The Most Perfect Gift

The gifts that make Mother's Day, or any other holiday special, are those handmade gifts. You know, the perfect little handprint or picture taken. Before being a mom I wouldn't have seen the beauty behind these gifts. There is a song that talks about mothers and how they deserve an arm full of roses, but are satisfied with a hand full of weeds. I never saw the beauty in dandelions until I recieved my first handful from a very precious little girl. The joy you get from knowing that they saw something beautiful and thought of you. 

This year was probably the best Mother's Day I have had since becoming a mom. I recieved the best gift, and it didn't come from the store, didn't cost any money, and it came from the heart of the most loving, caring and kind seven year old I know. She was so excited about her gift (that was in a big gift bag with tissue paper and all), that she couldn't wait until today to give it to me. What I found in the bag were two pieces of paper with ALOT of writing. Something that I knew she worked very hard on, especially since she sounded out every word. Then, when she started reading them to me, my heart melted. Paul and I couldn't hold back the tears. 

Here is the card.

On the inside she wrote:

Mom I know how hard it is to take care of kids. I am sorry for all of the times I was bad and given you a hard time and when I was selfish. Love Kristen

On the back she wrote:

Thank you for reading. I hope you can read this. Love Kristen

She also gave me this.

On the back of this she wrote:

You are the best mom in the world. You make me food and you clean the house and you know how to take care of us. Love, Kristen. 

I have fixed all of the spelling errors, although they made the card so much sweeter. As my sister put it today, these are the memories you run back into the fire to get. A memory that will forever be cherished. I am so thankful that I am the mother to three awesome kids. 

Strabismus

Lauren has been seen by a pediatric optometrist since birth. One of the best I might add and the same doctor that saw her in the NICU. When we thought she would need glasses by a year old due to ROP and her brain hemorhaging (and she didn't), the first words out of his mouth were, "Isn't God good." I knew right then that we were where we should be. 

Lauren has been seen every 6 months to follow her strabismus. Strabismus is when your eyes don't line up in the same direction and because of this they don't look at the same object at the same time (or more commonly known as "crossed eyes"). Lauren does "correct" it some on her own by putting her chin down when she needs to focus on something. This is usually how she watches television. 

Her strabismus really hadn't changed much, and her doctor said if it continued how it was, he wouldn't do anything to correct it. It really wasn't too bad and could only be seen by a professional. Over the past few months I thought it was getting worse, but thought maybe it was just me. I have a way of being a little über cray cray when it comes to my kids health. I have self diagnosed them with all sorts of crazy things over the years. 

Anyways, I digress. A few weeks ago I was sitting at the table and Kristen was standing behind me and Lauren came in to ask a question. That's when I knew it was worse. I didn't know if she was asking me the question or Kristen. In fact, it didn't really look like she was talking to either of us. That's when I mentioned it to Paul and he said he could tell. I knew this possibly meant she would need surgery.

Both Paul and I agree that it should be done sooner rather than later. It will only get worse and would eventually affect her vision. It will be an outpatient procedure and the doctor will go in and weaken the muscles in both eyes to try to even things out. There is a possibility that she would need another surgery to tweak it, but more than likely she won't. She will be given anesthesia, which is best because she would do none of this willingly....but that is the part that scares me the most. There are just so many horror stories and Lauren is still very tiny for her age. All sorts of bad scenarios have run through my mind and since her surgery isn't scheduled until June 24th, I am sure I will have 100 more horrible scenarios added to the already growing list. 

Just thinking about this gives me anxiety. What's that saying? No one can pray and worry at the same time....

2 in 1

Since I did horrible updating the blog for the last two months....here is a two in one post.  Two months worth of pictures in one post...in no particular order...really.  So, here ya go.

Dallas and Lauren decided to make their own boats.

Lauren slept peacefully.  These are my favorite pictures and the moments that bring tears to my eyes at the end of the day. So blessed.

 

Kristen lost more teeth and the tooth fairy is broke.  Well, that is when she shows up.

The aftermath of Santa.

Dallas figured out how to get his own snack when Mommy says No.

This boy loves a phone.

Santa came.  I didn't lie when I said they were not in order since this picture should have clearly came before the aftermath picture.

Kristen and Lauren were angels in our church's Christmas play. Don't they look like they are glowing?

We did winter crafts.

