PS

PS - we are officially a "one child in diapers" household.
Mya poops
In the potty
And she tells us before it hits her panties
This has been a long, long, LONG road, folks
There have been many tears shed - and more from me than her
I want to celebrate, and throw a party, and shout it to the heavens
So I'm blogging about it
Which, history has proven, usually backfires on me
But I'm just so excited, I have to tell somebody!
This is the best. day. ever.
:)

Stay Young, Go Dancing

This last weekend was, let's just say, horrible.

Bryan had 7 parking lots to stripe, and that is a lot, but when trying to start a business, one doesn't really want to turn work down.

And everything that possibly could've gone wrong, absolutely did.

Things broke, keys got lost {and STILL have not been found}, measurements were miscalculated....the list could go on and on.

My poor hubby - jobs that should've taken a couple of hours ended up taking 4 times that long.

And let's just say the kids weren't exactly cooperating with me at home. I had to work overtime, for some reason couldn't get any more than 3 hours of sleep a night, and ended up having a full on nervous breakdown Saturday afternoon - complete with ugly crying.

I just kept telling myself "Monday is almost here, Monday is almost here".  I didn't think I'd ever be saying those words, but when you get to go see your very most favorite band on Monday, Monday becomes awesome.

3 hours in the dark, snuggled up next to my love, listening to favorite song after favorite song, feeling all the stress of the last 4 days completely disappear.

Oh, Death Cab for Cutie - thank you for playing Stay Young, Go Dancing and Transantlanticism during the encore.
Thank you for providing incredible people-watching {poor awkward teenager next to Bryan trying to look cool for his date, and crazy girl in the aisle playing air guitar the entire time - so entertaining}.

Thank you for saving my sanity after the previous 4 days.

They Just Looked So Adorable

Sunday morning, Bryan was working {finishing up the most truly awful weekend ever} and I had my girls all ready to go for church a little early - shocking, because when he's home it seems we are always scrambling to get there on time.

Anyway, I looked at them and marveled in their pure deliciousness that day and realized I didn't have any pictures of the 3 of them together since Jane's newborn shoot.

So I lined them up on the couch, all in their Sunday best, ready to take what I thought would be the cutest pictures ever.

And this is what they gave me:

They weren't ornery.....they were actually all in very good moods.

This one is slightly better - at least Lauren decided to break out the smile.

Maybe Jane was tired.

BTW - isn't that headband the cutest thing you've ever seen?  I totally made it.  All by myself.  I'm completely proud of myself, so I'm bragging.

Home girl is always begging me to take her picture, you'd think she'd at least give me a little grin!

I don't believe in the whole "say cheese when taking pictures of your kids" thing, I just end up snapping 50 in a row in an attempt to maybe capture at least one gem.

This one I actually love - such a classic Mya face :)

And now I'm totally on a mission to get a good, frame worthy picture of my beautiful  babies all together.

Mark my words, it will happen!

Happy B Mya Day!

 This is a few days late, but my B turned 3 last Sunday!

The festivities started a week early - we took the last Friday of my maternity leave and took the older girls swimming for Mya's birthday.

We went out to the new rec center in Herriman, because they have a super fun kid area that the kids LOVED {sorry, no pics}.  Afterwards, we decided to run to the splash park out there, which was perfect.  Mya was hilarious - doesn't really like to be "splashed", just like her mama :) 

Sadly, this pic was taken as Bryan was discovering she had just pooped herself.  To stop myself from crying, I'm not going to talk about Mya and poop right now.  This is a happy post.

This is a terrible picture, I know.

Anyway, we decided that the very best way to celebrate Mya's actual birthday would be for her to wake up in her most favorite place on the planet...

THE CABIN!

Filled with one of her most favorite things.....

BALLOONS!!

We spent the night before blowing up about 50 balloons for her to discover in the morning.

And, of course, she loved it

Then that evening, we went to dinner at Bryan's mom's house where we had Coldstone ice cream cake & cupcakes - ps, if you've never had a Coldstone ice cream cupcake, you seriously need to.  Seriously.

Every time anybody asked Mya how old she was, she would say "Um, I want a cupcake".  Weeeellll, I'm not sure why she kept saying that {and is still saying that}, but it's hilarious.

She got some AWESOME presents from everyone featuring her favorites - Ariel, Rapunzel, new pj's, a "concuter" {computer}.....she is still in heaven.

