so, I am a slacker..

i know, i know... I am TOTALLY and completely 100% slacking on this blog. Here is why, we have been on a house hunt, and praise God, we found one! We move anywhere from November 23 - December 1. We will find out more tomorrow.

I am so ecstatic to be in Nixa. I never, ever in my life thought I would say that, but it's the truth. Having a baby put a whole new spin on just about absolutely everything I have ever known. I love the house we will be in, I love the neighborhood. I absolutely love everything about it. I have to admit, I am a basket case at the moment. My house is in shambles {aka BOXES!} and I am about to pull my hair out. I can not wait to be settled in the new house. My beloved Christmas decorations are begging to come out. I have waited ALL YEAR LONG for this holiday season, and dang it, I want my decorations out!

Even more than that I can not wait to get back into our routine. We are only a couple miles from James River so I can't wait to get back in to the gym in the mornings. I used the long 35 minute drive as an excuse to not go, so those days are over. Right now we are throwing whatever hodge podge meals together we can, as I don't want to go grocery shopping before the move. Plus the fact that my kitchen is 75% boxed up.

I haven't been this antsy and excited about anything since probably the week before my induction with Kinley! The anticipation is killing me! I am so thankful God has provided us with a house that we love, at a lower monthly payment, and a better location. It truly is a blessing. I am also very thankful to my husband who has made this all possible. He works very hard for everything that we have, and he really doesn't understand my gratitude. We may not always see eye to eye on everything, and having an 18 month old who hasn't been sleeping at night is certainly putting our marriage through some rough patches, but that's life and we will pull through .. let's face it, nobody is very pleasant to be around at 3 in the morning on little to no sleep.

I promise to get back into my blogging routine once we get settled into the house, until then, Happy Thanksgiving.

Enter His gates with thanks giving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. -Psalm 100:4

big steps and a happy Sunday

Today was a day of big steps in our corner of the world. Kinley started going to the nursery at church. It may seem small to most people, but it was a very big step for us. I dreaded it terribly - like going to the dentist type of feeling. I was even more nervous when I glance into the classroom to see a room full of rambunctious boys. We didn't have a choice though, as usual, we made it through worship and then she was DONE. OVER IT. Squirming and kicking and wanting down. Puffs, juice and Fox and the Hound on the iPhone couldn't convince her otherwise. We were growing tired of driving to church to be there for a mere 10 minutes and have to bail because Princess Squirmpants can't sit still. I looked at Ty and said "maybe we should try the nursery".. I knew by the way he looked at me that it was time. In the past, he would say "no, she isn't ready for that", and I would agree and we'd proceed to the car, but not today. No, today was the day we made some cahnges. We dropped our little 'frog' off into her 'frog room' and found our way back to our seats in the main sanctuary, nervously looking at each other every 30 seconds. Ty would tell me "she's fine" and I'd be okay for the next 30 seconds ... just as Ty was thinking aloud how he wishes he knew how she was doing we get a text on my phone saying "Kinley is doing GREAT!!" I have no idea who it was, or how they got my phone number.. I suppose from the ladies at the front desk, but never the less, we were so relieved and thankful to be able to sit through a service and know that Kinley was enjoying herself, as well.

She was enjoying herself so much that she didn't want to leave to go home. While we were in worship, I am holding Kinley and she is raising her hands and I think my heart jumped into my throat, fell back into my chest, where it then beat a million beats per minute, and THEN melted. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen and something I will never, ever forget as a mother. It seems like such a "duh" thing to say, but it was a big old slap in the face at just exactly HOW influential I am to Kinley as her mother, and that she is LITERALLY a product of what I raise her to be. It's such a big job and responsibility and I am so proud of the big girl that she is turning out to be.

We are so happy to say Aunt Kelsie is coming to visit for a few days, we don't know what we will do, but we know we will have fun, and most likely go to Target 500 times.

