Progress is Progress

"Progress is progress" is our motto around here. Some days we can see that Charlie has made loads of progress. Other days it is slow moving - two steps forward, one step back - kind of progress.

The past few days have been funky when it comes to Charlie's eating habits. He refused the bottle a few times, skipped a couple feedings all together, and has been particularly pokey when it comes to eating. Last night (with the permission of the cardiologist) we let Charlie lead the way on his nighttime feedings. He slept one slightly longer stretch of about 4.5 hours. He polished off all his nighttime feedings after that and has consistently eaten every 3 hours all day. Yay! Maybe that one longer stretch helped even things out a little.... Plus we're trying to move him up to a larger size nipple on his bottle so he won't have to work as hard to eat (meaning he'll burn less calories and hopefully put on more weight).

Charlie started his new medicine today. We'll need to wait a few weeks to see how it works in regards to the leakage around his valves. It's good to know that we are on the road to addressing the issue though. Blood work and his echo in three weeks will tell us his progress on that front. Hopefully it works miracles!

Also by way of progress - we managed to get out of the house for a bit today. The older boys had an appointment a few towns over from us so we packed up after school and headed that direction. Afterwards we had lunch at a local farm and took a wagon ride out to the orchards to pick some apples fresh off the trees. Charlie slept through most of it only waking long enough to drink two bottles during the trip. Nonetheless, it was great to get out and about today and healthy for the big boys to see that life will return to normal.

Now, if I could just make progress on the mess that is my house these days or on some of the million thank you notes that need to go out - that would real progress!

Small Successes = Big Triumphs

We have made lots of little strides towards getting out of the PICU today. This morning Charlie had his last RA line removed and his chest tube drain pulled. Right before lunch they took him completely off of his cannula (pushed air) so he is now breathing 100% on his own! And the doctors turned off the medicine that helps his heart function - so now his heart is 100% on it's own!

He also passed his swallow test this afternoon meaning that he can now take tiny bits of breast milk by bottle (no more than 1/2 ounce). By 6pm the IV nutrients will be completely off as will the lipids which is basically pre-digested fats. So his food will be strictly provided by mama (via the NG tube running through his nose).

Really, at this point the only thing between Charlie and the Transitional Care Unit (TCU) is one last arterial line and about 12 hours. The art line has to come out for him to be released from PICU and the docs like to keep kiddos around for several hours following the removal to watch for bleeding and monitor vitals.

Today has been a GREAT day! Lots of little steps along a very long journey. But it is the small successes that add up to big triumphs.

Going Strong

The process for moving the playroom downstairs is moving forward.  It’s a slow (and tedious) process, but we’re trekking along. Most of the successes of the past week seem to be based in this task, so here they are…

1.  Finally called the electrician to get power dropped on the far side of the basement.  We also need a few other little electrical things done so hopefully we can officially check those off the list soon. 

2.  Having spent so much time in the basement recently has prompted me to get way more laundry done than before.  I figure if I’m down in the basement I might as well throw a load in.  Low and behold, there was actually one day when all the laundry was done!  I’ve even gotten some of our spare pillows washed.  Yay! Maybe this will be one of those long-term perks of having the playroom in the basement.

3.  We’ve continued to purge toys.  Seriously – how many remote control trucks do two boys need?!?!?!  I’m shocked at how many toys we have acquired in just 4.5 years.  Granted, we’re not great about parting with outgrown toys (because thus far there has always been another child on the way), but I am committed to NOT having 12 of everything in this house!! 

4.  Spent one day making tons of phone calls.  I don’t know how the list of people to call grows on me – but it sure does.  Nonetheless, we now have a free family portrait session, ENT appointment, hearing test, and dermatologist appointment all scheduled. Now, we just need to actually make it to those appointments…..

5.  Bills are paid for the month.  It’s always nice when that is checked off the list.  And since I got everything paid and all the books balanced…I caught an accounting issue.  Good news – it’s in our favor!  Matt’s boss forgot to forward his January expense report to the main office for reimbursement.  So this month we’ll be getting an extra reimbursement check (for a pretty hefty chunk of money!).  We’ll be able to tuck some of that $$$ into our savings for our upcoming vacation in May! 

Bottom line – productive week!  Keep on going, keep on going, keep on going…. 

Maybe if I keep plugging away – we’ll be organized enough to have a new baby in August!

Solo Survival Success

This week Matt has been on the road.  He left Sunday afternoon.  Anticipated return home is Friday night.  Meaning: I’ve been on my own this week.  That in and of itself feels like it should be a success sometimes! 

But moving onto this week’s successes…..

1.  This week was super busy with lots of appointments.  I can honestly say that to-date, we’ve been on time (or early) for every.single.one.  We’ve met friends for coffee, had meetings, an ultrasound, a doctor appointment, speech therapy sessions and three gymnastics classes.  Phew!

