Things that Inspire

I love the beginning of a new year. I like a fresh start. I like a chance to be better than I was before. I like having dates like January 1st to measure my progress by. I want to be a better mom. Some things on the internet contribute to that goal. Some things take away from it. I thought I'd share a few things that have inspired me lately.

I love this post. I love the way Lonica talks about being a Stay-At-Home Mom. She talked about teaching her barely 1 year old how to hold the dustpan while sweeping. I thought about how much easier it is to put my kids in front of the TV, rather than try to sweep with them "helping". Reading this I realized even those moments that will probably be forgotten are oh so important.

http://barefootinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/resolution.html <-- Stephanie reminds me that being a good mom isn't always about the cleanest house, and getting everything done, but enjoying the moments.

http://www.mormon.org/me/1JWZ-eng  <--- This video will make you bawl. This mother lost a 3 year old child. And she understood it was God's will. And she was so sad, but she accepted it. It is heart wrenching.

http://www.mormon.org/me/141P-eng <--- Mom of 2 kids with special needs. She's amazing. My favorite line is when she says, "I'm a mom, and I take my job very seriously."

Which got me thinking about taking my job as a mom seriously. Sometimes I don't think of it as a job at all. Sometimes I'm jealous Aaron gets to be going to school every day while I'm home dealing with stuff like this. But then I read posts like Lonica's and I realize what a blessing it really is to be home with these kids. I have a degree in Special Education. I could be working every day. Maybe I'd make a dent in the student loans are taking out. But I don't want anyone else raising my kids. I may not be the best mom. I make a lot of mistakes. But I'm learning. Maybe by baby number 6 I'll have it figured it out. (Yes I still want 6 babies, someone get my head examined.) In the meantime, I'm working on it. And loving it. And my number 1 New Year's Resolution is to take my job as a mom more seriously.

MOOOOOOOOMMM

7:00am - "MOMMY!! MOMMMYYY!!!"
       "Can you go get her and bring her to bed with me if Abigail isn't up yet?" I nudge my still sleeping husband, attempting to give myself 10 more minutes in bed.
        "Uhh...huh..." He groans and rolls over and lays there until..
        "MOMMY!!"
       He gets up and returns with both toddlers.
7:30am - We've gone through 3 different breakfast options and settled on yogurt and raisins.
7:45am - Sitting on recliner, I pick up Olivia who is whining to sit with me. Somehow she scratches her leg on an exposed piece of upholstery. It's pretty bad. Much crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth commence. Much cajoling, hot chocolate offering, kisses and bandaids are given.
 Meanwhile, Abigail is making a mess of her yogurt. Snow is piling up outside. Aaron is getting ready for school. After I finish bandaging Olivia I clean up Abigail. I strip of her jammies, and end up leaving her in a diaper because I plan on taking her in the shower with me later. Aaron leaves for school. I realize I never asked him to help me find my phone. I look around upstairs, and downstairs. No luck. I start to clean up the mess of breakfast. Aaron returns home from school.
          "Oh yay! Did you realize we never found my phone?" I ask.
          Aaron laughs and unzips his jacket. He had put his jacket on to warm up the car while his shirt was in the dryer. Then he forgot to get his shirt from the dryer. And left for school in pants, jacket and an undershirt. While he grabbed his shirt I used his phone to call mine. Followed the ringing up to the girls' room. Found my phone shoved in a random backpack of Olivia's. Ahh peace of mind, I have my phone.
8:15am - "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! ABIGAIL POOPED! ON THE FLOOR!"
         What was that about peace of mind? Or is it piece of mind? I run down the rest of the stairs, and indeed Abigail had gotten her diaper off and pooped on the floor. Clean Abigail, leave her in kitchen sink, while I scrub poop stains from the carpet.
8:19am - "MOM! WATER IS GETTING EVERYWHERE!" I run into the kitchen and water is everywhere. And Abigail grabbed my phone charger and had it completely underwater. I don't know much about these things, but I'm pretty sure that's not good. Clean up water, dry my charger, get kids cleaned, dried and dressed.
8:45am- Lay Abigail down for her morning nap early. Say a prayer of gratitude that Abigail is easy going enough that she'll gladly go back to bed anytime I put her there.
This is a typical morning. I wrote all this in a notebook while it was happening because it was just too crazy. Looking back I can see how I contributed to the chaos. Making a note now - don't leave Abigail in a diaper. Don't leave Abigail in the sink. Be careful of things sticking out of chairs. I'm learning. Work in progress around here.

That Olivia

"Once there was a lady who wanted to get a fish. Every time she tried to grab one, it got away. One day she got one! And she pushed it. And her fishing pole, she rolled it, and rolled it and rolled it, and rolled it, and she got it! And she brought it home. And it was a baby fish for her baby. And her tried to get another fish but the lady didn't got another one. Then she had yummy dessert."

Olivia has been playing imaginary games all day. I typed this story as she was saying/acting it. I wish I had done this earlier when she was pretending to be a fairy and reading her fairy scriptures because the fairy king died. And then turned into a monster. And the scriptures said to give him a sour apple. (Her "scriptures" were a copy of Twilight).

