Did I Shave My Legs For This?

Friday morning, I got all prim and proper to meet my new doctor. No, not one of THOSE doctors, just a general medical doctor. One that I can go to when I get the sniffles and such. But since I haven't had a basic check up in a year or more, I couldn't remember what might need to be groomed - legs, pits, etc.

After arriving on time (which is a miracle in itself), I was forced to wait the standard one hour for medical care. Good thing I wasn't dying! But here's the catch, the doc was in and out in a matter of .5 seconds. I sat stunned at the speed of service... and the lack of service... and with the lingering thought Did I shave my legs for this?

Call me a stickler, but what about bedside manner, what about introductions, what about my general check up? I left a prescription, but not sure what was even wrong. Is it too much to ask for a little communication? Why is it that doctors seem to lack this capacity? It's as if you get a degree and white coat and your since of humanity and compassion goes out the window. (Yes, I know theses statements are over generalized because I have had some great doctors and know some great doctors as well. But I'm talking about the whole of my medical experiences.)

It's a Saturday Morning Thing

Growing up, pancakes were a Sunday morning special around our house. My dad made them every week like clockwork. Always delicious. But I can't quit figure it out. I mean, Sunday mornings are pure chaos usually ending in me fussing about never being to church on time. How did he do it with three of us. Three girls too...

We've (unofficially) continued the tradition. Although we've altered the day so that it is a more pleasurable experience for me. It's become a Saturday morning thing alternating between pancakes and waffles - it's all in the same food group, right?

Thanks Dad for giving me another thing to pass along!

My Little Matchmaker

It's a small minor detail that Jamie and I had it out this morning. I felt awful since Aiden was sitting right there the entire time. Not a common practice since we hardly ever fight. Sorry sweet Aiden! Very soon afterwards, he runs up to me with big puckered up lips for a kiss. Then he says Now take that kiss and give it to Daddy.

Kinda insightful for a little guy.

Guess I still owe Jamie that kiss... and maybe a sorry to go with it. Maybe, just maybe.

We Have Arrived...

Well, our diligence and determination is finally paying off. Tonight we put Aiden to bed early for no other reason than to watch a movie. Before now that would have never happened! So, congrats to us!! Now, may we stop surfing the net and watch that movie...

Snow Day

It's pretty amazing to get snow, especially here in Eastern North Carolina, and especially anything more than a dusting. But 4 inches or so later, we're making snow angels and launching snow balls attacks. Aiden's school was closed again so I took the day off to keep him company. Hey, it's not everyday that it snows around here!

Signs of Camera Over Use

There's this...

then there's this...
and this is new...

But I did manage this...

Lazy Sunday

This weekend has been fairly uneventful but we've managed to keep ourselves very busy. Last night we braved the cold and went stargazing. It was a fairly clear night, so we were able to see Venus, Orion's Belt, and the Andromeda galaxy. It didn't top seeing Saturn and it's rings like last time, but still very cool! And very cold! Burr...

So, after church and finishing up a few chores, we decided to take it easy. Well, Aiden and myself. Jamie had to head to work. We snuggled up on the couch and watched Space Chimps on the new Blu Ray. Cute movie by the way!

Played a little Marbles with Dad

And baked a cake together - yum!

Must have been okay...

Progress on Project 365

I thought I'd give you an update on my experiences so far with Project 365: A Year's Journey. I've enjoyed the purpose it's given over the last 10 or so odd days. It reminds me to look for something unique in each day and to capture it. I've also had the camera out a lot more which is exciting because I'm willing to try new shots or angles without worry to how they will all finish up. When your taking pictures at a wedding or birthday party, there's a pressure that every picture be perfect in order to capture the essence of it all. But with this, there's no pressure. No requirement to even take a picture of anything of importance. And that's made it fun!

Now... it's hard to remember to take a picture at least once a day, especially when you spend 9 hours a day in a tiny little office staring at either a babbling client or a stark black keyboard. Kinda limiting... Then there's the weather... It's cold and only getting colder. So, yes, right now you are practically getting the tour of my home or random things I come across along the way. Hopefully, once the days are longer and the weather's warmer, we'll be outside and I can capture more. Then there was this week's delay. What can I say? It's been busy and I'm keeping a kick-butt Super Nanny bedtime schedule... So, I tried to post pictures to reflect the last two days. Oh well, I'm not perfect... But I'm sticking with it. We shall see where it all leads.