2.  Despite Tuesday being our busiest day of the week – I managed to cook dinner at home.  (Let’s not talk about the rest of the week.  It’s been a week of eating on the go).  But Tuesday was a success.  I made Table for Two’s crockpot Beef and Broccoli.  Quite good!  The boys enjoyed it and it was the perfect amount for the three of us.

3.  I seem to have mastered the nap time battles (at least for the moment).  I’ve been allowing both boys to lay in mommy’s bed and watch one 30 minute TV show.  Then Nathan heads off to his bed on his own accord and John sleeps in my bed.  Sometimes I nap with John, sometimes I sneak out to get things accomplished around the house.

4.  I’ve continued our quest to clean out the basement.  Another two bags of trash and a giant pile of recycling at ready to depart the house on appropriate days.  I also have a large bag of items to donate and a few items that I need to sell.  Purging feels good!

So there you have it – a week of surviving on my own.  Complete with appointments, activities, and a little bit of crock pot cooking.

Accomplished

Small Successes – I come and I go!  But I really do LOVE the concept.  I love counting up those little things each week and celebrating the (sometimes) mundane.

This week is full of success!  So let’s cut to the chase….

1.  After spending a day in the basement rearranging, purging and organizing, I’m happy to say I feel like progress is being made.  Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.  Seriously, why do we still have three old mainframes that we haven’t used since at least 2008? (And that’s the most recent one…let’s not talk about the one I have from when I was in college)

2.  I have already taken a load to be donated and dropped it off.  Yay for clutter out of the house!  And double yay for my clutter blessing someone else.  That’s what it’s all about!

3.  The previously mentioned mainframes, an old printer, and a keyboard that still has an PS/2 connector are already loaded into the back of the van (Thanks Charles!).  Tomorrow is an electronics recycling day downtown so I’ll be headed there to drop off all that too! 

Pretty excited about the progress being made!  Getting rid of clutter makes me sooooo happy.

Back to My Successes!

I love Small Successes!  Sometimes they are enough to keep me blogging when I feel like I have nothing to report.  Sometimes (when I have a ton to report) they hold me back.  Sometimes I skipped them for months because I just don’t blog the way I dreamed I would when this blog started. 

That having been said – I’m back to the original point – I love Small Successes! It reminds me of what I’ve accomplished each week.  There’s simply nothing like celebrating the little things because those are the things most often overlooked.  So behold…here are my successes this week:

1.  I dug the “to-do” notebook out of the pile of “to-deal-with-later.” So I now have a list (albeit long) of things that need to get done.  Blogging was on this list.  I’ve written 4 (this is 5) posts today.  Check all five of those off the list.  Look! It’s getting shorter by the minute!  Now to tackle some of the more pressing issues like faxing papers to doctors’ offices, completing some sewing projects that have been looming forever, and knocking some gift-buying out. 

2.  We took John for allergy testing.  I was originally pretty apprehensive of doing it, but it has been recommended by John’s pediatrician, his speech therapist, his teacher and most recently an ER doctor following a 4AM ambulance ride to the hospital.  The results show he’s basically allergic to the great outdoors during the spring, summer and fall.  (Oh, and cats)  So we’re trying some meds first. In 8 weeks we’ll re-evaluate to see how he is responding.  Right now we’re trying to avoid allergy shots – although they may very well be in his future.

3.  (This is really Nathan’s success!)  Nathan peed in the potty!  Just once and after leaking on the floor….but it looks like we may be on the way to potty training.  I’m cautiously optimistic.  While I love the idea of not buying diapers, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to potty train him while driving John all over town for different appointments, preschool, and practices.  I know other families do it so I’m sure I’ll figure it out.  But with John I just committed a week at home and we did it.  I’m thinking it may be a different story this time around.

4.  (And it should be noted that this is really John’s success!)  We had John’s parent/teacher conference early this morning.  He got an absolutely glowing review from his teacher.  Apparently he’s a great listener, rule follower, super smart, has excellent fine motor skills and is generally a hard worker (at least for 2 1/2 hours, 5 days a week).  On his writing skills tests he needs a little work on drawing a person and he called a ‘crescent’ a ‘moon’ on his shapes test.    Not bad if you ask me!  Top that off with a conference with his school speech therapist who claims he has met or surpassed all but one of his speech goals for the school year (and it’s only October!).

Yay for Small Successes!    I’m excited to get back on the bandwagon with them again.  Not to mention that I now have the aforementioned “to-do” notebook back in my arsenal…I’ll be getting so much more done!

Better Late Than Never

Another week has passed.  My how time just flies by once the weather warms up! We’ve had the pleasure of hosting Matt’s younger cousin, Stephanie, this past week.  So aside from having a little extra laundry and a few more dishes, we’ve also been busy playing tour guide.

