Life Through the Phone

 I was going through my pictures on my phone and I had to upload them before I delete them from my phone! I love seeing the sibling relationship that is forming between these two. Crew loves playing with her, and chasing her around the apartment. I think that sibling relationships are so neat to watch no matter the age distance between the two.
Bath time is becoming extra crazy around here, and extra wet! Twice as wet to be exact. Laney is now in the stage where she wants to crawl around the entire bath or stand up in the tub. They get in little splashing wars that leaves me nearly drenched! I wish I could snag a picture of them at this age in the bath, but I can't get a second to leave them alone. (plus I wouldn't dare let go of Laney in the bath with Crew.)
One day we went to Target out of boredom. Which can be so dangerous for me because for some reason during the summers, I get the major itch to buy everything! (luckily I haven't shopped a ton yet) We just went inside and I let Crew and Laney play in the aisles. Somedays you just have to do that! The germaphobe inside me was dying, but the kids were having a blast. Crew didn't make a noise the whole time. He just walked briskly from one toy or aisle to the next. Laney crawled as fast as she could to the next toy too or to go follow Crew. It was an hour well spent...and Crew's birthday list grew a lot that day. (and I didn't buy a single thing! yay!)
I am beyond excited for him to turn 3! Three years old just seems so big to me. Probably because I remember my fourth birthday so well, and random moments at preschool before that. So I know Crew will probably remember snippets of his life during this next year.

Happy

Yesterday we went on our walk finally--the last few days/weeks it has rained the whole day! Then 6pm hits and it's dinner, baths and bed. So we were all pretty excited to get outside yesterday. Crew loves puddles so much. He brought a paper that he rolled up and claimed it was his "treasure." So he was pretty happy to be jumping in those puddles with his keys and treasure in hand. Oh to be little again. Miss Laney has been a serious grumpy girl lately too! I think that her teething and next to no sleep is starting to take a toll on her (all of us) so she was happy to be outside, but still whined during it. I love watching them play together, but mostly they are fighting. Laney can scream pretty loud and when Crew takes a toy away, she screams and looks at me as if she wants me to get in the middle of it. They can be pretty cute together too though. Crew can make her giggle so hard, and when she laughs, he giggles his head off. He still hates when she has to go take naps (which she is fighting so hard these days.) Why do my kids just not sleep that well? I'll never know. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Photography has been on my mind so much lately. I'm learning to become more patient with it. I know what I want my style to be and the end product...but getting there is taking much longer than I thought. I also picked a very expensive hobby so that's why it's taking forever too. Nowadays I feel that getting a dslr camera is so accessible and that everyone is trying to become a photographer! Which is great because we can all help each other...or I wish that's how more people saw it. I follow this photographer who posts all of their photos and then says, "feel free to ask any questions, this is not a competition." I just love that. I love that we have apps for editing pictures now, or millions of tutorials online to help us become better editors or photographers, but it also makes me appreciate the long-time artists or photographers who didn't have all of that back then. They had to learn everything on their own with next to no help from the internet or others around them. I'm hoping that once I get to Utah to visit my family that I will have a lot of time to practice.

We are selling our Utah house this weekend too! What a giant blessing. Everything is under contract and our old renters are moving out on Monday. A big part of me is a little bummed that I never got to fully enjoy the house or the darn island that we worked so hard to put in, but now we are a step closer to buying a house in Arizona within the next year. Hopefully. Staying in Arizona will mean that Alex will be traveling to Utah a lot, but it won't be as hard on me because we have so much family there now to hang out with. So so excited about that. I think about the job that brought us to Arizona and I am so thankful for that experience. Ever since we got married we knew we wanted to move back there and raise our family there. Things happened and we bought the Utah house, and were a little sad that we wouldn't make it to AZ quickly. If it wasn't for the job--we would still be in Utah and wouldn't have an exact timeline on when we would make that big move. So hooray for solar pulling us there! Alex is doing so much better this year in alarms and comes home excited to tell me about his day. This is the first year that we have done things "right" in alarms! Last year was a complete mess, and we were on the 3rd floor of the apartments so I had a bad attitude about that haha This year we are on the first floor and the apartments are a lot nicer. It's funny how things like that can instantly change my mood about the job. (and I'm not pregnant so that makes things so much easier over summers) When we went to Cancun we were around of a lot of couples who had older kids who did this job. At first I didn't think they existed...but they do! I obviously hope that we are not doing this job when our kids are older, but if that's the case, then we have some tips and tricks to help us get through the summers.

