Slackers and Slides

I've been slacking a bit on the blogging front. Going through a bit of a rough spot with regards to my migraines and just trying to deal with being in pain on pretty much a daily basis. The good news is that in less than a month I will be starting acupuncture again. I did this very briefly right before I got pregnant with Haeden. I didn't really experience it long enough to know if I will get good results, but it is defintely something I buy into and now that my insurance pays for it, I'm happy to give it another shot.

Keep your fingers crossed, please. It has basically been determined by the "professionals" that alternative treatments are my only hope. At least until menopause. MENOPAUSE? That is not even an option, folks. I'm twenty-seven. I refuse to spend the greater part of my life in pain. Refuse.

Anyhoo, I also refuse to let this post revolve around poor, pitiful me. This should brighten it up a bit:

Embrace the Camera: July 21st

I've been a little lazy with the blogging this week, but it's Thursday and I just can't help but Embrace the Camera! You really should get it on the fun if you haven't already!

This past weekend we headed down to Gainesville. Home of the Gators (Boo! Hiss! Go Noles and all that jazz.). Though we did stop at UF's campus so that my stepson could gawk at the football field and have his picture taken in front of it, we actually went specifically to check out Devil's Millhopper State Park. Quite the inviting name, huh? It's actually a huge sink hole with a miniature rain forest smack dab in the middle of it. I was also led to believe there was a waterfall, but it actually more like a trickle of water into a stream. Although that didn't quite meet my expectations, we had a really nice time and it was quite beautiful. Plus, there were forty bazillion steps leading into the sink hole and therefore I was able to count it as my "exercise" for the day (even though my lunch immediately afterwards probably cancelled it all out). Woo hoo!

Someone was kind enough to take a picture of all of us. So nice!

This just kills me. So sweet and cute! They love their little brother and he is obsessed with them!

That's my little dare-devil. "I do eeeet MYSELF, Mommy!"

"GUFFAW?!"

Kisses!

Making A Difference

I came across this quote today and I just felt compared to share it. It's pretty self-explanatory as to why. I know each of us, at times, feels like we cannot make a difference on our own. How often does that little voice creep up inside your head telling you "Why bother? Nobody cares what you think. Your opinion doesn't matter, it's not going to change anything."

Well, guess what. It does matter and you can make a difference.

"While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. there were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, "It makes a difference for this one."

Embrace the Camera: July 14

My mother-in-law is out living the high life right now. She's traveling through Canada. I'm just a little bit jealous. The pictures she has been sending back have been beyond gorgeous. While she's gone we try to swing by her house a couple of times a week to water the plants and eat all her food feed the neighborhood birds/cats. Don't worry, we don't feed the birds to the cats. That would be mean.

We headed over to her place yesterday after work. It isn't exactly convenient, so we basically have to make a night of it. We stopped along the way for dinner at a local "hole-in-the-wall" barbecue joint. The boys are big fans and while I'm not, we all know that sometimes you just have to take one for the team (in other words, I was outnumbered).

Fun fact: This particular joint actually catered our wedding. That might sound odd since I said I'm not really big on their food, but do any of us really get to eat at our wedding receptions anyway? It was a hit with the guests though, and that's what mattered most!

Anyway, we were the only patrons when we first arrives, so we took advantage and goofed off for a bit. This is what I get when I try to take pictures of teenagers:

 Here we have Haeden "reading" the menu:

And here we are "embracing the camera"!

Ohhh, and on the subject of meat and barbecue, I'm seriously considering switching to a vegetarian diet. Anyone out there know of some quick and easy meal options? The only thing really stopping me right now is knowing that I'm almost always going to have to make myself a separate meal and that's not exactly something I'm excited about after a long day of work. I'd love some ideas if  you have them!

MATMAN!

He's here to save the day! We are buying this kid a cape. Pronto.

Thankful Tuesday: July 12

This hasn't been the best day, or week for that matter. I have been dealing with some crap lately and I'm totally in a funk right now. I really trying not to whine or throw myself a big, weepy, whiny pity party but it's haaaard.... see?! Anyway, these feelings are mostly related to things I cannot really talk about at the moment. Hopefully (oh please, oh please, oh please) it will all change soon. This too shall pass, right?! RIGHT?!

Anyhoo, for now I would just like to say that I'm still thankful. Thankful that at this moment I am neither covered in puke, nor cleaning it. I am not even puking the puke. These are all things I have been doing over the last four days. Also, other horribly gross things. Things we don't want to talk about here, or anywhere for that matter. Except maybe over at Dooce. She's got a way with words, that one.

I got to see my sister, Dawn, last Thursday. She and her family were in Orlando for the week and made a special trip up to Jax to visit with me and Haeden (oh, I'm thankful for that, too!). He was acting like a bit of a turd until she stuck a twenty in his pocket. I am so not kidding. I hope it was just coincidence, but he totally did a one-eighty after that and it was all hugs and kisses from then on. Damn kids today, right?

