Sunday, September 30, 2012

My parents

When I was a teenager, my mom was the last person in the world that I wanted to talk to. I'm pretty sure 90% of all teenager girls go through this and this is the main reason why I didn't want a girl. I would never want a kid to treat me the way I treated my mom. Never. I can only imagine how hard it must be to have a teenage, hormonal girl.

However, I look back and my parents were amazing. Sure, they weren't perfect, just as I am not a perfect parent but they did everything in their power to make sure that my life was good and that I would become a successful adult! Until now, having children and my own finances, I didn't realize how much time and money went into my sister and I in everything that my sister and I wanted and did. I mean I played division one soccer growing up and it was just a way of life. We travelled at least once a month playing, had trainers, uniforms, equipment, hotels, flights, and everything else. I can only imagine how much money that would cost them and especially times TWO!! We were just that important to them and I am forever grateful for them! I hope that when my boys are grown they can see that I put anything and everything into them just as my parents did.

Now this is not just about soccer, but about the fact that we were my parents world. We were always put to a very high standard, which honestly drove me crazy, however it made me push my hardest to make great grades and get through college in 3 years. It made me a stronger, smarter woman.

They gave me amazing memories, and the ability to travel and see so many great things. I have been to pretty much every cool thing in the United States and I'm trying now to give that to my kids.

They spent every waking second with us and were at every game, show, practice, and everything else in the world we did. And now, it is no different. They come to everything for our boys, and for clynt and I. They haven't missed a happy moment in our lives as adults and they have taken clynt under their arms and have become his second parents.

I'm proud to call them my mom and dad and can only hope that my kids think half as highly about me as I do them :)

My dear husband.

I often time give my husband a hard time bc of some of the random things he says, does, and wears. I'm generally kidding (though his clothes using could use some help!), however I'm not sure if he knows that or not. I get frustrated when he has to work late or when he acts tired on the weekend bc I'm the one who, in my mind, should be tired.

However when I sit down to think about it, I realize how blessed I am. My husband is not perfect (because no one is!) but he is a pretty great one and he loves me and would do anything for me. He loves our boys and spoils them rotten (another thing that I give him a hard time about), but I wouldn't change that for the world. He comes home from work and is tired but still spends hours playing with the kids. He would let me go get a massage or a pedicure every night of the week if I asked and he would let me sleep in every weekend if I wanted. Today, as I write this I just started dinner after cooking kettle corn (insert shout out to brother in law for teaching me how here), and he has entertained the children the whole time while tired as heck and I walk in to him laying down in our play room trying so hard to stay awake to play with our boys. The boys love their daddy more than anything in the world. I love that.

My husband is a dedicated and extremely hard worker and provides so much for our family with little complaining (wish I could do everything with little complaining!). He manages to balance life so amazingly and is always my rock. I can ask and tell him anything without being judged. He makes me feel safe and secure all the time and he absolutely adores me(hey- what girl doesn't want that).

So, even though sometimes things aren't perfect in life, I'm lucky enough to have a husband who is a huge blessing to me.

Here is a picture of him trying to stay awake to play with the boys.. Lol..

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Playgroups

When I first started staying at home people would ask me what I was going to do to make sure my kids would socialize or would ask me how I don't go crazy. Hey, I'm a social person and I need to be around people or I loose my mind. Talking 3 year old talk all the time doesn't quite cut it to make me feel like I'm a well balanced adult! So, I got online and found some ways to get involved with other moms who are doing life as a stay at home mom. Now I'm happily involved with a couple different moms groups and get to enjoy time with new friends on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. We go to our houses, libraries, parks, the zoo, museums, bounce places, splash pads, bookstores, ice cream shops, restaurants, and lots of other places together. We do life together and get our kids out socializing and having fun. And yes, we do lots of socializing ourselves. It's the most amazing thing in the world to be able to have other moms to talk through problems and trials, and successes with. We can talk personal things, kid things, husband things and all sorts of things. I can now call all of these moms my friends. We get each other and are at the same points in life.

