Today Katie said “you better start reading those ‘strong willed child’ books now.” She is so right. Every time I hit a wall with Asher, not knowing how to get him to convert to my methods rather than his, I am reminded that I need to relax. Making jokes about it with Katie is one way I like to survive this. I’m also going to have to get over my control issues more than I thought I would have to. I know this is good for me, but my whole life if there has been a battle of the wills, I have WON!!! My parents, my sister, friends, boyfriends, teachers…you name it, I get the stubborn award. This is not a title I’m proud of. I have found many ways to rule every roost I’ve ever lived in, just ask Ryan. I’m not obviously this type of person, not even to myself, but […]
I think it’s working. Mind over matter, that is. Last night I woke up in the night with that “uh oh” feeling. Like when you just know it’s inevitable, the time has come, and you better get your butt to the bathroom (pun intended). Then I said, “God, I just can’t do this right now. Maybe it’s a silly miracle to ask for, but please take away this flu while I’m here alone with the boys.” I didn’t really believe that He was all that interested in my stomach, to be honest. But once again, I’m surprised by grace. I woke up this morning feeling slightly funny, but so far, no pukaroonies!My mom is currently on her way here to spend a couple of days, so I’m getting to the point now where I can stop battling what is to come. If I get sick, so be it. At least I’ll have help […]
oh, how they grow and change! This is Miles getting ready for bed. He decided he could comb his hair on his own. While brushing his teeth. Asher is still crinkling his nose constantly and is trying to eat everything as if all of it is edible and he’s starving. Does he look like he’s starving? He had his 6 month check-up today. He’s in the 80th percentile for weight, the 44th for length, and the 99th for head circumference. Too funny. The Dr. said, “does daddy have a big head?” Um…yes. Both of these boys have very big brains. I hope to fill them with my own ideas of course. Like, “your mommy is the best lady in the world, don’t ever forget to call her.” Or, “You should never say anything bad about your mom, cause she always knows best and besides that, she’s perfect.” Okay, maybe I won’t do that, […]
This is my shamelss plug for Friday Night Lights. I will be so sad if it goes off the air simply because people never gave it a chance! Watch it, you may like it! It’s much more than a football show. Friday nights (easy to remember) on NBC (I think). This is the only show Ryan and I fully agree on and sit down and watch together when we can. I’m not even sure what it is that I like so much, it’s just different and good. Give ‘er a try… So that’s what we did on Friday night… Saturday we hung out at home mostly. Ryan and Miles went to the library and got a couple movies cause Miles was still feeling kinda sick. I went to see my Grandpa with Auntie Kay and then had dinner with her, which is always a treat. Well, her treat. But a real treat all […]
I like mornings. Not the waking up part, but the coffee and breakfast part. Ryan and I used to spend hours on the weekend mornings, reading the paper, doing the crossword, or reading a book, but always sipping coffee. Now we try to read the paper and end up reading it in parts, we never do the crossword, and only have time to read a few pages of a book at night if we’re lucky. But we still always sip coffee in the morning. It’s a good friend, that coffee. Lately we’ve gotten in the habit of putting a little whipped cream on the top as a treat. So unhealthy, but so good. Sometimes you just need a little treat.Things have really changed since the days of relaxed morning reading. I miss that a lot sometimes, even though I wouldn’t trade my current life for a million crossword mornings. Life is just far […]
I have returned from the great state of Washington (rainy, but a sizzling 35 degrees). Lana and I spent a few days with Tiffany, Grady, Chloe (18mos) and Sam (5 weeks). We ran errands and cleaned house. When I say cleaned house, I smile because we really cleaned house. When you know a preemie with a virus is on the mend and about to come home to be quarantined to his bedroom, you really want all the germs to go bye-bye. There is currently more bleach in Washington than the state can handle on account of our neurotic scrubbing. It sure felt good. We kept joking that we should clean like this at home, but we really wouldn’t do anything else if we tried that. When you spend five minutes bleaching one light switch before moving on to the next, you know you have problems. Anyway, it was so great to help out […]
I totally don’t have time to be doing this, so watch out for grammar and spelling issues! This week has been another insane single parenting week with Ryan out of town. THank the Lord God Almighty that he’s coming home tonight. Then I leave for Washington tomorrow to stay through Monday to be with Tiffany and her family as they go through this thing with Sam being in the NICU. Lana and I are going to majorly clean their house in hopes that Sam will be able to come there soon. Today I’ll take Asher to the Dr, as he’s got a high temp and is not sleeping at all in the last two days (okay, ten minutes here and there, I’ll stop exaggerating). poor little guy seems like he’s hurting. When I finally got him to sleep early this morning by propping on my chest in my bed, I breathed a very […]
