Oh a Camping we a go!

This is just a short note today. We are heading up to Hatchers Pass to pick some blueberries this afternoon and spend the night to camp up there. We are all super excited and LOVE to camp. This will be Kian's 3rd camping trip in his 2 months of life! Hatchers Pass is really a beautiful place, Tylor and I spent our first night away from Paxton there last year for our Anniversary, but we are excited to take the boys and show them what it is all about. And the blueberries are definately a plus! Mom is going to join us in the festivites tomorrow morning so it should really be a lot of fun. I have a bunch of packing and cleaning to get done before we head off and naptime is the perfect (and only) time to get it done!

This pictures are of the boys this morning. It is another beautiful day and I wanted to snap some shots with the natural sunlight filling my house. Getting two boys to look at the camera is rather tricky!!




On a side note. Paxton has started pointing to everything using his middle finger. That kid.

And Kian Ray- he is such a good baby, but I lost the stupid pacifier again last night and couldn't find it anywhere. I got him to sleep without it, but lets just say it was a LONG night with not much rest for Momma. He was up almost every hour wanting to suck on something. Ususally he only wakes up once to nurse. I guess he just knew I lost his pacifier and wanted to make sure I paid for it!! Needless to say, first thing this morning I went out and bought 4 brand new ones. Kian is also starting to reach for things! He loves to watch the world around him, I really think he is going to be super curious like Paxton.

Speaking of curious this was Paxton and mine's conversation on the way to the grocery store this morning

"Momma, wheres camping at"
"In Hatcher's Pass, Paxton"
"Oh Yeah! Where's Hatcher's Pass at?"
"North of here."
"Oh Yeah! Where's north of here at?"
"On the highway, Paxton"
"Oh Yeah! Where's the highway at?"
"Just on the other side of those trees, Paxton"
"Oh Yeah! Where are those tree's at?"
"Right in front of us!"
"Hahahaha Oh Yeah!"

This is his newest conversation. He really gets a kick out of it. It kinda makes me giggle too! Especially his "Oh, Yeah!" like he already knew the answer and he was just testing you!!

I'll get pictures posted of our trip on Monday. You guys have a great weekend!

I think I pulled all of my hair out.

AHHHHHH! It has been one of those days! I should have known it would be when Paxton woke up at 7:30 this morning SCREAMING his head off.

We got off to a pretty good start after the initial wake up. I wanted to check out the Baby Depot at Burlington so I thought we would swing by there on our way to the park at Jewel Lake. Paxton of course chugged a whole sippy cup of juice before we left and then was begging for a drink in the car on the way there, so I being the push-over I am gave in and he then proceeded to chug another full sippy cup before I hit a red light and could turn around and take it from him. Baby Depot was awesome. Other then then two potty breaks on the opposite side of the store. I think that is going to be my new go-to place for baby stuff. It has the best selection in town and their prices are way better than any other store.... Maybe even better than Wal-Mart!! I got Kian a car seat toy, a few bottles, a baby pouch carrier, and a new part for my pump all for under 50 bucks. So yeah. Paxton was awesome in the store and Kian slept his little life away. Off to Jewel Lake we went. And it was closed for some major reconstruction project. Strike One Mommy. So I tried to find the awesome space ship park that Paxton loved playing at earlier this summer. Couldn't find it for the life of me. I even tried Googling it on my phone. Strike Two Mommy. Begin Paxton whinning. " I wanna go to the Paaaaaarrrrrrrkkkk!!!" Really? So I just decided to go on base to the big wooden Midnight Sun park. Its HUGE, and we don't go there very often, AND there was no way I could get lost. We finally made it there. I ASKED Paxton if he had to pee, and he said NO. So I got Kian out of his seat, waking him up in the process and made our way to the park. Whaddya know. Paxton has to pee. I should have known better. By now Kian is fully awake and starving to death. So we head over to the park bathrooms and it is locked. Strike Three Mommy. Mind you this is only the 2nd sunny day we have had after 27 days of precipitation so the park is packed. Screaming starving Kian, Potty Dancing Paxton. Heaven help me. I give up at that moment. I really don't care any more. I throw both boys in their seats and turn my Mommy ears down. I pull the car into a back corner of the parking lot, take Paxton out and have him pee right there. WHO CARES! I pull the car back up to the front and let Paxton out, and make my way to a bench to feed the starving one. Deep Breath. We have to leave eventually and come home to eat and nap. Needless to say its a huge fight, but that's pretty normal. Until Kian starts screaming. Unfortunately I am pretty sure I dropped his pacifier on the ground sometime during our potty extravaganza. And I have NO clue where the rest of them are. He screams and screams. And screams. Looks like that kid is a little too attached to his pacifier. I finally get him down to sleep only to find another pacifier underneath his pack and play. Whatever. Its a little too late!!

