Monumental

I'm here to celebrate something on the blog very exciting.
A breaking point in dear Chloe's 6 year old life. And I am SO proud of her. Not in a "wow, she got a check plus on her coloring sheet" kind of proud, like life is going to change for our family someday kind of proud.
But first, a little history.
Chloe has, for a long long long long long time, been petrified of dogs. Screaming, scrambling up the closest adult as fast as she can, crying hysterically kind of scared. Everything about them freaked her out, even little ones. She would decline going to friends' houses if they had dogs, even if she really wanted to play with them. She would wait on the sidewalk on Halloween at each house so she wouldn't encounter any dogs. It was so sad. No matter how often I sat her down, hugged her, told her as directly and lovingly as I could that I would never, EVER let her near a dog that would hurt her and that many dogs were nice, or that licking was their way of saying hello, or that barking meant they were warning their owners and not that they were going to bite, she wouldn't budge on the matter. Once we were at a graduation party at a friend's house and there was a dog and she scrambled up me, screaming and hollering as loud as she could and sat there for the WHOLE TWO HOURS we were there. Her friends were running around the backyard having fun and she sat there crying and shaking the whole time we were there until we finally had to go. I felt so bad for her and never really understood why, it was just a thing with her.
Well a couple of weekends ago she was invited to a friend's house who had 3 dogs. I knew this ahead of time. She had been looking forward to this for a while, and so before she was picked up to go to her friend's house, I asked her if she knew they had dogs. She said that she did. I asked her if she was okay with that. She flinched a little, then said she was going to try to be brave. I reassured her that the dogs were super nice and that she could be brave, and she agreed. Amazingly, only the big dog they had to put away while she was there, the two little chihuahuas she got accustomed to. And even pet a little (!!!!). I hardly believed it, even little dogs I knew she had a big problem with, but from what I understood, she was okay with the little ones while she was there. WHOOOOO!!! Celebrate. I gave her a big hug and congratulated her, and she seemed proud of her accomplishment.
But that's not the end. The other day at soccer practice a dog on a leash ran up to her, and she held my hand questionably, but then the dog left and she didn't scream at all. (!!!!!) Then on the soccer field again, a woman with a small dog was standing near by, and Chloe actually came up to me and asked me if we could go over so she could pet the dog. (!!!!!!) She did, and even though the dog was a puppy and nipped at her a little, she didn't seem to mind. Both of those instances were also small dogs, but again, BIG steps forward.
Then today, a friend of ours from church brought his larger boxer dog with him to pick up his son from Chloe's class after school. Chloe has been to their house before and the dog had to be put away while she was there because she was too hysterical around him, even though he's super mellow and a great dog. We were getting ready to leave and Chloe saw the dog with her friend's dad, and she yanked on my hand a little and sweetly asked, "Mom, can we go pet the dog?"
Seriously?!?!?!?
"Ah, yes, Chloe, are you sure? Are you ready to pet a bigger dog?"
"Yes I am."
And we went over. And she pet the dog, even though he was wagging his tail and licking the faces of all the kids around him. And she loved it.
I was ecstatic.
Cause you know what this means?
We are now officially cleared to get a dog when we have our own place.
Yeah buddy.
This is what I want:

Aw....see, he's waiting to be part of our family, I know it!
Chloe approves.

If you're not a parent, try it out sometime...

