Someday

My kids are suddenly looking old to me. Okay, so they are only three and five years old, but still-they are no longer babies and every day they appear more grown-up.

Yesterday, it struck me that my little baby boy is suddenly a "little boy." He woke up, used the potty right away and for the rest of the day, he spoke to me with perfect English. Granted, the kid has always had a nice vocabulary because his sister never stops talking. But, it was in the way he was speaking. Nick noticed it, too. The way he formed his thoughts and sentences showed me the baby part is now long gone.

I also realized that Abby, my little baby girl Abby, will be able to go to Music Camp as a camper in five years (four years if we use our higher up connections). Five years? I remember going there as a first time camper and not feeling young. My third year there I had my first kiss (thanks for paying to send me to a Christian camp, Mom and Dad!). Seriously-wasn't Abby just born?

I have always heard older adults speak of how quickly time goes, but I always wrote it off as one of those things that old people say. I am a young 32 and hear I am saying it-time goes by so fast that I feel like I am missing most of it.

I have not been helping the situation but always thinking about the "somedays." Someday, the kids will both be in school and I will be able to work and make more money. Someday, we will finally be done with diapers in this house. Someday, my kids will be more independent and not rely on me so much. Someday, I can have some freedom and not spend my days breaking up fights over toys.

Someday...

What am I doing? My priority should be the now. I have been blessed with these little crying-fighting-complaining bundles of joy. I need to slow down and start enjoying these precious moments that will suddenly pass me by.

The Flu

The flu has arrived. Yippee.

First Abby with her chills, fever, aches and pain one morning. Then I was blessed the next day with the same thing, with the added benefit of chest pains and a sore throat. At first, I decided to try and ignore it. Then I watched the morning news and heard, "If you have chest pains and a sore throat-go see a doctor-NOW!"

Um, okay. Too bad that I dragged myself to the doctor and wasted a $30 copay just to hear "It might be H1N1, but you are not important enough to receive any medicine."

Okay, so maybe it was not in those exact words. But, apparently I am too old or too young and do not have, thanks to Caleb's birthday this month, any children young enough to receive the miracle drug that I keep hearing about. Advil it is.

Thankfully I was able to get some rest while my kids obediently watched a lot of television that day. By the next day, however, my "day off" was over. Ignoring the continuous chest pains and body aches, my job had to continue on.

I must take this moment to thank my wonderful husband who made dinner, helped the kids clean up the house and then put them to bed. And he did all this without making me feel guilty-that is the key.

I also have to thank Direct TV for picking this week to give us all the movie channels for only $2 a month. It was wonderful to lay around and have numerous movies at my command without having to actually get up and place a DVD in the player. Lovely.

And now life must go on. I must pick up my weary body from this couch and start cleaning this ridiculous house. I wonder-are my children too young for instruction on how to clean the bathroom, mop the floor and vacuum? Well, maybe someday.

Win The Battle

I have learned as a parent that it is crucial to win the battle. The long temper tantrums, time-outs and crying fits seem to last forever. But, one must be brave. Ignore the cries of unfairness. Let the neighbors call the police on your house for fear of abuse (because of the sound level of crying-not for actual abuse!). The desire to give in or bargain will be strong, but it cannot happen. We parents must win!

Why? Because we say so!

Oh, and because it makes them grow into decent human beings or something like that.

In today's lesson, Caleb did not want to eat his green beans at dinner. I have no idea why he has such a hatred for them considering he eats anything else in sight, including old pieces of food he finds on the floor of the van.

I really need to clean that thing out sometime soon.

Normally I would ignore him for awhile and then he would either eat them without thinking about it or be excused and not ask for anything else. But, in this case, he saw his sister rush through her meal (which was not difficult to do considering she ate a total of four grapes for lunch due to her sickness-another story for another time). She knew what awaited her-No Bake Cookies that I had made today.

He watches Abby eat her cookie. He watched his dad eat his cookie. He even watched his mom pour some extra milk to go along with her cookie.

(We really did join the gym this week-I promise!)

No matter the intensity of cries, the pouty looks, and bargaining-he could not win. Even when his cries got to the level that made me close the windows (I mean, come on-our policeman neighbor was grilling out next door), we would not budge. Eat the beans=get a cookie. It is not a hard concept.

