Keepin It Real

I've been thinking about parenthood lately.  Probably not that surprising considering it's what I do 24/7.  Anyway, I had a couple days last week that were pretty hard.  Mya was pushing me to my limits again, and I was burned out and out of patience.  I know I usually write about how much I love my kids and how much I love being a mom, which is totally true, but I also want to keep it real and write a little bit about the challenges of motherhood.

I love having two kids, but it has been the hardest thing I've ever done.  I feel like I'm going, going, going all the time.  It's feed Owen, get Mya dressed, change Owen's diaper, take Mya to swimming lessons, bathe the kids, feed Owen, get him down for a nap, try to clean up the breakfast mess, do a load of laundry, get some lunch for Mya, put her to bed, get Owen up, and on and on.  It starts to feel like I never get an hour to myself.  By the time I get the kids to bed at night and get the kitchen somewhat cleaned up, I'm exhausted and don't have any energy left to do my hobbies or whatever it was that I wanted to do during the day that I never got time for.

A little glimpse into life with Mya

I'm so lucky to have Dunc who helps out a ton and helps me stay excited about being a stay at home mom.  We love our kids to death, but they (Mya) drive us crazy.  Mya is the smartest, strongest willed little child I've ever met.  She wants to do things her way, when she wants to, and she wants to do it "BY MYSELF".  Some days I love that independence and strong will and other days it's all I can do not to lock myself in my room to get a break (because if I tried to lock her in her room she'd find a way to escape in about five minutes).  She is such a sweetheart one day and the next she is a bundle of destructive energy.

I worry that I won't be able to teach her the things that are important or that she'll grow up hating me because we are always butting heads.  I hope that she feels how much I love her and I hope that her desires to be good outweigh her desires to do what she wants.  My family always teases me that she is exactly like I am and my dad always tells me that she'll be a powerful force for either good or evil someday.  I'm doing everything I can to help her be a force for good, but in the end, I know that she will be so great no matter what I do.  She has such a kind heart and is so quick to notice when somebody is upset or angry.  She always wants to help and loves to take care of people.  She is especially sweet to her baby brother and is always looking out for him.

Taking care of her baby brother

I know this post has been disjointed, but it feels good to vent a little bit about my struggles as a mom.  I am so blessed to be a mom and am hopefully growing and maturing through the craziness of it all.  In the end, I wouldn't want my life to be any different.  Except for some longer naps here and there.  That would be nice.

Rice Cereal

Due to Owen's serious need to put on some weight, we've been trying to introduce him to the world of rice cereal.  Unfortunately, the kid isn't really interested.  He's actually started to eat a little bit of it before seriously protesting, but here's how one of the most recent attempts went down:

 

I'd have to say that third one is a personal fav.  :)  Hopefully he'll start liking these solid foods and gaining some weight in the near future!

June 11th - Five months and a stats update.

 

Happy five months to baby O!  I took him in for a well check visit a few days ago and here are his latest stats:

25 inches long (28%)

11 lbs 10 oz (0%)

Head - 41 cm (8%)

Unfortunately he's fallen from the 20th percentile, to the 9th percentile, to the 1st percentile, to the 0 percentile in weight.  The doctor didn't seem overly concerned since he's meeting all his milestones, but wants to keep an eye on him.  At this same age, Mya wasn't on the charts either, but she did start smaller than Owen did.  We'll be taking him in for a weigh check next month, so our goal for the next little bit is to fatten this kid up!

 

The doctor  also heard a heart murmur at this appointment that she hasn't heard before, so baby O got his first EKG.  They also did a four point blood pressure.  Everything looked okay, but just to be sure we're heading to a cardiology appointment up at Primary children's in a couple weeks.  I'm sure everything will be fine, but there's nothing like a specialist appointment to make a mama worried!

Mya's Chores

Lately I've been reading a book called "Cleaning House: A Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement."  Quite the title huh?  Anyway, I know my kids aren't old enough to act super entitled, but this book has gotten me all motivated to teach them how to work from the time they are young.

We went through my scrapbook paper and Mya picked out one she liked and then helped me make her very first chore chart.  It totally took me back to the days of weekly chore charts when I was a kid.  

I've been amazed at how quickly Mya has picked up on the whole thing.  Last week she was playing dolls in her room when I hear her yell, "I need a sticker!  I need a sticker!"  Sure enough, she had cleaned up her dolls and her whole room all by herself, without even being asked.

"Look!  We're making a train!  My kids are all making a train!"

Another day I asked her, "Mya will you help me empty the dishwasher?"  and she yelled, "No!  Don't help me!  I want to do it myself!" and started running to the kitchen.  It was so awesome!  The girl literally emptied the whole dishwasher by herself and she's only two and a half!  We did have one casualty (a plate) but I think it's a small price to pay for getting some help around the house

As we got out of the car, I asked her why she took her hair out.  She responded, "So it can blow in the wind, mommy."

As a reward for filling up her chart, we took her out to get some ice cream.  She's already asked for a new chart and is talking about what she's going to get when this one gets full.  There are a lot of days where it's a struggle to get her to do her chores and I think how much easier it would be to do it myself, but the good days definitely make up for that.  It's so awesome having a little helper in the family!

Swimming with Spencer & Syd

Spencer and Sydney have been home from med school for the past couple weeks and we have loved having them around!

Mya in particular has taken to her long lost aunt and uncle.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the attention they give her.

They met us at the pool last week to catch a few rays and hang out.

Owen even got in on the action for a little bit.

We are definitely going to miss having these guys around when they head back to Chicago!  Can't you just be a doctor and move back already Spence??

