OHNA aka Mary

I just need to keep recording the wild utterances of my son's mouth.

Noah will still nap all afternoon if I let him.  I don't let him because then he stays up really late and can't fall asleep.  We took a trip to a water park this week as an end of summer celebration with some friends.  Noah played hard all day and zonked out as soon as we got in the car. 

True to form, he could not fall sleep at night.  I went in at about 9:30 and he had all of his animals set up in their packs in different spots around the room.  We put them all away and I looked up at his wall.  Normally he has four letters hanging from hooks in his room N-O-A-H.  They were put there before he was born.  When I saw them they were rearranged OHNA.  I asked him if he changed his name to OHNA.  He looked at me puzzled.  I asked what his letters spelled and he said Mary.  I asked him why they spelled Mary and he said, because Jesus' mommy was named Mary.  She was very special and I want to be like her so I spelled her name to remind me to be like her.  

WHERE DOES HE GET THIS STUFF????

We haven't talked about Mary in 9 months, since Christmas. 

The Giant

Being the mother of a four year old is still a somewhat new experience for me.  I marvel every day at just how large this creature is who used to fit in my arms.  He carries himself differently.  He is a young boy.

Along with this new stature comes a new depth of imagination.  Mind you, Noah already has an intense imaginary life full of wild animals that have distinct purposes.  When I come home from work, Noah and his babysitter are ALWAYS playing animal doctor.  Noah pretends he is some wounded animal and acts out that persona, for example an owl.  He hoots around the room and crashes on the floor grabbing a wounded wing until the animal doctor babysitter tends to his needs with his medical kit.  This is the scenario every time.  Sorry Thomas the Train, there is little room for you here unless you are carrying wounded circus animals.

So yesterday Noah and I needed to go on a long drive to pick up something for church.  We took Paul's old pick up truck.  Noah has no memory of driving in a vehicle without power windows controlled by us and he was distraught by the fact that he couldn't open his window.  He wanted me to reach over and wind the window open, which I couldn't do.  I told him he could try but he couldn't get out of his seat.  Yes my four year old is in a small booster with just a seat belt.  Sigh. 

So, after some thought he asked me if we could get a giant to come and use giant arms to open the window.  Good thought.  I picked up my phone and called the closest giant.  Noah watched intently as I conversed with said giant.  I told him the giant couldn't come because he was putting his kids to bed.  He was satisfied for a minute and then begged me to call the giant back again.  I called and pretended the giant was yelling at me for calling again.  I told Noah the results and he looked very sad. 

A few minutes later, he asked me to try one more time.  I called the giant and explained to Noah that he had to stay home because one of his giant babies was sick and needed him.  He said he understood that the giant had to take the baby to the doctor.

Out of nowhere a HUGE pick up truck came racing up behind us.  We both noticed.  Noah got all hyped up that it was the giant coming to yell at us for bugging him.  He looked at me and said "Mommy be quiet for a second" and I did.  And then every time I began to speak, Noah "shusshed" me with his finger. 

I asked ... do we have to be quiet so the giant can't hear us? He said no.
I asked.. do we have to be quiet so the giant won't see us? He said no.

I said, well the giant is mad at us... what if that is him behind us? He's mad at us and he's going to get us!  We better go FAST!!!! And get home to daddy!

He shusshed me again.

I asked why I had to be quiet.

He said... I prayed to God mommy.  The giant has a happy heart because God made his heart happy.  He's not mad at us at all.  We have to be quiet so that the giant's sick baby can sleep.  Please stop talking, mommy, you'll wake the baby.


Silly me.

Just 1 more second, Mommy

Our oldest monster is quite the handful.  He is over emotional and dramatic and wild and exhausting.  He has trouble acclimating both when we go places and when we leave.  He screams death shrills at the slightest hint of any privilege being removed.  It is not a matter of being 4 or 3 or 2, it is simply Noah's passionate personality.  Most times this can drive me crazy.

But just as quickly as he can lose his mind, he can flip his behavior into the world's most loving, caring, and compassionate little boy.  He tells me a million times throughout the day that he loves me so much.  He randomly tells me "you're the best mommy in the whole wide world" for no reason.  He begs for kisses and hugs constantly.  He wants to snuggle 24 hours a day.

