Growing Pains

So Faith is getting older and I’m really, very sad about it. (She turns 3 next week.  Boo.)

I’m so sad about it that I’ve seriously contemplated having another baby.  Which is saying a lot because I have been So Done With Having More Kids for at least 2 years now.  I’m NOT having another baby because I remember that being pregnant is hard and losing the weight is hard and nursing is hard and teaching a baby how to sleep is hard.  And then my friend talked about how she doesn’t like the feeding kids baby food stage and I remembered I don’t like that stage either.  And then I watched Parenthood and Christina just brought home her new baby and I remembered that leaky, sleepy, crying, hormonal, chubby, confused stage and I don’t want to do that anymore.

So I’m not having another baby.  Because you can’t just keep having babies because you are sad that your current “baby” is turning 3.  You have to have a Last One, right?!  And at some point just come to terms that your house will be baby-less at some point.

And that you have to figure out how to say goodbye to:

1.The lisping.

2. The sweet, yummy, perfect lips and cheeks.

3. The 36 inch person who thinks they know all of the stuff and are the boss of the house.

4. The buddy that, no matter how frustrating at time, also fills you with joy and laughter.

5.  The running and hugging and yelling when you walk in the door.

6.  The extreme expression of likes, dislikes, excitement (“Mom, I’m des so decited that my burtday is almost coming!”), happiness, etc. 

7-438.  Other really awesome things about having babies and toddler and pre-schoolers in your home.

So, I honestly am sitting down and reading to Faith a little more often than I used to.  I’m turning off the radio and listening to her hilariousness while we run errands.  I’m stopping and putting her on the counter by me and looking into her eyes and watching her face while she talks.  I’m climbing in her bed after we are done with the routine and smashing her a little while longer before I head to my other kids/book/TV show. 

And I’m really trying to remember this quote:

(Except I’m actually crying right now, so I have to keep working on this one.)

All I have to say is having little kids is a joy and I am fortunate to have gotten to have one in my life for 12 years now and I will miss having a 2 year old because it’s (mostly) fun.

Quick Quote

 

Seth, upon observing Jane's tears one day, came up to me and asked:

"Mom...did Jane just have her first broken heart?"

Huh?  Where does he come up with this stuff?

This morning

This morning I woke up at 6:10, checked the weather (36 degrees!) and began to pull out my cold weather running gear.

Ryan and I discussed routes and let Gabe know (awake for his Saturday morning tv watching) to make sure faith went potty when she woke up.

We headed out, anticipating the first sunny day since Monday and anxious to get out and enjoy it. We began to run, talking about a city council issue, Steve Jobs, the great book I'm reading to my kids, the value of general required classes in college. I love talking to him, with no interruptions. He's so smart and balanced and good at expressing himself. Plus he's interested in my opinion.

We ran around our local lake, up hills, through trees, around marshes and next to cute, remote, 1950s looking lakehouses. It was foggy at first and then the morning sun peeked through the fog and lit up the lake and trees. Kind of indescribably beautiful.

By mile 9, I was tired and so we put our headphones in--he finished up "The Help" on his audiobook and I put on my running playlist. As the music played and we ran back into town in the sunshine, I welled up with joy of it all.




Running with a strong body, beautiful scenery, quiet and conversation, a good husband--
I just kept thinking: "THIS is happiness. THIS is joy. I am blessed".



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

September Recap

(Anyone else in complete denial that it is somehow OCTOBER already?)

It has been so hard to get to the computer to blog lately, that all I seem to be able to do (out of guilt) is document pure family history stuff.  Maybe I’ll feel caught up after this and can blog about waaay more fascinating stuff that doesn’t include 29 pictures of my kids and my life.

Onto my kids and my life:

Ryan and Jessica--

The big news for us this month was our marathon.  I had talked Ryan into training for it 6 months ago and I ran some long runs with him and some with my friend Laura,

who was also training.  We really enjoyed having this same goal together.

It was a good, though REALLY HARD, experience.  The weather could NOT have been crappier.  Seriously, I have never run in weather that bad-- Thunder and lightening, hail and torrential rain from miles 8-14. 

