What's Up Wednesday

Today, I’m linking up with Shay, Shaefer and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

What we're eating: 

Peppermint ice cream, muddy buddies, orange rolls, symphony bars, and all of the cream cheese dips ;) Looking forward to all of the holiday treats and food!
What I'm reminiscing about:
These two pictures popped up on my FB timeline this week :) My first snow living in a cold state (in Utah) TEN YEARS AGO!

And last year's Jammie Cocoa Christmas FAIL! haha Poor David managed to dump his hot chocolate (thankfully just luke warm) all over him while we were driving around looking at Christmas lights.

What I'm loving: 

• This picture of my nephew and Santa! hahahahaha!!!!

• My friend tagged me in this article about kid's specific obsessions. Hopefully Jack's dinosaur obsession is making him smarter ;)

• These pictures that Jack and David got as Christmas presents at church. I feel guilty that the only thing I notice are Jack's abnormally large hands!!!! haha

 
 

•  This post that I saw on FB because I don't get all the lovey mommy feelings while looking at ultrasound pictures... ultrasounds or pictures of lasagna - I can understand the confusion! hahaha

 

•  This!

 

•  My sweet baby!

 

• And my friend's FB post! #truth

 
What we've been up to:

• Going to the zoo with friends!

• Walking/running while Jack is at school with these two!

I've had this beanie since Jack was a baby and it's my favorite!

• Watching Jack's cute Christmas concert. 

 
Cheesy confession: I got all emotional watching Jack sing some silly adorable snowman song. Being a stay-at-home mom is sometimes hard for me because sometimes I feel like my brain is turning to mush and because I'm a very task oriented and some days it just feels like the only thing I accomplish in a day is keeping my kids fed and alive. When I was watching his Christmas concert, I remembered that being a mom is what I've always wanted and I just couldn't believe that I get to be that little boy's mamma :)

• Seeing Santa! For some reason, I was really dreading this but we checked it off of our dang Christmas to-do list on Monday! I was debating if I should go to the mall a mile down the road and risk Jack and David changing their minds about what they want for Christmas or going to Bass Pro Shop 30 minutes away and risking getting a crappy time slot to go back to see Santa. I decided on Bass Pro Shop and got a time slot for an hour and a half after we got there. It was kind of torture for me waiting with Kate that long but Jack and David had fun doing all of the activities there :) David told Santa he wanted a scooter and Jack told Santa he wanted a surprise!

•  Redeeming Jack's coupons from getting student of the month! haha He has been asking me for days to get his free ice cream and we finally went this week!

• Visiting a "Bethlehem" and seeing a live nativity! Some friends invited to go with us to this event and I was so impressed! We will definitely go again next year!

• Letting go of our first pet! haha We went to a friend's birthday party and they gave away fish as party favors!!! (I thought there was some unspoken rule that you don't give pets to other people's children?!) Luckily, after David spilled his fish IN OUR VAN, I convinced them that these kind of fish would die if they didn't live in the canal by our house ;) So we let the fish go after keeping them for less than 24 hours :)

   
What I'm working on:
Getting a few last things ready for Christmas!

What I'm dreading:
Nothing at the moment
What I'm excited about:
CHRISTMAS!!! This is me and Spencer's 8th Christmas together but only the 2nd time doing Christmas at our own home and not on the road. We will miss are families but are excited to start our own traditions with our little family :)

I'm also excited that the weather is amazing in Arizona in December. I think it makes Christmas way more fun when you can actually go outside and enjoy your Christmas gifts without freezing to death!
What I'm watching:

We finished Stranger Things and Poldark so now we are watching all of Christmas episodes from The Office :) (Then we are planning on watching the Parks and Rec Christmas episodes next :) Season Three's Christmas episodes from The Office are THE BEST!

What I'm reading:
I still haven't sat down to read since having Kate but I listened to the audio of The Woman in Cabin 10 on Over Drive and liked it a lot!

What I've been listening to:
All of the Christmas music!
What I'm wearing: 
It's finally cool enough for leggings and jeans! I never remember to take "outfit selfies" haha
What I'm doing this weekend: 
All of the Christmas things :)
What I'm looking forward to next month:
My family visiting and not having to endure January because the weather here is going to be gorgeous!

Life Lately

We love play dates with our neighbors and Jack's friends from school!

On Friday, I was sick so it seemed like a good day to have a lazy day. We dragged a mattress out into the living room, watched Christmas movies, and had our traditional sleepover by the Christmas tree.




I've watched While You Were Sleeping more than any movie but this weekend was the first time I noticed that Lucy had the same sheets that I had growing up ;)
 

By Saturday night, I thought I was feeling better so we got hot chocolate, drove around to see Christmas lights, and walked around the Riparian Preserve for the Riparian After Dark event. This is a picture of us pretending to have fun because Jack and I lost steam really fast and we ended up bailing after 10 minutes and going home!


On Sunday, I was feeling better, but Jack wasn't :( We kept our mattress out all weekend and Jack fell asleep through all of our noise, a sure sign that he wasn't feeling 100 percent.

By that evening, Jack seemed to be feeling better but Spencer wasn't feeling too great. In order to give Spencer some space (because David is obsessed with Spencer and won't leave him alone when he's home) I took the kids out to see more Christmas lights while Spencer barfed his guts out in peace and quiet. We found a cul-de-sac that was doing free train rides and a "Walk through Bethlehem." I love that my boys were perfectly fine in t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. Christmas in Arizona is the best :)




After the boys went to sleep, Jack woke up and projectile peanut-butter-vomited all over everything BUT the barf bowl, including David, then fell back to sleep 😩🤦🏼‍♀️ I had to wake them up, bathe them, and scrape chunks of vomit off their clothes, sheets and pillows before washing and changing the sheets. I was feeling sorry for myself until I remembered that Spencer’s cousin’s sweet baby passed away last night. I don’t know them well, nor can I begin to imagine their grief, but with them in mind, I began scraping chunks of barf with love and gratitude in my heart and with a prayer for a family who had to say goodbye to their baby much too soon. Life can change so quickly and so drastically and I’m so grateful for my family, barf and all.
 
(I haven't enjoyed a peanut butter sandwich since Jack was 18 months old or so. His throw up always smells peanut-butter-sandwichy since that is a staple in his diet and now the smell of peanut butter sandwiches just remind me of throw up! haha) Also, I don't understand how my kids act fine during the day but almost always throw up in the night?!
Monday was a recovery day of all of us. David's morning hair was pretty awesome!



I think we are in the clear now and hoping for a better week and weekend!

Family Pics

We got our family pictures taken last month by my friend, Elizabeth Lawlor, and she did such an amazing job! I usually feel lucky if we get one decent family picture but she got so many good ones! I sure love this family of mine! (I'm now going to post aaaaallllll of the pictures because I print out my blog so #sorrynotsorry)