I have recently started a new fall women's bible study called, Captivating! We are only on our first week (okay 2nd, but the 1st week didn't really count) but I already can tell that it will change my life, for the better of course! Anyway, as we were talking today, I learned one very important thing:
It doesn't matter that there are toys all over my house! A friend from class told me to look at it differently than just being a messy house. She told me to think of it as a house full of love. A house that has toys everywhere is a house with happy, loved and blessed children. My house being tidy is not what is important in life. What is important is that you have happy children who know the measure of your love for them. Those same happy children will also come to know how blessed they are.
I am the person who rushes to pick things up before my friends or family get there so that they "think" our house is clean. They know that I am not perfect nor is my house, so frankly, who am I trying to fool? They also DON'T CARE what my house looks like. And if they do, then they probably aren't my true friends anyway! No longer will I clean my house for my guests!! Okay, i'm totally kidding about that, but I am learning that others don't really care what I do and don't do at my home, all they care about is my friendship and fellowship!
My mother-in-law has a tile in her kitchen that says, "This house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy!" I never understood how true that was until recently...
Until next time,
B
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Baby Powder Footprints
Yesterday was quite a day with my little munchkins!
As I was on the phone in the office, I notice my little tornado running laps through the house. Into the office, through the kitchen and dinning room and then the living room...again and again and again! So yes, I was wondering whats up. I decide to take a little look see for myself! This is where my days turns upside down.
As I make my way to the living room, I see what looks like a baby powder factory. Camden has dumped at least half a bottle of baby powder all over the living room. On couches, walls and tables. My dark floral rug is WHITE. It is a huge mess and by far the most amazingly, horrifically funny thing my son has ever done. Of course, in the moment I was madder than a hornet and wanted tostrangle sit him in time out for the rest of the day, but later I was almost in tears laughing about it with my mom.
After and hour (literally) of vacuuming and scrubbing, it was all clean... so I thought! As I am bending down to pick up the last shoe covered in baby powder I notice little white baby powder footprints trailing through the foyer. At this point, I just started laughing. As mad as I was, I was relieved that it was only baby powder and not chocolate or milk or juice, throughout my house.
The whole time, Cooper is taking in the craziness that is his life...my sweet little innocent Cooper!
For the rest of the afternoon into the evening I was still spotting little speckles of baby powder...God love that boy!!
After I was finished with this little shenanigan, I realized that I should have taken a picture or five for his baby book! So sorry there isn't evidence of his latest fiasco. Next time, and I am sure there will be a next time, we will take pictures for the world to see!
Until next time,
B
As I was on the phone in the office, I notice my little tornado running laps through the house. Into the office, through the kitchen and dinning room and then the living room...again and again and again! So yes, I was wondering whats up. I decide to take a little look see for myself! This is where my days turns upside down.
As I make my way to the living room, I see what looks like a baby powder factory. Camden has dumped at least half a bottle of baby powder all over the living room. On couches, walls and tables. My dark floral rug is WHITE. It is a huge mess and by far the most amazingly, horrifically funny thing my son has ever done. Of course, in the moment I was madder than a hornet and wanted to
After and hour (literally) of vacuuming and scrubbing, it was all clean... so I thought! As I am bending down to pick up the last shoe covered in baby powder I notice little white baby powder footprints trailing through the foyer. At this point, I just started laughing. As mad as I was, I was relieved that it was only baby powder and not chocolate or milk or juice, throughout my house.
The whole time, Cooper is taking in the craziness that is his life...my sweet little innocent Cooper!
For the rest of the afternoon into the evening I was still spotting little speckles of baby powder...God love that boy!!
After I was finished with this little shenanigan, I realized that I should have taken a picture or five for his baby book! So sorry there isn't evidence of his latest fiasco. Next time, and I am sure there will be a next time, we will take pictures for the world to see!
Until next time,
B
Thursday, August 9, 2012
What a day...
Wow! That is all I can say. Today has been an exceptionally hard day. Camden has fought me every step of the way, and as much as I will love his strong willed-'ness' when he is an adult, I don't necessarily love it now. He is at such a challenging age. He wants to assert himself, but doesn't want to listen to anything that Mom has to say. When Dad comes home, it's a different story. I literally had to chase him down the sidewalk this evening so he wouldn't get run over by a car. I love that he plays chase with his friends, but I DO NOT want to play chase with him down the road...not cool.
On another note, I have been trying to remember how lucky I am that I get to be home with my babies everyday. I know that so many moms want to be in my shoes, but let me tell you, it is not easy. Every day is a struggle. At the end of the day though, I do thank, God, for blessing me with my beautiful, healthy babies and for the lifestyle that we have.
