tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21943869709751643672024-03-13T09:28:50.505-07:00For the Long HaulTrying to teach my children what it means to live life like you're in it for the long haul. Taking care of our health, our planet, our minds and most of all our happiness.For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.comBlogger497125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-70978618925115289582013-07-16T20:59:00.000-07:002013-07-16T21:02:56.732-07:00I'm Feeling BloggyI've been struggling with something lately. And it is a familiar struggle and I keep wondering where that outlet is...and I think it is this blog. I have processed through a lot of things on this blog. And if you've been following along (or not), you know that my son has had his share of medical issues and lots of therapies and OT and... With all of those journey's I was blogging through them. Somehow it makes it easier to type something out to a bunch of people (or no one at all) who don't know you. People who won't somehow judge the decisions you make. Who can hear (or read) what you are really feeling. That trudging through some of these decisions is just fucking hard. And that trying to do right by your kid is a full time job.<br />
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And with a new situation that has NO easy answer at all. I am feeling like I need the outlet. So onward I go.<br />
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Here's what's going on. The Boy is a little dude. Always has been. And because of his struggle to gain and maintain weight he has been followed by a pediatric gastroenterologist for almost his entire life. She's the same lady...we see her every 3 or 6 months for a weight check. She puts him on, and then off, a medication to stimulate his appetite. He has been tracked forever. He has had all the blood work, and all the tests. He is just little, and probably always will be. I am only 5'3" and his donor Dad is around 5'6" or maybe 5'7" at best. So we aren't expecting him to shoot up to 6 feet.<br />
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In my mind I always assumed he would be 5'6" or 5'7" like his biological Dad. That's still on the "littler" side but totally respectable. So I have been functioning with this belief for literally his entire life. On Friday of last week we were back for our follow up. The previous visit she had done and entire panel of tests, and also sent him to a cardiologist to make sure he didn't have a hole in his heart (He doesn't. But man; that was <i>super </i>fun). So we were getting all the results. Everything normal...not allergic to anything, doesn't have Celiac disease, growth hormones are normal, can tell he's taking a vitamin because his iron is fine...blah blah blah...it's all fine. He's perfectly healthy. He's just little.<br />
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So she shuts her folder and looks at us (me and my mom) and goes, "I think this is just our boy. We have followed him forever and he just seems to continue along this same path. I think put him on a regiment of medicine every other month, and I'll see you back here in six months." <br />
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As we started to pack up I asked..."Just wondering, if he does just continue along this path...and keep doing what he's doing...how tall can we expect him to be as an adult?"<br />
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She flips open her folder and looks down at it and casually says, "Oh...about 5'4" or 5'4 1/2"..." (GULP!) <br />
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I was a little disturbed by this and I asked if that was it. She said the only other option to look into is Growth Hormones. And that...is why I turn to this blog. This is a totally controversial subject and I honestly just need a place to type out my feelings. To navigate my way through what to do next and how to best take care of my boy.<br />
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I will tell you this. Going into this meeting on Friday I would have never considered Growth Hormones. If he was going to be 5'6" or 5'7" then there would never be a need. So I never even considered it. All of a sudden I wanted more information. How many inches could that potentially buy? (3 to 4). Do you really have to give them a shot every day for several years? (yes). What are the side effects? (talk to the endo). Does insurance cover it? (sometimes yes, sometimes no. It's (OF COURSE) a much more complicated answer than that). What ages are you supposed to do it? (starts as young as 5 or 6 and goes until right before puberty usually).<br />
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And then I came home and looked at my sweet little boy's face and I almost died. I cried and I cried. And I <i>know </i>it could be much worse, and I <i>know </i>how lucky I am to have him totally healthy... But still. My boy as a grown man would only be 5'4". Will he ever go to prom? Will kids tease him about it his whole life? A short guy that also has bright red hair? Seriously? And then I pick my shit up and I realize that I happen to be lucky enough to be raising one of the most amazing kids on the planet. And that even if he happens to be the shortest kid at his summer camp, every single day a gaggle of kids come and gather around him when we arrive in the morning. Girls and boys. All the ages. He knows them all. And he hangs with them all. Everyone who meets that kid sees the sunshine in his heart... I hope it always stays that way.<br />
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So here is where we stand as of today. I called to make an appointment at the endocrinologist and since he hasn't been seen there as a patient since 2008, he is considered a new patient. So I have to call his gastro doctor and have her call in a referral. Oh, and by the way, there is about a 4 to 6 month wait for the next open appointment. Fantastic. So I call the gastro and ask them to take care of it and ask if she will sweet talk them into getting me in sooner. She is a fantastic advocate. Woman knows how to get things done! So now we wait. And I google things obsessively and change my mind on an hourly basis. And I go through my life looking at every single man I see and analyzing his height, and if he seems at all on the short size, I am immediately looking for clues as to whether he is living a happy and fulfilling life. It's ridiculous. My brain is spinning.<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: I literally just viewed my own blog for the first time in a really long time. Several updates need to be made; clearly. No clue how to do that. :) Also if you happen to know me in real life, or on Facebook, please do not link me personally to this blog. I like to keep this as private as possible. Thanks.</i></div>
For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-75565958498376596552012-11-09T20:13:00.003-08:002012-11-09T20:13:43.155-08:00School Pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Okay since I can't seem to manage a proper post...I will at the very least give you all my children's school pictures for this year. The Boy is going to turn 7 in January so is 6 now, and The Girl is 3 1/2. Going on 35. :)</div>
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Hope all is well with everyone. I read you all, but just can't manage to handle posting. More later! Have a great weekend everyone!</div>
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<br />For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-13576358048497550102012-09-26T16:40:00.001-07:002012-09-26T16:40:58.223-07:00Wordless WednesdayPictures from our trip up to my family cabin the week before school started:<br />
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<br />For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-51887522277208574492012-08-28T14:18:00.000-07:002012-08-28T14:18:15.916-07:00BUSTED!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here are The Boy and The Girl this morning on The Boy's first official day of First Grade. He has apparently come to the age where he refuses to smile and stand nicely for a photo. So I was going through all the shots I took this morning trying to look for a decent one when I saw the one above. Now to the naked eye I can tell you that this is a shot of both of my kids doing Ninjago moves. I told you on my last post that my son is currently obsessed. Well guess what? He is about to lose ALL OF THEM.<br />
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A little back story. So all summer long he played with his friends at camp with his Ninjagos. If you are fortunate enough to NOT know what these evil little toys are, let me tell you that the folks over at Lego are not idiots. So they are expensive. They cost a lot of money. And of course you need ALL of them to play properly (according to The Boy). So he had quite a collection. A few weeks into the summer I found out that he had been sneaking them to camp with him and "trading" them with the other campers. Although half the time he didn't get anything for the trade. So that no longer is a trade...it's <i>giving your shit away. </i>Long story short...we had lots of talks and by the end of the summer he only had 3 guys left. I figured it was a life lesson for him and since I know that his school does NOT allow any toys or anything to come to school I figured...lesson learned.<br />
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So yesterday apparently after his half-day of school my mom took him to the mall and they just "happened" to go by the Lego store where they just "happened" to find out that the green Ninja had been released a couple of weeks early. So my mom bought it for him. I had a little "chat" with her when they came home about this ("Why the HELL would you buy him more Ninjago's after what happened this summer? I thought we agreed on the life lesson etc..." Her answer, "It was his first day of school...and you should have seen his eyes when he saw the green ninja...and he's such a good boy...and now that summer camp is over he won't be trading them..." etc...). So anyway he ended up with a few new things yesterday AGAINST my will.<br />
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When he told me about seeing his friends yesterday he told me that one of his buddies had "snuck" a Ninja into school yesterday. We had a long talk about this and about what happened at camp, and about how last year he got in trouble for bringing toys to school and he KNOWS that he can't do that...and on and on and on... So this morning he asked where his backpack was and then told me he was taking it into his room. I reiterated that if he even THOUGHT about bringing or sneaking something into school that he would lose ALL of his Ninjas. "No way Mommy...I know the rules...I am not going to do that..." Many, many conversations about this. The rule was very clear.<br />
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So as I am looking through his "first day of school" pictures right now for one to post on Facebook and to send to the Ex, I look closer at the picture above and see this:<br />
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I don't know if you can see in this picture on the internet or not, but that is a god-damned green ninja that he is hiding in his hand in this picture. That little *&%^$ snuck one to school anyway. I cannot even tell you how mad I am. Or how disappointed rather. He is already at the stage where he is BLATANTLY lying to me? Really?<br />
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So I have cleaned the entire house clear of Ninjago's and when he comes home I will calmly tell him that he has lost all of his Ninjas. And that I hope it was worth it. And that we don't LIE to our mother. And we don't blatantly break the rules at school. And that we need to learn the value of someone giving you a gift. That is...if I don't kill him first.<br />