Yesterday when we were in the car on the way home from a picnic he said out of the blue "Mommy, were you soooo sad when you didn't have me in your life?" Both Paul and I were caught off guard by this comment.  We smiled, because of course he can't imagine life before him.  I said "Well, Noah, I didn't know you then, so I couldn't miss you, but now I would be sooo sad if I didn't know you"  He topped off last night with "Mommy, please don't die ever, because I need you forever."

Today was a particularly challenging day.  He was all fired up for no reason.  We made it through alive and as I laid with him before bed we chatted as usual.  He snuggled up next to me and held a giraffe in one arm and dumpy (he loves it AJ!) in the other.  I laid there for a minute praying for the wild man next to me and he said "Mommy, please put your arms around me and hold me forever."  After a while he drifted off, I kissed him on the cheek and went to leave.  He turned over, very groggy, and said "Mommy, hold me just one more second?"

I always talk about how sad I will be when the kids grow up.  I am so worried about kindergarten next year that I get sick about it.  But it's not really about the growing up part as much as it is about knowing that I will not lay in his bed forever and hold him because quite frankly teenage and grown boys aren't (I don't think!) interested in their mommy's laying in bed with them and snuggling.  I love every night of this and I love every second he wants me to be there... 

I love you wild man Noah!

Little Miss Independent

Even though Maeve is quite the happy little girl, she is also firey as can be.  She is extremely independent and doesn't want help for most things.  We knew that when she walked we would not be a part of coaxing her, that she would just do it one day!

She has been eating less and less lately and I remembered a friend saying that when she introduced a fork eating improved.  I pulled out a spoon and her eyes lit up.  She was thrilled to feed herself yogurt.  The same thing happened with a banana.  She would not pick it up with her fingers or let me feed her.  I had to put it on the fork for her and she had to eat it herself.  

The bonus side of this independence is that she also enjoys playing by herself for long periods of time.  She can tumble and bumble around the house doing her own thing for at least an hour.  When she starts to get cranky she's tired.  At 14 months she's still taking a long 2 hour morning nap and the same in the afternoon.  Bed at 6:30 and a 7 AM wake up.  Her sleeping is good, but it can keep us home sometimes!  

In any case, here is the evidence of the greek yogurt explosion.  She had a blast and so I did too.  Bathtime for the kiddos!!!

And after her adventurous eating experience she thought she was cool enough to try to climb on the table.  Oh dear.

From 0-60 ... our newest walker

Our little darling started taking a few steps before we went to Florida. Right at about 13 months she would take one step and collapse. It took her a while to move beyond that. Right when we got back, the first week in August, she just decided she was a walker! She crawls very little right now, just generally when she is unsure in a new place. Here she is this morning at church

Tell Me About It

One of my friends posted this on Facebook. It was so dead on that I wanted to keep it so I posted it here so I could log it. It's a little angrier than I feel, but the time quotient is correct! I often feel like I can't take the time to call folks or respond in the way that I should, but frankly, I'm exhausted!!!! I don't feel judged by my friends and family for not doing anything, but I certainly get the guilt about not calling or writing more.

And, I used to think stay at home mom's did nothing. In fact, I clearly remember marveling that one SAHM did not have her baseboard painted 2 years after moving into her home. (this was before I had children). And I swore I'd have a child who colored in public and listened to my every word. Instead, I traded that for children who are wildly loving and incredibly emotional and creative and intoxicating. Pretty good trade if you ask me!

So, if you know a mother, tell her she's doing a damn good job.


From the Washington Post
TELL ME ABOUT IT ®


By Carolyn Hax

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.

Relax and enjoy. You're funny.

Or you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches?


I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head about your lack of mothering ability.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.

Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, ortellme@washpost.com.

Las Vegas 2010- Happy Anniversary!

