming the Internet (or shall I say lack thereof) for my lack of consistent posts. I now at least have Internet on my phone so I will use that in my attempts to catch up. So let's start with filling in the last 8 months or so. We lived in Raleigh NC, moved back to Logan UT, worked like crazy with hockey which took us all over including two month long stints in OR/CA, then moved to TX for a "real job," got to Texas and realized we were supposed to come, but werent supposed to stay and take the job, so we then got another job offer in Chicago and here we are. Technically we live in Wheaton IL, a lovely little suburb of Chicago and Scottie is managing his own sales office. All in all it's been a crazy year. Other rid bits of the past year I celebrated my 25th birthday, Scottie had his big 3-0 and G is officially a one year old. I ran my first half marathon on St. Patricks day this year (reaching my goal of completing it before G's first birthday) and am hoping to do a full by my birthday (if I can find one, I've been having a tough time finding any). Well that is my post for today-our year in a paragraph. See ya tomorrow!

5 month Birthday! :)

My Sweet Little G,

Today is your 5 month birthday and I can hardly believe it's been 5 months. On the one hand time has flown by and I feel like every time I look at you you've grown a little more, but on the other hand I feel like we have had you forever. It is so weird to think of our life before you were in it. Every day I feel so blessed and grateful to be your mom and get to spend my days with you! You are such a sweet little boy. You're smiley and happy most of the time and bring me such joy. Tonight we were riding in the car and you were fussy and tired so I was in the backseat with you while daddy was driving and after I gave you your pacifier you reached out and grabbed onto my hand. Someday I'm sure you will read this and make fun of your mommy but it almost made me cry. I love sweet moments like that and I am constantly in awe of how tiny you are and how you can do so many things. Your hands are so tiny, but they work so well. You giggle and laugh and have such personality. I love you so much my sweet little boy and I'm so grateful to have you in my life and get to spend each day with you. I am so grateful for the opportunity to keep you forever. I want to cry and smile with each new thing you learn because I'm so proud of you and then I want to slow things down and relive them over and over again because I know I will never get these moments again.

I love you Sweetpea
Oodles & Bunches,
Mommy

little things...

I have been severely lacking in my blogging lately. I swear, the moment I start to feel like I'm getting my life under control everything gets turned upside down. Oh well, such is life I suppose. This weekend was a breath of fresh air for me. We finally got to the beach here in NC! Scottie took Saturday off and the 3 of us spent the day together. It was G's first time to check out the ocean and he was so much fun. The wind would blow in his face and he would just laugh and grin ear to ear. Then we put his little toes in the water which was unbelievably warm and he seemed to like that ok but the sand was kindof sharp-more like broken up seashells than soft sand and he wasn't too keen on that but overall it was a huge success. It was gorgeous and a wonderful day for us all. We are so ready to have Scottie back a little more and hopefully that will be soon. He has been working 2 hours away and often doesn't get home until midnight or so which gets old fast! However, this job always helps us be more appreciative of regular things in life so I thought I would list several as part of today's post:

~Our microwave- having to cook exactly the right amount every night so there are no left overs but yet there is enough to eat. Oh boy...

~Being able to take advantage of great deals on things we need- I have found some great deals on things we know we will be buying for our little man in the very near future but if they won't fit in our car I have to reluctantly pass them up.

~Seeing my hubby- Enough said.

~G seeing his daddy- Again...enough said.

~Having all of my clothes- we had only planned to work for 6 weeks this summer so I only packed a few things (I also hadn't lost much of the baby weight at the time and thankfully am smaller now)


~Belts- They have saved me this summer since the clothes I brought aren't quite fitting anymore- HOORAY!


~Real plates cups and silverware- Plastic gets old quick although I'm grateful to have them!


~Ceiling lights in every room- Whoever designed our apartment decided they are unnecessary and that a lamp in each room was sufficient...really???


~GPS- Absolute lifesaver. If someone said I could either have my GPS or food it would be a seriously tough decision!


~Our bed- I think chiropractors designed this bed we're sleeping on in order to drum up more business!


~Refrigerator and stove- When we first got here we lived in a hotel for a while and I'm so grateful to be able to make and store food now! It was a long week or two without that.