Our Hike In Pictures

For our Saturday hike, we grabbed the boy

(I hope you recongized the much needed hair cut. We call him Sprout now)

...and our cameras to see what treasures we could find.

It's interesting to see what each of us photographed along our adventure.

A bird's eye view

Aiden's photo

The river

(okay, stream... or whatever you want to call it)
'Water running over rocks'

Jamie's photo

That's twisted...

My photo

Ever Wondered What a 4 Year Old Photographs?

Okay, I'll admit it. Last year (yes, nearly a full year ago) we gave Aiden one of those kiddy digital cameras for his birthday - basically so he'd stop playing with ours. And a full year later, we finally downloaded the pictuers from that sucker. Ever wondered what a four year old finds ever so incredibly valuable to photograph? Let me share...

Note: All things completely weird, blurred out, blank, or of my carpet stains were trashed. These are posted in no particular order.

Grandma's wall plant.

You can see here, he's added some finishing touches with a snow man.

Um, shoes, of the Cars variety.

The Batcave, take 1 of 74...

Holy rusted metal, Batman.

A close up.

I think he's going to be a legs man. This wasn't his only shot of 'em...

Umm, another shoe.

A photographer and model in the making.

I [Heart] Super Nanny

Friday night and where am I? It's probably the only night of the week that I actually catch a little TV action and wouldn't you know I'm watching a parenting show... A sure sign of age. The show of choice? Super Nanny. What can I say, she gives me hope. No, wait. Maybe it's not her alone but the changes you see in the families. And to be honest, I see Aiden, and even myself, in many of those situation and almost feel normal for a change.

I don't know if it's by choice or maybe it's the nature of our professions that gives way to a tendency for chaos and limited organization in our household. I might not have mentioned before but I'm a social worker with unpredictable clients, to say the least, and Jamie's in the restaurant business. But either way, it always feels like it's there - maybe behind the scenes or in most cases, right in your face.

I still wonder how it is that families do it? We have one and well, it's pure madness at times. What do you do with two, three, four, or five? And to be honest, like really honest, people ask all the time why we don't have more. While I don't say this, I'm thinking if I can't get it right with one, how am I ever going to get it right with more than one? Screwing up one kid's life at a time is about the most I'm willing to take on at a time right now! In reality, I know that it is not like this. People that are close, and would never lie to me..., tell me what a great job we're doing. But don't you feel like it sometimes when you finally just lose it or even when you just have to force yourself to put on a smile and read the same. exact. transformers. book. again. for the zillionth time.

But this week I'm going to take on one of the most classical Super Nanny issues - bedtime. I'm exhausted by Aiden's exhaustion. From birth, he was never been a great sleeper. And although we're in a routine, it doesn't give Aiden the amount of sleep he needs. The kid has unbelievable determination when it comes to staying up at night. No joke, he literally holds his eyes open, physically with his fingers, pulling at his eyelids so that they do not close - God fearing that he might actually sleep and give me a moments peace. Is this so normal??

So, I'm shaking things up and making them right. My goals: Early to bed, early to rise (in a good mood for a change), and another important element in the above fore mentioned goal: STAYING IN HIS OWN BED (it's sad to say at this age we still have issues of a little monkey sneaking into our room at night...).

In other news, I'm looking forward to the weekend - I guess technically it's already begun. Finally one with no real plans except that adventure hike Jamie promised. Hey, maybe I'll get the rest of the holiday decorations down or plan that upcoming birthday party or maybe clean (ha). I can't promise too much...

A Year's Journey

It's something new... but still a work in progress. When you have a chance, check out the Project 365 button on the sidebar. Did it all by myself :-)

Working Mom Turning 5

If you thought 30 was hard (I'm only using that as an example, of course... I wouldn't know anything at all about that...), then you should try having your only child turn 5. Yes, I still have more than a month to go, but this has been weighing on me for months now. I'm having serious issues here - Don't worry, I'll only address one tonight. It's not just that he's going to be 5, but that 5 is also a reflection on me as well.

Where has the time gone? I sound like my mom saying that (hi, gigi) but it's true. I feel like I've missed out on so many things over the last 5 years while I've been doing the full time working thing. No, it wasn't a choice in our household but a necessity and remains to be so. Each day, Aiden comes home with great new things that he's learning. Don't get me wrong, I'm am excited that he's learning so much. He's brilliant and I'm glad that the center is challenging him in this way. But there is a huge part of me that wanted to be the one to teach him to write his name, count to 100, or even to sing the Noah song (The floody floody one... Do you know the tune? Why should Aiden have been so surprised that I did?)

