hard to be a working mommy

For the last few weeks every time I put Johners to bed he asks me if I get to stay home tomorrow. Unfortunately I have to tell him, no mommy has to go to work tomorrow. Then I hear his little voice go, "awwwww, how many days until you get to be home and have a day off again?" I have to then re-explain how the work week goes. This past weekend, I had woken up with Izzie early and had put her in the bath. When Johnners woke up he came in and saw us in the bathroom. He looked at me and said, "hey! Do you get to stay home today?" I said, "YEP! I'm home all day!!" He then looked perplexed and said, "oh, so does daddy have to go to work then?" I : said, "Nope! He's going to be home all day too!!" His reply?  "aw man! This day is going to be AWESOME!"  That was probably one of the best conversations I'll ever have with my little guy. It was priceless and will stick with me for the rest of my life. He is such a precious precious little boy. What a blessing he has been to my life. I am so grateful and fortunate to be his mommy!  

I struggle all the time with the fact that because I am a working mommy, I miss all of this precious and such impressionable time with my babies. It's HARD!!  I love coming in the door and having my kids run to greet me with smiles on their faces and hugs all around. But I'd rather have that every morning and all day rain or shine.  Yes, sometimes they are stinkers, and sometimes they jerk my chain. But they are children, and they are pieces of my heart walking, laughing, living, and amazing. 

I realize there are quite a few SAHM's that might have different words of advise for me on this subject. I know its the hardest job in the world, I just wish I could call it my full time job too.

For now, I do the best I can do with the time that I have. I snuggle, tickle, hug, laugh with, and love them to pieces. And every night we'll count down the days until mommy is home and  we get to spend the WHOLE day together again. My sweet little peanuts - mommy loves you :)

2012 - new year, new beginnings

Well this is just sad. I had sort of forgotten about this little family/life/kids journal I had started here years back. As you can tell, I've 'forgotten' about it for a year now. How sad!! An entire year, has come and gone and although I have pictures and FB posts to look back to, I have no story of the funny things the kids have said, or did and our journeys through 2011. Note to self, do better this year. I know, I've said this before, but I really mean it this time...
So it's 2012 now. Johnners is 4 and Izzie is almost 2.  I can't believe the attitude a little gal has for being 21 months old...someone should have sent me a memo about the STRONG personality type of a little girl. She is constantly cracking me up and to watch her and Johnners interact is one of my most favorite things. They are both at such a fun age. My favorite part of the day is coming home from work to hear their little feet running to the door saying 'mommy is home!!!!" and coming in for a hug :)  sure fills a gals heart!! No matter how good or bad my day was, it's always better when I get home and see their little faces :)
I call them my little peanuts. For some reason that has caught on this year. Even as I type, Izzie is fighting for a spot on my lap. Ahhh, now I remember why I suck at updating this... the same reason I want to update stuff is the very reason that prevents me from it! Oh the irony. LOL.

Izzie doesn't really walk anywhere, she mostly skips. Which is sooo darling! She sort of bounces to and fro no matter what she's doing. We all LOVE to dance to the Fresh Beat Band and Izzie will say "again" about a dozen and a half times :)  She is growing up fast, too fast!!!

Johnners is a climber and loves army guys, blowing up anything and everything and his KIKI. Yes, he's still addicted to his kiki... :(  His bestest buddy is Sam Bone and the two of them can play for hours blowing up this and that. It's hilarious to overhear them as they play. The things they come up with and the way they talk. Ahh, it makes me miss being a kid. They really have it sooo easy :)

Here is one of my favorite pics from the summer. The two of them LOVE LOVE riding in the tractor. It's the nightly routine when I get home from work. So fun to see the enjoyment on their faces :) it's my favorite!!

Ok, wishing I had more time to do this, however.... my children call. Here's to trying to update this more often. Maybe once a month??? hmmm... that seem attainable. :) wishing the best in 2012.

