Balance

     Is it impossible for a mom to find the right balance between work & home?  I feel like I am constantly struggling to find the right mix of work, home, being an employer, being a mom, and being a wife.  First off, let me say that I am extremely blessed by being my own boss.  I can come and go throughout the day, but there are lots (and LOTS) of days that we have several employees call in sick and I am needed at work all day.  Plus, things just don't run as smoothly when Clint and I aren't there as they do when we are.  So, although I am my own boss, I still have a certain amount of time I must be at work.  I feel guilty when I leave work early enough to come home and cook a decent supper.  When I work until I feel free to come home, Eli is tired and fussy and hungry before I get supper cooked.  I want to be a good mom, and a good wife, and take care of my family and my house!  The question is HOW?  How do I balance everything that needs to be done every day?  I don't want to end up feeding my child something quick every night because he is crying before the meal is cooked.  I don't want him to fill up on milk instead of real food while he's waiting.  I hate being in a cooking rut.  I feel like I cook the same things over and over because they are the old standby recipes that are easy.  Clint and Eli never complain, but I know they have to get tired of eating the same things.  Tacos, Spaghetti, Baked chicken, blah, blah, blah.  Help!  I'm in a rut and I don't know how to find the balance I'm looking for to get out of it!!

MIA

     Wow!  It has been a really long time since I have written a post!  (Not that anyone has noticed since I have such a huge audience....haha!)  Anyway, life is very busy and about to get even busier soon.  Things are great.  I am definitely very blessed to have a great job, a healthy family, and a healthy baby on the way.  Speaking of the baby....we found out we are having a girl this time!  Yay for cute girl clothes!!  I am still a little leery of taking any of the tags off the clothes yet though.  I keep thinking they will surely tell me at my next sonogram that we are really having a boy!  The second pregnancy definitely goes by faster than the first.  I can't believe we only have a little over 3 months left before our sweet baby girl is here!

     Anyway, back to the past few months.  We have been busy doing everyday stuff plus taking Eli to Disney World for the first time.  We had a really great time!  He was a super trooper on the 12 hour drive and didn't fuss a single time!  Thank goodness for DVDs, goodie bags, and Angry Birds!  Here are some pictures of my sweet guy enjoying Disney.  The first picture is on the Teacups and I love it for some reason!  (It was even worth the motion sickness I accidentally got taking the picture...darn pregnancy!)

Our SUPER great traveler!

     After Disney we were home for a few days and then Eli started acting funny.  He wouldn't eat, was extremely whiny, and just generally ill.  Well, he came down with some sort of weird fever/sore throat/ulcers in his throat & mouth virus.  My child seriously would not eat for 3 days!  All he wanted was milk, so we let him drink as much milk as he would.  Poor little guy was very sick!  Of course, after 2 days I took him to the doctor and he was subjected to a flu test and a strep test (both of which were negative thankfully) and then he promptly stopped running fever the next day!  Isn't that how it usually goes?  At least he got better and is now back to his normal self.  We are very blessed because he isn't sick very often at all, and when he is it is usually something mild.
     Ok, enough rambling for now.  I will leave you with a cute picture of my little guy that was taken at school today.  I love, love, LOVE this kid!!

Eli's Big Announcement!

The Babies are HERE!!

     I am SO excited to announce that the long awaited twin girls are finally here!  My sister-in-law went into labor last night and they had to do an early c-section.  Both girls are doing great and are BEAUTIFUL!  (Of course, I'm not biased at all...)

Here is Sweet Mallory

And Sweet Lauren

And Eli holding Mallory.  He was a very proud cousin!

Be still my heart

I just need to say that I LOVE THIS KID!!

Time is flying around here!

     I can't believe it is already November!  It seems like it was just September and now October is already over and gone.  We have been working on a lot of projects around here....and we are ready to be finished!  I have to brag on my very hardworking husband for a minute.  He has been working SO hard on the new house and still finding time to play with Eli when he comes home at night.  Hopefully, we will be moving over Thanksgiving.  I can't wait!  (Well, I dread the actual moving part, but I can't wait to be in the new house)  Here is one of my favorite pictures of Clint and Eli playing out at the new house.

     On another, more exciting note, my twin nieces are scheduled to arrive Monday!  I am beyond excited for them to finally be here.  We are praying for a safe delivery for Momma and babies and for healthy babies who don't need to stay in the NICU.  We thought they were making an early arrival last night, but all was quiet after a visit to the hospital!  Babies have a way of making you feel so dumb some times!  :) 
     And finally, Eli had a lot of fun being Superman last weekend.  He wore his costume to a birthday party, to our church's fall festival, and then cried to put it back on after bath.  So, he also wore it until bedtime!

Modern Mom stuff

     You know what just boggles my mind?  The fact that there are people out there who choose to use cloth diapers!  For real?!  No freakin thank you!  I do not for the life of me understand why you would want to deal with pants, covers, liners, pockets and whatever else comes with this whole "new" style of diapering when you can slap on a disposable diaper and be done with it.  I think changing dirty diapers is gross enough without having to rinse said dirty diaper in the toilet first and then wash it.  I honestly do not see what the big deal is about cloth diapers.  I say "Thank You" to the inventor of disposable diapers!  I don't care if they are expensive and imperfect and sometimes leaky.  I will continue to be a fan.
    And I am now done with my rant...continue on with your day!