A Pillow?

     I went to the gym at 6 a.m. yesterday to go to a weigh-lifting class.  Although working out is supposed to get the energy flowing, after ward I felt like I was going to crumple.  A long day at work 7:30-4 in heels and a dress and I thought the day would never end.  Ran some errands around town for both my hubby and I and got home around 5 p.m. 

     I walked in, kicked off my shoes, and thanked God that the kids were taking a late nap!  I was exhausted!  I picked up an 'OK' magazine and then my dog, Fanci, started barking!!! AUGH!!!!  Awake, yup, now the kids were awake.  Still hoping that maybe they would just sit and be quiet in their rooms, I sat on the couch with a heavy sigh. . .5 minutes, I just want 5 minutes, I thought to myself. . .then Tyler came teetering into the living room and when I saw his sweet angelic sleepy face, I couldn't help but smile and my heart was overjoyed!  I opened my arms and when he ran into them I scooped him up and pulled him into my lap.  We could both hear Kendall screaming but I told Tyler, "we are going to cuddle for 5 minutes and then I'll go get sister".  He laid his head on my belly. . .then sat up and fluffed by belly. . .then he put his head back on my stomach with his hand supporting his chin. . .WHAT?  A pillow? He fluffed my fat into a comfortable pillow!

     When getting up at 5 a.m. in the morning to go to the gym to look better, having my belly fluffed into a pillow is the LAST thing I want to happen when I get home!  Dang. . . .well, I skipped the gym this morning and I think I'll be getting Dairy Queen this evening so . . .BOO-YAH!

Despite our best efforts...

            Despite our best efforts to teach our kids manners, language, and life skills they still tend to slip up at times by farting in public, mispronouncing a common word, and making the occasional bad decision. It happens to the best of us, well not me, but my husband is guilty of all three of those things for sure! It seems that from day one of becoming a parent we worry about what this child will become as an adult, and we take 100% responsibility for everything from birth onward. When Benji was a baby I began working to teach him sign language at about 6 months old, I wanted him to have a jump on language. All this did for him was delay his verbalizing of words…but he was great at signing! Kidding, I do believe that signing was very important and cut down on a lot of frustration for him, but apparently it wasn’t important enough for me to teach it to my second child…poor little Presley. She’s bound to be an uptight frustrated adult, all because I lacked the time to teach her sign language. I took Benji to baby classes at the local library one night per week…we listened to books, sang, bounced and socialized…he’s still shy. As a baby, we placed Ben in the best daycare around with the highest of recommendations…it went bankrupt and closed. This, however was a blessing in disguise because we’ve since found an in-home daycare that we love and trust more than the “best daycare in town.” 

            You see, we are constantly hounding our children to become smarter, more athletic, nicer, more social…blah blah blah. We’re worried if they aren’t talking “on time” or walking “on time.” Sometimes we pick them up from daycare, bring them home and try to fill their brains with more knowledge than one little person can absorb on a given day…I have been guilty of this. We’re stuck in a society of competition, not that I don’t believe there shouldn’t be a score in tee-ball (BECAUSE THERE SHOULD), but I think we’re constantly comparing our children. I remember being so frantic when a friend of mine told me that her almost 3 year old was reading. I rushed home, ordered some LeapFrog educational DVDs and anxiously waited for them to arrive in the mail. When they did, that’s what Benji watched on tv. That didn’t last long, I realized that he will read when he is ready to read, and when he is ready to learn I will do everything I possibly can to foster his interest and encourage him. We still continue to read books before bed every night, I think that’s sufficient at this age.

            Every once in a while I doubt myself, and if you are a parent I’m sure you know the feeling all too well. I start to wonder about everything that I have just mentioned…and am I really doing enough for my child? Do I have him in enough recreational programs, do we read enough, do I take advantage of enough teachable moments? And then all of my doubts again vanish when we’re driving along in the car and the two landmarks that Ben jumps up and points out are McDonalds and The Dark Horse Bar. First, this made me feel like mother of the year…NOT. And then I realized that he loves McDonalds because EVERY KID loves McDonalds. He points the golden arches out no matter what town we are in…and he loves the Dark Horse because he is in love with the live music that he sees when we go there. (Yes, we take our kids to a bar.) Although McDonalds and the Dark Horse are not significant educational landmarks in his life (at least I hope not), he is learning at his own pace…and he knows what makes himself happy…McNuggets and the Bar.

