Incredibly Insightful Day - A.K.A Manic Memory Monday

It has been one of those days.  Stressed to my max and running around crazy.  Incredibly busy day at work full of tough decisions and hard conversations and just plain stress.  As I sat there at 6:15 pm (waiting for an ETL job to finish and thinking how badly I had to get to the testing center at school before it closed so I could take a test I was totally unprepared for) I ran out of the building to rush to my car just to see a very dear friend of mine also walking to his car.  Our quick chat was the perfect way to save a horrible day.  As I drove (frantically) to school I just got totally emotional as I thought about all the people at work.  I work with some really amazing people.  I love them.  I am so glad to have them in my life.  Even though my job is hard and constantly making me stress, I am so incredibly blessed with so many awesome opportunities and so many awesome people.  I owe so much to so many of them.  Wow...I'm so blessed. 

I got to school, seriously one minute before the cut off time to take my test and knew that I was not prepared for it like I should be.  I played too much over the weekend (LOVED my GNO with super cute girls (Thanks Mo and Carly) and also LOVED getting my hair done by my incredibly cute cousin, Lacey).   As I was leaving school after totally bombing my test the stress kicked in again.  I thought and thought about how much harder school is when you are 30 and have a house and kids and responsibilities opposed to when you are 20.  I kept dwelling on my life and all the bad decisions I've made and the hard truths I have learned.  I got sad and depressed and wished I could go back and do so many things over.  I realized how much the consequences of our actions NEVER just effect us.  I owe so many people huge apologies and there are many wonderful people no longer in my life because the choices I made drove them away.  So long I blamed them, but know that I am the one to blame.  Yet amidst all these sad feelings my mind yelled out...better late than never.  I might be 30 and still in college but I'm in college and how blessed am I to get to be in college and finish my education.  It is way harder, but that's my fault.  And yes I know there are certain people I love who will probably never talk to me again, but I will always love them and am thankful for even the short amounts of time I got to have them in my life.  I've learned so much and have grown so much.  I am really so blessed. 

And of course, nothing makes me happier than coming home to my kids.  Even at 9:30 at night when we are all so exhausted that the word "bed" makes the kids scream and my head pound and my patience disappear, there is still no better place in the world.  At least I get a few minutes with them and I get to kiss them and pray with them and for this moment we are all healthy.  And they are mine...for eternity.  I am so very blessed.

 Plus....It's memory Monday. 

This cute video of 22 month old Kylee dancing and singing makes me smile.  She is such a cute little person and just gets prettier, smarter, and more amazing every day. 

The final insight I had today came just as I am trying to finish this post (and with some help again from cute Lacey).  I worry so much about what people think when they read my blog.  I write and rewrite things wondering if I'm sharing too much or if I'm bragging or hurting some one's feelings or being too negative or blah, blah, blah.  I wonder if anyone cares or what I should do to make more people comment and blah, blah, blah.  And again I realize how blessed I am.  I have an analytics tool that gives me all sorts of stats about my blog and lets me know where people are logging in from and who is looking at my blog and even when you don't comment, it makes me happy to see people I love are visiting my blog.  I hope all you know how much you mean to me.  I value our friendship even if we don't talk often and love that you take the time to "visit" me.  SO THANK YOU!  I am blessed to know you! 

(How is that for an incredibly LONG post!  They won't all be like this I promise!)

Memory Monday - Kylee Reading to Cannon

Today for Memory Monday I am sharing this cute video of Kylee reading to baby Cannon.  He is nearly 3 months and she is 22 months.  It's probably nothing special to any of you out there who occasionally read my blog, as it really isn't too entertaining or exciting.  To me, it is absolutely priceless.  It feels like forever ago when they were this little.  I had forgot how curly Kylee's hair was and just how rollie-pollie Cannon was a baby.  So much changed just months after this time, but at this moment everything was just wonderful! 

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

Today my littlest brother Cody got his Mission Call. 

It was so exciting to get together to watch him open this exciting letter. 

 Of course we all joked about all the places he could be sent to.  It is such an amazing thing to give up 2 years of your life to preach the Gospel to people who most of the time don't want to hear about it.  Cody was super excited and maybe just a little nervous. 

 We really love Cody.  He has been our babysitter these past few weeks while my mom has been trying to recover from some horrible health issues (more on that later).  My kids adore him and I am so lucky to have him for my brother. 

 Cody Ray Eisenbarth has been called to serve in the Birmingham, Alabama Mission - Spanish Speaking.  I told him he would thank my kids for making him watch Dora and Diego with them all the time.  :) 

I love my family and am so blessed to have such great friends and examples in my siblings.  I know that Cody will be such a great missionary and I am so very proud of him and his decision to serve the Lord.

Memory Monday - Cannon Learning to Crawl

I decided since I found so many pictures and videos from the past 2 years that I haven't blogged (let's face it, 2008 and 2009 were rough) that instead of trying to back date them and post them after all this time, I would just start having Memory Monday and occasionally post a sweet memory to reminice about. 

So I'm kicking off Memory Monday with this cute video of Cannon learning to crawl.  I am totally embarrassed at how messy my computer room is.  In my defense we had just moved into our house a month before Cannon was born (and the computer room was the last room we worried about), I had my gall bladder out the week after he was born, and I had 2 babies under 2 so I was just happy to be surviving.  :) 

According to the date I uploaded the video, Cannon is about 5 months old and Kylee had just turned 2.  (Sept 2008)

Happy Valentine's Day

At work there is all this drama going on around my contract.  With that being said, I haven't been allowed to work since last Wednesday.  :(  The time off has been nice as I have been able to get a ton of homework done and spend some much needed time with my kids and much needed time cleaning my house.  The crappy part of course is that I'm not getting paid.  Lucky I am good at saving and I'm sure things are going to work out (although another new job may be in my future).  In the mean time I'm just trying to take advantage of the time off and not stress about the rest. 

