Embracing the quiet

Our life over the past 4+ months has been a little chaotic. We've had off & on people living with us. We are glad we decided to help some friends & family, however it caused me to realize that I am a really creature of habit and I enjoy and embrace the normalcy of our daily lives. I love waking up in the morning knowing I will go to my gym and see the same faces almost every morning. I love coming home and waking everyone up to start the day and make breakfast. I love kissing my husband goodbye and wishing him a wonderful and fast work day so I can miss him all day long until he walks back in the door to (hopefully) a hot meal, lots of hugs and kisses from myself and the kids. I love that I get to be the one who puts Paxton to bed but that Josh gets his special daddy time in while putting Harper down. And I really love that 7:30 until we fall asleep is J & I's time to watch our shows, talk about his day at work & my day with the kids and occasionally share a glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn. I love every second of all of that because it is what works for us as a family. Therefore with our lives the past few weeks things have been quite. It's been nice. It's been us. It's been really healthy for our relationship.

There are some days where J and I tell one another that we love each other more that day that usual. This is for no special reason at all. For instance I really love Josh extra today. Nothing out of the ordinary has occurred, no gifts or surprises but I just love him so much and really really cannot wait for him to come home!! =) I feel extra lucky today that he is mine.

Below are a few pics from last weekend where the weather decided to be nice and break me of my self diagnosed SADD. I am really ready for the weather to brighten up and allow us to get out of the house more often and put a stop to all the runny noses and coughing.

Last but not leaset, I am oh so so so excited that my Dad & DeeDee are going to come stay with us this weekend. We haven't seen them since September and we get 2 nights together and I am sure I will probably weigh 5 more lbs than I do now because of the amazing food we will cook together all weekend long (especially in preparation for our SuperBowl get together we are having at the house!!!!!!) Yaay Happy Wednesday all!!!!!!!!

a resolution to say no.

This year I am working on embracing who I am and trying to work on myself. Not just a mommy or a wife but simply as me, Brenda Pluid.  I am 100% a people pleaser, almost to a fault. Well, absolutely to a fault because it has caused me to become quite an anxious person.  I hate telling anyone no because I do not like letting down others or causing any disappointment. Even to a point of not saying where I really want to go eat or what movie I want to see. I would rather the other people I am with be happy with what we are doing than choosing what I may truly want to do. Weird...I know. 

I am not someone who is all day every day anxious but there are many situations where I get worked up about having to do something that I get to the point of having panic attacks. I cannot breathe or get a fulfilling breath which then freaks me out and makes the whole breathing issues even worse. It's a viscous cycle. I am also weird about taking medicine because I have the theory that drinking water and working out is pretty much a cure for almost any/all of the problems I have. If my head hurts, it means I need water. If I am feeling tired and lazy all the time, it means I need to get to the gym. I am also a creature of routine and habit. I like things to be within the schedule or plans I have created and if there is a sudden change it throws me off and I get stressed quickly. This I do not like about myself. I feel as if I used to be so much more laid back and easy going but since having kids I want everything to be in order and go according to schedule (especially when it comes to my children's sleep schedules, if those get messed up I am a super freak about it.) 

Anywho, I don't want this whole thing to be about my issues but what I would like to do and what I am trying to do to better it.  The best part about this whole thing is Josh. He knows how I am and he challenges me to be better because he of course wants me to be happy. I am not sure he even knows when he is doing so. He can tell when I am about to over commit to something and asks me to think twice when it comes to saying yes. He even knows that he may have to ask me 10 times before I tell him what I really want rather than just what is going to appease him. It's nice to be married to someone who sometimes knows you better than you know yourself.

So my resolution this year is to simply speak my mind and to say no when I really want to say no and to stop caring about what everyone else may think/feel when I do. To many of you that may seem silly but to me it is a big change. Honestly, even writing about this is making me anxious because of the potential judgements. I know that by doing this it will help myself which is in turn helping my family, because they are pretty awesome if I do say so myself! Happy Tuesday everyone =) 

Sick and Snowy Beginning to 2013

Considering we are now parents to two littles and we have a 16 year old babysitter who doesn't normally stay past 11:00pm, we rang in the new year at home. It was such a wonderful end to 2012 with the hubs and our friend Josh (aka Slim) who cooked up a delicious shrimp, steak and cheesy bread dinner (can you tell boys created the menu sans anything green?) But hey, I was not complaining since I was out of the kitchen all night long!! Harper and I cuddled up on the couch watching Happy New Year's Charlie Brown and we had a sparkling cider toast and some FaceTime with the grandparents before she went to her last night of slumber for 2012. We then ate our dinner, drank a ginormous bottle of campaign between the three of us, played Wheel of Fortune on the PS3 and watched Ryan Seacrest's countdown to NYC's midnight (am I the only one who finds Carson Daily suuuuuuuper annoying & an awkard host?) . I surprisingly made it up until midnight with the help of cherry coke zero and lots of laughter from my husband and some ridiculous rapping he was making up, and a little You Tube. If you have not seen the ghost girl in the elevator video from Brazil, please do so now, FREAKING HILARIOUS! Mind you I would die if this ever happened to me.

New Years Day was pretty much spent in our pajamas tending to two incredibly sad sick babes. I was so thankful for the fact Josh was home and able to help out. I made an enormous pallet on the floor in our front room and allowed Harper to watch an ungodly amount of Dora the Explorer because it was the only thing that prevented constant meltdowns. My amazing husband got up and made us steak, egg and avocado breakfast tacos alongside mimosas (because every parent dealing with sad sick kids needs a little pick me up...right?) We also spent most of our day in the bathroom with the shower running on the hottest setting to create a steam room to help with the couching fits and congested noses that the littles were battling. By the way did you all know that you are NOT supposed to use Vick's Vaporub when you or your kids have a cough???? Apparently it causes irritation and makes their cough worse. Well I had been literally slathering it all over their chest, back and feet for days..whoops! However, if your child is 1 year or older and you are dealing with a troubling cough you can give them 1/2 to 1 tsp of honey as often as needed. It coats their throats and thins the mucus! I was unaware of this so I thought I would pass on the info =). Thank you to nurse Julie who called me last night after I was panicking that Pax had RSV again.

Today however is a much better day and the kids are finally eating and playing a little. I am excited for Paxton's one year check up tomorrow, minus the shots, to see where is is on his averages of weight, height & head size!

I am still kind of working on my so called 2013 resolutions. Really I am trying to set some goals for myself and the family that are realistic and not ridiculous. I can gladly say that for the first time in quite a while losing weight is not on my list (don't judge if you think I could lose a few lbs =)!) But lots of personal and photography goals are on my list! If I get around to it I'll share them in a few days.

I hope everyone had a beautiful beginning to 2013. We were lucky enough to start it off with a gorgeous snow that helped our quarantine not seem so bad! I am excited for another year of experiences with Josh and the littles.  Yay for The Year of the Pluids!!!