It's been difficult.
But so so SO worth it.
Isn't it amazing when you look back at your life before you were a parent to where you are now? I have a reoccurring dream, as I'm sure many do, where I'm still in high school and haven't graduated yet. My friends are all there. And in every dream I'm getting ready for choir auditions and I always make it into the choir room and remember all the familiar smells and chairs and music and teachers before I wake up.
For the next couple of minutes, especially after a particularly realistic dream, lying there in bed, my thoughts go something like this:
Hey wait a second...didn't I already graduate?
Oh yeah I did. Oh good, I'm so glad I'm done with high school, I'm free! Wait...I went to college too, I GRADUATED from college. And there's some reason nagging at me why I didn't think flirting with my crush in the choir room was a good idea...oh yeah, I'm married. WAIT I'M MARRIED. AND I HAVE KIDS. Three of them?!?! 
Yes, three of them. I love them. I love my husband. I love my house and my life. 
And just a second ago I was wigging out because I was late to class and couldn't remember my locker combination...
It sort of crashes on me real quick, and then I thank my lucky stars that I'm not in high school anymore. I'm a wife and a mother and I love it.
I've made some big changes with myself as a mother. Most of them internal. I hope they stick, because tonight I was watching Linus frolic around Grandma's house happily and not screaming, and I was watching my two girls dancing in their new Easter dresses, and squished close to Craig on the couch while talking with family, and I was happy. Might seem perfect, and it is, but it sure as heck didn't come without a price. And I'm not even close to being done paying for it, but it's beautiful and it's mine.

 

I love these guys SO much. I wouldn't give them up for ANYTHING, and that, in turn, makes me want to change to be a better person. 

Happy Easter everyone!!

Valentine's Day

I didn't take out Chloe's "heart" hair until this morning. She wanted it in every day, even at church, where it was a wild, wavy mess. I had to clip the rubber bands out with scissors because we both knew if I pulled them out, I might have to go to child services for torturing my six year old.

Chloe BEGGED me to come to her class Valentine's Day party. My heart ached a little bit, as I remember parties at school and how thrilled I was anytime my parents would show up for anything. As fate would have it that day, Craig was able to come home early and I happily skipped out the door and surprised Chloe at school. Next year I've made a commitment to be less busy so that I can free myself to go to things like this!
I have to put in a plug here. If you haven't been over to Don't Panic Mom, please go and check it out! My nearest and dearest friend Alli has put this together: she is SUCH an inspiration and has totally hit the nail on the head with so many things we are changing in our family. I wouldn't say that I was awful at getting healthy food on the table every day, but I definitely needed to make improvements. Alli has always helped inspire me to do this, and her blog is amazing! Recipes, encouragement, easy-peasy ways to help your kids enjoy nutrition to its fullest. In fact I've even "guest" posted a few times! You can read about how we got rid of boxed mac and cheese at our house HERE or learn about how I went from hating running to loving running HERE.
Sooo...Valentine's Day was coming and I knew that Chloe would get tons of sugary sweet things on this day. It is tradition. Am I against eating sugar? Certainly not. However, I do think a lot about the health of my children- not just now, but for their whole lives. Diabetes runs in my family, as well as obesity and depression and a whole load of things that can be solved, or at least improved, by one simple thing: good eating. I will never be the mom that goes into a classroom and shames the rest of the class moms into puddles of nothing because they brought candy or sugar or anything. EVER. But I thought, this is Chloe's first Valentine's class party and I wanted her to get excited about something healthy. I thought about just doing valentines without anything on them, but after talking to Chloe about it, she agreed that the two of us would go on a shopping date together and find something healthy we could make into a valentine. I had a few ideas from pinterest in mind, but as luck would have it, Chloe picked the perfect, pre-packaged snack for any valentine. :-)

And so I got on the computer and put together some fun labels and we spent the evening before Valentine's Day happily putting these stress-free, sugar (refined) free treats for her friends. She was thrilled.

 Anxiously, during the party, I watched the kids emptying out their bags and listened for their responses upon countering the cutie. This is what I heard:
"ORANGES?! Look, I got an orange!"
"Chloe, thanks for the orange!"
"What does this say? Cutie- PATOOOOOTIE?!? Guys, this says PATOOOOOOTIE!!!"
"Pa-TOOOOTie?!?! Ba ha ha, Chloe, your Valentine says PATOOOTIE!!"
More laughing went around the room about the word "patootie", and I watched timidly as Chloe heard all these responses, hoping it wouldn't get her hopes down. When I looked at her, though, she was giggling hysterically with the rest, exclaiming, "YEAH! My mom made those!".
Success. Guess all you have to do is put a potty word on the Valentine and they could care less if there is a lolipop on there or not.
I know Valentine's Day is over, but if you want to save this for next year, here is the layout I put together for the valentines. :-)

