Category Archives: On My Mind

Holy Productivity, Batman!

Sometimes I think we must be a tad crazy. As if coming back from vacation and trying to get small kiddos back on schedule wasn’t hard enough, we also decided to drastically rearrange our house this weekend. Madness, but it seems like it will be worthwhile madness. All of this moving meant I needed another bookshelf, so we ended up at IKEA where Enzo got very excited about a small loft bed. More excited than we’ve seen him over anything in a long time, so we decided to get it for him in the hopes that bedtime would become easier. For the first time in weeks, he slept in his bed the entire night. If this trend continues, the bed will have been worth every single penny.

All in all it made for a very busy weekend, though, and the kids are still off from vacation. Enzo had a rough preschool drop-off and Phoebe got clingy as well, so I’m just hoping we can get everyone back into their normal routine this week. I’m really glad we have a 3 day weekend coming up as I feel like every night this week is going to be filled with busy work as I finish moving books and toys around and finally get photos from our trip off my camera, and about a million other tiny little projects. We do, however, plan on getting out this upcoming weekend and relaxation and fun will be a must.

Sunshine, Stress and Wellness

I have to remind myself that Enzo has only been 3 for a little over a month. Typically it feels like time is flying by, so it’s somewhat surprising to me that it’s really not going that quickly at all. I definitely need to slow down and be more present. I’ve also found myself shifting my priorities and goals and trying not to fit so much into so little time so I don’t feel as overwhelmed. I’ve been getting a lot of reading done, which has been awesome and don’t feel bad about putting off little projects I wanted to get done.

The aromatherapy studying is still happening, just at a slower pace. We had so much going on over the past few months and now I finally feel like I can just breathe and take my time with blends. I’ve come up with a few really good ones, and a few that need work, but more importantly I don’t feel as rushed and when I feel rushed, my blends aren’t as good. I think that’s the case with everything, though. You need to be able to give things the proper amount of time they deserve, but you also have to enjoy what you’re doing or the outcome won’t be as good as it could be.

There was a point a few months ago (maybe more, maybe less) where I felt so overwhelmed that if the kids weren’t in bed by 8:00 and kept getting up and wouldn’t stay down I would feel almost angry and put out because they were encroaching on my time and I needed my time to do things. Now, I feel differently. Sure, right before our trip I have things I need to do so the past couple of nights with fussy children not wanting to go to sleep has been frustrating, but at one point I finally just realized that it is what it is. No, I may not finish a few things, but that’s life. Were they really that imperative? No. So, instead I went upstairs, picked up Phoebe (for the umpteenth time because she wouldn’t let us put her down in her crib without crying big crocodile tears) and I carried her to our bed and held her and eventually fell asleep with her on my chest. Last night Josh and I took turns with the kiddos and eventually they slept – just not on time. Oh well.

I’m even at a point where I really felt like we needed to get the kids to stay in their rooms all night and it was hard and stressful, and now that we’ve kind of just caved and let the kids crawl in bed with us in the middle of the night Enzo has started getting better about staying in his room after we put him down and he’s stopped asking to sleep on the floor. We don’t always get a good night’s sleep, but I think I’ve actually been sleeping better now that we’ve just decided to let Enzo crawl into bed and if Phoebe starts crying in her crib to just bring her in. They won’t always bed share, just like Enzo will one day be fully potty trained and they’ll both give up their nuks. Working full time means we don’t see them as often as we’d like to, so I think at times they just need/want that extra time to cuddle and feel safe.

A very long post to really just say that I’m trying not to sweat the small stuff. It’s a work in progress, but I know that we’re all so much happier when we can manage our stress and just take life one day at a time and make the best of everything. I didn’t realize just how anal I could be about little things until this past weekend when we were gardening and then decided to fill the water table. Normally I would have been more careful about the kids not getting their clothes really dirty and would have tried to contain the messes more, but it doesn’t bother me as much anymore. I kind of like that I’m able to just shrug my shoulders at possibly ruined clothes and not care if they get completely soaked while not in their swimwear. Who cares! I want to be just as carefree as my munchkins.

Anyhoo…

I had my first acupuncture appointment on Monday and I’m feeling hopeful. I have an herb blend I’m taking now and didn’t have any negative reaction so the needles, so with a little work I’m hoping the whole hives issue can be resolved. As expected, I need to make some dietary changes, and so I’m doing that slowly. I haven’t dropped everything cold turkey, but I’m trying to cut back a lot on things like dairy and gluten and processed items and eat more proteins and greens. Actually, as he gave examples it sounded a lot like a paleo diet, so perhaps I should look into doing a Whole 30. I don’t know if I have the willpower, though… I haven’t given up my chocolate and last night I confess I may have stress eaten one too many rolls… whoops. Tomorrow is another day and I can try again. I already switched to gluten free oatmeal and coconut milk yogurt, so there’s that! As our friend Daniel Tiger would say, “Try, try, try, try, try it again!” 😉

Another rainy weekend ahead

Okay, Minnesota, what’s up with the rain every weekend? We had intended on doing work outside, but it looks like that probably won’t be happening this weekend after all. Instead, I’ll be running lots of errands tomorrow morning and maybe we’ll still try and get out and do something with the kiddos. Granted, there’s a lot to do around the house, but getting out is always nice and so are distractions.

