Monday random
Before I start the random photo awesomeness that was our weekend I have to point out that all day today I’ve been saying to myself “It’s been 1 week since the hospital. 1 week since I was told my baby needed surgery. 1 week since that nightmare.” I can’t help it. I’m always thinking in “it’s been 1 week…it’s been 1 month..it’s been 3 years since…” time frames. It’s programmed in me. I hate it and yet I do it with good times and bad. Anyway, it’s been 1 week since last Monday which was the worst day we’ve had in 7 years.
Also, we cleaned out our garage all day Saturday. It took 7 hours but I can now park my car in there which is pretty much amazing considering we could barely walk through it before. Side note: I hate cleaning garages. I also think my husband is a bit of a hoarder. I told him I was going to say that about him from now on and I’m pretty sure he rolled his eyes at me and shot me “that” look. Needless to say, it took all day and when we were done it felt awesome.
So the girls kept each other occupied while we took on that task and every now and then I’d take a break to take pictures of them. Hannah did her usual dodge the camera move when she could and sadly Livie usually follows suit. I couldn’t help but follow her around though in hopes of getting good pictures of her because after the whole ordeal last week I just want a million pictures of her smiling and happy…the way she usually is.
It’s like she knew…and she delivered.
We went to a birthday party yesterday and the goody bags had bubbles in them. My girls are freaks for bubbles. I try not to buy them often because we have to go outside and we get all sticky and there’s usually a giant mess. I need to get over that though because when they’re blowing bubbles they’re so happy.
A couple pics I had to pull out from my Instagram collage because they’re fab.
My Casetagram case has finally arrived after a LONG 4 week wait. I love it. It’s awesome and I get to look at the people I love the most all day. Can’t beat it.
Y’all know I am a freak over coffee mugs. I like them oversized and with lips on them instead of a flat edge on top. I currently only have a couple mugs like this and only 1 I really use. I saw these today while grocery shopping and I had to buy them. Now I have 3 mugs I love and tomorrow morning I’ll have some decisions to make over which one I should use. Trust me. That IS a tough choice.
Instagram awesomeness:
The weekend was great and came through the way I needed it to. Thinking this week may be more of the same.
The good in trying times
Today is a focus on the good day for me because about 30 minutes ago The Man and I got into yet another argument with Hannah that ended in us sending her to her room and me saying that about 80% of what comes out of her mouth makes me angry. She’s in a horrible pre-pubescent stage right now and it’s all I can do to not pull my hair out…or hers. So to focus on the good of her this weekend I have to think about how cute she is when she’s happy and playing with her friends.
I’m grateful that we have a little girl next door for her to play with. When she’s not grounded from playing, that is. 2011 was a trying year with her and I see that 2012 will be too. Actually, probably until about 2018 or so we’re doomed to fight with a teenage girl. I’m sure Livie will be following close behind. I always wished we’d be close unlike my mom and I were but I’m starting to see that we’ll bicker with her through her teen years like most moms have to with their teenage daughters. I dread it because I miss our days…the days Livie and I still get to have. Makes me cherish these days with Liv a LOT because if she gets a major attitude like Hannah…well I’ll be mourning these days much like I am with Hannah. I rarely talk about how hard it’s been with her but it has been and well…there ya go.
But this kid? She loves her days with me and tells me now about 5 times a day that she loves me. Melts my heart and gives me hope that soon Hannah will come around and be the sweet kid she used to be.
She’s most happy when she’s eating. Go figure. With every bite she takes I kid you not, she dances a little dance and sometimes claps. It’s the cutest thing and I’ll miss it when she grows out of it. She expresses what we all feel when we eat…HAPPINESS!
When your friends come over and play with your kids while you cook…swoon.
Steak on a kabob on the grill…double swoon.
Instagram holla!!!
This week I’m determined to find the good in Hannah even when she’s mouthing off to me and I will cherish the good with Livie before it maybe disappears. Hoping and praying it doesn’t though. Raising kids is hard, y’all. I STILL sometimes feel like I’m not grown up enough to do this mom thing. Other times though, there’s this…
I’m doing something right along the way. Have a good week!