You are good, You are good

when there's nothing good in me.

You are love, You are love

on display for all to see.

You are light, You are light

when the darkness closes in.

You are hope, You are hope

You have covered all my sin.

You are peace, You are peace

when my fear is crippling.

You are true, You are true

even in my wandering.

You are joy, You are joy

You're the reason that I sing.

You are life, You are life

in You, death has lost it's sting.

Oh, I'm running to Your arms.

I'm running to Your arms.

The riches of Your love,

will always be enough.

Nothing compares to Your embrace,

light of the world, forever reign.

You are more, You are more

than my words will ever say.

You are Lord, You are Lord

all creation will proclaim.

You are here, You are here

in your presence I'm made whole.

You are God, You are God

of all else, I am letting go.

Short and Sweet

Ok, I am just starting my post, at the usual time I wrap them up at. A Sunday that included daddy being gone all day AND a grouchy baby, also results in a grouchy mommy. Let's just be honest. I am usually a very positive person, but it's way past my bedtime, and my house looks like a war zone.

I needed a pick-me-up at the end of the afternoon, and no, coffee wouldn't cut it. So besides having two of the best friends a girl could ask for come over, what is a girl to do, besides start tearing into the Christmas decorations a day before Halloween? Yep, I dragged every single box from garage to kitchen and had a hay day. Kinley did too, of course. Pulling out each individual ornament and saying "ball" over and over. As I sorted through decor, and Kinley...'helped' ... Sara made puppy chow while Michael Buble serenaded "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" over the macbook speakers. It was splendid. And, now my kitchen looks like a bomb went off at the North Pole, but that's okay, because like I said before, once Halloween is over, it's fair game for Christmas central here.

Tomorrow, we are going to bake Halloween treats and go trick-or-treating, precious photos of my little owl to come.

A day late..

I know that I usually do my phone photos of the week on Sunday nights to kind of wrap my week up but we got caught up last night with a sick baby. I feel so bad for her, I just want her to get better. First it was a week of teething her molars. It was rough. She was always such an easy teether, and honestly, there were times where I didn't even really know that she was teething until after the teeth broke through. The molars were a totally different story though. She didn't eat anything but milk, and get this.. french fries for FIVE DAYS, five days people. Ty's logic was that she would eat the fries because they are long enough to reach her molars, and she would sit and gnaw on them and mash them up with her back teeth for quite awhile before she actually ate it. And now.. we have moved on to a cold. Your typical end of October cold. Nothing serious. Just runny eyes and nose, sneezing, and I assume a sore throat based off of her raspy little voice. Oh, the raspy little voice just breaks my heart.

We are loaded up with toddler's Honey Elixir, Tylenol (for the second week in a row, and I told you all before, I do NOT do medicine unless I have to, so I feel guilty about this..) Vapo-steamers, Vick's chest rub, you name it.. we got it.

I hope she gets better soon, obviously. No mother wants to see their baby sick. We have a lot of fun things to do this week. Halloween is coming up and I want my little owl in tip top shape for trick-or-treating. I think she will really, really love it this year.

After Halloween ends, it only means one thing. Christmas frenzy begins! I know there are many of you out there that want to complain to me that I need to "wait 'til after Thanksgiving for all the Christmas crap"... well, you can shove it. Last year, Ty was working one of his many 12 hours shifts, and as I was putting away the Halloween decor, I see a big red rubbermaid box in the back of the storage closet. And, it's taunting me. I tell it to shut up and keep packing away the Halloween decor into the orange box. But, the red box doesn't shut up. The red box is now screaming at me, so I submit and darn near hyperventilate as I am pulling out stockings, and tinsel, and ornaments, and snowglobes.. and 3 hours later our house is competing for a spot on the North Pole's HGTV and I send my husband a text that reads something like "Kinley and I got bored today..." and he asks what in the world we did, because he knows, he just KNOWS that we were up to something, and I told him he will find out soon enough, and when he walks in the door that night the first thing out of his mouth was "Brittany, it's November 3rd!" .... Yeah, and your point?

