Like Diapers and Snot …

… Spending New Years with my kids isn’t going to last forever and it makes me sad to think about it that way. A close relative was talking yesterday about the feeling she got once her kids left the house. That quiet, lonely feeling. I can only imagine! My husband and I spend 362 days and nights a year with our boys. So the sound of cars crashing into eachother … the sounds of tattling … the sounds of two little boys yelling louder than a jet engine are the only sounds that we know. So those few days/nights we don’t have our boys is EXTREMELY different for us.

This New Years … like every New Years … will be spent with the people I love the most … my boys.

A couple of my friends sent me a text asking what I was doing for NYE or to tell me where the “party was at”. And I couldn’t help but laugh. I don’t know why though. NYE is a celebration for adults, not children. Why shouldn’t I go out and bid farewell to 2012?  To be honest … it’s just not our thing.

New Years 2004 – Cale looks amused, right?!

But that was totally my thing 8-9 years ago! When I was 21 and 22, I could throw them back like nobody else. I was thin … but I was a fish … and it took a LOT to get me to “that level”.  I could outdrink most men back then! And It was not abnormal to spend $75+ on just shots, martinis and beer in one night. I lived for New Years! So I get it.  But I have kids now and going out on New Years just totally sucks. Not New Years in general. And having kids definitely doesn’t suck. But actually putting on nice clothes and leaving the house on New Years is what sucks. We’ve had 3 offers for a babysitter again. Inwhich we politely declined … again.

Here’s why….
1) Going to a bar with hundreds of baby-weight-free single women in tight black shimmery dresses is not my idea of awesome. I’d have to get drunk just so that I didn’t have to look at them anymore. Skinny bitches.

2) There is absolutely positively nothing more rewarding than watching episodes of my favorite sitcom on Netflix for four hours straight. Breaking Bad … here we come!!

3) Baby it’s coooooold outside. And my boys are the best snugglers in the WORLD!!

4) I can drink watered down Jack Daniels and Coke or drink cheap Wine out of a solo cup at home too, y’know?! But I’d rather drink my favorite Moscato and use my favorite Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville-style wine glass my mom picked out in Jamaica.

5) I just don’t feel the need to spend $100 on a sparkly dress I’ll wear one time. I’d much rather buy shoes. A LOT of shoes.

6) It’s hard work and kind of stressful just to watch a ball drop. If I wanted to do that … I’d watch a college football game.

7) New Years Day is Dillard’s BIGGEST sale of the season. And frankly … I don’t want to spend it hungover with a bunch of strangers. I’d rather be the perky one who gets all the best deals because I’m not seeing double and battling a migraine.

8) And lastly … A certain 5-year-old and a certain 2-year are going to wake up at 6:30am to watch Spongebob regardless of what day it is and they are really not going to give a flying puck how many glasses of Moscato I had the night before. So there’s that.

So if one more person asks what I’m doing for NYE, I’m just going to politely end the coversation with a “thanks ….. but I’m good”.

Whatever you are doing for New Years … please be careful, enjoy your time with the ones you love the most, and CHEERS … for surviving the end of the world (yet again).

A Letter to my Son on his 2nd Birthday (a month late)…

Someone reminded me yesterday that I didn’t write my sweet Christopher a birthday letter on my blog as I have every other year. We have been so busy lately that I completely forgot. Plus we were in KC for his birthday and I didn’t take my laptop with me. So here it is… (backdated to his day)

________________________________

 

My dearest sweet Christopher,

 

Today we celebrate two years with you. I am still in shock as to how fast the past 24 months have gone by.

I remember thinking – when we found out that you were a boy – that because we already had your brother, that whatever I had already done with him or learned about being a mom from him, that naturally, I would just apply to being your mom as well. You have proved that theory so wrong in sooo many ways. It almost seems unfair of me to ever assume you would be just like Cash. Like I tried to steal your sweet little newborn identity or something.

 

From the day you were born you have been you. You are a sweet, independent, ornery, and busy little boy who loves to snuggle. You have the ability to melt everyone’s heart and put a smile on even the grumpiest person’s face. Your Dad and I could not be happier watching you grow from an 8.2 lb wrinkly little monkey to a 2-year-old demanding little toddler that you are today. You are perfect and special and beautiful and smart and we could not ask for a better kiddo.

A year ago you were taking wobbly little steps and had baby chub from head to toe. Today you run faster than I can keep up, jump more often than walk, and say more words than I can count.

And somewhere along the way, your unrecognizable jabber turned into saying real words. Your Dad and I get a kick out of listening to you talk. You’re bossy and funny. And you say words like “Milka-milk” and “Tank ew” and “Yuv Voo” and “Tease” (instead of please) and “Tweet Cheems” (for sweet dreams). However, your Dad and I now have to watch what we say since you have become quite the little parrot. The words “Hush” and “NO” and “Top it!” are all examples of this.

