Goodbye 2010

• January - Lots of friend's birthday parties, Claire and Finn turned 15 months old, Claire got sick, chose name for our MOPS cookbook, we had an ant problem, saw my OB, got a haircut on the 28th.
• February - Weighed six pounds less than I do now (sob), had a huge snowstorm in Dallas, my Aunt Peg's third husband died (she is already passed away) and my sweet friend Diana's father died. Spoke with Realtor for first time.
• March - Have inside of house painted, attend Mommy Swap, have windows washed. Not a thrilling month for the Michies.
• April - Easter Egg Hunt, many open houses at which no one makes us an offer, Claire and Finn to 18 month checkup, put our house on the market, take pictures in bluebonnets.
• May - Pass the Notebook party for MOPS Steering Team, New York City for cousin Ross's wedding (most fun I'd had all year), niece Brittany graduates from Texas A&M, end of preschool for Duncan (and lots of crying for me).
• June - Duncan's 5th birthday, niece Kathleen graduates from high school, attend Mommy Swap, 12th wedding anniversary, vacation Bible school, visit Martha T. Reilly Elementary, lower price on house, lots of swimming, look at lots of houses. Dream about living in some of them.
• July - 4th of July parade, more swimming, big family vacation to Priest Lake in Idaho, did not attend many Zumba classes I had written down in my calendar, Duncan has his first country club experience with sweet friend.
• August - So.Hot. Lots of swimming and running from air conditioned car to air conditioned house. Lots of white space on my calendar so I don't think we did much else. Did get my iphone, which deserves recongnition because it has changed my life. MOPS cookbook kickoff party. My former boss died suddenly. 5 year checkup for Duncan. Kindergarten. Sadness. Lots of crying. Buy "new" minivan.
• September - MOPS starts back up for Fall. My brother and his girlfriend come to visit from Spokane. Westminster Youth Choir Reunion. Begin to sell MOPS cookbooks. Start to exercise regularly and begin Couch to 5K program. Also start to have regular Tuesday playdates. Turn 45. Buy good night cream. Iain goes to first PTA meeting and is sorely disappointed. Texas State Fair!
• October - Ziggy's birthday. Becky's birthday. Claire and Finn's birthday. Iain and Duncan have first Father-Son weekend trip to Georgia with Mobley and Wilson. Claire and Finn turn 2! Halloween. First teacher conference and report card for Duncan. Duncan to dentist. No cavities! Take house off the market. Sadness.
• November - Tour Dealey Elementary. MOPS Cookbooks shipped! Thanksgiving. Still doing Couch to 5K. My brother Doug gets married. Sister Becky to Hawaii.
• December - Iain still traveling alot. Still running. Last MOPS meeting of semester. Attend another Mommy Swap. Bake lots of cookies. Get hair cut. Family Christmas party. Turn in application to Dealey. Friend has brain surgery. Do not participate in Jingle Bell run because Duncan is sick but we cheer Daddy on! Christmas. Prepare for 2011. Will celebrate 2010 with great friends.

Love,

Christie

Late December Picnic!

We love you, Texas weather. Late December picnics on our new playset picnic table are tons of fun. Many more winter days like this one would really rock mommy's world.

Weekend Recap

My lack of being able to move my pictures around still hinders me. It is a challenge I am not afraid to rise to, however. But I digress. Friday was Duncan's class Christmas party...oh, excuse me...I mean holiday party. I went through the process to be able to walk in the front door of the school and down the hall to his classroom to pass out chips and sit in a tiny chair and listen to five and six year olds tell me about their worlds. And by process I mean I had to agree to a criminal background check. To go to my kid's party. But whatever. I did. And I went. Duncan was super happy to have me there and I was super happy to do it. He was proud for me to see where he sits (Table 2) and who he sits with (all girls) and all the art displayed around the room. And I really do like his teacher. So I passed out chips and then sat and talked to Duncan and his table mates about math, the politics of stealing crayons from other's crayon boxes, pop rocks, and all other matters kindergarten. It was really pretty fun and made both of us happy.