 So grateful for this fantastic friend of mine. Glad I get to keep her for good. :-)

Merry Christmas

It is Christmas Eve and I am just now sitting down to get a Merry Christmas post out to you all! It has been a fun and adventurous year for us all, and will only be more so in the year to come. I, like many others, meant to get a Christmas card, a physical one, out to friends and family and gosh darnit, this year I was going to do it. Well, time and chance happeneth to all and here I am digitally telling you all what a wonderful year we've had. Maybe next year you'll get a real one. So here's a quick peak into all of our lives!
Odell is two now and has clearly forgotten that she is a calm, placid child who wants for nothing but to stare at everything and giggle when prompted. She is now talking up a storm and has great joy in "MY-KA-SI-WAP!" (which translates roughly to, "Mother, may I please sit in your lap?"). This also has very little to do with actually sitting in my lap, but more to do with stepping, climbing, pulling, jumping, and dancing on my lap. Needless to say Mommy does not get very much accomplished during this time. We've also discovered that she has somehow absorbed from the universe how to identify the entire alphabet by sight and knows several shapes and colors. Funny how you try so hard with the first ones to teach them everything and then the little ones just learn it on their own sometimes. She loves to laugh, loves to point out everything, loves to dance, looks irresistible in pigtails, loves her older brother and sister and gives us hugs and kisses all day. Not potty trained yet, we're working on it. I'm trying to enjoy every minute of having a bubbly happy little girl around all day whilst trying not to spoil her completely.
Linus' personality continues to blossom in the most intricate and interesting ways and makes life entertaining to say the least. Everything has to be exact with him. Everything has to have an answer (which makes for a LOT of questions). But we love watching him develop and see the way he observes the world. His behavior has been getting better, to the relief of his parents and family, and we've learned a lot of coping mechanisms with him. For example, he lives for a routine and schedule. Not that he's constantly aware of what's happening next, necessarily, but when days stay pretty much the same, the tantrums are fewer. He loves to cuddle with Mom, loves puzzles and coloring (and I must say in my humble opinion, he colors really well. In the lines perfectly and picks the coolest colors, coloring in every empty spot possible- I'll have to save that for another post), loves writing words, loves making really loud random noises, loves making his sisters laugh, and generally just has a great time being a four year old little boy. He also can't wait to start school next year.
Chloe is growing like a weed. She's getting taller and more gangly by the minute. Her pride and joy is her long, beautiful, flowing locks of silvery blonde hair. Or, that is, her long, tangled mess of knots and frizz. I'm pretty sure she thinks that I'm purposefully torturing her for no good reason at all every time I tell her we need to brush her hair. Yet she won't let me cut it. I even consented to bribing her, but no go. Crazy girl. She LOVES Kindergarten, although it takes her until she gets to school to realize that most days, so sometimes our mornings go a little slow. :-) She loves all things art, and I am fully enjoying entering the stage of motherhood where I get to pick out cool art kits and crafts for her for birthdays and holidays. I vividly remember spending hours on my spyrograph, moon sand, and friendship bracelet kits as a kid, and am glad to have an excuse to do it again. She is doing swimmingly at school and it's fun to help and watch her learn to read. We've also moved into the wonderful world of chapter books and I am SO excited. As you can tell, I sort of live vicariously through Chloe. She is a lot like me and I couldn't be more thrilled. :-) I'm sure someday along the line this may cause a problem between us, but that's okay. Except, one thing, she does have a very different taste in colors and style than me, that may be because she is six, but we went to the craft store to pick out some fabric together for her closet door replacement curtains and I finally had to bribe her to pick something that didn't have real pictures of kittens on it or an assortment of Easter Hosanna phrases ("Alleluia! Praise the Lord! He is Risen!"). We'll see if she grows out of it someday. :-)
Craig and I are keeping more than busy, between school, work, photography, seminary, Young Men's President, in home daycare, cooking and cleaning (between the both of us), spending time with the kids, and trying to snatch a kiss here and there, we are booked. Craig is starting his internship and final semester of school in recreation management and will be looking for a job here before too long. We are SOOOOO excited to be done, and a bit apprehensive about what the future will bring...but mostly just SOOOOO excited to be done. We had that major stomach bug go through our house for THREE WEEKS right after Thanksgiving, but by a miracle, I got it earlier on and was able to take care of the rest of the family without fear of getting it myself while we focused on NOT getting Craig sick so he could make it to all his finals and get all his projects done for the semester. And thankfully he didn't and pulled off another 4.0 this semester (I gotta brag because heaven knows he won't!). Craig and I were also able to take a trip to his uncle's house in Virginia for a week before Christmas just the two of us (Craig's uncle is a dentist and he helped with fixing Craig's broken tooth, which also included a root canal and three fillings). We enjoyed our time visiting some of the historic sites near Richmond and also watching movies, playing video games, eating lots of food, staying up late and sleeping in, and doing everything we don't get to do with the kids. Not that we don't love them, but it was nice to relax for a week.
Here's to a wonderfully exciting year in 2013! We look forward to all the changes, and hope we are settled enough to get a real card out next year. Love you all!

