Healthy Living (I'm Kidding.)

I took this of Parker the other night and just love it. That is Parker in a nutshell. Smile on his face and no pants. 

So, I've been trying all these new things lately. Every few months, one of the "new things" is a healthy/organic kick. I got really extreme about it when Parker was a baby, but, like all my other obsessions, it ended up being short lived and we were all right back to eating poptarts a few months later.

Now though, Mr. Hayes and I have had enough of his eczema, so I'm looking for other outs. I am a horrible eczema mom, by the way. Trimming his nails is like wrangling a foaming animal to the ground so he scratches which makes it so much worse. We have every skin ointment and lotion known to man, and I've tried everything else from coconut oil to a "wet suit" (which involves putting a dripping wet, oiled up baby into a pair of wet pajamas....so much trauma) but we still have really never found a way to keep it all in check (unless I am totally on top of it 24/7, which as previously stated, I am not). SO we are finally attempting to try pulling things out of his diet and add a few supplements. Yep. I don't know if I can do it. This involves things like coconut milk, quinoa and corn pasta, probiotics, and fish oil. And money. Geez. 

I swear I could get on the healthy bandwagon if it wasn't so expensive. And then there's Diet Coke. And pizza. 

We are taking Hayes to get allergy tested this summer before he goes to pre-school in the fall. I've never mentioned this on here, but he had a very scary reaction to peanut butter and/or honey that involved a trip in the ambulance to the emergency room last fall. (Alright, not that scary, but his lips were HUGE. He was fine otherwise, though.) It was an oversight on my part, of course (welcome to being a mother---it's always your fault! shame!), so I'm very interested to see what he doesn't react well to, but for now, we are pulling dairy and I am attempting to do more gluten free things. 

SO. I'm saying all that to ask any eczema mommas who may possibly read this for tips.... Did you change diet? Did you do something else? I would so appreciate it!

---------------------------

ALSO. I saw Jen Hatmaker this morning at chapel and I'm not kidding I was shaking I was so excited. She stood not even 10 feet from me and my friend Kecia is basically friends with her because they walked down the aisle together and talked and prayed together. I MEAN. My father-in-law was all "Go talk to her", (this was after he had a conversation with her), and I was all, "NO. I LOVE HER TOO MUCH. It will all come out stupid." Agh. I don't do well with celebrities. Ask my sister.  

Anyways, I'm going to see her speak tonight (again, I guess) and I am so excited! If you do not know who Jen Hatmaker is, please follow her Facebook and blog now for some good laughs and read her books....they will speak to your soul! She is so good. 

Okay, I'm out of here! Sorry for the short(ish) and random post!

April Evenings

(I wrote this blog last night but and am just now getting around to posting it. Story of my life.)

I was thinking that I should post some photos.

After my last post I started to look through my photos and realized I have ZERO good pictures of the kids in recent months. Agh. The main reason for this is that my precious Rebel clicked its last a few months ago and I don't have the funds to replace it. Thankfully, my super mother-in-law lent me hers (it has turned into an extended borrow...) and I just ordered some new memory cards (all of mine were full and I have an extreme fear of losing photos so I can't ever bring myself to delete them from those pesky little cards) so now I feel I can finally document a bit of our lives.

Does anyone else have anxiety about that?

Anyways, my kids are a mess but I love spring evenings! We have been outside most nights and the weather is absolutely perfect and the roses are blooming and the Haysie just loves to get dirty. It's all good.

I am getting so excited for summer and popsicles and kiddie pool weather. I mean, I'm excited in the aspect that I will like it until I'm too huge and hot to enjoy it anymore, but I digress.

Parker has recently taking to "cleaning" the windows outside, which involves taking the nasty outdoor broom, wetting it down (with the hose that someone taught him to turn on by himself), and wiping it on the windows. Tonight Bryan got him to actually clean them with Windex and I felt like I was receiving an early birthday present.

Bryan is giving the boys baths right now and a very naked Haysie just scampered out and peed on the floor. I haven't moved because Bryan seems to be handling it really well. ;)


-Haysie's words so far:

Uff (Dog)
Ow (Cat)
Hi
Bye
Da-ddy
Maaaaaaa (Or just crying. That is for Mom. Aren't I special.)
Bubba
Up (for "Down")
Dow ("Up". We are working on this.)
Baboo (Bottle...his favorite word)
Ball
Dadoo (Paci)
Day-doo (Thank You)
Uh-Oh
Hot (always with a blow to whatever is "Hot")
Ight (Light)
Outs (Outside)
Bee (that is a grandpa name)
Pops (that is also a grandpa name)

That's all I can think of right now. He still hasn't learned "No", thank goodness, because I feel that he will be a big user of it once he does. He will shake his head "No" though all the time and also does the "uh-uh" no sound and it is hilarious.

-Bryan and I have been watching the 60's documentary on Netflix and it is SO good if you like that kind of thing.

-I made a 90's country music playlist last week after I got sad while watching the ACM's. Who are these people? (Except for Miranda---my girl! I am also on that Chris Stapleton train.) Anyways, I highly recommend a 90's country playlist. It will make you so happy.

That's all I've got for now! Here's to actually having photos to put in my children's graduation slideshows.

Easter, A Recap, and I Need More Coffee

Hello!

