Baby Proofing

Before Athena could walk, I couldn't wait for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure glad she has the ability to walk, but man, the things she gets into! Just yesterday I finished taping, YES TAPING all our registers to the floor, since she is constantly taking them out, which in and of itself isn't so bad, but then she proceeds to fall into the empty hole left in the floor, which really freaks me out since there is sharp bent metal and screws on the edges that could leave some serious damage. Every couple of weeks I have to go to Wal-Mart and buy more of those door latch things, since she is always discovering new, "treasure chests" to be emptied and explored. Again, that's all well and good, but my pen/battery/miscellaneous/dangerous objects drawer, is not one I need her in just yet. Much to her little hearts dismay, as of yesterday, she can no longer empty the diaper door on her change table and scatter diapers from here to the moon. However, MY heart is rejoicing! I feel like I can barely keep up with all the cleaning as it is, never mind having to clean up scattered diapers 10 times a day! Natalie has really exuberated all this, since now instead of 2 busy hands, there are 4, and they sure are busy! I have had to jam and cram as MANY books as possible into EACH of my bookshelves, to insure that my books aren't thrown off one by one, and then sat on, and pulled apart, and tossed through the spindles into my entryway. Sometimes I think it would be really fun to have such a disregard for property, and just huck and chuck, and rip and throw, and mangle and eat ANYTHING I WANTED TO!!! Oh, how good they have it without even knowing it. :)

Loose Ends

Well, I'm not a very faithful blogger, but here I go again. I'm a stay at home Mom, (as all of you know) and since there are a few SAHM's out there who read this blog, I would love your imput and advice. The last couple of weeks especially, I have been battling some serious, "boredom/what the heck am I doing, and who the heck am I" stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love Athena, and I really do want to stay home with her and raise her, and all that good stuff, but INBETWEEN the good stuff, I get really really really bored. Most of my days seem made up of such trivial unimportant things, that my brain starts hurting just from sheer repetitivness and perdictiblility. (Is that a word?) I know no matter what you do, there is something to complain about if you want to - and the Mother of the small girl I am going to babysit at Jesse's work, always tells him how lucky she thinks I am, because I get to be at home with my daughter while she has to work for money reasons. I guess what I'm saying is, I need SOMETHING to stimulate my brain and get me out of the house - which is why I'm asking you all what are some things you do to keep yourself from going house crazy and baby crazy. The things I do right now are Mom's Time Out Wednesday morning, which I really enjoy, and that's about it. I am going to sign up for Mom's and Tots swimming lessons at the pool with Athena, in January (which would be twice a week) and I think that will be good because it gives me an outing and something different for Athena, as well as the opportunity to meet other Mothers. I don't want to go back to work, and I do know that I am lucky that financially I don't have to, but......even though it's been a year, sometimes I still do miss that 8-5 lifestyle a bit - that feeling of accomplishing something and working hard during the week. After a kazillion loads of laundry and the millionth time of putting the same object away, it can get to you. I know that this is such a important time in Athena's life, and I wouldn't want anyone else to have a say in her development at this stage - but I need some things I can do with her that keeps me active, otherwise I get moody and grumpy and my husband gets the brunt end of it, since he is the closest one around!! Not fun for him. If anyone has any suggestions or advice, like I said, give it to me!

A post for my Dad

Well, it's not Father's Day, or my Dad's birthday, or any special day at all really, but I felt like doing a post for my Dad. I feel sometimes that my Mom gets a lot of affirmation and love because well, she's a women, and my Mom, and Mom's are just easier in some ways to affirm because they are more emotional and relatable on a women to women basis. So, that's why I'm going to write about my Dad, because I love him and he deserves accalades too.

One of the most vivid and character shaping memories I have of my Dad as a child is this. It's maybe a bit odd, but stay with me. It's dark outside, the rock wall lights are on, the lights from the house are reflecting off the snow, and Tyson, myself and Dad are outside playing fox and goose. (You know, where you make paths in the snow with your feet, and can only stay on the paths created, and one person is the fox, and the other's are the geese) Sometimes I can't seperate what is a memory, and what I am just remembering from pictures, but I know this is a memory, because there are no pictures of it. When I think about this scene, I always get that, almost crying feeling, because with that memory comes such powerful feelings of safety, love, acceptance, security, and belonging. I bet that evening my Dad never would have thought as he played with his two kids, that it would have such a lasting impact on me.

My Dad played with us all the time growing up. In the winter we would go outside and make forts, slide down the big yellow slide with ice under our butts, and play all kinds of games inside. Sunday's were often game afternoons, and Tyson Dad and I spent many hours playing Risk - that hurrendously long game that never seems to end. Dad was never too busy for us, and there were lots of hide and seek in the dark games in the basement, with the awful anticipation of finding Dad in some dark corner behind a suitcase and his hand would come out and grab you. AHHHH! So scary!! I'm sure there was lots of pushing and commentary between us as to who would go first, or reach into that closet!!

I feel like my Dad was such a good example to me of a Christian man, and how men should treat women. I feel like I picked a husband who respects me and loves me properly because of how my Dad showed me by example how a women should be treated. I'm sure my parents had disagreements, but we were never privy to them, and I never remember them being angry or cold or hurtful with each other. Today when I go home, my Mom laughs the most at my Dad, and my Dad's jokes. I think that is the best!

After Bible School I went through a time of needing to decide what I actually belived for myself, and not just what I had been told was right or wrong all my life. I did some things that make me cringe now to think about, but in a lot of situations, I stopped short of going that extra step into something I would have REGRETTED majorly for the rest of my life, because I would think of my Dad. And when I thought of him, I didn't think of it in the way that he would be angry with me. I just thought about how sad he would be that I was allowing myself to be treated in such a way, and how much more he would hope for me. I credit my parents for allowing me to go through this time without a lot of interference, although I'm not sure how much they actually knew, they probably knew more then I think. I think it must be one of the hardest things to let your kids go through that phase of self discovery without pushing them away by your good intentions and wanting to protect them.

