Mission Statement

It's strange. I never really thought that I would change. I thought I could change, but didn't really care to. Then one day, after complaining about something, yet again, I realized that maybe I am not happy. Don't get me wrong, I am happy in my marriage, I love Eric to pieces. I love being a mom- my kids are everything to me. I love my family and my friends, but something just wasn't right. One day, I saw this:

And it hit me- I am not a tree. I am a person who can fix "this", whatever that may be. Eric and I have been taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and I just love him. He is a crack up. One day he was talking about being broke and that if he wanted to be rich, he needed to do what rich people do. You wanna be broke, you do what broke people do. So he started reading and researching all kinds of information on rich people. He interviewed rich people, he read the books they were reading. For some reason- that resonated in me. I decided to start reading some of the books that he recommended- The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People is one of them. Then I felt like I was being pulled in a different direction. I have been struggling with keeping my house clean, staying on top of all the "chores" that are to be done and I was getting super frustrated. I found a book on my kindle that I started reading and then my mom actually recommended the same book (coincidence?) Anyway, the very first thing that both books talk about doing is establishing the 'why' and then creating a mission statement.

I figured out 'why' I wanted to have a clean and organized household and went from there...
 So without further ado- here is my new mission statement. Each day I will read this and try to live up to it with integrity. I plan on printing it onto cute paper and framing it- maybe two of them- one in the bedroom and one downstairs. I broke it up into categories to help me organize my thoughts.

Nicole's Mission Statement:

God:
I will honor and praise God daily, in everything I do. I will trust in His plan. I will pray for him to remind me to keep my eyes, ears and heart open to all the opporutnities He has put in my path. I will our children the ways of the Lord and pray with them. I will remember to thank Him for the blessings we have everyday.

"In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch." Psalm 5:3


Eric:
I will serve, encourage, honor, respect and love Eric. He is my husband, the provider of our family and deserves a clean house to come home to. I will provide warm meals, clean clothes and lots of love each day. I strive to make our home a place that he is excited to come home to. I will tell him I love him everyday.

"A wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands." Proverbs 14:1
"She does him good and not evil all the days of his life." Proverbs 31:12

Kids:
I will work very hard at being a patient, thoughtful mom. I will make a deliberate effort to watch them play everyday. I will discipline them in a fair, but firm way. I will tell them I love them, kiss them often and tuck them in at night. I will cuddle with them when they are sick or cold or just ask me too. I will teach them about Jesus and His loving heart. I will laugh, play, wrestle, sing and whatever they ask of me. I will strive to be a good example for my kids.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Home:
I will work diligently at making our house clean and organized. NOT PERFECT. I will make our home inviting and comfortable so that anyone who comes in the door will feel welcome. God gave me this job to maintain our house and I will take pride in it.

"She looks will to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.: Proverbs 31:27

"Hospitality is the message you give a person about their value." Phyllis Stanley


Friends: 
I will make more of an effort to be a friend. I will listen more than I talk, I will be the friend that I would want to have. I will be more intentional about my relationships

"How soon 'not now' becomes 'never'." Martin Luther

Personal:
I will stop trying to be perfect- I never will reach that. I will continue to seek God and learn all I can about where my life seems to be going. I will be the wife, mom, step-mom, daughter, sister, friend etc. that God wants me to be.

"When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target." George Fisher

So anyway, that's my mission statement. Now that's finished, I can move on to the next steps.... should be interesting:) Can't wait to see where this adventure is taking me!



Another new normal

I have been trying to unpack for flipping ever it feels like. We have  A LOT OF CRAP. We moved into a 5 bedroom, 2 story house in Rita Ranch. Kind of ironic because a) I never wanted to live in Rita Ranch again and b) I swore I would never live in a 2 story again. Huh.... funny how that worked out. Anyway, we moved out here to be closer to the big kids. They moved back here with their mom a few months ago and I was tired of driving to school and they wanted to be closer to their friends. We also needed a less expensive house, due to the uncertainty of Eric's job, which is the case with this one. In addition, when we told the kids we were moving back, Kaylie decided that she wanted to come to our house every other Monday through Saturday, like Daylen (she was only coming every other weekend before), which was an unexpected surprise!! Now, Kaylie and Daylen each have their own room, we have our room, the only room downstairs is an office, and the little ones share a room. We have all of their toys in the dining room turned playroom. It really works out well!! I hate being so far from my parents, but I love not having to spend at least 2 hours a day driving back and forth to RR.

