Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thankful Thursday-Dr. Bones

Today we saw Gabe's orthopaedic doctor, Dr. Bones. He had his annual x-ray and foot tickle and was declared fit as a fiddle (albeit he had stinky feet, a running joke between Gabe and his doc) I'm thankful today that Gabe's spine has straightened out and the doc isn't concerned with it anymore (what a relief!)

On another note, today is the 13th anniversary of my grandmother passing away; while I miss her, I'm so thankful for the time we had together; she was an awesome grandma and we were all lucky to have her. Today in her honor I had some almond windmill cookies like she used to love, though they didn't taste quite the same without her.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Being Sick By the Numbers

Number of doctor's visits in the last week: 6

Number of prescriptions prescribed to our family this week: 6

Cost of said prescriptions (thank God for insurance): $150

Number of birthday parties canceled because of sickness: 1

Number of get well cards received: 1 (thanks Greats :D)

Number of diagnoses of "Double Pneumonia" in the house: 3

Hours of sleep, per day, on average of each sickie in the house: 18-20

Now we're all on the up and up, feeling a ton better. Gabe had another doctors visit yesterday that resulted in ANOTHER prescription for him, but after two doses he's already feeling better. Jeez oh pete, this sickness SUCKED. Thankfully Geo was off last week, so he could help me out since I was the first one sick and then he was able to recuperate during the last half of the week when HE was sick. Gabe is on spring break this week, so he can just rest and relax and concentrate on getting better before heading back to school. Through all of this though, SarahAnne didn't get sick at ALL. Not even a sniffle. Our pediatrician yesterday said that two years of nursing OBVIOUSLY made a difference for her; thank goodness! Now to get back to feeling better and maybe getting outside for a bit of bubble blowing!!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Bitty Bits

Dear SarahAnne,

Today you are four; the time has flown by so quickly. You're rapidly growing up to be a sweet, independent, clever, creative, silly little girl. Last night when I came to bed, you woke up and groggily smiled at me and flashed four fingers and said "I'm 4 momma" you then rolled over for a quick snoogle and rolled back over and started snoring.

You are often very exhausting, both physically and emotionally. The other day when you swore up and down a ghost wrote all over my bed for example. Or when you blamed a crocodile for "snizzering" your pants AND blanket. Or last week when you decided to paint your fingers AND toes with hot pink nail polish. *sigh*  HOWEVER all the snuggles and sweetness make up for all of that. You love to take care of all of us, often pretending to be "momma" when we are your "baby" I swear, if you could catch the cat and he'd tolerate it, he'd have a bottle in his mouth and a diaper on his butt.

I hope you'll always be this sweet, silly, and sassy. You'll always be my itty bitty and we love you so so much.

Love,
Momma, Daddy, Gabe, and Boni cat =^..^=

I Want My Mooooom

It's not very often that I get sick; the last time I was sick was the awful stomach flu we all had well over a year ago. Because I don't get sick very often, when I *do* get sick, I get SICK. Yesterday morning I went to urgent care because I couldn't stop coughing and was flat out miserable. The diagnosis, of course, was bronchitis (hooray) laryngitis (which I cannot spell without the help of spell check) and the ever so common "cold". In a word, I feel like crap.

When I was pregnant with Gabriel, I went to visit my parents and happened to have a raging head cold. I can very distinctly recall sleeping in my dads recliner and waking up to him smearing Vicks on my face (his cure all for all things cold related; I tend to agree) There was always a mug of hot tea made by my mom (HER cure all for all things cold related; again, I agree) sitting next to me, and whenever I was hungry Mom whipped up some buttered toast for me to munch on. Vicks, hot tea, and toast are pretty much cured what ailed you when we were growing up. I still find myself reaching for those three things when I get sick OR when the kiddos get sick. Something about that combo is super soothing, even if it doesn't really "do" anything.

So now, it's five a.m. and I'm waiting for the bathroom to fill with steam so I can go wheeze in peace without waking anyone up and wishing I had my mom. I just KNOW her tea and toast would fix this. Sometimes, even mommas need their mommas and this is one of those times.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Ooooh Fat Bottom Girls You Make the Rockin' World Go 'Round

I am not what one would call "skinny" "slim" or "slender" In fact, I'm more on the "festivally plump" size, I have some junk in my trunk, a wiggle in my walk, I have curves and then some. I am a fattie fattie two by four, couldn't get through the kitchen door. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH I have a fat ass, I like to eat, and I pretty much don't care who doesn't like it.

