My Favorite Picture of Us

Remember when..

I wrote a bit about (gently) pushing my step son to really challenge himself and face up to some of his fears of the water? If not you can read more about it HERE. I am happy to report that C is now an amazing swimmer and in love with the water. He prefers a pool over the ocean or lake and its an absolute necessity for him to have a pair of goggles BUT we have to drag the kid out. I could not be happier for him.

 He loves jumping in!

 Making waves...

 uhhh what?

He is also very afraid of riding his bike and we have been trying to coerce him into letting us teach him. My husband had him doing little bike riding lessons a few years ago and he was really not into it. It became a battle and he let it go but now C is getting older and really should know how to ride a bike. We are trying to work out a strategy to get him excited about it. So far, he doesn't want anything to do with it.

Having seen the result of his swim lessons that he originally hated but grew to love I wish there was some kind of bike riding class. lol. Any suggestions? 

I have another question...have you ever pushed your child to do something? If so, what were the results?

Also, C is wearing the BEST boys swim suit from American Apparel. Stock up on them! They rule.

For two or five years.

Pic VIA Thehipsterdad.com

Summer is here and we spent this evening going through all of my step son's work that he brought home. We were totally and completely blown away by some of my SS's poetry. The kid is talented! I mean, I already knew he was beyond brilliant, his math and science skills are off the charts but on top of it he is an amazing writer? The kid's good at everything. My husband found a line from one poem he loved so much he is getting it tattooed on him.  I'm saving our favorite pieces just for us (sorry guys, some stuff is sacred) but I found this one writing assignment I HAD to share. C was asked to write about what he would do if he were a Prince and Michael and I were laughing so hard there were tears and some rolling around on the ground (me mostly, but whatevs it was funny). The following is his reply, word for word.

Prince Christian

I would buy a disguise so I could get out of the house without security.
I would buy two lab puppies.
I would help the homeless.
I would buy a bounce house after being prince for two or five years.
I would help people with medical conditions like cancer and disabilities.
I would become an artist and grow a mustache.




because every artist needs a mustache?


Also, this haiku is pretty awesome

Cheese

I very much like cheese.
It sometimes makes my belly ache.
I still love my cheese.

WORD.


One more Haiku...


Cake

Cake, Sprinkles, Frosting.
Slicing, Dicing, and cutting.
Cake, cake, cake, cake, food.


THE END.






Like what ya see? How 'bout a vote?

Happy Birthday C-Monster!!

Happy 9th Birthday to my beautiful Step-Son!!!!

Apple Pickers.

Oh Hello readers. Sorry I have been MIA but life lately has been insanely over the top crazy busy and complicated. Yes, Complicated. I'm not complaining but it is what it is. There for I have been distracted and by distracted I mean totally ignoring all the overwhelming feelings and bottling them up inside.

So for a minute let's ignore the fact that everything has flipped upside down, leaving me shaken and dizzy. We will forget the fact that there may have been suspicions of leukemia in my younger brother (test came back negative...huge sigh of relief), that my mother has breast cancer and chosen to forgo chemo or that Henry's doctor seems to be very concerned at the alarming rate to which is head is growing. Or that at his 1 year appointment we will be scheduling a long list of tests for his hearing/eyesight/possibly swelling brain and we will just focus on the positive. The easy. The simple pleasures of life.


Okay, let's talk fall.


No, I mean Autumn.





Sounds so fancy that way, yes? Autumn is here in new England which means we are in full swing of our seasonal traditions including our yearly trip to Berlin Orchards for some apple picking. We go every year. For five years now. We eat cider doughnuts, feed the ducks, and walk to the very same spot to pick our favorite Honey Crisps.

Pretty much my favorite picture of him ever

I always take about 9 million pictures and it is fun to line them up and see how we have evolved as a family over the years. Oh how it has grown and changed!

2008

2009

Through so much and so may trials and tribulations we have stuck it out and when I said "in good times and in bad" I meant it.

2010

I always feel sorry for people who have convinced themselves they don't need their family. While family may come with drama and burdens to take on and baggage you can not check it comes with so many pros on the list of life. While we are up, it is important to support those who are down so we may have the same awaiting us in our dark times. I'm proud to say I'm a good shoulder to lean on and I am even more proud to say I have some sturdy ones surrounding me.

I don't know what it is about this time of year but it always feels like a new beginning. Forget New Years, now is when I feel ready to keep resolutions, make lists and check off to dos, and push forward.

and each year we apple pick and it is always a bit of a time marker for me. Much like an anniversary it is another little celebration of a year well done, a year stuck together.

While normally I try to be really aware and present in dealing with my problems, in the here and now, I'm going to push them to the back of my mind. Ignorance may not be bliss but the colors of fall, the warmth of a hand held, late night snuggles in bed with homemade ginger snaps, and a pudgy baby in glow in the dark PJs are absolute, pure and strong bliss. So I'll be raising my glass (of warm apple cider) to looking forward, a strong sense of self, and a loving family.

Cheers.



Click below more amazing pictures. My lovely husband put his Iphone pictures on my computer and I swear they are waaay better than mine pictured above. I love seeing the day from his perspective.
You get a really great view of Hendrix and his serious love for his apple. (eye spy major apple chunks stuck all over his face/shirt/entire body)

A Case of The Giggles

The last year of my life has been an insane roller coaster ride. It has been one of the happiest of my life despite the fact that every possible bad thing could have happened to us. My son almost died, I was hospitalized and put on severe bed rest suddenly resulting in an early unpaid maternity leave, my husband was hospitalized and kept out of work because of Gastritus caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria from the stress of all this resulting in HIM loosing his day job which that massive lack of income had thrown us into a shit storm of debt. We found lead in our home and had to battle it out in court only to be evicted from our house and our car was totaled. Now, both my mother and brother are having major surgery all within a month of each other.

There is not a word big enough to describe the stress we have been under.

I'm ashamed to say that Michael and I started to take things out on our marriage. Agitation and frustrations were bounced off each other and we went from working together to working against each other. It's not that we were fighting so much as not leaning on one another for the support we needed.

There was no yelling. or angry words. just both of us passing each other on the way to pack more boxes or change a baby or heat up another crappy meal in the microwave or make another depressing phone call to a lawyer or bill collector or relative...

"we need just one more favor..."

Thank goodness we have such supportive family.

So now that things are starting to fall into place we are starting to push forward.
Move ahead.
Leave the bad behind.
We are back to us.
To focusing on our love.






I feel like we were going round and round and round on some sick Ferris Wheel of stress.

Finally the ride has stopped and my head has ceased it's vertigo like reeling and that awful dizzy feeling has subsided. So I'm ready to relax again.





We have started to relax again.





When you have kids it's like becoming an insta-adult. Instant responsibility. Everything becomes serious and deep and overwhelming and sometimes its just so much.
Being so controlled and having so much you need to control when life refuses to let you just have things your way...well...
The weight of it all can be unbearable.





If only we could learn from children to go with the flow.
Stop trying to hold on so tightly to having control and just let go.
Arms in the air.
Let those feet fly.





Maybe we need to stop trying to be the constant teacher. The professor of life..."

"okay kids this is what ya gotta do and how ya should do it"

Such know it alls us adults.
Maybe we should let our kids lead the way a bit.
There is a lot we could learn from them.

Like how to turn a frown upside down.
How to ignore the bullies in the life.

I'm rubber You're glue...






The other night after a insanely hectic day where every little thing went wrong.
We somehow managed to get the babe into his own crib.
and for the first time in a long time my husband and I cuddled.
Without stresses to discuss or work to talk about.
We just laid in the dark.
Arms and legs intertwined.




chit chatting and shooting the shit about nothing at all.
and then the laughter started.


We both had the most serious case of the giggles.Whispering how unfair life had been lately and how ridiculously, over the top, awful things had gotten at points...most of which have been completely out of our control, for some reason life's unfairness was absolutely fucking hilarious.






and man it felt good. To just throw my head back and laugh. about nothing.
For no real reason other than to hear the deep, throaty sounds of happiness in a dark bedroom.






and after a while we both settled down
and Michael whispered in the dark

"Laughter really is the best medicine"

and it is isn't it?













*pictures from the carnival last weekend. such fun on a budget...more on that later*

Playground Love.

This weekend was full of firsts. Hendrix had his first real playground experience.
When did this happen?
All of a sudden I awoke and there I was a mother pushing her baby in a swing.
Chubby little feet free from the confines of shoes and socks, dangled in the air.
Fat, little toes catching wind between them.

My baby. Blue Eyes and pouty lips.
How did I get here?

I swear this must be a dream.

I could watch for hours as father and son play.
Games of tag and airplane and endless pushes on swings.
Telling secrets under trees.

and my step son?
When did he become a little man?
Long limbs and loud giggles?

This family of mine, it is so full and complex and insanely perfect.
The happiness I get from it is so overwhelming.
Why me? How did I get so lucky?

I've hit the jackpot.