So, the running joke in this house is that we should decorate for Christmas every year on November 3rd. I don't care so much WHEN we decorate, I care most about tradition. I want to instill traditions in my family that they just know will be celebrated every year during the Holidays. And that when they are older and have their own kids, they will talk amongst their siblings and say "remember how every year mom and dad did this, and took us here, and we baked this..." that is what the holidays are really all about to me.

And as thrilled as I am that the fall season is in full swing here, I happily await the winter one, as well. Where tradition awaits us. Where baking, and crafting, and family awaits us. I am going to snuggle up next to my sick little one and patiently wait on the rainy, cold front that is just around the corner this week - looking forward to a week of cleaning, crafting, and yummy cold weather meals.

"if you think my hands are full, you should see my heart."

Fall Funday

After a restless night {and by restless, what I really mean is absolutely, utterly, completely sleepless} I was so, so sure that Kinley would just absolutely crash today. Best nap ever award was waitin' to be handed out. But.. nap time never came. Nope, not even a cat nap. So instead, we played. We basked in the cool fall weather and sucked every second out of this beautiful fall day we could.

It was raining when we awoke and there is something about rainy fall mornings that makes me feel so completely at peace. I know, most people want to crawl back in bed when they see that kind of weather, but not me. Rain inspires me. I want to write, create, clean, play when it rains. We went to the grocery store and then made a pit stop at Target {where I logically explained to myself that -- yes, it is raining. and yes, we do love rain boots. and yes, we do really, really love Hello Kitty, but spending almost $25 on a pair of rain boots that Kinley can't even fit into yet isn't exactly brilliant} Bravo, me! We made it home where I unloaded groceries and laid my sleepy eyed little girl in her bed and waited for her to doze off to dreamland. But it never came. That's funny, because you couldn't hardly keep your eyes open on the way home from the store, but now that I lay you down for nap you are dancing and bouncing and doing summersaults in your bed. Funny, Kinley. After about 30 minutes of this fight, I say fine - get up, let's play.

And play we did....

We went to the farm and played on the equipment, and ventured through the baby corn maze. It was perfectly her size.

It was actually COLD! We had to leave because I wasn't prepared for exactly HOW cold it was, Kinley's little ears were freezing. ::insert stage 10 meltdown:: I would have gotten pictures of this, but it's really not that cute. Moving on...

We came home and warmed up with some yummy fall treats. Cue Halloween Sugar Cookies, cinnamon baked pumpkin seeds, and behold, Kinley's first cup of Hot Cocoa... or, well lukewarm cocoa as Ty and I joked!

We also carved her first jack-o-lantern. She was a total girl about it as I suspected she would be, and would not touch the guts - she wanted to leave that part for Daddy. However she did absolutely love the finished, lit up product.

Oh, and please, contain your laughter at the jack-o-lantern. It was the best we could do without a fancy carving kit. I think he's cute!

We finished the night with a 'spooky castle' made out of couch cushions, sheets and her play land, also -- no pictures of this as it was stage ten meltdown time, as well. She went to bed at 7, and was up by 8 screaming so hard she was shaking. I am praying these teeth hurry up and break through so she can get some relief. Her teething was never this rough in the past. This is new for both me and her. In the meantime, lots of tylenol, popsicles and cuddle time awaits us.

Sunday Night Post

I apologize for not updating as much as normal. I am pretty positive Kinley is getting her molars in. She hasn't quite been herself for about 3 days now. Fussy and clingy which is a definite change from my independent, happy little girl. She has even been turning down ice cream FOR DINNER! I try to avoid giving her tylenol unless absolutely necessary, but I have basically been giving it to her every 8 hours like clockwork today.

