March 2015 – The Bless Your Heart Blog

The Birthday Boys

Happiest of birthdays to two of the biggest miracles I know!

My sweet nephews are one today! ONE!

A year ago today, they were born via c-section at 26 weeks gestation. They weighed in a 1 pound 1 ounce and 1 pound 4 ounces. They’ve come a looooooooong way, they have!

Our first meeting... — Our first meeting…

The Lord has been so faithful to their family. My sister-~~in-law~~ reflected back on the past year and I encourage you to check out her story here.

Happy birthday, boys! We love you sooooooo very much! We have been honored to be able to watch the Lord’s hand on your lives and to stand by your family as we prayed for you and over you. You are alive and thriving for a reason, little warriors! We have seen His favor on you and we pray that you will follow Him all the days of your lives!

I hope you get to eat lots of cake and ice cream…and that your momma sends me a picture when you do! 😉 We love you!

Random Rambles

Up until I had kids, I much preferred “fall backward” over “spring forward.” I mean, who wants to lose an hour of sleep?! Well, with kids, spring forward works waaaaaaay better around here. Since that happened a few weeks ago, Sawyer has been sleeping until 8 and Wryder until 9. Wrex and I have been trying to at least be IN bed by 9 every night so I’ve been getting AT LEAST 10 hours of sleep at night. It’s. Been. Glorious.

This Tuesday, Sawyer and daddy had teeth cleanings in North Platte that we had originally scheduled for 10 am. His sale got cancelled so the dentist graciously allowed us to move our appointments until the afternoon…for the sleep factor, ya know?

We slept in, ate breakfast, got around and got to town in time for Wrexy to eat at his favorite Chinese food buffet. 🙂 Sawyer saw this sign in the bathroom and was just incredulous at its meaning…or what SHE thought it meant.

She said, “Pssh. Mom? What does that sign even mean? Who would go to bed in the bathroom?” Hysterical. Love that girl…

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She and daddy were both cavity free and got new toothbrushes and lots of compliments. The dentist just thinks Wrex has the most wonderful teeth. Sigh. I’m sure I’m just a wee bit jealous. Prior to his first visit six months ago, he hadn’t even been to a dentist in 12 years. YEARS, people. He still only had one cavity. One. And I know how much pop he drinks and how often he brushes. He’s a dental marvel… He told me last night that he’s pretty sure he had the same toothbrush all four years in college. I almost threw up…for lots of reasons.

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We’re head to Nebraska for Easter weekend so we’re going to do our little family Easter celebration this weekend. Yesterday morning, we took some time to color and decorate some eggs. This was Wryder’s first time and it went pretty much like I expected it to. 😉

Gosh, she's gorgeous... — Gosh, she’s gorgeous…

Gettin' a little help from daddy — Gettin’ a little help from daddy

Sister's an egg dying pro! — Sister’s an egg dying pro!

Wryder just needs a little more finesse ;) — Wryder just needs a little more finesse 😉

After we got them dyed, we decorated them with stickers and hair and pipe cleaners…

A lot of his turned out like this:

but that’s ok!

Our little egg creatures... — Our little egg creatures…

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Sawyer helped me sort some M&M’s yesterday morning. We’re working on stuff for Wryder’s birthday and I needed yellow, green and brown only. She was FAST! I was quite impressed with her sorting skills…

Wryder did his part by eating anything that sister snuck him or we dropped on the floor.

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I got some new Jams in the mail this week – some unexpected! I decided it was time to take the time to do mine again. (We did Sawyer’s Monday). I love ALL of these – so cute!

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A few years ago, one of Sawyer’s sale barn buddies gave her a two dollar bill and a 50 cent piece for Christmas. I LOVED the sentimentality behind this gift because it was something my grandparents and uncles were always prone to do for us. In fact, there was a number of years that I was positive a 50 cent piece had my Uncle Danny’s picture on it and I referred to them as Uncle Dannys and I would use ONLY Uncle Dannys to buy my school lunches.

