My husband's better than your husband....

Yep, if you couldn't already guess from the title... this is a brag post about my awesome, amazing husband.

Aside from the fact that he's a hardworking, intelligent, thoughtful, spiritual, fabulously wonderful husband who just happens to be the loving, helpful father of our three beautiful children:






He is constantly surprising me by making and creating unique and ingenious things for our house.
Case in point...
Before we had a frame for our bed Zach cleverly made a headboard out of some materials he got at Lowes, adding some substance and visual interest to our otherwise lacking "bedroom set".
He's continued to do other unique and interesting things to make our house more beautiful and visually interesting (things with paint, etc...).
If I weren't afraid that women would fall in love with him, and he would received some unwanted stalkers, I would make sure he ended up on some clever D.I.Y. home show on HGTV.
That being said...
let me introduce you to the latest addition to our home. The boys lovingly refer to it as "Mommy's treasure box".



He brought home this tattered, about to be thrown away chest, sanded it, painted it, and added some cool hardware. He also lightly sanded it afterwards to add a weathered look to it and I couldn't be happier. The boys adore it and are constantly touching, inspecting, and playing with it. Their favorite thing is to climb on top and jump to the couches.
Well, like I said before....
MY HUSBAND IS BETTER THAN YOUR HUSBAND. I'm sorry, you'll just have to get used to it.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!"

Realizing that it's been far too long since I last posted something I decided to peruse the collection of photos piling up in my computer. I felt pressure to give an update on the holidays since I hadn't said a word about what we did on Thanksgiving, the boys birthdays, Christmas, New Years, or even Halloween. However, the realization that this might take up all the free time I had lead me to make the decision to post something short and sweet. Until I actually take the time to update all the happenings of the holidays just find it in yourselves to be contented with knowing that they were wonderful.
Now onto the short and sweet....

Upon finding a few photos of myself with Kendell I came to a few different conclusions.

#1: This little girl is growing up way too fast!
It seems as though every time I blink she's a few weeks older. If this keeps up within a few weeks she'll be using my makeup and asking Zach for the car keys. I wouldn't mind this "Quantum Leap" journey of hers *as much* if she weren't somehow taking me on the journey with her. I'm not sure how she's doing it... maybe she does it while we're all asleep, maybe it's just "journey residue" transferring itself onto me whenever we touch, or maybe it's just an effect of messing with the Space-Time Continuum. Whatever it is.... it's making me age along with her, and I don't like it!

#2: Apparently whenever I wear that shirt I feel like taking a picture of myself. I either really like the way it looks on me, or just really need some new shirts.

#3: I am forever indebted to Drew Barrymore for making the "ombre" style popular. It gives us busy (and or lazy) mommies who have no extra time, energy, or money to get our hair done, a great excuse for letting our roots grow out. Thank you Drew for giving my laziness the cool and hip excuse of "fashion".

#4: This little girl is just too cute for words!!! We are all completely and totally in love!
One little smile or giggle from her and we're all in a trance. She has us in the palm of her hand, and we will do her bidding.
Until, of course, boys come into the picture. Then her Daddy will go into Protective mode and all young boys had better watch their backs!

Until then, we'll just enjoy the coos, the giggles, and those deliciously snackable cheeks!

Home

Zach and I have been married for six years, and in that six years we have moved six times. We have never lived near either of our parents or siblings and have had a wide variety of homes, and experiences. Usually when people hear this we get the usual response of...

"Wow. That is a lot of moves." or "Six times huh? That's a whole lot of moving boxes.".

Sometimes we get jokes like "Wow, I never thought I'd meet a true nomad." or "Working for Dillards (the reason for the majority of our moves) is worse than being in the military."

On occasion however I get responses like these....

"Ugh, that is horrible. We would never do that."
"I prefer having a place I can call home."
"I would never move that often, I would just tell my husband that is not happening."
or my favorite:
"My husband knows better than to try and move me away from my family, he knows that is not an option."

It is because of the occasional responses that I have a response of my own...

Zach,
YOU are my family.
Although I love and cherish my parents and siblings, when we made our marriage covenant together, we became one. We became our own family.
Together we have brought three beautiful spirits to this earth, and I treasure my time spent with them and you.
I am grateful for a hardworking, spiritual, and selfless husband who does all he can to make life wonderful for myself and my children. I will support and uplift you any way I can, and will walk with you to the ends of the earth.
No matter where we are, as long as we are together I am home.
I Love You.
Codilyn

A little warning.....

Sometimes in the grand experience of parenting I find myself wanting to say to my children...

"REALLY?!? You couldn't have given me a little warning?".

