Surprises and the Rodeo



Inconsistent blogging has been my strong point lately. Seriously. I haven't had any bright revelations to let you all know about (you know, me and my wise self), but I want to continue to share pictures and special moments from our lives.

 Like for instance, that time when I was working out in the middle of the day and heard a car door. Wondering if or why my husband was home so early, I peeked out the window. To my complete shock, I saw my Mom hurridly walking up my front sidewalk. My Mom lives 2,000 miles away, so it's not like she just drops by every day for coffee.

  I raced to the door, sweat dripping off of me and weights in hand, flung it open and began a scream/sqeal/cry that lasted quite a long time. Sweaty hugs were exchanged (poor her), she was beaming and my husband was videoing my response. It was priceless and one of the best surprises of my life! Nate will be out of town for a little bit, so we are having the best time ever, not to mention my house has never seen so much clean laundry and I have built in babysitting. (Hello outdoor workouts and running to the store for a few items alone!)

 

The night she got here, we had already made plans to go to the rodeo, mine and the kids first. So we did the rodeo. We ate funnel cakes, corn dogs, cotton candy and a heap of fresh fried potato chips. It's good to do that once every few years, you know. It tastes good at the time, but later you are reminded of why you don't normally eat that stuff.

 

  We watched calf roping, bull riding and barell racing. Honestly, this New Yorker does not understand the cowboy culture but I had a great time watching it while screaming and waving my hands around in fear that a bull would kill it's rider right before my eyes. We arrived home at 11pm smelling like grease and smiling from ear to ear.





 



 

In the scariest petting zoo known to man, the goats and deer helped themselves to our clothes and purses for dinner.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Weekend

This weekend was full of happy things. Reconnecting with my husband after weeks of a crazy work schedule, a night with girlfriends celebrating their birthdays, and a birthday party for a sweet little 2 year old. The past few weeks have been really rough on me, I'm not gonna lie. I think it was a combination of no husband (thankfully that wasn't permanent--ha!) and kids going through rough stages that left me feeling really strung out. My sweet husband sent me on a day out that consisted of shopping at my own speed, buying clothes for the kids, and a makeover that consequently resulted in some new makeup. That, plus quality time spent with my man and friends has left me feeling refreshed and recharged. Amazing what a little bit of time alone will do! For our dates, we are trying to do something other than a sit down restaurant. This time was sushi in the park and then a beautiful walk along the river--Nate's idea. Next time will be my turn to think of something. Since we don't get quantity time alone, we need quality and that is exactly what this was.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well. Don't forget to make time for yourself, your spouse and your friends! 

Nate's 30th Computer Geek Party

Nate turned 30 this year, and I wanted to do something really big and special for his birthday. Months ago, the idea popped into my head to do a nerd/geek theme, because anyone knows him knows that he is the epitome of geek. As in, he takes apart computers and re-builds them for fun, stays up until 3am working on them, creates and builds apps from scratch...yeah, he's that geeky. (A geeky hunk, I might add!) 

 I collected ideas from pinterest and combined with my own ideas to create a really fun party that he absolutely loved!

 (Let me insert here, this took months of planning, weeks of decoration planning and days of food preparation to pull this off by myself. If you at all can, get help to pull off a huge party like this!)

 My husband is the light of my life and I am so glad that I was able to do this for him in honor of the amazing, hardworking man that he is.

I was really lucky to find cheese-it's "scrabble" addition at Wal-Mart, because it was perfect to call "Caps-lock"! I made a huge tub of homemade salsa and re-filled it as the night went on. The pretzel "bytes" recipe is here, but I skipped the ham and just brushed them with baking soda water (no boiling).

A friend from church made this computer cake and exceeded all of my expectations. I couldn't believe the attention to detail and how real it looked! She did an amazing job. Locals, if you ever need a cake, please email me for her information. She is fabulous!

I googled the "geek squad" logo, saved it in a word document, printed, cut them out and glued onto cups. I loved how they turned out! I also served these amazing sausage stuffed jalapenos, brownie batter dip and key lime pie dip with fruit and crackers. I took a big risk trying out all new recipes at a party with 30 guests, but thankfully everything turned out awesome! I also made a big batch of pulled pork with homemade rolls that is not pictured. I strung up the disks with fishing line which added a cool touch!

