I wore my pajamas almost the entire weekend. I know, where’s my dignity? I’m pretty sure it was boycotting the whole lets wake up at the crack of dawn thing my kids were so excited about. I was actually dressed (in real clothes) for a total of two hours. I spent those two hours thrifting and driving around Oakland. I probably didn’t need to actually put on real clothes for those activities, but at least I made the effort. Josh worked most of the weekend so it was pretty low key around here. I was glad I took those few hours to go thrifting though because I found these jeans (and the shirt and bag, but the jeans were my favorite find). I love dresses and skirts and I love vintage, but jeans, the modern-fit-my-curves kinda jeans, they have a special place in my heart. There are two things I’m not easy to please on: shoes and jeans. Both items have to look AND feel great and I rarely find those two qualities. These pants were much too big (two sizes), but I knew I could probably alter them to fit since they already had a great shape. I’ve mentioned the Cotton & Curls blog before, but I have to mention it again. This tutorial was magic. I’ve never altered pants before, but they turned out great. Side note: I can never pass up blue and white stripes (especially when on a no-wrinkle shirt) and I’m a sucker for leather backpacks. In my defense, the previous backpack I was carrying around was decorated elaborately with Toy Story figures and didn’t match anything I owned. You understand that it was the boys’ backpack and I only carried it around for diapers and snacks right? 

Another side note: I never thrift for my unmentionables. That’s just gross and I have standards.

Part of my junior high to beginning of high school years were spent living in the small town of Havana Florida. We had this huge house, which in retrospect was probably slightly less huge than I thought, that sat on almost an acre of land. Our front yard was a thinned out mini-forrest and our back yard had a pool that backed into undeveloped wooded acreage. Smack dab in the back yard next to our unfinished “tree-house” was this giant satellite dish. It was huge and it squeaked and made this weird robotic noise when you changed the channel. We got a total of three channels and to get to each one, you’d type in G-4 or G-7 or some odd letter-number combo and the satellite would twist around the tree branches to find clear reception; but on occasion would get stuck and we’d be out of luck until it revved up enough energy to twist a little more. One of the three channels we got was T.V. Land. It was the most watched channel in our house because the other two were a hunting channel and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Being that we only got three t.v. channels, I spent a lot of time reading. Well, reading and swimming in our pool, playing basketball with my brothers and going out on our little jon boat. Wow, that sounds all too hilly-billy-ish, but of course I did it all with an air of southern charm. Be that as it were, I did love to read more than anything. I read the Anne of Green Gables series probably twenty times through and the Little House on the Prairie series about as many times. I read others, but those were my favorites.

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“Look mom! Look mom!!! Loooookkk mom!!!!!” I’m driving and while driving I adhere to the strict policy of keeping my eyes on the road and not the flailing child in the back seat. Call it neglect or what-have-you. At the next stop Jacob is holding his finger in the air for Judah and I to see. “It’s a booger!! hahahahaha!!” Seriously? He’s two and a half, how does he have this sense of humor already? I promise on my coffee maker that I do not pick my boogers and then parade them around. I’d blame Josh, but I’m certain this is one of those nature-nurture things where nature won out.

I think I should compile a list of conversational topics for when I meet new people. Why? Because I’m becoming that mother. Oh you know what I mean. That mother who only talks about how cute her kids are, the cute things her kids say, the cute moment when her kids did this or that…and I swore I wouldn’t become that mother.

I’m just kidding. I love being around other moms who love their kids and talk about their cuteness. They are, after all, our lives; Plus they talk about inappropriate things like boogers, how could you not share that?

But, while I haven’t actually started that list of topics yet, I have been thinking recently that short of reading a timeline of thoughts (and sometimes non-thoughts) crammed into one hundred and forty characters (twitter), I don’t read anymore. (Although I do read blogs and they totally count)

If I read some good books every now and then, maybe booger stories wouldn’t be my go-to topic of conversation (or blog posts). So, here’s my plea: comment with one of your favorite books or even one or two that you haven’t read, but think would be good. I’ve got a date with the library to get a card and then I’ll be ready to go. Twitter, I still love you, but published authors have a better chance of keeping my brain from turning to mush.

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We went to the “bigger park” yesterday (and I wore this). Jacob calls it that because out of the many in our neighborhood, this park is the only one with three slides and a merry-go-round. Since Josh was with us and could distract Judah from the sand pit surrounding the merry-go-round, Jacob got a much anticipated spin.

When we were done, a pack of little girls came over from their family BBQ with a guy I presumed to be their cool Uncle. Gelled curls, expensive sunglasses and shoving an overloaded hot dog in his mouth, this guy was way cool. After wiping the ketchup from his chin, he spun the girls around until one flung off like a rag-doll. She was totally fine so please don’t judge me (and Josh) for chuckling a little at the situation.

The cool uncle, totally out of his element, said, “OHHH!” and picked up the whimpering girl as Josh and I pretended we didn’t see anything. I think that’s the reason most merry-go-rounds have been banned from parks; because someone’s cool Uncle spins the thing too fast, right?

It did start me thinking about how as parents, we have to know what our kids can handle. From how fast to spin the merry-go-round to what their Friday night curfew should be. Oh yes, that’s right, my boys will have a curfew. Right now it’s called bed-time and is no later than 8pm, but oh yes, teenage Judah and Jacob will have a curfew.

