Long Time, No Blog

Nothing earth shattering has been going on, hence the lack of blogs lately. Here's the low down:

Walker is doing better at school. We still have our moments, days, what have you. He has decided that he likes his teacher, not me thank goodness. He does well when I am not around.

Lauren is well, Lauren. She does her thing with her class. As long as she can read and sing songs, she is good to go, well, she needs some time to play babies (she is quite the little mother).

Brady has done well in his class mastering sign language and he is top in his class at meal times (he's a bit of a pig it seems).

Other than your run of the mill sibling rivalry things have been pretty average here.

Oh yeah, Doug and I have commenced our sixth year of marriage. We made it through the first five. We sure squeezed alot into those five years!! We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other and I think we are in a good spot to keep building on our relationship!!

Walker will be 4 on halloween. This should be interesting!!

Until next time!!

No News... Blah, Blah

Well, to say no news is good news is somewhat true. I have learned that it isn't my profound writing that brings people (all two of you) to this blog. Its the pictures of the kids, so I will load up this entry with some. Basically, life has changed for us again. The kids and I went back to school too. We are at Rosewood Academy. Walker and I are in preschool and Lauren and Brady are in their respective age groups. Lauren is loving it except for nap time. She doesn't seem to be comfortable sleeping there. Brady has staked his claim on a lady named Kathy who he hogs and tries to charm with his chubby cheeks and manly growl (truly, he growls). Walker and I have been having a bit more of a struggle adjusting (enter uplifting and constructive comments here JK). So here's the bottom line, Walker and I have the same personality so we tend to clash in a big way and feed off of each other under stress. Yes, I am the adult and I should know how to handle this but I don't. He is seeking my attention by being naughty and like a sucker, I feed right into it. It is so hard to stand by and watch your own kid be naughty and not do anything. We have been having melt downs daily (him, me or both of us). He is also having huge separation anxiety. For example: Today Walker slept in my bed last night, showered with me, went to school with me, went with me on break because he would have disrupted everyone in his class, came home with me and is now watching TV with me. We have literally not spent two whole minutes apart today. Any suggestions????????????? Note the desparation in the number of question marks. He is an adorable little boy and I want to make good memories for him from this experience.

So now you know my latest failures in parenthood. Stay tuned for the next blunder!!!


Explanation of pictures: The first one is of all the grandkids on Doug's side, so my kids and all of their cousins taken back in April. The next one was of Doug in Brady (too cute) and the last I think sums up my sentiment on a bad day (Lauren in one of her not so finest moments). Enjoy!!

Change

Well, school is about to start and that is the signal that everything is about to change again!! Doug is getting ready for a new school year with some changes there. The kids are getting older and their interests and personalities are changing too. No one deals well with change, but I always seem to get sentimental about it. There is always something you are leaving behind. Come August 25, I will no longer have any babies. While I'll deny it profusely if ever asked, I know I will miss these guys being so little. I have a hard time believing Brady is still for the most part still a baby. He has always seemed so old to me.

Well on a different note, we finally got some picture back so here they are, starting tonight with Easter.

Lata!

Just Kidding!

Nothing too exciting going on. Summer is winding down and Doug is gearing up to go back to school. The kids are doing well. Walker had a remarkably good day today. He was very polite and receptive to correction and redirection today. He did kind of melt down at the end of the day, but he had a busy day and no nap, so he was tired. Lauren is coming into quite the personality. Her new things are to get your attention, do something silly and then say "Just kidding!". She had a panic attack in the car today as she watched Brady "bite his feetsies". He was playing with and chewing his toes and she flipped out. "Mommy, Bady is biting his feetsies!" I think she fully expected me to climb back there and rescue him from himself. He of course, was just giggling away. Speaking of Brady, he is just having a blast being an early toddleer. He's becoming a little mischevious too as he thinks if he flashes his big toothy grin, you'll forgive anything he may have knocked down or torn up. Interesting strategy, but hey, it works!

On to the rest of my day!!

Another "Mother of the Year" Title down the tubes!

So, I begin this post with rare, unsarcasticated (is that a word?) honesty; Brace yourself. I am not a good mother. I am not a good wife. Sometimes I am not even that great of a person. I am not saying this to garner sympathy. It turns out for me that being a wife and a mother is a very humbling and rocky experience drizzled with moments of warmth, affection and joy. It is those moments that keep me in the game. I realize that in most other aspects of my life, I tend to be a quitter. If I don't get it right the first time or don't win right away, I give up. Marriage and motherhood has been the exception to that. This is not something I can give up on, yet I repeat patterns of imperfection to point that right now I am just frustrated. I know where I go wrong. Most of the time, I even know it in the moment I choose do lose my temper or lash out at Doug, but I do it any way. It is hard to start fresh when you can't run away and start over with a new husband and kids. So, that's my serious, frustrating confession for today. Take it or leave it.