And she's been making up sweet songs. And saying she's going to school, but don't worry she'll be back in "5 minutes".

She also lectured me today for drinking all of her water. "Mom, you just have to ask me first. You can't just take it. You have to ask, and I will say yes. You can't just drink it all gone. If you are thirsty just ask for one sip."

Olivia the misfit angel

Olivia didn't want to wear the cute store brought costume that her grandmother got for her. So she ended up with the one I made in a bout 10 minutes by cutting up a pillowcase. So this picture is kind of cute, but use your imagination to picture how she looked by the end of the night.  When all the angels came out, Olivia's halo had fallen around her neck, the garland from her wings had come unglued and she was trying to hold it, the garland around the edge was also slightly undone and dragging on the ground, and the neck hole I cut was a little too big and hanging to one side so she had one shoulder exposed (think early 90's late 80's fashion). Christy leaned over to me and joked she was the misfit angel. I laughed so hard. Her actions went along with the look. She was just kind of running around and dancing. Which is all I expected really. I will never forget Olivia the misfit angel.

The Opie Nativity is one of my favorite holiday traditions and I was so glad we were able to be there for it. This is a picture of the chaos. Grandpa Opie reads the Christmas story from the scriptures, and we sing some hymns between verses. The younger kids act out different parts. Then we do a gift exchange. Each person has one other person. So you get one gift, you give one gift type of thing. And then Santa comes. I don't know why I can't find the pictures of Santa. But it was lots of fun.

Resolved.

I am going to lose weight this year. I just have to. If I get brave enough I will post the horrifying picture of me ever taken. It has become my ultimate motivation. I can kind of laugh about it, because I have to, or else I would cry.

I am going to limit my computer time to 1 hour a day.

I think if I can do these 2 things I will be a better person this time next year.  I am excited to see what this year will bring. Another year of Pharmacy school. Olivia turning 3, and Abigail turning 2. It's crazy to think about. I'm sure there will be many trips to NJ. Possibly another trip to AZ. Nothing else planned as of right now. But I'm excited for 2011.

So this is the new year

Let's sum up 2010, shall we?

 January started with a sick Olivia. And a trip to NJ. It was everyone's first time meeting Abigail. And Olivia got a crayon stuck up her nose. That Aaron sucked out with his lungs of steel. That still makes me laugh.

February - Abigail's first trip to Disneyland at 3 months old. Aaron was always gone at school or work.

March - Aaron flew to PA to interview at LECOM. We went to Mexico. Threw a surprise party for my mother-in-law's 50th birthday. Olivia turned 2.

April - Made the decision to move to PA. Olivia got her finger crushed in a door at Chic-Fil-A. She still brings it up whenever we got to a fast food restaurant.

May - We went to Mexico and NJ. Olivia was the flower girl in my cousins wedding.

June - Swim lessons every day. Kids saw their first movie - Toy Story 3.

July - Cabin trip, double dates, Aaron turns 27, and move to PA by way of trip to NJ. For me. Aaron drives cross country with his mom.

August - Def worst month of the year. Started with strep throat as soon as Aaron started school. We didn't have insurance yet. I felt lonely and sick. And then Poppy died. Pretty rough month. Somewhere in there though Aaron and I celebrated 5 years of marriage.

Sept - Abigail took her first steps.

Oct - Another trip to NJ and NYC. I turned 26.

Nov - Abigail turns 1. Thanksgiving in NJ. Olivia starts dance.

Dec - Trip to AZ and Disneyland.

Looking at all this I decided we travel way too much. We are definitely not going anywhere for a while. But it has been a good year. I think the stress of this year can be measured in my weight gain. About 20lbs. About those new years resolutions...

too much to catch up on

AZ was good. Disneyland was crazy. Two weeks, and three time zones later, we are home. The jet lag might kill us before the week is over. We are not going anywhere for a while. If I never see a plane again it will be too soon.

We drove from Disneyland to Phoenix yesterday. Took us about 6 hours. We got home around 8. Put kids right to bed. Then we had to unload the car, do laundry, repack, go through the house and find random things we've left around. Get to bed around 11 (okay I went to bed around 9, while Aaron did most of that stuff, as I wasn't feeling quite right). Wake up at 3:45am. Finish packing. Say a prayer of thanks for good friends like Christy for waking up at 3:45am on New Year's Day to drive us to the airport at 4:00am. Expect to arrive to an empty at airport. I mean who travels at 6:00am on New Years Day? Apparently a lot of people. Security was the longest we have waited in a long time. We arrived at our gate just as we were boarding. Then we got to spend 3 hours on a plane with two cranky toddlers. Then arrive in Cleveland, run to our connecting flight, toting a double stroller, giant bag of toys, backpack of electronics, little backpack of snacks, diaper bag, and a duffel bag full of clothes that didn't fit in suitcases. Then we fly on the smallest jet to Erie. Where we are met with lost luggage. But that's okay because of more good friends like Stuart and Jamie. Who not only found time in their busy Saturday to pick us up from the airport, but picked us up in our car that they cleaned and repaired for us while we are gone. Seriously! My husband has good cousins.

I have lots of New Years Resolutions. Write more about those later. Unpacking the mountains of clothes and toys before the end of January is on the top of the list.