Mistakes in Motherhood

I am one of those odd moms who LOVE snow days, I look forward to them, I can’t wait for summer vacation, and I dread back to school. I would homeschool my kids in an instant, if I had a masters degree in education. I support homeschooling, but personally, I made a choice a long time ago that it was not for our family, because I don’t have the bag of tricks teachers do to keep kids interested. I cannot get my children to make their beds without being told, how am I going to get them interested in pushing themselves to advance? I also do not have the patience for busy work.

I do hate snow though, especially when I have errands to run. The kids need haircuts and new shoes, I needed pet food, milk and creamer and I could not get out to get any of those. My husband ended up getting the food items, the rest will have to wait. It took him 2 hours to travel 2 miles this morning. I am really hoping tomorrow’s weather will be more kind, we have so many things to do before he leaves for the middle east next week.

No Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: A lot about nothing, Bobby, Ramblings. | #

Where does the time go?? It was four weeks ago today that I was in labor with my sweet baby baby boy thinking he was going to be born on his due date. Ha! He fooled me!

Even though he won’t be four weeks old until tomorrow, I wanted to go ahead and update while I had a moment… easier said than done when you have five kids (only the little three are home right now, and the littlest one is napping).

He’s a pretty mellow little guy, but he is also pretty needy, especially at night. He will sleep a couple hours at a time as long as he is in my arms. I am getting more accustom to sleeping with him in my arms, which is something I just do not enjoy.

[Interruption #1, Sophia climbed up on her dresser and dumped all the water from her wipe warmer all over her dresser and floor trying to plug it in. It was unplugged because it is broken.]

His brothers and sister adore him, but his sister is not too sure she likes sharing her spotlight. I know she loves him, but I also think she’s a little resentful that he’s always in arms. I am trying my hardest to make sure she gets extra attention and I am including her in his care by asking her to be my helper.

[Interruption #2, 3 & 4. Sophie is trying to dress herself and is bringing me clothes, shoes, and a diaper. Then she broke the latch off her dress-up chest and wanted me to come fix it.]

Matthew is constantly asking to hold Liam, and usually his timing is bad. I will have just latched him onto the breast and Matt appears out of nowhere and says “Can I hold Liam?”

[Interruption #5, 6, 7, Sophia found a shirt she liked and asked me to button it up, asked me to put a diaper on her that was wet from the wipe warmer water, and when I sent her away for a dry one she brought a pocket that didn't have an insert]

Christopher really does not ask or attempt to hold him anymore.

[Interruption #8, had to empty the potty chair]

Austin loves holding him though and is always asking to hold him, or stealing him out of his swing. I am so impressed with him, he is going to make such a good husband and daddy someday. He does his own laundry, loves to cook, adores babies and is very thoughtful. I figure when he’s 30 I am going to auction him off to the highest bidder.

[Interruption #9, 10 & 11, emptied the potty seat again, broke up a fight between Sophie & Matt over a balloon, and got a hug from Matthew for finding a lost villain for his superhero toys.]

Sophie has to be reminded not to put her feet on Liam’s head, I am not sure WHY she insists on doing this, but it is annoying.

[Interruption #12, drama over panties. Sophie claims she has some, Matthew tells her she doesn't, shouting match ensues.]

[Interruption #13-16, Liam wakes up, on the way to get him I have to rescue Sophie from herself, she has somehow climbed in the back of her diaper storage tower and is stuck. Get the baby up, change his diaper and his clothes. Sophie throws a fit because she insists she needs a wipe. Then throws another fit because I closed my door, not her.]

Liam is a pretty content little guy, he loves to cuddle and watch your face. He’s starting to smile a bit and engage a bit more.

[Interruption #17, baby needs to nurse.]

[Interruption #18 through ??.... had to make lunch one handed for Sophie & Matt, pick up my kitchen, all while holding a fussy boy who wants to nurse again.]

#!&% it, I give up. Yup, I see exactly why the last 4 weeks have flown by.

FYI: this took me 90 minutes to write.

2 Comments | In: A lot about nothing, This is how I roll | tags: Domestic Diva, Family, Humor, Insanity, Liam, Matthew, Photography, Ramblings, Silliness, Sleep Deprivation, Sophia, Updates. | #

Since moving to Olympia, we have been missing chicken wings. We got spoiled in Colorado being only 4 minutes from a Wing Stop, and 6 minutes from a Wild Wings. Here, such places just do not exist. We have a Hooters in Tacoma, about 30 minutes away, so we decided to hit Tacoma to get wings, then head to the zoo. We had never taken the kids to Hooters, and the reaction of my 12 and 14 year old sons’ was hilarious! The 14 yr old said he wants to do his birthday dinner there next year. lol

Our trip to the zoo was horrid, traffic was a nightmare and when we got down there, there was no parking within miles of the zoo, reason being there was some festival down there. So we scrapped our plans and hit the mall instead to browse in the Apple Store. This evolved into a maternity shopping spree, two new bears from Build a Bear, and tons of window shopping. We also took the kids to Cabela’s for the first time when we got into town. As disappointed as I was that we had to skip the zoo, we ended up having a ton of fun yesterday and now know when we go back to the zoo next time, to get there when it opens and to go on a week day.

No Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: Family, Ramblings. | #

I feel like I should be afraid of anything that plugs in today, I really do feel paranoid and that it is out to get me. What next? Is my ice-maker going to start pelting cubes at me? Do I have the anti-midas touch or something? Karmic debt from frying a motherboard 10 years ago?

This morning I wake up to the smoke detectors going off, all 8 of them, out of sync. The 12 yr old decided to turn his bagel into a piece of charcoal. So I get up, life goes on, right? Call the bank for an issue, 24 minutes on hold I give up, decide the issue is not worth it. Hubby and I make a wonderful breakfast, go to watch some shows on the DVR, and the Medium I have been wanting to see stopped recording 20 minutes into it.

Ok, well then I will just hook up my Wii and play my new game, Wii Active. Find the new cord I ordered (red/blue/green, new TV only has one input for red/white/yellow). I get the cord plugged in and Wii working (unsuccessfully at first, no sound) to find that we already had the cord I just ordered and waiting a week for an overpaid on shipping for, it must have come with one of the aftermarket accessory packs. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. Put Wii Active in and my console tells me I need to update! ARG! I have a temper tantrum and get over it. I go to plug in my aftermarket Wiichargable (sorry, couldn’t help it) battery pack for my WiiFit board- no dice, the light won’t come on. The 13 yr old brings me batteries, no dice. I get new batteries and finally it works.

So I set up the game, strap on the leg holster for the nunchuck and immediately it finds the ONLY workout I hate, running in place. As I am running, the leg holster starts slipping off, I tighten it, and I can feel a shooting pain down my leg as it constricts my blood flow and I feel like I have a bad case of sciatica. I finish my “run” just to have the very next exercise require the same torture device. Oh well, I will just play another game, I have 3 or 4 of them.

I put in WiiFit plus, load my profile, and I get the message “To start, please step off me and press A”… ok, I am not stepping on you, but ok… press A it recalculates and says the same message again. Turn the board on and off and same message. So I find a forum talking about how to fix it, make it through all the steps just to have the controller die. Get a new controller, it too is dead, in fact all five of them are dead. I guess the universe wants me to give up and be slovenly; I will try again in a few hours of them on the charger.

With facebook not working right, I really should be using this time more productively… I mean I do have a house to pre-pack, and hundreds of pounds of stuff I don’t plan on moving gone through and tossed or donated. I have boxes to fill up to save money on packing. I have beef stew to start, a fridge and freezer to clean, not to mention an entire house to clean. I would really like to be out of here in a week, but is that realistic?

Alright, I need to wrap this up to get back to stressing, err working. This will be behind us soon, we will be settled and happy and it will all be a distant memory. We have moved before, and we survived, and we will move again, there is no doubt.

No Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: Family, Insanity, Lame-o, Moving, Ramblings, Stress. | #

Hubby’s car hasn’t been starting for months. I figured it was just cold from not being run regularly. Jumped it tonight and ran it all over town for an hour. Took it to the auto supply store for a quick battery check and it showed after all that driving and assuming I was charging the battery, I turned off the car and it was dead. The computer showed my battery was completely dead, despite only being 6 months old. Now we are thinking the alternator is dying, so Monday I get to jump it again and take it to the dealership. Thankfully it only dies when I turn it off, for now at least.

Of course all this would be easier if my teenager hadn’t lost my keys while I was out…. that is just my luck, huh?

No Comments | In: This is how I roll | tags: Austin, Auto Stuff, Bobby, Lame-o, Ramblings. | #

I am not the type to make formal resolutions, but I have really let myself go in the last year. Not in the typical “boy she let herself go”, sort of way. In fact I have gotten quite a bit healthier in the last 6 month (she says as she crams caramel corn into her face). More I have let myself go creatively… and I have really let my blog suffer. Seems that once again I have let real life get in the way, and I probably spent a bit too much time on Facebook too.

So the last month has been a whirlwind of emotion. You know the feeling of standing on a rug, then at the last minute having it yanked right out from underneath you? Well, that was my December. For the last 11 months, we have been looking for houses in North Virginia… just to find out that we may be going elsewhere. No big deal, except for… we have no clue where we are going. We won’t know for another week… but we have to be there in a month. Yes, a MONTH. Simply put, I am a freaking, freak-out, McFreakerson, mess.

