Category: Life

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

Terrible Two's or just Terrible?

Published by dee on June 13, 2007

The last couple of weeks have been a little challenging with Zach. It seems no matter what I do I cannot please the boy. He is 13 days away from turning two and right now I’m wondering if we are going to make it through those 13 days.

At first I blamed it on him being sick, then on teething, on developmental stages, leaving him overnight, and on the terrible two’s. I’ve read tons of parenting web sites and even flipped through the toddler how-to books that line my bookshelves trying to find some kind of explanation for his behavior. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no explanation.

There is no rhyme or reason for his behavior. He gets mad when I wake him up in the morning. He gets mad when I try to change his clothes. He gets mad when I pour him a cup of milk that he asked me for two seconds before. He really gets mad when I drop him off at day care–so mad that he refuses to eat breakfast and flips himself out of his chair onto the floor. He gets mad when I pick him up and when I put him down. He screams, cries, and occasionally swings and hits. But mostly, he just cries.

I know kids go through phases, but this one has just about done me in. I’m trying really hard to react in a loving way without giving in too much. I know that I have to choose which battles I’m going to fight. Does it really matter whether he wears his pj’s to day care? No. Does it matter if he gets his diaper changed? Yes. I don’t think that is really unreasonable, but he seems to think I’m the world’s worst mother for it.

Every day I’m trying to come up with a new game plan for the morning routine because it seems to be the hardest part of the day and the routine I came up with the day before didn’t work. I’ve tried getting him up earlier, getting him up later, changing the order of when and how we do each morning task and nothing seems to work. The new plan involves me waking up at least a half hour earlier in the morning and trying to get him to eat breakfast at home. At least that way he gets some food in him before the screaming and crying start. If it works I’ll gladly give up that extra half hour of sleep.

I realize that the only thing that will really work is to just give it time. It has to stop eventually, right? I just don’t get how that little angelic face above can turn into this in a matter of seconds.

Comments closed

Rush, Rush

Published by dee on June 12, 2007

I swear I am not abandoning this blog. My mind just tends to get bogged down when I have a lot going on in real life and things have been a little busy lately. Here’s a really quick update so that I can get this stuff out of my head and move on.

Friday morning hubby surprised me with five beautiful roses. He got up early and dropped them off at my office before I got to work so that they would be there when I arrived. Several days later they are still looking just as nice.

After work on Friday, we dropped Zach off at Grandma’s house to spend the night. He was pretty excited about spending some time with Grandma and didn’t even seem upset that we were leaving him there. After that, we went out to dinner all by ourselves, then went home, snuggled on the couch, and watched a movie.

Saturday morning it was off to Rockfest. We spent all day out in the sun rocking out to some excellent bands. Godsmack was by far the best show of the day, but I was really impressed by some of the others as well. I’m definitely a new fan of Operator. They were quite impressive.

We showed up at Grandma’s house around 11:30 that night to get Zach and he was very happy to have Mommy and Daddy back. He ended up in bed with us and spent the entire night with his arm wrapped around my neck. It was very sweet, but slightly uncomfortable at the same time. I didn’t mind too much though because I really missed him while he was at Grandma’s.

Sunday things were back to normal (if things are ever really normal). We went to church, then to my Dad’s for lunch. After that we headed home where Zach and I both ended up napping for a bit. Then the weekend was suddenly over. It always seems to go by too fast.

Now it is back to the weekly grind and I’m just waiting for the next weekend to arrive. Somewhere along the way during that busy weekend I started feeling quite a bit better. I’m still not quite 100 percent, but definitely much better than I was this time last week.

Comments closed

Quick Note

Published by dee on June 8, 2007

Apparently the video on the last post doesn’t show up in feed readers (at least not in Google Reader) so if you’re feeding, click on over and check out the “5 Years” video.

Comments closed

5 Years

Published by dee on June 8, 2007

Dear Hubby,

Five years ago today I stood in my Dad’s church (in a hideous dress that I bought at the last minute) with you, surrounded by your parents, my family, and a very few dear friends, to say “I Do”. Some days it seems like only yesterday. Some days it seems like it was decades ago. When I think of all we have been through in the last five years I am amazed that we are still going strong.

I’ll never forget that boy with the Southern accent that I “bumped” into on the dance floor. The look on your face–half laughing because you could see how embarrassed I was–as you said, “I’ll dance with you, girl,” has been forever burned into my memory. That dance, and the ones that followed that night, changed my life and my heart forever. I told Amy as much on the way home that night and am still happy to be able to say I was right.

From the very beginning, everything about you felt so natural. I was with you every chance I could get from our first date on. I somehow felt incomplete without you by my side and I had the gas bill to prove it! I drove from OP to Independence almost every night to get just a few hours with you. Then it was off to St. Louis on the weekends when you got transferred there. If I wasn’t at work (or running home for a quick shower) I was with you. I have to admit I was a little happy when you got laid off and moved up here for good.

