I "need"a maid!!

So I have been trying really hard to be ok with a cluttered, messy, two toddlers live here house.... But I am just not!! I know we all say " the dust will be there, they are only this age for a short time" we should enjoy them and forget the mess. And I understand! I just want there to be a way to incorporate both!! I have to be up late to get the house in order, that's not even like the deep cleaning!! And in the morning it happens all again!! I think I understand why celebrities have cooks and cleaners!! I would too if I could!!
Really that is the extent of my blog entry! Just really wishing we had a cleaning fairy :)

Thankfulness part 2

Nov 17: almost every single day this week my boys have gotten a pack in the mail from grandma and grandpa! I am so thankful for their intentional work they out into staying in touch with my boys. And the packages are not fancy toys or candy, things us parents don't want!! are meaningful, sweet things, like handprint hugs, notes of love, band aids, stickers, puzzle pieces that will come once a day. My heart is so thankful that they do this, and my boys love it, they also love SENDING packages to grandma and grandpa! Making fun crafts they are proud of is the best to them. It's hard to be away, but I am thankful they have not abandoned their grandchildren and are still impacting their lives!
Nov 18: Today we dropped off our shoe boxes and again I am thankful that my family is able to bless others! Its something I am trying do all year long, no just around the holidays.
Nov 19: Today I am thankful for naps!! Owen and Henry took long naps today! Giving me some time to myself to rest and recover!!
Nov 20: today I am thankful I have a friend here in richmond that share many of the same values and interests as I do.
Nov 21: Today I am thankful for the healthy and safety that's over my children. ! They get bumps ,bruises, colds and coughs, but it could be so much worse. I am so thankful for God's blessing of health over my children and will be everyday. As someone that had experienced a life or death illness, I don't take my health lightly, or that of my family! I know that if one day we face same hardships, we will still be able to praise God, for he is good!!
Nov 22: happy thanksgiving everyone!!! It's a gorgeous day here in VA!! Already today we have cooked a yummy breakfast, started to put up our Christmas tree, made, turkey crafts, watched and danced to the Macy's thanksgiving day parade, and chatted on FaceTime with my parents and siblings in Michigan! I miss them more than they know, especially today. I am thankful for this new chapter on my life with my husband and our children, it has been wonderful and a learning experience. I do miss the closeness of my parents, brother and sister though. Thanksgiving has always been our favorite, filled with traditions, new beginnings, laughter and tears. But despite my longing for home, I am thankful I have an aunt and uncle and cousin that are not far from us and are letting us crash their thanksgiving!! It was lovely and very homey! Food was delicious! The boys ran around wild outsid chasing chickens! We played thanksgiving bingo, made snow globes and even it to FaceTime with my parents again. It was a pretty fun day! Best of all my loving husband got to spend the entire day with his boys :) Thank you lord for the goodness in my life, the crazy, sad, bad and incredible!! Happy thanksgiving!!

Weekend fun!!

What a beautiful weekend we had!!
Saturday morning we decided to get up early and go watch the marathon runners, especially once we learned some friends on ours from Michigan were running/watching! So we went to cheer them on! It was such a gorgeous day! All the trees were beautiful fall colors, it was jacket weather until about 11, then it was hot! Owen said he wants to be a runner! I believe it can happen! That boy can run for hours!!
After the marathon we grabbed some lunch, and the boys got to play at the mall play place for a while! Owen hardly ever is holding still, hence the blurriness!
First thing to say about sunday... i got to sleep in, it was glorious!! thank you husband! Then we went to church and then headed to Maymont Park! It was beautiful! We didn't realize it was so big, we were there all afternoon and has a great time! Owen loved being on an adventure, pretending he was a bear!! There was a bear there, it was sort of a zoo! They had wild animals - children's farm, a nature center, a historical mansion, horse stables, butterfly garden, Japanese gardens and just amazingly beautiful grounds!! Brooks of water, stone bridges, huge glorious tree everywhere!! It was perfect!
After that we met up with my cousin and his fiancé at our favorite local BBQ place! It was nice to chat and hear about their wedding planning!!
The boys were pretty tired and so were we, so we headed home for some rest, and husband and Owen got a lovely bubble bath ready for me, with candles and chocolate. It was so nice! He is such a sweet guy :) I really needed it, so it was extra nice!
It was just such a lovely weekend, I had to post about it! We are hoping this wonderful fall weather sticks around!!