<br />For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-2059523729609754422012-08-25T10:58:00.000-07:002012-08-25T10:58:44.113-07:00Back from the Trenches...Is anyone still here? I have actually had a couple people contact me and tell me to get the hell back onto my blog, so here I am.<br />
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As the lack of posting might show, my life has been super busy lately. Nothing earth shattering is really going on, but my work has gotten so busy that I don't have much time for leisure anymore. The short version is that I took on a partner about a year ago (I think I might have posted about that at some point), and therefore started to expand my business. I am very fortunate in this economy to be able to make that happen. And I have taken on a bunch of new clients and significantly more work, so I don't have very much play time anymore. Hence the lack of posts. I'll try and give you all a quick update.<br />
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The Boy is 6 1/2 and getting ready to start 1st grade on Monday (I really have no idea how the hell that happened). He spent the summer at an <a href="http://www.steveandkatescamp.com/?gclid=COCS0ZGWg7ICFSiCQgodXWoAtA">awesome camp</a> and had a fantastic time. It wasn't associated with his school so he made a whole new group of friends. Some of the friends were a bit older than him so he has learned some new things. Some good, some not so good. ("A guy at camp got kicked in the balls today--it was <i>aswesome</i>!") He is growing up so fast and has definitely hit the "boy" part of his childhood. He spent the summer playing <a href="http://ninjago.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx">Ninjago</a> with a group of friends. As usual, my boy becomes quite obsessed, and that has been his latest thing. It still somewhat surprises me that besides being super little for his age, he is quite the popular little dude. On his last day of camp he came home with 7 notes stuck in his backpack from other parents with their information because the kids wanted to get together after camp for a play date. He is a social little dude and happy as can be.<br />
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We had a bit of a regression with our ongoing eating issues this summer. Probably due to the fact that the camp I sent him to had food included so it was totally up to him to feed himself throughout the day. This did not go so well. For the first couple of weeks he told me that he ate a bowl of pasta during the day (decent as far as I am concerned), but by about the third week he decided that his food of the day was going to be a hot dog bun. NO hot dog inside the bun, mind you. Just the bun. And for the rest of the summer that's basically all he put in his body all day long. When I picked him up every day he would literally be weak from lack of food. The kid just kills me with this issue. And because of that he lost more weight. While at the end of the school year I was thrilled to learn he had finally hit the 40 pound mark (yes, he's 6 1/2--<i>I KNOW!!!</i>), but we recently weighed him and he was back down to 37 pounds. Sigh. So I have put him back on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyproheptadine">his medicine</a> (he couldn't take it during the summer because his camp couldn't give it to him during the day) to stimulate his appetite. He is eating like a champ now, but I am still super stressed out about how little he is. I know he will gain back some weight now that he's back on the medicine, but I feel a less than thrilled about that because I know once he stops the medication he will lose it again. I could go on and on about this issue with him, but just know that it causes me GREAT stress. But it doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest as he has no concept of the fact that he is little and he is the happiest little dude around, so I guess there's that...<br />
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Then there's The Girl. I honestly don't really know how to update you all on her. She's...hysterically funny, ridiculously smart and mature for her age (comparing where her brother was at her age...not sure if it's just a girl thing, or a second child thing), the life of the party, fun and happy...and also incredibly defiant and stubborn, indifferent to the concept of rules or anything I tell her, throws temper tantrums like no one has ever seen before and sometimes makes me question my ability to parent anyone. That girl knows how to push my buttons more than anyone else. She is challenging for sure, but she is also the sweetest and funniest little person I know. My feelings for her are always very strong. I am either so enamored with her cuteness and sweetness, or else I want to throw her out a window. I am trying VERY HARD to set boundaries and be consistent with her, but it seems to be her goal in life to challenge me. She is also in the super argumentative stage. Example? "Please come sit down for dinner..." Her: "No. I want the <i>green </i>fork, not the pink one!" "Just use what is in front of you...we don't make to order our silverware...!" <i>{obscene fit screaming ensues telling me she can't POSSIBLY eat with the pink fork....me finally choosing the "pick your battles" concept and giving her the green fork just so we can all possibly have a normal dinner...}</i> At which point she smiles over the green fork and then looks down at her plate... "No Mommy, I didn't want fish for dinner I wanted <i>chicken...!!!"</i> Someone just shoot me. I try and let her make the majority of the decisions that are appropriate for a three year old to make to give her that power, but sometimes it just plain doesn't matter. Everything becomes the wrong outfit, the wrong pair of shoes, the wrong toy, the wrong car seat, the wrong...EVERYTHING. She exhausts me. But I love that little girl with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.<br />
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She left her "daycare" and started in her brother's old preschool for summer school. It took The Boy about three months to feel comfortable at this new school and to adjust...and The Girl? It took her a day. Seriously. I had planned to stay with her until the bell rang, but after about 5 minutes of me there she looked at me and said, "Mommy? Why you still here? Go to work!" And so I did. And that was the extent of the transition. I'm sure it helped that it was Brother's old school and therefore she was familiar with it. But still...sometimes she just amazes me.<br />
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I will try and be better about updating the blog...but I make no promises! :) We just got home from a week at our family cabin before school starts. And as I blog currently I am sitting in a house that has not been unpacked at all...there are 64 new emails (after I deleted all the ones I don't need to deal with) in my inbox that need to be read and dealt with, there are dishes in the sink AND the dishwasher...and I haven't showered. So I guess it's back to real life... Hope all is well with everyone!For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-22436378525460888522012-05-29T10:46:00.000-07:002012-05-29T10:46:29.614-07:00The Long WeekendLife goes on over here, and I am super lucky to have so many great friends and family around to keep us all busy. Case in point, we had a fun-filled, but packed, long weekend.<br />
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Friday night we stayed home, just me and the kids. The kids took long baths...we watched a movie and ate popcorn, and just rested after a long week. It was really nice. Then on Saturday one of my clients came by the house to pick some work up and spent a good amount of time with my kids. They love this particular client so they were very excited to show them their bedrooms and backyard.<br />
<br />Then, The Ex told me she would take BOTH the kids on Saturday morning (for new-er readers, my Ex is the other mother to my son, but not my daughter so she has NO reason to take The Girl...she is just super nice and volunteered since The Girl was begging...). So I had an unprecedented 4 hours of kid free time! I took a long shower with my music up loud (no kids to have to keep an ear out for...) and then went grocery shopping. By myself. I know this might not mean a lot to my readers, but for me? What a luxury!!<br />
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Then Saturday night I had a babysitter and I went to the 40th birthday party of my BFF's husband. WITHOUT my children. I would have had a great time no matter what, but after having a good portion of my day sans kids, this party was just the topping on the cake. It is kinda weird sometimes showing up to a party full of couples by yourself, as the "single girl," but I did it for 5 years, so I have some practice. I fortunately found a couple of other single girls to sit and play with during the evening so I wasn't that awkward third wheel. They had great food, even better beer, and when I got home, both of my kids were fast asleep. Win all around!<br />
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Sunday we got up and headed over to the beach. I have a client with a beach house and I needed to stop by there and do a quick bit of work. So we did that, and then headed to a yummy little taco place and had some lunch. Then another friend of mine had rented a two bedroom Villa at a hotel right on the beach, so we headed over there for the rest of the day. Our day was spent in the sand, playing in the water and soaking up the rays. It felt really nice and the kids had a BLAST. Then once it got a little too windy, we headed back to their villa and hung out there until after the kids had dinner. We left at 10:00 in the morning and didn't get home until 8:00 at night so it was a full day. But a fun one. I live less than an hour away from the beach and I rarely take my kids over there. Need to do that more!<br />
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When I left for the beach on Sunday the plan for Monday (Memorial Day) was to have my mom and step dad and my grandmother over for a little BBQ for lunch. Nothing major, but just a relaxing day to enjoy. I got a call from my mother at 8:15am on Monday and she said, "You better get up and start cleaning...you're having a party!" It turns out that our little BBQ went from 4 adults and my two kids to...10 adults, 4 kids...and a dog. My mother had spent all day Sunday inviting all sorts of people to the BBQ... But you know what? It was a beautiful day. My 90 year old grandmother got to spend the day with 2 of her 3 children, 4 out of 5 of her grandchildren, and all 4 of her great-grandchildren. We put up the bouncy house and the hammock in the backyard...had tons of yummy food and adult beverages, a kick-ass BBQ (if I do say so myself...I have become quite the proficient BBQer) and just a really, really nice day overall. I am really lucky to have so much of my family so close that my kids are able to grow up with all of their extended family around. It was a blessing that I had as a child, and I am so happy to be able to pass that along to my kids.<br />
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Overall, the weekend was crazy busy but wonderful. I'm sure I have some pretty cute pictures on my camera from the day yesterday, but that's exactly where they sit: in my camera. :) I will try and upload some pics later in the week. Hope everyone had a happy and safe long holiday weekend!For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-50418195154735963972012-05-23T20:21:00.002-07:002012-05-23T20:21:51.066-07:00Place Holder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
