He knows it...

Isaac knows he is giving me a run for my money lately.  If you couldn't pick up on it in earlier posts, he is kinda going through that 3 year old phase/metamorphisis into well...a well established THREE year old.  For some it's the terrible two's.  Not us...it's the torturious 3's!  And just as much as he knows how to be naughty he knows how to turn on the charm.  And what a charmer he is...

 cute face

 happy face

 sad face

scary face (more like chimpmunk face)

Always Eating...

Sometimes it feels like I am always preparing or cleaning up food and the subsequent messes that occur.  I dream of kitchens, the heart of a house, and try to envision what my dream kitchen would look like.  Especially since I spend so much time it seems in there.  There are a lot of things on my "wish list" but one thing I know for sure.  I want it to be a place where my family can gather.  Where we can talk, do homework, share secrets, and laugh.  Make homemade cookies, pizza, bread, etc.  Who knows if I'll ever get my "dream" kitchen, but at least I have these guys.

They're Mine...

There are times where I feel like I was very "misguided" or "hoodwinked" about this whole thing we loving call motherhood.  I mean, (deep breath) this is hard stuff.  It's not for the selfish, weak, easily tired, type of people.  There are no sick days, and the benefits at time seem nonexistent.  So I find myself at times thinking, "why do I do this?"  And even more sick and twisted, why would I want to do it again?  (not a announcement).  BUT, at the end of the day...when they are all fast ASLEEP (that is the key part here), I find myself looking at them with an overwhelming amount of love.  I do it all because they are mine, and I love them to pieces I tell ya'.  Some moments are not so sweet, and right now it seems like those sweet moments don't happen near enough.  But they are young, very young.  And right now I feel like it's all about enduring.  Some days are harder than others.  But I am lucky.  And on these good days I need to remind myself that.  I'm not a perfect mother, but I am trying.  And I love them very much (despite the hitting, crying, talking back, irrational tantrums, potty accidents, and general chaos)!!!

Grandma & Grandpa Fluhman Visit TX

We LOVE visitors, especially Grandma and Grandpa!  We picked them up on Monday (after Christmas) and reluctantly returned them to the airport on Friday.  As we drove away from the airport waving goodbye (and crying) Isaac yells out, "Don't leave me, Grandma!".  It nearly broke my heart.  It's hard to say goodbye after a week of being spoiled...eating out, buying presents, watching Bowl games, and getting Grandma & Grandpa's undivided attention.  We ALL look forward to Grandma & Grandpa's visits!!

Grandma & Grandpa loved Texas.  And who wouldn't, great BBQ, warm winter weather (no snow or ice), no inversion, and best of all...these cute kids!  Pretty sure Texas has a lot to offer for G & G.

Come back soon, we love you Grandma & Grandpa!

1.1.11

Last night as I laid in bed I thought back about 2010.  A lot of changes happened for our little family this year.  For journal purposes I thought I should record some of the "bigger" things that happened to us in 2010.

January:  We finally were back in Des Moines as an entire family.  After experiencing many months apart and living with parents (which was SO fun & such a blessing), it was nice to be back in our own frozen over tiny house.  Ben turned to big 3-0!   Old man.

February:  Not a whole lot except anticipating match day in March.

March:  MATCH DAY, big trials, and finally realizing we were moving to Temple, Texas.

April:  Found a home to rent in Temple...very excited.  Took a trip down to see some of the church history sites in MO. I turned 25 29 and Spencer turned the big 1!!!

May:  After 4 years of lots of hard work and many tests, Ben graduated DMU, and became Dr. Fluhman, DPM.  Ben's folks came out and celebrated with us.  We also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.

June:  We finished packing, cleaning, and CRYING and with much sorrow/excitement/anxiety drove away from Des Moines (home) and headed out on a new adventure in Texas.  17 hours later we arrived in Temple.  Natali turned 5.

