Our makeshift cineplex

I tried something new with the kids this month. When I have the kids by myself, it can be a little much, so I wanted to think of something fun for them and fun for me too. I took them to the library one day and got a bunch of movies we don't own, coupled with a giant bag of Pirates Booty from Costco, a blanket spread out in front of the TV, a couple pillows, and the cutest little popcorn containers I had picked up from Target, and it was an instant hit with the kiddies. I let them pick out a Disney movie to watch, got the blanket all set up and filled their little containers with Pirates Booty(a much better and tastier alternative to popcorn.)

It was so fun for them (and a break for me) that we did it again a few days later. Really, they only got through half of their movie the first time (Tangled), so we just finished the movie the second time. I fully plan to make this a regular thing though. I got to spend time with my littles and not chase them around, and they really enjoyed it. A win win.

Good stuff.

I'm trying to be more positive with my kids and focus more on what they are doing well rather than the things that make me nuts.

Cal has been great lately about bussing his own dishes, even without being asked. He is also doing well at putting his dirty clothes in his little hamper. Most importantly, he is overall doing super well at staying potty trained. It was such a long rough road to him being so but in general, he is doing great. And boy, is it great to not have to change big boy pants. That was just wrong.

Lolo is sleeping better, thankfully. It has made a difference with starting their bedtimes earlier and trying to keep her on a regular napping schedule also. Most of the time I am able to - if I need to - nap a little while she is resting. Cal is good to watch tv for that time or play on the computer. I couldn't care less what anyone thinks about my child minding himself for that time period. I leave my door wide open and he can come get me anytime. At this point in life, it is way more important that Mommy gets the rest she needs so she stays out of the loony bin.

Sis is a year old now, which is nuts. It really went quickly. Lots of little times didn't but overall, dang. She had a great party at Childs Play and family and frenz came. Fun for all. Plus she had a stupid cute little party dress to wear, courtesy of my lovely friend Brooke, who custom made it for her. Had her stand and be measured and everything. Pretty cute. I will have to throw a picture up later.

We are so fortunate to have 2 healthy kids and be healthy ourselves. Curtis really enjoys his job and I love being able to stay home, we have our old beater cars that we love and have no payments on - can't beat that shiz - and our house with plenty of room for us and just so many wonderful, great things. Just have to remember that! :)

What's important

I've been reminded a lot recently of what is important to me. I am grateful that as I've gotten older, my clarity to define those things has sharpened. I am much more selective of how I spend my time. When you become a mother, you realize that your time has never been more precious, and for lots of reasons. Pretty much if you can get 5 tiny minutes alone, that there is glorious.

I've been able to stay home since Laurel was born, which has been so great. Partly becuz she is not a superb sleeper - working a job on poo for sleep would be a recipe for disaster. But also, it has allowed me to spend precious time with my babies.

I am the first one to say that motherhood has definitely challenged me and I am certainly not a peach. I get super agro and need time away from my kids to just keep sane. Both of my kids are not great sleepers and high maintenance, and with me not really being a 'kid person', makes for some interesting days, we'll say.

But I tell you what, when Cal says something super random and hilarious out of the blue or impersonates an owl pretty much spot-on, or when Lo's tiny face lights up when she discovers something new or grins happily with her 4 new bitty teeth at me, that there is some priceless stuff. I am getting the opportunity to have beautiful and whimsical moments with my kids that I'll remember forever - what in the world else could I be doing that would be better for me or for them?

Just tonite, I was doing bedtime with them and Cal was cracking me up with his funny ramblings and Lolo was shoving her way past him to toss books off his bookshelf and I'm sitting there on the floor with them, thinking "This is what life is all about." You never get this time back and as hard as some days are, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It is going so fast; they are growing up SO fast. It's crazy. So I'm stupid grateful I have this time and these days with my sweet babies.

Knotts and Disneyland!

Last week, we took the kids to Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland. I had never been to the berry farm and I was very excited. Also was excited about getting in free for law enforcement day - yay! We did all kinds of kiddie rides but none of the crazy roller coasters. It's just not enticing to ride something like that alone and we were really there for Cal anyway. Lolo couldn't go on anything but we did see a Charlie Brown little show which she enjoyed.

My favorite part was on the way out, stopping at the berry market and buying some Knotts biscuit mix and plum jam. Woot! I was really overly excited about this, which really was warranted becuz I have since made the aforementioned biscuits and paired them with the jam. Pretty much Uh-mazing. !!