Pre-weekend quicky
It’s FRIDAY! Working or not, Fridays are awesome. Ya gotta admit it. My Fridays are usually pretty low key but today I’ve got a lot going on so just a quick before the weekend post for y’all.
She’s turned into a little mama. She took care of her baby all day. She fed her and held her and changed her diaper. I ignored the fact that she scolded her baby for not using the potty but she herself refuses to use it. We’ll be revisiting potty training next month closer to her 3rd birthday. Sidenote: THIRD BIRTHDAY!?!?! I went through my whole pregnancy on this blog and posted her newborn pictures here. Y’all have watched her grow up. This is insanity.
Anyway, yes a sweet little mama even if she does scold her baby.
An Instagram holla:
Have a good, happy, fabulous weekend!
Rainy day post
I had plans of Starbucks this morning with the girls in the family and a couple friends and a late morning grocery store trip and then maybe a quick nap with Livie.
It’s pouring rain outside so we DID make Starbucks but the store will have to wait. I figured it’d be a good time to catch up on some editing and get a blog post up for y’all. Yes, all 5 of you.
After my last post I decided to make a concious effort to pick up my camera more this weekend…to take more pictures like I used to. Whether I’m home with my girls or not all day, I still find myself scrolling through pictures on my phone of them. I love pictures and I wouldn’t have had to move 1000 pictures from my phone to Flickr if I didn’t. It’s time to get back to that me, even if I have to think about it more now than I had to before.
When I get shots like this I get happy because it’s not every day that your baby just stands there perfectly in the sunlight at just the right angle.
It’s my usually boring, mundane life that I love the most. It’s the life I craved…days like this where it’s rainy and I don’t have to leave the house but instead can edit photos and laugh at my silly girl.
Guess who’s crawling now?
Nannying this tiny man has been such a fun reminder of when my girls were this little…with Livie it seems like it was just yesterday.
It’s been unseasonably warm here the past few weeks. It’ll get chilly for a couple days and the temps go right back into the mid to upper 70s. That’s warm for January but I’m not complaining. I hate the cold and snow. I’ll take sun and shorts any day over that. So will my girls.
Especially when they can play outside all day and take ice cream breaks without needing a jacket.
And now something I kind of bit off of Kelle Hampton’s blog. I love sharing my Instagram photos. Y’all know this. I’ve been posting them on my blog for a year now. I’m kind of a freak though for uniformity and it bugged the crap out of me that the IG pictures were square and grainy looking while my camera pictures were rectangle and clear. Kelle starting putting her IG pictures in a collage and after months of seeing her do this every week I decided that I needed to do that too. She only does it once a week but I’m an Instagram fanatic so I’ll be doing it every post.
You’re welcome. And Kelle, thanks for the idea. You know you inspire me, woman. Also, a sidenote to the pic of me with the jersey on, the Texans had their first ever play off game and they WON it!!!! Enthusiastic, happy Texan fan = me. YAY!
Something else awesome about Instagram- you can now make phone cases for your iPhone with the pictures you take on there. I have this one coming to me and I can’t wait til it gets here! Casetagram.com. Check it.
Just heard another rumble of thunder in the distance. Livie just had me put on Toy Story 3 for the 100th time…and I’m gonna watch it with her under a blanket.
Happy Monday.
Happy
Hi, I’m Becky and I’ve neglected my blog.
A sad admission but the truth, nonetheless.
It was a busy holiday season for us as it is with most of you. Usually during the holidays I take a ton of pictures and I have a hard time sorting through them to pick ones to blog.
That was not the case this year.
I realized why.
Taking pictures was always a cathartic thing to me. A good way to end a long, bad day at work. A way for me to see pictures of my babies all day when I was away from them. A way to sort of make up for crappy days or guilt or whatever bothered me. Now that I’m not working and I’m home with my girls all the time…well, I’m happy.
Like ridiculously happy.
I stress about money A LOT. But who doesn’t? I did before I quit too. At least now I’m stressing while I’m home and not at a desk I hate.
