Snow Day
All day Friday there was a buzz around the hospital.
Snow. There is snow coming.
While I love my job, working in health care has it downsides. One being that NO MATTER WHAT…we are open. So when the Weather Channel is calling for 8-14 mother loving inches, peeps get worried yo. I have heard in years past of people getting stuck there…not being able to get home. I have heard of the hospital sending out ambulances to pick up employees and bring them to work. People were stressed out about it, rightfully so.
Me? I was off this weekend. Neener Neener Mr. Snowstorm.
However, had I been working I would have been pissing my pant. Me no drivey in da snow.
We woke up early on Saturday morning to a couple inches…maybe 3. It was starting to really cover, and you could barely see the grass sticking through. The snow was coming down steadily and I couldn’t believe it was supposed to keep coming until the next morning. No way, they were wrong…they always are, right? RIGHT? BUELLER?
The boys and I hunkered down to be snowed it. Jim had to work, but we hoped he would get out early(which he did, at about 8pm instead of 11pm). The boys love our slider and spent a good part of the day staring outside. Chase got a little worried after a while, because the “snow ate my slide”
Um, yeah. That’s a LOT of snow. Jimmy was wound up all day, and ran around like the small tornado he is.
I spent my fair share of time looking out the door watching the snow. I haven’t seen this amount since the Blizzard of ’96 which dumped almost 2 feet of snow and ice on my hometown in Southern New Jersey. As I watched,I caught a flash of color.
See her? That’s a robin who lives in the tress behind us. She was so beautiful against the stark whiteness of the snow.
Sunday came, along with cleaning off cars and playing in the snow for Chase. He helped Daddy…
Is it summer yet?
Slow Down!
It is no secret that my 10 month old is ridiculously mobile and always has been. The little force of nature was crawling at 5 months and has been walking since 8 months old. I think that some people my not quite understand HOW mobile he is.
Here ya go. 10 month old Jimmy Jamboree:
A Much Needed Break
This weekend was exactly what I needed. I literally have not left my home since I got home from work on Friday night. Ah-Mazing.
I got to spend some much needed one on one time with my boys. I have really been missing them this week. Last week, while trying to get the house ready to move, I sent them to their Mom-Mom’s on my days off so I could get some things done. It helped me tremendously…but it broke my heart to not be able to spend that time with them.
The boys are loving the new house, there is much more room for them to take over with their thousands of trucks and blocks and balls and pointy things that hurt when I step on them.
They are also big fans of moving due to the boxes required
Jimmy managed to snag the best seat in the house
Then? The best thing that could possibly happen on a weekend when you don’t want to leave the house happened. It started to snow! We had some snow last year that I am sure Chase doesn’t really remember and this is for sure Jimmy’s first real snow, other than the storm he was born during.
The boys stood at our slider and watched the snow come down all day, but Chase was being elusive and didn’t want his picture taken. Stinker.
All in all it was an amazing weekend home with my babies, who are getting so big so fast.
Even my Cullen baby is growing up and now has grown in his front teeth, so I no longer have a baby vampire..
And Chase? He is just getting more and more grown up right before my very eyes.
Onward
Boxes are stacked against all the walls, their destinations scrawled across them in black.
Boys Room
Kitchen
The cabinets are empty and the beds are stripped. For the first time, there are no toys on the floor. Not one. The bookshelves are bare. The laundry room is clean, and there are no clothes strewn around. All of our pictures and memories are carefully wrapped and placed lovingly into more boxes.
Chase turned one in this house, and then turned two. We got the news of Jimmy in this house, and then brought him home to it. This was Tuckers last home. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in the upstairs hallway pacing with a colicky baby, and the rug shows evidence of it. We’ve made countless bottles standing half awake at the sink in the kitchen. So many baths have been given. There is still a hint of one of Chase’s coloring escapades on the wall. Jimmy took his first steps here, and Chase said “I love you”. So many memories.
Moving to a new home is always bittersweet for me. The excitement and new possibilites are mellowed by just a bit of sadness.
We have only lived here for two years, but what a huge two years it was.
Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is for sure one of my favorite holidays. Not only is it the starting line to my favoriteholiday(Christmas!!) ,but it is a carb filled extravaganza that this fatty patty looks forward to all year.
In the years past I mostly concentrated on the food side of Thanksgiving. Well, that and football. This year though, with Chase being a bit older and more able to understand being thankful, I have been trying to explain to him the purpose of the day. He didn’t fully get the point, but he has been walking around telling all of his toys thank you and kissing them. So freaking cute.
This year has brought so many things that I am thankful for. It started out on January 27th with the birth of my baby Jimmy. While I am NOT thankful for 3 months of colic, this little man has brought us so much joy.
I am thankful for every minute that I get to spend with Chase. He is growing up so quickly, and becomes more able to take care of himself every day, even at two years old. He is dressing himself, and holding conversations that awe me every day.
I am thankful for my husband. I am thankful that due to his hard work I got to be home with Chase for over two years and with Jimmy until 6 months. I do not take that time for granted. I am thankful for all that he does for us.
I am thankful to be working, and to have a job when so many people don’t. I will try to remember that when I am complaining.
I am thankful to be moving within 2 miles of a Starbucks on Monday.
I am thankful for the Internet. I have connected with so many amazing people in the last couple years, and am surprised every day at the level of our connections. I have been supported and lifted up so many times, and I am beyond grateful.