ASHER BASHER We waited a long time to find out, what with all the crying, but it seems our Asher is quite a ham, and a really sweet boy. That second picture cracks me up more than words can say. He’s been doing this thing with his nose, crinkling it up. It is so crazy to see your child’s face do things that your own face does. I can make a million folds on the bridge of my nose too! I don’t know why he started doing these faces, but the crinkly nose one seems to be a way to make you laugh. And sometimes he does it when he wants to smile at someone, but he’s being kinda shy about it. It’s so adorable. Babies really are the best. It’s so cool to watch a person unfold. To see their personality develop, watch the ways they change. It always surprises me that […]
Let’s just say I’m a really big fan of Bono. I’ve always loved U2’s music. Then about seven years ago I came across a book about U2, and as I read it I developed a great respect for Bono. Previously I had no idea he was that hard at work in the world. I knew he had a reputation for “doing good,” but I had no idea what level of good. I love the way he spins the issues, eloquently revealing the reality of the situation in Africa, without placing blame. In my humble opinion, many of the strides forward he has made, came about because of his diplomatic, sensible arguments about bettering the lives of others, and his way with words. To read or hear his take on aid to Africa will make you a believer that something really can be done. That’s no small feat. In short, I’m thankful there are […]
My dear friend Carrie (Crock) came to see us today. She brought Miles and Asher all the Little People they could dream of! Practically the whole town, if not the whole town. She and I reminisced about the Little People of the 70’s. We both can vividly remember playing with the blue house and how we would arrange the furniture. Carrie had the daughter sleep on the balcony and sneak out at night. I wonder if she got in trouble with the mom with blond hair and a blue dress. Too bad that era of Little People became known as a choking hazard, in my opinion they were pretty cool. Hours of fun awaits Miles tomorrow. He could hardly stand that he had to stop playing with his new toys to go to bed, so he got to take the construction worker with him.Speaking of Little People, my friend Tiffany called today about […]
I was putting Miles down for his nap (yes, he still has the stinkin’ paci when he sleeps! Get off my back!) and he said, “Mommy, are you sleepy?” and I answered yes, of course. He then asked if Asher was going to take a nap. I told him that Asher was already sleeping. He said “yes, he is, in the closet behind a closed door.” Which totally cracked me up because it’s true! It sounds so awful when you put it that way! Asher’s current “bedroom” is the walk-in closet in our room. That way, he isn’t waking Miles up all hours of the night by sharing a room with him. So we figured either the basement or the closet. The closet won out since the basement is sort of out of the question. So we keep our baby in the closet. It’s a big closet! Anywho! It works for now. At […]
On Friday morning some friends and I brought our kids to the Eagle’s Nest, which is THE BOMB of a place for little ones. There’s all kinds of climbing and sliding and running to do. In the past, Miles has stayed in the 0-3 year old side for the most part. But this time, he and favorite pal, Olivia ventured to the “big kid” side where there are those McDonald’s play land kind of pipe things to crawl through, with fire trucks and bulldozers just their size attached. Mackenzie and I were watching from below, trying desperately to see where our two little monkeys were, catching a glimpse of them here and there, and breathing little sighs of relief. They would come flying down the slide bouncing and grinning, then they’d burst off the end and continue high-speed, back to the stairs to climb up and do it again. They slowly warmed up […]
“i beg you…to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. don’t search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. and the point is, to live everything. live the questions now. perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without ever noticing it, live your way into the answer….” rainer maria rilke It seems like in every season of life, there is a bit of a need to accept the questions. So I share this today as a reminder to myself and whoever else enjoys reminders. Sometimes we forget to just be where we are and breathe. We always want to jump ahead, or we’re fearful of jumping ahead because it’s such a mystery. Oftentimes, we’re waiting for […]
