RAOK

Random Acts Of Kindness.....while this is something that we should really be doing all year long, it seems that the holidays are a nice reminder to just be kind. Even something as simple as holding open the door for a stranger or wishing them a happy holiday can really make someones day.

We went to a play at the Valentine Theater last week, it was a Christmas play and there were lots of little kids there. Since it was cold out and the holiday season I let Brayden wear his Santa hat. He wore it through most of the show but apparently took it off at some point and I didnt notice. We left the theater and headed out to the lobby to see Santa and head home. As we were putting coats and gloves on I realized the Santa hat was missing. We went back to look in the theater but it was gone, someone must have taken it :( We checked the lost and found but it was not returned there. Brayden was so bummed. One of the ushers who was helping us look for the hat saw how upset Brayden was and offered him the santa hat that she was wearing (all of the ushers had on santa hats in various colors and styles) I thought that was incredibly kind of her. She didnt have to do that but that simple gesture really made Brayden's day.

I was in line at Tim's (Hortons) the other day (my other love besides my husband hehehe! ) and the car ahead of me paid for my order, I was blown away that someone that I didnt even know and would never even be able to thank would do something so nice for a stranger. It really stuck with me and reminded me that people are good.

So pass it along, do something nice for someone that you dont know and brighten their day :)

Holidays Pictures

Trying to get both of my kids to sit still, look at the camera (or even the direction the camera was in was asking too much lol) and smile was a disaster! Eric and I practically took all day just trying to get 1, just 1 good shot of the boys. Ah well, what can you do? Here are our best attempts at a holiday picture.

You know you are a mom when.....

You know you are a stay at home mom when...........You wear a mom-a-form. So its kind of like a uniform for moms? ya know the same old comfy outfit you throw on day after day? It may vary in color and size but its the same old thing.

Conditions to be considered a true 'mom-a-form':
*It must have stains on it, preferably from your children and not your own doing (though that counts too)
*It must have been worn at some point during your pregnancy and then worn again after the baby has been born...so its stretched to the max and then droops horribly after baby arrives on your ever sagging body
*It must be wrinkly, you know from leaving your clothes sit in the dryer while you tend to the rest of the family's clothing
*It must have holes, from wearing it day after day after day after day, and then crawling on the floor or outside even with the kiddies
*Spit up or leaky breast milk is always good too
*Boogers will get you extra bonus points

Then the 'accessories'...the best part of knowing that you are a momma sporting a true mom-a-form....the pony tail! The "I have not showered in 3 days so I will just pull my greasy hair back today" look. Only problem for me is that I just chopped my hair (in true mom style) and can no longer do the pony....Im demoted to the ever so cute piggy tails. My husband just loves those, NOT!

Also added to the wonderful list of accessories is the worn outdated undergarments....specifically the granny panties and the ever stained nursing bras! Those are the best, take me now hunny! ;)

In true mom form, when wearing this special uniform there is no make up allowed, who has time for that!?! Makeup is reserved for when you actually LEAVE the house. No use wasting perfectly good makeup. lol

My signature Mom-A-Form on a random thursday :)

So its not the best pic, I had to snap quickly as my 2 little monkeys were trying to steal my thunder :P I was feeling green today.....sadly I have many many many v neck/scoop style shirts, in every color you could imagine, equally as many colorful tank tops...you know those work really well when nursing too, you no longer have to show that baby belly because you can lift the top layer and leave the tank on just where it belongs ? Who would have thought!

The pants are the best part today though....they are maternity!!!! I wore those things when I was preggo with both of my babies....and though you cant tell by this pic I added a nice little chocolate spot today when I dropped my Reeses Peanutbutter Cup on my lap... I was trying to shove it in my mouth before my kids noticed! Haha! I got all the bases covered too I think, there is a hole in the butt, leaky milk form weaning Owen, I have the piggy tails going on, uber greasy hair, no makeup and Im sure there is a booger or two on my leg if you look close enough.

