A HOGWARTS HALLOWEEN

Kolby and I have always been Harry Potter fanatics, so I decided it was about time we dress as such. I think the costumes turned out pretty cute, and I'll probably have that photo above as our official family photo for this year...don't be surprised if you see it on the Christmas card ha.

It certainly helps that I married someone who already looks just like Harry :) I always had a crush on him growing up, so I'd say things played out well for me!

For Kolby's costume, we bought a quidditch robe (bath robe) from Target. He needed a bath robe anyways so this is how I justified spending $25 on it. We got the glasses from Partyland.

For me, I bought the gray cardigan, tie, and black skirt from the thrift store. The Gryffindor patch is from amazon, and I wish I had had time to actually iron it on!

Kai's costume was made by none other than my very talented mama! She made the cute robe with Hogwarts logo and the scarf too. We got Kai's glasses from Zurchers party store.

and my favorite of all...Pres as Hedwig! I got her hat from this adorable Etsy shop. Her fluffy white jacket is from Target and it came with a bear hat and claw mittens, and the mittens looked just like owl claws which was perfect. I also saw those cute white furry boots at Target and just had to buy them to complete her owl look. She couldn't have looked more perfect! I think I'll dress her as a snowy owl all winter :)

It was a fun night and I loved that we all matched as one of my favorite movies/books ever. We went to our church's "trunk or treat" and they started off with chili, rolls, and desserts. It was so delicious and I wish I had had more time to eat but i was trying to hurry and get Kai to go around and get candy before they ran out lol. I haven't been trick or treating in a few years and so I needed to make up for lost time! (yes I'm a 100% kid at heart). Funny thing is, all he wanted to do was eat chili! He kept asking for more while we were walking. He's a foodie just like me :) It was freezing outside and Pres was still so cold even with her white fur so we didn't last long. I'm hoping next year we can be out for at least 2 hours haha.

Sadly, Kai kept choosing all the gross candy from the buckets. I'm like no Kai go for the twix!! He kept choosing lolli pops or Gobstoppers. As you can tell, I take my trick or treating and candy very seriously. Kolby was like well why dont we just go buy a bag of candy you like and skip the trick or treating..?! My response was BECAUSE IT TASTES SO MUCH BETTER WHEN IT'S FREE! Typical answer from me....lol.

My favorite thing was the way Kai said harry potter. This is such a fun stage where he's learning to talk and I never want it to end! 

Here are some more pics...although as  you can tell I have the most picture-hating serious kids in the world...ha!

This kid cared more about getting more chili in his belly than candy! 

We just might make this dressing as Harry Potter characters a monthly thing in our house, along with a Harry Potter marathon and homemade butterbeer :)

YOU'VE GOT IT BETTER THAN YOU THINK

If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that everyone has their "stuff" to deal with.

Sometimes as a mom, it's hard not to get frustrated with how many things I have to do and how little time there is to do them all. It's simply not possible. I can't get all the dishes done, feed both my kids, change them, tub them, clean up after them, play with them, feed myself, shower, work out, church callings, run errands, pay the bills, stay in touch with friends, etc etc all in one day. There is just never enough time. 

Factor in to that equation a mom with a broken back (happened 4 years ago in a car accident), and it just ain't pretty. I have to go extra slow with everything I do, since I'm never allowed to bend over, lean forward, or lift anything over 10 lbs without pain. Every little motion hurts...bending over to wipe Kai's nose. Bending to reach something on the lowest shelf of the fridge. Bending to pull the laundry out...bending to clean up the floor when Kai spills something...heck even putting my shoes on...you get the picture. Count the number of times you bend per day and you'll be amazed. I can't even pick up either of my kids without hurting. I get very frustrated and sometimes start to complain about how rough I have it because of all the back pain I have while taking care of my kids. Especially because this is pain that, unfortunately, will never go away, and there's no medicine for.  (narcotics do take the pain away but unfortunately you really shouldn't take those longer than a few weeks). Some days the pain isn't so bad or is barely there, and those are my good days.

 Not to mention, on the bad days Kolby has to come home and do everything while I rest my back in preparation to survive the next day. I constantly find myself saying "If only I didn't have a broken back..."

So yeah, that's "my stuff." And it's easy to get down and count all the things wrong in my life.

