watch me grow......!

Here are some pic updates from this post:

 These were the Canna Bulbs popping up...I was so excited!!

 And look at them now!

 The flowers in the pots at the front of the house are doing well (I love the colors)....

 This is our neighbor's flower, but it's right by our driveway, and I had to take a pic!

 Our cherry tomato plants!

The cilantro is growing like crazy (yes!), the jalapeno blossoms are blooming, and the plant in the middle is doing great. Love it. I hoped I had a green thumb! It's so much fun. 

 Onto another subject that's growing (something...er...should I say someone that's even more exciting!)

Look at this big boy in his stander!! So proud of him. And the fact that his gnawing on his hand (without gagging!!) is such a huge and wonderful thing for us to see.

Just watch how cute he is:

By the way...the "chum lip" my sister is referring to...let me explain :) I can't even remember now how we got started, but my family has gotten into the habbit of calling my nephews "chums". Big chum (Ollie), and little chum (Sully). And Sully does this infamous, somewhat pouty lip that we so lovingly call the "chum lip". 

We love this boy. Doesn't he have the best smile?!

feelings about the past week

negatives:
-sinus infections are NOT. FUN. i have never in my life had such a headache or seen so much green snot. after a week and half of what i thought was the flu, i was able to get some antibiotics to punch this
infection in the face.

-allowing my child to watch entirely too much tv while laying on the couch and praying for relief. the girl who never sits still, will immediately sit on her bottom and watch the entire episode of "Calliou" without moving. not my finest week of parenting, that's for sure.

-the in-between weather that's been happening lately.  once the last bit of snow melts, i am ready for summer and i feel like it's taking forever to be warm again. 80 degrees, please hurry up....


positives:
-feeling thankful for peyton's grandparents:) they allow me to indulge in a little "me" time every once and a while. in this case, it was going to the doctor two times in one week, but i was alone, so that counts as "me" time, right? ALL of p's grandparents are always very willing to take her off our hands and we are so thankful!
-spending time outside and enjoying our football field of a backyard.

-watching a little girl fall in love with the outdoors. she's always asking to play outside and many times will cry when she has to come in. her favorite activity? following after birds, finding little rocks to sort and watching all the neighborhood dogs. i can't get enough.

-the first big rainstorm of the season. my husband was beside himself excited. while the rest of central iowa was hovering in their basements during the tornado warning, he was standing outside, looking around with a giddy smile on his face. he's got a thang for weather and i love that about him.

-i love logging into our bank account and seeing a much larger sum of money than there was yesterday. tax returns are wonderful:)

it's been a roller coaster of a week and i'm feeling happy about life. who's with me?

happily busy

for lack of ideas on what to blog about, here is a look into the happenings that have occurred over this past month. as the title of this post states, our little family has had a lot keeping us busy, which i thrive on. as a stay at home mom and in-home child care provider, i count on weekends and evenings to remind me that there still is a world outside of my living room.
so for those of you who would like an insider view to my happily, busy life....here is a peek:

february 5th and 6th
february kicked off with some more home makeovers. my mom graciously came over on saturday the 5th and helped me paint our guest bedroom. the room went from a fluorescent, pale lavender, to a much more appealing neutral beige. (shoot! forgot to take a before and after pic....you'll just have to take my word for it:)) we knocked it out in about two hours. my mom is the world's best painting buddy, because she prefers to do the trim and doesn't like to roll. don't understand it, but i'll take it! thanks for all your help, mom!

the 6th was spent cleaning and prepping for rachel's birthday/ superbowl party at her mom's house. brandon spent the weekend with friends, so peyton and i made our appearance at the party. it was fun to be with rach on her actual birthday and to spend time with her friends and family. here i am with the birthday girl, herself....happy two-five, rachel!



february 9th
had a girl's night with my two wonder women. we celebrated rachel's birthday at Red, the chinese bistro on ingersoll. SO. GOOD. in fact, it was that delicious, that i talked my husband into taking me there for valentines day! more on that later...

