Saturday, February 9, 2013

Life Moves Pretty Fast. You Don't Slow Down and Look Around Once in Awhile, You Could Miss It.


Wise Wise words from Mr. Ferris Beuller.  I am always in a hurry.  When I get in my car, I go 80--even if I am not late.  I get annoyed with people going 70 in the inside land.  Move over and let me by!!  I have two speeding tickets in the last year to thank for my lead foot.

I'm in a hurry at home too.  I gotta multi-task.  I gotta get stuff done.  I gotta go from one obligation to the next and then get annoyed when the kids actually want lunch or dinner.  I rarely sit down.  And then January happened.  I forgot to pay my health insurance premium because I was too "busy."  I broke my nose because I was in a huge hurry to put Christmas away at 10:00 at night and tried to walk through a door as I swung it open.  Breaking my nose ended up being a good thing for me.

It resulted in surgery which resulted in me lying around for two days watching the boob tube and then four days at home, ALONE.  No carpools, no scouts, no dance, no piano, no food to make, no gym, no diapers to change, no church...NOTHING.

Sam took my kids to Disneyland for the week so I could recover.  He is a brave man. Thank you Sam! 

And I had a few moments to breathe.  I seriously was almost paralyzed with what project to do first.  I had so much to do and only a few days to do it in.  I started working on Buster's baby book.  The child is almost 3 so it was time to throw something together.  I HATE scrap booking.  But I did scrapbooks for my older three and they love looking at them so I decided I had to do one for Buster.


And you know what?  I loved the quiet time, putting that thing together.  I cried over old pictures and remembered how cute he was--this tiny little preemie with tons of hair..a little monkey.  I decided to do the book in bright colors because that little boy has been such a bright spot in my life.  He literally got me out of bed for the first year of his life when I would have rather stayed under the covers and not faced my challenges.

He still gives me hugs and kisses and loves and is the sweetest little boy.  Since he got back from Disneyland, I have spent a lot of time just holding him and reading books and playing choo choos and telling him I love him.  Something I didn't do nearly enough a few weeks ago.  Here is he is modeling his new rash guard from Grandma:


Today, I took my kids shopping and we found Sammie a cute Easter dress at Gymboree.  In the past I would have stressed to find my boys matching duds.  Now I don't care.   If I find them matching stuff..great.  If I don't, they will look cute whether they coordinate or not.  I am trying to simplify too.


And tonight, I made cookies with my boys and played board games.  (love how the tv is always on in the back of my shots with someone comatose in front of it=Real life.)



I am making a conscious effort to say no to things. I am going to be cutting back on obligations, and even lunches with friends.  I need more time to focus on my kids and just slow down my life.

(Except for driving.  I will still go 80--so move over!)

PS. Thanks to everyone who commented on my boots post. After much fasting and praying, I went with #4.  They are lightweight (very important to me) and still have some cool styling with the fur. Now I've got three humongous boxes to ship back.  Woo hoo!
 

12 comments:

LKC said...

I'm reading "The Happiness Project" and I found a great quote about raising young children, "The days are long, but the years are short." So true. Glad you're trying to slow down a bit. And you look great!

Liz said...

I totally agree with you on every last bit....and yes, I've followed you to school. You do drive 80. I'm so wickedly jealous of your time alone without kids to do projects uninterrupted. But love the time you are having with your kids. I so do struggle stopping my crazy life and being in the moment with my kids. I'm so happy when I do.

Ashley said...

Where are the comments? Everyone came out to vote on the boots and they're tired now.

Buster truly was the cutest, tiniest little guy ever. This was sweet stuff you said about him.

You are a soldier and a hero for making sugar cookies. Luke in the back glued to the tv is the best.

Buster's book looks adorable! And Sammie's dress is darling.

Stefanie said...

I really love this post. I had my third baby 3 months ago and I feel like she is already growing up WAY too fast. I want each day to last longer and each of her milestones to not come as quickly. I have lowered my expectations and I just get done the bare minimum each day. I sit and play with my 3 year old while my baby sleeps. I leave laundry and dishes and everything that just isn't as important and I just sit and nurse my baby and enjoy her smiles and cooing. We all snuggle more and play games instead of clean.

I was released from being YW President right before my baby was born. I was crushed when I first got released. I was really going to miss my YW. I love them and loved hanging out with them at activities and on Sundays. Now you'll find me snuggling my baby for 3 hours in the mother's lounge with out any kind of church reponsibilites at the moment. We all need to take that time and just enjoy life.

I LOVE Sammie's dress by the way. I might need to take a trip to Gymboree ASAP.

Em said...

Here here (or hear hear?) for contentment and simplicity!

I missed the boat with the boot survey, but I like the ones you got. I liked No. 2, too, but then again, I love black. You were so wise to go with the lightweight ones so you'll be sure to wear them, plus they had your favorite desired feature, the fur.

I also loved the photo of the boys and the cookies with Luke in the background.

Buster is adorable.

So happy you got a week off to rest and relax and scrapbook, while Sam toted the kids around for a week at D-land.

Kimmie said...

BUS.TER!!!!! seriously....I could eat him!!!!

Jill T said...

Good post Brooke.

SewSara said...

I read this post on my phone before I fell asleep last night. loved it! i could especially relate with the easter dress thing. i always obsess over color schemes and matching, yet rarely take into consideration what my kids actually might like.

and wow look how tiny mitchell was, and with all those cords - wow! i bet that was scary. what a darling boy.

sarahw said...

Buster is one cute little guy. Can't believe he started out so tiny.

You are a great mom by making sugar cookies. I can't muster up the energy to make them for v-day.

I laughed when I saw Sammie's dress, I just bought the same one for Kate last week....matching again.

Cute boots, btw, you picked well.

alexandra said...

You are such a good mom. You and Ashley both are making me feel inadequate! But inspired. I also want to buy that swim shirt for my own little soon to be three year old guy. Buster is too cute.

I am glad you choose the boots you did. I was going to vote for those but my iphone was making commenting too difficult.

I am going to add one thing from my own current playbook that is making me a better mom. PUtting the kids to by bed 7. I have so much more energy when the day isn't stretching out endlessly before me.

D-dawg said...

This was a really good post Brooke. Time does fly and I want to live in the moment more! Your boots are great- good choice.

Andrea said...

I agree with the slowing down. I'm not good at doing it but when I do I'm happier. I love the scrap book!