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I recently got my yearly review from the hospital. Although there is always room for improvement, my boss sat me down and told me I was a “seasoned” employee. I know what I’m doing and I can help others to learn. I in no means am saying this to brag. The only reason I know how to do my job is because I have had years of practice, being there for 9 years. I have pretty much ran into most situations, and therefore, I have a place to start when a challenge comes up. I don’t know EVERY resource, but I have learned a thing or two and where I may find an answer if I don’t know.

I’m mentioning this because I realized that I have been at that job as long as I have been a mom.Although I feel I am a very “seasoned’ social worker, being able to walk through the door and say, “Yep, I know what I’m doing, and nothing will surprise me today”. Being a mom is a different story. I walk out of the bedroom to a new situation each day. One day my daughter likes yogurt parfait for lunch, the next she hates it. My son will hide under the covers one day and the next he is up with no wake up call and dressed and ready to go early. I never know what is going to happen and even after nine years, there are still surprises, lots and lots of surprises. The biggest one came yesterday. My son who has his ups and downs, had been having lots of downs. I was getting frustrated and feeling like I may need to get some “resources” to deal with him. Unlike work, I have no idea what resources I need or where to find the answer. Then yesterday, even with the hustle and bustle of 2 soccer games, showers, dinner, homework, and bed, he was the perfect child. He listened, he threw no fits, he took his shower, did his chores, asked to say prayer, and was in bed on time! I am not a seasoned mom, even after 9 years. Each day brings new challenges and surprises. I am not sure I will every be as good as this mom thing as I am at the social work thing, but I do know I’ll take a day like yesterday with my son over a 4% raise any day.

I’m sure most mother knows the If you take a mouse to the movies book, and today that title kept playing in my head as I was at the doctor.

First off, if you take your son to the doctor, do not schedule it right at nap time. If you take your son to the doctor, do not let him take all his cars that he can get all over the floor. If you take your son to the doctor, you may have screaming, fighting, crying, and that is just when you try to see how tall he is, you can forget checking his ears, nose, or mouth. If you take a 2 year old to the doctor, he may throw a fit when he can’t take the bee pen holder at the front desk with him.

Yep, the doctor was quite an experience today. I have never seen a child so upset at the doctor before. I am now one of those mom’s whose kid screams at the doctor in terror, and he did not even need shots today.

However, if you take a 2 year old to the doctor, you may hear that he is perfectly healthy, his runny nose and cough is likely caused by allergies. You may find out that he is very small and barely makes the charts, but we will wait for 6 months to see if there is a reason to worry. You may also find out that it is ok to turn the car seat around.

If you take your 2 year old to the doctor you may be exhausted, be a little poorer, but you will be happy to know that at least you are doing something right as he is still alive.

I am somewhat in disbelief that my baby is 2 today. I know everyone says this and they say it goes by so fast. However I can’t believe he is two because to me he is still a baby. He is only 22 pounds, so I can say he still feels like a baby when you pick him up. He still likes to cuddle and still loves a nap. However I can see the toddler in him too. He climbs on everything, gets into everything, and can’t see why he is not as big as his siblings and can’t sit in the big booster seat.

Of course it is not hard to remember his actual birthday. Our c-section got postponed and we had several hours to just anticipate his arrival. During that time we got some much needed help picking out names. Once he arrived I quickly knew he would have similarities to his siblings as well as differences. He had to go to the nursery and this time I was ready for this. I was not scared, or upset, or nervous. His brother prepared me for the nursery and the early separation from him. I was prepared and knew, this was my chance to SLEEP! It was going to be awhile before that happened again.

The ways he is different and I was not prepared for at all was how much he watches and understands. He wants to do everything his older brother and sister do. He has no idea he can’t play the xbox, or fix his own food, or drink out of a big cup. He tries, but gets very upset when he fails.

My baby is 2 today, so I look and see no more diapers, sippy cups, pacifiers, or rocking to sleep in my near future. But today I am just glad he is part of our little family as he has brought so much joy to our lives. We love you Dill. Happy Birthday!

While most people were playing jokes on April Fools Day, I was starting a challenge with my hubby to see who can loose the most weight in one month. I was hoping this would help me to be motivated to loose the weight I gained while I was sick for what seemed like forever. I had done well at the beginning of the year with loosing 10 pounds in a little over a month, but the minute I got sick that went out the window. I would try to exercise and then I would get short of breath quickly and feel miserable. I can see why many people do give up and just resign themselves to being overweight.

