Writing to Remember

Another year older...

I am a birthday girl today!  Actually, I kind of celebrated for two days which made it even more enjoyable.  Yesterday Bret sent me to get a manicure, which I haven't done in years.  Last night we went to a party at our good friends Ryan and Aspen's house and I had "Happy Birthday" sung to me too many times to count.  We had a great night hanging out with great friends and I couldn't have enjoyed myself more.  Today Bret cooked lunch, and my mom, brother Britten, and sister Ciara came over with a cake.  Bret gave me the Flip Ultra HD video camera that I've been wanting forever and I am super excited about it!  Tonight my dad and brother Sam stopped by for a visit.  I just had a great relaxing day with my family and it was a great birthday weekend. 

Good thing I kept the candles from Jack's previous birthdays!  I knew they'd come in handy someday.

 

A little trim

Jack's hair grows super fast and was getting very long so I took him in for a little (and by little I mean about 2 inches) trim last week.  I think he looks quite handsome, although getting him to not make a goofy face when I was trying to get pictures was a little more difficult than I would have liked.

Wordless Wednesday

Tooth Fairy Tuesday

Ok, so I am actually a few Tuesdays behind, but Jack did lose two teeth on a Tuesday a few weeks ago.  Actually lose isn't the right word...the dentist pulled them for him.  He had a permanent tooth that was coming in behind his baby teeth, and when I first saw it panic set in and I could only think that braces were now inevitable.  I took him to the dentist who gave us until Thanksgiving to get the baby tooth (which had been loose for a long time) out on our own or he was going to pull two in order to make room.  The Monday before Thanksgiving I knew that there was no hope of Jack losing that tooth on his own, and the permanent tooth had come in so much that it looked like he had two rows of teeth.  I could no longer control the flashes of him becoming Beldar Conehead in my mind, so I made a phone call to the dentist.  They were able to get him in the next day and Jack returned home with two baby teeth in a tiny little box. 

Discussions of the tooth fairy were plentiful and of course Jack had a lot of questions.  Why does the tooth fairy have to take the teeth?  What does she do with them after she takes them?  Will she be leaving coins or bills...because, well, he only wants bills.  That night he decided that he really wanted to keep the little box that he brought the teeth home in so we wrote a note to the tooth fairy asking her to just take the teeth.  I went to the grocery store late that night and then came home to Bret and Ruby fast asleep, and Jack waiting up for me.  Each time I would ask him to go to bed he would start crying and I couldn't figure out what the problem was.  I thought maybe his mouth was hurting so I gave him a dose of Motrin and let him stay up while I put the groceries away.  I finally convinced him to go to bed but when we got there he started crying again.  His teeth and the note were not under his pillow anymore so I thought he was crying because he lost them, but that wasn't the case.  After 15 minutes of convincing, I got him to tell me that he had hid the teeth because he really wanted to keep them.  It was so pitiful and I just couldn't bring myself to tell him it wasn't an option.  A second note was written to the tooth fairy telling her that he had a rough time getting his teeth pulled by the dentist and that he really wanted to keep them.  Finally he went to bed, satisfied that his teeth were his to keep. 

There is a good chance that my kid will end up on that Hoarders show some day.

Not Me! Monday!

 

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Are you feeling guilty for using hand soap as body wash in the tub because grocery shopping is long overdue? Overcome with shame because raised your voice at your kids outside church yesterday and you're pretty sure the pastor overheard you? Well don't be! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

-  I certainly have not neglected my blog for weeks now even though I promised myself I would keep up after my last hiatus.  Nope, not me!

-  I definitely did not let Ruby come sleep in my bed after she woke up at 3:00 this morning.  Especially since I declared last week that if she woke up in the middle of the night anymore, that I was going to sit up with her and get her back to sleep instead of just letting her come to my bed.  That must have been someone else that went and got her and brought her to my room because it was not me!

-  Lastly, I did not have a piece of dark chocolate for breakfast this morning.  I know better than that, and would never think of eating anything other than a healthy, balanced meal to start my day. 

Is there any way I can get a few extra hours (without kids or any other responsibilites) in my day???

My list of things that I want to do keeps growing and my amount of time to do them in just keeps getting smaller.  I have a lot of things that I am interested in, enjoy doing, want to do more of, etc. but never seem to get the chance to do.  I feel like I can't even keep up with the stuff I "have" to do, so I don't ever feel like I can spend time on things I "want" to do.  I have stacks of books I want to read, tons of scrapbooking I want to work on, things I want to sew, walls I want to paint, and a piano that stares at me daily and begs me to sit and play it for hours at a time.  All things I love to do, but just can't justify spending any time on. 

