Accomplishments

You know those days when you really feel like you got something done? Well, that is how I'm going to allow myself to feel about this weekend. My to-do list was long, and not everything is crossed off, but my strong Type-A personality is going to enjoy and relish in what did get crossed off that list, which is a change in attitude for me. Normally I let myself feel guilty about what didn't get done instead of focusing on the accomplishments, but I'm not going to do that today. Here are some of the things that Matt and I were able to get done this weekend:

• laundry (all of it-done and put away)
• vacuumed the house (and got rid of most of the Bailey-hair - those of you with dogs should understand that)
• trash taken out (twice, actually)
• dishes (ditto, see above)
• dissassembled Kellen's changing table (more on this later)
• rearranged living room (moved Kellen's table & chair set to his bedroom)
• dust-buster hung up in laundry room
• grass mowed (not weed-eated, but mowed)
• renewed vehicle registration for car & truck (due in July....procrastinate much?)
• restocked freezer with meat from locker
• cleaned ceiling fan (one was all that I could handle - YIKES...I'll do the other one later)
• rearranged a few items in our bedroom
• made a big batch of pancakes for Kellen for the week (hopefully they'll last that long)
• made a big batch of breakfast taco's for the week
• purchased the correct sandpaper so that I can continue work on bathroom (I will get this painted, I will get this painted...)
• old grill fixed and taken to the station
• pedicure and toenails painted

WHEW! I know this may seem odd to list this, but I'm really going to make, er...allow myself to NOT feel guilty about what didn't get done this weekend.

So the changing table...ahhh. We're getting ready to move Kellen to a big boy twin bed (which we said we were going to have done by his birthday...hmmm) and we'll need some more room to be able to do this. He's getting too big for the changing table anyway...and I have barely used it in the past two weeks or so...So why was it so hard for me to take that thing apart? (No, not literally. There were just a few screws). But as I was taking it apart I just realized that this piece of furniture has been such a huge part of each and every day of Kellen's life for the past two years...and it's just another obvious example of how he's growing up. And it just made me a little sad. As I placed the pieces of the changing table against the wall in what I call the back room (yes, I know it's in the front of the house), I leaned them against the piece of the crib that we removed when we transformed Kellen's crib into a toddler bed two months ago. Just another reminder of our boy getting bigger. Then I moved Kellen's table and chair set into his room where the changing table had been. I'm trying to think in stages about this transition. When the twin bed comes in, the rocking chair will go out and into our room (hence the rearranging of our bedroom) and the table and chair will then move to where the rocking chair currently sits. I think that will about cover it for his room...

Now, let me move to Kellen's BIG accomplishment for the day. Like I mentioned in my to-do list, I made a big batch of pancakes this morning. While Kellen and I were eating them, Kellen looked at me and said, "Penis hurt." (Bear with me, this will all make sense soon). I responded with, "Your penis hurts?" to which he replied, "Yes. Kellen penis hurt." I asked Kellen if he needed to go pee-pee. "Yes, Kellen pee-pee." Then I asked him if he wanted to go pee-pee in the potty and then come back and eat the rest of his pancakes. "Yes, Kellen pee-pee potty." I know, I know...it's taking Mommy a while to catch on to this whole thing. So, I grab the washcloth and wipe off his hands (he had been eating pancakes with syrup), and off to the potty we go. Shorts off, diaper off, training toilet seat on and there he goes. As he's sitting on the potty, he looks at me and says, "Mommy away." So I walk down the hallway a little and wait. Then I hear a little tinkle-splash in the potty and a flushing sound. I walk into the bathroom and ask if he had peed. "Yes. Kellen pee-pee potty. All through."

My little boy is growing up. And I haven't even bought any training pants, not even the pull-up kind, yet. Oh boy.

This leads me to the bathroom issue. Last October (yes, October) I got the wild hair to redo the spare bathroom. I started on the project in a very diligent fashion, working on it every night for a week after Kellen went to sleep. Then I got a staph infection that prohibited virtually any arm movements at all - hence the end to the motivation streak for that project. So now with the munchkin-man needing access to the bathroom on a more regular basis, I've rediscovered my motivation to complete this particular project. I've patched the various wall cracks, and now that we have the sandpaper I can get going. I need to sand down the caulk, then prime and paint, which doesn't sound too bad, right? Goal for self - get this done before the fall semester starts up.

TMJ Troubles

That's been what I've had since May 10th when the next-to-last bite of my steak and shrimp dinner at Applebees (compliments of my boss, as he was taking the department staff out to eat for an appreciation luncheon) did a number on my left jaw joint, which hasn't been fully operational since then. After several visits to my dentist, diligently wearing a bite-splint every night (by order of the dentist), the realization that I can never again chew gum (which, by the way, makes my mother-in-law happy), moist heat, lots of soft foods - yeah for pasta...sidenote..I've realized that there is a limit to the amount of pasta I can handle - will wonders never cease?, a referral to a doctor not covered by insurance and subsequent appointment cancellation, spending a lot of time on the phone with a very nice lady from my insurance company to find a doctor that is covered by insurance and deals with TMJ, Matt and I take a day-long trip to Houston to a dentist/oral surgeon that specializes in TMJ disorders. (Thank you Maw-Maw and Pa Pa for watching Kellen). I've discovered the following:

*the bite splint did no good - I must never wear it again
*gum is gone - for good
*soft foods are still in my foreseeable future
*so is a round of steroids

The doctor seems to think that we should see improvement after this round of steroids and wants to see me back in a week. He indicated that we would start off with oral steroids and, if necessary, move to steroid injections if the oral medication didn't work. He didn't even broach the subject of surgery...so we'll see where this goes. He seems very optimistic that we can get my jaw back to the pre-May 10th incident in a fairly short amount of time. YEAH!

