Perfect day

I can't tell you enough how much I love sunny days. I am a total summer girl. And now with having a baby, I love being outside even more.

Yesterday we woke up, ate breakfast, at our neighbors, went to church (which was awesome as always), then went to my parents house. My grandpa was in town so we suckered him into the madness of Sunday Funday! I was so pretty outside. Corrales is so gorgeous all year around, but spring and fall are my favorite.

We rode dirt bikes, went for a run, then a walk, and watched the crazy babies totally run a muck around the place. Brigz loves the mini gator right now and he is such a dare devil! He wants to always drive and he floors it all around the yard. However, he does not understand the concept of steering, so we have lots of crashes.

Life feels so happy when we are outside in the sunshine surrounded by family and stuffed from the bug meal my mom spends all morning cooking. It doesn't get any better than that:)

This week, we are heading to Lubbock to wait for Miss Linley to be born. I am so excited to meet our sweet little niece.

Briggy is 19 months old today!! Here are some Briggy things:
-he is talking up a storm. But im not too sure how clear it sounds to everyone.

-he is on an anti eating kick again.

-he was doing so good, and has been on potty strike for three days. The future was looking bright with no more dirty diapers... But it's ok. We will get there.

-his day is not complete until he sees the cows. Corey loves this.

-I laid with him while he took a nap the other day, and it ranks up there with the favorite mommy moments. I just hugged on him and watched him as he slept. He has gotten so big and looks so grown up:(

-he slept binky free for the first time last night! It went with out a hitch, so we will see how it goes!

-he loves phones (hellos), tractors (tratews), motor cycles (vrooms), coloring, horses, balls, singing, his cousins, guitars, books, and swinging.

-we are having a hard time eating out lately. He is a little too crazy:)

-he makes life so fun! Even though he could live in time outs right now and gets them any and everywhere, the good times are really good. He is such a sweet, snugly baby. The love we have for him is so crazy. It is unlike anything u could ever understand before having kids. Happy birthday munchkie! We love you!

My Little Valentines

Corey and I went out for our Valentines on Saturday since we knew he would be out of town, so today has been a little depressing! Corey seems to usually be gone for things like birthdays and Valentines Day often; not sure why. Ever since he was involved with steer shows, there always seemed to be one on both occasions. You would think I would get used to it.

Not to mention that we don't ever seem to go very crazy on this day anyways. For such a mushy couple, we don't really do much. We do dinner and something fun, but no gifts, flowers, or chocolate. We do write eachother letters and I look forward to Corey's every year. He has never claimed to be a "romantic", but he has never made me question his love for me. He tells me often and plenty how he feels. And I am so grateful for a sweet guy like him. He is perfect for me. This is our eighth valentines day as a couple. I'm a lucky girl.

Valentines has turned into something fun for Brigz and I. He is my little valentine:) And today, I am able to watch my little niece Kenna that made my day special. She told me she loved me a million times- and Brigz, well we'll just say they didn't exchange too many kind words. They have a volition relationship right now. They love each other when they don't see each other.

So even though we miss Corey so very much, today I am thankful for my little munchkin. He sure does beat me up and yell at me a lot, but he still makes me a proud mamma.

Dr Seuss knew what he was talkin' bout

Today we are being hermits. Locking ourselves in the house, watching movies, singing songs- just some good ol' Mommy and Briggy time.

Sometimes I wish that God had given me a little tougher skin. My whole life I have lacked the "feisty" characteristic. Instead, I tend to be quit the push over and people pleaser. Unfortunately, you can't please everyone you encounter, and that is when I was just a little feisty or could at least stand up for myself without feeling like I could possibly be maybe hurting their feelings.

In the past couple months, I feel like God is somehow trying to teach me something. I've had to deal with issues with people a couple times and let me tell you, that is not my forte. I would prefer my life to go in peace 100% of the time. I very much dislike drama or or problems. I have a "fix it" personality and I don't believe in talking about things behind someone's back. I believe in addressing the issue head on... In the kindest way possible. Oi. I never want to regret something I did or said so I try to take he higher road. But oh how I wish I could say what I really think and be as mean as so many people can be.

I have this awesome notepad (if you know me, you know that I LOVE stationary and I extra LOVE making lists, list, lists) that I got in Florida last year. Every page has a super cute quote on the bottom that tears off. A couple weeks ago, I tore off the quote by Dr Seuss that says,
"be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind".
Pretty good huh? Well I happened to put that up on our chalkboard frame this last weekend. Just in time. Just in time for me to need it. Why oh why does God have to be so good at how he teaches us these valuable lessons?

I had an issue with a client this week. I have NEVER had an issue with a client before. They are "always right" right? Well what if they are totally absolutely wrong? Well they are still right. Bummer. It is affecting me so bad! Any time things aren't totally right, I can't sleep and it controls my thoughts. I wish I could be tougher and things wouldn't bother me. I wish I didn't have so much patience sometimes. I wish I could say my opinion with out feeling terrible afterwards.

All I can ask is that God guides my mouth and my actions. And so far he has. But man, life can be rough sometimes :( good thing I have my little munchkin to keep me happy.

Date Night <--- Thanks To Cici and Papa

Briggy spent his very first night at Cici and Papas last night! He is in love with his grandparents and was so excited! Corey and I spent our Valentines day celebrations early since he will be gone this next week. We have only been out just us two one time before since Brigz was born, so it was much needed.

We went rock climbing at Stone Age and had a blast! I love getting a work out while bonding and trying something new with Corey. Corey was not surprisingly awesome and I definitely think we will do it again!!

