How I Do It

Jenni enjoying food again!

This is how Jenni talks to daddy, while he is in the bathroom......Funny stuff this girl!

Grace wanted to look "fancy" for school, this is what SHE picked!!!

Mommy and Jenni being silly!

Grace is showing you my new sewing station!
I am ready to learn : )

INTRODUCING ROCKSTAR GRACE!!!!!
(Yes, she is playing a Jem guitar, and YES it used to be mine!)

Sometimes a week goes by and I don't even remember the days being here, I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing really. The week seemed slightly uneventful to me, I got my sewing station all set up and ready to learn, Grace was a rock star one day, and Jennifer's healthy appetite is fully back after hell week.
This week, for whatever reason, I thought a lot about what people don't tell you about being a parent. You hear a lot of the same things like, it goes so fast, its really hard work, and its the best ride of your life. The things I never heard were how much of yourself you sacrifice to love these little people and make them extensions of yourself. How quickly they just turn the switch on you and choose to be independent of you on things.
A friend of mine wanted to know how I do it, how I stay home all day and be a mom. While on my reverse question, I wanted to know how she does it, gets up early enough to get herself ready for work, then gets her kids ready for the day. They are both very different worlds in the morning and through the day, the one thing that was the same......at the end of the day, we are done!! We are out of patience, we are tired, and we just want 5 or even 2 minutes to ourselves. My husband works crazy odd hours, one week is never the same as the last and it takes a toll on me, him and our girls. We survive every week so I guess it can't be that bad right?!?!
I always knew I wanted to be a mom, I don't think I always knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I think our 'situation' has made me be a stay at home mom, after being able to stay home and watch first steps and hear first words, I am blessed!
People told me that I would have to sacrifice a lot of things to be a mom. I don't mind not getting my hair done but once a year, I don't mind not having a shower first thing in the morning, I don't care that I don't have a fancy flat screen TV (I am sure Ryan wants one though!), we even gave up our cell phones when Ryan lost his job in 2008. I am appreciative of the things that we do have, our house, our food, our beds, the things that we need the most to survive, each other. The one thing that I hope the girls learn from me more than anything is to truly appreciate what you do have, because all of it could be gone in a flash. A fancy flat screen TV is not going to make your life better, but being able to play with your parents and take those memories with you, those will last a lifetime and you can take them with you wherever you go.

Hell Week

Grace sledding with her BFF!

Grace and the snow!

What is better then resting in Mom and Dad's bed when sick?!?!?!

The cracker diet and learning games, she is so cute even when sick!

Trying more relaxing positions to watch a movie or two :)

**********WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!**********

If you can not handle talk about puke and diarrhea I suggest you skip this entry!


I know I titled this week as Hell Week, but it surely didn't start out that way! We started the weekend off with a sledding adventure with Grace's BFF from preschool. The girls had a great time, Jenn slept in the car most of the time, but once she was awake and out of the car, she didn't complain, although I am convinced that she was still half asleep. Grace loved eating the snow once she realized that it melted in her mouth.

Then Tuesday hit us like a ton of bricks, and I wasn't really ready for it! First of all, I thank God that I am a blanket hoarder for if I didn't have 12 blankets a person in this house, I would have been in serious trouble. Jenni got sick on Tuesday night and I have no idea where it came from, she just started to puke at random moments. I didn't want to seclude her from the whole house by locking her in a cold, un-fun bathroom, so I just laid down a blanket on the living room floor and gave her another blanket as a pillow, that was her designated "puke station". We had a bucket for her, but she didn't tell me when it was coming so I had to wait and then try to catch whatever I could with the bucket. Needless to say it was a rough night. The following morning we were woken at 5 am with Jennifer crying in her room for "Mommy" as soon as Ryan got to her room, all he could smell was more puke. We got her all cleaned up and in the tub for a wash and got the day going, more blankets and more clothes for everyone in the house was a must! Jenni ended up having diarrhea along with the puke, whom ever invested in diapers and pedialyte this week must be rich just from us!

