Peace Offering

SO IT'S BEEN A WHILE....

 I haven't written for a while because:

 1: I had a severe case of blank mind where I couldn't think of what to say or post.
 2: I was being lazy.
 3: I was convinced that no one was reading this blog anymore anyway so it really didn't matter that I hadn't put anything new up.
 

 Then my sweet husband made the observation that maybe the reason no one seemed to be reading anymore was because I had made the title of my last post "My husband's better than your husband" and people were offended.

If in fact that is the case and I did unintentionally offend....

 MY DEEPEST, AND SINCEREST APOLOGIES TO EVERYONE.

 I promise that I will no longer write such offensive posts, and would like to add that
           YOUR HUSBANDS ROCK!
Never again will I make such bold declarations (1- because I don't want people angry with me, and
2- because Zach said to "knock it off, it's embarrassing".).
 To show how truly sorry I am I offer to you these photos of my sweet baby girl as a peace offering (and to melt your hearts).
I hope that we can once again be reunited in this world of the blog.
 Sincerely, Codilyn

To sweeten the deal...

here's a video of baby girl when she first started crawling.

My Blayne-e!

I think its my turn to post now. (Even though everyone prefers my wifes post, as do I)

But I need to tell you about Blayne.
Blayne and I are complete opposites.
He takes his time to eat.
He is a little dramatic.
He picks up music very well.
He can fall asleep anywhere.
He is stubborn, not a trait of mine.

And it has taken me three years to figure him out.

And do you know what I say to him, fine! You decide when you are finished with dinner, I am not going to hurry you up. You decide which music is better, I am glad you have an opinion. You decide when it is nap time and just let me know when you want to stop wearing pull ups...and I am ok with that.

I love you Blayne and your morning hair!!

This is how he wakes up, can you believe it!!

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.