4 Year Anniversary

Happy anniversary to us (on May 22nd)!  It's both hard and easy to believe that it has been four years since we tied the knot:  hard in that I still feel like I'm 21 and easy in that I have two kids.  How the heck did that happen?  Life has been good to us the last four years and we are looking forward to eternity!

In honor of four years together, I decided to do a little picture throwback of our lives together.  Hope you enjoy!

2008

 This picture from fall 2008 is the first I have of us together.  Dunc took me to BYU homecoming which proved to me he was both less cool than I (in my social sphere cool kids didn't go to college homecomings) and a much better dancer.  I remember dancing to the song, "Realize" by Colbie Caillat and thinking I might be in love.

We spent many an hour like this at devotionals in the Marriott Center during our dating days.

2009

In January 2009 Dunc popped the question at a private Kalai concert at his friend's house.  Kalai was singing "Divide Me"when Dunc got down on one knee and pulled out the ring.  Although Dunc looks a little unsure about the whole thing, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world and I'm pretty sure he was a little bit happy about it too.

One of my fav engagements.  After a crazy stressful semester of the accounting jr core and wedding planning, we were excited to be getting close to the big day.

And on May 22, 2009 we sealed the deal.  It was such a great day!  I was married to the love of my life and we had so much fun partying the whole day.  We loved celebrating with so many people who had influenced us up to that point.

2010

2010 brought two big events.  #1 I graduated from BYU with my undergrad in accounting.

And #2 our sweet and spunky little Mya was born!  That was such a crazy and hard time right after she was born, but I just loved, loved, loved being a mom and Dunc was the best daddy right from the start.  We both felt so blessed to be starting a family together.

2011

2011 brought us to another graduation together.  Dunc got his Masters of Accounting from BYU and it was on to the start of real life.  Although maybe not our best year, we were glad to be earning money and grateful to have each other.

2012

In 2012 we bought our first house!  We have loved this house and still feel so grateful everyday to be living here.  It is a dream come true to have our own place and we are so blessed to have ended up where we did.

Shortly after moving in, we found out we were expecting again and were so thrilled!

2013

2013 brought with it the birth of our sweet baby Owen!  We are just in love with this baby and can't believe all that we have been blessed with.  Every night we check on our kids before going to bed and talk about how lucky we are to have them both.

It is so crazy to think about all that has happened in the last four years and how much we have both changed during that time.  Looking back on it now, it's hard to believe that I'm the same person as the carefree, single girl who had just come home from Ecuador when I first met Dunc.  We have been through a lot together and I am so grateful to have had Dunc by my side through it all.  We are lucky to have each other and are looking forward to eternity together!

To celebrate our anniversary we spent one and a half days remembering what it feels like to be by ourselves.  (Although Owen did tag along, but sad (or good) to say, we hardly noticed he was there).  We spent a night in Park City, ate at my favorite place (Carrabba's), saw the movie 42, and did a little shopping.  It was awesome!  Meanwhile, Mya loved having a sleepover at Mimi's house and getting to tag along to pick up Spencer & Sydney from the airport.  I got 8 full texts from her, along with this picture telling me how much fun she was having. The text went something like this: bbbbjjjjj888dkjdjjjdjjjjjjj, etc.  Sure love that girl and sure loved getting away from her for some alone time with daddy!

May - Just Hanging Out

This girl has turned into a smoothie LOVER!  She has always liked them, but now I have to fight her if I want any for myself.

Got smoothie?

Bedtime stories!  Glad they all love each other.

Stroller snuggles!

Owen always seems to fall asleep on her shoulder while we're out on walks.  So sweet.

Owen's first haircut

This handsome fellow got his first haircut about a month ago.  With the memory of Mya's first haircut (a.k.a. "the hack job") still fresh on my mind I had been holding off, but thanks to some encouragement from Spencer and Sydney while we were in Chicago, I finally decided it was time.

The goal was to keep the cutting to a minimum, so I tackled only the most offensive parts of his hair:  the mullet and the long patch on one side.

I guess that's the bad thing about having babies with lots of hair.  When it all starts to fall out, it doesn't exactly fall out evenly.

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Everyone in the family assumed their respective roles:  Dunc as photographer, Mya as boss, Owen as victim, and Liz as implementer.

Mission accomplished!  Overall I'd have to call this haircut a success.  No one even commented on it, which was just what i was hoping for!

Here's to more successful haircuts in this kids future.  Just not anytime soon.

May 11th - Four Months!

No smiling picture again, but isn't he getting more handsome all the time?  I've loved seeing his little personality slowly starting to emerge this month.  He is still such a mellow and easy going baby but has started to make his wishes known a little more loudly,which is both a good and a bad thing.  We just love him like crazy and are so happy to have him in our family!

While mom's away...

While mom was away, this girl sure got to play!

 I'm pretty sure she had the time of her life - she had daddy all to herself, plus grandma, aunt Jamie, and cousins.  Pretty much everything she has ever wanted.

 Duncan watched her for a couple days by himself.  His mom came up Saturday afternoon and stayed til I got home, and Jamie came up on Sunday and stayed a night before heading back to Colorado.

I loved getting little picture updates from Dunc and Shawn of what they were up to while I was in Chicago. 

  I might be wrong, but I think they went to the park at least six times in the four and a half days I was gone.

 These grandbabies sure love their Grandma Shawn.

 And so does this son of hers.  How could he not when she took him to his favorite restaurant?

Looks like Mya is taking after her mama in the eating department.  You pound that burger girl! 

Dunc really stepped it up while I was gone and even made his first quiche!  Apparently they saved me a piece, but then Dunc decided to take it to work to show off what he made to his co-workers.  Ha ha ha.  From what I heard it was delicious.

I was sad that I missed out on all this fun while I was gone, but so glad that they had such a great time!