Babies Don't Keep

The cross stitch on the left was made by my Mom and given to me when my first child, Abigail, was born. When Molly came around, Mom made her a beautiful blanket with the alphabet cross stitched around the edges, but I still transferred this particular print to her nursery as well. Then came my 3rd, my baby boy, Zach. I also hung this print in his room.


It reads:

Babies Don't Keep

Cleaning and scrubbing

can wait 'til tomorrow.

For babies grow up,

we've learned to our

sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs,

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby

and

babies don't keep.

It seems benign enough. We all read it and think, "oh that is so true" and then we go back to sweeping, washing dishes, mopping, folding clothes and shooing our kids to "go play" while we clean. At least I know I am incredibly guilty of doing just that. I suppose my Mom knew this when she took her time and made me that particular cross stitch.

I always feel things have to be "just so" before I will sit down and relax. I think if I can just put a load in the wash, fold that other load "really quickly" then I will sit down and rock my babies. Oh, but wait, let me just dust that end table it won't take long, and take the trash out THEN I can sit...oh but, I can throw a load of dishes in the dishwasher while I am doing that...and then...

Well, you get the picture. Before you know it, they are growing up and no longer wish to be rocked. You have no idea how many times I have recited the above poem as I was vacuuming, dusting or folding laundry. Last night, however, an amazing thing happened.

Last night, I fed and bathed the kids then I cuddled with them in the girl's room as we watched "Annie" (Zach's current most favorite movie) for a little while. We all sang, "Tomorrow" and laughed at how we would never make it as a singing group. I held on to Molly, Zach and Abby and just enjoyed my babies. Then I scooped Zach up and rocked him in the silence of his room. I sang, "You are My Sunshine" (by request, another fave), "Mockingbird", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Rock a Bye Baby" and "Jesus Loves Me" as he dozed in my arms. I put him gently in his crib and went to check on Molly.  I found she had crawled in her bed and fallen asleep without any directions from me.  

It made me think, perhaps these crazy evenings I have with my 3 are really just cries for cuddles. I had a wonderful evening with my babies and was more relaxed and content than I had been in some time. My heart was full. Apparently so was theirs. So I suppose perhaps Mom was right along, those babies just don't keep, but that dust? Yeah, it will still be there tomorrow.

Thoughts

Life has been pretty busy lately. But, well, my life is always pretty busy.  However, I am surprised to find I don't have much to blog about. Or, nothing I really feel like taking the time to blog.


My life is getting ready to change quite significantly in, oh, a week and a day. I am ecstatic. Blissfully happy. You would think I would have tons to tell you guys, but? For the first time in my life I am feeling quite protective of things. I wonder why that is? I guess sometimes circumstances dictate a bit of decorum? Maybe? Maybe not...perhaps I just haven't felt like sharing, I want to keep it all to myself! Lol...


Oh but you all know me...I will soon be singing to the masses! Sharing and perhaps over sharing as the case may be!


I find I do miss writing...so I will probably go back to my normal routine of looking for things that strike me during the day and sharing them with you at night!


I miss you guys and look forward to catching up on your blogs too! :)

A Haircut Incident

So apparently Molly and Bethanie are pretty slick. Unbeknown to Julio and I they managed to secure a pair of scissors and cut their hair. Now we are not sure if they cut each others or their own. We just know that cut their hair. I know, I know, all little girls do it. I know, I know, it shouldn't be a very big deal, overall. In the grand scheme of things I guess it really isn't, however, as you probably know if you have read my blog at all, hair is kind of a touchy subject around here. I think it is fortunate for us that Abby was not home during this incident as I have worked very hard to make sure she understands hair just doesn't matter. 

Here is Molly before:

and here is Molly after:

Yes, there is a common theme of food on her face! What can you do, she is only 3!

Basically she scalped her bangs...she has a tiny bit on her left side, but that is all that was left. I suppose, looking back, it could have been much, much worse.

I don't have any after pictures to show you of Bethanie, but she really got the better end of the deal, if that's possible. She cut a bit of hers in the back, luckily she did not cut the front. We have a hard enough time getting that to grow as it is.

I suppose this is just the first of many fun times ahead for our family! 

What a Weekend!

Want to see how our first weekend blended together went? All 8 of us? Then check us out over here:

http://sosfamilysos.blogspot.com/

This is where we will post a lot more pictures and details of our time together. For those of you that MIGHT be interested! 

American Exceptionalism

I heard the phrase "American Exceptionalism" for the first time today. Apparently its roots are traced back to Alexis de Tocqueville who, when America was about 50 years old, claimed the United States held a special place in the world due to it being the first with a representative democracy. The theory of American Exceptionalism states that the US is very special and should be regarded as such due to its political and religious institutions, historical evolution and the fact it was built by immigrants.


