Another Sick Day

Mister Tater is sick again today.  The problem is that it is really hard to know when he is sick because he is such a happy baby.  I love this little man so much!!  It makes me feel so bad that I can't financially take a day off  tomorrow because I work in such a small business that I am it.  Literally.  And I have a huge business thing tomorrow that I can't miss.  Good thing I have Aunt Kari to love mister and snuggle him when he is sick.

Looks like our camping plans for this weekend are kaput.  Supposed to rain anyway.

Shoot.

Independence!!!!

I tried to help him put the two halves of this basketball together and he would not have it.  My strong-willed child.

Aiden is a wonderful, happy, but extremely strong-willed child.  (If anyone says that he is just like his mother... you would be right).  I am lucky enough that he is not cranky and stubborn.  He is happy and stubborn.  I talked to Aunt Kari and she confirmed what I was experiencing all weekend.  Aiden is getting ready to do things.... HIMSELF!?  *gasp*   He is not loving the pureed baby food like he used to (except the mangoes.  He loves the mangoes).  This is the beginning the loooooong stage of independence that will make him a self-sufficient man.

So we took baby steps tonight.  Dinner consisted of organic chicken hotdogs cut up, peas, sliced peaches and apple juice.  The juice landed on the floor without a second thought.  The peas were squished and tolerated, but the hot dogs.... oh, the hot dogs.  They were snatched up before I could blink!  He was so absolutely in love with the hot dogs.  It looks like it is time to start the transition.

Check out the left foot.  This is how he sits.  This is how he sleeps.  For some reason, he has to have a foot propped up....  Go figure...

Plus side, cheaper food for baby.  Down side, Baby is growing up.  Worst part - Mom is sad to see her little man growing up.

Okay, okay - and here are some pictures of my house.  The bedrooms are not done yet, so those pictures will have to wait!!

Living Room finally getting put together.

My itty bitty kitchen. (Yes, that is a fresh loaf of homemade bread on the counter.  Mmmmm.... feels like home)

Aiden's bathroom.  

My bathroom.  

The entry way.

There ya go!  More to come!

Sorry World

He looks so old in this picture...

Sorry world.  This post is for me, not for you.

What a crazy day!? Not physically, but emotionally.   Not anything in particular, just a range of thoughts and ideas that have been running around in my head all day... and all last night.  It started with me dreaming of everything I did that was unkind or naughty to my mother.  In very vivid detail.  I was not an awful kid, but there were many things I would change if I could.  I think everyone would.  It was horrific to remember everything and the guilt was overwhelming.  I cried in the shower.

I love my life which includes tender moments with my son.  I made pancakes with my son and enjoyed them... with extra syrup.  It was amazingly funny to experience this with my son.  I know that sugary syrup is not healthy for my son, but it was worth every unhealthy gram of sucrose to see the sticky joy.

And as I was getting ready for church, I brought out a tub of lotion to moisturize my legs.  I put my hand in the goo, then rubbed it in my leg.  Before I knew it, I felt a tiny little hand on my leg rubbing just like Mommy.  But that was not enough.  He had to dip his hand in the goo and put it on my leg.  Monkey see Monkey do.  I  have realized how much he is watching me.  It is terrifying.

As the day wore on, I looked around my little new place and realized that, with every meal and toy, my home was getting messier and messier.  World, you must know that I have a sister.  She is the oldest of all of us and is an amazing woman.  And her home - ah, her home - is always clean.  Not just the clean that is the opposite of cluttery.  If you were to enter her home at any time, just drop by, her ceiling fans are dust-free, her baseboards have not a speck of dirt.  When you wash your hands in her sink, there is no toothpaste spit drops, no soap ring at the drain.  EVER.  Every drawer, every closet is clean and organized.

And I looked around my new place and it is not this way.   Not even close.  I really love a clean home.  I love the feeling when the floors are mopped, the windows washed, and the smell of Windex permeates every thing.    I know that I have not been in my place for very long - my pictures are not even hung - but I have never been the ultra-clean and it really got to me tonight.  So, I took on the project that was my kitchen sink and started with one spoon at a time.  I scrubbed bottles, the crockpot, and every other pot and/or pan.  I swept the floor, mopped with the cheating Swiffer, cleaned Aiden's bathtub.  But when I ran out of Lysol wipes, I literally sat on the kitchen floor and cried.

I understand I am tired.  I am worn out emotionally, but I want this so badly.  But I also realized tonight that I am not the kind of person that can be quick or organized when I clean.  And I really want to spend Aiden's waking hours playing and singing and reading and dancing.  So, I will get done what I can in the hours of the evening and it will have to be what it will be.   So tonight, at least, my home is clean... at the least the parts that company can see... my dishes are done and my house smells clean.  The washing machine and the dishwasher are both running.

And, World, I do get my sheets changed at least once a week.  That has to count for something.

Water logged

Over the last two days, we have been waterlogged.  I know, sorry - the last few posts have been sans pictures.  Well, this one has tons.  So... read on.