Thankful all month long

I have been noticing the people are updating their Facebook stays everyday for something they are thankful for! What a great idea, much better than the moaning and complaining most people do on there! So I decided to just track each day on my blog, and then upload it at the end of the month!
Nov 1: Thankful for my husbands business trip starting off without any hitches!! He has been on many out of town business trips, and most have consisted of some type of drama! Each financially, weather related, sickness, or stranded in airports! So I am thankful this short one started off great!
Nov 2: thankful that my aunt and uncle live close to us and don't If we stay with them with our crazy messy boys!! It's hard to live away from my parents and siblings, but I am thankful my aunt tries to fill that void for me! Thrifting and enjoying some of her yummy scones is just what a girl needs sometimes!
Nov 3: I am thankful weekends and Shane never has to work a weekend! Well unless he need a weekday off, then he may need to work a weekend! But I love looking forward to a weekend as a family! No matter if we are just staying home, or have fun plans, it's nice to be together!
Nov 4: I am so thankful that we are able to provide food for our family and that it is good, healthy food that keeps our boys and is healthy! Also thankful that my boys and husband are not too picky and allow me to make whatever sounds good!
Nov 5: Today I am thankful I was able to have some quite time to myself this morning before the boys got up! Reading the bible and sipping my peppermint coffee was a great way To start the morning!
Nov 6: This is probably everyone's for today, but I am thankful that my husband and I were able to vote! Well we sent in an absentee ballot a few weeks ago, but still, we exercised out right to be heard!! So thankful that despite this less that perfect world we live in, we are still far more blessed than many others! Lets not ever forget that, the next time we want to complain a out something.
Nov 7: Last night as we watched the election polls close, I saw a commercial that reminded me how blessed I am to have such healthy, smart, and amazing children. So easily it could have been or be different. I am thankful that God had blessed us greatly in this area. I also am thankful that if we ever do face the situation where one of our children is born differently, or something happens, our hearts are still and always be filled with love and joy over them. But right now, thankful for such healthy, strong kids.
Nov 8: Today, as our children woke up at 5 am, after a not so good nights sleep , I snuggle down on the couch with them and thought " we should be sleeping!!?" But then I thought how everyday, with the exception the few days he works in Richmond, shane is up anytime between 3-5! And drives up to 4 hours one way, to get to work that day!! It is rough in him, especially when you add in his work he has to do at home, spending time with his 2 children, time with his pregnant wife, and anything he can do to help around the house, time is very limited! He is always exhausted, dealing with headaches, eye twitches... Etc, and he still gets up everyday am works hard for us. I am so thankful for him. He is working so hard, so I can stay with our wonderful children, rather than strangers at a daycare!! The boys and I talk about how daddy works so hard for us, and how he loves us so much and that is why he does it. We are so blessed and thankful!
Nov 9: Today I am thankful for the weather!! It's been beautiful here and the boys and I have still been enjoying our daily walks!! Tomorrow is supposed to be a high if 70 :)
Nov 10: I am so thankful for weekends! It's the only time in really get to leave the house,besides going on a walk! We only have one car, and with Shane's travel, I can't just drop him off at work and then pick him up. So today we cheered on the richmond marathon runners and walked around the grounds of the Virginia art museum of richmond! We even got to meet up with some friends from Michigan, and cheer him on as he crossed the finish line!!
Nov 11: Today I am thankful for sleeping in! Even if it was only 20 mins, it was still awesome! Thanks husband, for taking the kids while I slept in !! And for making a bubble bath for me , equipped with chocolates and candles!
Nov 12: Today I Am thankful for God's grace! I need it everyday, multiple times!! This morning I think I woke up needing it! Thankful that I know how we get God's grace and what he did for us!
Nov 13: Today I am so thankful for our new little baby!! We got to listen to the heart beat today and it was amazing. It calmed both the boys and they were fascinated by it! We are due may 4th and I am 15 weeks 3 days!! Thank you Lord for this blessing!!
Nov 14: today the boys played so well together!! Not that they usually have huge problems, but today, Owen intentionally sot Henry out and played with him peacefully!! Almost all day' I was even kicked out of their room because they didn't need help! They are so cute! Thankful for brotherly love!!
Nov 15: I am so thankful we are able to give others and at an early age my children are growing to learn how to be a given, even if at the age of 2 almost 3, sometimes it's hard! Operation christmas child is something I have done with Owen for the past 2 Christmases and also mum parents have taken part in that and donating in Owen and Henry's name, jut so they see that grandparents can be givers to other children too!
Nov 16: every day this month I have been asking Owen what he is thankful for. Today he said " chickens, aunt melody's chickens!!" I am thankful for his sweet heart!

