lets go fly a kite..

i cant believe i never posted this! i love having my sister only a mile away! her and pete watched the boys one afternoon and took them adventuring...pete put together this little video and i thought it was so darling!

Where's Bodie?

This is his new favorite game...it gets me every time...plus you can see his new walking skills...

just in case he needed one more reason....

for therapy...here he is...deeply involved in...ummmm...Bible study...

P.S. this is the best children's Bible evah! - not that i have read a ton...only 4 actually...but they use this one at our church and the stories and pictures are a great foundation setting...not too glossed over and not too in depth and very interactional...

dirt magnets

can someone please tell me what is so cool about dirt? what is so tasty about dirt? i just dont get it...

this picture was taken after i had already changed his entire (shirt, pants, socks, shoes, diaper as well - even the diaper was infested with dirt) outfit earlier. so instead of fishing him out of course i grab my camera....

because then he does this...what is this? he eats dirt like it is chocolate pie...i dont get it...

you cant really see his dirt beard too well here...it became a lot more pronounced after his second dip...and then his outfit was changed again...and he got a nice bath...and then the bath had to get a bath...this is the never-ending cycle of cleaning up after boys and i better well get used to it...i suppose...or stopped being so surprised...

haircut evolution

you know when you look back at pictures and your hair is particularly awful in some of those pictures and you ask yourself, "what were my parents thinking?" well...we just may have a little clue on to that..(insert maniacal parental laughter)...you see - bryson is horrible about brushing/washing/touching his hair. and lately we have desperately needed to trim his hair...plus he has been on a stinker-fest lately and just all-around been difficult...so i think bryan took it out on his hair a little...

he buzzed his hair...for like an hour...gave him a sweet fade, and left a little somethin somethin...dont worry - we didnt leave it for long...

but we did leave it like this for a day or so...

bryson was not too thrilled...and it will probably be one of those pictures he looks back on with utter disgust for us as parents :)


and i dont blame him...cause that is one awesome wisconsin waterfall happenin there....



so after a day or so it became this...

and we left the rat tail...because we are going fishing in corona this weekend after all...and he likes it much better :)

A "B" erthday Party

i was not going to have a 1 year birthday party for Bodie. He was born Christmas Eve and the thought of cramming a birthday party in somewhere among the flood of holiday parties sounded absolutely nightmarish. Well fast forward a month after we all have had a chance to recover and add the fact that my mother was going to be in town from Colorado and you get a birthday party. We combined it with a housewarming since we just moved and plus i wanted to have an open house style of party - which worked so well. i wish every birthday party could be an open house style. such a better more manageable flow of people...

anyway...i bought this giant letter "B" about 6 years ago (before i even had my "B" boys) at a flea market and Bryan has given me trouble about it ever since...so i figured that i should have one good reason to use it and decided to theme Bodie's party as a "B" party. all the food/candy/decorations started with the letter "B" - and it was all so random! i ordered 2 huge 3' long Burritos, there was also BBQ (Brisket and Baby Back Ribs thank you!), and broccoli salad, bananas and berries and a brownies (instead of cake) and tons of B candies - baby ruth, butterfinger, black licorice, butterscotch, blow pops....and of course we had Balloons and Beach Balls and well the bunting never quite made it, but it turned out fine nonetheless!

so here are the obligatory birthday *brownie* pictures of the birthday boy - at first he was very unsure...then he became increasingly more certain...then yup...confirmed....its good!

Shmorganize

so i talked a little about our closet problem...so i had to figure some stuff out...it has been nice to start fresh - to be forced to organize things which have not been organized for years. i always thought i was an organized person, but my husband reminds me there is a big difference between being organized and liking things organized. very true. i am also fine with chaos...its my usual state of things. but it does feel nice to be organized once in a while. preferable even.  so one thing i had to figure out was bryan's growing hat and sunglass collection he has amassed since starting Pseudo Rebels...i found this great over the door cap holder and pocket organizer, which organizes not only his glasses, but all his bling and random medallions! i was very happy with this - and so was Bryan!

i also found this organizer rack to help keep our cookie sheets, trays and cutting boards from potentially falling on my head.

this amazing shelf helped us utilize this space under the sink for storage of our glass items.

sorry for the cruddy picture - my sewing was a deal - always unorganized - Bryan could not stand it - so i wanted something i could just shut on it when i wasnt using my machine - we had an odd little space in the kitchen and this cabinet from IKEA worked well!

voila! a sewing station - still a mess - but its okay cause i can just shut it back up when i am done...when i ever start...oh boy i have like a mazillion projects i need to do!

we also lacked the ample drawers we had in our old place. But its good because those drawers were always a mess and never organized and you could never easily find what you are looking for - that is why i am happy to have moved on to our utensil stand (found it at Target).

