Gets me every time

I was scrolling through cake wrecks feeling a little disappointed that it wasn't as funny as usual until I found this post. Please read her comments.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Tomorrow is my wonderful mom's birthday! There are so many wonderful things that I just love about her. Here are some of my faves:

-Quality time is her love language. It's mine too. Basically we spend a lot of time together. It's really, really nice.

-She isn't afraid to say what she feels, yet can say things in a very loving (but still non passive aggressive) way.

-She doesn't get her feelings hurt very easily, and is quick to forgive.

-She loves the Lord more than just about anyone I've ever met. Her relationship with God is constantly growing, shifting and changing (in a good way).

-"Renee-isms": spiritual anecdotes. My top faves in this category are "I saw a bird and I thought of God" and "Changing a poopy diaper is just like God forgiving our sin."

-Our shared love for Barry Manilow. We don't like a lot of the same music. She balked at all of my suggestions for her iPod (c'mon who wouldn't want to work out to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch?), but we love to sing along to "Daybreak."

-My mom doesn't step on our toes when it comes to parenting the girls, but she does see to it that Addison's hair is nicely combed and her face is wiped off.

-She's the only person I know who watches c span. :)

-She cares deeply for her friends and treats them like family. We have shared many holiday meals with friends. Everyone is always welcome .

-She loves my dad, and not out of duty or obligation. She really, really loves him and deeply respects him.

-She treats Devin just like her own son. She actually treats him better than she treats me. "Oh Devin... are you washing the dishes again?" This is something I've openly complained about, but secretly like. She's always supported our relationship, from the very beginning.

-She was a fantastic parent (you were too Dad, but this post is about mom and I didn't think about doing this on your birthday. Sorry. There's always next year!) She let us make mistakes, even though I'm sure it was really, really hard not to swoop down and protect us from them. She prayed for us like crazy (and still does).

-She makes a big deal out of birthdays and holidays with fun decorations and little presents. Even though I don't get an Easter basket anymore (sigh) I will always have wonderful memories of holidays that we celebrated as a family.

-She's done more for me than I can count. When we were moving out of our apartment in Mission and I was a hot, frazzled mess, my mom drove two hours from Ft. Riley to help me re-paint. She has also canceled plans with friends to be with me when I'm having a hard time with the girls.

I love you very much Mom and hope you have a great day.

Crazy details

Remember how I bought that Palm Centro to help me stay organized with everything happening in my life? Not happening! I continue to try to keep all these dates and times in my head. Well there are so many details in there I think I am going to explode! I hate being busy. I am so not cut out for the life of a soccer mom. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead (ahead meaning I do not own a minivan or have a child that plays soccer).

We're back to me emailing Devin my work schedule and then asking him on a regular basis when I work again. We're also back to forgetting birthdays and anniversaries.

Time for a fresh start!

I'm such a mess. It's a good thing God loves me despite of my, um, issues!

Target is a black hole

I went in there for a Swiffer Wetjet and some watercolor paint for Addison. As I walked through I remembered that I needed to gather some stuff to make a meal for a friend. Threw it in. Then I thought I would make the same meal for us tonight. Threw that in too. Then I saw coffee creamer on sale. In the cart it went. Then the gum on clearance. Then Addison started doing the potty dance. I quickly grabbed some stuff from frozen and headed to the front. Better grab that Swiffer Wetjet. Uh oh....30% off clearance section. Let's just stop for a sec. What? Oxyclean for half off?! Joy! Now Addison is really dancing. Better hurry. Let her go in by herself while I stay outside with Ainsley. "Moooooom! I can't get out!" Leave Ainsley, run in, figure out how to talk Addison through opening the door. She's holding her skirt in her hands. Ok wash hands. Thank God the sink is low enough to reach. I tell Addison to sit on the floor and put her own skirt on. "Here Ainsley, chew on this pack of gum." Ok checkout! WAIT! THE PAINT! Uh oh better grab a pack of cd's to save pictures on. Roz has been asking for that for months now. "Hmmm pack of 50 for $9.99 or pack of 5 for $3.49. Ok, pack of 50, pack of 50...!" No paint in office supply section. We head to the back of the store where school supplies is. Ainsley is now screaming. Addison sees toys and starts to run away "ADDISON YOU GET OVER HERE OR I WILL LEAVE THIS STORE WITHOUT BUYING PAINT!" Everyone stares at me, but Addison begins walking backwards back towards me. Still no watercolors to be found. What's this? 10 bottles of washable paint. Check the price. $4.99. Fine. We'll get that.

Check out.

