Joe left Thursday night for New Orleans. He's there for the weekend for a bachelor party. And all I've got to say is thank God for family. I was planning on leaving to drive up to my mom's house for the weekend on Friday night, but some unforeseen circumstances happened and I had to leave Thursday. I drove the kids up to my in-laws for the day and then made my way over to my mom's for the night. We'll be here all weekend and I am just so grateful that when Joe is not home I'm only an hour drive from loved ones.
I have friends whose husbands travel over the weekends and they don't have family to go to. When we're at my mom's she gives us her master-bedroom, my in-laws do the same. We are taken care of, food is made for us...as I was writing this post Liam woke up from a dead sleep with a terrible cough that led him into the bathroom to throw up. This of course woke Marlo up since we're all in the same room. And my mom was right there to help - we each put one baby back to bed.
I hope my children return home to me as adults in their time of need.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
How do I break up with my gardener?
We've been paying our gardener $200 a month. We have a lot of green on our property and our backyard is pretty big and has a full lawn. One of my neighbors only pays $100 a month, but she has a pool in her backyard with no lawn. So, I knew we'd be paying more than $100. Anywho, I asked my neighbor's gardener to give us an estimate. She highly recommends him - says he does great work and knows a ton about plants. He said he'd charge us $150 a month.
But how do I break up with our current gardener? I know this may seem ridiculous, but I hate these kind of things. I like our current gardener, but I think $200 is just a bit too much to pay when I hear what others are paying per month. Should I tell him the truth that he is just too pricey? Or what? When my neighbor switched gardeners she fired her other one by saying her husband would be doing the lawn work. I can't do this for our yard - it's just too big to believe that my husband who is never home from work will be doing it. Thoughts?
But how do I break up with our current gardener? I know this may seem ridiculous, but I hate these kind of things. I like our current gardener, but I think $200 is just a bit too much to pay when I hear what others are paying per month. Should I tell him the truth that he is just too pricey? Or what? When my neighbor switched gardeners she fired her other one by saying her husband would be doing the lawn work. I can't do this for our yard - it's just too big to believe that my husband who is never home from work will be doing it. Thoughts?
Monday, March 18, 2013
First Crash
Today Liam had an awful spill on his bike. I didn't actually see it happen since I was turned in the other direction, but all his friends said he fell on his face. And when he came running and crying to me with a face dripping with blood, I knew it we couldn't just brush this one off. And Liam is a tough kid. He has had many falls from his bike, but this one really shook him up. Instinctively, I opened his mouth to check if all his teeth we there and they were, thankfully. And then I picked up my little guy and played nurse. My neighbor took care of Marlo outside while I fixed up Liam with some ice and bandages.
The crash was so bad Liam didn't even want to go back out and play with his friends...and he ALWAYS wants to play with his friends. He wanted dinner and it was only 4:30 and he wanted pancakes for dinner. I couldn't say no. He was too pitiful looking. At 5 he was begging to go to sleep. He held out until 5:15.
Thank God for helmets.
The crash was so bad Liam didn't even want to go back out and play with his friends...and he ALWAYS wants to play with his friends. He wanted dinner and it was only 4:30 and he wanted pancakes for dinner. I couldn't say no. He was too pitiful looking. At 5 he was begging to go to sleep. He held out until 5:15.
Thank God for helmets.
Friday, March 15, 2013
MIA & the million dollar family
Well, my laptop broke last week so I've been MIA. Sad story, I tripped and fell down the stairs while holding my laptop. Luckily I was fine, but my laptop took a beating. I've been using the hubby's MacBook Air. I convinced him that his laptop would need to be mine until I got a new one since checking Facebook was part of my social daily need to keep me happy - great guy I married, he bought it.
On to this million dollar family stuff. Last week a friend of mine shared a link on Facebook and the author referred to families with one boy and one girl as the million dollar family. I had never heard of this saying before I read the blog post. It's interesting though that so many people consider the family of four with one boy and one girl the perfect family. I remember being pregnant with Marlo and when I told people I was having a girl and already had a boy, they would say something like, "You're so lucky! Now you're done having kids! One of each is perfect!"
I love my son, but that kid is a handful. He makes Marlo look like the easiest, best baby in the world, which she is (most of the time). Sometimes I wonder if my life would be easier if I had two girls. My neighbor is pregnant with her third boy - man, the thought of that terrifies me. She told me that she was listening to some talk show and the host said having three boys is like having six children. I totally believe it.
But personality does make a difference. Liam and Marlo have different fathers. Joe is the most easy going person I know - this is where Marlo gets her disposition. I wouldn't describe Liam's birth father as easy going at all.
Anywho, wanted to share my thoughts. Am I out of the loop or have others heard of this million dollar family thing? And is the family of four with one boy and one girl really the perfect family?
On to this million dollar family stuff. Last week a friend of mine shared a link on Facebook and the author referred to families with one boy and one girl as the million dollar family. I had never heard of this saying before I read the blog post. It's interesting though that so many people consider the family of four with one boy and one girl the perfect family. I remember being pregnant with Marlo and when I told people I was having a girl and already had a boy, they would say something like, "You're so lucky! Now you're done having kids! One of each is perfect!"