It’s been a great week so let me share some of those successes with you!

1.  Despite the fact that Stephanie’s unexpected arrival conflicted with naptime, I managed to get to the airport on time to pick her up.  She was flying stand-by (thanks to Air-Tran’s awesome college student program) so we were kind of at a whim for when she would arrive. 

2.  We spent Saturday at the zoo enjoying the beautiful weather, animals and, of course, the choo-choo train.  The boys had a blast.  Stephanie spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how it was possible that our zoo is free to the public, and we enjoyed a picnic lunch right by the 1904 flight cage in the zoo.  A good day had by all!

3. I worked out a deal with John’s speech therapist to enroll John in speech camp this summer.  There is no way we could possibly afford the speech camp without blowing our current budget.  Luckily, our speech therapist LOVES John and despises anything related to food (i.e. cooking, shopping).  So – I’ll provide the snacks/drinks for camp each day (4 kids, 3 days a week, 4 weeks) and in return John gets to attend speech camp.   I’m certain God had his hand in this!

4.  Managed to use up most of the produce from the co-op again this time around.  I love all the fresh fruits and veggies of summer.  In fact, we just made carrot/apple/orange juice for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.  Yay!

5. When I was ready to sit down and type up this post early this morning…I didn’t.  Now wait!  This really is a success!  I sat down in my chair outside on the front drive, turned on the computer, opened the program, and heard, “Maaa-meee, we’re ready!”  Upon peering over the screen I saw two little boys, buckled into the wagon, smiling contently.  So I closed up the computer and tossed it back inside the garage door….and we went for a stroll through the neighborhood.  See?!?!?  Wasn’t that a much better use of my time?

Make sure to surf on over to CatholicMom for a chance to read up on other Small Successes.  It’s a great way to remind yourself that the small things in life can really add up to great victories. 

Busy Week

We’ve been on the go this past week.  Bustling around town doing different things seems to make the warm weather season fly by!  But who can resist spending the days out carousing around town when the sun is shining and the skies are bright blue?

*On Friday last week Matt took a (rare) random day off or as we like to call them in our family – a mental health day.  We took the boys to the Museum of Transportation.  They enjoyed two train rides around the grounds, spent lots of time in the Discovery Zone (which is basically a little boys dream playroom with every “transportation” toy known to man), and loved crawling on and wandering through all the train cars.

*We have been spending a ton of time outside playing.  John is still in love with his Power Wheels tractor and Nathan runs from one activity to another.  Both boys are enjoying their swing set and love playing on the slide together.  As a bonus – I’ve gotten some work done in the yard and garden.

*Spent the early part of this week cleaning and organizing the art/craft closet.  I didn’t feel like trekking out on the one rainy morning of the week so I tackled the closet instead.  I’m happy with the results!  And just as soon as my hubby gets home from his business trip I’ll be even happier (he’s been assigned the duty of moving the wall mounted fire extinguisher that hangs in the closet).

*Wednesday was John’s last day of Early Childhood!  Next year he’ll be attending Pre-K so he’ll be at a different school with a different teacher.  We’re thrilled he’s progressing enough to move to Pre-K but it will bring with it some new challenges.  The school bus won’t pick him up next year (something he’ll be extremely disappointed by once he figures it out) so I’ll have to drop him off and pick him up 5 days a week at a school across town. Luckily, he’s in the morning program so drop off is at 8am and pick up is at 10:30am (no naptime interference).  It will be a transition for everyone!

*Made tentative plans to take a Friday Field Trip this week.  Assuming one of our buddies are free we’ll be headed to the Butterfly House tomorrow.  I’m excited as I haven’t been there since I was a kiddo and we have had free carousal tickets for a little over a year now!  We’re going to try to make Friday Field Trips a regular thing this summer.  Mommy is excited even if the toddlers have no clue…

*Just to share a joyful moment – as I sit here in the bathroom typing up my post while the little boys bathe…..I just want to ask….is there anything better than little boys giggling in a bathtub and the echoes that bounce off the walls from such delight?  I think not!

Sherry is hosting Small Successes over at CatholicMom nowadays.  Make sure to surf on over and celebrate the successes of other great moms!

Starting to Prep

As I mentioned in a previous post – our house is clean enough to be safe and dirty enough to be lived in.  I like this philosophy.  I have two little boys and the idea of having a sterile and completely organized home seems completely impossible.  I’m not by nature a huge lover of housework, but I don’t mind an afternoon or two of cleaning and organizing when the rooms start having “round corners” from all the stuff I’ve wedged in them to clear a path through the middle of the space.