I have people tell me all the time that they couldn't be a stay at home mom, not because of financial reasons or anything, but just because they think it would be boring to be home all day with kids. I truly believe that if they were able to get involved with the same ladies that I have that they would not feel that way. My mom friends are amazing and are some of the best people that I know.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for being supportive of me and my kids even when we have bad days. You all make this stay at home mom thing so much easier!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Hard Days

I remember the days that I would go to work, come home, cook, watch tv and chill all night. No screaming children, using the restroom without kids in the room, sitting to eat a full meal at the table, etc. With kids all of these things are luxuries, but we wouldn't have it any other way. I do love staying home with my boys but some days are just hard, and today was one of them. Both boys have a cold bd it has created completely cranky town in my house. Fighting, messing things up, crying, crying, oh did I saying crying. Garrett gets clingy and cries when he doesn't feel well. So sad. Anyways, after a long day of crazy, I went and got a pedicure and came home to sweet flowers and an adorable card curtesy of my boys. The ones in the tall vase are from corbin, he was so excited to show me the 'silly flowers that had lots of colors'. He can be such a sweet little guys sometimes! Below is a picture, but first...

Here is a cute letter someone wrote to here husband... It's so true...

Dear husband:
You have asked me "what did you do today?" and I am going to the best of my ability give you a brief glimpse into my Mommy world. Actually, my day began in the middle of your night. Two of your children were sick and needed attention. I let you sleep. I didn't; at least not what you would consider a complete, restful sleep cycle. I heard your alarm bright and early. Yes, I also saw the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" as well as heard your stomach rumble. I chose the lesser of the evils and made you breakfast while you showered. For your information, I never had the time for a hygiene moment today.


Okay, reliving this day is already making me lightheaded and my head to hurt...the rest of what I have to say is in no particular order. Please forgive me if I sound disoriented...


I fed and watered six kids (not to mention packed nutrients to send for their survival outside of our home), one cat, one dog, and some withering looking things that once were green plants. I can not recount all I did to get the kids off to school, too traumatic. Let's just say; they survived, I barely did.


I cleaned up: spilled beverages, dropped plate of eggs, squashed banana on my carpet, something that was hopefully just chocolate that was all over the bathroom tiles and the toothpaste that somebody painted with. I am not going to list every item that I cleaned up, but perhaps just mention a few of the more "colorful" highlights.


I rewound an entire roll of toilet paper back onto the proper placement of aforementioned paper product. For future reference; the second time I just piled it, neatly as possible, in the corner next to the toilet.


Do you remember the billion plus jewelry beads that we bought for the kids for hours of creativity and fun? I spent more hours of cleaning them up than the children have ever used them.


Somebody decided to decorate the house with Easter grass and candy wrappers galore. While I totally celebrate the true meaning behind this holy day, next year, be warned, I might have to do bodily harm to that dumb bunny that visits our house! Which reminds me, I searched the house for the lost Easter egg to no avail...how long before the smell gives the hiding place away?


I unplugged the toilet-not once-not twice-but THREE times-and the day is not over. I almost had to call Guinness Book of World Records...WOW! At least we know our children are eating-what?-I'm not so sure.


I did dishes and went to put them away...when I opened the cupboards I was pummeled by a tower of falling debris left by the last person who had this chore.


I vacuumed, cleaned the cat box, wiped up the chocolate syrup trail that somebody was drinking in the middle of the afternoon (that somebody was not me, no matter what you think!), filled out paperwork, answered the phone 50 times for somebody named Bruce (and, no, we don't have anyone named Bruce in our household), changed the sheets on the bed of our youngest, changed our bedding because same child peed on our bed, too, found the wet clothing that pee-boy tried to hide as evidence of his misdeeds, did laundry (btw, our washer may be dying...), googled mapquest to plan my escape route, I mean, I looked up driving directions from child #1's track meet to child #2's soccer game, sat with the bag of mismatched socks, rocking and mumbling, "I think I can, I think I can..."


