It's starting to pay off...

Most mornings I wake up to Emery yelling, "MOMMY!!!!" at the top of her lungs. If I don't peel myself out of bed and open her door in time she also begins to scream "Mommy!" and with her back on the floor and feet on the wall she kicks the door. It's fantastic. Kind of like a snooze button ya know, except it gets way louder and out of control the longer I let it go. haha 

After I go get Emery out of her room she usually walks right past me saying, "I want cereal." 

"Good morning to you too." 

And then I get her a bowl of cereal in a pink bowl with her "punzel" {repunzel} spoon.

Then she drinks the milk and sits at the table talking to us until she decides to put her soggy, uneaten cereal in the sink. 

Yes, this happens every day. 

No, it doesn't bother me.

Yes, I feed her something else after.

I'm still half asleep ok?! Don't judge me.

Ok now that we got that cleared up... 

The other day Emery didn't walk right past me asking for cereal, she gave me a big hug! Which, of course, made me beam with joy so I said, "what do you want to do today?!" I was prepared to do ANYTHING she wanted to do because I was so happy for her to give me a big hug first thing in the morning.

She thought about it for a moment and then said, 

"I want to play with my Brigham." 

AH!! Can't handle the sweetness! She had the choice of ANYTHING to do today and she chose playing with her little brother... don't worry it gets sweeter... The very next thing out of her mouth was, 

"Brigham's my very favorite mommy." 

It's all paying off people... 

Sometimes I Write In My Blog

Yeah so it's been a while... I think it's because my brain has officially gone to mush. No seriously. Something happened with Emery this morning that made me laugh SO hard! I went to go right it down but couldn't find a piece of paper so I thought, "I'll just blog about it after they go down for a nap"... and now I'm sitting here and can't even REMOTELY remember what she said/did. It's so sad because there are SO many wonderful moments everyday! I guess that's the magic of being a stay-at-home mommy is those moments are MINE. They are unique, special moments that only I get to share and enjoy... pretty special, I think. :)

It's November... and It's BEAUTIFUL outside. Emery and Brigham LOVE playing outside. Every day around 4 we end up out front riding bikes/toys and talking to our neighbors... have I ever told you how much I LOVE our neighbors?! All of them... we have a great street! The kids absolutely love their friends. On a good day when Emmy hears them outside playing she runs to me and says, "Mom! My friends are outside, let's go play!" pretty much any other day she pushes the ottoman over to the front door, unlocks it, then jumps down and after pushing the ottoman back lets herself, and her baby brother, out the front door. Luckily the ottoman is old and makes a really loud squeaking noise. :) haha

What The Kids Are Doing These Days:

Emery LOVES to pray, she says almost every one of our prayers now (it's just SO cute to say no!) She starts off every prayer with "Heavenly Father, thank you for mom and dad, thank you for Brigga. Bless the food (even if there is no food to be blessed. haha) Name of Jesus Christ---- and then she WAITS. I think she likes feeling in control here, she knows we'll all sit in silence until she says Amen. HAHA! Some sweet things she's said in her prayers (without being prompted) are...

-Thank you for Jesus.

-Thank you for Gramma

-Bless the Mac N Cheese

-Thank you Daddy go work, bless he be safe.

-Thank you for family night (AWE... I thought you hated family night?! At least that's the feeling I got when you started screaming, "I don't want to do family night!!" last week when we told you to come sing a song with us...)

Brigham... He is everything we expected with a preteen girl. I mean really, the kid is SO emotional! And although his fits are boarder-line psychotic his excitement, his love, and his laughter are SO passionate as well!! He is SO tender when he shows you love, he gives the sweetest kisses and the BIGGEST smiles and the most contagious laughs! We adore him!!! He has attached himself to ANY blanket in the house, but he has two favorites. It's so cute, he caries them just about anywhere... they even made it into the chicken coop the other day... tails draggin, oh yeah. It was great.

Being a mom is tough... really tough, but writing these moments down reminds me that it's also SO wonderful. I am so grateful I made the choice to be mommy!! 

The Best And The Worst August 18th 2014

Emery came to me this morning and as serious as could be said, "Mommy, I want to go to the Temple with daddy." 

        CAN'T STAND THE SWEETNESS! 

Emery decided that she wanted to eat lunch on the couch today so I graciously agreed (don't tell Justin! haha) While we were sitting there she began tickling my arm and then just looked up into my eyes and smiled! 

        I LOVE HER!!

Emery and Brigham were playing on our bed... Emery kept trying to force Brigham to lay down but he didn't want to, she'd say, "go sleep Brigga!" And he kept resisting so she just let go and laid flat on the bed and said(without missing a beat!), "Brigham. The sky's awake, I'm awake... we have to play!" 

