The Distracted Mom Writer

Mom collected these leaves for me and I think they're so pretty with crystal and candles!

They say a true writer must always write; there is a type of compulsion this person has that prevents them from not writing. However, I disagree. There is another type of writer, the Distracted Mom Writer. This person is every bit as frazzled, has just as many compulsions to write, but this person is stuck in an alternate universe. This is a universe of being pulled in too many different directions; or maybe it is just one in which the poor lady is too much of a disorganized workaholic to actually sit down at the computer and put those thoughts on paper. This person constantly has thoughts of what to write about and what she would like to say swirling around in her head, but never actually makes it to her blog page to put those thoughts down. There is always something else she "needs" to do. Now, I know that many, many, many of the bloggers out there are Moms. They manage to raise 5 kids, homeschool them, write a book, can their own green beans and make their own yogurt and run a home sewing business on the side. Sometimes I have felt intimidated by them because I barely get one child homeschooled (although he is only 3 so not too much pressure yet), the house cleaned, and the sewing done that I need to do. I have thought multiple times about doing some sort of fun sewing business and selling on Etsy or Ebay or such, but I know I would probably experience a mental breakdown before I got very far. Why? I am the Distracted Mom (Writer, Seamstress, Housekeeper, Errand Runner, Cook, etc...). Emphasis on the "Distracted" part. I always find something else I need to do, often before finishing the 3 or 4 projects I already have started. But I just remind myself that there is nothing wrong with me, I am just different. I get my family fed, keep them in clean clothes, and keep the house clean (well, I keep it mostly dirt-free, "clean" is a relative point when you have children.).

Case in point: I have not finished the Christmas stocking I started for Boy before he was born, and I have not started the train quilt I said I would make him; I also have several small home decor/useful projects I want to do. However, today I am going to make a doll dress; my niece's birthday party is tomorrow (she's turning 2) and we can't go, but I still want to get it made today and put in the mail on Monday. Of course I came up with the idea of making it late yesterday. And that also reminds me I am going to try to make some Christmas presents this year and if I don't get started soon I won't get them done at all, which reminds me that Hubby said a couple of his new suit jacket sleeves are too long and I need to shorten them--he is awesome at scoring very expensive dress clothes at very low prices at thrift stores, but the downside is that I do a lot of tailoring. So there you have it, I think I have effectively wandered from the point of this post, which was going to be something along the lines of a comparison and contrast of different types of writers, maybe I will try that again another day :)

Life in September - Some days are crazy - This doesn't describe the half of it...

So I'm sitting on the bathroom floor saying "Are you done yet?" to a 3-year-old who would rather sit on the potty for an hour than go to nap...You know, potty training is much harder than I imagined. I mean, I figured that once he realized he didn't have to constantly have that stuff against his bottom all the time, and got the hang of going on his little potty that all would be fine. Now don't get me wrong--he wears big-boy underwear when we are home, and I haven't cleaned any accidents up in at least a week--awesome! And he has started telling me sometimes when he needs to pee. He usually only does his #2 business in his diaper at bedtime/naptime, so at least I'm not cleaning that up anywhere, but I'm not sure it is good for his little tummy to be waiting like that... 
On the upside, while he doesn't care as much as I would like him to about potty training, he really loves learning! He knows his shapes and colors and numbers and we are working on the alphabet. Every day he surprises me with something I didn't realize he had picked up on! So ya I'm trying to start preschool with the craziness around here. Hubby starting a new job--Yay!!!! I am trying to cram in my CE (gotta finish today) so I can renew my hygiene license today and I have several suit pants of hubby's that need to be tailored as well as some random paperwork we gotta get in for the new job.
And it is beginning to be cold outside--there is condensation on the living room window and Boy just said "Is messy? Clean wawer off?" and I got to explain condensation to him so I guess we have already got started on science this morning :)  I am so happy for fall to start this year, and I am already looking forward to Christmas. I really gotta get my random stuff done so I can get Boy's Christmas stocking finished this year.
And apparently I jinxed myself--just cleaned up an accident...oh well. Here's to Monday! (Raise coffee cup, gulp it fast, and go refill it!)

Potty training continued; and what makes you a better Mom?

For all the messes he makes, he is orderly after all :)

So today was the second time Boy announced that he needed to go potty! (Yes the first and only other time was like a month ago...) So we ran and made it to the bathroom on time and I did lots of praising and he was very proud of himself; we may succeed in this endeavor after all!

