March.

April.  I missed the month of March.  A lot happened in March.  Some highlights... my dad successfully made it through his surgery and I turned 31.  Greg had the boys for a LONG time so I was able to spend time at the hospital.  Very grateful for the McGuire help.  I was extremely stressed out during the entire ordeal (more than I thought that I would be) and to have the kids fed, taken care of, and playing somewhere safe was such a blessing.  I was able to go to the hospital every morning before work and not have to worry about being late, getting the boys dressed, or anything else.  Thanks again!!

 

I have pictures.  Not many...but some.  More than the normal post...but not enough to catch up on an entire month.

 

 

We have made it to the Children's Museum twice this month.  This is Owen waving to all of the people the ENTIRE time he is on the carousel.  I guess I should mention....there are no people.  He just smiles and waves....even to the wall.  So so so funny.

My coworkers.  This month I went to the Best Buddies Gala with work.  It was in a beautiful location, lots of martinis, and VERY fun. 

 The new "house."  This box has lasted awhile in our toy room.  It was so large I had to get it through the front door.  It has become not only a play house for the boys (with windows and a door) but Owen also loves to kick, hit, and punch the box.  Oh.....the beauty of boys.  AND their play saw actually cuts the cardboard so they also take their tools to it.  LOVE free toys.

 My Amelia fix.  I am not going to lie...I MISS night shift.  I miss my friends, my week off, and my posh job.  Jodi brings in here little one on Tuesday before my noon meeting and I get to visit with her and get my baby fix.  A few weeks ago I was able to sit with Amelia between my legs.  This was my FAVORITE way to hold the boys when they were babies.  It made me happy.

Yes....a HUGE difference at our trip to the dentist from last year.  My mom came this time to help with my schedule (I was actually supposed to be at work).  I had to leave early but Cameron did beautifully.  He kept telling me that he was going to get a balloon when he was done.  There are no balloons there. Regardless...he was a champ.  VERY proud of this little man.

This was a 445 morning visit into my bed.  It becomes hard to say no when you feel like you never see them.  Don't worry.,...the next night he tried again.  I said no.  But he is my little side kick.  And hard to resist. 

Yes...there is a theme here.  He LOVES his costume.  And yes, there are some nights he wears it to bed.  I have no idea what I am going to do when he outgrows it.  Yes, I let him wear it to the gym too.  Hahahahaha

So I couldn't decide if I should keep this picture on here or not.  It isn't very clear but it is from my birthday. As I was sitting and thinking about it Owen looks at the picture and says, "That is Aunt Erin and grandma."  Awesome.  I decided I needed to keep it.

 This was a picture I saw on my moms phone that I have never seen before.  I think that it is a few months old but still super cute.  Wanted to make sure I had it on our blog.

Our nightly routine.  Books in my bed.  The best part of this picture...Cameron has is costume AND his cape on.  PLUS they are both listening. 

 

Wednesday night family dinner.  Maybe I should take out the day of the week....and just call it "family dinner" since the date always changes.

One of our oncology patients brought us an Easter gift.  All of this candy was gone THAT DAY.  And I wonder why I have gained 10lbs.

 Visiting the grandparents.  Always a wonderful visit with amazing food.

I must say...I am pretty lucky.  I have had a lot of flowers during my birthday month.  This have been my favorite.  I was having a rough day and this were a welcomed surprise.  Yes...I even put them on my bedside table and took a 5am picture. Hahaha

short. sweet. socks.



 

 

I went through my socks.....well the boys' socks.  And I had 6 matches.  Three of these are not ours.  On the other hand....I have a pile of socks with no pairs.

Pizza at 930 in the morning.  YUM!!

He is checking himself out in the mirror.  I love his little obsession. 

 

 

 

Sorry...that is my only post.  It is 455 in the morning.  I have been up since 315 and I can not fall back asleep.  Planning on the Children's Museum today.  That is the plan.  

OLD KIDS....lazy mom

It has been awhile since my last post.  I was hoping to post more in 2013 and I have not started off well.  Even though I am sitting down to post now there are a million things that I could be doing with my time.  (Like taking the boys to go get haircuts)  Today we decided to stay in our pajamas, lounge, and not go to church..........