I know I talk a lot about how difficult Mya is.  Because, let's be honest, she really is.  She has been a trial from the beginning - always switching things up and keeping us on our toes.  She is so, so, SO stubborn, and I like to believe that it's because there is going to come a time when she needs to know who Mya Kinyon is.  And she will never be a follower, she will be a leader.

Here are some things I love about this kid:

Those cheeks.  I might cry someday if they shrink.

Her eyes - it's very interesting, because they are still blue, but they are becoming a very grayish blue, not the bright blue that they used to be, and Lo's are.  They are absolutely gorgeous, and when they fill with tears, it breaks my heart.

The "Brain Ninja".  This is hard to explain, but when she wants you to do something or agree with her, she stares into your soul and tilts her head forward and says what she wants very quietly and earnestly.

If she's concentrating really hard on something, like a puzzle, she will repeat everything other people in the room say.  And you can totally tell she's not actually paying attention or even realizing what she's saying.

Her hair.  Oh, that poor kid's hair.

She loves anything orange - including oranges.  She would eat 6 a day if I let her.

I think she may have the cutest kid bum in the world.  Really.

She pretends to tie her shoes while you are tying them for her.

She says "pwetty pwease wif a chewwy on pop".  I think I make her say it at least 15 times a day.

She LOVES Michael Jackson, and loves to dance.  Her moves are amazing.

This list could go on and on and on.

I love this kid, she makes my every day interesting and I love her for it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIZZY B MYA!

Back to Reality

This last Monday I went back to work after 12 blissful weeks of maternity leave.  So now it's back to reality around here.

Back to getting up before the crack of dawn every day.

Back to excercising my brain and being able to talk about adult things instead of my conversations revolving around poop and which toys had to be taken away today.

Back to the craziness that is life in the Kinyon household:

Up at 4:00, getting in a few hours before the kids wake up.  Then it's breakfast, baths, hair, grocery shopping, errand running, preschool {this year for 2 kids!}, house cleaning, lunch, etc., etc., etc.

Then naptime for the kids and back to work for me until Bryan gets home.

I have to say, I have a love/hate relationship with my job.

I don't love getting up before any sane person would ever dream of getting up.  I don't love having to listen to Bryan struggle with tantrums while he cooks dinner.

But sometimes I do secretly love being able to lock myself in my office, turn up my music, and turn off that "mom" part of myself for a few hours at the end of a particularly stressful day.

Working full time is hard.

Being a mom full time is hard.

And I do both.

I guess at the end of the day I'm just so grateful that I have a job where I can do both - even though sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled at from all sides.  I am very blessed that since I choose to work {yes, I choose to work, and I hate the judgement that comes from others because of it.....but that's another post for another time} I get to do it from my home, in my jammies if I want, while my kids are either sleeping or being looked after by their dad.

And I'm also very grateful for willing friends & family members who help me out the occasional few hours a month I have to go in for meetings.

So, any-hoo, I'll end this with a few things we've been doing during that wonderful 3 months off.

Yes, I need to take more pictures of the older 2, but they look the same as they did last month.....Jane doesn't.

We've been enjoying long {possibly sweaty} walks with hats that are way too big for our heads.  But we've got to cover up thas sensitive ginger skin as much as we can!

 

We've been continuing to spend too much time on Etsy - but come on, do you blame me!?!  Check these things out!  I want them in every color, you can find them here.  They are fabulous {and maybe a bit ridiculous} especially if your baby has super duper skinny feet that shoes will NOT stay on.

How much do you love these skinny chicken legs????

We've been texting lots of pictures like this to Daddy {you may notice the bling.  Yes, I'm that mom, don't judge me too harshly}.

 And ps, my first day back I had to go into the office for a meeting.  Jane must have known, because that morning she gave me some glorious cuddle time - the first unforced cuddle time we've had in weeks.

It was just what I needed.

I sure love my little ginger baby :)

When Your Husband is Really Handy

When your husband is handy, he can do lots of things around the house.

He can fix broken things, paint, re-finish the occasional piece of furniture, and maybe even build your children a playhouse.

But when your husband is really, I mean REALLY handy....

He can build you a mini "mud room" {that's what I'm calling it} in your teeny tiny "laundry room" {that's what they call the very small space between my kitchen & the garage that is barely big enough to fit a washer & dryer} out of what was once just a wall.

*It still needs to be painted*

Just by measuring really well and borrowing a mere 8 inches that nobody will ever miss from the garage.

That is how you know you have yourself a keeper, ladies.

Give the man a Skil saw, some MDF, and a cordless drill and he can work wonders.