Category: Life

2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 husband – life isn’t perfect, but it is what we make it

Already Feeling Behind

Published by dee on January 12, 2009

When I said I was slowing down in 2009, I didn’t really mean that I was going to stop blogging. It just kind of happened. While I’ve given it my best effort, life just hasn’t slowed down all that much. Every time I think I finally have some free time, I manage to fill it right up and still don’t do much relaxing. I’m really behind on blogging because I can’t find the time to sit long enough to write something worth posting. I don’t care so much about my other sites, but I hate getting behind here because I don’t want to miss documenting all the fun things my kids are doing.

Evie is growing up and changing so fast all of a sudden. It seems like she’s discovered something new she can do nearly every day. Hopefully I’ll get around to writing her monthly update on time this month and go more into all of that. She’s also been going through some pretty cruddy stuff lately – like teething, allergy testing, and being forced to sleep in her own bed.

Zach has been going through a bit of a phase himself, which includes the not-so-pleasant baby talking. Almost every time he speaks I have to remind him to talk like a “big boy” and it is driving me crazy. I know it is a phase and it will be over soon, but I think it also has to do with the fact that he is with younger kids all day at day care. I really want to get him into pre-school but until I can get my budget worked out and find the extra money it is going to have to wait.

In the small amount of spare time that I have managed to find lately, I’ve been playing with my camera. When I got my camera last year I swore I would really use it and teach myself about all the manual settings so that I could someday justify buying the DSLR that I really want. After nearly a year, I still don’t know much more than I did when I got it and I am determined to figure it out. I’ve been reading all about aperture, exposure, ISO, focal length, white balance, etc. over the last couple of weeks and doing lots of experimenting. I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but I’m starting to get it a little bit. I’ve taken some really, really horrible pictures in the process but there have also been a few good ones. My mom got me a portable backdrop stand and two backdrops to play with for Christmas and I’ve been having fun trying to use them. My kids are getting a bit tired of having a camera in their faces all the time though. You would think they’d be used to it by now!

Since today is apparently delurking day in the blogoshpere, I’m going to leave you with a question. What is the best thing you have done for yourself (no one else, just you!) so far in 2009?

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Slowing Down in 2009

Published by dee on January 3, 2009

So here we are in 2009. 2008 went by so fast I barely had time to blink. My hope for 2009 is that things will just slow down so I can sit back and enjoy this amazing life that I have. Over the last week or so I’ve really been trying to stop and appreciate what I have a little more. That includes spending more time with my kids and less time with my computer. Today, for instance, I decided to stop at the park with the kids on the way home from day care instead of rushing home. It gave me a chance to play around with my new camera a little bit and enjoy watching my kids play at the same time.

Who is that old wrinkly lady holding my baby?!?

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions because they never make it past the first week, but I have been giving a lot of thought to changes I want to make in my life lately. Besides the usual goals of losing weight, eating healthier, and sticking to a budget, I really want to spend more quality time with my family. We spend so much time rushing to get this done or that done and very little time just enjoying each other.

A secondary goal – though probably the most important of them all – is to get more sleep. Over the last 9 1/2 months I can think of maybe five times that I have slept for more than four hours at a time. Evie has never been a good sleeper and since the kids share a room I always jump up as soon as she starts crying. Then she spends the rest of the night in bed with me nursing every hour or two and waking frequently. I finally decided that I’ve had enough of that, so Operation Sleep started last weekend. Grandma took Zach away for the weekend and I started sleep training with Evie. The first night I cried nearly as many tears as she did, but on the third night she slept for eleven hours straight. We’ve had a couple of bad nights in there, but for the most part she is doing really well. I do miss snuggling with her, but the sleep is wonderful.

Other things I want to work on include de-cluttering the house, reading more books, practicing and improving my photography skills, improving my sewing skills, building up a web design portfolio, and keeping up with my blogs. You know, just a few little things.

What do you have planned for 2009?

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Wishing you a Merry Christmas

Published by dee on December 26, 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house and we’re not done yet. We had a nice quiet Christmas morning with the kids, then went to my mom’s house in the evening and exchanged gifts with the rest of my family. Tonight we’re heading over to my brother’s house for a meal and gift exchange with my dad his wife.

Presents and everything else aside though, what I enjoyed most about Christmas this year was just being with my family. I feel like this was the best Christmas I’ve ever had. I feel so blessed and it has been really nice to sit back, relax, and enjoy everything that I have.

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Fun in the Snow

Published by dee on December 18, 2008

Every year when the middle of December hits we get super busy at my job. All of a sudden we’re in a rush to get the end of year bookkeeping done and packing things up to start the new year. So, of course, this is when my children choose to get sick. I was feeling pretty cruddy all weekend due to a head cold and sinus pressure. Then Evie came down with a stomach bug Sunday night and Zach woke up with a stuffy head Monday morning. Even though I hated to do it, I called in sick Monday. With all three of us down there was just no point in trying.

Tuesday morning we woke up to snow, which had Zach all excited. Evie was still sick and the roads were pretty horrible so we ended up staying home again. Zach begged all day to go play in the snow but I couldn’t send him out on his own and I didn’t want to take Evie out so he had to wait. He was just dying to make a snowman (he’s been watching Frosty a lot!) so when Daddy finally got home I bundled him up and sent him outside.

I couldn’t stand not taking a few pictures, so I got my biggest coat and zipped Evie up inside it with me and went out with my camera. It was then that Hubby asked me how to make a snowman. Growing up in South Louisiana, he doesn’t exactly have a lot of experience with that. I tried to explain, but didn’t want to dig my own hands into the snow so we eventually gave up and found an alternative snow activity – sledding!

