Top Ten Favorite Things that Start With H

Well, the blog world is a fun an interesting place, full of connections that never would have been made otherwise. A fellow mommy blogger, Luckygirl, found my blog via one of my favorite blogs to read, Stacy From Louisville. She commented that she could identify with some of the joys of motherhood I had mentioned (ex: mistaking "Mommy" for "Walking Zombie), so I went over to check out her site. One of her entries had a fun game where someone made a list of their Top Ten Things that Start With ____ (enter whatever letter it was), and when someone else commented, you give them another letter with which to do their own list.

I like dumb things like email surveys and "25 Random Facts" on Facebook, and my friends from my youth goup years may remember my affection for top ten lists, so I played and have received the letter "H." Here is my Top Ten List of My Favorite Things that Start With "H." Leave a comment with YOUR favorite thing that starts with H, and I will give you a new letter, and the blog love can keep rolling!

In no particular order...

1. Heaven. I haven't been there yet, but I am assuming once I get there it will be my favorite place, as I will get to spend eternity worshipping the King of Kings with no hindrance. Who-hoo!

2. Hand Lotion. I wash my hands about 30 times a day. I change at least 10 diapers a day, plus go to the bathroom myself, plus wash dishes by hand...I'm constantly washing my hands. When I remember to put lotion on, it's a lifesaver. Otherwise my hands becomes scaley and crack and bleed.

3. Hot Dogs. I really like hot dogs. The best are the ones at the ballpark, but since they cost about $5 a piece at this point, I haven't had one of those in years. Hebrew National ones are fantastic, and the all-beef Ballpark ones are great. My favorite way to cook them is on the grill.

4. HISTORY. How did it take me to #4 to think of history? I am a history buff...also known as history nerd. I read biographies and historical non-fiction for fun. I have some sort of odd, uncomprehensible obsession with the English monarcy, particularly during the Middle Ages. No on understands it, least of all me. I also love to study the genealogy passages in the Bible - all those verses in Chronicles people usually skim through on their "read through the Bible" jouney? Oh, I stay there for weeks!

5. Along those lines, I love reading Historical fiction. My favorite book beyond the Bible is Gone With the Wind. I have recently discovered Sharon Kay Penman. She writes novels around the time of - you guessed it - 12th-13th century England.

6. Hot Tubs. Having spent the better part of the past 3 years pregnant (at one point during my second pregnancy, I had actually been pregnant for more of my marriage than not), I have a great appreciation for hot tubs, because I couldn't be in them for so long. It's worth it to go work out at the YMCA just to get to use the whirlpool at the end. Aaaahhh...

7. Habbakkuk. This is my favorite book of the Bible that starts with H. Granted, that's a limited list (Hosea, Hebrews, Haggai and Habbakkuk, that's about it) but still, Habbakkuk is one of those little known books of the Bible with such great wisdom to share. Habbakuk had the guts to come to God and ask one of the great questions in life: Why do the wicked prosper? And God answers, although not in the way Habbakuk was really looking for. Not only is it a good place to go when you have questions yourself, but to me it's a great reminder to keep asking God questions. He wants to communicate with us!!!

8. Helmets. That's right, I said helmets. WEAR A HELMET. When I was 16, I got thrown from my bike and broke my arm in two places. That was bad enough, but as I was sitting in the hospital waiting to go into surgery, my mother suddenly noticed my forehead and asked, "Does your forehead hurt?" I looked at her funny - nothing hurt at the moment, I was on all sorts of pain meds. But my forehead had these large imprints from where I had hit to ground...in the shape of the pads from my bike helmet. If I hadn't been wearing it, there's a good chance I would have died. And don't talk to me about "just going around the corner." I was six doors down from my house. If you're riding a bike of any kind, WEAR A HELMET!

9. Hugs. Hugs are great. Hugs are healing agents. You can do a lot of good with just a hug, a lot more than you can with words much of the time. I like hugs, both giving and receiving.


