Great Start to the New Year

Friday's PB & J Day was fantastic. We had 7 mamas and 12 kiddos in the house all chatting, playing and laughing. There were new mamas, kids and conversations. What a great start to the 2011 PB & J Day group. Thank you everyone for being involved and doing life together!

Mom's Can't Quit

Little ones in red and green jammies fit snuggly to their body, Christmas tree twinkling, a fire crackling, snow lightly falling outside and daddy reading us all a bedtime story, what a perfect Christmas Eve.

Ok so ours wasn't exactly how I had envisioned the holiday happening. Both my little boys spent Christmas with goopy, green, disgusting noses, barking coughs and glazed over eyes. They were a pitiful sight, trying to be excited and thankful but really just wanting to curl up in mommy's lap. We trudged through the day trying to create joyful memories but beneath it all was frustration.









You plan, anticipate and prepare for weeks. Picturing the perfect Christmas in your mind, playing it out over and over. Then when it finally arrives and the excitement is buried by sickness it is a bummer, a big bummer.

To make matters worse we took on potty training this past week. Trexen has been asking for a while and he was ready and since Jeff and I both had the week off it seemed like a great idea. We have spent the past few weeks preparing Trexen, getting him excited for this new step. Monday went well, 2 accidents and lots of excitement. Tuesday was much of the same. By Wednesday though I could tell it was going downhill. As afternoon rolled around it was getting worse, he was now holding all pee and poop inside. Ok, don't panic I thought call the doctor. Well they just said put him back in diapers...no! Thursday brought lots of tears, helplessness and pain. Thursday night we contemplated a trip to the ER, we were pumping him full of prune juice and laxatives, but nothing worked.












Today is Sunday and not much has changed. We forced a pull-up on him last night and he finally went today. Not sure where to go from here, he wants to be a big boy and thinks he is doing it isn't. This week has not been one of my best. I said things I didn't mean, had negative thoughts and really just wanted to quit. Motherhood that is; I wanted to be done. This isn't working well, we have 2 of the most challenging kids and I am exhausted. Can't I just be done for a while? NO! Mom's can't quit, I can't leave, can't hide and can't ignore. Motherhood has to move one as does life. I know we will survive this and move on but what a challenging week!

Can't wait to see you all Friday and share holiday stories.

Merry Christmas!

Our PB & J Christmas Party was spectacular. Lots of playing, graham cracker houses, a delicious lunch and a gift exchange. Jenna and Gavin were wonderful hosts! What a great end to a wonderful PB & J Day year. Thank you mamas for joining in, connecting and blessing me with amazing friendships. Enjoy the holiday season, we will resume in the new year!

Can't Wait

I can't wait for our Christmas party this Friday! One I love Christmas, two I love parties, three I can't wait to connect with my mama friends and fourth Trexen is extremely excited to wrap and give his gift! Hope everyone is enjoying the season, soaking it all in and smiling through it all!

See you Friday!

One Life

One of my good friends told me some heart wrenching, tear envoking news last night. Her and I have been a bit disconnected lately with busy schedules but we will always be good friends and when we do connect simply pick up where we left off.

She has struggled her whole life with health issues, had a miracle baby two years ago and has been on the mend. Their lives have been hectic yet joyful until last week. My dear friend was taken the to ER, hospitalized and diagnosed with a not so great disease. As the words were spilling out of her mouth through the phone my heart was breaking. Their life has just been turned upside down and she is back at square one with health challenges.

We caught up on life, the little everyday things, big looming decisions, silly stories from our 2 year olds and discussed holiday plans. The conversation ended like all others, saying how great it was to talk, promising to find a night for dinner and hopeful prayers being sent but as I hung up the tears were flowing. God has given us all one life, a precious, fragile life that could last many many years or end ever too quickly.

As I returned to the family room my husband lay on the floor, the two little ones jumping on top with a slew of tractors surrounding them. Really who cares about the "to-do" list, heaps of laundry lining the couch or syrup in my hair from dinner. We only know about today, the here and now; we've been given one life to live, let's live it in the grandest way possible!

Christmatized

Oh how I love this season! Twinkling lights, cutting down the perfect tree, placing it just right in the family room, spending forever putting ornaments on and then rearranging way too many times, paper chains, fresh snow and little people nativity sets (yep that's right we have a little people Jesus).

This past weekend we kicked off the holiday season. Our annual Christmas tree party was fantastic, lots of fun at the tree farm and great looking trees. We "Christmatized" the house and it is so festive, puts a smile right on my face! We even spontaneously packed the kids up in their pj's to drive around looking at Christmas lights. What a wonderful season, take it all in mamas, it will be gone way too quickly!

Bouncy Town

They were jumping up and down, faces beaming with excitement squealing with joy. Bouncy Town was a big hit with the boys this week. We had the place to ourselves, free to roam, play and soak in their enthusiasm. Bouncy Town is down right fun, the tall slide makes your stomach drop while the obstacle course challenges you to go faster! Energy was burnt, little boys got sweaty and mamas loved all the smiles. Another great PB & J, hope to see you all next week!