Last night Ty and I went on a date to my absolute favorite restaurant, Kai. It is a sushi/bar feel and aside from my bachelorette party a few months back, I hadn't been in ages. It was so nice to be able to sit down and not feel rushed. Kinley has really gotten to the point where we can't go into a restaurant without a huge scene and Kai definitely isn't a place you see babies on the regular. We sat at the table talking for twenty minutes or so after we finished our dinner. (And I am basically texting the baby sitter every 5 minutes for a play by play of what they are doing at that exact second.) and discussing what we want to go do next. I really, really WAS enjoying dinner and having the opportunity to relax for once, but in the back of my mind all I wanted to do was go home and see Kinley. I kept quiet and threw out a couple ideas of where we could go next. I told Ty I felt awkward and out of place downtown. It's like this - if you have a carseat in the back seat of your car, you probably don't really belong downtown. I then told him I feel like I should be at Babies R Us or something instead. So his response? "Let's go." with a huge grin on his face. I jump up immediately and we are on our way. Although we didn't end up at Babies R Us, we did end up at Children's place and Build-A-Bear.. We came home before she was even in bed and surprised her with her new clothes and her bear {complete with Hello Kitty panties}. I am thinking this will be a great potty training tactic, as Santa is also bringing her some Hello Kitty panties for her stocking this year! I spent the rest of date night cuddled up in bed in Ty's thermal {which makes the best PJ's EVER!} with Kinley. It was truly the perfect date night. I am so thankful for a husband who values our relationship and takes the time out of his day to do those things for me.

It was also certainly so, so nice to be able to go on a date and know Kinley was safely at home with somebody we trust so much to totally focus all of their attention on her. Thanks, Sara!

This morning, my mom was coming home from Wal-Mart and a guy ran a red light at 60 MPH, once she realized he was coming, she accelerated in hopes of making it through the light in time. He still hit the end of her, but being that she was in an SUV and she accelerated as much as she did, she is okay. I am so thankful. Like Ty said if it was a couple seconds earlier, I could have been receiving the worst call of my life today. Thank you God for protecting my mom and Kinley's Gammy.

{date night in a nutshell}...

It's your beauty, Lord

that makes us stand in silence

Your love

Your love

is better than life.

Homebodies

Our week seemed to drag on forever, I made it a conscious effort to stay home all week. That is big for us, our whole family consists of a bunch of "go-er's" and "do-er's". We don't like to sit at home for very long. The good thing about staying home now though, that Kinley is here, is there is ALWAYS something to be done. I promise there is always a mess to be cleaned up here, and if there isn't then Kinley will make sure to destroy a room worse than an EF5 tornado in two seconds flat to take care of that little problem. I kind of like it though. No, our home may not always be completely immaculate but it's home, a home is 'lived in'. There are toys in random places. Like a pink lego in daddy's work shoe, and a teapot in the potty and to me, it's what makes our house a home.

Tonight Kinley was on an especially destructive rampage. She pooped on the floor, threw all of her bows into the bathtub, and colored on the potty all within two minutes of each other. Impressive, huh? That's talent right there.

And though my week did seem to go by slower than average, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. More time home meant a much cleaner house, and much, much more mommy and Kinley time. Ty probably liked that we stayed home more, too because it meant more home cooked meals instead of the usual frozen pizza or Wendy's drive-through. Or, maybe he just pretended to like it, because I am a bad cook like that, and well, he's just a good husband like that.

Mental to do list: learn how to cook better...

There was more story time, more let's drag out all the toys you have just so that you can play with them for five minutes time, more outdoor time, more baking time. You name it, we did it. I didn't even care when we spent an hour baking cookies, just for me to pull them out of the oven and drop them all over the floor. Because, really, it wasn't the cookies I cared about. It was the fact that Kinley got her first chance to really, really get involved in the baking process. It used to consist more of mommy cooks and baby sits in highchair maneuver, but not anymore. Sister stirred and poured and ate things she probably shouldn't have, and she loved every second of it. Who said pink plastic toy cooking supplies don't work just as good as the real thing, anyway?