10. Hey Ruth. This is Waterdeep's band before they were Waterdeep. Don and Lori Chaffer are my favorite musicians ever. They're strong believers in Christ, but they are not your typical "Christian" artists. Their lyrics are deep and their music is original. Hey Ruth is the irold band, and there is a 2-disc CD called "Old Stuff" that has music from that era. One of my favorite albums.

Fun stuff!! If you comment, I'll give you a new letter. :)

The Scents of Motherhood

I love the smell of my children while they sleep. That may be a weird statement for some, but I'm guessing most mothers out there know what I mean. During the day, my kids smell like a variety of things: fish sticks, graham crackers, diapers, what's in their diapers...but at night, after their bath, after they've fallen asleep, there's nothing to cover up their distinct, special scents. It's their little child scent, the one that hasn't been overcome by the onset of hormones. They each have a smell that is unique to them - I would be be able to identify them blindfolded. I love checking on them while they sleep and just leaning down to breathe them in.

Someday I won't be able to do that. Someday they'll loose that soft smell of childhood to the onset of adolescence and adulthood. Someday they won't be down the hall for me to check on while they sleep, kiss their foreheads and breathe in their scent. Someday they will grow up, move away, and have children with scents of their own. And that "someday" is probably closer that I think. Joshua is almost three - the next time I blink, he will be in preschool, then kindergarten, with his sister close behind. Then bigger, and busier, and then gone. Someone once told me that this period of their lives has "the slowest days and the fastest years." That's a pretty accurate description, and sometimes in the craziness of changing diapers and making lunch and settling fights and time-outs and everything, I forget that in a moment, it will all be gone. My children will grow up to have their own lives and families.

So for right now, I want to drink in these moments of their childhood. I want to take the time to watch them sleep, kiss them on their foreheads, hold them tight for as long as they'll let me - and take in the sweet smell of their childhood, making memories of all senses in my heart to cherish forever.

COW

Today my two year old, Joshua, climbed up into my lap to snuggle with me while I did my morning Internet stuff (Stuff Christians Like and Woot). He was all snuggled into my arms, and I held him and looked down into his beautiful liquid blue eyes and shining face. I was overcome with love for my son, so I kissed him on the head and said, "I love you so much." He looked back up at me with his beautiful smile and said, slowly, "Coooowwwww."

Then he asked me what a lion says.

So much for having a moment! :)

Things are gonna change

I have decided I need to blog more. There are things in me bursting to come out, and I need to quit being so lethargic about it. This is an exhaustive period in my life, but the truth is, writing will relieve the stress, so I needto quit being so lazy about it and write already.

Of course, if I didn't have the world's slowest computer, that would help...

So tonight, following the footsteps of my brothers, John (http://idreamofscotland.blogspot.com/)and Sam (www.creagar.blogspot.com), here is my list of irrational fears (p.s. I am not cool enough to know how to write links into words...anyone want to help me with that?)

1. Sharp objects. Actually, I have gotten a lot better about this, I think after being pregnant and then have two C-sections you learn to get over it. But I am still very wary about knives, and I do not want someone to chase me with one, even in jest. Bad things will happen. My friend Marc once lunged at me with a knife for a prank. I had a nervous breakdown and Christie had to go yell at him.

2. Spiders. You know, I don't know how irrational this really is. They are creepy and crawly. They can do bad things. And they can just stay outside, thank you very much.

3. Mice. This is such a girly thing to admit, but there it is. And I deal with them a lot, they get into my house all the time. Every time I see one of their little gray bodies scurry across the floor, I scream. And I can often hear them in the walls. AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

4. Something happening to my children. I realize this may not be terrible irrational, but a mother's mind can go crazy places. You can come up with all sorts of "what if?" scenarios. It's not fun. I had to quit watching crime shows when I became a mom. They gave me nightmares. Except NCIS, apparently if it's the Navy I can't get it to relate to my kids too much. So that's good, because Anthony DiNozzo is my favorite current TV character.

