Thursday, May 28, 2009

The "Run In"

It's been a pretty busy week so far. We had our new stove delivered yesterday (love it!) and right now some men are power washing the house. Our garden is planted and the new grill has already been put to good use. Gabe says that "things are really starting to come together around here;" good thing it only took us 3 years!
But, to get to the point of my post. Today I experienced a "run in." If you know me, you may know that I don't really love to run into people when I'm out doing errands, etc. Not sure why. I'm weird, but most of you know that too. So, Grace and I had just dropped Maddie off at school and we needed to go to a store to get some jean shorts and a white shirt for Maddie to wear at her last day of school next week (she's in a performance and this is what they asked her to wear). There I was sitting out in front of the store waiting for it to open with Grace happy in the stroller. Two women came up behind us and were waiting while also carrying on a conversation. Their convo has something about Chick 1's hair at the center of it and Chick 2 is complimenting her relentlessly. At this point they see Grace and then they sort of round the corner to see me. Suddenly we realize that all of our kids are in the same class at school. I've talked to Chick 1 before (several times and have made attempts to have our girls play together since they seem to love each other-hasn't ever happened) but never to Chick 2. She always seemed "out there" and really into talking to others about her work out habits and homemade chips. Can you tell we have nothing in common??? So, we made quick, small talk and then went on our separate ways into the store.
I wasn't uncomfortable while we were talking, but after some thought, I am. I started to think "they're weird." But, then I had an epiphany. I'm weird! I like to keep to myself (just me and my baby). I don't like to have long convo's about my hair or anyone else's for that matter. I realized that they are both out of baby mode (their youngest are Maddie's age), well into their mid-thirties, and they are just a different kind of mom than me. To give a clearer picture, these are the same two Chicks I overheard at drop off one morning telling each other how they were going to the gym that night, but maybe they would tell there husbands they were going to the gym but not really go. They would go out together instead. I remember thinking, "Can't you tell your husband the truth? That you want to see a friend rather than work out?" Bizarre. So, I think that I originally felt weird because I felt like they are a clique and I don't fit in. But then, after thinking about it more I've realized that I'm not interested in being a member of a group that focuses on working out, hair dilemmas and husband trickery. I'm good on my own :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

This weeks accomplishments (so far)



Grace and I have both had a pretty successful week so far. She has gained agility at pulling herself up to stand next to things and I got my teaching license renewal in the mail-good until 2014! :) Feeling very proud...of us both :)

Monday, May 18, 2009

Mail





We went to the mailbox to see what had been delivered. Can you guess a theme in our home? Maddie wanted to look at these privately, but her little sis had other ideas! :)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

My Girls






Here are a couple of videos of the girls yesterday. Grace is being crazy during her dinner and Maddie shares her rendition of the ABC's. Enjoy!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Today

I have to admit that I've been really bored lately. Bored with everything. TV shows, magazines, books, grocery shopping, life. That really sounds like complaining and maybe it is. Everyone is allowed to complain now and then; as long as it doesn't become habit. So, today I was bound and determined not to let another day go by being bored. Don't get me wrong. There are highlights to my boredom; Maddie reading her bible by saying "Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus..." as she looks at every page. Or Gracie crawling into my lap and grinning from ear to ear. But, while both of them are adorable beyond words and my life is pretty simple and good, there are some weeks when it sort of lags on. Kind of like I live between preparing meals for each of them, cleaning up after said meals, changing diapers, waiting for one or both to wake from naps so that we can go somewhere, going somewhere only to realize one of them is tired again, blah, blah, blah... you get the drift. Back to me not being bored today, I took one look at my Kitchen Aid mixer and decided to put it to good use. I told Maddie, "we are making cookies today!" She was thrilled. Or, maybe she was a little excited and became thrilled when suddenly I handed her a spatula after we had made the dough, and told her to "go for it." Her big blue eyes looked at me, unsure, and then she was a little girl in heaven with oatmeal, chocolate chip dough everywhere. It was awesome. It was so fun because it's one of those things (making cookies) that you look forward to doing with your kids...but they have to be old enough. Maddie is old enough now and we had a blast :) Great day and maybe it brought me out of my funk. I'll let you know tomorrow. Here's a picture of the cookies as they came out of the oven. The one at the bottom right was snagged by Cookie Monster (Gabe) before I could grab the camera. Classic.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

It can be...

a thankless job! I think I'll just leave it at that. Can you tell what kind of day I've had???