Okay, my mind can't handle much more...let's fast forward.


Your school children came home, dropping book bags, shoes and coats. They demanded food. I consoled a child (for more than 2 hours of crying and whining!) over her balloons that were cruelly executed with a spoon. I broke up fights, directed chaos, cleaned up cat barf that contained colorful remnants of Easter grass, and helped with homework. I prepared a nutritious and delicious meal for your homecoming. Now, at this moment, your children are out of sight and out of mind...I can not be held liable for the conditions you come home to later in this evening.


I know I have not revealed to you everything that I have experienced today. Some things just can not be put into words; trust me. Anyhow, by the time you come home tonight and ask me "what have you done today?" I will be oblivious to my surroundings; possibly even in a catatonic state of mind. Hopefully you can at least pry this paper from my weary fingers and gain a little bit of understanding about my day...

Functionality

My life, between 2 kids and a husband who acts like a kid most of the time, somehow seemed not functional. My office had piles everywhere, my laundry room IS a mess with no hooks or organization, my kitchen cabinets ARE stuffed full of every kitchen gadget around, my closet had clothes on the top shelve that were just there because I was too lazy to put them back on hangers after I tried them on and realized that I didn't like the way it looked that day. So, I had enough, about a week ago I decided that I would start making my life more functional and more doable. I was tired of searching for 30 minutes in order to get a shot record to bring with me to the doctor's office. Every day I have chosen one room to work on while my boys nap. I have clynt buying hooks and making shelves so that my laundry room can actually hold purses, backpacks, and extra stuff easy and out of the way. I cleaned my closet so that I start the day in a happy spot. I no longer have any 'junk' areas other than one drawer in my kitchen and I am focusing on making certain areas more simple and easier. I need to go through our 3 play areas in our house and get rid of toys also.

It's so easy for me to get caught up in my daily grind with school, tball, music class, tumbling, and playgroups. And that includes none of the family and friend time or bible study time that we need. Being so busy got me to where I would spend no time making other things functional and organized and then I would get stressed. And when I have a thousand places to be a day, stressed is not the mindset that I need.

So I've decided to sell/ get rid of stuff that not is not necessary and/or takes up too much more and to organize and make life easier to do. My lack of organizing is the last thing that I need to spend time on every day. I could spend 2 minutes to put things where they belong and no be lazy, or I can spend 30 minutes and many unnecessary words of anger looking for things.

I love the space that I have in my pretty large house, but it just needs a little more simplicity to it. I was a master bedroom like the one in the picture instead of my huge extravagant bedroom set that is too large for our room and makes my room look clutter even though there is not a thing out of place. I want my office to be a room with also contains art supplies and stuff for the kids in order to have a location meant for their messy hands. I want each of the rooms to serve a purpose and look nice also. So that I can look around and breathe and not think 'wow, I have a lot to do'.

Anyways, I'm sure I rambled here but that is how my mind feels right now, and I'm on a mission. Maybe I'll stop rambling when I have a functional organized life, right?

Monday, September 24, 2012

Patience

Wow! Last week was a lesson in patience for me and my boys. Twice we were in situations where we had to wait, and wait, and wait. Both times it was just me and the boys and twice I was amazed at how they handled it!

The first time was the shuttle! Endeavor made its way to Houston last week and I thought it would be a cool opportunity for Corbin to see. I asked him if he wanted to go and he said yes, but then we stopped by my parent'a house and he played with my brother a while so I changed my mind and we didn't go. Then we left their house around 6 and Corbin said, "mom! I want to go see the space shuttle, please". I thought about it and called clynt who said that he would be working a while and it would be good for me to take then bc it's a once in a lifetime thing. I agreed so off we went. We got about 2 miles from there and bam! Traffic! And I mean traffic! It took me 1.5 hours to get the 2 miles to Ellington and then it took us about 1 hour to walk up and in line and back to the car. I was blessed in this adventure though! We ran into friends while walking up! They were able to take pictures of us and keep me company for a little while. Amazing and a complete blessing! We get back to the car and start our drive home which took an hour and it was only 15 minutes down the road. So it was AB adventure but we got pics and other than Garrett crying for a little while bc he was tired, the boys were great.