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The first day of school was better than I could have hoped for. No tantrums excepting the one he threw when I picked him up from school (which was mainly to let me know he wasn’t happy that I’d left him there and took off with Jacob). If you read anything about our school days before, you’ll know that most of them were spent controlling tantrums from start to finish. At Jacob’s request, we celebrated the success by going to the park before lunch.

This first week of school is transition week and we’re taking it slow. He’s only going one hour a day which doesn’t seem like a lot, but with a plan of increasing his time there little by little, it’s a good start. I mentioned before that there are only two other kids in his class at the moment. That means there’s a one-to-one teacher/student ratio and even though Judah’s IEP requires a one-to-one para, it’s encouraging that the classroom so well staffed and that the class itself is very quiet. Sensory overload was a big problem during the previous school year here.

The para-educator who’s new to the class this year seemed to work very well with Judah. She seems very kind and encouraging and so far, I am much more impressed with this classroom than I was with the Summer program. My goal this week is to talk about school a lot at home, preparing Judah for each day and then spending that hour while he’s at school, on my knees praying for a good day. 

The other goal for this week is to make sure Jacob’s accomplishments are celebrated just as much as Judah’s. He’s incredibly understanding towards his brother, but it’s important that he knows he is just as beloved and we’re just as proud of him. Sometimes the praise over Judah’s good day at school puts him in a grumpy mood because Jacob, with all  his little heart, wants to stay at school with his brother.

Nap time has commenced and I’m going to join in. All the anxiousness over school this morning wore me out!

I think Josh is the wittiest, funniest, smartest, most handsome man I’ve ever met. I’ve thought so from the very first time I met him.

He gives me grief throughout the year about how I’m older than he is, but for almost two months starting today, we are equal ages. I love this man. He’s creative and hilarious and unselfish. One of my favorite things about Josh is his ability to listen and take to heart the things people say. Never once have I felt like I was pouring my heart out to someone who wasn’t listening. He communicates his love to Judah and Jacob with such clarity, they never doubt. Even with the sometimes struggles that come with having two sons with such vastly different needs, he somehow manages to meet each one. I love knowing that he and I are on each other’s side and that we have the rest of our birthdays to be together.

Happy birthday to our favorite person in the world!

So I was having a nice and surprisingly long and uninterrupted phone conversation with my good friend this morning. We were catching up and I was keeping the boys at peace by offering snacks. Yes, I bribe my kids with snacks; but only when I’m catching up with an old friend who’s children are also being quiet and allowing our conversation to flow. We wrapped up our yapping session and I looked over in time to catch Judah digging in his diaper and smearing said diaper (in this post we’ll assume that “diaper” means poop ok?) over himself and whatever else was near him. !!!!!!

It’s not the first time, but every time I catch said diaper smearing, I gag a little and squeal like I’ve seen a mouse. Like, not a tiny little baby mouse, but a giant, beady eyed, jagged teeth, snarling mouse. Ok so it’s not a squeal, it’s more of a war cry. Anyway, the point is, recently we’ve had several of these diaper issues A DAY and today, had I not just had the nicest chat with my friend, which usually brings me sanity, I’m not sure what would have come after the war cry. Possibly self medication with another pot of coffee and donuts (which go straight to my hips).

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I thought for sure I had taken a photo of this skirt in it’s total before state, but I guess not. Before I cut, hemmed and pieced it together, this dress was an ankle length skirt. I saw it on the thrift rack last weekend and I think I’ve mentioned before that I fall for anything blue in color. Obviously I needed this skirt and was certain I could make something from it. I’m not a plan-ahead kinda seamstress, I’m pretty sure if given a test, I probably wouldn’t even qualify for the title, but I’ll say this for my skills: I wore it around today and nothing came unstitched. That’s really what I go for…who cares how straight the stitch, as long as it doesn’t pop open when I sit down.  Even with the flaws, I’m so happy about this dress that I made Josh stop in a random parking lot to take photos while the boys sat in the car listening to Relient K’s version of Justin’s “Baby“. I know, where are my priorities right?

Yesterday I found a piece of dried up chicken salad in my hair. Whatever, it’s a hazard of the job. Plus it reminded me that Judah added two new foods to his diet this week. (!!!) Chicken salad and nectarines never tasted so good. After a lifetime (4 years) of routine eating, he’s branching out. For that, I’ll take dried chicken salad in my hair any day.

Jacob has learned to sing. He’s learned the words to almost every nursery rhyme that we sing around here and joins in at bed time. My favorite though is his attempt at creating his own songs. It’s basically the same sentence over and over, but it’s mostly on tune and ends with, “You like dat song, mama?” Yes, baby, I love it. I write a lot about Judah’s accomplishments, but that’s not because Jacob is a bump on a rock. I am so thankful that he stops me in my tracks with cute little songs and forces my focus back on the simple, wonderful things in life…like making up your own song and belting it out.

Since moving here, I’ve felt a little distance from Target; and not just because of the milage between my tucked away home and it’s bustling location. We (Target and I) used to have such great, peaceful shopping experiences. Our Target here is always busy, but this morning, bright and early and in need of coffee, the Mister and I walked around with the Little Gingers. Thank you Starbucks for being inside Target and thank you Target for being quiet this morning and having that great water table on clearance. (p.s. I still love you)

And quickly now, because I have to wash this day old make up off my face and scrub the strip of syrup out of my hair before the boys wake up from their nap…

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