Had a Valentine party and got to write with BIG pencils.

They went to the Children's Museum.

And got to dress up as a flamingo.

We did school and learned about contractions.

Kristen and Lauren struck a pose.

They got along most of the time.

And Dallas threw a fit....well, many many fits.

They played dress up.

And cuddled.

I made some homemade corn dogs...they were delish!

They played games together.  Kristen is buried in there somewhere.

And I made my first wreath EVER...thanks to Pinterest!

Happy 2nd Birthday Dallas!

My little man is two!  Whew...that pretty much sums up the past two years.  I had always heard about the bond between a mother and her son, but never expected it to be different from the bond with my girls.  I have to say...I was wrong.  It is something hard to put into words, but a bond that I am forever grateful for.  Who knew having a boy could be so different?

It is no secret that he is spoiled...rotten.  He has all of us girls wrapped around his tiny little finger and he knows it. He is hardheaded, fussy most of the time, and spends the majority of his day doing things he isn't supposed to be doing, God made him cute for a reason, which is exactly why he is so spoiled.

He likes ice cream, shoes, swings, fruit snacks, dancing, hats, music, juice, his pacifier, Cookie Monster, balls, poptarts, phones, Dora, brushing his teeth, baths, coloring, and yogurt. He absolutely loves his sisters.  He hates snow, night lights, oatmeal, brushing his hair, twisted socks, sun in his eyes, and being locked out of his sister's room.  He is my little cuddle bug and I am so blessed to be his Momma.

He had a Cookie Monster party and I decided to try my hand at a cookie cake.  He blew out his two candles all by himself, he's getting so big!  He got lots of presents, but was really eyeing Kristen's dsi.  At one point he quit opening his presents and just stood there waiting to get his hands on her new toy.


Happy Birthday little Dallas!  Here's to another year of fussy cuteness!

Happy 7th Birthday Kristen

Who knew seven years would go by so fast.  My little girl is growing into a big girl and it makes me sad. Like...really really sad.  When I was pregnant everyone told me to cherish the days because they grow up so fast.  I just couldn't imagine then how fast that would be.  It really does seem like in the blink of an eye she went from one to seven.  There is very little that she actually needs me to do for her anymore and while at times her independence makes it easier; I still miss the days when I was needed.

She spent most of her birthday on her Nintendo dsi or with her headphones on listening to her music and that was when reality really hit.  She is growing up...and that makes me sad...like really really sad. Although she is growing up faster than I would like, she is growing into a beautiful, loving, caring and compassionate little girl. She is the sweetest and most helpful little girl I know.

She loves music, drawing, Barbie's, stuffed animals, making books, her eetsy, headbands, popcorn, books, playing outside, dresses, strawberry  milk, dancing, and comfy clothes. She is such a good big sister and helps me so much each day.  She is a people pleaser and wants to do things to make others happy.  She hates school, jeans, peanut butter, Dora, potatoes (but not French fries), and hair clips. She knows what she wants and she is very particular about things...just like her Momma.
   
We celebrated with a Frozen party.  Actually, the only thing Frozen was the snow outside and the cake, but it was a good birthday and she got so many great gifts.  

Happy 7th birthday sweet Kristen. Thank you for giving me seven of the best years of my life. I am so blessed to be your Mom.

Christmas Spirit

He's back......

Eric, our elf on a shelf, has made his annual appearance.  I thought that he would do better than the tooth fairy, but not so much.  Oh how I wish this little elf could really fly.  Kristen woke up (extra early) on Monday completely puzzled because Eric was in the same exact place as he was the day before.  It just so happened that the kids were not good on Sunday.  In fact, Lauren said at bedtime that she didn't think Santa was going to bring her any presents this year.  I told Kristen that Eric was giving them a second chance to do better because he really liked them and wanted them to get presents.  Doesn't this defeat the whole purpose of an elf on a shelf?  But, I needed something so that is what I came up with.  She seemed satisfied.

We are definitely getting into the Christmas spirit.  We took the kids to go see Santa Claus.  I think they enjoyed it....

 

 

Well, not so much. Who doesn't like Santa?  He's a jolly old soul.  We also did the video from PNP where you upload a picture of each kid and Santa has a special message for them.  Of course the girls had been nice this year, but Santa said Dallas had been in between.  He didn't care.  He was busy running in circles in our living.  He probably knows it doesn't matter what he does Santa will still bring him toys.