I GOT TO CLEAN MY HOUSE

Been a while since I posted but yesterday I was feeling mighty guilty that Jody was left the last couple months all by her self to entertain the thousands. . . .yeah, ok, so I'm adding 1,999 people. . whatever, just a number.
SO, here is my re-birth to our blog! :-)

Yesterday my husband called me at work-it was about 3:00 and he said my dad had picked him and the 2 kids up and they were all in Kalamazoo.  They were just getting a 'late lunch' and then they were going to hit up some hunting stores.  He said they'd be a couple hours and he told me to do whatever I wanted to do. . I SWEAR I heard the chime of bells and a chorus of angels singing. . .

Now came my math skills:  just getting a late lunch-they were all in the truck when he called.  About 5 minutes to get the kids and diaper bag into a restaurant, 10 minutes to order, 30 minutes to eat, 5 minutes to get kids back in truck, 2 hours at hunting stores and driving to each, and 30 minutes home. I had approximately 3 hours!!!!  My mom and I made 'dinner and shopping plans' but that gave me a WHOLE HOUR before she left work.

I was SO excited and as I left the building and was walking to my car, a co-worker asked me what I was doing-I said, I'm GOING TO CLEAN MY HOUSE for an HOUR!  She looked baffled that I was excited about this, but, anyone who has little kids knows what an hour of cleaning w/o them in the house means-it actually looks like you clean!!!  That statement: "Cleaning your house with kids in it is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos" is SO true!

I don't think I have ever been that excited to clean and I didn't even get much done.  I cleaned the kitchen THOROUGHLY and picked up toys, throw blankets, decorative pillows, and couch cushions off the floor in the living room.  Started the dishwasher and I was on my way to meet my mom.

How successful I felt when I got home.  We got home too late for the kids to mess up what I had cleaned and all I could do was feel. . . AMAZING! 

Celebrate

            After taking almost the entire day off from work yesterday due to what seemed like the aftermath of being run over by a freight train, I knew I had to pull myself out of bed by 5:30pm to take care of the kiddos since Adam had to go to class. This was quite the task after having non-stop migraines all day, really strange dreams that I’ll never admit to anyone, an incredibly sore throat, and a fever that was causing chills and hot-flashes all at the same time! I had to do it though, it took a little bit of positive self-talk, actually about 40 minutes of positive self-talk, but I finally dragged my sorry looking self out of bed! It wasn’t just the feeling of being run over by a train, the mirror displayed an image that would have scared the devil. In order to get myself through the next couple of hours until bedtime for the kids I broke everything up into 15 minute increments.

5:15pm- Adam arrives home with the kids. Although he had tried to explain to them that I had not been feeling well, a 10 month old and a 3 year old quickly forget that (Not that they really cared anyway). I placed a freezer meal that I had prepared last week in the oven. Hopefully this would be ready in an hour.

5:30pm- Adam tells Benji to take care of me and to be good. He leaves for class that should last from 6-9pm. I lay lifeless in the recliner as Ben stares at Power Rangers on TV and Presley is entertained by the dogs on the other side of the glass slider door.

5:45pm- Ben operating his remote control truck in circles around the living room. Presley crawling in circles chasing the truck. Me…still lifeless in the recliner.

6:00pm- Out of the chair finally. Presley is STARVING, as usual, and starting to fuss. Apparently 15 minutes of crawling in circles chasing a remote control truck makes a girl hungry. I get plates, bowls, cups, silverware ready for the chicken alfredo that we were about to enjoy. Ben tells me he doesn’t like food and does not want to eat.

6:15pm- Dinner finally ready. Presley begins to eat everything on her tray until she spots the dogs sitting on either side of her high chair impatiently awaiting her to drop something. She decides to feed them, and then laughs every time they would take food out of her hand. In the state that I’m in, this is incredibly annoying. Ahh, dogs are put outside. Ben still screaming, “I DON’T LIKE FOOD. I DON’T NEED TO EAT.” I try to eat, thinking that maybe some food would give me a little energy.

6:30pm- Presley is back to feeding herself after the dogs are out of sight. She eats a second helping. Ben hesitantly comes to look at his plate that I’ve prepared for him. “I DON’T LIKE THOSE THINGS. I DON’T LIKE THAT EXTRA SAUCE ON MY PLATE. I DON’T LIKE PEAS.”  The food that I had eaten did not give me any extra energy and I did not want to fight with a 3-year-old tonight. Thinking that I could bribe him, I said, “If you do not eat dinner, you will not be able to watch tv later.” He didn’t care, “I don’t want to watch tv anymore.” I felt defeated.

6:45pm- By now, and I’m not sure what made it happen, but Ben had taken 2 bites of the food that he didn’t need, and a few bites of pineapple chunks that I had found in the fridge from the night before. Presley was finished, cleaned up, and ready to have pajamas put on her. Once again…no energy for bath time tonight…don’t judge.

7:00pm- Ben puts his pajamas on, watches tv. Presley is taken upstairs to read books and be in bed by 7:30. I’m feeling so thankful that our kiddos go to bed so early.

