Rose Colored Glasses

Dear future self, Here is a survival guide for you to use during Greg's night float rotations. Be forgiving.  Of yourself and others.  This is a rough adjustment time, and just because one day is smooth, the next two or three or four may not be.  It's no one's fault. Not Ray's for going to bed late because he wanted to stay up late with Greg on his day off.  Not Greg's for being exhausted. Not Jimmy's for being Jimmy. And certainly not your for being so perfect. Ha. Ha. I could just stop there, but I know you need more info. Movies and TV.  It's okay to have the tv (Roku) on all day.  There won't be anyone around in the evenings to help out, so just give yourself a break and know that vegging is ok. As you wean back off the kids will be miserable whiny brats and you will question this advice... trust me.  It's worth it.  They'd be whiny anyway.  Recommended tv shows for your own sanity (not too loud or obnoxious): Nature channel, Sh...

Get ready to exhale. We're almost done with three weeks of night float.  17 down, 1 more to go. I'm scared to even type this, but this week has been relatively drama free for Greg. He got to exercise last night and got 4 hours of sleep.  Amazing. And the bug guy came today. Yesssssssssss! Yesterday I took Jimmy to a follow up appointment at the dentist's office while Greg slept here  watched Ray at the house.  Jimmy and I played in the waiting room for a while where he found the largest stuffed animal he'd ever seen in his whole little life.  Jimmy loves stuffed animals. He loves snuggling and burying his whole face into stuffed animals. When Ray isn't around to wrestle, Jimmy grabs the nearest softie and body slams it, pinning it to the ground, then his whole body gets all floppy and rests for a minute on the toy... then he picks it up, walks a few steps and does it again. Joyful. Ecstatic. Thrilling. I wish you could hear his laughter. ...

Do you ever have those days where you are just plain crabby all day long?  You feel sorry for anyone that even looks at you because you're pretty sure they will get the death stare? Or maybe feel like crying for no reason at all, which makes you even crabbier because you're about to tear up in front of a total stranger? I was a total drama queen on Sunday.  If you want to know the horrible truthful details, read on.  Otherwise spare yourselves and leave this page. Now. I couldn't think straight all morning. I was so exhausted. I had a deep dark sneaking suspicion that my dear husband, who woke up with the kids at 7:00am in spite of falling asleep at only 5:00am and who made breakfast for the family, put two scoops of coffee in the french press instead of three.  That thought bothered me and no matter how much coffee I drank, I couldn't wake up and I was so upset I was literally on the verge of tears all day.  Sunday, the rest of you were probably ...

Ray loves purple (red) cabbage. I love all types of cabbage. Everyone loves bacon. Why not combine them? I found this braised cabbage recipe . Being the recipe follower that I am (I'm not...at all) I decided to give it a go.  My version is easier. And I took pictures. That's really the only reason I'm writing this. Ray says it is, "Mmmm. Delicious, Mommy!" Ingredients: onion garlic red and green cabbage 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1tbsp hot sauce 1. make 8+oz of bacon and eat (not shown) 2. drain bacon fat into pot (not shown) 3. thinly slice onion and garlic clove and cook the over medium heat and don't burn the garlic 4. thinly slice red cabbage and throw it in with the onions, garlic and bacon fat 5. thinly slice green cabbage and stir it in, along with the vinegar and hot sauce  Eat it now. Or let it cook for a while to soften up.  for the gate i   thank you, thank you, greg  ray creating new ways t...

..to the finish line. It's night #12 out of 18. One more week after tonight and we'll be free. I feel like The Little Engine That Could before she crossed the ridge of the mountain, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." After next week Greg is taking a whole whopping week off; a stay-cation , if you will. This morning I asked Greg, "When this is over, will you please babysit for me for like 30 minutes a day?" He said, "Honey, I'll babysit for at least an hour every day for you." I think I can. I think I can. Greg installed our baby gate this morning (again). He had to DIY the extension and the first time he did it the screws weren't long enough. It worked for two wonderful days and then Jimmy ripped the whole thing out of the wall.  He used 3" screws this time and it works great. how long you think before jimmy discovers he can crawl under it Today was rough.  As soon as Greg went into the bedroom Jimmy st...

It's done.  Jimmy's lip tie is cut.  The office was 40 minutes away, our appointment was at 8:00 and we showed up 5 minutes early, thankyouverymuch.  That's a miracle. Seriously. I arrived a month early for my birth and 3 minutes early for my wedding... I'm late for everything else. I dressed the kids last night so I wouldn't have to get them ready this morning -- thank you Aunt Marye and cousin Anna for that brilliant idea! I even made Ray sleep in his shoes. will someone please tell me what that white thing is The nurse explained logistics to me before the doctor came, so I knew what to expect as far as holding Mr. Squirmy while his tie was assessed.  He has a lip tie and slight tongue tie. His front four teeth have cavities (ugggghhhhh). The doctor said they are manageable though and that if we are good with brushing then they shouldn't decay any further (farther?). He explained that the tie prevents fluid from draining properly away from the front teeth...

Baby carries, cavities, tooth rot.... call it what you will, we have it and it's not pretty. Whenever I'm home, away from the outside world, my sons smile and their beautiful faces beam and I am so thankful they are alive and well.  The house can be a terrible mess with yesterday's food... or the day before yesterday's food caked to the floor and last week's laundry still unfolded, and my boys smile and laugh (or cry, whatever) and I am so thankful they are alive and well. Whenever I'm in public and Ray smiles, a part of me cringes.  Inside I pray they don't ask about his teeth.  Kids are smart.  Ray would know right away if someone was talking about him.  I took him to the dentist about two weeks ago.  Later that night Greg told him that his teeth were, "looking so good!" Ray got very serious and said, "No, Daddy.  My teeth are very sick." I never told him that.  I thought that was a brilliant way to word it though. Ray's goi...

Chick-fil-a is giving away free small and medium coffees this month. Guess where we've been at least once every day this week? Monday it was raining so I took the kids to the playplace to play. The equipment is a little too big for Ray and waaaay too big for Jimmy, so really I took myself to the playplace to climb and play.  Thankfully there were no other kids (or adults) there. Yesterday I went through the drive through and got three medium coffees and the teller asked, "Are there three people in your car?" I shamelessly replied, "Yes." Jimmy and Ray like theirs black, just like Mommy. Greg is on three weeks of  night float. It hasn't been that bad... for me, anyway.  He comes in around 9:30am bearing two coffees.  He plays with the boys for an hour and I get to shower. He disappears in his deep dark cave and we don't see him again until 5:30 or 6:00pm when the sun is setting, and then we all sit down and have a rather normal dinner together. Kids, ...

It's official. Jimmy's one today, the same day that Greg started his night float rotation. This weekend was an extended birthday party for Jimmy.  Saturday we took the kids to the beach because that's Jimmy's favorite place to eat (the kid loves sand... no idea) and we were going to do presents and cake then, only I hadn't baked the cake and the presents weren't wrapped... so we rescheduled for Sunday at the park! Jimmy loved every minute of it. He beamed all weekend. He walked all over the beach chasing seagulls and splashing his chubby legs in the cold waves. At the park he plopped his butt down and kicked dirt angel wings in the mulch with his legs, and ate some pinestraw and grinned from ear to ear.  He also marched around church like he owned the place and squealed all through Mass for the fun of it. The pope recently said, " God’s voice is in a child’s tears: they must never be kicked out of church."  Beautiful.  But Greg still had to take him...