rainy day + parenting

Ok so just so you get a small glimpse of my life lately: For the past 5 weeks I've had my own two kids plus my neice and my nephew while my sister is temporarily back at work. So yes that means I have a 3 year old, 2 1/2 year old, 1 1/2 year old, and 6 1/2 month old Pax. Yup..that's right..4 under 3. Needless to say I've been living a faster paced life than I'm used to.

Up until today it was okay. We have had great days playing together. We've had rougher days filled with time-outs and tears. But nothing prepared me for today. Both of my boys were still sleeping when the other two arrived. I had already been able to consume my breakfast, read blogs and take a few breaths all by myself. With optimisim I had researched different toddler-friendly activities we could do today.

We began with a fun time building a fort with chairs and blankets in the living room. I had told them to choose one toy each to play with in the fort while I nursed Paxton. Enter the madness. As I was nursing they began to put every toy we own in that fort. After a few attempts to get them to put some back...I just said, " whatever you put in the tent you will have to put back on the toy shelf."

Around 10:30am I told them we could have a snack in the tent. What a treat, eh?!?! But due to the tremendous amount of toys filling up the tent, there was no room for the kids nevermind me and a snack. Alright, let's clean up. Nothin'. No one moved. I attempted with various methods to motivate them to clean up the toys. It took one hour and 45 minutes to clean up the toys. That time was filled with screams, tears, meltdowns. And then there was the kids!

When Jason walked in the door for lunch I was tempted to run out and take an hour for myself. Jason asked why I didn't just put on the tv. Ugh! Doesn't he understand that I'm trying to parent without that thing! Of course its easy to plop kids in front of the tv and watch them get sucked in. Now before anyone gets upset or offended, they do get to watch tv and enough of it. But I don't want it to be something I use when I don't want to play or parent. Its a privilege.

After lunch we played for a bit...then I caved. I put Toy Story on. I figured I would have a few minutes to prep supper and cuddle my sick baby. Nope. Today not even the tv could save us. They argued, wrestled, pushed, and cried some more.

I put on a pot of coffee and dreamed of the moment that I would taste the first sip. Now and hour and a half later...all four are sleeping soundly in their beds and I am enjoying my well-deserved coffee.
I love them all. I do. We just have bad days. Monday will be better. It has to be. We reached the bottom. Its only up from here.

time flies

Sometimes I still feel phantom baby kicks. Crazy..since my baby is 6 months old as of March 3. How can six months go by so quickly. I'm in love with this kid. He is one of the happiest baby I've ever met...with just an edge of a temper. Pax's hair sticks up all the time. His big brother "tickles" him as evidenced by the gash on his cheek.
He's a big guy..not chubby but long and lean. He is wearing mostly 9-12 month clothes. At his immunization appointment, he weighs 17lbs, is 27" long and has a head circumference of 42 cm. So pretty much has the body shape of his father. But the eyes of his momma!
His smile turns my heart inside out.
He can sit up on his own and as of this morning can roll over...finally!
Since I'm still nursing, his bedtime routine is all about me.(Daddy puts Cohen to bed!) I'm getting into the habit of praying over him as he falls asleep. I've always known this is important but never felt I knew the "right" way to pray like that for Cohen. After hearing a visiting pastor to our church in the fall...I finally just started. His advice was "Want to know how to pray?...Just do it!" It never seemed so simple before.
I don't need fancy words or anything. I just talk to God and voice my desires for my little baby.
Its not hard..once I let go of myself. No one is judging me. I'm just a mom praying for her child.
Oh Pax...I do love you. Every day I sing "L.O.V.E." to him and he smiles for miles!

I hope the next 6months will go by a tad bit slower than the first! I'm so not ready for him to be 1!

Welcome...

Welcome to my new world! I have been blogging (if you can call it that!) at tamzamerica.blogspot.com for a few years. I've wanted to change names for awhile to something that more represented me and what I wanted to talk about. 


It took me for sure a year to come up with a blog name that I liked. It may not be super awesome but when I thought of it..it just seemed perfect for me.
I don't necessarily have a theme or catergory that I would classify this blog as...its about me and the things I like. 


A blog about me...to me that's the purpose of blogging. A personal blog..yup that sounds right. 


My name is Tamara. This is my blog. I wear many hats: woman, wife, mother, crocheter, sewer, aunt, daughter, sister, trainer, instructor. I strive for balance in life. I aim to live a healthy life. 


My journey is headed to eternity in Heaven. My job here on earth is to give glory to God in everything I do. I've lived a life so far wasting time. I want to fulfill the purpose God has given to me. 


I have one husband, Jason, and two sons, Cohen and Paxton. I like our little family. (Secretly...I like having two kids...but I don't have a little girl yet!)
My job (besides raising my boys) is a personal trainer/fitness instructor. I love to help others achieve their health goals and improve their self-esteem.


This blog is a work in progress. I hope to have a shop open soon with crochet accessories. I promise to blog when I have something to blog about and not fill it up with posts about nothing (huge pet peeve!)
Thanks for reading and hope you stick around:)