Christmas at grandma and grandpa Stantons

I'm just realized that the little spare time I have left, I'm using for photo books, aka. smile box. that's my excuse for new blogs...how sad. No content, just photos.  Well, I'll have to live with that for the time being...however, I hope to be able to post more information soon.  Izzie is now almost 9 months old and I'm realizing how stinkin fast the time goes with the second one. Soon enough she will be walking and no longer my baby!
blessings to you and yours...

Another free scrapbook by Smilebox

holidays with the kiddos

This scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

Thankful

Having an attitude of gratitude is only possible if you have faith in knowing everything will be alright in the end. I'm grateful for each and every one of you!
I can't believe how fast time flies after the second child. Everyone kept telling me it would, but true to my human nature, I had to believe it for myself. And sure enough, it's FLYING by!
Isabella is God's gift to me. I'm sure of it! She is the reason people have babies. She is cuddly, fat, smiley, and sweet as can be! She sleeps well, eats well, and 90% of the time she is giggly, smiley and wonderful! What joy she has brought to my life! My favorite thing is watching her interact with Johnners. They already have a special bond and are each others best friends. He is SO sweet with her. It just melts this little mommas heart!

Johnners is ALL boy and spends his days playing with his army tanks and blowing things up! He is a highly organized little boy. All of his toys are usually lined up in rows and he displays them ever so neatly! All other times, they are scattered all over his room, and our living room...we're working on his 'cleaning up skills'. :(
Izzie loves to sit up and play. She wants none of this 'lay on my tummy and try to crawl bs' nope. She's not having any of that! She wants to sit up and be part of the action. Since she was born she has wanted to 'control' things. When I try to feed her baby food now she reaches up her hands so SHE can hold the spoon and not me! I have to hold her hands down to feed her! Whereas Johnners couldn't get enough food - he was just a little bird with his mouth wide open!

I enjoy getting home every day so I can interact with my kids. Cuddle, play, laugh, and love on them until bed time. I never knew being a mom could be this fulfilling. It's the most amazing experience of my life. And this is coming from a person who wasn't sure she ever wanted to have kids!
I have so many things to be thankful for this year. We recently moved into a new home and were able to purchase a new vehicle! I am SOO thankful for the generosity and kindness that has been poured over us lately.

Realizing that 5 years ago at this time I was sleeping on an air mattress and living in a one bedroom apartment makes me extremely humbled and grateful for what I have today. It's amazing what 5 years can do to someone. My whole life has changed - and for the better!
Here's to kindness and thanksgiving this holiday season.
Blessings to you all :)

summer fun

it's been a fun and very very busy last few months. Mommy went back to work and life has kept us on our toes! I figured this would be the easiest way to update info now and then try to catch up with the writing another time. Hah! I hope that idea actually comes to fruition. Johnners is so big now, and amazingly smart (in my opinion). He is totally obsessed with golf and most of my nights are spend across the street with him chasing golf balls up and down the open pasture. I strap Izzie in the baby carrier and we head out. He got a set of golf clubs for his birthday and he calls his driver his 'smasher' and his iron is the 'hard hitter'. He also loves to put and basically do anything that involves golf. He'll watch golf and track how the players are doing. It's totally entertaining! He even makes me be quiet before the golfer will hit on TV. Pappy is becoming his favorite simply because, well he's cool, but mainly because he's associated with everything golf! He typically wakes up every am and asks to go golfing.
He's also very wrapped up with sharks right now. He asked for a shark for his birthday and when we asked him what he wanted to do with it, he said 'eat it'. So guess what his wonderful auntie mandie got him for his bday? A shark! We brought it home and the little sucker actually made it for about 20 hours...the next morning Johnners had found the fish net and a pair of scissors. He had pulled the stool up next to the fish tank and was standing over the tank trying to get the 'shark' out and, you guessed it, cut him up so he could eat him!! I plead not guilty because I wasn't home. Mark was in the shower. Our little guy did just what he said he wanted to, we just didn't realize he was that serious! LOL.
Izzie, is a little over 4 months now and is just as precious as can be. She's so much fun and if all babies are like her, then EVERYONE should have one! She sleeps through the night and eats like a champ. She is happiest when she's in the middle of everything that's going on. She does NOT want to be set aside - 'nobody puts baby in the corner' She wants to interact with everything that's going on. She's rolling over and talking up a storm. Nothing makes sense yet, but she's sure trying to tell you something!
Time FLIES with the second child. I can't believe how fast she is growing. I am sooo blessed to have two wonderful and amazing children. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. My life seems more 'complete' now then it has ever been. 'Lovin my life as a mommy and wife'
hope you enjoy the picture slide show. We got some cute ones of big brother Maguire (almost 5) and big sister Makenna (now 7). Sending lots of love to you!