In other news, I have been working a lot lately; I keep getting calls to fill in at offices. So the other day I had a patient who was a mother of teenage children. We were talking about that it is hard leaving the kiddos to go to work when they are little, but that some days it is an easier job to be at work than at home (and if the job is harder/more stressful than being at work then you need a new job!). Anyway, her comment about leaving them in the morning even though it's hard is that "Ya, but it makes you a better Mom.".  I was silently saying "Huh???? So the Moms who choose to or get to stay home with their children are worse Moms???? Ya I don't think so!!!!"

After all didn't she just get done agreeing that it was harder to stay home with the kids? Just my thoughts, looking at it from a Christian perspective, things that are harder for us to do tend to be more sanctifying, so wouldn't that make us better Moms too? See, what I think people should realize, is that Moms who stay home, or Moms who work outside the home are not better than the other. Our duty as Moms is to do the best we can for our children each day, and sometimes (okay, probably often, if we are honest with ourselves), that is not the easy choice or the one we imagined when we blissfully pictured to ourselves what kind of a Mom we would be before we actually acquired the title.

Here's the bottom line: we are to do everything we do as unto the Lord, and that includes staying home all day with your kids, or leaving them in capable hands (at our house that's Daddy) and going to work for a few hours and then coming home and being Mom for the other sixteen hours in the day. Either way, it's hard, and saying "This makes you a better Mom" or "That makes you a better Mom" is only hurtful to all the other Moms out there who are doing it differently than you. See? Mothering is hard any way you cut it, but it is the best thing in the world to hear at the end of the day "Mama, you 'a pretty face!" and see your adorable 3-year-old beaming at you. Little moments like that and many many others are what define and make Moms great.

And now I should go check on the 3-year-old who is playing with his dolphin toy in the bathroom sink.

Summer days

We bought this water table for him when he turned 2 last year--he is loving it on these hot summer days!

I was going to start this an hour ago, then I spent too long snooping on Facebook. Well, and I baked a bunch of cookies and had tea. Anyway I just realized my free time is almost over -- Curious George is already over and it is 4pm which means I should head to the kitchen and figure out what I'm going to make for dinner tonight and dinner and lunch tomorrow since I will be gone at work...  The awesome news is that I got a new job at a wonderful office and tomorrow is my last day at my old office--YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!  Not to mention the fact that the Doctor and staff is wonderful, we start early (before 7am) so I am always off by 3:30 or 4 at the latest!!! Can ya tell I'm excited? ;)

So far, our summer is going great, although busy. We had a Thomas the Train party for Small Boy a couple weeks ago, have pretty much finished buying furniture/getting situated in our new home, and are trying to enjoy every sunny day as much as possible. Hence today at the park for two hours :)

Enjoying a snack at the park in the shade of the stroller :)

Potty Training in Real Life...

So I've lost track of how many days since we began potty training and I certainly don't intend to count them up right now. Suffice it to say, we are not done. Making progress slowly but surely. Thus far we have gotten to the point where if we get him to the potty on a regular basis (anywhere between 30-90 minutes depending on fluid intake/time of day) we can generally avoid having to clean the carpet. (BTW in case you didn't already know, spraying a little vinegar/water solution on the spot after rinsing/blotting it with water takes care of the smell and kills the bacteria. Carpet cleaner is preferable for removing stains that may be left but I usually will only use that on old stains when he is napping as I don't like using it in the middle of wherever he is playing right then.) Unless of course he is wearing a diaper and it is 9pm and he is in bed "supposed" to be going to sleep. Then he will let us know multiple times that he needs to go potty and will happily sit on the potty and try for as long as we will let him. Today however, he jumped up from playing with his Duplo train and announced that he needed to go potty as he headed for the bathroom, ended up taking care of #2! I was so happy! Then 45 minutes later I caught him pooping again--this time in his underwear behind the armchair in the living room. Oh well, I am thankful for the one little step of progress today.

Of course I read the various blogs on potty training in one day, or three days, etc., but I have realized when it comes right down to it, it depends a lot on the child. Yes, a lot depends on Mama but just as much depends on the child. For example, I remember when my youngest brother (who had refused to potty train for months on end) turned 3, Mom put underwear on him and the first time he felt something running down his leg it terrified him so badly that he always got himself to the potty after that---he was the baby who fussed if the lid was off the milk jug and if his fingers were dirty. Now, I know every kid has different levels of dislike of dirt, mine is not quite like that but he does hate having dirty fingers; although he has no compunctions about getting them dirty! But I really thought that Small Boy doing things like taking his diaper off to pee on the living room floor (and it wasn't just one spot so that was not fun) and wanting to try the big boy potty and yanking on his diaper/fussing when it was wet were good signs. Not so much--the other day he stood next to his potty in the bathroom and peed in his underwear...again. There was also the recent occurence in which he stood on his potty with the lid closed and peed while brushing his teeth then said "Mama, water!" as he pointed at the puddle on the floor!

