Hello Easy Morning!

So it's no new news that I am, at times, overwhelmed with the kiddos.  I love them to pieces and would have it no other way, but that doesn't take away the fact that I am exhausted and worn out most the time.  I have a hard time finding time to shower... or better yet, blog (blogging usually wins the battle, FYI... so if I stink tomorrow - thank this blog :-) lol). 

Anyway, I have no time to do makeup anymore.  I read on an article that there are 3 steps to take every day that will make you look and feel like a new woman.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  1st off - I had dry foundation - it never sits right and never hides all my blemishes, but this last month I purchased Arbonne's Sheer Pressed Powder (Here) to try it out (after a year of selling this amazing product - I finally ran out of my old powder and got to get ours!).  And I must say: I love love love it!!!!! It makes my skin GLOW! I now LOVE dry foundation and take it everywhere with me! It makes me day so much easier to not have to apply difficult makeup! So, I will now share with you the 3 steps I take to look presentable (IE: hide the bags under my eyes and help me not look like death ran over!)

1. Foundation - Sheer Pressed Powder from Arbonne - it's a life saver!
2. Mascara - Check it out!!!
And lastly
3. Lip Color - I use this and looooove it!!!!!!! So shiny but no sticky residue on my lips - so great!

So there you have it! 2 minutes to looking like a real, live person in the mornings :-)

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for a lot! It's funny, since doing this last week - I was super excited to be able to post today about what I was thankful for! I was thinking about it ALL day! :-)

1. RAIN! We got a bunch of rain today - and it's still raining outside right now.  So great! We needed rain sooooo bad! And it's already cooling down - praise the Lord! I have been praying for rain for some time - a lot are suffering without rain and so this is a much much needed watering of Houston :-)

2. Naps (I think this might be a thankful thing every week haha) - Cy took a nap while Lulu cried the entire time.  BUT I was very very thankful for Cy to take a nap so I could focus on her and get her calmed down.  I'm exhausted from no break today but it's ok - because Cy got one and I got to snuggle with my baby girl

3. Snuggles - I got to snuggle with Lulu for a good hour today. Last night she slept for 6 hours straight! (She doesn't really sleep through the night yet) I woke up missing her badly - missing our every 3 hour feedings.  So today, I decided to soak it all in! I have been soaking in all her sweet cries because soon enough, they will be gone and replaced with whining (ha!) - so I'm enjoying it now! And the fact that she can sleep on my chest still and be peacful and sweet - love love love it!

4. Lunch Breaks - DH came home for lunch today because he had forgotten something at home... so it was a 5 minute visit.  Still so nice! It's nice to get a hug and kiss in the middle of a hectic, crazy day!

5. Helpful Drycleaning Lady - This company will have my business forever! I had my hands full with 2 kids and of course BOTH of them had been crying since I entered the store to pick up our dry-cleaning.  She couldn't find the clothes then her computer broke - all the while, 2 kids screaming. Yes, it was a FUN 5 minutes.  Well, instead of her handing me my stuff and shoving me out the door (something I would have done myself!) - she helped me get the kids to the car (both still screaming) and put my drycleaning up.  How sweet! You just don't see customer service like that very often anymore and it made my day!


How was your day? Hope it went well!

Shaving Cream Paint + Bathtime = TONS of fun!

Cy loves bath time! Cy loves crafts! Cy loves painting! Sometimes though, I put off painting because it becomes so messy.  While now days, I find the mess a great excuse for a good clean-up afterwards, I still have trouble letting go of my "adult" and being a "child" to get super messy.  Well, I find a fun idea - shaving cream paint during bath time! What you do is, take a muffin pan, squirt some shaving cream in each space and add food coloring - making the colors what you want.

These are the colors I made.  I added some paintbrushes and we were off to the tub!

Forget paintbrushes - a hand is much more effective :-)

Now, for those of you who have white bathroom walls - this would look a bunch cooler.  The colors would pop more.  Cy loved it anyway.  We painting himself, painting his hair...

Buzz Lightgear was soon used as a painting tool... He enjoying it very much ;-)


So after we were done painting, I emptied the water (Cy loved having a tad bit of water in the tub because he was able to wash off his hands and start again), turned on the shower and gave him a quick clean-up. 