My chronic urticara (hives) have been really bad the past few days despite taking antihistamines three times a day. It’s like having PUPPS all over again, which any pregnant woman will tell you is misery. Funnily enough, the hives are worse on my belly (just like with PUPPS); the antihistamines are working everywhere else, but not on my stomach. Because of the constant discomfort, and the fact that I already feel constantly stoned thanks to the meds, I’ve decided to go a different route. I’m going to try Traditional Chinese Medicine and see an acupuncturist on Monday in the hopes that something will work and give me either relief or a cure.

He did, however mention potentially changing my diet and I googled some elimination diets that are sometimes used when trying to treat hives… I will give it a go, but I’m not going to lie – giving up some of my favorite foods will be torture. Not sure which is worse… constant itching or not getting to eat chocolate. :p

Thursday Musings

I’m not sure what to think of this silly weather we’ve been having… up and down and all the nice weather seems to fall during the week instead of on the weekend. Most Memorial Day weekends we’d be off doing something like camping, but we definitely weren’t about to do that last weekend. The kids have been extra cantankerous, though. I’m not sure if it’s the rain coming through or what, but I know I would certainly like some warm weather to actually fall on a weekend so I can soak it all up.

It doesn’t help that there has been so much going on either. It is time to fit in some evening walks and tackle our outside projects whenever the opportunity arises since summer is always too short. Soon we’ll be sending swimsuits to day care and trying frantically to fit in as many outside activities as possible. I want to camping, swimming, you name it!

The kids did get some cousin time in over the weekend, which is always nice, and I have some pictures from when we traded babysitting a few weeks ago that I need to go through. Josh got a couple of really good pictures and there are some fun ones of all the kiddos hanging out. I love watching our little tomboy keep up with the boys. I swear she’s more rowdy than her brother at times and giggles madly when she gets tackled.

Already she’s rebelling against the dresses I’ve gotten her… I put one on her the other day and she wanted it off. Then she wanted a skirt, but didn’t want a shirt on. Then Enzo wanted a skirt too, so I was like… okay, sure, why not? They both twirled and had great fun and then watched Strawberry Shortcake, which was Enzo’s choice. I think it’s good for both kids to get to do “boy” and “girl” things. I can’t imagine telling Enzo that I won’t paint his nails, but I’ll paint Phoebe’s because she’s a girl… he likes brightly colored things, so paint his nails I will!

Don’t ask me where this post is going… just random thoughts on a very hot afternoon from a very air conditioned office during the slowest time of the year. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough… plus its Josh’s birthday and I have surprises in store! There is nothing more fun than surprising someone. 😉

No fear of flying here.

Why do you suppose it is that most young children are thrill seekers? Or rather, why is it that so many adults go from being thrill seekers in their youth to being too nervous or scared about getting hurt? Much like Enzo and Phoebe, I know I liked climbing up on things, jumping off of things, and gave very little thought to whether or not I’d get hurt. But now? Not so much. Even looking at Josh tossing the kids up in the air makes my heart slightly stop, but also just makes me slightly nauseous.

I don’t have that many fears, but the ones I do have are fairly irrational. I have a fear of being up on ladders… and get nervous standing on kitchen chairs. Yes, even being a couple feet off the ground makes me incredibly nervous. I’ll still do it because there are times when one has no choice, but I get shaky and can’t think too much about what I’m doing. I haven’t the slightest idea when or why this fear began either. I’ve never fallen from an extreme height or broken anything, so you’d think there would be nothing to fear.

In the beginning neither kiddo enjoyed being tossed up into the air, but at some point for both it became fun. Phoebe is the same way with the swing set. Enzo hates swinging, but after a couple of times, Phoebe started to enjoy it and thought it was fun. Enzo is, however, getting better about bugs… as long as they don’t fly. I can’t argue with him when it comes to wasps or hornets – they are just nasty and I won’t pretend they aren’t. The kids and I stood in the rain looking at worms the other day, which Enzo was fascinated by. Phoebe was more concerned as to why water was falling from the sky, so she didn’t care about how “squishy” or “neat” the worms were. He’s also fascinated by ants, especially after I showed him one carrying something.

Now the next big fear to overcome is swimming. I’m really hoping we can get the kids into the water this summer and show them it’s not scary… just a little colder and bigger than the bathtub. Baby steps. It’s not like I’m a very good swimmer, so I suppose it’s good that they’re cautious. Hopefully they’ll always be mostly fearless and not develop silly little phobias that hold them back.

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures