The baby that never complains

This, my friends, is the baby that never complains:

He doesn't complain when I leave him on the couch to go to the bathroom....
then get distracted an clean the kitchen for 20 minutes. He just falls asleep.

He doesn't complain when his aunts roll him around on the ground like a doll.
He just rolls with it :)

He doesn't complain when his cousin sticks her finger in his mouth.
He just pretends it's his thumb and sucks away.

He doesn't complain when his aunt sits on him.

He doesn't complain when his batteries die in the swing.

He just goes to sleep.

The Lord must have known I needed an easy going baby. I love this sweet little guy and his relaxed attitude! 

I should be sleeping...

Some nights the only way I get a minute to myself is to stay up to late. If you're a mom, you probably know what I mean. Sometimes, when you're a mom (especially one of 3 boys, 3 and under) you need to stay up until 11 to hear the silence. Yes, I am laying bed right now, listening to NOTHING. This is the first time all day, since 6:55 this morning, I haven't had someone crying to me "he pinched me", the first time I haven't had my 2 year old begging me to hold him, and the first time my almost 3 month old is sleeping. On his own. Not in my arms. I am LOVING it.

I always lay on bed and dream of what I'm going to do someday... I found this awesome idea on Pinterest, and I have been wanting to break out my sewing machine for a while to do this with a few of my tank tops. I also wanna get creative and make my own cloth diapers.. I've done a couple, they aren't the best, but I love making them. Simply because it's ME time I don't get enough me time these days. If I get a shower alone I am one happy mama :)

Well now that you know what I lay in bed and dream about at night, I should probably get to sleep! My 3 year olds bus is here at 9 am, so I need to be up and at em early tomorrow.

What do you do after your kitties are all asleep and you have a few minutes of peace and quiet? Watch that special show? Go straight to bed? Take a long bubble bath?? The options are endless... It's the getting to that point that makes it so worth it :)

It's not all kisses and pinterest crafts

You know how you imagine what your life will be like? Like, when your young and think "someday the perfect man will com along, we will have perfect little children. Those children will always be clean and well dressed, say "please" and "thank you" and you will love every moment with them. You won't even have to work to keep the house clean because your perfect little children will LOVE having chores, and everything will be fine and dandy. We all have had these dreams right? Well maybe I was just crazy, maybe it't not normal to think like that. But I did. I have always wanted to be a mom. For real, as long as I can remember that's all I wanted.

Now here I am. 3 kids later.

Life is crazy.

I have been told 3 is the hardest number of kids to have. I believe it.

I can't wait for bed time every evening. I literally could cry if nap time doesn't happen. I NEED nap time. Don't get me wrong. I love my boys. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Every one always says "these days go by to fast". Lately, I wish they would go by faster! Does that make me a bad mom? I don't think so. I have a 2 and 3 year old that literally spend 90% of their day making the other one mad. Pleeeease tell me why I would want this day to go any slower than it already is?!

I go on pinterest and see all these fun craft ideas, fun games to play and educational activities to do, to make my kids little geniuses. I make these plans to do something with them every day. something that will make them smarter. But usually it doesn't happen. And when it does, there are a lot more tears and fits than I had anticipated. At the end of the night, I look back and feel like I am not as good of a mom as I should be. My 3 year old can't write his name or say his ABC's. What am I doing wrong? I must be messing these kids up so bad... I tell myself that constantly.

But honestly! My kids are LOVED. That very same 3 year old that can't write his name, tells me at least 20 times a day that he loves me. He gives me kisses and hugs and asks me to play legos and licoln logs with him. My 2 year old throws a fit if I don't hold his hand every time we get out of the car.

Is that messed up? I don't think so.

Just because I am not living a pinterest life, and my house isn't always clean doesn't mean we don't have a happy life. There is too much yelling, a lot of fighting and I can't wait for this crabby stage to pass. But when it does, I will miss it I'm sure. I will wish they were young again, wish they wanted to hold my hands and give me kisses. But seriously, don't tell me I will miss it. Because right now? I just want a nap.

The story of my life.

Day 1: The story of your life in 250 words or less 

I was born, a baby, like most people :) I am the 3rd child in my family. When I was around 7 my parents decided to adopt, another boy since we had two girls and one boy. They just finalized their 8th adoption on valentines day of this year. I lived in the same house from the time I was born, until I moved to Japan with my husband when I was 18. I met my husband when I was 13, started dating him when I was 15 and married him 2 months after I turned 18. We have been married just over 6 years and it was the best decision I have ever made! We lived in Japan for 3 years because my husband was in the Army, came home to Minnesota to have our first son then moved to Texas for 10 months. My husband got out of the army in 2010 and we moved home to Minnesota. We now have two boys, ages 2 and 3 and baby number 3 will be here any day! I live a normal life, doing my best to raise my kids right. We have an amazing family that loves and supports us. We go to an awesome church where we are trying to get more involved.  My days are filled with crying toddlers and messy kisses, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am in love with my husband and he is an amazing father to our boys, and I am excited to grow old with him by my side. I love my life!  

and that my friends is the story of my life in 250 words!  (or 264... but who's counting?) Stop by tomorrow for day 2 of my 31 day blogging challenge. Did you do day one of the challenge? Leave a comment with the link and I will stop by and leave some love!

