Let’s Go Tigers! October 21, 2006
Game one of the World Series is today. Thomas is dressed in his Tiger Gear. He is napping now. I’ll try to get a picture later and add it. But, I have to do the blogging while he is napping.
We’ve had a busy and good week. Grandma and Grandpa Brooks came to visit Tuesday and Thursday. Yay! We were supposed to visit them Tuesday, but I was exhausted. Thomas is not sleeping well because of his teeth. Ellie is having nightmares. So, none of us are sleeping, really. Tuesday, I ran some errands while they spent quality time with the kids. In the afternoon, we had cake for her birthday that was Oct. 2.
No, Grandma is not 53 years old. She is just a few years older, but those were the candles that we had here. Oops. It didn’t seem to bother Grandma too much, though!
Thursday, Di and I looked at a New Morning School for a preschool. We loved it. I think that I’m going to look around a little more, but Ellie will probably go there if there is room for her. I liked the curriculum. It isn’t very academic. But, it is structured and I think Ellie would love it. They had plenty of activities that I don’t do here, so she would get a lot out of it.
Andy has officially started to score essays for the SAT. Before Halloween, he is scheduled to work 30 hours. Ugh.
Thomas’ Godfather, Uncle Jack is here visiting this weekend. He is impressed with Thomas’ energy. (Both Uncle Jack and Thomas are napping right now.)
Hopefully, I’ll be back later w/more pictures!
She did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! October 17, 2006
Ellie pooped in the potty!!!!!!!!!!! Yahooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Misc. October 15, 2006
Ellie and Hannah at Jungle Java last week.
Thomas eating his cookie at Jungle Java. I have to put him in the stroller if I want him to hang around.
We are doing well! Thomas is teething so we aren’t sleeping much. Friday night, he was up from 10 pm until about 4:45 am. Saturday, Andy and I were both exhausted. Andy has picked up another job grading essays for the SAT. Since he had training on Saturday, we all muddled through the day. I took the kids to the gym. Thomas stayed in the child care long enough for me to have 15 minutes on the bike. The poor guy was exhausted. I brought snacks and we hung out so that Andy could get some work done in peace. Then, while Thomas napped, I took Ellie to Costco and Trader Joe’s. We had some mother daughter time that we both enjoyed. Saturday evening, Ellie went to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson’s for a while to play. The whole family was exhausted Saturday night. Thomas was up a lot last night, but not for an extended period of time.
Thanks Andy for doing the extra work to help with the finances. Ugh..money sucks.
Some things that I want to remember:
Thomas learned to climb onto a chair and then onto the kitchen table this week. If I put the chairs away from the table, he tries to climb onto just the chair, stand up, and then jump up and down. If we put the chairs upside down on the table, he tries to pull them off. We’ve decided just to try to keep him out of the kitchen.
Ellie calls McDonalds, BK, Wendy’s, etc, a cheeseburger house. It’s so cute. We cleaned Ellie’s room on Friday. Oh, that was much needed, and she is so happy. We’re trying to teacher her how to keep it clean. Mommy and Daddy aren’t very good at that either, so we’ll see if we can all learn together. Now Ellie’s room is the cleanest in the house! And, the best news, she has agreed to sell her doll houses. She now wants to get a princess castle with the money.
Letting go… October 11, 2006
of the perfectionist in me…
Ok…I had a little epiphane about myself yesterday. I have been doing the “shoulds” to myself..
I should have a clean house.
Everything in the house should have a place.
My kids should be ____ (fill in any little perfect trait that they should have.)
My family should ___…
I should weigh ___.
Anyway, you get the idea. And, silly me..or arrogant me…I think if these things aren’t happening that it is all my fault and am a bad person. I am not doing what I should be doing… For example, if Elllie doesn’t use perfect manners, it must be my fault. Now, I *know* that we have been working on manners for a long time and she is pretty good about using them most of the time, but she still has some progress to make. But, it isn’t about reality anyway. It is about what is in my silly head. Perception is everything. I mean, intellectually, I know that it isn’t realistic to have a perfect house, everything in its place, perfect children, perfect me, blah blah blah. So, while I’m waiting for that day to happen, I’m beating myself up that it isn’t today. Ugh. So, I’m letting go of the desire to be perfect today. It’s so easy to slip into the perfectionist thinking. The perfectionist in me is fired!
I do not project these standards on other people. At least I think I don’t. As I type this, it makes me laugh. Because, I realize that this is all so absurd. But, perhaps others can relate. We are all human..and we are going to be human. So, since God doesn’t make junk, I’m going to cherish God’s gifts.
On to our children…
Thomas is working on eating and physical activity. He is determined. He is so busy. He stops moving just long enough to eat. More teeth are coming in because he is hurting. He is looking more like a little boy every day. I was looking at his one year pictures and couldn’t believe the difference. I’m glad that we take pictures. It’s easy to forget.
Ellie is doing well too. She met a police officer last week at a stranger danger presentation. Yesterday, she met a fire fighter at a fire dept. open house. We have been talking about safety a lot and I think she is learning quickly. It’s amazing how quickly children learn, really. She is currently wearing her Belle dress, Belle slippers and her fire fighter hat that was given to her yesterday. Pretty cute. oh, and the fire fighter gave her a hat for her little Toto also. So, he is now fire fighter Toto.
