I really should be working....

Last Tuesday, I had a meeting at Hospice with my former boss. Back in November she had mentioned creating a new part time position that she would like me to fill, but there wasn’t much detail or further discussion until last week. It went a bit like this, “Here are the job details. Can you start on Friday? Here’s your paperwork.” I’m still reeling from the shock… Not the shock at getting hired, but at how quickly everything moved. It’s definitely a blessing to have that extra money coming in. It’s also a huge learning curve, so to speak.

When I was working after Little Man was born, it was mainly from home… this had it’s benefits, since I didn’t have to find daycare. It also meant that sometimes I was still working at 10 o’clock at night. Now I have to learn how to find the balance.

This morning was the first time I’ve had to be up, out of the house looking “professional” and have the boys to the babysitter (even if she is just downstairs). It was a disaster. I cried when I got to work. There were temper tantrums, time outs, a diaper so full that Bug’s clothes were wet up to his chin and a loss of water pressure in the shower, requiring me to rinse my hair in the sink.

I feel like a bad mom. A really bad mom.

Not because I have to be at work, but because I had no patience. I yelled. I spanked. And Bubs was in his crib, asleep in wet clothes for a couple hours….and I had no idea.

I know it will get better. I also know that some days will be worse. I am truly amazed by women who do this everyday.

I can't believe I'm doing this

fun for you and fun for me...

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!!

Attack of the germs! The Sequel...

It has been exactly 8 day since I wrote about all of our germs. In that 8 days we have been to the doctor's office 3 times and filled 3 prescriptions for antibiotics. We've had a sinus infection, a double ear infection, fevers, the flu and another puking incident. I will eventually learn that when Little Man runs a temp over 100 he won't feel better until he pukes. At that point the fever will break and he'll be ready to eat and will want to play. This also means that when I take him to the doctor with a fever, I need to go prepared. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson a little too late.

Spring, please come quick!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Today is Mimi's birthday and since we'll be spending the day at yet another doctor's appointment, I wanted to let her know that we were thinking of her. So here are some cool things about Mimi:
*Super yummy birthday cakes, even when she's SUPER stressed.
*Little Man loves her hugs and kisses.
*Bug likes her fishies.
*She's a great seamstress.
*She went back to school after her kids were grown. She now has a Master's in Ceramics.
*She's lost over a 100 pounds.
*She treats me like her daughter, not her daughter-in-law.

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

(Little Man woke up from his fever induced nap during the attempted writing of this post. This list is by no means complete!)

Be Mine

My husband isn't a big fan of crowds. In fact, he hates them and will do everything possible to avoid large groups of people. So in the last few years our Valentine's Day celebrations have been simple and a bit different. Last year he did a great job and today has been no different, although once again germs have tried to interfere.

Our plan this morning was to sleep in, a relative term once you have kids, and go to breakfast. Grandma was a huge help, inviting Little Man to spend the night last night. I got out of bed at 7:15 am, having slept without interruption through the night. (It's amazing how thankful you become for uninterrupted sleep.) I even got to shower without interruption, which helped me feel human again after being attacked by the germs this week. Grandma took the boys to crash the Primary Activity over at church and we headed to Panera for breakfast. It was oh so yummy!!! I had a spinach artichoke souffle and a hot chocolate. Wil had a breakfast sandwich and then we got some bagels to bring home. Afterward we stopped at Nick's, a local butcher shop with great sales and amazing meat, the grocery store and a trip to the doctor's office & pharmacy. My Valentine's present included a z-pack, which I am very happy to have. Our plan for tonight is pretty simple... we are staying home with the boys and Zee. Of course that doesn't mean dinner can't be special. I'm super excited to cook tonight after watching an episode of Rescue Chef in my cold medicine induced haze. His food made my mouth water, Nick's sales made it fit in our budget and hopefully I can pull it off without a hitch.

Attack of the germs!

Since Saturday's post, I've gotten the tummy thing Little Man had and a head cold, which I seem to be passing on to Little Man as well. The cold medicine helps, but not much is getting accomplished. I think there are more cheerios on the floor than in the box. The toys, blankets and clothes have exploded all over my living room. Unfortunately, I just don't have the energy to do much more than sit on the couch or make a stop at the computer. We'll dig ourselves out sometime next week. Right now, it's back to Noggin.

the date with the unfortunate ending

Every year the Young Women of our ward host a Valentine's fundraiser for Girl's Camp. They do a small dinner theater type program which also includes babysitting. It's much nicer than your normal ward dinner and our girls have a good deal of talent, so the show isn't bad either. I also like that I don't have to worry about anything besides getting there. The girls are great with my little ones and they even feed the kids so I don't have to worry about it.

So tonight I got dressed up and ready for a dinner with my husband (my parents and my sissie too - that's what happens when you're all in the same ward. it's a good thing we like each other.) But Little Man woke up from his nap complaining that it "hurt everywhere" and he didn't feel good. It was pretty obvious from his fussiness and lack of energy. We offered to let him stay home, but he didn't want to. So off we went.

We dropped the kids off in the nursery. Bug was ready to play! He wanted nothing to do with me once he saw the toys and other kids. Little Man was happy to stay at first but was back on my lap within minutes. We spent dinner taking turns holding him and eating until he finally said, "I want to go home right now!" Zee went to get Bug and we started down the hall to the car. Little Man stopped to get his coat and give his friend, "Em-a-nee", a hug. Unfortunately it was just enough pressure on his tummy to eject everything. Little Man, the hallway carpet and poor Emily were all covered. Luckily, with the whole family there and the amazing clean up kits that the church keeps on hand, we were able to things cleaned up quickly and with little evidence of what had happened.

