my not so weekly confessions

I want to be good about this and start doing it weekly like my friend Courtney, but until I get my act together it will just have to be random.

I haven't gone running (or done any exercise) for almost two weeks.  I'm training for a half marathon, but I went on a little vacation, and haven't gone running since... Ugh.  Not looking forward to that first time back.

When I eat pancakes I bet I use twice as much syrup as the average person, if not three times as much.  It's kind of like, "Would you like some pancakes with your syrup, ma'am?"

On that note, I put about an inch of cream in my coffee if not more.  Would you like some coffee with your cream, Leah?

My car is certifiably disgusting right now.  And so is my house.  I'm talking like crumbs everywhere, dirty dishes strung about, dirty clothes on the floor, toys and puzzle pieces everywhere.  I'm blaming it on the fact that my kids have literally been napping at exact opposite times... and now that they are asleep at the same time (praise the Lord - I mean it), I am taking the opportunity to blog.  So maybe I'm just over the whole cleaning thing... time to have my mother in law come over - that will motivate me.

On that note, yesterday I noticed Sam had something funny in his mouth... scooped it out with my index finger... he was trying to chew on (BRACE YOURSELF)... A FINGERNAIL!!!  EWWWWWW.  See, I wasn't kidding about my house.

We're moving in a couple of weeks, but I haven't started packing.

That's all for today folks.  Till next time.

I am alive.

Sorry I've gone MIA.  I was busy completing more 30 before 30 items, but I feel like if I post about those things, then I must also upload pictures, and I don't really want to deal with that this second, so you'll have to wait on that...  I know you're dying to know what else I've done.

But, I really have NOTHING to say.  We are about to be getting back into the routine of Fall, and Henry will be going to preschool/MDO starting next week!  Makes me a little sad to think about, but he's going to do just fine!

Anyway, just thought I should give a little post to let you guys know I haven't dropped off the planet - since you were all worried, I know.

4 out of 30

I have officially now re-read The Great Gatsby and earned another accomplishment on my list (to read classical fiction).

The book was waaaay better as a 28 year old than it was as a 16 year old. Perhaps there is more classical fiction in my future!

fair trade off

I don't really know how we got on the topic, but last night Matt and I were talking about who we sat at lunch with in High School... Matt, in Matt form, said, "I really don't remember much from lunch in High School." Note: He doesn't remember a lot of stuff.  So I had to tell him who sat at his table... We weren't at the same table. Anyway, I reminded him that our Junior year, most of his lunch hour was spent copying my English homework.  If you need the refresher, we weren't dating at this point, we were just buddies who happened to be in the same English class.

I think I've shared it on the blog before, but yes, Matt did COPY my homework... at least in English and Statistics, but probably in more classes than that.

So basically, I got Matt through high school, and he's gonna take care of me for the rest of our lives.  Fair trade, don't you think?

In other news...

Henry is so, SO verbal - he always has been, but now he actually makes sense.  Lately, if I am cleaning up the house, Henry says, "NO MOM! DON'T ORGANIZE!!"

His other new thing is reenacting videos and movies that he watches.  Example, he will watch videos I have taken of him on my phone, and then when he is in the same "scene" in our house, he will start to act them out again.  Or he repeats lines from movies we watch.  It's pretty awesome.

It's Thursday.  One more day till Friday.  Hang in there!

people are funny

I could write a post about how Sam and I got locked outside my car tonight while Henry, my phone and my purse were INSIDE...

OR, I could show you some funny stuff I found on Pinterest.

Second option is easier plus I'm posting from my phone, so Pinterest humor it is.

Seal

Especially after children...

That Jesus... always turning water to wine.

Hilarious

This has always been my problem... I'm really good at making plans - terrible at executing them.

Note to husband...

If I had a gun, I would totally do this... I hate bugs.

Just so you know.

there's a little truth to this, not gonna lie...

Matt likes this one.

confessions

This week's confessions.
I like to run on the treadmill.  And if that isn't enough, I have MY treadmill at the gym- I use the same one every single time -it's mine.  Sometimes when I walk upstairs at the gym and see someone on my treadmill, I get agitated.  Never feel like I have the same mental strength on other treadmills.

I haven't even tried to give up caffeine again.  I have almost two whole years for that.  Surely there will be a week for that in the future.

You may already know this, but I am a self-diagnosed hypochondriac.  In the past few years, I've been convinced that I 1- have diabetes, 2- have leukemia, 3- have Chron's or IBS, 4- have hormonal imbalances, 5- the list goes on.  In addition to this, I have unnecessarily taken Henry to the ER for a "food allergy" that was probably just him choking a little on some solids.  Showed his pediatrician a video of him having "seizures" that was really just him falling over because he wasn't stable.  And I recently was sure that our pediatrician was going to send Sam to the ER because I thought he wasn't breathing well, only to find out he just had a cold.

