Today my great-niece graduates from High School. Wow...where in the world did the time go. I know this sounds cliche, but I remember when she was just a baby. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there to see the event. Living so far from where she is and the idea of a road trip with the little prince was more than I could handle, so at home we stayed.
As exciting as it is for our family that she has graduated and will be heading to college in the fall, this day brings about a bit of sadness as well. Today was my mother's birthday. My mom died almost three years. I know that she would have been so unbelievably happy about this day because my niece was her "road dog" for many years. It's a running joke in our family how my mother used to buy snacks for my niece and how we had to ask permission if we could eat them when we visited or she would get mad...LOL. They were the best of buddies when she was really young and as she got older it became difficult for my mom to let go of the 'little girl' she used to be and grasp hold to the pre-teen/teenager she was becoming. After a couple years of a "rough patch" they found a space that worked for grand-daughter and great-grandmother.
I can only imagine the huge smile on the face of my mother looking down from heaven as she walked across that stage and accepted her diploma. I know she was proud.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Surgery
On Thursday the little prince had to undergo T&A surgery. He's never had surgery before and I pray that he never has to again. I had my suspicions that the earlier diagnosis of "allergies" was possibly something more when my little guy was constantly sticking his finger in his nose and sounded as if he had cotton balls stuffed as far up his nasal passages as they could go. He's been on medicine for months now for the 'allergies' but it wasn't really working.
So off to the ENT to find out if my suspicions were founded or if I was being a paranoid mom. The doctor checked his throat and confirmed that his tonsils were enlarged but without an x-ray he couldn't tell about the adnoids but suspected that the "stuffy" sound was because of those. His treatment method - take them both out.
I had a feeling that his adnoids were a problem but I was shocked by the tonsils. After getting over that (which took about 3 seconds), I had to deal with the sick feeling in pit of my stomach about my almost 3 year old child going under the knife (which took a WHOLE lot longer). I refused to think about what could possibly go wrong. I'm a woman of faith and I can't ask God to do His job and then worry that He won't. So I said a silent prayer and went home to tell my family - my prayer warriors - what was going on.
Now that I had prayer "back-up", we were ready for surgery day. I didn't explain to the prince what would happen until the day before. Mainly because I had no idea what I was going to tell him. The other reason was because I've learned if I give him too much information too early, he worries me to death about it and I was already dealing with my own nerves. So armed with the knowledge that he would have his tonsils and adnoids removed, we headed to the surgery center at 5:45am. I worried that the hardest part for me would have been the moment I had to hand him off to the nurses to take him back in the O.R. So when that time came I was pleasantly surprised that I was chuckling at my very drug induced baby. The nurse had given him a liquid to take that was meant to relax him, a process they do to make it much more pleasant for young children to go into surgery. When the medicine took effect it was quite comical to watch. He could barely hold his head up properly and though I wasn't saying a word (we were listening to the anethesiologist), he looked at me and said "mama, shhhhhhhhh". The nurse arrived to take him back and he happily went, as loopy as they come.
The surgery took only 30 minutes and an hour or so after being there we were in the recovery room holding our baby boy - he did great. We took him home and he slept most of the day, the effects of all the medicine. By Friday, he was up and playing like he had not had surgery at all...wasn't he supposed to be lying around? I suppose that speaks to the resiliency of young children because if you didn't know that he had surgery almost 72 hours ago you wouldn't believe it by the way he's acting. Guess the idea of a mini vacation for mommy just flew out the window....LOL.
So off to the ENT to find out if my suspicions were founded or if I was being a paranoid mom. The doctor checked his throat and confirmed that his tonsils were enlarged but without an x-ray he couldn't tell about the adnoids but suspected that the "stuffy" sound was because of those. His treatment method - take them both out.
I had a feeling that his adnoids were a problem but I was shocked by the tonsils. After getting over that (which took about 3 seconds), I had to deal with the sick feeling in pit of my stomach about my almost 3 year old child going under the knife (which took a WHOLE lot longer). I refused to think about what could possibly go wrong. I'm a woman of faith and I can't ask God to do His job and then worry that He won't. So I said a silent prayer and went home to tell my family - my prayer warriors - what was going on.