Slideshow customized with Smilebox

welcome baby Izzie!

Well it's official - we have a new member of our family! :)

Introducing Isabella (Izzie) Ann Stanton

We are so excited to have a little girl as a blessing to our family.

She was born on April 14, 2010 at 8:01am via c-section and weighed 9lbs. 2oz. and was 21 1/2" long.

Johnners wasn't so sure what to think of his new baby sister when he met her. She got quite a few strange looks from him before he warmed up to her. It made us all laugh. Now he is a great big brother and even willing to share 'ki-ki' with her. If you know my son's special relationship with his favorite blankie then you would understand how big of a deal this really is!

He is always holding her, snuggling her and giving her kisses. He is in fact, a very proud BIG brother!

I now realize why I was sooo huge :) I looked like someone literally shoved a beach ball up my shirt - and I actually had a few folks ask if I was really pregnant or I had shoved a beach ball up my shirt. LOL! Sorry, I didn't add any pre-Izzie birth photos of my looking like a beach ball. No one needs to have a Kodak memory of that! :) But this is our first official picture together - she's 11 days old in this photo. First time mommy actually got dressed since she was born!

Izzie is SUCH a delight and what a sweet sweet baby! She is wonderful and I feel totally blessed to have a baby who isn't in pain from the MSPI - milk soy protein intolerance - like Johnners was. I think it really helps that I started the MSPI diet in Feb so my body was free from all milk and soy products when she arrived. She sleeps well and is barely ever fussy. In other words, she is night and day from her brother! I had such a rough time with Johnners until we figured out his MSPI intolerance (at 6 weeks) so I didn't get a chance to enjoy baby time the way some mom's do. Izzie is a total cuddle bug, smiles a lot, and is such a doll! Again, I feel so blessed that she is who she is already :) She is a good eater and already weighs 9lbs. 14oz. at two weeks old. She's my little chunk!

Fortunately I had help when I got home from the hospital - the second c-section was a bit more difficult to recover from then the first. I had a lot of pain, and still do. (Izzie will be 3 weeks tomorrow). My mom came and stayed with us for a few days and was a HUGE help! Then my sister in law came up for a few days as well and was also a wonderful help to have around! I am so blessed to be surrounded by such loving and caring, wonderful people :)

This is our precious Auntie M who came to stay with us and meet our baby Izzie!

The kids are adapting well and are so excited to have a little sister as well. Makenna is thrilled to have another female in the family and Maguire is absolutely precious with her. They both constantly want to hold, hug, and kiss her. She is one very loved little lady!

I'm on leave for 12 weeks and am learning what it's like to be a stay-at-home-mommy. I'm only two weeks in by myself and so far so good. All of the anxiety I had about the balance of activities, schedules, naps, and other 'fun' things has seemed to work out so far. Our little family is complete and we are thrilled!

I'll be posting more pics soon - and updating the blog while I have so much 'free' time on my hands :) LOL

to you Izzie - we love you and are SOOO happy you're part of our lives!