So to all of you in your third or fifth or tenth or more week of potty training, don't give up! Some children just don't mind making a mess, and have to be trained that those sorts of messes are not okay! That is why it is called potty TRAINING!  Pardon the overabundance of exclamation points.  And maybe I should add---it's been a few days since I started the first paragraph in this post and he hasn't announced the need to potty again, except for once when he was in the tub and needed to go #2---ya I was glad he didn't do that in the tub! In fact yesterday, he sneaked very quietly out on the deck to pee. Thank goodness the neighbor below us was not on his porch!!!

Potty Training Officially Day #1!!!

So yesterday hubby was at Walmart because we were out of diapers. The original plan was to buy just a few to hold us over then buy the Thomas the Train potty chair from Amazon that makes train sounds. However, hubby started looking at the potty chairs in Walmart, and called me. So we ended up with the Munchkin Arm & Hammer one (based on the fact that it seemed sturdy and the lack of distractions seemed like a good thing), a pack of White Cloud "pull-ups" (for going out/maybe bedtimes) and a pack of good old fashioned Gerber training pants. It was as I thought yesterday afternoon--put the disposable training pants on and he still feels fine about going in his pants. So this morning he slept in till 5:38 (yayyyy!!!!) and  I got up and after a bit of coaxing, managed to get him to try the potty then we put on his big boy underwear. We have tried again on the potty chair once since then but with no success yet. So I am now risking my carpet and my sanity with a rather unprotected boy who is sitting on the floor in front of me watching cartoons and eating Cheerios. I have asked him several times if he needs to go potty and he just says "nooo potty" so I guess we'll see how it goes! He has showed interest in the potty for a while now but I was waiting till we moved, to help maintain my sanity in the process. We are hoping it goes quickly now, I do know he doesn't like being wet/dirty and he can definitely communicate with me; so fingers crossed/knock on wood/many prayers that this goes well!

 

Time to set some rules!

Okay so this morning it was 3:38. I put him back in bed and he had me awake again by 5:40. And I went to bed just before midnight. So ya I'm regretting that! Now I'm letting him watch way too much tv just so we can make it to early lunch/naptime without him melting down...And then I may take a nap, but being as I have sat way too much this morning, I may try to get something done with myself. I don't know. Annnnd meltdown impending...Gotta fix this morning routine!!!

Boxes and Boy

Oh boy have I really been AWOL for a month??? Apparently so. We got moved about a week and a half ago, and yes there are still some boxes I need to unpack, but we are pretty much settled. I think a buffet or hutch in the dining room and a bookshelf with doors or drawers in the living room should take care of the contents of the rest of the boxes. And every day we are thanking God for blessing us with this new place, especially when it only takes 5 minutes to load the dishwasher instead of 2 hours to handwash them! 

In other news, Small Boy has decided that "early to rise" is his way of enjoying our new place the most. Which means he does take a nap on a daily basis (Yay!) but I still am not crazy about getting up at 4:30 or 5 am when I don't go to bed till 11pm! This morning I heard him talking at 5, but he didn't start turning on the lights/waking me up till 6, so I am thankful for that. (Insert break for 2nd large mug of coffee here) When hubby often doesn't get home from work till 9:30 or so, it's pretty hard for he and I to institute and "early to bed" rule for us adults, so instead we are sharing the load of getting up early with Boy. And for my part, I am trying to be a little more productive in those early morning hours -- it's always nice to feel a lot was accomplished before 8am! So yep, bring on the coffee!!!

I have also decided on some new crafting plans--I found the cutest quilt pattern with appliqued trains on the border, so I have decided to make that for Boy, then after that am going to start on our new nursery ensemble. No I am not pregnant yet, but I figure it will happen sometime and I found the perfect teddy bear applique pattern that I have been wanting. I have spent probably hours looking through store-bought nursery ensembles and haven't found any really cute gender-neutral ones that aren't rather spendy. To make matters worse, I have had my heart set on a teddy bear theme, and those tend to be rather brown and blah. So anyway, now that I have a good place to put my sewing machine and a big livingroom floor to cut out fabric on, my fingers are just itching to get busy! So I will be sure to keep you updated with pictures of my progress, which also means I will have to make good progress on things if I don't want to keep posting the same pictures over and over :)

Teddy-bear Travels

Boy was about 7 mos old here, Teddy was his new friend and One True Love!