        Hahaha! Little Frozen fan.

Emery managed to unlock the front door while I was making dinner... I discovered this happened when I heard her fiddling with the lock. It would have been no big deal but her brother was outside... I'm so glad she loves her brother so much.... He screamed bloody murder when I brought him in and threw a fit by the door for 10 minutes? Really? It's like 110 degrees and you have nothing but a diaper on...

         WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE OUTSIDE?!

Emery locks the doors. All of them. All. The. Time. It makes me CRAZY! I mean every single door... I try to get to the bathroom... the door is locked. The best is when Brigham is in there and I can't find the key, but I can hear him splashing in the toilet... 

           HAPPENS ALMOST EVERY DAY.

I'm sure I missed a bunch, but these were fresh on my mind so I thought I'd write them down!! Love being Brigham and Emery's mommy... I feel so blessed!

Feeling Naseous!!

And no... not nauseous because I'm pregnant... I'm NOT pregnant. If you clicked on this post because of that I'm sorry, but not really because I was hoping that would get a few people to actually read my posts... haha! Juuuuus kidding. 

Well, I can tell you that the roller coaster I call "TODAY" is the reason for my nausea... yes it was that good. Actually most of the day was REALLY good, for example:

-Got to go running with some friends early this morning! So blessed to enjoy their company AND a breathtaking sun rise!

-Made a pillow for Brigham's newly painted room that I feel exceptionally proud of! 

-Gave Emery and Brigham an extra long, EXTRA bubbly bubble bath that made me laugh SO hard! --Sitting here laughing just picturing Brigham with a full bubble beard and Emery with a bubble mohawk. hahaha

-It rained... no, POURED! Such a blessing. And it was fun to watch the kids sit and watch the storm. --Brigham laughed hysterically during most of it. He loves anything that has to do with outside!

-Wrestling on mommy and daddy's bed

In between all of these really good things were moments like...

-Emery pooping on the carpet for the second time this week (Potty training was going AWESOME for a week and now she's leaving me special little "gifts" throughout the house... yay.) 

-Brigham pulling out a chunk of my hair.

-Emery allowing Brigham to play in the toilet while she was going potty... but only after he unraveled the entire toilet paper roll, leaving it to become a soggy pile on the floor that was covered in toilet water. (I can't remember exactly what I was doing at the moment... probably sweeping up the entire box of fruit loops Emery dumped out on the kitchen floor.)

-Can't forget the blowout Brigham had... another wonderful piece of art that I got to clean up...the olives he ate yesterday afternoon were a new surprise! Thanks Buddy!

Oh! And CONGRATULATIONS honey (aka Justin)... arriving home at 8:45pm was impeccable         timing!! Less than a minute earlier I was just kissing Emery goodnight,  feeling very thankful to step off this roller coaster of a day! FHEW! Glad it's over BUT glad that I can laugh about it and sleep it off... tomorrow probably won't be much different, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I love being mommy. :)

It's The Little Things

VERY rarely do I ever have a hard time being a mommy... I mean I'm practically happy and patient ALL the time! {I hope you can sense my sarcasm there!) I DO have a hard time, ok... often. I'm not going to pretend like my life as a mother is all picnics and homemade granola! (No offense, I LOVE homemade granola. haha) Yesterday afternoon was one of these times... I can't even explain it, I just get TIRED. Tired of the pushing, the screaming, the crying, the messes, the whining and really just the constant need for mommy. I've realized that maybe that's why God made it a commandment to have children... I'm convinced that being a parent is the only thing hard enough, the only thing that will stretch us, and REFINE us enough to become LIKE GOD! Because I do believe that's His plan for us, to become like Him. {He knew I would need eternity so that's part of the deal too! ;) haha} When I'm having a hard time I sure can do better at enduring it well. My husband will be the first to tell you that. I think one of the easiest ways to endure well is to acknowledge the beautiful little things in our day. I wanted to share a few of mine... In hopes that I will endure the late afternoon hours a little better today. :)

I hope we can ALL acknowledge the little things in life, especially when we feel like the weight we are carrying is far heavier than we are capable of carrying! 

 It was a little too quiet... usually that means they're getting into things they shouldn't... but I ran to get my camera when I saw this! 

Walked past my room the other day... Couldn't stop laughing! 

 I love everything about this picture!

Brigham is the happiest when he's outside! In fact, when he's not outside he's usually kicking and screaming at the back door. Thanks to his sister I've even discovered that he's perfectly content sitting alone in the garage with the light off... (Don't worry! I didn't let her keep the door closed for more than a minute!)