Now that I had prayer "back-up", we were ready for surgery day. I didn't explain to the prince what would happen until the day before. Mainly because I had no idea what I was going to tell him. The other reason was because I've learned if I give him too much information too early, he worries me to death about it and I was already dealing with my own nerves. So armed with the knowledge that he would have his tonsils and adnoids removed, we headed to the surgery center at 5:45am. I worried that the hardest part for me would have been the moment I had to hand him off to the nurses to take him back in the O.R. So when that time came I was pleasantly surprised that I was chuckling at my very drug induced baby. The nurse had given him a liquid to take that was meant to relax him, a process they do to make it much more pleasant for young children to go into surgery. When the medicine took effect it was quite comical to watch. He could barely hold his head up properly and though I wasn't saying a word (we were listening to the anethesiologist), he looked at me and said "mama, shhhhhhhhh". The nurse arrived to take him back and he happily went, as loopy as they come.
The surgery took only 30 minutes and an hour or so after being there we were in the recovery room holding our baby boy - he did great. We took him home and he slept most of the day, the effects of all the medicine. By Friday, he was up and playing like he had not had surgery at all...wasn't he supposed to be lying around? I suppose that speaks to the resiliency of young children because if you didn't know that he had surgery almost 72 hours ago you wouldn't believe it by the way he's acting. Guess the idea of a mini vacation for mommy just flew out the window....LOL.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Catching up on life....
The fear that my life would "get in the way" of my blogging seems to be coming true...lol. As often as I think about getting on the computer and writing, something else always comes along and I get side-tracked. So tonight, I play catch-up on a few events over the last month.
The first and most important is the potty-training journey with the little prince. Today is day 41 (YES, I'm still counting...lol!) and we are claiming success, albeit partial success, but success nonetheless. Since May 7th he has mastered the art of peeing in the potty (woohoo). After weeks of wet messes on my carpets the light bulb clicked on for my little guy and we were off to the races. The "partial" success comes because though he is kicking butt (no pun intended) with the peeing he has YET to master and take control of his other bodily function. Lately I've been thinking that I should write a nice long letter to the author of the 3-Day Potty Method to let her know that though I agree with her methodology, that '3-Day' thing must happen on baby chimps, not humans. So our journey continues but I believe the hardest part to be over and the truth is I'm a little sad. Not because I haven't wanted this moment to happen, but because it's official - he's no longer a baby. Diapers were the last vestige of his 'babydom' and I keep wondering how time has moved so fast.
The wedding was lovely and I did look AMAZING in my dress. The ceremony was moving and the bride was beautiful. She's truly happy and I'm happy for her. Being there to witness this new start for the two of them reminded me that life is short, too short sometimes and it is important to make the most of it and what better way to share the best that God gives us than to do so with your soulmate. I wish them many, many years of wedded bliss!
Last week I spent time with my sister on what we called our 'vacation'. You see, every year she and I go to Florida for a week but this year I was not financially able to do so and neither was she. She called me in late April to tell me when she would be taking a week off and was wondering if I were willing to pack up the prince and come and stay with her - our own version of vacation and I jumped at the chance. Eight hours on the road (with no potty accidents...woot, woot) and we arrived a day earlier than planned at my sister's front door. That was the best surprise ever...she cried! We had so much fun! We went to the Amish market (boy do I miss the fresh meat there...yum!), the circus and the zoo. By Friday, we both said we felt like we had actually gone away with all the activties that we did...lol. I miss my family back home and I'm reminded when I get a chance to see them how blessed I am to have them.
Well, there are always a million other little things that happen in the span of a month but I can't remember them and besides, who wants to write that much! LOL That's been my life in a nutshell...no complaints (that I can think of).
The first and most important is the potty-training journey with the little prince. Today is day 41 (YES, I'm still counting...lol!) and we are claiming success, albeit partial success, but success nonetheless. Since May 7th he has mastered the art of peeing in the potty (woohoo). After weeks of wet messes on my carpets the light bulb clicked on for my little guy and we were off to the races. The "partial" success comes because though he is kicking butt (no pun intended) with the peeing he has YET to master and take control of his other bodily function. Lately I've been thinking that I should write a nice long letter to the author of the 3-Day Potty Method to let her know that though I agree with her methodology, that '3-Day' thing must happen on baby chimps, not humans. So our journey continues but I believe the hardest part to be over and the truth is I'm a little sad. Not because I haven't wanted this moment to happen, but because it's official - he's no longer a baby. Diapers were the last vestige of his 'babydom' and I keep wondering how time has moved so fast.
