Red Robin!

Bria's birthday was on Thursday the 20th and her party was on Friday, so the day of her birthday we just kind of hung out at home. And that evening we went to Red Robin :)

She wanted to pose with the heart wreath :)

 Her little friend Kenzie dropped off some balloons and flowers that morning and she was so excited, it made her feel very special :)
We got to Red Robin and a few minutes after we sat down at the table the Buell boys came walking in, each with flowers and a balloon in hand. It absolutely melted my heart, I totally fast forwarded to prom.

 Bria kept saying her stomach hurt and wouldn't eat her dinner, since it was her birthday I didn't want to push it. And who wants to be forced to eat when their stomach hurts? Of course, as soon as the sundae came she ate that :)

 But she did share with her Weston!

Even though she wasn't feeling that great (not sure why, she never threw up or developed the flu) she did enjoy Red Robin. Grateful for our wonderful Grammy who always makes our girls feel special and to our friend-family, The Buell's, who do anything and everything for us. Their support and love knows no bounds and we are so happy for their friendship. 

On the way home Bria did say, "I wish I wasn't sick for my birthday." So I know it wasn't just her trying to get out of eating dinner, she genuinely didn't feel 100%.

 Fortunately the next day at preschool she felt good and wore the birthday crown all day!

Ella and Meaza at preschool with Bria

She loved her preschool class singing to her and was excited to have birthday cake oreos to share as a treat :)
Later that night, it was party time!!!!!...........

Come back sun

 My absolute favorite days are the days where it's sunny and we can spend a majority of our time outside. Clearly I'm living in the wrong state.
But you can bet we don't take for granted the days where we get sunshine. A few weeks ago (yep, I'm very behind) we had some gorgeous weather and it was wonderful. We were all in better moods because of it :)

Tiny toddler ponytail

 Reese has never been a fan of swings, slowly but surely she is starting to like them. Of course, I barely push her but it counts.

This girls hair is out of control thick

Growing up before my very eyes

Oh happy day!

And a very wonderful result of these outdoor adventures...

Passed out

I've been trying to have a little more structure during the day, especially the days I have little Penny Jo, it helps keep the girls behaving and me sane. It's nothing crazy, we do story time where each girl picks out a book and then I pick out one. Then we do some silly songs to help get their wiggles out and then we go to the table and they work on some preschool (toddler for Reese) workbooks. Just writing and coloring and then I try to do some sort of craft, that doesn't always happen but I try. I just like having a little schedule then it avoids some tv for the first part of the day and I save that for after nap time, because that is the time of day when we're all tired and ready for Dad to get home.
We had a crazy snow storm last week and now it's raining so I'm really missing our sunny days, fortunately Bria and I will get to see the sunshine in Arizona soon!

The Beach

I might have possibly mentioned on here a few times (or 100) how much I LOVE vacations. I crave vacations, they help keep me going. We planned a trip to the beach with our friends, I lovingly call them our East side friends because they live over in East Portland, which is like an hour drive from us. So we don't get to see them all as often as we would like, which is why Linus is so good at planning these trips. Anyway, we got to spend two whole days and nights with these fun people and it was such a blast.

We drove the girls down to my Dad and Anna's where they proceeded to have a blast getting spoiled. Bria did miss us the first night and I felt so bad, but my Dad is so good at reassuring me and the next day they nearly forgot about us ;)

Of course, the snow storm hit HARD the few days leading up to our trip and of course the days of our trip, so this is what our drive looked like:

Fortunately our car handled amazingly and Brian is experienced in the snow so we made it there safely. And the day we went home it looked like this:

This is our fun group! From left, Moony and Chris, Angela and Matt, Me and Brian, Lori and MIke, Beth and Linus,
and Angelina and Ian

Crazy Oregon weather!! Seriously though, it was gorgeous at the Beach and then we drove home to a blizzard.

Brian and Matt

We spent a majority of the weekend making funny videos of us planking. Planking = just laying there

Planking pile!

Pyramids

Angelina and Ian, we ADORE them and always have so many laughs with them

Of course we did some outlet shopping! All the girls cleaned up at Coach (except me, I was in the mood for clothes, of course I ended up buying stuff for the girls but whatever).

