Spring Cleaning in November

I feel like lately our life has been a little cluttered. I feel like we have just been in this downward spiral and we can't seem to break out of it. When I say cluttered, I don't mean with objects or papers or junk. It's more like cluttered with drama, and problems that we don't seem to have very much control over. It's starting to drive me insane. Things always seem to blow over, but these few things have been lasting for months. It's put me in a funk. It's put Dan in a funk. 

I'm ready for a change.

I'm ready for something different to come and shake us out of this funk and give me something to look forward to!

I'm ready to give 2012 the finger and all the drama it's brought into our life recently and start new in 2013. LEAVING said drama BEHIND and all the people who BROUGHT it!

So I'm spring cleaning.

I'm cleaning out all the junk from our lives to try and shake this!

Toys

Clothes

Clutter

and the hardest one of all

People.

I don't want to have negativity in my life, and if that means that I need to start holding people at arms length, or even a little further, then I will. We have two adorable little boys who deserve to have happy healthy parents and good relationships with people who love them. I can't put any more emotion or effort into relationships that are a one way street and a bike path.

So here's to starting my new years resolutions early! Let the "spring cleaning" begin! starting with my new blog design! I feel better already!

Halloween!

Halloween this year was kind of a disaster. Well it was fun except for the trick-or-treating part;)
Here's why....
Damon did NOT want to put his costume on...

He didn't want to go trick or treating at all. No matter how many times I told him about the candy.

When I finally forced him into his costume he was a little mad, but when he saw the kids coming to the door he got more excited. So we decided to take him out and give it a try......

He didn't say trick or treat, which made me feel bad taking peoples candy. But he did say thank you so that counts right?!

Here's where it got really ugly/funny/sad.

We went to a house and a little girl in a freaky mask and a flash light answered the door and screamed boo at Damon, flashing the light in his face. He was so freaked out he actually crapped his pants. haha No joke. I gave him a hug after it happened and I was like "Oh my gosh, Dan, he literally got the crap scared out of him!"

We tried to get him to go to a few more houses but he just kept saying "NO more scary Daddy! No more!" So we went home, and drowned our sorrows in some pizza and candy.

We put him to bed and put in the last Harry Potter, and about 45 min. later Damon came down and joined us and was so happy and cute we couldn't put him back in his room. I'm glad he didn't have nightmares, and slept like a baby!

It was a halloween to remember! I've never really been a huge fan of halloween, but it's way more fun when you have kids....most of the time;)

 Now I'm just glad it's over and all my decorations are put away and now we can start my favorite holidays! Thanksgiving with famiy, black friday shopping (just as good as a holiday), my birthday, then the best of all....CHRISTMAS!!! I'm so excited!

Boo at the Zoo

Each year, Dan's work runs some booth's for Boo at the Zoo. This means that we get to go to the zoo, dressed like pirates, for free. Which is awesome. And Damon loved everything....but the costume. Here's some proof.

He hated it! So he picked his nose instead? ;)

                                                   Damon's screaming scared poor Rafe

                                                                      Pirate Rafe

                                                   I had to draw this on while he was sleeping

Pirate Family, Yes I realize those stripes do NOT help my "situation"

Matching Pirates

The zoo is beautiful in the fall

Photo Booth

Going down the slide!

We had so much fun! Damon loved the Giraffe's, Lions, and Tigers. I was glad he was interested in the animals to take his mind off his pirate costume. He didn't know that I drew his goatee on, so when we got home and he saw it he was totally freaked out. That might have been my favorite part of the night haha it was soo funny!

Linder Farms!

Last Thursday we went to Linder Farms with our good friends, the Rickers. We had a blast. We probably should have gone a little earlier so we wouldn't be looking for our pumpkins in the dark....but it was still a lot of fun! And it only cost us like $4, which is awesome! It was half off night and we just got little mini pumpkins that are soooo cute! Here's a few pics!

Dan, Rafe, Cohen, and Chase

                                                               

Damon loves Rafey

On the Hayride!