Happy, happy birthday to one of my best friends, Sara. You are such a beautiful person inside and out and you deserve all of the happiness in the world. I mean seriously, this girl brought ME Starbucks on HER birthday.. who does that? Only Sara..

Our week at home, okay minus one little, itty bitty teensy Target trip..

Glow

I am going to make it as far as I can in this post - I have a one year old who is supposed to be going to bed, but isn't... We spent the first half of the day running errands, so the second half we slowed down, and enjoyed the evening.

we start out like this..

We attempted a walk -- attempted being the keyword there. We start out like a normal family, Daddy pushing the stroller with the baby IN it, mommy walking the dogs on their leashes. We never make it more than two houses down before Kinley starts demanding that she wants "out" ... the kid is a freaking broken record with that word. "Out, out, out.." Finally Ty gives in, and carries her and half kicks, half pushes the stroller down the road. The dogs always have to walk on opposite sides of the stroller - yet somehow, still get their leashes completely intertwined and tangled - it's beyond me how we do it, but we somehow manage to make it home from these 'walks'.. it should be considered some type of olympic event, I swear.

..and end like this.

Ty had some time to himself tonight, and hung out with Uncle D while me and Kinley did our thing. I have one tidbit of advice to mother's of toddlers and that is this .. GLOW STICK BATH TIME. Yeah, sister was in Heaven. She sat in the dark bathroom with her little glow sticks and babbled and squealed the whole thirty minutes she was in there turning into a giant baby prune.

After the glow stick bath, I did what any logical mother of a toddler would do - FEED HER PIZZA. That should pretty much sum itself up. Bath, THEN pizza... It was a little bit messy, but she mmm'd her way through every single bite of that pizza. We wrapped up the night with her new glow butterfly. You turn it on and it plays lullabyes and projects stars up onto the ceiling, and she is in love. She reaches out and tries to grab the stars and it's on the top 10 cutest things of all time.

My heart was happy because Ty was off today, that's a pretty big deal in our house since he usually works 6 days a week. He typically doesn't take weekdays off, so having him home made me happy. I smile more and breathe easier. He really is a big help with Kinley, and I swear she just glows when he is home. No pun intended.. ok, maybe pun intended.

Bedtime Battles

This post is going to be short and sweet because I am one worn out mommy. The toddler bed was going so smoothly, and I realized the last two nights that is only because she didn't know how to get out of it yet, she didn't know THAT SHE COULD get out of it, I suppose. That ain't the case anymore. Sister has learned she can climb out of it, and she does this OVER. AND OVER. AND OVER. Until 11 PM the last two nights. So I walk in there and say "Lay down, Kinley Peyton." OVER. AND OVER. AND OVER. Until 11 PM. Consistency is key...or so I am told. It get's really exhausting and really frustrating... really fast. By the time I get back to our room to check the monitor, I hear the door to her room creaking, and I don't see her little jammied body on the monitor.. So I know. I just KNOW that when I walk across the hall there will be one little eye ball peeping out, and when I open that door, that little body will go flying across her room and hop right back into that bed faster than I ever realized a one year old can move. And she looks at me like "What, Mom? .. I have been laying here the whole time." Little does she know, I have a monitor. The cycle repeats and eventually she gets braver as the night goes on and finally after a dozen times of walking across the hall, and peeping into her dark room, the little eye ball doesn't move. Nope, that little eye ball stays right there and dares me to send her back to bed, and that little eye ball knows I am not going to because my heart melts that she just wants to get up and play with us. So we go get Daddy, and he laughs that she is up, and we all huddle in the tent and read books and watch Rollie Pollie Ollie Halloween WAY later than any one year old should be allowed to stay awake. And, secretly.. I kind of think it's fun.