So I’m starting to prep….and by prep I mean I’m cleaning because over the next month or so our house will be inundated with visitors.  In the upcoming weeks (months?) we’ll be playing host to a soon to be 21 year old, my in-laws, and a 10 year old.  Not to mention that somewhere in the mix of all that we’ll host a 2 year old birthday party and a number of friends/family visits during a wedding (which happen to be occurring the same weekend).  Oh yeah – factor in there a road trip to Wisconsin and my husband heading to Austria for 10 days.  It’s gonna get busy really quickly!

Successes for the week then? Well, I’ve….

…organized the coat closet in the front entry way.  Nothing exciting, but it’s done.  Coats that don’t fit (or won’t fit by the next appropriate season) have been donated or stored.  The items that were piling up on the floor have been purged and organized.  We might actually be able to put some additional items in the closet now that it’s cleaned out.

…trimmed the hedges.  We have several shrubs that require periodic trimming throughout the warm months.  This is one of my few ‘official’ outdoor chores (Matt does most the lawn care, garage cleaning, planting, etc).  This task fell to me a few months after we moved to this house when Matt inadvertently trimmed the extension cord that was powering the electric hedge trimmer.  (It should probably be noted that as of typing this I’ve got 5 more hedges/bushes to punch out…but that’s down from 13 and I promise to have them done before this posts on Thursday morning)

…after a small pity party (and some tears) on Tuesday following a phone call informing me that John’s speech therapy was being denied by the insurance company, I’ve started the appeals process.  By started I mean I’m gathering the appropriate paperwork before I can officially start the appeals process.  I am mommy…hear me ROAR!

…enjoyed a family dinner out with Matt’s national sales manager.  Yes, I said enjoyed!  The boys were well-behaved, the food was good and plentiful, and the conversation actually flowed easily.  Since I much prefer speaking to large groups (I’ve never really enjoyed or excelled at 1-1 small talk) this experience certainly qualifies as a success.  And the sales manager commented on how beautiful and well-behaved our boys were!  (Proud mommy moment!)

…spent a lot more time playing with the boys despite my desire to clean the house from top to bottom.  Nathan is loving to do art projects right now and John’s imagination is taking off, so it’s been a lot of fun around here recently.  I’m trying to remember to embrace those moments. We’ll get the house cleaned before company arrives….but these little daily moments will disappear long before the first person knocks on our door.

“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow…for babies grow up…I’ve learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs… dust go to sleep I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.” – Author unknown

…been diligently cleaning out our fridge.  Sounds silly, right?  But we’re not a huge leftovers family.  So we tend to pack up the leftovers after a meal then leave them in the fridge until I can no longer remember when we originally consumed the item and I throw it away.  This is not budget friendly!  Instead, I’ve been trying to repurpose items into other meals and working hard at eating those leftovers out of the fridge.

…utilizing our produce co-op again.  Yay!  I love our produce co-op, but often we don’t consume all the produce before it goes bad.  Again, a waste of money.  I hate that.  Since the fridge has been relatively cleaned out recently I’ve had room for all the produce.  Added bonus is that with the extra space in the fridge I can see all the produce and we’re consuming it in a more timely manner.  You just can beat the taste of fresh fruits and veggies compared to canned and/or frozen. 

Well, I’m feeling like a pretty big success this week!  Lots done, lots still to do…  Bring it on!

Make sure to swing over to Chocolate for Your Brain and encourage other moms on their journey to success!

Rockin’ My Roles

Every mother wears multiple hats every day.  I know that by noon I’ve often played the role of wife, mother, cook, housekeeper, nurse, mediator, and taxi driver.  And that seems to be a slow day!  So this week I’m going to highlight my successes in the many different hats that I’ve been wearing.

1.  While wearing my Matron of Honor hat, I hosted (with a lot of support and help from my mother!) a very successful “Breakfast with the Bride” this past weekend.  We showered Elizabeth with gifts, enjoyed some delicious food, and had a very pleasant morning.  The hall looked great, the favors and decorations were complete at a reasonable hour on Friday night and everything went off with seemingly no hitches.

2.  My Housekeeper hat has been hanging by the wayside (mostly because of my need to wear the Matron of Honor hat).  So Sunday morning, even though we woke up a little later than normal for mass, I ran downstairs and started a load of laundry.  I also managed to get the kitchen cleaned and the supplies from the shower put away on Sunday.  The beginning of this week has been cleaning other rooms, additional laundry, and organizing closets.  I’m feeling better about the state of my house, but also know that I have people coming over on Friday so I have a long way to go before they arrive at 10AM.

3.  While I haven’t done a whole lot with my Bridesmaid hat on (yes, that’s right – I’m a Matron of Honor in 5 weeks and a Bridesmaid in 5 months), I did manage to get measured for my dress this week.  It’s ordered, so I now I just need to find some shoes for this occasion.  I’m significantly less “frilly and fashion-y” than the remaining bridesmaids, so I’m thinking I may have to buck up and wear heels for this gig.  *sigh*  Maybe I can find something that won’t kill my feet?