Here is magic for me: Today I went to Babies R Us and got two huge boxes of diaps, a huge tub of wipes, and bottle nipples for Asher’s ever-growing mouthy. I had coupons for 1.50 off both boxes of diaps. I had a 75cent off coupon for the wipes. THEN I had a coupon for a ten dollar gift card for buying the two boxes of diaps. AND a 15% off anything coupon that went for the bottle nipples. Sorry I keep saying nipples…. Anyway, I LOVE when I have coupons and save money on everyday things. I never knew that I would get all giddy over diaper coupons, but I do. I love impressing my husband with coupon combos. My happiness over this only proves the idea that there is joy in the small stuff.I also got a huge kick out of a new thing Miles did the other day. He […]
Forget all that jazz yesterday about cinnamon muffins. I looked in the freezer later and realized my mom had left this raspberry pastry thingy here. The kind that you just leave out over night and then throw in the oven. So that’s what I did. I guess the “mommy brain” trip to the grocery store yesterday was completely for not. No, I take that back, I did get conversation hearts out of the deal, and those little hearts happen to be one of my favorite things about Valentine’s Day. Okay, maybe they are my favorite part of V-Day, but only because I’m one of “those” party poopers who doesn’t really like the forced nature of Valentine’s Day. I think it’s nice and all that my hubby comes home with flowers, but it is kind of silly if you think about it real hard. And I think about everything way too hard, so I’ve […]
I love it when my calendar is full of activities. Each month, it slowly fills, week by week with things for the boys and I to do during the day. I cannot stand it when we are home, day after day without any real schedule. I guess for me, being a stay at home mom isn’t literal. Or I would be crazier than I already am! If we don’t have much to do, I find myself in my pj’s at 3pm, staring blankly at piles of dishes and laundry, unsure of what I should do with myself. If I then try to “make up” an outing, I do what I did today when I headed to the grocery store because I’m in charge of treats for tomorrow’s “Morning Blend,” a mom’s group I go to. I ended up buying heart candies (for me), a 99 cent box of gingerbread holiday cookies (for me), […]
You know those times in life when you have to smile (not all that genuinely), for what feels like forever and then your face hurts. Like family pictures. Or some work event where you have to entertain people you don’t know for hours on end and be really happy about it. Or even at a friend’s party where you’re being introduced to twenty new people. Maybe you don’t feel all that gleefully happy, but you look it! Just as a side note, I do so hate the moments where you have perma grin and you have to make really bad small talk. Not that all small talk is bad, but sometimes I’m really bad at it. Anyway, the point I am making is this: Sometimes being a stay at home mom feels like one of these events. Because you want to have your game face on, to appear as if you’re not totally […]
When Ryan and I were dating we’d make fun of our friends Cory and Twyla for going to the MOA so much. They have three lil’ ones and they’d retort, “hey, it’s fun for the kids and what the heck else are we gonna do in the winter!?!” So they got a BIG kick out of running into us at “Camp Snoopy” (I know it’s not camp snoopy anymore, but I can’t stop). We were there for my nephew’s birthday, we still don’t frequent the MOA much, but we did discover the joy in it for kids. Miles had a BLAST riding rides with his cousins. I even accompanied them on a couple. Now the fam is coming over here (my parents, my sister and husband, and their boys, Zach and Max). Ryan and I are going to escape tonight, what with all this extra help around. We have some restaraunt gift cards […]
Today Kelly and Sabrina brought lunch over so it has been a really good day. Good food and good talks. I love the random topics the three of us came up with. From old game shows, to Nintendo, you just never know what sporadic information could be shared. These two girls made my day today, with their yummy food and big happy smiles. The best part was that I left Asher with them so I could go pick up Miles at school. It took about ten minutes and when we got back Asher was sitting with Sabrina, who was all smiles. Asher had a new outfit on. I left him with them just in time for a blow out. So they were left to find diapers and new clothes and change the mess. Just as I planned…ha ha haaaaaaaaaa………. Sabrina brought Miles an octopus. It’s one of those sticky ones that you can […]
I title this post for this short little ditty on the movie, Juno: It’s so good, go see it! It is funny and thought-provoking and heart-breaking and uplifting all at the same time. LOVE it. I got to go see it last night with Heather Spears and we both were just floored by it. It made us pretty weepy, we just couldn’t stop crying afterwards. Then we got the giggles because of all the non-stop crying. Maybe I’m making this movie sound like a downer. But it’s not, it’s just so well done. I don’t even know how to explain so I’ll stop rambling now. GO JUNO! Now onto an update on the little boys I live with. This photo is of the sticker decal thingys Miles got from Nanny and Bapa for Christmas for his walls. He also got bedding with these same vehicles on it and he loves to be in […]