Handsome Boys

Big Chubby and I

Searching for the perfect pumpkins!

Our little mini pumpkin family;)

I'll have a tall glass of crazy, with a twist of insane...

Ok people...don't judge me for this post. I'm going to share some things that are pretty personal, but maybe some of you can relate.


This is how I've been feeling for the last few months. Especially before I quite nursing Rafe. I felt like I was going insane. I was super moody and seemed like I didn't have any control on my emotions. I didn't know what was causing it, but I knew that my hormones just were everywhere. I went a Dr and tried to talk to her about it. I thought I could be depressed, or just stressed, or maybe just a mom of two young kids. The Dr. didn't really tell me anything to give me any comfort...or hope for that matter. "You're sleep deprived, and you're just going to have to wait until life slows down...."

OK.

Does that ever happen?

I think not. Not when you're a mom

I realized I've been changing diapers for 2 and a half years.

and now it's doubled.

That's enough to drive any one insane!!!


ANYWAYS!! I tried to get more sleep, take more naps, (yeah right, have you met pinterest?), and eat better. My breakfasts usually involve a coke zero.... and I don't exercise. ever. and I have a gym membership. With no childcare. WHY DID I DO THAT?

So here I was, being insane. Then something horrible happened that I don't want to get into... Then we all got sick. Then Dan and I got our tonsils out. Then Rafe started teething....and is still teething. And we recently switched Damon to a toddler bed.... Throw in some family drama...and there you go...

None of this was helping the crazy lady ready to pull her hair out.

So I stopped nursing Rafe. And that helped a little.

Then shark week started back up...if you know what I mean....
and that helped a little bit more

Then I got to thinking how long it has been since I've had my body back to just myself. And got my body back doing what it's supposed to be doing. And it has been years folks. I got prego with Damon 5 months into our marriage. And pregnant with Rafe 2 months after I quite nursing Damon.

QUE THE CRAZINESS!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love having myself back to just myself....???

and I'm definitely spacing out my next kids.

and I'm going to enjoy having my body to myself for probably the next 3-5 years.

and I don't know how mom's have kids back to back to back....I would be fit for a straight jacket if I did
that. Props to those who do it! You're more of a woman than I will ever be!

Don't get me wrong, I love my boys and I would do this all over again for them.... but I feel like I've been pretty selfless with my body, time, emotions, for the last 3 years, and it's time for me to take care of me. So if you are in the same boat. Just take a step back, breathe, and start doing something YOU want to do...that's just for you.

For me, I'm ready to lose all my baby weight, read more books, and take a vacation dangit!

I know this sounds pretty selfish...and I'm sorry i'm not sorry. I hope we can still be friends and you can join me on my quest out of insanity;)

LOVE

Today, I love the weather. I love my warm house. My sleeping baby. A freshly bathed toddler. And a coke zero.
I also love that I scored at target yesterday and found THE perfect fall scarf that I have been searching for! It's leopard print and I've been wearing it around the house because I love it so much. I just need a cute cropped leather jacket to go with it! Soon! AND I scored on a clearance hoodie for the hubs. It was $6 and he look HOT in it, if I do say so myself! I love you Target.
I Love that this rain has cleared all the smoke out of the valley and I can see the foothills again...and the sky for that matter!
I love that the leaves are changing, and everything looks so beautiful.
I love that Halloween is 2 weeks away and I still have no clue what we are going to be.
I Love that I can drink hot chocolate in the appropriate season....Hot chocolate in Summer just feels weird.
I love that my power bill is going to go down with this cool weather! Thank you mother nature! Maybe now I can go buy my leather jacket!
I love my crockpot and all my pinterest recipe's I can start cooking!
I love my husband for being so amazing and taking such good care of us.
I love Rafe's little 4 tooth grin.
I love that Damon says "we're home!" whenever we arrive at our destination....or finish anything really. Today I got him out of the bath and he's like "We're home!!" I couldn't help but laugh. Silly boy.
What do you love?