Now you might recall that the last time I tried to get dressed up to go out with my husband the evening resulted in puking as well. Maybe this is a hint. A huge cosmic hint that I'm not allowed to go out to a nice dinner with my husband.

Last of all, I'm apologizing now to the mothers of any children who came in contact with my kids tonight. I'm sorry... I really was that clueless.

Lost and Found

In the past few months we have purchased no less than 9 pacifiers for Bug. Yet at 4 am this morning I had to give him Little Man's back-up pacifier because it was the only one I could find. It could have been the sleepy haze I was in or Bug's newly found talent...

He likes to hide his pacifiers.

We've found them in laundry baskets, toy bins, under couch cushions, and in Little Man's rain boot. This morning I finally found one under the entertainment center. My only question is...

Where has he stashed the other 8!!!!!

Travelog - Texas 2009 Part 1

(I had great intentions on Monday, until naptime never happened. Then there were no hopes of getting more accomplished. So here is my second attempt, let's keep our fingers crossed that they sleep.)

We left National Airport bright and early the morning of the 3rd, on our way to Texas. I can't say enough about flying out of National. All other flights with the kids have been chaotic and stressful, but this one gave me hope. They gave us our own TSA Agent to help things move smoothly through security. The airline let us board early and the flight attendant came to the front of the plane as we boarded, took the car seats and had them both buckled in by the time we had the boys to our seats. It was amazing. I wish I had gotten their names so I could personally thank them for all that they did to keep this mom sane. The boys did a great job on the plane and we arrived in Texas happy and relaxed. I couldn't believe it. We spent Saturday afternoon getting settled in at the Ramon's and then headed over to Mimi and Papa's house to see the family. We kept telling Little Man that we were in Texas but he refused to believe it, until we pulled up to Mimi's house and he yelled, "Mommy, it's Texas!" The boys had fun seeing their Mimi, Papa, Aunts and Uncles and we got to catch up on all the wedding plans. Sunday we went back to Mimi's to celebrate a late Becker family Christmas along with Wil, Little Man, Bug and E's birthdays. It was a busy day. Lots of playing with Papa and the cousins. Cake, cake and more cake! Cool presents for the boys. Aunt Jean made both the boys blankets - Little Man calls it his "ga-lub blanket" (that stands for globe, because the fabric has a map on it).

Monday morning we left early for San Angelo. It's been four years since we left and we couldn't miss the chance to see some of our dear friends. We had to drive through an ice storm to get there, but we made it safely. Wil and Heather got to spend their birthdays together and the kids had a great time playing together.



Tuesday evening we had dinner with our sister-in-law Robyn and her parents. It took the boys a few minutes to get used to Otis, David and Robyn's chocolate lab, but once they did Little Man had a great time playing with him. I was so worried about how they were going to behave... everything was so off. Bug wasn't feeling well. We had called his doctor that morning to get his tummy meds. Their schedule was so off and we were adding to all that by adding a road trip to our vacation. But they made their mom proud by being on their best behavior. And Robyn's family was so welcoming and understanding of our busy boys. It was a pleasure to get to visit with them. We got back to Keller around midnight and managed to get the boys to bed without waking them up. It was a miracle.

Wednesday we tried to sleep in and had a slow morning before Wil took the boys to play with their cousins and I headed over to help with wedding and bridal shower preparations.

The kids had a great time and I enjoyed spending time with the Becker girls without all the Becker boys around.

Stay tuned for Travelog Part 2 - The Wedding.

Little Man turns 3!

Little Man's 3rd birthday was actually on January 6th, but since we were on vacation he got to celebrate it for a few weeks. His first "party" was at Mimi and Papa's house in Texas. He had a fire truck cake and threw a fit as everyone was singing Happy Birthday. I don't even have a picture of him blowing out candles, just this one of him stealing the wheels off of the fire engine...
When we got back to Maryland, we had a family party for our 3 January birthdays (my mom, Wil and Little Man). He asked for an ice cream cake with a face on it... his face, to be specific. Grandad stopped at Friendly's and they did their best smiley face. Little Man loved it!
He also had fun opening his presents with his cousins. K made him a homemade card with lots of "kickers" on it.

I can't believe he's getting so big. I'm constantly amazed at the things he picks up (both good and bad) and how well he talks. At 3 he LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine, Cars and matchbox vehicles. His animals speak spanish (thank you Dora and Diego). He is stubborn and can melt your heart with a "Mommy, I wuv you! You my best fwend." He gets easily frustrated when he can't do something, which then results in a "Oh, man!" or "Son of a gun!", followed by a loud sigh. He's is very independent and often tries to get his own food, drinks or anything off of the kitchen counter. He loves to "help" me in the kitchen and on the computer. He loves hot dogs, nuggets and pizza, but will also eat just about any veggie I give him if there's ranch for dipping. Coloring will keep him occupied longer than I usually think it will. He loves his blankie and his "friends" (the stuffed animals in his bed). He thinks all dogs are named Trooper. And won't give up his pacifier for anything. He likes to read books and will watch Dora and Diego for hours on end. He loves his cousins. He happily goes to Music Makers, Joy School and nursery. He holds hands with Jenna and gives Nea kisses. He's gonna be a handful!

I sure do love my Little Man!

Just Do It

I'm so far behind that when I think about catching up on my blog it's overwhelming. So in an effort to catch up, I'm forcing myself to work on it. That means you should see a bunch of posts coming about birthdays, vacations and who knows what else. Wish me luck...