That last post is bumming me out and I don't want it to be at the top of my blog anymore. So here are a couple of pictures of the kids to make you smile. The girl last week, and The Boy at his Mother's Day Tea for both of his moms at his school. Love these babies. Aren't they getting big?</div>
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<br />For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-28737435486206862642012-05-18T14:37:00.000-07:002012-05-18T14:37:32.552-07:00Alone and SadHello! How is everyone out there in blog land? Obviously things in my life have been a bit hectic, hence the lack of posting. So there are lots of things going on in my life right now, but I will tell you about one of them today.<br />
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The Girlfriend and I broke up. <br />
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I am sitting here staring at the blinking cursor to try and figure out how to explain "what happened," and why we are no longer together and it just isn't that easy. I will try and give the readers digest version (but we all know I am not very good at that). As I had mentioned in several previous posts, this girl was perhaps the nicest woman I have ever met and she treated me like a queen. We had a fantastic time together, the chemistry was amazing physically, she adored my kids... I could go on and on about the great things about her. But here's the thing: If you were looking forward to actually <em>combining </em>our lives together, it just wouldn't work. There are too many fundamental differences in how we live our lives, raise our kids etc... She stays up late and sleeps in late, I am the opposite. I am anal-retentively clean and organized, she is...not. I am pretty strict with my kids and have certain things that are non-negotiable where they are concerned (eating healthy...sitting down to the dinner table with no TV as a family every night...no video games...certainly no "fighting" video games...etc). I eat super healthy and take care of myself (take vitamins, use sunscreen religiously etc...) and she is super happy just enjoying the moment she is in.<br />
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None of these things are "bad" at ALL. I would never tell someone else how to raise their kids or how to live their lives. We are all different human beings who live our lives differently. And if I'm being honest, a lot of that is why I am attracted to her. It is exhausting to be me, and I would never want to be with someone just like myself. I like how relaxed she is about life and about actually stopping to <em>enjoy </em>said life. In a lot of ways, she has shown me that it is okay to sit down and snuggle on the couch with your girlfriend even though there are toys on the floor that need to be put away and laundry that needs to be folded. She brought me that. And it's part of why I so enjoyed dating her.<br />
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See I have learned that being compatible in dating is a <em>MUCH </em>different thing than being compatible to live together and be true partners. So for the past 8 months I have really enjoyed dating her. I love being with her, and like I mentioned, even the things that would drive me mad if we were together all the time are endearing and fun when you are dating someone. They have their house and life, and you have yours and every once in a while you get to be together. So over the course of our relationship I have been very honest with her about my feelings (super strong towards her) and where I am right now (not at all ready for a full "partnership" and wanting to stay in the dating phase of things). She had expressed concern with me not being "as far in" as she was, and I just tried to keep it really honest. And she tried to "tone it back" to the point that she could be comfortable just dating me, and not wanting more.<br />
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Ultimately it didn't work. She wanted more from me, and I just couldn't do it. And it ended up that she kept getting hurt (thinking I didn't care based on something I did or didn't do), and I kept getting frustrated because I never even knew when I was doing the "things I did or didn't do" and would get defensive because, "What? What are you talking about? I didn't even KNOW you wanted me to do that...how am I possibly in trouble because I didn't?"<br />
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So on Monday night, we sat together, holding hands, both of us crying because we knew we just had to stop. And even though I <em>know </em>this is the right thing; I know that ultimately she would have been hurt more than she is now, it just fucking sucks. Because here's the thing: I DID really like her. I DID really want to date her. And I was super happy with her. And now it's gone. And I miss her like crazy. I didn't expect to be this sad about it, but I am. 9 months ago, it wasn't a big deal that I spent every evening after the kids went to bed alone...and 9 months ago a weekend didn't seem so long...but now it all does. I still know that we did the right thing for both of us (last thing I want to do is hurt her more), but I don't know how to get past the hurt and the sadness. I just miss her. It's hard to go from talking to someone 5 times a day and seeing them all the time, to just...nothing.<br />
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I spent the last 5 years single and not even thinking about it. But once I met her and had her in my life...I realized how nice it is to have another adult in my life as a companion. And now I don't have it anymore. And it sucks.For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-52751179717683167092012-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:002012-04-20T09:58:30.750-07:00Happy Birthday Peanut!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My baby is three.</div>
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I will spare all of us the "how did that happen?" questions, but man, time sure does fly. We all know I haven't been the best at updating this blog lately, but I can't ignore her birthday. So much has been changing with her lately.</div>
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You may remember several months ago when I was blogging about her staying in her bed...and her horrendous tantrums (did I even blog about that? I might have been too traumatized to put it down on paper...), and her overall unpleasantness... However I am happy to say that for the past few months she has been down right lovely. I am SO enjoying her lately. She is freaking hysterical and she is such an amazing little girl that I am constantly laughing and loving her.</div>
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So...when I blogged about potty training I told you all that when she went on spring break, that was going to be it. Hard core potty training... Spring break was this week. And she rocked it. Starting last Saturday morning we drew the line. All undies all the time (except for night time and rest time). She was on board from the beginning. And I am so happy to say that we are 90% there. She is good with pee pees all the time. Has had only one pee accident since we started and that was I think on Sunday. Since then she has not only peed consistently all the time in the potty at home, but she has also successfully gone pee at the mall, at the grocery store, and at several of my clients this week. So she's got it. She even told me she had to go when coming home from somewhere in the car earlier and I told her she had to hold it until we got home and she did! Poop on the other hand... I would say we do about 1 in 4 poops in the potty. The good news is that she DOES go in the potty. She has done I think 3 successful poops in the potty. But the rest? In her undies. So we are still a work in progress on that one, but we aren't going back. I cancelled my diaper service and I took the changing table out of her room. We are done.</div>
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And then last night, out of the blue, when it was bed time she opened the drawer to get a binky and she looked at me and said, "Mommy, do big girls use Binky's?" I told her that they didn't. She said, "Well then I don't need them either. Let's throw them away!" And she took all of her binkys out of the drawer and walked to the garbage can and threw them out. Then she proceeded to go lay down and go to sleep. Just that easy. Who knew?</div>
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She is just getting SO big. She gets herself dressed every day. She picks out her own outfits. When shopping she chooses what she will wear. She wants to do it ALL herself. Everything. She doesn't seem to think she needs me for anything anymore. But I am so proud of her. Her brother would STILL prefer that I do everything for him, but her? No. She's completely self sufficient. Or at least she would like to be.</div>
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She knows all her letters and all of her numbers. She can color in the lines. Because she has an older brother she is SO much more advanced than he ever was. And in terms of speaking? She can literally have a discussion with you about current events. She can explain to me how she's feeling, why she is feeling that way, and explain to me why what I am doing is probably wrong.</div>
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Some of her favorite things right now: Her brother. They play together SO well and for hours on end. She adores her brother and he is her favorite person to play with. And based on that, most of her other favorite things aren't the typical 3 year old girl faves. She loves all things Super Heros. She loves to play pretend ("Mommy, you are black Spiderman, and I am red Spiderman, and brother is Doc Ock..."). I am constantly having to ask her, "Who are you right now?" And she will answer me with a "I'm a doggie...I'm a monster...I'm a T-Rex..." All about playing pretend right now. She still loves to draw and wants to do it constantly. She's really big into reading books right now as well. Mostly her brother's super hero books, but it doesn't really matter. She still eats like a horse (god love her for that). In fact I started to list all her favorite foods, but there are far too many. She still eats great.</div>
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She is still at her home Montessori daycare, but she knows that come summer time, she is going to go to "Brother's old school." Also a Montessori, this is actually a real pre-school instead of a home daycare so it's a big step up from where she's been going since she was 3 months old. She is SUPER excited to get there. Everyday I hear, "Mommy are we going to my NEW school today?" I haven't done her 3 year old well-baby check yet, so I don't know how tall or heavy she is, but she seems pretty average. For the summer coming up, I bought her size 3T in pants and/or shorts, and 4T in shirts. She wears a size 7 shoe (oh! And she LOVES shoes...definitely gets that from her Gigi).</div>
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I could go on and on about her, but I must get to work. I tried to upload some pictures of her from this morning in her "It's My Birthday" t-shirt but my iPhoto apparently doesn't like my camera right now. *sigh* So you'll have to make do with some pictures from Easter. As you can see, potty training didn't stop for Easter!</div>
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Happy Birthday my baby girl. I love you more than I could ever express. You are truly my sunshine.</div>