 

Only 17 days left until Christmas.  Bring it on!

 

 

I can't believe it's...

December already!  Where did 2013 go?  Really.  I swear the days seem to last forever, but the years seem to fly by.  I'm still trying to figure that out.

This year was our first Thanksgiving with just us (Paul, Kristen, Lauren, Dallas and me) at our house.  I was excited to cook my first turkey...EVER...even though I hate everything about turkey.  The taste...the smell...gag.  I did eat two bites and it wasn't dry at all.  It turned out as good as turkey can turn out.  While I was preparing the turkey Kristen asked if it was a real turkey.  Why I would have a fake one I am not sure.  She then asked if we were Amish and at that moment I was pretty thankful we weren't. 

Our Thanksgiving feast consisted of turkey with gravy, cooked seasoned cabbage, stuffing, macaroni and cheese and a sweet potato casserole.

Of course...no meal is complete without dessert, which was made by my wonderful hubby...and it was delicious.  You can't go wrong with an apple cobbler. 

 

 

I also got to sleep in until 8:30 on Thanksgiving day, Paul made breakfast and I got to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving's Day parade from start to finish while perusing the black Friday sale papers.  It doesn't get any better than that!

 

I was one of those crazies that went black Friday shopping. It's usually me, my mom and my sister, but my sister bailed on us because she has a new puppy. It really wasn't bad at all and I was able to get most of the presents bought for the kids.  Paul and I went back out shopping on Saturday and got a little more. I think we will be finished this week.  We only have about 5 more things to get. Now we are broke...oh wait...we were broke before we started.

 

I came home and got a couple hours of shut eye to wake up on Friday and decorate for Christmas.  I always have this vision of us singing Christmas carols while drinking hot chocolate and hanging ornaments on the tree and it never happens quite like that.  This year our day started by lugging 569 bins out of the attic.  It was actually only 7 bins, a Christmas tree box and a wrapping paper box, but it felt like 569 bins.  Really....why do I need so many decorations?  And then with every trip I had to say "No" and "Get back".  I found myself saying this even if no one was around or if they were making a move in any direction.  It was like I was a broken record and I was annoying myself.  Once operation Christmas decoration retrieval was complete we started putting the Christmas tree up...and that is pretty much where it went down hill.

 

Now, if I were going to design a pre-lit Christmas tree, I would make sure that if one light went out the others did not.  In fact, I thought that was a given, but apparently not.  Instead of coming out with a new and better cell phone with 10,000 cooler apps, someone needs to work on a different design for Christmas tree lights.  Anyways, the top half and bottom half of our Christmas tree lit up, but the middle did not and after spending an hour figuring out nothing, we went ahead and threw some color lights on the tree and called it done.  This is where Paul goes outside to put up the outside lights and gets even more frustrated while I am stuck inside with three kids asking 800 questions all while trying to "help" unpack bins and put ornaments on the tree.  I would like to tell you that I let them put the ornaments wherever they wanted and we sang Christmas songs and drank hot chocolate, but that would be a lie.  My OCD kicked in and after about three ornaments being put on the same branch, 4 getting dropped on the floor and two broken ones I forbid anyone to touch another ornament. I kept trying to remind myself that we were making memories, but it really just felt like one big nightmare to me so I put in Happy Feet Two, gave them a snack and told them not to move from the couch.  They ended up running laps around the house, stepping on their snack and completely ignoring the movie.  Where is Eric the elf when you need him?  At one point I just needed a break and a snack so I hid sat down in the kitchen floor behind the cabinets praying I wouldn't be seen.  I was found by Dallas while eating my peanut butter crackers and that evening when I gave him his snack he went and sat down where I had been sitting earlier.  I guess he figured it was the new place to eat.

 

 



 

I did get everything decorated, except for the bathroom.  I just couldn't find the motivation to put up a shower curtain and take down and put up new pictures on the wall just to turn around and take it all back down in four weeks.  Our day ended with carrying the 7 bins and one Christmas tree box back up to the attic and wrapping some presents. 

 

 



 



Next year I am going to decorate when the kids aren't home and then when the come home we can sit back, drink our hot chocolate and sing some Christmas songs while admiring our beautiful tree.