Thankful: Chioces

Mike and I worked hard to get where we are today.  Hard.   The past two years have turned my life upside down;  simultaneously having a baby and leaving the workforce.   Mike’s life has changed a lot, too.  In one instant he became a Father and the bread winner.

When we got pregnant with Nate we figured I could stay home for one year and we would reassess.  Two years later it’s still working out.  We are afloat but more importantly, happy. 

This is working for us.  Me staying home with the boy, Mike working ( HARD and A LOT) and maintaining a really healthy quality of life.   I love what I am doing, I love it.   Cleaning a toilet is a dream compared to month end at my old job.  Shoot, an overnight barfing baby was better than month end!

I know I am lucky to live this life, to be in a situation where I have a choice.   I know I am lucky and I am so thankful to Mike for choosing a path that allowed us this choice.

Thankful: In Laws

This morning we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa after a wonderful long weekend together.   We were able to cram a lot into 3 days and still have plenty of time to relax.

Today I am grateful for my In Laws.  They come to visit us often despite the distance.  They come ready to love and play with their grandson, ready to cook us dinner and let us sit down.  They are a gift. 

My adult life isn’t what I imagined in terms of active family members.  Having Mikes family has helped me in so many ways.  I know this often, I seldom say so.  Today I want it known.  Today I say out loud that I love them all.  

I’m going to post a lot of this during the month of November.  Please play along in the comments if you’d like to share what you’re thankful for today.

It’s not pretty

 

Wow! That is hideous!  I bet you didnt realize that my handwriting is so bad. I dont use capitals and apparently I prefer a dash to a period.   I’d love to see yours.  If you post it let me know.

Candy for me you have?

Halloween #2 was awesome!  We had a blast handing out candy with Nate and visiting a few neighbors with him.  He couldnt get enough, until a full-blown man (seriously,  I bet he was my age) came up in a gorilla suit.  One look at him and Nate ran in the house as fast as he could.   That wasnt our only drama with the kid.  He was not a fan of his costume.

It started out great  he was in his clothes that go under it.

Then it took a turn for the worse. 

 

After about an hour of seeing the kids dressed up he let me put it on.  Then it was a par-tay! 

I swear to you, life is so great with this kid that I can’t wait for tomorrow*, the day after, Thanksgiving,kindergarten, all of it.  I just can’t get enough of this.

*unless he doesnt nap because OMG y’all, its been weeks since this kid has taken a nap.  Sleep regression not included in the above “life is good” statement.

Boo-boo, Mama

Saturday started like any other.  The three of us in pj’s padding around the kitchen making breakfast, stepping over the dog, reading magazines and If you give a mouse a cookie.   Nothing out of the ordinary.  We were to go to the pumpkin patch and to try and find Nate a costume.  The weather was perfect for the patch, warm but cloudy and grey, just like fall.

Nate was egging on the dog and they were running through the kitchen when Nate slipped and hit the deck.   The dog ran away to proclaim his innocence and Nate went to Mike, then asked for me.  I held him for a bit while he cried and after a few minutes he wanted down and went back to being a 2-year-old while I sipped my chai and read Cookie.

Mike joined me at the table and Nate ended up back in my lap for another snuggle.   “OMG!  We have to go to the hospital right now!”   “What?”  Mike shows me the blood.  It’s not a ton so I go upstairs to get a warm washcloth so I can clean it up and take a look at what we are dealing with.

15 minutes later its pretty clear we need to go, it is still bleeding and swelling pretty badly.  Our first trip to Children’s Hospital ER.

I was calm and cool in the house, sure (hoping) that Mike was over reacting but once we were in the car I was instantly sick to my stomach.  Nate was oblivious, playing in the back seat seemingly fine.  I know stitches, I don’t like stitches, stitches hurt.  He will have a shot in his head!  Hold me!

Nate did amazing well.   It’s been a long time since my own experience and thankfully there is no longer a shot to numb the pain, they used a gel that sat on for 25 minutes.  That part went just fine.  They wrapped his head up like a little mummy which he found quite funny and we watched TV and read books in our room.  Our room.  My Son’s hospital room. 

He has 4 stitches.  The right side, on his crown just behind his ear.   The first two went in fine, he didnt seem to feel a thing.  The second two he was crying because he was over being held down by 3 adults.   They gave him a popsicle and we were done.  That was it.  He held our hands and we walked back to the car.

