Where has the time gone?

Well I am the worst, worst, WORST blogger EVER!!!!!!! Sorry for the little vacation I took. Sheesh! :)

A lot has happened over the past several months. Charlotte talks in full and complete sentences and says please even when she's REALLY pissed at me. Like today she was crying her little baby eyes out and said "puuulease mama come with me!" LOL How can you resist that?

And Luke.......(sigh) he is just a gift from god that boy. Such a sweet, cuddly bear. Every single morning he comes into my bed and wakes me up whispering "mommy....let's cuddle, okay?" Even when it's painfully early you have to smile and accept. How can you not?

Here's a little picture of what we have been up to.

I am one lucky duck and don't I know it. Just look at them!!!!! Don't you want to eat 'em? My monsters play so well together (hold on...finding wood to knock on) I can't recommend enough having your kids close together. It's wild at first, but then you have a built in playmate.

What else....oh funny story. We were looking at a zoo magazine or newsletter and Luke was looking at pictures of the flamingos and said to me "Mommy......what do you think that maflingo is doing?" LOL

Another big news story.....Luke is playing permanent hooky these days. That's right, he's sworn off preschool and trying the hole homebody thing. And it's going well! That's the big news. I was a little scared at first......okay, okay I was shaking in my boots (never had them both home all day every day) and now we have our rhythm and I hired an awesome nanny to come like 12 hours a week to help out and things are groovin' right along. I LOVE it, I really love it. I miss preschool and all the teachers and kids and my friends.....maybe he'll want to go next year (crossing fingers).

Well, I am signing off good and tired. Hope you enjoyed the update!

Nest? Wreath?

We were at Descanso Gardens on Sunday eating at their cafe and Luke looks over to the table next to us and sees a wreath they have that is laying flat on the table, used as a table arrangment.

I watch him looking at it and then he leans over to me and says "Mom, I want a nest too!"

Nest? Wreath? Who cares right?

Needless to say I bought one for him the next day! :) How can you resist that?

A beautiful me

November 30, 2006
We have a breakthrough!
Something has changed for me and I am not entirely certain where it begins and where it ends, and this change is so beautiful. I keep discovering a new facet of this new change.
What caused the change? A few things…
I have been getting some counseling at my church. Some of the most spiritual and person counseling I have ever, ever received. I have worked through some really heavy personal material and it has changed me more than anything I have ever done. People talk about a pivotal point in their life, or something shaking them down to the core…this is what this particular counseling has done for me. I am very changed and more me, and completely the same all at the same time. I have a long ways to come (we have awesomely high standards) but let’s not dwell there. The biggest change that came from this counseling is that I am more here, more focused and more living in the present. It’s awesome. I didn't know I was missing this until it changed for the better! I don’t thing change #2 could have happened without this one. I am so lucky to be part of my church and all that it does.
#2. I had my awesome family point out some things they thought I ought to change in my parenting. Can you imagine the courage to tell me I ought to change some of the ways I mother??? I admire them for telling me despite what I might do or say! J Luckily I took it like a champ and really looked at how they were right. Oh how right they were!
Their kind words helped to snap be out of wherever I was, and help bring back (I had it at some point!) a complete and 100% certainty that Charlotte and Lucas are fully aware of what they should and shouldn’t be doing and no need to wonder if they “get it” or not. No need to repeat myself 100 times and no need to expect low standards because of age. So now that we have that in place, it’s time to expect and demand higher standards of them! And lo and behold Charlotte has been just incredible compared to even a few days ago, and Lucas is really coming along and is working through his weak areas.
My brother (technically he is my in-law, but he is more a full brother than anything) Jerrol said something that really stuck to me. He ever so gently and kindly pointed out that I might need to change something if I didn’t know WHAT I would do if I couldn’t send Luke and soon Charlotte off to preschool every day. That I shouldn’t be troubled too much or NEEED to get away from my kids. I brushed him off the first few times he said this, but this last time I really looked at this. Why do I feel I can’t spend all day with my kids? What am I doing wrong here? Why can’t I get anything done when they are home? I decided that he was right and something was very wrong over here.
Wake up call!!!
My have not been getting proper control run on them, I have always entertained them and created their games for them, and allowed them to have pretty poor manners. So we are on day 2 or so of some BIG changes and things are going SO MUCH BETTER! Stay tuned! This second change would not have allowed change #3 to arrive today....this is a very, very personal one. One I am been really struggling with. Only a few know the extent of the stuggle.
#3 I love my Charlotte. I love my baby girl so much – but better than that I enjoy her and I miss my girl when she’s sleeping. I always have loved her, but we have had a ridge, tension – whatever you want to name it - between us, we weren’t in mother/daughter bliss, that is for certain.
She has been difficult, almost anyone can tell you that. I have been stuck on that, “I have a difficult baby” and have lamenting and whined about it. But I see now, after spending two of the most incredible days with her that I should have moved on long ago and enjoyed her in the ways I could have, granted her more beingness for being her and loved Charlotte despite of the fact that she is so different from what I had expected andfrom what I thought I wanted.
But all I really want is my little girl, now that I have figured this all out.
She is just the funniest thing! I have never seen such spunk and LIFE in a tiny body! It is hysterical! She is spirited and oh so smart, funny and the sweetest thing. She has such integrity and is very out-spoken (yes a non-talking child can be out-spoken) and some of these things she’ll need some guidance on (that is if I want her to have friends!) but man she is amazing. I always knew these things, maybe just partially. But somehow they all feel so new. It’s an awesome feeling to be able to appreciate and love her, but sad that we couldn’t get along better before.
But I love my girl.......and that's all that matters.
Not a day goes by when I am not incredibly thankful and grateful for my family. I could not be who I am or have come so far without them.
This year is truly been my best so far in terms of growth. Thank you for being my friend everyone.

Cruising through the holidays

Want to have stress free or lower stress holidays????
Log on to this website!!!! http://www.flylady.net/. I can't tell you how much the program and lifestyle change on that website has helped me.

Last year I did what she calls a holiday challenge to where I followed a plan to be totally organzied for the holdays. It was incredible!!!!! I highly recommend you check out this page in specific!!! http://www.flylady.net/images/HCJ2003.pdf

I just printed out what she calls her Holiday Control Journal. It's your ticket to control and lower stress over the next 6 weeks!

Happy Holidays!

The Sweetie Girl

On days like today I just love being a mom. I feel so lucky to be a stay at home mom. It can drive me bonkers not going out and getting stuff done, things that I want to do but can't, and accomplishing tasks that will STAY DONE (unlike the cleanliness of my home, or the toys staying in their place, or the laundry).

Today Charlotte and I went to go see a personal trainer (for me!) and we worked out together with my two friends and there babies. We had a mini gymboree set up in there, I swear! It was pretty hysterical have our strollers blocking off one end of the room so that Charlotte couldn't escape and then one of us holding a baby while the other did the stairs or crunches. Toys were everywhere, snacks ground into the carpet. Good times! Luckily the staff was really understanding. Thank goodness!

Charlotte was so good, and really liked being there. Her being good and letting me do something that I WANT to do makes all the difference.

And then we came home and sat in our front yard and ate lunch and watched for airplanes (for some reason lots and lots of helicopters and airplanes fly over our house) and she played with some water bottles learning to pour and get wet! It was so relaxing and just plain fun.
Charlotte does so well on a relaxing day. I mean who doesn't right? But rushing really seems to effect her negativly. My mom helped me notice that when I rush or act rushed she acts up, cries, whines, and otherwise is totally unpleasent!! Amazing! It really has helped me (I am so lucky to have all her help).

YAY for days like today! And YAY for my friends that give me such support in the areas I need it.

Current Obsessions

Luke: French toast for breakfast, pizza snacks for any time (before you judge me, they are the healthy kind from Whole Foods) batman costume obession continues, as does the raisin one too. Today he is insistent on getting a visor hat thing. I just got one and he is demanding one so we are going to go get him one today. We'll see how long that lasts.

Charlotte: Isabella's brown strappy sneakers. Charlotte loves them so much she stole them from Isabella's house and has been wearing them for 3 days now.....straight!

Allie: My new friends! I am becoming good friends with Susanne and Irene and we walk 4x a week. It's awesome! I am also obsessed with finding deals and not spending more than I have to. A big step for me. Oh and the book Fundamentals of Thought by L Ron Hubbard. That book is awesome! And my Ipod......I am becoming very dependent on it.....

John: As always.....Luke. And now Charlotte too!!! Charlotte has really become attached to John so in turn John looooooves Charlotte more too. Rootbear floats continue to be one of his favorite desserts, and work as usual.

The girl's first sentence

So I did a mommy No-No. I was at the Doctors office about three weeks ago and said (in front of Charlotte) "She isn't talking very much, is that normal?"
Gosh, talk about insulting. I am surprised my little angel didn't wind up and smack me! Shame on me!!!! Okay but that is beside the point. The great news is..........
She spoke her first sentence!!!!!!!
While I was laying her down to sleep Monday night, I was tucking her into bed and covering her up with her blanket and I didn't have a bottle to give her (I wanted to see if we could cut down on the nighttime bottles). As I was about to say goodnight she asked me sooooo sweetly,
"Where's da baba??"
LOL! I could have died it was so cute. And I said "Oh, I will go get it right now," and ran off. And she stayed in her crib tucked in and waited for me........
(sigh) A good mommy moment.
Oh and she has added probably 15 words to her vocabulary since I told the Doctor. Too funny!

Lookin' out for myself

Okay so there is something I do that makes my hectic, kid oriented life a LOT easier.
1) I made a spare key for my car. So on those days where my kids lost my keys, I can still leave the house on time, or leave a location in an emergency if I need to. It's a very reassuring safety net.
Also, I have been meaning to put a $50 bill in there too. I got this idea from the book Sink Reflections (my all time favorite book on organizing your house and LIFE). This way if you ever forgot your wallet or are in an emergency you can still get gas, tow your car, etc.
That one is next. So here's to always be prepared!

General Update

Wow, okay so I am not the best blogger....... It's been a while.

Since my last few posts Charlotte has started and stopped preschool (what was I thinking?), Luke has become FULLY potty trained (I will save you the details), we have sold our house, paid off all our credit card debt (woohoooo!), purchased two new parakeets (so cute), and on and on....

Batman, I mean Lucas is the sweetest thing ever right now (knock on wood). Still cuddly and more and more verbal every day. This new thing he does is so cute. It'll go like this:
Luke: (asks me a question)???
Me: I'm not sure Luke.
Luke: No....I'm telling you, _____(same question)______?
Me: (delivers a made up answer).
For some reason he either thinks I know everything or needs an answer. The funny thing is that when he asks the second time 60% of the time I actually do have an answer, I just had to think for a minute. Very cute.

Charlotte's vocabulary has doubled, easily, in the last week. She is repeating the same syllables I say, and sometimes even the words. She is saying "byebye, uppie, mama, dada, banenee (blanket), shoes (always said enthusiastically), sockies, wowo (for the sound a dog makes), whass dat?" and so on. New words are a commin'!! (Thank goodness)

Okay so you know how she LOVES shoes? Well if you don't her shoe obsession is just that, obsessive. When she wakes up in the morning AND at nap time the first thing she wants to do is pick out some shoe to wear. Okay so funny story, the other day my mom was sitting down on the couch and Charlotte walked up to her leg, held up her pants and studied her shoes as if to say "Hmmm....those are cute." Freakin' hilarious!

Challenge Day

I was watching Oprah today and her show was about this program called Challenge Day. If you get a moment go on her website and check it out.

It was the best show I have ever watched. I sat crying for the whole hour, huge tears rolling down my face, good tears. Basically 65 high school students were taken through a series of games, drills and sessions where they broke down barriers, learned to communicate with people and see that everybody is equal. People who were once racist, bullying, name calling or just out of communcation with one another were hugging and telling each other "I love you" at the end. It was INCREDIBLE.

Here is a quote from Oprah website:
"Monroe High School is about to undergo a major change thanks to a program called Challenge Day. In one day, Challenge Day program creators Yvonne and Rich will bring together a group of students, from all different walks of life, and help them break down their walls to create a more unified community.Drug and alcohol abuse and bullying in schools are only symptoms of the real problems students face, Yvonne says. "The biggest problems in our schools today, we believe, are separation, isolation and loneliness," she says. "If our kids are feeling lonely, it's not because there's a lack of people. It's because there's a lack of love and connection between them."Another major reason kids are on edge is because they often feel their parents' stress from daily life or frustrations over what it takes to raise their children.One of the goals of Challenge Day is to work past the students' feelings of stress and isolation and help them form a bond with each other. "The kids that don't know each other from different cliques, backgrounds, belief systems, skin color…they're going to come together in here. What they're going to basically find out by the end of the day is that we're much more alike than we are different," Yvonne says.

The more programs we have like this the better!