The other night with Kendell was no different.

We had just gotten home from spending some time with daddy and Kendell was looking especially cute so I decided to get a picture with my adorable little girl.

Picture #1:
Me-Happy as can be and blissfully unaware of what my child was currently doing.
Kendell-Turning her face away in shame, knowing full well that my moment of bliss would be short lived.



Picture #2:
Me-Still living it up in my carefree world.
Kendell-Waiting for me to make the horrific discovery (her eyes full of worry and guilt).



Picture #3:
Me-My perfect world comes crumbling down with the realization that my hand and stomach are now wet.
Kendell-Could care less about me and my little world, she's just glad she got all of that out of her system. Now... where's her new diaper and clean clothing?


REALLY?!? Is it too much to ask that children come out of the womb completely potty trained? How is it that such little bodies can produce such large amounts of biohazardous material? UGH... I need a shower.

P.S. For those wondering.... things are going well. Zach loves his new job, and now that the fire ants are gone we love the new house as well. We're just about done packing just a few more pictures to hang and we'll be all done.

Rays of sunshine.

This move has been chaotic, stressful, and pushing me to the limits at times. In fact, when I showed up at church on Sunday our friend Cache said:
"Wow, when Lindsey was talking about this being your last Sunday I told her there was no way you would show up here with three kids all by yourself. I said she'd have to be crazy!" Well, apparently that's exactly what this move has turned me into.... a crazy woman. However... with the move there have also been some sweet and wonderful moments with my adorable little nuggets that I thought I'd share before I forget to write them down.

Mr. Blayne.



I'm sure you are all aware of the never ending potty training that has been occurring at this house for far too long, and the little nugget who is refusing to get rid of his diapers. Well, a miracle has been happening over the last few days here and Blayne has gone pee pee on the potty ON HIS OWN ACCORD a handful of times. Yep, there is a slight crack of light at the end of this tunnel, unless I just jinxed it, which I probably did. There have even been times when he has noticed that the training seat wasn't on the toilet and placed it on so he could go potty. He is loving taking his diaper off by himself (which makes me extremely nervous- we've already had a poopy diaper left on the living room floor and a gorgeous brown mark left by a naked bottom. Ugh.) and is doing all of this without any resistance or crying.
However... all of these times have been when he decides to do it himself, and not because mommy has asked. I learned that very quickly this morning when I said "You've been so good about going pee pee on the potty lately let's go potty right now." to which I received the reply "NO, NO!! I don't want to go potty ANY MORE!" So I just need to be patient and let it be his idea. Because if it's his idea he's willing to do it, and it's a great idea. Gee.. who does that sound like? *I guess he's got some Zach in him after all. Ha ah!! Love you honey!*

Mr. Xander.



In a desperate attempt to use up all of the food in the freezer/fridge the kids have been given some food options that they were less than thrilled about (lately all the want is peanut butter sandwiches). Thus resulting in kids not eating well, and food that I wanted to use so I wouldn't have to throw it out.... being thrown out.
The other night was no different. I was trying to use up some chicken and vegetables and the boys were not having it. Finally, I did what any mother would do in my situation... I used guilt.
I turned to the boys and said "You know, it makes me so sad when you don't eat your food because there are kids in the world who don't have food that would love to have the food you are given. Blayne was oblivious to my attempts of manipulation, but Xander looked at me with the most concerned look on his face.
Xander: "There's kids with no food?"
Me: "Yes, they don't have all the nice things that you have like regular food, a nice house and lots of toys."
Xander: "Oh mommy. That's so sad. I will eat my dinner."
Me: "Thank you Xander. We should always eat what we are given to show our gratitude for all we have."
Xander: "Mommy, before I eat my dinner can we say another prayer?"
Me: "Of course."
He then began the most beautiful and innocent child's prayer asking that "all kids will have some foods, a house, and really cool toys.".
It was definitely the highlight of my week. I love my kind hearted boy. He's always concerned about others and wanting to help in any way he can. Makes a momma proud.

Our latest escapades....

For those of you who know us well enough, you know that we really don't stay in one place too long. In fact, the longest we've stayed in one place since being married was when we were in Oklahoma City for 2 years. We've been here in Fayetteville for 1 1/2 and apparently the "fates" were alerted to that fact because once again...

we are on the move!

Yep, Zach has been promoted (again) and we are headed off to Little Rock, Arkansas.