Then Corey surprised me with going to Marcellos Chophouse. I have been wanting to try it for a long time, and it was soooo good! I am sure I consumed a ridiculous amount of calories, but well worth it!!

Then we decided to go dance a few songs and get to bed fairly early... NOT. We should know that wouldn't happen. We went to DB and Jo Seth Savage and Granger Smith were playing. Corey grew up with Jo Seth, so when we saw him, we ended up staying and talking and dancing til 130am. That's late/early for me!!

So now it's the next morning. We had a blast. Corey went to check cows while I am able to do some uninterrupted cleaning. Aaannnddd I finished in like 30 min. Seriously. It is crazy when you don't have a little guy begging for a sippy or a snack how much you can get done!

My mom said brigz did great and didn't miss us. hmmm bittersweet! So now I am waiting on Corey and I am soooo bored. My conclusion: I live alone time with my hubby, but our little guy definitely completes our family. I miss him so much when he is gone! I am so blessed to have such wonderful people around us to help watch our munchkin:)

My favorite mommy moment (so far)

Since Brigz has been such a chatterbox lately, Corey and I have really been trying to get him to say "I love you". He has been being a stinker about it and will just smirk and not even try to say it.
But yesterday at my moms, while in the middle of coloring, looked at me and said "love you mommy". My heart melted. Then again today, right after a time out in the middle of wal mart, I told him to say sorry and give me a kiss (like we do) and he kissed me and said "I love you mommy" clear as day!!! I think he can have whatever he wants the rest of the day.
It's crazy how these sweet moments make we want another one. CRAZY I know!! I had a check up at the doctor yest and he told me to start thinking of my options for the next baby- as far a c section or vbac. Even though the idea normally scares the chiles out of me, I actually got excited thinking of us a family of four.
BUT don't get any crazy ideas!! It won't be happening for a while!!

One Whole Year and One Half of a Year... wow

I can't believe our little guy is already 18 months old. I feel like he is still our little baby, but I guess he is more a toddler now :( Sometimes when I am rocking him, it freaks me out how long his little body is. He used to be soooo tiny and now is so big. Every day he does something new. Says something new. It is so crazy how fast it flies. Here on some stats on Briggy Banana.

• he will say anthing we tell him to say. HOWEVER, it doesn't sound exactly the same. In fact, we sometimes wonder where he comes up with his "version" of the word. For example, my mom is "Cici" and he calls her "Yii Ya". When he says it, it sounds similar to Cici, but still not the same. it makes me laugh! But other things he says are perfectly clear. He says lots of sentences right now like "did ya see that"? <---Which is my favorite,  "I want that", "That's all mine" (Thanks to his cousin kenna for that one, haha), "That is yuck", "Where arrrrrre you", and a few more. He finally calls me "mama" but lately it has turned into "Mommy" which I love. He definately says it very, very, very often though! He probably has about 75+ words in his vocabulary right now, but not everyone would understand what he is saying.
• He says the animal noises and names of horse, cow, sheep, dog, cat, elephant, bird, rooster, and goat.
• He knows how to say and point to his head, hair, cheeks, eyes, eyelashes, shoulders, lips, mouth, tounge, teeth, nose, arms, fingers, hands, knees, feet, toes, shoes, pants, shirt, hat.  
• He is trying really hard to potty train. I am trying really hard to not push it. He will go every time we sit him down on the potty. He will even turn red making himself go when he doesn't need to. But I am struggling with how hard to push it. I don't think he totally gets the understanding of it all yet. Especially the pee part. TMI?? So I don't want to push it at all, except yesterday, he brought his potty into the living room, sat on it, and pooped in his diaper. I think he gets the concept, but only part of the time. I would just prefer to not pack diapers with us when we go to Ireland this summer, so hopefully we can get it done before then.
• He is testing out every aspect of disipline right now. And I am spent. The past few days have been really good. But man, in two seconds his little mood can change and he will get so mad and start chucking what ever is in sight and wailing on me! Sooooo he goes to time outs. He spends a lot of time in time outs! Restaurants, check out lines, middle of the store, next to a fence outside, you name it. And talk about strong willed. Whoo. I knew I would pay for my raising. They didn't call me Hurricane Abbey for no reason.
• He is a little piglet right now! He is eating so well. We get surprised when he wolfs down his dinner because we are soo not used to it! It puts my mind so at ease knowing he is getting enough calories.
• He is also sleeping really well. I had to get a little tough again (sigh) and we also changed the sound on his noise machine and it seemed to do the trick. He is totally self soothing and not relying on sippys or mommy to go back to sleep. We even went to clovis this last weekend and he slept in the crib the whole time. He always has slept with us when we go out of town because he gets so scared.
• He is still a string bean. But an adorable one. He is growing up and out of jeans so fast!! He is in 24 month/2T pants for the length but the waist is not even close. He would seriously probably wear 9months for his waist. His tops are 18-24 month for his body length but very large around his belly and shoulders because he very narrow. He finally made the jump to size 4 diapers which I thought would never happen. I thought he would be in threes until we were done with potty training.
• His favorite things to do are being outside (even if it is 20 degrees and 60 mph wind), checking boos (cows), read, watch 5 minutes at a time of Fresh Beat Band, color, paint, climp, jump, dance and run.
• My favorite thing he does right now is sing. He closes his eyes, sways back and forth, and makes a funny noise that sounds similar to "llaaaaa, yaaaaa woooo yaaaa heeee lllaaaaa".

so little

so big

We are so in love with our little wild monkey! Even if he does wear me out, there is nothing else I would rather be doing than spending my days with him. The kisses and hugs and "mommy"s make all the fits worth it.