Pretty soon we get to put our clocks back. I remember when I thought this was the BEST thing. Now I just realized that what it means for my family is that Miles will wake up really early, according to the clock. Which will change his waking up time in general and slowly we will be having longer days. We’ll happily put our clocks back one hour the night before and when we roll over and look at the clock when Miles starts yelling “MOMMY!!!”, it will say 6am rather than 7am. Am I figuring this right? I get confused easily. I think I might be right. Oh well, such is the life of the non-sleeping family with little iddy bitty ones. I’m getting more tired just thinking about it so I think I’ll stop now. Just this afternoon my neighbor (mother of four that she home-schools), said “don’t wish away these years, […]
So my parents are coming tonight and my mom suggested Ryan and I get out of the house for a bit. Well, Ryan doesn’t know this. I’m so excited to surprise him with a date night because as sad as it is to admit, we don’t EVER go out together alone. Okay, once for a wedding and once for our anniversary. Otherwise, if either of us goes out, we take turns so the other one can stay home with the kids. It’s not that we don’t trust anyone to watch our kids. It’s that right now is a really difficult time to watch them. Asher needs certain things in a certain way or he cries. Miles is a busy guy. So it’s A LOT to ask of someone to hold a screaming baby while trying to play with, help or chase an excitable Miles. Believe me, it’s pretty tiring. But my mom has […]
So back when I was a case manager, working with folks struggling with mental illness, I had a favorite client named Paul. I’m thinking of him because I got a couple of emails in response to applying to be a Psych. Assistant at Fairview Riverside. I started thinking, “oh, I could really get this job and then I’d be dealing with a lot of craziness again.” The truth is, I like it. I’ve been working in the mental health system for most of the last seven years. Boy could I tell ya some stories. Some are too sad and too hard to think about. Others are seriously funny. But anyway, getting back to my friend Paul. He was about sixty-five at the time and the spittin’ image of Yoda. Only his head wasn’t quite as wide… but he was very short and super cute in an odd sort of way. His look was […]
So this look may not scream “TAKE ME FOR A WALK!!!” to you, but over the last three years we’ve come to decipher these looks from our dog, Tia. This one means… “you haven’t been paying attention to me and I’m sick of it – take me for a walk or I’ll never stop staring at you again.” With two kids, I find it quite difficult to have much time for Tia’s needs. I have dog guilt. Mostly because she’s a really good dog. Even if we don’t walk her as much as we used to, she mostly just deals with it by going to bed. Sure, she sheds too much and gets underfoot here and there. Sure, she begs for people food like the best of em, but that’s the extent of her naughtiness. Okay, so she did eat the stem off Asher’s pumpkin but I figured she owed us that one […]
Somebody help us!!! We haven’t been out much lately and we’re losing our minds. Since Ryan, Miles and Asher have all been sick and I then got mastitis (if you don’t know what that is, no worries, it’s a nursing issue that I won’t get into here), we have been pretty much home-bound for over a week. This makes for mush brain and a sense that the world has stopped, even if we know it hasn’t. Ryan said, “today has been really weird.” And I said “yeah, I know; like one big bunch of busy nothing.” Sometimes life with two small people is a lot like the movie “Groundhog Day” where Bill Murray keeps waking up and repeating the exact same day over and over. My friend Kate said this to me after I had Miles and I couldn’t agree more. Get up, feed little mouths, dress little bodies, play, scold, chase, diapers, […]
My mom really wanted some good new pics of Zach, Max, Miles and Asher but they all happened to turn out like this. Miles had just gotten up, was getting a cold, and thought the “fun” in the leaves was pretty dumb. We couldn’t wipe this look off his face to save our lives. And Asher wouldn’t wake up for the photo shoot. Oh well, isn’t that how it goes? I love the furrowed brow look Miles has anyway. At times he is just so serious, you can’t get him to stop turning those wheels in his head for a second. You have to wonder what he’s thinking. Then he can be a total clown too. He has that reputation at school – the one to make all the others laugh. I love that. Miles is finding out he really does like fall. He talks about the colors of the leaves changing on […]
I realize my posts have been a bit serious these days. But I guess that’s because life is pretty tricky most of the time. One of my dear friends, Tiffany had her daughter, Chloe prematurely about a year and a half ago. The doctors could never find any obvious reason why this happened, but it’s currently happening again. Tiffany is in the hospital trying to keep baby #2 inside that body of hers. She is 25 weeks pregnant. Obviously, this is FAR too soon to have her baby boy. Each day counts. Another day, a healthier baby. Tiffany is doing her best to take care of each moment to ensure as many days as possible. In the process she has had to let go of caring for Chloe and entrust that to loving family members. She also has to let go of taking care of things at the practice she and her husband, […]
Miles has three grandpas so sometimes it can be confusing for a little guy. When he was smaller, he thought of my dad, Mike, as Bapa Pocket. This is because my dad almost always has a shirt on with a breast pocket. In that pocket you can always find a pencil and gum. Nothin’ better than that when you’re a toddler! It’s Bapa Pocket’s birthday so we’re heading out to Spicer. Miles LOVES to go to Nanny and Bapa’s house. There’s a four-wheeler and the neighbors have horses and that could be even more exciting than a pocket with gum in it. But I think what all four of Bapa Pocket’s grandsons love even more than all of these things is the man behind the pocket. He doesn’t have to do much to win their affection. Or mine. Or my sister’s. Or my mom’s…. he’s just one of those people. You know the […]
