Hello and Goodbye to the Last 15 Months!

Why hello there strangers!

I know.. I know.. Where in the world have I been? Let's see where I can begin on updating you all on the past year. I guess I can break it down to the top five moments for my family and I:

5. We have welcomed many new people into our family. From our sibling's weddings to new babies, the family is rapidly growing!

My boys and I * May 2014
photo credit: Amanda Nippoldt Photography

4. We took the plunge and decided that we would 'officially' homeschool the boys.  It has been so much fun!  Parker will be starting 'kindergarten' this fall and Preston and Spencer will be continuing with their pre-school 'curriculum' while Charlie adorably drools in his highchair.

3. I started sharing my passion for essential oils with others.  What started as something that I used on myself and my kids when we were sick, has turned into something amazing and gratifying.  I have made new friends, learned more about something that I already loved and have helped more people start their journey to a healthier lifestyle than I could have ever imagined.

2. We moved into our new home on May 12th, 2012.  I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have us all under one roof again!

1.  The birth of Charlie! We welcomed our 'not-so-little' bundle on December 15th, 2013 after a wonderful labor and delivery.  Strange to hear someone say that, huh?  I will have to share his birth story soon.

I know you all have missed my family and I dearly (insert eye roll and sarcastic laugh here) and I cannot wait to be back to blogging and filling you all in on the crazy antics of my family and I!

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When Will I Learn?

The boys and I went to the zoo today. We met up with some friends to see the Farm Babies exhibit... yay, right?  On one hand, yes, and on the other... yes?

Usually I am the queen of being ill-prepared.  Field trips like the zoo usually start in a chaotic morning of me rushing around the house trying to get everything packed and everyone dressed and out the door.  This morning was different, however.  I packed our lunches last night and my wonderful husband even got a roast ready for the crock pot so we'd have dinner ready when we got home (thanks, darling).  Any way, the morning was going great.  The boys were calm, relaxed and had already been filled in on what our day was going to be like (I had shown Parker the zoo website last night so he knew what animals we were going to be seeing and where we were going... I'm doing that every time from now on).  They ate their breakfast and were off to play while I finished packing up the car.

Our drive was as they usually are.. Spencer fell asleep, Preston 'counted' things as we drove by them and Parker was my navigator and co-poilot (never allowing a lull in conversation for more than two minutes).  The Fresh Beat Band was rockin' and we were on our way to a good time.

For the most part the boys were good when we first got there.  Excited, yes.. 'Naughty', no.  We hung out in one exhibit while we all (we were with a group) took bathrooms breaks and got situated for our long trek to the farmyard.  That is where it all started.  Parker was bored.  Preston was bored.  Spencer was bored.  And I was getting anxious.

We took off for the farmyard and things were looking up.  The boys were allowed to run (and jump into puddles) so they were doing ok.  We finally got to the farm and immediately I saw the boys' eyes glaze over.  A farm?  Really?  This is what we drove all this way for?  I don't mean to make it sound like my boys don't like farms... They love them.  However, they love their Uncle Kurt's farm... Where they get to actually hold baby pigs, feed calves and ride the tractors.  This was nothing new and this was boring.  I tried to stay close to our group... I didn't want to completely bail on everyone, but the main entertainment for the boys was this giant pig statue that they got to climb on.  Wow.. So glad I spent obscene amounts of money coming to this zoo... I could have had taken them to the mall a couple of miles from my house. Haha.. 

It was time to eat (isn't it always when you have kids) so we went into this cute farmhouse to have our packed lunch.

This is where the real trouble started.

And looking back, it was ALL. MY. FAULT.

I hate small places.  I hate a lot of kids.  I hate loud places.  Most of all I hate loud, small places that are packed with a bunch of kids.  I walked the boys to the back room where a table was saved for us and I could feel my blood boiling.  Mild hyperventilating is not an understatement. Then came my leave favorite task... Feeding the children.  It's hard enough to keep kids happy/full during mealtime when you're at home and you have a refrigerator stocked full of all of their favorite things, but trying to please everyone with the picnic lunch you packed them is a whole new battle.  

'I don't want broccoli.'

'Can I have a milk.'

'Oh, Mom.. Can I have those (pointing to Goldfish that they sold at the place).' 

'No.  They have gluten.' (thank you gluten, for that easy out)

Why didn't I pack a bigger salad?  I knew that is what Preston would want (my salad), so why didn't I pack another one?

Mid-Meal Bathroom Break.. Of course, it wouldn't be a meal out in public without one!

