Two Steps Forward, Four Steps Back

My weekend was pretty bland, but Shaun's not so much. I didn't think he would feel like rehashing it in a blog, so I asked permission to write about it on mine. We really didn't have any plans, and the weather was predicted to be great, so it seemed like a perfect time to make some serious headway on the fence. He got out into the yard pretty early Saturday morning, and had three posts in the ground before he hit a water line with his post-hole diggers. He was simply digging two inches from an existing hole, and soon discovered that the water lines for our house and the two behind us run right through our yard. Not good. He called the water company immediately and had to leave a message. Meanwhile, water is bubbling up out of the ground. He ran to the front yard to try to turn off the water supply, and when he lifted the lid to the water access, a black widow spider was waiting for him. So, he had to abandon the water main for the kitchen to grab spider spray. And water is still bubbling out of the ground. He runs back outside, kills the death spider, turns off the water, and discovers that it is the water for the family of four that lives behind us. (Not the family of three that was gone for the day) Shaun then had to go to their house to deliver the bad news. In the meantime, the water company has informed me that all they would have done is shut off the water, but the repair is our responsibility. This was terrible news, but we have a neighbor who is a handyman by profession and knew exactly how to fix the problem. The only hiccup during the repair was a baby water moccasin that crawled out of the hole and had to be exterminated. In two hours time, crisis averted, water back on. Then, it seemed we were back in business, right? Shaun's goal was to finish putting posts in the ground and pour concrete in the holes. He lifts the tarp off of the remaining bags of concrete and finds eight bags of bag-shaped, hardened concrete. Like tombstones to mark the deaths of all good intentions that day, this was a monumental setback. Condensation had built up under the tarp that was protecting the bags from the rain, and, you guessed it, turned it into blocks. Okay, so no concrete. Next. He managed to put up two sections worth of boards. That was an accomplishment, right? Today, he added nine more boards to those that he put up yesterday, and then I went outside to survey the progress. I was sad to report to him that the boards looked crooked. They were warped boards and had gotten the better of both he and his level. So, just in time for the sun to go down, Shaun took down all of the boards that he put up this weekend. I didn't know what to say when he came in the house. What can you say? I feel like one lesson a weekend is good enough for anyone. Well, maybe that was enough for one week for the poor, tired man lying flat on the living room floor at my feet. Asleep. Here's to Monday.

Frozen Peas

It's finally Saturday, and I am so glad that Shaun is home. He is outside working on the fence with Seth "working" hard alongside him. Brady is sleeping for now, and here I am wasting a perfectly good time to take a shower. I was so glad to wake up to a clean house this morning even though I wasn't sure if it was worth my efforts last night. I felt like such a failure as a mom yesterday for choosing cleaning the house over playing with Seth in the yard. It's a dilemma I face every day. I don't know what the answer is. At any rate, this morning, the house was clean, and that was a nice start to the weekend for me. With my spare time this morning, I decided to attempt making and freezing baby food. I have no idea what I am doing, but I would love to be one of those coupon-clipping, baby food making, cloth-diaper changing (just kidding on that one) moms. I don't know if it really would save me much money, but every little bit helps, right? So, I boiled and liquefied some frozen peas this morning. I had been saving baby food jars to put my homemade food in, but as I was about to put them in the freezer, I wondered if this was the best container to use in the freezer. I have no idea, really, and I didn't have a Plan B, so I just went ahead with it. If it doesn't work, then I guess I will know soon enough. If anyone has any advice, please feel free to share.

Double Java

Today was a two cups of coffee day. I just can't figure out little Brady. While Seth is a mini-me who loves structure, routine, cleanliness, and sleep, Brady just goes with the flow. He has no schedule, no routine, no patterns of behavior for me to easily memorize, no real preferences. He naps when he's tired. He eats when he's hungry. He sleeps all night...mostly. He is stretching me every day to just RELAX. This is not a new idea. Besides Shaun, my friend Ariel is constantly urging me to chillax. This message is a lot more effective when coming from a five-month-old. You just can't ignore a human that communicates by crying, screaming, grunting, and just being darn cute all the rest of the time. (not that Ariel and/or Shaun are not darn cute on any given day) This morning, Brady decided to mix things up and woke up hungry before 6:00 AM. With as much patience as I could muster, I made him a bottle, changed his diaper (with assistance from Shaun who was already up), and put him back to bed. He lay there peacefully and was completely quiet as I trudged back to my room and crawled under the covers. His silence was broken fifteen minutes later by shrill screaming as though I had never fed him. I didn't even get up for a few minutes because I didn't know what to do for him when I got in there. I ended up just sitting with him in his rocking chair, both of us silent while he put his little fingers on my face, the chair, and the little tree beside the chair. After he yawned a few times, I put him back in his crib, and he slept peacefully until 10:15! I don't know. He was peaceful and easygoing the rest of the day. Sometimes it seems that the harder I try to just "go with the flow," the more intense the flow becomes. I want to be in control so badly, that I'm willing to just take each day "easy breezy" as long as I can control the speed of the wind. I thank God for how he uses both of my boys to challenge me in very different ways. I thank Him for Seth's humor and zest and for Brady's gentleness and warmth. And I thank him for coffee, because I don't know what I would do without it.

Water, Water, Everywhere, but wait...

Forget variety. Mistakes are the spice of life. As I was rinsing dishes today shortly after preparing dinner in the crock-pot, the steady stream of water from the faucet slowly decreased to nothing. I was thinking the fire dept. must be testing the hydrants again, but just as I saw the look on Shaun's face after he checked our water source outside, it hit me. I had neglected to pay the water bill. Harnett County Public Utilities does not look kindly on this sort of delinquency. Just like that, no water. I had to look back over the course of the morning and evaluate decisions made in a new light. I recalled the pot of coffee Shaun had brewed, so tired that he forgot to include any coffee grounds in the filter. I'm not sure if he poured that pot out or recycled the water. It doesn't matter now. Not five minutes before the water went away, I had poured almost an entire gallon of store-bought water into the Keurig...so it would be ready for the cup of coffee I would want TOMORROW. Oh, and let's not forget the shower I had chosen not to take when I got up because I wanted to wait until the kids were napping. Or the choice to not brush my teeth because I had just chewed up a Flintstones vitamin. Yes, I take Flintstones vitamins. Just as these thoughts were finished flitting through my brain, I heard Seth say, "Mommy, I need to poop." Beautiful. What is it with this kid and the timing of his bowel movements? At any rate, our relationship with the water company was rectified quickly, but our water was not turned back on until late in the afternoon. I felt cleaner than ever after that shower. Ah, how we Americans take luxuries like water for granted.

A Not So Manic Monday

After last week, all I wanted today was something different. I thank God that it was exactly that. It was a challenge for me at 5:30 AM to be positive about Brady waking up, but I thought about what a blessing it was that he even had the breath in his lungs to wake up and cry. I have read enough of Linsey's blog ("Keeping Up With the Joneses") lately to quickly appreciate having to wake up while it is still dark outside to make sweet little Brady a bottle. It doesn't happen often anyway. The beauty of that feeding was it helped him to sleep until 9:00 this morning. I was able to wake up on my own and begin my day with peace, quiet, coffee, and a short devotion before anyone needed me for anything. That made all the difference in the world.

I never can figure out if it's my mood that makes Seth grumpy or if it's his mood that makes me grumpy. Either way, I woke up happy and so did he this morning. I pushed chores to the side today and took the boys to the library and the park to play. Sure, that sounds like a pretty sweet day, but as I have learned through having my kids, days like this are beautiful in theory, and they are sweet to look back on, but they are ugly in the making. That trip to the library consisted of me having to pay a $7.oo fee for last month's overdue books. It also meant prodding and poking and urging Seth to choose a book that he might like to take home. We were joined at the library by Seth's friend, Ellie, which was a delight to both of them, but it put an absolute end to the hope that he would choose a book to read today. When he heard that we would leave for the park after he chose two books, he grabbed the two closest books and said he was ready. Shaun (yes, he was able to join us) "helped" him choose two others, and we quickly ended our educational trip to the library. From there, we headed to Wendy's to order our "picnic" lunch. This too looks beautiful from a distance, but not from inside the car where Seth's selfish three-year-old nature could not understand why I wouldn't drive to a Sonic and also pick up a cherry slush. Our time at the park was fun. We ate our Wendy's picnic lunch, and Seth even went down the slide a few times before he informed me that he had to poop. So, we abruptly gathered our things, buckled Brady back into his car seat, and rushed to Shane and Leslie's house so Seth could comfortably go to the bathroom. And all this time, Shaun is needing to be dropped back off at his car that we left at the library. He was taken hostage by the chaos of a peaceful day. We left that potty break with Seth crying because he wanted to go back to the park. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. His body betrayed him by waiting until he was at the park to signal an emergency landing. By the time we arrived home, he was over it. I realize that may not sound like a great day to anyone else, but it was a victory for me. I never raised my voice, Brady never cried the entire time, I was able to steal Shaun away from his work, and Seth learned to adapt. Today, we felt and breathed the breeze and the sun, and I am thankful that none of the chores on my list were accomplished.