A peek at life with Charlee & Bear

My most favorite things about 2 year old Charlee.  Well, for starters ^ you just can't teach cool. And boy is she cool, and full of some serious sass. And most days I love it;) I love how she bursts into the room yelling "MAMA!" And when I turn to see what she needs all she does is smile say "hi" and run away. Or hand me a random treasure and say "hold it" Her favorite things are her brother, grumpy and Papa Ray, blankies, "piwos" pillows, chocolate, electronics, in particularly "pitchurs" on my "fehone" being naked, being outside, water, books, that pink hoodie, pancakes, Mickey, mama and daddy's bed, putting on make-up with mama, taking her sheets off her bed, being tickled, looking at pictures. She is my climber and will almost always find a way to get on the table or counter. She loves having pillow fights on the couch especially when mama throws her on the love sac. She lights up my life. Nothing would be quite complete without her in it.  Even sassy, splash water everywhere, pick on her brother, wipe poop all over, runaway Charlotte is still perfect in every way. This girl is silly and pure mischief and all mine.

Bear is a lover. He just smiles all the time like he just can't help himself. And you can't help but smile back. He is such a spaz! I will get him out of bed and he will immediately take off running and half the time run straight into the wall. He is a passive little guy, when Charlotte dominates or takes toys-- except when it comes to lamby or his cars. He is obsessed with Lambs. And Charlee knows what toys are special to bear and when she wants to be nice she will take them to him, and when she wants to be sassy she will purposefully tease him and take those toys away from him.  His favorite things are grandma and Grammy, his cars and trucks of course "Oawff" or just Olaf, lambs, holding 8 toys at once, going to bed or nap (as long as he has a car for each hand), signing time, puzzles, pushing carts or strollers, running, slides, balls, power tools, bread, being tickled, looking at pictures, chocolate milk and any stuffie he can get his hands on. He is happiest when daddy comes home. Sometimes when he's sleeping he cries out for daddy. It breaks hearts pretty quick, but most importantly keeps mama in bed;) he loves baths or "bah" and is completely adorable in every way possible.

They both have such tender little hearts. When they see someone upset or crying they stop whatever they are doing and become very concerned saying "ohhhhh sad?" "Mama, he sad?" "Ohhhh noo... a sad..." It's pretty sweet. They recently decided together that they love being swaddled up in blankies to watch a show in the morning while mama makes breakfast. 

I sometimes wonder how I will survive when they no longer ask "need help?" "Help mama" "peeease I help?" When a simple kiss on an owie won't be enough to fix it. My life is complete each time I am there when they are hurt or think they are hurt and offer up the body part for kissing  then they happily bounce back to whatever they were doing. Even when that body part is a tongue! Or sticky fingers. Or how they need a kiss from each other too. And when they run all over the house with "thank you" and  " you're welcome" back and forth then back and forth again and again. Then they will randomly stop what they are doing and hug each other. Or come hug their mama. Nothing in this world brings the kind of happiness I get from their little arms wrapped tight around my neck, or their sweet kisses or a little "thank you" they said without promting. Or hearing them learn and say new things. Motherhood, parenthood really, is such a special thing. I choose to focus on the good when I can. There are plenty of messes (!!!) and tantrums and stress and tears that come with it but you can't have one or the other. I will take it all thank you! To my precious Bearett Wayne and Charlotte Ann... I love you. More than words.

House love<3

Kitchen dining area

This house is entirely life consuming and it's starting to get tricky. We signed up to put some serious sweat equity into this bad boy and our time for action is fast approaching! So besides contracting the dang thing we have taken on the installation of the hardwood flooring, the siding, roofing, all trim and moldings, landscaping, now tile laying, and I'm sure there's more. That's why April is national sweat equity awareness month! It's going to be a busy and stressful one. Please pray for me. Please pray for Stephen. And please pray for my poor dear old dad who has agreed to help us in these endeavors and share his knowledge and expertise. Please bless he doesn't seriously harm himself or others. If you know his track record, yeesh. Haha. But seriously, my end is planning and scheduling it all so wish me luck. Plus, I could sit in design meetings all the live long day. Very excited about things to come! Stay tuned! Everything is still going very well, Stephen was able to get the roof papered with a little help from our favorite crew Murray roofing and then Randy got started on the HVAC and our plumber is getting everything stubbed in. Now Lloyd the electrician is doing his and then.... Dry wall!! That's when the fun really begins! Everything will start coming together and really feel like a house. Wish us luck!