"Moo-ooom I'm hungry and thirsty! I'm hungry and thirsty!" Ainsley is still crying. Ok. Buy kid's meal: pb&j, yogurt, icee. Only $2. Nice. Ham sandwich on wheat for me. Flip over the back of the pb&j package. Holy crap! 310 calories! Addison drinks half her cherry icee and then cries because she wants blue instead. "Too bad! You picked red!" I try to nurse Ainsley in the booth with a small blanket. Every so often she yanks the blanket off and I flash whoever is in checkout. We finish eating.

I just cannot muster the energy to go to Aldi to buy the rest of the stuff for the meal.

Round 2!
Ainsley is holding Addison's leftover yogurt tube. Grab bagged salads...yes! They're on sale for $1.29. Phew! Go to back (again), get mozzerella cheese... Hmm...2% or regular? 2% or regular? 2%! Buy overpriced baby yogurt for Ainsley. What a ripoff, but maybe it'll help her gain some weight. Ainsley proceeds to spill yogurt all over herself. Get out wipes, she's screaming because I took her "toy" away. Wipe everything up. Better grab baby food for her too. Head back to baby section. They're out of the brown rice cereal I like to get.

We finally, finally checkout (again) and head home.

I never want to go shopping again.

The view from my window

Some people look outside their window and see this:














This is what we see:














Jealous?

___________________________________________________________________

On another, less disturbing note, Addison, Ainsley and I just returned from Arizona. We had a great time visiting relatives in Phoenix and our family cabin in Greer. Even with my parents' help, traveling with the kids for a week without Devin was no joke. I'm exhausted!

Where's a Duggar when you need her?

I hate packing. Hate it, hate it, hate it. The thing I hate most about packing are all of the decisions that you have to make. What should I wear? What's the weather going to be like? What are we going to be doing? How should I wear my hair? Should I bring stuff for curly hair or stuff for straight hair or both (I never said I was low maintenance)? When you have kids you have to make these decisions three times. Then there are my suitcases. I either have a giganto suitcase or a too small suitcase. I hate this. Help me please. I've been doing this for 3 hours. 3 hours! Who takes 3 hours to pack?! Me, apparently.

blagh.

Oh, and p.s. it's easier to give birth to a baby and bring her home then it is to adopt a cat in Kansas. Just thought I'd tell you. Apparently they had a few concerns about us. Give me a break.

Control Freak

I never really thought of myself as a control freak until recently, when I started reading The Search for Significance. God has started showing me very clearly that I totally am one. Dangit! I wanted to portray myself as this laid back, easy going person. I mean, if I was perfectionist wouldn't my house be perfectly cleaned at all times? Wouldn't my flowers be perfectly weeded and pruned? Wouldn't the laundry be folded and put away instead of sitting in the baskets for three days? The truth is, like a lot of people I have this all or nothing attitude. If I can't clean my house exactly the way I want to, what's the point? If I don't have three hours to spend organizing the stuff on my desk, what's the point of tidying it up? If I can't spend the money on all the things I want to make my garden look nicer, then who cares? As for the laundry..well...that's just plain laziness!

The problem with being a perfectionist is that it doesn't just affect you. I am finding that it could eventually ruin my relationships if I don't change. It turns you into a total control freak, and to people that don't understand why you are the way you are, you come across as, well (I'm just going to say it) a total bitch. Let's take yesterday for example:

I was having a tough time with Ainsley. If she misses naps, she just gets miserable. The 20 minute catnaps just weren't cutting it for her and she was screaming. I was out with my mom and I still needed to buy some stuff for a goodbye party for Brandon and Rach (subject of another post...so sad). My mom graciously offered to go to the store for me so I could get Ainsley back to her house and calmed down a little. With all the screaming in the background, I quickly told my mom what I needed and we parted ways. She came home with a few sacks of food and other things. Instead of being grateful about what she got, I immediately started criticizing this and that (shameful, I know) because it wasn't exactly what I would have bought. If the tables were turned and I had gone shopping for her and she had reacted that way, I probably would have walked out of the house, uttering a few cusswords about ungrateful people, but my mom is a much better person than I am. She calmly explained why she bought what she did. As the afternoon progressed, things didn't get much better. My cookies didn't turn out that great. Turns out I used baking powder instead of baking soda (oops) and started to panic that no one would want to eat them. When my mom said "Marie it's not like you're entering them in the state fair!" I realized it really didn't matter either way. It also didn't matter if people didn't like the exact flavors of pop she chose.

Later on, as is common with me, I realized the error of my way and called my mom to apologize. She forgave me. People did eat the cookies (except for the 10 or so burnt ones on the bottom, which I left at Andrea's house...hee hee!) and drank almost all the pop.