 

When we got married five years ago we joked about flying away to Vegas and eloping.  Elvis' Wise Men Say Only Fools Rush In was our wedding song and our story as well.  We thought being married by Elvis would be awesome!  But I was also serving a church as a pastor and we obviously believed that being married in the church was very important as well.  We promised that for our five year anniversary that we would get married by Elvis.

 

We stayed in the Hotel Paris. I've never been to Vegas and so I didn't really understand how it all worked. Paris was a huge hotel set up to look and feel like Paris, complete with HUGE Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. The inside looked like Paris streets, there were creperies and Cafe's and everything looked French. It was so neat to see all of this! Each hotel had a different theme and was done up so amazingly in that way. MGM had a lion habitat, Mandalay Bay had a shark environment, Circus Circus had a theme park, the Venetian had gondola rides through the shopping area. It was really fun to see the different hotels!

Our first day we just walked up and down the strip and looked at things. We came back to our hotel and found a little place called Napoleon's and it was a Piano Bar with Dueling Pianos. We settled in and stayed until they closed... it was so much fun! They played the likes of Metallica and Katy Perry on the piano! We liked it so much we ended up coming there every night.

The second morning we agreed to sit through a time share presentation in order for some free gifts.  It was long and tedious and our salesperson was AWFUL but we endured.  We walked away with a free helicopter ride and $75 gift certificate to the casino.

After that was our big wedding ceremony which was awesome and hilarious at the same time!  We were re-married at the Viva Las Vegas Chapel.

It was quite the experience!  There were two Elvises running around and a line of people on a bench getting married for real.  They would just call them in couple by couple, do a 5 minute rehearsal and a 5 minute wedding and the deal was done!  We bought a basic package which included Elvis singing our wedding song, doing the ceremony, flowers, some photos, a marriage certificate signed by Elvis and a copy of Elvis and Priscilla's wedding certificate! It was definitely a little hokey, but we really enjoyed it and could have fun because it wasn't our real wedding.

In our Elvis Glasses post wedding....

We enjoyed some time in the hotel that evening and then we had a wonderful Anniversary Meal at the Paris Eiffel Tower Restaurant which was 11 stories up the Eiffel Tower.  We sat right at the window and could watch the Bellagio hotel the entire time.  The Bellagio is known for its fountain shows and we had a perfect view.  It was a wonderful and special meal:

We took our helicopter ride after that meal which was pretty cheap, but well worth it. We got to fly over the whole strip at dusk and it was so cool!!!

We woke up really early Sunday morning and rented a car from the Hotel (all they had was a swanky cadillac with heated, cooler and massage seats!!!) and drove to the Hoover Dam and the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. I have never been out West and so the whole experience was fascinating to me with the different landscapes and mountains.

The Hoover Dam was very cool and HUGE! I had no idea...

We kept going about 2 hours through dirt roads, the desert, and fields of Joshua Trees to the Hulapai Indian Reservation where they opened a sky walk over the Grand Canyon in 2008. It is 4,000 feet over the canyon and full glass so you can see all the way to the bottom of the canyon. We got to see 2 different sections of the canyon, eat lunch overlooking the canyon, and do a short hike up a part of the canyon. It was absolutely breathtaking!!!!

The funny part about it was that the second part of the canyon that we went to was called Guano Point because there was a cave there that millions of bats lived in and in the early 1900's Native Americans built a cable car to get to the cave to mine the nitrogen and sell it. We felt right at home.

We headed back to Las Vegas with our chair massagers and just enjoyed the freedom of the day.

We were both completely spent and ate a quick dinner, packed, and fell asleep.

The next morning we woke up and headed to the airport... but the best part is that we bought the tickets with a generous gift of miles from Paul's dad and somehow, someway it was less miles to fly home first class than coach! We were SPOILED!!! it was so awesome to have someone filling your drink every 5 seconds and making you your choice of warm meals. I never knew!!!!

It was really the perfect getaway. We were so relaxed and happy. We love our children more than anything in the world, but when you are not needed every second of the day it is amazing to just take a deep breath and exhale. We remembered how fun and silly we used to be!!! And..we realized how old and tired we have become! It was fantastic!!!! We are so grateful to our friends and family who helped us with the kids and for all of the love and support we always get from those who love us!