These days I still need you by my side every day. We may not spend every minute together anymore, but I can still count on two hands the nights that we have been apart since our wedding day. I may not express it often, but there is nothing more comforting than having you laying in bed next to me every night.

We have had so many joys and so many hardships over the years. Sometimes I feel like we have had more than our share of the hard times. There have been many times when I wondered if we would make it, but we always manage to pull through. Having a child together was probably one of the most difficult things our relationship has been through, but it is also the best. I know we still aren’t back to where we were before, but I think we’re going to get there. Looking at that little face, a combination of you and me, makes everything worth it and I can’t wait to add another little mini-us to our family.

I have no doubt that God put you in my path for a reason. I may complain and get frustrated at you for insignificant things, but no matter what I say or do, you always show me love and I regret that sometimes I do not do the same for you. Last year around this time I felt like things were slipping away out of my grasp, but now I feel like I have a much firmer grip. I hate that I questioned you, that I questioned us, but it only served to make me stronger. I am amazed that you stuck by my side.

I hope that you aren’t offended by me sharing these thoughts here, but as you know, it is easier for me to write than to talk when it comes to my emotions. You came into my life at a time when I had almost given up on love and together we learned that there was so much more to life and love than either one of us ever could have imagined. I hope in future years our love continues to grow and that someday we will be celebrating fifty years instead of five.

Thank you for loving me the way that you do and for letting me be me. When I married you I got so much more than I bargained for, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Love always,
Dee

Comments closed

Just When You Feel Safe

Published by dee on June 7, 2007

I seriously can’t believe my lack of posting the last couple of weeks. Something in dee-land must be off. Oh, I remember. I’ve been busier than ever and I feel like crap. All week long people have been asking if I feel any better and unfortunately I do not. If anything, I’m actually feeling worse. It seems like every time I have something fun planned, I get sick. The last time I got really sick was right before our Hawaii vacation. The time before that? The night before I was supposed to leave for Portland. So what is happening this time? Hubby and I’s 5-year anniversary on Friday, a kid-free night (and morning to sleep in!), and Rockfest (an all-day concert) on Saturday. And I feel like crap. My nose is runny. My head is stuffed up and achy. My throat is getting sore from the coughing. All I really want to do is spend the next few days in bed. Standing up for more than 10 minutes or so pretty much wipes out any energy that I have. I think it will be an excellent weekend.

Along with my sickness woes, some pretty crappy things have been going on around KC. The first I’m sure many of you have heard about (and many have already blogged about). An 18-year-old girl, Kelsey Smith, was abducted at a local Target and killed. Her body was found just a few miles from my house. The Target store she was taken from just happens to be my favorite in the area and is one that I go to frequently. It really has me thinking about how careless I can be at times. I tend to believe in the general good of others but when things like this happen it tends to freak me out a bit. I’ll definitely be a little more careful the next time I’m out shopping.

The second incident occurred yesterday. A man came home to his house in a ritzy neighborhood for lunch and apparently interrupted a burglar who was there. Shots were fired and the man was later found in a pool of blood on his driveway by a neighbor. Fortunately, he is doing ok. I realize that things like this happen every day in cities and towns across the country, but this time it happened to someone I know. The man is a lawyer who my boss and others in this office do business with frequently. I certainly don’t know him well, but have had interactions with him for over 5 years now. It just brings it all a little closer to home, ya know?

I think I’ll go home tonight, check the locks behind me, and hug my little family a little tighter. You never know what might happen tomorrow.

Comments closed

Gearing Up for Summer

Published by dee on June 6, 2007

Summer is here and that means busy, busy, busy for me. I always think that the summer will give me lots of time to relax, but in reality it ends up being the opposite. It seems like we are always running to do this or do that all summer long. I can’t believe how packed my schedule is already.

This past weekend I had a garage sale. Even though it made for a very busy weekend, it did allow me a bit of time for some knitting while I sat and waited between customers. By the time I went to bed Sunday night, I had finished up the baby blanket that I was working on. All I have left to do is tuck the ends of the yarn in and it will be ready to go. I had quite a bit of yarn left over (because I was really afraid I would run out!) so I think I’ll work on a couple of hats and then see what else I can make to go along with it. I’m looking forward to doing something a little more challenging than the Easy Baby Blanket.

I’m debating whether to post pictures of the blanket as it is a gift and won’t be given out for a while. I doubt that the recipient would happen across this blog, but it is possible so I might hold off until she has received her gift.

I’m getting really anxious for an invite to ravelry.com. The screen shots that they posted almost had me salivating yesterday. It is looking really cool. It has me wanting to go take pictures of my stash, even though it surely doesn’t even compare to that of the other fabulous knitters out there.

2 Comments