No No

I have to take a moment to brag a bit. Of course I'm probably the only one who will think this is cute, but I'm the momma and I have bragging rights.

Little Ty started shaking his head "no" already. It's the cutest darn thing, and he laughs and laughs. The first time he did it was as I was trying to break up a fight between his siblings. The next time his did it was when daddy tried to take him and he wanted to stay with momma. He's only 6 months and it's cute to see such a little person starting to express his opinion. He's quite the little communicator as he's already starting to wave, and he babbles and babbles and sings. Of course he's got lots of competition with two lively loud siblings.

So looking forward to 2011. Not that 2010 was bad, just lots of new fun stuff coming up. Ty will turn 1, Ali will start Kindergarden, we're buying a new car, Jeff's got a great new job.....we're looking forward to the new year.

December craziness begins

I changed my blog page. The summer time scene doesn't seem right. Although the orange isn't a winter scene either, at least it makes me feel warm.

Literally December 1 marks the start of busyness at our house. The last week has been pretty quiet, except for Thanksgiving day. Even that was low key this year. Today starts the running around to activities, shopping, haircuts, doctor appointments, a birthday, decorating, Christmas programs, our anniversary, etc. Maybe we can celebrate our anniversary by decorating??? Ya, no...not so much. I like to multi-task, and that's going too far.

So far this morning has been quiet. Jeff's off to work, Larson's off to school, Ali and I finished up Christmas cards and are watching Polar Express. Ty's been napping for the last 2 hours. Which is weird for a morning nap. However, we were up from 4 - 5 am for some reason. It seems like someone's either going through a growth spurt or is changing his schedule. I wouldn't mind a schedule change. I didn't hate the last one and I didn't love it either. Someone once told me he liked it when the kids stopped napping because you were more free. At first I thought he was nuts, but I get it now. On the other hand, having a nap schedule forces you to slow down. If you're like me it takes a while to wrap your brain around that concept. Slow down and take your time. Stuff gets done by the end of the day and I'm a calmer mom. Not so up-tight about what I could have gotten accomplished by the end of the day. Now this new found knowledge is great, but I feel a bit wasted because there will be no more babies to practice on. Oh well. At least one of my children will get to enjoy the benefits.

OK. I'm done rambling. Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Wednesday.

Long time no see!!

Oh my gosh, I've been bad at posting. Maybe because I have an infant and 2 kids in the house??? Jeez!

So Thanksgiving is over. Christmas is on it's way, but before then I have Ali's birthday and our anniversary. I could complain, but I actually like all the craziness. It distracts us a bit from the hustle and bustle and commercialism of Christmas. I try to take it one event at a time so we don't even decorate until mid-December. I want to keep Ali's birthday separate from Christmas. It's not her fault she was born so close to the holiday, so there are no holiday decorations out until her birthday celebrations are over.

Our tradition is Christmas Eve with the Hemingsons. Christmas morning opening Santa presents, quick get dressed and my parents and sister come over with more presents. Christmas Day is spent my side. It works out pretty good because it's our little tradition and the extended family knows the routine. They know what to expect and there are no arguments or guilt trips. (There's also a little known party called Christmas Eve Squared, Dec. 23, with my wonderful friends. It's a bit of a drive so we make it when we can. I have to include it in our traditions because it's been going on for YEARS! Thanks to S&S K!)

This year I'm throwing in some new things. Breakfast! Christmas Eve morning..... yummy sticky rolls. Christmas morning....egg bake. It feels weird to even put an importance on a breakfast tradition, but I think it'll be something the kids will remember, and a lot more fun than cereal or toast.

What's your tradition? Is there anything you'd like to change?

Read a good book lately?

I have to admit, I'm terrible at making time to read a book. I'd rather veg out in front of the TV for some no-brainer time. I usually only get a book read if it's a requirement for class or for a book club assignment (which is a rarity for me).

Thanks to a friend, I'm actually reading a book! We're sharing it and I gave myself a deadline read it before giving it to her. I saw it on Oprah...."Women, Food and God" by Geneen Roth. I also need to thank my husband for stepping in with the kids while I finish the page before putting the book down.

FINALLY, someone who makes sense and explains it in a way I can understand! It's about our relationship to food and why we eat the way we do. If it's compulsively or otherwise. Totally makes sense. I'd recommend it to anyone who has issues with their weight (either too heavy or too skinny) or their image. (Note: and I'm not getting paid for blogging this either!)

I think I'm finally ready to stop running from whatever I'm running from, stop bolting from my fears, and actually think before I eat. How about you?

TV time

I remember! I was going to blog about TV time. Now that I'm no longer pregnant with it's on again off again bed rest, it's time to get serious about playtime with the big kids. M1 is getting a Buddha tummy and on a 6 year old, it's not cute. So it's time to turn off the TV. We've started with just an hour of TV time in the morning and then a movie during "rest time" in the afternoon. Once school starts there won't be any TV and I'm really excited for that.

What is everyone else doing?

