an honest heart

Today I write with an honest and open heart.

The months leading up to the Christmas season have been a bit difficult for me. It seemed like things in life for me were just unsettled and flat out difficult. While I was having a more than anticipated difficult time adjusting to 2 kids and staying at home full time we also moved to Ankeny.

I was excited about this move. I tend to like bigger cities, I was looking forward to living by my sister and best friend from college, and I wasn't sure I was quite ready to settle down "for good" in Cedar Falls. However, this transition and move for me was way more challenging than I expected.

The first few months of having Preston around were just plain hard. It seemed like one kid was always in need of a diaper change, I couldn't seem to get them to ever be asleep at the same time, I had forgotten how much a newborn eats and quickly became overwhelmed with the task of nursing, I then got a breast infection which caused nursing to be extremely painful, and things just seemed to be difficult. I felt totally unprepared for the task of 2 children and their demands. I felt like no one told me it was going to be this difficult, and if they did, I didn't believe them. Combine all this with the typical postnatal emotions and you have one hot mess!

Then we moved to Ankeny. My stress level elevated immensely and quite frankly I was just a bit sad. I felt like I didn't have anyone I could really talk to, Jimmy was putting in long hours at the office due to the adjustments surrounding a new job for him, and the days just seemed long.

So, those few months for me were just difficult. I didn't feel like myself, I felt a lot of sadness while I should have been feeling so grateful for our new life, I felt like moving was the wrong decision for our family when I should have been anxious to explore a new place.

So what changed and how are things now? One day I just realized I was being silly - it really is almost as simple as that. I talked to Jimmy about a lot of the feelings I had been holding inside - a lot of which he already knew because he knows me so well - and we just talked about things that we could change to make it better.

And so we have a list. A list of goals, changes, resolutions - whatever you want to call them, that we are focusing on, as a family and individually, in 2013. And I thought I'd share our list of with you.

1. Focus on healthier eating habits by: making a meal plan every week, only plan on eating out 1 meal/week, have a fruit and vegetable with every meal, and no dessert unless it's a special occasion.
2. Do something active as a family at least once a week
3. Find a church home and get involved in at least one way
4. Establish and commit to a better bedtime routine with the kids by: being consistent on the time, being consistent on how they fall asleep, and being consistent on whether or not they come into our bed
5. Go on a date at least once a month
6. Have dinner with Jacinda and Clint (my sister and brother in law) once a week as often as possible
7. Go on a trip without the kids this year
8. Visit Colorado twice this year
For Jimmy:
1. Spend at least 1 full week at the farm during Spring and Harvest season
2. Buy a dirt bike and ride it a few weekends this year with friends
3. Work less - focus on being home at 5pm every day
For Jenna:
1. Join at least 1 club, organization, or group this year
2. Establish a cleaning schedule and ask Jimmy for help
3. Update the bow blog and work on increasing the business
4. Do something fun with the kids at least once a week outside the home

So that's our list. I feel like they are so realistic yet will be such positive changes for us as a family and as individuals. I am beyond blessed to have a husband that recognizes when I am struggling and is there to walk along side me and figure out how to make it better. I also know that it's just me that feels alone, that I am absolutely not alone, never. Aside from the fact that God is always always there for me, I have countless friends and family that I know is there, if I just reach out and ask for their help!

So that's that - an honest post from a very honest place in my heart. It's not always easy for me to admit when I'm struggling but I know that it is so helpful not only for me, but others that may be experiencing some of the same things.

merry and bright

This past weekend we did all things Christmas!

Friday night Jimmy and I left the kiddos with my parents and went to the John Deere Christmas party. Des Moines is the only John Deere branch, that we know of, that still does a holiday party for all the employees at the large level, instead of just leaving it up to the departments. And it was a lot of fun! We dressed up, enjoyed some drinks and an appetizer dinner, and were entertained by a dueling pianos act. We even hit up a local bar with several others for a night cap. We hadn't enjoyed a night out alone since Preston was born so it was long overdue and really nice!

