Thats the way it goes

As a parent, you would do anything for your children.

 

You stay awake at night holding them when they are sick or scared because of a nightmare.

 

You zap your coffee or dinner in the microwave numerous times because some kind disaster will undoubtedly happen preventing you from enjoying a hot (the first time) meal.

 

You go to work everyday to ensure a roof over their heads and food on their plates and work overtime so that they never have to miss out... on anything. 

 

You spend hours on the internet researching trips so that your children will benefit to the max on family vacations.

 

And what really is the point? 

 

Children will always want what they don't have.

 

 

Yeah thats Bree... wearing Jacob's pajamas... so she can be a boy and hang out with the guys on guys night. 

 

We can't win.

 

Good thing we love them so much. 

Daunting

I have a saying hanging on my kitchen wall that says:

 

I'm not sure if life is passing me by or trying to run me over.

 

I can relate to that saying on a daily basis.   I work, I clean, I spend time with the children, I work some more, clean some more, get the husband involved in the working and cleaning but its pointless.  At the end of the day or week, no matter the life choices I've made, the mound of work ahead of me is daunting.

 

 

To help show the magnitude of the heaping pile of clothes...

 

 

 

Taller than a toddler and twice as deep.

 

Sadly, this was not all the clean laundry that awaited me - the last two loads were still in the washer and dryer.  However I realize that maybe my perspective on housework is all wrong.

 

I dread it.  I drag my feet.  I procrastinate.  I think about all the other fun things I could be doing.  When in actuality I should be thinking 'how can I make this chore more exciting?' 

After all, the children have it figured out.

I couldn't get a good picture.  The jumps got higher, the laundry pile got bigger, the laughs got louder.

 

 

Thats gonna hurt

 

If you can't read the fine print in the middle of the above picture, it says 'Its a girl.'  No wonder ultrasound techs have to go to college to do what they do.  I don't see a dang thing in that picture that screams girl, but I trust them.

 

 

During the ultrasound, the technician asked how big our other children were at birth.

 

"Bree was 7 lbs 10.5 ounces and Jacob was almost 8 and a half pounds."  I replied.

 

"Hmm.  Well...  this one is going to give your son a run for his money."

 

Wha....  What? 

 

Why would she say that? 

 

Does she know how I have to get this baby out?!?? 

 

Thats just mean!!

 

 

Elbow touching knee.

 

Normal approximate baby weight at 22 weeks gestation is almost one pound.  Baby girl is measuring in at 1.6 pounds!!  Right there in that moment, my consideration of a natural child birth flew right our the window.  Epidural here I come!

Its Official

We have mice.

 

Again.

 

 

You would think that after having a horrible infestation of mice a year ago I would be freaking out right now.

 

But I'm not.

 

Its the new year - a perfect time to go room to room cleaning and purging anyways.

 

So you see, having mice isn't forcing me to uproot my schedule and daily habits in order to rid them from my house.  Instead they are enforcing my desire to clean, organize and sanitize my house before the baby comes with the added bonus of ridding their little hide-y homes and killing the little boogers one by one. 

Better get on it!

 

 

Happy cleaning to me!

Who needs a cat anyways?

Welcome 2013

Ah, Christmas carols.  They fill your heart with joy, put a little skip in your step, make the season merrier.  You sing along mindlessly as you drive to work, shop for presents, or make dinner. 

 

But have you ever really listened to the words?  Heard what the lyrics were trying to say? 

 

For the past few years, John Lennon's "So this is Christmas" hits me harder and harder. 

 

"So this is Christmas,

And what have you done?

Another year over

And a new one just begun..."

 

Another year is over and what have I done? 

 

Hmm....

 

I've made time to go out to dinner with friends and family.  I've made time to host parties.  I've made time to watch tv, to watch movies, to go shopping, to clean my house. 

 

But have I made the time to do whats most important in life? What have I done to grow as a person?  Have I made the time to help others?

 

In 2012, with the help of some Girls Night In dates, I took 4 donations of homemade gifts to the patients at Rainbow Oncology.  Its a simple gesture that brings a smile to the face of someone who needs it.  What is troubling my heart then you ask?  The shopping, creating and delivering of all four donations only takes up about two weeks of the year.  Two weeks!  What did I do the other 50 weeks of the year?  Was four donations all I was really able  to accomplish in 52 weeks??

 

Which leads to my main goal of this brand new year we're in.

 

In 2013, I resolve to drop the Clark Griswold persona and do what I know I'm capable of. 

 

Everything I do does not need to be done on a grand and massive scale.  Jesus didn't wait until he had enough food to be considered a feast to feed the multitude.  Instead He fed 5,000 people on five loaves of bread and two fish.  I need to apply that lesson to my life.  I have a wonderful, supportive husband and a willing daughter and as a family we alone can reach out to those who need help.  Anything beyond that is a bonus.

 

Welcome, 2013!  Your days are an empty slate waiting for me to make the best of them.  364 opportunities to better myself, to use my talents and to show my son and daughter just how fortunate we are.  And that's exactly what I plan on doing.