and finally - the most annoying part of the day for Bryan when he has the kids is trying to track down everyone's shoes, socks, hats, sweatshirts, etc. now we have the family superstation - everyone has their own drawer and i just need to remember to fill it with what Bryan may need so that i get pestered less to look for everything. Also shoes will hopefully religiously go there so there are no more treasure hunting for shoes happening. It is the Itso storage system and you can get it at Target. The little door hides all of Byrson's craft stuff, which is perfect for him to keep organized too!

there are many more finds, but these were some of my favorites - please let me know any other organization secrets you have - i know you got em!

rainy day boys = muddy boys

this is what happened this morning. at which point i threw up my hands and told Bryan i would happily be in the office today thank you very much! we are hit with some crazy rain here in so cal...doesnt happen often so it is of course what everyone is talking about. we are staying dry and trying not to go crazy being cooped up all day (woe is me and our usual 70 degree weather) yesterday we built a fort and made a pretend fire and turned off all the lights and got out flashlights and i read the boys stories and we roasted pretend marshmallows...i was really trying not to turn a movie on and to do some crafts, but Bodie is not having too much of anything these days besides me...holding him...all day...all the time...when i am in the office it is hard to even leave to use the bathroom because i upset him so much if he sees me...its something i am loving/hating because it makes it extremely difficult to get anything done...but i do not want to complain at all about having a cuddle bug...so i remain conflicted.

i hope the rest of you are staying dry and being creative...

long beach flea market

this post should be under "not so cool places to take kids" due to the fact that this is more of an antique/collectibles market and people have all sorts of collectors toys that they dont want kids touching...even though they were intended for kids...and the people who buy them probably do so because they remind them of being a kid...but whatever...

we visited this flea market when we first moved to los angeles...i remember we needed a book case and there was one that i liked, but they said it was $200 and Bryan tried to negotiate with them and they got mad...it was such a sharp contrast to our honeymoon in Bali, where Bryan even had the locals praising his bartering abilities. There they looked at one's ability to barter a good price as a sign of cunning and skill...here they were offended...whatever.

anyway - as i suspected we left with nothing that we came here for. in fact we went back to Ikea to pick up the rest of the things we needed. i wish i would've found what i was looking for - whatever that is...i have been scouring thrift stores, craigslist and now flea markets to pick up the furniture we need, but nothing was quite right. my favorite pieces of furniture are the ones we have picked up along the way from alleyways or thrift stores...they have so much more character...oh sad day.

even though bryson was bumming on the flea market he did manage to find these rad binoculars (can you pick up on my sarcasm?) and he did take all of these beautiful pictures...minus the one of himself of course. he wanted to blog about his flea market pictures and i thought what about this one ( of the statues - i think its so cool ) but no - he wanted to talk about the Indians...grrr...which by the way he keeps telling me at random parts of the day how i am wrong and they are really called Indians...

my cousin cracks me up

JJ you are hilarious! thanks for all your amazing help and the amazing post to document the crazy!

Read all about the kitchen packing adventure here!

dealing with the crazy

recently my sister was involved in a work situation involving a crazy person. as i was trying to offer her advice on the matter i realized that i happen to know quite a bit about dealing with crazies...i think because of all my work in customer service (i have basically been a secretary for 16 years now) and also my work with dementia and alzheimer patients i have amassed some basic hands on knowledge of dealing with crazy. the first thing i realized/learned is 1. you can't change crazy...the second being 2. you can't argue logically with crazy

this has helped me personally with some very difficult people and personal situations and i wanted to share something i heard on the radio today that created an "aha" moment for me - it puts what i was trying to tell my sister into a great perspective. I was listening to Dr. Laura (love her or hate her, she is wise in a lot of areas) and a caller called in and wanted to know what to do about her unloving mother (who had always been unloving) Dr Laura was telling her that there was nothing to do - just accept it. She said if her mother was in a wheelchair she would have to accept that she would never play tennis with her and that her mother is disabled, but emotionally rather than physically.

i loved that. how easy is it for us to accept physical limitations of people because they are right in front of our faces, but when it comes to our other expectations - emotional/social/spiritual - we can often allow ourselves to be let down by the same people over and over and over again.

i personally have one person in mind that i keep hoping will change and keep being let down by. i am not going to do this anymore. i am going to accept her limitations and not expect things to get better. i am going to change my attitude and my acceptance....whew...feeling better about it already!