We have also had a ton of health surprises with our little princess. She “failed” her 18 month well-baby checkup so to speak. She got the label of failure to thrive because she is growing too slow. This has earned her a couple referrals to specialists, a long list of lab tests, xrays, and a visit for her strange way of walking yielded a referral to a cardiologist for a heart murmur. On the bright side, December brought me a baby who can FINALLY walk. I had decided when she turned 16 months old that she would crawl off to college; and the tender age of 18 months and one week, she joined the upright world. She took off running, never looking back.

2010 will bring good things to anyone who looks for it. The second month of 2010 will bring home Bobby from Iraq, and new adventures in a new city and state. Thankfully, January should fly by since I will have just 3 weeks to find a place to live, interview and hire moving companies, research schools and neighborhoods in a new location, and all the other little bits and pieces. I am looking forward to the last month of his deployment not dragging, like the 9th month of pregnancy always does. I am really hoping I can keep busy enough that it will seem like no time before he’s home.

No Comments | In: People, Places & Things, This is how I roll | tags: Family, Health, Ramblings, Sophia, Updates. | #

I need more hours in the day between 11 and 2; at least 4 more. I feel like I have accomplished nothing lately… I have not had enough time to heal my mind, body, or my soul, and because of that I feel out of sync. Today was one of those odd days where synchronicity was completely necessary. I had just started trying to pick up my house when the house painters came by and I was settling them in when my new cabinet door was delivered and installed. As soon as the painters sealed up my house (trapping me inside) the school called to tell me Christopher was sick and needed to come home. I get him home, I get lunch for Sophie and myself and before I have time to relax, it is time to go get the older boys.

My neighbor down the street is a Vietnam vet, so once I had the kids home I walked over to apologize for all the traffic since he is the unofficial neighborhood watch. He’s a pretty cool guy who is retired and sort of looks out for everyone, especially those who are single moms or young. He adores my kids and is always praising how smart and well mannered they are. His wife is super sweet too and they are on my short list of neighbors I love (which is a pretty long list actually). I must have been putting off some strange vibe today because he seemed to think I was dressed up for something. I laughed a little because I think the “fanciest” thing I did was brush my hair and put on my necklace. It is a diamond and white gold journey pendant that Bobby got me and did not know it until I told him. How that equates to looking fancy is beyond me… but I wonder if he would have thought I had a hot date or something had I bothered to actually put makeup on or something.

PS. Today was day 5 sans the NFH (neighbors from hell) and I have to say, it has been the quietest 5 days in a year; even with all the construction I have had going on here lately.

PPS. I got tired of Bobby complaining how out of date my ‘Cast of Characters’ section is and updated the photos and bios a bit.

PSPS. Isis had her Great Dane reunion on Sunday. I hope to get pictures up soon, possibly when I have 4 extra hours in the day.

1 Comment | In: A lot about nothing, This is how I roll | tags: Family, Health, House Stuff, NFH (Neighbors From Hell), Ramblings. | #

We started with the landscaping project on Thursday. Changes are slow, but exciting. I have been posting pictures on my facebook, but not my Flickr and I will post before, during & after pictures here once the work is done.

First of all, the NFH’s have still been quiet. The SUV that took all but one of them away last week, returned today, so we will see if the peace lasts.

Also, the Great Dane behind me has been quiet too, it has been wonderful.

We are replacing our back fence, which is right next to the fence of the neighbors behind me. When mine came down, we realized that our two crappy fences were being held together by the gravity of each other, and her Ivy vines. So after they propped their fence up, I decided it was time to pay them a visit to offer to share a fence if they paid the couple hundred dollars to remove their fence by my guys. They agreed that our plan would benefit us both mutually, and it looks like at least the portion we share will be going down Monday.

They are such sweet people. A retired couple and he plays in the band. They explained to me that the Great Dane was driving them nuts too, and they talked to the owners and lent them a bark collar that ran out of batteries some time that second night. On the third night, the new family was moved in enough to stay at the house and bring the dog in. I have not heard a peep from him since, so I am pretty sure he was just lonely.

Days like the last few make me really like my neighborhood.

No Comments | In: This is how I roll | tags: House Stuff, Me, NFH (Neighbors From Hell), Ramblings. | #

On Tuesday, my sweet baby Matthew turned FOUR! It is so hard to believe that he is already four, but on the same hand I can’t believe I have only known him four years because I just cannot imagine life without him, it seems like I have always known him. For his birthday dinner, he wanted to go to Olive Garden, which hit a sweet spot with me because that was the place I always went to for my own birthdays.

Sophie is sick with a fever and a cold. It started with a low grade fever on Tuesday and by Wednesday morning it was up to 103.5 and she had me up all night long. She is still a little warm today, but she does not seem so dependent on Motrin or Tylenol. I keep expecting to see teeth or chicken pox appearing, but so far neither one seems to be coming.