July:  Ben started residency at Scott & White.  My mom came out to visit.  We discovered some tasty Texas BBQ and what the true meaning of HEAT meant!  We got our house set up as our home, and felt pretty homesick for friends and all things familiar.

August:  Still adjusting to Texas.  Slowly figuring our way around and starting to feel "apart" of things.  Natali started school, kindergarten.  We were blessed to get an AMAZING teacher for her.  It helped ease the transition for me.  Isaac turned 3!

September:  Getting into the swing of life in Texas.  Pretty sure we visited every splash pad in the area multiple times and did a lot of swimming.  Drove to Round Rock/Austin and discovered where the shopping really was (and Costco).  Ben trying to survive the first few months of residency.

October:  Ben's sister Liz came out to visit us with her baby. It was so fun to have family here and to show someone our new place we call home.

November:  Busy with school, kid biz, preschool, playgroup, church callings, etc. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with some families here and did some SERIOUS black Friday shopping with Shauni!

December:  Enjoyed doing our first activity/advent calendar.  Drove through the lights at BLORA.  Took Natali to A LOT of holiday performances for Kid Biz.  Natali & I went to the Nutcracker on a mommy daughter date.  Spent Christmas Eve down in Austin with my Aunt & Uncle.  Had our very first Christmas at home.  It was surprisingly really nice.  Grandma & Grandpa Fluhman came down two days later and spent the week spoiling us.  It was a perfect visit!

Looking back the year had it's ups and downs (like getting riped off from our movers, Budget Van Lines ).  Overall the year was wonderful.  We reached some huge accomplishments and embarked on some new adventures.  There were a lot of tears shed this year it seems.  There were also a lot of blessings poured out on us this year as well.  We have been blessed.  It's always very overwhelming to realize how blessed we are at times.  It's easy to complain and get caught up in meaningless things/aspects of life.  I have a wonderful husband, 3 beautiful kids, a warm home, food on the table, and the knowledge of the gospel.  Here's to a great 2010, and wishing for happy 2011!!!

Christmas 2010

It was our first year staying home for Christmas and I was pretty worried about it.  But it was really nice. Not dealing with traveling and pre-opening gifts was kind of nice.  Especially once kids started getting sick with things like strep & double ear infections.  Although, for the record we did miss the family events and playing with cousins.

Christmas eve we went down to Austin to celebrate with the King family.  The kids dressed up and acted out the nativity, we read The Night Before Christmas, enjoyed music, and ate great food.  We returned home and let the kids open one present.  I made matching pajama bottoms for the boys and had saved some Christmas jammies for Natali from last year.  They LOVED it.  Then we listened to a book Grandma  Gerry sent about the First Christmas. 

The kids slept in till 8!  Every year Ben and I wonder how more years we have of them sleeping in like this.  It was nice.  The kids were EXCITED!!

I love the boys in matching jammies.  The kids checking out their stockings full of goodies and surprises.  Thankfully Santa ate his cookies, drank his milk, and gave some of the carrots to the reindeer. 

Before the whirlwind hit. 

My ever sweet baby Spencer who is getting big too fast!  He loved all the festivities. 

Natali enjoying her Princess Barbies (Isaac might have been a little more excited) 

He was all smiles about his new trike. 

Daddy helping Isaac getting things set up. 

I braved doing a Christmas dinner at the house.  It was so fun to finally use my Christmas dishes and use Grandma Chase's English crystal.  We had turkey & ham (per Ben's request).  We did our traditional brined turkey.  Third year running.  It was so nice to be at home have a few families come and celebrate with us.  It was such a nice Christmas.  It helped to know that Ben's folks were coming on Monday.  We knew family would be here  soon.  It's soon fun doing Christmas with the kids.  They have such excitement for all things fun and festive!  Merry Christmas.

Zoo Day

On the Thursday before Christmas the kids (minus Spencer with his double ear infection) headed up to Waco with Shauni & her kids to go spend a few hours at the zoo.  (yep...you can do that in the middle of December when you live in places that don't ICE OVER).  It was a great outing.  The kids ceased their holiday whinning, epounded large amounts of energy, and saw the animals roaming about.