Ehhhh it's been a busy week, but a pretty good one. Some drama, and plenty of craziness.

Monday, was fun with a little shopping and playing at the play area in the mall, until I realized Teddy was missing. Then it was a frantic 30 minutes of checking the car, retracing our steps, and checking and rechecking the furniture store we had been in. We finally found Teddy under a dining table that we had sat down at for a few minutes. The stress of almost losing Teddy (and knowing the stress that would ensue if we didn't find Teddy!) was too much and while Boy didn't even realize Teddy had been missing, Mama bawled and thus ended the mall excursion. Next was a quick grocery store stop and then I was very happy just to go home.

I only worked one day, which was a welcome break after the four days the previous week... Then I began packing, and have already used up the various boxes I have saved from diapers, wipes, etc and now need to send hubby to Lowes for some more. They seem to be the least expensive that we have found and are of decent quality for the price. I have lots of packing left to do, but I still have 19 days left so I think I will be fine.

Friday, Boy decided that he would like to sit on the big boy toilet--hubby noticed him in the bathroom pulling his pants down! Now I should add that this last week we have found him diaperless more than once, and he even relieved himself (#1) in the livingroom once. Ugh. So for the last two days I have been periodically taking him to the bathroom, although we haven't had success yet. I need to hurry up and get at least a potty seat, but I think we are going to go for the little Thomas toilet that makes train noises when the toddler has a successful session :) Anyway, yes of course I was wanting to begin potty training when I'm in the middle of getting ready to move. NOT!!! But apparently I have no choice in the matter; although if I did, my plan was to begin as soon as we moved. Ya know, a decent sized bathroom to put the toddler toilet in and a toddler bed (as opposed to the crib) would make the process easier, I thought...

Saturday, I was washing the stroller (hey, it's been in use almost three years--it was due!!!) and Boy decided it was a perfect time to dunk Teddy's legs in the tub too. Partially wet Teddy. Then a short time later I was in the bedroom packing and I heard the toilet lid--apparently Teddy needs to be potty trained too!!?? Very wet Teddy. Next I gave teddy a bath in the sink, and Small Boy insisted on helping. Very wet Teddy and very wet Boy. So the rest of the day Boy wore nothing but a diaper (because I didn't see a point in putting a third outfit on him) and Teddy had to sit over the fan to dry. I also decided that it was a good time for Boy to be allowed to watch Max & Ruby so that I could get something done without chasing after him every 3.5 seconds.

Today I am staying home from church with Boy because he seems quite tired and woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I finally just now got him in bed for his nap after a 40-minute search for Teddy; he just would not be still without him. Teddy was finally discovered in the window sill behind the blinds. Oh yes, if Teddy ever actually goes missing, it would be a very bad thing...

Boy no longer sucks on Teddy's tag, he now rubs it between his fingers--thus we have many pictures of Teddy face-down :)

As a side note, Teddy will be waiting in the car from now on.

Moms are Beautiful!

I've been thinking about beauty. It is rather an obscure, indecipherable thing, don't you think? What is beautiful to one person may be only mildly tolerable to another, and vice versa. I was remembering today when I gave myself the screen name of PrettyMama for a website (I don't remember what it even was). Let me tell you, I was feeling nowhere near pretty that day; in fact, I hadn't felt pretty in months. Small Boy was Tiny Baby still at that point, and I was still at the point of amazement with myself that for the first time in my life I couldn't care less if I ever showered again. It had been months since I had worn makeup, did more to my hair than brush it maybe (and possibly less than) once per day, and nursing or pumping every three or so hours certainly wasn't making me feel sexy!
It's funny how very much we change once we are responsible for a tiny helpless little life. All of a sudden I went from wanting to be a pretty wife (yes, I had my hubby bring my makeup bag to the hospital so I would look good in my new mommy photos) to not even caring how horrible my hair was the minute that baby came out. Actually, I think I quit caring sometime during the 36 hours of labor...All of a sudden I was a new person--a mommy--and while it was all I ever wanted to be (other than a wife!) I was totally unprepared for the reality of it. Completely surprised by the continuous complete exhaustion, by the constant needs of that precious little baby, and by my lack of caring about so many details that would have bothered me before giving birth. A woman's whole focus and purspose for life changes at that first birth; and it takes a while to reorient our brains to incorporate that new person into the rest of our being. So hence the name "PrettyMama". It was born of looking in the mirror, realizing that there was a little spot of baby poo on my face, and not caring that it was there, and at the same time thinking that there was something wrong with me for not caring but not knowing what was wrong. What I didn't know was that it was the whole working out of how to merge the new persona of "mommy" with the woman/wife that was still buried in there somewhere. As it turned out, it's like our moms always told us, "Beauty is as beauty does". It didn't matter that I was barely fitting into clothes 4 sizes bigger than I had ever worn, but that I was successfully growing a beautiful healthy boy. I was cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing dishes, and grocery shopping all while juggling that baby--I even got good at making scones with one hand at 10pm! That is what makes a pretty mama, ladies; and yes those details may look a little different for each person, but the principle is the same. It is everything we do, all those sacrifices we make every day for the other people in our homes that make us beautiful. It is the attitude of willingness and desire to do well for those people that make us beautiful. I am not saying that we should always want to do all those things every day, because there are plenty of days that we don't! But it is the love and care we have for our families that makes each of us beautiful. So throw out those societal markers of beauty, because they will always be changing and contradicting and we will drive ourselves nuts trying to meet them.
Yes, it is okay and good to have personal goals for fitness and health; but we need to make sure that those are OUR goals, that they are what is best for us in our personal unique situations. Remember, "but they comparing themselves among themselves are not wise."! (2 Corinthians 10:12)
So I am signing back off for the weekend to work on my beauty--washing dishes, folding laundry, playing with Boy, and spending time with my hubby!