On Saturday, I got started baking. I had plans to go to a cookie exchange on Sunday and needed to make 8 dozen cookies. I decided on a salted caramel thumbprint, which actually turned out to be pretty easy. It took me all day, but I did get all 8 dozen of them made, with the help of my super husband going to the store for me only one time. A good friend came by for a short visit, and before we knew it it was bed time. After we got all the kids fed and in jammies, we took them to go look at Christmas lights in a neighborhood not too far away. Each street picks a different theme and everyone decorates (well, mostly everyone...I suppose if you don't decorate you are asked to move but I'm not sure.) There was a Peanuts street, a 12 Days of Christmas street, a Biblical/Religious street, etc...Oh, and a 12 Days of a Redneck Christmas street. See Monster Truck below. Anyway, it's a good spot because unlike some parts of Dallas I don't come home feeling completely overwhelmed at our lack of space and lack of Christmas lights. Got all the kids in bed pretty quickly. Instead of having time to finish my Christmas cards last night, though, I had to finish my cookies and was in bed by about 11:00. Saturday Night Live could not hold my interest. Oh, and the remote control to our TV broke, sending us into a tailspin and causing us to stumble around trying to figure out how anyone ever changed channels before remote controls....well, remote controls and DVR's.

This morning was church and I took the kids and Iain stayed home. Afterwards, came home and got everyone fed and the babies down for naps. Duncan had expressed interest in going with me to the cookie swap and since kids were welcome, I let him come with me. After about twenty minutes he was bored silly (as I had warned him he would be) so since it was only down the street I ran him home and went back to enjoy myself. I came home with 8 dozen cookies. Just what we need! I have already packed up a tin for our sweet neighbors across the street and am going to give away quite a few more, except the gingerbread men. Duncan has asked that I keep those. And I shall.

Friends

I have a new, but great, friend who is having brain surgery today. We initially grew to be friends over me asking for people to do the 30 Day Shred with me. She did it. I did not. But we became friends anyway! I see her at church on Sundays, and we email and FB message back and forth during the week. So, while we do not live in the same part of town, have not been friends for very long, and only see each other once a week I think we have become dear friends. Sometimes that happens and you just can't explain it.

So, today, she is having brain surgery. She's brave and strong but still...it's brain surgery. She should come through just fine and walk away 100% and I'd like any of you who happen to read this today, if you are a praying person, to say a little prayer for my new, wonderful friend.

~Christie

Weekend Recap

I am determined to get this up before Wednesday.

Friday was very awesome and very exciting. My MOPS group had arranged a Mother's Day Out for all of us, where we could drop off our kids for three hours, for $10 a kid. So, for $20 I got 2x3 hours of childcare. Cannot be beat. I got oldest dropped of at kindergarten then got a coffee, some cash and got the littles dropped off. I had planned my time pretty carefully, so as not to waste any precious, child-free minutes. I hit the shopping center right next to our church and scored some serious bargains at Stein Mart. I knew I needed a new 2011 planner, and knew the one I wanted so I drove up to Borders but they did not have it. Cursed the fact that I'd wasted precious time. Went back to the shopping center where I started and hit a gift shop (score!) and Tuesday Morning (disappointed) then called a great friend to meet me at Fuzzy Taco for lunch. Can I just go on and on about the beauty of the Big Salad? Man. That was good.

Time to go pick up my (hopefully) exhausted kids. And go home. For naps. Except we didn't...and when I say "we" I mean them. Oh, we had banter and hijinx from the bedroom but not a wink of sleep. I needed to pick up Duncan and drive him downtown to drop him off with my sister, who was taking him to the Polar Express at the IMAX theater in Fort Worth. Can I just say that one should not always depend on one's navigation system in one's car to get one to one's destination in the most expedient way? I will not go on and on about it but. Suckage.

I got Duncan dropped off and as soon as I did meltdown 1 and 2 started. Got them home, in the bath and in jammies as quickly as I could, at the cost of missing my Sunday School Christmas party. I was really looking forward to going, but since Iain was on his way back from LA and the babies would have been a big puddle of toddler shortly after dropping them off, I elected to stay home. I got on my own pajamas soon after I put them in theirs and waited for Hubs to get home.

