Kids & Parenting – Page 9

Scattered

Published by dee on June 30, 2011

I’m finally getting used to the idea that there is actually a teeny tiny baby forming in my belly. Even though I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and spilled the news to everyone already, the whole thing still feels a bit surreal. I keep trying to explain away the signs, but it is hard to explain away the big plus sign on the pee stick. I’d really like to know the odds of getting pregnant with only one ovary while on birth control pills. Whatever they are, we apparently beat them. Perhaps I should go buy a lottery ticket?

I haven’t been to the doctor yet, but there’s no denying the positive test and the nausea. I go in for the official test and due date calculation next Friday, just before we leave for vacation. I am already extremely anxious to find out if we’re having a boy or girl. Zach wants it to be a boy and Evie would very much like for it to be a girl. I’m happy either way, although I do lean a little toward wanting it to be a girl. Plus, as ridiculous as it may be, I’m already stressing about names. I have always had baby names in the back of my mind for future use, but this time, I’ve got nothing. We do have a possible middle name if it ends up being a boy, but that’s it. Why do I care about that so much this early in the pregnancy? I have no idea, but it is driving me nuts.

The fun part of this all, is that we’ll have another “pair” of babies in our family. My brother and his wife are expecting a little boy in September so the two will be about 5-6 months apart. That means each one of my kids will have a cousin within 6 months of their age that lives nearby. It has been really fun watching them all grow up together so far and I look forward to seeing two more added to the group.

My mind is just all over the place right now. So many things to do, to get ready, to prepare for. I know I have so much time, but everything suddenly seems very urgent to me for some reason. I didn’t feel this way with the other two, but maybe that is because I was mentally preparing for years before they were a reality. It’s crazy how different it feels this time.

Holy cow, you guys, we’re having a(nother) baby!

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Our BIG Weekend Surprise

Published by dee on June 27, 2011

Sometimes life has a way of changing your plans, as we found out this weekend. For starters, I’ll be adding a couple of supplements to my diet for the next 9 months or so.

Then, sometime near the end of February, we’ll be welcoming the newest member of our family.

I’m trying to put my trust in God’s timing. We’re a little scared, excited, and overwhelmed, but mostly happy.

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Six

Published by dee on June 24, 2011

Excuse me while I get all mommy-bloggerish and weepy on you, but this little chunk of love –

has suddenly turned into this gigantic six-year-old boy (ok, so he’s not officially six until Sunday, but still!). SIX!

It’s like I blinked and all of a sudden here we are. We’ll be spending the weekend celebrating his six-year-oldness and I’m just sitting here in disbelief that six years can go by so fast. Six years of crazy ups and downs, but mostly six years of the most amazing love I’ve ever known. That boy holds my heart in his hands for sure.

(And by the way, that first picture up there is part of the set that really convinced me I wanted to learn photography someday. I think I’ve come a long way since then!)

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The Boy

Published by dee on April 27, 2011

He won’t let me take a decent photo of him anymore. I get silly faces or poses every time.

He knows more than mom and dad all of a sudden and is very unhappy when we tell him otherwise.

He doesn’t like loud noises unless he is the one making them.

He would eat nothing but bologna and cheese sandwiches if we let him get away with it.

He would wear only sweatpants and t-shirts if it weren’t for the required school uniform.

He loves his family immensely, including his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

He is incredibly smart, and is now reading and writing words and sentences.

He is better at video games than I am.

He is obsessed with all things Mario and Luigi.

He adores his little sister, even though when asked he’ll tell you he doesn’t like her.

He is still so little and vulnerable, even though he tries to act tough.

He is learning to deal with his anger in more appropriate ways.

He has almost made it through a full year of kindergarten, even though it has been scary and difficult.

He has started trying new foods again, even though 9 times out of 10 he’ll spit them right back out.

He wore blue jeans for the first time in over a year yesterday, because I asked him to for his school pictures. He didn’t complain and decided they weren’t so bad.

He held his little sister’s hand this morning when she was scared to go down the stairs by herself, and then opened the car door for her. This was after he corrected her for not saying please when she asked me for her cereal.

He is growing up, whether I like it or not.

He makes my heart swell with pride.

The last year has been a difficult one, but I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know if it is the OT sessions, the adaptations we’ve made both at home and at school, or just simply maturity on his part, but I’ve gone from feeling helpless to hopeful and that’s enough to get me through.

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A Random Saturday

Published by dee on April 6, 2011

I’m not feeling very wordy today, so I thought I’d share these photos from Saturday afternoon. It was absolutely beautiful outside so I bribed the kids to let me take photos while they played. They are mostly of Evie, as Zach refuses to let me take a decent picture of him these days. They were so happy to be playing outside that I couldn’t get them to come in for dinner!

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All Around the Mulberry Bush

Published by dee on April 4, 2011

Seeing as it has been nearly a month since I wrote anything here, I suppose it is time to get my fingers back to the keyboard and share some earth-shattering news. Except, I don’t have any. Well, nothing earth-shattering anyway. I’ve been busy and just generally overwhelmed with life these last few weeks, which seems to happen often. One of these days I swear I’m going to get my act together.

First off, I am a bad, bad, mommy blogger. I let my beautiful baby girl’s 3rd birthday go by without so much as a mention on my blog. I’ve wanted to post something about it, but just haven’t had the time or the words to do so. She had an excellent birthday, with a super fun Dora Fairytale Adventure birthday party. This was the first year she got to invite friends to her party (we’ve done family only parties before). A friend of mine who is starting up a party planning business helped plan it, and it was much better than my standard at-home birthday parties. The birthday girl certainly enjoyed it!

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on getting my photography business set up. I’m definitely not a pro yet, but I’m taking some little steps to make things legal. I filed my d.b.a. a few months ago, and just last week set up a separate business checking account so that I can track my income/expenses. I’m also working on some marketing/branding stuff so that when I’m ready it will just be a matter of sending it off to the printer. I still have a few more things to do to feel like I’m official, but I am legal enough to be in business at this point. I’m just nervous about making that jump. I absolutely love photography, but I know I still have a lot to learn. I’m hoping to get a few more (non-family member) sessions in over the next couple of months. I’ve pretty much exhausted my kids and my niece/nephews with all of the photo taking. Here’s one of my favorites that I took of my niece a few weeks ago.

I still see imperfections in every photo I take, so I know I need more practice. However, I also know I love nearly every portrait ever taken of my kids – perfect or not – so maybe I can make it fly. I’m a little stuck in the “I need more practice to take better photographs, but I need better photographs to get people to want to hire me so I can get more practice” conundrum. Or maybe I just need more friends willing to loan me their kids.

On top of all that, I’m still stressing out about summer day care for Zach. I pretty much just stopped looking because I needed to just stop and breathe for a while. Sadly, ignoring it is not making it go away. The end of May is coming up very quickly.

Oh, and then there’s the really fun thing that happened on Friday – my car blew up! Well, it may have actually been easier if it did blow up, but it is broken (again) and undriveable until we get it fixed. I’m ready to trade it in, which we most likely will do, but not so ready to have to make car payments again. In the meantime, I’m driving hubby’s car, which we just had to put new tires on and he thinks needs a new starter. It works most of the time, but every once in a while just decides it doesn’t want to go. Kind of makes me wish we lived in a city where cars were not a necessity.

There are so many other things, but not enough time in the world to write it all out. My lunch hour just does not last long enough.

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Category: Kids & Parenting

Scattered

Our BIG Weekend Surprise

Six

The Boy

A Random Saturday

All Around the Mulberry Bush