Aidan + 3 sets of Grandparents =Christmasmukkah

My parents are divorced. I have a lovely bonus mom and a crazy bonus dad (much better than saying step parents, isn't it?) This makes for a very interesting holiday. For the past few years I have tweaked my family schedule to try to accomodate the grandparents. This is quite strenuous for my husband, who is a retail manager. He spends the weeks leading up to Christmas dealing with crazy people who are bent on getting the perfect present even if they have to run over my husband in the process. So the one day he really has off, with no emails or phone calls to make, he normally spends on the road. That just makes him miserable. So this year we decided that we are staying home on Christmas.

So with this in mind, my Father and Bonus mom allowed Aidan to open his gifts last weekend while we were with them. Lets just say day 1 of Christmasmukkah for Aidan. I was concerened that maybe getting all those gifts would go to his head, but before he opened his gifts he looked at me and said, "Mom, I have more presents than Dad. I'm going to give him some of mine."  I truly have a sweet boy. He made out like a bandit though. He has slept with his new angry bird ever since and lego rock band is primed and ready for when he comes home from school. Day 2 of Christmasmukkah is coming up. Stay tuned.....

Its the most Wonderful Time of the Year.

So I've been a bad blogger. Its been a really hectic beginning to the holidays. I actually should be packing at this very moment, but have felt guilty for not posting in such a long time that I thought I would take a few minutes to say hello. Thanksgiving was FANTASTIC this year. Normally I love to cook, but this year, I made a side dish and headed over to my aunt Sandy's house to visit. My Dad and Bonus mom (sounds so much nicer than stepmother) were there as well. Basically it was two days of great food, shopping and fun. Aidan had the best time playing with his cousins and I enjoyed watching my little Cazlin being passed from Grandparents, to Great Aunts, to Aunts. Life is good.

Back to Life.

So my September was pretty full. Cazlin Elizabeth McGinnis was born on September 23, 2011 at 12:29pm. She was 7lbs. 14oz. and 20 inches long. She has been such a good baby, which is a good thing after all the stuff she put me through in utero. So now comes the post production.

I have had the fluctuation of hormones. Always fun for me, even more fun for the hubby. Wes has taken the hormone ride really well. I'm sort of proud of him. I have seemed to be having an identity crisis, so I sat down and decided that I was being quite hard on myself. I had a big surgery(don't let anyone ever tell you that a c-section is not a major surgery.) just three weeks ago and I was expecting myself to be on top of everything. so instead of beating myself up I made some plans. I joined a writing group that meets at my local library. I spent some time with some good friends. I visited a friend's new home.(she writes the blog  house-pour.blogspot.com and happens to be the Elizabeth that Cazlin is named after.) I feel like I've finally gotten back to life.  So now I'm focusing on my family and writing. November is national novel writing month. My plan is to finally finish my novel in November. Wish me luck

Yes, this unborn baby is already Grounded.....

So with 27 days left until my due date I have officially grounded this baby, unless she comes out and sleeps through the night. My first pregnancy was pretty easy. Only threw up a couple of times and managed to just be a little miserable. This baby has been a whole different ballgame. I was really sick in the first trimester. losing 30 pounds right at the beginning with a lovely case of strep that took longer than a week and some IV fluids to get over. I spent the rest of the first trimester eating cold cereal because it was the only thing that even sounded remotely tasty. Then I had the random vomiting. Out of the blue I would just hurl. The kids in my class absolutely loved that.  Then came summer vacation, which I spent in the bedroom of a beautiful beach home in severe pain because this child was laying on my sciatic nerve. If you have ever had that kind of pain, you know what I am talking about. It felt as if someone was slicing my leg open continuously. I dealt with that for several weeks before it finally began to dull. I'm still occasionally dealing with it. Then there is all this pressure, which my doctor, in his most technical terms, says, "Well Mrs. McGinnis, all I can say is that your uterus doesn't like what is happening to it." Now tomorrow I will sit in an outpatient hospital room and have iron pumped into my bloodstream because this baby seems to be sucking it all in and leaving none for me. shew, she better have gotten all this stuff out of her system before she's a teenager!

Where oh where are the kind people?

