Tidbits of Talk

Happy Friday! Gosh, how is it that another week has come and gone and here we are at Friday and looking at the last week of August? Work has really consumed my week and when I think I would like to write, I realize that I get consumed with something else and end up not doing it. I am really hoping next week I get back to blogging regularly since Cate will be turning one and I have so much to share about our house. 

~ This week we went in triage mode for a friend.  She needed us and we were ready to help.  I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that I have a friend that counts on me and that I can count on.  I trust her, I love her and I love her kiddo.

~ We have all these grand plans for this new house of ours but I am so slow to pull the trigger but I am fearful of making a mistake like picking the wrong paint color, wrong fabric or couch. So, the decorating has been slow…really slow.  But we bought a beautiful couch and that is good place to start.  I peruse pinterest for ideas and get so overwhelmed that I am really close to bringing in some professional help.

~ I am on an overload this fall which means I am teaching an extra class. It is nuts. What I was thinking when I agreed was clearly not a sane thought.

~ I went in the city to get my haircut because I refuse to change until I find someone I trust.  Long story short, I DO NOT misses the commute because it took me an hour to get in on a Wednesday night at 7pm.  I DO miss the energy, the people and the city itself.  I promised myself that I will take my kids in as much as possible and let them explore the city.

~ Brady is in a classroom at school with only four other kids for now. Can you say amazing? He is getting tons of attention, tons of love and learning so much. He is truly in a preschool setting and I could not be happier. Now if only we could get him out of diapers.

~ Cate is starting to adjust to our new nanny. I knew she would and I also know she is dramatic. So I am not surprised but she is giving Glenn a run for his money in the morning. She cries from the minute I leave to minute he leaves and then stops. Brutal for him…

We are headed to the beach this weekend, spending time with family, and gearing up for a busy, exciting weekend starting next Friday! Happy Friday Friends! Sorry for the lack of pictures. My DSLR needs to be charged and just haven’t done it yet so all I have are pictures from Instagram! Enjoy the last days of summer!

Tidbits of Talk

Tidbits of Talk {Volume ???}

Happy Friday Friends! I had to check to see if this thing was even working but it feels like and really has been a long time since I blogged or wrote in this space for quite some time. I have plenty to say and new design coming so bear with me as I get this thing up and running again.

~ My sweet Cate is going to be one in less than three weeks. I am not sure how this has snuck up on me and I am disappointed that I do not have the invites out for her first birthday party but I can tell you this… we are going to celebrate this little girl like it is our job!  

~ Brady is at that age where everything is a question. And Glenn and I decided tonight when we were eating ice cream with the kids that the worst one right now is “what is the guy/girl doing?” The person always stops and looks and you have to give him an answer or he keeps asking.  Awkward.

~ My afternoon commute went from 1.5 HOURS to 15 minutes. My morning commute went from 45 MINTUES to 15 minutes. Think about this and you will know why moving to the suburbs has been good for me and my family.

~ School is back in session and the new state evaluation system for teachers is eating every ounce of time I have.  It has also reduced me to tears more than once.

~ This weekend the highs are in the 70’s and the lows in the 50’s.   What the heck? I go back to work and it cools off…figures.

~ I am working on paint colors, furniture and other fun stuff for our new house. Once I get some decisions made, which takes me longer than most, I will share some of our plans and my inspiration.

Have a great weekend!

Cate {11 Months}

I was trying to find a set of lyrics that could properly articulate all that I feel for this little girl right now and I came up short. I couldn’t find anything after searching a couple of times, it’s not like I was trying to say something profound.  What I did realize that this just wasn’t where I wanted to say most things to her.  

Truth be told, I give you snippets of Cate each month on this blog.  But, I write, really write, to Cate every month.  Just me to her.  I write her a letter every month- just like I did to Brady each month the first year of his life and I tuck them away safe on my external hard drive. I have never shared them with anyone.  And I don’t know when or if I will give the letters to Brady and Cate but deep in those letters are words of wisdom and moments that I don’t want to forget and hope when they read the letter and ask me about them, I go back to that memory and get to live that moment all over again.   

This past month has been another whirlwind but Cate, in true form, has made her presence known but has rolled with the punches and taken most things in stride.  We watched her blossom in to a water baby on vacation floating in the water, daring to get closer at the lake and loving her bath still to a crawling baby the day we returned.  All week on vacation we were willing her to crawl, begging her even bribing her to crawl.  But, she wouldn’t. And in true Cate style, she crawled the minute we walked in the door on Saturday.  Typical Cate…

She is a still a peanut but she knows what she likes and dislikes and those things manage to make life really interesting.  She has battled roseola this month, or I should say we all have, taking it in stride, happy to be home with her mama and brother, sleeping a ton and eating very little.  I got accustomed to having to get up with her in the middle of the night then even when she started sleeping soundly again, I found myself going in her room, picking her up, and rocking her before I went to sleep. 

