Lots of Little Stuff

So....the diet has tanked. I lost a couple pounds and have mostly kept those off but the treadmill is now buried under moving boxes. And I'm eating whatever I feel like, which is only healthy about 45% of the time. Yes, less than half. I'm hoping to get back on the wagon once we move into our new home in 24 DAYS! I'm so sick of this tiny little condo. I leave almost shaking with anger every morning ... from parallel parking in the lot to the tiny little space we all have to share which really limits my activities during the all important nap time, I'm definitely ready. And the boys, oh I'm so happy for the boys to have a YARD to play in! Simply.Cannot.Wait.

The move is just about 30 miles north of our current home. And so this requires a lot of changes. Thankfully, our pediatrician has two offices so we'll just move to the one closer to our new home. Tried out my new dentist yesterday. New pre-school has been selected. Goodbye 24K/year. But SO excited for the boys. They will have a huge touch screen computer, super cool teachers, and a splash park in the summer. Seriously, this place has its own splash park! I never thought I'd be the kind of mom to splurge like this, its not like they've been in pricey daycare so far, but this placed reeled me in. And the best part is they can go there until their 12 - summers, Christmas break, before/after school with a bus ride to their elementary school. And as an added bonus its less than 1 mile from our house. I'm in love with this pre school. They start there about 2 weeks after we move, so I'll be driving them into the city, which I will hate. All that time with them in the car, stuck in traffic. I don't wish that for them. So, I may adjust my hours at work for those two weeks (I'm thinking 7 to 4) to get ahead of the traffic. Dear Boss....

I had someone notice my thryoid surgery scar for the first time out loud last week. It's been so long and I hardly even notice it myself anymore, so I was taken aback. But he had had one of those spinal surgeries where the incision is in the front of your neck, so he was wanting to connect about that. The postmaster, actually, when I was mailing a gift to my old boss in Wichita on Saturday. I don't know why I mention it, other than that I hardly ever think about the cancer or the thyroid surgery right now. I need to schedule my next body scan for April, but really, I don't live in fear. I hardly think of it. Its amazing what a difference a year makes! My boss and I will start our fiscal year budget process on Monday. Last year, when budgeting, I was on that crappy low iodine diet and all I could eat was fruit, homemade salads, homemade blank carrot soup, etc. (shiver) I H.A.T.E. that diet!

I decided to splurge for the boys' birthday party this year. Last year, we just had cake with the in laws. This year, they'll probably get two parties. One here with their friends, and one in Wichita with their grandparents. For the party here, I am trying to schedule the "my gym" for just a 90 minute play party - no cake, just juice boxes. We'll have a hard time rounding up 10 kids to attend, since they'll have just started in their new school and we don't know that many people here. I'm actually thinking of inviting some friends from high school who have kids their age, just to have an opportunity to see those friends. Still thinking about that one.

Ok. That's all I got for now. Just wanted to give you an update.

Snow Days

So, the boys and I are home together again, 5th day in a row if you're counting. It's Saturday. And DH is at work, because even though he worked at least 10 hours every day this week (some of those hours at home b/c of road conditions) the ridiculous CEO of his company must have perceived that people weren't really working and so he made today a full mandatory work day. Which totally blows because I was mentally prepared for some much-needed alone time today.

I've made the best of it, and I've enjoyed this time with the boys. But I'm ready for a change of pace. It's one thing to be a SAHM (which I'm not wired to be) but its another thing to be a SAHM stuck inside an 865-sq ft condo 5 days in a row. Thank goodness we closed on our new home on Thursday - now we wait until March to move!

Things started to thaw this morning, so I took the boys to T.arget (big mistake - the road there was a hilly ice rink) and then Babies.R.Us to get a new slide (see pics below). Yes, we need some snow day distractions but we also need something for Will to CLIMB. At least that's what I read online and thought it was worth a try.