I took Preston down to the bathroom and then the real trouble turned into WWIII...

The toilet flushed while he was still sitting on it.  For those of you without kids, you need to understand that the toilet flushing on it's own is a huge deal.  First of all, not only is it scary as all heck for the little tush that is sitting way up there (always about to fall in because public toilets seem to be fitted for 800 pound giants) but to a child, flushing a toilet is like being a magician.  You pull this lever, or push a button and then all of the a sudden water comes down and their pee (or in this case a grand number two) disappears.  So.. The fact that the toilet did it on it's own, before he was ready called for a complete meltdown.

Awesome.

We went back upstairs to join everyone else and finish our lunches, but I should have known that was not going to be happening... Instead I returned to a crying baby (he is severely attached to me right now) and along side me was a two year old who could no longer be pleased by A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G.  Except, of course, the notion that he should run up the stairs to the 'Staff Only' area.. Seriously, can't this kid read?  I, on the other hand, had a salad to finish, along with some chips and guacamole.  The meltdown continued and then my biggest pet peeve happened... Preston got so upset (I believe this was in part because of the fact that I wouldn't let him get his own chip of the plate.. Who even remembers at that point?) that he spit his food onto the ground.  

Seriously, child.... Who do you belong to, because it sure as heck isn't me right now?

I was fuming as I packed up our lunchbox and got everyone ready to head back into the cold.  

We went back outside for some more 'fun' on the farmyard.. Parker was seriously almost bored to tears so I agreed with him to break away from the pack and go see the 'real' zoo animals.  

It was like the clouds parted and angels began to sing.  The boys were still annoying, of course (not to mention Parker's peeing on the sidewalk in front of numerous people.. oh, the embarrassment), but I could finally breathe and *I* started having a really good time.

We spent the next couple of hours casually walking from exhibit to exhibit with only one other set of friends.  Not needing to wait for others.  Not feeling like we need to hurry up to catch up to the group.  We were just able to go at our own pace and see what we wanted to see. 

So, that is where I come to it...

When will I learn that my reactions to my surroundings do NOT go unnoticed by these little men?

They look to me for guidance on how to act and how to feel in certain situation, so I can only blame myself for outburst when in reality that is all I really want to do.  'Behaving well' in public isn't something that I should have them work on, it is something that *I* should be working on.  I get impatient and rude and take in out on the little ones that I should be protecting from this pointless stress.

Let's see if this lesson really sinks in for next time!

'Let Them Be Little'

that is a quote i saw on my beloved pinterest lately... 'let them be little'.

isn't that kind of strange to think about, or is that just me?

i never really take the time to think about how truly 'little' they are.  i expect and i expect and i expect and lately i feel like i haven't been giving them the opportunity to just be little.

parker was pouring a glass of water today, and he ended up knocking his glass off the table.  he immediately got the most frightened look on his face and blurted out, 'sorry!' before i could say anything.

what kind of monster am i?

is he really that afraid of making mistakes, or messes, because of what i might say.  of course, i don't want him making messes all over the house, but it was water.

i immediately ran over to him, cuddled him up and explained, over and over, that i wasn't upset and that it wasn't a big deal... i recently read a story:

This is  a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?

He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!

When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?"

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.

His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it.

This is  a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?

He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!

When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?"

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.

His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it.

and today i got to live out part of that story... we didn't get to go outside and try different ways of carrying it, but we did get down on the floor and play in the water (the little ones joined us), we then talked about the different ways that we could clean it up and then i just let him lead the rest of the conversation... it went everywhere from 'how is water made', 'how does the towel dry itself' to 'what kind of dinosaurs lived in the water' (we're in a dinosaur phase right now).

it was great to have that with him... i have to make mental notes to remind myself that most things are still new experiences to him and, right now, my opinions, words and reactions have the biggest influence on him.  of course i was annoyed that he spilt an entire (large) glass of water, but i don't want him to ever think that he has to fear me because of a mistake that he has made.  yes, i know there are times will do things that require a 'consequence,' but not always... especially this time.

i have been doing more and more researching on homeschooling and the more i am reading, the more i am realizing that i have to just 'let them be little'.  yes, parker LOVES doing workbooks and 'actual' curriculum sets, but he also loves hands on learning... mixing and cutting. moving and feeling.  he loves experiencing... what kid doesn't?  so, with that, i have decided to change my approach.  it's honestly going to take more work on my part (blah)... it has been so easy to open our book, see what i have to teach him, do it and be done.  now he (and the other boys) will be leading the way... if they want to spend an entire week playing with sand, so be it.  there are always ways to teach a child, and it's usually most productive when it's up to the child what they learn.