So...I had Valentine's Day OFF!  :)  It ended up being SUCH a fun day.  I made the kids heart shaped pancakes and they thought it was the coolest thing. 

Then we made some cupcakes and decorated them with pink frosting and special Valentine's day sprinkles. 

 Kylee took this picture of me and she told me I needed to smile bigger, so this is me giving her my biggest smile.  She is so funny. 

We took turns decorating each cup cake with some heart sprinkles. 

 Kylee arranged the cupcakes into a heart.  She is so darn creative and smart. 

 Cannon just dove right in and starting eating the first cupcake he made.  I can't keep this kid clean no matter how hard I try.  He is all boy and always messy.  I love his messy face! 

 What a doll she is!  Gosh I love that sweet face too!  I'm so lucky to get to have these 2 VALENTINE'S!!!  

It was a great day!  I sure love my sweet little Valentine's! 

Memories

Last night I thought I'd take a few quick minutes to put some old files I had on my PC on my external hard drive so I could free up some memory. What should have taken me 2 minutes took over 3 hours because I just couldn't stop looking at pictures and watching old video clips.  I can't believe how much time has gone by and how quickly my kids are growing up.  Here are just a few of the precious videos I came across last night. 

(SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO PAUSE THE MUSIC)

Kylee holding Cannon. 
She is 19 months and Cannon is just a few weeks old. 

 

Another cute video of my two cute kids. 

Kylee is 22 months and Cannon is 4 months.

Kylee swinging with her baby brother.

Kylee just being her cute self.

Wow time is flying. 

I'm so thankful for these awesome memories and even more thankful for the technology to capture them. 



A BIG HUG

Me: Cannon, can I have a hug?

Cannon: No thanks.

Me: Please buddy?  I really need a hug.

Cannon: No, I don't want to give you a hug, I want to give you a BIG hug

He is the sweetest thing!

Kylee the Photographer

I know I shouldn't let my 4 year old play with my pretty expensive SLR camera, but the truth is she does a great job taking pictures and is very careful with it.  Most the time I am watching her play with it but today as I was uploading pictures from my memory card I came across a few I knew I didn't take.  When I asked Kylee she said "I just wanted to be a photographer like you mom."  Little does she know I am no photographer at all.  In fact, I think she is more creative and has much more natural talent for it than I do.  These are just 2 recent pictures she took.  I didn't edit them at all. 

She is such a cutie pie.  I just adore her with all my heart. 

(This photo I did edit)

Happy Birthday Donny!!!

26 years ago today my sweet little brother was born.  I remember my Grandma Hebdon coming to my house and helping me fill out my valentine's for school while my mom was in the hospital.  I had been the baby for 5 years so I was really excited to have a little brother to play with. 

Donny is the sweetest guy.  He is so tender hearted and genuinely cares about everyone.  He is incredibly smart and incredibly humble. 

He is always making me laugh and has the best sense of humor.  He is always so happy and you can't help but be happy when you are around him. 

So many people tell me that Cannon reminds them of Donny and I love it.  I hope Cannon grows up to have Don's heart, humor, and brains.  Cannon absolutely loves his Uncle Donny. 

Amberlee is one lucky girl and we are so glad she will soon be part of our family. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DC!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Super Bowl Sunday

I love me a championship game!  It really doesn't matter what sport it is (although we all know that HOCKEY is the best).  I love the excitement, the determination, and the emotion that is involved when everything is on the line.  I also love to have everyone over at my house.  Anytime there is a big game we have all my family over and it is always so fun.  It's no secret that I hate to be alone, so the more the merrier.  There is no denying I love the snack food too.  I am not a big eater, but I could snack and snack all day long. 

This year I was actually a little torn who to root for in the big game.  After all, Pittsburgh is the home of the best Hockey team in the world, but Green Bay has had such an exciting season and I really felt like they deserved the win.  So I decided to represent both teams with my green, yellow, and black rolls for our sandwich's. 

 And this cupcake football was just too cute to eat (although Cannon had no problem and helped himself to 2!)

 It was an extremely exciting and fun game and in the end the better team won. 

Congrats Green Bay Packers for your win at Super Bowl XLV!

Blessed

I hate health problems.  They suck! 

Although I have definitely had my fair share, I have realized lately that I am so very blessed!!!  I would MUCH rather have health problems than watch my kids suffer with health problems.  A co-worker of mine is watching his 3 month old baby go through all kinds of tests, an operation, and most likely a liver transplant down the road and I just can't imagine how hard that would be to watch as a parent.  This whole week I have come home from work and just hugged and hugged my kids. 

They are both healthy and happy. 
I am so blessed!

Tonight as Kylee and Cannon were playing together I overheard this conversation:

Cannon: "Bad guys go poop!"

Kylee: "Everybody poops Cannon."

They just crack me up. 

I am so thankful for these sweet little spirits in my life! 

 

SIDE NOTE 2/3/2011:  I totally jinxed myself by writing this post.  Kylee and Cannon both came down with horrible colds last night that kept them both up coughing and crying most the night.  Granted, we are still blessed, but I guess that will teach me to brag.  :)