Tonsil Free

We are finally healed and tonsil free. It's a good feeling. Let's hope this mean less sore throats and sickness in the Morley house!! My healing process was much better than Dan's. His tonsils were huge and they had to stitch up the holes which mean a longer healing process. Mine were pretty average so there was nothing like that, thankfully!! I'm so glad it's over with!
In other news, we switched Damon to a toddler bed. I hate it. For many reasons....
1. He never stays in his bed no matter what
2. When he finally does fall asleep, I start doing something else. Fast forward about 2 hours later and he is out of his bed and comes to find me and gives me a heart attack! I'm too used to hearing him cry and going to get him! Not him finding me!
3. I say a cuss word 73% of the time when he sneaks up on me...which is never good for a little boy that echo's everything I say!
4. It makes him seem so old! It's cute to see him all snuggled up in bed, and be able to get in and out by himself. But it's soooo "toddler" that it makes me a little sad that he's grown up so fast.
5. Dan or I have to lay on the floor with him to fall asleep, because he won't just stay in his bed on his own. We have to be there to tell him to lay back down each time he tries to break out;)
So this is how I'm going about this whole toddler bed business. He gets in bed. We read stories, pray, and sing songs. Then I leave. About 5 min later he starts down the stairs. I let it slide twice then I have to stay in his room. I'm too nervous to just lay in there with him right from the begining because I don't want him to get used to me being in there all the time, and him not being able to fall asleep on his own. But this way isn't working great either. He knows he can get out. And he does it every time! It's getting so old and it's only been like 3 days. Once he's asleep, he sleeps great. So that's nice. I bought him a night light and a new book hoping it'd help him. I also have some Lightening Mcqueen fabric for a blanket.  I think I need one of those child proof door nob thingy's so he can't open his door. But this is also tricky because Rafe is usually sleeping and when Damon can't open the door he cries and wakes up Rafe.
That is one thing about having 2 kids that's hard. If one wakes up, the other one usually does. Thankfully that's been pretty rare. They both are sleeping through the night again. Rafe was teething, and Damon was scared for a while. But it seems like it's all good again....once they both fall asleep anyways!
ANYWAYS! This is such a random post, but I have random thoughts, so what's new right? If you have any advice on how to get Damon to stay in his bed, that'd be great!

Dan's Tonsil Recovery

We are on 3 and a half days since Dan got his tonsils out.  My Mom and Dad took the kids until Thursday, so that was a nice little break. I would like to say that we caught up on sleep while the kids were gone...but we didn't. We stayed up late watching movies some nights and it was just hard for Dan to sleep in general. His pain medicine didn't seem to be working very well for him so the first few days were pretty rough. I called into the Dr. and they gave us some stronger meds, and since then things have been a little better for him. I hate seeing him in pain and knowing there's nothing I can do to help him. He's hardly been able to eat anything, but is trying to drink as much as he can.
Seeing Dan go through this has really made me NOT want to get mine out in a week and a half. I'm dreading it. But I know in the long run, I will be happy I got them out. I'm tired of being sick and having sore throats all the time. I keep thinking that since Dan's are out now, maybe I wouldn't get sick as often because we wouldn't be passing our sickness back and forth to each other. But in the end I know my tonsils are still bad and need to come out. I wasn't looking forward to it before, but now I'm freakin out a little bit!
I have THE best visiting teachers ever! They brought us over amazing dinners. They are so great and I'm so glad that they are my visiting teachers. They are both so quick to offer service no matter what they are going through in their own lives. So Thanks so much Tricia and Desiree! I love you two!
Today is the first full day with the boys back and it's actually been really fun. Rafe and Dan both took a nap this morning so Damon and I went to the park and rented the Lorax and got some treats. Every time I take Damon to the park I'm always surprised at how big he is and how much he can handle. He is also talking SO much! His vocabulary is huge. I didn't realize how much he picks up from just everyday boring life with mom! But he's pretty much talking in full sentences, and it's wonderful. I love being able to understand him and what he wants.
Rafe has both his bottom teeth completely through now, and is sleeping much better! He slept all night and went back down for a nap around 10. Now it's 1 and I'm hoping he wakes up soon;) I'm not used to these long naps. It's unusual for him. He's been such a cat napper lately. but maybe that was just the teething. Either way it's been nice and the boys have been awesome through all of this! I hope it stays through my surgery, because that's when I think I'm really going to need them to be good!
Hope you are all having a good day!!

