I'm bored

Please understand. Not bored in the "I have nothing to do" way. But bored in the my life is BORING way. I work, I go to the gym (when I can spare a moment), and I'm home with the kids. I don't go anywhere, can't really remember when the last time I went out with friends. Last time Chris and I went out it was May. Seriously MAY!!!!! Really, I have no idea, or a plan for what to do about it. It's awkward and uncomfortable to ask anyone to babysit, they all work for me. I takes my parents and hour to get here to babysit, and then the whole time I spend looking at the time because I feel guilty for them driving home so late.

I HATE Chris's work schedule. Tuesday through Saturday 10-9. He doesn't get home until 9:30. Fridays, gone. Saturday's gone. Plus he's gone all day Saturday so the kids and I are home alone. Then I feel like I can't go anywhere when he is home or we are two ships passing in the night and never get to talk. As it is now, I leave for work at 8am and he doesn't get home most nights until I'm asleep, because he goes to the gym, or goes out with friends from work. We see each other approximately 10-15 minutes a day.

I'm sad, I miss my friends. So many things I like about living here, but moving when I was pregnant in the middle of winter, I never got to know anyone, and when would I go anywhere and meet people.

sigh....

"MOM"

Oh how I loved when my kids learned to say my name. For us, Momma wasn't the first word or even the 3rd or 4th. Dada was at least word 2 or 3. And for a very long time it settled into Chris as "Daddy" and I as "Momma" I wasn't mad at that. Momma is sweet, and something I can't remember ever calling my mom, so it felt new, and my own.

Nathan still calls me Momma, and I love it as much as the first time he said it. He doesn't whine it, he only calls me when he needs me, and sometimes he uses it in a sentence with I love you and my heart aches.

However, last weekend Marisa started calling me "Mom" noooowwwwwww you may be thinking, big deal, it's still precious. NOT when she says it. I give her a snack and a drink and begin my trek back to the kitchen for Nates when I hear "Mom?"
"Yes, Marisa" I call back.
"Where are you?"
"Right here" I answer
"Why?"
Oh my, and it goes on. Mom is said in our house about 50 times an hour. I think now that it's a shorter word, she says it more. I really can't be out of her sight for 2 seconds before she is calling me, and she sort of sounds like a parrot. Mom, mom, mom, mom.

Plus, and most important, "Mom" makes me feel old.

In favor of naked time and gratuitous praise

Today, while spending his quality time with a book on the toilet, Nathan called out to me....

"Momma!"

"yes Nate"

"I love you" he said

Wow, I thought, where did that come from? "I love you too" I yelled back.

"You're my best friend" he yelled back at me. "I like it when you play planes with me. Oh, and Momma.... You Rock Dude!"

Aww Nate.

So I walked over to the bathroom, and said in my sweetest voice.... "I love you too buddy, you are my best friend too and I think YOU rock."

He was quiet for a second and said. "Momma, will you wipe my butt?"

and back to reality.

Mosquitos are really good at their job!

One night, while trying to relax (on the only night Chris reads stories to Nate-Monday) Nate came in the room to show me his mosquito bites that he got during water play at school.

"Wow, mosquitos are really good at their jobs!" he said. And when I think about it, he's really right! Mosquitos don't really have a lot to do, they aren't a part of that birds and bees equation, aren't needed for pollination, all they are is food for spiders and the only job they have is to bite people so they can get bigger and live longer, hence a bigger meal for a spider.


It's amazing how incredibly insightful a 4 year old can be, if you actually listen to what he is saying (which sometimes, I am guilty of really not listening).


Last night on our way home from visiting Nana and Papa at the lake, I glanced in the back seat to notice that Nate was NAKED except his pants. He had taken off his shirt, socks and shoes and was sitting there just like normal with no shirt on. Nate, I asked. "why are not wearing your shirt?"

"Because I wanted to" he said. Ok, makes sense to me, why didn't I think of that? (This is also the reason he is currently running around the house with no pants on).

This morning I reminded Nate that he would be going to a new classroom at school tomorrow, and that it might make him sad at first, but that he will really like playing with his new teachers and learning new things.

He said, "Don't worry Mama, I won't be sad, I will be happy about my new class. I have to do new things because I keep getting bigger" and again, he's right. Bigger= Older in his world. Like when we went to the park the other day and another child called Marisa a baby. Big Brother Nate got all up in his face and said... "She's NOT a BABY, she's a BIG GURL!" Which once again he's right, Marisa is certainly a BIG girl now. Or at least she thinks she is.

Marisa, the baby book entry

Marisa does the cutest most amazing things. She loves to read and will easily remember phrases, and words in books after only reading them one time. She reads to anyone around and likes to hold the book like "the teacher" Can you tell she is reading a book about Curious George? Every other word is "George"

Those are the cute times... then there are the not so memorable moments. Like this one.

This one is definitely for the baby book.

They grow up so fast

People say that all the time, but I'm starting to notice it so much. When you do the same activity (like go to the toledo zoo) year after year, you can see the changes. We had a blast! We got there just as it was elephant bath time. Nate was worried that the elephants would be loud.

Marisa was in love with the penguins. She could have watched them all day, if Nate hadn't been yelling at us to get moving.

W also really enjoyed the tigers.

The toledo zoo is such an awesome place for young kids, they even have an entire kids zoo area complete with face masks. This one has a blankie just like Nate.

We did get lost a few times, of course look who was navigating!

Nate actually posed for a photo on the same tiger he did 3 years ago when we were trying to do as much with him as possible, for we had just found out he was going to be a big brother (Notice I'm already wearing a maternity shirt 5 days after I found out) He has changed so much!

Ugh... why do I sign up for these?

So I did it. Ran the first 5K in 37 minutes. Definitely not a stellar performance as I got a side stitch and did this kind of spastic run hop the whole rest of the way. Not to mention someone who ran with me thought it would be funny to slap me on the butt when she ran by. Duh...what was that Newtons Law thing... about momentum? Anyway she hit me so hard my Ipod skipped a song. Then I ran with what felt like a hand print on my butt pushing me the rest of the way.

So why Per Se did I decide to sign up for another one this weekend? Because I'm a glutton for punishment. And running these (subsequently training for them) is keeping me in great shape. So here I am 3 days before the next one thinking... why? Plus it's hotter outside, although it will be at 9am. UGH... whine, complain, whine, complain. Here are some photos from the last race...

My cheering section

Marisa holding my sign. Now it's in my garage, I feel so motivated when I pull in the driveway.

If you look hard you can see me coming down the road, I'm wearing a purple shirt.

And here I am running past my cheering section. It was actually chilly that morning.

So be thinking of me Sunday morning while you all relax, I've decided to torture myself once again. The Gallup Gallop, here I come!