Me and You....

I remember 8 years ago meeting a young boy that would forever change my life. That young boy became my husband 2 years later on May 28th 2005! I never would have imagined on that day six years ago, as I stood there saying I Do...How much God would bring to our lives together! I remember thinking I knew my husband from the inside out, little did I know. See, I believe you can not really know someone until you go through the good, the bad and all the in betweens together. I think we still learn each other more with each passing day. I also believe that our dedication to each other and respect for each other has grown a million times over! I love this man so much more than I did the day that I married him, and I am so thankful for  our life together.
In eight years together and six years of marriage, we have gone through A LOT..I mean A LOT! Anyone that knows us and has been around our life together from the beginning knows that is the truth. In the first few months of our relationship, we went through things that could have most definitely tore us apart and most thought that they would. However, we used it to strengthen our relationship and in that time grew even more in love. 2003 was a hard year and it is still fresh in my memory the things we had to go through, but we are better for the mistakes we made! God used it to help us grow. Flash forward to a few years later, we became husband and wife. I'm not even going to lie, the first few months of our marriage was tough. Although we had been together two years and lived together for those two years, the title of marriage, quickly intimidated me. It was a learning process and we hit some stumbling blocks that we had to climb through, and again God used this time to teach us and help us grow and strengthen our bond. Then came July 15th 2006....We became parents and it was a whole new world!! Full of learning, and exhaustion and fun! From 2006 to 2011 we went from a family of two to a family of SIX, with 4 kids under five!! Enough stress, busyness, exhaustion, and chaos to shake even the strongest marriage. Add to that deaths of some family members and friends, my family moving to Nevada and leaving me for the first time to fend completely for myself and turn to my husband and get over turning to them, job losses for both Jasper and I that has caused interesting and difficult financial issues over the last 3 years, and well it's a lot! HOWEVER, I find that our marriage is stronger than ever and growing stronger by the day. The main reason for that was Jasper and I both turning to God and finding faith together. We learned that God will never leave us alone, we just have to have faith in Him every single day and trust in Him alone to pull us through each situation or tragedy or struggle we are faced with.
Our marriage is far from a yellow brick road. We still have the same petty arguments as other couples, the difference is, we push through. We get it out, we move on and we recenter our marriage. I know without a doubt in my mind, that God created Jasper and I for each other, and we will spend all our days on this earth navigating this thing we call life, together! He is the other half of me and I could never put into words how much I love him.
So, Jasper Adam Warren....Just know, I love you way more than I ever show you. There is no one I would rather go through this crazy, beautiful and chaotic life with than you! Thank you for loving me at my best, my worst, and all of the times in between. Thank you for always forgiving my flaws and embracing the good in me. You are an amazing man and my life is full because God gave me you! Here is to a million more anniversaries! I love you babe!
                                                 Love, Your Princess Buttercup;))))

May 28th 2005

                                               2006 Centex Homes Christmas Party

                                                              May 2007

A day I will store in my memory forever!

So, Peyton's last day of preschool and graduation has come and gone....It was tough! SO TOUGH! Jasper thinks it's funny that it makes me this sad but I...well I just plain don't like the feeling of unfamiliarity. I know, I know, I better get used to it. This is the first of MANY new chapters and experiences we will go through. It's just hard watching your babies grow up in the blink of an eye....It goes WAY too fast! Dropping her off for the last time was one of the saddest feelings I have had as a mom so far. We were a few minutes early so we were sitting in the car together just me and her, watching the rain. I thought back to her very first day at Joyful Noise, September 2009, just 2 weeks after Jordyn was born. I was a mom of 3, trying to get the hang of things, and suddenly was the mom of a preschooler. It was as new to me as it was to her. Then as we walked in yesterday, there was no first name to find, or last name, phone number or address....The reality sunk in that this chapter was over. I lingered a minute or two longer than I usually do, and watched my sweet girl pick her station as she had every other day, and realized this was the last time she would be a student here. I drove home with a heavy heart as Joyful Noise has been one of the biggest stepping stones in Peyton's life thus far.
She did great at graduation and looked like a beautiful angel standing there, and I reminded myself that in the blink of an eye, she will be standing there graduating high school. Today when we finally had quiet time that her and I could sit and go through and talk about the whole box(Portfolio) she was given to give us, it was amazing. To see the projects, the pictures, everything that she has done and grown through this year. Amazing! Then towards the end....That same old sign in packet with he name, phone number and address was in the portfolio and I realized, my daughter would never point out her name or address, etc. at Joyful Noise Nursery School. She is more than ready for kindergarten, however she tells me she doesn't want to go. She wants to stay at her preschool.:( I remind her that we have many years of her wonderful teachers in our lives, as they will be teaching all 3 of our other children and she will get to visit them! That made it a little better....Well that in the fact that she got pizza and cake to celebrate!!
So, here we go.....Life with a kindergartner will start this fall!

Peyton and the amazing Mrs Davis!! The other woman that has had as much of an impact on my sweet girl as me! I'm slightly jealous of her love for Mrs. Davis to be honest!;)

Peyton and Mrs Henderson!

Mrs Graham, one of Peyton's BFF Helen, Mrs Davis and Peyton

She's gonna miss this lady:)

                    An OH SO CHAOTIC family picture before heading to graduation.

                                          Preschool grads heading to the stage...

                                                Hugs from Mrs. Davis:)

Singing the song "See Me Beautiful" I will remember her sweet little face singing it forever!

