Sweet summertime - Gone in a Flash!

Lack of blogging does not equal lack of living. Sometimes I think maybe just the opposite could be true. Sometimes I focus so hard on capturing moments and trying to hang on to them forever, I don't truly experience them. This summer has been CRAZY. My small, basement business has become a not-so-small, getting-ready-to-sign-a-lease-on-a-real-facility business. However, I'm still home with the boys and they come first! I work every night, until the very wee hours of the morning in the garage. Since I have been stretched so thin, this summer I have just focused on enjoying my precious boys! This summer, we have blown a lot of bubbles. eaten a lot of popsicles. sang a lot of songs. slept late. swam. watched a lot of cartoons. eaten a lot of junk food. given lots of kisses. given twice as many hugs. been very carefree! We haven't worried about a thing. Hayden starts the first grade (insert tear here) next week, so that will bring back some much needed structure around here! The plan is to move into our facility beginning of September, and then I can start working some during the day rather than staying up so late at night. And also I can set up a real schedule for the lady who helps me pack boxes. The facility is 3 minutes from my house, 1600 square feet and it's practically perfect. There is an entire room that I can set up as a playroom for the boys and it will make it much easier for me to work with them around (rather than how we are setup downstairs in the garage currently.) I haven't signed the lease yet, so let's hope I don't chicken out. God has certainly blessed us and this business! To say we are thankful would be an understatement.

I am thankful for such precious, healthy children. This summer, Hayden started taking piano lessons, and he decided to let his hair grow long. He says it looks cool when your hair swoops over your eye. He continues to crack us up daily with his musings. I can't believe that Garrett will be 2 in just 4 months. He is also hilarious, and he is constantly trying to entertain us. And boy is he INDEPENDENT. He is the opposite of Hayden in that aspect. Hayden, still at age 6, would let me dress him, feed him, bathe him, etc if I still would. (Well, I do still wash his hair, but that's beside the point). Garrett wants NO help eating, bathing (he takes the shampoo bottle and repeatedly pours it over his head and into his hands and says "wash" and really washes himself! And if I try to help, he will throw a fit. Walking down the stairs is another big one. If I try to hold his hand, he will throw a fit. (Starting to see a trend?) He loves to talk, sing, dance, jump, ...and play games on the iphone and iPad. In that aspect, he is Hayden made-over!!

Feeding Ducks - Garrett would cheer for himself when he threw the bread! And then half of the time, he would eat it himself.

Hayden was baptized after VBS at church this summer - he is not ashamed! We couldn't be more proud of that boy and his heart. 

May 2012

This will have to be short and sweet, so I will just touch on the highlights from the past month!

Hayden graduated from Kindergarten! Such a bitter-sweet event, and we are so proud of that boy!

We took a trip to the coast with the Nixons, and had a blast. The weather was perfect! 

We had to say goodbye to an old friend, Romeo! When we returned home from the beach, his bad hip had gotten so bad that he couldn't even stand up anymore. Such a sweet and stubborn dog! We miss him terribly, already!

We spent a very relaxing Memorial Day at Gammy's house!

Busy.

Busy, busy, busy. That's what we are. Sure, since the official launch of Blanks Boutique last month and Curtis working on his second multi-week stint in China within 2 months, we have been stretched a little thin. Our clean laundry may be unfolded and sitting in baskets around the house, but at least it's clean! I should probably be burned at the stake for the amount of McDonald's my family has eaten in the past 2 months, but that certainly doesn't mean I love them any less! I may be very busy answering emails, packing boxes, etc etc relating to the business, but I never pass up the chance for a hug, tickle or "i love you" for the ones I love most! I have to remind myself of this as I streamline these business processes and we all know my intentions are good! The business has already exceeded our wildest dreams and I am so humbled and thankful. Sure, I can't remember the last time I was in bed before Midnight or the last time I left the house without a hat on, but I imagine most successful companies started with some long hours :)

Of course things like showering  blogging get tossed aside in times like this! So I'm going to try to update as much as I can in as little amount of time as I have.

Garrett is 17 months old now and fits the mold of a Williams. He loves to sing and dance and has had a very extensive vocabulary for a few months now. He is definitely an earlier talker than Hayden was. Some of his words and phrases include: Mama, Dada, Haynuh (Hayden), Thank you, Peez (Please), Biy (bite), Cheese, Cacka (cracker), cah-kie (cookie), kuh (milk), ju (juice), tea, bapoo (apple), na-na (banana), Ne-ne (candy), kitty, ball, bath, choo-choo, ni-ni (night night), baby, bye bye, gay (game), Pappy (Paci), Mimi (what he calls his blankie), nose, hot. The best part is he uses them all in context and he will pretty much repeat any word you say to him. He can also identify his nose, head, ear, eye, and belly button!

