grateful

My heart is so filled with gratitude for these three guys in my life.

They bring me such joy and happiness.

But all day today, I have thought about a family who no longer has their son to hold and to hug.

Six year old Jacob Wells has had heart problems all his life, and sadly,
 he lost his battle to survive last night.

I do not know this little boy. 

He is a friend of a friend's child, 

but as soon as I heard about his struggle, I started praying for him.

I thought about my boys, about how his family must be feeling, I cried, and I prayed some more.

Tears fall as I write this.

I'm touched by others who have prayed on his behalf.

I don't always understand why Heavenly Father chooses to take the lives of those so young,

but I do think Jacob Wells must have been so special, that the angels needed him on their side.

My heart is aching for his family.

Please, include the Wells and Dinubilo family in your prayers,

especially his parents and twin sister.

And hold your loved ones a little tighter.

Let them know how much you care.

Make that apology.

Send that thank you card.

Try harder to be better to the people in your life, to be more patient and understanding.

We never know when the time will come for those we love to be called Home.

emoooooooootional

Today, I felt like this:

I was out to lunch at El Torrito and my kids were freaking out like mangy lunatics throwing their food and climbing on tables.

I picked up Harper after he refused to stop running around and dumping out the contents of his cup.

He wiggled and screamed, trying mightily to get away from me,

while Landon ripped open Splenda packets and poured them out onto the bench seat.

I could not get out of that restaurant soon enough, so I got ready to pay and realized they pretty much triple charged me, and I'm missing $50 from my wallet.

The first part is okay, because I have my card, but where is that $50?

I remembered leaving my purse on the stroller at the park yesterday,

and I wasn't watching it closely. 

I felt like a complete idiot.

I searched my purse again. 

Nothing.

Finally, I got the kids home, put them down for naps, burst into tears,
and searched like crazy for the money.

Again, nothing.

Fifty dollars may not seem like a big deal to some people,

but my husband's still a student and I'm no longer working. 

Plus, I just got a gym membership which I promised to pay for with my own money each month, 

and that money is g-o-n-e.

I started to think about what kind of 

rotten thief would steal money from a mother of two terrible adorable children?

That's when I started to feel like this:

like throwing myself on the ground and giving up.

After the most dramatic 30 minutes of my life . . . 

I remembered the money was in my camera bag.

And then, I really felt like an idiot.

But a grateful idiot.

So, am I the only one who has lost something, then became completely convinced that it was stolen, only to find it a few minutes later? (this same situation may have happened to me before today... okay, like five times)

summer agenda

I am so excited for Summer this year!

I can hardly wait for

Music in the Park,

trips to the zoo,

dips in the pool,

our trip to San Diego,

our trip to Arizona,

fresh fruit pizzas (now, I'm drooling),

but what's even better than fresh fruit pizza, 

is that we get Anthony to ourselves for two whole months!

*special thanks to Lodi Unified

I'm so excited about that part, I can hardly stand it. :D

*this picture cracks me up

You're never too old for the swings.

Grandma Joyce says swinging is good for your glutes.

She's a pro (and I only wish my glutes were as nice as her's).

What are your plans for Summer 2011?

a lazy sunday

After church and naps and such, we headed over to Aunt Cindy's. She literally lives less than 2 minutes away, but when I'm in her backyard, I feel like I'm on vacation.

It's so relaxing, and she or her sweet husband, Greg are always preparing some delicious dish.

This time, I thought I'd make something for them. 

I made some shrimp pasta that I've been dying to try. Here's the recipe (they used chicken), but it's pretty dang yumazing with shrimp.

 Did I just make that up?

We took the boys on the paddleboat for the first time. 

They absolutely loved it, and Landon has spoken of nothing else since.

bye bye blondie

I am pleased to announce, the brown hair is back!

What did I learn after being a blonde?

They don't have more fun. Why, you ask? They spend more time and money going through the whole bleaching/dying process, leaving less time and money for actual exciting activities.

Nobody takes you seriously. Seriously (see, you believe me now because I'm a brunette).

Dean said, "You're too kind for that blonde hair."
 I thought that was a sweet way of telling me I look like a little meanie.