It's been a long while since I've done any sort of personal update on here so I thought today was as good a time as any to do that. Sometimes I attempt to catch up from wherever I left off last, but I don't think that's possible since the last update was definitely more than half a year ago.

I do, however, always appreciate personal posts when I go back through my blog (even though I cringe at the things I have to say in them), mostly because it helps me to remember this fast little phase in our lives, which is spent in a mostly exhausted and busy state (but a happy one, too).

So, here is my 57th attempt to write a little more about our family life.

And there isn't a single good photo, so sorry about that.

(All of my memory cards are also full and I have a terrible fear of losing my photos if I save them to only my computer...it's a problem. I have serious anxiety about it as a hard drive of ours froze up with a lot of Parker's baby photos on it. I just can't.)

Alright! So, Easter was last week. It was good, it was fun, and it has started making me a little teary these last fews years as I feel I finally understand the true power behind it and I also see this as prime memory time with my kids which, sadly, is going by way too quickly. When I was little I used to plan out what Easter would be like when I had a family. Definitely one of those little girls.

I have many more photos from Easter on my phone but my memory is full on that too and I can't get it to back up to the computer. #technologystinks

Parker was all about Easter eggs this year, but not so much about Jesus and the Easter story which made me feel a little bit like a failure. We made Resurrection Eggs in MOPS a few years ago and I decided Parker was now old enough to do them. (If you don't know what Resurrection Eggs are, here is a basic summary and tutorial--super cute.) He did alright for the first six, but after that became extremely impatient to dye real eggs (which took about 15,624 hours to boil). So, anyways. Three-year-olds are tricky.

The Easter Bunny also brought the Jesus Storybook Bible with their Easter baskets this year. I have heard so much about this recently and just had to have it. The stories are sweet (although maybe a bit embellished...I think it's to make kids relate more, though). We have the other kids illustrated bible (which every kid in the 90's grew up with) and we have read through I don't know how many times, but this version is definitely more detailed and I just really like it. Anyways--Bryan attempted to read the story of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection during breakfast and both boys did pretty well,  so I will consider that a success.

The boys enjoyed their baskets (if you want to save money, buy tiny baskets! It helps--after five items I couldn't fit anything else) and I was so thankful that the exhausted Easter bunny decided to hide eggs around the living room at the last second, because when Parker woke up he immediately looked in the backyard and said, "Well, I guess the Easter Bunny didn't come..." to which I replied with oh yes he did but he hid your eggs around the house since it's cold outside. Close one. I didn't think he would notice (or know) about that yet.

We were a matching family for church and lunch this year and I, for one, loved it. (Bryan also buzzed his head, which I for one, do not love, but thankfully hair grows back ;) Sorry, babe. I love matching the boys and I LOVED their outfits this year, especially Haysie's. Suspenders and baby sandals are just so good. My blue dress ended up being a happy accident from the clearance rack at Dillard's and Bryan got a new tie from Steinmart which I thought was a nice touch.

We enjoyed service and both boys did okay (we didn't send Hayes to nursery which proved to be as hard as we thought it would be, but we really wanted him to sit with us at least one Sunday of the year).

Lunch and the rest of the afternoon was spent at the Roberts house. The food was delicious (I LOVE deviled eggs) and the company was (as always) great. We even got to see GG (Bryan's grandmother) which was so fun. She is a mom of 4 boys so she loves our little boys and is so good with them. I made lemon rolls (recipe here--this is becoming "The thing that Katy always brings", which is good because they are super easy), corn casserole (thank you Alisha, for the recipe), and buttermilk pie. Yum.

I have learned that I do more prep on Saturday for Easter Sunday than I do on Christmas Eve. With all the washing, ironing, cooking, egg stuffing, etc. I am always pooped at the end of it all. And Bryan even made the pie for me. It's all good though, I love Easter!

Back to the day--the boys did their (final) egg hunt, in which Parker finally got a golden egg which he was so excited about. I don't know who taught him about a golden egg, but I caught him trying to steal one from another boys basket at the MOPS egg hunt and complaining about the lack of them at his school egg hunt.

Side note: There are so many egg hunts and I can only eat so much candy before it becomes a problem. I have no clue how to remedy this? Suggestions? Oh, self control? I don't have that.

Ah, this post is taking forever and now I know why I never blog! I am certain only my Nanny will read this anyways, but that will be worth it. I love my Nanny.

SO-we eventually went home where we FaceTimed  with my parents (witching hour FaceTime calls are always exhausting) and then sent the boys to bed, but not before watching them sneak 15 pieces of candy.

I also put up our pregnancy announcement on Facebook...which I am just now realizing I haven't even put on here! Yes, baby number three is on the way! We are obviously excited and I am almost 15 weeks now....which by the way--- it IS true what they say about third pregnancies--they amount of "showing" that has happened already is a bit ridiculous. To be perfectly candid, the main reason I was anxious to tell this time was so people would just know that I'm pregnant and not that I've been eating way too many cheeseburgers. (Although I do love a good cheeseburger.)

Oh, and I also had a nice little "oops call" that turned into a great chat with my Aunt Kathy! I just love her. Mom #2.

Guys, I was going to say more but I just can't. In the time I've written this Hayes has cried twice, pulled a roll of toilet paper completely off the roll (his favorite pastime), and if I'm understanding correctly now wants his Daddy and some more food. So I must go!

Hope you all are having a great week! April is such a crazy month for us---wish me luck!