I had the lovely opportunity, this past weekend, of attending one of our local art fairs. It was a warm day. Aidan was along for the ride. My mom, brother, step-father, and a good friend of our family, Brenda, went along as well. Brenda brought her lovely neice, Shawna, and her great-nephew along. One big happy family. The great-nephew is only five weeks old and such a sweet baby. As many of you parents know, there is quite a bit of luggage that comes along with galavanting around with a new baby. Numero uno,a stoller.

So here we were, strolling along the sidwalks taking in the sites and sales when a group of four people basically blocked the entire sidewalk. Seemingly unaware that a huge stroller was right in front of them, they kept on talking, frozen in their positions. There was street to the left and gravel to the right. Shawna said,"Excuse me." The blockers still oblivious, stood their ground. Shawna proceeded to jar her baby by strolling off the sidewalk and onto the gravel.

Now, I'm not saying that the whole world should stop for someone with a baby, but seriously, have we become so selfish and unkind that able-bodied men and women would refuse to take four steps off of a sidewalk to let someone less able pass? Would they have moved for someone in a wheelchair? Would they have moved for someone on crutches? I'm not saying that being a parent is like being handicapped, but seriously have you ever tried to maneuver some of these strollers?

I don't know about you, but I'm going to start trying to be a bit more kind to people I don't know. why not let someone have that closer parking space? Why not let someone go in front of you in the check out line? Why not pick up the tab of the perfect stranger in line behind you at McDonald's? Pass some kindness around, the world really needs it.

Everyone's a Good Mom before they have Kids...

Warning to anyone who has or will utter the phrase, "My child will/would never do that." This tiny little phrase will unleash a curse that you cannot control.

For example. You never know what your kid will choose to throw a fit over in public.And yes, even the best behaved kids will eventually throw a fit. When Aidan was 3 he could not pronounce the "tr" sound. He substituted this sound with the lovely "F" sound. Too many times when walking through a store did my darling son see a truck and begin screaming hopelessly for it. Needless to say we purchased many trucks in our day.

Many people would say that my strategy was terrible, giving in to a toddler's wishes, but when your child seems to screaming the mother of all obscenities you tend to try to diffuse the situation quickly. I should also tell you that when the time came, we welcomed speech therapy with open arms!

So, I guess the best you can say is, "If or when my child does ______, I hope this is how I react."

To all you Non-Parents out there, try not to judge us too harshly. Especially when you haven't got to experience the joy first hand........

organization organization organization

In the sense of getting things ready for the new baby, our house is buzzing with nesting. I've made my husband move almost every piece of furniture we have to a different location. Considering the fact that I'm keeping the two girls along with raising Aidan and getting ready to have a new baby, I thought that being as organized as possible would be a good idea. Wes and I thought it would be a good idea to get Aidan in on the action.

Aidan was diagnosed with Adhd almost two years ago. We knew he had it a year before diagnosis, but we exhausted every other avenue of treatment before turning to conventional medicine. We actually waited until it began to interfere with school work before seeking regular medical attention. Even though we use medication, we also still use behavior modification, diet, and exercise. So when having him help us, I usually make him a checklist so that he has independance but can still go task by task. We didn't write down a checklist yesterday, Wes just would tell him a task to do. His response, about three tasks in, was, "I feel like a slave." He finally got to one of the task in his bedroom. He had shut his door and it was very quiet, so Wes went to check on him. When he opened the door, there stood Aidan in a Union Soldier uniform (that he purchased at a civil war fort that we visited over the summer) and a cap gun... His response, "I hate slavery, and I'm not a slave."

At least my boy likes history, right?

Let's get this Party Started.

I never really wanted to be a parent. I wasn't the little girl who played with dolls and dressed them up and strolled them around. (that was my sister). I had my nose in a book, my headphones on, and my head in the clouds. I told everyone for a very long time that I was never having kids. I also swore that I would never marry a man from my Eastern Ky hometown, Inez. Well, I lied.

I've been married to my husband, Wes, for almost 11 years. He grew up less than five miles away from me. I also have an eight year old son, Aidan, and I'm pregnant with my second child, a girl, due at the end of September. To top it all off I just quit my job as a preschool teacher to stay home and nanny two girls along with my unruly crew. 

I can sense some of you laughing and shaking your heads, but hey there has to be a balance, right? Well, I'm on the search for that balance and I hope you will come along with me. (and pray for me along the way)  Here we go......