Some awesome things that my boys are up to these days:
1.) Camden is getting better and better everyday at talking in sentences. He loves to use them...A LOT. Steven and I were joking this morning about how he will repeat himself several times until you acknowledge what he says. Just like his momma...I hate to be ignored! ;)
2.) Cooper is sooooo close to crawling. Last night he actually did the exact motion that he should have but backwards, so I know it will be here soon. The only bad thing is that I will then be looking for both he and his brother. The good thing is that he will be able to TRY and get away from his big brother. Bless his heart...
3.) Camden is so cute. Every time we pass Chipotle, he screams, "Mommy look, poltle!!" What can I say, the boy loves Chipotle.
4.) Cooper is now 8 months old and learning about the world around him. He loves to look up as far as possible and see everything going on outside of his car seat. He is so ready for a big boy seat, just like his big brother!
Even though I have a lot of crazy things going on in my life, every day holds something new and even when annoying, its still exciting.
Until next time,
B
On another note, I have been trying to remember how lucky I am that I get to be home with my babies everyday. I know that so many moms want to be in my shoes, but let me tell you, it is not easy. Every day is a struggle. At the end of the day though, I do thank, God, for blessing me with my beautiful, healthy babies and for the lifestyle that we have.
Some awesome things that my boys are up to these days:
1.) Camden is getting better and better everyday at talking in sentences. He loves to use them...A LOT. Steven and I were joking this morning about how he will repeat himself several times until you acknowledge what he says. Just like his momma...I hate to be ignored! ;)
2.) Cooper is sooooo close to crawling. Last night he actually did the exact motion that he should have but backwards, so I know it will be here soon. The only bad thing is that I will then be looking for both he and his brother. The good thing is that he will be able to TRY and get away from his big brother. Bless his heart...
3.) Camden is so cute. Every time we pass Chipotle, he screams, "Mommy look, poltle!!" What can I say, the boy loves Chipotle.
4.) Cooper is now 8 months old and learning about the world around him. He loves to look up as far as possible and see everything going on outside of his car seat. He is so ready for a big boy seat, just like his big brother!
Even though I have a lot of crazy things going on in my life, every day holds something new and even when annoying, its still exciting.
Until next time,
B
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
August loves!
This month brings great joy to me for many reasons. None of those reasons would include the weather, because to be really honest it is just too hot. No matter where you are in the country, you most likely agree with me, unless your one of those people who love the heat...in which case, your crazy! ;)
The main reason I love this month is because it is the month of mine and my husbands anniversary! This year marks 4 years that we have been married. I once read that marriage means you get to have a sleepover with your best friend every night for the rest of your life. I absolutely agree! I LOVE being married and especially LOVE who God picked for me!
The second reason this August is so special to me, is that in just a few short days, I will be a proud auntie to yet another beautiful baby girl! It brings so much joy to me knowing that I will get to meet sweet Macy in a couple of weeks! I couldn't be happier for my sister and brother-in-law! With that being said, COME ON MACY!!
The next, and final reason is that I get to see my very best friend, Danna, next week! Moving away has been hard, but moving away from her, was even harder. We don't get to see each other much, so when we do, we usually spend our time watching pee-in-your-pants hilarious movies and eating cheesecake, and also just talking and laughing about all of the crazy things that have happened since the last time we saw each other! This trip is especially great because she is traveling to Texas to see ME! That means, yes this is selfish, but I get her all to myself! I know that seems weird, but we used to spend everyday together when we were growing up, so being married and living in Texas was a HUGE adjustment...for both of us! If she were reading this, she would totally agree!
Even though I don't necessarily like the heat, I do love to be in the pool, and so do my little ones. Both of them love to be outside and that is just about the only place you can be when its 100 degrees out. So we will all be a little sad when summer ends, however, we are looking forward to this fall and where God will continue to lead our family!
Have fun!
B
Love those boys!
The main reason I love this month is because it is the month of mine and my husbands anniversary! This year marks 4 years that we have been married. I once read that marriage means you get to have a sleepover with your best friend every night for the rest of your life. I absolutely agree! I LOVE being married and especially LOVE who God picked for me!
The second reason this August is so special to me, is that in just a few short days, I will be a proud auntie to yet another beautiful baby girl! It brings so much joy to me knowing that I will get to meet sweet Macy in a couple of weeks! I couldn't be happier for my sister and brother-in-law! With that being said, COME ON MACY!!
