Thursday, December 31, 2009

Goodbye, 2009

I really can't believe 2009 went by as quickly as it did. It seems like the bigger the boys get, the faster time passes.

I'm looking forward to tonight; My sister is coming over to cook and drink mimosas and Bill comes home for a weekend visit (and after that he will only be gone 15 days-THEN back for good! YAY!)

In 2010 Little Dude is finally old enough to participate in the community's children spring activities and I am really excited about that. I love our community-there are tons of cheap park and rec events (when I say cheap, like 5 dollars a kid, adults free kind of thing) like sports camps geared to 3 year olds, hiking adventures (even a pirate treasure hunt! ),craft events, and all kinds of other things that sound so fun.

And this year, in the fall, Little Dude will start preschool. I'm excited and sad, all at the same time-and it is still 8 months away! I know, I'm a nut. He is going to have so much fun, but I'll still be sad to see the "official" transformation from baby to preschool kid. It just doesn't seem possible that much time has gone by already. Didn't he just come home from the hospital?

I'm also hoping this year to catch up with a lot of local friends and get more play dates going. Now that we are back and I am feeling more settled AND since Bill will be back home starting Jan. 16, I think I can keep up with trying to do some kind of weekly playdate thing with different groups of mom friends. And I still need to make it to the Durham Children's museum-it is supposed to be awesome! Bill remembers going as a kid, so it would be fun to share that with the boys now.

Yes, 2009 was rough. Too much traveling back and forth, not being settled, flying solo as a parent and trying to keep up with work-I'm exhausted.

2010 though, I'm so super excited about. It is going to be great because we will be together, in our home, close to friends and family. There isn't much more you can ask for than that.


Happy New Years!!!


Tuesday, December 29, 2009

My Goal for 2010

I have run out of excuses for being tired and always behind. See, I used to blame the kids-they take so much time, I can't keep up with the laundry!

But in all honesty, they really don't take up tons of time, like in the beginning. Little Dude can talk now, in complete sentences, so there is no guess work on what he wants when, and JR is not far behind, already uttering words of his own and using sign language. They can do tons of things for themselves now, and Little Dude even helps me put away his own laundry while I put away JR's. I don't spent time chopping up food into itty bitty pieces anymore, or pureeing baby food. Little Dude goes potty on his own and even washes his hands with his foam soap. Everyone sleeps through the night.

They play beautifully together. In fact, right now, they are playing with the train table, and have been doing so for the last 20 minutes or so.

And what have I been doing? Checking email. Browsing blogs. Looking out the window. Wasting time.

So, I have decided for my New Year's resolution, I am going to make goals for each day and GET THEM DONE. No more laundry piling up because "I was too busy with the kids", no more sitting around just watching the kids when I have laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and WORK to get done.

And while I will still steal moments of just watching my boys play, I need to tear myself away and be a little more productive when these moments turn into minutes, into half hours. Even take some of that time left AFTER cleaning up messes (that would be amazing, eh?) to plan some fun crafts for the kids. That would be much better than the mindless nothingness I usually do.

And perhaps instead of working my job late at night while everyone else sleeps, I could be more productive and do it in the early am or even during nap time, instead of napping myself.

So, that is my goal for the New Year-what is yours?

Monday, December 28, 2009

Playing Santa

*Disclaimer: Don't let your Santa loving kids read this*




OK, kids away from the computer?




I have to share....








I LOVED being Santa this year.

This was our third Christmas with children, but every year before we just put the "Santa" presents out, because, well, a 3 month old just doesn't care or know.

But THIS year, with a three year old...oh my gosh, the excitement was just overflowing our house. And Little Dudes little neighbor friends were all very excited this year, as well, so they had many discussions over Santa coming down their chimneys.