Even after having the coveted cookie set in front of him on the table, those two bites of green beans must have grown bigger in his mind and he refused. At one point, he took one, sniffed it and set out for the back door to throw it outside. I was relieved when he finally went to bed, seemingly happy and over the whole thing.

However, as I was getting myself ready for bed, I heard painful cries coming from his room. Fearing he was catching whatever virus Abby is currently carrying, I rushed in to comfort him. After laying down with him and trying to soothe him, I asked him, "Caleb, why are you crying?"

His half-awake response? "I want my cookie."

Ha-ha! Nice try young one.

Okay, so I had Nick grab him a little bite just in case he was awake enough to see it-but, he did not wake up enough to understand, so ha-ha! We parents won!

Closeness

While getting Caleb out of the bath and ready for bed he randomly said to me, "I wish you were in my belly, Mom."

Now, I should explain that my little boy has often heard stories of how he used to live in my belly. I explain it to him whenever he gets a glance at my tummy and wonders why it jiggles and has funny lines on it.

Whoever said pregnancy brings about a glow is full of it.

Anyway, whenever Caleb hears stories of living in me, he smiles like he remembers it (maybe he does?) and it brings us closer together. So, I must assume that when he wished I could live in his belly, he was implying that he wishes we could be as close as we could because he loves me so much.

Then again, about ten seconds later he said, "I wish that towel could live in my belly."

And then the moment was over.

Soccer And Nails

Abby is a very competitive girl. I have no idea where she gets it (and now everyone who knows us is rolling their eyes considering Nick and I have been known to fight in the midst of a board game). Regardless, this competitive streak she has makes her a great soccer player. She is very determined to stick with the ball either by getting it back from the opposite team or just by taking it straight to the goal.

I was glad to see that her girlie side is still very strong even when she is playing soccer. At her most recent game, every time she would score a goal, she then stopped and picked at her nails. She clearly had a hangnail that was bugging her because every free moment she had, she was picking at it. It was such a funny sight-the tallest girl on the team, running down the field, dribbling the soccer ball into the goal-then she stops and admires her fingers.

Eventually I went over to her sidelines with fingernail clippers and asked if I could be of assistance. Her response? "That's okay, Mom-I just bit it off and it's fine now."

That's my tough girl.

Death To The DVR

The DVR is ruining my children.

It started out simple enough. We purchased it awhile back, just for our own purposes. It is not our fault that many of our favorite shows just happen to fall on Thursday night. With our trusty DVR, we are able to record everything and watch them on our own time. Basically, we pay a little extra each month for our time-no commercials and the luxury of watching what we want, when we want to.

Yes-we are spoiled.

Until recently, we kept this luxury somewhat of a secret from the kids. When I saw something on that they might like, I would record it and it just "happened to be on" when I showed it to them. I did not want them falling into the trap of thinking they could watch whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to.

You know-like we do.

However, they have become wise to the system. They have caught us pausing the television so we can hear the extremely important information being broadcast over the air to our living room. Is it our fault that they loudly fight with each other right when we are trying to listen to the news or watch an important football play?

We now have a daughter who knows how to work the remote control. I feel like I have lost a little bit of control. And this whole learning to read thing is really inconvenient. Abby can tell what it on when I am just browsing the menu and she knows to press 301 for Noggin. I can no longer "lie" and say nothing is on-she knows the truth! Now I have to be a good parent and just lay down the law?

The icing on the cake happened this morning. I started to run the vacuum while they were watching a show and Abby said, "It's okay, Mom-I'll just pause it."

Excuse me? Pause it? I distinctly remember my mom running the vacuum or needing me to help her with something right when my favorite show was on at its most crucial scene. There was no pausing. I just missed the scene and life went on.

(Thank goodness Saved by the Bell is on numerous channels at any given time on any given day-I can now see the scenes I was missing during my mom's cleaning spree on Saturday mornings.)

It is not just the DVR-everything around them is instant and at their command. Wait to develop pictures? No way-we have digital! Open an encyclopedia to learn about a topic? What are those? We have the internet! Fast foward or rewind a tape? Why would you do that-tape is for sticking things together.