Some of the cutest butterflies ever!

Isaac was very concerned about the proximity of the bear in the background.  None of us were really convinvced that the two meager strands of barbed wire and mini ditch offered much protection.  Thanks Shauni for a great outing!  We had a LOVED it.

Somedays...

I think I can't take anymore whinning, tattle telling, screaming, running, slamming doors, etc.  And other days these three are each others best friends.  This day  in particular they insisted on holding each others hands, walking around the house, and playing.  My sanity needs more of these types of days!

 I can't get enough of these sweet moments!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

2010

Ben, Rebecca, Natali, Isaac, & Spencer

Podiatry Cheese Balls

Every year the podiatry department has a annual Christmas Party.  We were able to get a great couple in our ward to come over and babysit our kids so we could go out and enjoy some adult conversation.  It was nice.  Not as fancy as I had hoped for, but it was break from being home and my normal tasks, so I enjoyed it.  The real nice part was that I was finally able to meet some many of these people that I hear my husband talk about.  I enjoy being able to now assoicate a face to the stories I hear.

All the residents, minus one.

(Front: Colby, Jason, Ben, Dale, Stacey)

(Back : Lou, Dan, John, Tyler) missing Lacey

At this party there was a white elephant gift exchange.  I won't confess what we brought, it was pretty lame.  We left with one of those GIANT tubs of Cheesy Balls from Sam's Club.  Guess who LOVES cheesy balls!  He was a mess when he was done, but it was so funny to watch him eat and keep asking for MORE.   Man he sure is cute right now.  He is saying more, car, shoes, and thank you.  Gosh I love his little face!

Kid Biz

This Fall Natali particpated in a fun singing group called Kid Biz.  They met once a week to practice, and would do performances around the community on the weekends.  She loved it. And I loved seeing her perform.  

Her last performance was at the train station.  I took Isaac along so he could enjoy the trains!  And he did.  They could even climb in and explore the engine.

December Happenings

Not that anyone else has noticed, but I realized it has been awhile since I have posted about anything.  We haven't been overly busy, but just enjoying holidays and the fun activities that come with it.  We started the month by attending the annual Temple Christmas Parade.  There were lights, fire trucks, a lot of random cars with people waving, and eventually Santa (and the Jazzersise ladies)!!!.  The kids snuggled under blankets and sipped hot chocolate and ate cookies courtsey of Frosts.

We've been enjoying doing our daily adevent calendar which has different holiday activites for us to do each day.  We've made Christmas cards, baked and delivered cookies, driven through Christmas lights, etc.  This particular day the activity was taking silly pictures in our Santa hats.

(Isaac didn't quite get the idea)

We attended the ward Christmas party.  I was aked to participate in a group of girls that played bell chimes as prelude music.  I know what your thinking....and yes it was as awesome as you imagine.  And no, you can't ask my husband...because he wasn't there to see me!  Sad, I know!

Natali asked for shoes with "springs" for the 2nd year in a row, and Isaac asked for Cinderella.  I quickly interupted and reminded them they wanted Pillow Pets.  Let's make sure we give Santa the correct requets, right!?!  

Natali and I had a mommy daughter date.  We ate at Golden Coral, she had won a free meal there from school and requested that we go.  After, we headed over to watch the Nutcracker perfromed by a local ballet school.  Natali thought it was AWESOME!  It was general seating and she picked our seats, right in the front row.  She waved to all the girls, and I thought several times that she was going to run on the stage herself.  She thought the part when it "snowed" was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

We've had fun starting some fun traditions of our own down here in Texas.  I've been asked if I miss the the snow during the holidays, and the answer is..."NO"!  I love that we are out and about in December and still enjoying morning walks and afternoons at the park!  

Kids

My Little Monkeys ...

...I sure love em'.