Dang. I'm just on Friday?

My sister calls at this point with a teary Duncan, at the IMAX theater saying he wants to come home. I talk him off the ledge, tell my sister to feed him and for them to call me back. Did not hear back so I assumed he snapped out of it and continued to try to relax. Iain got home at about 8:30 and I am sure I was a vision in my flannel, lying on the heating pad.

My sister emailed me later to tell me that Duncan was fine, in case you are wondering. Large steam trains on movie screens and Whataburger can cure a host of ills and fears.

On Saturday, Iain got up and went to go play raquetball with his Dad and I stayed home with the babies and kind of piddled and got ready. We had a family get together that afternoon, and headed up north of Dallas as soon as Claire and Finn woke up from naps. Duncan met us there with my mom and sister. When we arrived, he was having fun with distant cousins his own age so I was grateful for that. We did sufficient family visiting, then drove home in time to get Claire and Finn to bed and Duncan shortly afterwards. Blur.

On Sunday, the kids all had a Birthday Party for Jesus at church (which Iain was helping with) so after a rocky start we all made it to church by 9:30. I was so grateful that we had nothing to do after church! We put up some Christmas lights outside and just stayed home. Iain went to meet a friend from B-school later for drinks, but by then I was already in my flannels looking hopefully towards bedtime.

And **poof**...it's gone.

~Christie

Weekend Recap

Wow, that one went amazing fast. As a side note, why am I doing this at 6:30 A.M. in the dark (except for the lights from the Christmas tree) without having had my coffee? Your guess is as good as mine.

So, I shall start with Thursday night because this was kind of a three day weekend for me. Although, I suppose there is an argument to be made it was a five day weekend because Iain left on Wednesday and when that happens time just seems to go all wonky and I never know what day it is anyway. But Thursday night seems a good kicking off spot. We had our MOPS Steering Christmas party that night, so I got myself a baby sitter and kicked up my heels (except I wore cute embellished flats...and I know they are called that because I read about it on someone else's blog). Hostess did the most perfect job! Lots of cocktails, candles, china, crystal, food, and good friends.
On Friday morning, I had our MOPS Christmas Tea...it was the last meeting of the semester and our genius speaker coordinator had the whole idea. It was really fun and festive and a good time was had by all the moms, I think. I could try to talk about how important MOPS is to me but I would get all blubbery and sad right now and it's just too early. But it was gorgeous!

Okay, back to weekend. Friday night, Iain got home...no parties!

On Saturday, he got started finishing putting together the playset that my fabulous cousin so generously gave us. His dad, a/k/a Pawpaw came over to help, and also took Duncan to McDonald's and played with all the kids in the leaves, and was a great, huge help overall. His dad has been spending more time with us and the kids and I must say it's been great. They are all quite attached to him and I can see why. He's very tall, with a Scottish accent, a shock of white hair...quite a fabulous grandpa. We thought he'd be Granda but he's ended up being Pawpaw because that's all Claire can say and it's stuck, I think.

On Saturday night I went to a Mommy Swap with some friends and came away with some treasures. They are always so fun, goodies aside. The social aspect is the big draw for me, that and getting rid of so many things that just take up space in my house! We were in a friend's parents' beautiful home, laughed alot and donated alot of great stuff to Good Will. Oh, and I got Iain a practically brand new raquet for raquet ball and a Dora backpack for Claire. And a brand new karate outfit for Duncan. And there was pizza. And wine. It was so fun!

On Sunday...well, it was really the highlight of the whole weekend. I packed up the twins and dropped them off at church then Duncan and I drove over to our church's water stop at the White Rock Marathon. My great friend was running and we went to cheer her on. It was amazing! While we waited for her to zoom past us, we saw some amazing runners, cheered, rang cow bells, handed out cups of water and Gatorade and hopefully shone the light of Christ in the process. My friend has reached a level of celebrity with Duncan, so it was hard to wait but he did a great job and when she did run past us, was so kind and generous and thoughtful enough to slow down enough to give him a fast hug and a smile. It made his day!