Last night, Wrexy brought home a set for Wryder from this same gentleman.

It’s a sweet, sweet thing when people show love to your kids…

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It’s Fun Friday and we’ve got some innocent mischief to get into! I pray you enjoy your weekend – it’s supposed to be a pretty one!

Sissy, Bubba and Sacrificial Love

One of the prayers Wrex and I are constantly speaking over our kiddos is that they will always love each other and be one of each others’ best friends. Right now, that’s a pretty easy thing for them.

Wryder was so lost last week when sister was sick. She didn’t feel like playing and we wouldn’t let him close enough to hardly hug or kiss her and he was definitely missing his “sissy.”

Every week when it’s time to drop her off for Cubbies, he’s usually ok for about five minutes or so and then the constant questioning of, “Momma, Sissy?” begins. He absolutely can not wait for 7:45 to roll around so that he can go with us to pick her up.

Last night was no different. He even asked daddy to move her carseat next to his so they could sit right next to each other. Melt. My. Heart.

During the day yesterday, we ran into Ogallala to run a few errands and let the kids hang out at the sale barn with daddy for a little bit. They had a ball, of course. Once it was time to head home, we had two vehicles and Wrex offered for one of them to ride with him (in hopes *ahem* they’d both take naps on the way home without the other to distract them). Well, obviously they both wanted to ride. How do ya pick???

We decided to let Sawyer go with daddy and as he went to get her out of her seat, brother started crying. After a second or two of thought, she piped up and said, “Daddy, I’ll stay with momma so that Wryder can go with you. I think he’d really like that.”

I was a puddle. I was so proud of her sweet sacrifice. There is no bigger daddy’s girl on the planet than this girl. She even picked out a “ranchy” outfit this morning and put bidding cards in her pocket before we ever walked out the door so she could be like him. It was a REALLY big deal for her to choose Wryder to have that privilege over herself…

We told her how proud we were of her and then daddy loaded up Wryder while I pulled ahead to get some fuel. The boys drove by us and stopped to wave…and sweet Sawyer just lost it. She was crying so hard.

I think there were a lot of factors; she’s still not 100%, she was tired and I think her decision probably hurt a little. Isn’t that how it is with sacrifices? They’re not usually painless. Learning to die to self in order to give to something else is a process and it’s not easy.

Dating someone? Gotta learn to die to yourself in some areas. Marry someone? You really gotta learn to die to yourself. Have kiddos? You really, REALLY have to learn to die to yourself. And oh, it’s a good thing…it really is…but it’s not easy.

I opened her back door and hugged on her and talked to her about sacrificial love and she just kept saying, “I love Bubba so much! I just love him so much!”

I love their hearts for each other and we do our darnedest to foster that relationship. Just yesterday, I came across this post and saved it to my phone…

Today renewed that vigor. Here’s to raising future best friends and leaving a legacy of relationship and family with them…

To my bubba – I love you dearly, too! We’ve had our share of ups and downs but I tend to only remember the ups. You’re a keeper!

And to my siblings I got when I married my Wrexy – you guys have my heart. I love you oodles! I couldn’t have picked better ones myself…

Worth 1,000 Words: Our Weekend

We woke up Saturday morning and noticed that Sawyer was awake and wasn’t crying. We KNEW that was a good sign because that hadn’t been the case for the past week. Poor girl has some serious strep (and most likely some other virus to boot) going on and had not felt well. At. All.

I got up to use the restroom (surprise, surprise) and I saw that she had left us a note on our dresser. Soon after, she came downstairs and told us that it said Sawyer feels better and wants to feed her goats. We knew she’d turned a corner!

The babies happy to be back with their momma... — The babies happy to be back with their momma…

She’s still not 100% and is still building back strength, but she’s SIGNIFICANTLY better than all of last week. I even lost my mind a little in the midst of her healing and let her snuggle the barn cat…in the house.

