Live Without Pretending {Keeping it Real}

Here in Utah we have a show I love Called Studio 5. I watch it everyday and if I am not home or the kids have taken over the TV with some Chuggington or Mickey Mouse Club house I have it recorded to watch during nap time. It is a really fun show full of great advice, crafts, fashion, beauty tips, organizational tips, and just ways to live better. They have started this new series called Live without pretending for the month of February. You can read more about it HERE but basically it is all about how we are not perfect, how we all live real separate lives, we all have happy moments and we all have struggles, how to live honestly and to be ourselves. This month they are wanting to embrace all those moments and document them through instagram photos using the hashtag #livewithoutpretending. Fun right. Make sure to add your photos each day or multiple times a day using the hashtag and check out others real moments.

Speaking of living without pretending I try to be myself on this blog. I want people to come to here to see my projects, my creations, my own creativity, my experiences as a mom and my very own personality. In fact one of biggest pieces of advice if you are starting a blog or already have a blog is to be yourself. I love to share my creations, crafts, styles and recipes but a goal of mine this month and throughout the rest of the year is along with sharing all the fun tutorials which of course I will still share I am going to share more about being a mom, about my experiences with my two boys and my hubby in law school, and about making our home our own even if we are still renting. I do try to be myself, and I do like to share what is going on with my life, I also like to keep this a positive and uplifting place. I really want my readers to get to know ME and my life, my love for yellow and of course my crafts.

This week has been ONE of those weeks. You know the ones moms. The ones were you feel like you can't control anything. The ones were event though you have some great moments in there, there seem to be a lot more going wrong then normal. Kinda like when it rains it pours. I don't know if it is the experiences I have had this week or the fact that I just haven't seen much of the sun and I am getting major winter blues but it has just been one of those. Here is a bit about my week of living without pretending. The good, the bad, the ugly and the sweet.

This is kinda how my last few weeks have been. Just be nice. Simple enough right?  I have not been in the mood to here the negativity. Positive thinking people! So just like we learned when we were in preschool if you can't say say something nice keep it to your self or like this printable says that I LOVE "If you can't be Kind, be QUIET" beautifully said.

Hubby has been really sick this week and I mean really sick. It started last Friday with a burning fever, but it broke in the middle of the night so we thought we were done with it. Well we were wrong and it just kept getting worse. Fevers and headaches. Ty went into the instacare of Sunday night they did a bunch of tests, Xrays and swabs. They thought he probably just had the flu. Well his strep test from that night came in a couple days later positive and the flu came back negative so then they thought he had strep so he got on the medicine. Yay maybe he will get better we thought.

What do you do when hubby is sick, you are exhausted and you just don't feel like cooking? oh you go get Zupas take out of course. I could eat this every night. So yummy.

Well Wednesday night rolled around. Ty had been on the strep medicine for a while and he just wasn't getting better. I went to young womens, but when I got home Ty was really not doing well. What the heck is going on. His dad took him back to the instacare while I put the boys to bed and they sent him to the ER. I met them there while Ty's mom hung out at our house while the boys slept. They didn't know what was wrong with him but he had a temperature of 105 degrees. Yeah that scared the crap out of me. They did more tests, did the flu test again (this time testing for multiple types of the flu), did a spinal tap (to test for meningitis), blood tests for all sorts of sicknesses and gave him some fluids. The fluids brought down his fever a ton but he still had major headaches.

Me with the mask on to keep it very sterile in the room while he got his painful spinal tap. Thank goodness he doesn't have Meningitis. But it was hard to watch him in pain when he got the tap.

His tests ALL came back negative including brain tumor so that is good. Yikes. So yeah pretty much that means they have no clue what he has. They just think it is some sort of virus. So he is ordered to a ton of rest and tons of fluids and hopefully we will see some improvement. His fevers are not nearly as bad but he still has horrible headaches so we are just making him rest. Prayers please that he will recover quickly. No one else in the house has gotten sick so that is one positive. Stupid winter. I am so ready for the warm weather.  Thank you Dave and Julie with all of your help this week. Thank you for helping me take care of the kids and Ty you were a Huge help.

This picture was taken at 3:00 in the afternoon. Yup the bed is a disaster. I hate not having my bed made but have had such a crazy week I just don't really care this time around.

I LOVE these peanut butter M&Ms and cinnamon hearts. I have eaten at least two bags by myself. Now that is living without pretending right there. Yes I like to exercise and be healthy but I love my treat.  I would like to say those are just for decoration but I truly eat them right up and then just continue to by them to fill the jars back up.