Then Saturday our kitchen was full of sugar, butter, frosting, sprinkles, little hands and lots of help for our Christmas baking. I invited my brother and his family down for the day as well and I love a house full! We made rolo pretzels, dipped pretzels, dipped peppermint oreos, oreo truffles, sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, and caramel popcorn - so yummy! I definitely ate too much and had a stomach ache that night - not use to all those sweets!

The kiddos helped with the sugar cookies and put M&Ms on the pretzels as well as decorated ice cream cones - aka christmas trees - and had lots of fun doing it! I think they all had a little bit of a sugar high by the end of the day.

We ended the night with pizza and a movie where the cousins all cuddled up and fell asleep - sweet memories.

Sunday after everyone left I finished wrapping presents and made sure we have everyone covered - only 1 more gift to buy and we have to get it back "home" so we are good to go. I can't wait to celebrate Christmas here with our kids and then head back and spend a good bit of time with our families as well. And it sounds like we should have a white Christmas after all as snow is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow! Now we all know I don't love cold weather but I do love how pretty the snow looks and really love a white Christmas - it just makes it feel more festive!

The last thing on our Christmas to do list is to bring the kiddos to see Santa and we are doing that tonight at the local Bass Pro with my sister and her little one - I'll post those pictures tomorrow!

I hope you are enjoying this sweet Christmas time, enjoying traditions at your home, enjoying buying and/or making gifts for your loved ones, and most importantly have time to reflect on the incredible reason for the season - Jesus' birthday and what that means to us! 

3 months

Mr Preston turned 3 months this past week and once again time is simply passing too quickly!

Our little man is such a happy happy baby. He continues to be a laid back happy little guy that loves you to just look at him and smiles, smiles, smiles. He is cooing and laughing and brings us such joy.

He is growing like a weed - I don't have a weight or length for his month but I know he is continuing to grow. He is now in 3-6M and 6M clothes. He eats every 3 hours or so and gets about half breast milk and half formula. He continues to be quite gassy and spits up after almost every feeding. He hasn't lost much, if any of his hair, but still has more on the sides than on the top:) We chuckle at his hair because it kind of makes him look like a little old man - a cute little old man at that!

Other new things this month - he sucks his hands, he holds on to blankets and is starting to reach for toys. He recognizes voices and people from across the room now and it melts my heart when he hears it and just smiles.

James Preston -
You bring much joy to our family little man. It's so hard to imagine our lives without you already. Your little smile and coo's make my day and I enjoy spending all my days with you and your big sister. May you always always know how much you are loved and cherished by us.
We love you!

And as you can see he's already getting hard to get a picture of sitting still!

christmas is coming

I cannot believe Christmas is right around the corner. I absolutely love this time of year and am finding that with little kiddos it's even better! Lily is more active and understands way more this year than she did last year and it's so much fun. I am also quickly realizing how important it is to set and stick to a Christmas budget as I've found buying presents for Lily to be way too much fun - I'm just so excited for her :)

This last week we have been decorating for Christmas, getting my shopping list sorted out for what and who we still need to buy gifts for, yesterday we put up the Christmas tree, and I am hopeful that today we will get up the outside lights - even though it's snowing and cold outside and we should have done it weeks back when it was nice out!

We don't have any big Christmas plans this year other than spending plenty of time with our families. John Deere gets a nice week and a half break so we don't have to feel rushed with getting back "home" yet getting some things done around here as well. We are incredibly lucky to have our families live close enough together that we can feasibly do both during the holidays without too much travel.

We also have a few Christmas parties we are looking forward to in the coming weeks. Des Moines John Deere has a party that should be lots of fun with many old and new co-workers for both Jimmy and I. My parents are planning to come down and the watch the kiddos while we enjoy the night out for that one. And then the builders that built our house and majority of the homes in our neighborhood have an upcoming Christmas party as well.

We plan to do our Christmas baking next weekend too - a few of our favorites are frosted sugar cookies (of course!), rolo pretzels, dipped pretzels, and peanut blossoms. We may have to look on pinterest for some inspiration on a few more.