Thankful

It's the last day of November. I didn't write all the "I'm grateful for..."'s on facebook, but I wanted to take a quick moment to tell you something that I am very very lucky and blessed to have in my life.
His name is Craig. And he is my best friend. And I'm married to him.

(hands off, ladies, he's mine!)

Last week I was on another photoshoot rampage and I called home to ask Craig about something, I can't remember what. When he answered the phone he was laughing and I could barely understand a word he said because it was interjected by screeching children and loud bumps and thumps. The kids were crawling all over him and playing with him on the living room floor. It didn't really matter what he said because my heart was warm and I was so immensely grateful for him at that moment, that I could go off and do what I need to do and he's got things covered at home. And he enjoys spending time with his kids. And he's happy. I reflected on this later when I was talking with a friend about hubbies and was just again filled with that gratitude recognizing how much he has grown as a husband and father in the few short years we've been together. What an amazing blessing it is to be married to a man like that. Truly.
I want to share something else with you. We're not perfect.

(this is one of our happy engagement pictures 7 and a half years ago!)

I know that comes a shocker. I just wanted to implant that in here because I'm going to share a story with you and I don't want anyone, anyone out there thinking that life is all peaches and cream over here. I share good moments on my blog because I want to remember them. Sometimes life really is a kick in the pants, but when I look back on these, I want to remember all the good things. That's what being grateful is all about.

