I'm The Boss

Landon: Mom, were you ever robbed when you worked at a bank?

Mom: No, but it's because I didn't really work in that area of the bank, I was in a different building.

Landon: Oh, so what did you do there?

Mom: I was the Manager of a bunch of people that took phone calls from the bank customers.

Landon: So YOU were the boss of people?

Mom: Yup

Landon: No wonder you're so good at bossing us. I wondered how you knew how to do it!

A Math Lesson...Daddy Style

Jeremy decided he was going to make
math homework a little more interesting.

I was a little surprised to see my kids playing Black Jack....

I was even more surprised to see the Banker...

Labels

I've never been a fan of labeling people. Maybe it goes back to my childhood when my brothers labeled me 'Smelly Melly With Jelly in Her Belly'. Yes, seriously.

Obviously there are concrete diseases, disorders, and disabilities, like Cancer and Down Syndrome, to name a few. My issue is with labeling social or emotional behaviors. Why do they need a label? Can't we just address the behavior? Sure your hyperactive kid might need additional intervention, but do we have to label him as ADHD in order to address the behavior?

This has been my humble opinion for my entire adult life.

Until recently.

When I was having issues with my eye swelling shut, I went to the doctor. We treated the symptoms. The symptoms went away. However, it kept coming back. Turns out I had something called Meibomian Blepharitis.

Because this weird phenomenon had a name, I was able to do research on how to prevent it. In short, my eyelids over-produce oil causing the glands to clog overnight, which is what caused the swelling. Each night I would wash my face and use eye cream. Apparently that cream made my eyes even more oily. Now that I've stopped using it, I have more crows feet, but no swelling.

Getting more to the point of this post, as you know, my Livi hasn't eaten in 9 weeks. We've called her stubborn and crazy (among other not so nice names at times), but those are terms of endearment, not labels, right?

So we've been treating the symptoms, by taking her to feeding class and working on making eating not so scary for her, even though we didn't fully understand the issue.


After five weeks and a lot of testing (and a bit of denial on my part), it turns out there is actually a name for what Livi has- 'Sensory Processing Disorder'.

It's pretty complex, so I'll spare you the details (since I've already written a novel). But, I'm actually relieved to have something to reference so I can better treat her condition. For me, knowledge is power, so I bought three books today that I think will really give me some good insight.

I'm thankful that she can be helped.
I'm also thankful that things could be worse.
I'm grateful she is otherwise happy and healthy.

And grateful that it has a label.

Small Victories

After NINE weeks of not eating any solid food, yesterday

Jeremy was able to get Livi to take a few bites of this:

Okay, so "bite" isn't the right word...she was afraid to chew so just swallowed the pieces whole.

Then she choked.

Then spit it out.

Today, Emma got her to try a few bites of her cupcake.

She couldn't swallow them whole, so she actually chewed them.

THEN, tonight our babysitter said she ate some Mac n' Cheese.

Hmmm, is there a common theme here?

Livi will eat for everyone but ME!

I'm with her 99.9% of the time, so
maybe I've been the problem all along?!!!

I can't wait to share the good news at her feeding class tomorrow.

They are the only ones that can understand
the joy of a 2-year old eating a banana.

Mother's Day Weekend

My weekend started with a fun date-night on Saturday night. Jeremy and I went to Wiseguys to see Jamie Kennedy, who was so hysterical!

Then I woke up after five whole hours of sleep to Landon and Emma sitting at my bedside waiting to give me their presents. Landon wrote me a really beautiful letter and Emma made me a bracelet. I love home made gifts more than anything else...although the gift certificate and chocolates from Jeremy were pretty sweet too!

Then off to Village Inn for some yummy French Toast.

Then Jeremy took the kids to the park and we all got cute for a party with Jeremy's family.

It was a wonderful day.

I'm so blessed to be a Mom and to have
such a wonderful husband and kids!

My Little Guinea Pig

Dear Landon,

I am so grateful you were my first born.

I am also so sorry you were my first born.

The worst thing about being the first child is that you get to experience all of my parenting mistakes. I am learning as I go along and unfortunately, that means a lot of my mistakes fall onto you.

I was really hard on you yesterday. You have endless energy and you are always running around. I've told you several times not to run in the house because you tend to run into things and hurt yourself or break things in the house. Yesterday, you were in such a hurry and ran on the kitchen floor in your socks. You fell down pretty hard and started crying. You were really hurt. I ran over to you to console you. You walked away from me and wouldn't let me hold you, or even touch you. I chastised you for running, and after you stopped crying, you told me that you were only running because you were trying to hide my Mother's Day present before I could see it.

Then today, I took you and Emma to swim lessons and I forgot your swimsuit. You were obviously disappointed because you really look forward to swimming each week. You handled it like such a grownup, and told me that everyone makes mistakes and you knew it was an accident. Even after how I treated you yesterday, you still handled yourself with such dignity.

I want to be more like you.

The day you were born, you filled up a piece of my heart that I didn't know was missing. I never felt like having a child was a sacrifice, because you made it so easy. One smile or hug from you would make my day. Even though your hugs are becoming few and far between; they still make my day. Your smile still melts my heart. The love I have for you, my only son, is indescribable.

I promise to put less pressure on you. I promise to forgive your mistakes as easily as you forgive mine. I dedicate this Mother's Day to you Landon. After all, you are the one that made me a Mom.

I love you!

A Wee Bit O' Updating

A few things to report over the last two weeks...

Emma was awarded "Challenger Knight"
(camera battery died, so please forgive the quality of the cell phone)
Turned a rainy day into a Dinosaur Museum Day



More swimming lessons


Tiled the bathroom
(hence, the toilet in the shower post)


Planted some vegetables



Colored my hair
It was one 'Hail' of a week!

Time Saving Ideas

I'm all about efficiency...