It was so much fun! Cy had a great time! Mommy wasn't freaking out about the mess, it was a quick clean up and a great way to learn about colors, texture, and letters (paint letters on the wall)!

In other news :-) Things are going great here.  Though it seems as if Lulu's reflux has gotten worse.  I heard from a nurse in my MOPS that reflux can spike around 3 months and calm down by 5.  She isn't screaming crazy horrible (Which I am very thankful for) but she does cry.... A LOT! And she is always uncomfortable and moving around in pain.  It is getting extremely difficult to carry a 15 pound 2 months old while supporting her head, cooking dinner, cleaning house, playing with toddler, ect.  Because she cries all the time, I am having a hard time with PRIORITIES.  What I mean by that is - when both kids are crying and I know they both need something but Lulu's is reflux, I have a really hard time getting to both kids.  The other day I just stood in the kitchen, listening to the cries of both my kids and had NO idea which one to go to first.  It's hard.  Cy NEEDS to eat, or he gets hurt & needs a hug and Lulu NEEDS to be help so her pain goes away or to eat (ha! She's still eating every 2 hours). So I am trying this week to just breath more, stress less, and tend to them one at a time... I cannot be 2 places at once and stressing just wears me down - it doesn't help the crazy situation :-)  

Who doesn't love an amazing saying?

I am on pintrest and every once in a while I will see a saying that sticks out to me - and I, of course, pin it onto my board.  So tonight I thought it would be fun to go through all my sayings and leave you with a laugh or 2, or a deep thought (yes, I do have deep thoughts, I know - shocking... but true) :-D

Right?!?!?! SOOO true! Dave Ramsey right there lol (He didn't say it... at least I don't think he did) but I wish our Government and Nation could get this through their heads!

This sticks out to me big time! We all have different trials and go through different pains - the pains and the trials and the hard times won't go away when we want them to ... so we might as well DANCE

I am going to paint this onto a canvas and hang this up!

Can I get an AMEN?!??! :-) I am so thankful that my MAN is amazing - I know my son, while having some kinks (hehe, love you DH) will be an amazing man because of his father.

SAAAARRRRRCCCCASSMMMM!!!!! ;-)

SOOOO true!!! When Lulu was born, my entire world changed all over again! I started seeing even more clearly WHO I am as a person, what my purpose is, my passions and my commitments.  With that, I started caring LESS about drama and those petty little things that bog us down.  Hence - I got of facebook and I focus on what is important.  Anyone who wants to be in my life, I welcome! But those who do not pay 2 cents to me or my children - I'm ok with it now.  I am more able to move forward and be who I am.  Things upset me a LOT less and I feel it's because, for once, I know WHO I am (or have learned a ton in the last 2 months about who I am ;-)

This one really hit home! People really do need love when they are pushing us away the most.  If I have pushed anyone away, I guarantee it was because I was going through an impossibly hard time.  And I need to remember this too - when confronted with difficult friends at times - I need to love always

Oh my goodness - I have SOOOO many of these! haha

I have found myself saying this to myself all the time lately! While I complain or vent on this blog - please please know that I am forever grateful to GOD for His blessings on me! For my family, my husband, my apartment - everything! But even I have bad days, and while I vent or complain - that doesn't mean I am not thankful.  I truly know that it's just a bad day... and I do NOT have a bad life

A Touch that never hurts.... that is what I am aiming for - I never want to hurt anyone.  These last few months have brought hurt to people because of some of my words or decisions and I never want to hurt anyone again - I strive to be better and THINK before I say or do...

So very true! Please remember this...

This is my prayer every single morning ;-) Don't you wake up and say "Wow, I'm in a great mood - this is going to be a great day".... 2 hours later: "Ok... I've only yelled once, I'm doing wonderfully - this is awesome".... 2 hours and 3 minutes later: "Yeah... I may need to pray again, DS just dumped his syrup and eggs on the floor"... haha

This is for all my friends who are going through a very hard time right now.  Someday... someday it will all make sense.  Everything happens for a reason - within God's perfect plan

Love you all! I hope you enjoyed the quotes as much as I did :-)

Bows, Bows, and... well, Cake Balls



Big Bows



Tonight I made bows with my ladies. It was super fun! So nice to make bows with others, as opposed to being alone. Though, I do like my quiet "bow-making" nap time too :-) Here are the bows I made. Some could have been done better but considering that this was my first time making bows - I am super proud of myself! I've never been artsy .... ever! Lulu will definately have an accessorized head at each and every event we go to from now on!



