Isla Byla

I have been trying to remember to pull out my camera a lot more. I'm happy that we are recording these moments in out lives, because my babies are growing up way too fast. Here are some recent ones of my beautiful girl.

Windy day out in the yard.
Blue Sucker!Spaghetti!

Always a mess :)

Isla is almost 11 months already. She has taken her first few steps and nothing slows her down. She loves her brother best and they play so well together. She loves to make a mess, and constantly takes every book off the shelf. She gives the very best kisses, and has just started to enjoy cuddling. We LOVE her so much!

Soccer Star!

Wyatt had his first soccer game on Saturday. This is his first season of playing, and so it was his FIRST game ever! He has a cute little team, and has a few of his primary friends on his team as well. It should be a great season.

I had HIGH hopes for my little man. He has a good kick, and likes to run around in the backyard. This picture is from their warm up.

Then the game started....TORTURE!!! This was one crazy mom on the sidelines, trying to "encourage" her son to participate in the game. He was walking around, picking flowers... he was tired, or hungry or didn't understand what he was supposed to do.

Half time pep talk from his super athletic father. Watching was painful for me, must have been worse for Brett who can actually play sports well. :)

Best part was the popsicle snack at half time. During the second part of the game Brett convinced me to go out onto the field and help Wyatt get into position/ talk him through the things he should do etc. Didn't help. We have big plans for A LOT of practice this week before our next game on Saturday.

Swords.

I bought Wyatt a foam Nerf sword when he was 2. The warning on the label says for ages 6 and up, and for good reason. The reason we got them early was because Wyatt was using the tubes from inside wrapping paper, and they continued to break, and I only had so many rolls of wrap...

Fast forward a year, and a few incidences with rogue swords and we have come a long way. Wyatt still loves his sword, as does his dad, and any other little boy that happens upon them in our house. Yesterday that little boy was my nephew Edward.

Gotta love little boys!

Mother's Day- Postponement

I like the above picture the best, but my camera wasn't in the right mode. I added it to show that they do smile :)

Here are my beautiful babies on Mother's day. They make their mother proud- they clean up pretty well. See them on any other day and they are still cute, just in a messy, bed headed kind of way.

I decided this year to postpone my Mother's day. My husband is on shut down and was at work all day and so I spent this mother's day as a mother- and I don't think that is how it is supposed to be.

Isla was up all night- and is most nights, but because of Brett's crazy work hours, her and I spend a lot of time together in the dark hours of the night on an air mattress on her floor. She is teething, poor girl, and so we are both not sleeping.

Wyatt wakes up at the first sign of morning- 6am. and so there was no "sleeping in" today, so we were up and ready for church.

Church was a little crazy because Isla had been up all night, she was over tired. And because I had been up all night I was very cranky- not the type of mother to be celebrated I'm afraid. Wyatt however preformed in his first primary song, and even had a little speaking part (M is for Marvelous) So sweet- it brought tears to my eyes.

We spent the afternoon at my mom's which was very nice. She is a Marvelous Mom!!! My sister brought dinner, which was delicious, and we had a nice evening. She too is a Marvelous Mom!!!

The day finished off with baby poop on my white skirt, and boogers all over my shirt. A sure sign of a hard working mom if I've ever seen any.

When this shut down is over I have day dreams of sleeping in, a couple naps, breakfast in bed... you know the typical way to show mom how much they are appreciated.

I should say though, that Wyatt and I had a nice "mom's night" at pre-school earlier in the week where he made me a beautiful beaded necklace with his name on it. And Mother's Day eve, I went for a long run with my lovely sister in law, and had the house to myself to clean up the grime that I seem to run out of time for when I'm keeping after my kids. I LOVE a clean house! and really don't mind cleaning when I can just do it, without worrying about my kids in the process.

Silence

Anyone else out there miss silence?

I adore my kids, but boy are they loud!

Wyatt currently has an ear wax problem, and it seems to have heightened the issue of his loud speaking. He feels the need to talk through every aspect of everything, or I hear him quoting movies, or when there isn't anything he can think of to say, he just makes up nonsense.

Isla is quite the chatterbox herself, and when she's not talking happily, she is crawling after my legs whining.

It's all part of the joys of babyhood, toddlerhood, and preschoolerhood... but some days I am just dying for some sweet moments of silence.

Maybe that is why kids are so IRRESISTIBLE when they are sleeping!

Swings

Just wanted to share some cute pics of my kids on the swings. I can't get enough of these two and their smiling faces.

In other news, my mom has lost 40 pounds! She looks fabulous and we are all very proud!!!

90 days without sweets.

My husband is a little extreme sometimes... after he got back from his trip to Phoenix in early March he came up with this great idea to go on a 90 day fast of all things sweet. (This idea came after we binged on all the American chocolate he brought back)

Terms of the deal were we went 90 days without dessert, CHOCOLATE, ice cream, candy etc. and if we succeeded we got to pick out an item from Lululemon. My first thought was that I'd rather have the chocolate than the new item, but them realized that I may really have a severe problem that I should work on.

I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!! It is my go to comfort food when I'm irritated with my children, had a hard day at work or just need that little taste of sweet after a meal. Trouble is, I can't control myself. If I could just have a chocolate bar in the freezer and just have a square here or there when needed, I'd be thrilled. BUT I just can't stop!

Example, Brett bought some chocolate covered almonds from COSTCO (so we all know how many we're talking about) and they sat on my laundry room pantry shelf. If they hadn't have been open I'd be fine, but the bag was open so every time I went into the pantry- doing laundry, getting breakfast, lunch, snacks for the kids, I'd sneak a few. I couldn't see them without having a few. Wasn't that long before there weren't any left.

Back to our diet. I was doing really well... I was proud of my ability to avoid, and pass up all things sweet. Heather and I went to our running room weekend, and it was a physical struggle to keep myself in my chair and avoid the dessert table. One side of my brain fought with the other over one little dessert not killing anyone, but it was the principle of it, so I abstained.

We've given ourselves 3 strikes in the 90 days. One was chocolate fondue at the melting pot- Very worth it.

Then Easter became a free for all. My mom gifted us a family sized bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs. My VERY FAVORITE Easter treat. I ended up eating most of the bag. Same trouble as the almonds, a couple here and there through the day and the bag is empty. I'm disappointed in myself for lack of self control, but it's re- motivated me for the rest of our fast to get this under control, because as of now, not so much.

I'm still struggling, ( I took a bite today of a chocolate rabbit of Wyatts, and spit it out- frustrated with myself for being so weak) I would love some chocolate right now just thinking about it, but I have a problem.

My name is Leslie, and I have a chocolate addiction!