~Good water- ours here leaves your hair feeling all nasty and greasy and gross no matter what you do. At first I didn't realize and would shampoo several times trying to fix it, until Scottie mentioned the same thing. Bleh!


~Toothbrushes- okay, I'm just always thankful for those.


~My little man- happy or grumpy I'm always grateful to have him! :)


~Job- times are tough and even though this is a really tough job, we are so grateful to have it.


~Godiva cheesecake- this is a love/hate relationship. Our company took us out to the cheesecake factory and we tried this and I'm pretty sure it is heaven on a plate- however my skinny jeans disagree.


~My handsome man- I'm the luckiest girl in the world.


~My friends and family- what would I do without them

~Tillamook Cheese- it's our favorite and they don't sell it here. We almost cried. 




What about you? What's a random something you're grateful for today?

4 years? Seriously? That was fast!

Dear Scottie,
I can't believe it's been 4 years since you got stuck with me! ;) This weekend was the best I've had in such a long time with all the fun and celebrating going on. I mean I got a whole 4 days with both of my boys having a great time. What could be better? I LOVE going to zoos with you and it was so fun getting another one under our belt and yes, I am still planning to buy a zoo so I can have my own pet giraffe, elephant and polar bear. Get excited. And having the largest zoo in the US here in North Carolina was a great first one for G to visit. He was a sport and I'm pretty sure the little portable fan helped with that. I'm pretty sure he loved the parts of it he got to see but I can't wait to take him to more as he gets older. You're such a great daddy and I love watching you with our little man. Thanks for 4 amazing years and countless laughs along the way. I can't wait for the many years, laughs, and zoos to come.

I love you
Oodles & Bunches
Kel

you are one loved little boy

Dear G,

I feel like every time i turn around you're learning something new! Just this morning your daddy and I were talking about how much joy you have brought us already. You just started grabbing at things and you love kicking at things too. You also just started doing this screeching thing I'm not terribly fond of- hopefully you outgrow that one soon! Every morning I wake up to your squalks and look over the side of the bed at you sitting in your swing and the minute you see me you give me the sweetest grin I've ever seen. What better way to be greeted in the morning? You are such a sweet little boy. You love when we brush a blanket over your face- which usually inspires smiles and laughter all around! The bird song "way up in the sky" is a hit as well as the hokie pokie as i get you in your pajamas. You love the "shake it all about".

Basically, you are one cute and loved little boy.

Love you son!
Oodles & bunches
Mommy

Sometimes the 3rd time isn't the charm.

Dear Scottie,

This morning, as soon as you got into the shower, I ran and got a cup which I filled with ice water (yes, I did even put ice from the freezer in it) and ran into the bathroom to dump it on you. However, when I got in there I realized there were 2 problems; #1- I was barely tall enough to reach over the shower curtain to dump it on you so you would probably see it coming, #2-our apartment has a big Roman tub and I can't see through our shower curtain to see where you were in the tub. While a bit annoying, these obstacles didn't deter me and I dumped the cup of water and hoped for the best. Well, I missed and you only got a little on your shoulder. On to attempt #2. I ran back into the kitchen and grabbed our smallest mixing bowl and filled it up. SPLASH...nothin. You saw it coming and jumped out of the way. I had had enough of your funny business and was quickly on to attempt #3 (I couldn't be deterred) which meant bringing out the biggest mixing bowl we had. Nope, no luck there either-but you did manage to reach a hand out of the shower and smear soap on my face. That was it! On my trip back to the kitchen I had the thought of all thoughts-the idea of all ideas! Perfect! And just in time since you were about done with your shower. This time you heard me coming and just as you pulled back the shower curtain trying to scare me I squirted the ice cold water bottle from the fridge all over you! You jumped and I laughed...then ran! :) Then once I knew you weren't chasing me I snuck back to the bathroom and and said...truce? :) And you laughed. Then I reminded you about the soap and you agreed. However, I'm smart enough to know I should probably be watching my back for a while because this fun little prank war we have going on could start back up at any moment.

The moral of the story? Sometimes the 3rd time isn't the charm- so just keep at it! :)