So that's what we've been up to lately - aside from the ongoing house list on what it takes to get settled. I am anxiously awaiting Christmas with my little family of 4 as well as our families back "home"!

By the way I am writing this post this morning as I sit in our living room with a cup of coffee listening to my littlest baby coo and smile at me as snow is falling outside - love it - how blessed we are!

paisley grace schipper

On Sunday morning at 7:29am my sister Jacinda and brother in law Clint welcomed their sweet baby girl into this world. Paisley Grace Schipper.

We were able to go see them at the hospital on Sunday night as a family and then I spent a few hours at the hospital yesterday morning while my mom stayed with my kiddos.

She is just a doll - so much dark hair, her mommy's nose and dimples, and daddy's dark skin.

Babies are such blessings. Every time a child is born it truly is a miracle and we are so thrilled that she arrived safely and healthy - both her and mama!

I can't wait for my sister to experience motherhood and I'm incredibly thankful that we live so close that we will be here to watch little Paisley grow.

We love you Paisley Grace and we look forward to all the fun memories ahead!

more space

Turns out I'm at my maximum storage capacity on this blog and can't add any more pictures until I do something about it.

Looks like I'll be making a book out of my blog posts sooner than I planned. Until then, enjoy my posts with no pictures :)

Any tips on making a blog book from anyone that's done it before?

a house full

This Thanksgiving was a bit unconventional for our family as my sister was due to have her first baby any day which meant she couldn't travel. So we hosted Thanksgiving at our new home and it was a house full. A house full of 6 little ones 6 and under equals lots if playing, laughter, some fights :), lots of food, football, wii playing, movies, and most importantly lots of love! Our house was definitely full as there were 16 of us total and I'll admit I got a little sick of cooking and washing dishes! but as soon as everyone left I immediately missed the chaos!

The fun began on Wednesday when my sister, brother in law, and 2 nephews rolled into town about 5am after driving from Denver, CO through the night. After a little sleeping and breakfast we headed out to enjoy one of the last days of warm weather for awhile at our neighborhood park. We stayed until around lunch time then headed home for lunch and naps. After naps we loaded up and hit the road to spend the next day at my parents and the Grover's. Wednesday night was spent at my parents with the Davis clan and then Thursday morning we headed over to the Grover's for the day.

Thursday we enjoyed a yummy Thanksgiving meal with Jimmy's family at his grandparents and then enjoyed a movie night at the Grover's with his siblings. Then Friday morning it was back to our place to meet up with the Davis clan again.

Friday we spent the afternoon playing games, playing with toys, playing the wii, and just enjoy eachother's company. Us ladies may have done just a little shopping too! We do Black Friday shopping in the middle of the night/early morning every year. However, with my sister being so pregnant and several stores opening Thanksgiving night, which we chose not to support, we ended up hitting up just a few stores later in the afternoon and guess what, we still got almost everything we were after! Friday night we broke in our mini bar, aka snack and popcorn station, and the basement with a family movie.

Then Saturday was a day of decorating sugar cookies for Christmas, more playing for the kiddos, and then everyone hitting the road after lunch. Saturday also became very exciting as my sister started having contractions just hours after everyone left. While we were so excited my sister from Denver was of course so bummed that she missed meeting her niece by just a few hours! 

So the rest of Saturday Jimmy and I took a much needed nap with the kiddos, did some cleaning, and he made a little more progress on his garage organization project before we had to hit the road yet again for another Grover Thanksgiving back North!

Sunday morning we joined the other side of the Grover family for a combined Thanksgiving and Christmas lunch and afternoon that they do every year. However, we cut the trip short as we had a new niece to hurry back and meet! Which that deserves it's own post so that will be next!

Overall things went so well and we enjoyed having everyone at our house so much. Yes it's a lot of work but it's incredibly worth it and we are just so thankful for the time we have together as a family! As our families grow it gets harder and harder to see eachother throughout the year so the holidays are always extra special when we are all together! 

Pictures to come....I'm having issues load them for some reason.