However, I am back on track. I have started the challenge and I can do it. It’s only a month, right? Yesterday was hard, my mom took us to lunch and I wanted the pizza or bread sticks or basically anything bad for me. I got the 200 calorie soup and half turkey sandwich instead. Today I had an amazing wrap I made that was only 200 calories, with carrots on the side. It was actually delicious, however I wanted to eat 10 of them!

I am going to beat my husband because of course I am very competitive, so I need help. We made the challenge, but not the prize. Any suggestions?

The kids are on Spring Break for 2 weeks. So far I have played 5 board games, made 3 meals, done 5 loads of laundry, done dishes, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, read a book to the kids, watched a movie with the kids, cuddled a teething toddler, and I also made some work calls, and TOOK A SHOWER!

That was just the first day. I love having the kids home, and I love that they helped me to get things done as well. I loved watching Lauren help her baby brother get a drink without being asked, and helping Aaron to complete his writing homework. I loved seeing how happy Dylan was that he had his big brother and sister home with him all day.

Now don’t get me wrong, although I have had a pretty good time with the kids, I am exhausted after only one day! I think I’m glad they are only off for two weeks!

My kids commented on Saturday that they had the best weekend they can remember. For them it was a great weekend because they got to see friends, swim with cousins, see a movie with Mom and Dad, and have milkshakes and junk food for dinner.

For me it was the best weekend ever, because I took the time to stop thinking about myself for a few hours and focus on helping someone else. I got up early and went to help with a garage sale that was to benefit a young family that had lost their father/husband right after Christmas. He and his family had been the first to help anyone, including my family whenever needed. I can’t tell you the number of meals she brought to my family, or the service her husband gave to mine when he really needed it. I have to admit, I enjoy helping others, but I don’t often go out of my comfort zone. I am one of those that usually thinks the good thoughts, but has trouble actually following through.

That day I did. I got out of that comfort zone, and did something for someone else. I was not expecting anything for myself, we never do when we give service, but I think Saturday I got a whole lot more than I gave. I had a great time helping set up the sale. I think I laughed the whole time. When we came back to shop at the sale, my kids saw friends, and also their cousins who invited them to swim. I also received our long awaited tax return check that day, which we really needed, and that allowed us to take the kids to the movie and milkshakes that day.

For the kids it was just a fun day, filled with fun, but for me I could see how I was blessed by helping someone else. I did not give the service to get something, but that is how it works right? When you give your time and genuinely just want to help, you usually get something in return. I was able to teach my children that serving others is a good thing, and to me that made it the best weekend ever.

As parents we all encourage our kids to try new things. We cheer on their interests and we openly support their interested, whether they are the best at it or not. For parents when we try to encourage our kids and get them to take risks we are all secretly praying they will get the reward they are looking for. The payoff for practice, or hard work, or persistence.

Lauren loves art. She absolutely loves anything crafty, messy, gluey, painty, ribbony, glittery. You get the point. Anyway, that is not something I can say I share a love for. Those things send me into a panic, and when someone puts a paintbrush or glitter in front of me and says “create” I have heart palpitations. NOT my THING.

However I encourage her with all my being to keep going. She has had several paintings in the art show, and every time she gets something in I drag everyone to come see her masterpieces. I put her projects on the fridge, and allow her door to be filled with whatever crafts she has made.

Why do I share this you ask? Well for 2 years now Lauren has taken days to create drafts and then carefully design her final submission for the cover of the class book. Her school has each class create a book of writings that the students can buy to keep as a memento. I am aware this is another way to extract money from us parents, but Lauren loves this book. Her writings are “published” for all to see. She also loves to write. However each year Lauren desperately tries to design the best cover. The cover submissions are presented to the teacher and the teacher numbers them and it is a blind vote. That way it is fair. Last year Lauren spent a whole week and came in second. She was very upset, but she hid it. Her friend made the cover and she was very gracious and said she did like her cover. But I knew deep down she was very disappointed she would not be featured.

I almost couldn’t bear to find out about the results this time. I was glad she had a party to go to tonight to distract her from it. She got off the bus and ran to the car, folder in hand. She did it! Her picture was picked. I have never seen her so excited. She had the packet, she has to use the provided paper to recreate her design and return it to be submitted as the cover! I love it when that happens. I almost cried I was so happy for her. I hope every child, and parent alike can get a day like today!

Today I put a post on FB that my morning starting with my 6 year old, AJ asking me if I liked him, and if I did truly like him I should know what he likes to eat. I passed the test. Then tonight he asked me if I loved him. I said of course. He said, then what do I like to do. I said watch football, play soccer and Xbox. He said, “Um you forgot I like to ride rides”. That kid, I better start keeping a list of all the things he likes so I will keep passing these tests.

