The Grandparent Syndrome

Mike and I are going on vacation together for a week and a half, without any of our boys!  It’s wild, I know, but we managed to find amazing sitters and get everything lined up.  I have mixed emotions, as any good mother would, but with 3 youngsters, finding time to be together is very important, and vital to the stability of our family.  We had originally planned to take Kayden, as he’s only 3.5 months old, but again, this trip is important for Mike and I.  Besides, so many of the things we want to do would be nearly impossible with a baby along – things like hiking, sleeping in the car, horseback riding, white water rafting etc.

Everyone we’ve told about our trip is really excited for us – all but one.  My mother-in-law is a wonderful woman, but we tend to disagree on many parenting issues.  Our relationship has always been a touch tense due to our differences, but generally we get along well and agree to disagree.  Yesterday she overstepped the boundery line though, and we’ll need to have a good talk before Mike and I leave.  We hadn’t told her that we were leaving Kayden at home, A) because it has nothing to do with her, and B) we knew she’s have a very strong negative reaction.  While on the phone with her last night, Mike let the cat out of the bag, and she lost it on him.  She insulted his parenting and questioned weather or not he even loved his sons, then she hung up on him.  Mike was cut deep by the things she said, but he doesn’t stand up for himself, so his mom doesn’t seem to realize when she’s crossing the line.  I’m generally a pretty non-aggressive person, accept when it comes to defending my family – then I tend to be…well a pit bull 🙂

I hear about the grandparent syndrome so often.  People (generally women) become grandparents, and suddenly forget that these little ones are not their children.  They raised their children already, and now it’s time to step back and shower love not judgment.

Weight Loss Wednesday – GAIN

I accidentally posted this on my other blog…oops!

This morning I weighed in at 165lbs after breakfast.  I expected a gain this week, but it sucks to be back at 165 when just a short time ago I was around the 160 mark.  But I’ve been feeling really sluggish lately.  I take a nap around noon when the youngest two boys nap, but I’m still exhausted by the time I get the boys to bed in the evenings.  I’m eating junk – too many salty snaks and not enough water.

Tackle It Tuesday – My 101 List

I’ve decided that today’s tackle will pertain to my 101 In 1001 list.  So today I’m going to tackle one item from each category.  If I can’t complete the task, I’ll at least start or plan it today.  Here they are:

• #11 – Begin to write a book
• #16 – Plan a family vacation each year
• #39 – Go on a double date every other month
• #45 – Bake with Kailer once a month
• #69 – Write a Thank You note to each of my school teachers
• #78 – Pray at meals and before bed
• #82 – Begin meal planning
• #94 – Declutter the house
• #93 – Organize the house

I’m doing 2 from the Home category, because the PREGNANCY category is done

Minimalist Monday – Decluttering Day Again

Yep, it seems the clutter has managed to build up again.  With 3 kiddos, it’s hard to prevent this from happening, but easy to recover from.  I have 3 outlets for the stuff – sell, donate and keep.  Very little is kept, because it has to have a place to store it and a functional purpose.  I’m a part of an online Mom’s Buy & Sell group as well, so I just take a picture of the sale items and list the details.  Then I’m notified when someone is interested and when it suites for them to pick it up.  It’s like an online garage sale – BRILLIANT!  So out come the garbage bags for the sort.  This part makes for some very unhappy boys, but them’s the breaks.

Weight Loss Wednesday – Stay

I weighed in at 163lbs again today.  Technically I’m 162.5lbs, but I round up for more of a challenge.  Salt has been my nemesis this week.  I’ve been doing some low impact exercises, but snacking on salty (and sometimes sweet) treats, which is terrible, especially before bed.  I am definitely my own worst enemy, but I’ll put this week behind me and keep trying 🙂

Tackle It Tuesday – The Day Off

It’s been really hot outside lately – that combined with Kayden’s recent growth spurt where he woke up at 2:30am and again at 5:00am has me pretty exhausted, and a bit cranky.  So today I’m taking the day off.  We went to the splash park and had a picnic, and Ièm going to try to squeez in a quick cat nap before Girls Night this evening 😀  I feel completely useless and guilty, but I know I also need to take care of me, and I do have my boys to pick up my slack, not that they will, but itès a nice thought 😀

Breath

I’ve been toying with the idea of having another baby.  I ran the idea past Mike, and we’re gonna talk about it this evening.  As I’m the only girl in a house full of boys, I’ve decided that especially if we want to add another baby, I’m going to have to simplify things in order to stay organized and make my own life easier.

Today during nap time, Kaleb (my 2 year old) came out of his room and said he had to go potty.  I was feeding Kayden, so I told Kaleb to go ahead, since he can get on the toilet on his own.  When I was done feeding Kayden, I went to the bathroom to help Kaleb  and found poop everywhere!  No biggie, the bathroom is easy to disinfect 🙂  As I was bent over helping Kaleb take his shirt off so he could take a shower, he reached over and began playing with my hair.  I told him to stop, which he did, but not before saying “See, now dares poop on yo head Mommy”.  Breath, I’m washable too.  So after all the poop was washed off, I put a clean diaper on Kaleb and told him to hop into bed, to which he responded “No, it’s yucky on my bed!”  I went in expecting more poop, but to my horror found an opened bottle of paint water(made my my 8year old, opened my my 2 year old)  spilling out onto the bed and soaking through, on to the laminate floor.  Breath, it’s just water-based finger paint.  So, I cleaned the puddle on the floor and washed as much bedding as possible.  I’ll get Mike to use our appolstry cleaner to clean the mattress later on.

Chaos?  check.

So today I’m going through the toys, selling, storing and donating, until a reasonable amount is left in the room.  Breath…