Happy Days

Ahhhh life. So last week seemed just crazy busy, and next week is gonna be way worse. But it was a good week anyway. Hubby and I both worked our tails off as usual--I work two days per week and he works the rest--and then of course was the usual grocery shopping, errand running, laundry doing, etc.  The biggest news though was that we got a new apartment! It is modest by some standards, but exactly what we wanted--washer&dryer in unit, dishwasher, two bedrooms, nice little balcony, and a park and grocery store BOTH within walking distance!  Next week I'm working four days as the other hygienist is going to Hawaii, and of course I have to start packing. Moving day is April 25th, and I have a long list of things to do; normally I really hate moving but this time I'm actually looking forward to it. Do you know I'm going to gain at least two extra hours every day just by having a dishwasher; can you imagine all the writing and cross-stitching and scrapbooking I'm going to get done?! Oh and I will be able to start practicing my violin again! And...well I better stop adding things into that time because I will be out of time before I even get the time :)
Anyhow, I better get off my duff now, because I have a large sink-full of dirty dishes...toodle-loo!

Technology, Modesty, and Cheerios

A few thoughts as I was preparing breakfast:

1. Spring is here!!!! The photo my Mom took of one of her first hyacinths blooming.

2. I have been AWOL partly because my dear hubby bought me an iPad; I have been loving it, but because I am the delinquent who has not picked out the case with a keyboard that I want yet, I cannot type well on it. You should know, I don't really like my computer (it has seen better days); my husband will tell you that I can go for days without opening it. So yes I am planning to get a desktop eventually, because if it is out I will use it. In the mean time, I have definitely decided to get a keyboard case for my iPad, because that is the best solution for the tech-avoiding me. I am mostly a "technology is for useful things only" kinda gal.

3. A friend posted on her Facebook stream this morning that she wishes her well-endowed friends would not show that part of them half-naked on Facebook so often because she would rather they keep that for their husbands to enjoy instead of her husband running across it innocently as he was scrolling through his news feed. I couldn't agree more. I know that my husband feels he runs across enough images that are less than appropriate out in the world, that he shouldn't be accosted with those in his Christian friend circles!  Yes I know the subject of modesty is a hotly debated one that does divide believers, sadly enough. I am not advocating women covering up from collarbone to ankles, but I do think we ought to examine our hearts and our intentions in how we dress. And I will stop there for now, because this is a subject that takes up whole books.

4. Why does a two-year-old (who is nearly three) who hates having sticky fingers insist on eating Honey Nut Cheerios with milk with his hands??? And yes, when he is done he is covered with sticky Cheerios. However, this Mama feeds him breakfast in his pj's so that when he is done we just strip them off and put on his daytime clothes. Then the dog licks up the Cheerios off the floor. And with that, I must go mop the kitchen!

About Me :)

FYI: This post may sound a bit rambling, but that is my brain today. And I dare say, that is many Mamas' brains on many days. I need to fold the laundry, I love my babies so much, I wish the dog would quit shedding, and when we get to take an actual vacation I want to go to Italy, and Oh Look--there's a spot on the wall I should get up and scrub. Sound familiar?