For me

So it has been a while since my last post! I haven't written anything because I felt like I wasn't sure what this blog should be about or for. I didn't want to blog about crafts I do, things that I cook or what we did everyday. All those things are good, but just didn't seem like what I truly wanted this blog to be about. Well I think I may have figured it out. This blog is simply for me. I know many don't read it, and for me, I feel better when I get my thoughts out in writing, so this is for me, my escape!
On a side note, I need a new name for my blog! Just doesn't seem to fit.
Right now, as we wait out this hurricane Sandy, I am thinking about my day. My days font consist of much more than being with my children and being in their world. I wouldn't trade it for anything. However sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by it. Seems silly, I know, but when there is little "me" time available, even for something as simple as using the restroom, it can make one a bit crazy! To cut this short, my lack of "me" time, is taking a toll on my children. I get short with them, frustrated much easier, and seem to not fully enjoy them! Which is so sad, because they are at such a special age and it goes so quickly.
So I am writing this to tell myself to lighten up, enjoy, and relax. "Me"time is needed, but In a few years from now, when they are grown, I will have too much me time and miss all this! It is too precious and valuable to miss. My reminder to myself, take a moment for yourself, breath, and simply enjoy my children!
Hopefully I blog more, about all things! Sorry if it may seem a bit like a diary, but a girls got to get her thoughts in order sometimes!!
I am off to watch a movie with my love, praying the power doesn't go out!

Henry's first taste of food!

So Henry will be 24 weeks on Saturday(6 months) or in my eyes, officially 6 months on the 22nd of this month. BUT, I don't think we could have waited any longer to give him food!!! Both Shane and I were getting excited about it, me especially because I can't wait to make him his fun fancy purees!! But I still did not want to rush it!! He has been literally lunging, grabbing and reaching for food for the past month now!! It almost felt like we were teasing him!!
Well today we decided to just go for it!! We went shopping at Whole Foods, and I was getting a whole bunch of good produce, so we figured, why not!!
We went this banana first, because i read that for breastfeeding babies, it is easy to digest, and I really don't see the point of cereal...it taste bad, and there is not much nutrients in it.
We mashed some banana with breast milk, and this is what he thought of it!!

 See, he is attempting to get at the bowl!! Owen was excited to help him eat. Owen always asks is we can give the baby food. He probably thought we were starving him!!

 He really wasn't too sure about it. I thought he would be all about it, but maybe he is not going to be a fan of bananas, just like his momma!!

 So we let him just taste and feel the whole banana. Don't worry, he couldn't bite of anything!

Then we just let him play with it, because he was already a mess!! 

It was a lot of fun, and hopefully each time goes better!!

my favorite hot day treat!

When I was on my Disney College Program internship, I fell in love with this wonderful little secret in adventure land! Well it is not really a secret, but I was something new to me!! Dole Pineapple Floats!!  Pineapple soft serve, with pineapple juice and a pineapple spear!! So so so refreshing!! You could also get vanilla soft serve.  And I think when Shane and I went back for our Honeymoon and 1 year anniversary, you could get orange pineapple!! double yum!!!
We have tried recreating them at home, it is not the same, but it will do!!
With all these hot days, it got me to thinking that a pineapple float sounded marvelous right about now!!



Enjoy this beautiful weather we have been blessed with!!

Weekend

Hey all,

So we had a pretty low key weekend, but with a few new developments!!
First, Henry has finally broken one of this bottom front teeth that he has been working on for over a month!! Poor little guy has been a bit fussy, but really been a trooper!! I can't get a picture of it yet, but when I can, be sure that I will post it!!