I thought I’d be more like Kelle Hampton and take ridiculous amounts of photos and instead I find myself reaching for my camera less. Maybe this will change. Maybe it won’t. I’ve come to realize that this is ok. I adore Kelle and her blog so much and while some of you think that it’s TOO happy or not real… well, that sucks for you. I like being happy. I like reading happy things. There is enough bad in the world…why focus on it? I refuse to blog about bad things in my life day in and day out. The happiness I display here? It’s real. It’s me. It’s not made up or exaggerated. Yes, I have bad days. Who doesn’t? I have close family and friends or The Man that I vent to. I don’t feel like I need to vent here all the time. Yes, Hannah and I still have tension between us some days. Yes, Livie is still a sometimes hyper kid who I sit and watch and wonder if she’ll ever just relax. Yes, there are still days when I think I might want to run away, even if it’s just for a few hours. That’s all normal and ok. It doesn’t mean I’m not happy even when all those things occur.
I am very blessed in life and I thank God for all I have. I have everything I’ve ever wanted in life and that is the truth. Times have been hard along the way. We’ve struggled and I’ve cried and squeezed my fists in anger. But now? That all seems so far away.
I’m grateful.
I only hope that the people that read this blog and people I care for can be happy.
It’s real. It’s me.
*******************************************************************************
And because it wouldn’t be a post from me without SOME pictures, here are a few recents. We’re finally back into a routine and while I will never embrace the sound of an alarm clock, I do embrace routine and habit.
Playing outside in 75 degree weather in January when plenty of people are bundling up makes me grateful and happy.
My sister finally giving birth to my first niece last week made me grateful and happy.
Getting back to daily coffee with my mother in law makes me happy.
Seeing Hannah happy to get my old iPhone 4 after I upgraded to a 4s makes me happy.
Watching this little man grow up also makes me happy…and quenches my thirst for a new baby. I will always miss being pregnant and smelling the head and kissing the cheeks of my own newborn baby. I don’t think I’ll ever NOT miss that. It’s not in the cards for us to have another baby right now…or ever really but I have to admit that I will forever miss having my own babies in my arms. But this one? He helps that a lot. Grateful and happy for him.
Happy.
Christmas wind down
I hate that Christmas is over.
I gladly admit that.
Yes, my decorations have been up for 6.5 weeks now. Yes, all the presents are opened and the kids are overwhelmed with new toys to play with. Yes, it was a good Christmas and I’m not quite ready to let it go.
There’s just 1 lonely gift left under the tree that I forgot to give to my friend even though I saw her yesterday. That’s how awesome I am.
The girls opened gifts for what seemed like days and days. It was only two but at 3 separate times and when it was all said and done, the smiles on their faces said it all.
Yes, that’s a go kart. Santa is very giving at Nana’s house. And Livie with this kitchen cracks me up. She tells me she’s going to make lunch and then brings me my coffee.
The best part besides watching my kids light up a million times over was just being with people that I love. Nothing in the world beats that. Again, blessed.
And what did I get you may ask? The Man surprised me with an iPad 2.
Best. Husband. Ever.
We wrapped up our long Christmas weekend with cleaning up toys, purging out old things for the new, and even purging long hair for short hair instead.
She’s happy to have her old style back complete with feathers.
Cheers to a fabulous Christmas!
Happy Christmas
Just a quick post while my girls nap…
And my corn casserole bakes…
(Not pictured: Sugar, butter, and eggs that are also used to make this delicious casserole)
To tell all of you to have a VERY Merry Christmas tomorrow. We are off to do family things tonight and tomorrow morning and I’m excited. I told The Man this morning that I’m sad that after tomorrow it’ll all be over. All the gifts will be unwrapped. The radio stations won’t be playing Christmas music. The stores will start putting up Valentine’s decorations. But as I sipped on my coffee I snapped out of it because hello, it’s Christmas Eve and there is celebrating to do this weekend.
Happy birthday to Jesus.
Happy time with family and friends.
Happy Christmas.
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