The kids have been pretty good. It feels as though I will never get fully unpacked. Every time I unpack a box Brody either puts other stuff back into the box or he takes it and throws it off the landing and watches how high it will bounce.

Delaney found a box of stickers one day and found a way to keep busy....

She used about 50 stickers and put them all over Brody. Brody, however, is not a fan of stickers and kept ripping them off (which really made Delaney mad) so she started putting them on his back.

"What???''

Even the baby got one.

He was so annoyed.

Where is that one??

On Opie. I finally had to hide the stickers:(

I have been trying to think of fun stuff that they can do without me. They have been playing with cars, watching lots of movies, and drawing. Delaney has been working on drawing faces:)

She loves to draw!

Some friends of ours asked me to make a Super Bowl cake for them.... I painfully agreed. Making ANYTHING with PACKERS on it.... makes me want to puke, but I was a professional. I did the best I could in the chaos that was consuming me that weekend and came up with this:

The other side says STEELERS (duh, right?)

Delaney was very sad that I gave all the cupcakes away, so she asked if we could make some for daddy. She helped me with everything, it was so fun!

What a big girl!

I kept the cupcakes in the oven and Brody found out.... our oven is a little strange. It has a small oven on top and the bottom is a regular size one and when you open it, the door goes all the way to the ground. Before you freak out at this picture (Dad, Mimi, Granddaddy, Nanny) the oven was not on and I don't let him do this a lot. But yes, I grabbed my camera and yes, I understand how he could get confused... blah,blah, blah :)

He just really wanted a cupcake.

Anyway, we are slowly getting settled. We are all getting used to living so close to our neighbors again, Delaney and Brody are getting used to sleeping in the same room, we are getting used to having a teenage girl here 12 days a month, who goes on dates (omg, I know) and just getting used to our new normal (again).
But, that's what a family does right?

Pictures Galore!

So we moved. Yep. Again. There are major reasons behind this move, but that is for a post later (hopefully this week:). THIS post is about all the happenings that went on up until the move. Turns out, packing a 3000 square foot house with two toddlers, no so easy. So, distractions were made so I could get as much done as I could.  Here are s TON of pictures from  the last few weeks:

Delaney and Granddaddy looking at the mountains.

Pulling the wagon and watching the trees blow.

Playing in Granddaddy's truck

There has been lots of bike riding

Brody playing basketball

Delaney having a moment.

My parents knew that I was pulling my hair out with the kids under my feet while packing so they decided to take them to the Pima air and Space Museum one day! They had so much fun!!

Granddaddy and Delaney looking at the helicopters.

The kids learning the proper procedures for take off and landing. Delaney can tell you exactly what to do.

Flying:)

"How do I get down from here?"

Air traffic controller Delaney Grace Mikkelson, at your service

My babies

My Daddy and my kids. Love it.

I am sure that this is Delaney telling my parents to just 'wait there'.

Love.

A successful day looking at airplanes. Delaney sleeping with her A-10.

She is slightly obsessed with her princess dresses. She wears them the moment she waked up until she takes a bath at night.

At Nana and Granddaddy's house having popsicles (before dinner)

This was hysterical. Delaney found the record player and asked what it was so my dad got out some records and we spent the next hour listening to records and dancing. So fun, who knew?

So anyway, those are some pictures leading up to the move. I promise to update again very soon:)

SUPERMOM!!

Supermom to the rescue! Okay, let's be honest, that is SO NOT ME. I haven't posted this week for a couple reasons. #1- I have been so blasted tired at night, I just couldn't muster up the energy. #2- Computer issues (again, is this getting old yet?) #3- This one is a bit more involved. I  SHALL explain!