But then I see a mom post about her kid with spina bifida, and how she has to put a catheter in him every few hours, and carry him, and do everything for him since he can't walk. I see a mom who has 5 children under the age of 6 and just lost her husband to cancer at the age of 30. I see a touching video about another mom who is BLIND and still manages to take care of her children.  (see the video here). I see another video about a guy bound to a wheelchair with no legs, who can't have children, and he is still living and LOVING life. I see a girl plagued with bipolar who literally can't get out of bed most days but still manages to find joy in her life. As a nurse I see so many patients with all kinds of life stories, most of which are so sad. One of the worst being newborn babies who are born to moms that use drugs while they are pregnant and then are consequently born being addicted to that drug and have to start their life on this earth withdrawing from that drug, which is such a heart-breaking painful process to watch in a baby.

 And then I feel so dumb for complaining about my back, because look at what other people have to deal with. Who am I to throw a pity party...?

I feel like if everyone were to walk around with a sign above their head listing out their biggest challenges in life, we would be shocked at what every human on this earth has to deal with. Depression, eating disorders, rape, death of loved ones, insecurities, dysfunctional families, divorce, etc....the list goes on and on. And guess what? Most of these we hide so well, so you'd never even know we were struggling with these things.

Truth is, we ALL have our stuff. Even the celebrities, the famous instagram people who seem to have the perfect life, they all have their stuff to deal with too, whether they show it or not. And there's almost always someone that has it worse. So count your blessings. Think about all the things you're grateful you don't have to deal with. Look for the good. Look at the things you ARE able to do and the things you DO have, instead of what you don't. Let the dark times in your life be a way to more fully savor and enjoy the sunny bright moments as they come. One of my favorite quotes is from The 444 Project (a non profit organization committed to spreading joy in the world, follow them on insta: the444project ) says "Darkness makes our blessings glow."

And remember you aren't fighting or struggling alone. We all are. And you've probably got it better than you think :)

I'm gonna try to start picking something happy each day to focus on. Today it's this sweet little angel face:

Love you all! Please feel free to share this post if you think it will help anyone!

PRESLEY GIRL IS 8 MONTHS

My Pres-babe is 8 months old today. 

If I had things my way, I'd sit and snuggle this girl all day long, everyday. She's just that sweet! 

She is rare and beautiful. 

She's currently going through a phase where she's crying if she's not held. 

She's got the cutest dragging crawl. She's starting to pull herself up and stand up while holding onto things. 

Her brother is her most favorite person. She crawls towards him any chance she gets and tries to get a hug but sadly he's not so friendly at the moment. She smiles at him all the time and sometmes he makes her laugh, and hes the only one that can make her laugh! 

She is on the move 24/7, never sitting still, even on my lap. 

Peek a boo can almost always get a smile out of her. 

"Crying it out: is definitely not an option for her because she will cry for hours. I've tried it so many times and it just doesn't work with her! Kai would always cry it out in less than 30 minutes which made things easy :) Pres is always very determined to get her way though, and it's so cute. 

If she sees any kind of plastic bag in sight, she won't stop until she gets her hands on it. 

She looks so much like Kolby to me, but everyone says she's my little twin. 

She is so happy when she first wakes up in the morning, instantly smiling when her eyes open. There is nothing I love more than waking up to that cute fuzzy head. 

She won't play with baby toys and constantly tries so hard to get a hold of my keys and phone. 

She is my happiness! We sure love you Pres-bug. Thanks for making all of our dreams come true baby girl!

12 THINGS

Gosh these two just kill me! I've said it 1000 times and I'll say it once again, I am the luckiest mama in the whole world.

So 12 random things right now...

