Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Daddy's Rough Morning...

Lord knows, I've had my fair share of rough mornings with our little sunshine. But, I think that this one may be tops for a while...
James awakes at 4:30 in the A.M. to do what? Play with his trains! Wide awake, no laying back down, just wants to play with his trains...
Today was my planning day at work, so I left for work at 6:00. Will was still in bed, trying to get the last few minutes of sleep before his alarm went off, again.
Finally, he gets up, gives James some milk and turns on his favorite cartoon, Little Einsteins. This should allow him 30 minutes of uninterrupted shower/get dressed/comb hair time. A few minutes into his shower, James comes screaming into the bathroom. After a quick glance over (looking for blood or trauma) Will discovers that James has a massive poop blowout and it's leaking down the back of his pajamas. The kid has my sensitive skin and the poop was burning/causing a diaper rash. (Sorry for the TMI for those of you non-parent-peeps who read this blog!) So, Will rushes out of the shower, scoops up James and takes him into his room for a major clean up job! He gets James dressed and settles him back down. Once James is happily playing/watching his cartoon, Will has to get back into the shower to finish washing/rinsing. (yes, he jumped out of the shower mid-wash)
Once he finishes his shower and gets dressed, he notices that it's eerily quiet. Suspiciously quiet. Too quiet for an active toddler to be in the house. Startled once again, Will roams the house looking and calling for James. His eyes immediately search the back sliding glass door. Door closed? Check. Metal pin still in the top of the door? Check. (where the heck is this kid?) Bedroom? Nope. Bathroom? Nope. Couch? Nope.
Will walks further into the kitchen area and sees James sitting on the kitchen floor, covered in wet, sticky, tangerine juice with empty fruit containers scattered around him as evidence of the crime. (he has been up for almost 3 hours at this point. The kid was hungry!) I guess the Child Safety Lock we installed on the pantry door needs to be updated. So, it's back into the bedroom for another wipe down/clean up and new outfit for school.
Finally, the boys make it into school. Will walks James in, gets out his breakfast and gets James all set up. Starts looking around and notices that there is no teacher in the room. So, he flags down someone from the office and is informed that they are short on teachers today and he should just hang out with James for a few more minutes. (No lady, I'm going to leave my son unattended. Again. ) Finally, someone comes in to relieve Will so he can rush to work. Unfortunately, there was a line of people waiting at his desk when he arrived. Late. Nice.
Of course, he shared the trials and tribulations of his crazy morning with his boss and coworkers. Apparently, they all got a good laugh and even shared some of their horror late-to-work-my-kid-has-lost-their-ever-lovin'-mind stories!
Poor Daddy! Somehow, I don't think that the family portrait coffee mug and voice-recorded card we got him for his birthday are enough anymore.....

Monday, September 21, 2009

Breakin' Up is Hard to Do- Oooo....

My very talented and beautiful friend has such a way with words. She is a strong runner who is currently suffering through a tendinitis injury and it's timing could not be worse! As I've posted before here, dealing with an injury after you've trained so hard can be very challenging/frustrating/humbling.
But, since she has such a way with words and such a neat-o perspective on Life, my friend shared this analogy between a runner and running here. For those of you who run, you may enjoy it. For those of you who don't, you certainly can relate to it!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Three Nights in a Row

of James sleeping in his big boy bed! (what were your dirty minds thinking of??)
We started it on Friday night and he has done a great job of staying in his bed and sleeping through the night! No crying, no getting up and playing and no falling out (knock on wood!). I bought him a new "train" comforter set with matching sheets (too cute! It is the exact same color scheme as his room, but instead of an airplane theme, it's trains. He loves laying on his "train" pillow and covering up with his "train" blanket. It's all about the train love at our house!
Since we had a sitter today, he did get up during naptime today and start playing in his room. But, she went in and got him to fall asleep and he slept for over two hours! Woo Hoo! He is so proud of staying and sleeping in his "big boy" bed! I was so hesitant to make the transition from his crib because this boy LOVES his freedom. But, apparently, he also loves his beauty sleep! I just feel that it's one more step closer to him growing up.
Next week, he'll be asking to borrow the car keys. Sniff. Sniff.

So much to blog about....