In some ways, I feel that I contribute so little to his world and that saddens me. But lets face it, I wake him, then don't see him again till dinner time when I'm slaving over a hot meal (okay, sometimes it's hot...), then there's bath, book, and bed. I have such a big responsibility and role but yet I'm limited to what 3 good hours a day? While at the same time I'm expected to cook, clean, pay bills, maintain relationships with friends and family, and so on. How do you do it all? I know, I know... You can't. You have to learn to let go of somethings. But lets be realistic for second, which one I am I suppose to let go of? Cleaning? No, I see how you look at me when you come over and the house is trash, again. Cooking? Yeah, maybe. But aren't I suppose to provide nutritious meals for my family and try to instill good eating habits and save him from all evil contaminates of plastic and processed food. And besides, I know what you're going to think if my kid turns out to be porky. You'll think Man, she let him eat too much fast food and candy.

You get the idea. Everyone says to let it go but there's still the expectation and essentially the responsibility falls to you, the mom. So, at 5 (because it's kinda my birthday too as a mom), I still don't have the hang of it. I know what I'm doing wrong, but not the way to do it right. The question remains: How Do You Do It All?

Having said all of this, I also know your wishing I had given up whining for a New Year's Resolution! But there are just some things you're just naturally good at.

But for a change of pace, I found a few old pics to share...

The Pooch (who actually smells decent for a change since he was groomed Wednesday)

Sweet Aiden at 8 months - I'm still kicking myself for loosing this hat at Walmart

Ah... and this one is old school...
Jamie and myself pre-marriage, pre-kids, pre-career, pre-mortgage
Look how happy I was...

A Love- Hate Relationship

I believe I'm developing a love-hate relationship with New Year's. Along with Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's another of my favorite holidays. But New Year's always comes with a promise of something greater - a chance to make things right, to do away with the old and all things you dislike about yourself and to make a better you (and me!).

But, by liking this idea so much, you have to imagine the disappointment and anger I felt inward this morning to spend most of it with a ball-watching 4 year old. That would be the New Year's Eve ball, a ball that dropped about 4 hours after what should have been bedtime. It was my mistake really, to think that we could pull it off with no regret. We had a great plan - dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, a stop off at video rental for the Batman game and Prince Caspian (super special treat around this house), then home in time to take the tree down (note all other Christmas decorations are still around... yikes), and for the grand finale, a camp out in the living room for movies, games, and to see that darn ball drop. I finished it off with sparking grape juice toast, which was a hit. Although I may have trouble tomorrow when Aiden tells his class he drank wine as he kept calling it.

But when I wanted things to be so right this morning, they went so wrong. It seems to go this way almost every year - not necessarily right away, I try my best to make a new start, but seem to fail year after year. I am not in the 23 odd percent of people who can keep their New Year's Resolutions. If you ask me 23% is a little high... But I continue to make them - continue to strive for some form of perfection.

So, what is my resolution this year, you ask? I'm terrible, no wonder I fail. I make a bunch with the hopes that one will stick. I make it complicated, but then again it's not. But here's the big one, one that has been weighing on me since the death of my grandmother in November: I want to be intentional and purposeful in my actions and in my thoughts. I want to be proactive on a daily basis - this means order and organization and cleanliness. At the risk of sounding like Bridget Jones, I want to lose 30 pounds, no I NEED to lose thirty pounds - My plan: To exercise 30 minutes a day and to retire my carbosoris tendencies. Cook more, eat out less. Continue to chose more nutritious and natural foods for my family. And somehow try to find a balance between work and being a mom and wife. This last one has been a struggle lately. More than ever I want to be home. So, wish me luck. Next year I'll go for world peace, it might be easier to accomplish.

Oh, and one blogging resolution: You're excited, aren't you? Stop stalking other bloggers. I'm going to leave a message to let you know I've been.

And by the way, the New Year's Eve fairy left some little boy with a mild case of the dreaded pink eye... I might get one more day off after all...

Promised Pics of Christmas Past

Uncle Matt and the boys - Aiden and Caed

Shaggy Aiden - boy, he needs a hair cut!

GiGi on the GiWii

Poppy Joe's Christmas morning reading of the birth of Jesus

Puckering up

Cousin Savannah and Caedmon