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30 Days of Thankfulness; Day 5

November 5, 2012

This 30 day challenge is getting tougher than I thought.  It’s really hard to sit down and blog every single day, and still come up with something witty or heart touching.  Today, I will take a much lighter and funner approach.  Today, I am thankful for jeggings.

No that isn’t a typo.  I really meant to type jeggings.  These are leggings that look like jeans.  I have come to terms that I will not fit into my old pre-pregnancy jeans this winter.  So, instead of buying a bigger size, I bought two more pairs of jeggings.  They are perfect for every occasion.  Pair them with a long sweater and boots on chilly days, or pair them with sandals and a flowy tank on warmer days.   Dressed up or down, I’ll be seen sporting jeggings from play dates at the park to night’s out with the ladies.

I promise my post tomorrow will be a lot better.  I even promise to bring tears to a few readers eyes.  I already have tears in mine thinking of tomorrow.

30 Days of Thankfulness; Day 4

November 4, 2012

I am thankful for coffee.

I have know idea how I would have survived a princess birthday party this  afternoon, if it weren’t for the three cups of strong black coffee I had this morning.

While most Americans were gaining an extra hour of sleep, thanks to Daylight Savings.  My kids had other plans in mind for me when they went to sleep last night.  It’s probably all my doing since we ran them all over yesterday, and by the time we got home, it was straight to bed from the car.

Last night consisted of both kids crying for, “Mamaaaaaaaa,” just about every half hour.

My husband and I still don’t see eye to eye on how, or whether or not to respond to the nighttime tantrums.  He’s all for letting them cry it out.  I on the other hand, just can’t lay in bed knowing there could be something I could do.  Needless to say, no one in the house got very much sleep either way.  It finally culminated to a midnight throw up in bed session by my dear daughter and a pee through his diaper session by my dear son.  After all vomit, sheets, and diapers were cleaned, we managed to finish the last two hours of the night with little Missy wedged between us in our bed.

And of course, once morning came, Father Time forgot to let the kids know about Daylight Savings.  So while the rest of the country slept in their cozy beds for an extra hour, I finished a load of laundry, organized the kid’s play room, and scrubbed the bathtub and toilet in the kid’s bathroom; all thanks to three very strong, very tasty cups of coffee.

30 Days of Thankfulness; Day 3

November 3, 2012

Today’s blog post is going to be short.  It’s been a long day.  Neither one of the kids got their afternoon nap.  We just got home from running errands.  We had a late lunch and ended up grabbing In and Out for dinner.  The kids are both asleep, and Aaron and I are both feeling weird from the sangria from lunch, not quite hungover but definitely very very sleepy.

But I just wanted to sit down and say that I am especially thankful for the Honda Pilot in our garage.  I’ve always said that if I could drive, I would drive a Honda Pilot.  It’s the perfect family car.  It seats eight, but with the back row folded down, it has plenty of room for the double stroller, our dog, and lots of luggage.  It has a built in DVD player, also great for long road trips.  And it is the first car we’ve owned to have leather interior, very great for young children and spills.

So that’s that.  I hope everyone has a safe and slumberful night.

30 Days of Thankfulness; Day 2

November 2, 2012

I am thankful for my friends I’ve made since moving to Las Vegas

It is not always easy when you are a blind mom in the burbs of Las Vegas.  This isn’t the most pedestrian friendly city.  Between the hot tripple digit summers, the wind storms, the freezing winters, I can’t exactly walk everywhere with my little ones in their double stroller.  There have been many times I’ve called friends to pick up milk, diapers, or even just to come over and read me the dosage directions to a new box of medicine.

When the word got out about the wreck, concerns and support came pouring in.  Everyone wanted to know if there was anything they could do.

The stress of my hubby’s accident kept me in a sour mood for days.  Once my friends found this out, they all made it their goal to put some sweetness back into my mood.

I don’t have any family in town, so knowing there are friends who I can call at any time of day or night for any particular reason helps to make Las Vegas feel like we live in a small close knit community.  We take turns watching each others’ kids.  We borrow each other’s clothes and jewelry, We share recipes.  We go out for drinks.  We gossip over coffee.  We throw each other birhtday shindigs and showers.  We hand down our children’s clothing.  We understand that sometimes things come up.  We don’t judge or criticize, but rather offer comfort  and hugs.

I wish all of my friends could live in the same city as me, but then there’d be no reason for me to visit SF, Austin, Tampa, Seattle, Virginia, Hawaii, China, Sweden and everywhere else in the world.

30 Days of Thankfulness; Day 1

As I scrolled down my Facebook newsfeed today, I came across lots of my friends starting on their thirty days of thankfulness of November.  So, I decided to jump on the band wagon and do it too.  For the entire month of November I will make sure that I write down something that I am thankful for.