So today is one of those really good days. Both of the boys have been sleeping since around 1pm and it’s now almost 4pm!!!! I am in shock and don’t quite know what to do with myself. I got an extra long visit with Kate, which is one of the best things in life. If you don’t know her, you should, she’s a real catch. I got time to snoop around on the internet and talk with Ryan on the phone. In short, I got a little time for myself. That’s always good for a mom. Somehow it does leave me feeling a bit guilty, but I’m starting to realize that’s a bit ridiculous. I’ve been realizing that feeling sorry for myself or feeling guilty (2 of my favorite old hobbies) is just another way of focusing too much on myself. Ryan would call it navel-gazing. I DON’T want to be a navel-gazer. […]
When I was single, everything really was in perfect order at my place. It clears my head to have a clear space. Then I got married, got a dog and a house, added on to that house (still working on that), and had two children – all in the span of three years. Besides the stress of this list in and of itself, I find what bothers me most of the time is the mess. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love the creatures that are making this mess (myself included). BUT, sometimes I just can’t take it. Okay, I’ll admit it. I spend much too much time fussing and fighting about it and over it. Just ask the eldest of my three boys. It’s silly, I know. But I’m having a hard time letting go. Cleanliness isn’t neccessarily Godliness. It’s probably pretty Godly to be patient about it and live in peace […]
Good news everyone! It appears that our “little” Asher is on the road to recovery. He’s finished his twelve step “stop crying” program and has joined us in the land of the smiling. These may have been the longest three months of our lives, but isn’t it something how trials can also then feel like the best times in life. We have more character now! Or maybe just another character in our family. (: Asher is a joy to have around. Miles continues to want to eat him up with love and affection. Miles is talking up a storm. He just walked up to me and said, “mommy, I’m right here, look at my bring, I need to take a bath, hey, how do you get this thing off? My flashlight, I find this thing apart.” Um… okay honey. I don’t know which part to respond to really. Maybe you could clarify…. These […]
We spent the morning yesterday at Aamodt’s farm in Stillwater. Miles was in apple heaven. Not only was he sorrounded by apple EVERYTHING (donuts, pie, muffins, jams…) he was also with some of his favorite people! We met Aunt Laura, Ella, Otis, Uncle Kevin and Katie, and Uncle Pat. Miles got to ride little tractors, work a hay maze, throw apples and giggle his head off with the cousins. When we got to the car there were no objections, that boy was TIRED. Asher too, poor guy was so worn out he SCREAMED all the way home. Even though he slept most of the time, he practically spoke english with his screams, “It’s hot! I want my bed and some peace and quiet, people!” Along with the screams came Miles’ little voice asking, “where’d Otis go?” And then a few minutes later, “where’d Otis go?” Sometimes riding in the car is one of […]
This photo was captured after I found Miles had gotten into my underwear drawer. As you can see, he couldn’t quite figure out how they work. That’s a bit like how I feel about blogging. I was inspired by my friend, Kelly to do this blogging thing. I’m SO not computer smart, but since Ryan is, I can always ask him questions. Okay, so I already have twice today (second time he answered his phone, “blog hotline” – cute). I think this is an excellent way to keep people updated and to be in touch as life gets crazier all the time! And I have to admit, this is quite a fun thing to learn. Hopefully I’ll faithfully report current “important” information about our family. Like how the potty training is going (hasn’t), and whether or not we’ve gotten any sleep lately (haven’t).P.S. I like to ramble, so watch out! Thank you for […]
If you’d like to learn more about sponsored space rates and sizes, please inquire via the email address at the end of this post. ::::: * The Extraordinary Ordinary won the BlogLuxe Award for Blog You’ve Learned the Most From in August of 2010. * Heather King was named one of the Nielsen Rating’s Top 50 Power Moms of 2009. (Sites are chosen based on traffic, comments, content, and online influence.) * Heather was chosen to speak at Blissdom, Type A Parent, The Casual Blogger Conference, The I_Blog conference and The Minnesota Blogger Conference. * Heather is on the core team behind the Creative Alliance event held annually in the beautiful Ojai Valley in California. This event is a ground-breaking meeting of the minds, bringing together a variety of influential creative online influencers for connection, relaxation and learning. * Heather is an editor for Story Bleed Magazine, an online art and lit magazine […]
email me:heatheroftheeo (at) gmail (dot) com twitter me:twitter(dot)com(slash)HeatheroftheEO or carrier pigeon, whichever. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
When people ask what do you do, I say, I Mom a lot. Then if they ask if I work outside the home I answer no, I work in it and then I add, I’m a writer or I’m a blogger. (Then other times I confuse them with, I’m a wrogger because blogger + writer = wrogger.) I wonder sometimes if these answers count, even though I know that it all counts, and that’s why I tell stories here. Before I was a mother, I worked in social work, providing services for people struggling with mental illness. Sometimes I miss that, but most of the time I love that I stay at home with my boys and write from my office/den/guest room. I’m on a bumpy road to recovery from addiction and I write about it here, hopefully not all the time because I am so much more than it. Recovery is […]
Addiction and Recovery:Hi, my name is Heather In a safe place The Stone I Carry You bouncing Motherhood:Remember Ours Passing the Bed Marriage and Life:One way or the other (the dust bunny post) Rewriting My Name Layers Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