The wedding was lovely and I did look AMAZING in my dress. The ceremony was moving and the bride was beautiful. She's truly happy and I'm happy for her. Being there to witness this new start for the two of them reminded me that life is short, too short sometimes and it is important to make the most of it and what better way to share the best that God gives us than to do so with your soulmate. I wish them many, many years of wedded bliss!
Last week I spent time with my sister on what we called our 'vacation'. You see, every year she and I go to Florida for a week but this year I was not financially able to do so and neither was she. She called me in late April to tell me when she would be taking a week off and was wondering if I were willing to pack up the prince and come and stay with her - our own version of vacation and I jumped at the chance. Eight hours on the road (with no potty accidents...woot, woot) and we arrived a day earlier than planned at my sister's front door. That was the best surprise ever...she cried! We had so much fun! We went to the Amish market (boy do I miss the fresh meat there...yum!), the circus and the zoo. By Friday, we both said we felt like we had actually gone away with all the activties that we did...lol. I miss my family back home and I'm reminded when I get a chance to see them how blessed I am to have them.
Well, there are always a million other little things that happen in the span of a month but I can't remember them and besides, who wants to write that much! LOL That's been my life in a nutshell...no complaints (that I can think of).
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Training - Day Two
We are in day two of training and though I'm afraid to claim success so early in the game (he still hasn't made poopy yet), it looks like the fourth time will be the charm. The prince has been in underpants all day and though he has had two accidents he did tell me that he had to go potty and actually peed in the toilet, a success that resulted in mommy and daddy whooping it up, giving him high fives and "way to go's" and even garnered him two stickers on his potty chart.
I've explained to him that only pee-pee and poopy that make it in the potty will get a sticker and if he can do it for two weeks that he will get something special (he loves special surprises). Here's hoping that the 3-day training method has true validity.
Who would have thought my days would revolve around bladders and bowels...oh the joy of motherhood (lol)!
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Training Begins - Day One
Today is the start of the little prince's potty training. I've been complaining (more to myself than anyone else) for about 6 months or so that it was time for him to move on from diapers to big boy underpants. Previous attempts (3 in total) have failed and truth be told I just haven't felt like dealing with it but the time has come to make the final move from infancy to toddlerhood.
According to all the literature he has been as ready as any kid could possibly be so I thought to myself this shouldn't be too difficult. Who was I kidding!?! This, like everything else that deals the the prince, has proven to be nothing like the experts say it will be. His initial aversion was to the actual potty itself. Imagine if you will, those cartoons we used to watch as a kids where someone tries to throw a cat in a small bucket of water and they go spread eagle to hold on to the sides - this would be what it looked like trying to get him to even "sit" on the potty. We have since moved past the fear of sitting (thanks to my former sitter who was kind enough to send me the 3-day training method) and moved straight to complete indifference to the idea at all. He would often tell me "no mama, I okay - I have clean diaper". Just recently I started singing the infamous Potty Dance song thinking that if we made it fun it would "click" and he would want to run straight to the potty and get to work. I'm happy in my fantasy world (lol).
Well, day one was today and though we have had no real success (we had three outfit changes) we are on the road. Keep watching and waiting.....
According to all the literature he has been as ready as any kid could possibly be so I thought to myself this shouldn't be too difficult. Who was I kidding!?! This, like everything else that deals the the prince, has proven to be nothing like the experts say it will be. His initial aversion was to the actual potty itself. Imagine if you will, those cartoons we used to watch as a kids where someone tries to throw a cat in a small bucket of water and they go spread eagle to hold on to the sides - this would be what it looked like trying to get him to even "sit" on the potty. We have since moved past the fear of sitting (thanks to my former sitter who was kind enough to send me the 3-day training method) and moved straight to complete indifference to the idea at all. He would often tell me "no mama, I okay - I have clean diaper". Just recently I started singing the infamous Potty Dance song thinking that if we made it fun it would "click" and he would want to run straight to the potty and get to work. I'm happy in my fantasy world (lol).