Day 1; November 1, 2012

I am thankful for my husband.  He is my best friend.  He is the most patient person I have ever met.  He never makes me feel unimportant or unwanted.  He makes me strong, and helps me be a better person.  He always makes me feel beautiful, loved, and appreciated.  He is just a little OCD.  He answers to Daddy, enjoys yoga, reading, cooking, landscaping, organizing his garage, wrestling with our kids and our dog, and most of all sharing his love and positive energy with everyone he encounters.  He will do anything for his family.  And I could have so easily lost him in an auto accident 12 days ago, when a truck ran a red light and slammed into his car on his way home from work.  I couldn’t be more thankful to have him still here with me to watch our children grow.

October Reflections

As I looked at myself in the mirror this morning while I was brushing my teeth, it really hit me how much my life has changed.  I was slightly hung over from the margaritas I had at the concert the night before.  I had dark circles around my eyes, thanks to the lack of sleep that accompanies motherhood.  My husband was stretching on the bedroom floor, son babbling in his room down the hall, and daughter snoring in my bed.  I couldn’t help but smile and thank my lucky stars for such a wonderful way to start a day.

My first time in Las Vegas was in October of 2005.  My then boyfriend, now husband of five years, was moving here for work and I decided to keep him company on his drive out.  I was still in college, doing the clubbing, shopping, cramming, and sleeping in until noon on weekends lifestyle.  As he decided to leave Sacramento, I too decided that I was ready for a change.  I had just attended my first NFB of California State Convention and realized that my, “Fake it till you make it,” philosophy was not working as well as I wanted it too.  I decided that I was going to put the rest of college on hold and learn Braille, and did so by becoming a student at the Louisiana Center for the Blind just a few months later.

In October of 2006, I left LCB and my safe bubble of friends who lived just a few doors away with positive blindness philosophy oozing out of my pores, and stepped off the plane into the next three years which would be filled with depression, denial, and distancing.

If you know me at all, then you know that I am a social butterfly.  I thrive with the company of others.  I am always smiling and love to share it with just about anyone.  But, I had know idea what moving to Las Vegas was going to be like.  I didn’t know anyone besides my husband and his twenty year old sister, who had her own social life that I had rather not tag along on.  All of the confidence that I’d gained in Louisiana seemed to disappear after a month or so.  I started to sink more and more into depression the more and more I allowed myself to stay isolated.  This is probably why I volunteered so much time and energy with the NFB.  So much time and energy that it started to take a real strain on my marriage.  I was gone all of the time.  I jumped at any chance to hop on a plane taking me to events all over the country.  I even left for a summer internship in Baltimore right after we got back from our honeymoon.

Then in October of 2009, I was just weeks from having a baby, house hunting, putting together a state convention, and feeling like I was the ball in the pinball machine getting tossed all over the place.  I didn’t realize how much having a baby would change my life, she was the anchor to steady me and keep me grounded,

On October 8, 2011 the last piece of the puzzle was put into place when my son was born.  Yes, exactly one year ago, I was holding my brand new baby boy wishing that time would stand still.

But of course it didn’t, and it is now October 2012.  My son has just turned one and tonight his big sister helped him blow out his candle on a mini cheesecake.  He is now walking, actually running all over the house chasing his sister and our dog, sometimes going so fast he forgets how to slow down or stop and runs into walls.  I have made so many incredible friends whom I love and consider like family.  And we will all be celebrating Jackson’s first birthday this Saturday in the form of a pirate party complete with bounce house and all.

I might not have a killer body, six digit pay check, drive a fancy car, or wear designer clothes, but this is the  life.  I could never possibly ask for anything more.  And I am so thankful for everything and everyone that I have in my life.

Mommiecation

This weekend I will be husband and childless for the first weekend ever since becoming a mom.  I will be spending Saturday night on the strip with a few gal pals on what they are calling Vegas Vixens Vaca, but I am calling it my Mommiecation.

Five fabulous blind  ladies are flying in from New York, Austin, Seattle, and San Francisco for  a little bit relaxing/partying Vegas style.  This means there will be six sexy ladies strutting six long white canes down Las Vegas Blvd just in time to start the NFB’s National Meet the Blind Month.

I’m super excited to get in some spa time at one of my most favorite places in Las Vegas, also known as Spa Mio at the M.   That’s probably what I’m looking forward to the most.  The rest of the weekend will consist of getting all dolled up, dinner, drinks, dancing, and oh yes of corse a hot show of half naked men at Thunder from Down Under.

Sadly, I have not flattened my tummy enough to wear the dress I was hoping to fit into.  But that doesn’t matter, whatever I wear I will be rocking some major bling provided by one of my awesome mommy friends and fellow blogger Lindsey  who sells Stella and Dot Jewelry.

