Mathematical Mama

We just got home from a play date! The kids were completely wore out... Which means a rare moment of quiet for me.  At first, it felt like I was a kid in a candy store.. how do I spend these precious minutes?!  Laundry?  Dishes?  Nap? Knitting?  Catch up on my DVR? Sit in a semi-vegetative state and just stare? So... I'm recording our morning! JP and I were talking about it all morning.  He's in a *ahem* unique place right now.  We have been struggling with listening and not throwing fits when he doesn't like what I have to say.  So...he's a 4 year old. What do you do...? He actually did really well... no fits to speak of. He did, however, throw a cup of pool water at me... from the back. I tensed up, falling into the "furious apology" mindset.  Then I looked at the other women, 3 other moms who have kids at JP's school, and they all continued to chat, gloriously ignoring the fact that I was completely mortified. I relaxed.  This...

I have a birth story for miss Z, so I wanted to document the few fleeting details about my firstborn, before they are gone forever out of my head! So, here it is... JP's story. My pregnancy with him was fantastic!  I didn't have morning sickness past the first trimester (it stopped at 13 weeks on the dot) and I didn't crave anything weird, but did eat everything sour in sight.  Like, bag of sour patch kids with a 2 liter of lemonade...on a regular basis. Which probably explains my weight gain... but anyway... My OB took me off work at 36 weeks due to migraines.  Once I could lay down as soon as I felt one coming on, they were completely manageable. My sister was working at a nail place, so 15 days before my due date, I went to get a pedicure.  Since I carry large anyway, I got asked several times if I was past my due date, or if I was carrying twins or triplets.  Or both. And the owner of the nail place asked me very politely not to go into labor.  App...

My husband woke me up this morning around 7:40 before he headed to work.  I snuggled back under the covers for a few minutes and checked my Facebook.  I admit, I'm totally addicted.  Since I quit my job to stay home with the kiddos, it's my main means of communication with just about everyone.  Anywho, I see on there that JP's school is closed today due to a water-main break.  My heart sunk.  I was so looking forward to the 2.5 hours of freedom after the day I had with the boy yesterday. If my life were a movie, this is the point where the scene would fade out, probably with some cheesy music, and the following would be in soft focus to further illustrate the flash-backiness. Yesterday was rough.  JP was cranky pants from the getgo, screaming every time I said something that he didn't like, or gave an answer he didn't like.  Everything was "WHY?!?!?!?!" Church felt awkward to me.  I felt like all eyes were on me and my screaming kid....

Oh... I had a lovely Mother's Day!  Thank you for asking! (I just assume that's the question on everyone's mind...) Actually... it was pretty good.  We had a last minute change in plans and went over to my Granny's house and enjoyed some Joe's pizza with my father and mother -in-law... I love me some Joe's, for real. The not-so-great part... Z is teething up a storm.  Apparently the eye teeth are horrible to cut.  She has turned into a fussy, needy little thing.  I had kind of a realization yesterday.  I think a few members of my family are almost scared to talk to me.  I can only assume that it's because I'm married to a pastor and I have talked openly about being saved.  It's almost like they are afraid of me bashing their Atheist-ness or trying to get them to believe the Bible. Here's the thing... I try very hard not to be a "in your face, believe what I believe or you're burning in the big fire" Christian.  The Bible says ...

...is hard! For real.  You have visions of every moment being perfect.  Surely my child will never have a blow-out diaper or pee all over himself or talk back or hit or repeat something unsavory. Yeah... completely realistic. Most days are pretty good. Yesterday was not. Z is teething.  The first several teeth were no sweat, I didn't even know she was teething until they broke thru!  Apparently, eye teeth are harder.  She had a fever and was cranky pants all day long.  Like "hold me so I can try to get away, but I'll scream if you put me down" cranky. Luckily she took 2 naps, so there's that. JP was being particularly defiant...It seemed like he kept a mental checklist of everything I ever told him not to do, like putting his feet on his sister, throwing toys, pressing buttons on a loud toy in rapid succession, pushing his sister down, pulling his sister's hair, and did all of them. Or it could just be that I had a short fuse on account of the migrai...

When we bought our house 2 years ago, my husband had visions of turning the finished half of our basement into a home theater, complete with projector screen tv, fridge, and 4-6 easy chairs, on lifts of course! The basement quickly turned into the "playland".  After finding a sectioned baby gate to block both the stairs and the "unfinished" part of the basement, and a super comfy couch, I loved the playland.  JP could play and not hurt himself on anything and I could take a nap before work.  Best of everything, I thought. Now that I'm staying home with the kiddos, I had an idea to split the basement in half with the baby gate, offering a small portion of a room for all my stuff.  A computer, my sewing machine, a table for jewelry making and maybe scrapbooking, and in a perfect world, a comfy chair for knitting.  The kids can see me, they can play, I can relax a little while laundry is working, everyone is happy! In trying to create "Mommyland" sever...

*in my best Bob Dylan impression...which admittedly isn't that good...* I just glanced at the clock hanging over my TV while catching up on my DVR, winding down after another day with my teething, almost 11 month old daughter, and my increasingly active 4 year old son. Some days bedtime is like heaven... I finally get to chill for a few minutes before heading downstairs to start the laundry rat-race again.  I get a little me time... time which moms, whether stay at home or working, rarely get.  Time for us.  Time when we are not needed RIGHT NOW!!! When the little people who depend so heavily on us for just about everything are tucked safely into bed and not trying to break into the cabinets to play with the small appliances, or Andy Dufresne under the gate in the back yard, after taking a hint from the dog. (Yes.  That was a Shawshank reference. And yes, I did use "Andy Dufresne" as a verb.  You're welcome) Anywho... my realization staring at the date on my ...