I love that she waves “bye-bye” and says it and that she says “nigh-nigh” as we head to the glider for our evening feedings.  I love that she wants to say good night to her brother, that she has herculean strength for an 11-month old who weighs less than 20lbs.  I love that she squeals when we eat ice cream until she gets a bite and then goes back to eating her feet.  And l love that she still wants me, needs me and clings to me.

 I love her.    

This House

I’ll never forget the two days when we brought both of you home to this house...

This house that we have called home for three and a half years.  This house where the basement is full of trucks, crayons and books and was empty three years ago. This house where the bathtub ledge is lined with boats letters and buckets.  This house where a swing is attached to the tree in the back, showing its age, but reminding us of how far we have come. 

Brady, I was so tired, so unsure, and so scared that all I remember is that it was wet outside. That dampness in the air letting you know that fall was here, cold temperatures were coming and that rain would be a part of the hours to come.  It added a level of uneasiness if I am being honest. I remember thinking this was the not the homecoming I had dreamt about.  It was almost dark and a Friday.  We waited a long time to be discharged and so we didn’t leave the hospital until right before rush hour and I was terrified you would wake up hungry in the car.  I remember walking up to the door and the lights being on.  I remember wondering a very selfish thing as we approached with you for the first time, “could I get up the stairs by myself?” Mimi tried to take a picture and I told her no. Oh, how I regret that now.  The curtains were pulled open, the house smelled clean like endust reminding me that your mimi and paw paw had been hard at work getting our house ready to welcome you home.  We ate my favorite meal- roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy and cooked carrots and I remember settling in on the chair in our family room watching “Survivor” as I drifted in and out of sleep around seven. I remember that first night like it was yesterday. I fed you on the glider in the middle of the night, fell asleep holding you, rocking you and staring at you only to be startled by paw paw, jumping a mile and returning to our bed. 

Cate, in true fashion, you came home on a loud, bright day of brilliant sunshine and I felt ready, right and good about bringing you home. A heat wave had ended hours before and there was a cool breeze and our doors were open to welcome us. I remember coming up the stairs, anxious to see your brother and ready to return to our life.  I felt good; I was confident and ready to settle in to a routine as a family of four and enjoy you.  Nana, Papa, Aunt Laura and Roger were all there with your brother when we got home. It was early in the afternoon.  I tried to nap but couldn’t and yet you were sleepy most of the day. We ate as a family of four that first night, Leona’s if I am not mistaken.  You were quite the sleeper the first night and we wondered if it was possible that we were blessed with an even better sleeper the second time around. You slept five straight hours the first night, only to prove for months after, that it was a fluke. 

We have grown in this house. We entered as two and leave as four. 

And as I watch you grow daily, I will remember this house as our first home, the place we brought our babies home to grow, make me whole and remember that home is where your family is.

So, with true sadness in my heart that is full of many good memories, I say goodbye to Nelson and hello to Indian.  I can only dream about the adventures that await us and the memories we will make.  If it’s anything like our first home, the best is truly yet to come. 

Mini Posts- The Middle Ground

Mini-Posts

Sometimes I have  something more to write than tidbits of talk on Fridays, but not enough for a whole blog post.  So enter this post.  This week you will more than likely be bombarded with posts from me. Although I don’t post consistently, I write a lot and have a couple of posts ready to go for this week.  

With rain in the forecast and earlier in the morning, I made a last minute decision to take Brady to the Morton Arboretum on Thursday. 

It is a haul from the city, but oh so worth it.  I had no clue how to get there or what there was to do, but a quick text to a best friend confirmed it would be worth it.   

There were frogs and turtles and lily pads and streams to wade in.

There were simple moments and silly questions. 

There was a mama and her son.

Our street’s block party was Saturday and the day was picture perfect.  We have been in charge of balloons for two years now and Brady was eager to help. When we returned from a family party late in the afternoon, Brady wanted to stay outside and he entertained himself with this balloon and I just snapped away. 

Isn't it amazing how something so small, so simple and so inexpensive can bring an almost three year old so much pleasure. 

I find myself wishing I was out from behind my camera more. I feel like I have very few pictures of my kids and I. So I try to capture myself with Cate and Brady when I can...or I just end up capturing her.  Because how can you not? 

This is the face of a little girl determined to get the balloon her brother is playing with! 

Tidbits of Talk

Tidbits of Talk {Volume WHO KNOWS}

Hi! Is anyone out there? Probably not since I have been so inconsistent about writing on this think I call a blog. I have so much to share so I am going to get some tidbits up with some follow up posts coming next week.

~My sweet girl is turning 11 months next week. Not sure how it happened but holy cow. More to come about her and all her doings.