All right, enough writing for now. Off to bake a cake. Seriously, I'm not kidding, off to bake a cake now.

The Stuff that Melts Your Heart

We've been having trouble getting the kids to sleep through the night. My 2 year old, Joshua, has gotten into the habit of waking up screaming, which resulted in us putting him in bed with us. However, this meant we didn't get any sleep, as toddlers tend to kick and thrash in their sleep...when they are sleeping at all. Joshua sometimes mistakes "Mommy's bed" for "Jungle Gym," which can mean people can start mistaking "Mommy" for "Walking Zombie."

So, we have been trying to make him stay in his own bed, which has taken some time but has gone pretty well. Except for last night, or should I say, early this morning. At 5:00 this morning, Joshua woke up screaming. I went in, hugged on him, sang him a song, and tucked him back in. As soon as I left, more screaming. And more screaming. AND MORE SCREAMING. This all went on till 5:45 when my husband got up and said he would take Joshua with him to the church next door. (My husband meets with our pastor in the mornings to pray.)

Joshua, however, was having none of it, as he proceeded to scream when I tried to hand him over to his father. He then spent the morning attached to my side - if I got up to go to the bathroom, or blow my nose, or walk across the room, he had to come too. Then he started demanding I go where he wanted and sit where he wanted - "Sit in this chair!" When I refused to give in to my 2 year old tyrant, he threw a fit that should be in the Hall of Fame of Fits. It was a press-your-buttons kind of morning.

And then, just when I was at my sleep-deprived wits end with him, I hugged him and said, "I love you." And right back, with no prompting, he said, "I wuv u too!"

All was forgiven instantly.

This boy has stolen my heart.

Oh What a Monday

So today I have the perfect morning for my first entry...

The madness of my Monday morning started with my one-year-old daughter climbing up on the dining room table and grabbing her brother's milk. I saw it from where I was standing, about 4 feet away...in slow-motion, as if it were a scene from a movie, she turned the cup to its side and poured the milk all over the table, the chair, and most notably, the carpet.

I usually don't turn on the video this early in the morning, but at that particular moment, I needed Bob and Larry to keep everyone out of the milk...

About 30 minutes later, after I had mopped everything up and started a load of laundry with milk-soaked rags, my two-year-old yelled for help from the bathroom where he was supposed to be washing his hands. I went in to discover that the water to the house had been turned off. When I called the water department, they had no idea why that was, and they promised to send a serviceman to check it out. I have yet to see the serviceman. Two hours later, the water, thankfully, came back on.

A little later on the in morning, my one-year-old climbed the chair again and got to the computer. Before I caught her, she had locked up the computer by opening Internet Explorer about 18 times and broken off the "M" key.

While I was fixing the computer, the two kids started fighting over something, and my two-year-old pushed over the little one. As I sat down to console her, I noticed an odd smell rising from her backside. I turned her over to check her diaper, and as I did, I discovered two things:

1. Yes, I was correct, she was, as we say in our house, "stinky."
2. She had managed to remove her diaper in the process.

I need a vacation.

Tales From Mommyhood

Well, here I am, starting another blog...I haven't even kept the first one up, so we shall see how this one goes. This one will be entirely devoted to the crazy times that happen to me, a full time stay-home mommy.

Some background info. I have a two-year-old named Joshua and a one-year-old named Anna. I also watch a 5 month baby Mon-Fri, 7am-3pm. And yes, that is a lot of diapers. Diapers will be appearing on a regular basis here on Tales From Mommyhood. No one knows more about diapers than I do, I am convinced.

I am a stay-home mom, and I want to make it clear from the beginning that this is because it is what is best for MY family. Every family must do what is best for them, there is no right or wrong on this one. My husband and I prayed and sought the Lord's best for our lives, and this is what we believe He said. We've made some sacrifices in order for me to stay home, but again, that's what was best for us. This whole mommy wars debate is ridiculous and must stop.

So, there's my rant for the day. Stay tuned for some crazy funny stories from the Land of Mommyhood!