There is no escaping this world of "convenience," but I try every day to slow the kids down. The world is never at our command for whatever we need and they need to start learning it now. I guess I could start by getting rid of the DVR...hmm, maybe not. That would really mess up my Thursday nights.

Bringing Up This Boy

Caleb has been full of humorous things to say these days. Here is a glimpse of some of the gems I have been blessed with...

While visiting my friend Becky the other day, Caleb looked at her wedding picture on the wall and said, "That's a great picture of you!" (He's right-she never takes a bad picture-ever.)

In the same visit, he looked at her one year old, Emma and said, "She won't be a baby anymore. She's going to be a people." While we were laughing at that comment, he continued, "Then you won't have a baby anymore!"

And, to continue on in stories from that same morning, Becky and I caught Caleb picking his nose and eating it. When I asked him why he was doing such a disgusting thing, he explained, "It tastes good."

I will be surprised if Becky ever invites us over again. Seriously.

While in the car today, he randomly asked me "Do girls have penises?"

(What is up with this boy and he fascination with this particular body part?)

When I answered, "No," he then asked me if I have one.

(Do I look like a boy to anyone else?)

After answering "No" to that question as well, he then asked about butts.

At this point I was dying for adult conversation.

I explained that everyone has butts and he said, "Good, because I like butts."

You can imagine my delight when Abby was finally in the car with us and our conversation switched to stories from school and her desire for a new doll.

Happy 5th Birthday, Abigail!

Happy 5th Birthday to my little girl! Not to repeat myself from my previous blog to Caleb, but seriously-how is time going this fast? Yes, Abby, you are my oldest child and yes, you think you know absolutely everything-but, still, you are my little girl.

You bring such joy to those around you. Your smile lights up a room and when you really start laughing, one cannot help but join in. And when you cry, the same.

I am so proud of you. The things you are learning are amazing to me. You seem to take in everything around you and never forget one bit of it. Your Daddy is in for trouble-he now has two girls in the house who remember everything-and I mean everything.

It has been a joy watching you play soccer this year. I cannot decide on my favorite moment of each game-I am torn between the joy that lights up your face every time you score a goal or the immediate glance to us that you give every time, just to make sure we did not miss it.

Trust me-we never miss a thing.

I do have a bone to pick with you...very kind bridesmaids did a lovely job on my make-up at your Aunt Amy's wedding the other day. However, when you walked down the aisle as the Flower Girl, you pretty much ruined my eye make-up. Really, did you have to look so beautiful? My mind immediately flashed to 20 years from now and you walking down the aisle to the man you will marry someday.

Speaking of which, I pray for this man already. Wait for him-I promise it will be worth it.

Okay, so you are only five right now-but these five years have gone by so fast that my mind cannot help but look to the future. It will be here before I know it.

In the meantime, continue to be kind to others (including your brother) and hold on to that joy for as long as you can. Keep singing your songs to Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

I love you, Abigail Grace.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Caleb!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful son! I cannot believe you are three years old today-I guess I should stop calling you my baby boy now. But, I won't.

My favorite things about you...

-You love to laugh and make jokes. When you throw your head back with a really, big laugh-it brings joy to those around you. You are always looking for goofy things to do or say at the most random times.

-You give the best hugs and kisses. Even at your big boy age, you never miss the chance to sit and snuggle with us. You even give your sister hugs and kisses-we'll see how long that lasts.

-You love your extended family. It makes me proud when you give all our family members big smiles and hugs, even when you have not seen some of them in awhile.

-I am so proud of you this past weekend for being such a good Ring Bearer in your Aunt Amy's wedding. You held my hand and calmly walked (not ran) down the aisle. Sure, you took your tuxedo jacket off and threw down the ring pillow ahead of time, but still-you walked with determination toward the lollipop that was waiting with Grandma. You still brought tears to my eyes.

-You are so content to just sit and play. You could stay home all day and never need a thing but your cars and trains (and food). I know having a big sister who we have to take to school every day gets in your way of your desire for staying home, but you are such a trooper. Thank you for going with the flow and not crying every time we leave.

I could go on and on about my love for you, but by the time you are old enough to read this, you will already be rolling your eyes and saying, "Oh, mom." I can accept that. So, on this day, your 3rd birthday, let me just say I love you and I always will.