Their Coach loot and me planking

Spending a cozy evening on the couch

 The Beach was pretty deserted as you can imagine, nobody else was willing to make the dangerous trek there. We went out to the Casino dance club, as you can imagine in a small town when there were very few tourists, it was pretty bare. But all the more reason to have fun! We got the dance party started. Correction, BRIAN got the dance party started. There was not a single soul on the dance floor when we got there and Brian ran out all by himself and shook what his mama gave him. I know what you're thinking, was he intoxicated?! I won't say he was completely sober, but it was more about him being in a good mood, and when the mood is right for Brian he dances. It's my favorite mood :)

On the dance floor

 We all had a blast dancing and eventually got a ton more people on the dance floor. All because of Brian :) There was this really sweet couple that were probably in their late 60's and they were so cute clapping and watching everyone dance. Brian of course had to get them on the dance floor and they were so fun to watch, hopefully Brian and I are that cool when we get older.

Coach Linus and sweet Beth

The girls (Me, Beth, Angelina, Lori, Moony, and Angela)

We played spoons (card game), danced, planked, and just had a fabulous time. It was of course over way too soon and we are already planning our next adventure together.

SAHM

Stay At Home Mom.
That's my job and I love it.
For the most part I am surrounded by people who support that and appreciate it, for which I am so grateful for. Most days the only thing I crave is my husband to come home, give me a little time to myself, then tell me I am doing a great job. And he does that.
As always in life there are those that find it necessary to voice their negative opinion, something I cannot relate with. For example, I had a friend on pinterest post the following quote:

I cannot tell you how angry I was when I read it. Especially considering the same person has also posted this:

But whatever, I'm getting off topic a little.

It baffles my mind that as women we choose to bash those who don't choose what we do, shouldn't we have a united front? I do not think negatively of a Mom who works outside the home, whether it's because she has to or wants to, she is making the best choice for her family and that is great!
Brian sent me this article with a simple and sweet, "Thank you," I highly suggest you read the whole thing, here is a link. Here is a snippet from it:

The people who completely immerse themselves in the tiring, thankless, profoundly important job of raising children ought to be put on a pedestal. We ought to revere them and admire them like we admire rocket scientists and war heroes. These women are doing something beautiful and complicated and challenging and terrifying and painful and joyous and essential. Whatever they are doing, they ARE doing something, and our civilization DEPENDS on them doing it well. Who else can say such a thing? What other job carries with it such consequences?

It's true — being a mom isn't a "job." A job is something you do for part of the day and then stop doing. You get a paycheck. You have unions and benefits and break rooms. I've had many jobs; it's nothing spectacular or mystical. I don't quite understand why we've elevated "the workforce" to this hallowed status. Where do we get our idea of it? The Communist Manifesto? Having a job is necessary for some — it is for me — but it isn't liberating or empowering. Whatever your job is — you are expendable. You are a number. You are a calculation. You are a servant. You can be replaced, and you will be replaced eventually. Am I being harsh? No, I'm being someone who has a job. I'm being real.
Look, I don't cast aspersions on women who work outside of the home. I understand that many of them are forced into it because they are single mothers, or because one income simply isn't enough to meet the financial needs of their family. Or they just choose to work because that's what they want to do. Fine. I also understand that most "professional" women aren't rude, pompous and smug, like the two I met recently.

If your mother quit her role as mother, entire lives would be turned upside down; society would suffer greatly. The ripples of that tragedy would be felt for generations. If she quit her job as a computer analyst, she'd be replaced in four days and nobody would care. Same goes for you and me. We have freedom and power in the home, not the office. But we are zombies, so we can not see that.

Again, I do not view working Moms negatively AT ALL!! I have many loved ones who work and I respect them so much. After a long day at work they come home and are Mommy and maid and chef! Oh and have to fit wife in there somewhere :)

I simply just want to voice how badly it hurts when stay at home moms get a bad rap. I work hard too and my work doesn't end. I live 24/7 AT my job....WITH my job...and FOR my job. It's more than rewarding and I would pick this 1000 times over, but it's so much harder than anything I have ever had to do.

My Bria

 My Reese

And to the one who makes it possible...

Bria

Age: Nearly 5 years old (February 20th!)