Today is Grandpa Jackson’s birthday. Happy Birthday Grandpa Jackson! We’re having lunch with Andy’s family (minus Andy since he is working) and then cake tonight.
We’ll be going to ER soon also. We haven’t celebrated Grandma Brooks’ birthday yet (Happy belated birthday, Grandma Brooks!) that was a week ago. And, I want to visit Grandma Hilliard.
Ok..off to focus on gratitude instead of perfection!
Doing it all…or not? October 10, 2006
doing the laundry…
cleaning…
exercising…
praying….
taking care of children…
paying bills….
finding a preschool…
I could go on and on. How do we do it all? Well, I don’t. period. I have a lot of laundry to do. My house is a mess. I do take care of my children. Andy takes care of the bills. We are working on finding a preschool. (Currently we are looking at www.newmorningschool.com) But, seriously, this is ridiculous. Treading water is what it feels like I’m doing.
Anyway, I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in a long time. The kids did great in the child care there. In fact, Thomas loved it and didn’t want to leave! His temperment is so much different than Ellie’s. If I would have had him first, I may have gone back to work. Ellie wouldn’t have any part of me leaving her, though. I could have forced the issue, but it just didn’t seem worth it. God knows what He is doing, though, huh? Because I can’t imagine adding “working” to my list of things to do. For me, I believe that I can have it all…just not all at once.
So, today, I’m leaving the mess and going to the gym again. And, I’ll try to do some cleaning too later. I did sort some toys yesterday. I have a big bag full of toys to go to the consignment shop. Oh..and Ellie agreed to sell her big ugly plastic kitchen (that is my description, not hers!) in order to buy some ruby slippers. Ellie and Hannah both want to be Dorothy for Halloween. It will be so cute! Anyway, the kitchen will be going on cheapcycle soon.
Ok..gotta go care for the children. If you pray, please pray for my Grandma Hilliard. She fell yesterday and hurt her hip. She is in the hospital. We don’t think she’ll need surgery, but please pray for her comfort. I guess it is quite painful.
Look! Ellie has some freckles! October 6, 2006
Can you see them? They are sooo cute.
We went to an apple orchard today. We picked out our pumpkins from a pumpkin patch and then picked apples. The kids had a great time. Even Thomas enjoyed the day. He rode in the Ergo most of the day, but he didn’t seem to mind that he wasn’t running around. Here are a few more pictures. I also think she looks like the pictures of my mom when she was little. What do you think Mom?
This is Ellie and her special pumpkin.
Thomas is enjoying the day.
The girls and their pumpkins and apples.
After the orchard, we drove to the farm at Kensington Metro park. It was a fun day, but we are all tired.
Venting and other stuff… October 3, 2006
I’m grumpy today. Right now, Thomas is napping and Ellie is at a friend’s playing. Hopefully, I’ll get out of my funk by the time T wakes up.
On my way to taking Ellie to her friend’s, I was really talking negatively to myself…(quietly 
so no one could tell that I was talking to myself) Anyway, I was thinking, “My house is a mess. I have laundry to do. The kitchen is a mess. I am is not organized. We have too much junk. I’m a horrible mother.” Then, I stopped myself. Ugh. We are all so hard on ourselves, right?!?! I’ve accomplished a lot the last couple of weeks. Ellie has learned to use the potty during the day. We went to the water park. Thomas has been sick. I’ve had very little time to myself and have lost a lot of sleep. So, if the house is messy and things are out of place, that’s ok! Ugh. So, who wants to join me? Let’s quit beating ourselves up and stay off the pity pot ::::attitude is adjusting:::::::
Whew, better now! I have to stop that negative talk!
See, I’m just in a funk.
Today, I want to think about the example that I set for my children. I know that my example and my husband’s example are what influence our children more than anything else…yeah, I believe that our examples have more influence than our words, tv, school, extended family, friends, etc. So, for my own good, and for the good of my children, I have some work to do. But, I’m doing many things really well and that helps. I’m a work in progress, right?
Ok..enough about me…this blog is supposed to be about my children.
Ellie is doing well using the potty. She can hold it in all day long. It doesn’t seem to affect her, though. So, I’m just going with the flow. We haven’t started to work out the other issue (poop), but that will happen. She isn’t getting enough sleep. Sleep has always been an issue with her. You know what, if I had to describe Ellie in one word, it would be “irregular.” And, that is part of my funk. No matter how hard I try to have some sort of routine…she doesn’t have one. She needs to know what is happening next. But, she doesn’t need, and really can’t handle a schedule. Her sleep is irregular, her bodily functions are irregular. And, from the books I’ve read, some kids are just that way. So, life with Ellie is unpredictable. She needs some down time and some alone time regularly. But, she is moody and we just have to pay attention to her needs and help her learn how to make sure that they are met. I think that her irregularity is confusing to her too and causes her frustration. Ooh, I think I’m having a bit of an epiphany here. This makes sense to me! Oh, now I can help her because I am beginning to understand.
Yay! blogging helps!
Ok…Thomas on the other hand is pretty routine. He naps every afternoon. He usually wakes up around 8..sometimes earlier and sometimes a little later. And, he usually gets sleepy between 7 and 8 pm. He is much more predictable than Ellie. He is very busy, though and is intense about learning.
Ok…I have to get some stuff done while I have a break.
