Life Is Beautiful

Aw...my poor little stubborn baby. He has NEVER slept well - and now that he's newly turned two - I'm happy to say that we can now reason with him and thanks to a good routine, this doesn't happen very often. We have a new ritual that is much much better than the classic "scream yourself to sleep" routine. I sing a couple of songs, turn on the Night Night Puppy, use the flashlight to charge the stars on the ceiling, and then hugs and kisses! I take my glasses off and press my face between the crib bars for a sweet little kiss. Then he moves to the next open space and says "And another one!" we move all the way down the line and back again, little smooches and giggles all the way. No matter what happened that day - this little ritual puts me right. I know that it's largely a stall tactic for the boy, but it sure is a heart soother for the Momma. Thank you, Lord, for that boy and just one more bedtime kiss!

Well, chalk four more things up to the list of "Things Out of My Control." Liam, age 12. Alahnnah, age 8. Susan, age 3. Cameron, age 21mo. Lord, I'm sorry that I thought I had any sort of influence on my children. They are your children, after all, and maybe some day they will listen to you. They SURE aren't listening to me. But whatcha gonna do? I go the positive reinforcement route for one, negative for the other, time outs, and consistency across the board. At the end of the day, I can say that I did what was right (well, except for today when I bruised my hand by smacking it on the counter when I was mad) and didn't try to belittle, injure or bully anyone. The last couple of days have been better. Cameron wakes at 5am (nearly) each and every morning. Dave gets up at 5 for work, so he goes in and lays him back down. The last two days he has gone back to sleep for 30 - 45 minutes without screaming, so that's something. Several days I just put the pill...

I will now run down the many benefits to having a nasty, debilitating infection on my leg. After reading this, you to may want to go out and have your big toe smashed, the nail removed, and then follow it up with cellulitis in your leg. Well, maybe. Maybe not. Here goes... I get to sit and rest all the time! I haven't washed a dish in 4 days!! I have not hauled any laundry, nor folded any clothes. I have been able to keep up on all of my friends FaceBooks , Tweets, and Tubes de You. People bring food to the house and give me extra hugs. They offer to help me and pray on my family's behalf. I can go to bed before 9pm without any flack. I haven't worried about bettering my 5k time, nor has my left knee given me one bit of trouble this last week! I get to read "Baby Farm Animals" over and over to Cameron, and sit with Susan snuggled up on my lap while she re-assimilates after a long afternoon nap. I get to read my own book until I get tired of it, then I ...

I love to laugh. I really love stand-up comedy and there is still alot of good stand up out there, even if you can't stomach the F word used every other minute - Chonda Pierce makes me laugh, Anita Renfroe is a crazy woman, and of course the classics - Bill Cosby (before the "show" days), okay, okay, I'll even cop to liking the recently deceased George Carlin. It seems I am partial to sarcasm... So - here goes, things that crack me up: 1. Scrubs - this is a TV show that I am (un)fortunate enough to see in syndication on channel 10 before the kids get home. Some of it is really stupid and most is wholly inappropriate, but who can keep from laughing when Dr. Cox is chewing out "Newbie" and then takes off his gloves and shoots them at his head, huh? 2. www.heateatreview.com - this website is devoted to reviews on frozen microwavable foods. Click on the 0 stars and 1 star reviews to see true biting sarcasm in action... "Hot Pockets should be renamed Scald P...