That being said, I want to be healthy and working out is a great way for me to be more healthy. A few weeks ago, Geo and I joined our local gym. It's wonderful, I feel good, I have more energy, etc etc. I love swimming laps in the pool, then hopping in the hot tub for a soak. Finally, I strip off my suit and soak up the heat and steam of the sauna. It's good for my body and soul. I then take a nice hot shower, get dressed, and get back to "real" life.

I have no problem with nudity in the locker room-it's a LOCKER ROOM, of course there's going to be nudity, right? I am so sad, though, to see that most of the women in that place are so insecure that they'd rather get dressed in a wet shower than walk through the locker room in a towel and dare show their bodies to anyone. It's taken me a long time to get to the point where I accept my body and love it. This body has grown and nurtured two children; it's been through a lot, I consider my stretch marks marks of battle; MY awesome amazing body created two amazing children and THEY are physical reminders of it.

The women who are most likely to walk around the locker room in a towel without worrying about who is looking at them? Women my age and older; with age comes wisdom and apparently so does loving your own body. I wish I could go back to my late teenage self and tell me to love myself and love the way I'm made. I know I'll never be stick skinny and that's perfectly fine. I'd be completely and utterly out of balance if I weighed 100 pounds (never mind I wouldn't have anything to wear except maybe some of Gabe's tshirts LOL) I spent a long time trying to cover my body and feeling ashamed of it and it's time I cannot get back-so from this moment forward, I'm loving my shape and my body and anyone who doesn't like it can kiss my big ole' backside :P

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Toothy Tuesday

The blog has been a bit quite this week for good reason; Saturday while enjoying some chex mix (gotta support General Mills!!) I broke a tooth in half. Let me just state for the record that it was NOT a fun thing to do and if you can avoid breaking a tooth, I would totally advise you to do so. *shudder*

Gabe is not a real touchy feely kind of kiddo, but today I was laying in bed with a throbbing jaw (again, do NOT break a tooth, it hurts) and he laid down next to me and started to gently rub my face. He said "Momma, if I rub your cheek you will feel so much better, won't you?" He laid next to me for a good five minutes and gave me a good snuggle before he hopped off my bed to torment his sister. I love those little moments with him, he's growing up SO quickly and soon enough won't want to snuggle with momma.

I'm getting my tooth fixed on Thursday (not much they could do on a Saturday afternoon for a borked tooth!) So I probably won't be blogging for a few more days. Hope all is well :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Friday Five-It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

  1. What’s the best thing about being awake when the rest of the world seems to be sleeping? It's quiet!!
  2. Where can you go when you get a case of the late-night munchies? Taco Bell!
  3. What open-all-night establishment has saved you from catastrophe, and what were the circumstances? Meijer-too many saves to even list them
  4. What’s the worst thing about being awake when the rest of the world seems to be sleeping? It can be rather lonely
  5. When you are up all night at home for whatever reason, what’s most likely to be on the television to keep you company? Crappy reality tv

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Thankful Thursday: Siblings

My sister was here this week (in case you didn't see the seven hundred posts I made about it lol) We have a really really awesome relationship; she's one day shy of being 7 years younger than me, but that never seemed to make a difference. Now that she's living on her own, finishing her degree, and rocking her own radio show "No Pants Friday" she's really become a good friend of mine, which I didn't realize wasn't super common. Geo often tells me he is really envious of the relationship Tori and I have; her friends have made the same sorts of comments to her. Again-I had no idea this wasn't "normal" I should note, I also have a brother-he has given me three adorable nieces and nephews and is planning to get married one of these days to a great girl I've yet to meet. We're close but not like my sister and I. Don't get me wrong, I know he's always there for me if I need him, but it's not the same as with Tori.

Tori and I were talking and I said "sometimes I catch myself calling Bitsy 'Tori' because she is SO much like you" She said she read an article a while back saying that it's TOTALLY normal that you see your siblings in your children-we grow up around our siblings and see THEIR traits so why wouldn't we see them in our own children-we don't observe ourselves, we observe the ones around us. Makes total sense, really. I see a lot of Joey (Geo's brother) in Gabe; his mannerisms, some of the things he says, the way he acts sometimes. It's fair to say though, that our siblings see US in their children too, which is pretty damn cool if you ask me.