4. My Mommy hat never really comes off, but I have tried to be a little more diligent about embracing it in it’s entirety recently.  The last few days I’ve been trying to save computer time for when Nathan is napping and John is at school.  We’ve watched a little less TV and spent a little more time in the playroom and outside (weather permitting).  And I’ve tried to be more proactive about encouraging the toddlers underfoot to be helpers in projects even though I know it will result in said project taking 12x longer and being 100x messier. Case in point: Tuesday morning’s spilled milk all over the kitchen floor (and Nathan) when the boys got to put their own lids on their sippy cups. 

Yay for a super successful week!  As a bonus – I even got to the gym this week.  I’m hanging in there.  How are you doing?  Check out Sherry’s blog, Chocolate for Your Brain, for great musings and a chance to link up your successes too!

Springtime Fun!

We’ll I missed a Happy Easter post so this one will have to suffice….

We had a wonderful and Blessed Easter weekend.  A low key celebration with friends on Saturday led into a great Easter Sunday with family.  The weather was perfect, the yard was in (decent) shape, and the boys were relatively well-behaved considering the amount of sugar that was consumed in 24 hours!

So what successes did we fit in around this fabulous Easter celebration?  Let me tell you….

1.  I made a much needed trip to some stores in order to buy supplies for Lizzy’s wedding shower.  We’ll be doing a “Breakfast with the Bride” in a few weeks and I finally realized that the decorations and favors weren’t going to buy themselves.  Now – do you think the decorations and favor will construct themselves?  If not you can assume that will be a success for next week….

2.  We’ve started the process for securing John private speech therapy for the summer months.  It’s a tedious process of navigating insurance, completing speech evaluations and figuring our schedules.  Not easy, but ultimately worth it.  I’m excited for John.  He’s making loads of progress at school right now and since the ball is rolling we don’t want to slow it down over the summer. 

3.  Our summer seems to be filling up pretty quickly.  It amazes me how fast summer flies by every year, but I’m sure it’s because the weather is great and everyone wants to get out and do something.  So we have several weekends filled already complete with weddings, friends in town, vacations and trips.  Let’s hope we have a few weekends to lounge around the house and enjoy just our small family too!

4.  We’re working at not yelling so much in our house.  We’ve realized that when John was smaller we rarely yelled or used the word “no”.  Instead we tried to redirect and talk in hushed tones unless there was serious danger.  As a result, John knows that “no means no”.  He has only had a few full-blown tantrums in his life.  Nathan on the other hand has not had such diligent parents.  We use “no” regularly, often cave after having said it, and tend to shout our orders instead of redirecting to more appropriate behavior.  Nathan is much better at tantrums and yells WAY more than his older brother.  It’s a work in progress….but work is progress in this case!

Head to Sherry’s blog, Chocolate for Your Brain, and share your successes too!

It’s Baseball Season!

Yay!  I love baseball season!  With it comes warmer weather, an excuse to dine on appetizers and snacks in place of dinner and a reason(?) to drink ice cold beer.   

For the record – the above mentioned season has nothing to do with my small successes this week.  I’m just excited that I can now spend the majority of my evenings cheering on the St. Louis Cardinals in the upcoming months.

Successes for the week include:

1.  Deep cleaning the van.  That means I threw away all the random trash, took all the miscellaneous toys back in the house, vacuumed the floorboards and mats, and wiped down the consoles.  Seriously – it amazes me how dirty a van can get so quickly!  And I like to think I’m pretty good about doing a weekly quick clean in there….

2.  After thinking about (and partially dreading) sending an email to 40 women for nearly 4 days.  I did it.  I knew that the email would elicit some heated comments and was sure to stoke a few fires.  I wasn’t looking forward to the aftermath so I was avoiding sending the email.  But the time came when it was necessary to bit the bullet and suprisingly, most of the comments were pretty gentle.  I still had a few people who were wound tight, but in less that 24 hours the chaos seemed to subside.  (Unfortunately, I know that the next month will result in some additional chaos – but I’m ready to embrace it.)

3.  We’ve had people over on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Success here:  the house has been presentable enough to have people over on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Now I’m not saying it’s perfect.  But as my friend says, “It’s clean enough to be safe and dirty enough to be lived in”  That works for me!

4.  When we thought John broke his elbow earlier this week I didn’t entirely lose my cool.  Yes, I was freaked out.  Yes, hubby and I argued over what the appropriate course of action was on several occasions.  Yes, I was stressed out and starting taking my ulcer medicine again.  But, in the end, there was no noticeable fracture.  So John ended up in a sling for 4 days with a diagnosis of soft tissue damage and a sprained elbow.

Head over to Chocolate for Your Brain to share your successes with the blogger world. 