31 Day blogger Challenge

     Lately I have been having a hard time blogging. I love it. I love being able to write about whatever I want, and I love how there is no pressure. But I feel like lately I just can't come up with anything to write about. I have a half a dozen posts started that I have never posted, because I feel like they aren't good enough. I just want this blog to be for me. I have two toddlers, a husband and a dog that I am giving all of my energy and attention to, my whole purpose of starting this blog was to have something that's MINE. Over the course of the blog I have tried several things to get myself into writing more often and it just hasn't happened. I came across this blogging challenge, and decided this is what I need to get myself in the groove. If I can blog every day, or at least close to that, for a month, then maybe I can get what I want out of this blog. A little bit of alone time. 

    With baby #3 due any day now I'm not going into this thinking I will get 31 days straight, but with an outline of what I am writing about it will be a lot easier for me to find the time/motivation to take a few minutes to myself. This is supposed to be for the month of May, and I am starting in the middle of July. But that's just how I do things :) My way! 

Day 1: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)
Day 2: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)
Day 3: Things that make you uncomfortable
Day 4: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it
Day 5: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member
Day 6: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?
Day 7: The thing(s) you're most afraid of
Day 8: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.
Day 9: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)
Day 10: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 
Day 11: Sell yourself in 10 words or less
Day 12: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)
Day 13: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.
Day 14: Ten things that make you really happy
Day 15: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)
Day 16: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it
Day 17: A favorite photo of yourself and why
Day 18: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.
Day 19: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them
Day 20: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.
Day 21: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives
Day 22: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)
Day 23: Things you've learned that school won't teach you
Day 24: Your top 3 worst traits
Day 25: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)
Day 26: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.
Day 27: A letter to your readers
Day 28: Only pictures
Day 29: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post
Day 30: React to this term: Letting Go
Day 31: A vivid memory

So friends, if you are looking for some motivation for yourself, or want to learn a little bit more about me, come back often and check in. Leave a comment with a link to your post if you want, I LOVE to read about YOU! Wish me luck :)

Hello world... I'm still here :)

Wow things have been busy busy lately! I can't believe it has been so long since I posted on here. I will just call it my summer break :)

We have been having awesome weather here in Minnesota the last couple weeks. 80s and beautiful during the day and then storms at night. So much fun :) my boys are loving the heat and being able to play outside all day! I am loving the naps they take. Being 35 weeks pregnant in 80 degree weather isn't the most fun, but for the most part my body is handling it pretty well. My ankles are swelling a little and I'm exhausted, but I have a 2 and 3 year old so I don't know if I can blame the exhaustion totally on the heat.

We have been busy getting ready for baby too! I think I am just about ready for this little one to make its appearance. I set up the co sleeper today. I think all that's left is to dig out the car seat from storage and get that cleaned up. Oh, and I suppose I should pack a bag for the hospital huh? I definitely forgot about that... Here are some things I know for sure I need in there:

-camera
-slippers
-sweats
-baby outfit ( one boy, one girl since baby is a surprise!!)
-cute cloth diapers :)
-shower supplies
-good book
- gum/mints for hubby
-phone charger
-iPad charger
-toothbrush

I think that is a majority of what I brought for both my boys and I had plenty!

Anyone have anything you were so glad you brought with, something you wish you would have, or something you could have just left home?

I am working on a couple different posts right now, so make sure to check back soon for some fun stuff.

"No Poo" Update!

You remember back in February, when I was so excited to stop using shampoo and conditioner? No? Well check it out here and learn a little more about how the whole thing works. So now here I am, almost 3 months later, and I am sad to say it did not work out quite like I hoped. Here is a little run down on how things went for me:

- When I started I expected the whole greasy hair thing they all talk about, that never really happened. I would use the baking soda and vinegar pretty much every time I took a shower. I take showers every other day usually. After a couple weeks of that I slowly transitioned to every other time I showered, so I was using it every 3-4 days. I had the grease problem every once in a while on the 3rd day. No big deal.

- The main reason I stopped was because I just could not figure out how to get my hair soft. It was SO snarly all the time. It was hard to manage and so rough feeling. I have pretty long hair, it's halfway down my back or so. I usually wear it up so I just put up with it for a while. I tried several different mixtures. Different baking soda:water ratio and even more vinegar:water ratios. I used a couple different kinds of vinegar even.

-I started off just using conditioner every other time I took a shower and still using the baking soda for shampoo. But then I ran out of mixture and just got lazy so I switched back completely. I am hoping in the future, even if I can't switch back completely, to just use conditioner sparingly to prevent any unnecessary  chemicals in my hair.

-I am also 7 months pregnant. I plan on trying again after I have the baby and my hormones go back to normal. This may have nothing to do with it, but I have noticed in the past when I am pregnant I have a harder time  keeping my hair soft so maybe it just wasn't the right time to try this experiment.

- I did not try any of the oils or anything they suggest to try. So next time I try I will do that. Again, I feel like a huge part of it not working had to do with my pregnancy hormones so I kind of felt like no matter what I did it wasn't going to work out. Maybe I just gave up to easily.

Well I hope this whole thing was helpful for someone. I know it was helpful for me. I learned a lot, and got my husband to switch completely to baking soda and vinegar. He prefers it in a spray bottle so that's how he will be sticking with it.