february 12th
while my mom and i were out gallivanting at hobby lobby (LOVE that store), my dad and brandon spent the morning finishing up our bathroom makeover. they installed a new faucet to match the rest of the hardware that we purchased a few weeks back. i plan on doing a separate post to show off the new bathroom....complete with before and after pics. get excited:) brandon and i also took peyton sledding for the first time in our backyard. she was adorable....and now points to the door all the time and signs "please", asking to go outside. how can we say no?


february 14th
ahhh....v-day. gotta love it. my guy went shopping and bought me a new dress and some matching jewelry from White House, Black Market. i was stunned. and he did great! i love both the dress and the bracelet! if you knew brandon, you would understand that this was a big step for him. he despises shopping of any sort, so i felt very flattered. he even braved the weird looks from teenage girls and walked around Forever 21 to find me a cute shirt, "just because." love that boy:) we dropped peyton off at the grandparent's house and had a romantic date at Red (the restaurant i mentioned before). you just can't beat free babysitters, who will watch your kid overnight on valentines day...wink, wink:) this is the only picture i got of us before our date. i am notorious for not keeping my camera battery charged and having it die on me right before an important event. sigh....



february 18th
my dad's birthday! my parents, brandon and i had a double date at The Longest Yard, a sports bar in Valley Junction and then headed back to my parent's place for cake (which i baked! who would have thought? and it turned out perfectly!) and presents. brandon's mom took peyton off our hands for the night, so we had two nights that week that we could pretend like it was just the two of us again. after you have kids, it's easy to forget what life is like before kids. like remembering what it's like to sleep in:)

february 19th and 20th
spent the weekend up with brandon's family and attended our first Daytona 500 party! brandon's mom and step dad are big NASCAR buffs and they love to host events at their home. why not have a party to watch the Daytona 500? it's kind of like a super bowl party...except for NASCAR! this is the 10th year they have hosted this party and it delivered. jenny and kevin out-did themselves with smoked pulled pork, hamburgers, potato casserole and tons of appetizer-like foods. it's safe to say that we'll be back next year:)
here are a few pictures from that day (sorry their so random...i was busy stuffing my face.):

couldn't have a post without this sweet face:)

blair (brandon's sister) and i

having fun with some krispy kremes. blair's idea.

and the month isn't even over yet! i'm sure there will be lots more excitement to come. thanks for tuning in for my random post...leave a comment if you liked it!:)

one hot tuesday at Old Chicago...

...The Wonder Woman Diaries was born.

the three of us were sitting in a booth, in the back of the restaurant, munching on chicken and jalapeno pizza and brainstorming ideas for our hypothetical blog. the idea seemed like a joke at first, but as we got to talking about it, we decided to go for it. let's start a blog...why not??

but let's back up for a minute. over the past few years, jobs, husbands, babies and physical miles have intervened with our friendship. don't get me wrong, we ladies can always pick up where we left off, but i can honestly say that months would go by before the three of us would get a chance to just BE. no bachelorette parties, no baby showers, no husbands in tow....just Maggie, Hannah and Rachel. the blonde, the brunette, and the redhead:)

so we all made the decision to have girl's night once a month. leave the husbands to fend for themselves (and pray they remember to feed our kids:)) and have a rendezvous to catch up life. let me tell you....these nights were always the highlight of my month. as a stay at home mom and in-home child care provider, let's just say i don't leave the house much. not to mention the fact that i hang out with little people all day. every working wife and/or mom needs a girls night out. amen??:)

so thus, our sweet little blog was created. and it has been a wonderful ride ever since.

three cheers for caribu coffee. the latest venue of our girl's night.(ps...the chai was SO GOOD! better than starbucks, IMO)

honor, courage and commitment

one area of my life that i feel could reach others is that fact that i am a military wife! well, not technically...more like a military girlfriend-turned-wife..but who's counting? my husband is no longer active or overseas, but once a Marine, always a Marine...am i right?

i can relate to those thousands and thousands of wives out there, who have no idea when or IF they will ever see their man again. they keep their cell phone glued to their hand at all times of the day and night, anxiously waiting for a call that typically only lasts a few minutes, but gives them the strength to keep functioning the rest of the week. and then, being reunited after a year, they remain strong, continuing to pick up the pieces of a man that may look the same, but has seen and heard and experienced an incredible amount of pain. something inside of him is different. he flinches at certain noises. he has a hard time with war scenes. his dreams are filled with images of war, that he has to re-live every night as he sleeps. he is forever changed. those wives will never fully understand, but they are left with the most important jobs. listening. loving. supporting.