The kids were really big helpers and kept all of the details a secret. Nate knew about the party, but I didn't tell him the theme. I led him with eyes closed into the house, and look how excited the kids were for him to see everything! He was really excited and surprised and loved it all! We filled our home with his close friends and family who spoiled him with lots of gifts (thanks, guys). It was a really great time!

Hard to believe I met my husband TEN years ago! I cannot imagine my life without him now! I have watched God change him and mold him into his image over the years and it is truly inspiring. He is my hero, my mentor, my best friend. Happy, Happy Birthday to the man of my dreams!

Dear Nathan

Dear Nathan,

 You turned one over a week ago and I still have not accepted it. I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by! You are my happy, laid back but sometimes crazy little man and you have brought so many smiles and much laughter to our home. You hate getting your diaper changed, but you love the grab the dirty one and fling it as Mommy puts on the clean one. You love your paci and blanket, although you don't have a specific one. When you see your blanket you crawl frantically for it and lay down, clenching it with happiness. You are a good sleeper, sleeping about 12 hours a night and 2 naps a day. And food? You love it. You have 2 bottom teeth, and two top teeth are almost popping through, but your gums act really well as chewing devices. You eat everything we eat, just mashed or chopped small. You are not crazy about raw veggies yet, but Mommy is working on that. You'll get it soon! About a month ago, you weaned yourself to when you woke up in the morning. You did it all the way until a few days after your turned 1, when you were just not interested in it anymore. You were my first baby to nurse until age 1, which makes Mommy very happy!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes for birthday breakfast

 You cannot handle dairy. While you love to eat it, your tummy rejects it and sends it everywhere for the next few hours which is no fun for anyone. The Doctor has suggested coconut milk which we'll be starting as soon as I get to the store and buy some. I'm hoping you'll like it! Thankfully you can eat (and love) cheddar cheese, as well as dairy in other foods. It's just the plain yogurt and cottage cheese you can't do, and to be honest I have not even tried milk because it's not worth it! We'll try you again with dairy in 6 months.

I love when you kneel like this. You just started it within the last few weeks and it makes you seem so old!

 You are 20 pounds even, which is only the 12th percentile for weight. You are 29.5 inches (40th) and get this, your head is in the 69th percentile. You have always had a huge head. Hopefully that means you'll be smart! It seems you are following in your sister's footsteps for being lean, which Dr. says is fine! You don't say words, but you do copy words that we say sometimes. And you babble all the time!

Your birthday cupcake. Our schedule has been crazy, but I'm hoping to pull off a small party next week!

You love music. You dance, bopping up and down if you're standing, or bopping your shoulders and head around if you are sitting. You open your mouth with the biggest smiles ever, (you have a huge mouth!) and you've recently started fake laughing which makes Mommy real-laugh. You crawl like a little ninja, but sometimes you still scoot. You've been pulling yourself up and walking along furniture for a few months now, and you are pretty fast. And the stairs? You can climb all 16 in a matter of seconds. It's quite scary, and Mommy is working very hard to train you to stay away from them. Maybe if Mommy started crawling all over and climbed the stairs like that she would be as skinny as you!

 I will never forget the day I saw 2 lines on the pregnancy test and started hyperventilating with excitement. Your sister was the first person I told! At that moment I could have never imagined how you find your way into another corner of my heart I didn't know I had and squeeze out as much love as you could. Kissing you, singing to you, dancing with you and squeezing you with hugs are only the tiniest of ways I try to portray my love for you.

 I am scared to have boys, because they are stubborn and tend to become rebellious more than the girls, but me and daddy are doing our very best and God will have to take care of the rest of it. I hope that you never stray from God's path and that you become a man of God just like your daddy is, always sensitive to the Holy Spirit and always striving to "perfect holiness".

I love you with every breath.

 Love,
 Mommy

The Rest of the Story

Nate is out of town for the weekend, so last night we had a spur of the moment, "hey, lets go do something kids!" moment. I loaded them all up in the car and headed to a huge shopping complex in our area so they could eat and play at the park. After a year, I'm very much used to having 3 kids and doing everything with them, so no big deal, right?

