that’s not fair!

April 4, 20117 Comments

Normally, on a Monday, I would write a “get moving…it’s Monday!” post.

Today I don’t feel like getting moving.

I’m tired.

I’m sick.

I’m tired of being sick.

I’m sick of being tired.

I’m also frustrated and a little mad.

I worked outside of the home for many years before having kids. I also worked outside (and from) my home with the little guy for 6 months before I decided to become a full time stay-at-home-mom.

No job that I have ever had has been more demanding than the job I currently have. It is physically, mentally and emotionally draining at times.

Now, here is my reason for being frustrated and a little mad.

Yesterday when I was at the doctors she asked if I stay at home or work outside the home.

I told her I stay at home.

She said, “Oh good. If you had to go to work I would have written your employer a note. You need to rest for a good 2-3 days until the antibiotics really kick in.”

I said, “You could write my husband a note.”

She laughed.

I was joking, but also kind of serious.

How do I actually rest with a 1 year old and a 3 year old at home?!

My husband stepped in yesterday and took care of the kids all day so I could rest. That was one day of rest. The doctor said I need 2-3 days of rest.

This is what I would be able to do if I worked outside the home:

I would call in sick and, if needed, give my employer the note from the doctor. My kids would go to daycare or stay with a nanny (as they would usually do if I worked outside the home) and I would be able to rest.

My husband provides for our family. When he is not traveling or out seeing clients locally he is working from his home office. He helps out when I am sick when he can, but rarely can he take a full day to give me a full day of rest.

I guess what frustrates me the most is that the doctor actually thought I would be able to get some rest because I “stay at home”.

I’m really just complaining, aren’t I? I mean, stay-at-home-mom’s have always had to deal with this problem.

Well, like the little guy says a lot lately, “That’s not fair!”

home is…the fact that life is not always fair.

update: sick of being sick

April 3, 20115 Comments

I am glad I went to the doctor.

I have walking pneumonia and a double ear infection.

home is…plenty of fluids, rest, decongestant, cough syrup, and antibiotics.

sick of being sick

April 3, 20115 Comments

I haven’t been to the doctor in years.

I went to Urgent Care one time shortly after we moved to Oregon.

I had a cough for more than 3 weeks.

I had bronchitis.

I’ve had colds, but they would get better.

This one feels like it is getting worse.

I had hoped I would come home from Colorado and feel better.

I thought it might be allergies.

It’s not.

My ears hurt, I’m coughing more.

I am really weak and tired.

I made an appointment to go to Urgent Care.

I hate to go because they will probably tell me it is just a cold and that I need to drink fluids and rest.

Easier said than done when you are a stay-at-home mom.

The rest part, that is.

I’ll let you know what the diagnosis is…stay tuned.

{By the way, I was supposed to run in the Race for the Roses today and I am totally bummed that I missed it!}

home is…being sick enough to go to the doctor.

{colorado} day 7

April 2, 2011Leave a comment

Friday morning Topher (my dad) stayed home to have a leisurely breakfast and spend time with the kids and me before he had to go down to Denver for work.

Topher took the kids outside to say good morning to the deer as the sun was rising.

We enjoyed breakfast together.

And did a little bumper throwing for the dogs.

Baby girl and Meme played upstairs while the little guy helped Topher get ready for work.

While baby girl took a nap the little guy made up games while playing outside on the decks.

And, we took a walk in the open space to look for treasures and pick up trash blown around by the wind.

We made it to the airport just fine on Friday afternoon. Meme helped us get all our “stuff” inside DIA, get checked in, and get to security. The little guy was very upset about saying goodbye to Meme. He was so brave getting through security and helped my take care of baby girl while I got all of out things together to get on the train and to Concourse A for our flight. {My mom told me she was watching through a window and wished she had her camera because it was so cute how he was taking care of his baby sister.}

The flight was rather uneventful. Baby girl cried a bit, the little guy asked “are we there yet?” multiple times, but they were very well behaved for the most part. I even figured out that the three of us CAN fit into an airplane lavatory! It is busy when you travel alone with two young kids. Definitely no time for reading magazines, sleeping, listening to music, or working on your computer.

We were the first ones onto the plane and the last ones off.

When we got off the jetway the kids were ready to RUN!

We finally made it to the security exit and they were holding hands when the little guy saw Poppa.

He yelled, “Poppa!” and was off running!

Baby girl figured out who he was and ran to him as well. I wish I had been behind him with a camera!

It felt good to be home.

The little guy was sitting in his cair in the playroom this morning after breakfast. He was quiet and I walked over to him.

He said, “I want to be at Meme and Tophers.”

I said, “It’s sad when we have to say goodbye to the people we love, isn’t it?”

We hugged and then talked about how we would see them again in July when they come to visit us. For today, July is not soon enough, but we will get back to life and July will be here before the little guy knows it.

Until then, we can look at the photos (all 600+ of them) and relive our wonder-filled adventure in Colorado!

home is…making memories.

home sweet home

April 1, 20116 Comments

I had hoped to get a post up of our last day in Colorado, but after an afternoon spent in airports and an airplane alone with the kiddos I am spent.

I did take 600+ photos this week…and have another 100+ that I got from my dad’s camera. Oh, and that doesn’t include photos taken on my iPhone. There will be more posts to come.

I did not mention it, but during all the fun we had I was battling a cold that I caught the week before we left. It’s still sticking around. It started out with my left side (nose, ear, throat) all stuffed and plugged and migrated to my right side the last couple of days. Not sure if I also had allergies in Colorado, too…the wind was blowing all kinds of dust around!

At any rate, I am headed to bed with some kind of get better medicine and vitamins.

home is…home sweet home.

{colorado} day 6

March 31, 201111 Comments

Today started with saying good morning to the deer.