Mini Bows





My favorites!!!

In other news...  Cy has been extremely difficult so today I decided to keep him very busy.  I read that bored kids tend to act out more, and he has been acting out a TON lately.  So I did activity after activity with the guy.  It worked! He was a lot calmer and happier today - so I guess I have even more planning to do, so that I ensure he's busy and learning all the time. 

FYI - Making cake balls with a 2 year old - NOT recommended by this mama! It was soooo messy! Cy had a blast but my head hurts even now, 10 hours later due to the constaint it took to not scream each time cake and frosting batter went flying across the kitchen.  I had to mop and wipe down my cabinets afterwards (yes, it was that messy).  :-)

My 1st hair clip~

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just made my first hair clip! I am so excited about this that I am writing this blog, while staring at the clip, feeding the baby, in a dark room so she can sleep as well (yes, it's nap time).  But I just had to share! This new side of me is coming out now that Lulu is here and I just can't help but become artsy and crafty! For anyone who knows me, this is soooooo not me! Haha, I called a cricut by the wrong name for the longest time and what is fabric? Ha.  But now, I am on board ladies!!!! I am on the crafting wagon and y'all better watch out! Sorry hubby, but we may need to budget in for crafts each month ;-)

Anyway, so I get so bothered by bows! I never have one that matches an outfit but I always want my sweet baby girl to have a bow in her hair! So, I went on pintrest (Also so amazing, yes, I have joined pintrest - something I told myself I would never do!) and got tons of ideas for bows, ribbons, anything for Lulu's hair :-)

I made a rosette today - this can be clipped onto a headband, hair, shirt, paper, bag, jewlry - anything! And this particular one cost me LESS than .50 cents to make! I KNOW!!! Why spend $10 on one - I do not know! But here is my picture of my first ever Rosette!

I will post a tutorial on how I made it later.  I am having a bow-making party with some ladies later next week, so I'm sure this blog will be FULL of all the pretty creations I make :-)

P.S. I did not do some things right on this rosette so the next ones will look better - but I am super proud of how this turned out!

Thankful Thursday

I was reading a blog last night about positive thinking and how we all need to think positively throughout the day.  A positive thought can turn a day around! Being a mom of 2 has proven to be quite interesting :-) Especially when one of those 2 is extremely hard-headed, stubborn, and smart! Let's see... who is the adult here.  Ha! At times, I have no idea! ;-) I found myself crying to Ash the other night about how "bad" Cy was that day and how I don't know how much more I can take of his attitude.  And Ash snapped back "He's not bad!".  At the moment I got flustered and upset that Ash wasn't understanding. But after reading the blog, I noticed that there are so many other ways I can approach and talk about Cy's "gifts" ;-) Such as: "Cy was bored, so decided to smack baby sisa in the leg" (ha!), or "Cy was so entertained in washing his hands that he decided to poop all down his leg"... While he still needs to be reprimanded and shown the right way, saying that in my head makes it a more "positive" way of looking at the situation. 

Anyway, so I have decided to do Thankful Thursdays! I am going to say 7 things I'm thankful for each Thursday.  These things will change according to the week/day/hour I am having when writing.  Enjoy!

Ok so Today I am Thankful for:

1. MOPS! Mothers of Preschoolers - provides 2 1/2 hours every other week of class/craft/fellowship with other moms while the kids are in Moppets.  Yes, I literally get 5 hours a month of Cy-Free time! Yay!

2. Car washes and free vacuums - ha, guess where I am going after MOPS? :-D Toddler boy + snacks + ride in the car = extremely messy car

3. Swaddle Blankets :-)

4. Cycling Class

5. A husband who did 2 loads of laundry tonight, put away the groceries, and let me go to Hobby Lobby to get stuff so that I can start making Lulu's costume & bows for her :-)

6. 10 pm hour.... an hour of silence - so wonderful!

7. Shrek! - Ha, Cy's favorite movie right now and my sanity during feedings when he is exhausted and waiting for nap time :-)

What are you thankful for today??