The second test was with the iPhone 5. Clynt and I have both needed and upgrade for a while and decided to wait for the iPhone 5 to come out instead of doing it a while back. It is not at all in our nature to get thing the days they come out but we had been waiting a while and I pre-ordered them so it was not a major deal. I mean I would never go wait in a line to get a stinking phone! However- 2 days after I ordered the phones, I got an email saying 'order cancelled'. Something messed up with the phone number when I upgraded and Clynt's phone (and only Clynt's phone) was cancelled. Mine was still coming but his was not and at this point I was told by the customer service rep, it would take 3-4 weeks to get one for Him. I felt terrible, SO I decided that I would take the boys and stand in line to get him a phone that day. Like I said, I would NEVER do this, right? Except for my much deserving husband. So off we go. They had Oreos and Cheetos and lots of healthy stuff to feed us in line and my boys were amazing! So much so that when we went back later that night to get Clynt's numbers transferred on his new phone , I had more than one person remember me and comment on how well behaved my kids were. Now that's patience for a three and one year old to behave in line to get a phone! I was proud of them (and surprised to be quite honest). Anyways, we got his phone and drove out to the galleria to deliver it to him.

It was a long week of waiting and learning, and went more smooth than I could have ever asked for. I'm suprised more and more every day when I can accomplish things with the boys. They are getting older and life is getting easier and more 'doable' for now.

No strep!

We have now had 2 negative strep tests for Garrett. That is the most in a row that we have had in months so we could not be any happier! Now it's fall and we already have runny noses going on in our house, but so long as surgery isn't a must, I can just buy more tissue and all is well! He has put on about a pound in the last month also, since he is healthy he is ratting a lot of no matter what I give me. This is fabulous! So life in Garrett's world is great!!

He is learning so much lately, he can tell you the sound and name of a cow, dog, cat, rooster, goat, donkey, duck, and a couple others. He can point to several body parts and he can also throw a flat fit if he doesn't get what he wants. He loves his big brother and getting to hang out outside. My boys love to be outside and this momma doesn't mind it either, so we are out there often. It is so much fun being the mom of boys and watching them do things I would have never dreamed of doing. They were playing at the water table in the back yard the other day and Corbin took of his shirt and pants. So Garrett took his pants off also. If he was capable of taking his own shirt off he would have done that too, I'm sure. It was adorable.

Life has been so much fun lately. The boys and I have been active and loving it. Garrett starts music class next month and is having fun watching his big brother in all of his activities. I'm loving it all. :)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Corbin, Corbin, Corbin

Im pretty sure that Corbin has been talked about a lot lately, but their is so much new stuff going on in his life.  He started school, tball, and tumbling all within 2 weeks!  So, as promised, here are some tball pics.  His frist game was awesome.  He stayed focused WAY longer than I ever thought he would and actually did really well.  The whole team did.  The team was very impressive for 3-4 year olds!  The funniest part of the game was when Corbin, oh Corbin, hit the ball and started going to first, saw a kid running to second and changed his mind and went straight to second.  It was adorable and something I will always remember and Cherish.  His team got 3 up and 3 down in the first inning which the coach said was unheard of in intructional tball.  It was so much fun to watch.





School!  Corbin is a typical wild 3 year old boy and he is...well... active!  I get a kick out of it when people ask, how is Corbin doing in school?  or has he had any bad marks yet?  because I know they are thinking he probably does horribly.  But he has not.  His teacher loves him and he has gotten a prize every day he has been for being so good.  He is thriving and enjoying the challeneges of school.  If Corbin has structure and busy-ness he is great.  Ive been so proud of him.  He looks forward to going and is already learning a lot. love it.

