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.