Wow, writing about it actually makes me de-stress a little. I got a little wound up there for a while. On to bigger and better things.

I wanted to post some pictures I took yesterday afternoon. Like I said earlier Anchorage experienced 27 days of precipitation. Let me break it down for you. It rained everyday. Now that doesn't mean all day. Just a little rain every day. I actually didn't even notice. I knew it had been a little wet, but I still saw plenty of sunshine. People are seriously starting to go crazy around here. Complaining that we have such bad winters and now this summer was horrible. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO SURVIVE next winter? Really? I thought winter was a piece of cake. I saw plenty of sunshine then too. Even if there is only 5 hours of daylight. Obviously these people have never been to Ketchikan where it rains. AND I MEAN RAINS everyday for months on end without ever stopping. It is like being in the shower for 2-3 months at a time. But being in the shower with the lights off, because it is dark and gloomy there.
SO the sun was shinning yesterday after nap time. And it was shinning bright. ALL of the neighborhood kids were out and we joined in the sunny day festivities.



And yes, my Terrific two year-old even throws fits when it’s sunny out.

The best part of yesterday was after dinner. My wonderful Mom came over and played with the boys so Tylor and I could go for a run. I love running with my husband. Even though he makes me look REALLY slow. He pushes me to run faster and we always have good conversation. I am up to running 3 miles a day. You will probably hear me brag a lot about running because it is the only time of the day that I can be more than 5 feet away from a child.
And another thing. These boys are growing way to fast. I just spent $$$$ on new clothes for Paxton, not even a month ago. He is already out growing all of the 3T pants I just bought for him!! And Kian Ray- little turkey. He won’t fit into any of his 3-6 month onsies anymore. BUT he is just now filling out 0-3 month pants. He is long in the torso and short in the leggies. They grow way to fast. That’s all I can say.
I gotta get some dishes done before Paxton decides he’s “All done” with his nap.

Bad poo poo

Paxton just informed me that his poo poo needs to go into time out for hurting Mommy's nose. It was pretty stinky.

Paxton Person, Turnips, and randomness.

Haha! I might be good at this ;). I wasn't sure if I would come up with enough to write to even make it worth while! But we are pretty interesting afterall! Now where to start?

Last night. I swear, Paxton is a cheese ball. The things he does and says are ridiculously hilarious. I seriously wonder if other peoples kids are as knee slapping funny as little Pax. He has some infatuation with my breast pump. I have a Medela hand pump that I use. I find it so much easier, faster, and more efficient than any electrical pump I've ever used. Anyway I guess maybe he has watched me pump a bottle one too many times. He has been trying to pump his belly. The other day he asked me for a sippy cup of milk so "I drink my milk, and pump Kian bottle from my belly." Funny enough, but last night he made his Daddy lay down and he then proceeded to pump his fathers belly button. He said "my belly empty, no milk in it". After a few pumps he looks at the bottle, looks at his daddy and says "Oh no! No milk coming out!" really? Some lessons are best learned through experience right?

Fast forward to this morning.
Paxton and I do school Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. It is a hoot. Ive found that as long as I dont take it too seriously things go really smoothly and we have a lot of fun. He has almost learned the whole Pledge of Alliegience, and pretty much says his ABC's without any help. Today we learned about "Me" I had Paxton lay down and and we made a "Paxton Person" out of cardboard. We painted him and dressed him. Paxton also got to decorate his name and we made a fact sheet all about Paxton. This was by far my coolest lesson yet!

The fact sheet says:

"Paxton
is a BOY
he has GREEN eyes
he has BLONDE hair
he is 2 years-old
he has a little BROTHER
his favorite color is ORANGE
he like to watch HOCKEY
he likes CARTOONS and BOOKS
he likes to play OUTSIDE
he likes to RUN"

My little one person classroom is coming together quite nicely. I am really starting to enjoy this time with Paxton and I am amazed at how many ideas there are out there to entertain and 2 year-old.



So moving on. After class we went out to our little garden and pulled some turnips. We planted lots and lots of different herbs and vegetables this summer but really the only thing that thrived was the turnips and the lettuce. The planter was overran with weeds before the other seeds even had a chance to sprout. We did end up with 4 carrots and a few bean plants that MIGHT just make it if the weather stays warm for another month. I’ve never grown turnips before. They look really nice. But there are little white worms that a eating up a huge chunk of the bottom of the turnip. I don’t know if that’s normal or not…. Oh well. Kill the worms, cut of the nasty part, and eat the turnip right? Paxton had fun helping me dig them up!

I'm Starting a Blog

Everyone has to do it sometime right? I'm a busy woman. I've got two little kiddos running around, when am I going to have time to do this? NAPTIME!
I'm starting a blog for a few reasons.

