How Do You Measure, Measure A Year?

This picture was taken on October 2, 1994; two days after my son was born. Fourteen years ago. Five-thousand, one-hundred, and ten days ago. A ridiculous amount of minutes ago.

So...why does it feel like last week sometime?

I can clearly remember that afternoon. I'd just given my newborn son his very first bath, so he smelled delectable; all lotioned and powdered and oiled. As most kids do, his bath relaxed him, and he was soon drifting off to sleep, draped across my shoulder. I just LOVED the feel of his tiny little body in my arms, and I was hard-pressed to put him down. After almost two stress-filled, apprehensive years of trying to conceive him, and a lifetime of dreaming about him, I had a hard time ever letting him go.

I loved everything about him. His porcelain skin, his insanely tiny, paper-thin fingernails, with the little pink buds of newborn skin underneath, the mass of jet-black hair that not only covered his entire head, but swirled around his body in soft little tufts. I loved the way his bottom lip virtually disappeared when he slept. And, mostly, I loved holding him, nurturing him, making him feel safe.

It's incredibly hard for me to fathom that that little bean; that adorable little bug resting so soundly on my shoulder, is 14 years old today. He's grown almost man-like, with his facial hair, and his deepening voice, and his height that now towers over mine. But, if I look somewhere in the deep recesses, I can still see remnants of that little boy, that I wrapped up and brought to our home; the little guy my husband snapped the picture of on an October afternoon, all those years ago. He's still there when he's sad, he's still there when he doesn't feel well, he's still there when something's bothering him. How do I know? Because he still turns to me to nurture him, and to make him feel safe.

And I wouldn't want it any other way.

Happy 14th birthday, son.

Yawn.

I don't know why, but something woke me up at about 5:30 this morning. And, seeing as how I have a 45-year-old bladder (that's suffered the abuse through three pregnancies), whenever I am awake enough, well... a visit to the restroom is HIGH on the agenda!

I lay there for awhile, hoping the urge would pass. No such luck. So, I crept up out of bed, hoping not to wake my little one, who, due to some small miracle, had slept through the night. Poor thing -- she's been suffering through some TERRIBLE dreams, which wake her up in such a fright. I was thrilled when I looked at the clock and realized she'd slept through.

I was in the bathroom, washing up, when I heard this obnoxious, blood curdling scream coming from outside the door. It was loud enough to wake my oldest daughter, who was sleeping in her room on the second floor! I bolted out of the bathroom and met my little one in the little hallway that connects my kitchen, dining room, my bedroom and hers. She was crying her fool head off, screaming at the top of her lungs, and making a beeline towards me.

She practically jumped into my arms, and was shaking like a leaf. I held her tightly, rubbing her back and asking her what was wrong. She told me what I'd feared.... that she had a bad dream; monsters were chasing her.

Since we're still dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Kyle here on the East coast, and since it was still before 6 a.m., it was pitch black outside. I brought her into my room with me, and laid her down on the bed between my (still sleeping) husband and me. She clung to me, saying she wanted me to stay with her. I did until the alarm went off -- then I had to go wake up my son for school. This job is normally done by my husband (who's much more of a morning person than I, and doesn't mind waking up at 6:00 as much), but I figured, since I was now wide awake, that I would just go wake him, and leave my husband to snooze a bit longer.

My son wasn't feeling so great last night -- I think he caught the stomach crud I'd had earlier last week. He went to bed with a headache and an upset stomach -- and an old bowl, to put beside his bed (which was thankfully empty when I went to wake him up this morning!). After letting him wake up a bit, I asked him how he felt, and he said "a little bit better". But, after attempting to take a few bites of his morning cereal, he confessed that he still felt just as sick as he felt last night.

I ordered him back up to bed, and called the absence line at his school. Hopefully, he won't have too much homework to make up today. And, I hope even more that he won't be sick for his birthday (tomorrow). That would be the PITS.