I never thought about what would happen when the whole family gets sick at the same time, we went through at least 2 tons of laundry, literally, blankets and clothes, holy cow! When Grace woke up Friday morning with puke in her room, I knew it was going to be another long day. We stayed in Mom and Dad's big bed, watching movies eating crackers that we said we wished was popcorn and drinking water, and pedialyte. Grace only puked three times where Jenn got it at least eight times.

I think the worst part of your kids being sick is that all they want is for Mommy to make it all better and make the pain go away. I know that is all I ever wanted when I was sick, shoot sometimes that is all I still want some "Mommy Magic" to make my tummy stop hurting. I have never had to deal with puke before so for my first attempt I don't think I did to bad with it. I didn't get grossed out at all, I just went into survival mode to make sure my kids were loved and not scared, that they were going to be ok, I wanted to make sure they knew they were not in trouble for making a mess, or being sick! After every round of puke or diarrhea I cleaned up blankets and buckets and clothes, it was a rough 4 days, but I am more then blessed to have two amazing girls whom I love more then anything and I would do it all over again. Even as I look at the house in chaos now, and I know I have to begin the clean-up, I will always remember my hell week and be forever great-full for the strength I have inside myself to pull through my own achy body and make my kids feel better, after all it's what Mom's do!!

'Cabin' Crazy

A 2011 goal is to learn to sew, this is my first successful attempt!!! Its a slip cover for my camera strap, double sided of course.

Jenni on the Leapster Explorer, her favorite game is the train game!!

Grace in one of the 4 bean bag chairs we got for Christmas, enjoying a movie.

Yep, this is totally my kid!!

Yes, I am playing the 'explorer', she needed my help!!!!!

This week seemed slightly uneventful as we are still trapped inside the house due to the snow and cold! Just for the record, I hate the cold!!! Even with a cold week and a cold winter we still have fun inside and try to not go stir crazy. For example we make crazy art for the walls, we sing and dance, we play our learning toys, we just try to stay sane in the 'cabin'. The girls are growing by leaps and bounds and as a mommy, its hard for me to see it, I am in it everyday, I only really notice when people make comments about them! How the hell am I supposed to know these things, I have no other child care experience, I just let them grow at their own pace and pray like hell they turn out to be what they hope and want to be. They crave learning, they want to know what everything is, how it is used, what color it is, what sound it makes. Sometime these questions get annoying and exhausting, but I love that they both want to know, it makes for a great day and a proud Mommy!!!

I Heart Faces "Smiles"

This week I Heart Faces has the theme "smiles" all I could think of was the time the girls were having to much fun making a total mess. What else would your childhood be without tub time and making a mess!!!!!

Welcome in 2011

Grace wanted her toes painted one day, that meant Jenni HAD to have hers done as well!

The best night of my week!

Do you see tattoos in her future??

The HiHo Cherry-O competition.

Sometimes I find toys in the oddest places, I think this was Woody's house.

A pillow fight we had

2011 started off pretty great, doesn't every year though? Grace was home from school, its amazing she has been home with me since the day she was born! She started school this year, and when break was over and it was time for her to go back to school, I was more then ready for her to go back!!!! I am not afraid to admit it, I was tired and warn out from her and the whole stress over the Christmas break, it was nice to have her go to school! Now that she is back to school, I of course miss her when she is not here :(
We also had a Hi-Ho Cherry-O game contest this week, I have yet to win a game, I am thinking that Grace is cheating, I just have not figured out how she is doing it yet, but I will win soon. Jenn just likes to spin the arrow for me on the spinner and as I know, that might be my downfall to losing, how could I take her joy away from spinning the thing?!?!?
The best part of my week was having Jenn fall asleep in my arms, that has not happened in a LONG time, she refused to take a nap that day, and I knew it was going to come back and bite her in the butt, but she had no idea. So at 7pm that night she went and grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around herself and said to me "up-e" as I was sitting in a rocking chair. That girl fell asleep in about 10 minutes. I refused to put her down, I don't get this feeling anymore, I more then likely will never get this again so I choose to take full and complete advantage of it!