A little update

Well as the world turns, we continue to have change! Duh, we are the Gardners and a busy little family we are! Well here are a few more updates:

*Brinley climbs stairs!! She has made it up to the third stair!! Ahh! (And the way our stairs are temporarily, they can't be gated)
*Only one week into P90X, I sinned! Ray and I went to Pelancho's and I felt awful after. So here we are starting all over! I think I just had to fail and get it out of my system! Then I did it again for a week and took 2 weeks off and now I am starting back up again....
*We are working on a fireplace in the upstairs living room and we have also got the markings finished for where the new addition on the back of the house will be (don't know if that's grammatically correct lingo in the contruction world)! Yes another 1800 sq foot to be added! More construction and more demolition, but it will be worth it when its finished!!
*Bryson had a spring performance and stole the show by singing 'bah bah black sheep' and 'oh where or where has my little dog gone'
*For the kids MDO spring break they all three had croup so to say the least,we didnt get to have any fun family adventures



More updates to come!!

Bring IT

Bring It...
Well I have committed to working out after eating anything and everything for the past year and a half. I had a diet much like the kids, including hot dogs, nuggets, pop tarts, etc. To say the least, I wasn't loosing any weight! So I whined and finally managed to get P90X into my hands (thanks to the Mother In Law for ordering it)!! Well like any kid, I PROMISED if I only had P90X, then I could get in shape. So there ya go! We have it and I'm doing it! I will tell you this, I have always considered myself an athlete but this work out is the real deal! I'm only in week one and feel 10x better than what I did. I already feel stronger, faster, and more lean! In addition to working out I am also following the eating plan for my body and making sure I eat healthy so that I will get the results I want (without loosing my milk)!! I am going to stick with this plan and not drink my starbucks and eat mexican or the kids menu and see how I feel post 90days. Right now I'm excited and loving it!
Oh I have to tell you, Bry came downstairs and said, "Mom, why are you working out with the DDD (dvd)". I told him so I could be more healthy and run and play with him. Nevertheless, his response was " and so you won't be fat anymore!?" Ha, guess they call it like they see it. Well no bones about it, I'm pumped! See you all in 90 days and then we'll talk!

Lots of Change!!!

from newborn to this....

New Beginnings continue....

So there has been a lot of new beginnings in the last few weeks:

*Brinley has taken front and center stage of our lives! She is eating baby food, and flying through all the baby foods. She eats anything and everything, seriously. Colton has fed her poptarts, granola bars, chicken nuggets, and eggs (this is all I can think of at this time)!!!! Hilarious!
*Brinley has started crawling and is into everything!!! She tries her best to keep up with the boys.
*Brinley has said "da da" and "good", no mama yet :(
*Brinley has officially moved to her crib as well! It was mixed emotions for me all at the same time. She is sleeping better in her crib and so am I! In addition to Brinley moving to her crib, we have changed the boys bed time routine! The boys go to bed every night by 8:30 and they fall asleep in their room after book time! They used to fall asleep with a TV on!
*I refereed Upwards basketball for the first time and that has been a blessing and a ministry!
*I have also ventured to attempt to play competitive basketball (9 years post high school grad nonetheless!) I had no idea that in this league there were going to be so many good teams! Ahh.
*I have a new job, with three kids!

Wow!!!!

I have only worked a few hours so far, its been manageable thus far. I have a great job, working part time selling respiratory therapeutics! I set my own hours and have the opportunity to make a great residual income to help the family and it gives me adult interaction and self identification outside of cleaning and taking care of the babies 24/7. I know that I am blessed to have this job in this economy and for the flexibility I have! All I can say is thank you Lord!

I know with all the changes of these past few weeks, and our new beginnings will continue throughout the rest of this year, especially with our little ones growing and changing everyday! I am thankful and trying to hang on to every moment and enjoy every second I have! Hope you do the same!

No COMPUTER!!!

Oh my I have almost went crazy without the Internet and TV! No, its not a fast or anything along those lines but just a matter of us determining our "needs" or better yet our wants. Its been tough for me, no doubt. However, I have accomplished a lot more in an average day than what I normally would because there is no loss of half hour time increments from the TV or internet trapping me!

Well to catch up on this month, I decided that I wouldn't make a New Year's Resolution because I didn't think it mattered, I felt like 2009 was such a hard year so I had decided to just float on my back through 2010. Then, on the last day of the month, today, I watched a sermon on claiming your blessing and on Eichboh, meaning the "glory is gone." My glory isn't gone. I may have had a tough 2009 but I was still blessed and highly favored and rewarded with a gift from God, Miss Brinley Rae, our little angel. I have decided that I am going to go forward and run, not float through this upcoming year. I am going to do things with deliberation and know that MY God is in control and. HE will guide my steps, and I AM blessed because I'm still standing!

Going forth, I am proclaiming that we are blessed and highly favored. That the call of God won't take us where the Will of God can't protect us. So I am putting on my armor from God and preparing for war fare because I'm not going to be passive and set on the bench just because I had a set back in 2009.

I know that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives and I can already see him moving, since my new mindset. I have confidence that this year will be a year of growth and just because I don't like "growing pains", I am still thankful that I am not were I used to be but I'm not were I am going to be! SO here we go God I am letting go of my "buts" and going with you God!

Fantasies, Fallacies, and Fairy Tales...

Fantasies, Fallacies and Fairy Tells of the life of a stay at home mom!

So for some reason I had this idea or image of the "stay at home mom life." I thought it was all about working out at the gym, getting lattes, play dates and the glam life of the stay at home moms!

Oh how wrong I was, there are no fairies that magically clean your house, change butts, feed the kids, or help you even get a shower in peace without the kids opening the bathroom door half a dozen times and causing you to freeze half to death. The fallacy of illogical thinking was ever so present, when, I thought I would be back at the gym only a couple of weeks after having baby #3. On top of that what was I thinking? I wasn't trying to get three kids loaded and unloaded, dragging them kicking and screaming all the way to the Rush every day... Not a chance.

So next, I decided I would workout at home....enough said.

Well the next fallacy was, lets go shopping! Or not! What is fun about pushing a 45lb 4yr old combined with a 35lb 2yr old, along with the weight of the stroller, diaper bags, and Brinley strapped to the front of me in the Bjorn! (Yep that's my workout) Also, I must add that people would rather stop and stare at a struggling mom trying to open the door or get through impassable passage ways than stop and help! So the shopping went out the window too!

So then I was like, we will just have play dates all day every day but I didn't take it into consideration that other people work, they are busy, their kids are on different schedules, and its just not simple to have play dates all day every day. In addition, to trying to have play dates, I try to make sure the kids, the house and myself are perfect! (That's not reality what so ever!)

So what I have learned; is, that the life of the stay at home mom is very humbling. There are no awards, thank yous or fairies! Its all about cleaning the same stuff over and over all day, feeding the kids all day, doing the endless mounds of laundry and letting go of your preconceived notions of what I thought it should be BUT rather enjoying the real moments that count with your children who will remember me more for playing with them than they will remember the gym dates, perfect play dates, mall trips or any of the unimportant things in life.

However, I must say that my wonderful husband foots the bill for my kids to go to Mother's Day Out and they get the opportunity to receive educational time, personal interaction with other kids their age and it gives me, mom, a day (well 5hours) without three kids under the age of four. MDO allows me to either clean, run errands, or just grab a latte with a friend and maybe just come home to watch an episode of Ellen with my best friend Brin.

So in the end, its not a fantasy, not a fairy tale but I am humbly content and blessed to have the opportunity to pour into my children's life and mold them into the children and one day adults that I hope pray for them to be.