Wordless Wednesday: The Big Pool

I Just Took A Breath

Somehow, and I don't know how, time keeps flying by.

James is learning to trust his body, and that means odd steps between pieces of furniture while he holds his hands up to steady himself and grins.  Then he reaches the other end, and he can't seem to believe it, he shuffled/lunged a whole 1/2 step, and he looks up for applause.

Work is bombarding me with so much.  Oddly, it feels good on one side, and aggravates on the other.  Especially when dealing with 1 person there in the office, but I yelled and paced and then sat and worked all day on real work.

As in not just Facebook and Twitter scanning.

It honestly felt good.

Then I saw the date and realized my baby turned 13 months old yesterday.

And I forgot his bear picture.  Which I know I could do today, but today has turned into a "mommy is in her pajamas so James is in his, too" kind of day.  Luckily A had the decency to clean up and do some laundry, so I don't feel like complete ick.  Cause complete ick is just bad, okay?

At the same time, in the middle of it all, someone crawls over, bumps my leg with his forehead, and then climbs up to stand and grin at me.

For no reason at all.

And then I take a breath, smile at him, give him kisses as he squirms away to get back to his toys, and I go back to work.

And at that moment, that exact moment, I know that time may be flying, but it's really the best time ever.  I just have to remember to take a breath and enjoy it.

Worldless Wednseday: Cabinets Make Noise

Making Plans Doesn't Work With A 1 Year Old

Prior to surgery, we could plan to see movies on Saturday afternoons and the great-grandparents would arrive and we would leave and there would be sunshine and rainbows and joy for everyone.

Then the surgery thing happened, James became clingy with me, at the same time not allowing A to leave the room, and giving the stink eye to anyone who appeared for the first part of their visit.  He'd relax once the playing began, but because we were worried about the arm braces, we didn't leave.  We'd stay and play and chat.

This last weekend, we attempted to go to the movies both days.  And no movie was seen.

James is apparently teething, and over the weekend reached the point where pain was trumping anything.  He and I ended up napping together on the couch because he refused to sleep without me.  Saturday night he was having trouble sleeping, and at 5:30 am ended up in bed with us.

We have a king size bed, but I still ended up with half my rear end hanging off the mattress because someone insisted on snuggling with me.  No matter if I scooted a little away from him, he followed in his sleep.

What it boils down to is that we aren't making any plans for things during the day on weekends anymore.  Well, at least not movies.  It's easy to drop him off with the great-grandparents to play and swim, and we run off to run errands or eat dinner out.  We are a phone call away, and if it goes wrong we can be back to them in 20 minutes.

But for movies, something we both love, another solution has been found, and we are testing it this week.

A babysitter.

James goes to bed at 9 each night now.  So, if we can find a movie showing after 9, have someone here to just put him in his crib and watch TV, then we can still get some time away.

We are testing this out tomorrow night.  My father-in-law is headed over to watch a movie on our TV while we head out to see Prometheus.  If it goes according to plan, he doesn't mind doing this every so often.  We also have a friend of the family who we both love, James plays with, and is saving money for next summer when she studies abroad in Rome.  She jumped at the chance to come sit and earn a little extra money, so we'll see how that goes.

Wish us luck!

Just When We Thought It Was Under Control..

With James being free from all restrictions, one of the first things I did was pull the bin of toys we'd taken away from him last month and return them to him.

Big mistake there.

He is ecstatic at the new variety, and you can tell that he must remember some of them.  He immediately became reattached to some old favorites.

But now our living room is a disaster zone.  Even more so than before.

We are out of space.  Completely out.

So, it was time to invest in some new furniture.  My solution in the past has been book cases, filling walls with them and stuffing everything we needed on to those shelves.  But now the bookcases are crowding us out.  I've actually lost my dining room to them.

Last Friday, we ordered a new media center.  It will be placed on the wall our TV rests on, out of James' reach, and we will be putting everything there: Blu Rays, DVDs, and all video games.  Believe it or not, this will remove the 2 large, 5 shelf bookcases in the dining room, the 3 shelf bookcase on one wall in the living room, and a 4 shelf DVD rack near the TV.