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

The other day, for activity time, Cy and I made Peanut Butter Banana Muffins.  It was so fun! I love baking with Cy - he is starting to repeat everything and baking is a perfect time to talk about measurements, practice his skills of dumping everything in the bowl and not all over the floor, and practice listening (Don't touch that, don't dump that, don't do that, don't eat that - you get the point).  I found this recipe off a health website and it's amazing! We made mini muffins which are great for portion control and snacks :-)

Another idea I had was to tape Cy's used paper down on the floor to help with clean up. It was so awesome! All the sudden I didn't stress if he spilt egg on the floor because I knew I was just going to wrap up the paper and be done with it!

Ha - he was trying to figure out whether or not to "listen" and put the salt down... or dump the salt ;-) *See the paper on the floor? Recycled and awesome!*

We got to baking - I let him add everything himself and crack the eggs.  We talked about the difference between wet and dry, observed the different sizes of measuring cups, and felt everything!!

Here is the recipe, give it a try!!

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins


Makes 12 Muffins

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons salt

2 large eggs, beaten

2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped (or finely chopped if your kids prefer them that way)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil or coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, banana, milk, brown sugar, peanut butter, oil, and vanilla until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped peanuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and cool an additional 5 minutes before serving.

Veggie Tales Outing

This evening we took the kids to Chick-Fil-A for a Veggie Tales night with Abby and Maia.  It was a blast! We got there a tad late but thankfully Abby was on top of it and saved us a seat! The place was packed full of kids (yay for us... Daddy didn't much care for it though ;-) ).  They were playing the new Veggie Tales movie and had free popcorn for all the kids.  About 5 minutes after they started the movie - Bob and Larry came out to say "hi" to all the kids! Cy just went crazy!! He has been getting more and more into Veggie Tales lately and wants to listen to their songs ALL the time.  So this was a special night for him.  As Abby said: "It's Maia's first celebrity sighting" - hehe. 

Cy ran ahead... the kid is fearless.  He stood next to Bob and Larry & stared at them.  Too cute!

Maia was thrilled to see them but was not thrilled at their "life-like size" I think ;-) She was clingy during the photo-op, so Cy decided to jump in and cling as well!


Overall it was a fun night - Cy had a blast and I am definitely going to be attending more CFA kid's nights!!

Bedtime... seriously!

As I write this wonderful blog, I am sitting on cold, tile floor.  With freezing toes & a tushy that is half asleep.  Why? Because I am trying a new technique with Cy. This transition from crib to toddler bed has been horrible! We are going on 4 weeks (I think...) and he is still no where near staying in his bed all night without constant supervision. 

I have tried the Super Nanny - walk him back to bed with no talking.  5 nights of 3+ hours of that and no let up.  I have tried spanking, yelling, threatening (ha), everything! Well, last night at 12 am - I was fed up! I marched him back to his bed, and took a toy! He gets to take a couple toys to bed each night, a blanket, sippy, and 3 yawas (paci).  Well at the end of the evening, I was sitting on the tile floor surrounded by blanket, yawas, sippys, toys and his elephant/pooh bear stuffed animals.  And guess what?! He was asleep! :-) Yay! So for nap - same concept.  I explained to him that if he gets out of bed - for each time he does, a toy/yawa/blanket/sippy gets taken away and that mama was gonna be watching guard from the hallway.  :-) Worked like a charm! 10 minutes later I was able to tend to baby sisa and have some quiet time. 

We are going on 1 hour tonight - he is still fighting it BUT has not come out of his room! Yay! I can see clearly now, the rain is gone ;-) I can see the end of the tunnel.  I pray that this is IT and for now on it only gets easier and shorter and soon he will stay PUT (because let's face it - my tushy doesn't like this tile floor much!).  So ya... that's what my evenings have been looking like for the last month... 3 hour+ of toddler fighting each and every night plus feeding baby girl plus cleaning house plus plus plus.

