it can be soo hard... and so wonderful all at the same time...

Being a Stay At Home Mom is hard work. Being a mom in general is hard work. You clean something only to have it messed up minutes later. You sit down and start a movie thinking everyone is in bed only to hear screaming as soon at the previews are over.

Us SAHM don't get the credit we deserve sometimes either. I always hear the "Oh you're sooo lucky you get to stay home"......... "It would be so nice to be able to be at home like you are....but we just can't".... The thing is... there are alot of people who could stay home... but choose not to. And that's totally fine! I wonder sometimes if I'm even cut out to stay at home?! But please stop with the you're so lucky stuff. Its not luck why I'm home. Its through a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Living on one income and one income only is hard. I haven't had a night away from Ceej since he was born (he's 10 months old now...) and that's mainly b/c I'm still breastfeeding b/c I'm too cheap to want to buy formula!

In the last couple weeks or so I find myself being angry at almost everything. Bubba spills his milk everywhere... I roll my eyes and yell. Ceej has yet another poopy diaper even though he's already had 3 today in the last 4 hours.... UGH. I rarely get breaks from the kids. Yes naptime, and night-time. I have my choir on Sunday nights.... and when I'm not in nursery at church I get a break there as well. MOPS is the 1st and 3rd Tuesday mornings...But even then... Ceej isn't sleeping through the night consistently. The boys (and me) have been sick on and off all winter long. I know I know... complain, complain, complain! I'm a pro at it!

But today I've actually had a decent day! I haven't found myself snapping at Bubba constantly. I find myself smiling and happy when grabbing Ceej out of his crib after just waking up. I know its b/c I have been praying every spare minute I get. Praying to be more patient and loving as a mother. I mean isn't that what mother's are suppose to be? Loving... not yelling every 5 seconds! So yea... as much complaining as I do. I love being a mom to my little boys! They are too cute for words. And I have to admit.... I love hearing "What a joy your older son is".... I've heard this several times.... from his grandparents... which yea they're a little biased.. but also from Moppet workers at my MOPS (Mother of Preschoolers) group, and from women at church in the nursery. Ceej is a joy too... Bubba just knows how to express what he wants since he talks 24/7 at 2 1/2!

Thank you Lord for my wonderful family. I take it for granted how lucky I truly am sometimes.

Also... I have a GREAT husband. He can tell I've been a little... on edge and frazzled lately. While I usually have choir practice we didn't this Sunday. I was a little sad... seeing as it is my guaranteed "time away" every week... he said "Get in the car and go somewhere then... just get out of here..." And I gladly did :) My mom was nice enough to let me take over her bedroom so I could watch Dexter season 5 on Demand! It was awesome... just what I needed :)

baby niece is here!

I dunno what is up with my sisters... but apparently they like to have their babies on their due dates?! Craziness right? I mean I like to have mine 2-4 weeks early personally... not like I have any say on the matter at all though! The Lord works in mysterious ways!

My doctor (who didn't deliver either of my babes...) said it is VERY unlikely to have your water break.... well all 3 of us did... and mine did both times?! Seems to me they shouldn't be telling people that as often as they do.

I won't give all the details about my lil niece b/c it's not my place... but she is here! Yay!! I am so sad that once again... we are sick in this household... will this winter EVER QUIT?! So I have not have the opportunity to hold her yet... maybe once she gets home I'll be able to. Please keep my sis and new baby girl in your prayers. :)

Time for a Niece!!!

That's right.... I have 2 sons... and 3 nephews... its about time for a niece in the family! Not that I don't love you boys... I do! I'm just looking forward to having a little girl around that's all.

One of my sisters' is about ready to pop! (don't be mad at that expression... I was there once..well twice! so I'm allowed). If I am remembering correctly her due date is tomorrow!!!! While I had both of mine early... it seems my sisters are having there's on time... or late. I hope for her sake she comes soon.

I am so excited though! This will be her first, and our first girl baby in the family too. I am looking forward to when she's a little older and I can paint her nails... and do her hair. Its going to be so much fun! I hope I can be the cool aunt... or at least one of the cool aunts...She's going to be one lucky girl. And she's going to have lots of dress up clothes to play in when she gets bigger too. That is unless my mom has gotten rid of them. I think ever since she started watching hoarders she thinks she needs to get rid of everything!! I hope she hasn't thrown my wedding dress away... cause I'm thinking its still there...

Anywho... here's hoping we get to meet this little girl soon!!!

Wedding Workout

Ok I know... I'm already married.... but my good friend let me borrow one of her nice workouts to get me back on the horse! (thanks tjb....r... lol) previous to this month, I had not worked out since Ceej was born pretty much... I was pretty determined to lose the baby weight off the bat... but then I was fitting into most of my pre-baby clothes and I got lazy. Sure, it was nice to hear "you look great!...... are you sure you have 2 kids?!" for a while there... but I knew I was out of shape and needed to get back to working out regularly.

I am happy to say I have worked out 6/7 days for the past 3 weeks... well technically I've only worked out 5/7 days this specific week... but I know I'll do it tomorrow too! I have a nice routine going. I wake up... enjoy my coffee, watch Ellen, then its nap-time for Ceej! He goes down during or right after Ellen, then once 10:00 hits... I get my workout on. I have been doing the "Wedding Workout" which is suppose to get you ready in 30 days for your big day!! Well technically I don't have a big day coming up at the end of the month.. but oh well... it is a fun workout. The Marie girl is not annoying either so that works out nicely.