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Kelley on Pinterest

Our laundry has been in a clean pile on my dresser for about a week.

I ate ice cream and M&Ms during the kid's nap today.  Not a wise choice seeing as we will be going to the beach very soon.

Gotta go... cause the cutest 8 month old on the planet is smiling at me and wanting play time.

3 out of 30 + My 8 month old!

On Wednesday, two of my close girlfriends and I took our oldest boys downtown to the Children's Museum, officially giving me ONE MORE completed 30 before 30 item.

But to make it even cooler, we took the Metro Rail downtown and walked from the Convention Center to the Museum... had two different people who thought we were tourists, by the way.  Apparently real Austinites don't take the metro, OR bring their running strollers downtown?

It was so easy, and I'd HIGHLY recommend taking the metro if you ever want to go to the children's museum and you live in North Austin... don't have to worry about parking, and it's probably just as cheap to ride as it is to pay for parking.

Everyone minus Leah waiting for the train.

Henry in his stroller on the train.

Henry and Gideon at the museum.

Measuring our height at the museum.

So thankful for these girls!

Henry was frustrated that the pretend sink didn't actually have water in it.

My little construction worker!!

While we were having fun at the museum, Sam was busy enjoying his new status as "8 month old!"

Once again, I literally cannot believe this kid is 8 months.  He started crawling like the day before he turned 7 months, and he started cruising the day before he turned 8 months!  I really hope he doesn't continue that trend for walking... (seeing as Henry crawled at 8 months and didn't walk till 15 though, I have a little hope.)

My favorite thing he does right now is when I leave the room, he follows me!  If I am in the kitchen, I can hear him crawling around the corner, and then he will craw up to me and pull up on my legs.  It is the SWEETEST.

Baby had a nasty virus this week called Roseola that apparently is really common, but it makes them have a high fever and stuff.. so I layed off the solids starting on about Monday, just cause of the fever... he just now seems to have an interest/appetite again... but on THAT note, I think he's kind of thinned out over the last two months, since he's been crawling.  Kid is SO active and actually pretty uninterested in his bottle or food.  I mean, he's interested at first until something else more interesting (ie his brother) comes along... SO, we will see how THAT goes when we have to weigh in next month.  He still only has two teeth, and besides that I don't know if there is much more to tell.

The other more unique thing about Sam (compared to Henry) besides the fact that he's hyper and CRAZY is that he is a cuddle, snuggle bug.  He loves to cuddle, and I love it too!  Oh and he is like way more stable and tough than Henry was - which I assume has to do with the fact that he's about a whole inch shorter and gets beat around by his brother.  The kids will love me for these comparisons later in life.

Anyway, we love our little HAM.  How could you not?

Have I mentioned his hair is like strawberry blonde?

Picture Post!

Let's see. We lived in our house five years before I decorated... just to put it on the market.  I am proud of my colorful throw pillows in this room.

Sweet little legs.

Hi, I'm Sam. I am crazy and I am everywhere.

Nuff said.

H helped me decorate.

Wrong way dude.

Dude loves beans.

Cousins Benny and Laura came to Austin.  H and B are bff.

Still loves his blocks.

Kid tries to eat whatever I'm eating.

Looa and Sammy

Loves the shades...

Benny and Henry had quite the weekend together...

Yes, Henry throws pillows at Sam.

This is our new backyard!!  The only picture we have of the house that is worthy of posting right now!!

Henry and Benny at Jump Street... and some random boy in the back...

"Forget potty training HENRY... I want to be potty trained!" Says Sam.

We keep painting over this canvas times 100... it's Henry's art.

pulling up on everything and almost cruisin' - can't believe he will be 8 months in like three days.

Henny Poo

The other day, Matt and Henry were unlocking the door to come into our house, and Henry noticed Matt wasn't getting the key to turn as quickly as he should... so Henry said, "Are you having trouble, Daddy?"  Matt said yes.  Henry stepped towards the lock and said, "Here, let me help you!"

A couple of nights ago Henry asked if he could pray.  He prayed, "Dear Jesus, thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Sam. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN."  Last night he prayed, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Sam and Michael and Brittany and Mommy and Daddy and Sam. In Jesus name we pray, Amen."

Also, It's no secret - I do NOT have a good singing voice.  Henry agrees... whenever I sing along to a CD or DVD, Henry says, "Don't sing, mom."  Like seriously, he'd rather just listen to the music.

