choices

Today Dr. Laura made a brilliant comment about our mindset when it comes to wanting something we can't have. She said, "When we agonize over what could be, we insult what is." It is such a great and true statement that I have never thought about but found to be so helpful. I found it quite appropriate for me to hear today and it really helped my attitude.

Last night was another horrible sleep night for me. I think I got between 1-2 hours total (mind you I went to bed at 9:30). Obviously when I woke up I felt horrible, angry, frustrated, and sad. Why does sleep continue to be such an obstacle in my life? Why can't I fall asleep like I used to and like everyone else in the world does? Why do I now have to go through my entire day with a headache that even the strongest medicine won't put a dent in?

But you know what? Agonizing over my bad night of sleep doesn't change the night. And moping around about it all day is an insult to everything else I have that is great in my life. Today I got to take my favorite little boy to Palm Springs to a great park with a cool fountain. Today I got to go to Costco for lunch with Chris and Cam and then to the mall. Today I got to take a nice walk up to another park and watch my little man play. So this morning I made a choice. I made the choice to live my day as a mom/wife who had gotten 8 hours of sleep. Because to do otherwise and mope around all day would have been an insult to everything wonderful God has given me in my life. Thank you Dr. Laura.

cute and not so cute

I've mentioned before that Cam basically doesn't do TV. He really could care less most times I try to get him distracted on a show so I can get a few things done. However one "TV" that he loves is dad's computer. Chris's screensaver is a slideshow of our pictures. Cam loves to stand there and gab away, calling out "mommy" or "daddy" when he sees us. It is very cute and he'll stand there for a quite a while!



One thing that is not so cute is his screaming/yelling. He has entered a phase where he'll shriek when he wants something, can't figure out a toy, or wants out of his carseat. We'll very firmly tell him to stop, which he does, but only for a minute. So...I have a couple of questions I would love some fellow mommy input on. Feel free to respond to either or both!

1. Did your child go through a yelling phase? How did you discipline it besides being firm in telling them to stop?

2. If you used time outs, did you leave them there for the number of minutes of their age (so for Cam that would only be one) even if they were still crying at the end, or did you leave them there until they stopped crying and calmed down?

not so sunny...but we made do

This Memorial weekend wasn't the greatest with regards to the weather, but we made do and had some fun plans. Saturday we spent the afternoon in Palm Springs, where the weather was actually great. Chris then headed out to Peyt and Liesl's for a UFC fight. After church on Sunday, my mom came out and babysat while Chris and I headed back out to Peyt and Liesl's for their daughter's college graduation party. It was fun to hang out, just adults, and see friends we haven't seen in a while. On our way back, we stopped at Spaghetti Factory for dinner. This is not on Chris's favorite list of restaurants (in fact, he does not like it much at all), but we had a gift card and it is the place which serves one of my top three all-time favorite restaurant meals...Mizzithera (if you like tons of cheese and salt, this is your meal).

Today we went over to my mom's house for lunch. She brought out a special friend (a big puppet from her teaching days) for Cameron whom he seemed to take a liking to.




Right now Chris is putting Cam down for bed. We have moved his bedtime 1/2 an hour back because I'M DONE with getting woken up by him at 5:30!!! Yes, I've stated that I'm a morning person, but 5:30 morning after morning was getting OLD! Here's to hoping this works!!!

skinny bone jones

May 25 is my fabulous sister's birthday. Typically for our birthday, my mom let's us pick whatever meal we would like, followed by our favorite dessert, which is always chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Since Susan is so far away, let's pretend we are sitting down to a meal of her choice. As we "eat", I'd like to share a few great things about her...

*She is super great at asking questions about my life and always wants to know details. While we don't get to talk on the phone often, our almost daily emails make it so I feel as close to her as if she were here (well, almost)

*She is an AMAZING mother. I still remember the first time I saw her as "mom". I had gone to visit her in Germany when Savannah was about 1 1/2. She was sooo patient and NEVER seemed frustrated. Just this past winter when she was here with both her girls, I continued to be in awe of the energy she puts into her daughters. She is not one of those "plop them in front of the TV" moms. She is constantly playing with them and makes their lives so fun.

*She has been incredibly supportive and encouraging to me with everything that has gone on with Cam. No one can ever explain what it means to have someone so concerned about your child when you go through something like that. Susan's love and concern for Cam was/is so evident and so touching.

*I love how we can both be completely ourselves around one another. We can say whatever is on our minds and neither one of us will ever take it the wrong way simply because we know exactly what the other means.

*She is such a great example to me in pursuing Christ and making it a priority to have her quiet times each day

*She's FUN, FUN, FUN to hang out with

So happy birthday to the best sister I could ever ask for!!!

p.s. The title of the blog is the nickname I used to call her when we were kids because she was all skin and bones...HA! (actually she still kind of is!!!)

name brands vs. generic

I've said before that I could care less about name brands in clothing. To me, there are more important things to be spending my money on than an extra $100 so that my sweatsuit says "Juicy" rather than "Target". However there are some things, mainly foods, that I do feel like buying the name brand is better. Typically I buy the store brand of most all foods, except when it comes to a few things because they just taste better...

Graham Crackers
Cereal
Yogurt
Cookies

Makeup and lotions are another category that I buy generic. One item Chris and go through like water is lotion (probably because it is so windy out here). I have always loved Bath and Body Works lotion, but we would go broke with the amount we use. I discovered the greatest thing at Walmart. Rather than spending $10 per tube at B&B, I spend $3 at Walmart and it is exactly the same thing! They even look the same...see?

welcome Ella Grace!!