Lately, I have been feeling less than super in the mommy/wife role. I have been thinking about what makes a supermom....*super*. I still am not sure. I decided that maybe my lack of super-ness (new word perhaps?) could be contributed to a few things. Some, I can't change. For instance, I can't sleep all night. The reason-Brody man. Trying to change it, so not happening. (Side note: he didn't have a bottle at ALL last night, just cried a ton:) Something I decided that maybe taking my super abilities away is blogging. I am obsessed with blogging. I don't even know how that happened? I find it so cathartic and fun! I love that people actually enjoy reading about my crazy adventures with my family. I love that my out of town relatives can see pictures of the kids. BUT, that being said, I spend a lot of time on it. Truthfully, with no new post this week, I was expecting some kind of transformation- like when the spider bit Toby Maguire or like when the Super Sleuths ate some of Rabbits super veggies. Sadly, nothing of that sort of thing occured. I am still mediocre me.

I was trying to figure out what I thought a *supermom* was like. I know many supermoms. I know of one, who has triplets, who works part time and just went through a horrible day when her little boywho had surgery to repair his cleft palatte. She is super. I know of another one, who just goes with the flow of whatever is happening. She doesn't stress, she shops with her kids all the time, etc. Anyway, my point is, there are lots of qualities of a supermom.

If I had supermom status, I feel like this is how my life would go:

• each morning, I will be dressed before the kids wake up, because they both slept all night and they get up around the same time everyday (and I will be dressed in something other than sweats)
• the dishwasher will have run overnight and I will empty it first thing so that I can do the breakfast dishes and move on for the day. 
• the kids clothes will have been laid out the night before, so it's a no brainer in the morning

Instead of nothing at all....
• while we are on the subject of clothes, the laundry will be caught up (what a crazy idea)
• my weekly menu will be posted and the meat for that evening will be thawing.
• my house would not look like a bomb went off all day, every day.
• my daughter would be potty trained (this one is my fault- she is so capable, I am just lazy)
• I would have a system for my bills...I seriously can't figure this out.
• I would have a schedule-why is this one so hard?
• I would be able to handle day to day stresses, life happens.

Delaney telling me how tall she is....

Yeah...no attitude here.
• for meals, I would not be so lazy and I would actually make healthy lunches and snacks
• Bills would be paid in a timely manner
• I would be able to find a job at home- that is not medical transcription!
• life wouldn't be such chaos.

Monkey agrees.... (and no clothes again!)

That's just a few....maybe if they are written down, I can work on them. I did start the FlyLady program. I shined my sink-once. That was the extent of my baby-steps. Maybe that could be the answer. Whatever it is, I need a spider bite, or a super veggie or my sanity. I never thought that I would have dirty laundry all over my bathroom, or papers exploding from every area  imaginable.
I secrectly (I guess not SO secrectly) like when I watch things like Tori and Dean and they have trouble managing their household and they are rich! With help! It makes me feel more *normal*. I hate when all I hear are super terrific stories of kids, because it makes me think 2 things: #1 Probably lying #2 What the hell am I doing wrong? I like to have stuff in common with other parents, for no other reason than for self assurance. Does that make sense? Don't get me wrong, I like to post about how perfect Delaney was for that second or I sugar coat it sometimes because I don't want to look THAT stupid. I don't mean it to be mean........
SO, this is not meant to be a downer, it is meant to be one of the many posts like I have done in the past, that puts my new normal down in writing so that maybe something inside will CLICK! It's just has to!!!

Hooked on a Feeling

Today was the day. The day I have been waiting for. I got it. THAT feeling. That feeling that only I would get excited about. It has been a long time since I have had it....

Now that you mind is in the gutter, let me be more clear. I got the itch to clean and organize. LAME right? NO!! I used to live to clean and organize. When I had a problem, when I was upset, when I was just being me, I would clean and organize. Unfortunately, Delaney and Brody have not been bitten by the same bug, so they could give a rat's ass about my itch. This itch NEEDS to be scratched. They don't see the need to entertain themselves all day while I do what I do. Instead, we spent ALL day outside, playing with bubbles and splashing in the water table. BUT, I started cleaning the backyard. I feel big makeovers in the works. Of course, I will be getting creative since we are on a super tight budget, but I don't care. I am back! I am going to start with the ridiculous hall closet, move on to the playroom, then to the kids....AHHHHH. I can seriously hear the angels singing.

Anyway, I just thought that this was THAT important. I had to share:)

The Redemption.....