I Keep Going and Going and…

Success (noun): a degree or measure of attaining a favorable or desired outcome
Definition adapted from Merriam-Webster.com

1.  On Tuesday we had the whole family up, fed, dressed and loaded in the car by 7:45AM heading to our polling place.  All this resulted in us being home by 8:15AM for Matt to start work on time at 8:30AM!  Yay Us!  And a second Yay Us! for exercising our privilege and civic responsibility. 

2.  I mopped the kitchen floor.  I know, I know.  This probably shouldn’t warrant its own success.  But since I’ve been skipping it the last few weeks (followed by complaining because the kitchen floor needs!to!be!mopped!) I feel like it’s a success.  Granted, it took friends coming over for lunch to motivate me to do it.  Nonetheless – consider it done!

3.  I’ve continued to get into the gym at least periodically over the past few weeks.  I find that warm weather completely eliminates my motivation to work out.  One side says I’m not a runner or biker – so outdoor workouts aren’t really my thing.  On the flip side – who wants to be in the gym when the weather is so B.E.A.UTIFUL?  *sigh*  So getting to the gym when warm temperatures arrive is always a success for me.

4.  We’re working on our budget in an attempt to tuck a little extra money away between now and June.  If we manage to do it successfully (I think we can, I think we can) we’ll be enjoying a childless vacation mid-June.    And since we all know God works in mysterious ways – it looks like Matt’s company will be paying for his plane ticket!  (Which is really the only thing that makes this trip affordable)  More details once we are more certain things are going to work themselves out…

On the list of goals for next week include mailing shower invitations for my baby sister and trying to finalize the menu for said shower.  I’m a month out – so it’s a priority now!

Sherry from Chocolate for Your Brain hosts this weekly meme so make sure to head over and read about other (often more) successful moms!

A Work In Progress

I’m LOVING this weather!  Really?!?! 75-80 degrees the first week of March? Can you really beat that (short of living in the Tropicana).

So our successes are outdoors this week. 

1.  The windows are washed on the front of the house.  Indoors and out.  No more smudgy finger prints, no more nose marks from children staring out the front door.  It’s quite glorious!  The sun is shining in and I love it!

2.  Despite my desperate desire to continue cleaning and purging all corners of my house – I’ve spent the last two days outside with my boys.  We’ve played on our bikes, gone on walks, kicked balls and pushed toy lawn mowers.  Granted, my art supply closet, bedroom closet, kitchen cabinets and van still need cleaning out and organizing, but this weather is too good to pass up.  So, I’ll tackle those places on the next rainy day or during a strategically coordinated two child naptime.

3. For the time being all the gumballs are picked up out of the front yard.  I don’t expect this to last for long and I’m not even willing to tackle the side yard or backyard at this point.  The front yard though? It’s done!  (And seriously – a sweet gum tree could be a deal breaker if we ever buy another house!)

4.  On an indoor note: Hubby and I deep cleaned three rooms this weekend (yay for spring cleaning).  The two bedrooms are swept, dusted, vacuumed, and more.  And the dreaded and overwhelming toy room has been purged, cleaned, swept, vacuumed, organized and dusted.  I don’t expect these to last for long either…but the fact that they’ve been done make me feel better!

Make sure to share your successes over at Chocolate for Your Brain!  We love to see everyone’s successes – no matter how big or how small.

Doin’ It On My Own

This entry’s title is misleading.  I’ve only been ‘on my own’ since Sunday morning.  However, with all honesty, it seems much longer.  Not sure why it seems so long but it does this week.

Being that I feel like there is barely light at the end of the tunnel right now – it is super important for me to take a few minutes to find the successes of the week.  No matter how small they may be.

1.  After over a week out of the gym due to schedule conflicts and sick babies I spent Monday morning at the YMCA.  Surprisingly, my run(?) on the elliptical wasn’t all that bad.  I’m thinking that was God’s way of reminding me that getting derailed from my workout routine does not warrant giving up all together (which tends to be my philosophy).

2. Nathan woke up Wednesday morning with a fever.  (Derailed from the gym again!)  So we spent the vast majority of the day cuddled up on the couch watching movies.  Right before his fever would spike – he would crawl into my lap and say “I love you too mommy.” Which I think really translated into ‘mommy, please make me feel better.’  Poor little boy had practically no voice most the day and looked like he had been hit by a truck. 

3.  On Friday last week I had a great day!  Successes all around!  In the morning my MOMS Club hosted an open house to recruit new members.  I’m VERY  PROUD to say that we had 20+ potential members at the event.  That’s waaaay more than any other year I’ve been a member.  My efforts in advertising paid off! 

4.  Friday PM brought our fourth IEP meeting in four months. (Dear Lord!) The meeting went surprisingly well.  We’re finally getting John 60 minutes of 1-1 speech each week and he’s still going to get 1 hour of group speech therapy as well.  We compromised in that I have to take him to a special speech session once a week on Thursday mornings, but at least he’s getting the services. 