'what was wonderful about childhood is that anything in it was a wonder.  it was not merely a world of miracles.  it was a miraculous world.' - chesterton

'it's more important to prepare your children for life than kindergarten.

*competence*

*confidence*

*self-worth*

*trust*

*empathy*

*emotional intelligence*'

-play at home mom

how true is that?

so... instead of teaching my kids to know the days of the week, i want to help my child enjoy each day of the week... most of all, i want to teach myself to 

let them be little. 

What I Want to Remember

some nights, like tonight, i sit at my computer and scroll through all my old pictures of the kids on Facebook. ugh.. it breaks my heart.  not in a bad way, per-se, but it's one of those 'i love them so much it hurts' types of things.. i'm sure all you mothers can relate.  anyways, while looking through them i notice there are a lot of little moments that probably no one else, besides maybe ben, really cares about. no one cares about preston's pudgy hands he had as an infant, or the insanely adorable gaps in his teeth when he was almost one.  no one cares about his sideways glances at the camera, as he tells me so much with his eyes and devilish smirk or that he wears his underwear backwards.  no one cares about his insane love for animals.

and no one cares about parker's toothless grin that he'd flash me while we'd cuddle in bed in the mornings.  no one cares about his long, messy, curls that he had. no one sees the old, sensitive soul, wise beyond the wee age of three, that i see.  no one cares about all the sound effects that he makes, and the faces that go with them.  no one cares about his curiosity and desire to learn, that you can literally see when he looks at something.

no one cares about spencer's 'scrunchy face' (that parker also made at the same age).  no one cares about his way of watching his big brothers, just waiting for the moment that he is old enough to do what they're doing.  no one cares about his adorable sleepy eyes when he wakes up or his pride when he masters a new skill (no matter how small it is).

but i do.  

i care about it all.  it may seem that i photograph the most ridiculous things at times... a detail shot of their hands while they're playing cars, or how uncomfortable they're sitting while they are reading, but those are the things that make up my days.

i often forget my camera when we actually 'go' somewhere, or i take it with but it never comes out of the bag.  for a split second, whenever we're leaving a place, i regret not taking pictures of the boys while we were there.  however, then i remember... sure i want to remember the good times we had while visiting the zoo, but that's not makes up the majority of my memories.  i want to forever remember the little things, that truly are the big things.  i know i will forget a lot of them, i already have, and that is why i am even more thankful for the random snapshots i have of their grubby faces and dirty fingers. that is what makes up my boys.  

they are messy. they are loud. they are rough. they are the thieves of my sanity and they are my everything. and the moments i share with them at home are my everything... the tears, the giggles, the bath times, the before-bed-stories, the cuddles.

so, to many of you, the pictures i post of my kids may not mean anything, but to me...

they. are. everything.

what do you want to remember about your kids?  

don't forget to capture that memory because, all too soon, you'll become distracted with another day and you'll forget that tiny thing that made up so much of who your child is.

'My Name is Betsy, and I am Addicted to...'

i'm sure many of you have read the article 'how to miss a childhood'... i know i have, a couple of times actually.  with that, i must admit that i am guilty.  i'm not guilty of all of it, but after reading it i did hang my head in shame a little bit.  so...

'hi. my name is betsy and i am addicted to my cell phone.'

it's pretty sad actually... i have all these 'rules' for the boys to earn screen time, but what about me?  i always check my phone, or computer (it is always on and my office is right next to the kitchen) with the intention 'oh.. they're playing so nicely, i'm just going to check it quick.'  well, quick turns into five minutes, which turns into ten and before you know it i've been on there thirty minutes (and the only thing that snapped me back to reality is one of my little men asking for my attention).  of course, that is followed by me getting annoyed that they're 'bugging' me and i get annoyed. ugh.. horrible!

not to mention my phone... 'oh, the cell phone.'  what a blessed curse it is.  don't get me wrong, i love that i can take pictures and videos so easily (not to mention mail them to ben, since he works out of town so much)... but again, it is vicious cycle... take a picture, 'edit' it with instagram, upload it to facebook, check facebook while i'm there, (again 5 minutes has passed), get an email notification while i'm on it, check email... you get the idea.

my new goal is to be here more for my kids.  follow their lead.  play games that i really don't want to play (i'm being honest here).  read books for the one millionth time (this week).