These days, whenever I call home, no matter what time, how many times a day, or what I'm interrupting, my Dad ALWAYS sounds excited to hear my voice. I think that is so goofy. How can you be excited to talk to me AGAIN!! But he always is. I sometimes think for sure he must be faking it, but who knows? Guess you'll have to ask him.

I am someone who is very emotionally attached to the past, sometimes this isn't so good, but it's just a part of who I am. When I see and hear of unstable homes, divorce, abuse, wether it be physical or emotional, I think again of how I was raised and I'm SOOO thankful.

I love you Dad, and this post could go on, but the baby is crying and I have to go. :)

I knew I needed to blog today....it is another milestone in Athena's life.......wait for it....wait for it......SHE IS NO LONGER PERFECT!!! That's right, I guess I should maybe say it's a milestone in MY life.....realizing without a doubt that my perfect, sweet, angelic little baby is NO LONGER. And has been replaced by a demanding, whiny, (dare I say it) BRATTY little 10 month old. *sigh* I guess it took 10 months for the honeymoon to end but it is sad to see it go. Discipline.....I think I thought I would never have to do that, she was so perfect. Crap. Guess I"ll have to after all.

:)

My favorite things

Well, can't always have negative lists. Here are 10 of my favorite things :)

1. Cottage cheese, old chedder cheese, valveeta cheese, cream cheese, and specialty cheese that my Aunty Eleanor always buys. I like cheese.

2. Family. I love family. It's the greatest invention of all time. I love my family, I love my in-laws, my extended family is awesome.....I am so lucky.

3. When you get on an airplane and see that you get your own little tv stuck in the seat in frount of you. Love that.

4. When you go to change what you think is going to be the grodiest diaper ever because you've been smelling it for the last five minutes, and you open it up, and there's nothing there, so you've just been smelling farts. Awesome.

5. The feeling of accomplishment after doing something you did not want to do and have been putting off.

6. Laying in bed hearing the rain on the window. This must be my all time most favorite thing.

7. Big Brother. Why am I so addicted to this show? It is almost pathedic.

8. Organizing.....well....anything.

9. Listening to the same new song I like 20 times in a row really loud in the vehicle on the way to Peace River.

10. Getting unexpected letters in the mail. Eveyone e-mails now, so to get a letter is now doubly exciting, and when it's unexpected, TRIPLY exciting.

Pet Peeves - We all have em.

My blog has been rather boring of late. I seem to have a lot a of peeves, so I thought why not make a little list and share it with the world. (Or the three of you that read this blog). These are not in order of importance, just in what order I thought of them.

1. People who walk slowly down the middle of the isle at a store

2. That my husband never puts the keys on the key hook and then I have to search the house and usually pockets to find them, which I think is very unfair since I put them on the key hook EVERY SINGLE TIME!!

3. People who make out that cloth diapers are far superior to bought ones. I have no inherent problem with cloth diapers, don't get me wrong, but PEOPLE......they hold poop and pee, wether it's cloth or not, do you really think it makes any difference to how the kid turns out? NO.

4. Organic food. Enough said.

5. Hard water deposits. It's the bane of my existance.

6. People going below speed limit.

7. Clutter. And empty boxes that my husband insists on keeping for his electronics.

8. Canadian Tire. If you have ever shopped there, you know what I mean. Nothing is ever in stock, nearly all the salespeople are either twelve, or completly uninformed, and every time I go in, I leave in a bad mood.

9. Smoking. Why would you do something that has a good chance of killing you and shortening your life span by many years. It makes no sense and is just stupid. Plus all the money our health care system has to put out to take care of all these people who get sick from it. So it's a peeve.

10. Laziness. If you can do it today, then why wait till tomorrow.

So there you have it. Agree, disagree?

8 Months

Well, I figured it was high time for an update post. Athena had her 8 month, "birthday", and her new talents in the last 2 months include, pulling herself along with her arms, sitting up from her stomach, "sitting" on her knees, and standing! The standing one is very new. She still has the tendancy to let go once she's up, or lose her balance and plop down on her butt. I think it hurts her feelings more then her bum, since she will look around to make sure we are looking before she cries! She says mum mum mum mum a lot. Not sure if she is saying it for me, or just because she hears the word mum a lot during her day. She has a nice long nap in the early afternoon, and if I am lucky, an early evening one as well. If she skips the second nap, she is a bear to deal with in the evening, but she dosen't usually go down easily for it, while the first nap, she is so tired, it's usually no problem. Bedtime is still a bit of an issue, yesterday and the day before she cried for a long time, but today she just complained for 5 minutes, so that was a lot nicer. The last week she has been sleeping through the night till at least 7, and then goes back to bed till 9-10. She is a very good sleeper, (usually) once she falls asleep. I LOVE my little baby - she is a lot more work now that she is crawling and into EVERYTHING!!! But it is so much fun to see her grow up. She danced to the music on the TV on the weekend, and it was so adorable. I never knew having kids would be so much fun and seeing their accomplishments would make me so proud! Before I sound too gushy, I am VERY happy when Jesse comes home at the end of the day, (if he's gone) and I can deposit her with him, and go be ALONE in my garden or my flower beds for an hour! How do single parents do it??

In other news, Big Brother is back on for the summer, and for those who watch, right now my early favorites are Jordan and Jeff. We also just started Season 3 of Lost, and the opening episode was my favorite one so far, so I hope the season continues in that vein. That's all for now!