I love my son, but that kid is a handful. He makes Marlo look like the easiest, best baby in the world, which she is (most of the time). Sometimes I wonder if my life would be easier if I had two girls. My neighbor is pregnant with her third boy - man, the thought of that terrifies me. She told me that she was listening to some talk show and the host said having three boys is like having six children. I totally believe it.
But personality does make a difference. Liam and Marlo have different fathers. Joe is the most easy going person I know - this is where Marlo gets her disposition. I wouldn't describe Liam's birth father as easy going at all.
Anywho, wanted to share my thoughts. Am I out of the loop or have others heard of this million dollar family thing? And is the family of four with one boy and one girl really the perfect family?
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
It has come down to threats, help
My life is being taken over with the cleaning of toy messes. I just can't keep up with Liam and Marlo. I tried the "you must clean up your first mess before you make another mess" rule, but that's not going so great. Half the time they are (well, mostly Liam, but Marlo joins in) moving on to the next mess before I even realize that mess number 1 is uncool and a new mess has been discovered. Or Liam combines the messes. One of his favorite games is 'Garbage Man' where he takes a bunch of toys and dumps them into a pile and puts them into bags and re-dumps them (like a garbage truck). The other half of the time, Liam whines so much about cleaning up that it just drives me nuts. So then I tell him that I am going to clean up his toys and throw them away. Of course this sends him into a crying fit and Marlo starts to cry because she doesn't like to see him cry and chaos and unpleasantness is brought into our day - times 5 because this happens multiple times a day.
So, I 'd like to know if any of my readers have any suggestions. I don't want to reward him with a treat or something because cleaning up his toys just needs to be part of his everyday "to-do" list like brushing his teeth and taking a bath. But I want a better solution than the threat. Granted, the threat works, but I hate getting to that place where I have to make him cry to do something.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sanity Update
Well, as it turns out, getting some exercise and taking a shower really can improve your outlook on life! Go figure, duh. I took Marlo for a really long walk today, about an hour, as she napped and yes, I attacked the rat's nest. And, I get to have my nanny tomorrow morning from 7-1! Yahoo! This woman is a life savior! I mean, it is concerning and sad that I actually started to plummet into the deep abyss of self-pity without her for a couple of weeks. But, hallelujah, she's back tomorrow!! When I sent Joe a text at work saying that I had our nanny for Friday morning, his response: "Praise the Lord." Our nanny is religious lingo worthy in our house.
Funny story to share: On Tuesday night I had Joe pick up take-out for dinner because I had no energy to cook dinner round 2 once he got home from work. As I was complaining about cooking, cleaning, and the kids (ya know, the usual) Joe said, "I wonder how my mom did it. She never had any help and always had this delicious dinner every night. I guess times have changed." (In defense of Joe's obnoxious and poorly timed comment, he did add on that he remembered his house was always messy and the standard of what moms were expected to do were not as demanding when he was growing up as they are now.)
My retort: "Your mother's idea of a rough day is a bit different from mine. Your mother didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 16 years old. And she had three natural births and says contractions don't hurt - they're just uncomfortable. Oh, and your mother mother knows how to skin a chicken! Like a real one!"
My mother-in-law is a remarkable woman and I do love her like a mother. I know not all women love their mother-in-laws this way so I do consider myself lucky. But if Joe ever expected me to live without indoor plumbing, he'd be single and for those of you who have never experienced a birth contraction - they f-ing hurt, okay?!
Not to scare anyone from birth or mothering - it's all totally amazing and awful and fabulous and torturous wrapped up into one experience! Do it!
And because Marlo got the video highlight in my last post, check out this little stud.
Funny story to share: On Tuesday night I had Joe pick up take-out for dinner because I had no energy to cook dinner round 2 once he got home from work. As I was complaining about cooking, cleaning, and the kids (ya know, the usual) Joe said, "I wonder how my mom did it. She never had any help and always had this delicious dinner every night. I guess times have changed." (In defense of Joe's obnoxious and poorly timed comment, he did add on that he remembered his house was always messy and the standard of what moms were expected to do were not as demanding when he was growing up as they are now.)
My retort: "Your mother's idea of a rough day is a bit different from mine. Your mother didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 16 years old. And she had three natural births and says contractions don't hurt - they're just uncomfortable. Oh, and your mother mother knows how to skin a chicken! Like a real one!"
My mother-in-law is a remarkable woman and I do love her like a mother. I know not all women love their mother-in-laws this way so I do consider myself lucky. But if Joe ever expected me to live without indoor plumbing, he'd be single and for those of you who have never experienced a birth contraction - they f-ing hurt, okay?!
Not to scare anyone from birth or mothering - it's all totally amazing and awful and fabulous and torturous wrapped up into one experience! Do it!
And because Marlo got the video highlight in my last post, check out this little stud.
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