I really love Sundays. I mean, REALLY love them. I love having my husband home and knowing there is zero chance he will get called into work. I get a little sad every Sunday night knowing he has to go back to work the next day. But I don't think he will ever really know how much I appreciate all the long hours he puts in so that I can be with Kinley. THAT is more important to me than almost anything.

I heard this quote that really moved me. It was "What if you woke up tomorrow morning with only the things that you thanked God for today?" In my bettering my outlook effort, it just fits right in. I don't want to ever seem ungrateful for anything that I have been given. Kinley is the best thing that has ever, ever happened to me and getting to be with her and knowing she is safe and being taken care of properly and not being picked on by other kids is something I am so incredibly thankful for. And I owe it all to my husband, I know some days he doesn't exactly love what he does, but I know he does it all for us.

it's what you make it.

This week has definitely had it's share of rough patches. It's taken me 22 years but I am finally learning, I can't control that. Life is a road and sometimes it will be a 5 line interstate, and you are the only car for miles and miles - you are in total control, and you can go as fast or as slow as you please. Other times, there will be traffic jams on windy back roads, in the middle of a big, nasty blizzard. The thing about life is this - you never know which road you will fall upon, and the driving conditions can change at any given moment. BUT, I must say.. there is something else I have learned lately, and that is even when you are stuck in the Farmer Almanac's predicted biggest blizzard of the century, on a road winding all the way up Mount. Everest, with nothing but a long lane of semi trucks in front of you, you are still capable of controlling the situation if you have a positive attitude. Positive thinking has literally changed my life. As many of you know, I had a severe struggle with anxiety for over a year - and by altering my attitude and mind frame I am proud to say I am completely panic free.

Having a good attitude has really been on my mind lately, with a challenging week behind me, I chose to pull the good out of it and reflect on what exactly makes me happy, and have a positive attitude in the first place, and it's written all over the pale little face of this 16 month old pumpkin lover.

I tried to soak this Sunday in more than the average. Ty's promotion has him working even more hours {if that even seems possible} and has put quite a bit of added stress on him. Instead of running from store to store, and taking care of a million errands like we usually do on Sundays. We stayed home all day besides a trip to the park and to the pumpkin patch. We generally eat out AT LEAST once on Sundays, if not more. Today we opted for home made meals curled up on the couch with big blankets. Ty mowed, I soaked in the tub, and Kinley and I dumped EVERY SINGLE TOY she owns out of her closet.. yup, Sunday, we really loved you today.

oh, and remember those overly priced, overly obnoxiously loud shoes I talked about in a previous post. Yeah, we totally bought them.. go ahead, call me a sucker.

It's off to bed for these little Sunday lovers.

a breakthrough

ok, so I have to be honest. It hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies on our end the last couple days. The terrible twos have came knocking on our door... early. Early and HARD. I have had my moments where I have felt like a failure as a mom. Why won't she eat? Why does every little event have to result in a 30 minute long fit? Why is she hitting? Where is all of this anger and violence coming from? It surely isn't something she has seen in our home, and dealing with it day in and day out and having no light at the end of the tunnel -just blackness for what seems like the next twenty million miles can be really, really exhausting.

This morning was rough. I was at my breaking point - just at a total loss. I felt like I couldn't take one more fit, getting slapped in the face by a one year old one more time, or one more rejected meal. I just needed a break. But when your husband works 12 hours a day, sometimes you CAN'T just get a break. Sometimes you just have to suck it up. I am still learning a lot about motherhood, and one thing I have been learning lately is there will be days where you just have to grin and bare it. Not every day is going to be trips to the park, and baking, and watching movies in tents all day. Nope - some days your child will throw fits, and some days you will thank God at the end of the day that you just survived the day. The toddler years are hard. There is no doubting that. I try to embrace her headstrong personality and love every bit of it, but there are just days where no, I don't love being hit and I don't love being disobeyed, and I don't love being just blatantly ignored. But that's motherhood. Those days don't mean you have failed, and they don't mean you are a bad mom.

