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.

Limited Quantities

Our Christmas cards tend to have limited quantities. 

 

 Cost, desire or lack of friends and family have nothing to do with it. 

 

 Its because... well... because of this:

 

 

As much as I would love to give each and every one of you a homemade Christmas card, there just isn't enough time in the day.  My little helper tends to not be as helpful as she thinks thus leading to projects such as Christmas cards taking much much longer than anticipated.  And when things take much longer than they should, attention spans and patience begin to run low.

 

So in case you didn't receive as card from us this year, its not because I forgot about you.  I wanted to mail you one, I promise.  However, to save my sanity and having to clean up green footprint throughout my whole house, we had to call it quits - leaving us with limited quantities. 

 

Without further ado, I give you the Dominique 2012 Christmas card.

 

Busy hands are happy hands,

Making spirits light

Hang the stockings

 

 

 

Trim the tree

(Jacob's footprint)

 

Keep Christmas bright!

(Bree's handprint)

 

Merry Christmas from Jim, Rachel, Bree and Jake!

 

Well I'll be.....

Have you ever hidden something from your children only to realize you've hidden it from yourself?

 

Or maybe you've been so scatter brained that you put the box of cereal in the fridge along with the milk?

 

Or put the ice cream in the cupboard?

 

You've spent many, many minutes looking for something you have in your hand?

 

I'm not crazy, right?  You've had that happen to you?

 

So I shouldn't be ashamed that I argued with my husband, tore my house upside down and almost broke into tears because I couldn't find my can of Spray 'n Bond which was desperately needed to help me work on a Christmas present only to discover a week later that somehow it was put away in my baking cupboard?

 

 

I can totally blame that one on pregnancy brain.  Or tired mama of two brain.  Or completely stressed out trying to have a homemade Christmas brain. Or all of the above. 

 

P.S. Please pardon the complete disarray of my baking cupboard.  It is the Christmas season after all.

 

P.P.S. I apologized to my husband who really didn't remember the arguement to begin with.

 

P.P.P.S. As of today I'm 17 weeks, 6 days along - 22 weeks to go.

Bound to happen...

No amount of research or planning ahead will prevent you from forgetting to move that darn elf.

 

 

Have no fear - the children are forgiving.

 

Bree laughingly says:

 

"He must have been really hungry because he's still in the cookie jar!"

Its Cookie Time

How can it be Christmas if you don't have any bake and decorate cookies??

 

 

Bree was explaining to her father how much she does NOT like those little red balls.

 

However a little later on I caught her sneaking one. 

She decided she liked them...

 

...and must cover every square inch of every single cookie she decorated with the red hots.

 

 

It wasn't until we were on our last pan of cookies that I discovered something very, very wrong.

 

Can you spy it?

 

 

 

Jim is frosting cookies while watching football. The kids are 1/2 pound of sprinkles to their cookies. All in all everything seems as it should, right? 

 

Lets zoom into the Christmas tree in the corner, shall we? 

 

 

And there hanging on the tree are the aprons that I spent all of naptime making as a surprise for my children.

 

Oh well.  Its the thought that counts anyways, right? 

More Elfin' Around

Oh that crazy elf....

 

 

 

 

 

Why not?

Did you ever want to do this?

 

 

There was something appealing about loading up your bed with all your toys and blankets then sitting smack dab in the middle of it all. 

 

I think Jacob misunderstood the concept.

 

Take a closer look.

 

 

He might have had a little help in being buried.

 

Mysterious

Why am I digging through my trash can with a pair of grill tongs? 

 

 

No its not to show you my late night Wendy's craving.

 

Its because of this guy.

 

Looks guilty, doesn't he?  And he should.

 

Someone climbed up to the shelves of the entertainment center.  Someone got down his dad's Nintendo notebook.  Then that someone proceeded to rip pages out of said notebook.  And now the notebook cannot be found.

 

I've looked everywhere.  Every.  Where.

 

Under beds.  Under toys.  Under furniture.

In drawers.  In every nook and cranny.

 

The only place left to look is in the trash.

 

And nada.  Nothing. 

 

 Jim's Nintendo notebook has officially disappeared from this house.

 

Where it went, we may never know.

My little weirdo

I found a picture today that I don't think I ever posted.

 

Remember back in May when temps were reaching the high 90's and the grass was starting to turn brown like it was the middle of the summer?

 

It was hot.  So hot.  Hot enough that I bought my kids a pool and filled it up in the same day.

 

Oh the burning sun.  Sunblock was a necessity as was wearing hats.

 

 

 

I guess I should have been more specific on what type of hat was needed. 

Elfin' Around

In no particular order here is what our elf buddy has been up to:

 

 

I'm so glad our elf did research over the summer (through Pinterest, of course) and came prepared with a list of mischief to get into.  It makes late night or very early placement so much easier.

In the name of health

Its the cold and flu season. 

What do you do to stay healthy?

 

 

We've polished off two bags of Cuties since they hit the store a week and a half ago!

Welcome Elf

Well...  I did it. 

 

 I caved. 

 

Caved to the pressure that everyone is doing it? 

 

 Caved to the heart melting excitement that it will bring the children? 

 

Caved to the years of memories that will make Christmas even more wondrous and magical than it already is?

 

Caved to the traditions I hope to instill in my children for them to pass on to their children?

 

Caved to the illusion that by doing this that it will hold me accountable to do everything I always say I'm going to do?

 

To all the above... yes.

 

I now introduce you to our new elf buddy - Fred.

 

 

Day One

 

 Fred helped himself to hot chocolate and marshmallows after his trip back from the North Pole where he reported good behavior for the first day.

 

Fred was even kind enough to set out extra cups and hot chocolate packets for us to enjoy for breakfast.

 

Nothing like a sugar high for breakfast.

Dilemma

Being a mother you are faced with tough decisions, day in and day out.

 

What food to give them that isn't full of processed junk but convenient enough to fit into a working parent's lifestyle?  Is this show educational enough?  Does this book send the right message? Where to send them to school?  Am I being a good role model as a Christian?  Financially?

 

The list goes on and on.

 

Then there are the lesser important decisions but decisions none the less that you have to face every single day.  

 

Do they need a jacket to go outside?  Are they safe playing on the trampoline?  Are they going to need baths tonight?  Should we watch a movie together?  Where are all the matches to the socks I have in front of me?

 

Then there is the age old question.  You notice your child has fallen asleep in what cannot possibly be a comfortable position:

 

 

Do you

 

 A.  Attempt to move him into a more comfortable position so he won't wake up cranky and crying with a sore neck?

 

or

 

B.  Leave him alone for fear of waking it up?

 

Well....  What do you do?

 

I was faced with that dilemma today.

 

It was a bad day. 

 

He was riled up.  He was rambunctious.  He was a chatter box.  A terror to his sister and the cats.  His stomach was a bottomless pit.

 

So when I noticed that he had fallen asleep in the chair, I chose the latter.

 

They are so cute...when they're sleeping.