Try as I may, my house is never 100% clean, my car is always full of crap that needs to be brought in, and my to do list is never complete.  I continually hope that someday I will be so caught up with things that I feel I "have" to do, that I will have time each day (or even every few days) to do the things that I really "want" to do.  Hey, never hurts to hope right?

If it had happened to someone else I totally would have thought it was hilarious. Since it was me...not so much.

The other night I boiled some eggs for Ruby (you can give a baby an egg yolk but not the white, and boiling them is my choice method of separating the two) and then stuck them in the refrigerator.  Yesterday I took one out to feed Ruby and couldn't decide if I should heat the yolk up a bit for her or not.  With all of my infinite wisdom, in the microwave it went.  I put the ball of yolk on a paper towel and turned the microwave on.  A mere seven seconds in, there was a ridiculously loud pop accompanied by a pretty impressive explosion.  That tiny little ball of yolk exploded into about a million pieces and fully coated the entire inside of my microwave in a disgusting yellow, smelly, greasy, substance.  Awesome.  For just a second I actually considered closing the door and trying to devise a plan to somehow claim ignorance and push the blame on Jack.  Obviously I am totally above that, so i sucked it up and cleaned up the damn microwave. 

I'll never change...

I am a professional procrastinator...I'm not sure why I feel the need to announce it like I just had a new revelation, because I am pretty sure that I've really never denied that fact.  I wait until the last possible minute to do things, and I think I work best under those situations.  In fact, sometimes I wonder if I'd ever accomplish anything if it weren't for the stress induced adrenaline that is produced when a deadline rapidly approaches.  When I was in school I never did homework ahead of time, and I would venture to estimate that I started 99% of my projects and papers with just barely enough time left to complete them...even if I had all the free time in the world leading up to the due date.  If I have housework to do before someone is coming over, I manage to leave just enough time to get it done so that I am scrambling to complete things right up until company is walking in my door.  I can't even tell you how many times I stopped at the grocery to pick up snacks on the way to take Jack to school last year when he was snack helper because I put it off the day before until it was too late to go.  If I am leaving on an early morning trip, packing is started late the night before and carried on until the wee hours of the morning.  Bret has many times said "it wouldn't be a vacation without you staying up all night the night before packing."  He really couldn't be more accurate. 

Each time I have something to do I give myself the talk about how I am going to be super prepared this time, and that I am going to get things done early.  All the while I know the reality is that there isn't a chance in hell that I will actually follow through with that.  If I have to be somewhere, I'll be there, on time even, but it will only happen because of a last minute panic attack and desperate attempt to do 5000 things at the last minute.

I plan for things, don't get me wrong.  I like to know what is ahead of me, and I totally have a calender right next to my desk with important dates and upcoming events carefully marked.  I just don't do anything about those things until, say, the day before it is going to happen.  We made the decision two months ago to have Thanksgiving at our house and then let people know.  I found great entertainment in that one of the first responses I got was someone asking what they could bring...my answer of course, was that I had no idea.  No matter how hard I try, my mind just doesn't work that way.  I have hosted Thanksgiving once before and literally called my mom about 10 times while I was at the grocery the day before to discuss with her what items I needed to get (and yes, I am pretty certain my issue with procrastination is an inherited trait because I know my mom saw nothing abnormal about that phone call.)  That being said, we had a fabulous meal and it was hands down The.Best.Thanksgiving.Ever. 

Don't let this blog stop you from asking me for help or to do something with you.  You really don't have to worry about me.  I'll get things done...but with not a minute to spare.  :)

What it all boils down to is that I think I am finally coming around to the idea that this is just the way I am.  There really is no point in even telling myself that things will be different because I know that isn't the case.  Actually, maybe I'll start working on it...tomorrow?

Year of Care Giveaway from Care.com

I was contacted by Care.com to help spread the word about their Year of Care Giveaway and was excited to blog about it as well as enter it myself!  You only have until October 9th, so enter now!

A few weeks ago, Care.com started running the Year of Care Giveaway. It's a sweepstakes open to all families across the U.S. We're giving away $12,445--the cost of a year of child care for the average American family as part of an effort to raise awareness of the high cost burden and stress families are under when it comes to caregiving.

 All parents have to do to win the $12,445 prize is to visit Care.com before Oct. 9 and sign up for a free Basic Membership or subscribe for a full Premium Membership. Or if they're already a Care.com member, they can register through their homepage.

On the move...

Ruby has been army crawling for quite awhile now and has taken a few crawling steps in the last week or so.  Tonight she must have realized that she could really crawl because all of a sudden she just went across the room.  She is so cute I can hardly even stand it!