I decided that he had earned his favorite lunch.  Nuggets from Chick Fil A.  So we drove thru on the way home,  had lunch and then gave him a bath to wash the blood and stuff they cleaned the wound with out of his hair before putting him down for his “map”- He slept like a baby in part from the codeine laced pain meds they gave him and I’m sure he was exhausted after such a morning.

He is doing fine.  He still wants to wear his hat all day and periodically comes to me to ask for a kiss.   “Maw my Boo-Boo, Mama.”   You got it, baby.  

Thankfully we dont have to have them removed, they will dissolve on their own in about 2 weeks.  Thankfully they are in his hair which did not have to be shaved.  I thanked him on the way home for not messing up his beautiful face.   He shook his head and said “Yup!’ 

Oh, this boy.  I just want to eat him whole.

Make like a tree

I got bored last week and decided it was time to make something.  I came across a post about making leaves  from paper sacks and stringing them from twine.  Sold. 

Nate and I got down to business.  First we cut 3 large grocery bags, removing the bottom and laying them flat.  Then I cut them in half and crumpled them up for texture.  We mixed some acrylic craft paint with a tiny bit of water, cut up some sponges and started painting.

 

 

 The leaf cutting was easier than I thought it would be.  I cut each bag half into 9 small squares.  I went for a little walk around the yard checking out shapes and then drew them out, stacked about 5 sheets of paper and cut them out in multiples.  After that I attached them to the twine using craft glue by folding the stems over on themselves. 

Im pretty happy with the end result.  It looks homemade for sure but it is, and I loved working with Nate and I know he enjoyed it too.   $5 in paint for an afternoon of fun!   I plan on making a hand print each year and adding to it.  Who knew you could turn a paper bag into a memory?!

It was a good run

Yesterday was sort of odd.  I was on the phone with my sister and somehow the conversation lead to pacifiers, I said I didnt think Nate would know what one was anymore.  She assured me he’d cram it in his mouth, afterall that’s what kids do with any new and foreign object.  I wasnt so sure since it’s been 7 months since he’s seen one. 