Hello, my name is Nicole Mikkelson and I am a former OCD, anal retentive neat freak. Yes, I admit it. I would alphabetize my canned foods, DVDS and CDs. I would make sure that I had a finger space between all of my ALL WHITE plastic hangers in my closet that was neatly divided into categories such as color, arm length, etc. I would make sure that DVD titles were facing the correct way in the case and I would freak out if things were moved in the bathroom. What happened? I had a baby and when she came out, the organization Nazi came out with the rest of the gross after birth stuff. I'm not kidding. It's like I literally crapped it out of me. Well, all that's about to change. I haven't been diligent about posting this past weekend because I have been compiling a list of things in my head to bring back the OCD girl. Why the sudden wake up call?

Here's the story. We have my step-son every other Tuesday through Sunday. This past week he was at our house. I went to pick him up from school on Friday and our conversation went like this:

Me:  How was school?

Daylen:  Good (standard answer)

              Where are the babies?

Me:  They are sleeping so my mom came over. Delaney has a huge bump on her head from bumping into Braydon.

Daylen:  She is so you.

Me:  What do you mean?

Daylen:  Well, the other day she was walking and wasn't watching where she was going and ran right into the wall (I have been know to be a little clumsy) and she is so messy.

Me:  Wait what?

Daylen:  You used to be so clean and everything always had to be perfect and now the house is always a mess, things are always everywhere.

Me:  With my mouth gaping open, I recover and say: Oh.

OUCH!!!!!! That was like an arrow through the heart. Before I go on, let me explain Daylen. I have known Daylen since he was in Kindergarten. He was in my first grade class (that is how I met Eric) and was the 'talker' of the class. He got in trouble often, but not because he was being malicious or anything. He just didn't sit still or stop talking. EVER.  The thing about him that I love is that he is always asking questions. Weird ones...ones that you have to stop and think about. PLUS, he is super, super smart! He is a WONDERFUL big brother to the little kids and I love when he is at our house. As for his comments. he is just Daylen being Daylen. He generally doesn't think before he speaks and most of the time, that is the beauty of him.
Case in point, while he was in my first grade class, I was teaching a math lesson (I think I was actually being observed) and he raised his hand. Right away I thought he was going to ask to go to the bathroom and said he had to wait. He said that wasn't it, so I let him talk. Here's what he said: "Umm, my mom doesn't really like you and she thinks you're chunky." Now keep in mind, I was dating Eric secretly at this time and only a handful of people knew about it-2 of which were in the classroom with me when he said this. So, I wiped the shocked look off my face and said, "Well, I am kinda chunky." He agreed and we moved on. Classic Daylen.

This innocent comment has lead to a wake up call. I know that I have let things go, but I don't think I realized other people noticed it. Eric makes comments like, "You used to have a place for everything, what happened" which stings a little, but now I know that it is affecting other people. I don't want my kids growing up like that and I don't want Kaylie and Daylen coming over to a messy house. So, the anal retentive girl is coming out of the wood work. Poor, sweet, innocent Daylen. He woke the monster and now everyone will have to their part. I'm afraid that checklists and labels are going to be the norm in the house now. Chores will be done and I will be keeping on top of things. I know kids need to have fun and that I shouldn't freak out over the messes and I won't. I am talking about other stuff. Other stuff for another post. For now, I am going to go make a list of things to do tomorrow:)


****Update**** Ok, so it's been brought to my attention that it sounds like I was dating Eric when he was married. Rest assured that was SO NOT the case. He was divorced and we were keeping it a secret until Daylen was out of my class. Phew...dodged a bullet. Thanks Daddy:)

A Thought

On Saturday night I went to Target on my way to meet one of my best friends, Laura, at Chuy's for a MUCH needed margarita. It was night time and cold (cold for Tucson:). I had to go for formula-Brody only likes the Target brand stuff-ans goes through a freaking can every four days (3 1/2 more months til milk!). As I was pulling into the parking lot I noticed how empty it was-a pleasant change from the week prior. I parked and as I was walking in, I noticed WHERE I parked. I had parked by the cart return area. There were plenty of closer spots. I stopped and thought about that for a minute. Here it is, dark, cold, I am by myself, but yet that's where I park. It is so strange how habits change after you have kids. I ALWAYS park next to a cart return when I have the kids. It just makes sense. Forget the closest or the ones in the shade, I want the cart. As I was walking through Target, I thought about other things that have changed.