I came back from the grocery store a little while ago, and he said he'd taken some Pepto Bismol, and had two pieces of dry toast, and his stomach was starting to feel a bit better. Hopefully, that's a good sign. I know the crap I had only lasted 48 hours. Let's hope the same is true of him.

Needless to say, I'm a tired Mama today. Miss S. is obviously a bit worn down today, too. Maybe, after I come back from picking R. up at school, I'll give S. a nice warm bath and (hopefully) get her to lie down with me. A little snooze might do us both some good.

Wish me luck.

Sometimes, They Make Me So Very Proud

Today was clean the house day. Whenever it's necessary, my husband and I both pitch in to get everything done at once. And, with my crazy "Mom's taxi" schedule last week, my house was definitely in need of a GOOD cleaning.

Here's the difference -- this week was the FIRST week we got all three of our kids involved. Usually, I decline their help, mostly because they typically do more playing than cleaning. But today, I allowed them to do certain tasks, and they actually pleasantly surprised me by getting them done, and doing them well!

My son swept all the hardwood on the main floor, and vacuumed all the rugs. Then he took the vacuum upstairs, and did his rug, his sister's rug, and the runner in the hallway, before bringing the vacuum back down and putting it neatly away.

My little one helped put her clothes away, with a big, ear-to-ear grin on her face! :)

And, I'm most impressed with my oldest daughter, who WANTED to learn how to do the dishes, AND the laundry! Not only that, but she was excited about it, too! :)

I'm one proud Mama!

The Toddler Song (Too Funny Not To Watch!)

*** Disclaimer*** None of the "people" in this video belong to me. This is simply a video I snagged off of YouTube. Also, I'm piggybacking the disclaimer at the end of this video, as well!

To those of you who have, or had, toddlers in your lives... this one's for you...

Sometimes It Pays To Be An Early Christmas Shopper!

I think I've mentioned before that I start shopping for Christmas EARLY. With limited funds, and a large family, putting things on layaway, and getting a jump start on the holidays is essential for me. I don't deal with panic or frenzy well, and the idea of doing last minute shopping on Christmas Eve makes me break out in a cold sweat and start to hyperventilate!

I like to take my time, shop around, look for sales. ESPECIALLY since I have the growing boy child, whose "wish list" has NOTHING on it with a value of less than $50 dollars. I kid you not.

So....

As summer draws to an end, I begin to ask my children what they'd like for Christmas. My son puts his list up on our bulletin board in the kitchen, and adds to it whenever he thinks of something new. Of course, he's not getting EVERY SINGLE THING, but so far, here's what he's requested, and here's what we've purchased:

Gears of War 2 (for XBox 360): Retails for $59.99 -- this game doesn't come out until November, and we may wait until after the holidays are over for this one.
Guitar Hero 4 (for XBox 360) Retails for $150*
Guitar Hero Aerosmith (for XBox 360) - Retails for $49.99 -- we got him this
Unreal Tournament 3 (for XBox 360) -- Retails for $59.99 -- we got him this
Call of Duty 4 (for PS3) -- Retails for $59.99 -- we got him this
iPod (we got him an Onyx MP3 player for his birthday, 'cause I refused to spend $200 bucks for essentially the same thing!)
Rock Band (for XBox 360) -- *Can't decide whether to get him this or Guitar Hero 4 -- they both cost about the same, but we will ONLY get one.
XBox Live 3 Month Card -- Retails for $50 -- Probably won't get this for him.
1600 Microsoft Point Card -- Retails for $20 -- I think my mom's getting him this for his birthday.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (this one's new on the list, so I don't know which system he wants it for, or how much it costs, or if it's even OUT yet).

I also got him some clothes, which he'll probably think is boring, but he needs them desperately.

