un-resoluted

I have been MIA for awhile now...
2 months?
Do you know I have an almost 4 year old, and my baby is 16 months? Wowser.
I cannot lie. I have a small addiction. Facebook. And blogging. Not writing my blog, but scanning millions of others blogs. The problem is that scanning these blogs make me feel like a lazy, messy, horrible awful mom. Are people really that perfect? With all their love for their kids, husbands and great deals. And their perfectly de-fingerprinted houses, dusted shelves, and scrubbed floors? And then add to that the ability to decorate, craft, and remake shirts that saved them 97$ from Anthropologie?

I have no pictures of all the crafts I have made. I did paint a wall in my house, but I have yet to get a picture of it, and the couch in front of said wall is still in disarray.
My children are growing and as cute as ever. Half naked, with syrup in their hair and chocolate on their faces, and usually a bum cheek hanging out of a diaper. Usually crying and begging me to get off the computer.
I am scared to turn on my ceiling fan for fear one of the chunks of dust will fall off and my baby will think it cotton candy and eat if before I can snatch it out of her hand. A bit too honest?
I guess my point is I read blogs, and feel my writing cannot compare, except to complain.

But...with the new year brings a whole new realm of Kacy. Actually, I really just hope to spend a little less time worried about the lives of my favorite photo/decorate/craft/wondermommy blogs and less time worried about the dork that lived up the street from me growing up who I haven't talked to in 14 years except to see all his pictures on facebook...And worry more about these little booger noses in my own house, and show off the things I have done, not to show off really, but maybe to boost my own sense of accomplishment.

And Im going to lose 30 pounds.
And quit chocolate. It gives me headaches.
And start saving money and quit shopping so much (online of course)
And be a more patient & attentive mom. Not the "im busy" mom.
Miracles happen, right?

I look towards the new year with a sense of relief. That the holidays are over, that I will miraculously have a cleared head, and I can work on me and my family and my house.
But I look toward the new year with a sense of dread, also. Within the first 2 months of the year, I turn 30...and my oldest turns the grown up age of 4! Eee--gads.
I think I will go shopping now. Nothing like a little retail therapy, and its not the new year YET. That and I have a gift card calling to me softly from my purse.

not enough days in a year

not enough days to hold sweet babies.
how did this happen?
that this:turned into this:


feeling like the last year has slipped right through my fingers. i have been going through all her pictures for her book, and i don't think it has been very effective for improving my emotional state. or my desire to take my birth control pill! I miss the littlest version so bad! but love love love the one year old squealer version too!

and it begins

today i started another 10 year project. a book.

child 1 had 2 or 3 of these in her first year of life. along with handmade outfits, playdates, and 4745 pictures in a box on my shelf. guilt has convinced me to finally get around to child 2's book. and i love doing it. any excuse to sit, snack, neglect the house, distract the children with food and try to be creative without putting forth too much physical activity. oh how i love to be lazy!

the book will be her first year. this is the front of the book:
and the back cover:
and now to fill it up with all the pages. with all of her 130 pictures, not in a box, but on a dusty, scratched disc, probably shoved under a bed somewhere in the house. im a little slow getting back into this, and all my scrapbook supplies are a little out of date. so i not only get to craft, but SHOP! love love love it.
here is the first inside page:

my goal is to finish it before she graduates high school. also im hoping the weight gain all this hard work (sitting, eating) brings me does not exceed what i actually gained birthing the blessed child.

bubbles

By bubbly little baby had a bubbly little birthday party! Of course, I was running around, cursing the wind, taping down tablecloths, trying to keep my beautiful and necessary decorations from blowing away...Much TOO busy to take ANY photos of all my hard work, or our favorite family and friends, or the chunky monkey birthday girl.
Mom however, my personal paparazzi,took many a picture.
AND she even BLOGGED about it...here
She loves her baby, and screeches "HIII_EEE" when she sees her:
Singing and digging in...
The SAND cake...hee hee!
We are so lucky and grateful to have such wonderful family and friends who love us and support us, and deal with our temper tantrums when the tape isn't sticking so I can't hang up that cute banner I spent two nights making for the party! We love you all!
*.*.*.*.*.*.*
love these girls.


to death!