September already?!

Hello friends and family! I figured it was time for an update! Even though there's not a whole lot going on in our lives at the moment;)

THE MR. and MRS.

(Sorry, no pictures of us! We hardly ever take pic's of just the two of us anymore! The boys are way cuter;))

Dan and I are doing good. He is getting his tonsils taken out on Tuesday and I'm getting them taken out on the 25th of this month. We had a Dr. apt this morning to go over the procedure and healing time and all that jazz. It freaked both of us out. I always thought this was no big deal, but they make it sound like it's going to hurt for 2 weeks and it's making me a little nervous. Not to mention the looks we get when the staff members find out that the "mom and dad" are getting the surgery....in the same month. Yeah. Maybe not so smart. But we need it done and just want to get it over with. There's a good gap between the surgeries....so we are hoping it'll be ok. Pray for us. hahaha and our kids! Mostly I'm looking forward to the drugs. And ice cream.  Seriously. I love drugs.  I can totally see how people get addicted to those. hahaha now don't go thinking i'm going to go and OD on my liquid pain killers. I just love the fact that modern medicine is so available to us and it will help us get through this with some sanity...and a little loopiness;) We are looking forward to the holidays coming up! Dan's sisters are now on the West coast, so we are planning Thanksgiving with them at our house. We are super excited for that. And there's Halloween coming up and we are taking Damon trick or treating this year. We are thinking we are going to be a little baseball team....It should be cute. We'll see. I'm not that creative;) And don't even get me started on how excited we are for Christmas! We love decking our house out and buying stuff for the boys! We are so excited for the next few months. We have started a little side business that is doing really well. Hopefully it can continue! We would love for it to turn into a full time thing where we can work together.

 DAMON

Damon is doing great! He's growing up so fast, I can't even believe it. He's getting so good at talking and I actually can understand what he wants. He says the funniest things and just has the best personality. I'm probably a little biased. But who doesn't love a kid that already blames his farts on his little brother?! Or his Dad;) I wonder where he learned that??? He is pretty sweet to Rafe still. He has his moments when he gets a little too excited around him and will crawl on top of him or "share" his toys with Rafe's head. But he is usually instantly sorry and is quick to give hugs and say sorry. He does spend some time in time-out. But he never minds going into time out because I think he knows when he's done something wrong. He always says "Ok mom." and goes right into timeout and comes out after a minute and says sorry for whatever he did. So I'm glad that's going smoothly, because it was a little rough in the beginning.

RAFE

Rafe is such a chill kid. I can't even really call him a baby anymore I feel like! He's 8 months old today. He eats like a champ, sleeps great (except for when he's teething), and rolls and scoots all over the place. He's content to just sit on the floor and play with toys. He's not really crawling or anything, which I thought he would be by now, but I'm totally fine with that. I love the snuggles and him just being fine with sitting on my lap. He has two top teeth and is getting two bottom teeth right now. They are almost through the gums, so I can't wait for that because his sleeping has been horrible lately. Last night was a little better, but I'm ready for it to go back to what it was! He's just a happy little boy and he loves his brother so much.

OUR BOYS

 My favorite thing is when Damon and Rafe just sit and stare and laugh at each other. It's so cute! It makes my heart melt. They are already little buddies, and I can't wait to see how they grow closer (hopefully!) over the years. I'm excited for when they can play together, and ride bikes, and have bunk beds and stay up talking, and build forts, and go camping and fishing and all that other boy stuff! I love being a mom to Boys. It makes me not want girls;) haha I just know boys better now and having a girl seems like a whole different emotional, crying, dramatic world! I thought I was a little crazy, and so did a lot of other people, for having my boys so close together. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Some times it's a little crazy, but I love it! They keep me busy for sure!