Well, day one was today and though we have had no real success (we had three outfit changes) we are on the road. Keep watching and waiting.....
Monday, April 12, 2010
My Perfect Wedding Dress
Well, I've been invited to the wedding of a person that used to be my best friend. The story behind why we aren't "best friends" anymore is long and tidious but suffice it to say that we grew apart. We've since found our way back to common ground, knowing that the friendship we once had will never be again but realizing that we have to start somewhere.
I've known about the wedding since the beginning of the year and as excited as I am for her that she has found someone who makes her happy, the last three weeks have brought on anxiety in me because I had not been able to find the "perfect" wedding attire for myself. I made the resolve this past Friday to go out looking for a dress to wear and low and behold the 'shopping gods' were on my side. I headed into Macy's looking for a dress but was very disappointed. What I found not only was unattractive (to me at least) it was also too expensive. You see, with me not working full-time anymore shopping is a luxury I simply can't afford. I left the house with three gift cards totaling $61 and I needed to find both a dress and shoes without spending large amounts of my own money. After leaving Macy's feeling a bit defeated, I headed into JC Penney (more out of proximity than anything else) to take a look around. JC Penney has changed over the years because I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the dress selection was. I found five dresses that were cute but I wasn't sure if they were the "one". I continued looking around and found dress number six and I immediately fell in love with it, praying all the while that it would look good on me once I tried it on. After feeling that I had scoured the place clean, I headed into the dressing room to try everything on. As soon as I tried on dress six, I knew I had found my perfect wedding dress. It was everything I had in mind - black in white in color, umpire waist, chiffon material with movement but best of all I looked AMAZING in it! The decision to buy this one was sealed in that moment, so I headed to the cashier to ring up my purchase. The 'shopping genie' was sprinkling her magic all over me because the dress was on sale - $70 down to $34.99 and after using two of the three gift cards ($36.31 in total), I walked away having only paid $1.57 of my own money. Talk about a score!
I was on my own personal high and feeling really good about the dress. I still had one gift card left and was thinking that maybe I could find a great pair of shoes. Though I knew I wouldn't find as good a deal as I did with the dress, I was committed to at least looking and considering my options. I headed back into Macy's to take a look around before heading home. I found a couple pair of shoes that were beautiful but a little too 'matchy-matchy' - a fashion faux paus. So I decided to check out the clearance racks to see if anything jumped out at me and there it was - the perfect shoe to match the perfect dress. I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say it is by far one of the sexiest shoes I've ever owned, Sex in the City kind of sexy (lol). I was sold. I asked the cashier if she could give me the mate so I could try them on, they were fabulous. I looked at her and said "I'll take them". Once again, the 'shopping genie' was sprinkling her magic my way because the shoes were $89 marked down to $62.30. The store was having a sale - 15% off one pair of shoes - and the sale even applied to clearance items. After all discounts and using my last gift card, I paid $15.94! Can you believe it, a dress and shoes for less than $20 of my own money...I simply couldn't stop praising God.
I'm now set to attend this wedding knowing that I'll feel like a million bucks and secretly knowing I paid only a fraction of that amount!
I've known about the wedding since the beginning of the year and as excited as I am for her that she has found someone who makes her happy, the last three weeks have brought on anxiety in me because I had not been able to find the "perfect" wedding attire for myself. I made the resolve this past Friday to go out looking for a dress to wear and low and behold the 'shopping gods' were on my side. I headed into Macy's looking for a dress but was very disappointed. What I found not only was unattractive (to me at least) it was also too expensive. You see, with me not working full-time anymore shopping is a luxury I simply can't afford. I left the house with three gift cards totaling $61 and I needed to find both a dress and shoes without spending large amounts of my own money. After leaving Macy's feeling a bit defeated, I headed into JC Penney (more out of proximity than anything else) to take a look around. JC Penney has changed over the years because I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the dress selection was. I found five dresses that were cute but I wasn't sure if they were the "one". I continued looking around and found dress number six and I immediately fell in love with it, praying all the while that it would look good on me once I tried it on. After feeling that I had scoured the place clean, I headed into the dressing room to try everything on. As soon as I tried on dress six, I knew I had found my perfect wedding dress. It was everything I had in mind - black in white in color, umpire waist, chiffon material with movement but best of all I looked AMAZING in it! The decision to buy this one was sealed in that moment, so I headed to the cashier to ring up my purchase. The 'shopping genie' was sprinkling her magic all over me because the dress was on sale - $70 down to $34.99 and after using two of the three gift cards ($36.31 in total), I walked away having only paid $1.57 of my own money. Talk about a score!