7:30pm- Benji taken to his bedroom to read books and be to bed by 8. Only 1 book tonight, I’m pretty sure that with the migraine I was having my eyes were completely crossed because I could barely focus on the large print words in the book he had picked out.

7:45pm-CELEBRATE! And by celebrate, I mean…back to the recliner, lifeless. Everyone was asleep. Dogs, kids, and soon to follow…me.

 

            Those were definitely the longest 2 hours and 15 minutes that I’ve had in a very long time. Funny how the times we want to slow down never do, and the times we really NEED to speed up, also never do!

 

Our new dog food

            I was feeling a little guilty about being a very irresponsible pet owner today. When I woke up this morning and began the morning routine of filling the dog bowls and leading them to their kennel, I realized that I was completely out of dog food. I couldn’t let my two fur-babies be hungry all day, so I ravaged the fridge seeking something for them. Yes, I know it’s not good to feed dogs human food, but my brain was lacking caffeine at that moment and I justified my decision by convincing myself that human food is better for dogs than utter STARVATION! I gave them each 2 brats. I don’t like brats, and I’m sure when my husband realizes that the pack of 6 brats is down to 4 he’ll be a little upset, but I figured this was better than leftover tater-tot casserole, after all brats are made of some sort of meat I think and dogs naturally thrive on meat…not tater tots. Anyway, after this predicament had finalized and my morning carried on as usual, I headed to work after dropping the kids off at daycare. The entire way to work I obsessed about what kind of dog food to buy. I’ve bought the very expensive brands that claim to be all natural, and I’ve bought store brands…and if you ask me, they eat all of it at the same speed and poop the exact same amount. I tossed this around in my head on and off all day, ridiculous I know. (As I’ve said before...people around me would probably appreciate it if I were medicated) I asked my friends what they fed their dogs, I researched dog food on the internet, and then after while I couldn’t take much more obsession about dog food. I put in a request to leave work early and headed to the store…for dog food. My boss thought I was crazy and assured me that the type of food I’ve been feeding my dogs is probably just fine, but in turn I assured her that I HAD TO LEAVE! (You’re probably asking where exactly this story is going, but please bear with me.) After arriving at the store and placing a bag of the store brand dog food in my cart, and then turning around and placing it back on the shelf only to find another brand to put into my cart, and eventually returning to the isle to exchange it, I realized that I will one day I will become the crazy lady on the street with 36 dogs, 14 inbred cats, and 2 parakeets in a one bedroom house. If you’re wondering, I ended up with Purina Naturals for my dogs and cats…and a bag of the only kind of rabbit food the store carried for my two bunnies. I rushed toward home, picked up the kids from daycare, drove to our house, pulled out leftover tater-tot casserole which Ben wouldn’t eat because “it has white stuff touching it” for dinner, and then went to feed the dogs. They were excited and pleased with my choice of new food. After the kids finished dinner, and playtime outside was over, we returned to the house for bath time. This was short-lived tonight, neither of the kids had patience to be cleansed. I lifted Presley out of the tub, let her have a few minutes of “nakey time” while getting Benji out of the tub. I came back out to the living room to see Mason, our puggle, licking the carpet. Then I smelled something unpleasant. And then, when I went to put Presley’s diaper on her I found the residue of the poop she’d apparently dropped on the floor during naked time. Apparently this happened in the 3.8 seconds that I had stepped away to get Benji out of the tub, and within that same amount of time, the dog found his dessert. I don’t often say omg, but OMG! Next time I won’t obsess too much about the brand of dog food I buy, evidently they’re happy with the kind that my children make.

This is Mason...our puggle.

Mom...there's white things.