Case in Point

These pictures somewhat prove my earlier point about boys and dirt...i have been in the office and came outside to find 2 very dirty/snotty boys...each with golf clubs...so now i have 3 golf-obsessed dirty boys!

also...we have a walker...he transitioned this weekend and is now an official bi-ped...this is very sad for me...luckily he still wants to be held and cuddled, but he is off now...his favorite destinations are: the toilet, the street and the fireplace...awesome!

The Move

we did it! we made it with everyone and *almost* everything in tact...we did get rid of a ton of stuff...which felt more than good to do. i feel a little lighter actually. i hope to make it an annual new years eve purge-a-thon. its amazing (especially with kids) how much stuff you tend to collect and let sit and not use. i have about 5 or 6 bins of boys clothes...both Bodie and Bryson's old clothes...and now that Bodie is wearing 2T i am going through Bryson's old stuff asking myself "why on earth did i keep this? who would actually put their kid in this stained/filthy/nasty outfit? Goodwill wouldn't even accept this!" i am learning that boys clothes are rough to use as hand-me-downs because they WEAR their clothes - OUT. When i found out i was having another boy i thought that i could spend a little more on shoes knowing that i would pass them down...that was DUMB...maybe you can do that with church shoes...NOT play shoes...NOT if you have a boy that has a magnetic connection with dirt.

I am so digressing right now...anyway - the move went well - we had the longest weekend of my life (thank heavens my mom was here to take care of the boys or else i dont know what would have happened) - packing, unpacking, making extra trips to the old house, sorting, organizing, trying to figure out where everything goes - you know - all the fun stuff of moving! i spent close to $300 at BB& Beyond getting space savers/organizers...so glad i did because it has made all the difference...but we still have a long way to go.

my next big tackle is getting my sewing stuff figured out and working...i have a lot of projects in mind for this little house and i am itching to get started!

busted up kisser

as of late Bryson has been very obsessed with who is watching him throughout any given day. in fact when he first wakes up he asks, "who is watching me today?" i realize that most kids have some sort of stability - either one of their parents are home, or they are at daycare or a nanny, but i think for the majority of children it is fairly constant...not so much here. one week i could be with them all week, the next it could be Bryan, or the next we could have a sitter and both B and I are in the office. it changes...always...organically...based on the needs of the office and we cant really predict it sometimes. anyway - i always thought that our kids would love this - that they would get daddy and do daddy things and when they have mommy they get to do mommy things...but with bryson i can sense this is affecting him in a negative way and he needs more stability. and he definitely needs more mommy time...this also happens to be my busiest time in the office - end of the month and end of the year...so i knew i had the day today to spend with my boys and bryson was oh so excited, so i thought it would be fun to take them to disneyland...and it was...for a while...until this happened. we were playing in a little play area in toon town and he fell off a watermelon. there was a lot of blood. all the other parents were freaking out. i mean freaking out. what a horrible thing to do! i mean the poor kid is already scared people...i just kept telling him its fine, its just a cut lip and there is a lot of blood cause there is a lot of blood in your lip...and that seemed to freak out the parents even more... "you should go to medical services" "he needs first aid" "are you okay, buddy?" - people...its a split lip...a cut - he is fine...you never cut your lip before? he'll live...even without a disney first aid person making me sign some waiver before they even look at my child (j/k i dont know if they really do that - i never went). anyway - the funny part of the story is that bryson kept crying. i asked if he was crying cause it hurt or if it was because of all the blood and he said, "no...its cause i want to still go on a ride"....okay...so lets wait till the bleeding stops and we'll go on a ride. this is my life with boys...very boyish boys...

Bodie's Birth Story

WARNING: i dont know if i even have male readers...but if i do this a labor story, with labor terms in it...please dont be grossed out! if you think you may be...you may skip this entry...no hard feelings :) 

My labor started on December 23^rd with my due date 2 days away. For the past 2 weeks i had been having irregular contractions - they would start and last hours and then stop. Bryan was a mess trying to decide if i was going into labor or not.  I had an appointment with Sue on the 23rd and had told her that I had been having contractions that were getting stronger, but they would stop when I would lay down, so I knew they weren’t the “real” thing. She checked me and I was 4 cm dilated and Bodie was in a perfect position so she went ahead and stripped my membranes to see if maybe that would help kick my labor into gear.  Around 8:00 that evening I started to get harder contractions, but they were far apart. After many questions from an anxious Bryan – “Should I call Sue?”, “Should I fill the tub?”, “Should I turn the Jacuzzi on?”, “Are you in labor?” and not a clear answer from me, he went ahead and called Sue himself to ask her what he should do. She told him to tell me to go to sleep and try to rest and when the contractions were 5 minutes apart and I couldn’t lay down through one and strong enough to stop me from walking or talking to call her. I went to bed around 11:00pm. At 1:30a.m. I shot out of bed with a “real” contraction. I startled Bryan and told him directively, “Call Sue and start filling the tub!” I think he was happy to finally have a clear answer.

