Seeing the good

Little miss chloie has become her very own, unique, person. 

She is bossy, stubborn, smart, very vocal, sweet, and a little temperamental. 

Watching her personality blossom is so much fun. A little overwhelming at times but fun. 

She has become a backseat driver(red says stop! Turn here, no! not there, turn around) 

She thinks she's the boss (okay mom, go make you bed! And then make mine) 

She is a fashionista (oooo I love you tutu dress!) 

My favorite thing to see is her sweet side. She loves to give compliments. (Your hair is beautiful. I love your shoes. You're gorgeous...) 

I want my girls to be the kind of girls that compliment and lift others up. 

The kind of person I myself want to be. 

It is so easy to point out flaws and put people down. But, in my opinion, it is even easier to point out the good in people.

While I am hyper critical of myself, I choose to find something that I love about everyone. 

From their hair, or sense of style, to their ability to teach, or sing... Or whatever makes that person special. 

And I am thrilled that my three year old is already picking up on this. And honestly she's even better at it then I am!

She loves to tell random people how beautiful they are. She picks something they are wearing or even the sound of their voice and compliments them. 

She told a little old lady that she "loved her voice" the other day. 

I wish you all could have seen the look on that lady's face. Priceless. 

 

And the way she treats her baby sis, melts me everytime. 

She tells her things like "your eyes sparkle" and then gives her a kiss! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

I must be doing something right..   :)

Ben

So I just realized my birthday is in 5days...

This year has been an odd one so far... I think I would have completely forgotten my own birthday if it weren't for my HUSBAND (that's right, Ben. My 5years in a row forgot my birthday husband) reminding me by asking what I want for my birthday and even taking time OFF from work.  

So not only did I get a dozen roses from Ben but he is "excited" (prepared) for my birthday...

I know right... Mind BLOWN! 

Honestly not even sure how to handle all of this... Niceness. 

I was fully prepared to ignore my birthday and maybe buy myself something pretty, as usual... But no... He's gone and made me feel special.

It's not even my birthday yet and I'm already overwhelmed. ;)

Everytime he brings up what he's getting me or where he's taking me for dinner I probably look like I'm in shock... Cause I sort of am... 

I'm liking this new semi-romantic-less-forgetful version on Ben. Definitely going to take some getting use to but I like it.. 

Can't wait to see what happens for our anniversary. ;) 

Ha.

"Mommy wars"

Is anyone else over this whole "mommy wars" thing? 

I feel like everywhere I look some mom is putting down the way another mom "mommys".

Whether it be the "you didn't breast feed?! Breast is best" Or "cloth diapering is better for your child and the environment" 

I feel like every move We make as moms is being judged and commented on. 

Why is that?

Does it matter if I chose to bottle and breast feed? Have a home Birth Or have an epidural? To use disposable diapers Or cloth diapers? 

Whether I co-slept or not, whether I do time out or not, whether bedtime is set in stone or more flexible... Those are my decisions. 

Why is it "wrong" to make holidays special by doing the 12 days of Christmas with goodies and fun activities or elf on the shelf? Or making heart shaped cookies for valentines? Or making all their food green for st pattys? 

Does the choice to make my kids feel special or make the holidays more fun really impact your life? 

I do not do the things I do as a parent to gain the approval of others. I do not do things to make you feel like you need to "keep up" or to hear how much better you are. 

I do them for me. 

And my children. 

I enjoy making homemade fingerpaints when we are bored. 

Doing chalk paint when the weather is nice.

And doing a thankful tree for thanks giving to not only teach my kids to be thankful but to give them something to look forward to. 

I want my kids to have the kind of childhood I did. I want them to remember frosting cookies for Santa, catching leprachons in the backyard, and staying up all night trying to catch a glimpse of the Easter bunny.

Isn't that every parents goal? To make their child's childhood something fun for them (and us) to look back on?

Everyone parents differently. 

There is not right or wrong way. 

We are all just doing we best we can.

So let's stop putting eachother down and start cheering eachother on. 

:)

Today

I thought today was just like any other, but now that the house is quiet and I've had some time to think.. today was something special. 

Not that we did anything spectacular. 

We had a visit with the doctor. 

Went to the grocery store. 

Ate lunch and did some yard work. 

But what made today special were those moments that passed in the blink of an eye. 

The moment chloie wished she was taller so she could see the fishies better. 

When Evelynne said "danks" (thanks) for the fist time. 

When Chloie grabbed Eves face and said "Ima kiss you baby" and planted one right on her mouth. 

When Evelynne found a forgotten toy in the yard and kissed it, hugged it, and carried it inside.

 Or when I hurt my finger pulling weeds and chloie kissed my owie better. 

Those little moments made today something special. 

Listening to chloie make a wish, hearing eve say something new, and watching them show love in the littlest of ways. 

 As a mom I'm always worried that I'm not doing enough. 