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I.O.U.

I meant to write a post on Mother's Day. I meant to put a letter in the mail. I meant to sign up for an ASL class. I meant to... That seems to be my theme lately. After getting the wisdom teeth out, it took me longer to recover than I think everyone anticipated. Happy to say that for the last 3 days I haven't had to take any med's for pain (yay!). So, now that I'm back to normal (whatever that is) I thought I'd get around to the things I've been meaning to say and just haven't. I think I'll do it in list form since that truly captures my personality (I love a good list):
  1. I'm worried about the end of preschool (June 4) for summer break. I love Maddie completely, but these 3 mornings a week with just Grace and I are amazing. She is my little side-kick (much like Mad was at this age).
  2. I'm wondering how we will fill those long 13 weeks of summer.
  3. I had a great mother's day and realized that I'm keeping the card my husband wrote to me, forever.
  4. I'm not worrying about where Gracie wants to sleep anymore. She loves the basement (slept there last night for 14 hours straight!) and I'm not fixing something that ain't broke, if you know what I'm saying.
  5. I'm planning to take an ASL class because for a while now something has been calling me to do so... Not sure, but really intrigued.
  6. As of this afternoon I will have officially mailed in/submitted my form/documentation for renewing my teaching license (yay!)
  7. I cannot believe that Grace is 8 months old. She is pulling up to stand all the time! They say it goes by fast, but I think the second time is even faster.
I think that's about everything I've been daydreaming to blog. I know I've said this before, but I want/need to blog about what's going on more. I will. I mean to and I will.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Wanting to get it right

I am FINALLY feeling better from my wisdom teeth surgery and so I thought it was time to get back to blogging. Here goes. The girls are not doing well at sharing a room. Actually, to be more honest, Gabe and I are not doing a good job at training them to share a room. We've been taking the easy route. Here's the truth. Every day Grace takes her morning nap in her crib in the room her and Maddie share. That's an easy one because Maddie isn't in there at that time. But, since Grace was small (born) she has enjoyed sleeping in her pack-and-play in the basement. It's super quiet, totally dark and there aren't any two year old's talking her ear off while she drifts off to sleep. She is now 8 months old (in 2 days) and my fear that she has become so accustomed to the basement and therefore won't sleep in her bedroom has become a reality. Here's the point. When the day is long and I'm counting the minutes until peace comes over my home (bedtime), the last thing I want to do is listen to Grace cry while Maddie simultaneously talks to her and yells for me. It's exhausting. I've been doing some reading tonight and it seems that the only way to solve this is to stick it out. Let the baby cry, let Maddie yell. But that seems so daunting because there are days when my whole day feels like I'm "sticking it out." To think that I have to end it that way seems like torture. Gabe has a whole other perspective. He thinks it's fine that Grace likes the basement for bedtime. He thinks that she'll sleep in her crib at night when she's ready and the fact that she takes a loooooooooong morning nap in it means that she can sleep there just fine.
So, what is it then? What is it about me/my personality that desperately wants to get things right? I cannot leave well enough alone. I have friends who are talking/blogging about not getting any sleep and I'm complaining because my kids get an abundant 11+ hours only in separate rooms!?! Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated. Am I worrying about something that is nothing; meaning, Grace will eventually sleep in her room when the time is right? Or, is it best to try to break the basement habit now and just deal with the growing pains of sharing a room?