Last night, the extended family went to Pineview for FHE.  Two toll booths to get to the lake?  $13?  WHAT?!  But it was fun. And Cold.  We FROZE and it rained, but it was Aiden's first time on the boat and he loved it.  For many reasons, I didn't get pictures of him in his life vest, but he was cute.

It is hard to tell, but it is raining!

Then, today, we went to Cherry Hill with the Smedley kids and other people from their karate studio.  It was a fun, children's fair at Cherry Hill and the karate kids were doing exhibitions.  BUT!  There were many fun things to do... including a snake petting zoo...

Yes, that is a huge Burmese Python.  Aiden thought it was AWESOME!  

This is my baby blue with a sun hat and a sucker.  See the fingers that would not unstick?  Nice.

Jessica was so cute and took Mister on the Lazy River.  Paranoid Mom has UV swim shirt, sun hat and SPF 5000000.  There are lots of health problems I can not prevent, but I do my best to prevent skin cancer!

Mister had so much fun and he loves the water!

He played hard, splashed hard, then crashed hard.  He spent an hour in this position and Mom loved every minute.

When he woke up, he played with Aunt Kari!

It was so fun to take my little man swimming!!!

My Friend

One of my best friends came by tonight.  He is awesome.  He is one of the most interesting people I know.  He used to be Catholic... now is Agnostic, but does not push it.  He is the least mechanical man I know.  He drinks saki and loves sushi.  He loves philosophy and Bach.  More than anything... he is an artiste.  The ponytail is getting longer every time I see him.

Tonight we talked about contemporary cello music (okay... not my favorite, but he is into it...) and graduate school (for him, not for me...).  Then we sat in silence watching My Name is Earl and drinking Diet Pepsi while Aiden played on the floor.  It was the comfortable silence of friends who don't need to say anything and we have less and less in common, but it doesn't mean we aren't still good friends.

And no matter how bad I look, Sam will always look worse.  *sigh* I love friends like that.

Living Alone

I am learning to live alone again.  I guess alone is not the right word since I am living with my beautiful boy and the dog.  But alone, nonetheless.

I am remembering quickly what makes it ok to be alone.  I don't mind it, but it can be easy to get into a rut.

I have learned that having a schedule is important.  Ours goes like this:

2:00ish - pick up Mister from Kari's house.
2:30pm - lay down with Mister for a nap
4pm - play with Mister and put in a load of laundry
5pm - take Mister for a walk.  Change laundry
6pm - eat my dinner and clean it up
6:30pm - play with Mister.  Usually this is our book time.
7:30pm - bathtime.  This is imperative.  If Mister doesn't get a bath, he does not sleep well and Mom feels like a bad mom.
8:00pm - the remainder of the 5 B's (we have already done the first - bath...)  Then comes bottle, brush, books, bed.  We read a lot of stories and it helps to slowly lower my voice until we read Nigel the Sneaky Sheep in a whisper.  Luckily, Mister loves to bathe, brush his teeth, and read books.
9pm - Change laundry, iron, clean dishes, sweep, scrub, wash, dust... anything that needs to be done around the house...  This is my time.  Blog.
11pm - bedtime for Mom.

The other part of living alone that is important is to take pride in the home.  I know that no one ever really comes to see my home, but I love to take pride in my home.  More and more now that I have a little Mister.

I have learned that I have to learn to love being by myself.  I used to see movies alone, eat out alone, and other things that usually are done with more than one person.  I loved it.

I love being alone, but it will take some getting used to.

The weekend

Sorry it has been a while.  It has been a long weekend.  I moved and unpacked all weekend.  The good news is that I am in my new place.  And I like it.  The bad news is that it is really quiet without Chris - and I worry about him - and my boys haven't found their schedule and haven't figured out this is their new home.

My family is the most amazing team I have ever known.  Between Thursday and Saturday - between the Smedleys, Chris, and Mike and Amanda (and Gracie helped too...), everything is in, most is unpacked, and I am ready to begin a new chapter of life here.

I don't have curtains up nor pictures hung, so I will wait to post pics, but there were plenty of other things that were wonderful this weekend.

The dishwasher overflowed with bubbles.  Aiden was so lucky!!

My two boys getting used to their new home!

Saturday was my birthday - and "heavy thing moving day".  It started off with me getting everything moved in with my family.  Then a shower. Then the afternoon with Kari - including new knives and Thai food.  YUM!!

Today was grocery shopping at 6:30 (because Aiden woke up early...), a trip to the cemetery to visit Mom, Grandma, and Grandpa... then shower and dashed off to see Shiree play in her pipe band for a Memorial Day program.  Wow.  It was so cool.

See Shiree?  Sweetness.

Aiden and Jessica having a great time at the Memorial Day ceremony.

Then we had a nap.  Much much needed nap - for 2 hours.  Didn't even phase my fatigue.  Then off to Mike and Amanda's for a great barbecue and time by the fire pit.  Aiden had the treat of a animal cookies.  It was great.  He was FILTHY!  He loved it.

Now off to bed.