Some of us got the time we were hoping for (3:50:56):

And some of us just ran a race without killing ourselves:

Ryan’s sister Betsy and my sister Bekah drove 1-3 hours to see us finish.  Bekah even ran with me and we had a great visit with them after the marathon.

As for future marathons…I’m ready for #3.  For Ryan?  Let’s just say the jury is still out.

 

Emma--

Our stake did a Temple Walk for the Young Women Labor Day weekend.  They left from our stake center and walked to the Spokane temple.  It was 12.5 miles and Emma did every one.  It took about 3 1/2 hours.  I walked the first hour with her and there was such a sweet feeling there. 

She is also ON TOP of school this year.  The first year of middle school really threw Emma for a loop and she struggled with turning stuff in and staying focused in class.  She seems to have really learned a few things and has a 95% or better in ALL of her classes 1 month into school.  I asked her what she’s changed and she said “I just tell myself you can do whatever you want after your work is done and you’ll have more fun because you won’t be worried about school”.  Wise words!

 

Gabe--

This is my Do Everything, Super Motivated by Goals child.  He got his Arrow of Light with the usual fanfare that our stake puts on:   (not super politically correct) American Indians, colored smoke, drums, actual arrows, a bridge to pass over, tears of the eagle stones.  It’s pretty fun for the boys.  Gabe was the only kid his Den leader (who has been doing Webelos for 4 years) has ever seen get EVERY possible activity badge and arrow point.  Love that kid.

He’s really enjoying middle school. He likes his advanced classes and says that he has more friends in middle school than in elementary school.  Here he is with his Theme Island project:

Gabe’s also become completely obsessed with anything football.  Completely NOT following in his father’s footsteps, he reads the sports page religiously each morning, TiVos NFL games and has plans to play football next fall.  Let’s hope those twigs he calls limbs fatten up a little before then.

Jane--

Nothing major to report about Jane.  She is doing soccer, piano and really enjoys her teacher, Mr Stallings (our family’s 4th year with him).  She put together this poster for a farm animal project:

Seth--

Seth continues to be Seth.  He’s been begging to read personal scriptures with me in the morning, so we’ve started that and I’m impressed with what a good reader he is.  He's also doing soccer and while completely clueless about the game, he actually is pretty coordinated.  His favorite birthday gift was an asked-for slushy maker and so we’ve done those a few times after dinner much to his delight. 

Ryan took the kids on a little date a few weekends ago.  They got slurpees

skipped rocks by the river

and got beaned in the head, not once, but TWICE, by their oldest sister with a rock that didn’t get skipped too effectively. 

There was much blood on Seth’s part and worried/sorry tears by Emma and complete incredulity by Ryan that it would happen 2 times in 3 minutes. 

 

Faith--

Faith wins the award for BEST POTTY-TRAINER!!  I knew that when she decided it would be easy and it was.  She was having no accidents and wearing panties at naptime by Day #4!  So exciting.  Here she is displaying the reward panties sent by Grandma Nut:

She is the best, funniest, most talkative companion for me all morning long.  We do everything together and I love it.

Except when she goes to playgroup (last week at my house):

(I love that, too, first time in 12 years that I’ve had a guaranteed kid-free block of time!)

She got her cast off mid-September

and celebrated by dropping a huge rock on her foot that had her limping for a few days.  

The Whole Family--

Ryan and I have 2 very consistent personality traits:  He is VERY frugal and I am VERY rigid in my scheduling and following the plan.  So that is why our Labor Day excursion was so unexpected and so fun.

We literally decided at noon on Sunday to have an overnighter in Sandpoint Idaho and were gone as soon as church got over at 4:00.  We NEVER do stuff like that.  The kids couldn’t believe it and kept saying “thank you!” and “this is so fun!”

We stayed in the little bungalows we’d stayed in for our couples weekend in June:

took walks:

had picnics:

swam in the most beautiful location:

 

played long involved board games:

and went canoeing:

It’s good to remember that there are some SUPER good memories that you can create when you leave the budget and schedule at home, once in a while.

 

This all seems so rosy and perfect (except for the injuries).  It’s not.  It’s just what you get when you only post a few times a month.  I’ll try really hard to post something whiny soon. =)