1. I used to take the LONGEST showers. I loved taking showers. Now, given the opportunity to shower sans kids, I feel like I am in there forever, but really it may be like 10 minutes!

2. I used to allow myself like an hour and a half to get ready to go places. What the hell did I used to do? Now, I can shower, put on make-up, blow dry my hair and get dressed in 35 minutes.

3. When I used to meet my friends out- I DID NOT where my glasses, maternity shirt, dirty jeans, and my hair in a pony tail. Guess what I wore to Chuy's?

4. I have become AWESOME at understanding 'Delaney talk'. She is talking much more now and I can understand most of it. She does have a few words that are NOTHING like the real word.
Some examples:
Trampoline:  "1, 2, 1, 2"  (this is b/c my mom would say that as she jumped on the little one)
Tinkerbell: "Pia"
Coming:  "A pie yay!
Thomas (as in tank engine): "pommy"


As you can see, she needs translating on occasion.

5. I used to have a lot of friends.I used to do stuff.  Now not-so-much. I have turned into a hermit- and I didn't really notice.

6. My house used to be clean. I mean SUPER CLEAN! Now, again, not-so-much. I don't have time to clean it and if I do then it is messed up right away.

7. I can sing the theme songs to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny and Dora

8. I am the only one who can pack the diaper bag. Eric, bless his heart, tries. He will get stuff together, I will re-do it. It's a silly thing, but it is piece of mind:)

9. I can barley make it to 9:00 now. PATHETIC.

10. I multi-task like crazy. I can make a bottle, while holding Brody, while dinner is cooking, laundry is laundering (ok so the same load for the 5th time), while talking on the phone....etc. I knew I would have to juggle things, but man, it's out of control!

Anyway, not an exciting post, but it just caught my attention the other night. This is my life now, I love my kids and my new normal.

Goodbye (Thanks goodness) and Hello (with hope)

It's the last day of 2009 and I can't help but feel relief. I am not sure why excatly, I just know that tomorrow signifies a new start of some sort and I feel like that is just what we need. As I sit her, slightly dizzy (not sure why), I keep thinking back to the past year. There have been some definite struggles, lessons learned, and fabulous experiences. Here are some highlights of the past year:

1. Brody James Mikkelson was born on April 17. All 8 lbs. 10 oz. of him. I love him and can't imagine life without him now.

2. Before Brody was born, Eric, Delaney and I were able to DRIVE (ahhhh) as a family to Colorado with my mom and dad to see family and watch the premiere of my mom's movie, The Velveteen Rabbit. Lots of firsts and lots of fun.

3. We moved. Of course this was not in our plan at all, it is something that just happened and we are in a much better place now- 5 minutes from my parents:)

4.Eric and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary, Kaylie turned 14, Daylen turned 11, Delaney turned 2, Eric turned ummm.... a lot more that:) Plus, Brody got to experience his first Thanksgiving and Christmas!

5. My sister got engaged!

6. I found out that I love baking cakes! Who knew?!

7. My good friend, Ami at The Best Things in Life are Three, FINALLY got her wish of having a family when her triplets were born in March.

8. My mom's book, The Silent Gift, was released in October. It is amazing. (BTW I will be doing an interview with Michael Landon Jr. and my mom along with a giveaway next week).

Okay, so there were some really wonderful things and some good things that happened, but like I said, fresh start. I know that really it is just a Friday and the year has to change, but I feel like it's just what I need to make a fresh start.  It's so funny to me how different New Year's Eve is from year to year. Eric and I were remembering a HUGE party that we had when I lived with Mary. It was so fun and there were so many people! That was 5 years ago. Tonight, we thought back to that night as we were ginving our two little ones a bath and telling each other it's ok to celebrate New Years with New York at 10:00 instead of having to stay up til midnight. It's so weird how different things are now!

 Alright, onto my new start! I have been thinking a lot about my resloutions and I think that I have a pretty good list:

• I will stop drinking soda daily. (I will try to have one-big one- a week)
• I will try and work out on a regular basis- I must get back to pre-baby wieght
• I will come up with a day-to-day routine that includes laundry dammit!
• I will try to remember at least once a day to "take a mental picture" of my life.
• I will start an at home business (details to follow)
• I will potty train my little girl.
• So help me, we will go on a family vacation
• I will make sure to tell my family that I love them daily.