Crew is doing well with potty training still. He just cracks us up! He reminds me so much of his dad...they are both going to give me a run for my money when Crew gets older!

We fly to Utah on Tuesday for S I X weeks. Pray we make it that long, and pray that we make it during that flight. I paid a lot of money for a direct flight, so at least we won't have layovers. That would be horrible with the two kiddos. I am so excited to go though. My mom added me to her gym pass for those weeks so at least I'll have someone to make me work out! That will change the whole trip for the better. Ellie turns 13 (whaaaat!) when I am there so that will be so fun. I just can't believe how grown up all of my siblings are!

Ramblings (edited)

Here we go again-round 2...but this time will be a tad different.
Maybe last nights post was a little too real, or maybe not. After talking with one of my favorites, (mom) she talked me through my frustrations. She's always been good at that. Turns out--we are pretty similar! Who would of thought. wink wink. 
All of our frustrations in life or trials will make us grow for the better, and sometimes I wonder what I would possibly get out of a certain challenge...but I just have to have faith that it will get better.
I just need to do a better job of laughing through the crazy hard times!

-When I was trying to pay a bill today over the phone on that darn automated machine and one of the kids would squeal/yell at me so the robot lady would start allllll overrrrrr. It was brutal guys. I have zero patience with things like that. I finally got her to accept my card...but lo and behold Crew walks up to me and shouts, "MOM! BIG WATER IN TOILET!" I knew what that meant. He clogged it with something. I went in and pulled out a washcloth, roll of toilet paper, and a notebook. All drenched in water. Completely forgetting I was almost done with paying this darn bill and so the robot lady started all over again. I swear it took like 30 minutes. but hey, at least Crew got a second to play in the toilet.

-I strapped Laney in her stroller while I was doing dishes so she wouldn't be a maniac all over the place. Crew thought it was cool so he wheeled her around the house for a little bit. Oh and she was eating a twizzler too. Proud mom moment. Then Crew said, "Mommy, I take Laney-doo to the park. You stay here. Ok? Stay here." Oh Crew! I wish I could let you do that. He's really into pretend play right now so that's been fun, and brings me back to what I'm supposed to be doing. I love his innocence and how he tries so hard to make me happy.

-When I was changing Laney's diaper Crew said, "Oh! Where is the wiener?"

-Randomly the other day he said, "I go in firetruck, and ambulance, and I DIE!" Not sure where he got that. But I didn't like it!

I love him! 

Sappy Mom Talk

I stumbled upon these pictures on Alex's computer today. I had no idea they were on here! Crew is Laney's same exact age here. They look so different but still look like siblings to me. I think it's the mouth? 

Oh what I would give to go back to this little Kentucky summer and squish his little body. 

I was reading my one of my favorite blogs tonight and came across this post. I loved every single word she wrote. I have so many of the same feelings she does when it comes to being a mother and the day-to-day tasks. Like telling Crew not to touch his bum for the thousandth time! or when he doesn't share with Laney and thinks it's ok to push her down. Having two kids is so crazy sometimes...but I knew that going into this experience. They are also best friends though. Every single day when Laney goes down for her morning nap--Crew puts his foot down and gets so upset that she has to sleep. When she wakes up, he runs right in, but first looking at me to make sure I give him the "ok." I love hearing them giggle on the baby monitor and Laney growling at him. He thinks it's so funny.

I took the top left picture tonight as I was doing the dishes. I felt immediately grateful that I have two sets of feet to look at and little hands running their toys all over my legs. I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude for my life right then. I'm known for getting in a slump over staying home with kids all day, but tonight it hit me that I am so lucky. So so lucky to be their mom. I get to be the one to kiss Crew's owie on his knee a million times a day, or hold them when they are tired or cranky. I love creating a sanctuary here at home for them. I used to be upset that we had to move every summer because it doesn't feel like "home." I am starting to feel that this is our home for moment, and I think they are too.

I go to the grocery store a lot--like way too much. We live practically next door to Walmart so I just make a ton of small trips. I see so many kids who are not being treated right by their parents. (obviously if it was physical I would do something about it) They are always being yelled at, and I have heard some pretty irrational empty threats thrown out too. I am by no means perfect at all--but it just makes me reflect and ask myself how I am doing as a mother. Am I throwing out empty threats? or not making my kids feel safe sometimes? What do other's think of me in public with my kids? I hope good things. I really try hard to keep it together in public...Crew is getting so much better though so that helps me a ton.