1.) I need to give my husband something else to give me crap about.
2.) I need a way to keep a list of all the blogs I like to read.
3.) My Paxton says enough crazy crap that I can keep this pretty interesting.
4.) I can have a way to win stuff on all those awesome craft blogs I like to read.

Naptime is my time. I think I got this covered. But I am keeping it simple. Only short posts, a few pictures here and there- and only a basic layout.

Lets see how long this lasts :)

Sometimes a woman just needs to write.....

It’s close to 11:00 at night. My oldest son-shine JUST stopped whining , his newest pastime. I lay sprawled across my king size bed, only it doesn’t seem like a king size anymore. My youngest son-shine lies next to me sucking a hole in his “sucky,” as we like to call it. His bassinet is taking up the other side of the bed. The legs fell off of it this evening as the oldest rode it like a horsey while I was talking to their father on the phone. Their father, my other half, he keeps me sane, he is the reason I want to have this family, he makes me smile for a million reasons. I miss him. He’s only been gone one week and three days. The next four days can’t go by quick enough. I wonder how these other military mothers do it, but quite frankly I never want to find out. Two weeks is enough for me. Tonight I was reminded how special my life is. How different it is. How different I am. I started thinking about when my Journey began. I think it started when I experienced my first heartbreak. Up until that point I had never been unwanted by someone who I loved whole heartedly. I began to grow from that moment. I’ve learned so many lessons about who I am, what I want, and where I want to be. When my Journey began, I was young, active and had a body I would die for now. I hated the direction my life was going, but I was having fun. I danced at the clubs, worked two jobs, drank like a fish, and puked my guts out at least once I week. I ran for fun and I lived for fun. I could, and would, just walk out of the door and head to Wal-Mart at a moment’s notice. I took 2 showers a day. LONG ones. I always wore make up, and my legs were always shaved. Fast forward a few years. Young and in love. Newly married. The only difference is now I have someone to dance with. I have someone to share the fun with, someone to eat with, cure my loneliness, and someone to bicker with when need be. Those were some good times. Some good memories. Here I am, almost 6 years into my Journey. I smell like sour milk and spit up. I haven’t showered without a child hogging the water in over a week. I’m not sure when the last time I used my blow-dryer was or when I put on make-up last. I haven’t slept through the night in over 2 and ½ years. I’m a little chunky around the edges. I think I get to blame that on my youngest son-shine for at least another 6 months or so. I haven’t been on a date with my husband in ages. But I am soooooooooo lucky. I LOVE the direction my life is headed. I have never had so many people love me whole heartedly in all my life. I truly believe one of the first things a child learns to do is love. I get warm and mushy inside when my boys look at me in the eyes and I can see the love pouring out of them. I love watching them grow. It saddens me that this time is flying by so fast. But with each new stage of their life comes such joy and anticipation. I am so proud of them. My heart overflows. I walk around the world with my hair a mess and spit up down the front of my shirt, but I don’t notice because no matter what I look like those kiddos still love me, they don’t notice. Wow. When I get angry at my oldest son-shine I often have to take a time out and regroup. I always tell him sorry and he always looks at me, smiles, and says, “Sorry Mommy.” He apologizes for me getting mad. He still hugs me, he still says, “luf you” in the sweetest angelic voice I have ever heard. I imagine the people without children wonder what it will be like to see their child for the first time. I know I did. And let me tell you, it’s one of the most amazing things. I recognized both of my children the moment I laid eyes on them. It was like I knew them, like I had seen them before. It wasn’t this AH-HA moment. It was a familiar feeling. Simply amazing. It is something that I wish for everyone to experience. 2 and ½ years into motherhood I can tell you it has been worth everything I might have given up, every second of sleep I have lost. Because I have gained moments that I will never forget and realized that my heart can love in a way that I could not even have imagined before I was blessed with these two lives. And while I can write for days about how much I love my son-shines, there is something to be said about how much I love my husband. I met him 4 years ago almost to the day. From him I have learned life’s hardest and most important lessons. Marriage has been something we have had to learn how to do. And I couldn’t have picked a better person to learn with. He has made me a stronger person, but he has also softened my heart and let me know it is okay to love again. He has made me feel like his equal, his partner. He makes me feel important and makes me feel needed. He comes to me for advice and values my opinion. He trusts me, he loves me. He makes me happy! He encourages me to follow my dreams and supports me every step of the way. If you would have asked me what I wanted in a husband when my Journey began, these are all things I would have listed. He is handsome as can be, I still whistle at him sometimes… I found my other half.
There have been times along the way when I wasn’t sure I was on the right path… But with the birth of my second son-shine I am surer than ever that this is where I am suppose to be. God’s plan is a fantastic one. I am enjoying my Journey!! I can envision my future and I love what I see.
It’s nice to have an end to journey towards, but it’s the journey that matters in the end.