George's brother Joey was killed in an accident a few years ago and it's left a pretty big hole in his heart; he has other siblings, yes, but he and Joey had a special bond much like Tori and I have. When I was teaching, one of my students who was right around Joey's age started coming over for dinner and to watch the kids, etc etc and he and Geo got close; our friend had a similar brother sized hole in his heart and Geo was able to fill it. I'm so thankful that they found each other. I know they both still hurt because their brothers are gone but thankfully they have each other to have that brotherly bond with.

So today, I'm thankful for siblings; both blood and from the heart. What are YOU thankful for today?

Monday, March 7, 2011

The Good Life

I have a good life; we have a roof over our head, plenty of food to eat, clean appropriate clothes, a car, and luxuries. I don't always remember how good we have it, but on Saturday I was reminded of it in a big way. Saturdays are dance class day; for an obscene amount of money, SarahAnne spends a half an hour learning ballet each week with her cousin and three other little girls. She loves the class, so it's worth the time and money spent on it. HOWEVER this week, I was all keyed up because my sister was coming to visit and we had things to do. Of course, the gas tank was near empty so I HAD to go to the gas station. (what a hardship, I know) On my way to the gas station in my warm, completely paid off car I saw a woman on the median of the road holding a sign that said "I have 2 children. I am doing my best for them, can you help?" Now mind you, here I am feeling pissed because I have THINGS TO DO and I have to be interrupted by DANCE CLASS and the gas station.

It's snowing like a bitch, it's windy, it's COLD. It's too cold to be standing in the median of a road asking someone to help you, especially with tears coming down your face. All of the sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a bad attitude that day, I was whining because I can afford to do these things? What in the hell is wrong with me? What kind of example am I setting for my children? Reality-1 Chrissi-0

It's no secret that we've recently come out of a rough patch-but that's all it was-a rough patch; we had friends and family who helped us out and we came through to the other side a little wiser, a little more cautious, but apparently not as thankful as we should have been.

My heart was breaking for this woman; (cynics are going to be thinking at this point, she's a bum, she's probably a druggie or a drunk-but you know what? I don't feel that way, I don't think people would lie about things like that and if they do, I'm only out what? a buck? the change at the bottom of my purse?) She's clearly cold, she's clearly hurting.

I pulled into the gas station and got my gas, feeling like a jerk. Only two minutes earlier I was grumbling and here's this woman struggling so so badly for the basics. I got a huge cup of hot chocolate and wrote down some phone numbers of some places that could help her and stopped to give them to her. She broke down and I broke down. SarahAnne watched from the back seat as I cried-my tears were of empathy-I'm a momma too, my tears were of SHAME that I have it so good and take it for granted-and my tears were of sadness that someone actually had to stand with a sign to try and support their family.

I watched as this woman put down her sign and opened her hot chocolate and took a deep breath over it, savoring it's heat and the delicious smell, I'm sure. After her first drink I could tell it helped. A little bit of kindness goes a long way-what did it cost me? A whopping $1.38.

As we drove away, Bits asked "why are you crying Momma? Why was that lady standing there? It's cold out" I didn't know how to answer her or what to say, so I simply said "Bitsy, kindness is free. Being nice to people doesn't hurt you at ALL and I hope you will remember that." She sagely nodded her head and said "okay momma" and we drove the rest of the way to dance class in silence thinking about what we'd just seen. I was thinking about how good I've got it and how I really needed that reality check at that point and how I really really hope somehow that the momma on the median gets the help she needs to take care of her family and herself.

I hope after reading this you'll think about how good YOU have it. Sure life isn't perfect and sometimes it seems like there's never enough to go around, but if you take a hard look at your life, I'd bet you DO have enough and you DO have a good life and hope you'll savor it.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

WooHoo!

Woohoo! Today is an exciting day; my sister, the antiAUNTIE Buzz is on her way to our house.


Gabe and Bits already have plans for her (ha ha) SarahAnne has been buying gum all week in anticipation for this  visit-actually it'd be more accurate to say that she's been picking gum OUT and I've been buying it. For some reason she seems to think that Aunt Buzzy LOVES gum. She was hilarious the other day with the Mentos gum she picked out. It's rather minty and she chewed a piece and walked up to me with her mouth wide open and half chewed gum in her hand. She said "Oh momma, it's SO HOT. Take it from me. Would you like to chew it?" NO I would NOT like to chew your half chewed gum dear, thanks but no thanks. She then decided to "hide" the gum from everyone so that she and Aunt Buzzy were the only ones who could have it. Where, praytell, did she hide it? In my underwear and sock drawer. It was quite a surprise (a super minty one at that) to find gum rattling around with my socks and undies. I suppose my toes will be minty fresh, eh?