luckily, i have some good kids that know how to get my attention (besides screaming, of course)... they don't allow me to do the 'uh huh' back to them when they tell or ask me something, their questions always demand a REAL answer.... 'isn't it so sad that the bulldozer knocked over the tower?' 'uh huh, that's really sad.' 'why do you think it's sad, that is what a bulldozer is supposed to do?' 'damn... (in my head)'.

and the absolute best... 'mom, can you please drive with two hands.  it makes me really nervous when you're not concentrating on the road.'  well then, that surely puts someone in their place.  

anyways, i have started making a few rules/goals before i earn my own screen time (unless the kids are in bed, because then i have a date with downton abbey, no questions about it)

1. move my comfy office chair to the basement and sit on an uncomfortable folding whenever i want to sit at my computer.

2. have no dishes in the sink before i sit down at my computer

(i know these rules are pathetic... i'm a lazy bum... i'm giving you all a glimpse into my 'real' life)

3. turn my phone text messages on silent during the day... if it's really important, please call me

4. throw in a load of laundry before i sit down on my computer

i'm sure these will change and be updated, but for now... that is what i have.

i am off... my train track building abilities are being summonsed!

The Tuesday Like No Other

this tuesday was the worst tuesday of the year.  ok, it's only been the second or third tuesday of 2013, but who is counting, eh?

anyways, where do i begin?

i don't have any idea what was going on with spencer.  ok, i might have a slight idea, but seeing as the gemlin can't talk, i will just have to make guesses.  i'm assuming it's either teeth, growing or better chances... his urge to be on the move.  the kid took three naps.  sounds great, right?  no.  they were three short-lived and annoying naps.  i know i am expecting a lot from that little bugger, but if he could just get up and moving, that would be ah.maze.ing!

the two older kiddos have been at each other's throats today.  i don't know if i'm just noticed the little bickering back and forth more today than i normally do, but better chances are that they need some space from each other.  with this freakishly cold weather and disgusting flu going around, we have been pretty home bound lately and, obviously, that needs to change.  we put up their slide climber and a trampoline... and last weekend ben put up a climbing ladder, climbing rope and an indoor swing.  it has already made itself more than useful with these two busy bodies running around.

anyways, today was just dragging... everything the kids did was annoying and WAY too loud.  i know i snapped at them (more than once) and the moment i did, i felt horrible.  however, an hour later i'd do it again.  i don't know what is going on, but today i was for sure not the mom i strive to be.

oh.. icing on the cake.. how could i ever forget?!?!  

so, i had some clothes in rubbermaid containers upstairs.. this weekend i spent a whole day organizing clothes; hanging up 'new' stuff and packing away the stuff that they have outgrown. the bad part about having three boys in less than three years is that you're ALWAYS switching clothes around.  parker and preston aren't close enough in size to just take if from parker's bar and put it up on preston's (that would be WAY too easy), so i pack it away for a total of like 2 months and then i unpack and do the whole process over again.  then, when preston outgrows something i have to do it for him.  however, preston is my 'little' one and spencer is, well, not. haha.. so i am reaching a point that the clothes can just be transferred from one to the other.  (wow... this is boring... sorry).  LONG STORY SHORT, i had a bunch of bins upstairs, all organized, and the boys decided to dump them all out and roll around in them.  so awesome.  i blew up.  like.. bad.  i had already had enough and this was just too far. i yelled and sent them downstairs to clean their playroom while i did this on my own.  i seriously just didn't even want to look at them (horrible, i know).

i spent the next (i have no idea how long, i was too angry to calculate) bit of time re-sorting and packing.  honestly, it wasn't as hard as the first time because i kind of remembered what went where, but still.. it sucked!  i got the boys ready for bed and as we were all laying together, reading books, the guilt really sunk in.... 

i was so incredibly mean to them today.  i had no patience and everything they said or did was inconveniencing me (even though i can't tell you a single thing i did all day).  

i snuggled in extra close to them and let it all out.  i apologized for how rude i was, for not giving the time they so obviously needed and for yelling at them.  i started crying as i told them how bad i felt and that i was not proud of the way i acted.  i, again, told them that they are allowed to point if i am ever treating them bad during the day and i will try to fix whatever it is that i am doing.

(keep in mind, parker is three and a half and preston is two)

i was awestruck by what happened next... 

preston threw his little (but strong arms) around my neck and squeezed as hard as he could.  then, when he was done, he gave me the biggest kiss on the cheek and then just laid back down next to me (with his arm still behind my neck).  

parker just calming said, 'you know mom, you did make me really sad today but i'm not sad with you anymore.  tomorrow let's just work as a team better.'

seriously.. am i not the luckiest girl alive?

good night all, and here is to hoping that tomorrow is a little brighter!