Our big boy just turned 6! He is just as funny and smart as ever, and he makes us very proud! 

(this was one of his nightly journal sentences. He can write about whatever he wants and this is what he wrote!)

We celebrated his birthday with a swimming party at the YMCA. I thought I was going to have a come apart when we drove up for the party and saw that the indoor/outdoor pool was already uncovered in April. It has been very warm this year, and they kept the water heater on, so it ended up being VERY NICE! 

We had a lovely Easter: 

And lastly, we went to the Tuscaloosa Air Show with the Nixons a few weeks ago. It was HOT: 

Just updates

It's already March of 2012.... wow, wow, wow. We have been busy little bees with school, work and starting the NEW business, Blanks Boutique!!!! Very, VERY exciting... I have been "secretly" working on this for a super long time and it feels so good to finally be out in the open and to see how excited the applique/embroidery community is. I took some major leaps of faith on this one and it's going to pay off.

The kids are just growing, growing, growing ... Hayden continues to say hilarious stuff and Garrett is catching right up. G is 15 months now and weighs right at 20 lbs. He loves animals (pigs are his favorite), being naked, and putting lids on things. He loves to play peek-a-boo and sing "Row, row, row your boat" and "Ring around the rosy." He's definitely a dirt/rocks/sticks kind of kid, but it's not going to stop me from dressing him in pretty little bubble rompers this summer. Here are just a few, random collages from iPhone photos over the past few months. I'm ashamed that we haven't even used the real camera much this year at all! But it is getting to be that season.... :)

Karate Kid

Hayden started taking Karate classes in October. He loves it and it is the perfect activity for him. This week he tested to move up and received his Orange Belt!

I've been getting some flack about the fact that Hayden is only in ONE extra-curricular activity. "But what about basketball? Baseball? Soccer?" people will say. He will "fall behind" if you don't sign him up. I see NO PROBLEM with parents that choose to sign their kids up for multiple activities, that is just not our vision for Hayden. First of all, we are not a very sports oriented family (Hayden included!). Again, nothing wrong with it, just not how we roll. He gets plenty of exercise playing outside, rock climbing with Dad, hiking, etc. Just because we don't put him in multiple organized sports does not mean we love him any less or don't want him to excel. He will start music lessons pretty soon (we are thinking guitar when he turns 6), but we really value our family time at home and don't want to be so busy that we are never here. We are busy enough! I have a rule of trying to never have any set activities on the calendar for Saturdays. (I don't mean birthday parties, I mean recurring activities.) Saturdays are the only day of the week that we can just do whatever we want whenever we want and we really value that! We had a sermon at church a few weeks ago about getting rid of "stuff"... how we all just have to have more and more and more stuff and he also talked about activities... how we have to have our kids in more and more and more activities and we leave no time for God and family. I was very happy that he touched on that and he pretty much said exactly what we feel about them. I was really happy to get that confirmation from above!

The things I wont miss...

It never fails. The sweet, empty-nester at the grocery store stops me to talk to the kids and always ends with some version of "Enjoy every moment. They grow up so fast!" And I get panicked. I KNOW they are growing up so fast and I am doing my best to relish as much as I possibly can. I sometimes picture my future and I see lots of "Remember when the kids were little and (fill in the blanks with memory of choice) - oh I miss that!" So, I have decided to make a list of the things about having small kids that I WONT miss for my future self to come back and read when I start to feel sorry for myself.

1. Shopping with kids.

I will NOT miss shopping with kids. This includes every form of shopping imaginable. - Grocery shopping usually consists of telling 1 grabby, begging-for-everything 5 year old "no, we're not buying that either" while simultaneously trying to keep a wiggly, screaming 14 month old contained to the shopping cart seat. After he screams and yanks at the belt for long enough, I usually give in and shop most of the time switching him from hip to hip while pulling the buggy behind me. Let me remind you how terribly painful this is for the back. Grocery shopping these days is a full contact sport. And its a miracle that I ever come home with enough ingredients to actually make a meal. I don't really have to opportunity to sit and study a list or compare products and prices, so I usually just have to hope some good stuff falls in my cart while I'm wrangling the kids.

