Smiling Mom

So it’s here, today I’m offi­cially not in my twen­ties any­more. Funny how it feels. I feel great, like I don’t need to hide my age. The whole myth about thirty being old made this birth­day all the more scary. Well it’s here, and it’s not that bad! I think this is going to be a great decade. I’m more aware of what I like, and don’t, what I will and will not stand for. But I still feel young and vibrant.

I’ve been thin­king a lot about this day. It’s the day that most women begin lying about their age, “29, once remo­ved.” I’ve deci­ded that I will not do that. I’m going to embrace each coming year and think of it as one more year of know­ledge and expe­rience. Now.… I’m not sure I’ll be able to say all that stuff about embra­cing with regard to gray hair or wrin­kles, but age, yes!

This Fri­day I will be cele­bra­ting by going out to din­ner with my close friends and family, without kids. Should be fun!

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Bac­king up two weeks…

eClaire was sick with the flu for a week straight. It was horri­ble. She had the runs and didn’t eat or drink vir­tually anything for a week. The last two major days of her flu, she threw up and was mise­ra­ble. She just wan­ted to be held.

During this time, it was my job to orga­nize and pre­pare for Steve’s pro­mo­tion party. I bought a sexy new dress from Macy’s, bought a tie and but­ton down shirt along with shiny black shoes for Bro. Clea­ned the house, made 4 chee­se­ca­kes, star sugar coo­kies, which were deli­cious with a sil­ve­rish fros­ting, to make them look like bad­ges. Also, I made a dou­ble batch of coo­kies. I was on the edge of melt-down. But exci­ted for the upco­ming party. On Wed­nes­day eve­ning, eClaire had her first meal since the pre­vious Sun­day. On Thurs­day, Hubby got sick. And when I say sick, I mean “ring a bell and come help me” sick! It was not good. We ended up in Urgent Care on Thurs­day, can­ce­led the pro­mo­tion and the party sche­du­led for Fri­day and went back to the ER on Sun­day. Finally on Tues­day, Hubby began fee­ling bet­ter. It’s been one hell of a ride.

Don’t worry, all chee­se­ca­kes were eaten. One by me, thank you very much! And all are fee­ling bet­ter. Aside from a snotty nose and cough, our kids and adults are healthy. Thank goodness.

For Valentine’s Day/Birthday, Hubby sur­pri­sed me with a day away. Not only did he find me a friend to go eat lunch with at Lisa’s Tea Trea­su­res, but he also sche­du­led a mani­cure and pedi­cure at a really nice spa called Burke William Spa. It was fan­tas­tic. But best of all, he orga­ni­zed all this and a baby­sit­ter to come watch the kids without me kno­wing. He then sent me off with cash to spend so this fun excur­sion wouldn’t show up on our cre­dit card later. Now that, my friends, is sexy!!

There is nothing like a few hours of rejuvenation!

Now I’ll leave you with a few of my favo­rite current pic­tu­res of my babies. Enjoy!

Bro dres­sed up like a hero

eClaire, ready to fight!

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I’ve always wan­ted to keep a jour­nal, of some sort… but found that I never las­ted more than a week. So this time, I’ve deci­ded to work on crea­ting an online account of my family’s daily life, strug­gles and joys. I am what you might call, a des­pe­rate hou­se­wife! I work as a teacher two days a week, and work at home for my family the rest of my waking hours. This is a job I’ve always wan­ted and fought so hard to have.

Someone asked me the other day, “So, did you ever think this job would be so hard?” My ans­wer, was most cer­tainly, YES!! I’m am a rea­list. I don’t gene­rally believe that my life is any bet­ter or easier than anyone elses. But what I had no idea, when I began this delight­ful jour­ney of motherhood, would be how abso­lu­tely exhaus­ting and con­sis­tent it is. So, I ans­we­red, yes, I did think it would be hard. But I honestly thought in my heart of hearts that I would get a break every now and again.

But, vete­ran mom’s, as you chuc­kled at my last line, now so do I. I’ve been let in on our dirty little sec­ret. Mom’s do it all, and I mean all! Dad’s are won­der­ful, pull their weight in a lot of areas, and love their kids more than life itself, but mom do it all.

We are a spe­cial group of women, us moms. We do it all, cry in pri­vate, and put on our best, “I can do anything” face and step out into the world. We do it all, or at least try to.

I have two chil­dren, Bro who is 2.5 and eClaire who is 1. I have been preg­nant or nur­sing lite­rally since Sep­tem­ber 2003. My hus­band has been wor­king like a dog on a job assign­ment for the last year and a half. His work hours began at aprox. 11 a.m. and went until around 2 a.m. So he slept until 9 or 10 in the mor­ning. Just recently he was pro­mo­ted. He will begin wor­king days with a few simi­lar days off as me at the end of March. I couldn’t be more thri­lled! Finally we will have time to spend as a whole family eating din­ner, going to the park or just rea­ding books. And hus­band and I will time together as a cou­ple away from the kids!

I’m weeks away form wea­ning my daugh­ter, a month away from my husband’s new hours, and ready to take my life back. This is the Year of Me! I’m going to loose those last 8 pounds I’ve been hol­ding onto since my last preg­nancy and tone up my body. I recently dyed my hair brown, I’ve bought a few new clothes, and brand new makeup. and I’m on the verge of taking back some time for myself.

I turn 30 next week and now believe that I have to pick and choose what I do for my family, so my need get fos­te­red too. First on the agenda, a mani­cure and pedi­cure with a friend tomo­rrow afternoon!

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