Brain fog

It's been forever since I've blogged. I have/had the perfect thing to blog about and every time I sit down...poof! there goes the idea. It can't be age because I'm certainly not THAT old. Must be a mommy thing. I wonder if they've been able to scientifically prove that each kid takes a little part of your brain during pregnancy. I'd buy it!

Well today we had a busy morning and a mommy with a little icky tummy. Not a good combo, but what do you do? M2 had a birthday party and M1 had a karate fun tournament/pot luck. Thankfully both at the same time. That means just one trip into town for us! I won't go into details, but it got a little hairy around here this morning as we all tried to get ready with showers, expressing milk, and making a salad (for which I didn't have all the ingredients) all with a baby crying - no, screaming - through the process. There's nothing like 30 minutes of screaming baby to frazzle a mommy. Even a veteran mommy gets flustered. Doubly thankful for my mom who came with us to help with baby when I was helping M1 at the fun-tournament. At one point I really wanted to blame my hubby for all this chaos because he was safe at work. That would be completely unfair....I'm the one who signed us up for all this. Besides, he'd rather be with us than at work. Put on your big girl panties and deal. In the end the kids had fun and we're all still alive to tell the tale.

Next on the agenda. Get the big kids to bed early. They spent the night at grandmas, went to bed WAY too late, got up WAY too early, and are WAY too tired.

Good night everyone. Please say a little prayer for us tonight...it'll be a rough bedtime.

Love that fresh baby smell

We were on vacation last week and wouldn't you know.....can't think of anything to post from it. We had a great time. It was fun to see my brother and his family and my sister. The kids had a FANTASTIC time getting to know each other. My daughter instantly misses her cousin. The moment they drove away she was sad and HAD to draw a picture to mail to her new best friend.

This afternoon the baby was fussy. I couldn't get him to take a nap, but he wanted to sleep. I was starting to get a little irritated. Having a baby attached to your hip for hours on end is a little draining. I decided to get in the car and do some shopping in hopes that would get him to sleep. It did! Yay! Here's the kicker. On my way home, I could smell baby on my hands and I wanted to pick him up SO BADLY! Where did that come from? Here I was spending all afternoon wishing I could put him down and now I want to pick him up? UGH. Motherhood is strange.

I will not continue to give myself permission to fail!

The big Monkeys are off to the lake with grandma and grandpa for the week. We'll be joining them on Tuesday. In the meantime I'm relaxing with baby and doing things I can't otherwise do.
One of those things is taking a long walk in the park by the river. It's hard to do that now with the big kids because they want to walk, but they can't go the whole way which induces whining and complaining and makes the trip totally worthless.

I could talk about the things I saw, how hot it was, or how the baby cried most of the way back to the car. But I had a revelation of sorts about goals. I've blogged before about loosing the baby weight and how I've started down that road. Today was the day I was going to take a really long walk that pushes me to the limits (because the baby was suppose to sleep the whole way, right??). I get half way through the walk and think "well, I could really stop here because it's been a long time and I could get away with it." Then it hits me. If I give myself permission to fail to reach this goal, I'm giving myself permission to fail the next time and the next time and the next time. I'm giving myself permission to not reach my overall big-picture goal....which means fitting into my fall/winter clothes.

It happened all over again as I pass a certain fast food restaurant. I could really use a drink and since it's dinner time I could grab a burger. Stop, stop, stop, stop! If I don't get into the drive-thru today, I will have an easier time saying "no" tomorrow. If I give myself permission to eat fast food today, I'll continue to do it. When do I start DOING the right things? What day to I want to draw the line? Apparently today is the day. I'm done.

Beat the Clock

Ever feel like your time while baby is napping is a lot like playing "beat the clock"? How much can I get done? When's he waking up? Quick! Let me get just one more thing done.

The big kids and I cleaned the playroom this morning. It was actually my son's idea. My brother, sister-in-law, and niece are visiting from Alaska. We told the kids they need to get that room cleaned so they can play with their cousin. Well, apparently this morning was when the mood hit. We got it mostly done. The garbage is full of broken toys, and we have a bag of unused toys that will go to "kids who don't have any toys." The whole time we were cleaning, we could hear the baby making stretching and wake up noises. I thought for sure we'd have to cut our cleaning spree short. I ran around until the sweat was dripping. This one can be thrown, this goes back in the kitchen, toss this one, put that one away, another book on the book shelf, "are you SURE you want to keep this?", etc. Whew!

Now he's going down for another nap. How much time do I have? Blog updated, check. Next up, get the clothes off the line and wash the dishes. Maybe turn on Scooby Doo (yay for the DVR!) and give the kids a Twin Pop so I can get some uninterrupted time. Wish me luck!

Because you always come back....

I was watching The View this morning and heard a tear-jerking, heart-warming story from guest co-host Alec Mapa. He and his partner had adopted a 5 year old. It took about 3 weeks for this little boy to realize he was in his permanent home. They had started him in preschool right away and every day for 3 weeks when they dropped him off, they had to assure him they'd pick him up. He had been abandoned so many times before. They told him every time that they love him and they'll always come back for him.

Shortly after, the boy told his aunt that he loved her. She asked why and he responded "because you always come back."

My daughter, the drama queen & fashion model

My daughter (Monkey 2) is a girl in every sense. Pink is her signature color, she dresses herself, she pouts, and she knows how to cry to get her way. The crying thing doesn't work, but she's testing it with all her power. It's almost a little cute when she goes into a fake cry, swears she'll never do [xyz] again, and runs to her room. She's 4! Sheesh!

As for the dressing thing, she has full say about what she wears (remember the crying....I pick my battles). For the most part she dresses appropriately according to the occasion. However, she may not always "match". In M2's world, matching is a relative term. The pants might be stripy and the shirt floral, but they both contain a shade of purple. Yep, I'm one of those moms who lets her kids run around in mismatched outfits in all sorts of crazy colors. You're only young once. Go for it while you can! A new monkey wrench in the works of getting dressed: the underpants are on backwards. On purpose! Well whatever. I can't imagine it feels comfortable, but it's her butt.

Girls!!

The Kitchen is Closed

A few years ago I religiously watched Nanny 911 and reveled in the thought that it wasn't THAT bad around here. Well, we took one step closer to "that" family yesterday. I made a physical sign that tells what time meals/snacks will provided. I almost lost it earlier this week when the kids kept begging for food. Even after we JUST ate! I'm pretty sure it was out of pure boredom. I don't blame them. It's hard to wait around the house all day for baby to wake up. It's too hot to take the baby out, and the kids don't like going outside by themselves. ARGH! But that's another story for another day.

So far the sign seems to be working. Mom can simply point to the sign and the complaining stops. Yay for mom!

Glad I don't remember infancy

This morning my 6 week old was innocently lounging around waiting patiently for me when something horrible happened. He reached up, grabbed a chunk of his own hair and pulled. Of course he had no idea he was causing himself great pain. He clues me in that he's in trouble by a panicked cry. I run into the room, scoop him up, and pry his little fist open. Admittedly I laughed while assuring him he'd be OK. That was one of the funniest things I had ever seen!

I am grateful I don't remember being a baby. Think of how awful it must be. You can't talk, you have no control over your movements, you have no idea that you even have hands and feet....basically you're completely helpless. My big Monkies, for reasons unknown to me, one day started chanting "eat and sleep and poop all day" [giggle giggle]. Yep, that's the life of a baby.

That little episode pretty much got me through the day. I feel bad laughing at my baby's pain, but you have to admit, it was pretty darn funny.

Our "the heifers are out" walk

I thought for sure I'd start and blog and have nothing to say. But alas, this evening I had a little adventure on my walk. The title says it all, but read on for some clarification. It's not like it sounds.

To shed off the baby weight, my mom and I have been walking almost every day. When we get to the neighbor's house (2 corn fields away) their puppy is on the road. We shoo him up the driveway to his house so he wouldn't get run over. Back on the road mom looks back to make sure that silly little puppy wasn't still following us, and we see cows running across the neighbor's yard headed to the road. "The cows are out!" Seriously??!! First a dog and now cows?? We run back and this time shoo cows up the driveway to the barn. Once at the barn our neighbors' oldest son steps out "Oh! The heifers are out!" Said with such exasperation, almost like for the millionth time the cows got out. ARGH! You could feel his pain of once again having to get them back in the pen and having to once again mend the fence. His dad and little brother come out of the barn and take over....thank goodness. Like mom and I have a clue what to do with cows.

It's times like this that I love living in the country. Never in a million years would we have to shoo cows while taking a walk when we lived in the metro area. Mom and I reminisced about when my dad had pigs and the trials of their escape from the pens. Yes, certainly cows were easier to corral than pigs.

On the weight loss side of the story, I walked today wearing 5 pound weights on each leg. Goodness, I got a great workout! Yay me! Anyone have other little tips that aren't a big deal but help add to your workouts?

A little background:
My family is fortunate to live in my grandfather's house which is on the farm my dad and uncle own (neither my husband nor I farm, we just live here) across the road from my parents' house. We are lucky to have my parents very close by to watch the kids, share meals, and take long walks.

Yes, I call my kids Monkies

I'm a mom! I have three children whom I call Monkies. Especially my daughter. She can climb, hang, jump, and cling to you like no one's business. They cuddle, squeal, fight, climb, and have been known to fling poop. Well not exactly, but there is plenty of poop involved in my day.

I stay home to do my best to raise them. At first I thought they'd be better off at day care. I felt that I was really bad at being home. Then I realized, no, all moms struggle with the same issues that I do. Now that Monkey #3 is here, I'm an awesome SAHM! Well, some days.

I wanted to start a blog to share some of the ups and downs of being a mom. I'm hoping it'll be theraputic. There are some really funny and entertaining things that go on around here, and I'm sure in everyone's household. We all could right the best books. Also, being on round 2 of weightloss I hope having a blog to air my failures, temptations and successes, I might have better - no, quicker success.

I look forward to airing all my laundry and hoping others might comment. We can help each other get through these days of middle-aged, child rearing fun.