Walking and Laundry

I am falling desperately in love with walking on my treadmill.  It is a love/hate relationship, really.  I hate that walking is boring.  So very boring.  Walking 2 1/2 miles and getting nowhere.  But I love, love, love the way I feel when I am done.  Okay, not the sweaty and gross part, but the endorphines.  So, I decided to spice things up lately with watching movies while I walk.

Prince of Persia.  First of all, who is the idiot that let Jake Gyllennhaaaaaal keep spelling his name this way?  They made John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe change their names, why not Jilenhall.  Or Gilenhal.  Or Smith.  (pronounced... Gyllenhaal...).   And who forgot to tell me that Jake Jyllenhawl had yummy abs in this movie?  Yummy, yummy abs.  Like cheesecake...  cheesecake abs...

But the last two scenes... he gets done fighting the war and his hair is greasy and gross, then walks in to see the princess and it is clean, brushed and trimmed.  Blah.  Good thing he has cheesecake abs.

And now... the main man in my life.  He has found the laundry baskets.  Dear future wife of my son... I will do my best to expand his interest in laundry baskets to include washing, drying and folding.  I may even try to expand it to putting clothes away and rubbing your feet.  But don't hold your breath.

check out these eyelashes.  They are awesome!!

A grand day out

Aiden and I had a grand adventure with all-boy things.  Well, except the bridal shower in the morning.  Welcome to the family, Danika.  Yeah, you don't know us yet, but think of it this way... "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" without the Greek.

Then, Aiden and I went for lunch and then to the HAFB Museum.  He wore his bomber jacket and was ready!!

Aiden loved, loved, loved the big planes outside.

Really tender picture.  Unless you had the audio.  Aiden is saying, "ABC... ABC..."

He was SO tired.  

There was a cool grandpa there who had made 4 or 5 little jet planes for the kids to ride in.  

Then we came home and played pirates.  Okay, Aiden lined up the cannons, (below) while I tried to show him how to sword fight and smuggle the booty from the scurvy brigands.  Meh, he caught on eventually, but I think it was more to humor Mom.

But, he does know how to leave a path of pirate destruction.  

Fun day, fun boy!!

How my son saved (saves) my life

Usually, my blog posts on this blog (yes, I have more than one) are full of pictures of my beautiful boy and our crazy life.  This post attempts at a little more serious note.  Humor me.

I credit my son with saving my life.  He has done and will continue to do so.  I remember a conversation with my sister weeks after the in vitro procedure that resulted in my perfect little man.  I remember saying to her that when you are a single person with no children, you are naturally very self-centered because there is no one to think of and make decisions for except yourself.  It is not snobbery or selfishness because it is not usually intentional.  It is just the natural way of progression when your life consists of one person.  I am also not calling this a character flaw.  It is what it is.

The conversation with my sister was this, "I am tired of having only myself to care for and to love."  And then... Aiden was born.  And he saved my life... in more ways than one.

Suddenly, looking at this little perfect pouty-lipped face in the hospital bed, I spent the 3 hospital days thinking of what I wanted for this child and how we were going to get there together.  I did some real soul-searching that first night (okay, maybe the second night... the first night I think I just crashed hard after 36 hours of hard labor) and found that there were holes in my life that needed to be repaired, cut out or filled.

In the last 20 months, I have gained an even stronger connection with God, I have changed my language (no longer like a sailor...), eating habits, exercise routine, work schedule, and schooling.  I have gladly given up the high-powered career that I once fought 70 hours a week for.  I have given up cheese and butter.  I have become friends with Mr. Treadmill.  I have prayed more than in the rest of my years of life combined.

What I am will be a direct reflection of what my son will be - or at least what he will consider to be normal.  I hope that by the time my son can look back on his childhood, he will say that his mother had fun, patience, healthy habits, and a strong spirituality.

A good friend of mine said, "Aiden has taken the hard edges and softened them.  Relaxed the stress lines in your personality."  What a beautiful compliment for my son.  

And that is why I have done what I have done.  I am doing it to say thank you to the son who saved me.

Infestation

We have a full-blown infestation at my house.  It is driving me INSANE!!

Okay, so I don't know if you can have an infestation of static cling, but if you can, we have it.  EVERYWHERE.  How exactly does static cling breed?  I would like to know.  Clothes, couch, bedding, dog... it is everywhere.

Anyway, on to real fun...  my Mister is PURE BOY!  He would play with his trains/cars/trucks/power tools all day everyday.  He brings me books about trains/cars/trucks/power tools to read.  And he takes it all so seriously.

All from one day of fun.  

My favorite?  Aiden staring at the dog staring back.  Considering Roman usually just runs frantically from Aiden, this is a priceless picture.

Phil is a liar!!!

That little rat called Punxsutawny Phil (the groundhog) is a liar.  Early Spring. Whatever.  THIS....

is what happened.  Bad rat.  BAD!

Okay, so it is beautiful and will bring much-needed water to the state.  But...

Anyway, the antibiotics are finally starting to kick in after a 9 days.  I kinda have a voice today and am not running a fever.  I am only coughing up one lung instead of both today as well, so things are looking up!

Orphan Child

I would like to start by saying:  I don't want motivational statements on my Halls Cough Drops.  "Seize the Day"?  I am going to seize your throat and choke you.  It would be okay if it would say "Bless your heart.  Eat the ice cream.  I know it is 7 points on Weight Watchers, but, sweetie, you are sick.  It is okay.  Eat it.  You will feel better."  Who thought of that crappy idea anyway?  Motivational cough drops... pleeeease.

My child probably feels like he is an orphan child.  I have been so sick for over a week with pneumonia with no sign of it letting up.  We spend a lot of time snuggling and watching Thomas, Mickey Mouse, Cars, and Madagascar.  I haven't been able to sing or read to my son in over a week because I have no voice.  I don't mean that I am hoarse or groggy, but I have no voice.

Mister whispers to me now.  Even when he gets grumpy, he whispers to me.

But it is not all me.  He has a no-pants thing lately.  And a "let me mess up my hair even though my Mom just fixed it way cute.." thing.

See the evidence below.  Keep in mind that only 5 minutes prior to this picture, he had pants, shoes, and cute hair.  Sigh.

Valentines Day for Real

Drat being an adult.  I really, really wanted to party with my Valentine all day.  Pfftt, I say, to work.

Well, so I had to work.  And I am sick.  Why should it not just be a huge fun day for Mister?

We made Valentine bags for Smedleys - he was going to be there all day and having fun for Valentines! I made Aiden a fun day of food...

Pink pancakes with strawberry syrup at the far left.  Turkey and cheese on the upper right.  Blushed pears in the container on the right.  PB&J sandwiches at the bottom.    Also, there was pink yogurt, pink pudding, and jello shaped hearts.  It was a brilliant mommy moment.

Packaged up with love notes and all.

Too bad he didn't want to eat all day.  Ah, well.  It was more for me than for him.

After work, I decided to try a fun night out.  We went for Mexican food and neither of us ate much, but back home and we watched Mickey Mouse Valentine Adventure.  Then finished off the day with love songs and bedtime.

I have a tradition with Aiden to collect sock monkeys at every important occasion.  So far, sock monkeys have been given at birthdays, surgeries, baby shower, and Christmas.  

Now he has Valentine Monkey.  Cute, eh?

Great day although we have sickness.