Miss R. is a bit all over the place with her Christmas list. The ONE thing she truly wants is her own XBox 360 system, which we got for her, as her "big" gift from my husband and me. She's also been asking for Bakugan playsets. She wanted both the launcher, and the starter orbs, which look like this:

Because I start my Christmas shopping early, I found both the launcher and this particular set of red orbs (they come in different colors, you see... each color represents one of the five elements, I believe), and purchased them for my daughter, who will be thrilled BEYOND belief when she opens them. She said she wanted both the blue and the red orbs, so I've recently been trying to track down a package containing the blue ones.... and they're SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE. And I mean EVERYWHERE. My husband thinks that people are buying them and selling them on EBay, which could definitely be a possibility (as awful as that is... to take away toys from a little kid so you can make a profit is disgusting to me), but I've searched and searched, and can't find any more starter sets anywhere. The good thing is, she'll definitely be over the moon with the set she will get! :)

As for my little one... well, she's got me turning to look at the television every five minutes, telling me she wants a different toy being advertised. In a nutshell, she wants EVERYTHING. But, I did ask her, "If you went to see Santa, and you could ask him for only ONE thing, what would it be?", and she said she'd either ask for Mermaid Barbie, or the Peek-A-Boo Petites Barbies. Again... Mama, the early-bird, already has both stored away, and the Peek-A-Boo Petites are a hard item to find, too!

So, I'm thrilled that I got in early on these hot new toys, and that I'm not going to be forced to be one of those parents who has to get up at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving, and head out to a toy store, get in line, and put my name in on a lottery to be one of the lucky ones to be able to purchase these. Nor will I have to scour the pages of EBay, hoping to score a deal. I have these little treasures, all tucked away, ready to be wrapped and placed under the tree for my little ones.

I can't tell you how excited that makes me! :)

Twilight (Darn you, Michelle! :)

For those of you who've been living under a rock, or have just touched down from another planet, let me enlighten you about the whole "Twilight" phenomenon. Stephenie Meyer is a cute, young author from Utah, who just happened to write a series of four books that are equal in popularity, and often compared to J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. However, instead of young witches and warlocks in training, and the Muggles who just don't seem to understand their importance, Ms. Meyer's theme went down an entirely different path of good vs. evil. Her main subject of choice was a family of vampires, with specific emphasis on the "Romeo and Juliet"-esque love affair that develops between a young vampire named Edward, and his beloved Bella.

















(L to R: Alice, Emmett, Bella, Edward, Rosalie and Jasper.)

Now, I know... before you start groaning and throwing things at your computer monitor, I will say I felt the same way when I heard of this series. I couldn't seem to quite grasp how a love affair between a vampire and a human could amass such a frenzy, especially with seemingly intelligent, rational, grown women. It sounded far too much like Harlequin Romance meets Stephen King, and I resisted heading down that path.

That is, until I read my friend Michelle's blog.

She expressed her sheer excitement about standing in line at Borders Bookstore at midnight, with a HUGE group of her peers, waiting for the latest installment ("Breaking Dawn") to be released. I must say, my curiosity was definitely piqued. When I questioned the validity of this phenomenon, both she and our mutual friend Natalie strongly urged me to read it, and see for myself just how engaging the books can be.

So... I succumbed. I went on EBay, and found a copy of "Twilight" at a fairly reasonable price. Since my oldest daughter was back to school, I knew I had a fair amount of reading time coming up, during my sit and wait time before she got out of school for the day. I figured I'd give it a shot. I mean, with all the frenzy surrounding these books, I figured if I didn't like it, I would most certainly find someone who would be more than happy to take it off of my hands.

I started tentatively, still fairly dubious. But, by the time I was 20 pages or so in, I was completely hooked (or, as Bella states, "I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love...").

I devoured the book in just a few short days, and have already purchased "New Moon", the second book in the series (to be put away as a Christmas present from my husband). Earlier this afternoon, I was sitting up in my bed reading while my little one was napping next to me. My husband came into our room to talk, and when he saw how far into the book I'd gotten, and teased me to "read slower", so as not to be too anxious to receive my present!! :)

Late last week, I also stepped a bit out of my comfort zone, and went on an excursion to snag "Breaking Dawn" from a generous Freecycler, and will now STRONGLY encourage my husband to buy "Eclipse" for me, so I can read the rest of the series over Christmas break.

