Saturday, May 24, 2008

Translation

My in-laws house is three stories tall. Translation: I'm going to have GREAT legs by the time I leave ;-)

P.S. We made the twelve hour drive in one day and we're ALL still alive, I call that a success!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The(fill in the blank) part.

Ah, stress. Nothing quite like it, eh? Tonight we leave for Oregon, and true to form I've left everything until the last minute. I haven't packed, cleaned, nor mentally prepared myself for a week and half with the in-laws. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love my in-laws. I hit the in-law lottery if you'd like to know the truth. They're great. It's the week and a half away from home with two kids under four part that I don't like. The running around frantically packing, cleaning, and just running around frantically part that I don't like. It's the moment when you're finally able to sit down, only to realize that you've forgotten something that must be done NOW part. It's the worrying about whether or not you've packed enough, or too much, or packed the wrong things altogether part! Or, this might just be the worst part. The walking out the door, getting in your car, driving an hour, then realizing you've forgotten either your purse, blankie, medicine, and/or fill in the blank part. And you know what? No matter how many lists I make or times I remind myself, I always forget something.

Here's the thing. I think I need to concentrate on a week with my husband part. Or the week away from my regular routine part. OR the completely unexpected and welcome week away from the blinding heat, part!

Wish me Luck. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Crushed Chilis

I grew up with two older brothers. Jason was six years older than me and Jonas was three. Jason and I were far enough apart in age that he mostly left me alone. Oh, we had a couple of spats, but nothing too serious. Jonas, on the other hand was another story. We use to drive each other crazy, and he could truly be mean. In time I've come to accept that big brothers are just hardwired to annoy and torture their younger siblings. Unfortunately for me, I was the youngest.

When I was about eight years old, my brothers and I were sitting around the kitchen table doing who knows what. I imagine we were probably playing a board game of some sort. Jonas eventually started talking about how good crushed chili's were. "Almost like candy," he said. "Why don't you try them, Holly?" Being young and naive,(and just a little bit stupid, I think) I had no reason to disbelieve him. Looking back, I probably had millions of reasons. He even went so far as to lovingly pour me a handful.

I don't know if you've ever eaten a handful of crushed chili's, my guess is no. They most certainly do not taste like candy. I imagine they probably taste a little bit like fire. Eventually my mom found me crying under the bar rubbing my tongue. I felt like a fool for believing him, and even at eight, I was ashamed. It didn't help that I had to lick milk off of a napkin because I wouldn't, and still won't, drink the stuff. She demanded to know what had happened and it wasn't as satisfying as it should have been to hear her yell, "Jonas, get in here, NOW!" after I told her what he had done.

It was a while before I would believe anything he said, and truthfully sometimes I still don't. It was then that I realized that I had better learn how to fight back or risk being humiliated in this way for a long time to come. I never learned to fight at his level, but I did learn something useful. My mom always believed me when I told her that he had hit me, whether he had or not.

I never said I fought fair.

Monday, May 19, 2008

The Strong Silent Type

When Caden was a baby he was amazing. He only cried when he was hungry, he slept through the night at a week old, and he had a very sweet disposition. He was very much like Pete. We thought that without a doubt he would grow up to be the "strong, silent type". Very calm and mellow. We congratulated ourselves. Gave ourselves many pats on the back. Raising babies? Easy shmeazy. You say it's hard? You must be weak!

Anyway, to make a long story short. We. Were. Wrong. Caden is LOUD. Caden likes to (literally) bounce off of walls. Caden likes to yell! In the library? Sure! Church? Wonderful! Restaurants? Even better! However, there are a few wonderful things I can attribute to him getting my personality. He's alive. He laughs, he's bubbly, and he is a lover. It isn't abnormal for him to crawl into my lap, take my face in his hands and say, "I love you so much!" He's also very compassionate. He's been known to rub my back and ask if I'm okay if I seem to be crying. Sometimes I have to remind myself of these things when he's screaming in the middle of a parking lot. Or when he won't go to bed even though I've asked, I've pleaded and I've threatened all night.

Kyle? Kyle only cries when he's hungry. He's been sleeping through the night for a while now, and he has a very sweet disposition. We are certain that he will grow up to be the "strong silent" type.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Pop Quiz

Pop Quiz time! Put your books away and please take out your pencils.

1. Last night, while Holly was falling into a peaceful slumber her last coherent thought was this;

A. What a wonderful stress free day!

B. Please, please dear, Lord let them both sleep through the night.

C. Gee, I hope my neighbors don't think I beat my children.

If you've picked "A" you are either delusional and/or don't have children. Because I don't believe anybody can be that naive, I'm going to go with the former. If you've picked "B" you must have this same thought time to time, I'm sorry. You are not alone. If you've picked "C" you are the winner! Congratulations, you! The prize? If you are so inclined, you may have my children. Kidding! Kidding, of course. Seriously? I'd be willing to part with them for a day or two ;-)

When things get stressful in my house, which they often are, I tend to talk in elevated tones, or yell, if you'd like to be a jerk about it. At first I worried about this. A lot. What kind of mother yells are her precious babies? Loses her patience every couple of hours or so? I'll tell you what kind, the very normal kind, much to my relief. I'm still figuring out how to be a mother of two, you see. Sometimes I'll be chugging right along feeling pretty good about my life and my mothering skills. Easy, I think to myself. No problemo. Until (and there is ALWAYS an "until") I hear the inevitable crash, or scream or wildly out of control laughter(which is ALWAYS just as bad as the scream) and I know. My three year old has done something that he knows he's not suppose to do but does anyway because he likes to test mommy! Because it's en vogue for toddlers to say, "No!" or sweetly say, "Yes, mommy" and turn around and do the opposite. Fun stuff. I only hope that my neighbors have had children of this age and that instead of thinking, "Good grief, what goes on in that house" they're ACTUALLY thinking, "That poor woman, I should bake her a cheesecake."

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

These are a Few Of My Favorite Things

I've always wanted to do this, and then I saw one of my favorite bloggers had done it(www.the3facesofeve.blogspot.com) and I thought, "what the hell?" so, here are some of my favorite things. ;-)Please sing to the tune from the sound of music.

Santa at Christmas and shopping with buddies
Hot apple cider and "A's" without studies
Orange jack-o-lanterns and huge diamond rings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Beemers and gossip and cute little poodles.
Snowballs and cheese balls and tuna with noodles
Money in cards that the mail brings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Bright early mornings with hot air balloons
Naps under blankets on cold afternoons
Singing in autos and kind human beings
These are a few of my favorite things!

When the wind blows
When the cake burns
When I'm feeling sad.
I just think of my favorite things, then I don't feel so baaad!

Perfect for me.

You are my love above the rest. You make me see stars everywhere. Even when it's light, I see them, in your eyes, and buzzing around my head. My world is one big blur of sparkley yellow diamonds exploding into the depths of everything while I stand in the glitter that rains down, staring at only you. Mine is a perfect existence of your beautiful essence and the glowing smile of our precious son.

That folks, is how I can sum up my life. I wrote this when P and I were first married, so to be completely accurate we would need to add an "S" to sons. I now have two kids under the age of three, both boys. Are you calling my bluff yet on my introduction? No? Well you should be, shame on you! I love my life, but no longer is it the peaceful world of "baby makes three". My life is hectic and chaotic and when I don't have an infant attached to my boob, I have a toddler on my leg. We are not a perfect family, my sons are not the cutest, smartest, sweetest, babies alive(although, I think they are) and my husband is not a knight in shining armor(although I think he is) but you know what? I love my life this way! After all, chaos is NEVER boring.