The Cat's Meow

Today was the first time that W told me he loves me! We were at the dinner table after prayer and I told both the boys that I love them when unexpectedly I hear W say, "Ah laavu!" I was so happy hearing those words from his sweet little baby lips. Then of course we have our funny Brother Bear who when asked to say his full name (David Spoelman) he says, "David Spoopin." Tis' the truth - out of the mouths of babes...I swear. Some days the cuteness is too much! W has learned to climb this week and has made mountains out of our dinner table, end table, and he tried to make a go at our wood stove until mean ol' Momma ended that adventure. I am expecting to discover him perched atop the Frigidaire any day now.

The bee's have chose to grace our breezeway with their presence this past weekend and have continued to filter in through a rotting windowsill that desperately needs sealing. I can see Dan's honey do list growing as I type this. I had to rush into the breezeway the other day to rescue an unsuspecting W from the intruding bee yesterday, and shut the boys out of there until we get it fixed. Poor Brother Bear has been asking to play in there all day yesterday as well as today. Too bad, so sad, this Momma's too scared to go out there with a fly swatter and nix em'. There's 2 of them now, and a third I came face to face with in the attic window. I promptly turned tail back down those stairs so fast, you'd think I'd just seen a ghost!

Anywho...we have a new furry little member in our family and the boys couldn't be more excited to have Cinna living with us! He's a little 1 year old kitty who has become the target of two certain little men's tough love. He's an awesome cat and rolls with the punches. Or should I say with the pulling of his tail? How about the suffocating cuddles? And the picking up and carrying? Oh yes, he takes them all...and purrs the whole time. He loves kids. Thank you to my awesome Sister in law, Cindy. We all love him.

Invisible Mothers

I was browsing traveling information when I came across Incredible Dad's blog. He had such great advice on road trips, I decided to peruse some of his archives when I discovered a true gem of a poem. No one seems to know who wrote it, but that's just as well because it adds to the profound feeling it eminates. As a Mother (or Father!) reading this was such a breath of fresh air. Not only does it tell us that we're not alone in this parenthood journey ... but that it's worth it ... they are worth it and more importantly, God is worth it. -

The Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the
blank stares, the lack of
response, the way one of the
kids will walk into the room
while I'm on the phone and
ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you
see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see
if I'm on the phone, or
cooking, or sweeping the
floor, or even standing on my
head in the corner, because
no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible - The invisible
Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of
hands, nothing more.

"Can you fix this? Can you tie
this? Can you open this?"

Some days I'm not a pair of
hands; I'm not even a human
being. I'm a clock to ask,
'What time is it?'

I'm a satellite guide to
answer, 'What number is the
Disney Channel?'

I'm a car to order, 'Right
around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were
the hands that once held
books and the eyes that
studied history and the mind
that graduated summa cum
laude - but now they had
disappeared into the peanut
butter, never to be seen
again. She's going, she's
going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were
having dinner,celebrating the
return of a friend from
England. Janice had just
gotten back from a fabulous
trip, and she was going on
and on about the hotel she
stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others
all put together so well.

It was hard not to compare
and feel sorry for myself. I
was feeling pretty pathetic,
when Janice turned to me
with a beautifully wrapped
package, and said, 'I brought
you this.' It was a book on the
great cathedrals of Europe. I
wasn't exactly sure why she'd
given it to me until I read her
inscription:
'To Charlotte, with
admiration for the greatness
of what you are building
when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would
read - no, devour - the book.
And I would discover what
would become for me, four
life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my
work: 1)No one can say who
built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their
names.

2)These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.

3)They made great
sacrifices and expected no
credit.

4)The passion of their
building was fueled by their
faith that the eyes of God saw
everything.

A legendary story in the book
told of a rich man who came
to visit the cathedral while it
was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man,
'Why are you spending so
much time carving that bird
into a beam that will be
covered by the roof?
No one will ever see it.'

And the workman replied,
'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the
missing piece fall into place.
It was almost as if I heard
God whispering to me, 'I see
you, Charlotte. I see the
sacrifices you make every
day, even when no one
around you does.
No act of kindness you've
done, no sequin you've sewn
on, no cupcake you've baked,
is too small for me to notice
and smile over. You are
building a great cathedral,
but you can't see right now
what it will
become.'

At times, my invisibility feels
like an affliction. But it is not
a disease that is erasing my
life. It is the cure for the
disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the
antidote to my strong,
stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective
when I see myself as a great
builder. As one of the people
who show up at a job that
they will never see finished,
to work on something that
their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went
so far as to say that no
cathedrals could ever be built
in our lifetime
because there are so few
people willing to sacrifice to
that degree.