Monday my mom and I went to Target and Kinley had one of the infamous meltdowns right smack in the middle of the store, cart filled to the brim. Nope, this wasn't a 'head back to the car' fit.. we were stuck. I handed her little pink light up pumpkins, cell phones playing Mickey Mouse, graham crackers ..you name it, it got chucked out of that little red Target cart onto the tile floor faster than you can blink. I don't know how we did it but we made it through that fit, we did. A few aisles later, I told my mom I felt bad for getting frustrated with her. And she asked me why I felt bad. I said, "I don't know..I just felt like I was going to ring her little neck." and my mom said "Of course you did, that's normal. All moms feel that way sometimes. But you didn't even seem frustrated at all." That is another skill you get really awesome at when you become a mom - staying calm and collected when you really want to throw yourself on the floor and have a stage 10 meltdown your self.

Being a mom is all about learning, and one of the most important things I can say to moms out there is this: there is NO way to be a perfect mom, but there are a million ways to be a GOOD one. It's so true.

In the midst of all of the frustration of this little toddler's temper piling up this week, I just needed a break. I prayed for a breakthrough and do you know what I got? My picky eater ate 2 scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. Sure, it took over an hour to do so, but that's beside the point. Guess what came after the breakfast? A THREE AND A HALF HOUR NAP. My battery was recharged and when I watched that little blonde headed tornado sleep next to me, I was reminded why being a mom really is the best thing in the world.

In fact, I napped SO hard that I had to take a bath to wash my sweaty little head.

See, she is already learning how to be a mama.. we'll learn together, sister.

Name of the game: I put my baby in stroller, you clap.

Having a toddler at home is very similar to living with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

a whole lot of nothing.

The days have been lazy around here. Well, ok.. I definitely wouldn't say lazy but ...relaxed. Fall brings about that relaxation in people. You take life slower, appreciate the little things, and everybody is just in more of a "go with the flow" mood. Along with the changes this season brings, we made some changes in our home, as well. Kinley's room was swept of any remaining baby clothes and toys. We swapped rattles for play kitchen dishes, bumbos for tea party tables, booties for leopard print flats, receiving blankets for baby doll blankets, mobiles for big girl movies. Oh, and the movies are in abundance right now. There is nothing like curling up on the couch, with your big girl and maybe one too many blankeys and watching Bolt, Despicable Me, Monster's Inc, on repeat and knowing that the cold rain and looming clouds aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Makes for such a relaxed mommy.

I am sure there are many, many other mommies out there who would frown at me for allowing my daughter *GASP* watch TV - and no, I am not saying it is the most educational or active thing to do, but it's quality time cuddling with my girl and that to me, makes it a-okay. She has started singing in tune to songs, also. CUTEST. THING. EVER.

Tonight as we were swapping out the baby closet for the big girl closet, and the crib for a toddler bed, a certain one year old someone found one of their Christmas presents stashed away. It was a stroller for her babies. She saw it, and she wanted it.. and she wanted it NOW. We gave in, and I can't say I regret it one bit. Not only did it keep her entertained the entire time I was re-doing her room, it was the sweetest thing in the world to peep out into the living room and see her pushing her "baby" around and giving it various toys, and covering it with blankey. Melts my heart.

This may not have been the most exciting post, but to be truthful, there isn't much going on around here besides lots of fall crafting, lots of hot apple cinnamon cider drinking, and lots and lots of movie time... and that is just the way I like it.

Lounging around in PJ's til 2 PM is our thing this week..

September 11th

Not only did today mark the 10th Anniversary of the Twin Tower tragedy, but it now holds another new, and not so fond memory. Kinley awoke around 4:30 AM, crying and squirming around - which isn't really like her. I got up and got her back to sleep, and about the time I am settling back into bed myself, I hear a text message go off from Ty's phone. I laid there for a minute contemplating if I really wanted to get up or not, but given the odd time that the text was sent, I just knew in my gut I needed to check it out.