On another note, I'm loving this weather. I'm so ready for it to cool down so we can spend more time outside. I know that seems little opposite....but I hate it when it's super hot. Unless i'm by a beach or pool or something. Not to mention my wardrobe is way cuter in the fall haha, that's the main reason I love cooler weather.



also, I'm debating cutting my hair. I colored it a little lighter than normal and I kind of want a shorter length. It seems like it's always in braids or buns because it's too long I don't want to mess with it. and when i wear it curly, it's so hot and out of control. I've never had my hair this long. and I like it....but it's almost too much for me.I like this length. Thoughts?

My Dirty Little Secret

Ok, first of all, don't judge me for what I'm about to say. It's a little weird.
I was watching one of my fave shows, Keeping up with the Kardashians, ( I know half of you stopped reading after I said that, those of you who watch it, keep reading!)
It was the one where Kim and Rob and Scott go to London. And seriously, I was laughing so hard. I want to be friends with....Scott. I'm sorry, I said it! He's so freakin funny sometimes. Don't get me wrong, 75% of the time he's a "deuce lord" as Khloe would say. But when he went to that place to become a Lord, I was seriously like, you are awesome. "Lord dissick in the house!" Am I alone here? Or does anyone else kinda want to be friends with Scott?

Trip to Rexburg!

Our trip to Rexburg was the bomb.com. Not too many people can say that about Rexburg, but we had such a fun time. We didn't do everything on my list that I wanted, but it's all good. We will be making more trips there in the not to distant future. My sister in law Brynne and my future brother in law will be living in Rexburg soon, and we are so dang excited! It will be so much fun having some of Dan's family close. We are already planning Thanksgiving together. I better learn how to cook between now and then;)

So the first thing we did when we got to Rexy was go to our pretzel spot, "We're Twisted". It hasn't changed a bit, and it was so good! Then we went to Matt's graduation, which was awesome. The speakers were so great, and I was actually able to get something out of the talks. At my graduation I was like, let's get this over with and the speakers were super boring. So that was awesome.  

The next day, we helped Matt's mom with a few little projects around the house then hit up the theater to get our Christian Bale fix. MMMMMMM, he is so fine. And that movie is awesome, if you haven't seen it. Go. Even if it's just for the eye candy. That night we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner which is always a good choice. Then around 10, Dan, Matt, and I went and got a snow cone. It was the perfect ending to our trip. I wasn't ready to go home yet. I was loving just relaxing and sleeping and not worrying about kids or anything else. I knew my kids were in good hands, so that made the trip so much more relaxing.

The day after we got back we had some friends come stay with us, the Heaths. They are so much fun. I really didn't know them too well before they came. Dustin and Dan's families are great friends and they grew up together. So it was fun to hear all the stories and get to know them better. Their little girls and Damon became great friends and it was so cute to see them interact. They left today and Damon keeps asking where Libey is. It's so cute how much he just bonded with those girls.

Today we went to the ENT Dr. for Rafe. His tongue has healed nicely. Tomorrow morning we go back for Dan and I to see about taking our tonsils out. I've always get horrible sore throats and so does Dan, so we just want to get them out. And since we haven't almost reached our max out of pocket for the year, we could be getting it done for free. Which is awesome. I scheduled about 4 more Dr. apt's too, so for the next month we have 1 apt every week.  Kind of crazy, but I just want to make sure we are all healthy;)

I'll post some cute pics of the boys later when I get a second!

Where it all began!