I love myself a clean house and am a bit of a clean freak I go crazy with all this every where. But that being said this is usually how you will find my house looking in the morning and after nap time until bed time. The kids wake up in the morning and after breakfast all the toys come out. Then nap time rolls around and we clean it all up so mommy can enjoy a put together home for just a few hours. I have to have some order to function. I would seriously go crazy leaving it looking like this all day. Then once they wake up from the naps all the toys come back out. and then when they go to bed it is all cleaned up again. Crazy I know but that is how it works around these parts. I am all for the kids being kids and playing but once they are sleeping I get to enjoy the clean, beautiful home for a just a bit.

Maddux loves to be a Doctor. He has been sad that daddy hasn't been feeling good so he gave him a check up last night.

Ok here is another living without pretending for ya. I allow this boy on the Ipad way more then I would like to admit. I feel like a terrible mom but it keeps him entertained and I feel like he does learn a lot from the educational apps. That makes me feel a little bit better. He is so smart though he can navigate this thing like a pro and knows how to do everything by himself. Do you kids know how to use the ipad better than you?

Also with this week not pictured. I had multiple anxiety attacks, a lot of tantrums, and of course aunt flo decided to come around this exact crazy week this month. Love being a girl what can I say. I have been an emotional wreck, cried more than I would like to admit, have had multiple headaches myself, have had a hard time sleeping,  been far less patient with my kids then I would like to admit and I have learned to appreciate all that my hubby helps with. Because when he is sick and I don't have a much help I feel lost. 

It hasn't been all bad. There has also been some great moments and times this week as well. Isn't that crazy that when we just feel like we can't take any more something great happens even if it is just a moment. Like when I get an adorable smile or laugh from my Maddux or Holden it seems to put a smile on my face and make me realize I have a blessed life even among all the headaches and chaos.

Earlier last week I was able to hang out with my siblings for a few days. Ty and I watched them while my mom and dad had a little trip in Vegas just the two of them. It was fun to have them around and Maddux of course loves when they are here. I had fun shopping and chatting with my little sister.

I realized after borrowing my mom's van that I want one. I am such a SUV girl but I want a van. I have officially turned into a mom. Come on who doesn't want themselves a swagger wagon. More room, easy automatic doors, built in DVD players, great in the snow. Yup this is for sure be our next car.

My brother in law and sister in law and their kids were also in town from St. George last weekend so that was fun to have them here so we hung out and played some games with them. Another great dad in the midst of crazy town.

It is a new month so that is good and my calendar this month makes me happy. I love to celebrate LOVE.

Maddux's city he built all by himself and how proud of himself he was makes me very happy.

Crafting, creating and washi tape banners also put a smile on my face this crazy week.

Also on Wednesday before the ER I had a really cool experience with my young women. It was Ne beginnings and the program was beautiful. The theme was Happily Ever After so they all got to wear their beautiful princess dresses and look all fancy. The read a really cool talk by President Uchtdorf you can find it HERE. Cute Jessica earned here young women recognition award and bore you sweet testimony to us that of course made me cry and all the adorable little eleven year old girls that will be our new beehives this year were introduced. I am the beehive advisor and I am so excited to be getting these cute girls in this year. I love my calling.

Another super fun and cool experience I had this week was yesterday. I was contacted by KSL5 and asked if I wanted to be the Blogger of the Week this week. of course I was all giddy and said yes right away. Then I got a little nervous. Then when Ty got super sick I thought I was going to cancel. But Ty really wanted me to do this and was so supportive so while I went into the station for about an hour yesterday Ty's mom came and hung out and played with the boys for me. I was on the KSL 5 noon news and it was a live interview I had never done anything like this before so I think I did pretty good. Next step Studio 5. :)  You can find the Link to my Segment HERE.

On another exciting note M went peepee on the potty 2 times this week. We aren't pushing it yet but we are just trying to get him interested and excited to go on the potty and soon it will be the hard core training Go time. Training tips are greatly appreciated because I have never done this before and well I am quite nervous about it.

Maddux loved watching Me on TV yesterday as soon as I came home he said "mommy you did good on TV" It was so cute then this morning he asked to watch it again and was giggling the whole time. Plus he was excited when they showed a picture of him on the segment. Good thing we had it recorded. It is hard to watch yourself on TV haha I was giggling the whole time too.

No matter how hard or long or crazy a week is Snuggling my boys just always seem to make things perfect for that moment. I am blessed, I have my trials I have my hard times, I have the great times this is me and this is my real life.

I am super excited to be ending the week on a positive uplifting note. I will be going to the Time out for Women tonight and tomorrow with my mom. I am so excited and it will be such a great experience to go with her. I will be sharing with you all everything I learned and what touched my heart from this awesome conference. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. And you enjoyed some of my real mom moments. Don't forget to join in on the Instagram fun using the hashtag #livewithoutpretending I can't wait to see all of your real moments too.

Come back next week to see some more fun Valentine tutorials, and my experiences.

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