Miss Katherine, Helen and Peyton with Mrs. Davis. Enjoying some cookies and lemonade!

Out with the old and in with the new! As hard as it is to move to new chapters, I am reminding myself to embrace it! I can't dwell or miss one phase because in the time I am missing it, I am missing another phase go by! I wish I could slow time down, but the fact is, I can't...So, I am going to do my best to embrace it ALL. The good, the bad, the exhausting, ALL of it! I love my family so much it hurts and I want Peyton to know each day, that she is LOVED to the extreme! I can't wait to watch her further spread her wings and grow! I believe, she is destined for greatnesss! Or, to be a Donkey! (That was what she told her teachers she wished she could be!;))

Sanity Saver of the week

One of my FAVORITES in the days before owning a daycare...When I was a stay at home mom and not running a daycare I did NOT get out of bed until my kids did!;) (I love sleep which is not good because I get very little of it these days) Anyways, I always found it impossible to shower, do my hair and get makeup on before the kids were up. (My hair takes over 30 minutes to dry...It's insane thick and I pretty much despise it) So I typically would do my hair first and then have NO time to put makeup on, and lets just say, I needed the makeup. I also heard a lot of other moms with this same dilemma. I promised myself when I had kids, I would still do the best I could to take care of ME (easier said then done with 4 kids under 5;))So, I quickly learned a new method. I would get ready the best I could, load the kids up in the car and sit in my driveway to put my makeup on. If you have a long makeup routine it wont work well, however most moms I know have perfected a quick 5-10 minute makeup routine when need be!;) It works great because everyone is confined, happily reading a book, watching a dvd or listening to music, and I get the great light to put my makeup on.:) Now a days, I open a daycare up at 6:30am so I am up before the sun, in the old days though, this was a lifesaver! Funny thing is, half the time when I loaded them up, I had nowhere to be at that time, just felt like calming them and getting ready in peace, so we would make a trip for mommy to get a coffee!:)
So there you have it, a simple way to look pretty and know your kids are not getting into trouble in the other end of the house while you do it!:)

My biggest best friend....

I can barely believe I am writing this post right now....Partly because I have a MILLION things left to do tonight and my husband just looked at me like "you are blogging right now"? Any person that blogs knows that when you need to blog, you blog!;)  This is a hard post for me, probably THE hardest!
I remember years ago when Jasper and I started our life together and we would see a friend that had a kindergartner, I would think, wow they have a kid THAT old....Well, the time has come for us....My sweet little angel baby Peyton is graduating Preschool tomorrow and to say I am not handling it well would be an understatement. I think Jasper thinks I am just cranky, but in reality I know it is because of this. I know that this is incomparable, but I remember the day I turned 18 and the day I moved out of my parents house like it was yesterday. I remember being so happy and so excited but my mom was NOT! She seemed sad or even mad or hurt maybe. At the time I was so young, naive and selfish that I couldn't quite understand and instead got over it and worried about my own life....Now I get it! My baby is moving on to a new chapter and although I should be happy, I feel a little empty and sad. Let me explain a little better....
The day I gave birth to Peyton was the most amazing, fantastic, terrifying day ever. I was actually just recapping with a great friend the other day about how when she was first born I didn't get that immediate motherly oh my gosh give me my baby feeling. I was a little terrified actually and couldn't believe I was being trusted to raise this baby. I mean I had been a babysitter, a nanny, an aunt but a mom? That was a whole new ballgame. That morning after the doctors did all their checks and bathed her, they brought her to me...I was still nervous, in fact, Jasper changed her first diaper with the help of his brother!:) I was in the shower. Then something happened...We drove home from the hospital, me in the back with our sweet girl, listening to the saddest parent songs. She held my finger the whole way home as we listened to "I loved her first" a song that my dad had just given Jasper on CD as a tribute to me, now passed down to our daughter. I knew at that moment, my life had meaning. She was my life. Little Peyton Renee Warren had made me a mother. The next few months were TOUGH!!! Learning to be a mother, going through post partum sadness (I get VERY sad post partum lol) sleepless nights, a VERY colicky baby while daddy was working, and learning that MY life was no longer MY life, it was HER life! Over the next years, I learned and I grew and I understood what it was like to love someone SO much it hurt.
Flash Forward to ALMOST 5 years (This July 15th) and my little tiny newborn is almost 5 years old and graduating preschool. I am so happy but so sad. Part of my sadness lately is because I just don't feel the same warm fuzzy feeling with Peyton I used to. You know, the come cuddle in my arms feeling....I HATE admitting that because I probably sound like the WORST mom ever, but hey again, this is my feelings and I am sharing them because they are real. I do however feel a new bond with my sweet Peyton...She has become my friend, someone that is more like my partner in crime. The one that I talk to about how the little ones are being so tough that day!;) I love my little girl with all my heart and as I looked through pictures of her last five years earlier I was reminded of that little tiny mischievous little baby girl I first fell in love with, the one that made me not a mom, but a mother! She is the light of my life and my very best friend. Those big brown eyes and curly hair taught me patience, love, faith and unconditional love like nothing else could.
So, here are some pictures of the last five years of life with my baby girl!
Happy graduation Peyton Renee Warren, you light up our lives like I never could have dreamed!!!
I love you baby girl!!!!

Lots of pictures I know....I could post a million and one more memorable moments!!!!
I love you to the moon and back again Peyton and you are "My biggest Best friend"!:)))