Whoa. That last bit is pretty loaded. I could take this post in so many different directions simply based on how Tocqueville defined American Exceptionalism.  Our country was built by immigrants. Just using the word "immigrant" conjures up all kinds of things these days, doesn't it? Then we have "religious" institutions in the same sentence as "political" institutions. That is a can of worms right there, isn't it?


After doing a lot of research I decided what I think is my point of this post. I think the way things are in our country right now, politically, are very sad. Perhaps it has always been this way and I am just really paying more attention, perhaps it is because I am dating a very intelligent, passionate man whom always gets fired up about politics, perhaps it is a combination of things, but our country seems very divisive right now.  We seem to want to believe, at whatever cost, that our views are correct and everyone else is wrong. No matter what. There seems to be more inflamed tempers, more anger, more division.


I think what is the most sad to me, is that this should be a good thing. More and more people are getting their voices heard, are expressing their opinions, are paying attention to our political leaders and their views. However, we are missing the bigger picture here. We all want the United States, OUR country, to be admired and respected. We all want to live the "American Dream". Is it too much to think perhaps we could once again draw on our common desires and focus on those as opposed to focusing on why the other guy is wrong?


I happen to think America is exceptional. I think there are amazing opportunities for those willing to work hard. Democracy is amazing, let's remember that is why we love this country. Let's learn to respect each other's view points and instead of instantly trying to paint the other guy as a crazed idiot, let's see what he's saying that might just make sense. Let's see how his ideas might actually be very similar to ours and how we can make them work together. If we spent as much time trying to join forces as we do trying to paint the other guy as a blithering idiot perhaps we would remember why this country is so great in the first place.

My Abby

Abby will be 8 in September, is it too early for pre-teen angst? When her Dad brought her home this afternoon she was sulking. She came and sat beside me and just put her head on my shoulder and sighed. When I asked what was wrong, guess what she said? You got it, "nothing". Huh. My Mom radar went up, but I was trying to have a bit of a serious discussion with her Dad so I shrugged it off.


We had to all load up and go run a quick errand.  I would have thought that child was doing any and every thing she could to get me angry. When we got back home she was still just pushing her brother and sister's buttons. When I finally had about all I could take I went to talk to her and found her sitting on her bed, earphones on and writing in her journal. I could not believe the sight before me. She looked about 13. I just stood back and watched her, then I walked away.


A little while later, after dinner, I asked her to go get something out of my car for me, as I was already in my night gown (and I would NEVER go outside like that! *wink, wink*).  She came in the kitchen, put down her journal, where I could see it, and proceeded to go out to the car. Now before you get all indignant about me looking in her journal, know this, after she came back in and I asked her if she wanted to talk about anything she brought me her journal and showed it to me. This is what it read (her spelling as well):

"It's summer now. It's almost over, about to go in 2nd grade. 

Still missing him sooooooooooooooo much. 

If he was here write now I wode say

 I love you and ask if I cud spin the night. 

Grandad I LOVE YOU. 

So so so so so so sad. :'("

My heart is breaking. Abby and Granddad had a very special relationship. I know she misses him. I didn't realize she still missed him so much, but I guess she's just like I am, just like my brother is, just like we all are, there are moments. Moments it is so painful, so raw, it is as if it just happened. I think part of this was brought on by her journal. It is the only journal she has and it is one I bought her when my Dad was nearing the end of his battle with brain cancer. In it we have documented some of her favorite memories of their time together. 

I am glad that Abby seems to understand how writing can help. I am so proud that she sought out her journal and captured those feelings. After all it is what I do, it is what I am doing now, with this post. I want to break down and sob, but I am afraid how long the tears will flow if I do. So I will write. I will hug my sweet Abby and let her know we all have days like this. I will tell her how very proud Granddad would be of her. How his heart would swell with admiration, love and pride at all the amazing things she has accomplished and at the incredible young lady she is becoming. I will hold her a little longer so, hopefully, she will know I am always here for her, always in her corner and always understanding.

Granddads hold our tiny hands for just a little while, 

but our hearts forever.  ~Author Unknown

Our Toy Story 3 Adventure

The fourth of July weekend the kids and I had nothing planned on Saturday so I decided to brave 3 kids and the movies. Molly and Zach had never been to the movies before so I decided Toy Story 3 would be a good first experience that would, hopefully, keep their attention. Now Molly is a little over 3 1/2 so I didn't anticipate any issues out of her but I wasn't too sure about Zach, who just turned 2.

I got online and checked ticket prices for my favorite theater and it was going to cost me over $35 for me and the 3 kids! So I checked another theater in the area (though not nearly as nice, still OK) and it was only $12 total for the matinée! Wow, is that a difference or what? So I ordered our tickets online, assuming it would sell out, and off we went.