Matthew started preschool on Wednesday, so Sophie and I were able to rest while he was away. He goes 3 days a week for 6 hours a day and he LOVES it. I really struggled with the decision between a home daycare where they center around play-learning or an actual academic preschool. Both have up sides and down sides, but in the end I really liked the teacher, philosophy, price and convenience of the home based daycare near my home. He is only around two other kids who are 2 and 3 years younger than he is, but he does not seem to mind. I also like that he is exposed to less germs. I was hoping she would have another four-year-old or two, but he does not seem to mind at all.

Having only one child here for 18 hours a week clears up my schedule when Sophie naps to get much needed projects done. Part of my frustration was the clothing situation we are having. Matthew was pulling all his clothes out of his dressers to find one shirt, and when he and his brothers cleaned his room, those clean clothes ended up in the hampers and I had Mount Washmore climbing to scary heights. I felt overrun by laundry and was ready just to institute a burlap sack uniform policy. I decided the only reasonable thing to do was to move all his clothes into my room into Bobby’s dresser. However then I had to decide what to do with Bobby’s clothes. I ended up hanging up all his clothing, to include his jeans. It was actually sadder than I thought. I felt like I was “moving on”, when in reality he is just overseas, not gone.

With Matthew’s dresser now empty, I decided to use if for Sophia’s clothing and then I moved all her diapers off the top of his dresser and into her old dresser. The room looks a lot more orderly now. We will see in time how this arrangement works.

The older two kids have been busy this week with state standardized testing. Austin is done and Christopher has another week left, but I think they are both feeling pretty sick of those stupid tests.

I braved the post office this week when I mailed off a 17 lb box to Bobby, it took me 45 minutes of standing in line to get it mailed out, but I needed to take a helper and I knew that would mean going at a busy time of the day.

Today I am feeling like a drill sergeant, the kids have overrun the house with their toys and messes and enough was enough. It was time to take control of the situation and put them to work cleaning up toys, their bedrooms, and all their other little messes. I still have to go through the house and clean up all the little hot spots that they have gathered on tables and the kitchen could use a good scrub down. All the floors need attention from a vacuum or mop too.

Last night I had my first bad night since Bobby left. It was the first time I REALLY started missing him. I mean I miss him every day, but we also talk, email, and chat daily. It has been almost four days since we have talked, which is the longest we have gone without talking since he left in January for training or February to Iraq.

Matthew is also having a hard time, he went from only 2 or 3 accidents at night a month, or 4 or 5 or more accidents a night a week since he left. I forgot to bring it up with the doctor on Wednesday at his physical to rule out anything medical. I am also having other issues with Matthew and Christopher both that I won’t be bringing up on here to protect their privacy and keep from embarrassing them later in life.

I guess we all deal with changes differently, and we all have our good days and our bad days, all our trials and triumphs and in the end we will find our own ways to work through it all and be stronger for it.

4 Comments | In: People, Places & Things | tags: Austin, Bobby, Christopher, Domestic Diva, Family, Health, Insanity, Matthew, Me, Milestones, Parenting, Ramblings, Ranting, School, Sleep Deprivation, Sophia, Updates. | #

I had the most bizarre dream last night, it is still with me but fading fast so I figure I better write it down.

My dad is a trickster, he likes to joke with telemarketers and salespeople. He gets it from his father who is the same way. I remember one time my dad telling someone on the phone that his entire family had just been in a horrible accident and were totally burned and disfigured and mangled… and when he hung up the phone he was laughing so hard he was almost crying… on the other end of the phone was some young kid peddling a free sitting for Olan Mills photography!! Anyways, I digress.

So last night in my dream my parents were hosting a BBQ and I saw a woman driving around sticking Avon magazines under everyone’s windshield wiper. As she comes around to the party, who are the cast of Law & Order and SVU, but in the dream are real judges, lawyers, detectives, etc. I think “Oh no, here he goes again!” and he does not disappoint.

He tells the Avon lady that they are celebrating the pregnancy of one of the attendees, he points to an elderly woman, probably in her mid 60′s. Of course she is not really pregnant, she is swollen from cancer treatments, but the Avon lady does not know this. He then goes through the crowd introducing the guests, and telling her facts about them that by appearances seem very unlikely… this person here, who is clean cut & very professional just was released from prison for a lifetime of heroin use and trafficking, this gorgeous woman over here was born a man, etc.

When I woke up, all I could think of is how odd that dream was, and I promise I have not been watching too much Law & Order, but I do think I need to take a trip to see my parents soon as I have been thinking about my dad a lot lately.

1 Comment | In: A lot about nothing, People, Places & Things | tags: Add new tag, Family, Me, Ramblings, Silliness. | #