Now if I can only get rid of these frequent migraines.....

Kellen had a lot of fun with his Pa Pa and Maw Maw today. He got to watch the newest Hermie and Friends DVD...Buzby: The Misbehaving Bee. Maw Maw says that it's really cute and introduces a frog character, which of course Kellen loved! I'm sure that in short time I'll have it memorized as I do the first two DVD's in this series. #3, Webster: The Scaredy Spider is quickly being committed to memory as well. They are such cute stories with good themes and messages...

Early Morning & New Class

It was another very early start to the day today (2 AM, YIKES!) when I had a repeat of Tuesday morning's episode. This time; however, I attempted to keep Kellen in his bed (Mommy's back does get stiff when half-stooped trying pat and rub a young'un back to sleep). Alas, the efforts were in vain...every time I would try to leave, he would wake up and scream. So to the rocking chair in the living room we went. I decided against mommy & daddy's bed, since I was sure that the sound of daddy snoring wouldn't really help the sleep situation. After a while, I attempted to put the sleeping guy in his bed...he woke up during the effort, but was just fussing...not screaming, so I stumbled back to my bed...only to notice that it was 3:58 and daddy's alarm clock was set to go off in 2 minutes. You've got to be kidding me! I nudge Matt awake and drift into a semi-sleep state, mumbling "Be quiet...Kellen's been awake off and on since 2 AM." The next thing I know, daddy's telling me that Kellen is screaming in his room and asking if he can bring him to bed before he leaves to go to work.

"Sure."

A couple of souped-up caffeine drinks later (thank goodness for "Mommy's juice"), I'm rolling through my day. Fast-forward to picking up Kellen from day care and I get a jolt to my system. He's not in his normal class...he visiting the next class up. WHAT!?! I'm not ready for him to move up classes...His teacher Shannon tells me that he'll probably be moving up August 15th. She tries to console me by telling me that a few in his class are moving up next week and then almost the rest of those in his current class will be moving up at the same time Kellen does. So he'll still be playing with his friends, which softens the blow somewhat...but this is just additional proof that he's growing up...and way too soon in some ways.

Kellen's rough day

My morning started with a jolt at 5:30 am as I was awakened by the sound of Kellen screaming from down the hall. Matt is on a 24 turned 36-hour shift, so it's Mommy to the rescue. As I enter his room I see him (as much as you can see someone with all of the lights still turned off) at the door, screaming "Mommy" with his arms stretched up to me. As I bend down to pick him up I ask him what's wrong (one day he'll be able to answer that question and I am not going to know what to do) and then ask him if he is scared. "Yes" comes the quiet reply, as he digs his face into my neck, "Lay down Mommy." So off to mommy's bed we go, making sure that blanket and Big Bird come with us. Kellen never did go back to sleep, but laid next to me, occasionally leaning over to give me a kiss or play with my hair. The sweetest thing was his kiss-sequence and ensuing comment. "Kiss Mommy." he says, then proceeds to give me a kiss on the lips. "Kiss nose." comes next, followed by "Kiss hair." Then he keeps kissing my hair over and over and I hear him whisper, "Kellen like kiss Mommy hair." I hope and pray that he never loses that sweet quality. He shows compassion and empathy well beyond that of a two-year old, at least most of the time anyway.

So the morning has begun, albeit a little earlier than normal. As I get ready to get a shower, Kellen decides that a shower for him is a must-have this morning. I'll spare you the details except to ask you to think about how difficult it is to actually shower and hold a two-year old at the same time...but I did learn that it's possible, sort of. Daddy makes it home from work before we leave and has some fun-time with Kellen. Then it's off to school and work for Kellen and I.

Let me begin this next sequence of events by stating, for the record, that Kellen LOVES his day care. He talks about his friends and teachers and about half of the time doesn't actually want to leave to come home. However, over the past couple of weeks he's started a "More hug" thing as I'm trying to leave day care to go to work. And it isn't as if it's more hugs all in a row...we're talking a hug, Kellen goes to play, then when he sees that I'm actually leaving, "More hugs." comes out of my sweet little angel's mouth. When he does this, I feel like I need to add a notch to the guilt-factor belt for being a working-mom. Anyway, after 5-6 "more hugs" this morning (mind you this is after our normal good-byes), I told him that I needed to leave to go to work and reached for the door to his classroom. When he sees that I am leaving, he runs toward the door and, you guessed it, falls into it - the corner of it - and cuts the left side of his nose and mouth. Poor guy! And, of course, this would happen the day after he falls on concrete at the school playground, bruising much of the left side of his face, so now it just makes you hurt to look at him and his most current boo-boo's. But, tomorrow is a new day.

Growing up

That's exactly what my little man is doing...growing up...right in front of my eyes. From saying most of the alphabet in a small whisper to "Kellen do it!" while getting ready for bed, he's fast becoming his own person...one that needs Mommy less and less. How has two years flown by so quickly?

So I'll try this blog thing out. My friend Jen introduced me to this, and it seems like one way to try and keep track of things...and stay in touch. So here goes!