At my wit's end

This morning has NOT been fun.... already... and it's not even 8am yet!!

I suppose it started with Hailey throwing up in bed last night about 9pm... luckily it was only once this time, but it was completely random AGAIN! She slept the rest of the night wonderfully and even woke up in a pretty nice mood this morning too. Until I asked to change her diaper... and then she started to throw a mini fit saying she was hungry. Of course I said no problem I just need to change your diaper first. I asked her a few times to come here please and she broke down bawling...

So then I change both of the girls diapers, nurse Hannah real quick, and it's time to get Hailey's breakfast. I let her pick EVERYTHING out... she asked for cereal so she picked Life... she even helped get the spoon and was very excited... until she sat down at the table and started bawling AGAIN!! I tell her that she's a big girl, not a baby and that if something is wrong she needs to use her words and tell mommy... She manages to say that her tummy hurts... probably because she's hungry...

So my patience is GONE and it's not even 8... oh please Lord help me regain my sanity today

Little moments

Sometimes I feel like I use this to vent more that I should... so this will be a VERY happy post!!

Let's see what should I start with?!! Tim is starting school in 1 week... wow! I'm so very proud of him for making this decision on his own and I know that the next few years will be hard on all of us, but that we'll make it through it! He's going to have a lot on his plate with full-time work, donating plasma, side tile jobs, school, church callings, family, etc. .... and no those aren't in any particular order, haha! We're very lucky to have his schooling completely paid for as well... ahhh the blessings of paying a full tithing!! Hannah is a total mommy's girl right now... and I'm not gonna lie I LOVE IT! She's a crawling monster and has started to pull herself up on things. Every time I look she's standing up on something new. She's such an amazing baby with a fun playful attitude. She now has 4 teeth, 2 on top 2 on bottom, though the 2 on top aren't her front teeth... weird right?!! She's a great eater and loves to feed herself. We've started giving her a few softer table foods and it's sooo much fun to watch her. She's recently figured out how to click her tongue... it's pretty funny! She loves to shake her head no and sometimes it really seems like she's doing in in response to you, lol. And then when you put her in front of a mirror she's usually wave... babies at this stage are just soo much fun!!Hailey, the poor thing, keeps getting sick. I think that she's finally over this round though, thanks heavens, because I sure feel like I've cleaned up my share of barf for the next year or so. We've been working on counting, colors, and Abc's lately. I'm so very proud of her-- She can count to 20 on her own... every once in a while she'll skip a number here or there, but other than that she's turned into learning champ! It's so much fun to watch her conquer another task and then she just loves doing it. Some days we sing the ABC song LOTS, lol! And sometimes she's stubborn and refused to sing with me, but then usually if I keep singing with a smile on my face she'll join in. Lil stinker =) Then the other day Tim and I realized that she was able to sing quite a big of 'I am a child of God' ... and I swear tears just came to my eyes the first time I heard her! Lately she's really started talking in good sentences for example... "Mommy I dote ike dat ( I don't like that). In fact this morning she told us that " I dote ike bed ( I don't like bread) as she was eating toast w/jam, lol... obviously she's just saying some things to say them because she was eating bread... silly girl. Oh and I signed Hailey up for a little kids gymnastic class at the Y. It starts in a few weeks here and I can't wait to see her in it- I really think that she's going to love it!!

Then onto me... Not much new. I've just been trying to take care of myself a little more lately with working out and just taking time for myself. I think it's very easy for us moms to ignore ourselves and focus on the rest of the family, but my family sure seems to run smoother when I take care of myself as well. Tim has been extremely supportive with this as well. I'm just sooo lucky!!

Reflecting back...

It's really strange how life just has a way of taking control and all of a sudden a few years have passed by... That's how I felt sitting in sacrament meeting today. This past week was my 4 year anniversary of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints!!! What a wonderful and marvelous 4 years it has been. There aren't many days when I'm truly able to sit and reflect on renewing my baptismal covenants while partaking of the sacrament... in fact most days I'm relieved when we manage to make it to church on time, the girls somewhat behave, and neither one of them grabs the water lol! Hailey caught some sort of virus thursday night and was up the entire night (yes I mean literally the whole night-9pm-9am- ick!) throwing up. I only had to make one mad dash to the bathroom luckily (yes I got sick as well...), but hers was a 12- straight and then it gradually spread out over the next 6 hours or so to not anymore thank goodness. She then got quite the high fever so yesterday we had to make the choice for her to stay home. And... since I had to teach in YW today Tim got to stay home, hehe. So anyways without any children I was really able to sit, enjoy, and listen to the small promptings of the spirit. My love for this gospel is so immense and every day I'm truly able to feel my Heavenly Father's love. I truly know with all my heart that "I am a child of God" . He knows me personally... through my ups, downs, trials, struggles, highs and lows... He's always there! Each day I choose to live more closely to Jesus' example I'm able to grow closer to my loving Heavenly Father. It's not always the easiest choice, but it's one that I have to consciously make each day to live more like my Savior!