But for real, I think people do perceive bottled blondes as snobby. Who knew?

My mom said I look cheap.
Heidi said I look white trash.
My husband thought I looked h-o-t-t hott. That should have been all that mattered, so I kept it for him until my roots grew in, which thankfully took less than 2 weeks.

Honestly, with brown hair, I just feel much more me. It was fun being a blondie for two weeks, but next time I'm craving some blonde in my life, I'll go with a few highlights.

spring time- meet our new baby geese!

[mean papa goose]

The best part about living on Quail Lakes is watching new life appear in the Spring. 

Just two days ago, these sweet little geese hatched. 

The funniest part, is two momma geese and two daddy geese follow these babes wherever they go.

It's so sweet to watch.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so sweet when papa goose lunged after me and my camera.

I wasn't ready for that to happen again.

Remember what happened last time?

So, I may have shrieked and run away. 

Hoping nobody saw that...

Anyway, I'm gonna make sure these new baby geese love me and the boys.

We'll be back out there with some bread and crackers real soon.

photo booth

Anthony hates these. 

They seriously freak him out, but ever since I discovered Effects in Photo Booth on our Mac, I have had endless hours of entertainment. I just crack myself up. 

Oh, and incase you forgot what we really look like:

(we're not freaks) okay, maybe we are.

liahona

If you follow me on Facebook, then you have probably already seen this video, but I just had to post it on here.

Landon and I have been reading the Book of Mormon together before bed, and for the last few months, he has had quite a fascination with the Liahona. It's described as a brass ball of "curious workmanship" and was used as a compass to lead and guide Lehi's family in the wildness. I think the reason Landon is so obsessed with it, is because it's a ball. haha. 

Well, as we were reading a few weeks ago, he said, "I want a Liahona for my birthday!"

My first thought was, "How in the world do I get him one of those?"

Thank goodness my friend, Whitney is a genius and sent me a link within minutes. So, I ordered it, and it came today! So exciting. He loves it, and I think it is sooo cute that he asked for it.

Even though it's Landon's birthday week, my blog really needs some Harper in it's life. So here:

I love me a boy who cleans up after himself.

three years

I can't believe our Bubba is actually three.

When they tell you the time goes by fast,

they really mean it!

Ohh, my goshhhh, wasn't he soooo cute? 

Dangit, now I'm getting baby hungry.

In honor of his turning three, here are some of my favorite pics of Landon from this past year.

It has been amazing to be a parent for these last three years, 

and watch him grow from a tiny, helpless newborn,

 to a chubby, babbling baby,

 and now an articulate, energetic, little boy.

Landon has changed our lives so much, for the better.

And we couldn't imagine being without him.

birthday weekend

Friday, Anthony took us to String's for dinner. I ordered a shrimp and chicken pasta with curry sauce. It was so spicy, but that still didn't stop Harper and Landon from eating half of it. Darn.

I took the boys to the van while Ant paid and accidentally locked them both in there. Oops. Thank goodness Landon was in the mood to follow direction. He unbuckled himself out of the carseat, climbed up front, and unlocked it for us. I promise, I'm a great mom! I'm not sure the crowd of people who came out of the restaurant to "help" thought so.

"It's okay, I really don't think we need to call the fire department."

Saturday, I went shopping in Roseville (hello, H&M) with Andrea and Heidi, while Anthony and the boys had some man time. They went to the mall, too. Daddy just couldn't resist getting them some matching Nike outfits.

Sunday, I filled the whole livingroom with balloons to surprise Landon when he woke up. He sang, "I looove balloons, I loooove balloons!" It was so funny.

Anthony made me a yummy breakfast of sausage, bagels, hashbrowns, and orange juice. Then we went to church, put the kids down for their naps, woke them up, and opened presents at home. Next, we went to Aunt Cindy's to open presents and feed the ducks. Then off to Grandma Ruth's. She and Dean made us a delicious chicken dinner complete with his famous apple walnut salad. It was such a great birthday!

We feel so spoiled and so loved! 