When I really think about it, I
don't want my son to tell the
friend he's bringing home
from college for
Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets
up at 4 in the morning and
bakes homemade pies, and
then she hand bastes a turkey
for three hours and presses
all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd built a
shrine or a monument to
myself. I just want him to
want to come home. And
then, if there is anything
more to say to his friend, to
add, 'You're gonna love it
there.'

As mothers, we are building
great cathedrals. We cannot
be seen if we're doing it right.
And one day, it is very
possible that the world will
marvel, not only at what we
have built, but at the beauty
that has been added to the
world by the sacrifices of
invisible women.

You are a great Mother. To all of my Mommy friends, I hope you can see this. (I know I didn't until now!) You.are. AMAZING.

Sweet Summer Time

Yes - finally some nice! sunny! weather! The boys and I just got back from running some errands, and what a good day to do it. We stopped at the credit union, the good ol' local grocery store, fueled up at the gas station, ate at the Arby's drive through, and stopped at our new Church's yard sale. The drive through was all kinds of fun with a wonky window. I had to drive forward an extra foot and open my door for both the order speaker AND the pick up/pay booth. What fun! The cashier was kind - she smiled and laughed with me ...or was that at me?

I got all kinds of awesome deals at the sale and ended up going home with 4 bags of yard sale goodness. Including a 2-in-1 Scooter/bike for $2 and a temporal thermometer for $1! This is good stuff folks! I must have did three or four rounds of the gym just to be sure I didn't miss anything. There was a lot of cool stuff! The boys even got to play on the swing set...until the wasps chased us to the truck!

My coccyx is healing up nicely, just in time for all this summery goodness. It's tender while sitting and I tend to shift my weight to the left, but I'll take that over where I started a month ago! I've been off the pain meds for a few weeks and am so glad to be rid of needing the boppy pillow too. I forgot to tell you all, W has been walking for almost a whole month now! He started on the 8th of April, and is doing great. He's also weighing in at 28lbs. 13oz (90th percentile!!) and is in the 50th percentile for a TWO year old for both height AND head circumference! Oh my...yes we have a big 1 year old! Needless to say, he is in 2T clothes.

And look what I got to drive (turtle crawl) behind on the way home!

Boppin' Along

It's been a very long couple of weeks full of pain, medications, resting, new sleeping positions and my new best friend, the boppy pillow. Usually used to breastfeed Babies, this pillow is a soft crescent shape and has worked perfectly for sitting on and wedging between my knees for comfort during my healing phase. This thing has been everywhere with me! At the dinner table, car trips, visits to friends, the futon, in bed, Easter dinner, watching the boy's egg hunt, and even at church. The one place I wish I didn't need to take it is to bed. It really limits my sleeping positions and I just want to sleep how I choose again. I tried to lay down without it wedged in my legs last night, but I couldn't even fall asleep without it. So back to bed it came.

Bending over to pick up the house is extremely limited. I can only squat down a few times before I've had it and the floors are still covered in toys. It's better than the first week though! I used to not be able to bend at all, and walking was slow going. I'm finally sitting more, as opposed to laying on my side. Oh, and get this! A whole week after the fall, a bruise showed up? My doctor said it's completely normal for these types of injuries and the contusion took so long to surface because of how deep it is.

I'm mainly doing activities that are waist level and up. And of course whatever the kiddos need. I've been cheating and started holding my sweet W again, and as sore as I am it feels so great in my heart! The first time I picked him up after a whole week, he hugged me tight and buried his sweet little face in my shoulder for what felt like forever.

Here's what I got bored and did this week:

Ice Ice Baby

Our concrete stairs, they are the devil. We were on our way out to run a couple errands and just as I got to the last step two things happened at once - Brother Bear proudly announced he was going to get the mail and began booking it down the driveway, and I yelled, "No!" trying to hurry and stop him when W and I fell together on the icy concrete step. I fell straight down onto my bottom in order to avoid dropping W. Oddly enough I didn't spill a drop of my Pepsi - talented I know. Buuut not quite talented enough to not break my coccyx.

The immense pain was a dead giveaway that I had broken it. So instead of a trip to the local grocery store, I was in the ER. Before I received the pain meds I told Dan this hurt worse than labor pains. And that's definitely saying something. Up until yesterday I had never broken a bone in my life. This is something I could have went without experiencing! No excitement over here. Dan got me a foam donut to sit on but I swear the thing is harder than a rock and has more of a slit than a hole in the center. Suffice it to say I'm more comfortable sitting on the toilet all day. A big thank you to our loving church family for the meal train this week. You guys are a huge help - thank you!