Today my lesson was on Encouraging Family Unity- and this lesson really hits home with me =) The past month or so I've really tried to make a REAL effort to be kinder to my husband and children. In particular I've really focused on my relationship with Hailey. Her and I just battle some days and I don't like feeling like that at all. I'm supposed to be the adult and some days I was sad to admit I felt myself acting more like a child on her level. I'm very proud to say that I've noticed a significant change in both my attitude, but most importantly, hers!! She was directly reacting from my change... which brings me back to my lesson today. The lesson was all about encouraging our Young Women to be kinder to their family, help out more in the home, not arguing, etc. because their own attitude with their family has a direct effect on the attitudes of their other family members. Sometimes the Spirit gives us a more obvious nudge in life, lol. The lesson I taught today was obviously meant for me to teach and to help me recognize the blessings of bringing your family together more. I love my children sooo much!!!! And even more I love my wonderful husband who supports me every day. Each day has it's own struggles, but the really amazing thing comes when you're able to see your own triumphs over obstacles as I recently have!!

Snip snip

Or more like chop chop, lol!! On thursday I finally treated myself and got my hair cut and highlighted. It's seriously been 8 months since I last did- WAY TOO LONG!! I decided it's time to make momma a priority again so that I can feel pretty once more. I went in knowing that I needed something drastic and short again, but it was definintely a shocker to me at first, but now I love it! Enjoy the new pics from my own personal photo session, haha! Just a glimpe of me being goofy trying to get a decent one, lol.

There's always a first time for everything

So I've always heard about kids falling asleep while eating... but never experienced it... until this past week, lol! Hailey did it twice! 2 nights in a row she fell asleep while eating dinner. The first night we laughed so stinkin hard!

Then the 2nd night I tried to wake her up and make her eat. She proceeded to fall asleep on the ground, hahahahaha!!!

Like I said her eating habits are out of whack lately. She's even foregone lunch to take a nap?!! Yep you read right- my child, Hailey, voluntarily choosing to TAKE A NAP!!! Who would have thought?!!

Update

So the past few weeks have flown by. Hailey got sick... again! Luckily we've been barf free for almost a week now so hopefully the flu bug is gone for good... sigh. Other than that Hailey has really been testing my patience lately, but I'm proud to say that I've been doing a lot better handling her. Her attitude has been very moody lately and mealtimes have become quite the battle. I think the most frustrating thing is that I just feel like I'm 'flying blind' when it come to raising her because she's our oldest... we think that a lot of her problem lately is her 2 year molars that are taking their sweet ol time coming in now... poor thing!

Hannah is a crawling monster now and quite the mommy's girl. I love it because Hailey is a daddy's girl now so I'll take all the lovin I can get from my lil nanners. She just got her 3rd and 4th tooth in and is working on #5 right now. Once again baby tylenol is our lifesaver. So both of the girls are cranky and teething... Let's just say that when they are both that bad during the day bedtime usually is right at 7pm... to save my sanity so that there is some left for the next day, lol. Hannah is also quite the little character. She has such a fun personality and loves playing lots! She's great at entertaining herself, except for when she's tired, poopie, or hungry, lol.

See mom... look... they're balls!!!

Don't you want some too?

Tim has been super busy. I feel like we hardly see him... and it's probably because we haven't much lately. He works his normal 40/week job, then donates plasma twice a week, then does his church calling w/ the YM, and then has been taking on a lot of side tile jobs as well, which usually take up his entire weekend. And then did I mention that he's adding school to that mix in about 2 weeks here?!! Yep here we go with school too now...

Which leaves me now. I've been working out... a lot!! I've been trying out lots of different classes and I really like Zumba. I haven't really lost much weight, but I have noticed my body slimming a little in the waist and my clothes fitting better =) I've been going so much because most days I dont' feel like I have anything better to do and I really love the break from my kids. Plus on the days when I hardly see Tim it's really nice to get some adult interaction too!