So here are a few things about me, in no particular order.
1. When we take a real vacation I want to go to Italy. Yes I want to go someplace tropical, but I really want to go to Italy.
2. We have an older lovable dog who sheds/grows more hair with every passing year--why can't dogs' hair get thinner as they age like humans???
3. I want a lot of kids, and I mean pretty much as many as I can have till I get too old, then we will adopt. Do you remember reading "Jo's Boys"? She had this huge house filled with kids who hollered all day and needed lots of love; the thought of a home like that makes me feel so happy inside.
4. Related to the above comment, I am not one who naturally has patience; I guess God will help me learn that one over time :)
5. Don't think I am one of those ladies who always has a smile on my perfectly madeup face in the morning who is ready to attack the day with all of my never-ending energy. Nope, my hubby will tell you I am beginning to get more human after I have sat for a half hour with my large mug of coffee.
6. I am tired a lot; (I "blame" that on my two-year-old BOY with endless energy) but I accomplish a lot because I can never (rarely) sit still and do nothing--until I am too tired to move and then I just collapse, tears may or may not be present at that point. And then I wonder if I can ever be a good mother because I can't just keep going endlessly and my sweet hubby reminds me that if only I would take breaks a bit more often I wouldn't collapse.
7. I can't just sit; hence me sitting here typing on Sunday afternoon because I do believe it should be my day of rest and I have no energy to wash dishes.
8. I want a house with a white picket fence surrounding a green lawn edged with an old-fashioned cottage style garden. When we buy a house, my hubby knows that if it doesn't come with a white picket fence that he will be installing one on his first free weekend. :)
9. Really really wanting another baby today. Really trying to just put a little more faith in God's timing on that one.
10. There is a blue purse I saw at JCPenney yesterday that I really want cause it will go so nicely with the blue strappy heels I bought a couple months ago; meant to buy it on my way back out of the store, but made the mistake of shopping in heels, and my feet were in so much pain that I forgot.
11. "I forgot" is a phrase my hubby hears from me more often than he wants to; I gotta work on not saying that so often in front of Boy or he will likely start using it...  My memory went when I got pregnant with him and has gone downhill from there; but he doesn't get that excuse, in my opinion :)
12. I think you are probably bored by now. Or have a kid emptying the pop-up tissues box, or swishing in the toilet, or something of that nature.

Sleeplessness Somewhere South of Seattle

Ohhhh. So why is it that I can compose such good posts in my head while making breakfast but suddenly forget everything when I sit down after lunch (boy asleep) to write? Anyway, I should be finishing putting the groceries away, washing dishes and making dinner, but instead I'm sitting down with coffee and doughnut holes. Nevermind the fact that I have already had about 16 oz each of coffee and Mountain Dew today. Also nevermind the fact that I stood in Costco not two hours ago and debated over which frozen vegies to buy because I "wanted" to go on my diet. But the doughnut holes were purchased last night when I had a bad headache and had just cashed my paycheck, so they were a great idea at the time; and I never let good food go to waste, so it is incumbent upon me to eat the last two now.
Anyhow, we are all very exhausted around here. Small boy has decided that it is fun to climb out of his crib, much more fun than staying in it and going to sleep. So he has been falling asleep at 11pm out of sheer exhaustion, usually with me holding him, and getting up at 7am (or earlier) every day. He usually takes a nap, also only because I will sit and hold him. If he skips his nap, then he goes to bed easily and early, about 6pm, but then wakes up to party for a couple hours in the middle of the night. A few days ago that time was from 11pm till 2:30am. If I keep him up past 6pm with no nap then at that point he is very sleep deprived and we have a meltdown and then the middle-of-the-night party still happens and is much less of a party... So we pretty much make sure the nap happens come what may. A friend of mine told me her children both did the jack-in-the-box routine around age 2, and it lasted about a month and a half; so I'm guessing we have another 4 or 5 weeks of this fun. Yay. Anyone else with experience in this area?
Well, I gotta scoot, just remembered I gotta do some ironing, add buttonholes to shirts, and properly re-allocate the cash in my spending envelopes after all the shopping we did today, in addition to the above-listed items. And we are trying Kirkland Signature diapers this time around; HOPING they don't give him a rash (haven't tried them since long before he started becoming allergic to everything) because they are so much cheaper than Pampers. Fingers crossed!

Thankfulness--because it should be all year long, not just in November!

Okay, this is going to sound super lame. I just opened my blog page to begin this post and was startled to see the photo of my most recent post. Yep, I completely forgot that I had actually finished and posted that post. Sad, I know; and now you know how bad my memory is. My poor family...

