Small Things

There are small things in life that make you think, make you cry, make you smile. They make you realize thing you didn't before. My kids have their ways of making me realize things. Music has it's way of calming me. Husband has his way of driving me bonkers.

Naomi has begun crying and falling apart when one of us leaves for work. I'm beginning to think she may have some form of abandonment or separation anxiety that's worse than normal for a smallish one. Since she stopped going to daycare she has stopped a majority of her tantrums and has been on pretty good behavior. So it begs the question for me: Is she feeling like the baby is going to take her place??

David has started whining a lot more. Especially when we tell him no to something. He has also started getting upset about us working. Even though we explained that on order to get Christmas presents we have to.

Cody and I have both been getting stressed out more. Me mostly because I'm hurting and tired, him because he's stressed about work and money.

I've realized that my comfort zone lies within the music of Michael Jackson. Funny huh? I grew up listening to him and ultimately the music has become a staple to my mental health haha.

I'm working on some thoughts for the kiddos, to help them adjust to the new baby and be more involved with me and the baby and daddy. Hopefully it will help. Things like getting days out on their own with mommy or daddy, trips as a family to the park and the pool. Stuff like that.

Well that's what I have for now, enjoy the cute picture of the kiddos listening for their sister on my belly!

Doctors Again

At the instacare again! This time for mister David. He went to bed with a small cough and woke up in the middle of the night with a full blown fever, cough and sore throat. We are hoping it's not strep, otherwise mommy is in big trouble! When mommy gets strep, it's gets bad.

It sucks because today is mister Davids big picture day. They have a make up day but we were so excited for picture day! He even had his favorite shirt picked out and his nice pants ironed and ready to go.

Hopefully it's nothing major so we can at least get pictures done today. Otherwise he has to wait until November 2nd.

Naomi is doing a little better, she's as crazy as ever with her silly giggles and shenanigans. We have had to give her melatonin the last few nights to help her sleep though, so we may be taking her in soon for a sleep study of some kind. She doesn't seem to be getting enough sleep or even going to sleep very easily. She struggled with staying asleep all last night too.

Daddy is having tummy issues, and it looks like he will have to start getting tests done soon too. He's been pretty miserable and dad sad because of it.

Mommy just can't get enough sleep with all this going on, and it's making the pain in my belly worse, I'm always nauseous and dizzy now and it's making life hard. It seems when it rains it pours for our little family. We are hoping things level out soon and everyone starts feeling better!!! It bothers a mommy when her whole family feels icky and there's not much to be done about it.

Daycare and Upset Tummies

So my daughter Naomi doesn't seem to like daycare. At all. When we get her ready to go she starts to cry and throw tantrums. But when shes inside and we leave she seems to be okay.

This morning I was getting her shoes on and she realized where she was going. Suddenly she starts crying and saying she's sleepy and needs to go back to bed. She literally went to sleep in my lap so I wouldn't take her. When I took her no one opened the door so she ended up staying home and has been happy and on her best behavior since. Anyone else had these issues? What did you do about it?

She has been saying her tummy hurts today since we got home too. She was sick two nights ago but has not been since. I told her to lay on daddy's pillow so she picked it up, put it on mommy and laid on it. She's a turkey!

David is doing well since his lockdown at school. He is ready for picture day tomorrow, when I will post a picture of how handsome he looks for his big picture taking!

One Scary Afternoon

Can you imagine losing your child to someone bent on creating chaos and fear? I can. And it scares the hell out of me. Today, my son's school was locked down and evacuated due to a bomb threat. We didn't know until his grandpa went to pick him up from school, and found they had been evacuated to a nearby city building. Below is the press release from the sheriffs department:

http://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/Sheriff/Media/PressReleaseArchiveDetails.asp?ID=149468

Knowing he was home safe was enough until I found out why his school was on lockdown. The man that was on the school ground had threatened to detonate explosives and weirdly told the office to evacuate the school.

So many things have gone through my head since finding out about this man and following the events that unfolded over the afternoon and evening. Fear, mostly, and hurt. Hurt for my son, who does not deserve to live in the fear I constantly live in, knowing we aren't safe anywhere at any time.

What if the man had not let the children go? What if he actually did have explosives and detonated them? My son's classroom was right in front where his alleged explosives would have decimated the front of the school. What if his child was not attending the school and what if it had been more than just him?? These are some of the things that have reverberated through my mind many times tonight.

We are safe at home. But my question has to do with the man's motive. It supposedly had to do with race. What does that have to do with an empty school? Why threaten a school filled with children, then let them go, to get something across to adults that hasn't gotten through before any way? And why threaten the school your child goes to? He had no weapons, no explosives, no leverage other than a threat.

My fear of sending my children to school was solidified today. With all the threats, attacks and craziness, why should we send our kids to be possible cannon fodder for nutjobs like these people?? Everyone tells me not to live in fear of what ifs but lately what ifs have become reality more than not.