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<br />For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-70395991569553378632012-04-07T16:38:00.003-07:002012-04-07T17:29:58.033-07:00Day in the Life. Friday April 6, 2012<ul><li>5:42am: Alarm goes off for the first time. I actually get up a little after 6:00. Between that time and 8:15 (when we need to leave to get the kids to school on time) we are doing any number of things. Showering myself and getting myself ready. Getting both kids dressed and hair done. Breakfast. Making lunches and getting all school stuff ready for both kids. You all know the drill. It went pretty well on this day; perhaps because it was the last day of school before Spring Break for The Boy.</li><li>8:15am through 9:00am: Spent driving each to their respective schools and back home.</li><li>9:10-9:30am: Drive to an appointment with a client.</li><li>9:30-10:00am: Actually meet with said client but mostly just picked up all the paperwork I needed and left.</li><li>10:00am: Start <i>*Operation Holy-Crap-I-Forgot-About-Easter* </i>Seriously. I was completely shocked when my mom told me on Wednesday that this weekend was Easter. At this point I have no outfits for the kids, I have no plastic eggs, I have nothing to put inside those eggs, I don't have an easter basket, nor anything to put inside that...</li><li>Back to 10:00am: Shopped in a little toy store near my client with ridiculously high prices and left with the entire contents of both kids easter baskets.</li><li>10:40am: Arrive back near home at local kids clothing store. Picked out super cute pink, orange and white polka dot dress for Peanut, and a somewhat matching orange plaid shirt for The Boy to wear with his jeans (he literally has nothing else that fits right now). Also got a little sweater for Peanut's so she doesn't freeze. And an "It's My Birthday" shirt for her because...guess what? Two weeks...</li><li>11:00am: Head to big box store with a bulls eye on the front. Purchase regular items needed at that store, two easter baskets, two sets of new crayons, two different types of little candies to put inside the plastic eggs, the grass for inside the basket... Oh and don't forget the little box of crap needed to dye the eggs with the kids later. Got everything on my list and left to drive home.</li><li>11:40am: Realize I forgot the effing plastic eggs. Got the stuff for inside of them, but not the eggs themselves. Call Mom. Gotta love Gigi, she'll get the eggs. And did I remember to get the vinegar to dye the eggs? No. No, I did not. Thank you Gigi.</li><li>11:45:am: Run into my house, unload junk from all the stores and briefly meet with my business partner (who's working at the house). Grab a cheese stick and run out the door because of my next appointment...</li><li>12:00pm: One hour with my shrink. Always feel a bit refreshed after that.</li><li>1:15pm: Back home to plan rest of day with my business partner (BP). Answer some texts and return a client phone call and plan to go and meet with them later that afternoon. Answer emails and put out about 3 fires. </li><li>1:30pm: Tell BP that I'm starving and that I think we really need to plan the rest of the day while eating. Drive to Chip.otle and enjoy burrito bowl. Thanks for asking. :)</li><li>2:00pm: Back at the house/office and get stuck with another client on the phone and go over whole process with BP so he can handle that situation while I go tend to this other client.</li><li>2:30pm: Text my client that I am leaving.</li><li>2:45pm: Actually leave.</li><li>3:00-3:45: Meeting with client. Try and solve inventory mess and fix some accounting issues that have gone horribly wrong (this is a new client that I am trying to 'fix' right now...this is not my own shoddy work).</li><li>4:00pm: Come running in after driving home with solution to big client issue and tell it to BP. Go over what needs to be done and how I am going to make it happen. Stoked we figured it out. Now just implementation...</li><li>4:15pm: Go and pour BP a glass of wine because I need him to put his creative and fun side on... Tell him the other thing that came to me after meeting with my shrink today. We need to seriously rearrange my house and create a proper office.</li></ul><i>Side note: My business is going crazy right now and I run it out of my home. Two of us are working here all the time. I have four different computers alone going in four different random spaces throughout my house. And the stacks of papers are trying to eat me alive. I seriously feel SO overwhelmed constantly because of just the physical space. I try to make dinner and I have to clean up a stack of papers, a pen and some post-its. I try and prepare dinner in the kitchen and have to clear a laptop away... You get the idea. My shrink would have me say, "It is creating a lot of extra stress in my life right now."</i><div><ul><li>4:30pm: Decide that I need to go pick up my son now, because I want to have a glass of wine with BP and discuss arrangements and what we need and how we're going to make it happen for the new office space. BP calls his brother and informs me that his brother can get tons of nice office furniture for free, so we should just "draw it up" and send him the specs and he'll let us know what's available. Awesome.</li><li>4:50pm: Finally get home with The Boy. Get him situated and go back to pour glass of wine with BP and relax. Although while I have been gone, BP has gone back into work-mode and now has many work questions for me and all sorts of things to discuss. I did NOT get to pour my glass of wine.</li><li>5:05pm: Mom gets to my house with The Girl. Brings plastic eggs and vinegar (I am now officially ready for Easter!) Takes kids outside while I finish up with BP and we decide that he and his husband will come back later (at which point his title switches from BP to one of the gay boyfriends...) to hang out.</li><li>5:15pm: Finally pour that glass of wine and go sit outside for a while. Or 5 minutes.</li><li>5:20pm: Children start demanding snacks...my mom tells me that one of her friends is going to stop by (my house, mind you...my mother treats this as her second home) and the kids are playing outside. I make dinner for the kids, visit briefly with my mom and her friend, slowly consume my glass of wine...and enjoy my kids loving their backyard.</li><li>6:00pm: Mom and friend leave, I receive a text from the gay boyfriends saying pre-heat the oven to 400 and they on on their way. I strip the children and usher them to the bathtub.</li><li>6:15pm: Gay boyfriends arrive. I pour a second glass of wine, I get the kids out and into their jammies, I enjoy some yummy mushroom turnovers...I watch my gay boyfriends loving on my kids...we decide to order some Chinese from a place that delivers...I may have had another glass of wine...</li><li>7:45pm: Start getting the kids to bed...read all the books, have all the milk, brush all the teeth and begin the process. They both end up in their rooms with the doors shut around 8:20pm.</li><li>8:30pm: Girlfriend arrives. Girlfriend and gay boyfriends all chat while I continue to try and attempt to keep my almost-three year old in her bed.</li><li>9:15pm: Gay boyfriends go home. Final discussions with the kids. I swear! Final.</li><li>9:30pm: Kids asleep...watched a half hour show...girlfriend could tell that I have a lot on my plate right now...so she gave me full body massage that eventually went led both of us back into another room of the house.</li><li>11:15pm. Passed out cold.</li></ul>And then The Boy came into my room this morning at 6:48am. Ready to do it all over again...</div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-29169341174289035702012-03-26T10:30:00.003-07:002012-03-26T10:42:35.019-07:00When Sickness Gets In the WayThis has been a rough winter in terms of illnesses in my house. Up through the end of January, we were all pretty healthy. Then I got sick...and more sick...and STILL sick...and amazingly enough, through all of that my kids stayed pretty healthy. Then once I finally finished my second round of antibiotics and started to feel better, the kids got sick.<br /><br />So The Girl was doing great with her potty training and even used the potty at her school all day on Monday of last week. Then on Tuesday? Sick. Like fever of 102 sick... And she had no desire to get up and use the potty. And I didn't blame her. So I let her go back into diapers until she was better. She was really sick all week long (home with me 3 days) and then again on the weekend so she hasn't really been working on it. Finally yesterday she felt better and wore her undies all day long (even to a trip to the grocery store where she attempted to use their potty twice...unsuccessfully...) and stayed dry. But today when she went to school she wanted a diaper. So we went with it.<br /><br />So potty training? Still a work in progress...but we're getting there. As I mentioned, I have a deadline set for the end of her spring break, so up until then I am going to let her lead the charge. But once we hit spring break and she's home with me for a week? It's all undies all the time! And no going back.<br /><br />Other than that we had a lovely, relaxing weekend. The girlfriend was around so that was nice. Speaking of, that is still going well. We actually hit the six months of dating mark sometime last week. Amazing how fast it goes... I am keeping things pretty casual...I don't have any desire to jump into a big, heavy relationship so things are very mellow and fun right now. And I am enjoying that.<br /><br />The Boy is growing up so fast. He is such a big kid. It still amazes me. He is very into anything "Super Hero" right now. And amusingly enough...The Ex has him into all of the old-school cartoons that we watched as a kid. So right now he is into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Scooby</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Doo</span> and He-Man and the regular <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Spiderman</span> and Batman stuff. But he loves him some super <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">heros</span>. He is also doing great in his art class. He did a water color last Thursday that I think is beautiful and I am going to get it framed. He loves to write and draw and lately has been writing his own "books" which he is very proud of. He is loving learning to read and is still absolutely in love with his school.<br /><br />And blissfully, the kids have reached the stage where they LOVE to play together. They are best little friends and I find it adorable. They run into one of their rooms and make up a game and play it for hours. Or they will go outside together and play... The Girl is so verbal that they are really at a similar level of playing and the result is the most adorable friendship. Longtime readers of my blog know that I really struggled with the idea of having a second child on my own. There have been countless times lately where I have been doing something and stopped to listen to my kids play together and smiled and thought, "That. That right there is why I did this." And I know that I absolutely made the right decision. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-49295223041726238272012-03-17T15:22:00.003-07:002012-03-17T15:41:54.584-07:00How's This for a Welcome Back?<div>When you fall off your blog for so long...what becomes the topic that finally forces you to write a post again? Was it your son's 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> birthday? Nope. That came and went. Was it the greatest sickness that I have ever personally endured? Nope. I lived and it was far too boring to write about. Was it The Boy losing his first tooth? Nope. But the fairy took care of that so all was well. Was it all the amazing changes that are going on with my business? Nope. Far too busy working to write...<div><br /></div><div>My daughter woke up this morning and told me that she didn't want me to put a diaper on her. She wanted to go sit on the potty. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ummm</span>...okay, sure. So I went and put her little potty in the living room in front of her favorite show and she sat down and chilled for a little bit. She has done this countless times and never produced anything so I wasn't really thinking about it when she told me, "I did it! I pee-peed in the potty!" I went over expecting to find a few drops but she had fully peed. Now <i>that </i>has certainly never happened before!! We did all the hugging and the dancing and celebrating and may have even called a grandparent...and then she got the treat of her choice (a fruit roll up--at 10:00 in the morning. It sorta disgusted me, but whatever, this was her deal...) and sat down all proud of herself and ate it.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>She had one accident after that when she put on pants and socks and shoes and went outside with brother. But after that she has spent the day inside in a long sleeved shirt and undies. And she went over the peed again. All on her own! Just came over, all casual like, and was like, "yeah Mommy...I went pee pee again. Let's flush it so I can have my treat!" And so we did. </div><div>So I thought it was a bit strange when not 20 minutes later she came into my bedroom and told us that she had done "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">dat</span> yucky thing" in the potty. I was like, "what did you put in the potty?" Anyway, after some investigation it was discovered that she pooped in the potty! Holy crap! Just went out there and sat down and pooped. Like she's been doing it all her life. Crazy.</div><div><br /></div><div>I should clarify that I in no way am under the impression that it is this easy and that my daughter is now potty trained. But this is a huge step for her. Huge. She turns three in a month... My big girl.</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ITFwhCwb2jI/T2UP74nQq_I/AAAAAAAABZA/Ifq5X1MNg2M/s1600/IMG_4456.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ITFwhCwb2jI/T2UP74nQq_I/AAAAAAAABZA/Ifq5X1MNg2M/s320/IMG_4456.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720996423127837682" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0LyhLAvHekU/T2UP61L1igI/AAAAAAAABY0/TWmv0baky1w/s1600/IMG_4473.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0LyhLAvHekU/T2UP61L1igI/AAAAAAAABY0/TWmv0baky1w/s320/IMG_4473.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720996405027637762" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EZPRbfBzj5E/T2UP6WJVE-I/AAAAAAAABYo/lco59yfi9pc/s1600/IMG_4471.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EZPRbfBzj5E/T2UP6WJVE-I/AAAAAAAABYo/lco59yfi9pc/s320/IMG_4471.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720996396695622626" /></a>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-34504411011355552122012-01-02T10:38:00.000-08:002012-01-02T10:59:46.313-08:00I Need Your HelpIt's very rare that I put out a plea on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Internet</span> for help with an issue with my kids, but I am at a loss. If any of you out there have any advice for me, I'd love to hear it. Here's the situation:<div><br /></div><div>My daughter has decided that going to bed at night is for the weak. She's just not into it. At all. She's not in her crib anymore (since she was crawling out of it and hurting herself) and she goes to bed fine and lovely. We do our normal night time routine: we read a couple of books, brush our teeth, and head to bed. She gets some time to be in her room with a flashlight to play with toys or read in her bed, and then after I get The Boy in bed, I go back in, take the flashlight, sing her a song and say goodnight. And then she goes to sleep.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or at least that is how it used to go. Now, we do all of the above steps, but once I leave her room she gets back up. She will mess around in her room for a few minutes, but then I hear her door open, and she "sneaks" down the hall, goes into her brother's room and tries to talk to him. This is somewhat tolerable when we are talking 8:30 and 9:00 at night. But when this is occurring at 11:45 and midnight...it is NOT okay. Her brother goes to sleep like he always has and then he gets woken up. If for some reason I am in the living room and don't hear her "escaping" then he has to come and tell me she woke him up and we start the process all over again. But of course then the poor boy has been woken up. Fortunately he can go pretty much right back to sleep, but with her...it never ends.</div><div><br /></div><div>So here is what I have tried. I went out and bought those "baby-proof" door handles so that she can't open her door. That worked for about a week. I would not start the night with it on her door (because I want to give her the option of making good choices), but after the third time she got up, I would put the handle on her door. Each time I take her back to her room I tell her that it is time for bed and when she screams at me that she isn't tired, I explain she doesn't have to sleep, but she <i>does </i>have to stay in her room because the rest of the house wants to sleep. She would usually respond to that by kicking her door as hard as she could to get out because she couldn't open it. Until last night. Last night she figured out if she puts her little fingers into the holes of the door handle in a certain way she can pop it off. So that no longer works. Unfortunately that means I can no longer put one of those handles on the outside of her brother's door so that she doesn't wake him. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have also tried to let her take her "game" (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">iPod</span> Touch) to bed with her. I am not proud of this parenting decision because I don't want her to get into that habit. But if the issue is that she is honestly not tired, and she will stay in her bed watching a PBS show until she falls asleep I was willing to let it happen. Even that doesn't help. I tried that last night and her <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">iPod</span> lost the battery at around 11:30 (and she had already gotten up about 5 times prior to that) and she went postal and tried to terrorize the entire house. I then put her back in her bed with a flashlight and tell her that she can read a book. I let her pick out a few books but then she screams, "I don't WANT to read a book!!" and then proceeded to take each and every book out of her bookshelf and throw it at her door. That was fun.</div><div><br /></div><div>The only thing that seems to "work" (and I put that in quotes because I don't think this is the long term solution), is to make sure she does NOT take a nap during the day. If that is the case, by bed time she is physically so tired that after about three or four of these fights she usually is so tired she falls asleep (of course it is usually in the middle of her floor or right behind her door; not in her bed). But then she makes my life a living hell between the hours of 3:00pm and 8:00pm because she is exhausted. She's two years old. I really don't think she is ready to get rid of her naps yet. Yesterday she actually came to me at about 3:30 and said, "I am going to go lay down in my bed Mommy," and she did. She walked to her bed, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">layed</span> down and went straight to sleep. I let her sleep until 4:30 and then woke her up (also not fun because she still wants to sleep so she is a bear when I force her to wake her up before she is ready). So she only got one hour of napping yesterday. And I was in tears last night at midnight because I was out of solutions and so tired I wanted to die.</div><div><br /></div><div>What she would like is to take a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day (like a normal 2 year old), and then be up until midnight. That is just not an option. I get up everyday with my kids no later than 6:30am so on most nights, I am in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10:00pm. This new schedule is slowly sucking the life out of me. And I don't think I need to spell it out that when I am exhausted I am not the best parent that I could be.</div><div><br /></div><div>I just don't know how to deal with this. Anyone have any advice? Have you ever had a similar situation with your kid? If so...how did you deal with it? What am I doing wrong? For the love of God...WHY WON'T MY KID SLEEP ANYMORE?!?!?! HELP!! </div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-37538393300124481112011-12-25T06:00:00.000-08:002011-12-25T06:00:14.246-08:00Happy Holidays<div>It's a holiday in our household today so I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season, and here are some of the pictures from the kids' holiday photo shoot... I may have already shown you some of these but if not, enjoy! Have a wonderful day everyone!</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GTwxIJ6JWv8/TvVjy_-y98I/AAAAAAAABYQ/be1wE29mbWs/s1600/Holiday%2B2011-5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GTwxIJ6JWv8/TvVjy_-y98I/AAAAAAAABYQ/be1wE29mbWs/s320/Holiday%2B2011-5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689563432071919554" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lPE-_oMCPww/TvVjx-oKkAI/AAAAAAAABYE/Uh7A0VpCdyk/s1600/Holiday%2B2011-7.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lPE-_oMCPww/TvVjx-oKkAI/AAAAAAAABYE/Uh7A0VpCdyk/s320/Holiday%2B2011-7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689563414528692226" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kxSFYF7rQGw/TvVjxS8X4BI/AAAAAAAABX0/WwgyJ-0pvgI/s1600/Holiday%2B2011-10.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kxSFYF7rQGw/TvVjxS8X4BI/AAAAAAAABX0/WwgyJ-0pvgI/s320/Holiday%2B2011-10.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689563402802290706" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9b_X3gQMt_w/TvVjw9jbd2I/AAAAAAAABXs/RINZ_pFH9Ag/s1600/Holiday%2B2011-12.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9b_X3gQMt_w/TvVjw9jbd2I/AAAAAAAABXs/RINZ_pFH9Ag/s320/Holiday%2B2011-12.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689563397060523874" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQPPnBKfPiI/TvVjwth2VNI/AAAAAAAABXg/UWUUnRTyYps/s1600/Holiday%2B2011-8.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQPPnBKfPiI/TvVjwth2VNI/AAAAAAAABXg/UWUUnRTyYps/s320/Holiday%2B2011-8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689563392758928594" /></a>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-35779313134076574792011-12-23T21:14:00.000-08:002011-12-23T21:28:48.445-08:00Apparently There Is A Limit to My Crankiness...This past week has been <i>ROUGH </i>you guys. Trying to work AND take care of two kids simply doesn't work. It just plain doesn't. I can either work properly, or I can take good care of my kids...but I can't do both of those things at one time. So this week has been crazy and I am not proud to say that I haven't been the most patient parent in the world as of late. In fact for most of this week my children have literally been driving me out of my mind.<div><br /></div><div>But then tonight I put The Girl to bed and then I put The Boy to bed in their respective rooms and went into my bathroom to take off my makeup. I hear my daughter open her door, walk out and pause a little bit in front of my room to see if I am looking at her (I am not, but can see her through my bathroom mirror) and then "sneak" into her brother's room. I have his monitor on so I turn it on and see her hop up on his bed, give him a hug and lay down on her tummy with her ankles in the air watching her brother do something with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Spiderman</span>. They whispered because they didn't think that I knew she was in there. They sat together for about 15 minutes before The Boy couldn't stand it (he's definitely my honest one) and he came out and told me that The Girl was in his room but could they please please please spend some more time together? He was teaching her how to not be afraid in the dark and he was going to go get her Kitty (her lovey) for her. I said sure and he ran off. A few minutes later I went in there and they were both laying together on his bed under the covers and asking if they could have a sleepover.