As for Gabriel; well, as you all know, he's a very mature SEVEN now and he can't be bothered to buy little gifts for his aunt; she needs to bring them for HIM and he doesn't consider her his aunt, he keeps insisting that Tori is his older sister and she goes to college and he misses her. Last night he informed me that he was not getting out of bed in the morning until Buzz got here-what a liar. I thought I'd have a peaceful day with him in bed (ha ha) but here it is 8 a.m. and he's up reading over my shoulder (hi Gabe!)


They are so excited to see her-not that I blame them-she is pretty cool and Geo and I are excited to see her as well. I just hope that she brought lots of books so that she gets the "help" from Bitsy that I get when I read...


 The other night I got out of the tub and was reading an awesome book ("mothers and other liars") I am laying on the bed, relaxed  and propped up by six million pillows. SO comfy.

Bitsy comes in to "snuggle" with me. She is laying on my shoulder and says "oh oh oh momma! if you need your page turned, I will be your page turner" and licks her finger and holds it in the air. 

I tell her I need a page turned and she licks her finger again and turns the page. She is sitting at the ready, wet finger in the air just WAITING to turn the page for me saying "don't forget momma, I'm your page turner"

THEN after she's flipped a few pages for me, she says, "oh oh oh momma! I will put MY thumb on your book and hold it for you. Take your thumb off" and she proceeds to hold her teeny tiny thumb on my book AND still has a wet finger in the air to flip the page. 

At this point, I am trying really hard NOT to laugh because she's being super serious about it.

THEN she says "oh oh oh momma! (She says this A LOT) why I don't I just do this?" (and she climbs behind my book onto my legs) "and I can just hold the book for you so you can relax and read?" so now she's holding my book peering at me from behind the book and says "Do you need your page flipped momma because I can DO IT!"

I couldn't help it, I lost it laughing and had to put the book down. She followed me out to the living room and as I was telling Geo this story she's saying "Oh but I am a GOOD page turner and my thumb holds the book and I am good book holder, right momma? RIGHT MOMMA??" as she's clinging to me making puppy dog eyes.




So now it's onward and upwards, I have gum to chew and dishes to wash in anticipation of my sister arriving. Have a great weekend everyone :)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Whoops!

Again I've missed Thankful Thursday. Jeez oh pete! I'm thankful that Gabe is feeling better and that my children have awesome immune systems. The flu should last a good week to ten days per the doc and both of them were better within three days of being diagnosed. Thank goodness Gabe is feeling better-the pink eye still seems to be bugging him a bit though, so he's taking one more day off of school JUST to be on the safe side.

Yesterday we went to the Science Museum. I wasn't sure if the kids would EVER want to leave, but eventually they did-only because we went to A&W for root beer floats though LOL

My Friday Five for today is five pictures from yesterday-enjoy :)

The kiddos learned about woolly mammoths; a mammoth weighs the same as 12 cows-who knew? 
 this was BY FAR Gabriel's favorite exhibit-it showed how things are distributed and he stood there reading and checking it out for a good ten minutes by himself
 The next two pictures are from an exhibit called "A Million of Me" it was basically a large kaleidescope and both kids loved it. They kept trying to get me to climb in and see "millions of Mom" silly kiddos. I especially love the picture of Bits in the Million of Me because you can actually see more than one of her in the picture-very cool if you ask me

 and finally, the obligatory "in front of the museum" shot :P
I would definitely recommend Sci Tech to anyone with kiddos who are interested in science-hell, even if they AREN'T interested in science, they will be after a trip here. The museum had a field trip group in while we were there-while they were downstairs exploring, we were upstairs by ourselves-when they went upstairs we came downstairs and had the run of the place. It was definitely worth the admission price (3 and under are free, 4-60 are $8 60 and better are $7) I am seriously considering replacing our zoo membership with a membership to Sci Tech. I think we'd get more use out of it actually.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ugh

Round two of the flu-this time it came with pink eye as well :(

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