We survived day 1 of Blair’s trip to London. The big excursion limo picked him up from the house yesterday. The girls rode with him to the school while I followed in the van. Chloe exclaimed on the way there, “This is awesome!” The other travelers were all waiting when he got to the school. He kept the limo a surprise so their jaws dropped when Blair arrived & stepped out of the limo. That sure beats carpooling with their parents on the way to Atlanta. I did not realize how hard Jordyn was going to take Blair leaving until yesterday. When the limo pulled away, she was so broken hearted. Of course, Chloe was just Miss Happy Go Lucky, let’s go play! Jordyn is a daddy’s girl, though. Last night was really Jordyn’s first night away from Blair without being distracted at a grandmother’s house (that has only happened twice). With the way we do my work schedule, Blair has always been the one to give the girls a bath, brush teeth, pray & put them to bed. Last night, Jordyn cried for 3 hours. I think things were compounded by the fact that we had a major thunderstorm & she is deathly afraid of thunder. Finally, after crying since 8:00 she ended up in my bed at midnight due to the thunder. On top of her crying & screaming, the front window in the house decided to leak & pour water everywhere! My front carpet is flooded & the molding around the window is water-logged. Well, I am here to tell you. When it rains, it pours!

Blair called about 30 minutes ago & they have officially landed at Heathrow airport in London. He will be giving me the details later. I do know that one of the kid’s backpacks was stolen at the Chicago airport. His iPod & digital camera were in it, so that sucked. At least his money was not, however. Blair sounded giddy & extremely excited. The flight was an all nighter, but he said he did get some sleep. They had stuff planned with the tour guide as soon as they got to London, so he is ready to get a move on.

My Aunt Teresa is coming to save me for a few hours today. She is going to take the kids away for a bit so that I can get some things done. The kids adore her, so hopefully this will take Jordyn’s mind off missing her daddy for a while.

March is already flying by! We have had a busy month thus far of everyone being sick then celebrating family birthdays. Blair’s brother, Matt, turned 30 this month & Blair will be turning 35 next week. We always do a combined family birthday dinner for them both. Of course, they chose to go to Outback last weekend. Steak is always a birthday dinner favorite. This week there have not been any sicknesses to report. Thank God! Blair did go to Enterprise yesterday to visit with his Grandmother. She has been in a nursing home for a while, but has not been doing well this week. Honestly, she isn’t expected to pull through this time. Blair leaves for London on Monday, so we thought it best for him to go see her this week before leaving town.

Wow, Blair leaves for London Monday. I will be flying solo with the kids until the weekend. I have not had the girls alone overnight, EVER. Anyone wanting to adopt 2 very adorable little girls for a few hours can just let me know. I don’t have family nearby nor friends to speak of so I am willing to pawn them off on anyone. I do not get sick time or vacation time, so missing work will be a little tough. Blair’s trip, aside from lunches & his souvenir stuff, is all inclusive so it will all even out in the end. He is so excited! I am just not the world traveler that he is. He is the adventurer & I am the homebody.

I suppose it is time for a family update.

The girls: Jordyn is now 4 1/2 & is extremely growny. I call her a little mini teenager. She has a slight attitude & rolls her eyes & puts her hands on her hips alot. Her favorite shows of the moment are Scooby Doo, The Wonder Pets, Lazytown. Jordyn’s favorite movies are Curious George, ANY Princess or Barbie Movie & the Real Scooby Doo Movie. Her favorite foods haven’t changed much since she was 2. She loves chicken fingers, fries, mashed potatoes, & any junk food. Unfortunately, she is not the healthy eater we would love her to be. Jordyn loves to play princess dress up & swing outside in the backyard. Most days she is running around in the backyard in her cheerleading outfit & a princess crown as a headband. She also loves to wear flip flops & sundresses regardless of the outdoor temperature. The Barbie jeep she got for Christmas has been a big hit with her! Also, terrorizing her little sister seems to fill her days. Of course, that is a mutual thing between them both. Jordyn also loves to do anything related to art in any way. Paints, stickers, chalks, crayons, pencils are the faves. She is a bit of a worry wart & questions everything. All day long I hear such things as: “Mommy is it going to rain today?” Mommy, why are you scratching your cheek?” “Mommy, why are you wearing those shoes & not the other ones?” Mommy, mommy, mommy?” We have had many challenges with her lately, but I know that it goes along with the age. She is independent & hard headed. Most people that know our family well say that Jordyn is most like me.