I have read a number of Craig's papers over the years for his schooling. I've helped him write quite a number more. This has been a battle between us for some time. Why? Because, duh, I have to catch up on all my Scramble and SongPop games on my phone, I don't have time to read a paper over. I watched the kids all day and maybe baked some food and sorta cleaned...a little..I've earned a break, seriously, I can't read a paper right now! Two nights ago I came home from shopping with a terrible case of the chills and bad aches all over my body and a climbing fever. I tried to eat a little food after Craig got the kids down and then went on to immediately started welcoming the Priests from church (16-18 year old guys he's in charge of from church) to work on some scouting into the living room. It wasn't working out so well, and as soon as the boys left, I told Craig I was going to hit the sack. Timidly as I was climbing the stairs, Craig turned to me while pulling up his homework on the computer and said, "Hey, ah, I have this paper...."...and sort of trailed off when he saw my "I'm sick, does it look like I want to read a paper right now?" grumpy stare, and he then replied, "...can you read it for me tomorrow? It's due on Thursday." and I said, "Yes, I'll read it tomorrow." Well tomorrow came and I was down for the count. I spent most of the day in the bathroom and spent the rest of it cursing my wretched stomach, which seemed to have tied itself in a giant painful knot. Craig graciously took over seminary for me, got the kids ready for the day, and helped out as much as he could before he left. My blessed mother in law took the kids for me that afternoon as I got worse, and then Craig promptly took over as soon as he got home from work so I could rest. By the time 10:00 rolled around I was desperate for some relief, so I asked Craig if he could give me a blessing. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, Craig, using his priesthood authority, which he has the privilege to administer to those in need as a member of our church, laid his hands on my head and gave me a blessing of healing. According to our doctrine, just as in the times of Christ, it is by the faith of those giving the blessing as well as the faith of those receiving it that grants the fulfillment of the healing, according to the will of God. I felt such a calm peace rest over me as he gave me the blessing and I knew that everything would be okay. By morning time I was feeling immensely better and again had very warm feelings of appreciation and deep love and respect for that man I am married to for all he does for me and our family, and particularly for the fact that he carries himself according to God's will so that he was able to perform that blessing for me.
So that paper that was due on Thursday did not get read. When Craig came home from work, halfway through cleaning up dinner, I remembered and started apologizing to Craig. "Don't worry!" he said, "I read it over and turned it in today." "I'm sorry I forgot, was the paper okay?" "Yes, it was fine, don't worry about it!" I let it go and moved on with the evening (I really did feel bad, I know it means a lot to him when I can check over his work for him, even when it interferes with my superior schedule...). After the kids were in bed and we were winding down for the day, Craig asked me if I would at least look that paper over for him to check for mistakes. Obviously I didn't feel bad enough about not reading it because my response was something along the lines of this: "And you already turned it in?! Noooo thank you. As much as I enjoy editing your papers, I don't do it for fun. It's turned in, there's nothing you can do about it!" Craig patiently persisted, "I really think you should read this, just look it over for me please?" to which I again replied with a dramatic roll of the eyes and a "Seriously?". "Yes. Please. It's like a page and a half, it's really short" *exasperated sigh from me*...."Okay fine, I'll read it."
I sat down at the computer and began to read. It was a short extra credit essay on who was a hero in Craig's life. He began by explaining it wasn't a famous person or an athlete or a respected teacher or leader or anything like that.
It was me.
His wife, Chelsea, me, was his hero.
Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over as I read the rest of the paper. He talked about our friendship, my qualities as a mother, my kindness, the many things I had overcome in my life and the good things I've been able to do despite that, my talents and my sacrifices to stay home with our kids, our marriage, and my example.
All I could say was, "I'm a scum bag. I. Am. A. Scum. Bag." It's a good thing he was sitting behind me because he might have been a little alarmed at the pain on my face- a good pain. A grateful pain. I turned around finally and he was smiling sweetly at me. I wanted to ask him how on earth he could let me treat him like I do, but I didn't, and instead I said thank you. Especially when he brought me a tissue.
I don't want anyone telling me I didn't make the right choice when I did. I wouldn't let this man go for the world and he is the largest influence for good on my life, hands down. My marriage to him is the greatest blessing I have ever received and means more to me every day. His love for me is a testament of God's love for me, and if you want a perfect life, a real one, that's all that matters.
Thank you, Craig, for making me happy in every sense of the word. I love you. 

Weenie!!

To enjoy the fruits of your labors, you must wade through some muck sometimes. Some pumpkin muck, to be specific. 
Chloe: "Mom, can't you just scoop the pumpkin yuck out for me?"
Me: "NO"
Because Daddy did it for me. And also it's a rite of passage until you become a Mommy and have earned a Daddy to do it for you.
Actually, I don't mind the guck so much, I just am too much of a perfectionist because I try to get every single little stray stringy thing out of the pumpkin and I sit there forever. Craig gets it done a lot faster for me. 

Odell was a little freaked out. But she recovered, don't worry. 

 Yeah, that's right. My pumpkin is clean.