Year: 2010

Year: 2013

Hair color: Dirty blonde, definitely starting to get darker

Likes: My Little Pony, Rainbows, Climbing all over her Dad (literally and figuratively), movies, playing make believe, dresses, Frozen, singing, horses, carrots, sugar snap peas, and chocolate

Dislikes: Loud noises, tights (she says they itch, but every once and awhile I can get her to wear them), most fruit, being cold

Favorites: Frozen (the movie), My Little Pony, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and all Disney movies she has seen so far

  Other random facts about our oldest:

She should be in theatre. She is very dramatic and has 1001 expressions. It is incredibly entertaining to just sit back and listen to her stories and watch her mind go all over the place. At times I think she has ADHD because of her lack of ability to concentrate, but I think it may just be a kid thing. Hopefully :)

Her favorite thing to do is imaginary play. Wether it's with Barbies, or little figurines she is always making up little scenarios. It is just like me as a child, I loved playing house. Although as an adult I find it hard to stay entertained by that, I would rather sit and color with her :)

Shakin' her bootie ;)

 She is very compassionate. She loves helping and encouraging people and I love her big heart. This also means she is very sensitive and gets emotional quite often. For example, she will come home from preschool and say, "The teacher helper said I couldn't have another cookie and it hurt my feelings." She uses the term "hurt my feelings" a lot. And it's often followed with tears.

 Also, the last week and a half has brought on a new and interesting phase I was not expecting. She suffers from extreme guilt. EXTREME. She will start crying hysterically, like cannot breath and after 20 minutes or so we can get her to calm down enough to tell us what is wrong. Usually this is what follows:

Bria: "Well..........the other day...............when you got mad at me.........I..........um............I.............um........wahhh!!!!!

Me/Brian: "Calm down, it's okay. We aren't mad."

Bria: "I called you poopy....in my head."

Me: (Dear Lord if she only knew what went through my head in a given day)

It got so bad that on Monday while she had been at preschool for an hour or so, I got a call from her teacher. Gulp. She said Bria had been crying most the day and just wasn't acting herself. Brian went and got her (thank goodness he happened to be working from home because I had Penny and it's hard to pack up both little girls) and after 45 minutes of him and her talking, she seemed to be feeling bad for a song or something she heard?? I don't really know, it's still a mystery. 

So I talked to Mrs. Biamont and asked her professional opinion. She basically confirmed what we had already been doing. Making her feel comfortable and letting her know that feeling/saying something in your head is okay and she doesn't need to feel bad about it. As long as she doesn't act on it. We need to assure her that we all have those thoughts and not to worry about it. Mrs Biamont did say it's good that she feels comfortable to tell us which I agree with. We don't get mad at her either, especially when the worst she thinks is that I'm poopy. Because let's face it, I'm no saint, I act poopy sometimes.

I am glad she feels comfortable to tell us, but I have to admit that it starts to get incredibly exhausting when she does it at least 200 times a day. And each time she is on the verge of tears of full on crying and I have to be calm and nice and not lose my patience. I feel bad she is worrying so much about it too, just go have fun kid!

 Aside from her extreme sensitivity and guilty conscience, she is always looking to have a good time and giggle. She loves to be tickled, loves being massaged, and loves jumping on the trampoline. We are starting swim lessons again for her on Monday and I can't wait, she has really been missing it. Also, I think we are going to try Tball in the spring and possibly soccer in the fall. I would also like to try out gymnastics or something, maybe in the summer.

I can't believe she will be 5 soon, such a big girl!! For her birthday we are going all out, having it at this Indoor park where the kids can run and play and be free. I got a bunch of the decorations and such which consist of a mix of rainbow and My Little Pony stuff. For her birthday we got her a big Cinderella doll, like the Costco size (it was on mega Clearance and Brian couldn't resist) and then her big present that she doesn't know about yet is that her and I are flying to Arizona!!!! She misses Bristol terribly (Lanie and family moved to Arizona last summer) and talks about going to Arizona daily. I cannot wait to tell her, she is going to be over the moon. We are going with Jenny and Jax too, spending time with our Grandma and all the family we have over there. 

Bristol and Bria at Bria's 3rd birthday

It should be a memorable birthday for her and that's what counts. Love my sensitive soul, my sweet Bria Boo.