Life Lately

Avery is in a sleep regression. Meaning she is napping terribly. It takes her so long to go to sleep that when she finally does pass out I need to be waking her up if u want her in bed at a decent time. It's annoying and makes me wanna pound mimosas double-fisted with brunch each day. The nap struggles are all too real. 

We practically live at the pool this summer. Like, my nose and cheeks are covered in (even more) freckles now and I've had to start wearing a longsleeve rash guard because I'd get this God-awful heat rash on the bend of my arms. Now I sport a hat for my face too and when I mentioned that I didn't like the sun on my neck Ariana suggested I find a water-proof scarf. Straight-faced. Smart ass. Then I told her I may as well purchase a full-on body suit of some sort so naturally she suggested a wetsuit. It should ship in 5-7 days. Kidding. Or am I? 

I'm like 90% done getting the house setup. I mean, Ill probably keep tweaking things up until the moment we move again because that's just me but at least the big things are done and it feels like home. Our washing machine (which we haven't used in three years because we stored it when we moved to England) squeaks like an SOB and as much as a new one would be nice I'm like, it works. Plus, I'd rather spend my money on things like champagne and wetsuits. Just call me Champage Mami. No, don't do that. That'd be awkward. 

A member of my brood wants to be homeschooled this year and I'm like dude, I barely passed pre-Algebra in high school, I don't think that'd be legal. But it is. Oh it is. So now I'm trying to find a curriculum that looks ideal and I'm thinking of having my Bachelor's degree dipped in 14Kt gold just to give me a little confidence boost. I'm telling y'all, Champagne Mami. 

Some ladies invited me to a book club and I was like sign me up!!! But then I learned a little more about this book club...it was, in fact, a book club and I was beyond disappointed. Like, where's the $14 cheese and bottles and bottles of wine, bitches? In the past, 'book club' was code for we get to drink in a house rid of our spouses and children. Don't get me wrong, I love to read but reading only happens when I get to take a peaceful bath...also known as never. 

Welp, my non-napping baby is awake from not taking a nap so I'll be on my way. Hope this quick little update finds you well.

Xx,

Lor

You Will Never Be This Loved Again

Today was one of those days were I just wanted to be alone. It started out rough. Every morning in this house is like dinner time in this house - it's busy, and loud, and there are a million things going on at once. It's what we do. And 99.99% of the time its great. I love our loud, rambunctious house. I need our loud, rambunctious house. But yesterday was trying. For the sake of my family's privacy (says the gal that constantly blogs about her family, ironic - right?) I won't go in to details of each instance (or who) that pushed my buttons. Instead, I'll simply say that it wasn't anything significant, or out of the ordinary, or serious. It was normal, every day life that I typically deal with just fine, but yesterday it simply got to me more, essentially my strength felt nonexistent. I wanted to bark out orders, I wanted tell everyone to sit down and hush, I wanted to show how frustrated I was. But constantly reminded myself that those things weren't going to fix anything, in fact, they'd probably make it worse. A few weeks ago I found the following quote, I'm not certain who said it, all it was signed was "AK". It reads:

You will never be this loved again. So on those days you feel stressed out and depleted, just remember that you will never be this loved again. One day you will long for their affection. So choose a soft voice, choose gentle hands, choose love. -AK

It really spoke to me when I initially saw it so I grabbed a piece of paper and jotted it down quickly and tacked it to my dry erase board that is near my computer in our office.

 I see it each time I'm sitting at the computer. And yesterday, when I was having a rough day I told everyone to get their shoes on and while they were doing that I went and sat in my desk chair and I immediately saw the above note I scribbled down a few weeks ago. It almost brought me to tears when I read it because it is so. very. true. So I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I will never get this day back. They will be graduated and gone all too soon and I'll be begging them to come home and visit me from college. I reminded myself that I am one of the few people in the world that is supposed to protect them, and nurture them, and love them, and be patient with them. I reminded myself that I am the adult and I don't get to have a fit in front of them. I reminded myself that I am suppose to make sure they feel safe and loved by me at all times. So I walked out of the office and our morning continued. And my stress had disapated. Nerf gun darts flew by my head. The pup whimpered and moaned. Lunch was forgotten on the counter. And right before we parted ways for the day we teased. We laughed. We hugged. We kissed. We chose love.

Punching Pumpkins

I get tired easily. Like, not in the typical sense of the word but definitely in some sense of it...some mommy sense of it. Like when I'm overwhelmed with house work and by the time I fold and neatly put everyone's laundry away I simply shove mine into my draw. No folds. No sense of order. They just get the shove. Everyone else gets neatly placed socks. But I can't find a single matching pair of mine. Good thing panties don't come in pairs, otherwise I'd go commando more often than not. Who am I kidding, I still go commando more often than not.

Or when I've worked for 12 hours and come home and I'm determined to make up for being gone so much by cooking a full course meal, but then I end up standing over the sink shoving scraps from Ari's half-eaten plate into my mouth because I didn't make it to the table because I was too busy doing things I normally can't get done during the week.

Or when I wake up early to cook the kids breakfast and then only grab coffee for myself before heading to work because I didn't want to spend the time cooking for one. more. person...me

This whole I get tired easily thing flows into many aspects of my life, and at Halloween it was no different. My pumpkin looked like he got punched in the face, so did I decide to spin him around and carve/paint/create his face on the not-so-punched side? Of course I didn't. When I saw these little $0.99 things at the store I dug through them until I find one that said Yup, I just got punched in the face.

And I think it works perfectly because he looks like he's still in a daze from said face punch. Please do not judge me for not breaking out a knife and doing those ridiculously detailed carvings. Ain't nobody...and I repeat NOBODY got time fo' dat.

Over and out.