You Know You're A Mom When . . . #2

The biggest S.O.B. you have been dealing with lately is that Silly Old Bear aka Winnie the Pooh. 

And I have no complaints about that! He is so wise, and so quotable.

"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'" 

-Winnie the Pooh/A.A. Milne

Willoughby Wallaby WHAT?!

Poppin bottles of every kind. Photo credit: My husband.

Cade is heavy into Raffi these days. So heavy that when the CD ends, he immediately requests that we "Start it over please, Mama!" I am a Raffi fan gal myself (from so far back I can still hear that familiar crackling sound of the vinyl mixed with the strangely mesmerizing timbre of Raffi's voice, and trusty guitar), so who am I to deny my first born the gift of "Singable Songs for the Very Young"? Plus, anything to give "Call Me Maybe" or "I'm Glad You Came" a much needed break from their constant rotation (C did NOT get the memo that this is the summer of 2013, NOT 2012). But, as always, I digress.

Yesterday, while playing a serious game of Lightening McQueen meets Thomas (I've decided it's his live action equivalent to The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones), he started singing the Raffi classic "Willoughby Wallaby". He rhymed Wenny with Jenny and remembered Wennis went with Dennis, and then came time to rhyme Woosen with Susan. But my 3-year-old son could not remember Woosen. So, he went to his ever expanding arsenal of vocabulary, pulled out the one word that would make most people shudder with disapproval (Raffi included) and belted out: "Willoughby Wallaby BOOZIN', an elephant sat on Susan."

While I am confident that the word has been used in my home, and that my echo (aka Cade) has heard it quite recently, it could have also just been C being C and "making up" a word that rhymed and worked for him in the moment. Either way, I laughed. I laughed because it could always be worse. It could have been "Willoughby Wallaby Trucker" that he had to find a rhyme for. And I REALLY don't want to pull him out of preschool before it even starts.

Are You There Blog?

It's me, Marja.

It has been exactly one year since my last post. Unacceptable but unavoidable because life happened. Literally.

Within the month of August 2012, my hubby and I were thrilled to find out I was expecting baby #2. And then, just like that (*snaps fingers*), my body betrayed me and the Hyperemesis gravidarum reared its ugly head (much more severely this time around) and set up shop for the long haul. I was sick my entire pregnancy (but thank you for some relief, Zofran!). On the days the meds worked, I thought about pulling out the laptop and getting back in touch with my creative side. Alas, they never worked THAT well. I was far too nauseous, barfy, and all around exhausted to do anything beyond taking care of Cade (thank you, Disney movies!). And that even became difficult on many occasions (thank you for making the trip so often to help, Mom!). That is the super short version. Ahhh, the miracle of life.

Of course it was ALL worth it. My wonderful husband picked up the slack everywhere (thank you, David!) and our adorable, amazing, wide-eyed, and super smiley second son, Kellan, joined the party in April. He arrived a little over one month early but I delivered him via successful VBAC (*high fives everyone in the vicinity*). Although he has had some unfortunate ailments to overcome since then, he is growing bigger and stronger every day and we are SO in love with the missing piece to our family. Cade is a sweet and loving big brother and so smart and funny and . . . (I'll save it for future blosts). We are blessed.

So it's not like I have been neglecting my writing on purpose. It just became less and less of a priority as Cade got older and we got busier and then it wasn't a priority at all . . . until now. Because I miss it. I need it. Writing challenges me, gets my synapses firing, AND is something I love. All in very different ways than motherhood challenges me and uses my brain. Plus, it's an amazing way to vent, share, keep in touch, and work through things. We all have "our thing". This is mine.

I love being a stay at home mom but having a second baby seriously steps things up a notch. It is HARD and it is WORK and I want to be doing it but I don't want to lose myself IN it. This week I reached a point where I realized that if I don't create some me time away from my kids, the line between "want to" and "have to" will become blurred and I don't ever want that to happen. So I NEED to be writing. Whether it's once a day, once a week, or once a month. Whether or not anyone besides my husband (I love you!) grandmother (thank you, Nomi!) or dear friends (#imbackbabies #blessyourhearts) ever reads it.  

Mama needs this. But, more importantly, Marja needs this. It feels good to be back.