Wrex tried to burn our house down on Saturday. Thankfully, it just got the yard.

Everyone keeps saying that that section will come in really nice and green. I’m wondering if we need to do the other sections. I know a guy…

He totally redeemed himself by scoring these:

Aren’t they divine?? I don’t have any immediate plans with them and may just store them until the “dream house” comes along. Regardless, I LOVE them.

Oh, and he asked me on a date…

THAT covers a multitude of sins. Love. Him.

We worked on some decorations for Wryder’s second birthday that is rapidly approaching.

Tractors, of course... — Tractors, of course…

He found these in the mudroom today and I about had to tackle him as he tried to ride them. Ahem. Boy loves his tractors.

He’s also really been into his hat lately. For whatever reason, he wanted to wear it backwards. I’m not totally sure how I feel about this long term, but he sure looked cute for a little while!

The kids played in one of their favorite toys for a bit on Sunday…a box.

And I even got to sneak inside after my walking workout and take a bubble bath. It’s one of my happy places.

A little piece of heaven... — A little piece of heaven…

If you had to lug this thing around you’d want one, too…

She’s a growing! I have yet to NOT have to be induced to have my babies…but I’m hoping I get to labor at home for a bit with this one. We’ll see.

It’s now Monday, daddy is already home and we got some new Jamberry’s in the mail for Sawyer! It’s bound to be a good night!

DIY: Bunny Ear Napkin Rings

While we were in Denver, Sawyer and I had to make a quick run to Hobby Lobby and while we were there, we saw the cutest bunny ear napkin rings! They had all colors and while they were 40% off, the cheapskate in me knew I could make them for less than $1.50 each. 🙂

Since Sawyer is still feeling pretty doggone puny today (unfortunately) she’s been glued to the couch watching TV so I decided to get a little crafty and see what I could come up with.

What you’ll need:

fabric or burlap
scissors
hot glue gun
toilet paper roll
cardstock for a stencil

Step 1: Cut your toilet paper roll into four sections and slit each section open.

Step 2: Cut your fabric or burlap so that it’s just bigger than your toilet paper roll strips.

I got this burlap ribbon on sale at WalMart for $1.00 so I just cut it down the middle and it was the perfect size. You want it big enough to be able to fold down the edges onto your toilet paper roll.

Step 3: Glue your toilet paper roll strip to the middle of your burlap or fabric.

Step 5: Glue down your edges, form into a ring and secure.

Step 6: Make a rabbit ear template and cut out two ears per ring.

Mine seemed stiff enough since I used burlap, but if you are using fabric and need a little more oompha to make them stand up, either heat bond some fabric together or double up your layers.

Step 7: Place a dot of glue near the bottom of the ears and pinch together. Hot glue ears to ring.

That little pinch just gives them that extra bit of detail that REALLY makes them look rabbit-y. (Yes, that’s a word).

Step 8: Adorn your table with Easter goodness!

I think they turned out incredibly cute! Obviously, this method leaves the ears unfinished and so they do have the possibility of fraying. Since I’m more of a quick project doer AND I may not want to use the same things EVERY year, it was fine with me. 🙂

Random Rambles

So, last Friday, I wrote this lovely post about how excited I was about the weekend. Wrex and I were scheduled to go on a weekend babymoon and the kids were going to stay with some good friends of ours in Denver. We were all OVER THE MOON excited! Just as I hit post, my good friend from Denver called and one of her kiddos had gotten quite sick at school that day. I felt so bad for them and didn’t want her to feel bad about not being able to keep the kids that I deleted my post.

After a lot of discussion and prayer, we decided that based upon our schedule the next 6 weeks and just the need for some items from the big city, that we’d turn it into a family-moon instead!

We ate well, swam at the hotel, shopped til I almost dropped and just had a fun time together. It wasn’t quite the weekend I originally had in mind, but it was a good one regardless. We were just blessed that we were able to go…

He gave Sawyer a dollar and she was fired up!!