 3/4 of the way through our meal, Joe had to go to the bathroom, and it was no where near where we were sitting so I knew there was no way he could go alone, and there was no husband there to take him while I watched the other 2. I was scared (yes, scared) that the waitress would clear away all our food while we were gone, thinking we had left, so I decided we would have to take it with us. We divided up the half eaten plate of grilled cheese, a few apple slices, chocolate milk and a cup of water between us, pushed Nathan in the highchair with wheels and made the long trek to the bathroom. Once in there I realized how ridiculous we looked. Seriously, you guys, it was embarrassing  There we were, Nathan sitting in the highchair outside of the stall, and a PLATE OF FOOD and 3 drinks sitting on the bathroom counter while each used the bathroom. Who does that? I'm like a food hoarder, storing away provisions for the next depression. Thank you JESUS, no one came in while we were in there.
 We proceeded outside to the park area (food in hand, you better believe that) and set it all on an outdoor table. I walked around, holding one kid and keeping one eye each on the other ones. This park is huge and most of the time I had no idea where they were. 15 minutes later we came back to a clean table, emptied of our provisions we had so tediously carried outside and never finished. Those bus-boys are way to efficient for their own good, I thought, and piled the kids back in the van to go shopping.

 We made it through one store uneventfully, so I decided we would do one more family favorite: self serve frozen yogurt. I got Brooke and Joe theirs and let them pick out toppings. Joe went for the cookie-sized balls of cookie dough and some huge sour gummies. I told them to wait while I got mine, but I had hardly turned around before Joseph's cheeks were bulging with a huge chunk of the cookie dough, and next, a gummie. Normally not a bad thing except when you pay by weight and his wasn't weighed yet. He seriously just stole about 50 cents off his yogurt! Thankfully the cashier didn't mind and we proceeded to sit down. We made it through our bowls of yogurt just fine, when Joe had to go to the bathroom again. (big surprise).
  I had learned my lesson from last time and we threw all of our bowls out before entering the bathroom. Men's bathroom by the way, but it was a one seater and he had to go bad, and the woman's was locked. So into the Men's bathroom we all went, locking the door behind us.
 Joe of course picked that time to do his biggest bowel movement of the day. It's not a quick process, people, so we all waited. He definitely does not take after my family in this area--we are in and out before anyone knows what happened. Not him, so wwhile we waited I threatened to make him stop going and finish when we got home, which was answered by threats from him of pooping his pants in the car. So we waited some more.
  I had no choice but to set Nathan on the bathroom floor and next thing I know, he has thrown up on the floor and is smearing it everywhere. I am used to his re-flux and made quick work of cleaning it off of him and the floor but no sooner had we cleaned that up than he is playing in his second puddle of puke. Cleaned up vomit #2, Joe is FINALLY done, and I will confess something that no Mother ever wants to: we did not wash our hands. I am sorry. I had to get out of there before all hell broke loose right there in the Men's bathroom of the frozen yogurt place.

 When we got outside it was dark, and the temperature had dropped a lot. The kids hadn't wanted to put their hoodies on earlier so they were immediately freezing. The parking lot was full and as soon as someone saw us near our car, they put on their blinker, indicating that they wanted our spot when we were done. I begin to dig through my bottomless pit diaper bag for my keys, which of course I couldn't find. Switched over to digging through my purse which was on my other shoulder, but they weren't in there, then back to the diaper bag. All the while the kids are complaining of being cold and the hot blonde in the huge truck is glaring, waiting for "her spot". (Note: why would you ever wait for a spot held my someone with 3 little kids? You could birth 3 children by the time they get out of there. But anyway, that's for another time). After digging for another few minutes, I finally found the key and we all loaded up again.

The pictures in this post are the way I present the night, because those are the awesome moments that I want to remember and share. I didn't have time to take a picture of my kid pooping for an hour or throwing up on the floor, and I for sure didn't think to take a picture of our food sitting on the bathroom counter. I get a lot of comments that I "have it all together" or I'm "so creative" and "Such a good Mom". And maybe sometimes I am, but the rest of the story is that I'm just a normal Mom who has every day disastrous moments that I don't always capture and share. Maybe I'll start a series "the rest of the story" so you all know about the crazy moments around here. I'm real, I'm human, and I make a million mistakes a day, but I choose to try and see the good in every situation, and that is what I usually end up sharing with the world.