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me reiterate...there has probably not been more than a handful of moments in the entire last week that I thought these two were cute. They have both been "on my list" all week long. And yet...even I couldn't resist the adorable brother/sister bonding that was going on. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we don't have to be anywhere until 4:00pm. It's a perfect night for their first ever sleepover in our house (they have slept together in other places before, but never at home). So I blew up the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">aero</span> bed, put the sheets on and they each made their own part of the bed. She chose her pillow pet, her kitties (2 of them), her blanket, her stuffed frog and a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">spiderman</span> figure. He chose his pillow pet, his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Lambie</span> (like her kitty; a lovey), a flashlight, a blanket and three spiders. Oh, plus another <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Spiderman</span> figure to battle his sister. I took a picture of the cuteness, turned off the lights, and slipped out to leave them. I will never know what they talk about or what they do in there tonight, and I shouldn't. This is just between the two of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Holidays to everyone!</div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-41346172473065517582011-12-16T11:05:00.000-08:002011-12-16T11:10:08.105-08:00Pray for Me<div>Today is the last day...for more than two loooong weeks, that either of my children have any sort of school or daycare. It's going to be a LOT of togetherness. I mean I <i>do </i>feel lucky and joyful to spend this wonderful time of year with my two children... But dear God. It's a really long freaking time. Let's have a couple of pictures of them during the season while I still like them... Happy Friday!</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDfrTBhLJLA/TuuW9Ny7reI/AAAAAAAABXE/4cD1C_dvWdo/s1600/IMG_3772.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDfrTBhLJLA/TuuW9Ny7reI/AAAAAAAABXE/4cD1C_dvWdo/s320/IMG_3772.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686804932904857058" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jvlx-QSJZO4/TuuW8eH82dI/AAAAAAAABW4/-tECs3dKR84/s1600/IMG_3812.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jvlx-QSJZO4/TuuW8eH82dI/AAAAAAAABW4/-tECs3dKR84/s320/IMG_3812.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686804920108112338" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tx-R9JnhSpI/TuuW7yfTBNI/AAAAAAAABWs/girXT5rzkzQ/s1600/IMG_3755.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tx-R9JnhSpI/TuuW7yfTBNI/AAAAAAAABWs/girXT5rzkzQ/s320/IMG_3755.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686804908394874066" /></a>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-65564041233321801892011-12-14T16:02:00.001-08:002011-12-14T16:14:04.317-08:00BulletsThe time just keeps going so quickly that I never have time to sit down and write a proper post anymore. So I'm going to catch us up quickly since I haven't written since Thanksgiving.<div><ul><li>My daughter is a huge pain in the ass. Seriously. I adore her more than life itself but <i>DEAR GOD </i>with the attitudes and the tantrums and the bossy behavior... It's a miracle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">some days</span> that I have made it through the evenings with her.</li><li>On the flip side of that...oh my <i>God </i>is she so freaking cute right now. She LOVES any and all things Christmas. She asks for the songs in the car and knows them by heart and sings them at the top of her lungs. We took her to see some lights last night and she kept running around going, "And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">anodder</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">kissmas</span> tree...and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ANODDER</span>...and wait! LOOK! There's frosty..." It was perhaps the sweetest genuine love of Christmas I have seen in the long time.</li><li>The Boy has attitude as well. Seems like teenager attitude...like blatantly ignoring me when I ask him to do something. Taking his own sweet time to do that things he actually does. And generally thinking he's MUCH cooler than he actually is.</li><li>But again...he's so sweet right now. Is reading at school and I volunteer in his class and read with all the kids so he is trying SO hard right now to master reading. He loves, loves, loves all things school and I will say <i>(again) </i>what an amazing school he goes to. He's still my little science boy and my little helper.</li><li>Job thing is a bit crazy with the transitions to working with a partner coupled with normal end-of-year activities and my heart is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">palpitating</span> a little trying to figure out how to fit it all in.</li><li>One of my very wealthy clients let me go to his beach house over the weekend for a night. I will say it was like NOTHING I have ever seen before. Most beautiful house that perhaps I have ever set foot inside and I actually got to spend the night. Right on the private beach with the most amazing view you have ever seen. I went with the kids and The Girlfriend and it was awesome. While eating breakfast in the morning at the big, oak table in front of a burning fire we were watching the surfers and the waves break outside the window. And as we were watching a school of dolphins swam by. Swear to God. Even have pictures to prove it. It was a pretty surreal moment.</li></ul>And we'll end on that because I have to run out to pick up The Girl from school, The Boy from his OT and then bring them home, throw them in the bath and get their dinner started before The Ex gets here to watch them. Because at 6:00 I am going out for drinks and sushi with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">BFF</span>. Will try and do a proper post soon! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!</div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-42953421563683510592011-11-24T06:00:00.000-08:002011-11-24T06:00:13.407-08:00Thankful<div>This is a good year. There is much to be thankful for. Of course, always on the top of my list are my two amazing children. They are a handful, and they challenge me on a daily basis, and they bring a light into my life that feels like the sunshine. I adore every moment. The ones that are hard, and the ones that Hall.mark looks upon and says, 'that's what cards are made of...' Because they both exist in my household. On a daily basis. Sometimes on an hourly basis.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am thankful for my family. My mother is my rock and my best friend. My life would function at a much different place if it weren't for her. I could never ask for more. She brings so much to my life and to my kids' lives. If I can be half the mother she has been for me than I will have been a success. And add in the extended family of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">stepdad</span>, my grandmother, my brother and his wife...and I am a very lucky person. My entire family unit is surrounded by love. I don't take that for granted. And my children are growing up spending every holiday with their cousins and building amazing traditions and memories. That is priceless..</div><div><br /></div><div>I am thankful that finally, after 5 years, I have opened myself up to the dating world and been lucky to find a woman that treats me like I am something special. And who seems to not only accept, but adore my crazy life with my two kids (who are around ALL the time) and want to be a part of it. I am very thankful for that. I am very thankful she is in my life.</div><div><br /></div><div>My friends are the best ever. I have about 5 close friends that I talk to on a regular basis...you guys keep me grounded and provide the friendship that endures the test of time. Having a few, <i>really </i>close friends is a lucky thing. And I have several.</div><div><br /></div><div>My work. First of all, I am thankful for the fact there there <i>IS </i>work to be had. In an economy like this, I am so thankful that my cup is running over where my workload is concerned. I am thankful that I have a new business partner and that the future is looking bright. I am thankful that my hours allow me to volunteer on a weekly basis in my son's kindergarten class, and that I am able to have both my children home with me on a daily basis by 5:00pm. My work allows for all of this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of all I am thankful for where I am in life right now. Right this very minute. Sitting in a house that I own, typing on a computer that I love, listening to my kids play together in The Girls room, sipping a glass of wine waiting for The Girlfriend to arrive in about an hour when we can all get to bed early and enjoy a long day tomorrow of family and fun.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's wishing you and your families all a wonderful Thanksgiving.</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0hRquQm5xvQ/Ts24ZaEVKfI/AAAAAAAABWc/5IixuNY6-zw/s1600/Holiday%2B2011-8.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0hRquQm5xvQ/Ts24ZaEVKfI/AAAAAAAABWc/5IixuNY6-zw/s320/Holiday%2B2011-8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678397451817789938" /></a>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-89671008163750769262011-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:002011-11-18T06:00:06.942-08:00This Moment<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.<br /><em>A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.<br />A simple, special, extraordinary moment.<br />A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.</em></span></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-V69kOaWxw/TsVJrego2fI/AAAAAAAABWM/SIfhFplUDEU/s1600/IMG_3458.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-V69kOaWxw/TsVJrego2fI/AAAAAAAABWM/SIfhFplUDEU/s320/IMG_3458.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676023916643539442" /></a>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-21047455268988028202011-11-17T09:27:00.000-08:002011-11-17T09:50:46.983-08:00The Next Phase?When I look back on my life thus far, it is definitely broken up into different "chapters." Of course when you're little the chapters are defined by school. For me they are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">pre</span>-parents divorce elementary, post-parents divorce elementary, then Junior High and High School. After that there is the obvious college chapter. And then the post-college, partying a lot, living in an awesome studio above a coffee shop 'chapter.' Then for me there was the "coming out" chapter. I figured out during that time that I was gay and dated a couple of girls and generally just enjoyed that feeling of, "oh THIS is what I was supposed to be doing the entire time."<div><br /></div><div>Then I met The Ex and we went into the next chapter of love, life, commitment ceremony, buying a house and trying to have kids 'chapter.' Then we finally got pregnant and I had The Boy and we went immediately into the breakup of the marriage, Ex leaving me, sick kid phase of my life. That was a rough one. No doubt about it. Then the next phase was probably me deciding to have The Girl, getting pregnant and having her, and dealing with being a single mom to two small kids all by myself phase. This phase lasted up until a few months ago. I was so overwhelmed with trying to do it all, and do it all well, that there was absolutely NO time for myself or for anything besides getting through each day and trying to take time during those days to appreciate and love the kids I fought so hard to get.