Mathematical Mama

Potty training, that is. A week and a half ago I was fed up. Completely done with changing diapers on both of my children, when one was so obviously old enough to not still be in them. Let me back up. I like to think that I'm a pretty patient person, all things considered. I love my kids and I don't lose my cool very often. But even the thought of beginning the whole potty training process terrified me. No wonder JP was so tense about the whole thing. I was dreading cleaning up messes on the floor and, I was convinced, on the walls, in the carpet and on every toy in the toy box. I had horrific visions of him going Picasso on the living room walls with excrement. And forget about going anywhere, whether it be visiting relatives or grocery shopping. I had heard horror stories of children still peeing everywhere after weeks, nay, months of rigorous trips to the potty every 30 minutes without success. We were starting to make some real progress until my daughter was born...

My grandfather passed away while I was sitting next to him. It's taken me over a month to type more than that sentence. I've needed time. Not necessarily to grieve, tho I'm sure that has worked it's way in too. Just time. Time to wrap my head around the reality of the situation. My grandfather hasn't been himself in a great long while. Over 6 years to be exact. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2005, right after he turned 70. His decline was quick all things being relative. It didn't take long for him to stop recognizing me as his granddaughter. He would come up to me and say things like "That M, she is such a good sister! She is so good with her sisters and brother." At the time, I didn't realize I should correct him. So, when I should have said "Grandpa, I am M" I said "Yeah she is!" It felt good to know that he still remembered me, even though he no longer recognized me. I miss the man he was. The man th...

I have been blessed time and again. First with a husband that does everything in his power to make me happy (not that it takes a whole heck of a lot). Then with a son who has been, for the most part, the picture of a perfect child. Most recently, we have been blessed with a perfect, particular baby girl. She is a happy baby, but only when she is the perfect temperature, fed, dry, and in a comfortable position. Let's not forget rested, either. She loves to be sitting up and looking around, even at 10 weeks old. She doesn't like to be reclined in the typical new baby position, which is kind of the go-to hold when anyone new holds her. *cue screams* Today, she broke out into a nice scream when a girl from church kissed her cheek. Who knows if the sound was a little closer to her ear, of if she just did not want to be kissed... When JP was born, we had people lined up to keep him so we could go out to dinner or anything really. Last night, we had an event to attend with my husb...

I didn't have an OBGYN set up when I needed to go in for my first exam. I didn't really think about needing a separate doctor for that type of of thing, so I went to my family doctor. It was exceedingly awkward. The nurse stayed in the room per my request and I ended up kicking the doc (not on purpose) when I went to "dismount". My mom suggested the next year that I see the OBGYN she had been seeing for years. I made an appointment and actually saw her for several years. I don't really remember what she said to me when I asked to be put on birth control. It had a lot to do with responsibility. My mom loved this doc, but even after I was married, she still talked to me like I was a kid. (I was only 23 when I got married, but still) Matt and I started talking about kids after we had been married for a year and a half or a so. I didn't want mom's OBGYN to deliver my baby, so I started asking some girlfriends at work. One office that got a good recommendati...

Tuesday was the day parents dread. The 2 month well baby check up. Complete with shots and inevitable tears for the mommy. Z was a complete trooper. She did not shed a tear when getting her temperature or measurements taken (lil miss gained 3.5 lbs and over an inch in length).  She cooed and smiled when the doc checked her out. She started getting a little hungry right before the nurse came back in to give her the first set of vaccines. I'm so glad the nurse was quick. I remember when JP got his first ones, it seemed to take forever. Like, well over a minute. Z was done within a matter of seconds and stopped crying the second I picked her up. Of course we had to hit CVS to pick up some Tylenol, then back home to snuggle and nap for the majority of the afternoon. I'm not going to get on a soap box and grind down every parent that decides not to vaccinate their kids. It's a choice that we made, and I'm confident that it is the correct one for us. My best friend has c...

Its about that time. My daughter is 2 months old and I have not yet started to shed the extra weight that stuck around after her delivery. Until yesterday. I decided to start the couch to 5k program (c25k) from the beginning. It had been almost a year since I have been on the treadmill. I decided that I was going to kick up my run speed, so I set the walk portion at 3mph and the run at 5mph. When i was running before I conceived Z, I was only running 15 minute miles, but i could do 2 miles at once. I know, barely a run, right? So I thought if I started the program running 12 minute miles, I wouldn't have to kick up the speed as much later. Worst. Mistake. Ever. I only finished half of the workout. Not only that, but 20 minutes after I suffered thru the cool down, my lungs still burning, I schlepped into the shower, almost unable to stand. The rest of the day, I got progressively more sore and unstable. I finally understood the term "over doing it". Today, I'm s...

I wanted to start watching the show Mad Men when it first came out. For whatever reason, scheduling conflict or whatever, we didn't. It recently popped up on our instant Netflix, so we decided to give it a try. I have to say I'm having issues with watching the show. Not because it's extraordinarily old fashioned and based on a late 50's world where guys rule and it's unheard of for a woman to be unmarried and have a career. Nope. It makes me miss smoking really bad. I know, it's completely gross and yucky and everything else. I started thinking about the days before I was married and Mommy. When my husband and I were dating, going out to dinner every night, drinking and smoking with friends and not worrying about the long term effects of such actions. Once Matt and I were married, we tried to curb our habits of eating like crap and consuming alcohol more than once every week or so. The smoking stuck around, however. We started talking about the poss...