Second, Henry is now sitting up on his own!! I really was surprised by this! Considering he has only rolled belly to back a few time, and he doesn't want to go the other 5 % to finish rolling back to belly, i thought we had a while to be waiting on this one!! After his bath on Saturday, we just tried it out again, and he was like, ok i can sit up all on my own now!! It is adorable and I love it!! However, he is not even 5 months yet, and growing way too fast!!

Now Owen is growing up just as quickly. As you noticed int he video he is asking "what" that is his version of "Why" however i prompted him to do this, rather than doing the whinny baby voice, i asked him to say "What" So there are not complaints with him asking "what" 100 times a day!!  Another awesome thing with Owen , he is officially diaper free!! Even at night!! He has been in big boy underwear since the end of december, but not at night. He had gone about 2 weeks straight without a wet diaper at night, so we just decided to give it a go with the big boy undies at night, and he is rockin in!! And he is only waking up 1 time, and it is around 4:30 am....sounds a little rough considering he is 2, but trust me, this is awesome!!! We are considering cutting out naps, and just doing like 30 mins of quiet time. He falls asleep faster and stays asleep longer when he doesn't have a nap...especially with this awesome weather!!Running around outside all day tires him out!!

And Owen has been such a great little helper to me!! i made him a Helper Chart. For everything he helps me with that day(laundry/dishes), or does by him self(brush teeth/hair) , he will get a sticker!!
I am not sure if there is going to be a reward for this, he just loves putting the stickers on!!

Owen and Henry took there first wagon ride together!! Owen loves the wagon Grandma and  Grandpa got for him last summer! I think Henry likes it too! Grandma took them for their first ride together!

It was a pretty great weekend!!

Henry's newest!

So when Henry was first born, and I mean like right out of the womb, he started putting his fingers in his mouth and sucking on them. I was so impressed!

Well he is now 12 weeks and on and off he has randomly sucked on his fingers, however about a week and a half ago he decided he wanted to be a thumb sucker!

Honestly, I love it and think its adorable! He calms himself down without and put himself to sleep with it!
He still will use a binkie but more and more he prefers the thumb!!
I am not gonna worry about him still sucking his thumb years from now, that's just silly. Right now I think it is so adorable and I love it!!

Date Night!!

So on Monday, Shane called me and asked if we had some extra money, he wanted to take me out on a date!! He was very excited about it and he wanted it to be a surprise! So we got my parents to come down on Wednesday and babysit BOTH kids!! Not just Owen, but Henry too!! So this was actually a real date! He decided to take me to The Melting Pot. Its a fancy fondue restaurant  and very yummy!!  Sp we got all dressed up and hit the town!

 The meal we decided to go with was 4 courses. The first course is a cheese fondue! Very yum.  The second course was a iceberg wedge Gorgonzola cheese salad!! Definitely  need to recreate this salad at home! We both loved it. Then came the main course! You get to cook the meats all yourself and dress them up with whatever dips you want. It was really fun and it was nice that you could eat at your own pace and truly enjoy the meal!! It didn't seem like a ton of food in the picture, but we barely had enough room for the chocolate fondue course!!

 Shane's favorite was the steak and shrimp. My favorite was the pork and steak. The marinade was a Caribbean style and it was so goo, it didn't even need the dips!

Then came dessert!! We made a chocolate fondue with peanut better and peanuts! It was a good choice! We didn't even come close to really finishing the dessert, but is was delish!! 

The entire 4 course took about 2 1/2 hours to finish. It was a nice treat and very relaxing.  We enjoyed talking about our future, how many good things 2011 brought, what 2012 will bring and the fact that we will have been married for 4 years this summer, total of 7 years together!! Wow how time flies!! It was a nice grown up night and i very much enjoyed it!!Thanks to my sweet husband for caring about our marriage and wanting to still be romantic!! It was just the night we needed! 

And thanks to my parents for driving  all that way on a school night and taking such good care of our kids!!  