Then tonight we had “green eggs and ham (well bacon)” and we talked about the book and how trying new things is good. He said, “well sometimes you have to think before you do new things mom. Remember the time I took the stuffed animal and rode it down Grandma’s stairs? That wasn’t such a good idea, because I got hurt. So see new things is not always good.” How do you argue with that?

I saved the best for last. Just before bed, he said, “Mom, I know how to spell POOP, P-O-O-P. Yep, that is right. He said I have no idea why they won’t let you spell bathroom words at school. He said you can only spell BUT, not BUTT. He said, that doesn’t make any sense, you have to know how to spell both of them!

Point taken, AJ, point taken!

And this is Uncle John and AJ creating their own way to eat their meat!

First of all I have to say, bronchitis is no fun. I remember having it as a teenager however I do not remember it hurting this bad or lasting this long, but my mom tells me it used to take me a couple weeks to get over it. So now that I’m double the age I was I’m sure it will take double as long to go away.

However I will not wallow in my misery. Instead I wanted to post about how amazing my family really is. My husband let me sleep all day Sunday, he made dinner, kept the kids out of the room, and even managed a load or two of laundry. Then Monday my mom came over, picked the kids up from the bus, got them some dinner, and stayed until Ellis got home, all so I could rest. Tuesday I thought things were getting better, so I went to work and did not last all day. I came home and when my husband got home he let me rest, the kids helped so much. I believe Lauren commented that I actually sounded sick. I think that is when it dawned on her that mom is not making dinner or helping us at all. She made her and her brother mac and cheese for dinner, and finished putting away her clothes that had been half folded since Sunday. She got me water, and snacks when I asked. She got her brothers juice or snacks as well.

Yesterday Aaron helped me too. He would get things I asked for and actually did not complain as he usually does. Today he listened to me when getting ready, and we got to the bus stop early. Now today, Dylan is already taking a nap, which is great because after trying to run errands I am already pooped and need a break myself. Oh, and I can’t forget Kelly my trusted temporary neighbor who was ready to watch Dylan if I felt too bad and when she came over would make sure the dishes were done and the toys were picked up, all while she was fighting getting sick herself.

I have an awesome family and I am grateful I have them. I have also had many friends who have checked on me to see how I was and offered to help if needed. I also have to mention that my co-workers are pretty awesome too and helped me get through work this week!

So thanks everyone, I hope this goes away soon!

I can’t say that this week was all that awesome. My almost 2 year old has mastered the word “NO”. He won’t talk very much, but that word is certainly top on his list of words you can understand. He has also started the scream at the top of your lungs in public routine, just to see what I will do. Luckily for me, he is my 3rd child, so I know the drill.

This brings me to my thought of the week. Awhile ago a friend of mine posted that even though she is with her kids all day teaching them and nurturing them, when she left to go on errands, they all had to run to give her a hug before she left. I thought to myself at that moment that I wished that was me. My kids never do that, nor do they care when I come and go. I became sad because I thought this was a result of me working and not being as close to them as I wanted. Since that post I thought about it all the time. I was worried that I would never bond with my daughter like other moms. I did not have much in common with her, and had no patience for all the arts and crafts she liked to do. We have very separate tastes in shows and clothes, and I think she is already smarter than I am. Aaron stopped giving me hugs years ago, and hardly ever will talk or have a conversation with me. So as you can see, I have a lot to worry about and this week it seemed to be all-encompassing. That is how Shamrock shakes entered into my life.

However, then Saturday came. We had a busy morning, but then we had nothing planned in the afternoon. Lauren was bored as usual, I decided I would teach her how to play life. We had a wonderful time, and when she asked to play again and again, the laundry got wrinkled, the dishes sat dirty, and dinner stayed uncooked. We were bonding, I taught her something and it was something we could both enjoy together. Yes, we do have a bond, we love games. That night after the kids went to bed, Aaron sneaks out of his room for water. On his way back I gave him the sign language symbol for “I love you”. He paused and then walked towards me, he did not say a word, but gave me a big hug and ran back to his room. He still loves me, he really does.

The best part of my week was tonight, tonight before I left to go to a church meeting, I told the kids I loved them and would not see them until tomorrow, because before I would get home they would be spending the night with Grandma. Aaron was first, he ran and hugged me goodbye, then Lauren, and then Dylan.