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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Off and Running

Please God -HELP. ME. My baby is now RUNNING. It was bad enough when he started walking at 10 months - not uncommon, I know. It's just that I was hoping for a little more time of plopping him down with a toy and having him stay pretty much in the vicinity of where I last plopped him. But no, he needed to WALK - to constantly explore every inch of the house, to follow his brother around and get into everything under the sun. Now it seems walking just isn't good enough anymore - it doesn't get him where he wants to go fast enough, so lets RUN instead. I do have to admit - it's actually pretty damn cute - his little legs pumping as fast and they can and his fat little arms punching back and forth and the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. I have to get it on tape because I can't take a picture of him anymore -he moves too damn fast now. Every picture I tried to take this weekend was just a blurred image barely caught within the frame. Oh, and did I mention how TIRING it is keeping up with him? My pedometer clocked in almost 8 thousand steps and that was just around the house. Crazy. But I know I can't complain too much - I might be wiped out at the end of the day but at least I have a healthy, energetic, happy little boy and that's worth all the steps in the world.

Friday, April 18, 2008

All better now

I think I can officially say that we are all FINALLY germ free. FINALLY. I realized that by my previous posts - all four or five of them - a person could easily get the impression that my family is a bunch of sickos. Except that we're not - I promise! We are not a bunch of sniffling, pale little weaklings who catch every sickness that floats through the air. My kids are strong, active and bright - hell, my 1-year-old has never had an ear infection and my three year has had maybe three his entire life - which I think is pretty good. This last cold was my first cold in over a year for me which is also pretty good. The only person who probably gets sick in our house more than he should is HH. He's an OT in an assisted living center so he's around some pretty funky stuff on a regular basis. Ever heard of the NorWalk Virus? Yeah - he's had that twice - both times right around Easter. Nothing fun about having to pull the car over so he can crap and puke on the side of the interstate! And he has a bad back and some how manages to throw it out a couple of times a year. He chalks all of his health related misfortune up to the fact that he's getting older, but I know and you know it's really because men are just inferior to women. HA!

So anyway, the real reason I wanted to post is because I have a gripe that needs to be griped about. Or maybe it's a dilemma - I don't know. Basically - it boils down to this - we have no family around. Some of you are probably saying "so what?" and if you are it's because you probably DO have family around. If you don't, you understand exactly what I mean when I say "we have no family around" Not only do we not have family around - we don't even have any family nearby. My family is in Colorado and my HH's family is in Hawaii. How's that for making it easy to visit the grandparents on the weekend? My HH and I often debate about moving to Hawaii to be near family - we both want the boys to grow up with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in their lives -plus HH wants to teach them how to surf. But $8 for a gallon of milk? $450,000.00 for a two bedroom CONDO? 50 year mortgages? I just can't seem to wrap my mind around that, yet I can't shake the feeling that we're cheating our kids out of precious family memories by living so far away from family - not to mention how nice it would be to have the extra help. My HH and I haven't had a date night in....like.... EVER! So, the mental/emotional debate rages on - move to be with family or remain where we are and enjoy a comfortable yet extended family-free lifestyle. If anyone out there has ever made the choice to move to be near family - why did you do it and was it worth it? I would love to hear from you.

P.S. I guess I should add that I do have a sister who lives nearby. I figured I needed to throw that in since you're sure to hear more about her as time goes on. But anyway, even though she's my sister, in my opinion, she doesn't count as family because she acts more like a family friend than an aunt. She refuses to babysit the boys as she "doesn't do diapers" and she's "afraid that something will happen". My oldest is three and a half and quite good at feeding himself, going to the bathroom AND wiping his own butt. Still she won't even watch him. When she does come over, it's while we're there too and about a hour is all she can handle.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Sick, Sick and more Sick

It's been a while since I posted but I do have a good excuse. It seems like the cold bugs just love my family SO MUCH that they just won't leave. My little one was the latest to fall prey to another cold. It was only a matter of time before I caught it because how could I not? He's been hacking in my face and slathering me with his boogers for days now. But I am happy to report that we are starting to emerge from the forest and we can see a bit of light. I didn't use the humidifier in his room last night and he made it through without any coughing jags. I'm still hacking up nice chunks of goo - but they're a lot smaller and my chest no longer sounds like someone is banging a pipe around in a steel cage when I cough. Yeah!

This little break has given me an opportunity to think about all the things I would like to post about but funny how I can't remember a single one to them right now. Guess the mucus isn't quite out of my brain yet. When it is I'll be back with something to yap about. Until then wash your hands often and stay healthy!