****Disclaimer, this was not meant to be offensive to other mommas out there, its all in good fun :) Though I really could stand to get a mommy makeover :P ****

Mommas Boy

Owen. Owen. Owen. He is 100% a mommas boy! The night weaning went well, it has been over a week since he has nursed during the night, yippie!! It went way better then I had anticipated, just shows how much he is growing up *sniff sniff* We are all sleeping better and I see the light at the end of the tunnel now! lol

An Owen funny.....I went to get him out of bed the other day and gave him a big hug and kiss....he started yelling "stuck stuck stuck" LOL ok then, apparently he didnt want momma hugs and kisses! He is a boy on the go, thats for sure!
He wants to do everything himself and wants to be just like his big brother, which of course just melts my heart!

Autumn Art

Brayden has been a busy guy at school! Each week we pick one or two art projects that he brings home to display on the fridge and admire. Brayden thought it would be really cool to put the pictures on our family blog so that all of our friends can see :) So here you go, some of his preschool masterpieces.

Its a mom thing

So I took the plunge, and chopped all my hair off :) I feel so "mom like" with short hair, LOL I was needing a change and it feels good. As a mother at times you lose yourself, not intentionally but it happens, between being a wife, a mother, a homemaker and all of the other roles we take on, its easy to get lost amongst it all.

Eric jokes that he turned 30 and I am the one going through a midlife crisis! Every once in a while I tell myself its ok to just step back and do something for ME. and it feels really nice :)

Weaning

This is really tough for me! Who would have thought? If someone would have asked me if I would still be nursing Owen at 16 months old I would have said NO! lol He is such a different baby then Brayden was. We are down to nursing 2 times a day and 2 times a night, which if you know, is HUGE from a few weeks ago! My plan is Thanksgiving weekend to take the plunge and just end the night time nursing all together. Eric will have a few days in a row off so he can step in and take over the night time routine. I think Owen will have an easier time with all of this then I will :( Its amazing how attached you become. But its time, I want and I need my body back for just me before we talk about having another baby.

Two more!

When we watch TV Owen sits very intently watching, and every few saconds he will say "uh oh" "oh nooooo" for whatever he is watching, like he is actually paying attention and concernd with what is happening! hehe, too cute :)

The other night I asked Brayden to help set the table and to get everyone a spoon.....he went to the silverware drawer and pulled out one of the slotted spoons and said " Look at this one, we dont want this spoon mom, its broken, look at all the holes in it" LOL

Ok, have to get Brayden off to school....be back later with some pics :)

Out of the mouths of babes

So my kids have said some really cute things here recently and I want to make sure to write them down so I will always remember, what better place to do it then here? :)

Brayden is constantly telling me to write down ANY word that he hears Owen say! lol "Mom mom, you better write that in Owen's baby book, he said Eeeeeeeee!!" Thanks Brayden, I'll be sure to do that :)

Yesterday Owen was saying goodbye to one of the kids I babysit, plain as day he says to the mom "See Ya" I about fell off the couch! I have never heard him say that, and he said it as clear as can be! Its not something we have been working on teaching him...made me smile and laugh out loud.

Owen's newest thing when eating a meal (the kid throws EVERYTHING!!) is to take a bite, pull it out of his mouth, smile and yell "Frow" As food goes flying and sticks to the kitchen window. LOL

A funny Brayden story....the other morning we were all laying in bed together watching cartoons while the kdis climbed and jumped all over the bed. Eric said something about how much Brayden is like him, Brayden yelled "I have daddy's nose" Yup that he does. I said and you have momma's brain! His response...." no I dont, your brain makes you be good and my brain makes me get in trouble" HAHA! Ok then.....

We were eating lunch a while back and Brayden started to kind of cough and choke, like when food goes down the wrong pipe....once he was finally over that he looked at me with a really serious concerned face and said " Momma I think Jesus just gave me a second chance!" LOL I said what? "I choked and Jesus gave me a second chance" Must have learned about that at school??? Where ever he got it, it was really cute and I had tears in my eyes I laughed so hard.

Owen imitates anything that Brayden does...yesterday they were crawling around playing 'puppy' both barking and chewing bones...I know I will be kicking myself later on for not having videos of these things. Must make more of an effort to take pictires and video of my guys!!