Anyway, today I am composing a list of blessings for Mamas to count.
1. Be thankful you are getting no peace when you are in the bathroom -- at least you know exactly where that 2-year-old is instead of wondering why he's being so quiet SOMEWHERE ELSE.
2.  It's a good thing to do taxes--either you are getting a refund (always good!) or you are getting to discover what a good income God blessed you with last year (as you write that check to the IRS and wonder if you skip signing it if they will send it back and give you a little more time before you have to pay that bill!).
3. It's pouring down rain as you head out the door with the kids in tow so you can go to the Post Office to mail and important document that you don't want to get wet. -- At least it's not snowy/icy like it was last week! (Yep, I know, there is no good way to look at standing in line at the PO, especially with kids!)
4. Two-year-old getting out of bed a million times when he's supposed to be going to sleep--you are getting exercise when you would otherwise sit on your duff for an hour watching Downton Abby. (I know I'm grasping at strings there but that was my Sunday evening so what can I say...)
5. Well, why should it be five things? I'm gonna leave it at four, because multitasking anymore may just put me over the top.
I think that's going to be my mission for today, focus on a few things to be thankful for as I go about my day today, tomorrow pick a few different things, and soforth for this week.
What are you choosing to be thankful for today?

My Decorating Brilliance :)

In case you don't know, I really enjoy magazines. I think I currently am subscribing to 5 different ones, but I have honestly lost track. It works nicely this way, I always have something to read that doesn't involve a computer screen. Anyway, my latest epiphany--I am seriously ahead of the times, home-decor wise. I mean, I decided several months ago that I am doing yellow and green in my kitchen. And then I get the February issue of Better Homes and Gardens and realize that yellow and green are the new "in" colors! Which makes life very handy for me this spring. You see, I told Mom that my kitchen is changing to yellow and green and she asked if it was the same yellow/gold and olive that were in when she was my age. But of course not :) I have a few olive colored decorator glass pieces, but I am going more for a lighter green and lightish yellow (and touches of red and brown to ground it.). In fact, I bought my yellow KitchenAid mixer a year ago! I just have always loved green and yellow (And I should add, as my Oregon State graduated brother was worried about this, I am NOT going for the Oregon Duck colors; in fact the correlation had not entered my head until he brought it up!)  Anyhow, as I was saying, my timing for my color decision couldn't have been better--my Mom got me some cute colorful measuring cups and spoons, a yellow butter pot (goodbye slippery butter dish lid!) and some cute yellow and green ramekins (I should also add that she also got me 8. These of course go very nicely with the set of green KitchenAid cooking utensils my sweet hubby got me for Christmas. So being as I am still rebuilding my kitchen supplies (most of mine when AWOL when we moved across country two years ago) this is the perfect year to finish that process up! Besides, having lots of pretty colors to cook with makes the process so much more fun and cheerful, don't you think?

In other news, the ice around here is finally melting, thank you God!!! Our parking lot was so bad yesterday that it took hubby 15 minutes to even get into it last night after work. We decided to stay home from church today for that reason--the roads are okay, but if we can't get safely out of our parking lot... So we had family Bible reading from the safety of our living room today, and I'm sure we weren't the only ones! 

Winter Storm #2. Like, REALLY???

Aiyiyi... I'm trying not to look out the window. Well nevermind, I just did. 8" of snow in the past two days, in a city which rarely gets snow so doesn't believe in using salt (it's not "environmentally friendly"...) and can't be bothered to use the three plows they own. My hubby barely made it out of our icy parking lot and onto the main road (all side roads are nightmares) just now so he could go to work this afternoon. It was supposed to warm up today but instead we had freezing rain so who know what what will be coming next. I gotta admit, I'm already nervous about getting to work on Monday :(  Although I did just check weather.com which states that it is supposed to be above freezing by tomorrow early morning and a high of 46 degrees. So maybe it will all melt tomorrow. I never minded this kind of weather in the midwest, but here in the southern northwest it is just an absolute pain.