Once those items are gone, the best part of this transformation will occur: I get my dining room back!  Which means the table and chairs we've crammed in James' room (he doesn't play in there, so it made sense months ago) will come out, and his room will gain space as well.

And we are looking at toy box type thing for the living room.  We still prefer him to be with us, so we need something that will hold his things, and maybe have a shelf for bigger items and books.

Does it matter if it matches the rest of the living room?

Nope.  At this point function will beat style, and once he is older and can play in his room then it will be moved.

So, if anyone has any suggestions on the best way to organize the toys, please leave me a message or link in the comments.  This is a purchase we plan to make in about 4 weeks, so no rush, but it has to be the right one because we plan to live with it for years to come.

Once it's all done, I promise pictures of everything.  I'll even get some before shots of the disaster.

Do you have any other suggestions for getting a little more organized?  Maybe an app to help with grocery lists or reminders?  I'd love to hear about those too.  Another part of my problem is that I have a stash of note pads and post its, and they make my desk shabby looking.

Are you in need of help with your organization?  I'd recommend visiting this month's Live Well Lived Panel at BlogHer and taking a look at what others have used and would recommend.  Make sure to join the conversation with your own question and tips - you never know what you might learn or be able to help with!

And of course sign up to win this month's sweepstakes as well!

4 Weeks

I don't know where the last 4 weeks have gone to.  The last month has been a blur, and I am actually happy to be past the worst of it.

It started with James' surgery.  We ended up spending an extra night in the hospital because he wouldn't eat, and that is pretty much where the part of me that was being as tender as possible towards my poor baby realized we would never get to leave if I didn't go towards a more "tough love" approach.

So after force feeding my son, we took him home he following day.

We'd barely gotten ourselves into any sort of routine when my mother arrived.

I was so happy that James loved her almost immediately.  They talked and laughed together, and he was just ecstatic that someone was there to play all day everyday.  His 1 year portraits were hilarious, and there were shots with my mom that I plan to put in his room for him to see.  I'm also tempted to get a laminated copy of the picture so he can play or carry it around with him. 

Mom was only here for about a week, and then she returned home.  At the same time, I returned to work.

Let's just say the first weekend of June was hard.  I was exhausted, James was starting to get frustrated with his arm braces, and A just wanted to get a schedule for James again.

So going in to last week, we were burned out, trying not force James to wear the braces all day, but at the same time needing to keep an eye on him.

Then Thursday, just as James was starting to seem tired enough for bed, I received a text from an old friend.  He drives a truck, and had stopped in Roanoke for fuel and dinner.  When his delivery date was pushed out a couple of days, he realized we might be nearby.  20 minutes later, I have him and his cat in our car and am bringing them home for 48 hours.

So, they left Saturday night.  And next thing I know, it's today.  Thursday again.

James has seen his surgeon and I am throwing the braces out with the trash tonight.  He is free to be himself, chewing on fingers, eating cereal, and just enjoying freedom.

And now I need to finish making a grocery list for tomorrow's shopping and getting life back to what it was.

Wordless Wednesday: 4 Weeks Post Surgery

Mommy Monday

I don't even know where the last 4 weeks have gone. Somewhere between surgery and visits, life just kept moving along.

So here are 4 more cards from my pile.

The first is from my husband's great aunt, which makes her James' great great aunt, right?

"Give plenty of hugs and kisses."

Done and done!

Next, James' great grandmother on A's mother's side.

"Get a nap while the baby is sleeping.  Let A get up with him at night. Ha! It will come to you after a while."

I love that it's perfect and simple, and she somehow let's me know in that last sentence that I'd get it after a bit.

And I have one here from A's godmother.  Actually, technically, she has been the godmother to A's mom, all her siblings, and all their children.

"Remember when you're stressed that Jesus loves you."

This was the same woman that would bless my pregnant belly every time I saw her, and still does that over James' head when he see her.  She is honestly a remarkable woman.

Finally, my BFF, D, who planned the shower while in Washington state, and flew out and took care of everything, including making the cake!

"Rest when you can.  Take deep even breaths to calm you and enjoy each and every stage.  It's all awesome.  I was gonna say drink heavily, but they told me that wasn't good.  LOL!"

I really do love all the women in my life!

Wordless Wednesday: Supervising Daddy Prepping Lunch