Tumbling!  Wow.  Corbin is a monkey to say the least.  He can do flips on the bars and tumbles around crazy.  He is active there also, which doesnt proof well when they are trying to get him to sit while showing the other kids what to do.  Next week will be better bc they splitting the class so he doesnt have to wait as long for the other kids.  It should go much smoother.  The class is adorable to watch.

Okay, thats enough for now.  The boy is a little spoiled and loving life and I couldnt ask for more!!
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Thursday, September 13, 2012

4 years ago

4 years ago today IKe hit in the Houston/Galveston area. It left us evacuated and with no electricity. I was 6 months pregnant with Corbin and refused to come home to no electricity. But it was not a terrible experience, we were all safe, no major issues with our homes and life was really in a great place.

So all the talk today about 4 years ago got me thinking about what I was up to then. It was probably our busier year of our lives. We had gotten married about 9 months prior, I graduated from UHD about a month prior, gotten my first 'real' job as the assistant director of Keep Pearland Beautiful about a month early, found out I was pregnant with Corbin about 4 months earlier, and to stretch it out a little bought our first house about 1.5 years earlier. It was a very busy time in our lives and boy was it fun!! Those were all amazing firsts in our life all done in such a short period of time. It was amazing and surreal and went by way too fast. We met amazing people that we can still call our friends, we bought a house that is now our home for our family of 4, and had a job that I no longer have because it made realize how much I wanted to spend time with my own kids. Corbin brought more love than we had ever experienced in our family and still does. It was just incredible, all of it, incredible!!

Things change but are still amazing and some years just bring so much joy to our lives and have so many changes and so much fun that will never forget. 2011 brought Garrett, a new job for Clynt, and a change in churches. All were difficult adjustments but huge blessings in our live now.

Here is to many more years of first, changes, and blessing. :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Corbin TBall

Corbin is playing t-ball for the dad's club now. It's quite a little adventure. 1 week in on practices and he is learning sooo much! I'm amazed at what he is able to learn in such a short period of time. It's 2 nights a week practice and games on Sunday. I didn't know if I would like Sunday games but I'm kind of excited about them. The only problem is that all his games at at 1. Meaning that nap time in the waddell house will be cut short or Non-existent. For Corbin it's not as big of a deal as it is for Garrett. Im interested to see how this goes. His team is A&M which is awesome bc it's easy to find aggie appearal around here ;). He is so so excited to play and I'm just as excited to watch. Here are a couple pictures from my iPad. Not great, but expect a longer post on Sunday after his first game and lots of pictures then!

Pinterest

Who knew that you could make entire weeks of only pinterest recipes? Honestly I was getting tired of all my same old meals that I cook. I mean you know those that you make when u can't think of anything more exciting to make. So, I started letting clynt choose some things he saw in pinterest and this week is pinterest week! Right now, there is bacon, Tater tot casserole in my crock pot. Of course I change everything up to give it my own spin and bc I simply do not follow recipes to a tea ever. So instead of chicken mine has pork and I put my own spices in it also. However I'm sure it will be delish! Im so excited to try to out :).

I also have an entire wardrobe on pinterest that I am trying to convince clynt to purchase for ! A trip to the galleria is definitely in my near future for new fall clothes!! For me and the boys, of course ;)

And then there are so many craft ideas on pinterest. I have a list of him decor things I am going to do and craft and toys to make with my boys.

The only problem?? I need TIME! Lol. The cooking thing is easy bc it does require additional time from me since I cook every night anyways but the rest of it requires my attention and I just dont have much of that to pass around:/. Soon enough though. And I guess that's the best thing about it, I can pin away and save for another da!


Yes, I have had pinterest for a long time but I just started doing stuff from it, hence the blog post!