I was on my own personal high and feeling really good about the dress. I still had one gift card left and was thinking that maybe I could find a great pair of shoes. Though I knew I wouldn't find as good a deal as I did with the dress, I was committed to at least looking and considering my options. I headed back into Macy's to take a look around before heading home. I found a couple pair of shoes that were beautiful but a little too 'matchy-matchy' - a fashion faux paus. So I decided to check out the clearance racks to see if anything jumped out at me and there it was - the perfect shoe to match the perfect dress. I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say it is by far one of the sexiest shoes I've ever owned, Sex in the City kind of sexy (lol). I was sold. I asked the cashier if she could give me the mate so I could try them on, they were fabulous. I looked at her and said "I'll take them". Once again, the 'shopping genie' was sprinkling her magic my way because the shoes were $89 marked down to $62.30. The store was having a sale - 15% off one pair of shoes - and the sale even applied to clearance items. After all discounts and using my last gift card, I paid $15.94! Can you believe it, a dress and shoes for less than $20 of my own money...I simply couldn't stop praising God.
I'm now set to attend this wedding knowing that I'll feel like a million bucks and secretly knowing I paid only a fraction of that amount!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Scary Nights
As a kid I remember being afraid at night, a paralyzing kind of fear that kept me laying motionless for hours. The moon would cast some of the scariest shadows off the large tree that stood outside my bedroom window. I was so afraid that I devised a "plan" that worked for me for many years to come - pull the cover up to my neck, lay on my left side, breathe as little as possible and no matter what don't move a muscle.
I hadn't thought about that in many years until last night when my little guy was refusing to get into his bed at 3am. The fact that he was up at 3am is not new, unfortunately he isn't the best sleeper and more times than not he wakes up in the middle of the night that requires me to usher him back to bed. Last night was different because he said four words that brought my childhood fears rushing back to me - "it's scary for me".
Sleep in our house is elusive. With a toddler that has yet to figure out how to remain asleep in his bed and room all night long, his parents are walking zombies. We are committed to whatever it takes to get our nights back - all night, but when he said those words to me with a look on his face that said I'm truly afraid I couldn't force him to stay in his room.
I know that I have probably started a horrible cycle I was hoping to never be in again by allowing him to come into our bed. More than likely I will have to revisit "sleep bootcamp" at some point in the very near future but everything in me says that picking up my crying baby and carrying him into my room to sleep next to me was the right thing to do. As a kid, I wish that I could have gone to my own mother and told her how petrified I was but for many reasons that wasn't a possibility. I'm really glad that it is for my son.
I hadn't thought about that in many years until last night when my little guy was refusing to get into his bed at 3am. The fact that he was up at 3am is not new, unfortunately he isn't the best sleeper and more times than not he wakes up in the middle of the night that requires me to usher him back to bed. Last night was different because he said four words that brought my childhood fears rushing back to me - "it's scary for me".
Sleep in our house is elusive. With a toddler that has yet to figure out how to remain asleep in his bed and room all night long, his parents are walking zombies. We are committed to whatever it takes to get our nights back - all night, but when he said those words to me with a look on his face that said I'm truly afraid I couldn't force him to stay in his room.
I know that I have probably started a horrible cycle I was hoping to never be in again by allowing him to come into our bed. More than likely I will have to revisit "sleep bootcamp" at some point in the very near future but everything in me says that picking up my crying baby and carrying him into my room to sleep next to me was the right thing to do. As a kid, I wish that I could have gone to my own mother and told her how petrified I was but for many reasons that wasn't a possibility. I'm really glad that it is for my son.
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