New Year's Resolutions

So, it's a New Year. It's funny how the only way the year is really new is that it's another year. I mean, after we get back into the vacation schedule, nothing really changes. But in the spirit of a new year, here are some resolutions:
1-Blog here at least twice a week. I mean really. I "started" this blog a long time ago to capture Mo's toddler-hood and here he is a Kindergarten-er. That's practically ancient. And it rarely gets used. But now Sidney is quickly leaving toddler-hood. So let's do some work (by let's I mean myself of course) writing more (see resolution below) but also capturing my kids' moments. Cause they slip by fast, as we all know.
2-Find some personal career peace. Ok, so to be totally honest, turning 31 next week means I have no more direction than I did a year ago. Teaching preschool now, liking it but still slightly unsatisfied. Writing curriculum online, challenging and fun but not necessarily totally stable or really a career, more of a side gig (despite the occasional weeks when we go full time against deadlines). The Mom thing, yes I am doing it but for me, that's not a career. I need something more. So spend some time thinking, lots of time praying and come up with some goals.
3-Spend time with the kids and value them for who they are and where they are. Ok, Sid is probably the hardest one. And I am not saying everytime I think, is it bedtime yet, I will beat myself up, but maybe once or twice a week, value them as individuals and who they are. E is probably the easiest for this. Sid def the hardest. Prob many blog posts come out of this.
4-Write. These are all seeming to be connected. Spend 45 minutes every day writing. Whether it is a blog post, journaling (start daily devotional journal again-man, this post is becoming a list of things I have started and abandoned), work on my book (NaNoWriMo failed me again-I mean November is kind of a busy time of year...), just write!
5-Ed and Rhi time at least once every two weeks. See some of these goals are pretty concrete. I think we are doing pretty well on this but we need to keep it up. I don't really count the end of the day time. I think parenting is difficult and our lives are often running parallel and at the end of day, sometimes we just want to be alone or veg or have to do laundry, etc.
Ok, so to recap:
1-Blog 2x/week.
2-Begin deciphering personal career mystery.
3-Value children as individuals not as unruly mob.
4-More writing!
5-Ed and Rhi together time.
Not too shabby :)

Helpless

Sick kids drive me crazy. I mean, I love my kids and am not adverse to the extra cuddle time that comes with a sick kid but the lack of control on my part is not my cup of tea. Overall, I feel pretty lucky. We do not have any chronic medical conditions that can't be handled with a little extra attention and medicine (looking at Mo's allergies/asthma and Sid's ears here) but today Sidney got diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth. I guess it's a danger of going to daycare, especially since the notes have been rampant the last couple weeks with a variety of ailments. This is one that has not hit our house before and I am thankful. She is pretty miserable and there is nothing you can do. Push advil and a strange mixture of Benadryl and Mylanta. Yum. Days and nights spent wrangling her, trying to keep her comfortable until the virus goes away. Oh and it's common under 5 so what are the chances one of the other two get it?
Ick.

Another year...

It's ironic that the last post is about the family bed. And every other post is about how I need to do this more, so as Mo enters Kindergarten, I am reaffirmed. This time its for real. How else am I going to remember how Sidney says "It's not scary" everytime something scares her? Or the fact that all three of them already have stinky feet after wearing sandals all day (winter is going to be painful, we may need to buy stock in foot powder), although I don't think that will change. Anyway, back to the family bed. Sid has always been overall a good sleeper but Mo and E are playing musical beds lately. And I just can't make myself get up to put them back. But truthfully, I mostly enjoy the cuddle time. They are growing so quickly and getting so independent, it scares me when I really think about it. I mean Kindergarden. Whew. Everyone is going to our neighborhood VBS this week which other than Moms and Tots, which doesn't really count, is the first time they have all three gone to participate in something alone. And while I am happy to have the time alone to go running or empty the dishwasher (the two tasks I completed tonight), there is a part of me that misses having a baby around. Sid is almost 2. At this point before, I have either been pregnant or had a baby. It's wierd to not have that milestone coming up.
I do love that they are getting older. A part of me feels like I am finally getting my life back and we can do more and are finally getting to catch a breath personally (aside from the whirlpool that is my professional life) but we won't be having toddlers in this house much longer.

Family Bed

I don't think we are too lenient when it comes to bed. I would say 90% our kids are in their own beds. When that doesn't happen, I feel thrown off for the whole day. Last night Sid was up and down crying (I'm hoping that wasn't due to ear pain-that should all be resolved now) so by 4 I ended up bringing her into bed with me. She babbled for a bit and fell asleep. I think Evie heard us banging around cause she came in too. I ended up sleeping with one on either side of me.
Thank goodness I'm not subbing today...I foresee a nap in my immediate future.

Fall is here

As I look over our blog, I see huge chunks of time missing. The picture says it all, E is younger than Sid in that pic, who wasn't even around. Somedays, with all that is going on, I feel like I can barely keep everyone's life straight let alone organize my thoughts. But as I was thinking last night, laying in bed waiting for my companions to pass out so I could head downstairs to watch Glee, I was thinking I need to start organizing my thoughts again and writing down memories. Cause they do grow so fast.
So it's the week of Halloween, which is not much different than other weeks for us. Mo constantly lives in a world of pretend, whether it be some kind of animal or role, so Halloween for him is the ultimate holiday. I wonder if his enchantment with it will continue as he gets older. I remember when I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in a world-of-make-believe, imagining games and sometimes, his personality is such a reflection of me it's scary.
Last night as we were carving the last of the pumpkins, it was a great metaphor for their personalities. Mo flat out refused to experience the "gook" of the pumpkin, but Evie rolled up her sleeves and dived right in. That pretty much summarizes how they approach life (although, her attitude rapidly changed when we turned off the lights to see the glow.)

Graduation

Morgan graduated from preschool today. Yes, in the scheme of things, it's not really a big deal. And he is going to preschool again next year (although his school calls it pre-kindergarden), so it's not as if I will be shipping him off in a big yellow bus next year. It just amazes me how big he is growing. I intended to start this blog to keep track of all my Morgan toddler memories and now he has outgrown it. Not really, but he is definitely no longer a toddler. He is getting to be a big kid, with kid ideas and needs. I still have Evie and Sid around, so it's not as if I am lacking for toddler-ness (especially with E in the middle of her terrible twos) but he was the first. Being a mom is bittersweet, I enjoy each step that comes more and more but a part of me gets sad everytime because there are things I will miss that will literally never happen again. We play this game where I tell him to stop growing up and he says "but I want to be a grown up." I am only half kidding.

Artwork

So, it's not even 9 in the morning. So far today, we have painted, played with play dough and now are making "books" with stickers. While I see the benefits in encouraging these projects and creativity for both kids...man, it makes a mess. And doesn't really help me get stuff done as these are all things that need to be supervised. So today's dilemma...do I just let them keep creating and hope the cleaning will do itself later? And what has Sid been doing? Sleeping this whole time (she was up at 5:30).