On another note - this mom of 2 thing is hard! With DH working soooo much lately and having school - I feel like a single mom (NOT his fault - he's exhausted too) & just really feel like most days I'm struggling just to catch a breath and have a smile.  I went to play date the other day and I just sat there like a zombie.  Those poor moms (who has just met me for the 1st time) - they probably thought I had lost it.  And in some ways, I have.  I've lost the will to try and have a conversation because honestly, I don't have enough energy to even deal with my kids right now, let alone converse with others/help others/focus on others.  That sounds horrible - I know.  I FEEL horrible that I feel this way.  But I am in "survival" mode and am doing all I can to stay afloat right now.  SO, if you see me in the next few weeks and I'm quiet and have red eyes and messy hair - don't judge. ;-) I'll get over it... just a small (ok, HUGE) bump in my wonderful life as a mom :-D

Isn't she just the CUTEST?!?!??! Looking at my beautiful children just makes ALL these trials COMPLETELY worth it! i know I'm venting - but I would NOT change my life for anything! I feel sooo very blessed to be able to stay at home and watch my children and let them drive me up-the-wall crazy :-)

Freedom...

I'm just gonna say what every mom WANTS to say, but many moms DON'T say ;-) I HAVE NO FREEDOM! Now, warning - this might seem like a "complaining" blog here, but while it sounds like that - I am more just venting, and do NOT feel boggled down by my kiddos. :-) I just think it's super interesting, is all.

So yea, I have zero freedom. As I stood from the couch, covered in spit up on the top half of my shirt; dishwater on the bottom half of my shirt; and mud on my jeans from a day at the park - I laid Lulu down on the couch, turned to DH and asked the question that I ask on a DAILY basis - "Can you please watch her while I go change my clothes?". REALLY?! Seriously?! I have to ASK to change my clothes? I have to ask to go to the restroom? Does DH ask when he goes to change his clothes or is it more of a "Hey, I'm gonna go change real quick". Where was the question, ASKING me to watch the kids while he goes?! That's right! Not there. Nada. ZipZilch. But for me, I have to ask him to watch the kids just so I can do the dishes.

So while walking to the room for the brief 3 minutes of quiet and freedom I get to have - first time since 5 am that morning (it was now 11pm) - it dawned on me just how little freedom I have. My entire WORLD is the kids, I take them everywhere with me - I have to plan my outings around nap times, feeding times, cranky times, traffic times (because seriously - we CANNOT put 2 babies in the car during traffic, it is catastrophic!!!!).

THEN, when DH finally submerges from his long days of work, school, and homework - I have to ask him - "Can you watch them?" It's funny because every morning as DH is walking out the door, He does do the "Hey babe, sexy lady, beautiful thing (hehe) - can you watch the kids while I head off to work?" Why? Because the kids are MY responsibility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I do not get 2 days off where they are someone elses'
job. I do not get 2 HOURS off where they are someone elses' job. They are mine job/responsibility 24/7. Interesting huh? Moms have NO freedom. We have to ask to do everything because, what comes attached to our hip the moment we got pregnant - are these little monsters. They never leave. They always need. :-)

Ok, so while I have ZERO freedom in my life - I MUST say - I love it! I love having a purpose in life, a job, such GREAT responsibility! These kids' developments are in my hands. I love having 2 wonderful kids to kiss on and love and cuddle with :-) I was simply saying - It just dawned on my that moms literally have no freedom. While that lack of freedom is TOTALLY worth it - we really don't. So there, I said it ;-)

The Role of a Parent

"When you teach your son, you teach your son's son." - The Talmud

I am stealing this quote from my friend :-) Yesterday while at the mall - there was this strange looking man running around with his daughter. Not strange as in "scary, get my kid away from this place" - but strange as in appearance... not your average Joe. And before you go getting all "oh my gosh, you were judging him" - you do it too! Some people just look .... strange, out of place, weird, off their rocker (you get the point!). Well, there was this strange Joe and a Average Joe, both their with their kids. While the average Joe just sat there, on his phone, doing NOTHING - Strange Joe was running around, playing, singing, having a BLAST with his daughter. Actually, Cy found himself drawn to the man, as I found myself drawn to watching him. He was so full of life, so funny, he had a trail of kids following him EVERYWHERE and he kept coming up with this great little games for them to all play together. I actually found myself finding a seat and just watching them (nice for me because after an hour of chasing Cy around with a 14 pound monster in my moby - my back needed the rest!!).