On to news of the kids. Today was hopefully a lesson learned for Walker. We had a babysitter for a couple of hours this afternoon and apparently he was physical with her (pushing and pretending to bite). These are things he does to me when he doesn't like what is going on. I assumed (yes, I know what that does) that he would know better when some one else was in charge of him. While I do not like that my child did this to our babysitter, I am glad it was a teachable moment for him. On this rare occasion, I did not lose my cool (totally) with him. Instead, I told him how disappointed and sad I was. Then, I gave the harshest punishment I could think of: (any guesses??) Yes, I took away Disney channel for two days. The boy SOBBED for a straight hour. Surprisingly, he did not lash out at me like I expected him to, he just cried and cried and cried. I am hoping this is because he realizes he was wrong. It got the point that he said in his defeated little voice: "Can we just stop talking about this, PLEASE!"

Lauren Grace (Warren Gace as she calls herself) is getting to be quite the feisty little one and chatty too!! She scraped her knee yesterday when Doug took them to the park. You would of thought she was just accepted to the elite toddlers club where you have to have at least one "big owie" as your initiation in. Well, she's in. She is still my little cuddle bug.

Brady boy. What a hoot he is!! He is walking from here to there and everywhere (thank you Dr. Seuss for that one!). He is quite proud of himself to. While the novelty has started to wear off a little, lucky for him Walker still makes a big deal of it when he is walking so he still beams when he is toddling around. That darn kid is on the tall side too, so things that were once safely out of reach on tables and counters are now fair game. The edges of my counters are nice and clean while the middle is piled high with stuff to keep away from Mr. Sticky-Fingers.

Well, you know what they say, while at work . . . . check you e-mail one more time! Just kidding, I should probably get back to work!!

Hope I didn't dash anyone's high moral standard for me!!

Always human, sometimes less so,

Pam

We're BAAACK!!

The first vacay as a family of five is complete (PHEW!). The only real bummer was that despite the over $400 we spent to get it fixed, our van still refused to provide us airconditioning. It was pretty hot to say the least. Luckily, the kids are young enough that they did not know that this was not normal. We spent most of our trip up in Estes Park at David's timeshare. It was very nice and the kids had fun swimming. Walker was a bit accident prone and cut himself of some glass as well as stubbing his toe. Lauren, in Lauren-style, took it all in in her own way. She spent most of her time trying out every "potty" she could. Brady boy did his thing as well. Best of all for him, he has really stepped-up the walking thing (yes, pun intended). He is getting around pretty well on two feet. This makes him my earliest walker at 11 months.

We also tried to get a photo of the three of them at Sears. Their personalities surely came out. Walker thought it was his own personal photo-shoot and the other two were just "extras". Lauren was pretty timid of the process. Brady was being quite the contrarian (do I get .50 cents for that one??). If they wanted him to walk, he crawled. If they wanted him to stand, he sat, you get the idea. OH WELL!! The ladies kept saying they were the best behaved kids they have ever tried to photograph. I always have a hard time taking compliments about my kids because I don't want it to go to their heads (or mine!!) and I never am sure if it is sincere. For being 3, 2 and almost 1, I guess they weren't as bad as they could have been.

We are re-adjusting back to life as we know it at home. They are certainly pushing buttons lately (that or I need to chill out, probably the latter). I am going to pray for more patience and get back to work!!

Adios!

Getting Ready For Denver

This has definately been a week!! We have been on count down status all week to Saturday (Denver Day). The kids, Walker especially, are VERY excited about our upcoming vacation. Doug got both Walker and Lauren a tote bag from the closet to pack what they wanted to take for the car, etc the other day. Walker packed his FULL, slung it over his shoulder, and filled the remaining space in his hands with a ball and a feather sword (you can't leave town without one!!). He donned his brand new Sponge Bob (which by the way I do a killer Patrick impression) flip flops that are too big for him (hey, who said clearance was perfect??) and said "I am ready to go to Denver now!!" It was so cute, we took a picture!! He has all of his stuff (which now consists of his pillow, blanket, swim trunks, life jacket and what have you) all by the basement door ready to go.

Lauren, what can I say about that girl? She is going through quite the phase lately. I don't know if it is hormones or genes (hee hee) but she has been waking up beyond crabby and spending most of the day crying and screaming in time out. This is not like her at all (isn't that what they always say, but really it is not). She is usually pretty even tempered and cuddly. Most of her fits center around me doing stuff for her or with her. No one else can fill in. I have to do it. Clearly, it does not matter to her that I have two other children and a few other personal needs, she must come first!! Doug is finding this frustrating as he tries to help and it only escalates her tantrum. Not sure what this is all about, but I hope she works through this quickly. As I tell her often, she is lucky she is cute!! Poor baby girl cried herself to sleep tonight in her room in time out.

Brady boy- He is sooooo cute!! Pretty soon, he won't be my baby anymore!! Anywho, he is kind of clingy lately too! I try to do dishes (I must reassign this task to my partner if this keeps up) and he stands holding my pant leg crying until I pick him up. Then he is happy as a clam (are clams really happy? Talk amongst yourselves). Putting him down is like handing him to the wolves with the way he carries on!! Other than that, he is sprouting teeth everywhere (this could be the culprit) and taking more steps everyday!!

Well, getting ready for Denver!!

See y'all!
Pam