And there was something so odd, and nostalgic about being Santa with my husband while my sister played lookout for any waking boys. It made me think back on past Christmases, when my sisters and I would await Santa, not knowing our parents were frantically cutting, wrapping, and putting in batteries. I wanted to take a photo SO badly, but Bill wouldn't let me. He said the kids would find it-which, seeing how good Little Dude already is with my computer-Bill is probably right.

So I took photo of Bill setting up the coffee maker after we were all done, so that in the early am we would be able to function.

And the morning of Christmas, Little Dude got up and while he was in the potty I snuck down to get my sister up while Bill got JR, and we adults sat back, drank coffee and watched the magic we had created through huge three year old eyes.

It was just amazing.



Monday, December 21, 2009

Priceless

Come back! Get out of there! WHAT are you doing? WHY are you wet? Is that...good God, NO!

NO!!! Give that back to your brother! DON'T BITE your brother!! GET IN THE CORNER!

Those are some the things I heard my husband telling our sons this morning, as he gave me some "mommy free time" to catch up on work.

Having Bill home for the WHOLE week is just amazing and wonderful and way better than winning the lottery.

But the best part?

Having him realize that all those days we would talk on the phone, and he'd ask what I had done for the day-only to have me go "Ummmm, let me see, surely something..ummm...I guess nothing so far" -I was in fact doing something.

Yea, that is priceless.


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Leaving On A Jet Plane

It was cold, foggy and rainy today. So the boys came up with a fun game.

They gathered their bags:

The posed for "goodbye photos":

And they boarded a jet plane:


Monday, December 14, 2009

Honest Scrap


I got tagged for the "Honest Scrap", so here goes:

Here are the Rules:

1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it.

Thanks, Andrea!

2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself.

See below.

3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

I'm actually not going to tag 7 people; however, if you would like to play along, leave a comment below with a link so I can check it out. I know, I know, I am breaking the chain, but that is just how I roll.

4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

See above.


OK, so here goes:

1. I hate chain emails/letters/what have you. These kind of things are fun, and I enjoy being tagged and sharing info, but I still hate the pressure of sending it off to lots of people. If I get tagged in something like this that involves telling more than 3 people, I don't send it on. Chain emails? I break them. Chain letters? I break them.

2. I hate laundry. I will let it pile up until the weekends Bill is coming home, then I hurry and do it all at once so he thinks I am a good housewife. I think he is on to me, though. :)

3. I drink coffee all day long. LOVE coffee.

4. I have a form of acid reflux called "silent reflux", meaning that the acid doesn't always burn (thus, "silent") but it still is doing damage to my throat. I'm on daily meds for it, but my throat is pretty messed up from all the acid that comes up-all of which started once I had my first baby and got worse with the second. It is bad enough that at times I can't swallow food or even water because so much acid is coming up my throat and won't go down. I get to have scopes put down my throat every so often to check on how the meds are doing-that is fun, let me tell you. SO, when I am over at your house and picking at food, it is not because it is bad-it is probably super yummy!-but I just can't swallow.

5. Coffee doesn't help any, but spicy food and soda is the worst, so I avoid those at all costs. Milk is bad on occasion.

6. I want to have another baby, but I'm paranoid Bill will be sent away to another job as soon as I get pregnant (like the last two times....) Plus, my doctor says we need to get my acid issue under good control before that happens, so I am a little paranoid about what another baby will do to my throat and since I HAVE to wait, I want one now. That is just how my head works.

7. I don't want to win the big lottery. Ever. Bill and I buy tickets and dream about what we would do, but it mostly involves giving the money way to places like Make A Wish. I'd like to win just enough to pay off the house. And we would never tell anyone. So if we win, you'll never know.

8. I love day planners, but I am so awful at keeping all my plans on one calendar. I have a calender in my office and in the kitchen, but it never fails I forget to check BOTH before making plans and things get messed up....

9. I get easily insulted when someone makes fun of my intelligence. Don't know why, but it really bugs me when someone thinks I am a complete flake just because I'm lacking in some skills. One of my neighbors was shocked I had a college degree because I can't make sugar cookies and still picks on me for my lack of home skills. See, still bugged about it enough I'm mentioning it here, and those comments were back over thanksgiving.

