Don't Judge Me...

I have a confession: I am a huge hypocrite.  Yep, sadly, it's true.  Let me explain:  I love to read other people's blogs.  They are fun and insightful and many times they brighten my day.  However, I must admit that I get slightly (ok, maybe a little more than that) annoyed when there hasn't been anything new posted in the last few days. Can you believe it?! I, who posts once a month semi-annually, actually have the nerve to get irritated.  I know, I am awful, but it's true and I had to get it off my chest.

Thanks for listening.

On a another note, things have gotten a little crazy at the Stanger house.  We have started packing up the apartment, something that makes me excited and sad at the same time.  On one hand, it will be great having less to pack during the last few days (and it will come to that), but on the other, our house feels so empty.  The walls are bare and it is starting to feel like we don't really live here anymore.  Sad, I know.  We are, however, still really excited to make our great trek across the country. (I call it "Reverse Pioneering".)  We have most of our travel plans made and a house reserved for when we get there.  One thing that will be fun terrifies me is that I get to fly with the kids. Both of them. By myself.  Across the country.  Is it too early to pray for me?

Other things that have added to our chaos:
*Addie has turned into a crawling/cruising machine.  You cannot slow that girl down!  She started really crawling at about 6.5 months and at about 7 months she started pulling herself up and moving along the furniture.  She is so proud of herself!  She loves to crawl over to you and stand up, using your pants as a hand-hold.  This is fine, except for when you are wearing gym shorts (which I have been known to sport on occasion).  What usually happens is your shorts fall down and Addie goes with them. Not very fun.
 

*Addie is now 8 months old!  Where have the last eight months gone?!  She is getting so big and has a very fun and sassy personality.  She is so easy-going, but when she wants something, you'd better get it- fast.  She loves to eat, a trait she picked up from Dad Mom both of us and I haven't really found anything she won't eat.  The only condition is that she must feed herself.  She is very insistent on this and will grab the spoon from you if you try to do otherwise. (Needless to say, this created a problem during nursing, so we stopped.)  I told you- she definitely knows what she wants. Lucky me.

*JJ is growing so fast too.  He is talking constantly and he says the funniest things, like' "I want to watch Cars 2. Cars 1 is stupid." (And then immediately throwing a fit because he really did want to watch Cars 1.) or "Hi Mommy! I'm up on the counter again."  How do you stay mad at someone that cute?  I love watching him figure things out and helping him learn and grow.  It's one of the best things about being a mom.

Things are great and we are all doing well.  We are so blessed and very lucky!

So, keep posting on your blogs and I will try to do the same. Just don't get mad if I don't.

Happy Mothers' Day

Let me just say that I love being a mom.  It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.  Nothing is better than getting snuggles from your baby or having your child wrap his arms around you and give you a big, sloppy kiss. Best.Thing.Ever.  Here are some reasons why I love my fantastic kids.

My kids are too cute! Addie and I did a mini-photo shoot while JJ took his nap. (I love the one-on-one time I get to spend with whoever wakes up first.)  A girl I went to high school with, who is an amazing photographer (check her out here), recently did an interview where she talked about her Instagram pictures (which are also incredible).  In it, she said she loved Instagram because it leveled the photography playing field because everyone is shooting with the same camera, making even the most amateur photographer me capable of taking great pictures.  This inspired me.  So, Addie was kind enough to be my model while I messed around with the settings. She is so beautiful.

Something else I love about motherhood are the surprises.  I love finding cars in my bathroom drawer, sippy cups in my purse, and kids who have migrated to our room in the early morning hours.  I have found some of the most random things in the strangest places.  Every day is filled with a "what-is-going-to-happen-next" excitement. There is nothing better.

 Another thing I love is when my kids sleep.  Not necessarily for the reason you would think either.  They always look so peaceful when they sleep, even when it is in a random spot or in an odd position.

Finally, I love my kids because...well, how could you not love them?

Yep, I'm a pretty lucky mama!