5.  I’ve enjoyed the time praying for my Lenten prayer buddy.  Having the commitment to another person really forces me to find the quiet in my day (or night).  It’s been great for me and hopefully will be fruitful for her as well.  I’m certain she doesn’t think anyone is praying for her at 3:30 AM when I’m laying in bed awake, but I’ve found that it brings a peace to my heart and head that helps me to drift back to sleep.  And since I’m a notorious “once I’m awake, I’m awake” person – this has been a blessing for me too!

Hope everyone had an equally successful week!  Make sure you share your successes over at Chocolate For Your Brain.  We love to watch our group grow!

I leave you with a picture that should melt any mommy’s heart…

Sometimes when you don’t feel well only your big brother can make it better.

Since Last Thursday

What’s been going on in your house since last Thursday?  Have you had any successes (big or small) that are brag worthy?  I’m sure everyone has – so head over to Sherry’s blog, Chocolate For Your Brain, and share them with the world!

The Garcia household successes include:

1.  Got signed up for a Lenten prayer buddy.  It’s the first year I’ve done this, but I’m really excited to participate in the program.  I believe powerful things can happen with prayer and having a someone extra praying for you can NEVER hurt.  Plus – I’ve found some time to pray for my buddy and read some part of her blog (so I know her story a little better while I pray for her).

2. Survived 24 hours with a 3 year old running 104 fever.  Turns out he has his first round of strep.  *sigh*  But the plus side to this is that our wonderful pediatrician gave me antibiotics for both boys (Nathan has had a snotty nose for over a week anyway) so I know no other kids will get strep.  Although I suppose Mom and Dad are still susceptible. However, Ash Wednesday mass was a wash – so we just took time at the dinner table to talk about the start of Lent, sacrifices, and penances. 

3.  Enjoyed President’s Day with the family doing a store/food tour of STL.  In one morning we hit up World Market (candy and soda), Trader Joes (frozen appetizers, specialty cheese, and vitamins), Whole Foods (whole grains, vitamins, and cheese), Lions choice (lunch), The Container Store (Lenten bean containers with lids so Nathan is less likely to spill them), Mexican Mercado (drinks, fajita meat and chorizo) and REI (cause it’s fun to walk around).

4.  Prepared as much as possible for Lent. Got our Lenten beans set up on the table.  Signed up for Holy Heroes Lenten Adventures – I hope this works out for us this year! Filled our Blockbuster at Home queue with some Easter/Bible stories for the upcoming month.  I also reserved some books at the library on the lives of saints.  I just finished reading My Life with the Saints by James Martin SJ and it really sparked my interest in a couple saints’ biographies….no time like Lent to dive in!

5. Have started my commitment to get the house more organized during Lent. (This is a continuation of my New Year’s Resolution.)  My goal for Lent is to organize one area of the house every.single.day.  Now keep in mind that one area might be a cabinet, drawer, or closet.  It might be a table top or an overflowing laundry basket.  So yesterday’s task was the tupperware cabinet.  I’m tired of items falling out of the cabinet, trying to wedge different size/shape containers into the small space, and not having containers of appropriate size for our needs.  On my trip to the grocery last night – I bought a new load of Gladware.  Then I emptied the shelves of the old, put them in the donate box, and restocked with new, properly sized, and organized containers.  Not all the projects will require such an investment – but the $$$ was well-worth my sanity. Hmm….what should I tackle today?

Yay!  I’m feeling particularly successful this week!

Using Bath Time To Blog

As the boys play and splash happily in the bathtub, I’ve finally sat down for the first time today to log on to the blog.  My intention is always to have Small Successes up first thing in the morning, but this week has been a period of adjustment for me and frankly, I’m still trying to find my groove. 

1.  I got a couple big checks deposited in the checking account….which freed up some cash flow…which allowed me to pay off ALL the bills sitting on the table….IN FULL…even two of our medical bills.  WOW!  That feels good!

2.  On Monday when I was feeling under the weather (not dying or anything, just sinus pressure and congestion) I took a step back and gave myself time to heal.  I canceled a playgroup that was supposed to be at our house, fed the boys a simple breakfast of yogurt and milk, let the boys drag waaaaay too many toys into my bedroom, and then rested in bed while they played on my floor and bed.  The result: by Monday night I was feeling better and by Tuesday morning (aside from a runny nose) I was doing just fine.  I know that if I take the time early on to rest and give my body time to heal itself these things take far less time to recover from…but I’m not always the best at slowing down (until I feel like I’m on my death bed with borderline pneumonia and a cabinet full of antibiotics and steroids). 