By Sunday night we were all spent, but it was a good weekend! Why do I always take until Wednesday to get these weekend recaps done?

Christie

Advent, Day 2

We rocked the playground at the Y today with some shiny pink Disney Princess cowboy boots.

Droopy diapers didn't slow us down either.

And sometimes, it's best just to march along...

and enjoy the day!

Chillin'

Dear Santa

I have tried really hard to be a good wife/mom/friend/sister/daughter this year. I know, I know, tryin' is lyin' or for the birds or whatever but it has to count for something, right? So, anyhoo, back to me.


Material things are nice, and there are a few I've got my eye on so let's just get those out of the way quickly.


I would love some black cowboy boots. And one of those holster thingies for my ipod or iphone so when I'm at the gym I don't have to hold it while I work out and look pretty geeky. Because I run now, you know. Did you hear? But that is really all I can think of.

My real list would be:

• the ability for all of our children to sleep until 8:00 on Saturdays
• snow on Christmas Eve again this year because last year? Spectacular.
• the knowledge and security that Duncan would be in a good school next year for first grade, that we felt good about, where he would be challenged and could make real friends that he could actually play with after school
• that we lived in a neighborhood with kids
• for me to find something I can do, that is kind of creative, that would also generate some income
• for me to continue to run, and perhaps participate in a half marathon by this time next year
• for my MOPS group to have a solid steering team again next year (I will be lead coordinator)
• that my chin hairs will magically stop growing

Thank you, Santa.

~Christie

Weekend Recap

Iain left town on Friday, which is rare, and difficult because it causes me to do weird things like sit in front of the television on a Friday night thinking "Saturday Night Live comes on in about 15 minutes" then thinking even weirder things like "No! I am crazy! It's Monday!" Except, it's Friday. Sadness at the crazy.


On Saturday, my father in law came over to pick up Duncan to take him to a koi pond and to lunch. This was great not only in a grandson-grandfather bonding way, but in a Mommy-is-sick-and-needs-a-nap way, too. As soon as they were out the door, I put Claire and Finn in bed and curled up on the couch myself. I think we all slept a few hours, but I really can't remember. It was fleeting, but it was glorious. Duncan and Grandpa came home about three hours later, with soup and cornbread for me. Grandpa stayed for a cup of coffee, then headed out. I can hardly blame him because it was about 4:00 at this point and we all know what that means in a house with three small children. The rest of the evening is a blur, but I think everyone went to bed early enough that I was not a complete crazy person by bedtime. I am sure I spent the remainer of the evening doing constructive, worthwhile things like catching up on blogs and seeing how many Maroon Albeo Amfractus I can breed in Pocket Frogs. Why, when Iain travels am I completely brain dead by the time I get all the children asleep? Oh, I think I just answered my own question.

Sunday came and I was still feeling really bad so I called my sister and asked if I could just bring the kids, dump them on her and sleep. Well, not really in that way. I did, however, go over there mid-morning and as soon as Claire and Finn went down for a nap, my sister took Duncan with her to a street fair and I went to sleep...for three hours, ya'll! Duncan had a great day and I felt alot better when I woke up. Got all of them home and in bed at a reasonable hour. Whew! Weekend? Survived. And it's only Wednesday when I'm getting this all typed up.

Eating from the pantry

Iain left town yesterday morning, so naturally I came down with a cold last night. And am low on milk. And help. My mom and sister have lives, and are busy so plans to go out there to leave babies and get my shopping done were thwarted. Today, I had hoped to go out there after Grandpa and Duncan go on their outing (more later) but my mom has things to do and my sister is going to a concert in Fort Worth. Again, thwarted.



Today, however, I might have a decent plan B. Grandpa is coming to get Duncan to take him to feed the koi at his health club, then to McDonald's. I'm hoping I can convince him how fun and special it will be to go to the grocery store, too, with his grandson and get me some milk. If I have milk, I can make it. We will eat from the pantry and be just fine.



For breakfast? Frozen peaches for Claire and Finn and cinnamon toast for Duncan. Only about half a loaf of bread left, but we do have tortillas. Finn does not eat bread OR tortillas, so we should be fine. I have 3/4 of a jar of peanut butter, apples, Cheerios to beat the band, one organic frozen bean burrito (that baby is mine), some soup, Tater Tots, and some organic frozen green beans. What am I worried about? Heck, I could have company!

So, lunch and dinner went fairly well. Dinner was baked potato and green beans...Claire and Finn eat them like candy and Duncan is no slob either. In fact, I began to wonder why I was so worried about not being able to make it to the grocery store today in the first place. In for a penny, in for a pound, though so I shall forge ahead. Part of my worry, I think, is that there is nothing sweet in the house. This is not entirely a bad thing, since I am trying to lose some weight but sometimes it's nice. There is leftover Halloween candy, but it's all the non-chocolate kind so it may as well not exist as far as I'm concerned. As a side note, I did bake all of the potatoes in the oven and plan to make a big pot of baked potato soup with them at some point. The weather is finally chilly enough for soup. I ate a plain one for dinner and it was yummy. Duncan ate two of them.

On a food side note, I'm watching Julie and Julia and am finding myself wanting to bake something. And have a dinner party. We need a better dining room table, honey.

~Christie

Good vs. Bad

Some fashion decisions are good:

and some are bad:

School Lunch

So fun.

This will be one of those cop-out, random thought, list blog posts. But secretly, I love reading them because my attention span is pretty short most days.

• I love the show Parenthood.
• The house next door has an offer, which makes me very super excited because maybe, FINALLY, things are turning around in our neighborhood. Hey, people with no kids! Come live over here! It's beautiful, close to the lake, lots of mature trees, creeks, and unique 1950's homes that all look different. Just crappy schools.
• Claire and Finn are both napping. The past two days? Not so much. So today, I am super grateful.
• The sides of my calves are sore, but I am on week 6 of my Couch to 5K program.
• Duncan is doing so much better in kindergarten. He can't wait to leave the house in the morning and is proud of himself when he does well on homework and tests. We are bursting.
• We are starting to look at different schools for 1st grade. We toured one yesterday that we both like...alot. Makes me nervous how much I like it.
• I have watched seasons 1-5 of Weeds on Netflix on demand and now need Season 6 badly. It is not on Netflix. Help me.

~Christie

Happy Day of the Dead!

Okay, so technically it's tomorrow but I can't really say Happy Halloween anymore, like I wanted to, so Happy Dios De Los Muertos.

We are home from school, and already have homework done which puts a little pep in my step considering it's Monday and Iain is out of town again. One less battle to fight tonight. One less egg to fry.

Randomness:

• I bought my husband a navy blue, waffle weave, long sleeve shirt at Big Lots for $7 and I just put it on myself...and I love it. Might have to go back.
• Our next door neighbor is mowing his lawn in the dark. They have their house on the market and showed it today. My fantasy is that they are going to have a second showing and sell it, which would be good news for us since we also want to try to sell ours again. I will subscribe to the old "if they can, we can" theory.
• Roasted red peppers and feta cheese are really good together.
• I am on week 5 of the Couch to 5K program. I have not skipped a single run, nor have I stopped running during my sessions before I am supposed to. I am shocked at, and proud of myself. My first goal is to complete a 5K, perhaps in December. My favorite song to run to is Hey Ya by Outkast.
• I am once again emotionally invested in a team I paid no attention to until the playoffs. What does this say about me?

We had our second annual Halloween party last weekend. I cut the guest list back this year just because Iain was traveling so much and I felt a little overwhelmed, but still wanted to have it, mostly for Duncan. It was great! We had 9 kids, 7 adults, 1 cat, at cupcakes, cake balls, chili, veggies, fruit kabobs, and Fritos, drank Pimm's, beer, water, fruit punch, and coffee, went ghost hunting, decorated pumpkins, played football and watched the Rangers beat the giants. I can't wait to have it again next year and hope we are finally in a new and bigger house, and can expand our guest list.

Duncan has done a real 180 when it comes to school. This morning he could not wait to get out the door and when he came home he told me he wished he could "stay at school all day and learn." Prayers? Meet answer.