And, hanging out with the dogs.

Then it was all about tu-tu’s and capes.

And, all the play that happens when you are wearing them.

I made tu-tu’s for the girls, and Meme made capes for all of the kids.

Baby girl liked the tu-tu!

The little guy and Sha-Sha, I mean Batman and Batgirl, loved the capes!

We took a trip to another beautiful playground in my parents neighborhood.

Baby girl and the little guy did not want to leave. They had so much fun in the warm, sunny weather…even if the wind was blowing like crazy.

The little guy tried to teach Sha-Sha about remote control Jeeps. She wasn’t as interested as he had hoped, but she did alright.

The Jeep has a busted rear axle…a couple too many trips down the stairs.

We did have to change the batteries three times during our visit…the little guy loves the thing! We’ll definitely have to get a remote control Jeep for home.

We even painted finger and toenails today.

My sister came up to have dinner with us tonight. I wish I could have spent more time with her, but we’ll just have to plan another visit…or they can come out to visit us in Oregon!

As I was packing up some of our things tonight the little guy asked, “Can I bring my cape home?”

I said, “Of course, that’s why Meme made it for you!”

Then he said, “Can I sleep with my cape on?”

To that I had to tell him, “No, it’s not safe.” Although I thought that was one of the cutest questions I had ever heard.

I have a feeling that we will need Meme to make many more capes for the little guy!

Meme is putting him to bed tonight…with his cape right next to him.

home is…super heros and ballerina fairies.

{colorado} day 5

March 30, 20117 Comments

Today we went to one of my happiest places on earth.

Vail.

From the time I was my children’s ages I spent a lot of time up in Vail…Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. This continued throughout my 30 years in Colorado.

When I drive up the East side of Vail Pass it is like pure magic. And, when I drop over the West side into the Vail Valley it is like coming home. Everything about it is awesome…the views, the smell, the sounds.

I wanted to share this with my kids as soon as I could.

Today was the day.

It was a quick trip into the village. Across the covered bridge. Up Bridge Street to The Toy Shoppe. The same toy store, with the same Hello Kitty toys, keychains, and vanity license plates for kids bikes as 30 years ago.

We made it up to peek at the Vista Bahn and watch a couple of skiers come down the mountain. Then the kids were ready to move on.

And move on we did.

We drove up to the Cordillera where my aunt and uncle have a beautiful home. We had lunch with my aunt and uncle, cousin and his fiance.

We played, talked, reminisced about fun had in Vail together, and just enjoyed eachothers company.

Everybody was happy. It was magical.

Thank you to my mom for driving us up and back.

Thank you to my aunt, uncle, cousin and fiance for entertaining my kids.

Thank you to my wonderful kiddos for sharing one of my happiest places on earth with me.

home is…going to a happy place.

{colorado} day 4

March 29, 20113 Comments

Everybody slept well last night. I know the update on the sleep thing is boring, but when you are traveling with 2 kids under the age of 4 sleep is important…for everybody!

Although the weather people thought we *may* get snow last night we woke up to blue skies this morning. Weather people can be wrong everywhere…not just in Portland! I also find it funny that no matter where you go people always say, “Just wait a few minutes and it will change,” about the weather…but I digress.

So, the snow and Sha-Sha were no shows today. My niece had a bad cough so stayed home in Denver with my sister.

So, we improvised.

We took our time this morning taking showers and getting dressed and then headed down the hill. We made a quick trip to Michaels to get supplies for making tu-tu’s and capes, went to get a bagel at Einstein’s for lunch, and drove into Golden to play at a playground while it was nice and sunny!

We played outside a bit at Meme & Tophers and then baby girl had a nap and the little guy and Mommy had some quiet time when Meme ran a quick errand.

We eventually went back outside to play in the sun with the remote control Jeep that Topher brought home on Saturday.

We also headed to the playground that with arguably one of the best views in the world.
You be the judge.

Then it was bathtime!

And, shortly after we had more visitors to the yard.

Tomorrow we have a fun adventure planned…stay tuned!

home is…being tired, happy and excited (and missing the hubby).

{colorado} day 3

March 28, 20112 Comments

The kids crashed last night.

Then both woke up around 1 am and wanted to be snuggled, but would not snuggle with me in the same bed. Thanks to Meme for snuggling with the little guy so I could snuggle with baby girl.

Eventually everybody got back to sleep and woke at a decent hour for the day.

We woke up to an unexpected (for me, at least) snowfall. A few inches of the white stuff had fallen and was falling as baby girl and I headed up for breakfast.

In Portland, schools would have been closed for a snow day, but life went on here in the foothills west of Denver.

The deer were eating their breakfast outside.

We shoveled the snow.

Tried to play with the deer.

Threw snow in the air.

Went sledding.

Built a snowman.

And, watched the snow melt.

We also took a trip to Whole Foods and Target, played with the remote control Jeep, and took naps (baby girl and I took naps while Meme played with the little guy).

The kids are sleeping and I am headed to bed soon…lets hope everybody sleeps through the night. We have a big day planned for tomorrow with cousin Sha-Sha! And, we may get more snow tonight!

Oh yeah, we also saw a coyote running up the draw before we went out sledding this morning!

home is…fun in the unexpected snow!

{colorado} day 1 and 2

March 27, 20113 Comments

We made it to Colorado with the two kids in tow!

We got up to my parents house last night after a pretty uneventful morning of travel.

We got acquainted with the wildlife (actually said hello to some deer out the back window, too).

Played with a new remote control Jeep that Topher brought home.

And had dinner with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece.

Ryan left to fly to Florida for work on Sunday morning, so he missed out on the festivities which included lunch with the Catlin/Fields/Larson/Maiman bunch.