Time Flies

My entire life people have said things to me like, "Time really flies by fast as you get older, " or "enjoy it while it lasts."

Lately, I've really started to understand what they mean by that.  I have an ALMOST TWO YEAR OLD.  She's a little person with her own ideas and preferences.  She's talking to me in sentences and she's so sweet.  She gives hugs and kisses and checks on her sister.   She visits with the animals and organizes her toys.  She sweeps and wipes the table down for me.

I mean, she's this completely amazing person that I'm having the privilege of getting to know a little bit better every day.

She's also her mother's child.  She's stubborn and set in her ways.   She throws serious temper tantrums that can last for hours.  She wants to be independent. And she's almost 2.   Some people may define this phase as "terrible."

And it is.

But it's also amazing.

It's a day by day.

And you never know what the day will bring.

And sometimes, I wish it was over.  I wish she could tell me exactly what she wanted or why she was crabby, and sometimes I want to hold her in this place and space forever.

Weekend Update

I'm not always the best juggler of things.  Sometimes, this poor old blog gets neglected for weeks and months on end.  Honestly, it's not just this blog that's gotten neglected, but my social media in general.

{Raising Kids}  

Emmalyn is 6 months old.  We just took her for her check up and everything was great.  The pediatrician was surprised she went 6 months without ear infections secondary to her cleft,  but she's a rock star.  She's 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.   She had some stomach issues last week and we ended up cutting out all of her milk based formula.  She now gets 100% soy formula with rice cereal added to it.  As far as development goes, she rolls from back to belly and belly to back. She tries very hard to crawl, and loves pushing herself backwards in her  walker. She makes a lot of noise, but makes very few consonant sounds.  She's started eating purees and LOVES them.  Overall, she's about the happiest baby I've ever seen.

Hadley is almost 22 months old.  She's developed a little bit of a diva attitude, and currently does not like taking no for an answer.  We've started mommy and me gymnastics which she loves, but getting her to leave has become a we bit of an issue.  Overall, she's happy and healthy, and she may be a little bit spoiled.

{Home Life}

Having two small kids has caused fast and serious havoc in my home.  It's hard to keep up cleaning up after them.    The hubs has been using his summer vacation to play catch up.  It's been nice to have someone else doing a little bit of the work, but I'm not sure we're ever truly going to catch up.  

{Work Life}

It's still there.  I'm still thankful to have a job that I love.  I've actually been working a little bit more.  

Swimming with the Fishes (Or the Frogs...)

My life is drastically different now than it was 2-3 years ago.  Since Emmalyn was born, I've noticed some very odd things about myself.  I've decided that I've turned crazy, but my dear husband thinks that I've always been crazy and I don't hide it as well as I used too.  

I'm not throwing the crazy term around loosely either, just so you guys know.  I mean I am starting to have serious anxiety/fears about (sometimes) stupid things....

Such as swimming with frogs....

Image Courtesy of a Handy Google Image Search

I've mentioned a few times that I run, and you see, that's really a lie.  I pretend to run.   I usually do more walking, and I hate it.  My preferred summer exercise is swimming.

It's perfect for me because I hate to sweat.  I hate being hot.  It's a period of time where no one can bother me.  It's amazingly peaceful under water.  I can't even listen to music.  I spend a lot of time in the water alone with my thoughts.  It's good for me.  It allows me to work through things in my head.

I swim in my dad's pool.  The location is good; the price is right.  My dad was out of town for a bit, so I was house-sitting.  One of the things involved in house sitting is fishing things out of this pool.

These items typically include leaves, bugs, and frogs.  One time, I even fished a swimsuit out of the pool.  That's a story for another day.  I've never been a big fan of frogs, but right now, they really skeeve me out.

During my first house sitting swim,  I did all my fishing prior to my swim.  A few leaves, a few bugs, and one ugly toad.  When I fished him out, I thought he was dead.  As soon as he hit that net,  he got back in that frog position.....

And I carried him in the net (attached to a 10 foot pole) to the edge of the woods and set him free.  

During my next swim,   I walked around the pool for a few minutes before hand with my trusty net (and the 10 foot pole, of course).  I fished out a few leaves and a few bugs.  I walked all around the pool looking carefully for frogs, and I saw none.

I started my laps, and just as I was about to hit my third turn, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

There....swimming next to me.....was a frog.  

I, a twenty something adult, with two small children, screamed under water.  I thrashed and hauled ass right out of that pool.  

After that, I calmly and rationally threw a small temper tantrum, retrieved my net and my 10 foot pole and fished the frog out of the pool.  

I finished my swim, but I never really felt relaxed.  The next day, I was needing that fix,  I headed out to the pool and carefully checked for frogs all around the pool.  

The frog was much nicer to me during that third swim.  He let me get 16 minutes, or about 22 laps in, before I caught that familiar movement out of the corner of my eye.  You'll be happy to know that I didn't scream under water this time, but the jerk swam up into the skimmer and teased me.  He sat right on the edge of the door to the swimmer, so I stood outside the pool and waited. 

and waited...

and waited...

And then I decided that I was being foolish.  I needed to finish this swim.   I got back in the pool and swam to laps with my head above water, you know, in case that old toad decided to attack.  

He finally came out and I removed him with my trusty net, and finished my swim.    I was so excited when my dad returned so I could relinquish frog fishing duty back to it's rightful person.  

This Life

Alternate Title: Why I don't blog like I want to.

Y'all, things around these parts have been a little insane lately.

It all started when my husband got man-sick, and all my spare time was sucked into listening to him whine and complain.  He also frequently referred to me as mean and without compassion.  Ok, I know you're sick, but unfortunately, life doesn't stop just because of illness.

And then, I got a new boss at work.  My job has been in constant change and chaos pretty much since I started, and my new boss is an old co-worker.  I have no issues with her as a boss, but she's the only other person that does my job, so it's put more work on my end. To be honest, I get paid by the hour, and I can use the money, so it's no big deal.

And then there's the greatest loves of my life, who seem to be more and more time consuming as they grow older and bigger.

And cooking and cleaning and laundry and dishes and bath time....

And this is just a crappy excuse post to say I'm still here, sit tight and I'll be back with more crazy, random blog posts and love for you guys!

Letters to Betsy

Dear Life,

You are getting in the way of things I love, like blogging and blog-stalking.  I mean seriously,

I've learned some things about myself recently though:

 I  love cupcakes way TOO MUCH to skip my morning run.  Period.

 I drink more wine than I would probably admit to anyone.  I wouldn't venture to say I have a problem, and I don't even drink every night, but we save wine bottles and my husband doesn't drink wine.  He has a glass here and there, so every time I slip a wine bottle into the cabinet, I'm painfully aware that I drink a lot of wine. 

I've always been a fairly emotional person, but the way my emotions come across has changed drastically since I had Emmalyn.  Before, I was always crying about xyz.  Now, I'm more like, "If you don't like it, go home."

Hope all is well with the rest of y'all.  I also hope to get back to my regularly scheduled blogging soon.  

The Man Flu

I usually have a fair amount of pet peeves, but this week, for sure, it's the man flu.

I know your sick.  Get off your butt.  I can't fix it for you.

If you're dying, go to the doctor.  

I can't fix you.

You're an adult.

Make your own damn appointment.

Get off your butt and help me do something.

The world doesn't stop when your sick.

The kids don't quit needing you.

Get over yourself already.

Oklahoma

My heart has melted.

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