We were bundling up to go to the mall and I put on a coat I hadnt worn since last winter, there was a paci in the pocket.  At first I shrunk instantly missing the little baby that needed it, then I thought it was really strange considering the conversation I’d just had with Heidi.  I did give it to him to see what he’d do.  He put it in his mouth but chewed on it rather than suck.  I put it in a drawer and we left.

~~~~~~~

We were snuggled up in the rocker listening to his lullaby cd and I was thinking how comfortable I was.  I could sit here all night holding this boy, his weight against my chest, listening to him breathe and hum to the music.  I put him to bed and blew him a kiss.

 We turned the news off around 11:20 and I got comfortable. 11:32 I check the clock after Nate’s making odd noises, I’m pretty sure he’s sick.  I turn on the hall light and slowly open his door.  His hat is pulled down over his eyes and there is vomit all over it, his hands and there are three puddles in his crib.  “Mama, mess.  Up please.”  This is the first time he’s been sick.  I dont have a clue what to do.  I tell him I’ll be right back and I go to the linen closet and stare at it wondering what I’m looking for.  My Mom isnt in there so I grab a beach towel.  It was a really long night.  And here is why-

I was totally unprepared for this.

•  What do you do with the kid when you strip his bed?
• What do you do with the chunks- you cant put them in the washer?
• What do you do when all the baby wants is his “bankie” and hes just barfed on it? A LOT.
• Do you give the kid a bath?
• Is he going to do this all night?
• Where do I sleep?
• Do I make his bed and put him back down?
• Do we go to bed together?
• How will I know when he’s going to blow again?
• I have to pee (repeat 3 times) – guess I carry him with me.
• THANK GOD I ONLY HAVE ONE KID
• I really wish it was a weekend so I had an extra set of hands
• I wonder if I get a bowl if he will use it? (yes)
• Did he just puke on my face and in my shirt?  (yes)
• Should we just take a bath together?  It’s 2:30 am
• Each time he did vomit, a full load of laundry was washed. A FULL LOAD!

We spent the night in the basement on the couch.  I didnt want the orange puke on my guest linens- so couch won.  I ended up grabbing my cleaning rags, a bowl and a hand full of diapers, footie pj’s and my robe.  He stopped vomiting around 3 and then slept so hard I was able to lay him on the couch alone and “sleep” on the other.  I may have slept for an hour.  I was just waiting for the signal to grab the bowl again.  I was afraid to move, to make any noise, to do anything to wake him.

I just didn’t know what to do.  I knew this would  happen, of course, but even if “they’d” told me what to expect I dont think it would have helped.  He’s napping now after a morning of play and acting as if nothing happened.  I however feel like I was run over, I need a shower and have many loads of laundry to fold.

As hard and disgusting as it was,  there is no one else I’d rather be up all night for, no one sweeter to sleep with.  No where else I’d rather be.  I would stay up forever to take care of him.  Forever.

He shook her hand and then she died

I was at a birthday party for a 3-year-old belonging to one of Mike’s co-workers.  It was a casual get together, all of the kids were in the play room with the birthday boy’s grandma and the adults were in the kitchen sipping wine and chatting.  A family arrives, Mom, Dad and an adorable red head named Sophia.  

Mike nudges me and whispers something I don’t hear.

Hands are extended, nice to meet you, too!  What a gorgeous little girl. 

Mike: “Are you both OB’s at OSU?”

Me:  glugs wine, smiles awaiting the answer.

They are.  Mike continues.

“I recognize you.”  he says the to man I’ve just met named Hugh.  “Christina had some complications with her delivery, you put IN the heart rate monitor and gave her oxygen.”

Hugh: “Yeah, that was me, I’m a high risk Doctor.”

Me- GULP- “Oh, wow, hmmm,,, what are the odds!”

Him: “Haha, yeah, sorry, I  DIDNT RECOGNIZE YOU WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON!”

And then I dropped dead- DED-Dead!  

Note: this was just the beginning of the party, I had to mingle with the man who saw me naked ( AND 52 lbs overweight who went into labor in the middle of the night UNSHAVEN) and his wife, who now knows we’ve “met” before.

At the end of the party he says “it was nice seeing you again.”

FIN!

So cozy!

Oh, Fall!  I love it, LOVE.  I’ve probably mentioned this before but today is the first really cold (42) day and it’s also raining and the candles are lit and I have fresh flowers all over the house left over from Nate’s party and I just never want to leave!  Well, maybe tomorrow.

I don’t know if I’ve always loved fall, I mean it used to mean going back to school which, if Im being honest only got me excited about socializing, new clothes and because I’ve always been a geek for a good list, the school supplies.   Growing up in Tacoma ment a lot of rain, which ewww.  Commuting to downtown Seattle on the Metro on these types of days again, EWWW!  The bus would fog up and it always smelled like hot feet.  Walking 8 blocks to my building in the morning and then from the stop to the park and ride, in the dark- yeah, I think I didn’t like that.  So, maybe this fall thing is newer, actually, as I write this, I know when it happened.  It  happened the first year in North Carolina!  Hmm, how about that?   It makes since, though, NC has four seasons and WA didnt.   Anyway…

I decorated the house a bit today with pumpkins and little kitschy Halloween stuff.  Tomorrow Nate and I are going to bundle up and head to the craft store for our first Mom & Kid project.  Im alternately excited and sad that he is actually big enough to do this with me.   It’s mostly for me to do but he can help me paint.  I cant wait though, since he’s not painted before!  I will share the finished project after it’s done, should only take a few hours so maybe as soon as tomorrow, but I will tell you it’s fall decor related. I also switched out Nate’s closet, putting away the summer clothes and moving in the winter.  He’s been tromping around in snow boots for the past 3 hours.  I’m just so into it right now, I can’t wait to have a pot of soup on the stove and pumpkin seeds in the oven.  

How about you guys, are you into it or are you still stomping around in your fall boots wishing they were your flip flops?

Nate’s Day

It was a lot work.  Hours spent planning and cleaning and cooking and baking and in the end it was a three hour party.   It was worth it. 

I am exhausted, though, so rather than force a post about our day I will share it with you via photos.

 

It was such a great time.   I wish I had taken more pictures but time really files when you have a house full of kids.  Next year I ask someone to man my camera.