A clear and peaceful mind

I'm the kind of person where my mind always seems to be going a million ways a minute. Probably why I tend to stress myself out more than I should, lol. Anyways this morning the hubbie and I were able to get away for a few hours thanks to the wonderful and amazing Ontiveros team-- I feel like I have to call them that because of how much of a handful my children can be, especially the monsterific Hailey, lol. Lots of love goes out to them for allowing us the time alone... and we put that to good use.

We went to the temple this morning and it was great! It's been a while since we were last able to go together due to sicknesses, family being in town, trying to find a babysitter, and life in general just taking control and being WAY too busy. Well we took control back into our hands and spent a few hours in the most wonderfully peaceful place on earth. I really can't think of a better way to start out our Saturday morning than feeling so close to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I absolutely love how clear my mind is there. Gone are the constant thoughts going through my mind and replaced is a very real and strong feeling of my Savior's love for me. Gone are my feelings that I'm a terrible mother and wife and not doing a good enough job. Instead I feel that through serving the Lord and living as he would have me live I know I can do better and am able to see that I'm really doing a much better job than I think that I am. I realize that I need to give myself a break- I'm NOT PERFECT! The only perfect person to walk this earth has been Jesus Christ and the best I can do is to follow his example and try to allign my life as he would have me do.

So here is a very real realization for myself- the next time I'm feeling down and out I'm going to take a break from the world and visit the temple =)

I may or may not have any hair left

So it's been about 2 weeks since any significant blog. You can give a lot of credit to the sick bug that has managed to make rounds in our house twice now- thanks =( That's a very sarcastic thanks by the way in case anyone missed that. I'm so stinkin tired of being sick, getting sick, and takin care of sick people that I could just scream.... so if anyone is sick please stay away. And by the way I mean that in the most loving way possible that you can tell someone to stay away, lol.

The first round of sickies was miserable and wiped us all out for about a week, but we weren't all sick at the same time luckily. Then we were lucky enough to get a break for a few weeks. Then---BAM!!-- it hit us again. Hannah barfed twice a few Sat ago so Tim stayed home from church with her on Sun and I went to church with Hailey. Well a few hours after we got home from church Hailey started puking about every 1/2 hour for a little over 5 hours- straight! By the end of the night I was so exhausted that I could scream. And then in the middle of Sunday night it hit both Tim and I as well - fa-bu-lous! That had to be the most horrible 24-hour bug I've EVER experience in my entire life! Hailey never managed to make it into a bowl or toilet unless it was being held in front of her... and even then I had to pretty much force it into the bowl. She decided early on that she would puke where ever she darn pleased. Meaning on my couch, pillows, blankets, rug, floor,.... me.... stairs, etc. Did I mention I wanted to scream??!! It was so freakin sick! Then she would act like she was better for a day or two and then barf again randomly, of course where ever she wanted again. Well we've been barf free for about 5 days now and I'm so excited that I want to scream- this time for JOY!!

Because she's been sick I've been basically cooped up in our house the whole time. No going grocery shopping because she insists on playing at fred meyer and I can't let her in there when she's sick. No working out because of the same reason.... so yep stuck at home only managing to escape when Tim is actually home and not exhausted from his other millions of responsibilities... and did I mention he's starting school next month... YIKES!!! Sometimes I ask myself "what the heck are you getting yourself into?!!" I really wish that he had decided on the school thing, um, maybe BEFORE WE HAD KIDS!! But I know that it's always going to get harder to deal with him in school so we might as well just push through and deal with it. So I pray that I'm not just saying goodbye to my sanity.

Ok now that I've vented here's to the fun stuff! A week ago Nanners finally started crawling! I love watching baby's firsts. She's such a wonderful little turd and really is a fantastic baby. Then she also started to pull herself up on the stairs. Thank goodness she can't crawl up them yet so I still get a little while before I really have to watch her with them. And she still needs me which I love. Hailey doesn't need me anymore now and seems to fight against me more than she loves on me **tear** =(

Perfect example... I tried to get a nice smile from her

This was after about 10 tries, but I won the battle!

Sleeping Beauties

My favorite time of the day and, most often, my saving grace as well... NAP TIME! And it's sad to say, but they're not always the ones that needs a nap =) So if I'm able to I try to sneak one in as well while they are, but it seems that I never get more than about 15-30 minutes... someone always manages to call, show up, text, etc... or Hailey gets into something... darn kid. I really need to get on babyproofing more. I guess we can't really call it that anymore... I want to call it "toddler-proofing" but that really doesn't seem fitting either
How about "monster-proofing"?? Yep that fits a little bettter. So here's to attempting to "monster-proof" my house better. Shh... no one tell Hailey that I'm trying to ruin her fun!