Now I am going to get my eager to learn boy off to bed,

Christie

A Tale of Two Cakes

The cake on the left a "Pumpkin Pie Cake" was baked today, by yours truly. It contains pumpkin, flour, sugar, eggs, oil, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

The cake on the left would not win a beauty contest with the cake on the right. It needs frosting, but is most likely slated for a glaze, or maybe something with cream cheese. Or maybe just whipped cream?

The cake on the right was baked, well, I don't know when it was baked but it has to be sold by October 27, 2010. It contains sugar, bleached wheat flour, whole eggs, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, cocoa, soybean oil, nonfat milk, corn syrun, high fructose corn syrup, leavening, cornstarch, modified food starch, salt, propylene glycol mono & diesters, natural and artifical flavor, mono Y diglycerides, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, coconut oil, soybean lecithin, phosphoric acid, polysorbate 60, potassium sorbate & sodium bensozate , dextrin, confectioner's glaze, carnauba wax, may contain FD&C colors: Red 3&40, Yellow 5&6, Blue 1&2, Lakes Red 3& 40, Yellow 5&6, Blue 1&2 Blue. Contains wheat, soy, egg & milk products.

I am not allowed to bring the cake on the left to Duncan's school for the cake walk at his Fall Carnival. Instead, I must bring the cake on the right. So, instead of taking home a cake baked with ingredients you can pronounce, and probably have in your own pantry, you could walk away with $4.99 worth of crap you can't pronounce and you get to pump your kids full of it! And isn't propolyne glycol the same as anti-freeze?

Stupid.

Home Alone

Iain and Duncan got on a plane and flew to Georgia today with two of Iain's b-school pals and their boys. Oh, how I wish I could be a fly on the wall! I know they will have a great time, even though the littles will miss their mommies just a bit, and bug the daddies just a bit. But the daddies are all top-notch and great fun will be had. I just hope they take pictures and change underwear.

My mom and sister are keeping Claire and Finn tonight. After I dropped off Man and Boy #1 at the airport, I went to my sister's and mom's and hung around just long enough to not feel like I was leaving my children and running out the door, and went to get a manicure and pedicure.

I was there over TWO hours. I waited almost an hour, but once they got started it was pretty relaxing. I think my toes and fingernails look pretty good! I made a brief stop in the Tuesday Morning next door, filled a basket with things I thought I needed them put them all back and left empty handed. Why do I do that? It must fill a need.

My next stop was Sally Beauty Supply because the hair needs help. I had the most helpful, awesome girl help me pick a hair color and goop to mix it with, got some good top coat for my new nails and was back in the van.

Next stop? TCBY for a small cone. I hadn't eaten since before we left for the airport but wasn't really that hungry for something dinner-ish. The fro-yo hit the spot. Then, straight home to get caught up on my guilty pleasure television...Project Runway.

The strange, twisty part? I'm a bit lonely. I am surrounded by people all day every day. Mostly little people, but sometimes big people too. And I love being alone. I love being alone in my home. I crave it, and was really looking forward to this little 24-hour time period. And I AM enjoying it. But, I am a little lonely and missing my family...just enough. Not overwhelmingly so. There is a wonderful, warm security in being surrounded by your family at night. I am so lucky to have that.

Interview with Myself

I ran into myself the other day, and thought I'd take the opportunity to ask myself some questions.


Me: So, I've noticed that you have an unusual system regarding your clean laundry. What is it that inspired you to just move it from the chair to the bed, then the bed back to the chair, and so on, for days? Rather than just putting it away?


Myself: Most days, it works for me. Until, that is, I have something much more pressing and time-sensitive that needs to get done. Then, putting away the laundry seems like a good idea. It's the little known 8th habit of highly effective people.



Me: So, what is up with your hair?

Myself: I know there is someone to blame for my hair, I'm just not sure who at this point. I was talked into an all-over color, a very blonde all over color. And when I try to go really, really blonde I tend to get kind of red as well (which I don't like.) So now, I have some pretty heinous roots AND my hair is starting to look yellowy and brassy and that vague strawberry blonde, which again I hate. (Note: I hate it on me...I have no ill-will towards anyone else who wants to go that color.) I think I will remedy with another all-over, darker color.