Dental Win

The last time we left a dentist office I was just about in tears. Everything that could have went awry had and I was made to feel like I was the sole reason W's teeth were falling apart. Friday morning I left a new dentist office in tears...of joy! This office wasn't labeled as pediatric dentistry but let me tell you, they sure took the cake! From the moment we walked in (the wrong door) they warmly welcomed us all and made us feel important. W was in hysterics because I was busy filling out his paperwork. The staff took notice right away and blew up two helium balloons. One for W and one for Brother Bear. They never left anyone feeling unimportant. And when that didn't do the trick for little W, they let him and I go back to one of their cubicles to get started. (Even though the papers weren't completed yet.)

The kind assistant tried calming W with a musical stuffed animal. Which worked for a few seconds. I think he already decided these people in white coats were plotting to give him shots! There was no distracting him until another assistant stopped by and smiled, revealing green flashing teeth! He was amazed by the little glow stick in her mouth, and I was amazed by their bedside manner. I half expected a juggling clown to come traipsing down the aisle!

Soon the Dentist came in with a big smile and warm greetings, as if we were long lost friends. He didn't even make W lay his head in his lap, instead having me lay him back in my lap for the exam. Without me saying a word about my opinion or our last experience, he immediately announced that W has a dental deformity that could be genetic. I swear at that moment the heavens opened up and we had our hallelujah moment! He said it needs to be looked into with x-rays and such by a specialist. And also mentioned that none of the teeth are cavities, he simply has no enamel. The only reason any teeth would need to be pulled is if they were causing him great pain. And it would have to be in a hospital setting with W sedated. (Again, Hallelujah!)

He was going to refer us to the same pediatric dentist we had just had our horrible experience with until I filled him in on her opinions and the awful time we had with her. His eyes got huge and he was quite shocked and visibly upset that had happened. He said he was going to get a list of phone numbers together for me and do some research to make sure W gets the care he needs, and not just a quick "solution". The dentist is referring W to a specialist at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.

The staff were chatting it up with Brother Bear at the desk when we came back to the waiting room and although it appeared he was telling them his life story, neither lady was bothered at all by his babbling. They were all smiles for him and even let both boys come back in and pick a toy from their treasure chest. I was told not to worry about W's paperwork today and to drop it off the next time we're in town. I do believe we have found ourselves an awesome family dentist! Now back to the waiting game which hopefully won't be that long.

Whirlwind

From Thanksgiving all the way up to Brother Bear's 3rd Birthday, it has been nonstop go-go-go for this household! I think it's def. time for some relaxation - but Motherhood has informed me that's not gonna happen! Soon after lunch I noticed W had a runny nose and immediately knew where he got sick from. Now why some people are blithering idiots and tote their sick Baby around a Birthday party of all things, is beyond me.

I knew it when I seen it and attempted to keep my kiddos far from the sick Baby...buuut that apparently didn't quite do the trick. My poor little man is in bed next to me struggling to breathe and cannot nurse without pulling off and gasping for air. Please pray this is nothing serious like RSV, etc.

I'm not sure what's going on lately but Brother Bear has had me rolling with laughter these days! Here are the latest Brother Bear-isms:

- I told him, "You're driving me nuts!" He says, "No your driving MY nuts!" In attempt to correct his misunderstanding I said, "No. Say 'you're driving ME nuts.' " to which he replies, "I'm driving YOUR nuts." I drop to me knees rolling with laughter and he says, "Can I help you?" Yes, yes you can sweet son...remind me not to say such things to you!!

- I asked him if my necklace was pretty and he said, "yeauh ur noggin's purty!"

- He asked for chips, I said it's almost time to eat dinner, and he said "I want Griff eat it."

- I whispered in his ear, and asked him to tell me a secret and he whispers, "Its'a secrrrret!"

- I stood up from fixing the wood stove and he hit my bottom and said, "Fly away!"

- He got a bagel out of the fridge and came running saying, "Look! It's a MONSTER cookie!!"

We'll top it off with one from W:

- I heard a lot of grunting and found W under the table, holding onto the leg for support... pooping.

Yup...I love my crazy, funny life! W also has a new party trick. I say, "I work out!" then with a big grin he adds the, "Ahhhh!!" We had been watching the 'I'm a Daddy and I Know it' video a lot that week and somehow he caught onto it. If you haven't seen it you HAVE to go to http://www.godfruits.com/im-a-daddy-and-i-know-it-funny-spoof-with-serious-message-kudos-to-dad-of-five-11765.php and watch it!

The time change really has me messed up! I could really deal with a spring BACK right about now...I better go to bed and get ready for errand day tomorrow. It's always interesting with two kiddos. But I've gotta say - I sure couldn't imagine my life without 'em. They are without a doubt my everything.