Bubba has even joined in a few times. I usually try to get him to play with his many toys in the basement while I'm doing my "work-up" as he likes to call it. But he does join in sometimes. He even reminds me every morning. "Mommy is it time to do your work up?!" So that's a nice little motivation too. Kids crave routines... Once it gets nice out we'll have to switch it up by going to walks to the library or around the neighborhood instead of my work out tape... hopefully that won't throw him off too much! I'll have to get the double stroller back out and maybe Ceej will even take a nap while we walk!

It was still a little on the chilly side today but we did manage to go down and back up the street in the radio flyer today!

JDub's bday

10 years ago today, JDub and I had our first official date together.... I say first official b/c well.. we had some group dates before that, but never by ourselves until that night. After getting through most of the night (a stint at the mall and a movie if I recall) it was fairly early. I asked if there was anything else he'd like to do... when he said...

"We could go to my house and eat cake?"
"Eat cake? What is it your dad's birthday or something?"
"No.... it's mine"
"What?! It's your birthday?! Are you kidding me?"

Talk about awkward. Not only was I out on a date with someone who would rather spend his birthday with a total stranger than his friends... and I had to meet his parents already. Its not like I could say no.

Oh memories... should have ran away then huh? Just kidding! JDub's not too big on birthdays... He use to pretend he was 18 all the time... now I think he's moved up to 22. He could easily pass for it too! Not sure if I can say the same anymore. We are actually going out to dinner by ourselves tonight!! Yay!!! So its like a little celebration for me too.

I don't think he ever reads this blog... but HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!! Hope you have a great one.
I love you.

Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

I decided to get Bubba involved this Valentine's Day... sort of... and I made some corny valentines for him and Ceej to send out! I had some photos printed off shutterfly and thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. Here's a few!!

UR the Cat's MEOW....... Your are DINO-mite.... UR my cup o' tea....... We love you BEAR-y much :)

So I mostly made them... but Bubba did point out which ones to give to who... so there's that at least!
Here's hoping you have a wonderful day :)

It's not my favorite holiday or anything... but I do love me some candy!

100% Irish

So I'm not exactly 100% Irish... but I know I have some in me! The other day I was able to go out shopping on my own! Just me, myself and I....... and I rather enjoyed it. While I try to avoid spending too much money.. I just wanted to shop so I headed to Goodwill. At least that place is cheap right!? I ended up finding this shirt! Thought it would be a cute St. Paddy's Day shirt....

This was a Large, so first thing was taking it in... Its funny how you don't really pay attention to how something is made until you're trying to alter it. Most t-shirts don't have seams on the sides... but I had to make this one! I cut up the sides and cut the sleeves off.

I then trimmed the sleeves down a little bit, and cut in the sides. I did a little bit of an hourglass cutto make it taper in a little bit...

After pinning the new sleeves on I sewed them with the machine! This proved to be a little bit harder than I thought it would be... I had some issues figuring out which way to pin them in order to have the pins facing the right way so I could take them out while sewing... but I figured it out eventually.

After sewing each sleeve back on I pinned and sewed down the side seams...

Then it was time for the neck line! I wanted to try a V-neck... so I cut a slit down the middle in the front then pinned them down I ended up cutting the rest of the neck off in the back and pinned that down as well. I sewed all the way around in a kind of circle.

I'm not sure if I love the way the shirt turned out... but I do think its an improvement! I am just learning on my own... I should really take a sewing class and have professionals tell me what to do..

P.S. This is JDub's idea of a good "after" photo... he probably knew I'd hate how I looked and just decided to chop my head off......

Fav wine

So I'm a bit of a wino.... I like drinking wine... when I can. I don't really drink that much just b/c I'm still nursing Ceej........ and well I'm the only one who likes wine so I'd have to drink the whole bottle myself! but my favorite wine is.............Reggae Red from Easley winery in Indianapolis, IN!. I know..... its a long way from home, but it is soooo yummy. That is if you enjoy sweet wine. If you don't... then its probably not for you. But I have to say for the people I have introduced it to... they all LOVE IT. And I say how could you not?

I just got this from their website... I haven't tried it yet... but it sounds absolutely delicious.

So I use to have family in Indianapolis... but they had to go and move! (J/k guys :) ) So I'm not sure how often I'll get through Indiana to get my wine... But I guess they have some distributors in different states too! I get pretty desperate to get my wine when I'm running low. I've had my aunt pick some up for me if she was coming to visit... I've had JDub pick some up on a job he had down there... I just had my mom bring some back! I know it sounds terrible but I never know the next time I'll be getting some! And they even have it at Wal-mart?! At least that's where JDub picked his up. But they do have it at some grocery stores too... like Marsh, and Kroger. Last time I picked up 12 bottles at Kroger... the woman looked at me and asked if I was getting married?! Ha... oh well. A price I have to pay for a good drink I guess.

FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions that annoy me.........

Are your parents home?
Can I have some candy?
Where do your boys get their red hair?
What's for dinner?
Are you happy mommy?
So your name is pronounced LARA even though its spelled LORA?....

Frequently Asked Questions I enjoy..... and comments as well :)

Can I snuggle with you mommy?
He is soo smart! I can't believe how well he speaks! (referring to Bubba)
Do you want a beer/drink?
I just love their red hair!
Would you like me to feed him?
Can I help you mommy?
Do you want me to pick up some dinner?
Your boys are so cute! They are adorable.

Frequently Asked Questions I repeat all day every day......

Do you have to go potty?
Have you seen Ceej's paci?
Is it Friday yet?
Can you finish your __________ please (fill in the blank with any type of food)?
Can you change his diaper please?
Have you seen my cell phone?
Can you do me a favor.....?
Is it nap time yet?