....*crickets*....

still there?

wow. wondering if anyone will even read my posts anymore.

hi mom.

one word.
summer.

ok. one more.
camping.

that should explain it, right?
im looking forward to things settling down, cool-ish weather, deep cleaning my house, getting hadley into preschool, and wrestling my baby for cuddles. and maybe somewhat of a routine.

im hoping that fall finds me feeling like i am going to bed after actually accomplishing something in my day, and not just getting further and further behind.

i am very emotional about this:one year ago tomorrow this sweet, chubby, edible baby showed up and i haven't stopped munching on her since! one year old, and saying a few "words"
*sat! (whats that)
*dadada (dad)
*dadada (haddie)
*dadada (mommy)
*ya ya! (everything else)
*maaamaa (? usually crying when says mama...so im guessing its me?)
*mo (more, while signing "more" at the slightest glimpse of anything she can get in her mouth)
*iiii-eee (hi)
*aaah-aahh! (mwah! while open mouth licking you, kissing and slobbering all over your face.)
she has taken 2 steps, but prefers crawling jungle book-style, butt in the air. if you stand still for longer than 3 seconds, she is behind you standing holding onto your pants, holding you captive. she is so smiley, and full of personality, and getting sillier every day. i love her to the moon, and back, and around again.

if you are ever curious as to what the broderick family is doing, i made this little schedule for hadley today:i can say "today is a pink day" and she will know a little bit of a plan for the day? hoping it helps a little with a 3 year old questions "do i go to school today?" and "i am not going to take a nap!!"

-birthday giggles-

The Man had a birthweek. Not birthday. These celebrations rarely last one day. A week, if I'm lucky. Good thing we have a whole year to recoup before the next one! 12 more months to be twenty something...then, oh boy! It's the big 3-0!!

Oh wait.

I'm older than him.

I only have 7 months left!

So for his birthweek, we packed up and traveled around. 2 different camp spots, 5 days. 3 hours of packing the trailer, 3 times. 3 hours of unpacking the trailer, 3 times. Thirty something bum changes, 15 meals, 10 baths, driving, eating, smore-ing...That left approximately 1 hour a day for me to sit and enjoy the beautiful view! Phew! It's a lot of work to have this much fun!

How long does it take two little girls to pick a whole meadow of flowers?


About 30 minutes. Not a single flower left to bother us!

Baby in her new babysitter, the pack-n-play. With her new found love of crawling, and also her deep desire to choke on rocks, she spent most of her time in a lap or in here. Surprisingly, she loved it. And was pulling herself up in no time. Pulling herself up especially when I put her down for naps!
The other Birthday Person! Payton Pickles. All she wanted to do for her birthday was to go camping. Lucky Girl!



Our view from the road by campsite #1. Strawberry Reservoir.
Nothing like some good worm kissin! Hadley was having too much fun with all of our fishing worms to actually use them to fish. She was very brutal with them, pulling them apart, "cleaning" them (drowning), and kissing them. And stretching them out on the hot asphalt. Worms don't like hot.
Baby pulling up to everything now. The only problem is, is that she can't get back down without falling down. LOTS of crying. I'm really not a fan of the crawling stage!
The Birthday Boy frosting his own cake.
With A LOT of extra help!!



The baby loved to pull up to the screen door and scream at anyone outside. Well, day 4 she pushed it open and fell out of the trailer. Poor little girl! Ended up with a nose burn, but was ok!
The view from campsite #2, Deer Creek Reservoir.
Just finished my 10th load of laundry...and tomorrow we are off to celebrate the 4th with all our awesome family!

Happy Birthday Brent. I love you so much most times. And I am glad you like your 2 new bikes your awesome wife got you for fathers/birth day. And so glad they were buy one, get one 20% off, because I like my shiny new bike too!

this is why...

I will go grocery shopping ALONE from now on.

It's always nap time. No way around it. We are ALWAY shopping when one or more child is "cranky" and I think to myself "it's her naptime".

Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!
WWHHAATT!!

One 9 month old + one bottle + a tendency to throw things = one cracked bottle, milk covering mom's feet, flip flops and skirt, and dirty looks from anyone walking around our puddle in the aisle.

Candy in open bins. IE: Jelly Belly's. It does not take long for a 3 year old to stick one grubby hand in a bin, and shove jelly beans in her mouth as fast as she can. Then, when told NO, throwing the rest on the floor and continuing with a 30 minute tantrum.

Mom! Mom! Mom! What are these?
Green Beans. Put them back. You don't touch food we are not buying.
(SNAP). WOW! These break!

Mom, I need to go potty. Mom, I need to go potty. Mom, I need to go potty.
Ditch cart, run to potty holding baby. Help 3 year old up on potty...Hadley? Where are your underwear? (shrugs) "Um, I didn't want to wear vem." Listening to her tinkle, and almost wet my own pants. Manage my pants down while holding chubby 9 month old on lap, make potty, pull up unders 1 handed, 3 year old opening stall door, HELLO WORLD! Notice baby is wet, and now, so is my shirt. And it's not urine.

Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Look at that really short daddy! He's so short! OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH How cute!

Mom! Look at me! Im a fast runner!
Ya, really fast at plowing into other people and their carts.

Mom, I need this. Mom, I need this.
Hadley, put it back. No, put it back. I said NO. PUT IT BACK.

All this, and I still forgot at least 5 things I had on my list. Mostly due to the fact the half of my list that was not eaten by baby, was so slobbery I gave up reading it.