Family Picture

2010

Got our family pictures back.  LOVE how they turned out.  Hopefully at least one of them will be gracing our Christmas cards this year. (pretty sure it's impossible for ALL of us to be looking at the camera at the SAME time) This picture will not however be making the cut.  Although, it's a pretty accurate depiction of who runs this house now a-days.  I'd like to say it was me...but who am I kidding.  The day I brought Natali into this world also marked the end of my reign as ruler!  All hail mighty Spencer.  (expect Isaac...apparently he's plotting and revolt)

Thanksgiving

I have no pictures of any of us on Thanksgiving, just the crafts that contributed to our gathering and feasting.  This year we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with great friends, fabulous food, football, and the all important black friday shopping!

The company was wonderful.  One of the many perks about being in Texas (besides the wonderful weather during this time of year) is getting to be here with friends.  Serioulsy we are pretty lucky.  We all contributed to the meal and I have to say it was pretty AMAZING.  The nice thing about splitting it up was that all of us brought something, so no one felt totally overwhelmed.



Shauni made it all look professional with her table settings, and I contributed my knock of Pottery Barn mayflower name plates.  Not to shabby.

Earlier we made these cute little turkeys to go on the kids plates.  They didn't last long.  And I also brought along my "pumpkin turkey" to use as the center piece for the kids table.

It always amazes me how much organization and prep work goes into pulling of an event like this, and how insanely quick it all seems to be over.  But despite the fact that we are both over 24 hours + away from our families, it was a nice day.  It actually got chilly which helped with the holiday feeling.  Shopping was fun, and eating left over pie even better (just kidding, nothing is funner than shopping).

I am grateful for so many things.  Health, family, a residency program, and most important the gospel.  It's what helps to keep everything in perspective and keep me on the right track.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Black Friday

I went. I saw.  I was in bed at 6 am.  It was AWESOME.  Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like standing in cold lines outside and plowing down your fellow neighbor.  Bring it!!!  Happy shopping.

SNL Black Friday

Don't Be Fooled

Don't be fooled by those sweet kissable cheeks and that "oh so sweet" smile.  Today Spencer morphed into a Sunday MONSTER!  It was one of those days that makes you swear that you will NEVER have another baby...ever!  That kind of day when you wonder why on earth you even try to go to church with multiple small children.  That kind of day when you finally surrender the white flag (because the child is crying so hard you are pretty sure he is about to make himself throw up), and one parent takes the MONSTER child home for a nap out of pure respect for the nursery workers.

Thankfully post nap he was slightly better.  Half MONSTER, half sweet Spencer.  Whenever I asked for kisses I got a nice whack to the face.  He launched his fork off the table repeatedly all while crying until I gave it back.  He cried while Ben was on the floor trying to play with him and every time I changed his diaper (what a mean mom)!  What's the deal...maybe there are more teeth coming in.  I swear that boy has been teething for MONTHS I tell ya!

Hallaluejah for bedtime, and rest for both MONSTER Spencer and mom!  Hope tomorrow is a better, monster free day! :)

Final Halloween Picture

At our ward Halloween Carnival they had a photo area set up.  I'm so glad they did.  We actually got a family picture.  We're not all looking in the camera, but hey, it's better than nothing.

(and for the record I am NOT a Ute fan...it's a Steve Young 49er's jersey...I wouldn't want any confusion)

Guess Who...

It's MUSCLE MAN!  Cute Spencer Chase really got into the Halloween spirit this year.  He LOVED dressing up and while "trunk or treating"  he kept sticking out his hand waitinf for people to put candy in it.  It was TOO cute.

Spencer also hit the 18 month mark this last week.  Big KID!  He went in for his check up.
Stats...Height: 30.7 inches & Weight: 24 lbs (I think the doc said 25%)   ...that's teeny for Fluhman babies...

Spencer finally decided to walk at around 17 months.  He is still a little wabbly, but enjoying his new found mobility.  FINALLY!  Thank you Spencer.