My control freakness does leech out into other areas as well. God forbid Devin put Ainsley to sleep in her swing because "the book" says that's bad to do! And our roof could possibly cave in if he gives her some formula instead of the frozen breastmilk (which in his defense, is a pain to thaw). Oh, and it also could signify Armageddon if Addison's outfits don't match.

The point is I want to change! No one likes to be around people like this. They are just flat out annoying and take the fun out of everything by worrying about stupid details that don't even matter! Thankfully I'm married to a guy who doesn't put up with my crap, and I'm saved by a God who will change me if I ask for help. Any other perfectionists out there want to go on this journey with me?

Everyone's favorite Spinach Dip

and I mean everyone. Here is the top secret recipe, complete with instructions:

1. Go to the grocery store, to the soup aisle

2. Buy this:












3. Flip the packet over

4. Make the recipe on the back.

:)

Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations Don and Roz! This is my feeble attempt at reconciling the fact that I did not send a card....bad, bad, bad daughter-in-law. I'm sorry!

Moving on with the congratulatory stuff:

You two are such an amazing couple and have produced children that are simply wonderful. There's one boy in particular that I think is the best out of all of them, but your love for each other and Christ has clearly rubbed off on them. There are many things I admire about your marriage, but some of the most special things (to me) are:

Don, I love watching how much love you lavish on Roz. You make it clear to everyone around you that she is the love of your life by treating her so special. I love how you like to take her out to nice dinners (or cook for her sometimes), take her shopping for something special. It's not just that stuff. Anyone could take their wife out to dinner or buy her flowers. You show love in such a gentle, authentic way. It's very sweet.

Roz, I admire how much you genuinely respect Don and admire him. It shows more than you think. You always seem so proud to be his wife, and it certainly doesn't seem forced. You take good care of him by cooking meals for him, packing his lunch for him every single morning, accompanying him on trips, and most of all, supporting him through everything.

It's obvious you to would do anything for each other. Thank you for being such a great example for Devin and me. We love you so much!

Ha!

Priceless conversation between my mom, my brother and me. This is not verbatim.

Me: acting very excited about winning Ticket to Ride and beating my brother and especially Devin.

Eric: Marie, I thought you of all people could care less about winning a game. I don't remember you being this competitive.

Marie: It's Devin's fault. He rubbed off on me. I love to win things now!

Mom: It's probably because you're a mom now. Having kids can lower your self esteem.

Blank looks from all around

Eric: Only if you have us for kids!

*As a side note, I did see what she meant. There are times that I miss having a career, as well as the adult interaction that came along with it. Sometimes something as small as winning a game (other than Dora dominoes or Princess Memory) can make you feel like you still have something to contribute. You may disagree, but I feel that way sometimes.

Anyway I really enjoy spending time with my little bro. He is a great conversationalist, smart (too smart), and extremely caring. We have a very similar sense of humor, which can get a tad pretentious at times (especially when aimed at one of his ex girlfriends). He is also very patient with my blatant interference in his love life (COME ON SINGLE LADIES! WHO WOULDN'T WANT ME FOR A SISTER IN LAW?!) . I wish he lived in KS, but he's getting ready to head out to DC to start his fancy new job.



















Here's one more recent pic from our trip to Colorado. Caitlyn (Devin's little sis) took this picture. Addison refused to smile until Caitlyn said "Addison if you smile one more time I'll take you to the playground." Thus, the perfect smile was born. What a little stinker...

Cheap Dipes

I ordered some diapers off of diapers.com today. It was an awesome deal! I got a 228 pack of size 2 pampers and a 42 pack of luvs for $40.97 w/ free shipping. At Sam's I would have paid $39.50 for a 264 pack of size 1-2 (Huggies), but I wasn't sure how much longer Ainsley would be in that size AND I like Pampers/Luvs better. Parents Choice and Target brand are still cheaper, but I decided the $5 extra was worth it for Pampers. I used a referral code to get $10 off. Because I just bought from them you could use this code: LITT7995. You can also send in manufacturer coupons ahead of time and they credit your account. Then, when you're ready to buy, they take them off automatically. Anyway, I'm not sure how often I'll use this site. I only tried it because of the $10 off and free shipping. Kind of nice to have diapers delivered to your house though!

I'm still semi-interested in trying cloth. We have a Bum Genius diaper that Ainsley looks so cute in, but I can't quite get Devin on board to shell out all that money upfront. Plus the laundry.... I am always behind on laundry as it that it is hard to imagine washing a load of diapers every single day on top of that. Ainsley goes through 10 a day. YIKES! But yes, I'm thinking about it...

Here are a couple of pics of these cute blocks that Keri made for the girls




























Oh, and here's Ainsley NOT napping. Yes that's my shirt. She likes to sleep with it (normally).