We went to Target today in hopes that I could spend a giftcard on myself there. I tried on so many dresses, shirts and swimming suits. Crew was my little judge and would say "yes" or "no" to the item. He pretty much vetoed everything. So I ended up buying them a little toy to play with, and one that I have been dying to get them. They love it. Tonight on Pandora-"Old McDonald" came on and Crew was so excited! He kept trying to sing it and was pointing to his little farm. I love how his brain works. One of the songs from "Little Mermaid" came on too and he was even more happy about that one. He loves that movie. He came up to me and said, "mom! a mermaid song! Arizona! a mermaid show!" He remembers watching it at our house in Arizona. Again--I just love his little mind. The wheels are always spinning.

Crew and Laney-doo I love youuuuuuuu.

xoxo

Mother's Day 2015

We had to go pick up one of Alex's guys at the airport in Nashville yesterday-so we decided to make a day of it. Last year on Mother's day we went to Chicago--so I wonder where we will spend it next year! Mother's Day was good this year. Started out a little rocky...everyday does over here. We have two kids oozing with personality and high demands :) I love them though. 

She kept hamming it up for people. 

In my dream kitchen one day I'll have giant white washed slabs of wood on the floors, white or neutral cabinets, navy blue cabinets too, and then shelves of these succulents. For now I'll just take pictures of them and frame them. 

We can't get enough of this kid. He talks so well now and it's honestly so fun to have a little person to talk to during the day.

My computer crashed hard. The disk drive kept being so full even when I made a conscious effort to not keep anything on my hard drive. I have been backing up and deleting every single thing. There are no fonts kept on here--if I want one, I have to go to my hard drive-download it-and then delete it again. We searched the computer and found a giant virus or something taking up 50GB of space. That's almost my entire computer! It all made sense. Well we deleted that little sucker and it basically deleted the entire operating system, and hard drive...but now it won't work, or restart properly. I hate computers! I wish that I could just take the pictures and send them somewhere else to be worked on. Luckily my husband's computer holds larger files and is basically empty. So I dubbed it mine now.

Sunday's are our only days as a family and I love it. The primary sang the cutest little songs yesterday. Next Mother's Day...Crew will be up there! Oh my goodness that's crazy! He goes around the house singing the sunbeam song too, so he is already preparing well :)

I'm super bummed that the blurb website can't slurp blog posts right now. Something is broken but they don't know how soon they can fix it. There goes my summer project! I really do want my blog in books for the kiddos to read. I'm not sure what the internet will be like in the coming years-so I want it printed.

LANEY IS NINE MONTHS OLD TODAY. So dang crazy.

Saturday Morning Cuddles

So you can probably tell I have a lot of free time on my hands. I just take pictures of them all day, try different editing tools, and post them. Enjoyyyyyyyy.

Park

I feel that I blog about the same things all the time! Yesterday we went to a park that was kind of far from us, so today I found one that is 7 minutes away from us. 

Crew is so funny when we are getting ready to leave to go somewhere. All of the sudden he becomes very helpful, asks a million questions and randomly laughs because he is so excited to leave. Poor kid! I promise we do get out of the house at least once a day. Crew loves the park so much though. 

This bridge was wiggly and Crew was saying, "oh scary" the whole time he would walk across. He is at such a funny age. The other day in the car he said, "Oh my dosh mom! The sky is Blue!" haha I laughed hard for a good minute. We try to get him to say "goodness" but we lost that little battle. Plus he says the ending of "goSH" so it doesn't sound too bad. 

I love that Laney is old enough to play on the playgrounds now. She loves exploring and always has such a serious or curious look on her face. She observes all the kiddos running around and probably wishes she could play with them too. 

Her little body is just so cute to me. I love this age. 

I love how she sucks in her bottom lip. Her chin is 100% her dads, and I love it. 

Crew met a little boy at the park and of course followed him everywhere. 

I can't believe how fast these two are growing. 

That bottom lip again. 

We had fun. 

Somedays I wish there was more "depth" to my blog. I don't read fashion blogs because they lack serious depth. I know that's how they are supposed to be, but I love reading blogs because I can learn from people, and their experiences. I love the real moments and honestly I could careless about what they are wearing, or what their home looks like. It's all about the writing to me and catching up on their life! 

I feel that sometimes I don't want to be too real on here or "vulnerable" because it might be too personal or maybe a bit negative--but it's my journal, and it's a great venting tool for me! 

