I'm Here...

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, blog friends.

I'm simply trying my best to keep myself and my family sane.

We aren't sleeping much these nights.

You see, we have a wheezy, stuffy, coughing, teething, 18 month old

with hives and a huge ear infection, no less.

Poor girl...when it rains it pours.

My little girl needs help clearing up her airway. The breathing treatments are a struggle

because she completely hates them. But it's better when she cries anyway since it makes

her more thoroughly inhale the medicine that she needs to get better.

Charlie is having a hard time adjusting to going back to school

and I'm really paying the price for having let him get off of his normal

schedule over the winter break. 

And Kate, she's just perfect and content in her

butterfly, tea party, princess world of pink.

Aside from a few stand-offs in public where she throws a tantrum and her sweater on the floor

and I have to stand there at the exit of a ride at Disneyland until she stops crying and

picks up her own sweater... we have been doing ok, me and Kate.

That time though, like 20 kind people picked up the sweater for Kate and handed it

to me and then gave me weird and strange looks after I tossed

it back to the floor where Kate was. I have NEVER encountered a person as stubborn as she.

I could have easily picked up the sweater and been done with it but she needed to learn the lesson.

It took a while but she finally picked up her sweater and put it on.

Exhausting.

I swear parenting is thoroughly exhausting as rewarding as it can be.

Most days I just fall into bed and am completely wiped out.

The thing about it is though, it's not just parenting, it's trying to parent well.

Trying to do right by your babies and teach them well.

It's making hard decisions and sacrifices... not always fun.

This is the one thing I really want to succeed at. Of all my dreams, this is the one I want to do best at.

With those hopes comes a lot of pressure.

A lot of times I feel like I'm half-assing it because I just get so frustrated. 

Times like those I stop and take a breath and remember what my ultimate goal is.

Then I read other moms' blogs and they are going through the same exact things I am. 

Their kids freak out too. Their daughters refuse to wear anything but skirts too.

That makes me feel better... we're all in the same boat here and it's nice not to feel alone.

Thank god for moments like these that make it all worth it...

late night snuggles in Kate's bed while sharing princess chap stick.

Last week in the thick of all the rain, and there was A LOT of it,

we had a little sign that everything would be ok...

We actually saw the entire thing, touching from one end of the earth to another... it was beautiful.

To anyone who has been trying to reach me, my Blackberry died on me

so I have been COMPLETELY disconnected from the outside world

and haven't received any texts or calls... I'm not ignoring you ; )

It's kind of disturbing how much I depend on that little phone

and how unnerving it has been to not have it at my fingertips.

No worries though, I will be back in business by tomorrow!