Ty's boss was sent on a trip to KC with a few other employees as a reward for good numbers last month. The 3 managers and their wives were swimming and Ty's boss mistakenly dove into too shallow of water at the hotel pool. From what we understand so far, he is paralyzed. He is having a 10 hour long surgery procedure and we are praying for good news when it's all said and done. I really liked this manager. He has a wife and two kids, and I haven't stopped thinking about it all day long. I just hate it.

I was shaken - laying there awake. Again, served a reminder to count my blessings. Life is so short, and everything can change in a matter of minutes. My prayers are with him as well as his wife and children. It made me feel so much more.. here. Falling back asleep was a lost cause, so I got up and embraced the fall morning. I embraced little things that normally I wouldn't. Like the privilege of making my daughter ghostie pancakes, knowing she was safe in bed with her daddy. The stillness and calmness of the house before everyone awoke. The scent of breakfast and coffee and candles wall to wall in my kitchen. As I sat in the kitchen waiting on my coffee, I just prayed. I prayed for Ty's boss, and his family. I prayed in thankfulness for my family. I was and still am so jolted over it all.

We went to church, we went to lunch, went to the park, went to Babies R' Us... twice. Came home and napped, went out for ice cream. Really I didn't care what we did. All I care about is that we were a family...it was simply wonderful.

I told you.. it's fair game in my house. Let the Fall Festivities begin.

embracing changes

"Get rich quick, count your blessings."

I know, it's been far too long since I have posted. This week has been very reflective for me {and somewhat stresful}. That is an understatement really but I don't know how else to put it. I have been doing some extremely deep soul searching and have discovered it's time to change a lot of things in our lives. Some things are very personal for me and nobody but me really knows the changes I desire. Other things are situations Ty and I have agreed upon together. For instance, we are making certain financial changes and hopefully, starting a program to help us eliminate as much debt as possible, to help when we buy a home next year. One of the new changes we have been adapting to, is the dreaded time out. Kinley has been quite the handful lately. She has begun hitting when she is angry! If you tell her she can't hit people, she ends up hitting herself. We have also begun the fits.. I mean kicking, screaming, hitting, kicking fits. I typically don't believe in spanking 99.9% of the time - I feel that it's just the parent's way to take out their frustration, I don't feel like it's the best answer. Especially, when your child is hitting already. *AHEM, KINLEY* So, time out it is. It's frustrating to me, because I have no idea where she learned to hit... she has certainly not ever seen anyone in this house hit.

I have to admit, I am not usually to keen on change, but I am teaching myself it really can be a good thing and hoping to embrace this new chapter. What better time for changes, right? The weather has finally shifted to a much cooler, cozier type of fall feel and I busted out the fall decor. Yep, that's right. As soon as Labor Day weekend passes, it's free game in this house.

This week has worn me out, it's been rough in spots. Hoping for a smoother and calmer week ahead, and for more positive CHANGES. But amongst all of the stressful moments, it's next to impossible to not count your blessings every single day and realize that no matter what changes life brings about, I am RICH -- I have been blessed beyond measure, and this little 15 month old who is kissing me {and the keyboard as I type} .. at nearly 11PM, because she absolutely refuses to go to sleep is all I need to remind me of that every single day.

Blessing #983257 -- Little ones who love mommy's slippers.

That little 15 month old, who was kissing me all over two minutes ago, has gone Jekyll and Hyde on me and is now throwing a stage 10 meltdown... so, good night, bloggers.

Blessing #2850185 -- How she never ceases to be amazed by a simple kick ball.

Blessing #1595729 - Footie Jammies, enough said.

Blessing #902755 -Evening trips to the park.

Blessing #349174- First Trips to the Zoo

Blessing NUMBER ONE --- HER.