Anyhow, hubby and I had the wonderful pleasure of a date two days ago! Jerry Seinfeld was in town performing and hubby bought tickets months ago. Of course that was the day this whole snow/ice thing started, but we were not to be deterred. So we trekked carefully across town to drop Boy off with his uncle and aunt, then back across town where we had a very nice steak dinner (probably the nicest we have ever had in our 9+ years of marriage!) and then went across the street to the theater where we spent one of the most fun evenings of our married adventure together. Totally worth braving the elements for, and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Then back across the snow to get Boy. After we dropped the sleeping angel in bed, we got to go in search of the bad smell that met us when we walked in the front door. (This is nearing 11pm, mind you.) Sure enough, found the source; dog had gotten sick on the living room floor while we were gone. Why oh why did that dog have to get into the garbage the day before??? Cleaned up the carpet, got in bed and to sleep after 11pm. Then at 4am was awakened by dog being sick again, had to get up and clean the carpet again, went back to bed for about 1.5 hours then got up and went to work. Which was a slow day which thankfully ended early---it took me 15 minutes to clean off/dig out my car so I could get out of the parking lot and make my way home. I'm really wishing I had taken a pic with my phone so I could share it here; but I was just focused on getting out of that parking lot in one piece by then... Gotta admit, I'm not sure when was the last time that weather has stressed me out as badly as it has the last couple of days. So now, just trying to relax and enjoy the weekend. Oh wait, I have a sink full of dishes. Oh well, it was a nice thought anyway!

Getting Older

Ehhhhh, well tomorrow I turn 32. I know, to some people that sounds so old, and to others it sounds so young. I'm NOT going to do what seems to be the usual these days and say "OHHHH I'm SOOOO OLD!" I have seen numerous posts lately on Facebook where people younger than me are complaining that they are getting SO OLD as they turn 25 or 28 or 31. Um hello! Do you realize you are telling every other person who is older than you that they are SO VERY OLD!? It can irritate them "just a touch". I have decided the best thing to do as I age is to just be thankful to God for another year. I remember when my Mom turned 50; she was so happy because she was recovered from her bout with breast cancer and feeling so much better. She was just thankful to God for another year!

Last weekend we celebrated our birthdays together, as hers is four days after mine. We all met at the waterfront carousel and the kiddos got to ride the carousel then all over the playground equipment then we went to the children's museum where we had lunch outside while I tried to get my active boy to not climb over the back of the bench we were sitting on then we went in and looked at all the cool kiddo-interesting things including a very cool train which Boy LOVED then went back outside and followed the kiddos up and down a very high jungle gym maze then did birthday gifts then went our separate ways back home. Yes, I realize that was a horrible run-on sentence, but if you read it out loud you will feel out of breath and a little tired, which is how I felt after that day. And the day wasn't even over; on the hour drive home Boy fell quickly asleep (good!) then we picked hubby up from work and went to spend the evening with hubby's brother and sis-in-law and their baby girl. She is such a funny small one, she tries to follow Boy around and he wants to play with her but doesn't know what to do with her; so he tries to pick her up which works out about as well as you can imagine if a 2.5 year old picked up a 1 year old. Yes, overall, a lot of fun that day!

Anyway, I just stopped to get a cup of tea and remembered that I have a pile of laundry to fold.
Adios for now, friends!

And I'm back, promptly and randomly on January 11th!

Oh wow! I've been very absentee, basically an unannounced and indefinite break to recharge my brain. It felt like November and December just sucked the life right out of me. Not the "stressful holidays" thing, because I love the holidays! I think it was my job; it was not going well and me being generally tired/exhausted anyway, I just couldn't find the gumption to fix things. But then we had nearly two weeks off over Christmas and New Years, and this was my first week back, and I must say it went better. At least the powers that be were happier with me; I don't think I changed much, but things are improving, at least this week, we'll see about next week...   
So my brain feels finally back to writing capacity. And that is not because of a more organized life, trust me! I think I must have just been experiencing writer's block. Anyway, my house is the picture of disarray; we bought a desk for hubby, and it was delivered yesterday. It is now sitting in the middle of the living room because I need to do some organizing/rearranging in the room it will go in. Yes, I have my work cut out for me today! So right now, I am working on my second large mug of coffee while Boy watches Curious George; I told him that when this episode is over, he has to get up and play. Which means Mommy will have to get up and get to work around here... Also, there is a very large batch of dirty dishes in the kitchen. You see, Boy woke up sick on New Year's Day--fever, cough, and general misery. Then it went round our little family--next to Papa and then Mama. I still don't feel up to par, but at least I'm not constantly blowing my nose; however my head feels stuffy and weird, so it would probably be better if it would all drain out. I am thinking right now that I would like to spend the rest of the weekend lounging and getting better but I can't do that; hubby is working the next two days and then I am working the two days after that, so I just gotta drink plenty of tea with honey in it and some airborne and hope I get better. Maybe I will try getting to bed before 11pm--that might help!
Well, Boy is up and running, so I better be too.
See you tomorrow!