You've been heart attacked

Although Valentines day is more than a month away I decided to get a head start. With the husband being deployed Ill have to mail it out within the next week to ensure that he gets it by then

Usually we don't celebrate Valentines day. In 4.5 years of marriage he has only been home for valentines day once. And he was sick. Plus with our birthdays being in Feb as well we just kind of lump everything together and celebrate it all at once

But this year I decided to do things differently. Since the arrival of the kids we tend to not exchange gifts for bdays or holidays in order to go all out for our kiddos. And I'm perfectly fine with that. But I still think its important to nurture our relationship as well.

I don't feel extravagant gifts are always the best way to show someone how much you love them. Instead it's the little things and the meaning out behind a gift that matters

On Pinterest I found this cute idea. The you've been heart attacked valentine. Basically you cut out paper hearts and on each one write something you love about the person your giving it to

I cut out my hearts and wrote one or two lines on each either from myself or the kids making it personal, funny, cute, or sentimental. Then I wrapped them in a box and that was that. It cost me nothing since I had all the supplies at home and yet it's just enough to show the hubby how much he means to me

Here is the box I wrapped


And my hearts



I ordered him some books and filled up the mailing box with red hots, conversations hearts and Hershey kisses and that was that

I can't wait for him to get his package. As much as I love our kids I want to make sure I keep on letting him know how much he means to me as well!

Fed Up Frenzy

I got my first job when I was 15 and by the time I was in college, besides taking a full course load I worked 2 pretty much full time jobs. I've always been the sort of person that likes to be kept busy and I usually thrive on having a full schedule. I hate opening up my calendar and seeing a day without an activity or something to do

When I became a stay at home mom I vowed to never be one of those moms who did nothing all day and who never left their house. ( I soon learned that there is no such things as a SAHM who does nothing all day, regardless if she leaves the house or not). But still I filled up Gianna and mine's schedule with play dates, story time, music class, epen gyym etc etc so that we always were out and about doing things. I convinced myself that we were spending quality time engaging in those activites and that staying at home all day meant I was lazy.

Staying busy also helps the time pass when the husband is gone. He knows of my incessant need to fill our schedule up that when he was able to come home on weekends he would beg me not to make plans or map out every minute of our day. To me relaxing on the couch all day is not spending time with each other or the kids

Howver I now have two children. Venturing out of the house is more difficult than before. Even simple things like playdates gave become a nightmare. I can't fully give G my attention since E is always crying and begging to be held, and when I do put E down he screams. With him being sick these last few weeks he has become even more clingy and I've been staying at home more. Plus all our weekly activities have been put on hold until next week due to the holiday season

And... I don't miss any of our activities. Sure I miss my friends, but they still come over and we hang out while the kids play or we set up coffee dates one day a week. For the first time in  a long time I don't have my whole week crammed with activities. And I love it. It's so nice to just get caught up on housework, not feel pressured to be one place at one time and another place at another time. If I don't want to shower and get dressed I don't have to and if I don't want to clean the house one day I can push it off to the next, The kids are less anxious when we are home and I spend plenty of quality time doing nothing with them. Gianna loves to be at home with me, showing me her toys and cuddling with me on the couch and E is so happy and smiley when we aren't rushing from place to place. I even  have started to read again. I've read two books in a week. That is a record for me and I feel less stressed in general.

Next week when all our activities resume I may consider dropping some. Sure I love my mommy and me group but who is the one benefiting from it. Gianna or myself. Sadly I think it is myself. Gianna gets plenty of social interaction that cutting one play group a week isn't going to matter at all. And if I do plan or schedule activities I am only going to schedule them for the morning or early afternoon. After noon that becomes full family time. The only exception being the small group I signed up for at church which is every wednesday night. That will be the only night during the week that we are out, and I will leave that morning free for the kids and myself.

I am enjoying just relaxing at home and spending the time with my kids. Plus I get more mommy time when I'm not out  running errands and taxing kids from playdate to playgroup. And as for the messy house, the kids and I are too busy making memories. That load of laundry can wait!

365

I'm the type of person that carries around a planner 24/7. Years ago I not only used my planners to keep track of my daily activities, work schedule or homework assignments but also to record memories. Snippets of things I had done that day, or who I had spent that day with. Those sort of things. I could look back at a specific date and see my scribbles about going to see Bride wars with so and so, or ate at Applebees with dad for lunch. to some that may seem insignificant but to me it was important.I always want to be able to look back at years past and see a written record of all the things I've accomplished or done.

Now however I've become bad at capturing a memory and writing it down. Gianna's baby book is mostly unfilled and I cant tell you the day she took her first step or got her first tooth. I can tell you the month it happened or the age she was but as to the exact date I have no recollection

As time continues to pass I'm realizing more and more how fast kids grow up and I spend every day wishing my kids would always be this young yet looking forward to watching them grow

I came across a blogger who lost her daughter when her daughter was 18 months. From the moment her daughter was born she kept a journal and used it to write down all the details of their daily life. Things they had done that day, things her daughter had said and anything else she felt worth recording. Since her daughter has passed she said she was glad she kept record and that she has those memories to look back on. With the birth of her son she made sure to write every day so as not to forget anything

And so my main goal for 2013 is to take time every day to write in my journal snippets of my day. Feelings I had, activities done with the kids, moments I want to remember. Facts about the kids I never want to forget. Milestones, big events, minute details that no one else would care about. I want to make my entries letters to my children almost. Something I can give them years from now as a remembrance of their childhood and also as a way for them to know that I love them more than I can ever say. So starting tonight and every night forward this next year I am going to write to my children and become better and recording our memories, especially all the little details that you never want to forget

Do any of you do anything like this? How do you do it? Do you write in a journal or a yearly planner. I've seen it done numerous ways on Pinterest and I'm very excited to get started


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone