Just Like You

Before putting on her jammies, Molly surveyed what I was wearing. She made sure she picked out jammies that had pants, brought down her crocs, and asked for a zip up sweatshirt. She attempted to watch her show with sunglasses on but they didn't last long. When I slipped off one of my crocs while sitting on the couch, hers came off too - when I shifted and sat criss-cross-applesauce, Molly was soon mirroring me.

She was so proud of herself and announced, "Mama I wanna be just like you!"

Oh Molly, honey, I often think I wanna be just like YOU! I want to have the confidence to stand up to peer pressure in every.single.instance. I want to openly admit my fears without worrying about being judged. I want to take my time without a care about a schedule - realizing that being in the moment is much more important than being on time. I want your zest for knowledge!

And in 10 years, when you slam your bedroom door while screaming (or muttering if you know whats good for you) how much you hate me I'm going to march right up to your room and make you read this post.  And I hope that when you're missing your mama you'll come back here and remember how much I adore you!

Weekend with Theodore

Molly got to bring home Theodore, the class bear, for the weekend. Upon reading Theodore's journal we learned that a classmate's dog attempted to eat him, he went to an OSU hockey game, he helped decorate a Christmas tree, and he was stolen by a classmate's little sister. Nowhere in the journal could I find that he was puked on. Maybe because Molly was the first to puke on the class bear or maybe I'm not the only mom who chose NOT to write about such an incident in the journal. I guess only Theodore knows!

Be Careful what you Wish For

I was moping around this weekend feeling grumpy that I had to go back to work on Monday when I should have been thankful for the two weeks I got off to spend with my family. Well, I didn't have to go back to work on Monday and I'm only going for a half day today because Molly has Influenza A. The smiley girl in the picture has been morphed into a hacking, grumpy, nasty, pukey unrecognizable child. I hate to admit it but I'm counting the minutes until Mike comes to relieve me so I can go (run and never look back) into work for the afternoon.

Celebrating, celebrating, and celebrating some more

I was ever so gently reminded by a loyal reader who is also a dear friend that I haven't updated lately. We've had 3 Christmases, lots of baking, two of Molly's 4 - yes F O U R - birthday parties, evenings with friends, and days sledding since my last post. Here are some collages to detail what's been keeping me from the computer.

 Preparing for Santa's arrival - choosing the very best cookies and putting on boots to throw out the reindeer food complete with sprinkles!

 Christmas morning was filled with smiles, happiness, and granted dreams.

Time with our families was by far the best gift of the season.

 Sledding with friends!

 First of FOUR parties - this one was in Lima with the grandparents and a Candy Land cake.

We spent the morning swimming with friends for Molly's second birthday party followed by lunch at McDonald's and a Barbie cake.

 And the last day of the kids' Christmas break (I still get a few more days ) kicked off with a tea party complete with glass slipper cookies!

*mvh I hope this post suffices*

Refusal

 When the news broke last Friday about the Connecticut tragedy I made a conscious decision to only read about the actual event and refused to watch any television coverage.

And then while Molly and I were walking along the Scioto Mile, it smacked us right in the face. A local news station hung this banner along with sharpies for residents to sign.

Of course Molly wanted to participate but she also wanted details. How do I tell this innocent 3 year old about the tragedy? I was vague and sugar coated - a lot but also let her sign her name.

So maybe when she's older - a lot older and reads about the events in Connecticut I can send to here to see that she, too, wanted to help.

Jump!

We were at a friend's (and if pre-arranged marriage was acceptable I'd be able to type family) birthday party and all the kids were jumping off the stage, well all except for the one year old birthday boy and my soon-to-be four year old. Grandmas held hands, friends cheered, other showed examples, & one special little boy offered to catch. 

You could see the struggle in Molly - she wanted to jump because the other kids were (did the clique if all the other kids jumped off the bridge would you? just run through your mind?) but man that floor was all of 2 feet away. She thought and thought and just when we were sure she was ready to let go she thought some more. And then the time came and she shimmied off the stage without any help - once.

It was super frustrating for me to watch her take so.much.time to process something that she should have freely enjoyed but as I'm typing this I hope she never loses that need to process as I believe it will make her a much safer teenager!

15

Tomorrow we are celebrating Alec's 15th birthday. Its rough being a parent of a teenager. They are moody, messy, grumpy, and mumbling fools but that's only part of the time, the other part you see the adults they are becoming and it was never as apparent as it was the other night.

Mike had bronchitis and pneumonia over Thanksgiving so I needed to get the extra mattress from Alec's room so I could attempt to stay healthy. I texted him to let him know that I was headed up to get it and by the time I got to his door he had the mattress out and carried it to the loft for me. As I was getting my things, he told me to just lay down and he'd get me some blankets and should I need anything through the night to just text him and he'd take care of me. He's going to be an amazing father and awesome husband some day!


Alec - I love you to the moon and back and more than all the stars in the sky. I love how much you love your little sister when most 15 year olds could care less about their siblings. I love your creative nature and am so excited to see where it takes you. I love that you eagerly step up to help when you see someone struggling. I love that you appreciate the little things in life and embrace nature when so many people are too caught up in the digital age. Alec, our family would not be complete without you and I thank God every day that he let me be a part of your life!