Shopping for anything else is just as (if not more) difficult. Clothing, for instance, requires browsing and trying on clothes. It is kind of hard to pick out clothes while trying to, again, contain a 14 month old to a cart or stroller while telling Hayden repeatedly "No, we don't need that" or "Stop hiding in the clothing racks." Dressing rooms are equally fun... as I try to change clothes, assess the fit and look of the new clothes all while keeping 2 kids contained in a small square room with a filthy floor and lots of tiny "snacks" for the little one. Its usually just as I get down to my underwear when Garrett decides to crawl under the door and escape. You wont miss this future self. You wont.

2. Leaving the house with kids.

This should be an olympic sport. I would NOT win. It does not matter where we have to be or what time we have to be there, we are always scrambling out the door with shoes and jackets in hand, and un-wiped mouths. Garrett is still at the age of having to be carried to the car, and he is not a fan. As soon as I open the door to leave the house, he starts writhing uncontrollably to get down and play. It's not time to play, Garrett. We have to get in the car so we can all put our shoes and jackets on and I can wipe your mouths. Let's. Go. Now.

3. Poopy Diapers.

Needs no elaboration.

4. Sweeping the Floors.

These days, I have to sweep the floors a MINIMUM of seven times a day. I'm perhaps a 'little' OCD about things being clean and orderly, but crumbs and food on the floor really drive me bonkers. Sweeping usually goes like this: I sweep everything into a nice pile. Go to closet to get dust pan. Come to sweep up my pile. Discover that Garrett has played in it and eaten some of it and strewn it all back over the room. Yes, he can accomplish this in a matter of seconds. And it happens every. day.

5. Eating out with Kids.

Oh this is a fun one for sure. Eating out with kids usually looks like this:

Hayden - Sitting in a corner playing the iPhone, trying to eat salt, sugar or mustard directly out of the table dispenser, playing under the table, ordering food that he wont eat, etc etc etc. Oh don't forget the "When are we leaving? when are we leaving?" that he starts spewing just as Curtis and I finally get to start eating.

Garrett - Sitting in his highchair eating his food like an angel in my lap grabbing everything within reach, standing in the booth destroying everything on the table, trying to climb on the table, demanding to escape the table and walk around the restaurant, etc etc. At least he eats.

6. The inability to just quickly "run in" to somewhere and grab one thing.

Ha. Yeah right. Curtis still to this day doesn't understand this. "Hey babe, will you run by Walgreen's on your way home and grab some AAA batteries?" Suuuuuure honey. Let me go to Walgreen's, unstrap one wiggly (or sleeping) toddler from his carseat while the big one jumps out of the car and tries to run out in front of a car. Then I'll haul the small one across the parking lot while trying to keep Hayden in the realm of safety, go into the store, put Garrett in the shopping cart aaaaaaand.... refer back to number 1.

7. Constant fear.

Will he run into traffic? Get bitten by a spider? Choke on something? Be brainwashed by that toy/game/video? Fall out of the highchair? Down the stairs? Get ahold of a knife while I'm unloading the dishwasher? Pull a bookshelf down on himself? Catch a virus? Get under the cabinet and drink something poisonous?

I'm sure that each phase of their lives will bring different kinds of fears to the parents, but my biggest fear will always be "Did I raise them according to God's will? Do they know Him, because of us?"

I'm sure I will add to this list over time, but for now, these are the things that stick out. I know I am very blessed that my list doesn't include things like "not knowing where our next meal will come from" or anything like that. These are just the things that I can look back on to make myself feel better about my kids being grown.

There is no need to make a list of the things I WILL miss, because these are the things that will stand out in my heart forever.

The busiest Christmas ever

In true Lindsay fashion, I am *again* one month behind on updating the blog. What can I say? It seriously took me the entire month of January to recover from the Christmas season. After we returned from Aruba, I immediately had to get in gear for Garrett's birthday party, which was quickly followed by Thanksgiving which marked the day that we had something on the calendar for every SINGLE day until December 31st. Between the umpteen thousand Christmas parties, get togethers and school functions there wasn't much time left for....well... anything. Don't get me wrong! It was a wonderful month! It was just very exhausting. But I am so thankful to have people that care about us and want to spend time with us, as I know there are people who aren't so lucky. We are very blessed and it is so humbling. I wish I could document every moment of the month, but I will just have to settle on "It was great!"

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