Ugh...

me: 'what are you guys doing upstairs?'

parker: 'we're just playing hide and seek.'

{insert metal image of two adorable boys running from room to room looking for each other, 

accompanied by the sound of their little feet on the hardwood floor and 

giggles as they catch each other}

welcome back to reality!

what he actually meant is that they were dumping out rubermaid containers of clothes, six to be exact, into a giant pile and laying in them.  

what is the worst part?  

i had just organized those containers... some were too small for spencer that needed to be put in the basement, some that are still a little too big for spencer that were in his closet, some were my clothes, and some were too small for parker, but not quite preston's size.  

great.. so i have a mountain of clothes and i have to re-sort all of them! it looks like gymboree puked all over my bedroom floor! ugh, i'm too sober for this!

Quick Note of Happiness

i love how their little brains never shut off and i love how weekend mornings are filled with a million questions that ben has the patience to answer (in depth)...

parker: 'how are houses built?'

parker: 'tell me about the sun.'

preston: 'choo choo?'

parker: 'he wants to know how a train works.'

hope you're enjoying or weekend as much as we are!

twelve month rewind...

Oh. My. Goodness.  Seriously, where did the year go?  It seems like yesterday that Preston was just born and now we're already over half way to meeting our newest little man!  So, I thought I would take a minute to look back on our last twelve months so see if *maybe* I can figure out when I lost my sanity...

Minnesota Children's Museum visit on New Years Day 2011

Valentine's Day.. They were so tiny!

Family Trip to Cancun, Mexico

Easter

Parker's First 'Real' Haircut by Mom

A Second Birthday!

A Baptism

A Party

Family Photo Shoot at the River

Concerts in the Park

Standing!

Crawling!

A Parade

The 4th of July at Nana's Cabin

The County Fair

LOTS of DANCING!

Craft Projects

Messy Mealtimes!

A Wedding

(photo credit: Joe Kelley Photography)

A Photo Shoot

(photo credit: Helena Lynne Photography)

(photo credit: Helena Lynne Photography)

A Car Show

Walking!

Family Photo Shoot

(photo credit: Joe Kelley Photography)

Another Birthday Boy!

(photo credit: Joe Kelley Photography)

A Christmas Card

Christmas and announcing that the third baby (due in May 2012) is a BOY!

Before I wrote this post, I felt like we didn't do a whole lot this year.  But now I have realized why in the world I am so tired at the end of every day!  Hope this post finds you all in a time of happiness and health and I am wishing you all the best in the coming year!

Yesterday I was all fired up to get on here and complain about my children. The last few days their attitudes have been insane and their behaviors have been off the wall. Then I realized that a lot of that has been my fault (not all of it, but I know I am at least a little to blame)... Mealtimes have been unplanned, bedtimes have been pushed back (to say the least) and when we are playing, I feel like I mentally haven't been there this week!

On top of their behaviors putting me partly to blame, I realized another HUGE part... Is that REALLY The state of mind that I want to put myself into? Don't get me wrong.. There are days that I will REALLY need to vent about the boys, but right now (especially with the holidays right around the corner) I know that I have so much to be thankful for. Yes, they were driving me crazy in Target last night, with the fighting over snacks, not wanting to sit, not listening when they got the privilege of getting out of the cart, whining and crying, but that is something that NEVER happens, so I guess I am owed one horrible shopping trip here and there.

Thankfully, I didn't let that horrible shopping adventure consume me. I knew it was something temporary (even if it felt like it was never going to end). My kids are healthy (and with exception to the Target shopping fiasico) they are happy, and that in return is something that I should be VERY happy and thankful for... I guess the main thing that I am trying to get at is just a reminder that you can't always control the situation, but you can always control the amount of your energy that you will allow that situation to consume.

Have a good day everyone... I hope I will! ;)

today i said 'yes!'

Lately I have been feeling like I have been telling the boys 'no' a lot. It's not that I really mean to, I just haven't been in the mood to scub paint off my kitchen table and it's ten times faster if I just make lunch myself. However, I recently heard a pretty inspirational story about a mother who started saying 'yes.' Honestly, I am sweeping the floor five times throughout the day anyways, what is one more time?