I love my little Henry.  I'll be honest... at almost two and a half (at the end of this month), he has reached a new level of... challenging.  I would have said annoying, but it's only as annoying as I allow it to be.  His two year old behavior is requiring that I step it up a notch in the parenting department... aka, be more proactive about discipline and teaching, be more attentive, and give him TONS more activity than I am currently giving him.  There are some behaviors (aka, whining, tantruming, interrupting, begging, telling mommy no) that need a good nip in the bud... before they become habits and my kid turns into full blown brat.  Like I said, just being honest.  If anything this past week or so, being Henry's mom has taught me just how much I need Jesus.

I'm asking God for patience that only the Holy Spirit can provide... because minute by minute, the requests and begging and independence truly starts to wear on me.  I'm asking for wisdom about how to discipline, wisdom about what limits need to be set, wisdom about how to discipline and correct behavior while not ignoring the GREATER ISSUE which is Henry's heart.  The last thing I want is for Henry grow up to be a good boy with a hard, defiant heart.  I need help pointing my boys to Jesus. I need to be pointed to Jesus, constantly!

That got deep real fast at 4:52 AM.

if at first you don't succeed..

I drank caffeine around 4 PM today.  We'll be back on Monday to try again.

(I know you really wanted the play by play.)

missin' my coffee

Okay, when I wrote "missin' my coffee" up there as the title for the post, that old Selena song "missin' my baby" popped in my head, and now I'm singing "missin' my coffee" to the tune of "missin' my baby."  Sweet.

I'm telling you, Henry KNOWS when I sit down to blog.  The kid wakes up, without fail, the moment I start to type.  (On another note, why, all of a sudden, are my children waking up before 7 AM?  Both of them?)

Back to the point.  Remember, if you will, that I have a 30 before 30 list that I have given myself two whole years to accomplish.  Well, one item on that list is to go an entire week without caffeine.  Since I just made it through the hustle and very short nights of getting the house under contract, and since it took me approximately 750,000 mg of caffeine to survive the past week, I've decided there's no better week to feel like a complete zombie than this... Starting yesterday, I am officially caffeine free... until after next Wednesday.  If I can survive.

[Side note: I've been gone from my computer, and am now back- after an hour and forty-five minutes of need-meeting.]  Now where was I going with all that?  Oh yes...

So yesterday, I survived with the help of a couple of Advil and a nap.  Today, I may have been just a little bummed that I couldn't have coffee to start the day.  Caffeine addiction aside, I do genuinely enjoy having coffee.  Many mornings, I don't finish it, due to aforementioned need-meeting... but on the mornings when things seem to be peaceful and the kids don't both poop at the same time, and they sleep past seven, and don't throw tantrums or steal each other's toys... on those days, I love my coffee.

So, after this week of no caffeine, I will most definitely resume my morning coffee.. However, I may try to keep it at that... morning coffee.  No need to be adding in mid-afternoon coffee, diet coke, and 5:00 (PM) coffee.  (Not that I'm guilty of any of those.)

Hopefully by next Thursday, I will have another item crossed off my list!

Pinterest helped me throw a GREAT party (and sell my house)!

People are so creative.  My sister started selling "Thirty-One" bags.  They are SO cute. Anyway, I invited my friends over for a little girls night/happy hour so we could socialize and look at the cuteness of the Thirty One bags.  And it was way fun... unfortunately, Pinterest made me want to make like 10000000 different things to eat. It literally took all.day.long.  So if you weren't there, you missed out.

I made... these

Source: framedcooks.com via Leah on Pinterest

and these

Source: plainchicken.com via Leah on Pinterest

and these

Source: opiefoto.com via Leah on Pinterest

and these

Source: ourbestbites.com via Meg on Pinterest

and this

Source: andyandbelle.blogspot.com via Leah on Pinterest

and even some more yummy stuff, including OREO BALLS, and fruit and brie and stuff like that!

So I don't know who ALL of my blog readers are, but I should tell you that all of this stuff I made TURNED OUT AWESOME and also, if you are interested my Thirty One "party" is ONLINE starting today and if you are interested in buying some cute cute bags, you can do it by going to this link.

I am going to be getting THIS as my new diaper bag.  Looks small in the pic, but it is SO cute.  If you're interested, then click on the link and get somethin.  Everybody's doin it. :)  

I'm feeling really domestic these days... my last pics will be to show you how Pinterest helped me SELL MY HOUSE.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Leah on Pinterest

See the mirrors??? I DID THAT! (Only problem, I tried to hang them with 3M tape... like 5 minutes before our first showing = guess what? they fell... and most definitely had fallen by the time the second or third people had gotten there.) :) Love it. Next...

Source: aprrilsopinion.blogspot.com via Leah on Pinterest

GROUT CLEANER... oh yes I made it myself and it pretty much worked. ;) love how creative people are!! whoop!

Man I love my blog readers.  Yall are my inspiration.  JK love being cheeseball.. no but really I HEART YALL WITH ALL MY HEART.