Ok ok - I'll get to the point of this whole "story" :-) I have been thinking a lot lately about the role of a parent. There are a few "parents" in my social reach that have made some very sad and disheartening decisions in the last few months. Some have left their children (divorce, abandonment, other "women" to start new families with), some haven't left but might as well have - not hands-on or attentive (like the Average Joe at the play area), some have older kids and don't help anymore (even though, it can clearly be seen that help is needed). I was talking to DH the other day, and we had a very serious talk about the roles of parents. His father left when he was very young, so when we talk about being a parent - it sparks a deep passion in him. A passion to be a good dad, to give his kids everything - something he never had the option to get, and to LOVE his kids more than anything in the world. *Yes, I am a very lucky woman - I have a husband, who through all his history and hard times, has come out being stronger and more determined to have a family, to provide for his family, and to show his kids LOVE at ALL times - that's huge!!!

Anyway, we were talking about how money doesn't matter in parenting. Yes, you can have money and that really does help kids to have an "easier" life, better schools, better clothes, ect. But money is not all that there is to parenting! Average Joe was very well off (you could tell with their clothes and phones and such) but he was soooo annoyed with his kids the entire time. Strange Joe was more on the "needy" side of the spectrum. Clothes not so nice, long hair (but clean!), ect. But this Strange Joe was giving his kids sooooo much more! He was giving them attention, adventure, love, respect, kindness. I could go forever!

What kids really need are parents who are active in their lives. Parents who give those annoying pieces of advice when they are teenagers and don't want to hear another word from their "rents" ;-) Parents who make them work for what they have - not just hand them a silver platter to eat from. Parents to teach VALUES, give financial advice, give HUGS AND KISSES. Parents who raise their children to be mentally and spiritually STRONG. That is the role of a parent. Money helps, money makes life easier. BUT money is not all that there is in life! I guarantee you, that if I teach Cy and Lu from the beginning to be SMART with what little they have, to work hard for what they WANT, and to never give up - they will be able to graduate top of their class as a doctor, same as the rich kid next to them! Money isn't everything. But Mental, Spiritual, and Physical development is!

And what is better - my husband, who had so little in a father-figure, is teaching my kids something so BIG!!! He is teaching Cy how to be a father. How to love, how to support his family, how to stick it out in the hard-times (even after 20+ years of marriage), how to have ADVENTURE, how to work HARD. And Cy will teach his son that too! He is teaching Lu what to look for in a husband - yes, that's right, she is learning too! She won't settle for a lazy bum who just sits there and makes her do everything or beats her. She is going to look for a strong, determined, loving, adventurous guy... who loves the zoo as much as she does ;-)

See? Parents - you are not only teaching your kids... you are teaching THEIR kids. You are building a legacy. You are starting a TREND for generations to come! Even when you are old - you are still building that legacy with your grandchildren. Are you going to be hands-on, loving, determined, kind, caring, give amazing advice (care enough to give advice), give HUGS and KISSES, give those much needed pats on the back,"that a boy", "get back up and try it again!"????

Train up a Child in the way he should go & when he is old - he will NOT depart from it! Proverbs 22:6

So what this STRANGE JOE showed me, on top of the quote I stole, and the convo with my husband - is that PARENTING is soooo much more than is wealthy. I can give my children the BEST life EVER by being there for them - mentally, spiritually, and physically. You can too.

A day like today

OH goodness what today a hard day! For starters - DH had a test today in class, so last night, he locked himself into the room to study and I took care of the kids. Which is the usual anyway, but it was a hard night - my stomach was hurting, Lulu had horrible reflux - literally cried for hours last night, and Cy was, of course, fighting sleep. So when this morning came, I was upset to find that I was still sick to my stomach, throwing up and all that jazz. :-/ DH had already left for work and I could hardly hold my head up.

I am very very lucky for such a loving hubby - he came home after class, taking a test, watched the kids and did work from home for a couple hours so I could rest. It helped a TON! But he did have to go to work at some point so that left 2 kids with 1 sick mama. It's been a hard day. Poor Cy has been sitting in front of the TV all day, while messing up the house. Lulu has been having horrible reflux and wanting to eat 24/7 to soothe. And I am just in horrible pain and have extreme fatigue right now.