My mom and Bryan’s mom were woken at this point and joined us in the bedroom. Soon after Sue showed up and I called Rashelle and Sue called her assistant Lindsay. My contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and getting more and more intense. The atmosphere was very relaxed and upbeat between contractions and many funny moments helped to lighten the mood. For instance, at one point my mom told Bryan he was doing good (and he truly was - rubbing my back until his hands were raw through every contraction) and i looked at her and was like, "seriously mom?" it became our little joke the rest of the time, "wanna cookie Bryan?" "what can we get you Bryan?"  - also when i was directed to try to "relax" i used all my energy to concentrate and be still...i guess i did too good a job because Bryan fell asleep! I remember also craving watermelon...but between contractions there was just such a good energy in the air - every female in that room had been through natural childbirth before and each female knew what i needed...except my mom obviously! just kidding mom - you did 500% better than with Bryson!! good job! 

 

i wanted the whole labor and delivery to be an experience - not just for me, but for everyone - to participate in and remember and i believe it was. Sue called me on Christmas to tell me she had another birth that went into Christmas, but assured me that mine was "much more fun!" and you know, it was fun! I know that sounds odd to some...how can labor be fun? and of course the pain and the pushing was not what i would classify as "fun" but the whole experience was never scary and never out of my control and i was only surrounded by people who loved Bryan and I dearly and had our best interests at heart.

Bryan helped by rubbing my back and the water helped as well. Progressively things were getting more serious and Sue checked me and I was 10 cm but there was a bit left of my cervix that needed to dilate, so despite some of my pushes nothing was happening. I laid on my side in the tub and tried to relax through some of the contractions, which now had progressed to very intense back labor. After a while I really felt the urge to push and with about 4 contractions…a very loud “Get Him Out!!!” and a back-wrenching scream Bodie Owen Barnes came into our world at 6:55 a.m...He was so sweet from the moment he came out. Sue placed him on my chest and he did a push up on my chest and looked at me and then moved his neck to look at Bryan. it was the craziest thing i have ever seen - strong from the start! I was so in love with him already and couldnt wait to nurse him and cuddle with him, but i knew that i wasn't finished yet...after the placenta was delivered and we got all clean and in bed and i nursed him i just kept saying out loud and to myself "i can't believe i just did that! i can't believe women can do that!" i was so amazed by the process - the experience - the amazing bodies God designed for us! 

I was completely shocked when Sue weighed him in at 9 lbs 8oz and he measured 22 inches. I am so thankful I didn’t know that going into the birth because it probably would have scared me to death!

We had debated whether or not to have Bryson (3 yrs old at that point) in the room or not. At the end we just decided to let him do what he wanted to do and if it got too scary or if i wasnt in control of my screams then my father-in-law Bob would take him in the other room. Well wouldnt you know it Bryson woke up at 6:30 (Bodie was born 25 minutes later) and i was at the MOST intense part of my labor. so Bob took him into the other room to watch a movie and told him when they heard the baby cry he would take him in to see him. Well...that back wrenching scream i just told you about happened and Bryson asked Bob, "was that the baby?" "uhhhh...no...not the baby yet" was Bob's reply...definitely not the baby! A short while later Bodie did cry and Bob brought Bryson in to see his brother. he was very reserved and i knew he wanted to hold him but didn't quite know what to think. Later when everyone was gone and we were resting Bryson came in to say hello to his new little brother and we had the most tender moment. I knew he was going to be a good big brother from that point on...

The above picture is of my midwife Sue, who was and is amazing and who i will call for the next one...whenever that may be...it was a Christmas i will always remember. So wonderful to be surrounded by family and friends and you could feel the love when you stepped inside the house - it was that palpable. I was also very blessed to have everything go so normal and textbook and to have a very healthy baby boy...i know this...and know that we were so completely blanketed with prayers and i had a peace about it. God is good.

so this is the week - the final weekend before the move...i must say i am pretty dern proud of myself - bryan and i have only been in 1 fight - i have refrained from raising my voice at the children...i am keeping it calm...ish...anyway - i am not nearly as psycho about it as i have been in the past. i think it comes from living in the same house my entire childhood until i went to college...i never learned how to move...it seemed wrong. but this move seems very right and i am very excited about the fresh start - not very excited about the lack of closets in every room...but excited about the challenge of organization!

so here we are - a new year and a fresh start and it feels good...not crazy stressed out, but good. which is nice to be able to say. so please forgive me if you dont hear from me for a while...and i also would love any ideas as far as dealing with no closets...especially master bdrm...creative ideas...(that means little to no money needed!)