<3 Amanda

My word for the year: Kairos

So i stumbled upon a blog the other day that was linked to my friend's facebook page.
 The blog is momastery.com and the blog entry is dont carpe diem.  
You may have even seen it somewhere, but it was about Carpe Diem and how in the stage of her life, she was finding it hard to Carpe Diem every moment! As a mom, people are always telling you that you "need to cherish every moment" "i loved every minute of it, and i miss it" And of course they mean well, but is that really true!! And as much as I love being a mom, there are times where it is like, OK am i really loving this right now?! So this blogger proposes something different. That we take time every day to see the Kairos moments.  Kairos means"the appointed time in the purpose of God".  It is that moment where you all of a sudden look around and truly feel and see how blessed you are and take a moment to take it all in, because it goes as fast as it comes. 


So since we are in the beginning of a new year, i wanted to set a goal for myself, and this is it. To always recognize the Kairos moments in my life and my they be marked in my memory.  In that moment of frustration, sadness, overwhelmed , i want to find the Kairos in it. Rather than being frustrated,when Owen will not stop whining to get something he wants [like that ever happens, come on, he is perfect, right ;) ]  I appreciate him, for who he is; a beautiful, fun, smart, loving and healthy two year old. Because that right there is worth everything; and many people are dealing with much worse.  You can find Kairos without it being crazy and overwhelming. I think it probably even better to see it when nothing is going wrong.  Like today, Owen, Henry and I went to the Zoo.  It was fun, no problems, they did great. But there was a moment, when Owen started walking backwards, eating his snack, and trying to turn his head to see if he was gonna run into anything, where i just tried to breath it all in and thought: Kairos. How wonderfully imaginative Owen is, he is so fun, and he makes me laugh! I love him! And I just took a moment to mark this.  It was God's time, His purpose.  
So every day find the Kairos in your life, look for the moments and stop and take it all in. They will come and go to fast.  This is my word to live by for the year! I just wanted to share!!


Be blessed, 
Amanda 

Mr. Owen is growing up!

So Owen just turned two last month!! And Man has it already brought some serious changes! And i am not talking "terrible Twos" because i refuse to acknowledge this age as that! We are going to make the best of every age, for they will all bring new challenges!
Well about 2 weeks before owen turned 2, we decided to attempt potty training again! (the first time was in the summer and it didn't go as well as I had hopped!) So here we go again...but this time was different! This time it worked ! haha It took about 3 days for him to be consistent, but he was excited this time, and fully understood! We understood the result of going to the bathroom on the potty, you get a treat, only 1 and only if i go! Of course we are still working on the night time training, but even that is starting to come along! He will wake up and say potty, or if his diaper is a little bit wet, he cant sleep. I am loving this!! He is so good about it too, and aside from the first potty training attempt(we were not very consistent and with me being pregnant, it wasn't a good mix), it was relatively easy!! 
So on to change #2...nap/bed time. Owen has been out of his crib since he was 11 months old...yea i know we are crazy, but he hated the crib, and would wake up several times a nice in terror...anyways, to make a long story short, he has been in his big boy bed ever since.  So since he was so little, i didn't want to pressure him to the whole " stay in your bed, don't get up, go to sleep" thing just yet. Well a few weeks ago, I thought, I am gonna see what he does if i just read him a story, kiss him goodnight(for his nap) and just leave! I was nervous, but I told him Henry needed me, which was true, and to close his eyes and take a rest!!I am not kidding you...5 mins later, he was out, and without the back and forth of him getting up, me putting him back to bed. He has been amazing!! I am not sure if it is because he is used to his big boy bed and understanding he is not trapped, but I am loving it!! Rather than bedtime taking up to an hour, because I would have to wait for him to fall asleep before i could escape his arms that were clenched around my neck, I have just been enjoying a few stories with him, prayers and a bedtime song(Thanks Mom!) and he is good to go!! Sometimes we will hear him flipping through the pages of his book, but that is ok with us! I know that all this could go in the opposite direction very fast, and I will still be ok with that, but i am going to give Owen the benefit of the doubt and say that I am confident this is going to last!!  He sure is growing up incredibly fast!! I am loving it though and I hope to share more stories with you!

Christmas time events

I can hardly believe that all the end of the year holidays have come and gone! Yikes, it went way to fast!!