Last week was crazy and this week seems to be starting off the same way! That's life with 2 little boys though right;) I love it, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
It seems like when you take a big trip, it takes forever to get back to your routine and get the kids back on their schedules. Not to mention they always pick up sickness about 2 weeks after the trip, so once you think you're getting everything figured out, that hits and you go back a few steps. I think we are over the worst of all our sicknesses and Rafe is feeling better since his tongue was clipped. So it's the perfect time to take another trip, right?!
This time it's just Dan and I, and we are going back to "where it all began!" AKA Rexburg! Not the most exciting place to go, but for us it holds a lot of great memories and takes us back to being the carefree couple we used to be;) Now that we have 2 kids it's harder to feel carefree, but rexburg always brings it back out. And I love that!
Dan's best friend Matt is graduating so we are ditchin the kids at Grandma and papa's and we are flyin solo. I am so excited! I could use a little break to be quite honest. It's only 2 nights, but it's just enough to really really miss my kids and get some time to myself that I have been really needing lately. And some time with Dan which has been sparse lately as well. Here's some stuff we are planning on doing!
1. Going to our preztel place! When we dated, we always went to this cozy little pretzel place and it has been forever since we have been back. Everytime we go to Rexburg we never have time to fit it in! So we are going first thing this time! One of my favorite dating memories with Dan is in that spot. We had only been dating about a week, and I was so in love with him already I could barely see straight. (Cheesy I know, just wait) I started telling my mom and my bff Victoria if we continued to date, we would get married. I just knew he was perfect for me. So anyways, one tuesday we skipped devo and walked to this place for the first time. We got preztels and sat across this little table and talked for like 2 hours. I just remember the way he looked at me made me blush and made me so giddy. He was the only guy I ever dated who made me feel that way. I just remember after that date I could have married him the next day. I love everything about that guy;) and That is one of my all time favorite memories;) Sorry for the mush;) Next!
2. Walk around the campus! I love BYU- Idaho and the campus is so pretty. Walking around there brings back memories of me being on my own for the first time and feeling so grown up and mature. Its changed a lot since i've been there so it's fun to look at all the new stuff.
3. Book Store- I love the book store and all the cool stuff they sell. I always gotta hit that up since I'm officially now an alumni! I gotta get some gear!
4. BYUI Gardens- Dan and I took so many walks in those gardens! They are so beautiful. I remember walking there one night and we were talking about how many people get engaged there, (secretly I always thought that's where he would propose to me...then he said this) "I'll never do that. Everyone does it). I almost cried. hahah I was always waiting for it when we went there. But he did tell me he loved me for the first time in the gardens. And that is another ALL TIME favorite memory with Dan. I told him I loved him too, and that I knew we were going to get married....and he was ok with that;) And then I told him all the names of our future kids...then he got weirded out. Just kidding, that didn't happen;) I'm not THAT weird! I would never actually tell him that, even though I already had names picked out hahaha jk again. But seriously, that was one of the most romantic moments of my life. SO we are def going back there. That happened a little less than 2 months after we met. Crazy, I know.
5. Visit our old makeout spot.....no explantion needed there;) But it's gonna be fun!!
6. Go see Dark Night! I'm soooo excited for this!
7. Eat at Wingers! That's where I used to work as a server and had so much fun! That's where I met Tim, who's dan's brother. He was a little young for me, but he had a brother so I gave him my number;) Thankfully! Best decision I ever made! Even though at the time I was dating someone else, but could see it needed to be over. 3 days after that ended, Dan the Man entered and the real love story started.
Writing all this down makes me so excited to go. I love my kids but 2 nights away will be nice. And they will be in good hands so that always makes it easier to leave them. Another thing I love about going to Rexburg is the car ride with Dan. We've been married for a little over 3 years, but we always have so much to talk about! We "wax philosophical" as Dan says, the whole way there, and the whole way back. I'm so glad I'm married to my best friend.
And I'm excited to see Matty C! He and Dan are like brothers when they are together. And he brings out a different side of Dan that's hard to finds sometimes when he's in husband and daddy mode.
Well sorry this post turned out so much longer and mushier than I was planning;) I hope you all have something fun to do this weekend too! Here's some old pic's of us dating just to really finish this off right;)