OH! And from being sick, I had to miss my first day of MOPS today :-( I was so excited to blog about it too. Wait for that blog - it will be coming in 2 weeks :-) I could complain - and kinda am, but I am also sitting here, rocking my baby girl, thanking GOD that I have such a beautiful family that gives me such crappy days :-) Seriously - I would rather have one of these horrible days than a boring day with none of them, any day!

Now... whos ready for a vacation?? ;-)

2 months for Ms. Lulu

Yesterday we took Lulu to her 2 month checkup. Can you believe she is already 2 months old?! Seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home and showing her to Big Brother. She looked amazing! I love love love our Doctor - so ladies in Woodlands/Spring area - if you are looking for an amazing doctor, I have one!

Anywho - Here is a little bit of what Lulu is up to these days :-)
She is measuring 13 pounds and 8 ounces and is 23 1/4 inches tall. She was in 76th and 94th percentiles. Crazy girl! She's going to be big, just like her brother it looks like. I'm seeing her being a basketball player in her future ;-) Mama was too short for stuff like that, so now I can live vicariously through my tall baby girl haha. The doctor said she looked great! She still has reflux - we are giving her some meds for that, but it still comes and goes. Some nights are super hard with her being so fussy but others, she goes straight to sleep. She isn't as much of a piggy at night as Cy was. She only wakes 2 times a night now - which I am happy about! I still have to keep her upright for 30 minutes so the feedings are still taking a long time. She is a wiggle worm!!!!!! She moves constantly! CONSTANTLY! Ha, people often ask "is this how a newborn should move?" - nope! That's my baby girl - constantly wiggly. Often making it hard for me to get ANYTHING done around the house with her. She is very very alert! The doctor was shocked with how alert and focused her eyes are (yay! My smart baby girl!!) and she smiles CONSTANTLY at daddy and mommy. Constantly! We are going to have a very happy baby girl. She also coo's all the time - she loves talking - just loves it!

Well that's about it. Cycy is getting a lot more welcoming of the idea that he is a big brother. Yesterday he held her in his lap and said "smile baby sisa, smiiile" :-) I guess Mama says that a lot to Lulu - ha.

Sweet Lulu, I am so excited to watch you grow, to help you mature, and to lead you into womanhood. You are my pride and joy - you put a smile on my face when the entire day is going badly. I love you with all my heart and I am so so so thankful that I can stay home with you and watch you grow, change, wiggle and squirm all day long :-) I love you!

Happy Labor Day

This weekend has just been absolutely, completely, jammed packed with lots of fun things for the Fouladi household! This has been the first holiday that I have not been completely depressed at the fact that my wonderful hubby had to work ALLLL weekend LONG. It has always been like that since I've known DH. I don't think we've had a holiday weekend together for 6 years (out of our 7 years together). It's just not something that someone in retail can do - take off during busy holiday sales (especially when in a commission job).

Anyway - this holiday I decided not to be a sad person. I have tried this in the past but it always happened that everyone always had other plans, so Cy and I always ended up being alone on the days where everyone else was with their families. I loaded up my calendar! And I'm talking LOADED! We had something planned every morning, afternoon, and evening. Cy is currently in his bed, exhausted from the long weekend.

We visited Bibi and went swimming, went to Memorial City Mall for some fun and lunch... followed by a ride on that spinny thing that makes me all sick ;-) We had an absolutely WONDERFUL playdate at my friend Abby's - the weather was perfect and company even more perfect! Then had dinner at my amazing friend, Krystin's. She helped the kids make little pizzas while I got to sit and feed Lulu in peace. Yeah - I know! PEACE! IT was amazing!!! :-) An entire feeding for the precious baby girl with no interruptions from big brother. Priceless.

We went to the park a couple times this weekend - with the weather so absolutely PERFECT and having stayed inside for the last 8 weeks because of a newborn and the heat being unbearable - it was soooo nice to get out! We also went swimming in cold water with my friend, Christine. That was a great visit up until the point Cy hid in her corner and poo'ed in his pants. *AACK!* We had dinner at Maria's with her family - real Mexican Fajitas ;-) They were delicious! We visited Nana & Papa for a couple hours for some BBQ - Papa showed Cy how to hit a baseball with the bat. That was amusing to watch! And of course Cy drove the little Jeep that Papa and Nana had gotten him and Cousin Nico to play with. :-)

All in all - a very busy weekend, packed full with family and friends. I miss some people dearly - family and friends. But count my blessings for those who are in my life and who have been sooooo kind and thoughtful to share this, what would have been a depressing, weekend with me!