Among the ever growing list of words Owen already says he is now putting words together...like more please, bye baby, hi dada, love you (though this is a little garbled I know what he says, sooo cute!) he now calls Brayden 'Bray' which I love to hear his little voice say :) Cracker, pop, milk, bed, and my favorite "uh uh oh" hehe!!

Ok, guess that is enough for now. The kids are up from naps and its getting harder to type with monkeys all over me :p I'll update more later with some pics!

Fall and Halloween fun :)

The family, arent we stinkin cute! :P

Checking out all the goodies! Yum :)

Who me!?

Brayden playing in the huge pile of leaves daddy made for him

Owen helping rake the leaves

Brayden and His pumpkin, he was so proud!

Owen laughing hysterically at the pumpkin goo!! LOL He is so freakin cute! :)

Not much to update, the kids are doing well, growing and learning and all that junk :0) We are still waiting to heaar about Eric's job which is frusterating. Things are going well with the kiddos I babysit. We are just trying to enjoy these last few warm days of the season.

Stinky Pumpkins!!

A couple of little stinkers and pumpkin fun :) I'll post more skunk pics along with our pumpkin carving adventure next week, closer to Halloween!

Heyyyyyyy!!! Random junk

Its been a while, though I am on the computer every day I never seem to have enough time to sit down (uninterrupted) and type up something exciting to say, nevermind trying to resize and post pics, lol!

Nothing too exciting to report right now....We have lots of Halloween stuff going on, I have some cute pics to post of all of us at the pumpkin patch, but again that involves too much and today is very much a lazy day :P

The kids are doing well, Owen is turning into quite the little stink! He does everything that his big brother does, yesterday they were both crawling around barking like dogs, it was too cute! He says a handful of words now... ball, baby, momma, dadda, stuck, eyeball (haha!), nose, down, snack...thats all I can think of off the top of my head :) I cant believe he is 15 months old now!! *sniff sniff* I think this weekend Im going to start weaning him, he still nurses all.the.time. and Im ready to get my body back before we decide to have the next baby. I imagine, seeing how he is so attached that its going to be a long hard process, for both of us :( Send some good thoughts our way for an easy transition!****

Brayden is loving school, he is super excited to go every day :) Learning all kinds of fun things! He did get in trouble earlier in the week for not walking in line, stinker! He may very well end up being the class clown :P He asked me the other day how do babies get into mommies tummies!? OMG Im so not ready for these kinds of questions, thankfully he is at a wonderful age where I can still lie to him! haha Ok not really, but simple answers seem to be enough to keep him satisfied. Whew! he has his last football game tomorrow, so long as the rain holds out! Cross your fingers.

Eric just celebrated his 30th birthday, he thinks he is an old man now :P He was complaining of back pain the other day, goofball!!

Ok, guess I better junp off of here, someone stinks and I need to figure out who....to be continued with pictures!! :)

Our little athlete, and mini update

Brayden is a busy boy! With preschool being 3 days a week Eric and I, for whatever crazy reason, decided to throw in soccer and pee wee football! Eek! Football games are saturday mornings with practice one night a week and soccer games are sunday afternoons. There goes our weekends! Brayden is having a blast though, he really is enjoying himself and learning how to be a team player.

I wonder if he gets the two games confused though? We are constantly reminding him not to use his hands when playing soccer and its not necessary to plow though your teammates and opponents, haha!

And baby Owen, cant forget an update on him....he is getting so big! Saying all kinds of words now, hi, by and open (though it comes out more like ooooooo) He got a big boy haircut the other day, I will have to take some pics of him to share. You will not believe how grown up he looks now :(

Updates with Eric and I, nothing much to report.....Eric had a great day with Michigan beating Wisconsin and all :0) Im taking on another babysitting kiddo in a week and a half. A baby boy named Joshua, should be fun, more boys to add to the mix!!

We have an early morning tomorrow, we are walking with Alltel to raise money for The Race For The Cure, Brayden is really excited, he thinks we are going to really race :)