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then everything changed. As I have spoken about before, I hit a really rough time around July of this year. The Boy had gotten sick and for whatever reason the depression that I have fought for the better part of my adult life returned with a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">vengeance</span> and it became obvious that something had to change. So since I was done nursing The Girl and was done having kids in general I agreed to go back on anti depressants. When I look back now, I think this was the catalyst that started all the things that are happening now.</div><div><br /></div><div>About a month after starting back on the medication I began to feel like my old self. Not the self that I had been for the past 5 years, but the self I had been before that. The person that actually felt a lot of joy and began to look at life as something to be lived as opposed to something to just 'get through.' I started actually <i>enjoying </i>my kids again. I lost 25 pounds and am back at the same weight I was in high school. And I decided it was time to consider dating again. Not only did I put myself out there, but I was the one who decided to contact the woman who is now my girlfriend and pursue her. That <i>never </i>would have happened before.</div><div><br /></div><div>And in mid-September one of the gay boyfriends came to me and said he thought it might be time to take on a business venture that we had talked about for years. We decided to become partners and grow my business in a new way. This is a HUGE thing for me. I have been completely self employed and running my own business for 15 years. To allow someone else to come into that business is not something I take lightly. But the timing felt right, and if we are correct on what we think we can do with the business, I will actually make more money, get some time off, and be able to have a quality of life where I do not have to work every single night after the kids go to bed, and every weekend. It's going to take a bit to get there, but wow...it would be so awesome if we can achieve that. And I actually believe we can do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>So it appears that I have entered the next 'chapter' in my life. My kids are older now and are getting to be completely past the baby phase. They are turning into lovely little human beings (most of the time) that you can talk to and reason with and that can handle things in a more mature way than ever before. I am settling happily into a new relationship with an amazing woman that I feel SO lucky to have in my life. And my work is completely morphing into something new. Pretty much every aspect of my life is shifting. And it's all for the better.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have never before in my life been so conscious of the transition. And while there are certainly moments where I have a bit of panic based on the fact that EVERYTHING feels so different, I am happy and excited to move into this next phase of my life. If I think back to how I felt right after The Ex left me and my marriage broke up, I would have NEVER thought that I could be here again. I would not have thought I could have found a second chance at life and at love and that things could ever feel this way again. So I say bring it on! Changes are not always scary. In fact sometimes they end up being exactly what I needed.</div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-10470147172762513362011-11-10T09:43:00.000-08:002011-11-10T09:55:34.679-08:00Happy Day!!<div>About three months ago I was posting about how utterly bummed I was that The Boy had to go back onto his appetite stimulating medication. He had been off of it for almost a year and it was a really big blow to me that he had to go back. The side effects when he first starts it are tough to witness and I just felt so bad for my little dude that for whatever reason, his body didn't make him hungry enough to eat on his own.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I am happy to report today that it works. That for all of those tears I cried and all of those sad moments I had...it appears to work. And that is really all that matters in the end. If you recall, when he went back on the medication in August he had not gained one ounce in over 10 months. Not a good thing for a 5 year old. I rarely post his actual weight on here because he is just so tiny that I feel bad about 'putting it all out there' on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Internet</span> for the world to see. But because I have good news today, I will share. The weight we were stuck at for over 10 months was 35 pounds. He was just stuck there. He had actually grown about 3/4 of an inch during that time period but that isn't anything significant (an average yearly growth for a child my son's age would be about 3 inches). So at his last weight check he was 35 pounds and 41 inches tall. Yes, I know. Super tiny. Especially for an almost 6 year old.</div><div><br /></div><div>BUT! But yesterday was his 3 month check after going back on the medicine. I knew he had gained a little bit because not only could I see it in his face, but I had cheated and had him stand on my scale at home a couple of times. So I was hopeful that it was going to be a good appointment. I was hoping that he would be up to about 37 pounds and that because of that he had a growth (height) spurt coming. That was the hope. So when we got called back and he stood on the scale I said to the nurse, "If he's still 35 pounds I am going to kill myself..." She laughed as she slid that little dial more and more over to the right and said, "You don't have to worry about that today..."</div><div><br /></div><div>He weighed 39 pounds you guys!!! He gained 4 pounds in 3 months. That is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">un</span>-fucking-believable. This has never happened in all of his life. I have never witnessed a weight gain like that. Never. I was so surprised and happy that I picked him up and swung him around the room cheering. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then we moved on to get his height and he had grown an entire inch!! In three months!! Crazy. Totally crazy. In the best possible way. So even though he is still a tiny little dude for his age, I am celebrating the fact that he put on 4 pounds of weight and grew an entire inch in just three short months. I Can't even tell you all how happy this makes me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Way to go Buddy!! Keep eating!!!</div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-puqbl2RlYAw/TrwNh8UCgLI/AAAAAAAABVw/wGouEuN-OgQ/s1600/IMG_1737.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-puqbl2RlYAw/TrwNh8UCgLI/AAAAAAAABVw/wGouEuN-OgQ/s320/IMG_1737.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673424507357003954" /></a>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-6287934926183491292011-11-07T16:32:00.000-08:002011-11-07T16:42:20.687-08:00Am I Really That Old?On Saturday I went to my 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> High School reunion. Even though it has only been 19 years since I graduated, our class the the class before us had a joint reunion...anyway, you don't care about that.<div><br /></div><div>It was...mostly good. Actually it <i>was </i>good. Weird? Yes, but still totally good. I had bought a new outfit, thanks to the "Worry About The Boy" diet, I am skinnier than I have been in a long time, so my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BFF</span> (from before high school <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">thankyouverymuch</span>) and I decided we should go. We got our hair done, went out to a scrumptious sushi dinner before hand, and proceeded to get rained on while we walked the 5 minute walk to the reunion.</div><div><br /></div><div>I saw some people that I was genuinely happy to see (and yes, that's you Carla!), some people that I made eye contact with and moved on, and had some very strange conversations. I ran into the guy that I lost my virginity to (nope, not a gold star, but there were only 2 guys ever). That was a bit awkward. He knows I am gay now but I couldn't really tell if he new that <i>before </i>we started talking or not. But he kept going on about how much he liked me when that was NOT the case at the time... Very random. I actually had a few of those conversations with boys throughout the evening. I never really remember any boys actually <i>liking </i>me...I mean I did the whole high school flirtation and make out thing with plenty of them, but I never actually had a boyfriend in high school. Huh. Perhaps that's kind of telling...</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, it was a fun evening. Wine was consumed, I had a great time with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BFF</span> and now we have MUCH to discuss during our future phone conversations. I was home by midnight and greeted by the new girlfriend. I went on to enjoy a fantastic weekend with her...she really is just amazing. I am not quite sure how I got lucky enough to have someone like her in my life, but I am really happy that I did. The more time I spend with her, the more time I want. Things are going great. So overall, I'd say it was a pretty good weekend.</div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-60309669760897547552011-11-03T08:56:00.000-07:002011-11-03T09:20:02.852-07:00The Epic TantrumThe girl is a <i>piece of work </i>right now in terms of tantrums. They come out of seemingly nowhere and go like a tornado and then stop as quickly as they started. Once they are over I am able to appreciate the comic value in them, but during them? Man...it is exhausting.<div><br /></div><div>We have had three of these in the past 2 weeks or so, which I guess isn't bad odds, but since I literally <i>just </i>got done dealing with one I thought it would be a good time to tell all the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">internets</span> about my horrendous daughter. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>As usual, this one started with no good rhyme or reason. She woke up fine...pleasant even, and after changing her diaper she jumped up on my bed to watch her show and have her milk (her normal morning routine). For whatever reason, she decided that she didn't want that particular show and started demanding a different one. Of course I told her no because...well because she was being ridiculous. She gets to watch PBS in the morning and she gets whatever happens to be on that channel at the time she starts to watch. But apparently since the days of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">DVR's</span> she feels that if she doesn't like the particular episode at the time she should be able to demand a different one.</div><div><br /></div><div>So when I told her no, it started. She started screaming at me to put another one on RIGHT NOW! And when I calmly told her no for the fourth time she took her milk and threw it at me. I walked over to it and picked it up and told her, "okay now you don't get your milk. We don't throw things." She I went into the kitchen to put her milk up on the counter and she followed me around for at least 10 minutes crying and screaming at me. While all of this is happening I was telling her "10 minutes until we get dressed...5 minutes until we get dressed...getting dressed in 2 minutes..." Of course she was yelling NO!! every time I would say that. So when it was time, I took her in and she went postal. And she's strong!! I was able to take her <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">jammies</span> off, but when I went to put her shirt on she screamed and twisted and pulled so hard on her shirt that she actually ripped the seam. So rather than KILL HER, I walked out of the room. So she was on her changing table in just a diaper. She got off the changing table and came into my room where I was putting on my makeup SCREAMING at me. I should note that this is not just some annoying toddler cry she is doing. She is SCREAMING at the top of her lungs like someone is trying to put her toe nails out. So while I was putting on my makeup she walked over to me, picked up a toy clock that was on the floor and hit me in the leg with it as hard as she could. Charming, isn't she?