Let's see. I'm gonna try to think of some highlights of Joey and Frankie from the last few days if I can remember.
Wednesday we got home from Chilliwack and Joey was so happy to be back to our place. It was nice to see because I know he really enjoyed being in Chilliwack, too and I was worried that he liked being there better and somehow it wasn't good for him to be so far away and blah blah blah, just the things that parents worry about. But, he's so happy to be back in our little place and be just our little family unit and it's nice and makes me feel once again happy about our decision to be in Santa Clara.
On Wednesday night, Joey went to Cubbies (Awana), which I think, in retrospect, was a little too much action for one day. (early morning wake-up > drive to Bellingham > plane > shuttle bus > drive from Oakland > nap > dinner > Cubbies and super late bedtime)
Oh! Typing that reminded me that Joey got to pee on the side of the road on the way to the airport. We got stopped at the border for a super long time, which made us really late, and he thought it was so cool that he could pee in gravel beside some big rig trucks and he still brings it up. We were so late, in fact, that I had to run in frantically with Frankie (because she wasn't yet on my ticket as a lap child, and if we didn't do it at the counter we had no idea what would happen) and the lady was just about to leave the ticket counter and said "Wow. You're lucky." while Stuart and Joey ran in behind us!! How many times has this happened to us? Sheesh. I don't even want to admit. It's hard to know when we need to leave to catch a flight in Bellingham, because the border hates us since we're Canadians living in the US and we never know if/how long they're going to talk to us for and if they're gonna make us go into the border building. And we don't know how long the border line up will be at any given time and blah blah blah.
(This is actually a pic of Joey on our last day in Greendale, but it's the only one I have close to the day we left)
I will say one thing, the ride to the airport is always my favorite time to spend with Stuart's dad. He's always so busy with his dogs or whatever he does. Chores outside. Making people coffee. Talking on the phone. He's never around a lot when we're out visiting, which is totally fine! I get it, he's got his stuff goin' on. It used to bother me, but now I just kind of think a different way. He worked so hard on his farm for his whole life and raised not one, not two, not three, but four.... FOUR boys, and now the dude needs to do what he wants to do! Over the last 5(ish?) years he's been tasting independence and been free of responsibility for the first time in his life. I say, good for him!Having said that long winded thing, when we're all in the truck together on that 2 hour journey to Bellingham airport, it sure is nice for Joey to get to know his Opa and spend time just being together with no distractions. I think it's so good for everyone. It makes me so happy just to think about it that I feel like crying at how much the little moments mean! WAH I'm so hormonal. hashtag life is beautiful.
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Thursday one noteworthy thing about Joey is that DUDE, this kid. Okay, it's kind of sad because I was going to say that he's so demanding and blah blah blah, but come on. The thing he usually demands and I usually can't do for him actually is breaking my heart. He always wants me to hold him. I think it's because I'm always carrying Frankie and he feels jealous. and oh my gosh it's making me so sad right now that I have to tell him I can't! But, I honestly can't carry both of them! and a lot of the time Frankie needs to be carried! Awkwardly carrying 70 pounds worth of children, one of which is squirming, and another one in my belly in 85 degree weather while feeling super sick is just not a reality I want.
I've been trying hard to put my foot down on things lately. It's so hard because Joey always says "Mommy? Can you hold me, just because you love me?" and I have to say what? "No."???? YES that's exactly what I have to say. Soooo, we were at this awesome park in the morning, just the three of us. It was super hot, I was feeling super barfy, but the kids were having so much fun and I met a couple of cool moms there, so all in all it was great.
So great, in fact, that it was past two before I realized what time it was. And Joeys nap is usually around 1. Oops. Disaster waiting to happen. Especially since he had been up until 9 the night before.
After I shleped them both to the bathroom for Joey to pee and for me to change Frankie's diaper, we had a 1/4 mile journey back to the car. Joey demanded to be held and I told him that I could give him a big hug (something I try to do when he asks me to be held. I don't want to just tell him no! I want him to feel the love!) hugged him, and then said, you need to walk now. It's not too far! You can do it! blah blah blah. He was screaming and crying so hard and saying "Mommy! You get back here and carry me. RIGHT NOOOOOWWWW!!!!!" and honestly I was so hot and feeling so sick that I wasn't at all embarrassed of his actions and the situation wasn't stressing me out at all. I just kept slowly walking and saying, "Joey. We're leaving. I need you to walk. I love you. You can do it." and he slowly, slowly walked and screamed and cried all the way to the car. We made it. I felt like the whole thing was a success and I was so proud of myself for sticking to it and being loving but firm. and it worked! and guess what? The next day we went to a friends house and on the way back to the car, Joey asked to be carried, and I told him that I love him and that he's a big boy and can walk and he screamed for all of two seconds before complying! VICTORY! But then, when we got home from the friends house (Friday) he said sadly as I was unbuckling him, "Mommy? Why can't you carry me anymore?" IT. WAS. THE. SADDEST. THING. IN. THE. ENTIRE. WORLD. Oh my gosh. I can't even think about it. Good thing he likes to hug and cuddle up to me. Those days aren't over. But the fact that the days of carrying him are over are so sad :(
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Friday was nice!
I went over to a friends house and actually got to talk to my friends (Cheryl, Sandie, Jessica, Veronica) and everyone brought a bunch of food and the kids had a great time.
