Busy Bee

I’ve been meaning to update the blog but keep getting side tracked. Stupid chores. In whatever spare time I do have, I’ve been trying to learn how to use my camera to get pictures like Michelle and Girl. They’re amazing. I can only hope to be half as good as them some day. I might try bribing them with plane tickets soon!

In other news…

We’ve been up to our elbows in potty training. No need to go into detail there. It’s been a challenge, just as I suspected it would be Madison. She’s tough. She has been responding well to positive reinforcement. It was my reaction to her peeing at the top of the stairs out of spite that caused her to take a baby step in the opposite direction. I can’t wait for her to be out of diapers already!

Off to gear up for the big game on Sunday. Go Patriots!!!

Surprise!!

Chris just found out that he got a promotion! I’m so proud of him. He is such a hard worker and so deserving of this recognition. Yay Hubby!

I just walked in from class so I’m off to fill my belly and head to bed. I’ll be sure to update soon.

In The Dark

While watching Jon & Kate + 8, I realized I must be the only person on this planet who has not been to IKEA.

I must go.

Tears

I just read one of Dawn’s posts about Julian and it touched my heart in ways I can’t explain.

I’ve been sitting here bored out of my mind while Chris plays XBox so I decided to check out some blogs I haven’t read in a while. When I came to Dawn’s blog I got sucked in as usual. She just has a way of doing that to me. I read this post about Julian and the tears have not stopped since. Once I read the last word, I placed my lap top down beside me and tip toed into Jacob’s room. I crawled into bed with him, kissed his forehead, and held him tight for a long while. The tears continued to stream down my face and pool up on the pillow. In a sleepy voice, Jacob asked why I came in to cuddle. I told him that I just needed him close to me because that’s what makes me feel better. After a few minutes of silence, I heard him say “thank you, Mom.” and my heart melted. I told him how much I love him and that he means the world to me. He sighed heavily and resumed his sleepy breathing pattern. I kissed him softly and slipped out of his bedroom. When I returned to the living room, Chris asked what I was doing. I told him I was being a Mommy.

I’m not sure I’ll ever forget Mimi’s words or the way they made me feel. I’m positive I’ll never forget how a little boy I’ve never met touched my heart in such a profound way.

U.G.L.Y

I ventured out today in search of a nice pair ugly shoes. When I say ugly, I mean practical and comfortable. I came home empty handed. I found plenty of unattractive shoes but they were just as uncomfortable as the really cute ones and twice as expensive. I just need a pair of brown casual shoes to wear with my jeans on days I don’t feel like wearing heels. Rather days when I don’t feel like having my big toe kiss my pinky toe.

Discussions

Had class tonight. I always dread the first night of a new class for many different reasons. First of all, I can’t stand the childish introductory process. If I wanted everyone to know my personal information, I’d be sure to share or give them the address to my blog. Then, you don’t know who you have for a professor until he comes waddling into the classroom and begins to MUMBLE. I couldn’t understand a word the man was talking about for the full two hours and fifteen minutes of class. I believe he mentioned something about a syllabus, some exams, and a project. Then made a horrifying comment about politics that I almost crawled out of my skin over. He said this: “Black women in America are faced with an extremely difficult decision when they go to the polls as they are torn between Obama and Hillary.” I couldn’t believe that he would make such a generalized statement that a black woman would only vote democrat and on the sole basis that one happens to be black and the other female. Being me, I called him out on the flaws of his beliefs. My blood was boiling at the thought that this man could make such a blanket statement. Maybe I over reacted or maybe I was just excited that I finally understood something that came out of his mouth. Either way, I found it to be a disturbing topic for the first night of class.

Today, I cleared the air with someone I had written off five months ago. I decided it was time I got some stuff off my chest to either begin the journey down the road of reconciliation or to make peace with the break. We both voiced our thoughts on the situation and caught up with each other. In the end, it felt too awkward to say “talk to you later” since neither one of us had made the commitment to mending the relationship. I congratulated her on her pregnancy and wished her luck. We’ll see what comes of it. Either way, I feel a million times better about everything between us regardless of the outcome.