So today I said yes. It's not that I let the boys walk all over me, but I did give them some freedom that they don't always get. It may not sound like that big of a deal, but for someone who has some OCD tendencies, letting a 12 month old 'sort' beans is a pretty big deal. The boys and I spent some really good quality time at the kitchen table and it was so rewarding, I think for all of us. Parker was playing with beans.. Pouring, dumping, counting, sorting, you name it. I saw that he was about to use the bigger container and try to dump it into the smaller one.. The 'normal' me would have thrown myself across the table to stop the giant mess that was about to happen, but instead I took a deep breath and watched it happen. Once the smaller container was full, Parker, seeing that there were still more left in his big container, tried to add some more. They immediately fell all over the table and all over the floor. He made his usual 'eek!' face and at that exact moment I felt horrible. I don't want him to think that he will be in trouble for every mess that he makes. Yes, of course, I don't want him running around TRYING to make messes, but if it happens on accident there is nothing wrong with that. I told him that it was ok and that we would just have to work together to clean it up when he was all done. He looked shocked. No reprimand for making this giant mess? I continued by telling him that I understood it was an accident and that it is ok to make messes every once in while. Then he said, 'Momma, I didn't mean it. It made a mess because this one (pointing to the big container) is bigger than this one (pointing to the smaller container) and they couldn't all fit.' Wow! I don't know if it is just me, but I was so proud of him at that moment that he could have dumped that whole container over my head and I wouldn't have cared. He figured it out all on his own. I didn't say a word about the differences in sizes, I just sat back and let him teach himself something. And it felt wonderful.

After the fun of the beans wore off, I asked him to go get his broom so he could help me clean them up. I was expecting him to get a bean here and a bean there, but HE turned it into a competition of who could get more beans. (I still won by the way... I can't let these kids completely walk all over me. Ha!) so not only did he learn from his little experiment, he picked up his mess, with no complaints. It was so amazing to see my little man grow up like that.

Sidenote, yes.. I know I have been gone for some time, so sorry!
*And I am in my beloved iPad and I can't figure out how to add my signature, so for tonight...

-Betsy

daily report

Things I have to report today...

1. Last week was spent wonderfully... A visit from one of my sisters, bumming around the house and a visit from my mother-in-law.

2. I am tired. Like 'drained' tired.

3. My children are driving me insane today.  I cannot wait for naptime so I can cuddle up in bed, with a bowl of apple crisp and some ice cream and catch up on the latest episodes of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (insert judgement here).

4. Last, but certainly not least... The Kelley family is expanding (and so is my waistline)....

Parker is proud to announce (along with Ben, Preston and I):

'There is a baby in Mommy's tummy.'

After the miscarriage in July, we decided to let the cards fall as they may and well.. They fell right where we wanted them to.  I actually never got back to my original cycle after the miscarriage, so I called the clinic (after a very obvious positive home pregnancy test) and rambled on, to an answering machine, about when I thought I concieved, blah blah blah... They made me an appointment to have my blood drawn and then we were going to go from there.  The nurse said it would have to be at atleast 5000 and then they would have me back two days later to see if it double.  Well, I never even needed a second appointment.  My levels came back somewhere around 112,000.  The nurse almost laughed as she said, 'Yeah.. You're pregnant'.  I went in a couple of days later to see the little bugger via ultrasound. 

The baby looks great, and 'it' is measuring right on track... The only upsetting thing is that I have another blood clot on the side of the placenta, so they are going to want to monitor that again.  Hopefully this one will not rupture the way Preston's did (I will save that story for another day).

As of right now all I know is that I feel great (minus being tired) and there is a little vampire/alien thing growing inside me.

Oh... I am due May 6th, 2012

(I was 9 weeks on Sunday)

Yes, three under the age of three.. We ARE that crazy!

post of pictures

Honestly.. I am too lazy to write a lot right now, so here is my attempt at a post for the day. 

Things I Love.. My brats!

We took them to a car show on Saturday, with my parents, and then celebrated my step-dad's belated birthday over lunch.  It was a really nice morning (cold, but nice).  Here are a couple of my favorite shots...

The littlest nugget at a birthday party..

While the other one was running around with the 'older boys' playing guns.

Spending the day playing in pajamas

(and yes.. Parker is sporting his new pink slippers that he picked out)

I know, not the typical 'Things I Love' post, but I really wanted to post these pictures, and well.. I love my kids.  So there you have it. 

Goal for the next 48 hours:  Be back to blog about the overall wonderful time I had a Calvary MOMS Group and post a 'Look What I Made'