In 6 years of marriage, this will be our 6th move. 4 of the 6 being work related, and 3 of those 4 happening shortly after I had given birth to a little nugget, or was pregnant with a little nugget.
The news came so quickly that Zach is actually already there working and staying in a hotel near the mall. The kids and I have been hanging out here while frantically searching for a place on line. For the last few days this is what my life has been...
Get up in the morning, get the kids fed, then proceed to the computer and spend the rest of the day searching on any and every site I can think of, calling and getting info., taking occasional breaks to feed/take care of the little nuggets, then talking with Zach after he gets off of work and telling him the new houses to go take a look at.
He then takes a look at the house, finds out if the area is safe, then is either told that the house is no longer available for rent (all the houses we have loved) or just tells me flat out NO. The search has definitely been a long, exhausting, and frustrating one. If we love a house it's either already rented, or a scam on Craigslist/Hotpads.
Needless to say, I was getting a little discouraged when Zach called me up on Wed. and suggested that the kids and I drive down and we could check out the 5 houses we had found on-line, and just spend some time together. So that's what we did. I quickly packed up the kiddos, drove the three hours to Little Rock and met daddy and headed off to the first house. The first house was a new home, but was a higher price range than we had wanted to spend. Then we saw the area... quickly locked our doors and turned back the way we came. Yeah, no bueno.
Then we drove to the second house that was right by the mall Zach will be working at. It was not at the top of our list because it was tiny, had no garage or carport, and looked/smelled like the previous tenants had been using it for an ashtray. Although it was undesirable we figured we could clean it up and it might be nice for Zach to be able to walk to work. We decided that if none of the other three homes worked we would give this place a go. Since it was getting late we went out to eat and headed back to Zach's hotel to get some rest.
The next day, Zach went to work for a few hours while I got myself and the kids ready. Then we picked Zach up, got some...




*Mmmmm... do-nuts. Yes, Joy. You were right... they are amazing. Am I drooling? Maybe.*

then made our way to see the last three houses.
The third house was about 25 min. outside Little Rock and was a little higher than we wanted to pay, but by now we were looking at anything that was available. The house was older, and HUGE. The upside was the storage possibilities. The down side was the kids rooms were on the lower level and there were two doors that led outside (for those who know Xander you know why that made me nervous, the bars on all the windows didn't convince me that it was a safe area either). Another down side was the thought of heating/cooling such a large place. We were already at a price range that was higher than we wanted to pay, and adding high utilities and a long drive didn't help. So... that was a no.
The fourth house was just the opposite. Good area, close to Zach's work, all on one level, but no storage whatsoever. Also, it was UUGGG-LYY, and didn't have all the appliances in the kitchen. It was just as expensive as the first house, and add in the cost we would have to pay for the missing appliances and you get a big no from us. Strike four.
The fifth house was the same price range as the other two but even closer to Zach's work, and the one I was most excited about. I had seen the house on-line and couldn't wait to see it. It was an older home that they had completely remodeled inside. The pictures on-line showed a gorgeous kitchen, some wonderful new bathrooms, and some nice rooms. It even had a cute wooden deck that led to the fenced in backyard. We pulled up and I couldn't wait to go inside. Once inside... I was confused. I had opened the front door, but I was in the kitchen? There was a tiny little bedroom to the right (the doorway alone made me claustrophobic) but I had yet to find the front room. I searched and searched but... there was no front room to be found anywhere. It got even more confusing when we discovered that the master bedroom had french doors that led to the carport? With no front room, odd bedrooms, doors to outside in weird places, and not enough storage space we decided this was a no as well.
We looked at each other, defeated, and decided to call and put an application in for the "ashtray" house. Surprisingly enough... we were informed that it had just been rented out a few hours earlier and was no longer available. WHAT?!? Even our "if we become desperate enough" house was taken?!?
That was it. I wasn't moving. As I loaded up the kids to go home, my sweet husband gave me some words of encouragement and promised me it would all work out. I knew I had to change my attitude and be patient but I was really discouraged and bummed out.
After an hour of driving a little voice from the back of the car informed me that he needed to go potty. Great.
I pulled into the gas station of a small town and got ready for the adventure of taking three little ones into a restroom stall. With the car seat in one hand and Xander and Blayne in the other we stumbled into the largest stall. I changed Blayne while Xander did his duty, then told the boys to entertain Kendell so I could take my turn. As soon as I sat down someone entered the stall next to us. Immediately the boys forgot all about Kendell and started bending down to look at/talk to our new stall friend. I stood them back up, then Xander said "What he doing in there?". I responded with "Using the restroom." in my quietest voice possible, appalled that my child would be so intrusive to someone's privacy, when it dawned on me that Xander had said "he".
It felt like I was moving in slow motion as I looked down to see two man-sized cowboy boots in the neighboring stall, followed by the realization that the person in that stall was relieving themselves while standing. Then my sweet boys decided it would be funny to add to my horror by trying to open our stall door. As I repeatedly pulled them away from the door and silently whispered for them to "knock it off" and "stand by the baby" the question of "Did I go into the wrong bathroom?" kept coming to my mind. After all, I was toting three kids, I could've easily made that mistake in the rush to corral them into a bathroom stall and take care of business. But then there was the unmistakable little mini metal can on the wall informing me that it was there for women's unmentionables. I was confused and decided to just stay in there until he left, in case I was the one in the wrong, when suddenly a gruff voice with a thick southern accent said....
"Am I in the wrong bathroom?"
Me: "Umm, I think so. Either you are, or I am." *Feeling quite uncomfortable.*
Gruff voice: "I bet you was over there thinkin' man this lady's sure peeing a lot."
To myself: Actually I was thinking... if you were a woman you were talented to pee in that position. To him: Uncomfortable laughter.
Gruff voice: "Well, I sure am sorry, I'll have to look closer at the door next time. Hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable."
Me: "Don't even worry about it, you're just fine." Feeling less uncomfortable.
Gruff voice: "I'm sure you're fine too if I could get a look at your sweet face. *Uncomfortable feeling returned.*
Then a flush of his toilet, and a quick exit out the door. Yep, no hand washing. *Extreme uncomfortable feeling and a realization to not let the boys touch the door, and that I need to keep my paper towel for more than just drying my hands.*
After washing our hands and using the paper towel as a germ barrier between myself and the door handle, we stumbled our way out of the gas station to see a bunch of cowboys grinning and whispering to each other like they had just heard a very interesting story from one of their buddies. I quickly loaded the kids and drove the rest of the way home.
A few hours later my wonderful hubby called and asked me to get on the computer and look at a home he was looking at. He was in front of the house and said it looked really nice and that the neighborhood was even better. When I looked on-line I found a beautiful home that basically was an updated version of our current home. We both agreed that if he liked what he saw inside the next day, we were going for it. I said a quick prayer and crossed my fingers that this house was actually legit. It would be about a 20min. drive to work for Zach but was in our desired price range, was only 4 years old, a nice area, had more closet space and all the appliances in the kitchen. Then yesterday I got the news that it was real and that we would be able to move in ASAP.
FINALLY!!! An end to the rental home nightmare.
In a short time we will officially be living in Benton, Arkansas. Now all we have to do is move all our stuff. Thankfully, Dillards is sending someone to take care of that for us. Can you imagine having to pack a home with two toddlers and a newborn under your feet? UGH. No thank you.
We will miss you Fayetteville, you have been wonderful and given us some great friends and even better memories!!
Wish us luck!!

