Family Time

Very few days go by that I do not thank God for Aaron’s job. The bout of unemployment after Miles was born was very hard, scary and a struggle. I have never been so proud of Aaron than when he landed this fabulous job. His schedule is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday where he works 12 hour shifts. It’s great because he can go to day classes during the week, spend four days with the family and when he takes his vacation, he’ll get almost a month off (2 weekends plus the weekdays before the vacation and following). Super awesome perks, right?

Things are great until friends want to do stuff with us as a family on the weekends. Or I take the kids to church every Sunday by myself. Or I have to wake up our sleep struggling toddler before the sun is up every weekend to take care of our Sexton duties. Or I realize that almost every major holiday this year is on the weekend.

Sometimes it’s lonely.

Like it is right now.

Wordless Wednesday

Moments

One afternoon, I was helping Ella in another room and left Miles for just a few moments.

Suddenly, I heard the most bizarre sound coming from the living room. It reminiscent of a snuffling pig.  I went down the hall, peeked around the corner, and saw my bald baby double fisting contraband applesauce into is mouth while snorting with glee.

A dollop of applesauce fell off his face and landed on the couch. I’ve never see a baby dive as fast as he did to lick it off the upholstered cushion. Obviously, that boy has equal love for milk and table food!

♥♥♥♥♥

Aaron and I crawled into bed late on night. We squeezed in between the two kids and lay there for a few moments, laughing quietly with each other over the ridiculous way we had to maneuver to  keep from waking them up.

Suddenly, I hear little gasping giggles. I lean over Aaron and barely manage to make out Ella, who is huddled under her blanket and shaking with suppressed laughter.

I whisper, “Is Mama and Daddy silly, Ella?”

The response is even more, sillier laughter. We all join in and then snuggle in close as we fall asleep.

♥♥♥♥♥

Ella announced with sudden urgency at the bookstore that she had to poop. I dropped everything, scooped up Miles and practically ran with Ella to the opposite end of the store where the bathrooms were located.

(On a side note, who puts the children’s department on the opposite end of the bathroom? Completely unhelpful.)

Thankfully, the handicap stall was available and I found myself bent over, helping Ella balance and trying to keep Miles from licking the toilet bowl with my knees. When I almost fell in, I gave up. Ella and I had a discussion and we decided to put a diaper on her until we got home. It would be okay.

Sometimes, you’re just ahead to regress.

DIY Hair Cut

I’ve been currently debating about growing my hair out out vs. getting it cut again and the back was beginning represent David Bowie in Labyrinth. So being the rash woman I am, I cut it.

Without a mirror to see the back.

I thought it might be uneven, so I came out of the bathroom and asked Aaron what he thought. Was it terribly uneven? His face went TOTALLY blank and he said, “Uhhh, I’m not sure. It seems to be going that way” *insert dramatic gesture at an angle*

At that point, I kind of freaked out and handed him the scissors to have him even it up. He got that dreaded “deer in the headlights” look and had to take a few moments to compose himself. That didn’t help my freak out mode, but he swallowed his fear and evened the back bottom up. I then grabbed the camera and held it out behind my head and snapped a picture. That was the first glimpse I had of the back and it didn’t reduce me to ears.

To be honest, I don’t think it was that bad to begin with.

So, here’s the current new look and I think I’m liking it. Still don’t know if I’m growing it out, though…

As successful as this was, I don’t think I’ll be doing it again. My blood pressure isn’t worth it.

Prince Phillip

We had to put down our cat, Phillip, yesterday night. Aaron took him to the vet because we thought he had a UTI. Turns out he had crystals blocking his urethra and it would be over $1000.00 to fix it. If left alone, he would die a painful death by the end of the week. It was very unexpected and upsetting since we thought he had a common health problem and would be coming back home.

Obviously, we could not afford the $1000.00, so we had to put him down. Aaron is devastated and Ella is having a hard time grasping the concept of death. I’m doing my best to support both of them, though at times I struggle at being completely sympathetic with Aaron. I am really not an animal person. I’m doing the best I can and not saying a whole lot. Just lots of hugs and “I am so sorry, dear”.

The hardest part for me was this morning when I had to explain what happened to Ella. We snuggled in bed and I explained to her that Phillip had really sick and had super big owies that the “cat doctor” couldn’t fix. So his body stopped working and he died. He won’t be coming home.

Death is such a hard concept for anyone, let alone a 2.5 year old little girl. She understands that Phillip won’t be coming home but is asking if our other cat, Aurora, died even while Ella is petting her. I realize that is completely age appropriate but is still hard. A friend lent us a book titled, When Dinosaurs Die. It is a great resource for kids, though I found it to be a little beyond what we wanted to talk with Ella at this time. I am wanting to add it to our home library, though, because I’m sure we’ll be dealing with death again when she’s older.

Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to take the camera with us when we went back to the vet office to say goodbye.

I named him Phillip because I have a long love affair with the Disney “Sleeping Beauty” movie. Phillip is the name of the prince.

Even in a lot of pain and shedding a ton of fur from stress, Phillip was extraordinarily curious (a constant character trait). He almost squeezed down the trash whole!

Wordless Wednesday (not so wordless)

I feel like my soul has been removed and now it runs out in front of me.
Getting skinned knees, watching clouds, and picking flowers.

She is such a big girl now.

Be still, my heart.
I thought it was going to break when I saw this picture through my camera lens.

And then I stopped being all teary eyed when I heard her holler,
“MAMA! Lookie me! Take picture!”
She’s not quite grown up yet.

George and Harriet

The neighbors across the street from us are an older couple — perhaps in their late fifties? Their lawn is immaculate (how THAT is managed is a post for another day), cars pristine, and I’ve never seen George in anything less than khakis and a polo. Well, unless he is tending his lawn. Then he’s down to denim shorts and a polo.

Anyway.

One evening, I see Harriet yanking on the screen door frantically. Her car is running and apparently the front door is locked as well. Evidently, the screen accidentally locked and quite effectively preventing her from getting back into her home.

Soon I watch her digging through her car, emptying the glove box. She gets back out with a large screwdriver and starts to painstakingly pry the screen away from the door frame. I look at Aaron and ask if he is going to go over and help. The response is one of incredulous disbelief.

“Her husband will come after me if it isn’t absolutely perfect. I can’t live up to his standards!”

So I watch some more. After she got back into the house, she left and returned. But not with shopping bags or groceries like I thought. She came back with a screen door identical to the one on her house, minus the broken screen. It was hung before nightfall and I can’t tell you where she dumped the ruined door.

And she did it all in red heels. My kind of woman.

Rescheduled

I’m so discouraged right now. The sleep clinic office called me this morning and told me that our appointment needed to be rescheduled for May 5th due to a family emergency for the doctor. We were suppose to see them THIS Wednesday, so that puts us two more weeks out from talking to someone who understands what is going on, someone who can give us a plan of action, etc.

Of course, the hotel and train costs doubled when I rescheduled our reservations. Did I mention we had JUST walked in the door from grocery shopping for food for the trip? At least half of it won’t last for two weeks, so all that will have to be repurchased again, too.

I have a very sad little girl on my hands as well. She was SO excited about traveling on the train tomorrow. I’m so glad I didn’t tell her that we would be going to a new zoo. That would have been so upsetting for her.

Oh well. At least they didn’t call tomorrow when we would have been on our way up and no ability to turn around.

Sigh.

Spotlight: The Eclectic

If you’re indecisive, this should help you out. Though I’m a rebel and drink it iced year round.

Free vegetable seeds for your garden!

My inner geek is showing here. I distinctly remember the first time I watched Star Wars…

Ella watches this birth video at least once a day. Nothing graphic. Only some breasts and breastfeeding.

I think I’m going to attempt these fabulous brownies for my birthday. Then I’ll probably hide behind the locked bathroom door and eat the whole pan myself.

This awesome cake might be presented to Aaron for his birthday.

A kettle that tweets when it’s done. Now there’ll be no need to watch a pot ’til it boils!

Oh Craigslist, how I love you!

I Love Babywearing

♥ It allows Miles to nap well.
♥ I meet his needs of being held while meeting my needs to accomplish things around the house.
♥ Ella can get one on one attention while her brother’s needs are being met as well.