Trying to smile while sucking her thumb. haha

 Once again, Emery showing me how to be a good mom... she was dilligently doing her baby's laundry. {Notice the dresses of Tinker Bell, Cinderella and Rapunzel. haha}

See... I feel better already! Don't you?! I would love to see some of the little things that have brought YOU joy, please comment!! :)

Precious Moment Worth Recording!

I want to write an experience down that happened last week, while it's still fresh on my mind! It was one of those moments that keeps ya going. Makes the poop moments worth while ya know. ;) haha Emery wanted to have a picnic so we grabbed our picnic basket and went to the pantry! She was so sweet to pick out exactly what she wanted in her basket, she even went to the fridge to get the last of the watermelon. Since it was 112 degrees outside at the time we decided to find a spot in our house. I wish I had a picture of Emery marching through the house looking for a good spot! We found JUST the right spot and laid the blanket down. We had the best time! Just eating and talking. (as much as you can talk with a two year old who's mouth is full of watermelon and crackers! haha) Some of the conversations went like this... {Try to picture Emery's SWEET little voice!}

         Mommy: Emery, what's your favorite color?

         Emery: Uh... Grandma! 

         Mommy: Alright, I guess I can see where you're going with that...

         Mommy: What's your favorite book? 

         Emery: Ummm... Grandma! 

         Mommy: Ok...

         Mommy: Ok, BESIDES grandma, what's your favorite thing to eat?                                                        {I'm gonna get her this time!}

         Emery: Grandpa! 

         Mommy: HAHA! (Can't stop laughing) Ok, and what else do you like to eat?

         Emery: Wattameyon! {Watermelon} 

I was beginning to think that she wasn't really understanding the questions! Haha But then I asked her what her "favorite thing to do was, what makes her the happiest"... In the sweetest voice imaginable and without missing a beat she says this...

"My mommy." 

And yes, of course I started crying!! {I'm getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it!} She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big huge hug. It was the best kind of moment a mommy can have! 

Mommy: What's your favorite movie?

Emery: Um, Grandma!! {giggles} 

Little goofball. I love her. 

I love this moment! I am so grateful I put away my computer, even if it was just for an hour. 

DISCLAIMER: I don't always engage in meaningful activities with my children! I am working on that one... still have so many changes to make. The important thing is that for a small moment I was there, I was a part of her little life and we were both blessed for it. I have SO far to go! But I know that God sees the good things, no matter how far and few between they are! He sees where there needs to be improvements too...and He expects those changes to happen, but he is compassionate, loving and patient. 

Dinner Making Madness at it's finest!

I was just beginning my normal routine of dinner, wait did I say "normal"? Is there a normal? No not really... and here's why... 

1. Children are born with an ability to "sense" when mommy has something important to do. 

2. Children (at least MY children) ABUSE this ability! 

How do they abuse it? Let me share with you two things that happened in a matter of about 20 minutes while prepping for dinner... And by prepping I mean it seriously began when I simply had the thought, 'I'm going to make something really nice for Justin for dinner to make up for my bad attitude while painting Brigham's room last night' haha Because minutes after that moment I heard Emery say, "My pooped mommy!" When I smelled the poop I knew I was in for a real treat! 

It {the poop} was smeared all over the bathroom sink, THANKFULLY she chose the bathroom for her crime! AND not only was there poop everywhere but the sink was on and overflowing with a mixture of water, poop and spf 30 sunscreen... I couldn't get mad because the moment I saw it all Emery says, "I need you to change my diaper mommy"as clear as day, there was no other response than "I think you are right." And really, I just felt proud at how well she communicated her needs to me. haha!

Well... I was determined to make dinner today {I had been planning on trying something knew for about 2 weeks now so I decided that today was the day} Several moments after the poop incident I was able to progress to finding the recipe on my pinterest board (I know, REALLY making progress here!) As I'm searching through my pinterest bo-- Oh! Look at that cute cupcake, I should make those for Emery's class when she's in Elementary school! {Anybody else have this problem? ;) haha} So I am going through my pinterest board "Fooooood" when I heard it...the sound of hundreds of "fishings" falling to the ground. I chose to ignore it because, well, what else am I going to do? I actually had the thought, "Oh good, they found something to do." What is wrong with me?! hahaha I guess I decided it would be worth the time cleaning up the fishies if I could just get the chicken unthawed!!! 

Ok so those are just TWO of the moments I experienced today... there are countless others! It was during those moments that I had a blog idea... I would write some of the experiences I'm having as a mom, and the things I'm learning. I've already wanted to do this in journal form but my handwriting frustrates me and I'm always getting ink on my hand because I'm left handed (who understands me on that one?!) And so it was born, My Name Is Mommy. (except it's spelled mommie because the "y" version was already taken. ;) haha) My name IS mommy, it's also Ann, but the most important part of me, the most wonderful part of who I am is Mommy. And I'm so proud to say it.