i can relate to those wives...i am one of those wives.

while much of this blog will be about daily life news, (kids, homes, friendships..) sometimes my life involves post traumatic stress disorder, shrapnel wounds or unhealthy ways of dealing with stress. thankfully, brandon and i have a wonderful support system with our friends and family, and ultimately rely on God with any struggles we come across. my hope for this blog is that i could speak to many women who may find themselves in similar circumstances.

and can i just say what an honor it is to boast that MY husband fought for our freedom? i am proud to say that he's mine...war wounds and all:)

hope this post wasn't too much of a downer, but more like a peek into my life.
thanks for listening...

the january blues

does anyone else have an extreme dislike for january? or is that just me? i have never liked this month and have always found myself feeling bored, depressed and definitely not diggin' the weather. i think that this hatred stems back from my school days, being that january was always the month that school started again and spring break seemed like light years away.
so i have decided to take things into my own hands and instead of feeling mopey and sad for the next three weeks, i am going to make a concentrated effort to relish in the moment of playing with my favorite, little girl or snuggling up on the couch with my hubby.
so if you come and visit (and please do!) and i am balled up on the couch, wishing away this wretched month, just remind me of my new plan.
i'm happy to embrace this new challenge to makeover january, BUT....can't a girl wish for july??

thank(FULL)

When I was in high school my sister introduced to me the concept of a "Thankful Journal". You take time out of each day to write down five things you are thankful for. At first it's easy, then after a few days you get a little stooped (let's see here...I've already thanked God for my family, my friends, my house, and dog...how in the world can I think of five different things every day?!)--not that you have to be thankful for five different things every day of your life--there are times in our lives where we are thankful for something for an entire season, and things that we are thankful for for an entire lifetime! And then you remember all the things you take for granted that you are (or SHOULD be) thankful for. Running water, a toilet, a warm bed to sleep in, etc. And once you get REALLY good at being thankful :), you even start to be thankful for the trials in your life! "When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." James 1:2-4

Some may be wondering...why journal it? Why not just say it? Well, there are probably a few reasons, but my favorite reason is simply for being able to go back and look at it. It can be quite fun, and even a blessing to look back on your life and see what you've thanked God for in the past! Sometimes it brings a rush of emotion and a special intimate moment with God by more clearly remembering that specific time in your life.
Just for fun...take a look at this timeline, straight from my thankful journal:
2.24.99 "I am thankful for no homework!"
4.19.99 "I am thankful for such a wonderful guy for Heidi-Kevin" (my sister and now brother-in-law) :)
2.20.00 "My mommy (which I might add...spoils me rotten!)" mmm..wonder what she got me that day?!
2.20.00 "Boys, he, he!"
2.24.00 "Cool pens, school dances, stars"
10.30.02 "Conversation, encouragement, wisdom, tears"
4.14.04 "Forgiveness, experiences, guidance, friends"
8.23.06 "Hope, hugs, smiles, beginnings"
9.10.06 "Photographs, love"
9.11.06 "The Holy Spirit, new beginnings, prayer, fellowship, seasons"

:) That's just a glimpse! You can see how my thankfulness matured over time (haha). It is definitely neat to look through and see the things that are timeless (family, friends, smiles, laughter, etc.) and the things that are a bit more unique that make you wonder what happened that day to make you say that. I have to admit that I stopped doing this a long while ago...4 years ago in fact. 9.12.06 is the last entry. I'm planning on starting again because after reading through my journal again, I wish I could (and am physically yearning to) read what I would've written between then and now. There's been so much I've been thankful for.

My challenge to you is to join me and try to daily think of things you are thankful for. Practice making it as natural as breathing. There's no minimum or maximum to the list. Simply take time to reflect on all the blessings in your life. Our lives are literally brimming with blessings. Let us be outwardly brimming with blessing and full of thanks. Let us be thank(FULL).






P.S. What are you thankful for?