kirstencan

On being a Mom

I love being a mom.  I so do.

I think that society (and even sometimes, inadvertently, us bloggers who write about our daily ups and downs) give mothering a bad name.  I just want to throw this out:  Being a mom rocks.

There is nothing better.  I firmly believe there is no more important job in. the. world.  Nothing.  Nothing is more important that caring for and nurturing these amazing children.  Doing your best to ensure that they are safe and grow up to be good people.

Yes, there is snot.  And poop.  Waiting for too long at doctor's offices and trying to clean the house with your kids 'un-doing' your work right behind you. I remember getting together with a childhood friend after we were both married and Princess was a baby.  She said she was thinking of having a baby, but was concerned about stretch marks.  I was thinking 'If that's what you're worried about, you're not ready.'

Motherhood is about being selfless.  It is putting your children before yourself.  You give up a lot of your time and energy, but it's worth it.  Refocusing your priorities, especially while your children are young, is so important.

Dealing with bodily functions (and occasional whining), fumbling with strollers and chasing down kids at the park is all outweighed by the hugs and sloppy kisses, the handfuls of dandelions picked just for you.  The dance recitals, watching the wonder of them learning how to read, pretending to be pirates (even you), and rocking out to the Ramones (or the Star Wars soundtrack). The snuggling, sharing of your favorite books, and watching them develop amazing personalities all their own.

It's awesome.

And so I just want to put this out there, especially for anyone reading who doesn't have kids yet. And to my sisters, who see me sometimes stressed, exhausted, the house messy, and dealing with two newly potty-trained boys.

It's all worth it.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there, and I urge you to share your feelings about motherhood with the girls around you, especially your daughters.

p.s.  In between attempts at writing this post I: fixed a Lego castle (broken by a brother), built a blanket fort, stopped one kid from getting into my makeup (too late!), and read a Curious George story to another kid, who was patiently waiting.  Just another morning in this family!

 

Finally Warm?

Please tell me we're done with snow.  Please.  It was about 80 yesterday - a beautiful warm day.  Today is looking great.

Finally warm enough for Princess to wear that skirt we thrifted a while back. Sweet!

This year she has a stack of 'bike shorts' to wear under her skirts - I should have done this last year but oh well.  We thrifted knit leggings and hemmed them at above-knee length.  Also work well as summer pj's.

There's been scraped knees a plenty around here - so when I saw fun bandaids on sale I stocked up.  Stupid fun bandaids really make getting 'owies' much easier to handle.  So if anyone knows where I can get Star Wars ones, I'd like to buy a case! ;)

I think I'll buy some Bactine, too, this year.

You can tell it's warmer when my laundry moves outside.  Ahhh.  Gotta love it.

I love hanging my laundry out.  It is so nice to have an excuse to take a quiet minute outside under the trees - lovely. And I fold the clothes as I take them off the line, so when they come inside they just need to be sorted and put away.

My only problem is our cottonwoods go through 'stages' where it's really inconvenient to hang dry.  Right now it's the sticky yellow pod-things that stick to everything and stain clothes and carpet.  Fun.

Also I tend to lose clothespins.  Where do they go?  I buy more every year.

Next:  pedicures (probably DIY), sandals + flip flops for the kids, a tall lock for the front door, since Thomas finally figured out the heavy door.  And yardwork.

Oh, and maybe a 'Slip'n'Slide'.

Yesterday in Photos

PJ's + snowboots + cape (silk)


We need more clipboards - he stole this from Princess and has claimed it as his own.

Speaking of stealing from Princess...

It's no wonder, really, why she keeps coming up with new 'control panel' type signs for her room.  I couldn't even keep the boys out of the photo!

It says 'Her royal majesty's royal bedchamber' and you're supposed to press the jewel with your initial on it to gain access to her room.  It has yet to do much to detain the boys...

Have a great weekend!  We have a local ballet performance to attend (a semi-annual mother daughter date for us), and I'm hoping to get some thrifting and sewing in, too!

Firsts

First piano recital:

(Proud mama moment:  she did great!  She played a piece from one of the Harry Potter scores and did so well.  Seriously great for only 7 months of lessons!)

First ladybug found:

(by Monkey)

First warm day = first playdate at the park:

                      (gotta love Slide Hair)

You can't make this stuff up

Thanks so much for all your 'get well' wishes this weekend.  Oh, how I wish I'd had that nice relaxing rest-my-knee type of weekend.  Not to happen.

Friday: was kinda nice - my mom was here watching the kids, I spent a lot of time in my room, watching movies on the computer.  Pretty relaxing.  The calm before between the storms.

Friday night:  Aaron is up most of the night with Thomas, who is puking all night.  Lovely.

Saturday morning:  Thomas is feeling much better - Aaron, however, wakes with a nasty cold, and then pulls his back really bad.  When I call my mom, she says 'Wow, what else can happen to your family?'  Just wait, Mom!

Saturday evening:  I had what was either a nice intro to the flu that Thomas had, or (more likely) a gall bladder attack.  Either way, a few hours of hell.

Sunday:  Aaron and I are pitifully hobbling around, letting the kids watch a lot of TV.

Monday: Oh boy.  First Aaron, and then I, and then Princess come down with the stomach bug.  Lovely stuff.  It was a miserable day.  I had to reschedule my knee follow-up appointment, Aaron had to take the day off, and Thomas stayed home from school. 

Luckily, the boys were AWESOME.  I'd planned on giving Princess a day off so she could help me/ entertain Monkey that day.  And then she got sick, too.  But the boys were so good!  Whew!  Thomas wrote me a lot of notes - one I could even read.  It said 'Mom'.

Yeah, we've had the worst winter for illnesses here!  Probably because Thomas is in school all day.  I don't know, but ARRGH!

Everyone is much better today - but we'll probably all still be on the saltines/white toast/sprite diet.  And it'll be a little quieter on the blog front, probably.

The worst part?  I still can't shower or get my leg wet at all until my stitches come out.  Yikes. 

Off to wash my hair, though.

New Boots

We dug out some rain boots - miraculously finding a pair for each of the boys.

We went outside to do the things we haven't been able to for months - like slide,

swing,

actually see the big trucks we left out all winter that have been buried in snow for months,

and generally make a mess.

Here's wishing you a nice and muddy Outside Day today - we'll be out back again this afternoon if you need us!

I like random posts

I'm wanting to show you what I made for my miniswap partner - we had fun putting the package together.  But that will have to wait a few more days until it's delivered!

Getting the package posted - not so fun.  I had several little packages that needed to go out, so we stopped by the P.O on the way to Thomas' bus stop.  With like 35 minutes to spare.  Plenty of time.

Or not.  There was (of course) only one worker at the counter, and he was helping a woman who ended up with a receipt that was at least 5 feet long.  No lie.  There were about 8 people in front of me, so when Monkey started trying to run away (and Princess, trying to help, was trying to tackle him) I just ditched and we left for the bus stop.  Sadly, we wouldn't have made it through the line in time!

Which means.... another trip after the bus stop  - only with three kids at the P.O. instead of two.  Now THAT's fun stuff, people.  Three kids, four packages, sympathetic smiles from the others in line...

.............

Possibly the sympathetic smiles were in part due to Princess' fabulous outfit yesterday.  She even fixed her hair herself (which usually turns out a tad neater) and wore a handmade pipe cleaner crown.  That's a sweet outfit.  I actually loved it and when I went to snap a photo of her she said, "Yeah, this is a pretty interesting combination, isn't it?"

Yup.  And the light blue hoodie she put on top of it all made everything even better, let me tell you!

..............

On the potty-training Monkey front:  success!  This kid, I swear he hasn't had an accident since the 2nd day of trying.  He's amazing, yells "Potty Power!", punches the air, and runs up the stairs all by himself.  Like, every 10 minutes - I'm getting a bit tired of emptying his potty chair so often, but I haven't had to ask him to go potty at all.  He even went at church (yelling "Potty Power!" down the hall and everything).  What a great kid!

...............

Also yesterday, I had my follow-up about my knee.  Apparently I've torn some cartilage and will need surgery.  The good news is that that should clear up the pain, which would be awesome.  The bad news is... surgery!  Yikes!

And I still have no cool story to tell about what happened.  Nothing happened, I swear!  So, I would like to start making up stories to tell people.  Like...
I was snowboarding, and on the half-pipe, when I wiped out.
Or, I was running after a burglar when I slipped on the ice.

Any other suggestions?

Winter Survival Tip #273

(yeah, a randomly chosen number).

I've been wanting to write a couple of posts about stuff to do with your kids when you're all dying to go outside - but it's just too cold, muddy, and wet.*

Get out the slide.
(Or, bring in the slide).

We bought this little slide when Princess was about 16 months old.  I remember wondering if she'd outgrow it too quickly, but it's been in near-constant use ever since.  It has always been an inside toy, and it has been especially fun this week because Aaron pulled it out of the basement, where it's been since we started remodeling the playroom.

When we lived in an apartment, we kept the slide in the living room, and I was always amazed at how much it was used.  Even while watching TV, Princess would be constantly climbing and sliding.  A good way to get some exercise.

Here's what the kids have been doing with our newly rediscovered slide:

Going down backwards into a pile of pillows and blankets.


Sending our stuffed toys down it (Lumpy, of course).

Having a toy car race.

You can also make hideouts.  The kids still try putting blankets over the slide, even though 2 of the 3 are now too big to fit inside - so they just lay with their heads under!

*I want to start getting outside with the kids more often - no matter the weather (note to self:  we need rain boots!).  In the spring/summer/fall we're outside a LOT - but it's been SO cold and we've had really bad air quality here, so we've not been able to lately.

p.s. And yes, the kids are in their pajamas again - I think I take the most pictures in the morning - and for the record we're not even BYU football fans, I found Thomas' shirt at a yard sale. ;)

p.p.s. It's Grace's birthday, today - go wish her a happy day!

The Other Tour

Sometimes you walk around looking at the colors...

... and other times you walk around looking at the "decorations" (and shaking your head sadly).

My kids are very involved in our home decorating, can you tell?

Here's the Pièce de résistance, the coat closet door:

Lovely, isn't it?

Ha!  Couldn't let you think our walls were pristine or anything.  Oh, and I forgot to take a picture of the edge of one of our walls - covered with sharpie and attacked with child scissors.  It's awesome.

Hope you have a nice weekend - we'll be trying out our new (used) car (finally!), working on a Nice Hands chart for Thomas, and in the bathroom a lot with Monkey (he's doing AWESOME!) - oh, and finishing up the Miniswap - I'm almost ready, I swear!.

Wish Me Luck

Big stack of underwear?  Check
(Stack of cloth diapers to sop up puddles?  Also check.)

Potty chairs pulled out and cleaned?  check
(One for upstairs, one for downstairs + the urinal!)

Not shown:  stickers, fruit snacks, water bottle, and lots of juice - check.

Doofy little sign to hype up the day?  Check.

Thomas took a whole year to be fully potty-trained.  Which is why I've had no energy to train Monkey yet.  And he's actually wanted to (sometimes).  But as much as I'm kind of dreading this, I know he'll be much easier to train than Thomas, and I'm looking forward to having no more diapers in the house! 
What a thing to imagine! :)