And, I still cannot believe my baby big boy is three.

dear long brown hair, i miss you.

(on my way to the salon)

I went to the salon to get my hair trimmed a few days ago.

The girl I usually go to, does a fabulous job.

She doesn't speak much English so I always bring a picture of how I want it, 

and she cuts it exactly like the picture.

Since I just wanted a trim this time, I didn't feel it was necessary to bring a picture.

That was a mistake.

Because apparently, to her, a trim is eight inches.

I thought maybe I'd feel better if I dyed it blonde.

I don't.

______________________________________

I'll probably be dying it back in a few days.

My poor hair.

doubling up on celebrations

We were kind of, really stupid and got married on Anthony's birthday.
Which makes celebrating both occasions in one day a lot harder, especially because my honey loves his birthday.

He can't be too upset about his day being stolen though, because Landon decided to put me through 14 hours of back labor on my birthday and steal it, too.
Oh, and we can't forget how Harper stole Jeremiah's birthday.

I have to admit though, celebrations are so much more fun with the kids.

The best part of the day, for me, was seeing how excited Landon was about Daddy's birthday. As soon as Anthony came home, he ran up to him and said, "Daddy, it's your birthday! We made cake! Let's eat cake! Blow your candles!"

I can't believe he's going to be three on Sunday. And I'll be 23. That sounds really old.
And then I remember, that I've been married four years and have two kids and think, daaaaang, I got an early start. I start to think what would I be doing if I hadn't been married at 18? I would have finished school, started a career, gone on a mission... so many possibilities.

But then, I look at my family and know I would not have it any other way. I love them so much I get teary-eyed thinking about it, and my heart feels like it could burst. They give me a reason to celebrate every day.

Now if only I could justify eating cake everyday...

bubbles

I am so glad Landon is at the age where he has figured out how to blow bubbles without spilling them. Even better, he can blow bubbles for Harper and they are both entertained.
 But of course, Harper wants bubbles of his own to blow, and he is a frequent spiller.

During this bubble blowing session, he spilled out all of his bubbles.
He cried and cried, "Bubbuhl. Bubbuhl. bubbuuuuuuuuhl!"

Landon came to the rescue and poured half of his bubbles into Harper's bubble bottle.

I love seeing Landon give little acts of kindness to his brother and others, especially without being asked.
It makes me a proud momma.
I sure love these boys.

kali's cures for anxiety

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions and support. Glad I'm not alone in feeling anxious sometimes. I'm realizing that anxiety is just a part of life, especially with such great responsibility, and that's okay. I think a little bit of anxiety gives us the push we need to do things that need to be done or are a little bit out of our comfort zone.

The last couple of weeks, I have done a lot to reduce my stress level.

#1. I started exercising consistently. I tried Bikram (hot) yoga for a week and I absolutely fell in love with it. Unfortunately, they do not have a daycare, so I won't be able to go as much as I'd like. But, I got a gym membership instead and have been taking the kiddos to the daycare there. I get to exercise and a break, and they get to play and make friends. Win, win, win!

#2. I'm making it a priority to have some alone time with this guy. Dinners sans kids, candles, incense. You get the idea.

#3. Scheduling more play dates! The kids have a chance to interact, get their energy out (yay, nap time!) and I actually get to have an adult conversation.

 I love these babies.

#4. I'm making it a priority to wake up an hour before the kids do, to pray and study my scriptures, uninterrupted. By the time they're up, I've been reminded of my purpose, feel at peace, and prepared for the day.

#5. I basically just decided to simplify my life. Part of that was giving up the fashion blog for a while (maybe forever). Simplifying helps me to focus on the things that matter most. And for me, it's the little things. Getting down on the floor to play with my kids, letting them "help" me bake or do dishes. I've also had way more time to clean and organize, which reduces my stress level significantly.

I know that I'm going to look back on this time in my life and miss it. The moments are already ticking by so fast. I'm doing my best to cherish the everyday moments. Snuggle with my boys and kiss their pudgy cheeks, blow bubbles and let them make messes. I'm learning to live in the moment and to appreciate the beauty in my life. It humbles me to recognize so much of it.