Tag: gratitude

children, eyesight, gratitude, happiness, health, humor, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Eye(mazing)

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boys play matchbox cars to pass the time at the ophthalmologist's

We are seated in the tiny eye exam room.  I am so beyond stressed that I actually feel kind of calm.

These visits to the pediatric ophthalmologist are not without uncertainty.

Will Full Speed test well?

Is T.Puzzle in a cooperative mood?

I try to convince myself it’s no big deal.  I mean only the future of my children’s vision is at stake here.

We wait for the eye doctor.

She breezes into the room with grace and confidence.

She clearly adores my boys.

This helps.

Full Speed is an unexpected rock star of vision testing.

He tests 20/40 in his right eye and 20/30 in his left.

I almost faint.

He then proceeds to read a line of print so teeny-tiny, I’m positive that only someone with superhuman eyesight could read it (no, it’s not that I’m old in the least and had to squint to read the line myself).

I almost faint again.

I get goosebumps on top of my goosebumps.  My heart fills with immeasurable gratitude.

It hardly phases me that T.Puzzle is mostly uncooperative.  He holds steady at 20/50 and 20/70.

I’ll take it.

During this arduous process of eye surgeries, doctor’s appointments and visits to the ophthalmologist, I have learned that I cannot control the level of vision that each of my boys will attain.

All I can control is how I feel about it.

And today for the first time in my life, I feel absolutely amazing about their vision.

This is one of the best days ever.

children, gratitude, happiness, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Happy Birthday, T.Puzzle

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T.Puzzle turns four today!

My baby is now officially in big boy territory.  Let’s hope like his brother before him, this increases his awesomeness tenfold.  Let’s leave the terrible ones, twos and threes behind us forever.

The birth of a child is always a vivid memory.  T.Puzzle’s stands out because I went into labor (after a solid month of miserably contracting for no reason) on the night of our third wedding anniversary.  I was in complete denial.  I can even remember the clothes I was wearing in great detail.  That’s mainly because I was so huge (T.Puzzle ended up being a healthy 9lb 7oz), I only had one semi-dressy maternity outfit that fit me reasonably well.  Black pants, with a huge amount of stretch no less, and a long-sleeved black tunic with red and white dots to top off this stylish ensemble. Pregnancy is certainly not about the fashion.

When I realized that the Braxton Hicks I was having were actually closer to the real deal, we went to the hospital where I continued to deny I was in labor.  I even got to watch an episode of Sex and the City on TBS as we waited to see if I dilated more.

Eventually, I couldn’t deny it any longer.  T.Puzzle came into this world and screamed louder than any newborn I have ever known.  I remember thinking, ‘baby, you’re suppose to be my easy one,’ and this only seemed to increase his volume.

Easy or not, he is the best second kid anyone could hope for.

Happy  birthday, T.Puzzle.  I love you!

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

What We Did For Thanksgiving Vacation

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Whew!  Full Speed had a whole week off and T.Puzzle stayed home most of the week, too.

You know some mayhem ensued.

Oh how it did.

We were a busy bunch.

The week started with a ‘date’ for Mom and Full Speed.

The boys saw Santa with their cousin.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and Mad Dog’s birthday.  And yes, as a nation, I do believe in our entirety, we felt extreme gratitude that Mad Dog’s birthday coincided on this special day.   Or something like that.

 

Then, Mad Dog and I celebrated his birthday again as Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Pink graciously hosted our boys.  Upon our return, it is unlikely they will be invited back anytime soon.  Apparently, someone really needs to talk to their parents about their rowdy behavior.  Our apologies.

 

love you, Mad Dog!

Then, if all that wasn’t enough, we decorated our Christmas tree.  I tried oh-so-hard to let the boys do their thing without anxiously hovering about.  They seemed to have fun and I did too, just as long as all our breakable ornaments were hung at the top of the tree (by me!).

By the end of the week, we had two very tired boys on our hands.

 

So glad they have an 'off' switch.

 

When all was said and done, the thing that I am most grateful for is that I was actually sad to send them back to school because we had so much fun together.

Mothering these two strong spirited boys has not been without challenge.  To be able to say that I am honestly going to miss them as they trounce back to school is a turning point.

I am learning that even though there were days during vacation that they drove me to tears with their outlandish and stubborn behavior, I am now beginning to see the emergence of who they really are underneath.

Thankfully, they are two very cool little dudes.

Hope you all had a great holiday!

children, health, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery, Taekwondo

Everywhere

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I was sitting off to the side of T.Puzzle’s tae kwon do practice.  With the help of a babysitter, and let’s be real here for a moment, a good babysitter is to a frazzled Mom what wine is to a frazzled Mom, I can take each boy to skill appropriate classes.  T.Puzzle remains in Tiny Tigers and Full Speed attends high-ranking juniors classes.

I was trying my best to blend into the background.  I’m usually exhausted at this point having wrangled all the gear, uniforms, behavior reports, etc. and all I want is quiet oblivion.

The instructor is always trying to get us parents out on the mat.  It’s not my cup of tea, it’s more Mad Dog’s style, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.  To gain more parent involvement, the instructor brilliantly uses the kids now to request help from their Mom or Dad.  No Mom in their right mind would deny their three year old’s request of, “Ma’am?  Would you please hold a target for me?”  Between his saucer-like eyes and killer dimples, T.Puzzle got me out on the mat in about two seconds flat.

I start helping him with his drills.  He’s ducking my moving target, he’s throwing punches and generally doing a fantastic job.

Then he stops.  His arms fall to his sides and he becomes motionless.   He stares up at me.

I have no idea what he thinks he’s doing.

“Mom, I want to give you a kiss,” he states.

So, he leans forward, tilts his head upward and plants a smooch.

He doesn’t skip a beat.  He immediately reverts back to his punches and his fighting stance.

I continue with the drills even though I am changed somehow.

I am reminded of the constant, indestructible nature of love.  It is whole and beautiful and if you take a moment to breathe, you will find it right beneath the surface of everything. Even under the surface of tae kwon do drills.

Love is everywhere.

gratitude, happiness, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery

Choices

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In life you can’t choose your family.   You are born into a family and all its complicated dynamics whether you are ready for it or not.  If you decide at some point to have children of your own, the only thing you control is who you choose to help you parent this family.   Sometimes, circumstances make this choice seem impossible as well.

So what can you do?

You could spend your days wishing you were someone else.

Or, you could look at your life, accept it for what it is and be thankful for the ways, even the smallest ways, that you can make a choice.

Today, I am choosing to look at all the ways that my life and family are good.  I can say I am truly thankful to have two, wild rambunctious boys that keep my life crazy but ultimately undeniably interesting.  I am thankful to have a true partner in Mad Dog.  To know he’s got my back will carry me through anything.

I realized if all I do is look at my life as a disaster, then that is exactly what I will find.

If I choose to look at how amazing it is in this very moment, that might be exactly what I find, too.

What choice would you make?