Our Kids

I am feeling really thankful today. I just took our dog Otto in to the vet for a hot spot. Generally hot spots on dogs are not good things as they can spread and the cause is undetermined, an allergy, a cut or any number of things can cause them. Bad thing is they can spread and be a real mess. The reason I am so grateful is that it cost me $186.00! Wowza! But I was able to pay that bill and that is why I am thankful. I hope that my husband knows how much we appreciate him and all he does for our family. We are so blessed and I know we don’t tell him often enough how much we love him and how grateful we are for all he does. So honey, all those late nights, all those nights you tuck us all in to bed and then go work in your office, we notice and we love you very much for all you do for us.

I have a cheerleader. I didn’t know I needed a cheer leader, but I got one anyway. As all moms know going to the bathroom by yourself is pretty much a no go once your kids are walking. Whether they are right outside the door, right inside the door, or inside and trying to shut the door they are there.

Now that Phoebe has potty trained she has become my little cheerleader. When I go potty I get lots of jumping up and down and clapping and yeah mommy. She is real proud that I put my pee pee in the potty and I am too.

Tonight I was brushing Piper and Lela’s hair when they started asking me questions like, can you have a baby when you are not married or how can you have a baby if you are not married, how did you know you wanted to marry daddy. Of course I told them it was because he was funny and made me laugh and I liked being around him, they said “that’s all??” Then I told them it was because he was also devilishly handsome:) They got bored of me and moved on to the next topic, what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Lela wants to own a farm. She did want to be an artist but after we took them to the miniature horse show she has decided she wants to own a farm with horses, goats, chickens….the works. It is funny because she doesn’t want to get married and that girl would be the LAST one to muck out any stalls or take care of any animals, lol.

Then Piper went on to tell me what she wanted to be. She started by telling me she did want to be a palentologist but then she decided that would be “too hot.” Next she wanted to be a traffic cop but then she decided she “might get run over.” Finally she settled on cutting hair because she “likes to cut things like paper.” So there we have it folks. A farmer and a hairdresser:)

I know you loyal readers have often times asked yourselves, WTH why doesn’t she post pictures in her blog posts.  Argghhhhhh!  If she would just do that I wouldn’t have to go to her dang flickr site, or for those of you who never go to the flickr site you would be saying, geez I wish I knew what her kids looked like now.

Finally I am doing something about it.  I can now post pictures to my blog easily and plan to do so more often.  Not only that I am uploading to flickr from my phone so the drought there may have ended as well.

Better late than never.

I don’t know what it is but I have been flat out tired lately. This morning I actually slept in until 7:37A (that is late compared to my usual 5:45A). It has been one of those times when I feel like I NEED coffee in the afternoon, I am annoyed at night with the girls because I want to go to bed and they are still up. Hopefully my morning sleep in will kick this tired feeling and I am feeling pretty good right now. The warm afternoon sun on my face makes me want to take a nap so maybe I won’t sit out in it today and just enjoy it from my window.

Sleepy head be gone, I have got life to live!! In the words of a much younger Lela, “you can sleep when you died.” LOL!

Landis is expanding but not in the way you think. All of a sudden it seems like Landis is talking differently, drawing differently, dancing differently and by different I mean grown up.

She has been rambling on for months now but lately her conversations make sense, the sentences have structure and she is very articulate. She has no trouble expressing herself and often finds me staring at her slack jawed because of whatever comment or diatribe she has just put together. Not only are her language skills expanding but so is her drawings and her ability to form complex patterns. She now draws the whole family complete with hair, smiles, eyes and the works standing under a sunny sky with clouds and bunnies hopping in the grass.

I found a pattern on a magnetic board the other day and asked her who did it. She had been the only one in the playroom that morning and the big girls were at school so when she said she did it, it was hard to argue. She had taken all these geometric shapes and made a self portrait complete with pigtails. It was quite impressive.

What is that old saying about not blinking? Well I blinked and now my 4 year old is…..old:)

This post has been formulating in my mind for weeks. As I look back at pictures of myself over the last few years I notice that I am often wearing a nursing tank. Recently I was going about my day and I had a feeling of something lifting, like a fog was on me and it was gone. Suddenly I felt rested, lighter, encouraged. I couldn’t put my finger on it until I saw those pictures of me in the nursing tank. Then it hit me, I am past the nursing tank years.

What does that mean? Well I can tell you what it means to me. It means I can now walk down the baby aisles and I have zero desire for a baby. I can look at little clothes, the latest gadgets and even see little newborn babies and I don’t want one. Zowie! I haven’t been in this place for about 6 years. Crazy town. I really do love this place. Now that I know that the baby years are behind me I can look forward, yes I am actually thinking about high school for the girls and what our lives will be like. I am finally looking forward to retirement with my best friend and husband! I know those things are still a ways away but by moving out of the nursing tank years I can finally lift my head up high enough to see the future and all its possibilities. How exciting!

It is wonderful that as mothers, caregivers or whatever we can be so in the moment that we don’t see what we are missing which allows us to be the best mother, caregiver or whatever we need to be at that moment. In this new place I am seeing all the things I now can focus on and how that keeps me, and all of my family, moving forward.

I guess that is really it, we are regaining our forward momentum. No longer are we up all night with babies, wiping bums, breastfeeding and all that goes in to the care of a wee one. We now have children that are capable of getting their own cereal, brushing their teeth and even putting themselves to bed.

The icing on that cake is that Phoebe is 90% diaper free! She is AMAZING with the potty training basically doing it all herself and doing it better than I ever could. She is wearing a diaper at night but even that is on its way out. Crazy town, not only are we nursing tank free but we are almost diaper free?? I might feel so liberated that I actually float 6 inches above the ground for a while. Don’t worry though the girls have a way of keeping me grounded so it will be short lived.

Anyway, forward momentum I welcome you:)

The week of March 12th was our spring break. We were so lucky that Aunt Mel and cousin Ava came to stay with us. The girls had the best time. They spent most of it just paling around, playing, running, jumping, chasing and bonding. We went to a trampoline place, they went to the movies, they saw a play, we went up to the school a lot, made gnomes, made fairy houses and everyone went to bed tired at night.

What seemed like a long visit passed in the blink of an eye. Piper and Lela have a very interesting dynamic that I have mentioned before. To each other they are the “cake” and everyone else is “icing.” That means that they can really enjoy people visiting but they rarely miss anyone after they have gone because they always have each other to play with, talk to and be near. Landis is another story. She misses her Auntie Mel very much, Landis was practically Melissa shadow while she was here. The good news is that she is creating a forever bond with her Aunt which is so sweet but I feel bad for her too because she feels her absence stronger than Piper and Lela.