Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Hannah is Hilarious

 


One thing that Jon and I have enjoyed most over the past 2 years is watching Hannah grow from a toddler into a little girl, and with that, listening to what she has to say. It is so amazing to me to watch this transition. Before you know it, there is a little person with a very mature mind in front of you saying HILARIOUS things.
For example:

"Mommy, God lives in heaven, but you can't see him because he's in the bathroom. Jesus was born in Bath-ra-hem" (I'm thinking she was confusing bathroom with Bethlehem).

Hannah was talking to our old neighbor's children, who were Mexican. They were talking about their parents. The little boy said "Papi works for Comcast". Excitedly, Hannah replied "YOU HAVE A PUPPY!".

Last night at dinner: "Mommy, this dinner looks so yummy! I'm sure hungry! Thank you for putting ice in my milk! I love you mommy" (who are you and what have you done with my Hannah?)

"Mommy you're a squirt gun and daddy you're a woman!" (WHAAAA?????)

At the top of her lungs, "Mommy, that man is naked!" (passing a shirtless, jogging man on the street)

At the age of 2, we took Hannah down to Georgia to visit Jon's very conservative family. We were there for a week, so we were doing laundry and instead of a dryer, they use the clothes line. My bra was hanging there and must have fallen down because Hannah found it, put it up to her chest and proclaimed to the entire family "THESE ARE MOMMIES BOOBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" thank God I wasn't there at the time!

These are only a very few of what I can remember right now. More to come later!
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Funny Nursery Rhymes

OK...I know this isn't very mature, but I can't help myself. Just a little fun to brighten your Tuesday afternoon...
My daughter has a nursery rhyme book and it contains some funny titles. I think it may be a British book or something. Here are some of the funny ones:

WITH MY HANDS ON MYSELF

I LOVE LITTLE PUSSY

RIDE A COCK-HORSE

THREE TEDS IN A TUB

Ok, that's all. :)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Becoming a Mother has Made me LESS Judgemental!

So...just a couple things that have been on my mind in the past few days...sorry it has been so long since I've had a chance to post (does anyone even read this besides crusty?)

I know that last thing that anyone wants to read about anymore is about Miss Brittany Spears, but I feel the need to comment so if you don't want to read...skip ahead :)
Did anyone catch her VMA performance the other night? I didn't watch the VMAs, mostly because I feel that once someone nears the age of 30, MTV should be discontinued...but that's another post. I DID catch news reports that her performance there was awful and so, being the curious voyeur, I watched it on MTV.com. I found that her performance was indeed horrendous. I really believe the she is on some sort of drugs. She seemed in a trace...only doing the movements halfway and lip synching thru the whole song. Sometimes, she even stopped singing altogether. I used to watch Brittany back in the day because I thought she was an amazing dancer...and loving to dance myself she was always entertaining. But, last night, all she did was walk back and forth across the stage pausing once in a while to grind on or be felt up by one of her male background dancers. What's more...and trust me....I AM NOT JUDGING...she was hardly the svelt, toned Brittany of yesteryear. Now, if I was going to be opening the VMA's with a performance, you better believe I would do everything possible not to have a single ounce of baby fat left on my body...or I would pick a costume that would more adequately high said baby fat.


So...here's the part where I'm not judging (because I know that last paragraph sounded a little mean). I FEEL BAD FOR BRITTANY. I really, really do. Being a mother now, I can understand the profound changes that occur in your mind, body, and soul after you welcome that first child into the world. IT CHANGES YOU. As much as you want to fight it, you are not the same person you are before your children arrive, and the more you fight that...the more you struggle, the worse you feel. I can see it in her...her partying, her crazy crotch flashing, the empty saddness in her eyes. She is trying so desperately to cling to what she was...but she's not that person anymore...she just isn't. And she isn't fooling anyone in the process.
What I hope for her and her children is that she realizes that her life isn't over...it's just different. She needs to embrace her new life and make the necessary changes to become happy in it. Maybe that means she needs to step out of the spotlight for a while...go to college...pursue some other dreams. She had the opportunity to do something amazing for a little while, but sometimes it's only meant to last a moment and then you move on to something else. She should be grateful for what she has been blessed with and bow out gracefully before the world she's trying to impress takes everything she has...including her children. OK I'm done now!


