Well Children

Today I took Darby to her 6-year Well Child visit. This was the first time I had to figure out how to get the appointment scheduled with thought to a school schedule, since now my girl is a kindergartener!

Gabe and I picked her up at school just a little before dismissal, and made the trip to our pediatrician's offic, thirty minutes away. I bribed them with donuts. I wasn't sure if Darby had to have any vaccines today, but I knew she was getting her flu shot, so I created a preemptive diversion with Dunkin!

My little girl grew three inches in the past year...she is getting sooo big! Everything else was great, although trying to help her pee in the cup was an adventure, to say the least! And there was the issue when Gabe  was kind of twirling around and biffed his lip into the front counter and started crying and bleeding all over the place, but, meh, at least we were in a medical facility!

Well, we're wrapping up the evening, ready for baths and good nights. But I wanted to quickly mention that we recently had an Amber alert in our area. The little girl was found alive, but not in a good state. Oh my goodness, please hug your kids and love them and keep them as safe as you can! And in those moments when motherhood isn't as easy or pleasant as it can be, just think about how amazingly lucky we are to be mommies to these babies.

Sending you all sweet dreams!
Lindsay

Summer, Lovin'

This summer has been that classic, hot, at-the-pool-and-lake every day kinda summer!  It was my plan all along, you see.  I'm glad the weather cooperated with me!  This year the kids are four and five, and the perfect ages to go to our community pool for swimming lessons and fab afternoons with mama, instead of the kiddie pool in our back yard.  Darby will start kindergarten in just a couple weeks; my mental breakdown has already commenced.

I know we are tucked into this gentle valley of easy childhood comfort, and I don't want to miss any moment of it.  I know she will adore school and it will be an amazing gift being able to watch her blossom.  But I am already missing our days at home together.  Gabe will still be at home with me, which will be a wonderful experience for the two of us.  Then next year at this time, I will be sending my last babe off to school, as well.

Until that moment of true change arrives in our daily lives, I will slurp up all of this extra time and love that's floating around my house.  It's really all I can do, now.

Sweet Home

I am so grateful to be home with my darlings almost full-time.  I feel like the luckiest mama because I get to have a creative and flexible job outside of the house as well as be able to take care of my home and family!  Things have been so different for us lately since my hubby has changed jobs.  He loves his new role and we are all transitioning more smoothly than anyone could have anticipated!  It is such a nice feeling to see all our hard work and sacrifice paying off, finally!

Just wanted to say a quick hello!  Hope you are having a great day!
L

Dollhouse and the Wet Spot...

This isn't your dream house, but it is hers!

So Darby had her tonsils and adenoids removed about a week and a half ago.  It was our first foray into the unknowns of anesthesia for one of our babies.  Yikes!  CJ and I were giant stress balls for weeks before surgery, and only once we had her snuggled on our couch at home did we start to relax a bit.  She recovered quickly and was such a good sport throughout the whole deal.

You probably realize how much I adore being a mama if you've ever read this blog before but for clarification purposes I will say this:  My life became whole once I started growing that first baby in my belly!  That being said, there are limitless lengths we travel as parents to make our children happy, relaxed, comfortable, and untouched by anxiety.  Things we do without effort, and some we do grudgingly because we know how important it is to those little angels.

Like playing dollhouse.  Again.  With the extreme bossy-pants version of my 5-year-old on baby Lortab.  Partly because I know sooner than later, she won't be asking her mama to play with her.  But mostly because it makes her feel so loved and important.  It may take a little more effort sometimes, like on the fourth day without REM-sleep/you can barely stand your body hurts so much from the body-contortions making sure she has enough room in bed...!  We do it because we love our children.

And the wet spot?  Accidents happen, even when you have a waterproof pee pad on the bed.  And making sure she gets back to sleep sometimes means you're the one sleeping on the towel-covered wet spot.  Again.  Because we love our children.  And it's 1:45am.

So think how easy it is to really engage your children.  Get down on the floor with the robots and dollhouse, tune out the other household crises, even if it's only for a little while.  Too soon those toys will turn into coma-inducing video games and Facebook screens, and they won't have any time for you.

Patience

I am trying to breathe. It's quite alarming, at times, when I realize there seems to be no oxygen in my body. Some days are harder than others, with toddlers you never can tell! I have learned so much about myself as a person by being a parent. Some things I don't like as much, and I embrace the opportunity to improve myself as a human. My children deserve the best mommy in the world, and I have to admit, I struggle with patience sometimes.

I try to roll with things, but I am not very laissez-faire. I am planning a career change into nursing, but it will be another two years until I can begin school. I try to be patient and just enjoy each day as it comes, knowing that one day, my kids will be in chool and I will have the perfect opportunity at that point to go to school myself. But some days I just want to change it all! Not my husband, home, children, but just kind of reset my career button. Nothing I've done is a waste, but I just wish I had done a little more career planning when I was younger.

That is when I need to breathe and dig a little deeper for patience. My favorite thing is to be home with my babies. But since I have to work as well, I just need to remember that these are the things that I need to do to take care of my family. When I do continue my education, it will be for the same reason...to take care of my family. But I will also have the chance to take care of myself a little better, too. After all, I don't want to worry away these precious years that I have my babies all to myself! Once they start Kindergarten, they'll literally be in school for the next 18 years, with college. If they have the rest of their lives for school, then I guess I do too!! So I will harness Guns n Roses and try for just a little patience!!