The only problem was that we don’t own a snow sled. Hubby suggested we use the lid from the garbage can in the garage and it actually worked out great. Zach (and Daddy) had a great time sliding down the hill in our yard. Evie was a little jealous, but there was no way I was letting her out into the cold. She kept twisting her head around so she could see them while I was trying to take pictures and videos of the boys.

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Friday Is The New Monday

Published by dee on December 12, 2008

All day yesterday I could have sworn it was Friday. But it wasn’t. It was Thursday and deep down I knew that. I just wanted it to be Friday.

Today it is finally Friday and it feels like Monday. I totally got gipped. Fridays are supposed to be happy days. Mondays are sucky days. They should not be reversed for any reason.

Sigh.

I woke up this morning with a sore throat. It’s all my fault too. I’ve been seeing so many people complaining about being sick on Twitter this week. I was happy because I have avoided it so far. So much for avoidance. Maybe I’ll just blame it on Hubby since he seems to have it too.

Then, on top of having a sore throat and head full of snot, I slipped on the ice and fell while I was carrying Evie this morning. Fortunately I reacted instinctively and kept her from hitting the ground but it sure did scare her. Her head was about an inch from the concrete driveway. My knee was not so fortunate. I’m sure it will look real pretty tomorrow when the bruising sets in.

Oh, and did I mention that I started Weight Watchers again (how many times is this now?) this week? I thought maybe the new Momentum plan would motivate me because I really need to drop the rest of this baby weight. Then I had peanut M&M’s for breakfast today (stess related eating much?). Pretty sure that isn’t going to fit well into my daily points allowance.

If it seems like I’m babbling a bit here, well, I am. I’m trying to get myself back into regular posting both here and on my craft site. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump lately and I’m trying to fight it by just making myself write. I’ve got a couple of post I’m mulling over in my mind that I’ll hopefully have a chance to write soon, but in the meantime, you can go check out what I made with a couple of hours of free time and a hot glue gun.

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Finding a Small Slice of Sanity

Published by dee on December 8, 2008

I did two things this weekend that I haven’t done in a very long time.

I slept in until 12:30 p.m.
I spent three entire hours completely by myself (not counting the hours sleeping)

I actually didn’t do either of those things on purpose but I sure as heck enjoyed them!

I crawled out of bed around 8:00 Saturday morning because Evie wasn’t going to let me sleep anymore. Just as I got to the bedroom door, Hubby was walking in and said, “Oh, I was just coming to get her so you could sleep for a while.” After the choir of angels stopped singing, I handed Evie off and went back to bed. About an hour later (or so it seemed) Hubby came back with her because she needed to nurse. He also mentioned that it was 12:30 and I might want to get up.

I’m not sure when the last time I slept that long was. I obviously needed it, but my first thought was that I had way too much to get done and there was no way I could do it all. We had plans to meet some friends for dinner at 4:30. By the time I finished nursing Evie and crawled out of my stupor, it was 1:00. By the time I fed the kids some lunch, showered, threw in a load of laundry, and bathed the kids (because I was too lazy to do it the night before) it was time for us to leave. I didn’t accomplish a single thing that I had wanted to get done that morning.

We spent a really nice evening with friends and ended up getting home later than planned. Between the combination of staying up late the night before and the many beers he had throughout the evening, Hubby was ready to crash early. He took Zach to bed with him where they snuggled and watched TV for a while until they both fell sound asleep. Evie and I snuggled on the couch for a while until she passed out. I put her in bed, woke Hubby enough to tell him where I was going and headed to the grocery store at 10:30 p.m.

I never realized just how relaxing it is to grocery shop at 10:30 at night. The store was nearly empty. If it weren’t for the very talkative (and very slow) cashier, it would have been a near perfect shopping experience. I got home around 11:30, put groceries away, cleaned up the kitchen, living room, and playroom, finished watching a movie I had started earlier, and read two chapters of my book before I heard the familiar cries of a hungry baby.

When I looked at the clock it was 2:00 a.m. I was still wide awake but figured I should try to get some sleep so I got Evie and snuggled up with her in Zach’s bed (since he was in mine).

Even though I spent the majority of that time grocery shopping and cleaning up the house, it was probably the most relaxing three hours I’ve had in months. I don’t think I realized just how much I need that time to myself every once in a while. I think it is more than just having time to myself though. I need time to myself at home where I can do exactly what I want to do and not have anyone expecting anything from me. Even with the little amount of sleep I got that night, I felt entirely refreshed the next day.

Sunday morning we got up and took the kids to visit Santa at the mall. I was a little worried about how Evie would react, but as it turns out Zach was the one I should have worried about. He was totally excited and ready to see Santa until he got up there. As soon as they started trying to take pictures he put on his grump face and refused to smile. He wasn’t mad or upset at all, he was just refusing to smile. The one time he accidentally cracked a smile, he covered his mouth up with his arm. Evie, on the other hand, was a perfect little angel. After checking out Santa’s beard for a minute she was all smiles.

After the Santa visit, Zach and his bigger cousins got to go play at Monkey Bizness while my sister, mom, and I shopped for a bit with the little kids. All in all, it was a good but exhausting day. There was however an extra bonus to all the craziness – Evie slept from 11:30 to 5:30 this morning which is the longest stretch she’s slept in quite a while.

The major downside is that I still haven’t managed to start making my nephew’s birthday present which was my one big goal for the weekend. It looks like I’ll have some late nights this week working on it so I can have it ready for his birthday party next Saturday!

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