I am thankful for my health. While I have some small issues going on, overall I am well.
I am thankful to NOT be pregnant on Thanksgiving. It can really cramp a girls eating style.
Most of all I am just thankful to be able to wake up every day to people I love. I am able to open my laptop and talk to people that make me laugh. I go to work in a job I enjoy and find rewarding. I get to snuggle with my boys and nuzzle into their soft baby necks. I am able to feel my husband wrap his arms around me for a hug.
I am thankful for all of this and more.
14 Days!
We are moving in 2 weeks.
Um. Holy Shit.
Originally we were all set to move on the 15th of December. Would have been challenging, but possible. 2 weeks? Not even close to being in the realm of possible.
I have 5 days off until the 1st. 5! One of those being Thanksgiving, so you know my FattyPattiness will be spending that day stuffing myself with all the yummy food that my mother in law will make. NomNom. No amount of packing will keep me from diving head first into my plate of mashed potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin pie.
So that leaves 4 good packing/productive days off. I am so excited to move, I really like the new house we are renting and I think it will be great for the boys. I am just so overwhelmed by the amount there is to do.
Not only do all the closets need to be packed…but they need to be gone through. I’ve been spending my mornings convincing myself that it’s OK to be donating all the teeny tiny baby clothes. That it’s OK that I am getting rid of the nursery decorations and am redoing their new room. That it’s OK that I gave away the swing and jumperoo. That it’s OK that all my size 4 jeans are being donated because this mama’s hips will NEVER go back to where they were, regardless of how skinny I become.
That it’s OK for them to grow up…and maybe us too.
Not The Same
I love Christmas. I love getting our tree. I love unwrapping ornaments and hanging them. I love Christmas music. I love hunting down the perfect dated ornament each year. I love all the cheesy Christmas movies that are on. I love driving around and looking at lights. I love shopping.
I especially loved the look on Chase’s face last year when he came downstairs on Christmas morning.
We made the Holidays a big deal last year. I was 6 weeks or so from my due date, and we really wanted to make it special for Chase. I’m so glad we did, since I got put on bed rest on New Years Eve and couldn’t do anything with him.
He got new blocks, and has been obsessed with building ever since. (Please ignore my prego-ness)
His Auntie Jessa got him this tent, his smile says it all.
Later, at MomMom and PopPop’s he played with his “cousin” Ammo.
In a very sweet moment, Chase’s Great PopPop played the piano with him.
Last Christmas was special for so many reasons. It was our last holiday as a family of 3. It was Chase’s first “real” Christmas.
Last year four generations of men in our family celebrated.
This year there will be only three.
We love and miss you PopPop D.
I’m old News.
A phone conversation with Chase:
Me: Hey buddy, it’s Mama. Hi Chase!
Chase: Hi Chase!
Me: No, say Hi Mama.
Chase: Hi Mama!
Me: Are you having fun at Jenny’s? Are you playing with Kylie? What did you have for dinner?
Chase: Oh mama, Jenny. Kylie fun. Oh mama, CHICKEN. CHICKEN mama.
Me: You had chicken? That’s nice. How’s Jimmy. Is brother being good?
Chase: Jimmy no chicken. Chase chicken. Chicken fun, Mama. Chicken for Chase.
Me: Daddy will be there to get you soon, Bud. Night Night Chase, love you.
Chase: No Daddy. Stay Jenny and Chicken. Night Mama, lub wu. Lub chicken too Mama.
Sigh. I’ve been so easily replaced.
The one where I get told I’m a bad Mom
Last week I was chatting with Sara on twitterabout my new(ish) job. I was saying how much I like it, and how I am actually really enjoying being back to work full time.
I receieved a nasty email later that day. I’m assuming it was from someone who ran across our conversation on the main feed and came to my blog to hunt down my contact info.
In this email, I was basically told that I was a horrible mother for actually enjoying my job. That I should be heartbroken every day that I drop them off at the sitter where they play with their friends. That being home to do laundry and dishes is more important than providing health insurance for my family. That I should give up all my aspirations of a career because I have children.
I was never sure that I wanted kids. Don’t get me wrong, the boys are my world. I love them more than I can say, and I would never change any of the events that brought those beautiful baby men into my life. But it just wasn’t something I was sure I wanted before they were here. Some young women just know that being a mother is what they want more than anything, that wasn’t me.
Even now I talk to friends who can’t wait for when they can chaperone field trips and be the class mom. That’s not me. I have always been excited about when the time would come that I could return to work full time. That time can a couple years earlier than I had expected, and those of you that come here to support me KNOW how much I struggled with leaving the boys.
I want to be a nurse in 3 years. This is going to involve an insane amount of work for me, and a lot of sacrificing time with my family during the process. After reading Heather’s post this morning, I don’t see how anyone could say it won’t be worth it.
So you know what? I’m sorry if you don’t like that I enjoy my job. I’m sorry if my working full time offends your sense of “womanly duties”. I’m sorry if the fact that I am away from the boys more makes me appreciate the time I have with them more bothers you.
Because it doesn’t bother me and mine, and that’s all that matters.
Silly Little Man
Hoping to make some people smile on this drama filled Saturday!
This is J last week playing games with Mom-Mom when she was trying to feed him his dinner, he has decided it’s a HUGE game!
*If the big play button doesn’t work, hit the little one in the lower left part of the screen, it’s being wonky!*
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