Since we didn't end up spending the whole day at Knotts, we went and checked into our hotel which was conveniently located directly across the street from Disneyland. It was still early and the park was open for a few more hours, so we took advantage and walked over. In 2.5 hours, we knocked out more rides than in an entire day on our previous trip. So fewer people there in January, which was awesome, plus the kids were really well behaved. It was seriously a stupid good trip and so much fun.

The first nite, both kids slept poorly and Curtis and I ended up one of the crappiest nites of sleep in a long while but the rest of the trip, they made up for it and slept soundly through the nite. Thank you, heavens, cuz we sure needed the rest.

Curtis and I each took Cal on the new Star Tours, which he absolutely LOVED. So much so that I was coerced into buying him Star Wars Gogurts today instead of the healthier version with no SW characters on them. We also did the Toy Story ride in Disney CA, all the Bugs Land rides over there, and pretty much everything he could go on in regular Disney. Small World was closed, as was Matterhorn, so that was mildly sad but really nothing was tainting my trip for me.

We got to see my lovely friend Katie and her adorable children, who were kind enough to come and meet us for an evening of rides and mayhem. Oh and whoops cuz we did lose Cal for a tiny minute after Dumbo. I always freak out and he'll be on the other side of Curtis or something, this time I thought he was on the other side of the stroller and realized, nope he sure wasn't. I was panic at the disco for a second - awful feeling - and he was within eyeshot the whole time, just had stayed back at Dumbo. He was crying horribly cuz he couldn't see us and I felt bad for leaving him but thank goodness he was fine and crisis averted. That poor child is afraid someone will take him so thankfully Gpa Robert watches over him and Lo.

So yeah, fun times at Disney! We do so love our Disneyland. Something about the place is just absolutely magical. And not to mention the Disney curse, where you walk into a store and suddenly think that $40 is a reasonable price to pay for a shirt. It's like you enter in and all your common sense is washed away. Gotta love that!

We stopped on the way home to visit with Aunt Mary, which was awesome. What a great lady. We are so fortunate to have her in our lives and in our kids lives. Lolo, who does NOT like strangers, was all gummy grins for Aunt Mary. Freaking cute.

Safe and successful trip! I'm so glad we were able to take this trip and have such an amazing time. I just feel like our kids are little such a tiny window and we want to maximize our time with them until they either move away or hate us and refuse family trips. We love having our little family and being able to take trips is basically awesome.

It's been a bit of a rough road, these past 3 months with our new baby. Laurel herself is overall a great baby. She sleeps pretty well, amazingly actually, in comparison to Cal, but a newborn is a newborn and she has lots of little needs. Cal was a lot for us to handle and a newborn is a lot to handle, so together, it has been tough. Curtis and I are both folk who need an awful lot of sleep and an awful lot of alone time - both of which are hard to come by with little ones. So we are really happy with our two. :)

Laurel is smiling a lot, has slept through the nite several times to my absolute delight, and is honestly just as cute and sweet as she can be.


Cal really loves her which is cute and sweet and all, but the kid cannot.stay.off.her. He is constantly running over to touch her face or kiss her and the poor girl wants none of it. She has had to put out a chubby arm to fend him off many times, and sometimes has to press a tiny arm against his throat to get him off her. Already like a momma. :)

This is typical Cal - Sis is trying to rest and he is all up in her business.


I've been home with them this whole time which has been great and really necessary. I have a hard time recovering from babies so I need the time. Plus Curtis was able to take 3 weeks off of work and has had 2 more weeks after the fact of vacation. I love having him home, not only for his company but for his help. :) It is so much easier with 2 parents and I am super grateful for my kick ass partner.

My sweet wonderful mother has been a ton of help to us as well. She came out and stayed with us for a few weeks which was awesome in lots of ways. She is obviously a pro w/babies, since she had 59 but she is fun to have around. I just adore my mother. Hence, naming my baby after her. Woot!

We are still learning the ropes of how to deal with two kids. It is no joke so we are kinda just fumbling along. At the end of the day, if they are fed and clothed and safe and warm, that's pretty much a success at this point. As challenging as having 2 kiddies is though, I am stupid grateful that I have my family. I wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world. I may love my little breaks from them, but I can't imagine my life without these 3 people in it.