10. I get annoyed when I see a movie with huge editing mistakes. I still harbor the dream of working with the movie productions in Wilmington, NC. I would love to edit movies; I LOVE searching for the inconsistencies, but I need to work on not shouting them out to the other people watching the movie.

So, like I said above, I hate the pressure of passing this one to 7 people, SO, if you want to play along, leave a link below with your 10 "honest scraps"; it could be really fun to read!


Monday, December 7, 2009

Spelling G-I-F-T-S

With Christmas fast approaching, I am actually pretty done shopping. The are only a few small items still left to buy, which makes me so happy because as much as I love shopping, I really hate the mall crowds and craziness at Christmas.

But with all the kid's gifts (esp. the cool ones from Santa) hidden around the house in various places, it is hard for Bill and I to not talk about them. We discuss how to wrap them (one is big and we are still trying to figure out how to do that one) or even just sharing our general excitement for the boys to open them, or even go back and forth on how much should be wrapped before Christmas and how much should just show up Christmas day.

We have been getting around our discussions by spelling everything they might give away the gift or location or even S-A-N-T-A, so the kids generally just ignore us.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday morning Little Dude was fixing breakfast with us, and he started spelling.

He said something like "The milk is so yummy D-i-o-e-y".

It took us a second to figure out what he was doing, and it didn't really hit us until he said, "I want some more please, P-e-y-r-d-i".

Oh my. Good thing he can't spell yet.



Friday, December 4, 2009

Straight No Chaser

I heard this song on the radio today and fell in love with it. It was amazing and humorous all at the same time. Straight No Chaser is an a cappella group that I am now dying to see.

And guess what? They are coming to Raleigh Dec. 23. Oh, I am so there. Right, Love? Date night, maybe? I think if I beg enough Bill will cave and take me. You can see why I am in awe:



I had never heard of them before today on the radio (yes, I even called in to find out who the group was), but I am for sure ordering their Christmas CD; listening to the songs had me laughing and wanting to sing along at the same time. Awesome.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Late Nights

Since September, Bill has been commuting back and forth from Alabama to NC every two weeks.

We initially decided for the kids and me to stay in NC after Little Dude's birthday because we thought Bill would be done and able to be back home by the begining of Oct.

But each time the deadline would arrive, something would happen and his "done date" would be extended a few more weeks. Just short enough of a time for us to decide that packing the kids and ALL their stuff to back to AL wouldn't be worth it. Yet long enough, that now, after a few times of that happening, we are in Dec. and still doing the every-other-weekend-visit thing.

And a side effect of that has been that I have not been sleeping so well at night. It just takes me forever to fall asleep, so I usually just stay up and work, though tonight I didn't, even though it would have been a good chance to get ahead. I got sucked in by "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" . That show is so ridiculous it is impossible to not watch. How in the world are there THAT many women who don't realize a baby is kicking them? One of the girls tonight even say SHE DIDN'T USE ANY BIRTH CONTROL AT ALL. And just thought her missed period and weight gain was stress. Wow. Anyways.

So, now I am debating going back to Alabama after Christmas, if Bill ends up thinking he will be there longer. I really don't think I can do too many more months of single parenting. If I worked a real job where I got to TALK to ADULTS for a period of time, I'd be fine.

But staying at home all day with the kids-while super fun and a huge blessing MOST of the time-can be a little draining on my need for some social interaction that doesn't involve Thomas the Train or "I POOPED!" conversations with my 3 year old. Though Little Dude's conversations are great for some laughs later on my end, they can sometimes drag out for a looooonnnnggg tiiiiimmmmmeee, just to get one thought across, and there are 103 more thoughts right behind it going equally as slowly, and often not even on the same subject. You have to wait for it; by the end he ties it all together, sometimes.


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