What I Did (& Didn't Do) Today

Today was a day that will not earn me the Housewife of the Year Award

however....

it will earn me the Cherishing My Children Today Award

So.  Instead of taking care of this

or taking care of this

or finishing up the chore of folding this

I decided that I wanted to look at this 

little ear

and this

hair line

and this

noonie that fits perfectly below this nose

 and these

little toes

and this

cute mouth

and these

tiny fingers

and finally this

 peaceful, precious, little face of Cooper Davis

  

Not a very productive day, but one that I will never consider wasted!

Motherly Hen (or should I say Rooster)

From the day that we told the boys we were going to have another baby in the house, Trevor has been the one showing the most interest and excitement about the baby.  He would rub my tummy.  He would talk to the baby.  He would sit with his hand on my belly awaiting for the baby to move.  He's just been excited.  The last month or so he has taken it to a different level and considers his little stuffed elephant his baby.  He will put the baby to sleep in his bed after he wakes up in the morning, making sure to cover him up.  He will hold it if "the baby" is crying, and he has been seen wrapping "the baby" up so he can calm him down and put him to sleep on the couch or chair.   He's my little Mother Hen.

In the pictures below I found him sitting in the nursery (after we had set up the crib and moved the rocker in there).  He was as quiet as could be just rocking away, looking out the window at certain points and other times, caring for "his baby". 

 

Then today, both the boys were having some down time (quiet time) before heading to the pool.  They normally have a choice of where to do quiet time, either in their room or the soon-to-be baby's room.  They were playing with Lego's and reading books for awhile and then it got very quiet.  I peeked around the corner to see them "messing" with the car seat - not quite sure what they were doing, but they were quiet so I left them alone.  After quiet time was done, I asked them what they were doing with the car seat and they both had the biggest smiles on their faces as they led me in the room to show me just what they were doing.  I couldn't help by smile!!

New Sunday Tradition

Our church here, Holy Rosary, has a much earlier mass than our church, St. Thomas Aquinas, in Utah did. Instead of getting up leisurely, having breakfast, showering and then letting the kids play a bit before our 10am mass, we now have to set an alarm, get showered, get the kids up, dressed and fed before leaving at 8:15am for our 8:30am mass. We always complained while in Utah that the later mass kind of messed up the entire day because by the time we got home it was lunch time and then naps for the kids after that. By the time they woke up it was mid-afternoon already and the day was on it's way to being done. However, now that we have an early mass again, we realized the grass isn't always greener on the other side. There's no more "sleeping in", there's no more leisurely Sunday mornings, nor are there pancake or french toast breakfasts on Sundays.

Now, I listed some of the negatives with the earlier mass time; however, there are some good things with it. We get the day started earlier than we EVER did in Utah, the kids aren't starving by the time mass roles around (we don't even bring snacks to church anymore), and we've started a new tradition since it's early enough to still eat "breakfast" after church is over. And here's the proof that the kids LOVE our new tradition!

Donuts after church.... gotta love that tradition!! I can remember doing donuts on Saturday mornings before we went to bowling and it will always stick in my mind. So maybe family donut time on Sundays will stick with our boys once their older and have families of their own! (but that will be many, many, many, many years down the road)

(I do have to admit, I hope they don't have "Halloween donuts" all year long. I don't enjoy having black-mouthed kids for 2 days after eating the donuts (thank God we didn't have school pictures the next day!))

And the "W" Goes To....

Running to Get Into PositionThe Athletic Stance
The Kick-offThe Run & Tackle
(Trevor is actually pulling on Ethan's shirt, somewhat crying because he wants the ball)

Victory for the Underdog

(Ethan is crying saying, "It's not fair, Trevor won't give me the ball!")

This picture is one of my new favorites!!!

Hangin' With Daddy

This picture says it all... they really missed their daddy the last 2 weeks!

Today's Favorite

One of life's quiet moments...

The Little Things

This is a "catch-up" post, but I needed to write about what my hubby did for me (or should I say, to me). You see, my extended trip to WI in February fell over the major (ha) holiday of Valentine's Day. Rick and I never really celebrate this holiday - we may get each other a card, but that's about it - so I didn't think much of it when I made flight reservations that didn't bring me and the boys back home until the 17th.