Meanwhile, I am also super nervous about leaving the kids with Aaron for an entire weekend on his own.  Don’t get me wrong, Aaron is a great dad, but he has never had them to himself for more than just a few hours.  I am just a little bit OCD about how I like things done when it comes to the kids.  We are also going through a few tough times with Marley and her picky eating, and Jackson with his mommy separation anxiety.  Jackson refuses to let his dad do anything for him.  He makes it LOUD and clear that all he wants is mommy.

Whether Jackson likes it or not, Mommy is taking a little vacation.

The Food Fight

Tonight we ended dinner with another food fight.  Not the sort of food fight where you need to clean up the room with a mop and towels, but the kind where Marley goes to bed without dinner for the fourth night in a row.  I have about had it up to hear with these food fights.  If there is anyone out there with any bit of advice that might possibly help, please feel free to send it my way.

I have got to have the pickiest eater ever.  For a long time, all she would eat was broccoli and pasta.  Then she went through her Mac & Cheese, followed by spaghetti phases.  Intermittently I’ll get lucky and she’ll eat a little chicken.  Once or twice I’ve managed to trick her into eating beef by calling it “Daddy’s Red Chicken.”  Her favorite snacks are cucumber and mixed nuts.  If I let her, she’ll eat an entire pack of bacon.  Now, all she want is bread, the Hawaiian Sweet Rolls to be precise.  She went through a bag of those small rolls in three days.  She’ll have nothing to do with peanut butter.  She throws up every time she’s tried eggs.  I just don’t know what to do anymore.

Today, she had three squares of the Hawaiian sweet rolls, two baby carrots, a few pretzels at our potluck in the park, a handful of almonds, a third of a banana, two cups of milk, a cup of apple juice, and a few cups of water.

If I could only get her to try different foods, I know she’ll like them.  She won’t even look at it, let alone taste it.

I do have to be thankful for one thing though.  Even though she is a very picky eater.  I am glad that she eats healthy snacks instead of junk food or fast food.  Up until this summer, I could honestly say she’s never eaten anything from McDonald’s.  However, beyond my control, she ate a few McDonald’s french fries.  Although she may be picky, at least she will not grow up to be one of the 60% in her generation to suffer from obesity.

Tonight, I know she will be waking me up and telling me that her belly button hurts because she’s hungry.  I will probably let her drag me out of bed again to give her another piece of bread.  And tomorrow will be another day that ends in a food fight.

 

 

 

The “Mom Bob”

I did it again.  I chopped my hair off.  I got the “Mom Bob”.

There’s the “Mom Bob” making an appearance at hubby’s station yesterday.

Here’s the side of the “Mom Bob” checking out Jackson on the fire engine.

Well I actually did this earlier this month, but am just now blogging about it.

My hair was about to my mid back, the perfect length for little hands to grab handfuls of.  I am still suffering from the horrible thing, that unless you’ve had children you know nothing about, called,”Postpartum Hair-loss.”  I swear, there are some days  I think I am going to go bald.  From a glance, my hair looks lovely, all straight and shiny.  But it is so NOT.  It is that horrid in-between hair, that doesn’t want to be straight and doesn’t want to be curly.  I would have to spend FOREVER blow drying and straightening it to get it to look decent to just get pulled back in a ponytail or mommy bun.

After chopping off about eight inches.  I feel SO MUCH BETTER.  It’s almost like a weight has literally been lifted off my shoulders, so to speak.  It is so easy to do in the morning.  I feel just so much less like a frumpy stay at home mom.  I LOVE earrings, and now with short hair, I have another excuse to dress up just a bit, even when just grabbing coffee or having other mommies over for a play date.

How many of you fellow mommies can relate, and have forgone the pony tail for a Mom Bob?

My Daughter, The Bully

Today Marley gave her Friend Mia a bloody lip.  I’m sure it was an accident, but Mia was crying and I asked Marley what happened, and her answer was, “I push her.”   How did I respond to this?  I took her aside, asked her if she really pushed her, asked her how’d she like it if Mia or another one of her playmates pushed her, and then made her apologize to Mia.

It seems like Marley is becoming more and more of a bully.  At first, I thought< “Good, she’s always been the one the other kids bullied.”  Now, she’s started to do it on a regular basis.  Just yesterday, she pushed her little brother’s face in the dog water and tried to sit on his head.  She is constantly beating him up.  On our last trip to California, she played rough with boys twice her age and twice her size just like she was one of them, and even got her first bloody nose from a kick to the face.

I’m not sure if I should be worried or not.

My Marley is a beautiful little girl and I want to know that she can stand up for herself and protect herself.  She rough houses with her dad, (really rough) so that’s probably where she’s learned to grow a thick skin.  I’ve even read parenting articles that say it is especially important for kids to rough house with their dad.  Rough housing teaches both self confidence  as well as respect.  She’s also very little.  She can still fit into a lot of her size 18 month clothes.  She’s all arms and legs, but she’s quick, tough, lean, and limber.  She can even run 2 miles.

I guess all I can do now is to keep an eye on her and make sure she realizes that some kids don’t like to play rough.