I have to admit, I was pretty jealous of Cheryl's apartment. It. is. gorgeous. and a huge 3 bedroom with a playroom. and her furniture is so nice and she's so crafty and has super cute stuff all over her walls. Then I remembered that one time she said she has a spending problem and that duh, I could have all of this stuff, too. But then we'd be super in debt and I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. I looked the apartment at home online to see if it was something Stuart and I would be interested in and guess what the rent was for a 3 bedroom at that place?!?!?!?!? FOUR TO SIX THOUSAND A MONTH. Uhhhh, I don't think we'll be livin that large anytime soon. But, it sure was nice to go over there!! When we got back to our dinky apartment with weird carpeting, a weird smell, and all hand-me-down furniture, I felt oddly comforted by it all. It totally felt like home.
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Saturday
I thought that Stuart had been up late doing taxes (yes, they were due in April, but the extension we filed for is due today) so, I let him sleep as long as he wanted and I had the kids solo all morning. I was feeling so sick. But, I got a lot done. We went to target and I got all the food that I needed for tonight. I'm hosting dinner for 12 girls that I play Bunco with once a month (but, I'm hosting at my friends house). So, getting all the ingredients for dinner and dessert all in one shot was ultra satisfying. Joey, of course, had to go to the bathroom half way through when we were on the other side of target and we looked like three maniacs running all the way across the store to get there.
The secret to being a mom of tiny kids is to see the comedy in everything that you're going through. So many things are so weird and terrible that they're actually completely hilarious. And more often than not, I laugh during those bizarre times where I think "what the heck must we look like right now?" and I honestly, more often than not, laugh when I see myself in a mirror in a public place when I'm with the kids, because I look SO disheveled and tired that I barely recognize myself.
It turned out that Stuart just stayed up ultra late because he was being annoying and not thinking and ended up sleeping until almost noon at which point I said "take the kids out for an hour, I'm having a bath. Bye." I decided not to be angry with him because, really, what's the point? and he felt really bad.
In the evening it was raining and Stuart suggested that we get takeout. (something we never do). Nothing looked good to me, but I found an awesome pizza place that was 20 min away, so we ordered a pizza from it and all piled in the car to go on a rainy night drive. It was so much fun! Joey was really excited about it and asked on the way there if we could eat it at the pizza place. I thought it was so cute that he wanted to do that! He kept saying, "I don't want to bring it home! Can we eat it at that place?" So, we decided to sit down there and have a slice, which turned into having the whole dinner there and the kids were both behaving so nicely!
Of course, on the way home I started feeling super weird, and after we did the first of our nightly rituals with the kids (clean up and bible) I had pinned Frankie down to brush her teeth (she actually loves it and thinks it's hilarious), I bent down to brush them, and promptly ran to the bathroom and barfed my guts out. That's when we decided we need to switch kids when it's teeth brushing time, because bending down like that always makes me sick.
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Sunday
I. was. so. sick. yesterday.
I was up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night feeling sick, and when I woke again with the kids, nothing had changed. Except I started to get a headache. But, the show must go on. Playtime, breakfast, and getting dressed for church ensued. Joey had a freak out before we left and was screaming like a banshee. My head was pounding and I was trying to keep my cool, but everything in me wanted to scream at him to STOP CRYING, but I knew that would only make things worse.
As soon as we got to church I had to take Joey to the bathroom and Stuart took Frankie down to the nursery. He screamed and cried the WHOLE time over EVERY. LITTLE. THING. I didn't take the toilet paper off the roll right. He wanted to take off everything below his waist in order to go. He had to poop and then didn't even do it. I ended up forcing his clothes back on as he flailed around screaming and crying, jamming his hands into the sink to wash them, and carrying him stiffly up the stairs to singing with his class while he screamed and cried in my ear. I handed him to a teacher, went downstairs, and barfed.
I told Stuart what happened and he went up to check on him and I went into the service. I felt like crying. I was so exhausted and feeling so sick. Stuart came back and showed me this:
(Joey's the one in the orange hoodie)
It was so cute and just the thing to make me feel so much better. Stuart and I laughed quietly to ourselves and I almost started to cry.
After service, Stuart and I volunteered for second service in the two year old class and I was feeling so sick. When we all went upstairs for singing, Joey's class was there, too and he sat on my lap the entire time and obviously I loved every second of it.
After second service, I ran to the bathroom and barfed. I didn't even get to close the stall door andddd a woman that I greatly admire was standing at the sink annddd I was mortified, but she at least had the decency to pretend I wasn't barfing in front of her and she left the bathroom.
When we got home, the kids went down for their naps and I was so sick and exhausted, but had to cook and bake literally all afternoon for the dinner/surprise party tonight. It was kind of awful, and kind of kept my mind off of how sick I was feeling.
When the kids woke up from their naps we had a nice quiet family evening and the kids were in great moods, and we were in great moods, and it was really nice.
The end!
After service, Stuart and I volunteered for second service in the two year old class and I was feeling so sick. When we all went upstairs for singing, Joey's class was there, too and he sat on my lap the entire time and obviously I loved every second of it.
After second service, I ran to the bathroom and barfed. I didn't even get to close the stall door andddd a woman that I greatly admire was standing at the sink annddd I was mortified, but she at least had the decency to pretend I wasn't barfing in front of her and she left the bathroom.
When we got home, the kids went down for their naps and I was so sick and exhausted, but had to cook and bake literally all afternoon for the dinner/surprise party tonight. It was kind of awful, and kind of kept my mind off of how sick I was feeling.
When the kids woke up from their naps we had a nice quiet family evening and the kids were in great moods, and we were in great moods, and it was really nice.
The end!
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