Yet a ray of sunshine still burns bright. My children are safe. I am watching them sleep, happy and oblivious. We were blessed today. By who or what I don't know but we were blessed. My son came home safe, he has no fear because he was not told of what was actually going on, and we had a happy evening together with family. We are staying with his aunt and uncle just to be away for a bit for mommy to calm down and hopefully me go of some of that fear.

My family is still whole. I can't say that for everyone, especially those in other recent attacks, and my heart hurts for them. But my family was spared today. If that's not something to be thankful for I don't know what is. And I am extremely grateful to all the school faculty that took such wonderful care of our children and kept them safe.

Hug your family tonight. Tell them you love them. I know I did.

Baby #3

So we had a baby gender reveal party for baby #3 last monday, and I never really updated about it! We had a vote, where everyone voted for not except the baby's uncle Jon. Mommy knew already what the baby is, so I didn't get to vote.

We had a nice dinner, and when everyone was home we had our baby cupcakes! The kiddos got to open theirs first to see what their baby sibling would be and not were they excited! I think Naomi was more excited that she had a cupcake, more than what was inside it.

The great reveal! It's a girl! Inside the cupcakes was a yummy mixture mommy had made from a jar of maraschino cherries and whipped cream! It was pink! The kiddos were delighted with their cupcakes and being part of the reveal!

Now we are planning a Halloween themed baby shower, set for November 5th, as everyone is busy in October. I will get a small baby registry ready and Sen to everyone, as well as physical and e-vites.

Soon we will have a third baby and a crazy household! Who else is excited?!

Daycare and Kindergarten

So the two little ones have begun new adventures this year! David has started kindergarten and Naomi has started going to daycare a few days a week. David thoroughly enjoys going to school, and he has made a few new friends to bring home to play once in awhile!

Naomi isn't liking the GOING to daycare part. She cries until she gets there, but as soon as we are gone she completely chills out. She loves getting dressed up for the day and doing her hair all pretty. She is growing way too fast for mommy to keep up!

Has anyone noticed the amount of homework kindergarteners bring home?? It's a little ridiculous! But the kiddo seems to enjoy it, especially the math part!

Naomi and preschool looks like it might be a challenge if she keeps up the crying when we drop her off anywhere. She seems to have a severe separation anxiety from family members. Hopefully she will get better about it so she can go to school and learn lots of fun things!

Well, that's out update for today! Tune in later for more fun!

The Beginning

In the beginning of this story there were just two of us. My husband, then boyfriend, Cody and I, Amanda (or Manda) started dating in my junior year of high school. Then he was a sophomore. I had just moved to Utah, and he had only moved to Utah a few months before I had. We dated through my senior year of high school, and on through his. After he graduated, we were married the following January in 2009.

Now, almost 9 years later we are the proud parents of two amazing children with one on the way! Before we get any further into our adventurous, crazy life, let's introduce the family a little bit.

Cody, our amazing daddy and husband, has taken care of us from the very beginning. Even in high school he had a job to start supporting us as a family. Now he has many jobs. He works for a security alarm company, he's a daddy, a husband, a friend, and he is also a member of the Utah Army National Guard. He dreams of one day owning a green Ninja motorcycle and to one day not have to work anymore. He loves to play video games, board games and role play/table top games.

David, our 5 year old, has just started kindergarten. He was so excited to go to school! He learns so fast and he loves to do math. Like his daddy, he likes to play video games and board games, he's learning to swim and he is one of the biggest helpers a mommy can ask for. He's thoughtful and sweet, and LOVES to cook. Once he even helped daddy by cooking shrimp and Alfredo for our dinner, while daddy just supervised for safety.

Naomi, our rambunctious and adorable two year old, enjoys terrorizing the house, playing "chef" in her little toy kitchen, baking cookies with grandma and coloring pictures to put on the wall. She has not started potty training yet, but she will when she is ready. She wants a little bike to ride that has a baby seat on the back so she can take her baby with her when she rides. Her favorite color is purple!

Mommy, or Manda, me, I enjoy lots of things. Right now it's mostly sleep with the new baby's arrival approaching fast in December. I also love to cook, organize, read and write. My favorite thing to do, however is spend time with my family. Taking them on outings to places where they can learn fun and exciting things, see pretty lights at Temple Square, camping, pretty much anything and anywhere.

We move around a lot, I grew up a military brat so I get restless. We are trying to find a good home for us to finally settle down and stop, but it will be awhile. For now we are staying with family, and we couldn't be happier. Sometimes, we talk about moving out of country, joke about finding an undiscovered island, and sometimes we just want to find somewhere close that's not too hot and not too cold. And for me not close to any type of natural disaster area. (I.E. Volcanos, tornados, etc.) I know it's not very logical, but hey, it's me.

We have lots planned, including a Halloween baby shower, the arrival of baby #3, and future trip taking, so stay tuned as we go through life together!