December seems to be a busy month for us..and pretty much everyone! We celebrated Owen's 2nd birthday! We didn't have a party. But my parents did take him bowling when we were in town visiting and shane was in florida. and then on his actual birthday, me, Shane and Henry celebrated Owen at home! It was fun, nothing over the top, but it was still special. I can hardly believe he is 2 already!! He is such a big boy!! Potty trained(except at night), taking naps on his own, talking up a storm, learning so much!! Ah, it just goes way way to fast!! But it has been magnificent, fun and the best thing that has happened to us!

Celebrating at home! 

Celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa at the bowling alley

This was our last Christmas/New years living here in Michigan.  So originally we were just going to stay home, and not go anywhere for Christmas.  It just seems easier and we wanted to be able to enjoy opening up gifts in our own home. Well, about 5 days before christmas, it all changed!!

Our first stop of the holiday weekend was to my parents house, for a Veit Christmas party. This in its self is very strange to me! My whole life, my mom's side of the family never really celebrated Christmas, so never have we gotten together to celebrate. So that was a first for us. And we had a good time playing games, exchanging gifts and eating way way to much food. Let me side track and say I would so rather be prego during thanksgiving/christmas time, vs just had that baby and are trying to get back into shape!! Food temptation overload!!  Anyways! We stayed the night and spend Christmas eve, relaxing at my parents house. It was actually so relaxing, I sorta forgot it was christmas eve and we didn't even really watch any christmas movies or do anything christmasy! It was very nice though and Owen loves to play there, so it was a nice day. That night we headed over to the Reed family party! Again, food temptation overload! It was nice to see family that we don't usually get to see, and they all loved meeting Henry.  We didn't want to stay in town too long, because we still had a 2 hour drive back home!!

So when we got back home, got the boys back in bed, we finally got to all the wrapping we still had to do!! Shane bailed on me after only a few mins and went to bed....I guess i am just used to staying up late and getting up 3 or 4 times at night...he on the other hand is not! i was up way to late, wrapping, organizing, arranging gifts under that tree and taking pictures of it all!! But its way fun and I love to do it!! So it was no big deal! The tree looked magical with all the gifts under it and stockings hanging above! I couldn't wait for Owen to see it!!

Staying up late, watching Elf, wrapping gifts! 

 He opened up all of Henry's gifts, which was much appreciated and sweet.

 He was most excited about the "bug game"!

So i finally went to bed around 3...and everyone was ready to wake up around 7! I am used to lack of sleep, just put on the pot of coffee and I will typically good to go! The boys were actually in our bed, but still sorta sleeping! Shane however was ready to get up and get it started!! Before we got out of bed, we read about the birth of Jesus in the book of Luke and had a little family prayer. Then came the gifts! Since Owen just had his birthday, he was very good at opening gifts! It didnt matter if it was his, he just wanted to open it! and once he opened it, he got excited for a second and then just wanted to open the next gift! Opening up gifts took a lot longer than we thought! We skyped with Aunt Ally for a little bit and then had to get ready to hit the road again!! 

We traveled to Shane's parents house to see that side of the family, exchange gifts, eat way to much food again! But it was nice to see everyone and visit for a little bit.  It seemed like once everyone  got there we had to leave again and get on the road!  

We traveled back to my parents house for the Elliott Christmas. It was good to see that side of the family as well!! Owen really likes playing with his cousins that he doesn't get to see much! He opened tons more gifts and passed out more gifts as well! Grandma and Grandpa didn't go overboard, but they did get them some special gifts! We were all overly blessed; not just by gifts, but by the amount of love shared! 

They all have matching hats! 

We headed home later that night and brought everything in and it looked like a tornado went through our home!! It was a fun, and busy christmas, but i am really glad that we decided to see all the families, since who knows if we will be coming back to MI to visit at Christmas time :/  

For New Years Eve we decided to ask my parents to babysit Owen for the night. This was the first time he stayed over there without us, and aside from when Henry was born. I think he was excited! We were planning on going to visit some good friends of ours in Ann Arbor, and we did..but we had to leave earlier than planned because shane became super sick with the flu or food poisioning...not really sure but leaning more towards the flu :( It was still a good weekend and we just relaxed!! 

2012 promises great things. But it is my hope that my family makes a difference in 2012 and we are blessing to others