Topic 2 on the "No Judging Agenda":
About a week ago, I returned home after work at the usual late hour. My husband and I were upstairs talking in our bedroom when I heard a blood-curdling scream from outside. At first, I just ignorned it, thinking it was probably some crazy teenagers out for a summer drive just playing around. But then, five minutes later, I hear a girl scream "LET GO!" "LET GO OF ME" "I HATE YOU" followed again by another ear-piercing scream. Being the curious chick I am (and still on an adrenaline rush from work...I got to help with a chest tube!), I rushed downstairs to my side window. There were my neighbors...mother and 18 year old daughter...physically wrestling with each other on the driveway. It was apparent that the daughter wanted to get away and the mother was trying to hold her there. The daughter just kept screaming as loud as she could "GET OFF ME!" "YOU AREN'T MY MOTHER IF YOU'RE GOING TO TREAT ME LIKE THIS". "I WILL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!" and so on...
For a second, I debated going out there to help, but then I realized that the mother was probably already embarrassed enough as I'm sure I wasn't the only one watching this go down...
I watched as the mother finally got the daughter inside the house and shut the door. All I could think was WOW, is this what I'm in for???
Here's where the no judging comes in: Four years ago, I was one of THOSE people. You know the one...if a baby was crying on a plane, I would be rolling my eyes and wishing the flight was over. If a child threw a tantrum in a grocery store, I would be thinking what a horrible job that mother must be doing for her child to be acting that way. I swore up and down to everyone and anyone who would listen that certainly MY kids would never ever act that way. And I believed it to the depth of my soul. And then, on April 9, 2004, God gave me the biggest wake up call that I know now I desperately needed. I think He gives us gifts and tasks in life to grow us and to make us better people. As soon as Hannah Banana was born, I knew I had been wrong...and she's spent the last 3 1/2 years proving it to me :) I consider myself a good parent, but here's the kicker...kids are people too...they aren't just extensions of yourself that you can control. They have their own personalities, agendas, and ways of showing emotion. Now I've been that mother on the plane with the tired, hungry, whiny baby...I've been that mother in the grocery store with the tantrum-throwing toddler...and one day, I know I'll be that mother in the driveway, trying to hold on to my daughter and keep her from leaving me in an angry rage.
As mothers, we need to support and help each other. Everyone needs to stop thinking they are doing any better of a job then everyone else. We all have challenges with our kids and with our own selves and we all need to be more understanding of each other.
So, there's my post for today. Tomorrow, I hope I have time to tell you a little bit about Hannah's first day of school :)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Old Life vs. New Life



So, this picture was taken this past weekend at my husband's 30th birthday party. That's me in the middle (with him of course) surrounded by all my girls. It was a great night, filled with all the usual activity associated with parties: friends, music, booze, grilling, bags, tiki torches, tobacco...you get the picture. Almost ALL of our friends, old and new, were there and it was a great night. But what made this night different from all the other parties that we have attended in the past...our two small girls were also there to celebrate. So, of course, being the good wife I am, I let my hubby get completely "happy" while I ran around like crazy all night entertaining guests and kids alike.

"Why aren't you drinking?" inquired various single, childless friends throughout the night? Well, where do I start??? Let's see: My seven-month-old still gets up at 5 am for a feeding, both girls are up for the day by 8 am leaving no sleep-in time for me (especially because I knew my hubby would be completely incapacitated), and I do not have the option of auto-pilot when both kids are constantly demanding me to be ever-present in their very busy lives. :) So, I don't think a hangover would be a smart choice...

This got me thinking of the profound changes that have taken place in my life over the past 4 years. Because certainly, 4 years ago, I would have been the life of the party :) So what happened I wonder? Did pregnancy & childbirth forever alter my genetic make-up to the point that drunkenness is not even appealing? Am I so tired from the constant demands of 2 small children that there is simply no energy left for frivolous endeavors? Or have I changed so much that I no longer resemble the fun-loving, carefree, up-for-anything, girl of my "youth"? I certainly don't feel like that girl anymore...and I wonder if she's just hibernating or if she's truly, sadly gone forever...
The funny thing about the previous statement is that I still consider myself young...and maybe that's part of the source of my angst. At 24 I was married, had my first baby at 25 and my second at 28. I am a 24/7 mom, immersed in diapers, giggling, silly talk, discipline, occasional whining, and the overwhelming responsibility that I am raising two other human beings. Yet, everything around me screams that I should still be out partying, buying cute clothes and expensive makeup, traveling and doing whatever necessary in the name of bettering MYSELF. Because that's what people do when they're my age. Even some friends that I have who are mothers quickly returned to work after the birth of their babies and continued to work on their careers. In this age of endless fertility options, many women are waiting until the very last of their fertile years to have children...and then most of them (80%) return to work and leave the kids behind for someone else to take care of. But I made the conscious choice not to do that...and now I'm really wondering where my place in this crazy world is. Yes, I know there are other stay-at-home moms and yes I know I could join a play group. Sounds thrilling doesn't it??? Another place where I can go and talk about kids the whole time, all the while forgetting more and more of who I used to be. WOW! SIGN ME UP! :)
I guess I'm just stuck in this place...where I'm not really sure which end is up. I will never EVER regret my decision to stay home and be the one taking care of my children and I thank God everyday that I have the opportunity to do so because I know many people do not...and when I reflect back on how much my life has changed in the past 4 years, well...I'm both ecstatic and saddened. I am so blessed with what God has given me...but I wonder if I will ever again feel that amazing feeling of freedom that I did in my early 20's? Why do we only feel youthful if we are partaking in what popular culture tells us we need to be doing? Going against the grain is certainly challenging...but I guess that's a subject for another blog :)