            After arriving home from work to a screaming 10 month old,  Ben who was busy playing “minjas” with his new sword, the tv blaring and the radio in the kitchen turned up, my head was about to start spinning. I had to get away for a second to gather myself…so into my bedroom I headed, shut the door for 2 minutes and just sprawled out on my king sized bed. Ahhh….relief! I was quickly feeling better, headed out to reality as Adam was preparing dinner (aloha pork…whatever that is). Eventually dinner was ready, I opted to have my pork minus the aloha, as did Presley. Ben thought he was eating chicken nuggets, so we didn’t correct him. After dinner was over, Presley was picked up out of her high-chair covered in most of her meal, and stripped naked for a bath. This girl can put away some food, but she isn’t very “lady-like” while doing it. She usually ends up needing to be hosed off after dinner. That technique is sometimes frowned upon so the next best option is the bathtub. Thankfully the kids are both young enough that they can be bathed together, this saves a ton of time as Ben usually remains in the tub to play “guys” or “minjas” (ninjas in case you don’t speak 3 year old) after Presley is removed and dressed for bed. Tonight, however, this wasn’t the case. See, our bathroom tub is set up perfectly to see from the kitchen. We are able to get the kitchen cleaned up after dinner while still being able to hear and more importantly see both kiddos happily playing in the tub. Adam and I went about our business cleaning up and getting clothes laid out for bedtime. By now, all of that previous anxiety that I had shortly after arriving home from work was gone. The nightly routine was underway and things were pretty calm. Ben was yelling and playing as usual, and then he says, “Mom, Presley pooped white things.” I assured him that Presley hadn’t pooped, and that poop isn’t ever white and when about my cleaning. Again, “Mom, there’s white things.” By now Adam has gone in the bathroom to take a closer look, and yes, she had pooped. It wasn’t white at all, still not sure what Ben was talking about since he knows all of his colors very well, but Presley had in fact pooped and it was everywhere. Ben was rescued first from the sewer of a bathtub that the “mother of the year” was bathing her children in, and then little blissfully ignorant Presley was lifted out still smiling. Of course, she had no idea that it’s just not cool to bathe in your own feces, she’s only 10 months old. I had to walk away, there were turds and turd flakes floating around in the tub. I left the mess for Adam, after he’d made dinner for all of us you’d think that I could have chipped in to help with this mess, but I couldn’t do it, not today, I’d had enough! He was a trooper, he got the kids out, got them cleaned, got the tub cleaned out…and didn’t complain once. He’ll never know how much I appreciated that…and poor Benji. I never know whether or not to believe his grand imagination, next time I’ll take him a little more seriously when he tells me one of his “stories.”

My Third Paycheck

            It only happens seldom, and when it does you usually do not even notice it…that’s right, the month that you receive 3 paychecks! Typically when this happens I do not notice an excess in my bank account, I don’t get to splurge on a little something special for myself, and it’s usually over and done with before I even figure out that it was a 3 paycheck month. This month was a different story…or so I thought.  It was the end of the month, I was out of work by noon and looking forward to a 3-day weekend as it was Labor Day weekend. I had scheduled a hair appointment that I promptly drove to as soon as the workplace doors closed behind me, I was determined to find that extra money with that 3^rd check and I wanted to spoil myself a little bit, after all I had already paid all of my monthly bills including my new car payment of $300. After spending 2 hours getting my hair done and dropping over $100,  I headed to the mall where I dropped my car for an oil change that I had a gift card for and proceeded to meander through the stores in search of some great deals. I was feeling like a new woman with a few inches of hair being cut off, high and low lights, and a completely new style…you know that confident feeling that you had when you were 19 and you just knew everyone stared as you walked by, well I had that. I had about 30 minutes to kill and within this time I found a shirt that cost me $0.63, a pair of shoes that rang up for $7, and a pair of running shorts that were on clearance for $5. Couldn’t beat that, again with my confidence beaming, I strolled back through the mall to Sears, where my car was awaiting. I handed my gift card for the oil change to the cashier and the card covered the exact amount of the oil change…another amazing deal! Yes, so a trip to the mall and an oil change cost me $12.63, this is a first, and probably a last for me, but I was excited and called everyone on my way home to tell them about my amazing afternoon. (Yes, these are the things that excite me these days…I know, lame.) While driving home, I hit the drive-thru teller at the bank to withdraw my bi-weekly daycare payment and headed to daycare to pick the kiddos up and be home in time for dinner. During dinner, Adam and I talked about the day, discussed the amount still in our checking accounts after the recent paycheck, and continued to eat. I thought it was a bit ironic that I still had such an excess in my account, especially after my car payment, daycare, and my hair appointment had all come out of the one check. I pushed it to the back of my mind convincing myself that it must be the extra paycheck this month! The night concluded, and the next day rolled around. Adam went to work as usual on Saturday and I had the day to burn. I called my mom and asked her if she’d like to go with me to buy a pair of running shoes. In spite of everything, I had a lot of money to burn and I needed a new pair of shoes for my upcoming half-marathon! She agreed to go with me, I picked out a $100 pair of shoes, bought lunch, and headed back home. Adam arrived home a little later as I was dawdling around the garage, he poked his head out the window that looks in on our garage and says :

Adam:  “Do you know why you had so much extra money in your account?”

Me: “Umm..No?”

Adam: “Because your $300 car payment and your $350 daycare withdraw all came out of my checking

  account!”

Me: “Oh….Sorry.” Then I laughed.

 

Sometimes, when I think I have my life together and things seem to be going almost too well to be true…they usually are! I had given him two overdrafts and left him with a balance of $0 with two weeks to go before the next pay. But at least I can still feel confident about my new hair!!!