Yet, so little time.
I'll just give you the highlights-
Friday, James and I were invited to a pretty cool playdate at a local park. James has no fear when it comes to climbing or playing new equipment. Especially if he sees his friends doing something. He wants to be "one of the big kids" and follows right along. Even if it means giving mommy a heart-attack because he has climbed all the way to the top of the rope tower. I took some great pictures of James playing on the "big kid" equipment, but I can't seem to find my camera tonight. Sorry!
Saturday- I completed my second 20 miler of this training season. This marathon training season is sooo different than the last one. Last fall, I was plagued with injuries and illnesses. I don't know exactly what I'm doing differently, but I'm just really, really glad that my long runs have been strong and that I'm able to keep up my training. 34 days left until the Marine Corps Marathon. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!!
Sunday- Will and I joined our friends, Tom and Veronica for a fossil/shark tooth dive in Venice Beach. I didn't like getting up early two mornings in a row, but it was worth it. We haven't been diving in well over a month, so it was nice to get back in the water. The sky was clear, sunny and the water was calm and smooth. Perfect diving conditions! I just wish that our luck finding fossils had been better. Oh well, it was still a good day of diving!
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Taking a lead from my friend "Bob" over at Discombobulated Running, I wanted to participate in the Thankful Thursday element of blogging! So here goes......
1. I am thankful for a wonderful husband/partner in life who is so helpful with our new mommy-working-full-time routine. Will has totally picked up any slack that I've missed (and with working long hours and training for a marathon, there has been PLENTY of slack people!)
2. I am thankful for my new housekeeper, Vanessa! She comes once a week and does the floors, vacuums, cleans bathrooms, windows, doors and dusts! I love, love, love coming home on Thursdays after work to a clean home!
3. I am thankful that James is doing so well in preschool and that he likes it there. His speech has really picked up over the past couple of weeks. He says a new word each day, so it's been impossible to keep track of his vocabulary. He is a total chatterbox now! Wonder where he gets that from?
4. I am thankful that I'm healthy enough to keep running and keep training for my Marine Corps Marathon. Yes, my legs are sore and my back hurts and there are the usual aches and pains that come with long distance running/training. But, (knock on wood) I'm not injured and not sick. There is so much talk about "when" not "if" you get the H1N1 virus and students at my school are already infected. The numbers are just scary. I just hope I make it through this year okay! So far, so good!

What are you thankful for peeps?

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Settling in...

We are beginning to settle in to our weekly routine with mommy being back at work full time. Oh, what a difference working FULL TIME verses PART TIME. Oh well, I knew it would be demanding. Overall, things are going very smoothly and over dinner tonight, Will and I were just talking about James is adapting so well to his new times and routines.
For starters, I am usually out of the house by the time James wakes up in the morning. I prepare/pack his lunch for the day. Then, it's up to daddy to wake him up, get him dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed, shoes on and out the door. James still eats his big bowl of hot oatmeal every morning, but at school, not home. On some mornings, I'm still home when James wakes up. He handles me leaving very well (almost too well!) He will wave good bye to me and cheerfully say "Bye!" And, he never forgets to give me a goodbye smooch! Will and I agree that he likes his morning time with Daddy. He LOVES riding in Daddy's truck to school. And, he doesn't let Will carry him into school, he climbs out of the truck on his own and walks himself all the way into school (unlike stopping halfway and asking Mommy to carry him in over the summer.)
I actually left school on time today (3:00) and got a great run in. (8 miles) I picked James up from daycare and Will was cooking dinner when we walked in the door. After a quick shower on my end (I was stinky from running!), we played "trains" for a little bit, ate a yummy dinner, followed by bath time, lots of reading books and cuddling and then sweet, sweet bed time by 7:30.
It may not be the best schedule for everyone, but it's working for us right now!
I hope everyone has enjoyed their week and is ready for Friday! I'm ready for this three day weekend! Woo Hooo!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Help a Mutha Out!

Hello to all out there in Bloggy-land!
I have a favor. Please take a few minutes to check out my friend's blog. She is a WONDERFUL mommy to her children and her family is going through/has been through a really tough time right now in their lives. Her son's future and well-being is truly at stake here. She's asking for any prayers, well-wishes and good vibes that you could send her way.
Thanks for being the supportive online peeps I know that you are!
Hope your week is going well!