You’re still the biggest mama’s boy. Your Daddy is the best toy you own but Mommy is your best friend. You love your brother to death and want to do everything that he does but you’d rather torment him more than anything. You pick on him and pin him down and hit him and kick him. And while he gets extremely upset with you … there’s not a minute that goes by when he isn’t obsessing over how much he adores you.

Not only have I enjoyed being a Mom from an entirely different angle but I am finally learning to cherish the challenges you are throwing my way because together you and I get to experience the same situations as Cash and I have … but with new eyes.

Being a Mom is not inclusive. I am two Moms rolled into one.  I am Cash’s Mom AND I am Christopher’s Mom.
And this is where I have started crying. Because I just feel so lucky and satisfied in this life with you and Daddy and Cash. I am blessed beyond belief and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

You love your Mommy more than anything in this world and there are times that you make me feel so treasured. Like you and I are the only two people in the room. The way you pet my hair or rub the tips of my finger as I’m rocking you to sleep. It is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. It is love in its most purest and honest form.

I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming. You are sometimes serious and other time silly. You are busy and full of energy. You are lovable and snuggable. You are your own unique little self as you are into car, trucks, trains, and planes and that’s what I love most about you. From day 1 you have been brought up in a house of Superheroes and comic books. While you will play with whatever your brother wants you to play with with him … you are much happier and comfier in a room of cars and trucks.

You are you. And I couldn’t be any prouder of the you that you are. Happy 2nd birthday my boy.

All I ask is that you continue to love the Lord with all your heart and always put Him first in all you do. Through Him, you will be…the strongest, biggest, bravest, most handsome man …Trust in Him and you will always be everything you need to be.
I wish for you a year full of growing bigger, laughing harder, playing around, and I love yous for no reason at all.
I love you Christopher Maxwell… to the moon and back.

This lullaby, that I made up when you were only minutes old, is OUR lullaby. The lullaby I sing every night as I rock you to sleep. The song you are now starting to sing right along with me. It’s ours. And it always will be…
[Sang to the tune of You Are My Sunshine]

“You are my baby …. my baby boy
And you bring me …. so much joy.

I don’t want you …. to ever grow up
You are my baby …. baby boy.”

Mommy Hot

Every morning I wake up and check my blog stats and see who’s all creepin in on me.  And then I check to see from what country and what search terms were used to find me. I use the search terms to optimize my website and get my stats up.  This, sometimes, is my favorite part of my day. I’ve had anything from “Mom big boobs” to “boogers on my toddler that won’t come up, advice” to “husband tell me what you’re….” – which left me SOOOO complexed and curious that I had dreams about it for a week.

This morning’s search terms left me smiling ear to ear. Somebody searched “Mommy hot” which pulled up MY website.  Giddeeeee freakin up!!!!    I still got it ya’ll!

Or something like that. Who knows … they may have been talking about a pissed off Mommy. Either way … it fits me!  ::wink wink::

Amber Alert: The Nebraska Cornhuskers

 
A win is a win and a loss … no matter how bad … is just that … a loss. I will always bleed Husker Red no matter what the final score of the game is. So the Huskers forgot to show up for the B1G championship game. Shake it off, learn from the mistakes last night, and move on.

I logged on to a Husker “fan” message board last night and was thoroughly upset with the things people were saying. They’re an embarrassment to the TRUE Husker fans. Comments ranging from: “Time to pick another team that’ll actually win me a championship….” To comments of firing Bo and others just completely bashing the boys on the field.
Even with this loss Bo still has a better win percentage then Tom Osborne did 5 Seasons in. Osborne had a 75% Win percentage (counting his various tie’s as losses) after 5 seasons where as Pelini has a 79% win percentage with one game to go.

Bo Also doesn’t have the luxury of playing in a weak Big 8 or Big 12 North Conference anymore either so there’s something to say about that as well. It took Osborne 3 Decades to win a National Title folks, and it took him 9 Years to win a conference title outright. Pelini has all the makings of doing what Osborne did given the same amount of time. You fire Bo and it’s another five-year setback.

If you’re one of those fair weather fans that doesn’t want to put this one game behind them and look towards the future, then seriously … donate your husker gear to someone who will wear it proudly. People seem to forget that these boys are still kids, some of them walk-ons. They play for the love of the game, not to please you. Yeah it’s nice to win but you can’t win every game. Pick your team and stick with them! Its simple: Wisconsin showed up to play and the Huskers didn’t. They still had a great season and I’m extremely proud of the boys in red!


“Dear Lord, the battles we go through life,
We ask for a chance that’s fair
A chance to equal our stride,
A chance to do or dare

If we should win, let it be by the code,
Faith and Honor held high

If we should lose, we’ll stand by the road,
And cheer as the winners go by …

Day by Day, we get better and better!
Til’ we can’t be beat … WON’T BE BEAT!”

The Husker’s prayer says it all. Leave it and let’s move on…