Later that evening I was trying to coax him back to sleep in his own bed when he turned to me and said, "Mommy, my body hurts." He's been telling me that pretty much everything hurts lately, so I didn't really take him seriously until he suddenly sat straight up and then leaned over and puked gallons of god-knows-what all over my entire torso. I laid there in shock for a few beats before I started yelling for Dan to help. Oh, and Haeden totally laid his face down on my chest right afterwards. Utterly heart-breaking and disgusting at the same time.

He continued to throw up throughout the night and again in the morning when my mother came to watch him for a few hours (oooh, thankful for that, too!). I left work early to care for him the rest of the day and it seemed like all was golden until 10pm when he decided he wasn't really done yet.

Saturday night I decided to join the party. I remember thinking that I really, really hoped he didn't experience the pain I was having in my gut that night. It was truly awful. And worse than that was the lower back pain I had the next day. I had to consult WebMD to make sure I wasn't about to die... or give birth, or something equally painful and terrifying. Who knew severe back pain was a normal flu symptom? Huh.

We are both on the mend now though, back to our usual shenanigans and taking turns driving Dan to drink. Literally. He learned last night that white rum and coke does not taste like Crown and Coke. Nope. Not one bit.

Embrace the Camera: July 7th

Embracing the camera again today! I love joining up with this group for two reasons.

1. It forces me to take more pictures (or rather make other people take them) of myself with Haeden.

2. I actually get (and give, of course) comments on my blog. I would be lying if I said it didn't make my day!

Now, as for the peectures... These are from the zoo this past weekend. I have probably been to this zoo like fifty times (and I realized this weekend that I don't think I've ever been to another zoo, which is odd. going to have to change that!). For some reason it never gets old to me. I just looooove the animals there, especially the elephants and giraffes. Thankfully, Haeden seems to share my love of animals and the zoo is a great way for us to spend some family time together every couple of months.

Checking out the giraffes. They come up and feed right out of your hand. Also, there were like four babies out there. CUTE!

Ahhh, the carousel. This was Haeden's first time riding the real thang. He insisted on picking which animal to ride, first the "elepant" and then the "alliiiGATOR (RAWR)"!

One of the best things about having a toddler, probably kids in general, is how exciting everything is to them. It's infectious and a great way to live life. I love to see the world through Haeden's eyes. It's a happy place.

A Monster in My Bed

I think I may have recently made a really big parenting mistake. It doesn’t seem like there is any turning back now. I'm pretty sure I’ve created a monster. A monster… in my bed.

(this was taken months ago... he must have been planning it all along)

It’s amazing how quickly it happens, too. Google says it takes 21 days to form a habit. I usually trust Google, but this time I beg to differ. It seems it only takes Haeden a about week to form a habit, or less if it’s a bad one. In an effort to put a positive spin on this, I’m just going to go ahead and say it’s because he’s an over-achiever. I’d like to say he gets that from me, but no.

Haeden has never really been a “co-sleeper”. He slept in the bassinet for the first three months and then easily transitioned to the crib. In January he went from the crib to a twin bed without incidence. I thought for sure there would be a lot of sleepless nights with that change but he took it all in stride. We have had hiccups along the way, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary. I really thought we were in the clear.

I was wrong. What else is new? See, last week Haeden started waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. I always hear him when he does this because it is impossible for him to enter any room without making a ridiculous amount of noise. Usually, even though we keep our bedroom door open, he hits it as he barges in and it, in turn, slams into the closet door behind it. This is a really pleasant way to be woken up at 2am. Then he stands next to the bed with his face right up next to mine, clutching his stuffed bear up by his face, and says, “Mooommmmyyy?” in the sweetest, yet most pitiful way possible. I am powerless (and lazy), so I pick him up and put him in bed between us.

Twenty minutes later, when I can no longer take the rib kicks, uppercuts or the sleeping on six inches of mattress space without even a pillow to rest my head on, I scoop him up and put him back in his own bed. This worked great the first couple of nights. Later in the week he'd only go back to bed for a few minutes. I'd juuuust be drifting back to sleep when BAM, there he is again. "Mommmmmy? Up!" 

The fireworks going off all weekend didn't help either. For some reason they frightened him and therefore he slept in our bed for the entire night on July 4th. I'm sure it was very peaceful and comfy and lovely... for him. I'm still walking around with a stiff neck and shoulders. I tried to put him back to bed twice last night.  I even laid down with him in his bed for a while. Yeah, it didn't work.

We'll see how this continues to play out. Hopefully it's just a short phase. And if not? Well, I guess we're getting a king-sized bed. And batman sheets. Whooo!

Thankful Tuesday: July 5

This week I'm thankful for three-day-weekends, barbecues, family-owned pools, handymen husbands, the zoo and, of course, freedom!

And most of all, that crazy little boy of mine. What are you thankful for?