Wryder's side of the table at BWWs. That boy is HANDSY! — Wryder’s side of the table at BWWs. That boy is HANDSY!

A portion of Wrexy's paycheck sitting in the mudroom... — A portion of Wrexy’s paycheck sitting in the mudroom…

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Before we left, Sawyer had a bit of a cough and wasn’t 100% but she didn’t have fever and still had her spunk. She seemed a little off on Sunday but we thought she might just be exhausted from all of the festivities like the rest of us.

Yesterday, she told me her mouth (throat) hurt. She woke up crying in the night and my incredibly awesome hubby left me in bed and went to check on her. Her throat was hurting pretty bad and she was a miserable mess.

He gave her some Tylenol and got her some juice and ate popsicles with her at 10:30 last night. Honestly, you guys, he’s the dad we all wished we had.

She woke up this morning in BAD shape. I had a baby checkup so I took her in with me; poor girl has a nasty case of strep. We picked up some antibiotics, a lot of different fluids and “How to Train Your Dragon” on DVD. Here’s to hoping she’s 100% soon…and that it steers clear of the rest of us!

Sweet girl still insisted on a green mustache and bows in her hair before we left.

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Yesterday, we talked about St. Patrick and the REAL meaning/reason behind St. Patrick’s day. I was telling the kids that he was a christian missionary in Ireland and I asked Sawyer if she knew what “christian” meant. She said a christian was someone who had Jesus in their heart and she told me that she and I and daddy had Jesus in our hearts.

Little brother piped up saying, “Jesus me heart! Jesus me heart!” Mine about melted…

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Speaking of Wryder, he has been absolutely ravenous lately! The boy ate all weekend until I didn’t think he could stomach another bite. Yesterday at supper, he ate half of a ribeye, a cup of applesauce, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, two pickles and then BEGGED for a piece of cake! The funny part? There was no cake anywhere around…apparently he just had a craving?!

Today, he charmed his way around the doctor’s office and hospital and scored a fruit by the foot and two suckers. Yes, that was while he was with daddy while mom was with Sawyer. *ahem*

How could you NOT shower him with goodies?!

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Tonight, we’re planning on taking it easy and doing a little rearranging in the baby room while the kids watch their movie. All of that stuff in the mudroom photo above needs to fit in the nursery or nursery closet…wish us luck! 😉

Love Multiplied

I keep reminding myself that I need to blog…but I feel like I’m lacking subject matter…or new subject matter, I guess. We’ve just been playing outside, enjoying this spring-like weather in the dead of winter.

We’ve played with goats and chalked on sidewalks and jumped on trampolines and played at the park and gone on walks and fed chickens and explored and ran and played ball and ate popsicles and built things and rode scooters and had cookouts…but what we’re really doing is soaking up these last days as a family of four.

We speak of and treat Sayble like she’s already part of the family (because she IS) but she’s not out of the womb yet…and we all know that when that time comes, things will change again.

She’ll require more of me than she does now and will need more of my hands on attention. We’ll all work on bonding and transitioning to our new normal as a family of five. There will be less time for individual time with the kids…for everything (for a while) for that matter.

I remember being scared to death before Wryder was born because I couldn’t imagine how in the world I was going to be able to love him even half as much as I did Sawyer. I mean, that girl…

The Lord does miraculous things with love; mine was multiplied, not remotely divided! I mean, isn’t that how He is with us?? He doesn’t divide His love equally among the entire human population and we all get the tiniest sliver to survive on. No way! We all get ALL of His love!

I remember when they placed Wryder on my stomach and I saw his sweet, quivering lip and his little face that looked so much like his sister when she was born I was smitten! As time has gone on, I love him even more…her, too.

I have no qualms about having enough love for sweet Sayble. He’s multiplied it once, I know He’ll do it again.