1. I finally fit in my pre-pregnancy jeans and am back to my old weight, so all is well in the world.
2. I've only got 2 more weeks of working full-time, and then I get to be back at home with my favoritest people all day!
3. I got the best text ever from my mom this week saying that we are planning a family trip to Hawaii in June to visit my grandparents. YAY!!! Kai, Presley, and Kolby can finally meet my cute Japanese grandma!!
4. I get temporarily depressed when the cold suddenly hits and summer is over. Can we move to Hawaii....
5. Can The Bachelor just start yet?!! I'm dying over here.
6. I don't know what it is about my baby girl lately but I just wanna hold her all day long and never let go. I can't wait to experience life with her.
7. I usually end the day with a big (we're talking 3 cups) bowl of French Silk Kroger brand ice cream. It's the creamiest most delicious ice cream ever!
8. Does anyone else think Mike Posner's song "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" sounds exactly like Savage Garden?!
9. One thing I do love about fall is all of the yummy soups I get to make...with copious amounts of bread to go with them :) Creamy tomato tortellini soup, broccoli cheese soup...GIMME ALL THE SOUP!
10. I'm one of those people who LOVES Halloween. My husband HATES it. But I still make us dress up every year :) I am getting some things together for our costumes and pretty excited! I found some great stuff at the thrift store this weekend and am SO excited to be my favorite character ever! I'm also so so excited to take Kai trick-or-treating! This will be his first time doing it and I know he will love it. I might love it more though ;) #immakidatheart
11. I found a Cars Lightning Mcqueen backpack for Kai and he loves it. He wears it whenever we go somewhere and it's just the cutest!
12. Last Fall we went to Banff, Canada when I was pregnant with Pres. We had a blast and I'm dying to go back. I can't believe Pres was a tiny thing in my belly a year ago! And that Kai had just started walking and was the cutest little 1 year old...I wanna go back in time. Looking through these pics from 1 year ago makes me want to book a trip back there right now.

SO LONG SWEET SUMMER

If you can tell me the song that inspired the title of this post, then you are my kind of folk :)

It's the end of summer and I feel like we didn't do enough hiking and exploring (but then again can you ever do enough?)

Here are some of our summer highlights:

-our week in Hawaii with Kai, exploring the jungle and laying on the beach
-hiking to the hot pots twice
-time with family in Texas
-hiking Mt. Timp
-lots of days spent at the park

It may not be as an adventurous summer as I had hoped, but Kai and Pres are still little and it's hard to hike with TWO of them. We sure tried though! We might do a little trip to Zion's national park when I finish my work training, if I can talk Kolby into it ;)

I'm just finishing my third week (out of 6) weeks working full time and things are crazier than ever, hence why I've been so awol lately.  I can't wait until I'm only working 1 shift a week and can spend time with my little loves all day at home.

Kai is starting to put little sentences together and copying a lot of words we say. Today he said "watch Dora mama". (watch Dora with mama). He is obsessed with Dora the Explorer and gets SO excited when I put it on. He sings along to the theme song and it's pretty dang cute.

Pres is almost 8 months old and I think she's teething because she drools a ton and loves to chew on things, especially this Nuby pacifier! If your babies won't take a pacifier and you want them to, I recommend trying this one because it's a different shape than most of the other brands out there. It also makes a great chew toy for babies...Pres seriously loves to chew on it all day. It's silicone and BPA-free. It also has a space in it where you can attach a pacifier clip. YAY for good pacifiers!!

NURSE BY DAY, MAMA BY NIGHT

Even though I love staying at home with my babies more than anything in the world, sometimes I get a little stir-crazy at home with them and my brain craves a little intellectualism. I'm always keeping an eye out for nursing jobs that would work with my REAL job, which is being a mom. And I think I found one!

I already work a few hours a week for a home health company, and now I'm starting a new job as a nurse case manager at the hospital, which I'm so excited about. I was shocked when I got the job offer and can't wait to get back in the hospital setting and live my Grey's Anatomy fantasy...haha just kidding, but really I'm excited to be back doing my nurse thing. And the extra income doesn't hurt :) I have to train  full time for 6 weeks, and then after that I can pick up shifts whenever I want, and I plan to work 1 day a week when Kolby can stay home with the kids. It's perfect!

These last few days of working and starting my new job have been chaos. For all you mamas who work full time and have babies and somehow stay sane, I don't know how you do it! Major props. I miss Kai and Pres so dang much while I work! My job will always come second to them. They will always come first in my life, they are my everything!

My babies are growing too fast and the only way I know how to cope with it is by taking a million pictures of them. Here's a few we snapped on our walk the other day while visiting a friend: (still can't figure out why they look so blurry when I upload them to this blog :(

He was so interested in this tiny little stick...I love that he makes me stop and notice the small simple things in life!