I don't know why I make resolutions. I think I do it because I really like lists. Who knows. Anyway, I hope that 2010 is a wonderful year for everyone, including us.

Happy New Year!

My Life as a Reality Show

I am pretty sure that my life would make a great reality show. There is a problem though...see my life would only be the 'before' segments. I don't think that we have gotten to any 'afters'. Know what I mean?  I am pretty sure right now I am living the 'before' segments on a few different shows.

First off, I KNOW I would featured on Supernanny. Delaney is 2 years old right now and damn good at it. Her hilarious faces and witty personality make up for her lack of discipline, most of the time. Then add the little man who doesn't sleep and you got yourself a par-tay that Supernanny would have a field day with!

Second, I KNOW I would be featured on The Dog Whisperer. Oh dear Lord...my dogs. Sandy and Opie are their names. They are a huge pain in the booty. Sandy was the result of a drunken Rocky Point trip a few years back. A little girl found her litter in a hole on Competition Hill and brought them down to her house. I fell in love with Sandy right away. Eric said no way (keep in mind that we were not living together, nor were we even engaged yet and I lived in an apartment:). We went to our favorite hangout in Rocky Point, JJ's, and I kept ordering tequila shots and what do ya know... he said yes to Sandy! Opie was also my fault. Since I have known Eric he has wanted a Mastiff. When Chase, his sweet little Jack Russell, died, I thought it may be the time. How gross can they be right? I bought Opie for Eric on Christmas 3 years ago. 180 pounds and countless spit rags later, Opie is out of control. Neither of the dogs listen, it takes a stroke of luck to get them locked outside and they knock the kids down all the time. Caesar- we need you.

The third show I am pretty sure I would be featured on is Clean House. I can't seem to get control of the chaos and mess. SO SAD! I was the one that had a place for everything and I am constantly reminded of that by Eric. I miss me! I know Clean House would do wonders (to be honest, my house does not look like the houses on the show- just my closet:)

The last one that I KNOW I would be featured on is a show that may or may not still be on the sir . It was A Makeover Story on TLC. Yep.... I am in desperate need of one. Hair, make up, clothes, everything. What's wrong with sweats and a pony tail everyday? And so what that I love wearing my maternity underwear still...


So you see, a network could block out a two hour time frame for me. The thing is, I would HAVE to get some 'afters' wouldn't ya think?

Sweat Pants Are Sexy

(This was the day before we got married... I was an organized, anal, clean, scheduled person.... not anymore)


As part of accepting the "new normal" in my life I have had to come to terms with quite a few things. I have to accept the fact that my life no longer will be super clean and organized (no matter how badly I want that) and I will probably not look the way I did before babies etc. etc. I have decided that maybe I need a list of my new affirmations and I decided to share. I remember, back in the day when I used to read Glamour and Cosmo magazines and not Baby Talk, they did a couple page spread on the topic "It's ok...." yada, yada, yada. They would always have some silly things that women would do and it would be somewhat reassuring, in an odd way.

So here are my NEW "It's ok's", although I don't think Eric would agree with them all.

It's ok.....

to wear sweat pants all day.

to call sweat pants "cozy" pants and to think of the
black ones as your nice ones

to jump in the shower and do your make-up right before your husband comes home... he doesn't need to know
that you haven't looked like than all day.
to pull your toothbrush away from your 2 year old and rinse it real quick and then brush your own teeth.

that you love your kids more than yourself.

to drink chocolate milk and think that counts towards your
dairy goal for the day

to pretend to poop for 30 minutes just so you can read by yourself,
in a quiet., undisturbed environment.

that you have to climb a mountain of dirty clothes to see if you have any clean ones.

that you rock out in your mini van to kids Christmas songs.

to go to bed at 8:30.

to be excited to go to Target alone!

to wipe your baby's nose with your hand and wipe it on your jeans.

to be super excited when your baby poops!

that you don't wash your sheets once a week
(Mom I know that is totally gross for you)

that you can't wait for your husband to come home from work.

when things don't go as planned (this one is the hardest for me)

to want time alone, but then miss the kids when you are.

that your life is totally different than you ever planned
and it's ok that you love it!


The reasons for my new normal:

BTW... tomorrow will be my 100th post!!!!