 Workin' hard!

The finished products!! While, as mentioned previously, I kind of have an OCD problem with getting all the stringies out, I kind of like how Craig was lazy with his and let them be. I can be okay with it just this once.

So, typically I got out each year and take pictures of the kids in their costumes- this year was no different. Except for the fact that it usually goes off without a hitch, and this year it didn't. I had Chloe and Odell outside and had just gotten Odell's makeup done when Chloe whipped out her light saber and hit Odell in the face with it. And the makeup came a smearing down her face with her tears. I had just gotten her calmed down and re-make-upped, I got a few shots of her while I could and was about to move on to Linus when Chloe ran up to me and through panicked tears said that her stomach hurt really bad. I assessed that she wasn't dying, looked like it was likely just gas, but she wouldn't let up about it. I had her sit down, then go inside and get a drink of water, then lie down for a bit, and finally after her extreme insistence that it was the costume that was bothering her, I let her take it off before I got any decent pictures of her in it. After she got it off, I tried to see what was wrong with her, and explained that if she really wasn't feeling well then she needed to rest for a bit and I would take her into the doctor if it hurt that bad (which would likely mean no trick or treating). Magically the pains disappeared within about ten minutes, just enough time to wear Linus and Odell out enough with pictures that it was time to come inside. Nice. Oh well, I can always dress them up again on another warm day when we have nothing else to do, I'm sure I won't get any complaining.
Odell is "Queen Amida-wah", although I went a little over-board with the red dots and she looks more like a geisha. Still cute either way, though, and she was so excited to wear make up just like mommy. Or something like mommy anyway. 

 Here is stomach-ache Chloe. Who was replaced quickly by "I want to go trick or treating!" Chloe. She played Ahsoka from Clone Wars. She knows nothing about her except that she's a cool jedi and also she's a girl. 'Nuff said.

 Feel the rage, Darf Dater.

 Protecting the geisha at all costs.

I want YOU to join the dark side...

Guess which ridiculously good-looking family won best themed family costume award at the church Halloween party?
Aw yeah. I know you are jealous of my dread-lock wig turned Leia buns wig. And my jedi moves. And my sexy Han Solo. How come Leia didn't have the force?

Super Mom

Linus at lunch today:
"Mom. You aren't Superman, but...I KNOW you have super powers."
"Oh yeah?"
"YES!"
"Like what?"
"Like knowing if I'm asleep or not at nap time."
"Oh yes. That is my super power. And knowing if you've brushed your teeth enough."
"And Mom."
"Yeah?"
"Can you throw fire out of your hands like my X-men book?"

If only. Actually it's probably a good thing I can't shoot fire out of my hands or I might've burned my family and house down by now.
But this was a good reminder that even when I feel like Kryptonite (aka my weekly schedule) is sucking all my energy away, my little buddy still knows that I have super powers.
This morning was one of those mornings. You know. When your oldest child suddenly absorbs from the universe that school is not as cool as staying home and turns into a dead log incapable of doing anything but lying on the floor or crying. One of those mornings when there are too many poopy diapers to change and not enough time to change them. One of those mornings when your four year old somehow released an untapped reservoir of energy out of his system and expresses it by being as loud and crazy as he possibly can with no end in sight. One of those mornings when you are feeding your kids around 8:30 and realize you've been up and going for three and a half hours already and feel just as tired as you did when your alarm went off.
And the weight of the day feels kinda heavy even when half of it is gone already.
But that's okay. When you are super busy for a lot of days in a row, suddenly super busy is relative and you're able to handle things okay. Especially when the prospect of fall break is just around the corner and you can't wait to sleep in for a whole 10 days in a row. Oh goodness, I'm getting chills just thinking about it.
So here's to all you super moms out there. Destroy your kryptonites, whatever they are, enjoy your super busy days, and then come over to my house this weekend to watch Jane Eyre on blueray with me. I'll make popcorn with coconut oil on it and pull out all our blankets. Just for you.