Me: What are you making for dinner tonight?

Myself: Well, tonight we are going to church for dinner. The bad side of this plan is that Iain is out of town so I will have to get all three of them there, out of the car, into the church, down to the Fellowship Hall, get Claire and Finn into high chairs, get food for them, watch while they don't eat it and throw it on the floor, clean them and get them back upstairs. The good side is that I can feed them all, and myself, for about five bucks, I don't have to cook it, and I can then drop them all three off for music and missions for an hour while I join some friends for fellowship and devotionals (which usually turns into a totally fun gab session, with some devotion thrown in for good measure.) And the sweet ladies in Claire and Finn's class will put them in their jammies for me.

Me: How are your kids doing?

Myself: Oh, fine! Duncan just got his first report card and it was good. Tomorrow night is our first ever parent/teacher conference. What do I wear? We only have ten minutes so it's kind of like speed dating. Finn is just as loud as he is sweet. He wakes up wanting to give eveyone a kiss. Takes his blankie everywhere. Tells a mean knock-knock joke and still wont eat anything besides dry cereal, chips, apple slices, tater tots, fish sticks and crackers. He wants to be just like Duncan. Claire. Oh, where do I start. Sugar and spice. Sweet and sour. She has embraced the age of 2 more than the boys. Fiercely independent but wants to be included in everything. Nuts about her Daddy. A bit on the dramatic side. Sometimes (often) hear her saying, "Help! Mommy! I stuck!" from her crib. Love her.

Me: So, what else would you like to tell our readers? What else is going on?

Myself: Life is good.

Losin' it

So, as soon as Duncan started kindergarten I started going back to the gym. He has never done too great in the child care (not sure exactly why) but Claire and Finn do fabulous. They toddle right down the sidewalk, in the door, greet all the Silver Sneakers crew, and go straight to the child care room where they walk in practically without looking back.

So, I started out walking on the treadmill. And that was good, for a while. Then I realized how many people I knew had taken up running, several with the couch to 5K program. So, being that I am the person who has said things like "I don't understand you people who run" and "I have never run and I know I never will"...I started running. And I like it. See, that's all you have to do. Say you don't like something and you'll never do it then BAM! You will be doing it.

So, I have been doing the couch to 5K program for about three weeks. Some things I have learned:

• It is far better and easier to run, and run faster and longer, with good music. I initially made the mistake of trying to watch CNN while I ran.
• Good shoes seem critical.
• Even if I cannot hear myself singing Ice Ice Baby, everyone else at the Y can.
• I can see how and why people love the sport, but I have a long way to go.
• I do not see how I can run outside in Texas, in the summer.

So, while I have not stepped on the scale in many weeks I think I've lost some weight but one of the things I do while I am running/walking is to envision a certain pair of jeans being so big that I have to give them away.

I will let you know when that happens.

On This Day

Nine years ago today I gave birth to a baby boy, who probably would have weighed about nine pounds if he had not lost so much blood. He looked alot like Iain and he looked alot like me. He lived about 36 hours. The purpose of this post is not to re-hash his death and how horrific that was. It is too painful of a process and I rarely do it anymore.

The purpose of this post, however, is to talk about what this day does to me now. Nine years later.

On this day, I have him on my mind all day long. It is a heavy weight but I relish it in a way...it is a time that I feel like I can devote to that, and I don't have much time for that anymore.

On this day, no matter how ill-behaved our living breathing children are, I seem to be able to renew my patience, my gratitude and my ability to put things in perspective. That is a real gift. I know horrific and terrible, and nothing that I experience in my day to day life at this point is either! Temper tantrums pass (and I had some doozies today), crayon can be washed off, messes can be cleaned up. My dad had a philosophy that if it wont matter in two weeks, don't waste too much time worrying about it today. I take that one step further. If nobody is dying, you can fight through it, work it out, clean it up, make it better or sleep it off.

So, on this day, hug and kiss your kids and give yourself a break. Keep it in perspective. And pray for those who have lost a child to miscarriage, still birth or infant death.

~Christie