The next, and final reason is that I get to see my very best friend, Danna, next week! Moving away has been hard, but moving away from her, was even harder. We don't get to see each other much, so when we do, we usually spend our time watching pee-in-your-pants hilarious movies and eating cheesecake, and also just talking and laughing about all of the crazy things that have happened since the last time we saw each other! This trip is especially great because she is traveling to Texas to see ME! That means, yes this is selfish, but I get her all to myself! I know that seems weird, but we used to spend everyday together when we were growing up, so being married and living in Texas was a HUGE adjustment...for both of us! If she were reading this, she would totally agree!
Even though I don't necessarily like the heat, I do love to be in the pool, and so do my little ones. Both of them love to be outside and that is just about the only place you can be when its 100 degrees out. So we will all be a little sad when summer ends, however, we are looking forward to this fall and where God will continue to lead our family!
Have fun!
B
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Mannering's: Night Time Nightmare
In the Mannering house we have always had a pretty normal night time routine. Camden (our 2 year old) goes down about 9:00-9:15 p.m. and all is quite (well kind of.. We still have a 5 month old) leaving you with a little time to get a few things done around the house, or you can finally enjoy some peace and quite...until recently. Camden has discovered how easy it is to climb out of his crib, so he tends to do it ALL THE TIME!! That, by the way, is very easily detected. He can climb right over the side, but he cant quite figure out how to do it quitely (thank goodness for that), so you hear a big crash coming from his room. He, however, doesnt realize that I know when he has escaped, so he proceeds with his plan of playing with all those fun toys and climbing up in his window to see whats going on outside. Or the other times, he will be standing in my doorway within seconds, holding a teddy bear and his blanket. As annoying as it is that he is always showing up, scaring the bejeebes out of me, its also pretty cute. He comes in quitely and says, "mommy, night night, mommys bed" or "daddy bed".
Anywho, last night was especially difficult. I hear him get out of his bed, for the third time, and here he comes with his teddy bear and blanket. I had already decided that he could sleep with me, so he was delighted when I told him to climb on into bed with me. After about and hour and a half of him tossing and turning and fidgeting with everything he could get his hands on, he finally drifts off to sleep. About that time, I was starting to doze off...(you know, when your almost completely asleep, and your finally comfortable) and Cooper (our 5 month old) wakes up. At this point I was so worn out from our long day, that I was starting to get frustrated. So I get him back to sleep and finally ( I thought ), its my turn. Well that was just the start of my amazing (**sarcastic voice**) nights sleep. Cooper was up at 1, 2, 3, and 4:15, and finally last but not least 5 a.m.. 5 a.m. would not normally bother me, because he has been an all night sleeper since he was about a month old, but because he had already been up most the night, I was not exactly thrilled. So I get up to pump and feed little man and Camden wakes up, very angry with me, yelling, "No, mommy, night night!" Really kid...you and your little brother just kept me up all night!!! So finally, after feeding that sweet little man, we all fell back asleep at 6 a.m. and got a good 3 hours of rest.
This is our sweet little Cooper
And this is our handsome little man, Camden (that would be my amazing husband with him!)
Now that my ranting is finished, I do want to say that I love my children dearly and would do anything for them. With that being said, I wonder if there is something I could do to help them sleep better at night. Any suggestions?
Until next time,
Brandi
Anywho, last night was especially difficult. I hear him get out of his bed, for the third time, and here he comes with his teddy bear and blanket. I had already decided that he could sleep with me, so he was delighted when I told him to climb on into bed with me. After about and hour and a half of him tossing and turning and fidgeting with everything he could get his hands on, he finally drifts off to sleep. About that time, I was starting to doze off...(you know, when your almost completely asleep, and your finally comfortable) and Cooper (our 5 month old) wakes up. At this point I was so worn out from our long day, that I was starting to get frustrated. So I get him back to sleep and finally ( I thought ), its my turn. Well that was just the start of my amazing (**sarcastic voice**) nights sleep. Cooper was up at 1, 2, 3, and 4:15, and finally last but not least 5 a.m.. 5 a.m. would not normally bother me, because he has been an all night sleeper since he was about a month old, but because he had already been up most the night, I was not exactly thrilled. So I get up to pump and feed little man and Camden wakes up, very angry with me, yelling, "No, mommy, night night!" Really kid...you and your little brother just kept me up all night!!! So finally, after feeding that sweet little man, we all fell back asleep at 6 a.m. and got a good 3 hours of rest.
This is our sweet little Cooper
Until next time,
Brandi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)