Rick, feeling lonely and maybe a bit creative, on the 14th decided to do something just for me! He planted all these things around the house for me to find upon my return to normal life at our home. And I am STILL finding them - almost a full month later.
They are little post it notes that have a "love theme" to them... all kinds of little sayings for the one you love. To date, I have 50+ papers in this pile and I'm sure there are still several that I have yet to uncover. You might be asking, where did he hide them all? Well, I'll tell you just a few of the places...my make-up case, each and every drawer in the bathroom and my dresser, the kitchen cupboards, on the washing machine (behind the cover since it was flipped up), on the window sills where I couldn't see them until I opened the blinds, in the refrigerator, in the dryer sheet box, in the pocket of my pants that were hanging in the closet, etc...

After the sorrowful beginning to the month that we had and being away from him for a week, it was fun to come home to this. It made me smile each and every time I found one. Thank you, Sweetie!

And here are some of my favorite sayings from the little notes.
~ If you think of me as often as I think of you... then neither of us is getting much else done.
~Every time I follow my heart, it leads me right to you.
~Can I keep you?
~Your love makes every day like a little party!
~Every day I discover something new to love about you.
~I thought I couldn't love you more, but every day I do.
~I love you today much more than yesterday...
~I'm yours! All Yours! Think you can handle it? (some days I wonder...)
~I love....loving you.
~You are my everything.
~Whatever else I may be doing today, I'll be loving you.
~I'm so lucky to have you to love!

There were a couple that had a series of "i love" statements... these are just a few of those...and I love them because they are what makes love, a marriage and a true friendship last -- the little things.
~i love the way you listen to me. I love your eyes. I love your smile. I love all your toes. I love the way you answer the phone. I love the way you kiss. I love the way you eat spaghetti. I love the way you look at me. I love the way you introduce me to your friends.

Thanks for the smiles and (to steal one of the sayings from above) I'm so lucky to have you to love!

Oh Cmmon....

A little preface before you read this post. This post will contain some "not so fun" graphic descriptions of what my kids put me through today. If you have a sensitive stomach... please, please PLEASE stop reading now.

So, you continued, did you?!? I hope you enjoy it because as I was in the moment, I'll be honest, I was NOT enjoying it so much!!!

The day started as a pretty low key day. Trevor and I are both fighting colds so I figured a cartoon, movie, low-key activities day was in store for Ethan, Trevor and I. And that's how it started. Then comes Mom's brilliant idea to do baths before nap time to hopefully loosen up Trevor's cough a bit. Great idea, right?

I thought so.
And it was.

That is, until Trev decided to poop in the tub while he and Ethan were in it. (I do applaud Ethan for always promptly telling me when Trevor poops in the tub). But this poop in the tub day was a bit different than the previous ones I've experienced (thankfully there haven't been too many of them). Seeing as how Trevor is not feeling the greatest, it ended up being one of those amazingly wonderful soft, nothing sticks together kind of poops. Great mixture when it's with the bath water!! EEEEWWWWEEE GROSSSSSS!!

Out come the kids and they move to our bathroom to shower off and get cleaned up. The toys, water and poop all remain in their bathtub for the time being! Thank goodness the Health Department didn't stop by our house at that time because I definitely would have had some violations going on. The boys got their showers taken and then the clean up work had to begin. I shooed them downstairs to play while I got out cleaning supplies, plastic bags and rubber gloves! Ewe... once again. So gross!!

However, I came to realize that the Man Upstairs knew this was going to happen to me. Several things make me say that.

1. I didn't shower this morning. I didn't shower because He knew that I would 110% need to take one after cleaning out all the poop in the tub.
2. A few days ago when I bought a shower liner for our other bathroom, I decided (for some reason) to pick up a second one to have as a reserve. He knew that today was going to happen and I was going to throw out the liner in the kids tub after it was floating in the water with all the poop in it.
3. I had been thinking about throwing away the "sticky mat" that I always put down in the tub for bath time. You know, the ones so they don't slip in the tub. It was getting a bit yucky from all the use it's had and just didn't clean up very well anymore. Guess He knew that it was time. I didn't' even TRY to clean it up today. Just rinsed off the stuff I could and put it right in the garbage!
4. No authorities showed up at our house this morning. It's a good thing that He knew it wasn't a good time. I had a poop-filled tub, a sink with water & bleach in it for the toys that were in the poop filled tub, I had a dog barking uncontrollably at the other dog walking in our yard, I had a child (that would be Trevor) SCREAMING at the top of his lungs because he was taking his first "real" shower and I was forcing him to put his head under the shower water to rinse out the soap, and I had another child (Ethan) who was already done in the shower and was running around our house as naked as the day he was born!

Oh my oh my... what a morning.
I know I'll think twice the next time I decided to do baths before nap time.

Another Reminder

You know, being Catholic in Utah has its challenges. We are definitely in the minority; however, Rick and I have been lucky in that we live in a great neighborhood that has not "turned us away" because of our religious choices and we have truly enjoyed our time here. We have many great friends that are not Catholic and we love that ... diversity is a wonderful and beautiful thing!

However, today I had to laugh because I once again was reminded where I am living. Being Ash Wednesday today, I went to church at noon and as is normal for Catholics on this day, had ashes placed upon my forehead in the shape of a cross. After church and after picking up Ethan at school, I decided to go to a local pizza place to pick up a cheese pizza for dinner tonight (being that we are not supposed to eat meat on this particular day). My friend, Michelle (who was also at church), had the same idea and we ended up at the pizza place at the same time, both with ashes still on our foreheads.

The girl behind the counter kind of chuckled after looking at the two of us and said, "Hey, you both have matching... things on your forehead." We could tell by the tone of her voice, her searching for the right word (later to be filled in with "thing"), and her reactions that she had no clue what it was for. And that's really ok. It was just kind of funny and yet another instance that made me giggle inside as I remembered that we're not in the Midwest anymore.

(And I'll be honest, I don't know if the LDS faith has a any rituals on Ash Wednesday or not... maybe she doesn't belong to any faith which is why she didn't have a clue what the ashes were ... who knows. To my LDS friends, feel free to let me know what you do, if anything, on this day we call Ash Wednesday.)

Trevor's Time-outs

Trevor has been spending a fair amount of time in time-outs lately. Tough love is hard and these are just two of the many sad, or mad, faces that we see during time outs. (I'm just in a "silly" mood today and so figured I would take pictures of his distress. But don't worry, as I write this he is up and playing as if nothing ever happened.)

Trying & Teriffic Tuesday

Today was not as Magnificent as yesterday was! The boys were "a bit" rambunctious today and trying to keep them quiet while my brother worked just did not make for a relaxing day around the Heck house. So that was the trying part of today. However, the terrific part of today made up for the trying time.

Today was a day in history that I will NEVER forget. I wish our kids were old enough to really remember the significance of the Inauguration of our 44th President of the United States of America. I spent most of the day doing things that could be done in front of the television (folding laundry, filing bills/paperwork, etc) so that I could watch the various traditions and parts of a presidential inauguration. I felt guilty at the time, but I am so glad that I did it. I also wanted to write this blog as I was watching things happen in order to catch my thoughts in "real time"; however, with the kids being a bit rambunctious that was not an option. So, I sit here watching the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball as I try to recall the thoughts I had revolving around this event.

It all started as I cuddled with my little man on the couch Monday afternoon. He was sleeping in my lap when I started watching Oprah. She was broadcasting from Washington DC and had the world premier of "America's Song" on her show (I put the song on the right side of the blog - click on the "play" arrow to start it). All I could do was listen to the lyrics and realize that we do live in a Beautiful place and should consider ourselves blessed! I don't know why but I actually had tears in my eyes as I listened to it! It just hit me on this particular day, I guess.

Today, I started watching television this morning before the President-Elect and his wife even left the Blair House. I found it interesting and inspiring that the first thing on their list of things to do today was to attend a service at the near by church! How absolutely wonderful that they get to take some time for themselves (and the 600+ others invited) to reflect on all that is happening, to thank God for all that he has given them, and to ask God for the strength and perseverance to succeed in the days ahead.