But days like today I can see that I must be doing something right. :)

~~~~love

Mom life

Lately my days have been filled with kids. 

Kids who kiss and hug. 

Push and hit.

Snuggle and love. 

Bite and chase. 

Giggle and play. 

Scream and cry. 

My life is in constant motion and filled with emotion. 

From chasing kids and trying to stay fit to kissing "owies" and "disciplining" toddlers.. 

Chaos rules my home...

 But so does love. 

After every tantrum (whether from my child or not) there is a hug that fixes everything, or snack that cures the grumpies, or a toy that ends the fit. 

For every up there is a down.

And just when I think I've handled all I can, one of these littles decides to hold my hand. 

With that simple touch: my worn out body, my shakey hands, and my exhausted heart all light up again with a new found strength. 

I pick up toys, scrub the floor, run the errands, and do all the chores... 

I wipe tears and messy bums. 

I scare monsters away. 

I fill sippy cups and wipe up spills.

And, on occasion, I make diet coke runs! :)

At the end of the day I stand in the door way, watching as my tiny terrors sleep, and wish that everyday could be just like this one. 

So That tomorrow I can help them ask instead of scream. 

To give kisses instead of bite marks and bruises. 

To help eachother up instead of pushing eachother down

So That tomorrow when they fight I can teach them to love. 

But even more I want tomorrow to be just like today so they can teach me to let the laundry wait so we can play. 

To dance in the flour they sprinkled on the floors. 

To sing at the top of my lungs, whether I sound good or not.

To giggle at nothing. 

To nap on the floor. 

To just be happy with out doing all of the chores... 

Today was a mess. 

And I hope tomorrow is too! 

~~~~~love

My kind of valentine. :)

I won't lie, valentines day is really no big deal around my house. (Kinda like my birthday, it tends to be forgotten). I don't really mind, normally. 

Ben and I spent our first valentines day at my grandparents condo in St George playing cards. So that should have been my first indicator that roses and chocolates weren't in my future, right? 

But for some reason every year I hope for some display of affection from my sweet hubby and every year I'm reminded that those things just don't happen to me. 

Now I'm not complaining, ok maybe a little, but the reality is: WE aren't the romantic type of couple. 

Meaning: even if he did something like bring home roses or sweep my off my feet, out yonder window, onto a valiant steed, and raced me off into the sunset.. I wouldn't know how to react. I might just laugh. Yep, I'd laugh.. 

I day dream about a Ben who dances with me and surprises me with diamonds but the woman in those day dreams is not me. I would giggle and be embarrassed if Ben tried to dance with me (we didn't even dance at our wedding) and I would feel sick to my stomach if he gave me diamonds (there are a million things I want more then diamonds so they seem like a waste of money...) 

And as far as my birthday goes, yeah sometimes I wish he would remember or throw me a party or get me a meaningful gift. But the reality is I don't like being the center of attention (which is probably a shock to those of you who knew me as a child). I would be more then happy if he said "happy birthday" when I woke up. (Which by the way has yet to happen once in the last five years, he forgets but it will happen one day, I'm sure of it :) ) 

So as wonderful as other women's husbands sounds with their extravagant gifts and big bouquets of flowers and expensive chocolates.. I like buying myself a gift (cause I know what I want so there are never any returns) and I like picking out my own chocolates. 

I am happy with a blissfully unaware husband who kisses me and tells me I'm beautiful everyday and not just because of special occasions. 

He is mine. In all his non-romantic, sarcastic, forgetful glory, he is mine. I picked him. Not because of all the things he buys me, not because he swept me off my feet, not because he's super thoughtful.. I picked him because he is sweet, fun, charming, handsome, hilarious, and perfect for me. He is my kind of valentine. :)

Plus he's a fireman so that's a plus! ;) 

Chloie's THIRD birthday!

Wow.. I'm a bit behind here aren't i?!
Our little chloie turned 3 on January 24!
Can you believe it?! I sure can't! I keep referring to her as my 2year old. It hasn't quite sunk in..

Can you believe how much this girl has changed in the last 3 years?!
Whitney and I took paisley and Chloie to see frozen for her birthday. It's fun to take chloie to movies now that she can sit still through them and her and paisley are a hoot! Chloie gets a little attached to characters and paisley was there to calm her fears ( "it's ok Chloie, Ana is going to be okay" ) they crack me up! 

So some fun facts about our little miss :
-Chloie loves ninja turtles
-she is constantly singing
-she can count to 20
-she can write all the letters
-she loves to do things by herself (like pick out outfits and get herself snacks)
-she loves her baby sister and gets upset when she's napping and not playing with her (generally she wakes her up just so they can play)

So, I neglected to take as many pictures as I normally would at chloies party (small gathering of family).

But Here are the few pictures I did take! 

This little girl is the best thing that ever happened to me! She made me a mommy! I absolutely adore her and I would not know what to do with out her!