~I have been really in to Yoga Sculpt at Core Power Yoga.  It is an awesome workout for your entire body- essentially yoga with weights which requires me to sweat a ton and focus on me for one hour a day.  My hairdresser is a loyal, five day a week yogi and at her urging I tried it over winter break. I couldn’t fit it in this past spring, but this summer I have been able to do it at least once a week. 

~Yoga is one type of exercise that feels good right now. Long story short, I went to the doctor last week to find out that I need to have a series of surgeries on my right leg this fall. I have some vein issues that I keep telling myself are not serious but they are and need to be dealt with. I thank Cate for these issues…more to come on this.

~ Our house sold for the second time and we bought a house for the second time. It happened at lightning speed and we are ecstatic, sentimental and overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done. I am working on a post about this major event as well.

~ Our weekend plans include birthday celebrations, block parties and packing.

Happy Friday Friends! 

Vacation {Where I Have Been}

I am writing this from the screened in porch of a house that we are renting on the shores of Lake Michigan. I am rocking in a chair as I type, drinking a Coors Light and struck at how many things are going on in our life at the moment that make me dizzy in anticipation, sick with fear and crazy with "what ifs" yet how I keep focusing on right now as people trek past our house to catch the sunset on the beach and I watch as sun kissed kids burn those last bursts of energy in the street on bikes.  

We were fortunate that Glenn joined us with the intention of staying the week.  He needed it.  We needed him. And we have soaked up every minute with him.

Our days have consisted of early morning coffee, lazy breakfasts, rides on the golf cart to start and end the our adventures, naps, beer and the pool. We have spent every morning at the beach to this point and it is worth writing about.

{Edit: I am now home.}

I never finished writing this while we were on vacation because it just did not seem important. I don’t know why but when I am on vacation I find that I just am not inspired to write like I am at home. I have plenty of thoughts, reflections and things to tell you but I find myself overwhelmed internally but wanting to verbalize any of it because I am nothing but present.  

When we arrived we watched how people got to the beach. My dad called it a parade.  And it was.  All day long people coming and going from the beach in a disorganized parade full of inner tubes, coolers, chairs and towels.  The beach was up a hill from our rented house…people loaded wagons, strollers and kids with stuff trying to get there. They would hitch their wagons behind golf carts then park the golf cart in the designated lot and take the wagon to the beach. 

The first day we noticed a lot of wagons at the top of the beach/walkway that never went in the sand.  We didn’t think much of it and took ours down a long wooden walkway, down a steep and hill and out to the beach.  It was a bad idea and never done again the remainder of the week. Do you know how hard it is to pull or push depending on who you were a full wagon in the sand? Virtually impossible. See said hill below. 

We got smart after that, leaving it at the top and carrying our stuff and kids down. The sand got hot, really hot like and Brady outsmarted us all by asking to be carried which resulted in a mega thigh workout for me.  Burning sand, a 40 pound toddler on my shoulders resulted in me running and muttering the words “oh sh*t” which were instantly repeated.  I was actually okay with both of us muttering it because it was fitting for the moment we were in together daily.  

This picture can't describe the dumb game Todd and Brady played the first day at the beach.  It consisted of Todd throwing buckets of water up in the air the same direction that Brady would run and it showering him with droplets.  He would squeal in delight and beg for more.  They played for what seemed like eternity and he smiled the entire time. This is a moment, a memory that I will remember.

We learned our lesson about sand and swim diapers realizing that the easiest and the best option was to hose  him off naked upon returning from the beach.  That white tush and tan body screams that he has had a summer of fun. And while he will kill me years from now for this photo it is a small reminder that he is still a little boy.  

Cate is and will be my water bug. Content to be in a float or swim in the water with us she was fearless.  She played in the sand, rode in the stroller and even missed a nap or two.  She really showed me how flexible, portable and content she can be on a daily basis. She ate well, slept well, and got a little sun in her adorable suit. 

Rummikub was the game everyone was playing up there.  We tried it and decided to stick to what we know and like to play which were dominoes. 

We picked blueberries one morning.  Everyone eating some along the way.  

And making pancakes with them the next morning was a highlight. Brady would tell us they were "delicious".  It had us all wondering where he he learned that word.  

And on the final night as we were talking about next summer and packing our bags the food poisoning plague hit my mom and I in a span of two hours.  Instead rocking for a final time on the porch watching the sunlight be traded for moonlight we huddled in the bathroom.  A memory for sure but not one I hope to repeat.  

Since before Brady, summer has never felt calm, recharging and fun.  This summer, these moments have really felt like summer and it fuels my soul as the school year approaches quickly.   I feel good about the experiences we have had, the memories we have made and the time that we have spent purposefully being a a family.   And there are still a few weeks left with big changes on the horizon.  

Happy Wednesday!