I wasn't joking...

When I told you in my last post that my siblings are incredibly talented and amazing, it's because they really are.

These are just a few of the newest items my sister is selling on her Etsy sites.

**She has 2 sites: #1- Plumage Design (www.kimkendell.etsy.com) #2- Peek a boo Monkey (www.peekaboomonkey.etsy.com) **

~First up, Plumage Design site. This is her site where she sells all of her handmade jewelry. If you live in Utah you can also purchase her jewelry at the Soel Boutique located in The Shops at Riverwoods.

These jeweled hair elastics for women. Fancy up your hair without using a hair accessory from your 12 year olds stash.


~Secondly, her Peek a Boo Monkey site. This is her site where she sells all of her hand crafted items, hand sewn items, and my favorite... her hand made baby items!

In the category of hand crafted... she has these beautiful easels made from forks. You can use them to hold your recipe cards, photos, or anything else you desire.



In the category of hand sewn... she has these fabulous purses that she calls her Mary Poppins' Purses. They are durable, reversible, absolutely beautiful, and large enough to hold anything you would like! They even are large enough to be stylish diaper bags.

The purse above is a floral brocade that reverses into a brown corduroy. And the purse below is a herringbone and corduroy.




When it comes to the category of hand made baby items... she has these ADORABLE tie onesies that leave the competitors tie onesies in the dust. She uses actual ties and the bottom half is not sewn to the fabric so if worn with pants the bottom of the tie isn't covered.

Although the tie onesies are adorable, my favorite baby items of hers by far are her BABY BOOTIES!!
She doesn't have any for sale right now, but when she does they go fast, and they are fabulous!!!! Here are just two examples of the fabulousness that are her baby booties...




So there you have it people. The second blog post of why my siblings make me feel inferior. Ha ha! Hope you enjoy. Now go to Etsy and buy my sister's stuff!!! Really, go. Why are you still reading this? Get shopping already!!