</div><div><br /></div><div>So she was grabbed by the arm, told in an <i>extremely </i>forceful tone that we don't hit and pulled into her room where the door was shut behind her for a time out. So then she proceeded to stand in there, again SCREAMING, and also kicking her door as hard as she could. And then crying even harder because apparently it hurts to kick your door with all of your might with nothing on your feet. I left her in there for a few while I finished putting on my makeup and trying to get The Boy ready at the same time (aren't mornings fun!?!?). When I went back in, she had been trying to rip off her diaper and had basically shredded the entire thing into tiny pieces on her floor. And then she had peed on them for good measure.</div><div><br /></div><div>I managed to get another diaper on her but there was no chance that the clothes were going to make it on over the tantrum. And at this point it is time to go. I'll be damned if The Boy is going to be late to school simply because his sister is being an asshole, so I grabbed her clothes and shoes, put them all in a bag along with her milk, and loaded up the car. When I went back to get her she started yelling at me that I needed to get her dressed. I reminded her that I had tried to do that...TWICE, and that she had made the choice for that not to happen. </div><div><br /></div><div>"I need to have my clothes on..." she sobbed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bummer. No time for that now kid. So I scoop her up in her diaper and carry her out to the car and shove her into her car seat. I threw a blanket over her for good measure (I believe it was about 57 degrees outside at the time) and got in and started driving to her brother's school. She screamed and sobbed for about 5 minutes and then stopped. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of a sudden she goes, "Mommy...there is a big white truck!"</div><div><br /></div><div>And just that like, she's done. She was perfectly fine...the sweetest, most adorable version of herself. She goes, "Mommy...can I have my milk?" I handed it back to her and she said thank you and drank it nicely and handed it back to me. When we got to The Boy's school, I feel like an asshole in the car line because I have a naked 2 year old in the back of the car with her hair not combed at all (she is usually all spiffy when we drop brother off to school), and her face a snotty mess...she was looking special, let me tell you. I just smiled at his teachers and said, "It's been one of those mornings," and, like anyone who has kids, they just smile and pat me on the back and take The Boy.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we were driving to her school she asks in her quietest, most sweetest voice ever, "Mommy...can you put my clothes on before I go into my school?" Sure. Can't think of anything I'd like better. So when we pull up I got her dressed in the car before I carried her in and apologized that they would need to do her hair, which of course they have no problem doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>She runs up to me, throws her arms around me and says, "Good bye Mommy! Have a good day. Have fun with you clients!" and dashes off to play with her favorite teacher.</div><div><br /></div><div>She's a piece of work. Someone please tell me this is just an age thing and not a personality thing because I can't even <i>imagine </i>how hard she is going to be as a teenager. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. :)</div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-42346444491782895082011-11-02T09:41:00.000-07:002011-11-02T09:52:29.132-07:00Halloween in Pictures<div>The Boy decided that he wanted to be a dragon. Peanut, however was somewhat convinced that she wanted to be a "beautiful butterfly." However, when brother's costume arrived, she took one look at it and declared that she wanted to be a dragon like brother (shocking). So behold...my two dragons...</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M6skvOqC96M/TrFzmMjCwjI/AAAAAAAABVk/CnY9dg3Zx5s/s1600/IMG_3510.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M6skvOqC96M/TrFzmMjCwjI/AAAAAAAABVk/CnY9dg3Zx5s/s320/IMG_3510.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670440505876595250" /></a>Aren't they scary?<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZtqKaKoW6uQ/TrFzlnZQPdI/AAAAAAAABVY/9ugP37bSA_I/s1600/IMG_3518.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZtqKaKoW6uQ/TrFzlnZQPdI/AAAAAAAABVY/9ugP37bSA_I/s320/IMG_3518.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670440495903423954" /></a>And here they are trick or treating with their cousins on the big day. The Girl did great. She got scared a couple of times but she kept up mostly. Of course, The Boy got tired and ended up riding in the stroller, but I am sure that doesn't shock anyone (least of all me, which is why I brought the stroller in the first place). But they were old pros at the procuring of candy...<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OoTV0zmuNEc/TrFzRh0CLEI/AAAAAAAABVM/Kou-Ej3IBJ0/s1600/IMG_3613.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OoTV0zmuNEc/TrFzRh0CLEI/AAAAAAAABVM/Kou-Ej3IBJ0/s320/IMG_3613.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670440150807751746" /></a>Sometimes her brother and her cousins ran ahead of Peanut so she hung with her Gigi. She was so cute going house to house holding her hand...<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FFEYRubZHhs/TrFzQ4Xp6zI/AAAAAAAABVA/BBx_7Gd39mg/s1600/IMG_3602.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FFEYRubZHhs/TrFzQ4Xp6zI/AAAAAAAABVA/BBx_7Gd39mg/s320/IMG_3602.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670440139682868018" /></a>This pretty much sums up the evening...candy in the mouth and candy in the hands, and candy in the bag...<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HB7W-FuD9m8/TrFzQHGT-LI/AAAAAAAABU0/8szPMYe9Who/s1600/IMG_3621.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HB7W-FuD9m8/TrFzQHGT-LI/AAAAAAAABU0/8szPMYe9Who/s320/IMG_3621.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670440126456789170" /></a>Hope everyone had a great Halloween. One of these days I will make time to give you all a proper post!For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194386970975164367.post-15888057808787721932011-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-24T06:00:08.523-07:00Now With Added Bonus<div>I posted here a while ago that Peanut was moving into a toddler bed. She was crawling out of her crib and hurting herself and it was just time. The transition was actually easier than I thought it was going to be. It helps that she can't open her door handle yet, so she can't get out of her room unless I open the door for her. But she LOVED her new "big girl bed." She was ALL about it. Check out the face...</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G_U0nhsqPsk/TqG3_HhDlRI/AAAAAAAABUk/-6GBScuwmiA/s1600/IMG_3419.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G_U0nhsqPsk/TqG3_HhDlRI/AAAAAAAABUk/-6GBScuwmiA/s320/IMG_3419.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666012101186131218" /></a>The thing of note in this picture is that the crib is still sitting next to the toddler bed. I left that in there for at least a week, and it was actually quite helpful. Every time she wouldn't lay down to go to bed, I would point at the crib and say, "Do you want to go back to your baby crib? No? Well then lay down. If you don't lay down and go to sleep you have to go back to the crib..." And miraculously, this worked pretty well. After almost two weeks, it was time to get the crib out of the room. But before doing that, one has to snap a final picture of the crib sitting in the "nursery."<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cg18DXehiGw/TqG3-svQELI/AAAAAAAABUY/kZneoSr-_NE/s1600/IMG_3449.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cg18DXehiGw/TqG3-svQELI/AAAAAAAABUY/kZneoSr-_NE/s320/IMG_3449.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666012093997912242" /></a>That crib has been up and in that spot for almost 6 years. It was kind of am emotional thing for me to take it down and put it away. I don't have any desires for more children, so not in that kind of a way, but in the way that the children I DO have are growing up. One is in school already...the other now has her own bed in her "big girl room." It seems like in just a few years they are going to be surly teenagers that only snarl at me as they walk down the hall. No longer my babies.<div><br /></div><div>But once I got the crib down and moved her bed into its spot, I was thrilled with how big her room looked (it's a pretty tiny room). I had bought a little bin to put all of her toys and stuffed animal into and after all of that, there was so much room to play!<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xAQjxQveNUQ/TqG3xYb0DwI/AAAAAAAABUM/iPlDK-savoU/s1600/IMG_3451.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xAQjxQveNUQ/TqG3xYb0DwI/AAAAAAAABUM/iPlDK-savoU/s320/IMG_3451.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666011865209376514" /></a>And this is what I am referring to in the title when I say "added bonus." I didn't realize that my daughter never played in her room. Neither did her brother for that matter. They always played in either his room, or in the living room with me. Now that her room is set up like this she plays in it ALL the time. She goes in and gets a book and sits on her bed to read it. Or she takes her baby dolls and/or stuffed animals and puts them in her bed, covers them and sings to them. She climbs up on her window seat and sits there with things she has collected around the house. She loves it. And sometimes The Boy joins her too. I have heard him saying to her recently, "Come on...let's go play in <i>your </i>room..." as they run down the hall. The other night, I was doing dishes and I realized it was silent. Since every mom knows that is never a good thing, I turned off the water and went to investigate. The Boy was in his room sitting on the floor playing with his dinosaurs, and The Girl was in <i>her </i>room playing with her dolls. It was the most surreal moment. Both of my children, playing happily in their own rooms. All in a different space. It was pretty glorious. And of course it lasted approximately 30 seconds because The Girl came barreling down the hall not two minutes later to tell me something. But still. It was there.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the best thing of all? The Boy saying to her after brushing teeth, "Come on...let's go to your room and I will read you a story. We can sit on your bed together."</div><div><br /></div><div>And then you get moments like these. And you aren't sad that your baby isn't in her crib anymore. You remember why every single stage is so damn awesome.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-phIHc26I4eU/TqG3xPacm9I/AAAAAAAABUA/NbkZpd9Y1q4/s1600/IMG_3456.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-phIHc26I4eU/TqG3xPacm9I/AAAAAAAABUA/NbkZpd9Y1q4/s320/IMG_3456.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666011862787726290" /></a><br /></div>For the Long Haulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05844179491237413679noreply@blogger.com0