Lately it has been rough stuff at our house. Al works all day and trains his guys in the morning before the meeting--so we don't see much of him. It makes me wonder why we even came out, but I know that we are a great support to him during this tough job. Crew isn't taking that too well lately. He constantly asks to go on an airplane to Arizona or a long drive to Utah. He will come up to me randomly throughout the day and list all of our family members by name and ask to go to their house. I just kneel down at his eyes and tell him that this is temporary and we will be in Arizona soon. He just doesn't have a concept of time yet. Obviously. There are days where I am super positive about this lifestyle and days where you do not even want to be around me, or even ask about it. Trust me. I have been hustling to finish my institute makeup work and that's been taking up my days a lot. So of course Crew is watching Netflix most of the day. 

I swore to myself before I had kids that I wouldn't raise my voice or have contention in my home. Well that's been a huge fail. Crew has been acting out by being so mean to Laney and making her cry a lot. So there are lots of time-outs at our house. And crying....by all of us! 

When I truly think about our life though--I feel terrible for even having any of these thoughts. We live in a military town and so many wives have to say bye to their husbands for months or years at a time. They are single moms for that long and barely have good communication with their husbands...and I sit here and complain about moving WITH my spouse 4 months out of the year. Then during the year we get to see him often, and he is able to not feel pressure to go out a find another job until the next summer. This job doesn't sit well with a lot of people-and I know that, but it could always be worse. The grass is never greener on the other side. (that took me a while to grasp) With any job there are always sacrifices and curve balls thrown into the mix. I am just always so grateful that I don't have to go out and get a job, that doesn't mean I don't want to, but I'm lucky to stay home with the kids. 

 I'm grateful I have such supportive parents though through all of this. They know when to kick me in the rear and tell me how it is. They weren't too fond of complainers growing up. (I have a pretty awesome hubs too)

Things will pick up once the pool opens up. Cannot wait for that! 

Dear Laney

Dear Laney,

 I can't believe your nearly 9 months old! It's right around the corner. In 3 short months you will be one, and then your "babyhood" is history. Your personality is showing more each day, and we love it. Your quite the little screamer, and your very good at crawling. I vacuum the house twice a day because I love to, but also to catch anything that you would put in your mouth. This morning your dad was able to take an earring out of your mouth. I have no clue how it got on the floor. Freaked us all out! Your such a sneaky girl. 

Sunday morning you also surprised us by having a little teeny seizure. I was sure you had one. I had a few when I was your age, and so did your aunt Ellie. It runs in the family I guess. You became super fussy and when I laid you down to change your diaper-you clenched your fists hard, your head turned to the side and you just froze. I immediately picked you up and held you but you were just limp in my arms and wouldn't make eye contact. Your body was so clammy. I hated every second of it so much. When your neck turned, I knew what was going on. After that happened though I felt so grateful that you and Crew are very healthy overall. I couldn't imagine if you had seizure's all the time or had other serious health issues. My mother heart couldn't handle it. How blessed we are to have a healthy little sweetie! 

You sleep through the night now. Thank goodness! I think some of it has to do with the fact that you sleep in a very dark closet with a noise machine. (I don't turn it up too loud) You eat solids before bed, and wake up around 10 for a small bottle, and then you sleep till 7am on the dot! This is something we never experienced with your brother, so I'm pretty happy about it. 

You are cutting 3 teeth now. Poor thing. We have all felt the wrath of those darn things coming through. You aren't cutting your two top teeth, but the ones next to it. So you will have a funny/cute smile for a while. 

Crew calls you"lane" when your bothering him. We find it superrrrr funny.You just love pushing his buttons. We love you Laney girl. 

Family Photos 2015

I love getting our family pictures taken twice a year. Once at the beginning and then once towards the end of the year. My kids have already changed so much since February! Thank you to Heidi for taking these. She always captures the best moments. Taking these was so not easy with Crew. He is actually missing a shoe in one photo...but I love it because it shows exactly his stage of life right then. 

Park Day

Don't you just want to jump into that water? A lot of people were kayaking and it looked so refreshing.

Getting her to sit still for photos is now becoming quite the challenge since she knows how to crawl! 

Crew thought there were bears on the other side of the bridge so we didn't go across. HA HA

I love how much he loves her! He really does. When she crawls up to an outlet, he runs over and pulls her hand away saying, "ah NO Laney doo! It's fire!" 

He said he was running from "the bears" when I snapped this. So funny. 

This boy is always up for an adventure but he is so skeptical throughout it. I love it. (those orange shoes? His favorite. Thanks Grandpa Tom) Oh and those shorts he is wearing...yah those have been apart of his life since he was 11 months old. They used to be pants! I love when we get good use out of our clothes. 

This scene reminds me of a book I read, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and I want to go back and read it again. I have this weird love for the south. Can't wait to get down to Nashville again and explore the history there.

I think that we will be frequent visitors of this place!