Chloe is a wild, free spirited 2 1/2 year old. We always say that she is “all boy”. She is the little social butterfly & is always introducing herself to strangers. “I am Co-Co & this is my little sister Jordyn.” She often tells people that she is the big sister & that she is 4. Chloe also talks nonstop. Often she will pat me on the arm & tell me, “Don’t be ugly. We must be patient!” It is quite funny. She has an amazing imagination. Her favorite shows are Maggie & the Ferocious Beast & the Wonder Pets. Her favorite movie & book is Curious George. We took her to see “monkey-George” has her first trip to the theater. Her favorite foods are chicken fingers & fries, Poptarts & fruit. In fact, she cries for fruit & would eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner. She loves to go to Chick-fil-a to slide & to run around in the backyard & play in the dirt. Her favorite thing to wear is her pink flashy flip flops that are 5 sizes too big. You truly cannot pry them off of her feet. Chloe started sleeping in a big girl bed about 2 1/2 weeks ago. She made the decision one night that she was absolutely not going to sleep in the crib anymore & that was that. Of course, she now wakes me up at 6am everyday wanting Maggie & a poptart. She loves to terrorize her big sister. Chloe is actually the leader of that relationship & her big sister does whatever she tells her to. Chloe still has a pacifier attached to her & is not potty trained. She screams for the paci & just could care less about the big girl potty. Chloe is extremely independent, but can be so cuddly (on her terms of course).

The hubby: Blair is teaching 9th graders at Stanhope Elmore. This is his 4th year at Stanhope & he absolutely loves it. He still takes care of the girls on nights & weekends while I work. He is infatuated with his iPod video & blogging. Of course, he still reads quite a bit because there are books scattered all over the place. Blair will be going to London on his Spring Break & talks & plans about London nonstop. He waves his passport around & informs me that he could go out of the country anytime he wants. We get a big laugh over it! Blair is preparing to go to grad school in the summer. In fact as of yesterday, he has officially completely the application process & financial aid info for AUM.
Me: I have been at Lenscrafters for over 6 years now & am still mostly enjoying it. My favorite part is making eyeglasses for little kids. They are always amazed over their first pair of glasses. They are not rude like most of the adults, either. Staying home with the girls during the day has been extremely challenging the last couple of months. I thought it would be easier as they got a little older, but in many ways it has become harder. They constantly want something “to do” & are rather demanding. My days are filled with laundry, dishes, mopping, breaking up fights, wiping little girl butts, spanking little girl butts, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning & then work in the evenings. I still enjoy scrapbooking, but honestly could not tell you the last time I actually developed pictures or created a scrapbook page. I certainly enjoy buying the supplies & magazines. I am giddy like a little kid when I get a new scrap mag in the mail.

I am sure I will think of more things to update on later, but that is all for now……..

I found this on the internet & just thought it was lovely:

Motherhood is a journey we take across space and time without a map or a guide, often making up the language and the customs as we go. So often it feels like we’re traveling solo, even when we’re tripping over little people at every turn. How can we pay attention to the landscape when we have so much baggage to keep track of? The path of each mother’s voyage takes its own shape on the map of life, even though we all end up at the same destination.

I am choosing to have a good day. Mind over matter. Mind over matter. Mind over matter. Life is short, enjoy every moment. Yada. Yada. yada.
Why is it that the kids have to fight over the same exact toy each & every time?

Why is it that when I have 5 loads of laundry to do that the hose in the back has to come apart blowing steam & dust all over the laundry room?

Why is it that the one day I actually need to print something on the printer that it is out of ink?

Why is it that we have 2 drills in this house & I cannot get either one of them to work?

Why is it that after I spend 45 minutes sweeping, mopping & scrubbing the kitchen floor- the kids have to grind playdough into the tile?

Why is it that that even though it is a gorgeous day outside that the kids cannot go out because there is huge mud puddles everywhere?

I SAID today is gonna be a GOOD day! Sigh. Okay, I think is time to pick up lunch (no cooking), take a bubble bath (okay, in my dreams) & put on an obnoxious kiddie movie.

Each day as a parent, I learn many new things. There is never a dull moment.

Today:

1. Baby wipes can “spot” mop the entire tile kitchen floor.

2. Goldfish crackers dipped in chicken noodle soup are an entire food group of their own.

3. My children think that I am their maid & servant.

4. After a while, you really do get used to always having a dirty house & looking tired & like crap all the time.

It has been a tough week & a half. The girls have just gone completely wild for some reason. Chloe is in the “I am whiney, everything hurts my feelings & I want to cling to you stage.” Jordyn walks around huffing at her sister for touching her stuff. So basically all day every day is fighting & crying between the 2 of them. The usual distractions have not worked. We bought stickers, crayons, etc at Dollar Tree which just gave them something else to fight over. I have tried kicking their little butts into the backyard. It has either been too cold most days or they have to fight over the same toy. We went to Chick-fil-a a couple of days for them to play & Jordyn wanted to play with the other kids & ignore Chloe which just made her cry the whole time. We also tried the lets watch a movie distraction. Naturally, they do not want to watch the same movie. After much crying over the movie selection, I did something I said I would never do. I put a movie on in Jordyn’s room for her then a movie on in the living room for Chloe. We had T.V.’s on in 3 separate rooms. That silence lasted maybe 20 minutes. The other issue with Chloe is that she has gone from a 2 1/2 hour nap to 1 hour. This has shortened my gaining back sanity time. She is awake each day now when I have to leave for work. Ugh.
I do not want to be one of those parents that yells & spanks all of the time, but that is what I have felt like lately. Maybe this is God’s way of preparing me to go back to work full time. I certainly feel ready to drop them off at school & daycare right now! This past 2 weeks I have been grateful to work 6 days a week. I have not seen as much of Blair in the evenings, but after an all day event at home with the girls, I have sprinted out the door to Lenscrafters happily. Of course, i cannot really say sprinted because I have had to pry Chloe off of my leg each day when I leave.

In some sordid way, I know I will miss these times. They grow so fast & I will miss them being 2 & 4. Especially when I have 2 teenage girls in the house at the same time. Each new stage brings it’s own share of joys & challenges. I love those little monkeys! Even when they are being wild & spirited, I love them so hard my body aches!

From the 2 year old as I am digging & scraping cheese out of the carpet in her sister’s room, “But I had to feed the birds, Mom.”

9:22 am - Already reduced to tears by the 45 minute screaming of the 2 year old.

I am not one of those adventuresome people that loves change. I love my routine & my comfort zone. I am afraid this year is going to be the “year of change”. I feel uneasy, but somewhat excited. We have had the same routine & schedule for so long. I have worked at Lenscrafters for 6 years & have been a part time employee for the last 4 years (since Jordyn was born). This means I work nights & weekends. Blair & I decided to have this schedule because we wanted to keep Jordyn & then Chloe out of daycare. I wanted to be home with them, plus daycare can be so expensive. Of course, this has not allowed us to have much family time all together. The girls are in bed when I get home from work & I usually see Blair for an hour to hour & a half before he goes to sleep. I get time with the girls myself, he gets daddy time with the girls one on one, but there is no time all together.

This year there are many changes on the horizon that will allow us some time together, but will also add to the busyness as well. Change #1: Blair will be starting work on his Master’s Degree this summer. This took alot of prayer & consideration. Blair has said for so long that he didn’t want to be in the classroom forever, but he is continually drawn back there. In order to ever make any more money in his field, he will have to further his education. I am proud of him for making this decision. It will require some hard work & dedication, but it will benefit so much in the long run. Change #2: Jordyn will be starting Kindergarten this fall. I am so excited for her. I just cannot believe she will be 5 this summer. They truly do grow so fast! She is definitely read to start. She is so inquisitive & loves to do art! Since Jordyn will be starting school this fall, it has led to Change # 3 & 4. I will be starting back to work full time! I am excited in some ways, but will be sad not to be able to spend as much time with the girls. I am hoping to get a schedule at Lenscrafters that will allow me most nights & every other weekend off. This would enable Blair to take classes at night & give us some family nights, study time for him & some weekends together. Part of the work thing makes me nervous. I really enjoy where I work & have been there for over 6 years. Unfortunately it is retail hours & I don’t know if they will be able to work this out with me or not. I really do hope so because I love the people I work with in the lab & consider them part of my “dysfunctional” family. We will just have to see what happens as time gets closer. So me working full time was Change #3. This led to Change #4. Chloe will be starting daycare when school starts. Chloe is my baby & I have felt some guilt over this decision. I was able to stay home with Jordyn until she was five, but will start Chloe in daycare at age 3. In order to be able to spend any time with Jordyn after school starts, I knew my schedule would have to change sometime. The way things stand right now, I would only see her on the way to school & Sat. night & Sunday nights. I cannot sacrifice being able to spend any time with her just to stay home with Chloe during the day. Putting Chloe in daycare & changing my schedule to evenings off seemed to be a good compromise of sorts. Chloe is so wild, friendly & hyper that I know she will love daycare. She is already running around & shouting, “I going to daycare!”

Most of these changes will not even start until the Summer & then Fall, but I am already uneasy. I am a worry wart deep down & stress over things. I know these are all the best decisions overall for the family, but I am still sad that my girls are growing up. We have decided that we will not have any more babies, so seeing the little monkeys grow up makes me sad. These are the last few months home with my little girls. Even though the days are long & sometimes so difficult, I know I will miss them in a few months.

I love my family. Even through the changes, we are together & we are family.