Finally, a New Post

I did it again.  I went waaaay too long without posting anything new.  Usually when this happens it's because I feel like there hasn't been anything interesting to post. This time, however, there is so much to post, I didn't really know where to begin. Here is a summary of all of the exciting things that have been going on at our house:

*Jared turned 25!  He is now old enough to rent a car (you can if you are under 25, but it's really expensive) and our car insurance rate went down.  Big milestones.  We celebrated by going to Kyotos (the same place we went for my birthday).  It is one of our favorite places to eat and, as always, was really yummy! (Of course I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures to prove any of this.)

*JJ turned 2!  I can't believe my little boy is turning into a big boy so quickly.  It seems like not very long ago this happened, and now he is this little boy who is a bundle of energy and fun.  He is growing up to be the sweetest boy and I am loving (almost) every minute of it!

JJ currently loves Thomas the Train, so we had a Thomas-themed birthday party. We invited Nana, Grandpa Glenn, and Uncle CJ to come celebrate with us.  We started out the party at Pojos (an arcade) and spent a couple of hours playing games.  JJ had so much fun running all over looking at the lights and screaming with excitement.  It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. For real. After Pojos, we went back to our house for Chicken Parmesan and chocolate birthday cake (both are JJ's favorites).

He loved opening his presents and got a lot of really fun toys.  It was wonderful to see his face light up whenever something made him really happy (which happened alot).  It was a great day!

*For one of JJ's presents we signed him up for soccer.  He is in a program for kids ages 2-3 and they meet weekly.  It is seriously cute and we have had so much fun going.  The program focuses on very basic soccer skills and the coach does a great job including everyone.  Best of all, JJ has really loved going and playing with all of the other kids.

*Addie celebrated her first Easter.  I bought the kids new outfits and we went over to Nana & Grandpa's for a delicious dinner.  Afterwards, we decorated eggs and then had an egg hunt.  JJ had so much fun running all over the yard finding the eggs and then throwing them on the ground and watching them crack.  He is such a boy.
 

*We finally went back to Rexburg for a visit.  It had been over a year since we were there, and it was so good seeing all of our family.  It was especially nice for JJ and his cousin Connor to get to play together, and they had alot of fun rough-housing and sneaking into Grandpa Stanger's candy stash.  We also got to meet Bella, who was born the week before Addie.  She is so cute and it was so much fun watching our little girls roll all over the place.  (I had some great pictures of this trip, but my phone froze up and they were all erased.  Needless to say, I was pretty upset.)

*Addie turned 6 months old!  Again, I can't believe it.  Again, it seems like yesterday that this happened.  It is crazy how much faster time seems to be going by with her than it did with JJ.  She is getting so big!  She is rolling, sitting up, and has even crawled a few times.  She also is the biggest Food Monster (Jared's term, not mine).  She loves all kinds of baby food and is doing really well with chewing on solids like bread, muffins, cheese, crackers, and baby puffs.  She also has a sassy littlle personality.  If she is not happy, she lets you know it pretty quickly, but most of the time she is all grins (which I love because she has those adorable dimples).

*And, the biggest news of all:
 WE ARE MOVING TO PENNSYLVANIA!
I know, it's crazy!  We have always known that Jared was going to go to graduate school and our whole intention of moving to Boise was to be near family while Jared studied for the GMAT and applied to graduate school.  He did well on the GMAT and applied to Penn State and to the University of Washington.  He was accepted to both (that's right, he's that awesome!), but ultimately we felt like Penn State was where he was supposed to go.  It was not an easy decision.  We love the Seattle area and it is much closer to our family and UW has an awesome program. We have never been to Pennsylvania and it seems so far .  After much prayer and many long, late-night talks, we just knew Penn State was the right choice. They have an incredible program and excellent job placements for their graduates.  Also, Jared was offered a very competitive assistantship, so all of his tuition is paid for and he gets a generous living stipend.  He pretty much rocks!  I am so proud of him and so happy to see his hard work pay off.

The down-side to all of this is that we are moving across the country.  We will be far away from our family and we will be alone.  I have really been trying to focus on all of the exciting things involved with this move, but every once in a while, I get so sad.  I have never been that far away from my mom, and I know JJ is going to miss her so much. (My throat is getting lumpy just typing this.)  But, it is the best thing for our family and I know that it is the right thing.  So, wish us luck, we are going to be Nittany Lions!