Just a few of our family pics before Laurel was born.

Our baby is here!

The wait is over - our baby arrived early! I went into labor on the 28th, had awful contractions all day long that were kicking my can. Unfortch, they were not regular so I couldn't justify going into the hospital when there wasn't really a reason. So I just suffered through them. And boy were they awful - like a 8 or 9 on a pain scale of 10. Blah.

They finally got about 5 or 6 minutes apart at about 11 that nite so my brother came over to watch Cal since he was in bed already. My mom met Curtis and I at the hospital where they checked me out and monitored me for about 45 cool minutes. I was only at a 2 - a 2! after all day of horrible contractions, what is that crap!? - and since they said my contrax were not super regular, they were releasing me.

My mom and Curtis were both extra annoyed. I was just butt tired and either needed to have the baby already or have those dreadful contractions stop so I could get some rest. They gave me some sleeping pills which only made me hallucinate. Less than 5 minutes after they gave me the stupid thing, I thought I was Alice in Wonderland. This is one of the reasons why I never use drugs. I couldn't really sleep and at home, just was very confused and my contractions only got worse. I kept jumping up and thrashing about like a wild animal and felt super loopy. No sleeping pills for my body ever again!

At around 5:30 a.m, Curtis was sick of seeing me in misery so he called the hosp to tell them he was bringing me back in. New crew had come on duty - thank you, cuz the 2 ladies I saw were not a picnic nor sweet - and they told him to bring me in right away. Hello! Thank you!

I don't remember riding to the hospital the 2nd time really, just remember being in a room in that special nightgown that opens in the back. The nurse came in and was great, I could tell from the start. Seriously, thank you Jesus cuz that is the difference between a good hospital experience and a bad one are those dang nurses.

Denise, bless her sweet heart, was great and checked me. I was at a freaking 7! My concern was that I wouldn't be able to get my epidural. Heaven knew I needed that puppy and the anesthesioligist has just gone into surgery for 40 minutes. And, there was a screamer across the hall so I was 3rd in line it appeared. Thank goodness I only got to an 8 in that time frame and the blessed man came in and gave me that sweet sweet nectar of an epidural. What a relief.

I was at a 10 not too long after that and just needed to wrap my mind around the pushing part so I waited a bit. The nurse had me push through like 2 contractions and apparently I was so amazing at it (ha!) that she had me stop so she could quickly summon the doc. He showed up right that second and I pushed through like 2 more contrax and that was that. Whew.

Doctor held up the baby so Curtis could announce what we had. He looked very wide eyed but was able to get out the "It's a girl!" We had a baby girl!

Laurel was born at 12:09 PM on the 29th, weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz with a ton of dark hair. Cute as she can be and we are just love love loving on her. We came home the next day and my sweet mother has been staying here to help out. It has been a godsend having her here.

Cal is doing great as a new big brother. When he met her, he must've said very reverently, "She's so cute!" and to her he said, "I've missed you baby sister. I always wanted you." He is very careful to be gentle with her and always wants to kiss on her and love her. I am sure that will change as she gets bigger but for now, it is super sweet and cute and I'm hoping he continues liking her!

My thought with this whole experience has been reminiscent of one of my favorite bookmarks. Random, yes, but this bookmark very much states "One joy scatters a hundred griefs." This has been so true for us on this journey. Last year when we knew we wanted another baby and lost 2 pregnancies, after our previous 2 losses before Cal, it weighed very heavily that we might not be able to have another baby after all. It was very hard to go through those experiences and now, having this sweet precious little girl, it is truly worth it and we are that much more grateful for her in our lives.

I know it is hard having a newborn - it hasn't changed since Cal! - but the good so much outweighs the bad and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful family. Curtis has been so great as a dad, always has been, and is fantastic with dealing with a nutty wife. While we definitely have our challenges like anyone else, I know I am so fortunate to be on this journey with the best man possible. I am super looking forward to our life as a family of four. I am sure I will have plenty of wigtown moments becuz I am me - :) - but just enjoying this new baby and my sweet little boy.

Luckiest girl ever

I love my family so much. I have the best husband ever and have one of the most interesting and funny tiny guys for a son. I couldn't imagine life without their handsome bodies in it. I am so excited to be adding another member to our family in a few weeks. This life of being a wife and mother is exactly what I always wanted and I am very fortunate.