To the moms who feel defeated

It's late at night, you finally have a chance to close your eyes after a long day, but instead of sleeping all you can hear are the amount of times you reprimanded your kids, yelled, or said no.

No, don't jump on the couch
No, we aren't going to go outside right now
No, don't hit your brother
No, don't spit
No, don't hit me
No, don't color on the wall
No, no, no, no

You feel defeated. Today was hard. You gave yourself to your babies ten times over and still want to give more, to your husband, to yourself, and then again to your babies in the middle of the night.

The thoughts are endless. What could I have done differently today?
Corrected less? Maybe, if I didn't helicopter parent, I would be less stressed? Maybe if I wasn't so strict? What if I let them do what they want? For me, all of these questions have the same answer,  I am teaching them. These things are important to me, and that is okay if they are not the same importance to another parent, but as a parent you have certain things that you hone in on.

We all have our reasons for the no's we say, for the things we do, for the manners we teach. I'm writing this to say you are not alone in this struggle mommas.

This is hard. This is exhausting. You are giving all of you to these sweet little beings that God choose for you. This is hard...

Don't beat yourself up for these extra tough days, we all have them. There are days that you feel you've found your groove and then the days you struggle all. day. long.

The most important thing to remember is that in those hard days, you are never alone. You are a good mom. You are doing the best you can. You are human! We live in a day and age that the expectations are high, or feel high because of what social media portrays. That makes an already difficult job, that much harder.

So please, don't beat yourself up over those tough days. The days all you can hear in your head at night is the negative, because your babies love you. They love you so much, and what they really need is a parent who loves them back, who takes the time to teach what is important, how to be kind and have values.

You are doing an awesome job. Don't stop teaching what is important to you. Wake up tomorrow refreshed, give extra big hugs and know this season will not last forever, but loving your babies will.

You've got this.

The Twin Bond

Yesterday the boys had an appoint to get a vaccine. I'm always honest with them as far as what will be happening while we are at the doctor, so they were aware they would be getting a shot. I just reminded them to be brave and that it is quick pinch and then it is over. Between the two of them, they decided who would be brave first. It was the sweetest thing to witness, neither one wanted to, but one agreed to go first. There was no fight, it was decided and that was that. Their bond is so incredible...I truly hope it stays this way.

We survived with minimal tears and a lunch trip to Red Robin to get some red balloons with Grammy. Now here's hoping to no reactions and healthy boys!

When Mommy Messes Up

Wow today has flown by, considering I have a head cold and have stayed in the last couple days I thought today would be rough, but these sweet boys of mine surprise me every time. They played so well all morning. I LOVE days like that!

I was able to make some phone calls, get some quotes...blah changing internet carriers is a pain! I was able to do a cute little craft for my friend's son's first birthday and set up Easter egg dying with the boys. Only...we didn't dye the eggs because once I realized the cheap plastic egg I had bought for the purpose of dying (as stated on the label) wouldn't absorb the dye, we painted. This turned out even better! The boys were so happy, and I just loved watching their faces while they were creating.

Their personalities could not be more different. CJ is clean and precise, he didn't want any white on his egg but he also didn't want to get paint all over him. While, Roo is my messy and go with the flow kid. He had paint all over his hands, it was awesome!

We used these Crayola Washable Kids Paint. You can find it here Crayola Kids Washable Paint. This stuff is so awesome. I used it for Christmas crafts this year. Cleaned up easily, goes easily onto surfaces, and mixes well! haha, see below.

Ahhh...so clean and pretty....

Do you see that messy plate in the background? My inner OCD was screaming "don't mix the colors!" But this was the best part, just watching them be creative. They were so stoked!

Our end result 

I wanted to dye eggs but when I realized that I messed up, I had to make due with what we had and the end result was better. As parents, we have these ideals of what we should be doing to keep traditions alive or to keep up with everyone else. I love to craft, but I have a hard time sitting down to craft with the boys. I get easily frustrated because I am a perfectionist, and honestly crafting or baking with kids isn't as fun as it looks sometimes. I am so happy their Easter Egg craft turned out the way it did, I got to watch and they got to be as messy as they wanted. So my "mess up" to keep an egg dying tradition alive turned into a new fun tradition of painting eggs. I'm learning to go roll with the punches ;)