Month: March 2014

catch the moment 365: week twelve

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Back with another week’s worth of photos for Catch the Moment 365, hosted by Mindi at Simply Stavish, Sarah at Nurse Loves Farmer, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming.

Week 12 … that doesn’t sound like the beginning of 2014 anymore.  We are well into this year and well into this project.  I didn’t feel like I had been super inspired this week to take photos, but looking back through the moments I captured, I realized that this is what it’s all about – picking up the camera when I normally wouldn’t to freeze otherwise forgettable and ordinary moments in time. Lots of pictures of the boys and typical day to day things to share with you this week.

Day 78: March 19th. Theo’s 4 year check up. He was mad about wearing that gown.

Day 79: March 20th. We walked over to the pond after I picked the boys up from the babysitter to look for fishies.  They’re still hiding.

Day 80: March 21st. On the way home, Dexter wanted his window down. He was worried CG would fly out the window so he held on to him tight. (Yes, I was at a stop sign when I took this photo).

Day 81: March 22nd.  Visiting friends and playing…kitchen knight? Okay!

Day 82: March 23rd. Angel Lush. A classic recipe I had never made before. So light and delicious!

Day 83: March 24th. Batman was pretty happy with his new pajamas and sunglasses (because when he’s Batman, he’s “Batman” – don’t you even think about calling him Dexter!)

Day 84: March 25th. Theo asked to go to the library after dinner. How could we say no?  We couldn’t, obviously!
What’s your favorite pic this week? I really like Theo at his check-up (day 78), Dexter squeezing Curious George (day 80), and Batman (day 83).  Oh, okay, and the boys in the fire truck (day 84). So I said all that to say that I really suck at picking a favorite photo. But that’s a good thing, right?
xo,
~C~

catch the moment: week eleven

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Eleven weeks down, 41 to go!  All in all, it was a good week.

Linking up for Catch the Moment 365 with the hostesses with the mostesses, Mindi from Simply Stavish, Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer, and Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming.

71/365: March 12th. Wednesday afternoon around 2pm I got a call from Theo’s school saying he was sick and had thrown up in his classroom.  He was feeling pretty bad when I picked him up at 2:20 so I made a sick couch for him and he watched a movie while I continued to work from home.  By the time dinner was over, he was running around like normal and acting like nothing ever happened! Sorry that he had such an upset tummy, but immensely relieved that this was not a bug that overtook our entire household. In and out!

72/365: March 13th. Since Theo was fine, there was no reason to cancel his 8am dentist appointment on Thursday morning. It went well (no cavities!) and we brought Dexter along with us so he could observe. He has his first appointment coming up in May. 

73/365: March 14th.  After I picked up the boys from the babysitter on Friday afternoon, Dexter said “mommy, I don’t wanna go home. Let’s do somefin.” I asked him what he wanted to do and he said “let’s eat somefin, I’m starving!”  So …. it’s Friday, why not?  Frozen yogurt before dinner? Sure!
74/365: March 15th. The boys begged to nap in our big bed while watching a cartoon…this is Dexter’s attempt to pretend he’s sleeping.  Neither ever went to sleep in our bed. Dexter ended up napping in his room and Theo ran errands with daddy.  (I might have napped a bit).

75/365: March 16th.  Sunday morning grocery run and I saw this cute little springy sign in the floral department. Yes, I took my DSLR to the grocery store, just in case!

76/375: March 17th. Dexter helping with the cookies.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
77/375: March 18th. Sunrise on my way to work Tuesday morning – worth pulling over for!
That’s it – nothing too extraordinary happened but that’s okay with me.  Boring is nice. This week, my favorite picture has to be day 77, the sunrise.  Which one do you like best?
xo,
~C~

the connection

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

It all started on December 7, 2013.  After the circus.  I decided once and for all to get serious about not yelling at my kids. It doesn’t feel good. I love them and they need to know that, even when they aren’t acting very lovable.  Especially when they aren’t acting very lovable.

I vowed no more yelling.  Then I yelled on January 7th. Exactly one month later and just one short week into the year. I yelled on February 8th. Not as intensely, but the trick to knowing if it “counts” or not is if it feels bad.  Truthfully, it felt bad.

On March 2nd, I posted this on the Yell-Free Year Challenge group’s wall on Facebook:

I yelled on December 7th.
Then again on January 7th.
Then once more on February 8th.
I will make it more than one month.  I WILL make it more than one month.

I got so many supportive comments and such positive feedback for my success so far.  One person pointed out at this rate, that’s only 12 yells a year.  True, that doesn’t sound so bad, but my goal was zero. Someone else pointed out that in the last 3 months – 90 days – I had only yelled 3 days.  87 yell-free days. Good point.

I felt confident.  One of the last comments asked if my yelling was related to my PMS…hmm.  I looked at the dates again and noticed the pattern and shrugged, sure that it was merely coincidence and that I just had a 30 day tolerance limit before my head popped off.  One side effect of my birth control is irregular cycles and I’m terrible about tracking/remembering so I just assumed I was irregular. But maybe I need to pay more attention.

Because I started on March 8th.
And I yelled on March 9th.

The scene:  Theo was in time-out for talking back and telling us no repeatedly.  We were eating lunch and sitting 20 feet from time-out. He continued shouting and being disrespectful from time-out with the intention to push our buttons.  Job well done, because I reached my boiling point and bolted out of my chair and over to time out.  I squatted down, eye level with him and shouted “STOP IT!! Just STOP!!!!!”

I turned and walked back to my seat with shame in my heart and embarrassment on my face. Looked at Ryan and said, “I guess I can’t make it past 30 days.”  Then I remembered the question about my cycle and literally felt this connection happening between my mind and my body.

It hit me, maybe she was right. Maybe my tolerance is not thirty days, but maybe my tolerance is just lower while my hormones are out of whack.  Maybe the trick is getting a better handle on myself ahead of time. Preparing mentally for these situations might be the key.  I have to increase my ability to ignore toddler/pre-schooler behavior and be the bigger person.  I have to keep in mind that I cannot be disappointed in a 2 or 4 year old with out of control emotions when that is the very thing that I have modeled for them.  I have to remain calm when I am upset.  Or tired.  Or moody.

So I’ll say it again….and I will believe it again. Because I will try harder. Again.

I will make it more than 30 days.
I WILL make it more than 30 days.

Because don’t these two deserve the best me I can be?

xo,
~C~