Now what I'm thinking of doing tomorrow is.... writing down everything that Cy gets upset about ;-) Should be a very very very interesting blog - so stay tuned. And I hope y'all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Salt Painting

So I have been trying to do more crafts with Cy. It's a perfect way for us to have one-on-one time after nap, while Lulu sleeps. He loves doing crafts (or rather making a HUGE mess) and I love the time I spend with him doing something fun and different. I have started making lesson plans for him. I am about to plan out my September now. I plan 3-4 crafts a week from various blogs, and put them in my google calendar, so that I can click on the link and be reminded about how and what we are going to do that particular day. So fun! It also helps because I already have it planned and it takes out the guess work of "what are we gonna do today?"

So today we painted Salt. SOOO fun! I took a black piece of paper, and had Cy put glue all over it - he loved that mama let him play with the glue all by himself :-)

He then got to DUMP salt ALL over the paper - we did this a few times to cover all the glue with salt. This was Cy's favorite part and needless to say, half the salt was on the floor by the end...

Cy then dipped... or rather jabbed, the brush into the water (I put just a tiny bit of water in a dish and 2 drops of food coloring to color the water. I didn't use too much water because let's face it - we are dealing with toddlers here, too much water = a wet floor!) & lightly touched the salt on the paper. We were able to watch the colored water flow down the salt and even mix with other colors

The end result was so cute!

And of course, my goober was eating the entire time :-) Gotta keep up the cheeks and double chin ;-)

I highly recommend this fun craft for any 2 year old crazy kid :-) It was easy, short, but so fun! And not very messy. I am always looking for crafts that will keep Cy's interest and my sanity (i.e - not a huge mess!) and this one was perfect!

I wanna do this!

So there is something going around Facebook. While I am not on Facebook, I do still get the email alerts - and I got an email just a little bit ago. SOOOO I am 10 weeks and craving kit kat krunchies :-) Hope everyone is having a great week! I already miss my friends so much on FB. Dang you FB!!! :-) Today was a fun-filled day. We went to the Children's Museum for Free Thursday Night - Cy had a blast and the company was even better! Thanks to all the mamas who shared their snacks with Cy - He appreciates it ;-)

I have something to say!

My dear Friend, Christy, is pregnant!!! I've known her for YEARS and she is pregnant! I am so so so so so excited for her! This is also her 2nd - and when I found out this news, I started thinking about ALL the advice I would give to her ;-) So here are a few I'd give :-D

1. Enjoy the birth! The scared factor was out of it for me the 2nd time, so I was able to enjoy and take it all in! I was more picky about what I wanted and stuck to my gun about it all! I enjoyed the whole experience SOOO much more!!

2. GET HELP! I think the hardest time for me has been week 4 through now :-) You get exhausted. The first 2 weeks, Ash was here but also all the visitors come during those 2 weeks. It's when hubby goes back to work and the night feedings really start hitting you, plus taking care of another child during the day - it gets hard. So try and push help back, and ask people to help with kid, bring meals, and come help with chores at week 4 and on.

3. Keep things as normal as possible. When I came home with Lu, I sat on the floor and played with Cy for 30 minutes and let everyone else take care of the baby. This showed Cy that I was still there for him and I think it really helped him not to develop jealousy right away.

4. Talk talk talk! With 2, you get tired and worn out and exhausted and there is no such thing as a nap most days. And the chores get behind and the word "night out" is completely UNKNOWN in your vocabulary. TALK to your friends - find a support group of mama's, it will really help and will keep ya sane ;-)

5. Seriously find time for yourself! I didn't do this the first time, but this time around - I must workout 3-4 times a week, it's my sanity-keeper! So find time for youself and don't feel guilty about it either! :-)

6. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are going to love love love having 2! You will love even MORE when the older one hugs and kisses on the younger one - talk about MELTING the heart! :-) It's amazing and solidifies WHY I put myself in this crazy mess to begin with :-D

Again, so excited for my friend... and for any other friends who are having a baby ;-)