Until she makes her arrival, we’ll soak up these last days together before four becomes five…before love is multiplied…before we wonder how we ever were before Sayble…

The product of Wrex and I's love... — The product of Wrex and I’s love…

Worth 1,000 Words: Our Weekend

This girl is getting GOOD at puzzles!

She takes her time and works, works, works to get them completely finished – proud of her! Some friends of ours in Denver had given us a whole tote of kids puzzles with 25-100 pieces and she’s been plowing through them!

Both kids are still in love with their chicks!

They still love their grown up chickens, too! We had ice cream for fun Friday snack and they shared with their favorite chicken, Naked.

There was a lot of goat playing. Wryder helped sister feed them on Friday.

Seriously, so cute... — Seriously, so cute…

She has done SO well and been so faithful to her chores! After we mix the milk, she feeds them all by herself twice a day; we’re proud of her work ethic!

This weekend, she worked on breaking them to lead. They think she’s their mom so they followed pretty willingly.

Olaf wasn't cooperating too well with Bubba... — Olaf wasn’t cooperating too well with Bubba…

Sawyer got to go to a friend’s Minnie Mouse birthday party! She looked cute as a button!

The weather is supposed to be so nice all week! This morning she said she had three things she’d like to do today…shoot her gun, burn tumbleweeds and roast marshmallows! I love my little country girl! I’m betting we’ll get those done! I mean, c’mon, that sounds fun for EVERYONE!

I Can See the Light

I’m not sure I’ve ever been so glad that it’s Friday…bearing that Friday means the weekend will be completely opposite of the past week. It’s been one of those. Dooooooooo-zeeeeee.

I have no doubt that pregnancy hormones have exacerbated things. I can also freely admit that my little handful of grievances and issues pale in comparison to 90% of the rest of the world’s problems and heart aches. BUT, it’s still just been a tough week.

Parenting is not for the feint of heart. Relationships aren’t for the feint of heart. Life is not for the feint of heart.

in the midst of the ick, I’m attempting to be grateful…

I’m thankful for…

…a sweet husband who will sit and talk through parenting issues with you, brainstorm solutions, solidify our team with his words and his vows and his prayers, and then hug the stuffing out of you until you can’t breathe (because of your burgeoning belly).

…for friends who will pray with you and for you and encourage you and support you.

…for people who consistently show me how I don’t want to be when I grow up.

…for sweet little girls and boys who love their mommy no matter how much of a failure she feels like she is.

…for opportunities to show grace and to be a woman of my word, because I’ve been on the receiving end of the opposite of that…and it ain’t pretty.

…for the promise that His mercies are new every morning.

…for the fact that I don’t have to be tomorrow who I am today.

…for the way I can groan in the Spirit and He hears my cries and gently leads me on.

…for the way weekends with my teammate bring renewal for me.

I have much more to be grateful for than I have to complain about – that is not lost on me, for sure – but here’s to hoping (still) for a better strings of days…

Easy Peasy Chocolate Milkshake

Sawyer had the cookie bucket this week at Cubbies – always fun! Girl’s a little picky about her snacks and sweets. She doesn’t really care for too many sweets…not a fan of cookies or cake or pie or cupcakes, etc. so we always try to do something she likes that’s a little bit different.

This week, she suggested ice cream and since this week is CrAZy I thought that sounded like a fantastic idea!

We decided on chocolate milkshakes to be exact and fancied up the cups a little so it looked like a bonafide dessert. Plus, who doesn’t love sprinkles?! I had never tried the sprinkles on the rim thing but let’s just say I’m hooked! SO easy and SO cute!

I melted a little chocolate, dipped the rim of the glass in, then dipped them in sprinkles, let them dry and voila! CUTE vessel for chocolately goodness!

For the milkshakes, we eyeballed some vanilla ice cream, milk and chocolate syrup in the blender and mixed them until they were still a little thick, but still smooth.

We poured them in, added spoons and let the Cubbies kids (and teachers) enjoy!

Pretty tasty treats – and Sawyer approved!