Yesterday my best friend of 16 years had her baby. Jen and Eric welcomed little Ella Grace into the world. We were anxiously awaiting her arrival as both her sex and name had been kept a secret. Today Chris, Cam and I drove out to OC. I dropped Chris and Cam off at his brother's house, then headed to the hospital. It was so surreal to see Jen with Ella. Flashbacks of Jr. High, High School, and college went through my mind as I let sink in the fact that we are both now moms. We truly have made it through every phase of life together and for this I'm so thankful. What a neat picture it was to walk in and see little Ella in her arms. Jen and Eric will make a amazing parents and I'm so happy for them!

right now

1. What are you doing right now? Watching John & Kate+Eight while Chris has Cam at the park...very relaxing.
2. What time did you wake up this morning? 6:50...I got to sleep in since Chris took Cam for his walk. Yeah!
3. Quick, say a line from any song: "Kalepo bring back banana..."
4. What's the last bone you broke? One in my foot b/c my mom accidentally rolled over it with the car! (6th grade)
5. What book are you currently reading? Into the Wild
6. Do you have any piercings or tattoos? One piercing in each ear and one small tattoo on my back. I'm debating getting another small one on my foot that Chris will design. :)
7. When were you last irritated? Last night when I was unwrapping each individual chicken breast from the Costco bag. Why must they wrap each one??????
8. What is the best self help book you have ever read? "Living in the Spirit" by Beth Moore. It is actually a Bible Study.
9. Do you only drink bottled water? I'm fine with tap
10. Do you think people deserve second chances? Not when it comes to hurting kids
11. Major life regret? Not learning Spanish
12. What is the last thing you ate? Pretzels with craisins
13. What bums you out? When I'm the only one initiating in a friendship
14. What did you do today? Took Cam to speech class then spent the afternoon at my mom's.
15. In a perfect world...Susan and Chris would live here

couldn't have been a more perfect day

My Mother's day started off with a fabulous present from Cameron. He successfully stayed in the nursery at church!!! It was great! Unfortunately Chris and I couldn't sit together because he was doing powerpoint, but it was still nice to both hear the entire message for a change. Hopefully this will be the gift that keeps on giving and we'll get a repeat performance next week. :)

After church we met my parents at a park for a picnic. It was a beautiful day and we had such a great time together. Family get togethers go so much more smoothly for us when they are outside, and luckily both sides of our family have always been so willing to accommodate.





While we were there, Chris gave me his present. I was so touched and I couldn't have asked for anything better. He took a picture of Cameron and I, turned it black and white, added "...and the greatest of these is love", and framed it. It is absolutely beautiful and looks like you would have bought it at a store. Perfect.



p.s. This blog was actually started by Chris. I ended up taking over as I liked it more than I thought I would. While Chris has posted from time to time, he hasn't done anything on a regular basis. All that to say, Chris decided to start his own blog that will have some stuff about us, but a lot of it will be random things he decides to write about. Oh, and it probably will have a lot more humor than mine does...if you know Chris I'm sure you aren't surprised! So check Chris's blog out!

a couple reviews and a fussy baby

Thanks for the TV show ideas!

Yesterday Chris and I took Cam to my mom's house and went to see Iron Man. What an AWESOME movie! If you like the super hero type movies, you'll love this one. Both Chris and I agreed that it was just a fun movie. Robert Downey Jr. was excellent and was full of funny lines. With the exception of a 5 second scene in which Chris and I had to avert our eyes down to the theater floor, I HIGHLY recommend!!

After the movie we went to lunch at Red Robin. Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap...excellent!

Cam has been running a fever since Sunday. After an Urgent Care visit Tuesday morning (I won't dive into my rant about how we have always had the worst luck with Urgent Care docs and their seeming indifference to our situations), we were told he probably had an ear infection. I'm not convinced as his ears don't seem to be bothering him at all. But something is bothering him because nothing seems to make him happy. Motrin gives us our happy Cam back for a while, but overall he is so off. We have another doc's appointment this afternoon so hopefully we can get some answers. How frustrating it must be to not feel good but not be able to communicate why! Poor thing.

tv

I wish my child watched more TV. I know, that sounds horrible, but let me explain. Cameron is not a huge fan of TV in general. He'll watch one Baby Einstein and this Little Brown Bear video my mom got him, but that's it. He typically only watches one show a day, but I would like for him to have a little more variety to choose from when I put one on. He isn't too interested in the more complex cartoons. Complex meaning they have lots of stuff going on (Wiggles, Dora, etc.). He more likes super simple shows (he seems to kind of like Max and Ruby). I would love any suggestions on simply pictured cartoons for him (hope that makes sense!). Do you know of any?

pampered

Yes, pampered is the only word I could use to describe my time the past few days. On Thursday, my friend Liesl and I flew to Texas to visit our friend Jessica. We had such an awesome time together. We all got massages, pedicures, went out to fun restaurants, and went shopping. In between we hung out at Jessica's house and just relaxed. The whole weekend was filled with GREAT conversation (which we know is a Kelly "must" for any great time) and tons of down time. It was a wonderful mini vacation for all of us. So what was my rating? A "9". I would have given it a 10, however my insomnia has decided to make a return and it has come with a vengeance. Although it has made for several days of non-stop headaches, I was still able to push through and enjoy my time with two great friends. :)





On Saturday morning I was able to visit my relatives from Texas. I have not seen most of them in almost 10 years! It was fun to see them even though it was for a short time.



While I was gone, Chris had Cam-duty. He decided to drive up to his parents for a visit. Cam did pretty good overall and he LOVED being able to wander all around their huge property. Here he is with his two favorite playmates:



Drawing on his grandparent's driveway: