Definitely not Perfect

Here’s some pictures that show how photo shoots don’t always go as planned.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My last attempt at Charles Dickens: I got to the word epoch which is in the first sentence. I realized I didn’t know what it meant. I have a Kindle now, so instead of just blowing over the word because it doesn’t affect the understanding of the overall story (what I normally do), I looked up the definition. Then I realized I didn’t know how to say it. So I looked up that too. And then I got off on the pronunciation manual. Several clips resulted in much laughing. Oh wait. I was reading a book…made it another few paragraphs and found another word I didn’t know. I gave up before I finished the first page.

One more thought: in this life the journey to perfection is far more important that actually being perfect.

Friday Randomness

I’m nearing the end of another week, haven’t done a post, and still don’t have anything specific to write about. My boys are awesome, and cute. So I’m sure everyone wants pictures first. The camping ones are from fathers and sons.

I love Atlanta. There is tons to do around here, and lately the weather has been perfect. Today we went to the Southeastern Train Museum. It’s super close to our house: I actually found out about it from driving by on the way to get groceries. I checked the prices online…wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Then I found out that our library has free passes to check out. Sweetness. I had a great time, so did Peter. He loved the model trains and Thomas set in the gift shop. I liked imangining what it would be like to ride in a cramped sleeping car. I also learned more about sorting mail on trains while Peter stared at the model train far longer than I was interested in it. Who knew that old, run-down trains could be so interesting?

The weather is awesome. The boys and I go to parks a lot. Tuesday we went down to the park on the Chattahoochee. The playground was fun, and the river was beautiful. Peter fed ducks and geese goldfish. (You really aren’t supposed to feed the fowls. It’s bad for them. I know that. But it’s also making childhood memories.) It reminded me a lot of going down to the duck park as a preschooler. We fed the ducks bread, and had picnics, and I was still called Elizabeth, not Liz. I remember my dad giving me under-doggies on the swings, and I was scared at how high I was going, but asked for more too. Some of my best first memories are at that park. I’m hoping I’m giving my kids memories that will stick too.

One last funny from Peter. I try to avoid sugary cereals. We were at the store getting a movie and donuts and I decided to go ahead and get a box of fruit loops. Peter was so excited that cheerios came in different colors. “Look cheerios mommy, red, blue, green!” I had to inform him that they weren’t actually cheerios but fruit loops.  He kept calling them hoop-da-loops.  They are his favorite now, so I decided to bake half the box into a lemon square dessert. (I was combining two recipes and it didn’t turn out. Edible, but nothing like I was expecting.)

Interesting Kids

Today wad Curtis’s two month check-up. The plan was to leave Peter at home with Dad and just take the baby, but then Joe’s work schedule was switched around so I took both. I managed to make it to the appointment on time,  with mascara on even, in spite of two kids who were persistently crying at me. Things calmed down at the doctor’s office. The kids both cheered up and we were actually having a pretty fun time.

Curtis is doing quite well. He’s over the growth chart (99 percentile) for weight and height. At 17 lbs and nearly 26 inches he’s gained a pound a week since birth. He’s starting to outgrow his six month clothes. Mommy’s milk is doing its job. He’s got a little cold right now (courtesy of big brother), but is doing okay with it. Curtis does have a tendency to sometimes be fussy and have a hard time sleeping in the day. But it’s not every day, and he’s pretty good at sleeping at night. He’s started to smile, coo and interact more which is a lot of fun.

This is a strange story, so pay attention. Curtis was getting the first of a bunch of immunizations, and Peter was complaining/crying and wandering around the room. The crying seemed like normal two-year old I’m-not-getting-my-way crying. He’d been playing with the door and hit his foot a little, didn’t seem like a huge deal. I glanced over and noticed that he was bleeding a little. Went back to baby, then looked again, and realized he was bleeding A LOT. So I alerted the nurse, who immediately acted all nurse-like and got Peter to sit down and started to get the bleeding stopped. I just watched and held Curtis. He had tracked blood all over the floor of our room. We switched rooms, checked Peter in, and had the cut looked out. It actually wasn’t that big of a cut, no stitches or anything, but it did bleed quite a bit.

The best place to have a kid get a cut is in the doctor’s office. I didn’t have to clean any blood up or deal with the cut. It was promptly looked at by a doctor. And it was kinda funny.

This is not a great picture, but it’s the best I have of baby smiles:

Spring Break

I had a spring break vacation this year, even though nobody in my family had spring break. But my little brother did and he and my parents came out and we had lots of fun. On Saturday, after picking them up at the airport, we had an easter egg hunt and dyed eggs. The eggs all looked horrible, but Peter had fun.

Sunday we blessed Curtis and had a nice dinner, complete with sweet potato Souffle. Monday we went to the Aquarium. Joe took the day off and came too. He took the pictures, so I’m actually in a bunch of them.

We stopped by Waffle House on the way home for a quick lunch. (You shouldn’t visit the south without visiting Waffle House. Oh, I just googled it and found out it is headquartered in our county, not too far from where we live.)  Tuesday was a more relaxing day. Disc golf in the morning, and the kids and I stayed home to nap while my parents and brother went to the MLK historic site.

Wednesday we went to the Zoo and saw pandas. This was cool mostly because my sister is obsessed with pandas. She wasn’t actually here…but her enthusiasum about pandas has apparently worn off on me a bit.

We went to all you can eat pizza that night. While we were at pizza and nobody at home, someone signed for a package I was waiting for. I still need to locate it, I’m hoping the apartment office might have it. I dislike mail. After pizza, I had a fun date with Joe. We actually had no idea what we wanted to do, so just got in the car and drove and talked. We ended up at the lake up north, looked around, and drove back. Sounds boring…but it was wonderful.

Thursday was my favorite day. We went out to Stone Mountain and stayed there from 10 to almost 5 and had a blast. I re-discovered my nerves about heights, Peter had a blast at the barn, and we ate really good food. We went on the skyride to the top of the mountain, and then my parents walked down and I took the skyride with the kids. We met at the car, at the same time. (There’s a mile walk back after you get off the mountain too. So either my family was booking it (and knowing them they were fast) or the skyride is pretty slow when you have to wait (which we did)). The best thing is my parents ended up buying Joe and I season passes, so we can go back whenever.

Dropped the family at the airport Friday. That night Peter had the worst tantrum of his life…he was so very tired.

Baby Blessing

Curtis was blessed in our church last Sunday. My parents and brother came into town to meet Curtis and where there for the blessing. Curtis went through a bit of a rough spot for a while (lots of fussiness) but he’s been much happier the last few days. He’s growing and getting nice and chubby. We all love him lots, except for Peter who is still deciding.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Family Pictures and Advice to Myself

Life is very busy, mostly because I’m attached to a small baby. (Although he is growing quite rapidly–he gained 3 lbs in as many weeks.) We went to the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve before Conference on Saturday and took some family pictures. Here they are:

Here’s some advice I’ve been writing down in my journal for myself. It gives a good idea of how life is.

• Go outside
• There is no greater work that I could be doing than being a mother to my two boys–but it can also be exhausting, discouraging and lots of hard work!
• More important than doing is enjoying.
• I love being on top of things…but I’m also trying to keep realistic expectations and enjoy the wonderful moments like a nice day at the park and quizzical new eyes.
• I am blessed!
• I can get frustrated or accept life and do my best…meet the challenges, find solutions, and mostly maintain happiness and optimism.
• It’s easy to get down when I focus on what’s good only for me.
• Strive for the middle ground between laziness and over-reaching. (see here)
• Listen and pay attention to Peter more: enjoy him more.
• Act don’t respond.
• Formula can be very wonderful at times.
• Visiting is fun.
• Have relaxed days.
• Enjoy life, take what comes. Life is not a formula to fill out after which I get happiness. Life is more dynamic and special.
• I’m happy…even when things aren’t necessarily perfect because the good outweights the bad.
• Sacrifice clean home & tasks for my children–so I did. I let the bathrooms alone and played Legos.
• Come what may and love it. (see here)
• Be grateful and ask for help instead of trying to do it all myself.
• I love my family. Its fun to spend time and play together.
• Be watchful and pray always.
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Computers Stink but the Weather Doesn’t

It’s spring now…and it’s been hot. The AC went on, even when thoughts of a power bill kept me from turning the temperature below 80. It’s a little cooler today…it feels like perfect weather. The trees are getting their leaves which makes me happy inside. The kids and I have been enjoying the nice weather with visits to parks, trails, leaving windows open…today I even bought a few plants and seeds. I would love to spend more time outside but it’s a billion times harder to get out with a baby and tantrums over shoes.

Joe’s computer became quite ill at the end of last week. I have spent hours playing nurse on it…but it remains un-functional. I immeiditely start to get in a bad mood when I think about it. Luckily my computer is fine, and we’ve just been sharing. It’s not the greatest replacement though. Before, Joe would hole up in our bedroom to do his homework, but now he’s out in the main room. A certain little someone likes to see what’s going on…so Peter is learning the names of all the bones on the x-rays Joe is studying, and his homework takes a little longer to get done. We ordered a Kindle Fire as a cheap replacement and plan on sharing both the computer and it. We’ll see how it works.

Peter and Curtis vary between being completely adorable or dropping bricks on my foot and crying. I use a lot of prayers to maintain patience and love. Kids are a lot of lovable fun, but a ton of work too!

Cuddles and Ditching Clocks

Here’s my advice for the day. If you have a baby, ditch the clock. It’s easy to get distracted by how many hours, or lack of hours of sleep I’m getting. Or how long it’s been since baby Curtis nursed, or if he’s nursing long enough, etc. (He’s an incredibly efficient eater for how young he is.) But clocks and babies really don’t mix.

I am doing so wonderfully. I certainly don’t feel like I had a baby two weeks ago. I feel like I should be sleeping more–but in actuality I’m fine with the sleep I’m getting. I’m not nearly as tired as when I was pregnant. I went to take a nap today, and really couldn’t fall asleep. I’m still a little bleary from getting up at night, but not actually tired.

Peter’s been alright with everything–he skipped or shortened his nap for a while, but today he’s actually slept. He does usually like his baby brother, except I’m no longer available to meet his requests all the time. (It’s a good thing that he’s learning to wait a little more and do a bit more for himself.)

I’m very bad at taking things easy…the weather’s perfect right now too. We’ve gone to the park and library, but have spent a lot more time at home. It’s been fun to cuddle a lot.

My sister-in law took some of the pictures with my commandeered camera.  Looking at them, it’s amazing how fast babies change. Already he’s a bit bigger, much more stretchy, and more awake when he’s awake.

New Baby

Well, after waiting several hours with no progression in labor, I was started on pitocin. Within about two hous, I was holding my brand new baby boy. I conviently forgot how much labor can hurt, but luckily it went fast for me. Pushing was nice and fast–my midwife was in a bit of a rush we almost missed her. We all made it home Sunday afternoon.

I feel super great now. I love being able to be a mom all over again. Peter is being a great big brother. He’s mostly excited about baby Curtis, but is also learning the need to be soft. My husband has been a tremendous help–couldn’t do it without him.

Curtis is doing great. And you probably want to see him, so here’s some pictures:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Converstion

“Hi Peter”

“Hi! Eh doing?”

“I’m at the hospital. I’m going to have a baby.”

“Oh, great.”

“How are you?”

“I’m playing with my butterfly”

“Have you had breakfast?”

“Mommy have baby”

“Do you want to come to the hospital and see baby today?”

“Yeah, great…..Bye Bye!”

Not bad for a two year old. He sounds excited. Now I have to just convince the other one that my water broke and that means you are supposed to come out now. Not move around and bide your time! Starting pitocin to hopefully get some progression here…