I only hope he's hidden the second book well. I don't know if I can wait that long! :)

And, I may have to take a solo trip to see the movie in December. That is, unless one of my friends from Utah happens to be in the neighborhood at the time! ;)

Just Some General Jibber Jabber

I can't believe how quickly the day's gone by already! This is the first real time I've sat down to read e-mails and check on all of my other computer "stuff" since first thing this morning. For some reason, my computer wouldn't boot up, so I had to leave without being able to check in first. I'm sure I have TONS of e-mails to go through, but I wanted to update here first.

R. went to school this morning, despite still not feeling well. I gave her some liquid Tylenol, and some cold medicine, and sent her in with a note to her teacher, explaining that she still wasn't 100%, and if she really wanted to come home, I could be contacted on my cell. After picking her up from school, I asked my daughter how her day went, and how she felt in school today. I was shocked and more than a little upset to hear that she gave her teacher the note I'd written first thing this morning, and then proceeded to ask her teacher... TWICE... during the course of the day, if she could call me to come get her. Apparently, her teacher's response was, "you don't look that sick to me". Hmmmm.... sounds like someone (or several someones) needs a SEVERE talking to!

S. had her first day of preschool today. She whisked into her room, with barely a goodbye to me (which is always a good sign!). I killed a few hours by hunting around for an MP3 docking station that would work with the Onyx MP3 player I got for my son for his birthday. Sure, I could find TONS of iPod stuff, but it took me three different stores before I found something that I think will work for the "generic" MP3 player I bought. I only hope it works! My husband and I will be giving him the MP3 player as his birthday present, and the docking station is from the girls.

One of my stops was at Target. While there, I picked up three sweatshirts and three pairs of leggings for S., as well as a long-sleeved t-shirt. I also got three pairs of leggings for R., too. I went through S's. fall clothes yesterday, and switched everything out in her room. Turns out, I have a HUGE trash bag filled with clothes that are too small for her! She's definitely gone through a MAJOR growth spurt, and a ton of her fall stuff from last year is now just too small. The only thing she really needs, though, is sweatshirts. But, between the three I picked up today, and the few that I've recently won on EBay, she should be all set for a little bit.

I also found the second book in the "Twilight" series on sale, so I picked it up for my husband to give to me for Christmas! :) I called him and told him that I'd found it, and that they had the third book in hardcover for $13 bucks... and that it was on him to get that one! :) I picked up the fourth book from a VERY generous Freecycler yesterday! :) I'm halfway through "Twilight", and it's definitely very intriguing, to say the least!

S. woke up three times last night, claiming she had bad dreams. I think she was anxious about school today. She also said she had a sore throat this morning, so I gave her some liquid Tylenol too. Sigh. And to think... it's only the 14th day of school!!

N. had picture day today, and I'm praying that his picture turned out halfway decent. I told him it's going to be weird to see his picture without braces! It's the first time in four years he'll be taking a school picture without 'em! R's picture day is scheduled for this Friday (and of course, it's going to be raining all day long.... so her hair should look absolutely lovely, thankyouverymuch!). I only hope she's feeling well by then. It'll be bad enough that she has a total frizz head from the rain... I don't want her to look like death warmed over, either!

And of course, because it's the beginning of school, my stomach has been feeling quite nasty the last couple of days. I even went to far as to cancel my dentist's appointment tomorrow (go ahead, twist my arm! ;), 'cause with my gut doing flip-flops, the last thing I'd find comfortable right now is to have someone's hands in my mouth, and the smell of old fillings being ground down to pulp! Yuck-o!

Well, I'm off to read my 3790809560949708234 e-mails. We're going to have grilled cheese and tomato sammies for dinner, and I think I'm going to whip up a batch of Loaded Potato Soup (a delicious-sounding recipe that one of my friends passed along to me). I only hope I feel well enough to try some later!