Here is a list of things he has climbed in the past 5 days:

1. Out of his crib
2. Out of his pack n play
3. On top of the musical table
4. Up on the baby gate around the tv
5. Up on the outside of his crib
6. Up the front of his dresser (which thankfully we have tethered to the wall)
7. On top of his bookcase and was walking around while his brother all panic-y yelled "dada!" "dada!" "dada!" obviously knowing this was not "ok"
8. And the WORST! - into his high chair while the tray was attached. Yes! he is also a contortionist who can climb up the outside of the tray and then somehow swing his legs around to get in the chair. Maybe he has a future in the circus!

So....I had immediately gone to the web where I get all my parenting advice, and I read that it is healthy to teach them what it is okay to climb on, and what it is not okay to climb on. And since we don't always have daylight or opportunity to get to a playround appropriate for their size, I decided to buy them a slide they can climb. Jack loves it and yells "wee" when he slides down. Adorable! And Will likes it okay. He would much rather climb up the outside of his crib, but goes back to the slide when I say "cribs are not for climbing, let's play on your slide."

As for the crib/pack-n-play situation, I just keep putting him back in. My SIL had this problem with my niece who is about the same age about a month ago, and just one nap time of returning her to her PNP seemed to work. I have only put Will back in his twice in the last hour. He's still awake. I can hear him in there talking to himself, but he's stayed put for the last 30 minutes so far. Last time I checked he was shaking his little puppy lovey over the side of the PNP. Poor little thing must not be tired. And what can you do for that?

I'm trying to do things right. But his sleep fighting has crept into the nightime schedule the past two nights, as well. Worried about him breaking or concussing something climbing out of his crib (even though its pretty low to the ground). I may have to invest in one of those crib tents. I guess I can return it if he freaks out, which I predict he will.

Sucky Day

Snow day today in North Texas. The boys are napping. DH is on his laptop working beside me. And there apparently are no salt trucks to help melt the ice on the roads so everything is closed and everyone is home.

Our house closing has been moved yet again, to tomorrow, hopefully, though no one will commit. Seriously?! What is this, the drunken sailer school of home closings? I'm just ready to be done with it. Read to move and to get settled into our new life. It doesn't help that the boys are home from pre-school cooped up with me and DH in our 865-sq-ft condo. Yowza!

***

My BFF K is suffering another miscarriage. She went to her OB today. No heartbeat. She had told me about the pregnancy a few weeks ago. Scared. Worried about money. She had two miscarriages, then her son the Wy-Guy, another miscarriage, and then miss A. And now this. She declared bankruptcy last year and was seriously sweating the third child and what that would do to her marriage, her goals for the future, etc. And slowly, over the past few weeks, she had to emotionally prepare herself for another child, that even though she considers herself to have a 33% success rate, that this still might be one that stuck. And now that she got herself worked into the place she needed to be. It is gone. Another life ripped from her womb. And another D&C starting at home, suffering at home, before they finally take her in.

She is experiencing every emotion you would expect right now. Even guilt that she wasn't more excited sooner, even though she knows that didn't cause this. And it just sucks. I'm so sorry my friend has to go through this. The emotional roller coaster. The loss of something she didn't even want. But it was there, fleeting, for a moment, a couple of weeks. And now it will fuck with her mind for months, if not years. Along with her other children who have not been carried to term. Very sobering. Even all these miles away from her.

***

Another friend from work suffered a tragic loss this weekend. She had recently gone through a very painful divorce from her high school sweetheart with whom she has a 4-year old daughter. Her ex was accused, and basically admitted, to molesting a 12-year old relative. Now imagine the mind games that will play on you?! So, she started dating this other guy who was a cowboy who rode professional rodeo. He was riding this weekend while she and her daughter were watching, fell off his horse and hit his head on a tree killing him instantly. My friend attempted to revive him. Hadn't she been through enough already? Why did she have to lose again, and have to be there to witness the tragic end? It's such a sucky day.