On a side note, I find it humorous that the spell check designed for a blog would flag the word ‘blog’ as misspelled. Interesting.

LKM Day

Jake’s school held a PTO fundraiser today for Luther King Martin Day (as Jake put it). They had a local pottery shop come in and we painted some plates. Jake painted a plate that I traced the Patriots logo onto and Madison painted a plate that I traced a butterfly onto. Yes, I traced because I’m artistically challenged. Jake was much more interested in talking to the people seated across from him then to get any paint onto his plate. I think he painted half a line in two hours. Madison on the other hand, used every color available to her - just one on top of the other. Neither plate resembled much of anything upon completion but it was their work of art and that’s all that matters. I’ll post a picture when we get them back. Should be interesting.

Tomorrow is the start of the spring semester. I can do this! I just need to keep telling myself that.

It Figures...

Guilt trips suck and so do the people who give them.

That’s all.

A Big Decision

Chris wants to move and I want to cry.

While warm weather and palm trees sound very nice, I can’t help but feel sad for the house that we’d be leaving. We live right next to my parents and we’ve put so much work into this house to get it exactly the way we want it - for what? To pick up and move to the oposite end of the united states? To leave family, friends, and beautifully hand painted walls? To flush years of school down the toilet and start from scratch?

No, thank you.

I’m trying to be a supportive wifey. I really am. I’m trying to stop being so damn emotional over the whole thing and let my adventurous nature come out. Why the hell am I feeling so broken? People move all the time. People adjust. I’ll adjust. What am I so scared of?

Tag...You're It

I was tagged by Kelly to do this Meme. Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. or
Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list. or
Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old.Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

5 random facts about myself:
1. I have an OCD with cleanliness2. I lack patience
3. I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was 12 and since then I’ve upped my goals to becoming a midwife.
4. I have two beautiful dogs but I’m by no means a dog lover
5. I buy spanx instead of dieting

I’ll tag: Punkerella, Erin, Amber - ahhh crap, I don’t have five people to tag…now what?!

She's a Big Girl

A new year brings the promise of new beginnings. For Madison, 2008 brought panties.
That’s right, Madison is potty training and she’s proving to be a pro at it. We’ve tried numerous times in the past six months without luck. When I found that both she and I were getting frustrated with the process, I decided to abort Operation Flush and revisit the plan after the new year. Waiting until January also brought us closer to her third birthday which I’ve been told produces a higher success rate.

Since Tuesday, she’s gone on the potty eight times on her own. Seeing how happy she gets from her accomplishments brings me great joy. Sure, we bribed her with M&Ms but it worked - and I’m not above bribery. I tried for a few years to do this parenting thing without any leverage and it sucked. We’re all happier now and besides, I got her to use the potty! I would have given her a pony to get her out of diapers but M&Ms are cheaper.

The sad part: As I was getting Madison into her first pair of big girl underwear on Tuesday, Jacob crawled up and quietly to observe the situation. I looked up to find a sad look on his face so I asked him what was wrong. He told me that he was upset because he is older than Madison and wants to utilize the bathroom like his friends at school. He knows the situation with his catheters and medication which prevent him from being potty trained but apparently his feelings are still being hurt. It doesn’t seem to matter how prepared I think I am to handle these incidents when they arrise - they always seem to catch me off guard.

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year in the comfort of our home in the company of friends and family. To pass the time before the ball drop, we played Wii and Dance Dance on Xbox. My Dad, who just celebrated the big 5-0, provided many laughs by joining in on the fun. Madison made it to 10:30 before crashing and Jake made it all the way to midnight.
We woke up this morning to yet another snow storm. Nice way to start off the new year! As if we haven’t had enough snow in the past few weeks. I’d take sweltering heat over snow any day.