Smiling Through the Rain

I miss blogging.  It's just that I'm trying to minimalize the busy-ness in my life right now because the holidays always make me overwhelmed.  Like I get a bit crazy.  All the gift-giving, shopping, parties, family, friends, drama, food, etc.  Sounds fun to most people but I just do better with simple.   And that word hasn't described my life since giving birth 3 years ago.  Sooo, I go missing from time to time, but I keep up with everyone else's blogs!   This was my mom's attempt at a Christmas card with the kids.  It looks like they were decently enjoying it but the truth is both kids were having fits for absolutely no reason.  She used it anyways. My ornery little stud-muffin playing on the stairs. Graham having a VERY rare fit.  I had to capture the moment. Sweet sibling time in pajamas.  Times like this one melt my heart and make me feel good about my decision to have two kids. Graham was tota...

Paisley's teacher, Ms. Cristi, sent home a picture of her from school today that made my heart so happy.  If you don't know which one she is, that would be the very pink and frilly little movie star in the middle.  No, it isn't picture day.  It isn't Easter or a school program.  That was just the outfit she insisted upon that day. Raising Paisley is far from easy.  Her day can fall apart if things don't go just right.  You have to put on her left shoe first.  Never cut up her bananas- she likes them whole.  She will get herself in and out of the car without your help thankyouverymuch.  She turns off the lights and TV when we leave.  And heaven forbid you don't zip up her jackets and put the hood on before opening the door. But what I've learned is with every demand she has, she also is becoming a very strong-willed independent girl who knows what she wants.  She isn't ever afraid to voice her opinion and she stands up for herself. ...

 Where in the world has time gone?  It's like I blink and a month has passed without a single blog post from me.  I would try to explain the Bermuda triangle of time that seems to suck away hours and even days without anything to show for it.  But it is truly just filled with crazy kid stuff.  And a teeny-tiny bit of sleep.   We've been doing great!  Spending lots of time with the horses while the weather has been nice.  The three girls are all doing wonderful.  One of them had a squamous cell cancer of the eye, but one of our best friends happens to be an equine surgeon so he removed it and she's doing well.  I realize the above picture is of a baby naked on a horse.  This is Graham as Lady Godiva.  :)   Actually, he had just destroyed his clothes playing at the land...  Paisley is still her very happiest on top of a horse.  She sings sweet songs and zones out into her own pleasant little world...

Five months after the deadly tornado that tore through my city leaving a wake of destruction in its path, houses are popping up all over.  Businesses have rebuilt, street signs are repaired and the debris is cleaned up.  People have healed. Right? My mom and I were running errands by our house yesterday and just decided to stop by the elementary school (Plaza Towers) where 7 young kids were killed when the tornado leveled their school.  We've been by here a few times to check for progress or visit the small memorial on site.   Yesterday was the most encouraging because so many houses are being re-built and most of the tragic destruction is removed.  It almost looks like a normal new neighborhood, save for a few seemingly abandoned houses that still look like a warzone.   It felt good to see that.  Even the school has been completely cleaned up and the beginnings of construction are underway to replace it. But on the far side of the schoo...

When someone described parenting as a job, they were mostly correct.  It is a lot of work.  The part they seemed to have missed was that you are completely unpaid.  And usually underappreciated.  And you never get to leave "work".  The job continues 24/7.  You may think when they go to bed at night that you have you're "break" time.  I disagree.  You are still on call.  Those little munchkins may wake up crying or with explosive vomiting or diarrhea or with a sudden desire to pee/get a drink/eat a snack/change pajamas.   I'm so thankful when we go 8 hours straight without an interruption.  The current stages we are in is definitely difficult.  Paisley goes through weeks where she is so pleasant.  She is funny and enjoyable.  Then she can transform into this little terrorist whose sole purpose on this planet is to torture her mom.  Right now, she doesn't like me.  For real.  She chooses my mom o...

Such an interesting turn of events that the blog that started as my comfort and safe place during the lonely world of infertility and charting and fertility drugs has now morphed over time into this.  The days that I am embarking on long-term birth control and preventative family planning.  Marking the end to my family building and settling in to the wonderful little group we've become.  It's a happy place for me.   I love and adore my two little people.  They are incredible and I love them even more as they are getting bigger and more fun and more interactive.  Our lives are full and exhausting and overwhelming.  And I don't want an accidental number three. My IUD has been in since Graham was 8 weeks old.  I would have had it inserted during my C-section if I thought that was an option.  We went with the paragard which is non-hormonal.  It was a simple procedure to have put in and hasn't caused any trouble since.  Who...

Hey friends, It's been a month and I've been totally MIA.  We went on a week-long cruise with both kids to the Virgin Islands which was amazing.  And tiresome.  And we're still recovering.  I should totally post some adorable babies in swimsuits on the beach photos.  If only I could remember where I downloaded them. The big thing going on in my mommy-world right now is weaning.  Or the attempt to wean.  Big man is now almost 14 months old and if it were his choice, we would nurse until college.  Seriously.  So, whereas with Paisley and I it was more of a mutual decision and seemed natural and easier, this one is a doozy. I've weaned him down to one feeding just in the mornings but I swear my breasts are hard as a rock and fuller than I've ever seen them by morning.  The milk fairy needs to spread the love elsewhere because I cannot cold turkey this with the production still up like it is.  Why is my body not getting the hint t...