Never stop improving

A couple weeks ago, I was having a horrible day. The only thing getting me through that horrible day was knowing we were going on a date that night! It was a count down the hours and minutes kind of day. The kids were terrorizing everything especially each other, refusing to nap, refusing to eat anything, stripping their beds, I had a headache and zero energy to clean up the disaster zone and to top it all off, I had a meeting in Caldwell (30 minutes away) and got there late and the guy had already left. So I drove around for over an hour with screaming kids throwing things at me for no reason at all. Uhhg! Those days always come at the best time (NOT) so Stephen gets home from work- 30 min late. We are supposed to be leaving in 10 min to meet our friends and I'm in the corner crying, the twins are in diapers and hungry and jumping off anything and everything and the house is basically on fire. Ok there was no fire. Stephen asked me if there was anything he could do to help and I threw some sharp daggers with death stares. Really? The house is on fire and you're a firefighter. Jump in man. (To be clear there was no real fire) Needless to say it was pretty dramatic and our night out was cancelled. But once the kids went down and I stopped seeing red spots in my vision I felt bad for taking it out on the poor Mr. Murray. So he let me take him for a bite to eat at our fav, Zupas. Then after he drove us to the job site where our floors had been freshly sheeted that day. And we wandered around picturing what it would look like all framed up. We ended up in what will be our bedroom and laid down where our bed will soon be and snuggled close looking at the stars. We talked about our dreams for house and for our family and life there, and we also talked through some fears and stresses too. It was incredible the wave of relief I felt in that mans strong arms. How can I ever be mad at this man? He lives for my happiness. He is so supportive and wonderful and sweet. And I love him the most. Sometimes it's easy to take out our frustrations on the ones we love. They are there. They will continue to love us anyway. They have to forgive us for all lunatic behavior. But it has got to stop. Taking out anger and frustration on any person- deserved or not- is not how we should treat each other. This year with all our many goals and ambitions we have written out, I add this to the list. To take care of my mental well being. It is not just for those who have an illness. It is for everyone. In the name of sanity! I know what brings stress relief and peace in my life. I know where to take my frustrations, they gym! I need to make a better effort to get there. To plan time for yoga, some reading/studying and meditation as well as a shopping day with a girlfriend plus a nice healthy dose of chocolate is always necessary for me. It's all good for the soul. Truly know yourself and take care of all your needs: spiritually, physically, mentally. I need to be my best self so I can better care for my family! Because they are what matters most. Hug those you love extra tight today and be grateful to have them in your life:)

Progress!

The framers are stepping up their game. The second floor flew up practically over night. One more week and we will be done and on to plumbing and electrical! So crazy exciting. I do not want to say this out loud for fear of jinxing myself, but things are going so smoothly. I'm in awe how all the hard work we did before we broke ground is falling into place and really paying off. The work is never done, but when it's something you love and are passionate about, your heart is in it and you do whatever it takes. But please just don't make me pick a paint color, those booklets are dang intimidating. Good thing I've still got time! This is so life consuming. But in a good and exciting way. What will I do with myself when this is over? It's going so fast! Here are today's progress pics. 

F r a m i n g

 One of my most favorite things right now is turning the corner and seeing THIS! Our dream becoming a reality. It is such a wonderful rush of emotions-- the happiest and most anxiously excited kind! It's butterflies. I told Stephen the other day I feel like I'm dating our house LOL I get so excited to see it, we spend lots of time there and thinking about it and working on it... I'm sad to leave it... And one day I won't have to! I will get to live in this house forever. Haha ok probably not and I probably sound like a freak with an unnatural love for a thing but you guys. It's our home. It's where our life together as a family will happen. It's a pretty important "thing" to me. 

The first floor framing is complete! These kiddos sure had fun running from room to room and falling out of the walls. Haha. Bear even grabbed some tools and decided to help out

Charlee wasn't as thrilled. "You want me to do what?"

It is a beautiful thing, getting to live out a personal dream. I hope everyone has the chance to experience it over and over again. It challenges you and makes you grow and appreciate life and seek opportunity! And it brings happiness and fulfillment. Then once you've met your dream foot to foot face to face, well it's time to dream a little bigger:) 

Next up: second floor decking and framing. 

❤️ v a l e n t i n e s ❤️

Dare I say, best Valentine's Day ever. We woke up and had veggie omlets then Stephen took the kids to crossfit and I got to go on a run and the gym. Then we decided to meet down at camels back to take the kiddos on a little hike. Lots of excersising! The weather could not have been more perfect. The kids had a blast. I was so impressed with how well they marched up that big hill with their little legs. They liked it so well we did it a few times. They also decided to all of the sudden love dogs. Every one we passed we had to stop and pet and get licked. We probably saw 25 dogs, it was a busy Saturday! They got a little to comfortable with the petting, and started petting other kids as they walked by (lol) 

This puppy was named Charlie

It was a beautiful day date with our littles. 

That night Stephen took me out... he had a cute surprise. We got take out and went up near arrowrock and had a fire on the beach and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. He found me a beach:) we had a nice romantic night in the mountains until 3 other people had the same idea haha HAPPY VALENTINES DAY I am surrounded by so much love and couldn't be more grateful. 

"If a picture is worth a thousand words, consider these 'I love you's'"

❤️❤️❤️❤️