I did not tell the kids where we were going (I love surprises, though I am hard to surprise I find it quite easy to pull one over on others!). We arrived at the theater and the kids were so excited! I was right, it had sold out, but I was safe since I already had my tickets.  I emptied out my life savings and bought the popcorn laced with gold and the sodas in the platinum cups (What? They aren't gold and platinum? I really just paid waaaaaay too much for them? C'mon, seriously?).  They were very happy and of course the popcorn was almost gone before the movie even began.


The kids did great. Zach was a little fidgety for a bit, but actually slept in my arms the last 30 minutes of the movie. Molly leaned over at one point and whispered, "that's a really, really, really BIG t.v.!" But the rest of the time she cuddled up with Abby and watched the movie.


I really enjoyed this flick. It has been a long time since I've been to the movies. I really just love the escape. The couple of hours of sitting in a (fairly) quiet, dark movie theater just focusing on the movie. I am hoping perhaps Julio and I can find where they are hiding babysitters these days and venture out to an adult movie at some point soon. It's been far too long. I also look forward to taking the kids to movies more often, especially since I've discovered this fairly (with out the popcorn and drinks) reasonably priced theater.


Oh, and I only shed a few tears, actually. I had heard it was a bit of a tear jerker at the end, not too bad...I didn't think. All in all a really cute flick, but hey, it's Pixar, what do you expect?!

Alopecia, Beauty Queens and Courage

As most of you know, my almost 8 year old daughter, Abby, has alopecia areata. What this means, in layman's terms, is that Abby's body attacks her hair follicles as if they are disease. Therefore, Abby doesn't grow hair very well.  So far it has been cyclical for Abby. She lost it the first time when she was 4, it grew back, then fell out again. Right now, for the first time in about 2 years, she is growing quite a bit of hair, some eyelashes and some eyebrows.

Funny thing about the hair growth this time? Abby actually asked me to shave her head last week. I struggled with it and put it off, without her knowing I was putting it off, and she has since decided to see what happens for now. The really cruel thing about Alopecia? It is unpredictable. Abby could grow it all back, and it might never fall out again, or it might and it might never grow back, or it might. It is uncontrollable and unpredictable and for a Type A personality like myself? Well let's just say it has taught me some very valuable lessons.  

One of the neatest things happened just the other night at Abby's swim meet. She was showing some of her friends this picture:

Now keep in mind, most of the folks on swim team are used to seeing Abby like this:

So, they were pretty surprised and thought it was really cool that she had wigs!  They were so impressed that more than one little girl went up to their Mom and said they wanted to shave their head and wear wigs like Abby. Now. How. Cool. Is. That?  Abby has those girls wanting to be like her instead of the Abby wanting to be like them. Wow. What a lesson. That's the thing about Abby, she has taught so many folks, (and this is what I am told by many people) young and old, so many life lessons.  There is more courage in that little girl's pinky finger than in my whole body. She teaches me something every day. I am so proud of her.

I am also very proud of Kayla Martell (you can find her blog here) the new Miss Delaware. Kayla also has alopecia...and she's a beauty queen. Talk about inspiring. She has said that she thinks she can accomplish more as Miss Delaware without her wig than with it.  On Kayla's blog she says,

 

"My dream is to change someones life one day. I share my story to bring awareness to Alopecia Areata, which I have had since 1999. And I am working to become Miss America one day, because I know in my heart that every girl is a beauty queen, whether she has hair, or not!"

Well, Kayla, you have done that. You have touched so many with your drive and your determination. You have inspired and encouraged my little girl. You reminded her and have shown her, nothing is impossible, even becoming a beauty queen. You are an inspiration and a role model to so many. Keep up that excellent work. You make us proud.

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Have You Seen this Show?

Ok...kind of a bit of a silly post today...but have you seen "Hot in Cleveland"??  It is a new series on, of all channels, TV Land and is produced by Sean Hayes ("Jack" from "Will and Grace"). I would not have known about it had I not happened to catch a commercial on the radio the day it premiered. 


This show is a bit of a throw back to sitcoms from the 80's. It is filmed in front of a "live studio audience", how often do you hear that at the beginning of a show these days? Of course (also a bit of a throw back to 80's sitcoms) the four main characters are played by: Betty White (OMG...I just love her!), Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves.  

They play three women from Los Angeles who land in Cleveland due to plane trouble on their way to Paris. They are surprised to discover how inexpensive and normal things are in Cleveland. They end up renting a house and discover it comes with a caretaker played by Betty White. What ensues is a plethora of funny one liners, mostly delivered by White. It's comedy can be a bit predictable at times, but nonetheless funny. 


I have set my DVR to record each week, after all, it is Betty White!