3.  I took the boys to McDonald’s (don’t judge) for dinner tonight by myself.  They both sat quietly in the booth and ate their dinners.  Then they played nicely in the play land and were genuinely great little boys for mama.  Another mom even noted that she’d never seen boys sit so quietly, eat their entire dinner, never complaining about wanting to go play, and being so well-behaved (especially in McDonald’s play land).  Yay! 

OK – so #3 probably is more of my boys’ success, but I’m taking credit for stellar parenting skills on that one!

What are your successes? Please head over to Sherry’s blog, Chocolate for Your Brain, and share them with the world!

Something New

I’ve never been much of one for change.  My mother enjoys telling the story of the time she rearranged my bedroom while I was at school and I cried from 3:30 when I got home until I collapsed in a heap on my bed.  My father laughs that my first 2 cars looked almost identical despite one being a Geo and one being a Ford.  So this week my successes will mostly focus on embracing change…

1.  I’ve weathered Matthew starting a new job with relatively little drama.  Yes, I’ve been stressed by the process, but for the most part I’ve talked with him about my concerns, reached out to friends for some support, and have kept my worrywart self under control. 

2.  While I’m still working on this one – I’m embracing the fact that on school days John will not be napping.  If I would pick him up from school I think I could get him to nap, but he LOVES riding the bus.  So I defer to his desire for independence and allow him to ride the bus.  Even though it means he falls asleep on the bus for 20-30 on the bus and then doesn’t nap once he gets home.  (Keep in mind when he doesn’t have school he naps for 2.5-3 hours with no problem so 30 minutes is nothing for him)

3.  I feel like every summer we have big hopes and dreams of what all we’ll accomplish.  By the end of the summer I’m tired of spending every weekend discussing the need to cut the grass and run errands.  Yes, those things need to get done, but it’s also important to embrace the fun of summer and good weather!  With that in mind I’m working at creating a summer bucket list with all kinds of activities we can do as a family.  Some are great for a quick afternoon romp outside in the sun and others are day trips that we always talk about taking but never do.  I’m excited!  (I’ll try to post our final list and our actual ‘bucket’ once it’s completed)

What are your successes?  Head over to Sherry’s blog, Chocolate for Your Brain, to share those successes with the world!

Wahoo!

I’m loving the fact that this year’s reusable to-do list actually reminds me to blog on certain days of the week.  While I don’t always get to it. It has increased my frequency on the blog and has helped remind me to document the little things in life.  Now – to celebrate those successes!

1.  Again, in an effort to remember how important it is to take care of myself (so that I can better serve others) – I went to the doctor this week to resolve a minor issue that has been bugging me for months.  Good news is that all is well.  Bad news is that the resolution has kept me out of the gym the last two days.  Have no fear.  Later this morning I’m off to get in a workout. 

2.  With B.E.A.UTIFUL weather this week, I’ve enjoyed letting the boys burn some energy outside.  Most days they have to enjoy the outdoors at different times (naps and school funk up their together time) but the fresh air is good even if it is breathed in without your brother next to you.  And to add to this success…I’ve gotten most of the sweet gumballs picked up out of the yard. (Seriously, in the event of a nuclear attack the only two things that will survive will be cockroaches and sweet gumballs…)

3.  Meal planning has been going well.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still had to scramble a few nights because I didn’t start dinner early enough. Nonetheless, having a battle plan works for me and encourages me to try new recipes instead of my immediate “go-to’s” when dinner rolls around.  And just for the record – hubby did have to make a run to the grocery store on Tuesday, but not for dinner supplies.  We needed to switch Nathan to soy milk this week because his gut is a little questionable right now and his tummy wasn’t handling regular milk.

Figuring It Out

Let’s just focus on this week’s successes….

1.  I’ve been to the gym 3 times in the last 3 days.  I’m sore in all kinds of places.  To me that means I’m either doing something right or doing something very wrong.  I’m thinking it’s the first.  So I’m going to keep on plugging away at it.  It helps that I found another mom who is super dedicated to the gym and doesn’t mind serving as my encouragement (or at least flat out calling me on it) when I whine with a new excuse on why I can’t do something.

2.  I took the time and headed to the doctor on Wednesday morning, even though by the time I got there I had self-diagnosed and self-medicated myself.  Good (?) news is that my self-diagnosis was correct and now I have a stronger medicine that will really help.  Turns out that I have an ulcer most likely stress related.  (Side note: I’m hopeful the time in the gym will help with this as well.)

3.  Why when we have so much food in our house do I feel the need to go to the store? I’m on a mission to cook from the pantry and freezer stockpiles for a few weeks to help lower our food bills. So I’ve been planning out meals and digging through the back of the cabinets to use up our surplus.  With the freezer stocked from last week’s trip to the store, I’ve made it all week without a run to the grocery store.

Make sure you support other small successes by heading over to Chocolate for Your Brain!