That is my sob story. I know everyone has been there, and it isn't my last time. Some time down the road I will laugh and miss days like this. But for now, spray & washing poop out of my shirt and un-smooshing my bread makes me a little ornery.

2 Excedrin Migraines, Taco Bell and a whole bar of chocolate later and I finally feel like I can look at the girls without crying.

~squishies~

no words needed.












I painted this message center as a Christmas present from my sweet Mother in law in December, and it has sat on my window seat since then. Finally, I decided I should make it "ours" and painted it blue!

it's a long one...

My posts are getting fewer and fewer, with more time in between! I know there are some who hang on the edge of their seat to hear about the latest 3 year old catastrophe, or the newest shade of boogies seeping from a 9 month old nose. I'd like to say I am busier, but I don't think I have been? Ok, I'll say it. Im busier. Between cleaning faces, cleaning bums, picking whiskers (my own), camping, cleaning house, working, reading (loving Patricia Cornwell), cooking, feeding, falling asleep watching tv, nagging my husband, cutting up old shirts to "re purpose" only to throw them away or never wear them, finishing off a half bags of Dorritos (not everyday, just today), and scanning blogs and worrying about others busy lives, I just don't make time to sit and chat about my own!
The last few months have lead us all over. Our 5 year anniversary was in April, and we ventured to Zions National Park. 6 slow hours in the truck, towing a trailer, changing baby blowouts, making a toddler run laps in parking lots around the truck to wear her down, all to sit in the campground and try to keep Hadley from throwing rocks at the "neighbors" 3-legged, 1-eyed, shivery shitsu. And it was AWESOME! Zions is beautiful. Hadley loved hiking, roasting marshmallows, urinating outside and flashing the other campers. Wesley loved being outside, eating, and eating some more. And all the small pebbles within reach of her received a complimentary spit bath. Brent did his usual "made 3 new friends" and made google eyes at his awesome fire making skills. I myself mainly read, cooked, and tried to fight the urge stand on the bench, wiggle, stomp and scream when the squirrels where surrounding in hoards to collect scraps of food.






And then...There was Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Oh, the feelings I have about Mexico. To some, it is just a simple 7 day trip, or a vacation they call it. I felt this trip to Mexico was more stressful than planning my wedding. I had so much anxiety about leaving the girls, had we not paid, I wouldn't have gone. It was harder to leave them than anything I have had to do, including hospital visits with them. That being said, I was also a Rock Star. When I got past my once daily dose of tears, made it through breakfast without pulling strange babies to my bosom, and found out it would cost over $300 to change plane tickets for an earlier date, I did pretty good. Brent, of course, could barely remember our children's names 2 days in. Actually by the 5th day I was lucky he remembered mine!
We really indulged on our trip, and it was wonderful. Massages on the beach, food, drinks, loud music, too much sun, night swimming, clubbing, staying up to watch the sunrise, deep sea fishing, golfing, snorkeling, tubing, along with great friends and lots of laughs. I was feeling pretty tough the first night, and we all had wandered out to see the ocean...at last. I decided it would, hee-hee, be funny if I tried to shove my husband into the ocean. I failed. In return, I was launched into the ocean, laughing hysterically, rocks breaking my fall, and surfaced just as someone asked "weren't you wearing glasses?" Well, my "tough-guy" attitude cost me $356.99! Lucky for me I had brought extra contact lenses...
Brents biggest thrill of the trip was the long walks on the beach with his wife to collect shells, and sitting with her in the sand letting the waves hit their legs. Pshaw. Right. Brent caught a fish. A 40+ lb. Mahi Mahi. And if you haven't heard about it by now, you are one of the lucky ones, or you need your hearing checked. The boy was almost in tears, holding up his catch. I walked up to the pier just in time to talk him out of an $800 PLASTIC REPLICA, and was lucky enough the other wives were there to back me up! It was really neat to see him have so much fun, giddy and glowing just like an 8 year old boy, and I was glad to spend $30 in pictures so he could save me $770 for new glasses, and, you know, our HOUSE PAYMENT!!
His other thrill, besides the topless European women, was an ocean bottom walk, where he wore a helmet that fed him oxygen, and walked along the bottom of the ocean holding onto a bar, while scuba diver/guides directed fish toward him and let him touch them. Like 5 foot barracuda fish. I had left my brave shoes at the hotel, along with my Zanex, brown paper breathing bag, and my stupidity, so I sat safely on the beach and held my breath until he resurfaced.


















We made it home just in time for my sweet, mellow, easy going infant to turn into a hot tempered, spunky, CRAWLING, full of attitude, pinching little girl! She has 4 new top teeth, and is constantly squawking, jabbering and barking orders at us. She locks her legs and bucks if we try to put her down, then when you pick her up she pinches your chest and arms with such a vengeance I don't think I can ever leave town again!
When I was taking my daily dip in the pool in Mexico, all I wanted was a chunky, sunscreened baby to hold and splash with. So when we got home we went straight to the pool.