Then I watched as they were filtering people into the Mall for the Inaugural Ceremony. Absolutely amazing to see how many people traveled and waited and stood in the frigid temperatures to see this historic event take place! And historic it was! Ethan had learned about Barack Obama in school during election time and so we have been telling him that this brilliant man is going to be our 44th president and the very first African American president. Ethan watched part of the ceremonies with me and was so excited when the president-elect walked out onto the podium at the start of the ceremony. I just hope that he'll remember a small portion of what he witnessed today even if it is just the excitement that he had for it all. Now, the significance of it, he doesn't really get that. However, I will explain it someday and will make sure they understand just how lucky we are to live in a time when an African American was chosen by the people to take the oath of President. The statement that makes is beyond words!!

Now, even though the glimpse we get into the life of the Obama's is minute, it seems to me that they possess many values that we try to instill in our children. Amongst others, those of the love of family and humility, and those of integrity and sincerity. Some of the images that I saw on television today showed just that. The love that you could see for his wife, for his daughters, and for his country could be seen often! It was just wonderful to watch this changing of the guard and to know that he is going to do all that he can (with our help) to make our country a better place.

Not being there, I obviously couldn't take any pictures, but I'm happy to say that some folks were nice enough to take a few for me and post them online. I did take a few as the day was going on, but not all turned out like I wished they would have. These are just a few that I wanted to include in order to remember the day as it happened.

The mass of people who watched history take place,

the repeating of the oath,

a special moment between Dad and daughter,

a genuine moment between President Obama and his First Lady,

a picture that speaks volumes about what our country has accomplished, and

walking hand in hand - a comfortable, special view of their friendship and love.

And if there's one thing that I hope our youth (and the rest of us for that matter) takes away from this entire sequence of events, it's that your opportunities are endless and anything is possible if you want it bad enough. I had hoped, but never thought, I would see the day that an African American was the head of our country. That day has come! What a huge barrier to have broken through! And I hope breaking that barrier opens the eyes of many to the fact that we live in an amazing country that has endless opportunities just awaiting you to take advantage of them! There will always be challenges, but if you believe in yourself, work hard, and earn the respect of others anything is possible.

Sometimes Being a Woman Stinks

So, I love being a mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend and a woman. However, it's times like this that I absolutely despise my husband (and other men) for how easy they have it! You see, Rick decided that he wanted to buy a new sport coat for his work holiday party that we have on Saturday. Not a big deal, I should be able to match what he gets with something that I already have. On Monday night, he takes his 3 favorite pair of dress pants, a dress shirt that he can wear with all of them and heads to the Men's Warehouse to see what he can find. Forty minutes later he is done - one store - comes home with 2 sport coats, a new tie and he can mix and match all of it! Great for you, honey!

What he bought was all neutral, earthy tones which I am normally very excited about since I wear a ton of that color scheme. That is, except for when it comes to dressy occasions because Rick was normally in black or navy so I have a ton of stuff to match that! Now, if it was summer, I would have a fun dress to wear, but wearing a short in length and sleeveless dress in January is not my idea of "the right season". So, now I have to go shopping. Here comes the part where I despise my husband. Tuesday night I ventured out after dinner (by myself) to hopefully find a dress. I visited 2 stores, tried on WAY TOO MANY thing, and didn't find anything that I really liked. I found a couple things that I liked enough to buy, but nothing that I was very excited about. And a dress -- you have got to be kidding me -- the stuff they have out there is horrible right now. So, I had one pants outfit that Rick and I both liked so that will work, but I wanted to try again on Wednesday. Went to 1 more store and once again, nothing "wintry" that I liked! UGH!

So, let's tally the score -
Rick : 1 store, 1 trip, 2 sales people devoted to helping just him and bring the clothes to him, 2 sport coats, 1 tie, 40 minutes, nothing to be taken back

Angie: 3 stores, 2 trips, a random person asking if I found everything ok, 20 trips in and out of a dressing room to find my own clothes, 2 pant outfits (1 outfit and extra pair of pants being taken back already), 1 skirt to go with the shirt from the pant outfit, 3+ hours shopping around, and additional trips to take the things I don't wear back!

Women who are reading this - does this seem fair??? I think not! And this is precisely the reason why my wardrobe is stuck in some point of the past! It's just not worth the effort most days. Count your blessings, boys...