 

1. Owen

This morning Owen was laying in bed with me and Cameron was out in the house somewhere.  I didn't hear Cameron running around AND I wanted to stay in bed (so you can tell how much energy I had a 6am....plus no coffee yet).  Anyways, I asked Owen to go check and make sure Cameron was ok and see what he was doing.  Owen jumped out of bed, I heard him asking Cameron if he was ok and Cameron said "yeah."  Owen ran back and gave me a full report.  It was great.  I know that this story makes me sound like a lazy ass mom and this morning....I was.  BUT in my own defense, it is 9am now, I have my coffee, and I am on top of it again.

 

2. Tax Check

My tax check is almost gone, but it was heavenly.  I was able to pay all my bills this month and not have to wait for my next paycheck.  Not living pay check to pay check...even for just one month....is a wonderful feeling.  AND I payed off the carpets. 

 

3. Amber

The boys love Amber.  And though I am jealous of the time that she gets to spend with them...I love Amber too.  She makes my life a bit easier.  

 

4. New kitchen

My parents got a new kitchen.  Holy moly it is beautiful.  I am so happy that my mom made this upgrade.  She works so hard and puts everyone else in her life first.  This is a great treat that she will enjoy every. single. day.  Yay!!

 

5. My diaper bag

I have absolutely no idea where my diaper bag is right now.  None.  And that is AWESOME.  It means that I do not carry anything extra with us when we go anywhere.  The boys don't have accidents, I don't worry about taking them to the bathroom everywhere we go, and it is a whole new world.  My diaper bag was pretty beat up anyways....maybe I threw it away...doubtful.

 

And while I am at it....we don't use monitors either.  My kids are OLD.  

 



 

The heart is a crazy thing

I guess that now is a good time to update the blog.  It keeps me away from cleaning the bathrooms at 6am and lets me sit and enjoy my coffee while still feeling productive.  I don't have many new pictures.  I have been working 40+ hours a week and this past weekend the boys went to Greg's house.  Today is my day off....and I am going into work for some meetings.  This new schedule has been an incredibly huge adjustment on my heart and physically on my body but I love it.  I miss the time with the boys significantly. SIGNIFICANTLY. But, this change was the best thing that I have done for myself in the past year.  And happy parents grow happy kids.

 

An updates.  Last night at our weekly family dinner my parents told us that my dad was getting open heart surgery this month.  yeah....I know.  I don't know much more to say about that.  I actually don't want to say much more.  I just want to have some time to process in my head what is going on.  I did however step back and realize some things about myself last night.  When I get told scary, sad, or hard news I immediately go into fight or flight....sometimes both.  I try to find solutions.  I start putting action plans into place.  I look towards the future into and make sure that if things start to break apart, we have something there to build them up.  It is a strange turn of emotions.  I sort of shut down and focus somewhere else.  So the more I thought about this...the more I realized how often I do this.  Mat has told me this for the past year.  And yes, it is something that I have been aware of...I am able to pick up my big girl panties and concentrate my energy onto moving forward.  But last night I realized how dysfunctional it was.  And then when I am out of the energy of "fight" mode I am able to process a bit more.  This past year I have sort of been able to slow down, step back, look at myself and my actions and slow my roll.  It's been nice but still a learning process. 

That's all.  That is my whole story.  I will keep the blog updated on my dad's progress.  It will be a crazy month in the Mitchell family.

 

I don't know if I have talked about this before in my blog but it is something that makes me smile in the mornings.  It is still dark when I take the boys to Amber's house.  And they frequently find the moon.  Cameron says, "There is my friend, moon." and then Owen will say, "There is my friend, star."  Sometimes they will talk to them sometimes they will just show us where they are located in the sky.  Anyways, it is something that melts my heart every time I hear it and I wanted to share it here so I never forget.

 

Cameron's imagination is off the hook.  I love it.  Last night he was taking bread sticks and acting like it was a swords to fight dragons and then later it was a huge gun and he was chasing Sawyer.  He also has a quick wit.  It is so fun to watch them grow up into such different personalities. 

 

 

Walking into my office last week.  I must say, it was something that I needed that morning.  GREAT coworkers!!